New Toy

My secret santa at work got Elly and Zoey a new cat toy. Elly was thrilled. Note Zoey's excitement from a distance. She's a bit of a skeptic.

Henry's Kitchen

Henry's Kitchen is one of five Red Cross mobile feeding units in the nation that can feed thousands of people. It was brought from Kansas to Washington this year in preparation for the potential Green River flooding. We went to the King County Office of Emergency Management for a press event for Henry's Kitchen. You can read more here.

Vista Holiday Party

This is what we came home with from the white elephant. I don't think we could have done better.

Musical chairs were played... and I dominated! Sorry Reid.

Many photos were taken, someone yelled out words and we reacted...





I think the word here was axe murderer?

Mariners Game

Thanksgiving

Ali & Brent are Married!

Very Cuddly

Microsoft Haunted House

One of the many Willy Wonka themed rooms...

There were also pirates, candy land, under the sea, and "mature audience only" themes. Unfortunately my pictures do not do any justice to the awesomeness of these decorations.

Halloween

The VISTA Halloween Party at Reid's place...

Sisters

Elly is no longer banned to the guest bedroom. She is free to roam the house. They're sharing so well... so far.

New Kitten

We went to Homeward Pet Adoption today and found Zoey a sister. She curled up and slept in Andrew's arms. So cute!

Lauren in Seattle

Lauren came to play in Seattle. I think this fountain is symbolic of the whether while she was here. Thanks so much for making the trip out!

Bremerton Ferry Ride

The AmeriCorps Vistas took a field trip over to Bremerton to visit the Kitsap County Red Cross office and take our Mass Care training.

Letty, Beth and Dave

Paradie's House

Paradie hosted a VISTA bonfire at her house this weekend, complete with water slide.

Gaming Expo

Today we went to the Penny Arcade Expo. It was more fun for Andrew than myself.

Little Mt. Si

We hiked to the summit of Little Mt. Si today. Its about 2.5 miles up and a 1,300 ft elevation gain. You can see a little part of Mt. Si to the right. I don't think we're up for hiking that just yet.

Tracy and Sherri Visit

Tracy and Sherri came to visit and help us get some house work done. We got LOTS of work done! We completely redid the bathroom and laundry room. They look fabulous!

First we had to tear out the floor in both rooms. Andrew managed to drop our drill down into the walls while we were replacing the subfloor, and Tracy somehow fished it out using two bungee cords.



We laid new tile in both rooms because the bathroom was carpeted and the washer had rocked enough to break a hole in the linoleum.


1/2 Bath
Before:

After:


Laundry Room
Before:

After:

Living Room

We also painted the living room and put new trim throughout almost the entire upstairs. It made a huge difference. Unfortunately my picture don't do it justice because of the sun coming through the windows. Sherri did a great job of not painting the ceiling. I wish I could say the same for Tracy, but he really struggled.

We are also putting up a desk in the loft and work bench in the garage, but I don't have pictures of that progress yet.

Before:

After: