Kam is 11!

It's still hard to believe that my nephew, Kamron, is already ELEVEN YEARS OLD! To celebrate his big day (back in November!), we went to the Family Fun Center for some gaming and laser tag. Then we went out for his favorite food: sushi. (Please tell me how many kids' fave food is sushi!) Then ended the night with a little ice cream at Bluebird Creamery. All in all, it was a super fun night!

But let's get back to this fact: he's 11 and he's officially taller than I am and wears a men's XL sweatshirt! Sure, it's a bit baggy, but not as baggy as you'd think. It's only such a joy to see this little man grow up over the years. He's such a sweet, smart kiddo. I can't help myself thinking about what's in store for him in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?! It'll be fun to see. Love you lots and lots, Kam!

Bathing Beauties

As a follow-up to last week's post, seriously, can it get any cuter than this? My Nama and my Mom, soaking in the sun - absolutely adorable, right? My grandma must have been close to my age in this photo (Am I right, Mom?). I wish I could jump into a time machine to join this timeless moment. But I'd definitely have to bring sunscreen! Lord knows I can't survive without it.

Cuter than a bug's ear.

During the holidays, I looked through hundreds of old family photos. I'm one of those people who can look at stranger's photo albums and become instantly enthralled (which I do regularly on Facebook, admit it, you do too). But when it's my own family, I become even more intrigued. When I came across this gem of my Dad with his brothers and sisters, I was in love. Such an adorable, happy family!

So, whaddya think? Do I look like my dad? :)

From left to right: Aunt Jeanie (baby), Uncle Doug, Aunt Nancy, Dad and Aunt Barb.

Glögg

Do you have any vivid memories from your childhood? I definitely do. And one of them involves catching my Aunt Jeanie, Aunt Barbie and Aunt Nancy all giggling as they poured themselves a glass of glögg (spiced wine) on Christmas day at my Grandma and Grandpa Pete's home. I remember being so curious about this mysterious drink they hated, but liked at the same time. I asked my Dad if I could try a sip of his and he obliged, eagerly awaiting a face of disgust - and that's exactly what he got. Ewww! I thought they were all crazy. (However, when I was finally of-age, I gave it another try and actually really liked it!)

Fast forward 20+ years. On our third date, Joe made me Swedish pancakes, some sort of Scandinavian soup and glögg. Not your typical way into a girl's heart, but it worked for yours truly. I remember watching him do his thing in the kitchen and thinking, "yep, the Aunties and Grandma Pete would approve."

This year when we made a batch, it brought back both memories and made me smile. Now that's a reason to cheers. Or as the Swedes say, skål!

(P.S. Joe's recipe involves port, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, almond slices, raisins, orange peel and maybe something else I'm missing. But here's a basic recipe.)

When parents collide

There comes a time in a relationship when your parents meet his parents. That time for me was this Easter Sunday. I thank my lucky stars every single day for having such fun, thoughtful, and inspiring parents, so I had no reason to be nervous. Yet, a twinge of nerves did surface a few days before. They were very fleeting nerves, but nerves nonetheless. Visions of Meet the Fockers were dancing through my head, but then I quickly snapped back to reality and remembered that both of our parents were completely normal. (Well, except for the fact that my dad is Superman.) If anything, they even had some similarities.

The meeting: The moms quickly went off onto the deck and looked at Joe's plants. The dads chatted on the couch about this and that. Joe and I manned the kitchen, occasionally listening in on their conversations. (I'll pretend I didn't hear the conversations about our future children.)

Then dinner was served - ham, spring risotto, and mixed greens salad with blue cheese, almonds and cranberries. But enough about the food. The parents. Well, they totally hit it off. It was as if they'd known each other for years. At one point, it was suggested that they go to Sweden together! I think that's what you might call a good sign :)

So now we've reached another milestone in our relationship. Just as expected, this fella (and his family!) keeps getting only the highest of marks.

Stylish Family

Have you seen this adorable family? The mom blogs at Bluebird Vintage and is an incredibly chic mom. On top of that, I love that she brings her family together regularly for family pictures-- note to self: do that one day. They all look happy and ever-so-stylish.

I'm especially smitten with the sassy little girl. She has more fashion sense in just her pinky than most people have in their whole body. Gosh, at the age of 8, I was making poor fashion choices... like perming my bangs and my bangs alone. That's right, not my actual hair. Just the bangs. Classic. Mom, please destroy all evidence of this disaster? Thank you.

Swedish Family

View from Norra Berget (via)

I've been communicating with my family in Sweden to get a few details hashed out for our upcoming visit and let me tell you - it's been SO FUN! (I have family in Ostersund, Sundsvall and Stockholm.) I can't even tell you how gracious they are - letting us stay with them, taking days off of work to be able to visit and now trying to plan fun activities during our stay!

My cousin in Sundsvall asked what I was interested in and I mentioned I had read about this beautiful vista from Norra Berget, Sundsvall's Central Park. She said, "Norra Berget, is it! But I think we'll have to think about something else too, Norra Berget is a small hill but for us in Sundsvall, but it's really a gigantic mountain! :)" Awesome factor: 10

Another cousin said they would take us to a baby moose farm in Ostersund! Plus, we'll be staying in a cottage by the lake. And I'll see the house that my great grandma grew up in. Ummm, how awesome is all of that? Awesome factor: 10

All these little details are making me more and more excited about this trip, including the fact that we've booked a night here! I realize that it's 44 days away (not that I'm counting) but that time will fly by and before you know it, I'll be back in Seattle dreaming about my next vacation :)

Rescued

I don't know about you, but this whole Chilean mine rescue has been incredible. I am completely memorized by the coverage and stories. Could you even imagine being stuck a half mile underground for over 2 months?! (If you're interested in what they ate, how they communicated or even how they stay entertained, read this article.)

It's all been a bit surreal to me and I found it hard to think past the logistics of it all, but when I saw these pictures from the Big Picture, that's when it hit home. These 33 men have family and friends eagerly waiting for them. Look at the tears of joy being reunited with their loved ones. (The little kiddo especially got to me.)

Puts things into perspective, don't you think?

(The hugger is Chile's President)

Happy Weekend!

Sometimes it takes a crappy situation (read: I hate Jiffy Lube) to realize that it's not the end of the world. Yeah, so I might be out $10K (ugh, typing that still does make my stomach drop), but at least I have an amazing family, fantastic friends, supportive coworkers and even my new bus driver rocks. Thanks all!

Therefore, I'm starting off this weekend with a big ol' smile. I have a lot to look forward to:

• Company "summer" party is finally happening. The theme is something like, "We're Great Americans/Yay, Don is still alive!" (Ask for the story if you want)
• Dinner with Stephanie and Muriel tonight.
• Then meeting up with the other girls, including Karen who is in town for the weekend!
• Seeing the rents and probably taking them to lunch for putting up with my displays of anger (read: I still don't like Jiffy Lube) and helping out tremendously this past week.
• Christina's final fling before the ring!
• Hitting up the Puyallup Fair on Sunday and eating everything that comes into my path. Why is fair food so good?

Who knows that other adventures lie in the weekend ahead. Hope you all have a great one!

Rockstar Diaries just posted this and I feel like it fits perfectly with my post...

{via}

Fan-freakin-friend-tastic!

Last night a big group of my girlfriends gathered at Maddie's for a taco soup feast. Yumm...

The lovely ladies in attendace: Maddie, Stephanie, Autumn, Erin, Kimber, Lianna, Lizzie, Stacy and yours truly.

It had been far too long since our last get together, so we all had to share our life updates. Man, we live cool lives. Two people recently bought houses, three people (myself included!) are going to Hawaii on a search for the best Mai Tai, one person is sailing down the coast to California on a pimped out sailboat, another is headed to drink endless margaritas in Mexico, one is attempting to adopt an orange kitten before she moves in with her boyfriend who may or may not be allergic and another is getting her couch recovered. (Tronics - it is a big deal. I know what you were thinking...)

These ladies, all my other friends and family mean the world to me. Life would simply not be as fun and meaningful without all of you.

Ok, enough of this seriousness, look at how Maddie is doing her makeup these days. Pretty, pretty princess.