Yakasmack

This weekend I went to Yakima to visit my dad’s side of the family. I spent time with my Nana, Papa, Dad, and brother. We had a pleasant visit. Johanna rode with me over the mountains because she has family over there as well. I dropped her off at her aunt’s house on Saturday morning and headed over to my nana’s house. When I got there, my Nana greeted me with a big hug and smile. We went inside and caught up a bit. See, she just found out about 2 weeks ago that she had cancer… thankfully only stage one. (She went in for surgery on Tuesday and they think they removed all of it… praise God!) Then Dad came over and so did Darren (my younger brother). Nana took us out to lunch at my favorite burger joint in Yakima. Burger Ranch. I love their juicy, messy burgers and crinkle fries. After that she took us shopping. Nana loves to shower us with gifts. She bought me new pots and pans! The best part is that they are red and they match our kitchen! I’ve already cooked several meals with them and I’m very grateful for my gift! Thanks Nana!

Later that evening Dad took Darren and me out… we went to this “Fun Center” that Darren wanted to see and play Guitar Hero. Dad and I played air hockey a few times and he kicked my butt. We also played some hunting games and I had my turn in kicking his butt. =0) after that we picked up some pizza, took it back to Nana’s and played games all night with them.

The next morning I woke up, and while everyone was either at church or sleeping, I went for my “long” run. I drove down to a local school and jogged 5 miles on the track. It was a beautiful morning and it felt great to get out and exercise after pigging out the day before. When I came back Dad, Darren and I went over to my Grandpa Don’s house to visit him. He showed me his motorcycle… but would not give me a ride! But he at least let me sit on it and take some pictures… lol. I told him that next time he is definitely taking me out for a spin.

That about wrapped up my weekend with the fam. So I said my goodbyes and picked up Johanna on my way out of town. Like I said, it was a pleasant visit, and I had fun with my family. I will look back on this weekend and cherish it.

Catching Up!

Let's play catch up from January of this year...

January 1st: We started the New Year with a weekend at ocean shores. Anna's family has a cabin there. There was a large group with us. We spent the weekend eating, playing games, doing puzzles and relaxing.

January 16th: My roommate, Julie and I spent a week in Oahu. Our friends were gracious enough to let us use their time share in Waikiki. The weather was warm, and beautiful the entire time. We laid on the beach, read, relaxed, kayaked, hiked, parasailed and went to a Luau. Julie is the BEST travel partner! She is so laid back and relaxed.

February 6th: Anna and I went for a hike... it was a gorgeous sunny day, so we decided to head out to north bend. We hiked at this place called "Twin Falls". We packed a snack and ate at the "top".

February 14th: Jason invited some friends over for a Valentines day brunch! We were required to bring food, and a gift for a "V-day gift exchange". So we all gathered the most cheesy, mushy, love sick items that we could find, to wrap up and give to one another. It was "white elephant" style... so we didnt know what we were getting. I thought it was rather fun. I ended up with a country singing frog, a pound of coffee and chocolate. Other gifts recieved included a CD - Marvin Gaye's Hits, a mixed CD, a creepy little statue of a cherub-hippy that read "I love you this much" and much more.

February 26: We hosted a girls night. We chatted, fellowshiped, goofed around, ate lots of food, and watched a chick flick!

February 28th: I invited my family over for Justin and Kim's birthday. We had a barbeque and played games outside. The kiddo's are sooo cute! William and Annabell are getting SO big! Will has the best smile!

March 6th: The "Kelly Fasset Fan Club" gathered at the Kent ShoWare Center for a Thunderbirds hockey game. There were a group of 22 of us! We lost horribly. But we still managed to have a good time! They were giving out these free wrist bands... seriously? Who wears those these days?

Polka dot aprons!

Yes Ma’am! My fun-tastic roommate Anna MADE me an apron for Christmas, and I just love putting it to use! I was in the kitch today, and decided that I wanted to try something new. So I pulled out my favorite recipe book, "Sharing Our Best" it's one of those group made recipe books from a church in Plains, MT. I love it because they are all from real people with helpful tips... and most of the ingredients in the recipes, you can find in your cupboard! They are super practical.

I finally settled on Swedish meatballs. I followed the directions, thinking that they sounded a bit bland, but who was I to judge? I had never made them before.... Well it turns out... they were bland. And I had to hurry up and throw some of this and that in it before it was too late. I served them over brown rice and had steamed asparagus as side dish. YUM! I tried steaming veggies tonight for the first time in our rice cooker, and it worked out well! They were fresh, FAT free, and tasty.

I also made a yellow cake from scratch tonight. I like to make cakes for my coworkers when it's their birthdays... and I didn't feel very challenged about making a yellow cake from a box. So I rolled up my sleeves, hopped on the internet and found "Dave's Yellow Cake" recipe on Allrecipes.com. It had great reviews, so I decided to take the plunge and see how it would turn out. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when everyone is eating it! =0)

Fro Yo!

I experienced Menchies last night for the first time. It was, to say the least, FABULOUS! It's a frozen yogurt shop, and you basically build your own treat. You start out with a cup, choose your flavor(s), add your candy/fruit toppings and finish it off with syrup if you like. Since it's a build your own desert, it's all paid for by weight. So you can have as many flavors as you like as well as toppings. It's truly delightful. If you have kiddos, this is the place for you! Actually, it's great for every age...

I forgot about "The Great Divorce"

All day today I was looking forward to going out and spending a bit of my tax return on new running clothes. I had read in my training book that the second most important thing, besides actually training for a half marathon is using the right gear. Almost everything I own is cotton, and that is a big no no in the running world. I have the right shoes, just not the right clothing. So after work I ventured off to Kent Station to take a look at the sales racks in Road Runner. As I was pulling into the parking lot I received a phone call from Anna... it went a bit like this...

Kelly: "Uhm. Hello?"
Anna: "Hi!"
Kelly: "What's up?"
Anna: "Are you excited for tonight?"
Kelly: ... tonight... crap whats tonight? what is she talking about? What did i forget about now?
Anna: "Where are you? Are you on your way?"
Kelly: Suddenly I remember... The PLAY! "Oh yeah! The play, of course I remember, I'm on my way, I went out of my way, but now I will turn around and head up to Seattle! I'll see you in a bit!"

OK, so i TOTALLY forgot that i was going to dinner and a play with Anna and her friends tonight. It was at the Taproot Theatre in Seattle. It was on my calendar, but completely out of my mind. All week I had been planning to go shopping on Wednesday, and every day I looked at my calendar and saw "Taproot, 7:30pm Wednesday". I guess it just didn't click.

Anywho, I got to Seattle, found Anna in a coffee shop around the corner and then we went to Romio's for dinner. The service was awful! I'm not kidding, we were there for an hour and a half... we had to ask for the menu, our silverware and our checks. The food took an hour to get to us and service was very slow. I guess I wont be going there again. But the company was good. We had a whole 3 minutes to spare before the play started... it's a good thing that taproot was nearly next door to the restaurant.

The play was very interesting. We saw "The Great Divorce" which is a play based off of CS Lewis's book. I haven't read it, but I'm sure I would have understood the play way better if I had. The actors were quite good, they were able to play multiple characters and transition into them easily. I was impressed by their talent. I always enjoy Taproot's productions. And the theatre is nice and cozy... there isn't a bad seat in the house.

Over all, it was a good evening. I'm so glad that Anna called me when she did... otherwise this would have been a completely different blog.

Good night!

Goodbye Facebook, hello blogging!

I gave up facebook for Lent this year.... (this year, as if I have ever given up anything for lent before.) And the funny part is... I'm not even sure what Lent is all about. My church doesn't "support it" nor do they mention anything about it... So all I know is that some people "sacrifice" something for forty days... some make it without stumbling, some don't. So I thought that I would try it out... you know, "sacrifice" something for the next 40 days... and see if any good actually comes out of it. The reason why I'm doing this, is because I feel that I waste a lot of time on facebook. Time that could be directed to strengthening my relationship with the Lord. So in place of FB, I plan on reading and studying scripture, or when feeling tempted to sign on, I'll use that time to pray. See the goal is to refocus... to cut out some distractions.

So here I go... on my forty day journey to cut FB out of my life. Will I succeed? We'll see.

Crazy Aunts, Mariners games, and bowling

My Aunt Lorrelle, Uncle Mike, and my Cousin Megan came up for a visit last weekend. They drove up from Portland to go to a Mariners game and they stayed with me while they were here. They arrived on Saturday around 2pm and we all went out to lunch at "Bahama Breeze". After that we went bowling at Acme Bowl.... Mike kicked out butts... and Megan just gave up after a couple of frames. Then we drove up to Seattle for the Mariners game. We were playing the Red Sox. I am not exaggerating when I say that the stadium was filled with Red Sox fans. It was probably 80% RS fans VS 20% Mariners fans. It was a sad day. We lost 3 - 5. But it was still a fun game and we had a good time rivaling against the other team.

Sunday we woke up had breakfast and went to church. Mike had seen Pastor Mark down in Portland and he wanted to check out Mars Hill. So we drove up to Ballard for church. On the way up there we nearly had a horrific accident on I-5. But God graciously saved us from death. It was SCARY! I wont go into details, but trust me when I say that God was and is with us! Amen! After church we went out to lunch at the "Rain forest Cafe" in the south center mall. The food was fantastic and we all left very, very full.

It was a great weekend with the fam. I'm so glad that they came up for a visit!

A rainbow of tulips

The other day I took a drive up to Skagit County to see the ever so popular "Tulip Festival". It was well worth the drive. I went by myself, and I'm so glad I did. It was a beautiful day and I had a chance to relax and to spend time with the creator, enjoying his creation.

I stopped and ate lunch at this cute little diner called "the coffee corner". I came in and sat down on a bar stool at the counter. There were a few other people there. Two old men were sitting in a booth playing cards, a couple of business men were obviously there on their lunch break, and another man also sitting at the counter reading the paper. I sat and chatted with the owner who was making my lunch on the other side of the counter. We talked about his life, tourists, and how his wife owned the restaurant across the square called "The lunch Box". I thought it was a very clever business move to own two restaurants right next to each other, both offering completely different lunch menus.

Anyways, I finally made it to the flowers, and this is what I found.

Annabell Kay Haaby

On April 13th my niece Annabell was born. She was 7lbs 11oz, and 21 inches long. She is a beautiful little girl and we are so very happy to welcome her into our family.

As you can imagine, Kim was exhausted from the day, but very happy to finally see her precious baby. "Big Bro" wasn't as excited to meet his little sister at first... but he is now very protective of her. The other day my sister took her children into the bank, and a woman went to pick up the baby and Brian Jr. said.... "Hey that's MY Annabell!!!"

Brian Sr. did a great job with taking care of his wife and new born. Kim said that he was very loving and attentive the entire time, and he had a hard time leaving the hospital a couple days later to go back to work. (Kim was in the hospital for a few days because she had a se-section)

This picture was taken a week after she was born. I absolutely adore this picture. It makes me crack up. I think this was the first time I saw her open her eyes. She sleeps ALL the time. Even at two weeks old, she is still sleeping for most of the day. So I was lucky to get a picture of her with her eyes open!

Playing catch up.

I know... I know. It's been to long. So lets start with California.

Recently my mom and I took a vacation to Disneyland. She had never been before, and she turns the big 5-0 this year... so I treated her to the most magical place on earth. How a person can go their entire life without going to Disneyland is beyond me... but we had a blast!!! We flew in to LAX on a Saturday, and we waited to be picked up by a couple of my mom's friends who decided to drive down the same week. We checked into our hotel room and headed straight towards downtown Disney. They had all sorts of little shops and restaurants. It was a busy evening and we had fun wandering around under the warm California sun.

On Sunday we woke up early and headed to Universal Studios with our friends Jay and Miriam. It was a beautiful sunny day out and we enjoyed the theme park very much. Mom liked the Jurassic park ride the most, and The Mummy was my favorite.

We spend Monday thru Wednesday at Disney Land and California Adventures. It was so fun to see my mom's face light up with awe and wonder as we walked into Disneyland for the first time.

I was so proud of her! She walked all day everyday and did not complain once! She was ready to see everything and to do it all. She went on every ride, even the ones that she knew would scare the bejesus out of her! I love you mom for being so adventurous on this trip! Your attitude made it so enjoyable!

Mom did not know that I was recording her while we were on the roller coaster! Listen to her laugh and scream... its hilarious.

We ran into a few interesting "characters" while we were there.

Mom and I both enjoyed pirates of the Caribbean and the Indiana Jones ride. We also liked the tower of terror and Soaring over California in California adventures... and i LOVED the big roller coaster behind the sun wheel at C.A. I thought my mom was going to pee her pants.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do this with my mother. It is a precious memory that I will always have of us spending time together.

Happy Birthday Justin and Kim!!!

My older brother and sister have birthdays in February. Actually, they are two years and 3 days apart. So growing up they always had their parties together. (And they will never let my mother forget how dreadful it was to have to share their bday with each other) Today was no different. I invited Kim, Justin and their families over for dinner tonight to celebrate.



My brother and his little boy William.

Seriously? The 7 month old is almost as big as the 7yr old. They are such hams!!!

I made lasagna for the very first time by myself... which is a lot of work by the way... I never realized how long it took. I think it turned out alright. And we had Kim's favorite cake for desert. (Chocolate) Afterwards the kids played some games and watched a movie while the adults played Scene It. It was so much fun to be able to have them over to my place and be able to make dinner for them. I am so blessed to have siblings that get along and that like to hang out with one another.

Always a bridesmaid, never a.....

My good friend Rachel got married on January 3rd 2009. The lovely ladies in the green dresses are my roommates. It was a beautiful wedding, and it went perfectly! Rachel was a stunning bride, and her prince charming looked dashing in his tux. If I had to choose my favorite part of the whole day, it would have to be getting ready for the wedding. Rachel was filled with anticipation and giddiness, and we had so much fun "dressing up". They were married at the Belle Chapel in Snohomish County. The church is used solely for weddings. It was such a privilege to be standing next to Rachel as her Maid of Honor during the ceremony... she is my first close friend to be married. It's odd to think of her having a husband, but then again, I couldn't imagine her life without Zach. It was fun being able to catch up with old friends at the reception and to see the two families united through this marriage. I also caught the boquet, and in the process knocked down the competition. =0)

What a wonderful Christmas!

This year was truly one of the best Christmas's that I can remember. Everyone in my family was more cheerful, loving, understanding and compassionate with one another! And the best part of all, God was given all the glory!



Here are the girls cutting a rug and dancing with joy in front of the tree. What is funny is that Brian Sr. and Brian Jr are the ones who started the dancing. It was SO cute to see father and son playing together so happily! (They got away before I could take a picture of them!)

Here is Grandma with all the kiddos. Lu-Lu (4), William (5 months), Brian Jr (2), Hannah (7)

All the grandchildren had their picture taken with Grandma. This one was my favorite.

My sister Kim is nearly 6 months prego. Here is her Christmas belly shot. We are hoping to find out if it is a girl or a boy. Her next doctors appointment is in a couple of weeks.

Brian was having fun pushing Cousin Will around in his "car". I don't know that William was enjoying it as much as Brian was.

This is Brian showing off his new outfit from Santa. It was hilarious. He opened the gift and immediately started taking his clothes off and putting this outfit on. He was a little grumpy when I stopped him from all of his fun to get a picture of him in his new Christmas gift.

Bye bye! I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas, and that you were all able to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, and thank God for his precious gift of Jesus Christ.