A Faber Gathering!

Sorry for the lack of posts! I'm afraid if I don't get my act together I may lose my loyal followers. It's not really for the lack of wanting to...just the lack of time and the ever present computer issues!! Regardless I'm still here!!This last weekend we gathered as the Faber family. We had some awesome soups and sandwiches and Brett and Jessie put together a great project for the kids. They built Gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. This feat may look easy, but it took some great engineering on the part of Brett!
Of course someone had to keep the lil monkey's busy...a rousing game of duck duck goose!
Jessie helping out Taiji

Cousin Em getting in on the fun!

Always a ham! Young Jake!

Grandma's turn to entertain the monkey's! So Cute!!

Grandpa always has time for a game of cribbage.

I was surprised how much Truman got into this. He was creating garages and carports! Surprised he didn't make a derby shop!

Cousin Luuk decorating!

So much fun and the candy was pretty good too!

I don't think Josie knew she was eating logs for the cabins!

Jessie and her girls!

An over view of the action!

Kali even got in on the action...One candy on the house and one in her mouth!

Truman's finished Product!

Taiji's finished product

Jake with his creation

Erik showing off his hard work!

Now let's eat them!!

Huskies fun x2!!

This has been a tough football year for the state of Washington!! Those Seahawk's, Cougars and especially the Huskies have had a very hard time winning even a game!! However, we still love them and our boys love football. So when tickets fell into Shane's lap he couldn't pass them up. He packed up the boys and some of their friends and took them down to a Huskies Game. The following week I joined them along with several of our friends in an RV that we had purchased at a Auction. It was a ton of fun, very relaxing and the Huskies actually pulled out a win....just kidding, but that would have been cool!! HeeHee!!

Halloween Fun!

Well we made it home for Halloween! I had made sure the costumes were sorta ready before we left...and Stacey helped with Truman's! Kali as our whole family knows fit her costume to a tee...she was and is a little princess! Jake wanted to be a Zombie this year and so we made him into a Football Zombie that played on the Tombstones for the city of Zombieville! Taiji wanted to be a mummy. This proved to be more challenging then we first expected. I got a sheet tore it up. We wrapped him up in it, not really thinking of the bathroom issues we may face later...also not thinking of how movement would change the look. Well as you can see in the progression of pictures he looked different at each stop. Now Truman on the other hand, he's starting to get to cool for us. He went to the football game with his friends and then graced us with his presence for about 3 minutes while getting in to costume. All in all it was a great night and the kids made out with more candy then they need and we...well we survived!!

The final installment!!

I would be remiss if I didn't have one last post of our amazing vacation...You may be thinking is was awesome because we were in Puerto Rico with the sun and tropics, but you would only be half right. It was amazing because of the great people that we met and the awesome family we came home to!! Juan was our bartender the whole time we were there! He took care of us and we really appreciated the great service! The last night we were given drink tickets from our friends Rory and Mandy who had to leave a little early. They hooked us up and Juan made a great drink!! A Grey Goose, Dirty Martini, straight up! Yumm-o...but one was enough!!
Bill and Geris was a couple that we met on our first night at the resort. They took us under their wing. We kinda invited ourselves out to dinner with them and they accepted! We were fast friends and ran into them the whole week! This is my shout out to them since they said they would be checking! Thanks guys!
This is Rory and Mandy! They were so great! They made this trip so much fun and adventurous! We look forward to many more PC councils with you guys!!

...and of course this trip would not have been what it was if it weren't for Shane. He treated me like a queen and we shared so many memories that we will have for a lifetime! Thanks Honey!!

Last but not least....my family!! (that includes you guys, Guela and Stac) It is always so hard to leave the kids behind, but Stac and Guela filled in our shoes so well I think the kids didn't even know that we were gone!

The picture above is what we came home to! A amazing birthday cake and homemade birthday cards! What a family we have!!

We are so blessed!

Thanks for taking this little journey with us!

Puerto Rico Last Day

Here is the last day spent in Puerto Rico. It was very relaxing with no agendas. Time at the beach....a few more moijito's and of course a few more pictures of our friends the iguana's!

This is the closest picture you will see of me in my swimsuit!

And since you got to see my feet in shoes....I thought I would give my piggies a fair shake!

I found this stud on the beach...I even convinced him to come home with me!

One last glance at the pool at twilight!

Puerto Rico Day 6

Another day another adventure or adventures I should say!! We were very fortunate to meet up with a couple that we had met at last years meeting in Arizona. They are fun, young and adventurous!! They made Puerto Rico sooo much fun! They rented a car and we headed into Old SanJuan. We had no idea where we were going but that made it even more exciting! We walked, talked, laughed, ate, drank and took pictures!! This one below I will title lost in old San Juan!! It was really beautiful. The old buildings, bright colors and views were amazing!
Right along the water next to an old fort was this amazing cemetary. You really felt like you were experiencing a piece of history!

There is a wall that surrounds most of old San Juan.
Here we are on our thrones...soaking in the experience!
Now this picture...well it really doesn't do the experience justice. Let me explain....we heard from one of the locals about a place called illumincent bay. It is a place that is protected and when you kayak out in the night time you can see the plankton light up. What does that mean you say...well it was that question that found us on Kayaks in the middle of the night rowing through a narrow canal to a lagoon. When there...after running into several other kayaks and trees it was amazing. When the water moves the plankton light up, as well as the fish. Of course wanting to document this experience I fumbled with my camera and missed most of the jumping fish....all the while never getting a picture...you will have to trust me that it was awesome! Now not being a true kayaker...I was soaked and hence the force smile on the picture above. I will admit that this kind of adventure is a little out of my comfort zone and when getting in the kayak the first time I kinda had a moment...it was a combo cry-laugh that had me wondering if we would make it out alive....regardless it was a blast and we have Rory and Mandy to thank!! So kudos to them for pushing us and kudos to Shane for making it fun even though he did get me wet and ran me into a tree! It is something I will never forget!!
Well we are on our last day and with out R and M we will have to find adventures on our own. I will post more of our adventures when we get home!

Puerto Rico Day 5

Greetings from Puerto Rico. We are having a great and relaxing time! The weather for the most part has been great with the ocasional rain storm. They come quickly and leave quickly! Last night we had a NYL reception dinner that was rained out...but we still managed to have a great time. Here is the view from our Hotel out to the ocean.
This morning while Shane was in meetings I took a walk along the beach...I know I'm a dork...but these shoes were made for walking!!
Here are a couple of pictures from my walk...pretty awesome!

These arethe little guys that join us at the beach. Yesterday the guys next to us had a fruity drink and he crawled right up in his lap and took his cherry out of his drink. I think they are pretty cool...but he better not get that friendly with me!!

More adventures tomorrow....stay tuned!

Puerto Rico Day 3

We are in Puerto Rico!! I would have posted sooner...but me experimenting with a new camera set some strange settings that my computer wouldn't recognize...so you get pictures starting on Day 3, which just happened to be my birthday!! What a great day!! We started by heading out to the golf course, we weren't going to golf...but Shane surprised me and we had a blast. There were about 50 iguanas running around out there and the 16th hole ran along side the ocean! Of course I put the pictures in backwards...what else is new! Birthday Dinner- Sushi...it was no Loft, but it was good!
This is the view from the 16th hole

My muse!

Here is my attempt at a picture of us with the Golf Course in the background...you get to see the grass instead!

Here is the cool view from our room.

I hope to have more installments of our adventures....so stay tuned.

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Today I was able to join Kali's Preschool class at the Pumpkin Patch for their very first field trip! We went to Stoney Ridge Apple Farm in Everson. They have quite the set-up. We've been going there for years and each year gets better and better. They had a great demonstration for the kids and a wonderful tour. We then loaded up on a hay wagon and went and picked out a little pumpkin. The kids did great, and Kali and I had a blast...In fact I think I will take the boys with us tomorrow....stay tuned!!

Seahawks!!

I'm not strong in the multiple posts on one day...but I'm really behind! So I started with the most recent and worked by way back...I think there are 3 posts total! Thanks for letting me get caught up....here's what we've been up to!!I wish I could say that on this beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon the Seahawks broke their losing ways just for us...but as we all know that didn't happen!! BUT...we had a wonderful time with our friends Steve and Lanelle! Lots of laughs...thanks for coming guys!!

My little artist in the making!

Kali created this little master piece the other day.

She loves to 'color' and she loves 'funny facers'. This is her family of 'Funny Facers'. She was very explicit as to who was who. Just thought I would share!

Reno?!?

Yes I know...Vegas is better, but we were able to get cheap airline tickets, and a cheap hotel. This was definitely a trip about watching Football...and that is an understatement...I think that I sat through a total of 24 hours of football...is that possible you ask? Well the guys sat through even more! Yikes!
The weather wasn't great, but that didn't matter. We had three hotels all hooked together and I think we only saw the light of day once in the 3 days we were there! Another Yikes!!
Here's our group...Left to right, Me, Shane, LD, Duane, John and Karla!

Good times were had by all........

But I don't need to go back anytime soon!!

Today she would be 8!!

So hard to believe that Abbey has already spent 6 birthdays in heaven. What a party that must be. Oh, of course I would rather be planning a Barbie Party...hugging my really excited 8 year old because she gets to bring her favorite snack to share with her 2nd grade class...but that wasn't God's plan. So I will remember my Abbey today, grateful for the 2 years and 10months that I was blessed to be her Mommy! I will remember those big blue eyes and that sassy personality, the pink flip flops, green blankie and grey kitty! Oh Abbey...I love you little princess, Happy Birthday!!

1/2 Marathon Madness!!

Another adventure...We (Vonda, Karen, and myself) decided that we would walk the Bellingham Bay 1/2 Marathon...13.1 miles to be exact! We trained (sorta) and then on September 28th we headed in to Bellingham for the big walk. The weather couldn't have been better or the company more enjoyable. Let's just say we were the most entertaining out on the course!! We finished in just over 3 hours. The adrenaline gets pumping....we will see if there is another 1/2 marathon in the future!! 7:00am Still looking a little sleepy and a mite cold!!
Our close up!
We did it!! We did it!! We did it!! Hooray!! (quoting Dora)

Medals and a cool red shirt...what more could a girl ask for!!