The Nutcracker

For their Christmas gift this year, I decided to make memories with my nieces and possibly start a new tradition of taking them to the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of the Nutcracker in Seattle. For me, it is a perfect way to get into the spirit of the holiday. I think Seattle is one of the prettiest cities during Christmas time, the Spaceneedle is all lit up with a Christmas tree on top and it is so lovely! We were originally scheduled to attend the show last Saturday, the 20th. But the snowstorm was so bad that night that I didn't want to trek out into it. Fortunately, PNB was issuing ticket exchanges for people who could not attend due to weather. So we rescheduled for last night. I have to admit, some of the excitement was reduced a bit because it was after the holiday, but it was still fun. We caught the ferry and we went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I expected that to take a lot longer than it did, so when we found ourselves wondering what to do an hour and a half before showtime, I decided to take my nieces on a crazy tour of downtown Seattle. It's been 10 years since I worked in Seattle and I just don't know my way around anymore, so it was crazy indeed. I had to remind myself that when in doubt, just head toward the water. I can always get my bearings when I start out from the waterfront. We were able to enjoy all the pretty lights near the waterfront, Westlake Center and Seattle Center by car. Though I don't know what was more entertaining for my nieces, the city decorations or their crazy aunt driving down a one way street going the WRONG WAY!! I am not convinced it was a one way, but we survived nonetheless. Finally it was showtime. The production is in it's 25th year and it's even better than when I first saw it over a decade ago. This ballet will never get old and can be enjoyed at any age, male or female.

Christmas Day

Zac getting the party started

Christmas Crab Feast

Ridiculous amount of presents....

Scotty hammin' it up with all the ladies

Jay and Jeff in a friendly, but serious game of Chess

Jay and Scott playing Wii Baseball

Jay and I agree that we had probably the best Christmas this year that either of us have had in a very long time. In my case, at least not since before my mom passed 8 years ago. I can't even pin point one particular thing that made it so special. Definitely a combination of many things. Being "home" was a big part of it for sure. Also having Jay make it back from his deployment was a main component. And of course, having our boys at an age where we can truly appreciate with them the essence of Christmas. It was a wonderful celebration of family and togetherness like we've never had before. Scott, Nikki and the girls stayed over on Christmas Eve and that was such a blast. We always have a good time when we're together, but of course the holiday makes it even better. For our Christmas dinner, we had crab....something that is starting to become somewhat of a tradition in our house. I was in no mood to bake this year, but Nikki brought a nice supply of homemade goodies to munch on. And then we were up late playing 80's Trivia, despite knowing that Christmas morning was going to start early. And just like clockwork, the first pitter patter of little feet were heard at 6 AM to see what Santa had brought us. By mid morning my dad had come by bearing gifts and Jay was able to make it through the ice packed streets to bring his mom over to enjoy the festivities. Things didn't slow down til noon, just in time for a good nap!! Then, we had a Christmas party to attend at 3 PM at our friends' Jeff and Carin, where Jay found a new love, the Wii. We also played a new game I received for Christmas called Partini. It was a lot of fun, but disturbing that they refer to 80s music as "classic rock"....Needless to say, the day was exhausting and long, but so much fun and good times were had by all.

Merry Christmas!

We're thinking of you, our wonderful family and great friends, this holiday and wishing you happiness and good fortune in the coming year! Thanks for allowing us to share in your lives as you have in ours. God Bless and Merry Christmas!!

Love,

Jay, Shon, Scotty & Zac

Home for the Holidays!

Jay wasn't supposed to return home until Christmas Eve but I received a message saying they'd be in about midnight on Sunday. I was excited to get him home early, however, not looking forward to treking out into our winter storm to get him in Seattle. Fortunately, we have ferries that can do most of the work for us and avoid driving on the treacherous freeways. My biggest concern was getting from my house in Port Orchard to the ferry dock in Bremerton, as downtown Bremerton is a bit "hilly". However, I was determined to fetch my husband as soon as he stepped off that ship, so I had to go no matter what the weather was doing. I'd been getting messages from Jay throughout the day that they may come in even earlier, so I just decided to leave the house around 5:30. Left the boys with Gram and away I went. The 12 mile, 20 minute trip to the ferry terminal took me almost an hour. I arrived Seattle around 7:40 and made my way down to the Base - fortunately, it's just a straight shot from the terminal. The ID checker at the gate said they'd be in around 10 PM. Okay, so I have to wait a couple hours. At least I am there and all is well. Heidi and I decided to take the opportunity to explore the ghost town of a base. I called Jay to see where they were at around 9:30 and he said they were only about 12 miles away, but they blew an engine so they were slowly chuggin' along. Thus, 3.5 hours after I arrived Seattle, the bow of the ship made it's appearance through the two ice breakers that were moored.

Heidi and I quickly ran over to watch her come in. It was amazing because they had to maneauver that ship between four different ships that were already there, mooring up right next to one (double parking, if you will).

I guess the Coast Guard in Seattle wanted all the cutters to be home for the holidays and the last one in got the rotten parking spot :) O-well. They made it work (thanks to the help of a tug) and he was finally granted liberty at 12:20....just in time for us to catch the LAST ferry to Bremerton! We made it home around 3 AM and the boys woke up to the lovely surprise of their dad back in the house. Zac even had a huge smile, so he remembered his daddy! As much as I've complained about the snow in the past week, I realize that is so minimal and if that is all I've had to complain about, then I'm pretty blessed and I need to just SHUT UP and suck it up. Life could be so much worse, but fortunately it is not. Jay is home safely and our family is going to be all together for the holiday. Life is pretty darn good and we are thankful!

Don't know whether to laugh or cry

20+ years my family has been in the great state of Washington and it has snowed like this maybe a handful of times, if that. Of ALL the freakin' years for it to do it again, it would have to be when I moved back. In my honor, maybe? Did we bring it with us from Alaska? Oh wait, maybe I am IN ALASKA still. Hey, Suzanne, can you go over and knock on my door on Erin Street and see if we still live there because it sure as heck feels like we do! WTH?!?!? Does Juneau even have snow right now?!?! I am so disgusted, I can't even see past my frustration to appreciate the fact that we will have a white Christmas, something that many people can only dream about and some people would love to have. Honestly, I really didn't think I would be picking up a shovel again for awhile. I know this is the Pacific Northwest and there's always a chance of snow this time of year, but NOT Alaska snow. Western Washington doesn't get Alaska snow. This is historic. And ridiculous! All I want for Christmas is a tan.....

Snow? Really? Ugh......

Scotty getting ready to kick snow into Zac's face (so I learned after snapping this pic)

Scotty getting ready to toss a snowball onto Zac's face (again, learned after snapping the pic...)

Heidi, totally in her element.

Mmmm Snow

Zac wondering what he's wearing and why he's out in the cold

There was a time in my life when I couldn't wait for it to snow. Any sign of snow either meant an excuse for a snow day from school or even work and it represented holidays and celebrating and all those lovely things that come with this time of year. I loved it! However, after spending four years in Alaska and practically three of those years having been spent in this blessed white stuff we call snow, I am no longer happy to see it. It does not represent all those lovely things to me anymore. Bah Humbug? Maybe. Okay, I get it, yes it's pretty...blah, blah, blah. It's a pain in the butt to drive in and it's just a big fat inconvenience! So, having said that, you can imagine my disappointment when it started fluttering down it's little white flakes last night. Sure enough, we woke up to nice blanket of it. Only about an inch in all actuality, but an inch can still be a pain when it's freezing cold outside (inch of snow+freezing temps=icey roads). Needless to say, I have no plans to leave the house today. Maybe not even until spring arrives. But I did let the boys out to play because they are kids and snow is the best thing in the whole world to them. What I need is to move to the HOT weather: Florida, So.Cal, Hawaii. I wish there was Coast Guard in Arizona....After that, then, maybe then, I will appreciate the arctic blasts we get in the north.

Zoo Tots Critter Club and other Goings On...

Has it really been two weeks since my last entry? Wow. Time is flying, which is a good thing since Jay will be home soon. Scotty is asking about him more and more and saying that he misses him. It's really quite pathetic so it will be nice to finally have Jay home again. It is my plan to head out to Point No Point for another attempt at a picture of the cutter as it passes us by on it's way to home port, so fingers crossed that I get it this time! Mental Note: CHARGE CAMERA BATTERY. We've been busy the past couple weeks decorating the house and getting ready for Santa's visit. My brother and our good friend, Jeff, came out to the house last Saturday to hang my outside lights. Jeff came equipped with his "Roof Safety Harness" and I have to say, the house looks fantastic! I've always wanted to decorate the outside of the house, but neither Jay nor I have ever wanted to get up high to do it. However, I decided this was the year I was going to have it done no matter what! I can't post any pictures now because Jay wants to be surprised....but the house is quite literally, in my opinion, the prettiest on the whole street! Thanks Scott and Jeff!
Today, the boys and I met our friends, Brian and Becky Chambers, and their two kids at the zoo for their Zoo Tots Critter Club session. It's a class that they host for 3-4 year olds to teach them about a specific animal. It includes a story and a craft and then an introduction to the real live animal. Last time we went, we learned about frogs. Today's animal of the day was a Polar Bear. We heard a story, got a brief history of the animal, and then made a polar bear puppet out of a white paper bag and cotton. Then we all treked out into the cold and on over to the Arctic Tundra part of the zoo where we got to see "Glacier" and "Blizzard" eating their lunch and playing in the water. The boys got a real kick out of it. It's a bit of a challenge to get Scotty to sit still for any length of time, so the classroom session was a bit chaotic chasing Zac around as well as make sure Scotty wasn't bugging the little girl next to him (such a BOY)....but the lesson and the experience is always worth it. And what a day to go to the zoo! It was cold outside, but not crowded, so it makes for a nice afternoon. In fact, we had the entire carousel to ourselves! As you can see Zac wasn't too sure about it at first, but then he warmed up. Scotty was quite the opposite...went running to pick his horse (walrus), but by mid-ride he was asking to stop it and get off. OY!

Thankful

Adult's Table

Kid's Table

Carin, Jeff, Nikki and Scott (the Butcher)

Zac so excited for food!

Scotty and his earmuffs....all the cooking set off the smoke alarms, so Scotty had to wear them and wouldn't take them off until long after the alarm stopped.

The girls: Nik, Shon, Max and Bree

Scotty and Me

This year was bittersweet because we were missing the most important part of our family, Jay, but we were able to host it at our house and spend it with my brother, Nikki, my nieces, Nikki's mom Dianne and her friend, Barb, and our good friends, Jeff, Carin and their two little ones, Alyssa and Alex. It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious! Everyone contributed to the day and a good time was had by all. We topped off the evening with dessert while looking through the ads for all the sales on BLACK FRIDAY, making our shopping lists and figuring out our game plan. Then we played a "quiet" game of Trivia, 90s Edition. We usually play crazy fun games like Pictionary, Catch Phrase, Taboo or Cranium where everyone gets wild and there is always screaming and a lot of laughing out loud. But Zac was sleeping by this time and we had to play it cool. Last time we had game night, we played that simple game called "spoons" and I don't think I have ever laughed harder. If you have ever played it, you will know how crazy it can get; My brother fell out of his chair (probably because I pushed him out of the way for a spoon), Nikki got arm burns from reaching across the table for a spoon, and Jeff and Carin ended up on the floor fighting over a spoon. It is amazing how a set of spoons can get a crowd going! A definite must for game nights, but not when you have a baby sleeping....
So onto Black Friday. I had my nieces stay overnight so I would have babysitters for the boys. I was up at 2:30 AM for some reason, so decided to just get ready for the morning rush. I was on the road by 3:30 AM and headed to Super Walmart. I was surprised when I arrived that people were already going into the store. It wasn't even 4 AM yet! So I followed the crowd. Everything inside the store, down the "action alleys" as they refer to it, was blocked off by CAUTION tape and most of it covered with black plastic. The deal was, they would let us in out of the cold, but we were not to touch anything until 5 AM. The good thing was, it allowed me to wander around the store and scope out the things on my list before the big crowd hit. And so it went at 5 AM, the mad rush of shoppers (no one was trampled to death fortunately at this Walmart), and I was out of there by 5:15. NICE. The rest of the morning went just as smoothly. The biggest wait we had was in Toys R Us, but even that wasn't as bad as I've experienced in the past. Obviously, the state of the economy kept most people at home this year. I was home by 10:30. Needless to say, it was a busy two days, but it was great spending it with people I adore. I am very thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives and even though Jay wasn't here to enjoy the day with us, he was on our minds and in our hearts. He's out doing what he loves, serving our country and keeping us safe so that we can enjoy these times with our loved ones. To Jay and to all our military members around the world that could not be with their families, thank you for all that you do.

NKOTB Rocked the House

NKOTB Fans alive and well in Tacoma

Nikki's guy, Joey

Just like old times

When they showed up mid-crowd

Donnie's looking right at ME!

The Boys....Donnie is looking right at ME again!!

Intro

Tacoma Dome Marquee

Shon & Nikki pre-concert

Taken at the KUBE 93 radio station kiosk

Yes, it's taken me two days to re-coop from my big night at the NKOTB concert. It was quite literally the best concert I've ever been to. They are older, but can still get the crowd going like it was 1988....and just as I suspected, the crowd was made up of gals about my age. Surprisingly, there were a lot of guys. Most accompanied their girlfriends or wives and we wondered how much they were being paid or exactly what was promised in return :) The evening started off at McCabe's Country Bar & Grill, down near the dome. We met our old school friend, Diana, there and had dinner. We decided to stay parked at the restaurant and take a taxi over to the dome, a few blocks away. I didn't take my camera but when we got there, we noticed the millions of girls that had their cameras. WHAT?!? The ticket clearly stated no cameras or recording. So we decided to go in and ask. As I was entering the door, I asked if we could re-enter because I was considering going and getting my camera. The lady said NO RE-ENTRY just as she scanned my ticket! Crap! Well, there goes that idea. But then brilliant Diana remembered that we had one extra ticket because our fourth person backed out. HA! I'll use her ticket to get back in. So 20 minutes til concert time, I called the cab back and had him take me the few blocks back to my car, grabbed my camera, and headed back to the Dome. A $12 cab ride later (thanks Nik), I was happily snapping pictures :) After a half hour of waiting and an hour of opening acts by Lady GaGa and Natasha Bedingfield, the New Kids were entering the stage. I don't think I've been more giddy about anything in my life. I know the joke has been that we're trying to be young again or relive our youth....say what you will, but I have to admit, I definitely FELT like a teeny-bopper again. The nostalgia of watching them perform their old songs and hearing those tunes we knew by heart way-back-when was the best feeling ever (their new album of songs is pretty kickin', too). And the cherry on top was at the very end when they left the stage and came back for an encore to my favorite New Kids song, Hangin' Tough. A fantastic way to end a fabulous evening. 15 years ago they walked away from it all and in one night they brought it all back. The best part was sharing the experience with two gals I shared it with 20 years ago. The New Kids still rock the house and I will be a fan forever.

Okay, okay!!

Okay, fine, since many of you just can't understand my excitement for my upcoming concert to the beloved NKOTB, I will stop the gagging now and insert a new post with recent pics of the boys instead. But you can bet, if I can sneak a camera into the Dome, I will be posting pics from the concert on Sunday and your gagging can begin again.....but I'll spare you until then :) For now, here's some pics from recent soccer games and playing at the park.