Pathetic Post

Hey - just wanted to let my 2 or 3 followers that I am doing ok - I've spent most of my time on Facebook lately. Been busy with work and taking care of things. We are so happy that we have 2 new grandsons! They were born about 2 months apart and both are doing good! Did I mention that both of them are extremely good looking?!

I've only got a few minutes so this post is pathetic! Anyway - if you want to get caught up on my life - find me on facebook - if you aren't already there. :)

OAHU Hawaii Oct. 09

We had a really good time with Mom & Fred! It was relaxing and beautiful and was just really nice to hang out and do things together! We swam with the sharks which was super fun - even though I got sick!

Thanks Mom & Fred for going and making it such a meaningful trip!

Another Blessing

I wanted to share the news - we are expecting Another Blessing in our family! Brandon and Emily are expecting in April. We don't know if it's a boy or girl and frankly we don't care! Being a grandparent is soo much fun! We are excited to have 3 grandkids by this next summer!

A grandchild on the way!

Our youngest daughter Vanessa is expecting!! We are very excited to be grandparents again! It's been so fun with Dylan and we love him sooo much and now we get to have another grandchild and Brandon & Emily are planning to get pregnant later this year - we will be bursting with love and excitement. :)

She has been living in Palm Desert, California but has decided to move home sooner rather than later to be near her family who loves her very much. We truly are fortunate to have a big loving and supportive family!

She and her friend will stay with us until he can get a job in the area to support them. It's not ideal for them - who really wants to live with their parents after living on thier own for 3 years? We have missed Vanessa so much and I have shed many tears the past 3 years! She and I have always been close. I am really looking forward to having her near!!!

Kenai Peninsula, Alaska June 2009

Hey, thought I'd update my blog and post pics of our trip to the Kenai Peninsula Alaska. We went to help Curt's brother Steve work on his cabin. It's located near the town of Sterling - and by town I mean a gas station, a post office and a few small stores off the main road. It's also about 20 minutes to Soldotna. We managed to get the wiring done - and by we I mean that I was the "Vice President in Charge of Construction" and "Lighting Placement" and "Material Handler" which meant that I spent hours in the car to and from Home Depot (yes they have a Home Depot and a Lowes! Walmart to begin construction soon) Curt was acting "Electrician" and Steve was CFO.

Our breaks consisted of "Combat Fishing" on the Kenai River where it meets the Russian River. The Russian River is crystal clear and the Kenai River is blueish green.

I got some great shots of wildlife and scenery. Check out my snapfish site to see all the pictures.

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=886857022/a=164714888_164714888/

We are looking forward to going back and spending more time at the cabin, the peninsula, Seward, Denali etc. It truly is a trip worth taking if you love beautiful sights!

Until next time.........

Spring Break

I am old enough to know that Spring Break is really for students but when we planned our trip we didn't think about the timing - other than the fact that it worked for our schedules.

We spent 7 nights in Kuaui! Love Love Love Kuaui! We had a great time - enjoying the scenery and each other. Seems like we both work so hard that we don't really take time out to just relax and worry about only each other and not about business and other things.

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=297773697/a=164714888_164714888/t_=164714888

Above is a link to view our Kuaui Pictures - it's the easiest way for us to share with friends and family. If you have never used Snapfish - it's real easy - just create a user and password. I takes only a minute or two. Seriously. If you decide to look I have to warn you - there are some unflaterring photos and poses!

The scenery is beautiful and we took alot of pictures - which don't really do justice to the real thing! The best part about it is that there are no snakes! I am actually scared to death and freak out - hyperventilate - and my heart beats out of my chest. No joke! Anyway - I was able to hike in the jungle and enjoy nature. It was sooo freeing for me. We got in alot of physical activity which is good.

Other than that - the kids are all doing well. Dylan is super cute and we get to keep him for 8 days when Brandon & Emily go to Oahu! They will bring him up and will come back here before going back to Phoenix. Ideally it would have been better for them if we would have went down there but we are both so busy with work that it made more sense for us. They like to stay with us anyway so it works out fine.

We got a new desktop - actually I had to get it for my business since I have hired a part time gal to help out. Anyway - we ordered it with a webcam so we get to see Dylan and the kids and Dylan gets to see us on a regular basis. It's not the same as hugs and kisses and snuggling but it's the next best thing.

My business is doing well - I am branching out to Seattle as it has a good market for what I do. Works out well because I LOVE Seattle! I have some friends there and it's always good to catch up. Speaking of that - I've got work to do so that's all for now.

Just a reminder - we have plenty of room for the Stephens siblings and families to come and visit. :)

Take care,

Suzanne

More Misc. Pictures

Near Moses Lake Washington - Near Spokane. Curt had gone to the job site in January and took this picture of the ice. It was really cold but it is cool looking.

Solomon Trimble, Me, Issac Trimble. Solomon is in Twighlight - the movie - he plays an Indian - LOL - and part of the Wolf Pack. Issac is also a native american actor. They both split their time between LA and Portland. As it turns out - we have mutual friends in Indian Country and they came to our Tribal Center to help with a Fundraiser for a family. Issac also donated 2 flutes that he made - he is an excellent flute player and Solomon is a very good traditional dancer.

Cami Krise, Me, Mom, Nancy Hansen at the Plankhouse in Ridgefield, WA for the Winter Gathering. Always nice to see friends!!!!

Amanda,

Savannah & Vanessa chillin.

Christmas Fun

Ummm- Vanessa and her roommate Amanda drove home for Christmas from Palm Springs after their flights were cancelled. Everything was fine - but from the top of Cali and through Oregon the roads were diffucult at best. They made it until they got a few miles from home and did 3 360's on the highway!!! They were ok but were shaken up and sore. Curt was in front and saw it happenening. Vanessa was ummm VERY happy to see her Ma!!

Me and Vanessa

Curt, Savannah and Vanessa sledding down one of the hills by our house.

Savannah, Vanessa & me - it was really fun sledding down the hill. Funny thing is - none of the neighbor kids were out so we borrowed thier sleds and had a great time!

My little snow angels. :P

Misc. Pictures

Curt Shoveling our deck - which he had to do twice. We had alot of snow this winter which was fun! He's a good driver in the snow so he took good care of us and the neighbors.

Grandpa and Dylan Christmas Tree hunting - ya at a lot - we went to the farms but the trees were shitty plus it was cold, rainy and windy - not ideal for our grandson who is used to Phoenix weather.

Me & Dylan - he's sooo cute!

This is Curt outside Soldier Field in Chicago - this past October. We were there for the annual NECA Convention. It was fun - we got to see the show and we attended classes together - I am interested in solar, wind etc. We also got to see most of the City - the tourist sites anyway and some local restuarants that we really good. MMMMM Chicago Pizza!

Me on the path - this path goes all the way from the convention center to downtown. We enjoyed the sights and the exercise.

Seriously......

Ok - I knew it had been a while since I posted - but 3 months??? Seriously......

I have been super busy! Back in October - Curt and I went to Chicago on business. It was really fun and we got to do quite a bit of sightseeing. We have a policy - whenever we are in a new city we do not eat at any chain restuarants - instead we eat at local places with local flare and unique qualities. We have some pictures but I have not had a chance to download them. Also in October - I went to Phoenix to take care of our precious grandson - love love love being a grandma! Who would have thought that being a grandma was SOOOO much fun? If I could be 1/2 the grandma my grandma was I'm in good shape! I also went to Palm Springs to spend time with Vanessa. Love Palm Springs! It's beautiful and warm and most of all my youngest lives there! I have to say that at times I feel a bit inadequate with the rich people on the flights - ok not really - but seriously.....who needs rings that big? Who needs their socks to match their sweaters? LOL

November - oh - November was really busy with work - one of my contracts kept me traveling across Oregon and parts of Washington - I really enjoyed it and I seem to be good at training. Who knew? LOL

Can't beleive it's December already! My first child - Savannah turned 22 on December 8th!!! Seriously - can she be that old already? I guess that makes me a bit older as well. LOL I also took a part time seasonal job at Coach - for those of you who don't know - Coach is a high end designer bag store. (purses) I really like it!!! I have never worked in retail but seem to be good at it....haven't heard any complaints LOL. I also have to say that I LOVE the employee discount! Dylan got to come up and spend part of a week with us - he is the best little boy I know - the cutest too!!! We just love him so much and we have so much fun with him. I took him to see Santa Clause last week - he was cool with it until Santa tried to hold him. I picked him up and sat next to Santa so we both had our picture taken. It was that or nothing. Me and Savannah took Dylan to Cafe Sip n Play - Dylans favorite place to go play when he's here.

We are off to LA Wednesday - then to Disneyland on Thursday with Dylan, Brandon & Emily. Back home on Friday just in time for round two of winter storms. Since we live on the Columbia River Gorge on a hill we get really strong winds. It's going to be under freezing for the next week to week and 1/2. For those of you who are saying "Thats Nothing - Try Living in Idaho" I have to politely decline. NO Thank you!!!! I do like to have changing seasons and I enjoy snow but I couldn't live in freezing tempuratures for extented periods of time. Good news is my husband keeps me warm!!

I'll post some pictures when I get time. :)

Till next time..........

Havin Fun! - Look at the other 2 posts - for more cool pictures!!

This place was really cool! I had to break it up - it only let me upload 5 pictures at a time. :)

We have really enjoyed Dylan - it's been hard on Emily - even though she knew he was in good hands. It's always hard to be away from your kids - especially when it's 3 nights and your husband is gone too! They head back home tomorrow - we will be sad to see them leave but we are SOOO happy that we got to spend this time with Dylan!!!!

More Pictures from Dylan's Trip

He really enjoyed the petting area - there were only pigmy goats but Dylan loved it. They look like good old friends.
This is at Cafe Sip n Play - not too far from our place. It's awesome. The kids get to Play and the parents/grandparents/nannies get to Sip on coffees or teas and have lunch.

Dylan's Trip to Grandma & Grandpa's House

At the Oregon Zoo


This is the funniest picture ever!!! The Orangatang came right over to the window and looked right into Dylan's eyes. Dylan just looked right back. I wonder though - was the Orangatang interested in Dylan's Green Tea Lemonade from Starbucks?!?!?!?!?!

3 Year Anniversary

So yesterday we celebrated our 3 year anniversary. Can't beleive it's been 3 years but it also feels like it's been more than 3 years. :)

We are truly happy and enjoy doing things together and we also enjoy doing nothing together - especially when the weather is bad - we totally love laying in bed or on the sofas watching TV in front of the fire or playing games.

We went to "Jake's" downtown - the one on 10th and Alder - the one on 12th doesn't have my favorite dessert - it's a warm chocolate cake with warm chocolate inside with vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate drizzled on the plate and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. YUM!

The food is always fantastic, the service is always great - even though it's a bit on the fancy side - the staff is down to earth. The steak is always tender and flavorful and done just right (yes that means well done for me LOL). They also had menus for us that said, "Happy Anniversary" across the inside. (they print the menus daily) We have both been sooo busy that we haven't taken the time to go out and sit and have a 2 hour dinner - we both needed to relax and enjoy each other. We had a nice table for 2 by the front window near a corner - so we had privacy and also got to watch the interesting characters of Portland.

Family photo at our wedding - we got married in Vegas with just us and our kids. It was a great time. Brandon and I were laughing so hard at the lady doing the ceremony - she did something funny - for some reason I don't remember what it was - but it was hilarious! We all had a good time. We are truly blessed to have such great kids.
Yes this is the same picture as above - it's not easy to remove a picture - oh well. :)

Above - we took an ATV tour that went through the dessert and came out on the beach - it was beautiful! You can't swim in it though - the currents are too strong - you will die. It's where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.

The next one is taken from our room - it was a nice place - great service - great pool - we took the bus into town a few times - it was fun!

The last one is us at our favorite restuarant in Caso San Lucas - yes over Cabo Wabo. The margaritas were amazing - the food was good - they bring the meat in from California. Our favorite waiter was Omar - very nice young man.

BBQ at the Spains

So let me give you some backgroungd- Curt and I live in a development - first time for both of us. We've had empty lots - 3 on one side and 2 on the other. When ground broke on one of the lots we kind of grumbled about the contractors showing up at 7 am on Saturdays and making all kinds of racket. We had gotten used to not having any immediate neighbors. Well - Dennis and Leslie bought the house and we have become the best of friends. We have get togethers at each others houses and thier kids (Alex & Anna) - we are pretty close - we can be our selves around each other. Long story short - we will not complain about new houses being built - ya never know - they could turn out to be good friends.

That leads me to explain these pictures - they were taken at Alex & Anna's house in Portland. They were so kind to invite us to their place for a BBQ. We had a great time! Dylan had a really good time - he didn't actually fall into the ice chest - he really liked sitting in the ice chest and playing with it's contents. Dylan got filthy dirty and he loved every minute of it!!

Brandon, Dylan, Suzanne, Curt, Emily, Dennis, Leslie with Alex and Isabella in the back. Anna was taking the picture.

Road Trip - Canada

Some of you know that I am pretty wrapped up in my tribe - politically and culturally. Dancing, singing and drumming with friends and family is awesome! I can't explain it - but the songs are still in my head from the weekend before.

Mom and I went to Duncan, British Columbia (Canada) the 2nd and came back late on the 4th. We went there for the final days of the annual Tribal Journeys - and for the beginning of the North American Indigenous Games. Anybody can go really - but we were invited guests of our friend, Edgar Charlie aka Hanaquii, Chief of Ahousat (Canadian Coastal Tribe). We had a blast. The license plates say "Beautiful British Columbia" and they really mean it - it is beautiful! The ferry rides were amazing - we had nice warm weather - blue skies - beautiful water. We took our drums on deck for the 1 1/2 hour ferry ride. We quietly played our favorite songs and without knowing it - we apparently drew a crowd. Part of that crowd were 4 Army Officers who just returned from Iraq. They were very nice and very respectful. We ended up taking pictures of each other. We also sang them an honor song - to thank them for their service.

I told them I would post this picture on my blog so here it is. :) What can we say - we make friends easily.


So we get to this little town and started to look for the place we were going to camp. We pulled into the area - which has thousands of people running around and we drove right up to Edgar. It was funny but I guess you had to be there. We spent time sitting around chatting etc. then drove around to look for friends in the dark. Came across the Blue Heron Camp - which is the Snoqualmie Canoe. Anyhow - ran into friends there - ended up drumming some more. Fun!

Next day was the Parade for the opening of the Games - we had to be bussed across town - where we lined up. The parade was really fun - an overwhelming feeling from the crowds. Lots of cameras and video cameras - we kind of felt like celebrities LOL. We lined up with our host - Ahousat - and what an experience - their singers are amazing. We drummed, sang and danced for quite a ways - not sure how far - but I can tell you that I lost weight because it was so hot and I had on my dance blanket - which in itself is hot. Part of the experience.

So here's mom, me and Hanaquii (Edgar Charlie). We were in line for the parade.

It's really hard to describe it - there were really thousands of people there - look into the big screens to get an idea - that is just part of the seating area for the athletes.

Ok - so up above is me and Haliqui ( Ralph Edgar) doing a social dance - ya so he didn't tell me he had a bad back - he paid for it the next day - but we had fun.

The one just above is us at the end of the Potlatch - we were all happy since we had a great time.

There are a bunch more pictures to share and stories to tell - I think I've rambled on enough for now. I could go on and on.