Heather Lake

For this new year, Peter has a goal to incorporate more backpacking trips, preferably with our little family. Upon further discussion with him, he said he'd love to go out at least once a month.

So...this last Friday, we went out! We left immediately after Peter got off work. We could only stay out for one night since Sundays are designated for Clifford's basketball games. Peter was fine with that though. He was just so happy that we went out as a family without anyone fussing (side note: I actually came down super sick on Tuesday and still wasn't completely recovered by then, AND Kristjan didn't complain once during our hike and he actually said he had fun!).

Our destination was Heather Lake up near Granite Falls. The hike was only 2 miles, so it was quick and easy. We made it to the lake and found a campsite right as it got dark. By the time we set up camp, got dressed in our warm pj's, and ate dinner 'n dessert, it was not even 7 pm yet and we were ready for bed! The night was a little chilly, but we survived. Considering Peter and I tossed and turned a lot during the night, we woke up feeling good. Breakfast of scrambled eggs with bacon and biscuits 'n gravy was amazing, and provided us with the energy we needed to pack camp up and head out. We were out and back to the car before noon. The remainder of our Saturday consisted of cleaning gear up, ordering some Chinese take-out, and watching the Seahawks. Not too bad!

One trip down, eleven more to go!

Happy (Blue) Friday!!!

(Former) PTA Treasurer Charged with First-Degree Theft

Well, it's officially been publicly announced....yes!!!

Last August, about a month and a half after completing my term as PTA Secretary, it was discovered that the Treasurer stole close to $40,000 from the PTA funds!!!!! I was trying to finish packing for our family reunion trip when my friend, and fellow Board member, Anne called in a panic. She had discovered that some recent checks written out had bounced, and after calling the bank, discovered the account was negative (like in the thousands), and it had been for quite some time. Since our names were both still on the account, Anne and I headed straight to the bank to try to figure out what was going on.....

So, long story short, yes, the Treasurer stole the money!! Checks had been written to herself and cashed, money from events was never deposited, but rather pocketed, and even her apartment complex made an automatic withdrawal a time or two for her rent (!!!). So how did she get away with this for so long??? Simple...the President of our Board didn't do his job. One of the "job descriptions" of the President is to meet every month with the Treasurer and review all bank statements and checks written. He never did. If he had, this probably could have been caught early on, maybe two months after she started doing this. The guy is a complete idiot and he is partly to blame for this happening (phew....I feel soooo much better now that I've said that. Been waiting a long time for that).

And now, it's finally become public. The article gives her reason as to why she did this (well, actually, I have a copy of her statement, and the news is only stating half of her reason. I can't divulge what was written, but I will say it's a complete lie. I had to write a statement contradicting what she had written). She paid back a majority of the funds missing (or I should say her dad did) and apologized. We call BS on everything...her reason, her apology. She's just sorry she got caught.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/former-pta-treasurer-charged-stealing-cover-gambli/njh8x/

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! Peter and I rang in the New Year with a small party at our house with a handful of friends, while the boys were down in Yakima visiting with cousins. 

Peter and I still can't believe 2014 is already over. It's day three of the new year, and I'm still not prepared for it (I STILL don't have a new calendar put up...it's sitting on my dresser!). Last year was a great year. We had many new changes for us, with the highlights being moving into a house, boys changing schools, me going back to work part-time, and Peter getting Lasik eye surgery.

We have big plans for 2015. We have a goal of getting healthier and more active. We'll be working on paying off more debt. Peter wants to increase the amount of family backpacking we do. I want us to add a few more family vacations throughout the year (I would love to go somewhere big like Disneyland and/or Legoland, as well as a more trips to the beach). And I'd like to be more organized (the last few years has been rough with my time on PTA and now having a job).

Hope everyone had a great end to 2014 and have an awesome to 2015!

(Attempted) Backpacking Trip

Peter has been itching to get out and hike one more time before this year is up. I had promised him that on our way home from dropping the boys off in Yakima that we would go. Of course, a few days prior we were watching the news and the weather report called for 18-34 inches of snow on the Pass. UGH! It's hard enough to convince me to camp in the cold, but it's even worse to do it in the snow. I just don't like it. BUT I told him I'd go, and I was sticking to it. When Saturday morning rolled around for us to leave Yakima, I was dragging my feet a bit to get ready for the day. It was just soooo cold out and as the reality neared for me to do this, I just wasn't very enthused about it. We decided that as we drove home, we'd scope the area out to see just how much snow there was (there actually wasn't really any where we wanted to hike). We made a stop at a gas station near North Bend. It was at that point where it was now or never to make the decision. So we decided to do it. We drove all the way up to the trail head for Snoqualmie Lake, got dressed in our camping clothes in the car, and ventured out in the rain at around 3pm. We hiked for a good hour until we decided this wasn't going to work. There was just too much rain and the chances of finding a decent spot to put our tent up was slim to none. To make ourselves feel better, we decided that we'd call it good, consider this a fun adventure, and just go back home to enjoy a warm, relaxing night. At least we tried :)

Visit to Yakima

The day after Christmas we made a 24 hour visit to Yakima. We planned on having the boys spend their second week of vacation with Peter's family, but in order for them to go, we had to drive them down. On the way, we made a stop to visit my family, as well to see our friend Grace and her little family (and their brand new house!!). Both were great visits. We made our last stop at the Nielsen household. Peter's sister Marie was in town visiting with her boyfriend, so we got to meet him. We had a pleasant visit with everyone that evening before heading to bed. Our "room" was in the trailer in the backyard. This was perfectly fine with us, since it was far away from all the kids in the house (downside, no quick access to a bathroom...nothing like getting all snuggled in bed to realize you gotta go back out in the cold). All was good sleeping in there until the roster started cock-a-doodle-doodling that next morning (lol). After some breakfast and showering, it was time for Peter and I to make that long drive back home. A quick stop to Starbucks and we were good to go :)

Visiting Grandma Jane on her lunch break at work

 Spending some time at Great Grandma and Grandpa's house

 Quick visit to see Grace and her son Eli

 Peter cooking at his parent's house....oil started splattering everywhere. Love the pic of Kristjan below. Perfect timing on capturing Kristjan's reaction to Peter's yelling :)

Clifford with Buddy (his cousin Eldon's new puppy)

 Me and his parent's dog Chica....she's getting old! :(

 Sheeba and Buddy finally getting along and playing around

Christmas Day

Here is Clifford and Kristjan on Christmas morning. We were sure that the boys would wake us up super early, even though we set an alarm on their cell for 6 am and instructed them to stay in their rooms until then. We did tell them they were allowed to get their stockings prior to that time, but they just couldn't wake us up until the alarm went off. It turned out that they were sound asleep when it went off....darn, could have gotten a few more hours in :)

Once Peter and I had a cup of coffee in hand, then it was time to open our gifts!

 The gift they're opening here was a hit. They've been bugging us to give them their own house key, so we figured we'd surprise them with one. We got them each a Seahawks-themed key on a key chain. Clifford's key chain is Daryl Dixon and Kristjan's is a My Little Pony. 

Few pics of me and Peter opening gifts

 Kristjan looking adorable in his new hat

More Seahawks gear!

Peter and I joked about these gifts. He finally gave me a "puppy" and I gave him a "DeLorean"

All three of my boys building Legos while I worked on breakfast and prepping dinner

 As a special treat, we went to see Into the Woods. I had a vague idea on the story line of the movie, but didn't know it was a musical. Peter does NOT like musicals. So the movie starts up and the actors begin singing...next thing I know I'm looking at Peter and he slowly turns his head and has the look of "What.Is.This??" I laughed and promised him I had no clue! But we both agreed, it ended up being a GREAT movie!

After coming home from the movie, it was time to get dinner going. We did surf 'n turf again this year, with homemade carrot cake and chocolate cream pie for dessert.