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Had a great few days over in Chelan to bring in the New Year.

Marissa ready to bowl….

Reese used the bumper rails to stay on track

Chloe Walker made it for the first three frames.

Marci bowled a 197 - and had the whole place watching as she threw FIVE STRIKES in a row.  Unreal.

Kelly and Melissa in between handling the kids.

Marissa took her turn, Chloe’s turn, and Reese’s turn - she bowled more than any of us.

Guns for the tots - good parents.

Walker eating Garret’s pizza slice i think.

Melissa and JR…

Julie and George

Reese with her first spare

Focus Reese, Focus…

Walker totally got showed up by his wife.

Marissa ready for game #2

We gave Reese the 22LB ball…

PUSH, PUSH!!!

All down again!

Marci after the fifth strike

New Year’s Day - time to go skiing with the kids at Echo Ridge

Here I am prepping Reese for what would be a miserable 1.5 hours of her life.

Wiping out AGAIN.

Chloe skied for the first time too.

Face totally covered in snow.

Just simply misery.

Meanwhile, Marissa was doing runs like a champ and laughing at us suckers.

Reese’s first time on the tow rope wouldn’t be called a ’success’ by most.  She made it about 12 feet.

I’m giving her the pep talk to do it again.

So Chloe bailed on skiing, but perfected the snow angel.

Then Marissa had to prove she could make a larger one.

OK, no more skiing; let’s hit the tow rope.

Guess I’ll pull them up the hill.

Chloe was thrilled, absolutely thrilled to be part of the action.

Marissa wanted out so she could ski again.

At least Brian Walker enjoyed it.

We spent the week of Christmas in Whistler, BC this year with Kelly’s family.  The mountains could have used a bit more snow - there was a lot of ice to deal with, but no matter because the weather was gorgeous.  We had a super time skiing, hanging in the village and just having some down time.  Here’s a few shots from the trip…

Kelly and I on top of Whistler’s backside.  Stunning views…

Me ready to roll on day one.

New facility on top of Whistler that houses the Peak2Peak gondola.

Quick shot coming back from skiing on Christmas Eve.  Marissa did real well with her skiing skills.

This is one way to wax the bottom of your skis.  Fire and Ice show was impressive.

Reese and Grandma having breakfast with mom.

I’ve been a Maker’s Mark Ambassador for a few years.  One of the benefits is they mail you a usable gift each Christmas.  This year it was wrapping paper (if you look very close the stars are actually little bottles), ribbon, and name tags to wrap presents in.  If you care to join for free, you can do so here http://www.ambassador.makersmark.com/ambinfo.aspx

We loaded up on Wii accessories.  Kelly got Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser to kick her ass around.

I gave Amy “Lips” for the xBox.  There’s some good song on there!

Gordon got a bottle from me.

Marissa really wants to be a photographer.  She’s getting better.  Here’s one she took of the group.

Kelly and I took a long walk on Christmas day.  Was nothing but bright blue skis.   Cold, but very enjoyable.

Really long downhill path next to our place that provided some super sledding.

This is the run that I think i may have cracked my tailbone.  Hit a rock so hard that it tore through the bottom of the sled.  Still hurts very bad today.

Uncle Matt/Aunt Amy with Marissa.

Reese flew down the hill a few times too.

Surprised the girls and took them to Bellevue after work today.  It was cold, like mid 20 something degrees.  But we had a great time.  Snowflake Lane show was at 7, then we did the ice rink south of Bell Square for a little over an hour. Marissa was doing solo laps by the end.  Marissa turned to Kelly and threw out the “this is the best day of my life” line.  It’s fairly easy to keep these two entertained.

Waiting for the show to start at Starbucks….

Marissa powering down her IZZE

One of the roughly 35 performers with Marissa.  They line the streets, get up on the light post stands and rock out with drums for ~15 minutes.  Show culminates with snow shooting down from the building roofs as they play “Let it Snow…”.  Very cool show they do there.

Reese with her Toffee Bar in tow

Double skates on each boot for Reese - her first time skating and she just absolutely loved it!

My little Oksana Baiul

After ~10 minutes of hanging on me, Marissa was ready to fly solo….

So close to biting it here….

But no, she landed it….

Super busy weekend - took a LOT of photos again - unfortunately none at AJ’s holiday party which was a good time on Sat night.  I’ll share a few from Matt’s Santa visit at his home today.  Friday night with Mark/Beaven we hit the Nordy’s one like we do every year.  Then today we had the real deal SC for a few hours at Matt’s.  Friend our ours Vinnie O’Connor - actually went to SC school in Colorado last month with 30 other SC’s and 6 Miss Claus’s.  Was interesting hearing what he learned in the weekend course.  Here’s a few pics of all the kids today.

Here’s Santa arriving at Matt’s home in West Seattle…

AJ and Blake 

Blake was jazzed to see SC.

My fam. 

Reese asked for a Barbie Diamond Castle…

Pete just turned one and seems to have learned the ropes real quick….

Marissa thinks she has SC wrapped around her finger

SC dropped over two bills on this belt - totally worth it! 

Chloe was all hugs

Miles being a fantastic grandpa to Pete. 

Diane had an arts/crafts project for the kids…

Kelly the red nosed reindeer. 

Grace Taylor asking for something big I’m sure. 

JR Carlson - cute kid! 

Hansen twins - Anna and Lucas

That beard has been in the works for years. 

Mark and Scooter watching the big man make his entrance. 

Cool little park in W. Seattle that I swung in after the party and snapped a quick shot of downtown Seattle on this very cold Dec day. 

Was fun, but not the most successful holiday outing.  Line for Santa was 3 hrs deep, so we postponed that till later this week and jumped right to the carousel in Westlake Center.  Then hit Kerry Park for some quick photos and off to lunch at the 5 Spot.

Reese is usual my camera shy child; but yesterday she was all about the photos, so this post is dedicated mostly to her.

Soligon and Walter crew at Westlake Center

Now here’s some words for the kids to live by - Do Something Good Every Day.

We already did our Christmas photos, but this could have been a contender.

Which one of these two of Reese is better?

Marissa  and her buddy Emily T at a Santa party this week….

Try making a Gingerbread house with Reese and see how much candy lands in her mouth vs. on the house.  She even smuggled some contraband from the kit to her bedroom tonight.  The kid has the world biggest sweet tooth ever.

We had a good time with this project - took close to an hour start to finish.

Reese waiting for me to look away so she could eat more of the frosting.

It actually turned out very well I must say.   The kids put on the candy, I just set up the walls.

Our buddies teed up a night on the town on Friday - we had an absolute blast - very funny group.  Had dinner at the Steelhead Bar and Grill - then some swanky martini bar - then the Peacock, then for old times sake, had to see the remodeled Jack and Dan’s.  Surprise, surprise, at Jack and Dan’s even more friends from our HS grad class.  Was really a blast - wish I could visit that crew a bit more often.

Emily and Kelly - aka the former ladies of Klahanie

Marci and Ronni listening to Em’s crazy FB story -

Fishbowls….I thought only Gambino’s in Moscow served those?

Scott still telling funny Wrigley stories - did you know that some dogs are allergic to human dander?  Who knew?  It’s true…

If I’d had told Chad that in 6 hours he’d be racing Frankie outside of Jack and Dan’s around midnight, he’d probably have called me crazy.  But Spokane just has a way of having crazy things happen.

It’s a good thing we didn’t hit any dance clubs…

I think the ladies were waiting for their Espressotini’s….

We sat down at this Martini bar and the bartender asked Ronni if she’ll take ‘her usual’….talk about carrying some weight in Spokane…

RBVs for these two….

I think I’m laughing at Chad’s white phone….very chic….

Wonder if Marci remembers what he was saying?

Every shot of Em and Ronni sort of looks like this one - go figure…

Here’s where we got into trouble - Scott chose Roxanne….and I have the most painful minute and a half of video to prove it.

Spokane quality cover band…

Busy week - had my father fly over to help me build a fence for two days, then he hopped in the car and headed over with Kelly, the kids and I to Spokane.  We had a very good holiday - the kids had a great time with their grand parents and they really enjoyed hanging out in the hottub for much of the time.  Dinner was great - including a terrific bottle of Stags Leap vino.

My folks have a jacuzzi tub that the girls love b/c it makes an insane amount of bubbles….

Marissa took the little camera and shot most of these.  Here’s me with my mom…

Kelly has a serious addiction to caffeine.

Break from clean up to take a shot.

See that bowl of mash potatoes?  Marissa almost single handedly took it down herself.

I ask them to say cheese, and this is what I got.

Showing my girls youtube videos of Disney Princesses.

Had some family portrait shots done for our Christmas card last weekend.  Haven’t yet chosen a winner, but I really liked this one of Reese (and I)….

Different year, same results.  Had a great time at the auction on Saturday night.  Of course, my mood was especially good as I was still in a high from the Cougs 4th Apple Cup Victory in 5 years.  Overtime over the Huskies is always a reason to celebrate.

Daver and I getting ready for our “Price is Right” action - we have every one at the table toss in $1 at the beginning of each of the ~50 items.  Closest guess to the winning bid takes the pot.

Here’s Adra in one of her two successful attempts to beat out the lady at the next table over.

Winner!  Golden puppy for Adra…

We didn’t win her, but Kelly wanted to hold her all night.

Don’t get me wrong; cutest dog in the world, but my days of dog owning will end when Maggie kicks the bucket.

Third year in a row hitting the Disney on Ice show with the girls.  This year was High School Musical - the first act was all the songs from the first movie and the second act was all the songs from the second one.

Reese with her $18 pompom.  I’m such a sucker.  She broke the first one within 10 minutes of owning it, but the staff saw this and swooped in with a new one right away.

Marissa of course loved the whole event.

Third row seats has us practically in Sharpay’s golf cart.

Kelly doing her best Ryan impression…

Only to be outdone by Reese…

Late posting these - but it was a fun hike so worth sharing.  My pops was in town, so I wanted to do something quick and easy….and new to us.  So we did the 4 mile round trip hike up to Rattlesnake Ridge out in North Bend.  It’s a ~1,200 ft gain; so a little workout, but nothing too hard.  We got there before sunrise and were ready to head out at first break of day light.

Once you arrive at the top, you’re treated to a great panoramic view of a few lakes, Mt Si and Seattle.   I’ll for sure do this hike again.

Despite Marissa being a bit ill - we managed to take advantage of the warm weather and clear skies to get some trick or treating in on Friday night.

Gorgeous weekend in Seattle.  Marissa had her final soccer game of the season and we did the pumpkin patch today with the girls.

She improved so much over the course of the season - too bad it’s now over, she was just getting really good.

She received a trophy for being ‘champions’ with her team, the Dragons.  She was so proud of herself!

Sunny fall day, so we went and got MORE pumpkins.

Reese, as usual wanted nothing to do with the camera.

Marissa found the largest pumpkin they had - all $17 of it.

We’ll carve it up one night this week.