Christmas Letter for 2009

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I'm late with my Christmas cards.  Happy New Year! :)  I thought long and hard about not sending an actual piece of paper with our cards, and decided to go green and direct you all here.  Besides, by reading it here and knowing our blog address, you get more pictures!  Bonus! :)  I've been trying to keep up with this family blog all year, and I think I did pretty darn well.  So feel free to browse older postings if you like, too.

We started out 2009 with a trip to Anaheim, CA in January.  I attended an annual scrapbooking convention and then we had a fun visit with the Ritzer and Finke families.  Emma loved seeing her cousins and I like to think I had a hand in convincing the Finkes to get a dog - ha!  We sure enjoyed the beautiful weather down there at that time of the year.

Emma has found her athletic passion in soccer.  She's played recreationally the past three years, but this past May she tried out for a select team.  The club placed the girls according to ability between four squads (A - D with A being highest) and Emma was placed on the B team.  Her coach is just awesome, and an ex-MLS professional player.  He has decided to develop Emma as a Defender - something I was hesitant with, mostly because she has never played there and just doesn't seem the aggressive type.  Little did we know!  Emma has taken to that position with incredible success - it has been so fun to watch our little "girl" elbow and stand her ground on an aggressive field.  I could talk soccer all day, so let's move on, shall we?  Emma is now 11 years old, just over 5' tall and a size 7 shoe! She is pre-teen all the way... very into clothing selection, jewelry and hair accompaniments, and much socializing.  She is a great student still pulling A's and one B on this last report card.  She has learned the clarinet this school year with great ease - and practices often with her Dad next to her on trumpet.  So fun to watch.

The summer had us busy with soccer tournaments, camping with the Jutillas in central Washington, me buying a cute scooter to commute in the great weather (5 minutes from home - I'm so lucky), a long weekend in Seaside, OR with friends, and a road trip to my Mom's house.  We wanted to pick up a bike rack at my Mom's and needed the truck to do it, so we brought Cooper along for 'Cooper's California Adventure'.  We posed Cooper along the way at fun landmarks, taking pictures to document our journey.  He went over the Golden Gate bridge, played in the ocean in Mendocino, stayed at a doggie bed-n-breakfast, and sat on a giant Redwood.  Super fun.  It was nice having a vehicle at my Mom's that fit everyone (curses to the Saturn), and we went through all of the keepsakes in the rafters while there.  Wow.  Serious memories.  I found old love letters (hilarious to read!), my Girl Scout sash with badges, tap shoes and a ukelele (which Emma used simultaneously to entertain us), original Barbies and so much more.  Fun stuff.

Carl went elk hunting with his bow and buddies in September, he has really enjoyed this the past few years.  He hasn't been successful yet, but really enjoys the time in the outdoors with the boys.  We have an outdoor archery right up the road and they go and shoot often, but they talk about "the trip" all year long.  Emma expressed an interest in going to their camp, so they both returned to camp for an overnight daddy/daughter hunt.  He had her all camo'd out in her own gear, too funny.  Carl's parents also visited in late September for a few days, it's been several years since they've seen the house so it was fun to show them all of the improvements we've made.  They got to see Emma play a game while here as well.

I have enjoyed the last 10 days off at home with Emma for the Christmas holiday.  We had a lot of plans and fun activities (the main reason I didn't get my cards off on time), I've already put in for the same time next year.  Yesterday we ended the year by buying a new car - yep, I'm the owner of a Volkswagen.  I have wanted one for years, just another one of those things to cross off my list, and I am in love with this car.  In fact, I think we may be driving to Portland next weekend just for a chance to take it on the open road.  We're such geeks.

As we reflect back upon the past year, the memories we've shared with so many of you, and the recent heartache of losing several members of our law enforcement family this past 6 weeks - we are thankful for each of you in our lives.

Happy new year!
Carl, Lisa & Emma

Das Auto.

I don't know what that means, but I'm the proud owner of a 2009 VW Passat!  Fahrfegneugen!  We wanted to get a new car before the end of the year to benefit from the Federal tax incentive, so belated Merry Christmas to me!  We've been driving different models of sedans for the past month or so and VW surpassed the other competitors by far - it is *SO* fun to drive!  Here's a few photos on my iPhone, I'll be posting more with me and my new baby in the coming days :)

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve, just the 3 of us, starting with a 1:00 pm performance of the Radio City Rockettes in Seattle.  Absolutely amazing!!  I, of course, was tapping along with them at my seat...man, I wish I could turn back time and pursued something like that :)  Anyway, we shopped outside for a bit after, surprisingly it was not all hustle-n-bustle - very pleasant.  We made our way to the Metropolitan Grill for a great dinner.  We were home by 6:30 and immediately dug into presents!  We all got things that we reallllllly wanted, and a few surprises too - one surprise for Emma actually had her scream out loud (when I wasn't paying attention), so I guess she likes it! :)  Tonight the Mattsens come for our traditional prime rib dinner, looking forward to seeing all of them including the 2 grandbabies.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

'Tis the season to be busy .... fa la la la la la la la la!

But it's been a very *fun* busy :)  Friday was my first official day of vacation, and I mostly ran errands (Cooper to the groomer, lunch with a friend, massage, eye doctor appt.) before Emma got home.  Saturday Emma had 4 friends from school spend the night for a holiday sleepover, and they are such great girls - they get along wonderfully, I had several activities planned, and it was just a perfect way to start their Christmas break.

J, T, A, A & Emma decorated pre-made gingerbread boy and girl cookies (thank you Target, such a wonderful price and made my life soooo much easier!); we made waterless snow globes out of mason jars (thank you Carl for coming to our rescue with the Dremel tool to make our "stuff" fit in the jars); and we drove around the neighborhood to see the light displays (parents, I didn't drive over 5mph and had my hazards on while driving... just to make sure we were extra safe :)).

We laid a sleeping back out in the bed of the truck and then the girls piled in with blankets - I was the chauffeur with the holiday music blaring out of the back window.  We had a beautiful, clear night - no wind or rain, perfect for outdoor fun.  (Oh, I forgot - Carl and the girls played a round or two of flashlight tag in the neighboring culdesac as well!)  Anyway, we have this wonderful light display just down the street from us - the family puts up thousands of lights - and it's all synchronized to the beats and crescendos of several songs that he broadcasts on one of the radio stations (not sure how he does that, but it seems to be dialed in just for his display).  SUPER cool!  The girls had me park there for at least 5 songs, as they stood in the back of the truck and danced and enjoyed the show.  I really need to send that family a little note of how much we enjoy his work each year.  Here are a few shots from the party.

Sunday was a nice low-key day, I went over to Tracy's in the afternoon and we made 10 pans of cinnamon rolls.  It's the best recipe, from www.thepioneerwoman.com - we made them last year together and decided it would be a new annual tradition.  Carl and Emma joined us later and Brian made us a great meal of french dip sandwiches with tater tots :)

Monday we drove to Gig Harbor (20 or so miles away, over the bridge) for an indoor soccer tournament.  The girls played 3 games and made it to the semi-finals, and then in the first round had to play the first place team - we lost :(  We were playing up a bracket and lost to another WPFC team, so it's all good :)

Today has Emma wrapping presents for Dad, a massage for me (not happy happy joy joy massages... these are deep tissue, and painful - but necessary for my stressed shoulder), haircut tonight for Em.  Tomorrow I'm meeting Kristy for a girl's day - very excited about that!  If I don't make it back here before Christmas Eve (we will be going to downtown Seattle for an afternoon performance of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes and dinner at the Metropolitan Grill!), then I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Two more officers shot last night...

Just south of us, Pierce County Sheriff's Office, in Eatonville.  One is critically injured and is not expected to live - the other will probably pull through.  They were responding to a domestic violence call, and may have been ambushed.  They were invited in to talk to the parties and someone was hiding with a rifle - shot the officers upon entry.

Please say a prayer.  I am just speechless... I don't know how much heartache we can take in this law enforcement family.

Spreading Christmas Joy

Last night Emma and I were invited to ride on the Santa Truck for the Redmond Fire Department.  The Robillards go every year, and Brian was driving last night with Kenton as his co-driver (i.e. music man/siren master/bell ringer).  The fully-restored, antique truck is decked out with holiday lights, a lit 'Merry Christmas' sign on the front grill, and plenty of bench seats in the open-air back.  We brought our blankets, hats, mittens and scarves, and were *so* lucky to not have a drop of rain or whip of wind.  It was a beautiful clear night.

Santa and Buddy the Elf rode from the back step, hanging on to the rails, jumping off with candy canes in hand at every sighting of a child peeking from a window or standing outside.  I remember the pure joy on Emma's face as a wee one when Puyallup Fire would come through each year - and how we would rush out to wave to Santa, give some canned goods for the food bank, and sing along to the blasting carols.  This was our turn to be in the giving end.

We waved, sung, wished a Merry Christmas and giggled the entire way - and watching those children - standing out with all of their Christmas jammies on... hugging Santa and Buddy... their faces lit with pure joy... was priceless.  I so want to do this again.  Here are some highlights:

1.  As we headed out from City Hall we stopped at a red light in front of the library - there was a Brownie meeting in a conference room that faced the street.  Santa and Buddy were waving like crazy - and a little girl was at the window waving frantically!  You could just hear her saying "look! there's Santa!" and no one believing her... and then they came, one by one, with their little faces pressed against the glass.  Jumping up and down with glee.

2.  We drove through a neighborhood that had a sweetie-pie of all of 3 years old, all dressed in pink with Christmas slippers - she was so excited to see Santa, and hug him, that I had to hop out of the truck with camera in hand.  I got the cutest picture of them - and I'm asking the parents "what's your email?!?"  I had to get this picture to them.  The Dad runs in to bring me his Microsoft business card (of course, we were in Redmond) and I missed the truck.  Ha!  I was running after it and hopped on with Santa before we got too far.

3.  The amazing response of people giving boxed and canned food for donation - kids bringing them up to Santa in exchange for a candy cane and a hug.  One older lady, probably a grandma, stood at her corner patiently until we got to her section and she had a GIANT Hefty bag (printed in cute Christmas cheer) full of new toys - she stood there to give her part to make a child's Christmas more magical. Awesome.

4.  The little girl who stood at the corner waiting for our truck to come, jumping up and down for Santa, hugging him - running back to the corner - running back and hugging him, just beside herself!  And as Santa was climbing back up on the truck to keep going, she took him by the hand and pointed to her culdesac and yelled "Don't forget Tristen Santa!".  So cute.  We went to go find Tristen.

5.  We came upon a beautifully decorated house and a few women came out onto the porch to see us - and then a few more - and then about 20 women were all outside with their Christmas sweaters on, and blinking necklaces, and hot toddies in hand - asking Santa and Buddy to pose with their group for a photo.  No children were at this house, but it was obviously a ladies' night out for the holiday season - and it was so cute to see these older women so excited about Santa!

6.  Finally, in the last neighborhood, our truck of wavers started singing along with Dolly Parton's rendition of Jingle Bells blaring across the loud speaker - we were all very engaged.  And up the street, we could see a Grandma-aged lady outside waving her arms like she was directing a choir or orchestra - all alone, just adding her part to the performance - it was the sweetest sight.  And then Tracy leaned over to me and said "you know, that's you in 20 years Lisa".  So true. :)

Mayhem in Bethlehem - the production :)

This was the title of Emma's Christmas program this year, and as always, it did not disappoint.  Emma had a part this year as a Jingle Hair Girl, complete with sequined dress and a bright green wig.  The premise was that they were holding a modern day newscast of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, and there were commercial breaks for "Debonair Hair" products.  Emma and her partners were the "Jingle" girls to come out and sing and dance during the commercials.  She really had a fun time!  The stage was beautifully lit, it was just an awesome production.  Lastly, there was a band performance as well - we giggled about Emma's puffy cheeks (not the proper form, but cute nonetheless).

Good as new!

I was at the dentist bright and early at 6:30am today!  Thankfully, he was able to use my existing crown and make some adjustments (redid the root canal, set a metal pin up in the root cavity... yuk yuk yuk).  Two hours later I'm good as new!  And as a side note, if you have never used noise reduction headphones with an iPod at the dentist before, you are missing out on a relatively pleasant adventure! :)

Just my luck

Yesterday morning I was sitting at my desk, chomping down on a Chex Turtle bar (delicious!) when I heard a crack, and thought I had a peanut rolling around in my mouth - um yeah.  It was a crown on one of my teeth that broke off. Completely off.  Big gaping hole.  I uttered an expletive, which my co-worker, Jon, repeated all day while laughing.  Anyway, you'd think I'd have a little pride.. or at least some shame... but I do not.  So here I am in all my toothless glory (and sleepy eyes - it was only 0645 in the morning).

Christmas date with my hubby

Well, I think of it as a date, but honestly, we are going Christmas shopping :)  Carl?  He thinks of it as somewhat of a chore, except that we'll go enjoy a lunch out together too.  My plan is to - BAM! - get it all done today, wrap, and not have anything else on my list.  I want to really enjoy the week off that I have with Emma and not be doing last minute errands.  Wish us luck!  Just for fun, here's a cute little holiday card I made with the North Pole kit at Coordinates Collections this month - makes me want some thing warm to drink :)

We're still here...

It's been an awfully hard couple of days, especially with the officers' memorial yesterday.  Carl is absolutely drained -  he was asleep by 7:30 tonight.  It was an unbelievable outpouring of support from other agencies and the public.

The memorial began with a procession from McChord AFB to the Tacoma Dome - about 4-5 miles or so - involving emergency and police vehicles from other jurisdictions.  It took nearly four hours for the 2,100 cars to make the trip.  More than 300 agencies had at least one vehicle in the procession.  Some traveled from as far away as the East Coast to participate, including seven officers from Nassau County on New York's Long Island.  It has been frigid cold here - and yesterday the day started out at 8 degrees - and the route was lined with the public standing out in the cold, to salute and honor these officers.  Amazing.  Respectful.  Powerful.

Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger, Officer Ronald Owens, Officer Tina Griswold, Officer Greg Richards, and Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton - Rest in Peace.

Ring in the new year - with Champagne & Confetti!

Coordinates Collections style, of course :)  Look at the previews for the January kits!  Wow, so different, but each is SO appealing!  Can't wait to show you the reveal videos on these later this month :)

Who knew we liked vampires?

Emma and I rented Twilight last week, and really, I was quite skeptical.  There has been so much hubbub over it, mostly pre-teen and teenage girls going crazy for the movie... but then some of my friends were really into it too.  I asked around if it was appropriate for Emma to see, so we tried it.  We loved it!  Emma followed the story much easier than I did (surprise surprise).  So yesterday after brunch, she and I had a date at the movies and saw New Moon.  Loved it even more than Twilight.  And the ending!  Man, June 2010 is not going to come soon enough for the next part of the saga!  After the movie we did some Christmas shopping... just a fun pic we snapped of ourselves in front of the giant tree at the mall:

My wish today - peace on earth.

The unthinkable has happened again, and only a month apart.  This morning four Lakewood police officers (neighboring town to Puyallup) were sitting inside a Forza coffee shop before their shift began.  Their laptops were out, they were conducting a briefing, and a customer stepped out of line - pulled out a handgun - and executed all four.  No one else in the coffee shop, customers nor employees, were hurt thank God.  But four police officers, who pledged to keep the peace and protect citizens, were mercilessly killed.  Four families do not have a loved one coming home today.

That's 5 officers in our region alone in the last 30 days, murdered while on duty.  This will be another painful week for everyone in the police community to accept and endure.

May I present to you - Clara Barton

Emma's book report this month was on a historical figure, and she was assigned Clara Barton - the founder of The Red Cross.  Here's the irony:  when I was in grade school, I, too did a book report on Clara Barton. That's just amazing to me.  She is giving an oral presentation for her report, and each child had to dress the part of their person.  So those old Gunne Sax prom dresses that we brought home from my Mom's this summer are coming in handy!  Emma chose one, added an apron with a red-taped cross on the front, borrowed her Dad's stethoscope and our super old first aid kit, and we searched for a paper nurse's hat on the internet.  Quite the transformation, and it was very fun putting it together with her on Sunday afternoon.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas!!  I snuck away for a pre-Thanksgiving brunch with some girlfriends (Dutch baby pancake with butter and fresh lemon, and bacon/cheddar/potato pancakes - oh my.)  While I was gone the Cole elves were busy bringing decorations down from the rafters.  The porch is decorated, the tree is up (but not decorated yet) and we have begun to sprinkle Christmas magic around the rooms.  Here's just a snippet:

The "happy holidays" on the mirror and the presents above are from UppercaseLiving.com.  I recently had a party and got some disposable Christmas themed items for fun during the holidays.  We decided Cooper's area near the front door needed a little cheeriness too :)

Peace for Caden

Heaven received an angel today.  Caden Safer, my cousin Karen's 6yo son, passed away in the night succumbing to a brain tumor.  While I never met Caden, I have such good memories of Karen from my childhood - and she and her family, especially sweet Caden, have been in our thoughts and prayers for the last several months.

Karen & Jeff - we wish you peace and comfort in the coming days and weeks.

Caden, I hope you're riding your gator up there buddy.  Watch over us.

Out with the old, in with the new

At least with the blog background :)  We have a busy Saturday:  Emma is going to a costume/birthday party from 11:30-4:00, I have to deliver all of my UppercaseLiving orders (a lot!) and help Tracy apply hers, I have to post Kit preview videos for Coordinates Collections, and Carl is going to a UFC fight party tonight.

Tomorrow, however, we will begin the Christmas transformation of our house!! We are all so excited to dig into the 30+ containers of decorations up in the rafters.  This year we're changing the colors of our outside lights - so that will be the first outing tomorrow, picking out new bulbs.

We're excited to be going to the Robillard's for Thanksgiving dinner.  Tracy's entire family will be there, as well as Jeff/Ashley/Payton, so it will be fun to have so many kids around while the guys are watching football.  Carl will be playing in a Turkey Bowl that morning, tackle football with a bunch of cop friends - this has become his favorite part of Thanksgiving for the last two years.  I've been assigned dishes to bring: my famous sweet potatoes, an appetizer, and I'm trying a new dish - bacon/leek/potato gratin.  Such a nice break not to have to prepare the WHOLE meal this year.

Well, off to get my videos up and running - I'll post pictures and progress tomorrow!

Posts are boring without pictures...

So I had to post one just because.  Wishin' I was here right about now.

Little bit of a break ahead

Sunday afternoon finished the Fall soccer league, and I'm proud to say that our girls pulled themselves up from their bootstraps (and a sketchy start) to finish in 2nd place out of 6.  If we had lost yesterday's game we would have placed 3rd, so it was down to the wire.  A shut out was the icing on the cake.

Now we will have about 3 weeks off (no practices, yay!) and then begin a bit of training for Spring league, which actually starts in January.  That will be a quick 5 games or so and then right into the State Cup tournament, should be really fun.  We are so lucky to have a team this year where every one of the parents is awesome and we all get along really well (as do the girls).  Last night was one of the wife's 40th birthday so we had a group of 10 go out for a nice and noisy dinner at Mama Stortini's.  So fun :)

Emma had her parent/teacher conference last week and pulled out all A's and a few B's, she's doing beautifully as we expected.  Apparently the jump from 4th to 5th grade can be quite a shock, and her teach says she has adjusted well.  She has a friend coming home with her today at noon dismissal to hang out, she's very excited about that.  The Christmas program is coming too, right around the corner, and she got a part as a "Jingle Girl".  I'm anxious to see what that entails!

Carl and I test drove vehicles over the weekend and think we have narrowed our choice down to a VW Passat.  Unbelievable ride.  Fits me like a glove (and fits Carl's shoulders too :))  We won't be purchasing until probably the Spring, but we wanted to do some comparison shopping ahead of time so that we're ready to go.  We also checked out the Nissan Altima (loved it, but the Passat nudged it out), Ford Taurus (interesting body style, too big for me), thinking about looking at the Toyota Camry too.  But honestly, my heart is with the Passat already :)

No pictures to share, but a little update will hold everyone over - I think :)