Little Bri-Bri's Talent Show

We're so happy that our sweet little boy is coming out of his shell, as is documented in this video... he's the "man in black".


http://youtube.com/user/browl117




Please also forgive the archaic nature of the "link".... will someone please show an old woman how to add a youtube clip to her blog??? I know this whole fiasco of the link will cost me comments... & I gotta' tell you, that hurts. Deeply.

Easter Chaos

The Gang

The Warriors Ready for Battle

The Most Challenging Part: Keeping the Pants Up

(You should have seen the shot I deleted!)

Saturday we all survived the Family Easter Celebration. While it was touch and go, there were no amputations necessary. It was a smaller, but more intreprid group than in prior years. Only two teams were actually duct taped together: Corey, Karine and Gibson & Amanda and Kristin. This did not however mean we would use less duct tape. Oh no, to participate one must suffer. But then let's face it, if you been a part of one of our reunions, you knew this going in...

Grandpa... on a sugar low??

Apparently those under 5 and over 85 didn't feel the need to endure the torture to be able to participate. While we did consider strapping Madison & Grandpa together, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do this to the little old man...

Corey & Baby Gibson

Truly one of the highlights of the day was watching Madison and Grandpa together. Maddy treats "Great Grandpa" like the celebrity he's always been sure that he is (and apparently none of the rest of us have ever figured this out!). Madison got grandpa seated, made sure he put his feet up (this is a TRUE story), and told him how much she miss-ed him. Why is this word so much cuter when it's two syllables! She also made him a present, which involved a piece of school papers, a little pen and a lot of medical tape. He was speechless.

Madison & Great Grandpa Enjoying a Visit

Now that she had him settled in

It was great seeing everyone. Thanks to all of you who made the effort to come on by. For those who couldn't be there.... your loss! Doug, I am so sorry about the Avalanche Control!!!

Releasing the Prisoners

Ahhh. Feel the Blood Flow

Nothin' like a little Sidewalk Chalk to Relax after a Crazy Egg Hunt.

North By Northwest

Cordova, the Fishing Village

Now that's a glacier.

To celebrate Steve's 50th birthday he took a once in a lifetime trip to Cordova, Alaska for a heli-skiing trip. It was a Boys trip for seven... Steve went with Dave Blakely & a great group of guys. While they weren't able to do the amount of skiing they'd hoped for as there was actually too much snow, they did have some high adventure. A little more intense than they're wives would have liked. At one point, one of the guides disappeared. He fell 20 feet into a crevasse. The guide was actually very lucky, because he fell onto a narrow ledge. When he looked down, he couldn't see the bottom of the crevasse. Apparently these guys know what they are doing, because he had pulled himself out and was skiing down the mountain again in about 20 minutes. This was NOT the story his wife wanted to hear after Steve's first day of heli-skiing. It also may not have been a good omen when, while during the ski week the town buried its avalanche forecaster, who died, yes, in an avalanche. Again, this may have been a story Lynn wanted to hear when Steve had returned safely home... but not before! But after a long week, he did come home in one piece... The guys were actually a little frustrated that perhaps their wives had prayed too intently for their safety which may have accounted for too few ski days.

The strangest thing of all, after this once in a life time adventure, the guys are now discussing going back next year. How could that be, when it was a once in a lifetime trip???

Boys in the 'Hood?

Isn't he handsome? What a ski stud...

I want to be like Bethany

To follow in my beloved niece's footsteps, I've entered a March Madness Pool.

After being completely ignored by my once-beloved nephew Doug (the Accountant/ESPN Addict -- My thought was, what better combination could there be in a March Madness Betting Pool????)... But lo, he broke my heart when he never returned my phone calls. Thus I was forced to spend $5 and 4 minutes of my life bracketing.

Here's my Final Four: NC, Texas, UCONN



and I have chosen to take it all this year.....

Shane, they can't blow it so badly three years in a row can they????? 

I BELIEVE!!!!

but...

Will this be me in a couple of weeks?

If history has taught us anything... Yes.

Brian's Wild Night in Draper!

Apparently Brian has felt a little concerned that he has not adequately been represented in the Family Blog. In an effort to steer the spotlight back where it typically rests at least 360 days per year, we wanted to share with you some of Brian's adventures over the weekend.

Along with a group of friends, Brian went to Chalice's (one of his former FHE's sisters) home in Draper to spend some time. Below is a sampling of their uplifting evening...

Around The World Ping Pong - Brian assures me that he won this Game!

Brian's Returned Missionary Roommates,

ever the good examples, teaching him to blow powdered sugar into flame.

I'm sure there is a deep spiritual metaphor here....

Now Doug can really blow some sugar!

Tommy and his new Girlfriend, Barbie.

I hesitated to post this photo but Brian assured me that the relationship is concentual.

Brian & Alicia

At the end of a crazy evening, things took a introspective turn...

Brian titles this, "The Thinkers" & says

it is a much better photo than it's counterpart

"The Stinkers".

I'll take his word for it....

This Would be Perfect.... if I Could Just Feel my Feet

In the interest of keeping an accurate family record, Steve had his first water ski of the year yesterday, yes, that is correct on March 6.

• Location: Lake Washington
• Air temperature: Low 50's
• Water temperature: Low 40's
• Steve's Mental State: Either Genius or Mad Man. You Decide

Today he plans to snow ski.... Hmmm.

I Love Dead Presidents!

Okay, this blogging thing is new to me and apparently I have chronology issues. But, since I finally downloaded pics from our President's Day Weekend Trip to Utah, I thought I'd share them. We had an incredible weekend. We visited friends, skied in glorious Utah sunshine and best of all spent time with Brian! It was a practically perfect weekend.
Skiing was a blast as we had great conditions, beautiful weather, and the best company. We skied with the Nash Family. We all benefited from Kelly's ski clinic. He's a phenomenal skier and was an instructor for years. He was patient and had great tips for us. What a fabulous couple of days!

Kelly and Karen Nash

Brady the "Ski Stud" with His Mama-Lynn

Three Very Scary Gangsters We Met on the Slopes - aka Brian, Mandy, and Lindsey

We also had the opportunity to meet Alicia Wallace, a "friend" of Brian's. What a fun girl! She is great and we had a wonderful lunch with she and Brian up at Sundance, one of our favorite hangouts from days gone by....

Hurricane Hits Kirkland, WA!

Hammerin' Hank putting the Hurt on

Baby Gibson in Fall of 2007

You can blame Megan for this blog.... Maybe that's what we should have named it, actually. It's always nice to wash your hands of any responsibility early on...

We were so fortunate to have Shane, Megan and Hammerin' Hank-Henry the Hurricane spend a couple of days with us! In between feeding Henry brownies, watching him pace over our kitchen countertops, rearrange our CD's and try to grab obects off of the tv screen, Megan helped me start a blog.

I love my nieces and nephews blogs so much, that I am thoroughly intimidated by the process. I know our lives aren't near as exciting, and our baby isn't nearly as cute (don't get me wrong, he definitely had his hey-day, and he continues to be incredibly handsome... but once they're 18 and hairy, do you really want to look at a lot of pics of them??)... I digress.... actually, maybe that's what I should have titled this blog... hmmm. food for thought.

I was very spoiled this weekend, spending time with Gail and her family, Doug, Kristen, Bryce, Karine, Corey and especially playing with my adorable great niece and nephew, Madison and Gibson. Madison is delightful. She is smart and ariculate. Best of all, she is a girl who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. I was very wise and went bearing gifts. She assured her mother that the pink feather boa I had brought was "what she'd always wanted... every day". Whhhoooo. I dodged a bullet on that one. Gibson is also a love. He is utterly contented and loving. He adores his big sister and is so generous with his smiles and sweetness.

Madison at Fort Worden, Fall of 2007

I headed back to Seattle in time to have a great evening with our friends, Kim and Mike Printz, at the Triple Door. It was so fun to pretend we were young and hip and listen to some young and hip musicians. Steve almost blew our cover by complaining about "too much synthesiser", but I'm sure people still thought we were twenty-somethings... Either way, it was a great night.

The very next day, Shane, Megan and that beautiful Henry arrived. Henry is such a joy. Happy, energetic and somehow moving in perpetuity, without ever bending his knees. He is also apparently highly spiritual, as his hands are always in the air, like unto Moses.... It brought our family to a whole new level, I'm telling you! He is an absolute joy and made his Aunt Lynn's heart sing when he would cuddle with her.