It's been a while

Wow!  Time flies when you're having fun!  Actually, I'm not sure we were having that much fun, it's more like we were being lazy about posting.  Oops! I'm going to attempt to catch you up on all the goings on since our last post and, as promised, I will post a picture of the awful stairs we made numerous trips up and down.  Ugh... I'm sweating just thinking about it.

 This is from the very bottom step looking straight up

Also from the bottom but further away. Ack!

We moved to Kent late last August so our commutes would be more even, Wes was driving 2+ hours one way depending on how awful traffic was and I had a 10 minute commute that had one stop light.  Now I'm only 30 minutes to work and about 40-45 home and Wes is about an hour depending on traffic conditions.  I had no idea that Kent was so centrally located.  We're only about 20 minutes from Sea-Tac Airport, 25-30 from Seattle, 30 from my parent's and 15 from Tacoma.

At the end of September we went to Madison, WI for my sister-in-law's much anticipated wedding.  Despite the stress of all the wedding prep, we had a great time.  It was a treat to see all the family twice in as many months since we usually have to wait until Christmas to catch up.

My sis-in-law, Heather, looked absolutely stunning and didn't seem to notice the amazing amount of wind coming off Lake Monona.  Heather and Dave made sure we all had a great time by providing what we like to call Boat Drinks (anything w/ rum), a photo booth, great music, and yummy Caribbean food.

 A view of The Capitol building from the ceremony

Grandmother & Granddad Mix dancing brought us to tears

When we got home from Madison, I adopted a 1 yr old cat named Adele.  She makes me happy but Wes could do without.

Adele admiring Dave's fish

As far as I can remember, nothing significant happened between Adele's arrivel and the beginning of January 2012 when we got our sweet Miniature Schnauzer that we named Maverick.

 Maverick after we left the breeder

 Maverick meeting his much older cousin, Mickey

Maverick chewing on Mickey's ear

A major snow/ice storm followed Maverick's arrival.  Due to the ice in our neighborhood we were unable to leave the house for 3 days.  The only reason we braved the roads was because we lost power and our house was getting incredibly cold.  A big thank you to Heather & Dave for allowing all four of us to crash at their place for a few nights.

In February we went to The Adrift Inn in Long Beach, WA for a weekend getaway.  It was incredibly windy the entire time we were there but we managed to get out and enjoy ourselves.  We drove to Astoria, OR to get liquor (at the time our liquor stores were state run w/ crazy high prices and poor selection), check out The Goonie House & the school from Kindergarten Cop, and visit the Coast Guard Museum. 

 The Goonie House

The school from Kindergarten Cop

We also hiked to The Cape Disappointment Light House.  We forgot to grab the Nikon so all pictures were taken with our point and shoot but turned out pretty well.

In May Maverick graduated from Puppy School.

What a handsome boy

In June we went to Cancun on a family vacation to celebrate my in-law's 40th wedding anniversary.  We had such a good time that my sis-in-law, Holly, already has her travel agent looking for deals for next year! We  didn't take many pictures because we were too busy relaxing drinking.  If I come across any that are post worthy, I'll make sure to get them up.  The day after we got back we hit the road to Gresham, OR to watch my youngest sister, Heather (I know it's confusing), graduate with her certificate in Funeral Services Education.  In other words, she's a funeral director.  She worked incredibly hard to make the Dean's List, Vice President's List, and Honor Roll all while working at a funeral home about an hour from her school.  We couldn't be more proud of her!

Wow!  This post is a little out of control.  I hope this isn't over kill and I'll do my best not to allow this to happen again.

Until next time....