January
Harrison had his 18th birthday, making all four of our kids officially "adults"! Where did the time go?
We took a trip to NYC to watch Harrison perform at Carnegie Hall with his choir. What an amazing and fun trip it was!
Harrison played Victor Winslow in "13 Past Midnight" - his final play at Bothell High School
February
Arlie had her 19th birthday!
We took a trip to Newport, CA for a conference Jeff had, and then drove to Oceanside to see Grandma Jo.
We had a snow day!
We traveled to Boise, ID for M-L's midwinter break from teaching and Jeff joined for a long weekend.
We went to McCall, ID for a long weekend, visiting our friends Phil and Danielle Custer and experiencing our first ice fishing!
Also in McCall, we tried kick sleds for the first time!
March
We took a snowy trip to Winthrop, WA for their annual hot-air balloon festival!
It was amazing to see all the colorful balloons against the winter sky.
Junie B graduated from obedience classes. Good dog!
We attended the annual Cascade Mountain Man show at the fairgrounds, and Jeff was in full "uniform"!
April
Jeff and I took a bow-making class and crafted our own bows and arrows from vine maple and feathers!
Me trying out my quick bow.
We took a trip to San Francisco for Jeff's ACS conference and Hannah came along!
We went to see the tulips in Skagit Valley!
We took a few senior pics of Harrison.
We went on the first hike of the season - Lord Hill Park, with Junie B. I'm sporting my handmade leather bag - a gift from Jeff!
We took a super fun trip to Seabrook, WA - an idyllic little town on the WA coast with our friend Ananya. We stayed in a cute house, went clamming, walking on the beach, hiking, painting ceramics and more!
May
We said goodbye to our cat, Benjie, who was suffering from a urinary tract disorder. It was a very sad day!
Harrison and Alec went to Prom!
Junie B celebrated her first birthday with treats from the local pet store.
We took a fun camping trip (first time we've had the camper out in two years!) to Cape Disappointment where Jeff channeled his inner Lewis (or is it Clark?)
Harrison went back to his elementary school roots and played marimba for a fundraising concert.
We went to Cottage Lake for Memorial Day and enjoyed kayaking and paddle boarding with Rylie and others!
Harrison performed in his final musical - Young Frankenstein - where he played Dr. Frederick Frankenstein!
June
We had a 50's themed bridal shower for Hayley!
Harrison won an award at the senior memories assembly!
Harrison and Alec performed in Senior Showcase - the final drama production!
Harrison graduated from high school! We have successfully raised all four kids to graduation - and on to college!
We took Harrison and Alec to see Cabaret!
We went to Pride in Seattle!
It was a wild and crazy day!
July
We took a trip to Pacific City, OR to celebrate Jeff's birthday, the 4th of July, and celebrate Heather's health after her double-lung transplant in Nov. 2016. It was a fun family time!
Family on the beach at Pacific City, OR
The Pellows came to town to get ready for the big wedding! Here they are kayaking during the week before the wedding.
We went to Mukilteo Beach after more family came into town for the wedding - the Foxes, and Flower and David. So much fun having family in town!
Hayley and Megan got married!!! It was a gorgeous wedding - look at those beautiful cupcakes and cake made by our neighbor, Lori Trammel.
The newlyweds at the beautiful venue - The Farm and Swan's Trail in Snohomish, WA
It was quite the crowd!
Happily ever after!
Still July.....it was a long month!
We kayaked with good friends, Janet and Dan Church.
We traveled to Boise to attend Aubrey and Zack's baby shower - waiting for baby Fenna!
We attended the big boys' birthday party - Kaden turned 10 and Jackson turned 7!
We took Junie B kayaking on Lake Lowell
Junie B got the royal treatment at the historic Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, OR - pet-friendly!
We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier! (We were traveling for ten days while our hardwood floors were being refinished and new ones installed)
We had a spa night in a hotel in Yakima, WA
August
We went to the 40th birthday party for our friend Kristy Kelsey - Hannah's nanny family that have become good friends.
Hannah celebrated her 22nd birthday! We went to The Rock with the Bedells!
Harrison and his band Bushwhack played their final set on Aug. 9 (also Hannah's birthday). They played together for five years at Jam Academy Music School. What a run!
We fed the homeless with Shower to the People.
We went to the beach and had ice cream.
We went blueberry picking with cute babies!
And we went blueberry picking again with Hannah and her nanny kids Ryder and Makena.
We traveled to Spokane, WA to see Jeff's dad after his heart surgery.
Jeff rode his bike for two days with Obliteride, to raise money for cancer.
We watched the solar eclipse!
Nice glasses!
September
We went to Bend, OR with the Kelseys and others for a fun Labor Day weekend. The whole crew made it - love this pic of all the people I adore.
We floated the river and there were some rapids! Super fun!
Jeff and I traveled to Oceanside, CA again to help Grandma Jo after a hospitalization. Jeff stayed five days and I stayed a total of ten days helping grandma. We stayed in a condo on the ocean.
Jeff and Grandma Jo - besties!
Here we are under the pier at Oceanside.
We went to the Eagles/Doobie Brothers concert at Safeco Field. I wore my Doobie Brothers shirt from 1987!
We went to Molly Moons - a lot!
October
I got a tattoo! And Hell froze over. :)
We went to the pumpkin patch with all the kids (adults, whatever).
We got a great family picture!
Jeff and I traveled to Loveland and Colorado Springs, CO for a conference and our friend Janet went with us. We had a great time hanging out, exploring the sculpture park, visiting Garden of the Gods (twice!), visiting Natalie at college, catching up with old friends, and going to a wild west museum.
The kids carved pumpkins in our absence. We got home the day before Halloween.
November
We had Thanksgiving dinner with our favorite young adults.
We made Junie B wear pajamas.
December
We got a haunted doll that created all sorts of bad luck for us including a big flood from the washer leaking, a flat tire, an unexplained crash in the night, and the dog and cat acting so weird around her. We mailed her away to a friend who wanted her, despite her obvious evil spirit. We still need to sage the house. No more old dolls. #creepy
After we dried the house out and had industrial fans going for seven days, we were able to deck the halls and for the first time ever I bought new matching stockings.
We went to the gingerbread house exhibit at the City Centre - so cool!
We went to Jeff's 1920's themed holiday party at the Seattle Sheraton. Marcia and Deven flew in for my 50th birthday and attended with us. Such a fun night!
I had my 50th birthday! The kids threw me an amazing party with lots of food, friends - and, clearly, drink!
We took the whole family to Leavenworth to play in the snow and see the lights.
I fulfilled my birthday wish of filling 50 stockings for the homeless and distributing them to patrons at Shower to the People.
Here's my stocking crew!
We spent Christmas with the best people on Earth!
Hannah and I went to see The Nutcracker
Santa came!
We got a picture of all of us - such a rare treasure!
The kids at Lights of Christmas - still celebrating even after Christmas. Ashley was here for ten days and we squeezed in all the holiday fun we could.
We rang in the new year with a redneck party. Everyone brought $10 worth of food and drink from the gas station convenience store. Here, Hayley and Jeff recreate their versions of "redneck" from the past and present.
Happy New Year! Can't wait to see what 2018 has in store!
