Done that.

If we go over the river and through the woods we really do end up at Grandmas.  And as you can tell from the photo evidence Grandma and Grandpa are doing about the same, still smitten after all these years.

Our nephew Kelly returned from his mission to St. Louis more handsome and entertaining if that is even possible. 

And just to be different we took a detour to Snoqualmie Falls.  There was something wrong with having never been.  So been there.

Beaches

Is it still Spring Break if you go somewhere that it is fall?

Lonny has been in Peru for the last month. Well that is not exactly true. He has also been to Bolivia, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador. I arrived in Peru over WA Spring Break.

Lonny and I sometimes watch House Hunters International and we could have done an episode last week. I now have a boatload of information I did not know to ask in my previous life.

Saturday we went to the beach in Lima.

It was the usual, sand, ocean, cactus.

Sunday we went to the beach in WA. We were waiting for Emily's flight in from OK.

It was the usual sand, ocean and no cactus.

Lake Sammamish

I have taken quite the vacation from blogging. It was not so relaxing yet not so strenuous as running some 13 miles yesterday.

Emily, two friends and her two young women leaders ran the Lake Sammamish half-marathon on Saturday. The girls had a training schedule. Sometimes they ran, walked, or puddle jumped to prepare. And yesterday they all crossed the finish line. Nobody died. Emily only threw up three or four times. She has let it be known she is never running again.

Nowhere to go

I think Lonny had been here about 10 days when we were snowed in for a week. Every night it would snow and school would be canceled again. Emily was not arguing about sleeping in. With no homework she could have gone another couple of weeks with that monotony.

I think Lonny left the house everyday. He took Emily to piano lessons on some treacherous mountain peak. He took Emily to the dentist. He got the oil in the car changed. He picked up essentials, like donuts, when we ran out. That four wheel drive was worth every cent in those blizzard conditions. Look, the snow is almost to the top of Emily's flip flops. Some people have expressed concern about Lonny spending the day at home. But he is not afraid to leave.

Groundhogs were not alone spotting their shadow in February. And you know what that means....the sun is out. (And by the way that tree trunk looks much more substantial with Jenny, Jon, Kirsten, Colton, Eric and Emily sitting on top.) We had sunny days for walks to Cap Sante Park and the marina. Lonny may have come home with this boat if he had the checkbook.

This is the memorial for those lost at sea from Anacortes. (Emily refers to those from Anacortes as Annacordians.) Sadly there is ample room for more names. I became interested in this subject when I discovered the family whose home we purchased is a prominent fishing family with a commercial fishing boat disaster in their history. In fact the worst fishing boat disaster in US history up until that point. I read the book.

Lonny and I also hiked on Whidbey Island right straight across from the house. Mt. Baker is in this photo but covered in snow and too faint to see, but it is right there in the middle. You will probably just have to take my word for it.

And there is our house. Right there.

And Deception Pass Bridge. That is how far it is from the house.

So do not fret about Lon E. being retired. Life is good.

Uh huh, yeah, that is Emily's photo, third from right, over the main office doorway of the high school. She didn't know she was student of the month for careers and business until someone pointed out the 8x10 glossy of herself. She has been trying to create a diversion ever since, attempting to distract her fellow classmates from noticing, when walking through the front door of the school.

I had to pick her up from school early last week and while loitering in the hallway, could not resist taking the picture.

And in further news, she now has completed the requirements to be recognized as a Microsoft Office Specialist for Office Excel. She has the certificate, just waiting for the congratulatory call from Bill.

Do they offer the Microsoft Office class anywhere but WA?

Rise and Shout

The cougars were out. We were fortunate to see BYU play a few times in our neck of the woods over the last several years. Lonny and Jonathan went to the Armed Forces Bowl with family friends from Tulsa. Here's Catherine and her friend with Cosmo.

And Mary Kate and Cosmo.

BYU barely pulled out the win over Tulsa. Lonny was texting me during the game about how horrible it was. Only the final score matters so all's well that ends well. Lonny thought the military honors were impressive. Jets flew overhead and a military sky diving team dropped into the stadium. Each branch of the military was honored, medals were awarded and people were sworn into military service during halftime. I don't think they were taking volunteers at that point but maybe they got a few recruits after the game.

Lonny, Jon and an old friend that we miss very much since moving to WA.

So, this is Christmas

Every year I want to be obvious about what we are celebrating. I would love to have December 1st arrive with the decorating, shopping, wrapping, sending, and card writing completed. This year was different. The moving, unpacking, traveling, house selling, retiring and distance from Lonny curtailed some early holiday preparations.

We only had three weeks between our return from Thanksgiving until our departure for Christmas. Twenty one days of dance recital, The Nutcracker, Choir concert, a new calling, visiting, shopping, card making, baking, partying, cleaning, packing and Emily insisted we decorate for Christmas.

It definitely was more festive with the tree, although it stood guard over only 2 presents. The presents were under Jen and Jon's tree.

We had the traditional Christmas Eve where I am always reminded of the blood, sweat and tears that made this piano performance possible.

This year Kirsten played too. Her mom is her teacher. Emily played a guitar solo but you will have to take my word for it, no photo.

Then came matching pajamas.

For the kids too.

Colton is in this picture, it's not that Max has four feet.

Now you see him,

and then Max is done.

Emily took over,

then Colton was done.

And just so typical for Christmas morning, Santa had already come and gone. We missed him, so we went to Church. The presents waited for our return.

Max and his zoo. And his mullet.

This is some serious business.

Colton and his train attire and his train track.

Emily got a present or six as well. We didn't get to see Geoff and Alayna much since we had them for Thanksgiving and we have to share.

We sure did miss them. They were so close. At least with the other boys a visit was out of the question.

I hope you dance.

The holidays wore some people out.

But not this big guy.

We loved our Christmas with these people. It was nifty.

I think I will address the 2012 cards now.