Jess Is Moved!

The big move has happened with Jess: she has got her own apartment, and has moved everything she owns out. She has been very excited, and anxious at the same time, about this move. It's going to be really good for her to be on her own for a while, and in charge everything in her life. I will actually be super surprised if she moves back in with us at all. Her job after school is too far away to live here, and her and Alex are planning on getting a house together and moving in the second she graduates. The only way I see her with us for a short time is if their house isn't ready yet, but knowing her that won't happen.

Her apartment is a cheap little college apartment, but we were able to make it look super cute and totally her. We have had so many people be so generous in helping her furnish it that she is pretty well set with almost everything she needs. We truly are blessed with great people in our lives!

 

Partying with Chrome Molly

Two of my favorite things in life happened to converge at one time: my birthday and a Chrome Molly gig. What a perfect opportunity to turn it into a birthday party for myself, complete with amazing entertainment! I had a handful of good friends that came out to help me celebrate, and I danced the night away. It was great! Debby even got me the most amazing cake ever invented, with the Chrome Molly Girl put on it. 

It feels so good to be so loved!!!

My Birthday!

42 this year! Time flies for sure, but I certainly don't feel like I am pushing half a century!!! I am in the best shape of my life and enjoying every minute of my 40's - it's the best decade yet.... and my family knows me so well, that everything I got for my birthday was just perfect.

Aaron's awesome wrapping job ;o)

I don't know if it's because I'm studying to be a personal trainer or not, but I have been really into workout clothes lately. I mean, I always have been, but it's more than usual lately, so this jacket was perfect!

The kids know how cold I get each winter, and how much I HATE it, so their gifts were so perfect. Alex got me slippers that warm up in the micro, and Jess got me the most awesome tea cup that has a pocket for your hand to go in - cause I love to snuggle with my tea in the morning!!!

Panara Bread is one of my obsessions right now. I have yet to eat something there that I don't like. Though it's my favorite haunt for lunch because of their amazing soups and salads, the bakery items are to die for as well. So, instead of a cake, everyone got me Panara blueberry scones. The perfect birthday treat for a perfect birthday.

Thanks everyone for making my day so amazing. It makes ticking off the years quite easy ;o)

 

Jess's Soccer

Jess has been playing soccer for the last few months on a local co-ed team. The team has been doing really well, and she has been having a lot of fun. Usually her games are on Saturday, so I never get to go and watch her play. This week, however, she had a game on Sunday, so I got to go! It was fun seeing my little girl play soccer again. I think I was bad luck though, cause they lost.

Goat Fest

Aaron has been in Chrome Molly long enough now that we are on our second go around on the annual events that they play in. Goat Fest is one said event - so named because the guy who puts it on originally had it set up in the field behind his house where the goats were. It's exciting too, cause we are really starting to get to know a lot of the peeps in this crowd, so it's nice to show up to an event and know a lot of them. It's a lot of fun for sure!

Ellensburg Rodeo

I have always heard about how good the Ellensburg Rodeo is, but have never gone. Since Jess has an apt. there this year, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to do so - place to stay and park, win-win. We loaded up the truck with as much of Jess's stuff as we could and headed over. The weather was amazing and we had a really good time.

 

Happy Birthday Jeffery

Snoqualmie Railroad Days

We have been having some great weather as of late, so it's always fun to be able to go watch the band in an outdoor setting when it's hot outside. They played the Snoqualmie Railroad Days this year... the band was fun (even though Aaron forgot his pedal board - oops!), but the crowd was small and boring. I guess they can't all be winners.

Everyone went next door after the show for pizza, drinks and bowling. It was super fun to hang out for a while on a more casual basis. Everyone in the band is great and really fun to be around!

 

Dave Fest 2012

We got half way headed out of town for Dave Fest this year and I realized I forgot my camera! I felt a little bit like I had lost a limb for the firs half of the weekend. After a while though, I got used to not having it, and it was actually kind of nice just relaxing and not having to worry about taking pictures all of the time: I just got to have fun ;o) I did get a couple of pics with my phone though - thank goodness for the amazing technology of Android Phones!!!

We actually had a TON of fun this year. When we first arrived, the "campground" was full, and most of the field was taken up with RV's. We were standing there wondering what to do when Debbie came up and told us we could just stay in "the cabin". Now, you have to understand that the Giard's cabin is bigger, and nicer, than my house. The only thing that could really qualify it as a cabin is the fact that it is in the middle of the woods. We only had to think on that for about a half second. It's amazing how much more enjoyable camping is when you have a house, with a bed, and a bathroom, and a full functioning kitchen! I could do that kind of camping all of the time ;o) The older we get the more sleeping on the ground in nothing but a sleeping bag is undesirable. Next year I'll get pictures of "the cabin" for you to see. It also feels SO much more social as there were about 10 of us staying up there.

Chrome Molly played on Friday night, and it was a blast (as usual) dancing the night away. They are such a fun band!! Saturday was spent hanging with Dave, Michell, Kaitlyn and Devon at Lost Lake. Devon really wanted to go Crawdad fishing - he only got one, but we had a lot of fun just chillaxin'. That night was the Pot Luck dinner and more bands of course.

Sunday, Aaron and I got up early and went for an awesome bike ride on the Iron Horse Trail. It is so beautiful up there, and peaceful when you are up before everyone else. I could do that almost every morning and not get tired of it! We rode for about an hour and half before getting back for the big Pot Luck Breakfast.

The rest of our Sunday was spend over at Lake Kachees cooling off in the Lake and just hanging with our friends. I just love this group of people!! They are so fun to be around, it really is like a Chrome Molly family! Dave Fest was a huge success once again.

 

Summit Lake

The last two days have been the best weather we have had her in Seattle for TWO YEARS! Yup, we actually got into the low 90's, and it was a-maz-ing! We also had a free Sunday in about forever, so we decided to climb into the car and hike up to our favorite Alpine lake for a swim. It was beautiful and we had a great time!

 

San Francisco

July has been a crazy busy, but super fun month for us. We ended it on a whirlwind trip to San Francisco to run the Marathon with a friend of ours.... well, he ran the Marathon: Aaron and I just did the half and waited for him to finish the rest of it ;o) The course was beautiful, and we even got to run over the Golden Gate Bridge!

We spent two days touring as much of the city as we possibly could in the amount of time that we had. It was so much fun, I couldn't have asked for more. We made it to Alcatraz, the Fisherman's Wharf, Palace of Fine Arts, and a handful of other amazing places.

( I of course took a lot of pictures, so if you want to see them all, hope on FB, they are all on there ;o)