A Long Beach Vacation

So the day after Christmas we took a drive to Long Beach, WA with Malinda's brother Andrew. It was nice to get away and take some time for ourselves. We enjoyed some hiking in the rain, the light houses and good company.

Dead Man's Cove

Cape Disappointment Light House

The beach right out side our door.

At North Head Light House

Do you see how wet we are?

North Head Light House

A Festive Night!

Cam, Malinda, Drew, Janet and Dennis

We're getting bigger and bigger...Most of the cousins (missing 5 of them)

The girls of the family.

The boys of the family.

Here are a few pictures of Malinda's mom's side of the family on our annual Christmas Eve Dinner.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Let it Snow!

So we made it back to Kent for the Christmas holiday and low and behold it has been snowing the entire time we have been here. We have really been enjoying ourselves and seeing everyone in just the two days that we have been here. We were able to watch the surprise nuptials of a long time childhood friend Noelani (we've know each other since kindergarten), the baptism of her little boy and celebrate my cousin Tiana's 3rd birthday! Today was a day to just stay inside and watch the snow. My mom, Cam and I ventured off on a walk to Fred Meyers. There was no driving today - they have had the hill closed since yesterday. After coming back we decided to play in the snow! Even though the snow has put a crimp in some of our holiday shopping I hope that everyone can take a little time to enjoy it like we did today.

I've been tagged!!

Noelani decided to tag me and I can't disappoint me loyal readers :) So the topic is 6 things that make me happy! So here we go:

1. Campbell David - We have been together for 9 years and can't imagine my life without him. He has been my rock and my support through the good and the bad. He is my bestest friend and the person I can count on at the end of the day no matter where we are.

2. My Parents - They have always supported me. I miss them dearly when I am in AK and love coming to visit them as much as I can.

3. Drewbie - My brother is the funniest person I know. He can always put a smile on my face. He's crazy and wild and I can always get him to do anything :) He is one of my best friends.

4. Traveling - I have this love for travel that I never knew existed in me until after I graduated high school. I love going on adventures and seeing where it takes me. I usually don't plan anything ahead of time except for the first couple of nights of hotel rooms :)

5. Pictures - I have loved taking pictures every since I was little. I love looking at them, remembering what was happening and reminiscing with others about those memories. They bring back good memories and sad memories but they are the stories of my life. I know that one day when I have a child I will be able to share those pictures with him/her.

6. Head Start - Although I get stressed out with my job and at times don't like it, I love that I am part of a world where I am able to help the neediest of children. It fills me with pride that I can help make the difference in the lives of the children - not only in the Bering Strait Region but throughout the State of AK.

So now I am going to tag: Denise, Mary, Katie, Leah and Jennifer :) Happy Blogging!

Zorbing

Welcome!

Some of you many be visiting our blog for the first time and we hope you enjoy catching up with us! People have been asking us about the picture with the big ball on our Christmas card. The big giant ball is called a zorb ball (a gigantic inflatable ball) and we went zorbing while we were in New Zealand. Some of you may have seen the ball in a TV commericial for the Toyota Sequoia.

You hop into the ball (or should I say get a running start and dive head first into the ball - my mom had a hard time understanding this), stand up and start running/walking inside the ball. As soon as you start to run/walk you fall/tumble/slide and the ball starts to roll down the hill. So you may be wondering about getting plastic burn like we use to get when there wasn't enough water on the slip and slide. The ball is acutally filled with warm water so you don't have to worry about getting any burns (you just might have to worry about losing your contacts or getting squished by the other person in the ball with you). The hill isn't a very big hill and it is over with in less than a minute. We highly recommend zorbing to anyone if you happen to come across it. We sure enjoyed it and my parents even tried it too.

At the top of the hill. You can see us standing up.

Here we are at the bottom of the hill.

Inside the ball...this is the opening that we had to hop into.

Just after getting out of the ball!

Oh the Memories...

As I have mentioned before the wonderful world of technology has connected me to many long lost friends and old basketball team mates. Coach Powell has gotten into some trouble since we "found" him on facebook. He currently only has pictures of 2 of his teams. The team I was on is in one of the photo albums (so maybe we were one of his favorites). So some of his former players have been giving him a hard time and the war of words has started over who was the better team. He has now made a plea to his former girls to post pictures. One of my oldest friends Noelani was the first to post pictures and a few of them are below. I remember that back in high school I was the only one that ever brought a camera anywhere and those girls use to give me a hard time for taking so many pictures. It is bringing back so many wonderful memories of playing and hanging out with those girls.

Tournament in Vancouver, Canada

Tournament in La Jolla, CA

Senior Year March 1999- Pep Rally before State