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.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is a little different this year, it is the first time I was able to decorate my own home. There was definitely a new excitement in the air when we went to pick up our very first Christmas tree as roommates. We set aside a whole day for decorating our home for the holiday season.
There were some challenges though, because three very strong opinionated women, whom grew up in three different homes, all had their own vision of what Christmas should look like in our house.


Anna brought home this "Asian Santa" as we call him. Ashlee and I often stuff him in the corner because he freaks us out.

Ashlee and Anna (mostly Ashlee) had loads of decorations to contribute to our living room. We had so much fun hanging ornaments, putting up lights and listening to our favorite Christmas carols while drinking hot chocolate.

Anna and I had fun setting up this village on our coffee table... It took me back to my childhood when I would go over to my Nana's house and marvel at her little village that lived under her tree. I would spend hours playing with the train and with all the little people that she had set up for us grandchildren. What fond memories that came back to me!

Anna insisted that Santa be in our Christmas picture. I quickly threw him to the other side of this room after this was taken...

And of course this was the result of my actions. =0) I love these girls, and I couldn't ask for better roommates to spend my first Christmas with away from home.