What!!!!

Elise, what were you thinking! The reason for the blue hair? Duh, to match her blue stretch jeans. My only question is what happens when she wears the peach ones? Uh oh. Ding dong.

Daniels new tie

Today was Daniel's first time wearing a necktie.

And i have to say it is the hardest thing ever!

wow.

I googled "how to tie a tie" and i got this video...watched it...and got even more comfused. it was NO help.

So instead of us girls trying to do it, he asked the missionaries.

He figured it out.

well "my show is on"

Luv u guys

♥Elise:)

The abominable Richard

So today my mom thought that it would be an excellent idea to make a snowman...You probably are thinking "Yeah, thats a good idea...Whats wrong with making a snowman?" Well what you and i didnt know that the top layer of snow wasnt just snow...It was ice. So imagine Daniel, my Mom, and I bundling up in our long underwear, hats, sweatshirts, and gloves, walking outside all giddy and excited and the snow turned out to be ice. I was on the butt making committe, my Mom was on the tummy committe (Wich I must say was the best tummy I've seen in a LONG time) Haha. And Daniel self-appointed himself on the head-making committe. It was so much fun:) Well I'm gonna go drink some hot coco:)

Luvs♥Elise

Richard the football fool!

The one picture is my lawnmower in the back yard, a little ghetto yes, and I probably should've put it away. But it is to illustrate the snow depth. The other three are Richard, in at least 6 inches of snow clearing off the car and his work van. The games he wants to watch we don't have at our house, so he has to get to his mom's house. For any of you out there who were in doubt that he's a football fanatic, I hope this proves it once and for all!

Greg, keeping our streets safe.

Todays blog will focus on Greg, a little mentioned, but big loved part of our family! He works for the city, and since this weather began has been required to work 16 hour shifts, 7 days a week. So for everybody who thinks they're not trying to clear the streets, they are! Long hours in the cold. From what I can tell he drives the red truck full of sand with the plow on the front, working on his assigned streets, then when the sand is gone, he goes down under the Warren Ave bridge and hops in the yellow one to fill up his truck. Way too hard work for me! I know most of us don't like driving in it to get where we need to go, never mind for 16 hour stretches. I thought it was pretty cool!

The New Saints Hat

This is Richards new Saints hat, I don't really know what to say about it, except it seemed like we ought to take a pic and share it with everyone. Yes, it lights up in the dark. Jealous everyone? I know, I am too. BTW, they lost today.

Christmas decorating strike is over!

This is our tree for the season. I've decided I'm on Christmas decorating strike this year, mainly because when my house was robbed last March, all my Christmas stuff was taken. We now all know it was Mickey, so I'm too upset to buy all new stuff. I got home from work this morning after having one of the worst nights in a long time, exhausted and stresed. And what do I see? My daughter and my Richard had bought a tree, all new decorations and put it up as a surprise for me. Need I say more?! Ahhhh.

My two pregnant sisters. Never thought I'd say that!

So next time we see Mandy will be in a year for NEXT christmas, unless of course we visit her. She'll have a 6 month old and Theresa will have a 10 month old. Very cool! Then my Richard can get his baby fix and I don't have to have one! yae! But really, we're so proud, these babies are getting born into some pretty cool families, with lots of love.

Thanksgiving! We have lots to be thankful for!

Monroe fell asleep in his chair the second the food was ready. Too cute!

We get to sing christmas carols every thanksgiving with our family, some protest, but it is a favorite! This was Daniels first year with this tradition, I think he liked the gumdrop turkey tradition better. We got to start the day at Richards parents house with his sister and her kid Michael. That was very nice, share in their football tradition, which is new to Elise and I. At one point I think we had 6 of us cooking in the kitchen, lots of fun!

Then we went over to my sisters (Theresas) house where most of our family was. Dinner, some presents, Christmas carols, dessert. Then most of us went out to Silverdale and watched Bolt, a new Pixar movie that's out, very funny!

Richard and I were over whelmed by how lucky we are to have 2 great families and so much love, when some people don't even have one. We really realized it today when we got to spend so much time with both, of course the food didn't hurt anything either!

Daniels first basketball practice, EVER!

I'm tired so it will be short. This is his first basketball practice ever. I think he did really good, I was really proud of him. He just went out there and joined in with the rest of the boys like he'd been doing it every day! Day one, he learned how to do a layup, and does it great. Anyone want to challenge him to a little 1:1? Grandma Joelene, I've seen your basketball moves!

Elise's Soccer Banquet

Elise had her soccer banquet at Roundtable Pizza in Silverdale. Other than the fact that is took us 55 minutes to get our 1 pizza, it was actually the best pizza we'd had. The picture on the right shows Elise's trophy, it's legs, hands and head move, kinda cool. Their team did okay this year, played all the way into the Presidents Cup (playoffs). They were invited to take a wild card spot and go on, but declined because it's too far away and most these girls are already into basketball. This is her 4th year of soccer, 3rd with this team.

As ya'll look at my pics, just think how nice it would be to buy me a new, nice camera. Then the pictures could be so much more beautiful! heehee.

Gumdrop Turkeys

I haven't figured out how to make the pictures move. But here's Elise's pics of the kids doing gumdrop turkeys, a family tradition around here. Daniel got to go, his first time making these delicious turkeys. Bambi, if you don't know what they are, let me know! Or maybe you and Mandy could sit down and make some. heehee.

Lumpia

Apparently not everyone knows what Lumpia is. It is the fillipino version of the eggroll; working in the medical field around here I work with lots of fillipinos (not sure why), so it is a dish i'm familiar with. They're brought in all the time, sometimes for no reason, but especially for potlucks.

Lumpia is a version of egg roll deriving from The Philipines and around Indonesia. There a many variations of lumpia. Fillings can contain various mixures of pork, beef, shrimp, vegetables, and sometimes fruit. Wrappers are made from flour & water, or cornstarch, eggs, & water.

We love our Missionaries!!!

To the right is our before picture, what I thought I'd tackle today. The Large Leaf Magnolia was beautiful when blooming, but not so beautiful now. A complete layer of leaves! I went to moms, borrowed her leaf blower, got the gas, mixed it with the oil, but couldn't figure out how to start it. I buy plug in stuff; plug in lawnmower, hedgetrimmer, weedeater, that way I can use my stuff. This gas powered stuff I don't know much about, had a choke switch and then another switch that can point to a turtle or a rabbit. Hmmm. I googled online and couldn't find a manual, texted a few of the guys I know for instructions; no luck. So I gave the missionaries a buzz. They said they were just leaving and would drop right by. Four of them showed up, raked and leaf-blowed the entire front yard, back yard, sidewalk and driveway! And they showed me how to use it because in about 2 days I'll need to start all over again, there's still more leaves in the tree! So the picture on the right is before, picture on the left is after.

Elise's Soccer Tournament

Hey people its me Elise again!

We had our game today...It wasnt a playoff or anything but the more points we accumulated(sp?) at this game the higher our team ranked....Were 2nd out of 3 teams so thats good? I think. But we played yesterday and won...against a different team. I was goalie 1st half and let three balls get past me. Jen was goalie 2nd half, let 4 past her...But we had fun! I got in trouble because i body checked a girl on the other team...haha. We didnt get any goal:((( But its ok. We still play on Saturday. And as u probably know, our game is in Chimacum...That town is smaller than Gorst!!! But Icky Ricky said that alot of famous peole have eaten there. But all the schools are literaly right next to eachother. But the feilds are really nice!! Hmmm. Well, as Mandy would say, My shows on i gotta go!!

Love u guys,

Goodnite!

Daniels Football Banquet

This is Daniel's end of season Banquet/potluck. My favorite part (since I'm writing the blog today) is that I picked up lumpia from the Lumpia Factory for the potluck. Throughout we heard people talking about how it was so good and that I made it. Ha ha! One kid actually said "You like that lumpia? Daniel's mom made it." Anyone who knows me knows how crazy that is. But he got a trophy, had a good time, and came back home to being grounded.

Daniel, our caretaker.

hi this daniel for the last three to two days i have been taking care of my dad tab and elise because they are sick and im the only one!!!!!!!!!!!not sick

Elise is sick.

This is Elise, pretending to be sick. No, she's really super sick. Took her in and found out she has bronchitis. So the good doctor ordered an albuterol inhaler. We went to the pharmacy to pick it up, in the car I showed her how to use it. As soon as she breathed it in she doubled over in pain, crying and screaming out. She said it hurt her lungs. Ran back to Prompt Care, full speed, running a few red lights (she was having a hard time breathing, wouldn't you!) Got in there, we had 2 doctors with her checking her and making sure she was gonna live. Long story short; Ivy shows up, came to my rescue since I was a little stressed. The doctor actually asked if Ivy was her mom because Ivy was hugging her and rubbing on her back. I guess I need to step up my empathy a little bit. They did give her some benadryl, so Ivy pretty much had to carry/drag Elise out to the car. But we're home now! Did ya'll hear, Richard has pneumonia, took him in this morning. So don't breathe in my house or you'll get sick. Elise also has a migraine and has been out in the front yard throwing up. How lovely!

This is our latest venture, me and Elise. We're gonna undersand football if it kills us! I have a feeling football is gonna be in our live for a long time now with Richard and Daniel, and Andrea and Greg, so Elise and I better at least attempt to board that train! It would be nice to understand a little bit of what's going on instead of just wondering why people are cheering. So we ordered the book and we're gonna give it a go! Wish us luck. If I could just figure out who the quarterback is I'd be happy!

Oohh, this is sick Richard. He thinks it's the flu, I'm the nurse and I've diagnosed him with 'big baby syndrome.' All I hear is 'honey, bring me soup, bring me juice, should i take the vicodin or hydrocone/acetaminephen (which is the same thing!)' So I get 4 hours off of work tonight, spend it nursing the big waaaahh baby. Good thing I love him so much. At least now we know where Daniel gets it from. LOL! Unfortunately that's as exciting as our day today has gotten! -Tab.

Hey people! Its Elise.

Tonight we decided to have the all famous CHEESIES. CHEESIES are the best thing in the world. I would eat the best meal in the world and throw it up to have room for CHEESIES!!!!! Thats how much i love them!The word CHEESIES comes from the Grandma word DELICIOUS. Yes, oh yes, they are yummy! May I add that the missoinaries have inpeckible timing...we were just mixing the CHEESIES together and they walked in the door. They loved them. Elder Rivera(left) and Elder Cook(right) ate three each...Some men come back from their mission a few punds heavier while others a few punds lighter...I have a feeling Rivera and Cook will be the "lucky" ones to have gained a few ponds! lol. Every time they come over we have less food than before!!! HaHa.

hey guys,

its richard( proud papa). today was daniels playoff game for his first season of football. As it turned out it was also the last game of the season. This was an excellent experience for myself and daniel.

About 2 1/2 months ago none of us knew what to expect. I certainly had no idea of the progress he would make in just those couple of months. he has gone from the kid who was on the ground every play and never knowing which body part to hold, to the guy who on consecutive plays faught his way through the offensive line and nearly got a sack in the backfield, then followed that up with a fumble recovery on the very next play,( and i dont care what the refs called he had the ball and was down).

And all of this from the guy who hadnt played for any organised team sport until this year. video games to the gridiron yee haw.

As i said in the beginning proud papa.

final score our warren ave knights 6 silverdale 30. but what a great season.

Thats all for now time for b-ball. have a great day.

Halloween. 2008.

I guess I need a better camera, but that's ok. Daniel, Elise and friend Monica on the left. Daniel is a ninja/transvesite (purse/pose), Elise is a referee, Monica an 80's rocker. They all came up to work to visit me, as I am playing nurse tonight.

Then another pic of Richard, can we have too many? His shirt says "i dont do costumes." He send me to work with a big bag of candy, then when i whined brought me in bags of chocolate too! What a sweetie... ahhhh.

So this is our family, the cute part anyways. We have Chicken, our pet rat. Does he taste like chicken? I don't know, but Elise was eating chicken when she got him home and thought that was a good name. We also have to the right our little fishies, there are some in there, but it has become more of an 'end of life' center for fishies, they dont last long in there. But we have fun picking out new ones every time, they're a cheap, easily replaeable pet.

Ocean Shores:
This weekend Richard and I went to Ocean shores without any kids! It was very nice. And we learned that we compromise wonderfully; I like to sleep, he likes to play poker. So anytime I was ready to sleep, he was ready to go play at a tournament at the nearby casino. We had some fun times, like when he decided to venture out on the spit a little too far, ended up wet from a huge wage from neck down, without a change of shoes. I realize he could've slipped, hit his head and died, but it was too funny to stop laughing! He did get some good pics out there though. Check out our Flickr.