What We've Been Up To Lately

Hi everyone - 

The last couple of weeks have been full. We've been doing a lot and just getting out and about.

Chuck, Beth and I went to see the Sound of Music a couple weeks ago. It was in the theaters to celebrate it's 60th year. I didn't realize it had come out that long ago. When it started I got so excited and when it got to this point:

I actually got butterflies in my stomach and I began to tear up! Just hearing the music again was so nostalgic.

Beth and I sang along, but we were very quiet. Thankfully there was no one directly in front of us. :) We were the first ones there. I like to get there early so we aren't trying to find our seats in the dark. Beth goes to karaoke every week and the week after we saw this, she decided to sing Do Re Me.

Beth and I went out shopping last week and stopped for lunch. Reb Robin's fries are the best and she recently discovered their honey mustard sauce. So good! We decided to take a selfie afterward and ended up laughing so hard!

Let's see, we both went to the dentist. Just regular cleanings.

Next week we're going to get our hair cut. We've decided we just want the same styles we've had, but our hair has grown out, so back to shoulder length.

Chuck and I went to the Mariner's game last night. We were in the nose bleed section but it was fun! Had hotdogs and cracker jacks! Wouldn't be a baseball game without them! And the Mariners won, we're going to the playoffs! And the Seahawks are doing well so the entire city of Seattle has been excited! Everywhere you go people are talking about them. 

The family is all doing well. We celebrate Sharaya and Beth's birthdays next week. We've been shopping and trying to plan things. Beth showed me the birthday cake she wants, and she sent us her birthday list. She told Sharaya she needed to send hers too. Bossy big sister.  :)

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Shopping For Fun

 Beth has been asking me to go shopping lately and we finally found some time to go.

 

I picked her up from bowling and we stopped at Silver Platters. She wanted to get a CD for Chuck for his birthday. She said he only has one CD in his car, the soundtrack to the Broadway play Come From Away. She never saw the play and doesn't really know any of the songs. So she bought him The Greatest Showman. It's one of her favorites! 

 

 We left there and met Diana and Adelaide for lunch at Red Robin. Another of Beth's favorites.

 

 

 

 Then it was off to Target. Beth bought some overalls there not too long ago and both of those metal clips that attach the straps have broken. She loves those overalls so she tried on some new ones but they just didn't fit well. The top was too big; the pants were long...

 

"I dunno" (with a drop at the end) is Beth speech for "Nope." 

Beth are you having the soup? "I dunno." 

Did you want to come with us? "I dunno."

After I took this picture she turned around and said, "I dunno."

 

We're going to look for some on-line.

 

 

When we left Target Diana and Adelaide headed home and Beth and I went to Staples. She was after markers and gel pens. Two things she didn't find at Target.

 

She headed straight for the back of the store. Knew exactly what she wanted and where they were!

 

 I cut her toenails this week and I noticed she needs new shoes. So, we'll be shoe shopping next!

Two Years and Four Days

Beth was born on October 10, 1984.

Sharaya was born on October 6, 1986.

Beth had just learned to walk when we brought Sharaya home.

This year we took Sharaya out to Red Robin to celebrate. She's lived through a lot in the last 10 years or so and she's taught us about grace and forgiveness and love. 

You're one of the strongest women we know!

We love you Sharaya!

 

When we asked Beth where she wanted to go for her birthday she said, "Same place as my sister."

So off to Red Robin! And of course we had to invite Nick! Beth can be so shy but she sure loves a party!

I love that she's looking at the camera in this photo!

(Thank you for taking it Sharaya!)

 

 It's been a great October.

Did you have any special celebrations this month?

Birthday Pictures

Beth's birthday was on Friday, October 10th, but the big celebration was on Sunday.

Beth's boss gave her the 10th off, so we asked her what she wanted to do. "Bowling!" Of course, we should have known. Sharaya and Diana had to work, but Chuck, Beth, me and Allie all went bowling. It was at the same bowling alley where she plays on a league during the week and they greeted her by name when we got to the counter! Considering there are 150 bowlers on the league, we thought it was kinda cool that they knew her personally.

Usually on the kids birthdays they get to choose the menu. We started this when they were kids and even though they're all adults now, the tradition continues. Considering this was the big 3-0 we decided to go out to eat and a couple months ago she said she wanted to go to Olive Garden.

Really?? We rarely go to Olive Garden. We figured she had heard it from one of her friends and since she was 30 now, a real adult well, okay! We can go there. Then as her birthday got closer she changed her mind to Red Robin. We asked her a few times just to make sure and she definitely wanted Red Robin.

We invited a couple of friends from church who Beth has been texted and becoming close with and were so glad they could both make it!  After we left the restaurant we headed home and she opened a couple more gifts too big to bring to the restaurant. I finally finished her scrapbook from when she was in school (I don't know what took me so long!) and Diana bought her a huge karaoke machine! It shows the words on the tv screen, has a place to plug in her microphone, and a camera so she can watch herself!

What a weekend she had! I think Beth is thrilled to be 30, although she's using that phrase again...

"I'm an adult and I can do what I want."

Uh oh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Would Have Loved It

We went shopping last night... and bought a prom dress!! We found it at Macy's and it was on sale! Woohoo! I love it when things are on sale.

I'm not going to show you the dress yet, you'll have to wait until after the prom. :)

Well, I've just spent the last 20 minutes trying to upload photos but it keeps telling me, Server Returned Invalid Response. I've tried editing the pictures, saving them, renaming them. To no avail. Sorry.

They were really cute too! After we paid for the dress we're walking out of the store and hear Allie say, "Take my picture!" She was holding the hand of a mannequin. So I did what any good Nana would do. I said, "Oh that's so cute!" and I took a picture.

We went to Red Robin for dinner and I took a couple of pictures there too. One was of Beth and Allie leaning over, sort of cheek to cheek. You would have loved it. Honest.

21 - 12

Diana's birthday is on December 27. She hates having her birthday so close to Christmas. The hard part is we actually chose that date. Beth and Sharaya were both c sections so any other births had to be c sections as well.

The doctor gave us the choice of anywhere between December 18 and January 3. Chuck's mom birthday is on the 27th and she was turning 60 that year. We thought it would be a great tribute to her to have her youngest grandchild born on her birthday.

I will say it hasn't been easy. The living room is still often filled with Christmas wrapping and gifts when we pull out the birthday paper and balloons. She often feels we buy her Christmas presents, then set one aside for her birthday. I can honestly say we've never done that, but I can see where she might feel that would happen.

This year she turned 21. We went to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and she looked at me, "Well mom you no longer have any children. We're all adults now." Gulp!

Her and I spent her birthday day shopping. She bought some new clothes and we went to lunch. That night the family went to Red Robin for dinner. She told us she didn't want us to tell them it was her birthday so we didn't. I kinda regret that.

The following night Sharaya and Ryan took her to Cinnabar, a movie theater that serves dinner and drinks. Her birthday lasted about 4 days!

Oh my gosh I had forgotten that her and I also went to see Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella! It was playing at the 5th Ave Theater in downtown Seattle. I grew up with that movie and our girls know the music too. I'll admit, it was hard not to sing along!

 

Our view of the stage

 

 

The big finale

 

 

 

At the Rainforest Cafe

 

Having fun at Red Robin

 

Happy Birthday Diana!

 

And now we are just a few short hours away from 2012. I don't know about you but time is just going way too fast for me! We hope and pray that your 2012 is filled with glorious moments of laughter, family and friends.

Happy New Year!!

Party Animal

Yesterday was Beth's birthday. October 10 she turned 27. (Her and Sharaya's birthdays are 2 years and 4 days apart.)

Last night Chuck and the kids took her to Funtasia to play video games and skee ball and bumper cars.... Then they went to dinner at Red Robin. One of her favorite places. (I'm at home with pneumonia this week. Never had it before. Don't recommend it.)

Beth told me last night that they sang happy birthday to her at Red Robin. She was beaming when they got in at 10:00! Unfortunately, she was too tired to wake up at 7:30 this morning to go bowling with All Aboard. When her DART bus arrived, I went down to check on her and this is what I saw:

Happy Birthday Beth! :)