Some pretty wild weather!

This post is coming to you just 24 hours after a pretty nasty storms in the Puget Sound area. The rains and then winds were record breaking and caused a tremendous about of damage in the area. Over 1.5 million were without power this morning and many will be waiting up to a week for it to restored. Thankfully, we were fortunate enough to not lose our power (though we did a couple of days before that)- and count ourselves VERY lucky! As for damage, we found our yard littered with tree branches, some up to 10 feet long, the neighbors fence in our back yard and a few missing shingles...pretty minor to what it could have been. The fence is part way back up and the branches are waiting for us to gather them tomorrow morning and haul them off to the dump (it'll be a good trailer full). The shingles can wait until until things calm down, but unfortunately for a neighbor, they lost nearly half their roof and now are sporting a "stylish" blue tarp until the repairs can be made (they've been told it'll be at least 3 weeks).

Wednesday night Josh, Miranda, and Jayden flew in!! What a treat, it had been just two weeks since we'd seen them and were thrilled to see them again after such a short time! Jayden seemed to remember us and of course we were thrilled about that! They were tired after a long day of flights across the country, but happy to be back in Washington...but maybe not so happy about the rain! Thursday Jessalyn, Miranda and Terri went out for some girl time getting pedicures, manicure, enjoying lunch together and a bit of shopping. Josh took Jayden to visit "Grandpa" at work and then they went to lunch at Jayden's favorite place...McDonalds!! That evening Jess and Sean joined us all for dinner then a night of games...it was a great evening and so nice to have all the kids together...we don't get many times with all of them, so we treasure those we do!

Today (Friday) they headed over to Belfair to spend some time with Miranda's family and I'm sure those grandparents are thrilled to have Jayden there and get their chance to spoil her! We'll see them a couple more times during their visit out here, they fly back on the 27th, and will enjoy the time we have with them!

Christmas...can you believe it's just over a week away? It looks like we're ready, the tree is up, decorations out and shopping nearly done as well as the wrapping. Tuesday the girls will do a bit of baking to finish the preparations for the holiday! Rick's parents, Howard and Jeanette, will drive up from Arizona to spend the holidays with us as well and we are thrilled to have them join us. Terri's cousin, Tara, and her boyfriend, Ivar, will also join us on Christmas Eve. It'll be great to have so many of our family together to share this wonderful day of celebration! Terri's parents will be in Spokane, but it'll be a bit quieter than usual for them since we aren't going over and Terri's brother and his family are going to Peru for Christmas (what a great gift!!). We'll miss them as well as her sisters and their families...but to spend the time with Jayden (and her parents!!) will be priceless!

We hope this finds you all doing well, safe and healthy and looking forward to this season that we celebrate and give thanks for all we've been blessed with. As to whether we write again before Christmas, it all depends on how busy things get this next week...but if not, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!

Our best wishes,

Rick & Terri

PS...here's a photo of Josh, Miranda and Jayden that Terri took this morning before they left.

It's December already!

Hello again! Well, we've been back home for almost a week and are beginning to gear up for the holidays! Our last few days in Virginia were wonderful... especially our day trip to Outer Banks in North Carolina. The weather was beautiful, clear skies and the temperature was around 60 degrees...quite a bit different than what it was at home in Puyallup...where they got their first snow of the season! We weren't sorry to have missed it...or the snow and ice that came the next couple of days. Our time with Josh, Miranda and Jayden was great...we miss them so much that when we get a chance to spend time with them...we cherish it! Jayden is a DOLL and growing so fast...it's hard to believe that she's 14 months old already...and what a personality! They are coming out here for Christmas and will be here in a little over a week, so we'll get to see them again soon...and be able to share our holidays with them. We can't wait to see Jayden opening the gifts!!

Boy, was someone watching out for us when we came home...first, that we didn't' fly in on Monday evening when the snow and ice was horrible around here and traffic a nightmare. That would have not been a good way to end a great week! So, when we flew in Tuesday evening, everything had settled down and the roads were fairly good...no problems getting home. We flew through Chicago and it was quite nice there Tuesday morning, but if it had been Thursday or Friday, I'm afraid we would have been stranded there for a few days...they got the wintry weather that the Seattle area had on Monday! We were happy to be home...and look forward to getting the house decorated for Christmas. Besides Josh and family, Rick's parents will also be joining us for Christmas, so we'll have a full house. We're hoping that Terri's cousin, Tara, and her boyfriend will also join us...to have a house full of family and friends is exactly what the holidays are all about!

Time to get the house decorated...we got some outside lights put out this morning and this week the tree and decorations will follow. Of course, the shopping, wrapping, cards and baking also will fill the days...so much to do, but all make up the joy of the holiday season!

We're hoping this finds you all staying warm, looking forward to the holiday season and counting your blessings for the the passed year.

The photos are from our trip to Virginia. The lighthouse is Bodie Island Lighthouse and it was a great day to visit...and as you can see, Jayden is "flying" with excitement over the day! The other is a photo Terri took of Jayden at their home. She loves giraffes!!

I forgot to mention something...

I realized after posting yesterday's blog, that I forgot to mention some exciting news...Jessalyn and Sean have set a date for their wedding and found a location...so now the fun and planning begins! So, mark your calendars for August 11, 2007 as that is THEIR big day! Not sure of the time just yet, but stay tuned, more to come on all the details! We hope to see as many there as can make it! The location is called Sander's Mansion and is a 100 year old mansion in the Auburn area and is on the historical sites registry....it's absolutely beautiful and will make for a wonderful location for a wedding.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings family and friends...and a very Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! It's nearly 10 pm here in Virginia and we had a wonderful day with Josh, Miranda and of course, Jayden! We arrived on Tuesday evening...a bit late, but safely and our luggage found it's way as well. It was raining and the wind was blowing, but not too bad compared to what came later that night and the next day. Hmm, we left Seattle on Tuesday morning with a wet and windy drive to the airport...and arrived to the same weather in Virginia. We were fortunate enough (if you call it that) to be here for a record November storm here...they had tropical strength winds and rains for a couple of days and there was quite a bit of flooding on many of the streets...and it wasn't due to the rivers flooding. Thankfully, it's settling down now and tonight when we came back to the hotel, it was not raining...and the forecast is for dry weather the next several day...yeah!

Tomorrow we're planning on doing a bit of shopping, but won't be up with the EARLY birds...we'll get going around mid-morning and just take our time...there are no deals worth fighting the crowds SOOO early in the morning! Saturday we'll do a bit of sightseeing and some family photos for Josh and family...they've found a park that they'd like to go to for those and if it stays dry, we shouldn't have any problems. That night Josh and Miranda are going to a comedy club with some friends and we get to babysit for Jayden...YEAH!!! Needless to say, we are looking forward to the evening! Sunday our plans are to drive to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and we are hopeful that they didn't sustain too much damage during the past couple of days...they got hit pretty good.

We've had a blast getting to know Jayden and seeing how she's changed and grown since we last saw her...she's a little girl now with quite a cute personality! Terri got her to warm up to her pretty quickly and she's now a "grandma's girl" and even helped her cook today. And, "Grandma" got her Jayden's first "pucker kiss" ever...what a treat that was...she's a real sweetie! Rick...alas, Grandpa, is trying to get her to warm up to him, but not having as much luck...she checks him out, but then moves on...though he's not going to give up!

And, they have a new addition to their family...a puppy named Ace. He's about 10 weeks old and is a black lab-German shepherd mix and very cute and sweet (except for when he gets a bit wild and wants to play with his razor sharp puppy teeth! Jayden loves him to death and he is pretty good around her.

Well, we'll sign off and send this out to share with all of you. Of course, there will be a couple of photos attached for you to see. We'll try and get another post before heading home, maybe after we visit the Outer Banks this weekend! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends...and hope it finds you all having enjoyed a nice day with family as well...and feeling blessed and thankful for many things! Until later!!

A Start of something new...

Hello family and friends...we're starting a blog to share with all of you what we are up to. It seems as though at times we (or Terri!!) are not very good at staying in touch and keeping you up to date as to what we're doing. Life as empty-nesters did not slow down, but don't get us wrong, we are happy and enjoying life to the fullest! So, this is the beginning and we'll post periodically and you are welcome to check in and see what we're doing...and we'd love to hear back from all of you as well. Of course, we will share photos (surprise!) from our shooting or trips!

Next week we are leaving for Virginia to visit Josh, Miranda and Jayden for a week over Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see them and spend a week just hanging out with them. It's been five months since we've seen Jayden and from what we hear and photos we've seen, she is just not the same baby we saw last summer. She's a toddler now and we are looking forward to playing with her during our visit! We're not sure what we'll do while there, but whatever it is, we'll have a good time (oh...I guess we'll be taking a few photos!).

After the first of the year, we'll have to buckle down and start really working on the wedding...Jess and Sean are hoping for an August wedding, but they have yet to find a location, so until they find something, there's no definite date...so stay tuned!!

For now, I'll sign off, but will try and post during our visit to Virginia next week. I hope this finds you all doing well and staying dry and warm (especially if you are in the Pacific Northwest!). The photo is one Terri took of Aussie this week...she's so patient when we photograph her!