Wow!  What a crazy few months since our last update.  Here is a not-so-quick rundown of all our happenings...

First, our little girl started Kindergarten.  She is in an all-day Kindergarten class at Purdy Elementary!  She loves school and is adjusting to the all day, everyday routine easily.  She can get a little crabby at the end of the day, but overall is doing really well.  Our first parent-teacher conference is in November.  I'm very curious to see how she acts and behaves at school.  She tells me her favorite parts of the day are recess and riding the bus.  Kaitlyn also joined a Daisy Girl Scout troop.  She meets every Thursday with 10 other girls and loves it.  She's memorized the Girl Scout promise and is excited to earn her petals.  Oh, and watch out for those cookie sales after the new year.  :)  And starting next week, she'll be adding swimming classes back into her schedule as well as a rock climbing class at the Y.  YIKES!

Next up is Evan.  He recently celebrated his 3rd Birthday!!  He is very 3 years old... attitude and all.  He has recently discovered spitting at me and has mastered the art of fighting with his sister to get my attention.  Whoever said that the terrible 2's were bad, forgot that the 3's are way worse.  In all seriousness, he is a great little boy.  Still extremely active, quite the daredevil and very stubborn.  His activities include twice weekly playdates with his buddy Aidan, swimming classes at the Y, and well, driving me crazy.

As for Dan and I, we are just plugging along.  I haven't been doing too many cakes recently, which has been keeping my kitchen cleaner.  I have been busy co-coordinating the publicity for my MOPS group and also have joined a couple of PTA committees at Kaitlyn's school.  I'll be working on the Art Reflections program and helping collect/count/send in/etc Box Tops for Education.  Dan has been busy with work as usual, which is a good thing these days.  His big announcement is that TarpX is ready to sell!!  Please visit our Favorites Links page and visit TarpX, oh and buy a tarp!!!

September and October have been an especially difficult time for us as we had to say good bye to Dan's mom.  Her health started really declining around the middle of September.  She decided to enter hospice at the beginning of October, and on October 8th, lost her nearly 5 year battle with breast cancer.  It has been an extremely difficult time for our family and we appreciate all of you that send flowers and cards, prayed for Patty and us, and have been wonderful friends throughout this time.  Thank you all.

On a slightly lighter note, Dan and I walked in the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day in September, as many of you know.  It was one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life.  I really didn't expect to be in quite as much pain and feel so extremely exhausted.  It was a very moving experience.  We started our journey in Bellevue and wound around Bellevue, up through the Microsoft campus and into Renton... it was around 22-23 miles the first day.  We camped in pink tents in Marymoor Park and woke up bright and early to walk another 20 miles to and through Kirkland and back to camp.  The third day started with a bus ride to Seattle and a walk to and through downtown and back around to the Space Needle.  The weather was beautiful all weekend (although a little chilly and damp in the mornings) and we had some incredible views along our walk.  Camping was actually not bad... the shower trucks have plenty of hot water, the food was decent, the entertainment was good, the medical tent was available  :)  There were also foot massagers, shopping for 3-Day gear, and chairs to lounge in.  Perhaps the most wonderful part of the whole experience was seeing people cheer us on as we walked.  Cars honked constantly, people passed out candy and other food and drinks, and the cheering stations made me cry. Hundreds of people came out with signs and cheered as we walked by... it was so motivating and much needed.  Thank you to Aunt Kelle, Megan, Kev, Liz, mom and our kids for finding us along the route and cheering us on.  I posted some pictures on our site so please visit.

Along this same topic, Dan and I decided to walk again in 2009.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I signed up again, but I think with a little more knowledge about what to expect, I'll do better - more training, more stretching, etc.  But, after Patty passed away, we decided that we need to walk again, this time in her memory.  So, set aside some money for us or even sign up to walk with us... it is so worth it!

Please visit the kids' individual pages for more stats on them and of course, browse through the pictures... there are a lot of them!

Cake Page                   Kaitlyn's Page                  Evan's Page               Recent Pictures and 3-Day Pictures