Katie Learns to Ski

For 5 weeks in January and February, Katie's school offers the option to sign up for ski lessons instead of PE class, so we asked Katie if she would like to give it a try. She expressed interest, so we signed her up. Beginning January 14, each Thursday, for 5 weeks, Katie joins her fellow Kindergartners and the First Graders at Snoqualmie for a day of ski lessons. Regina and I were there for the first lesson and again today for the third lesson. Today was an especially exciting day to be there because they got to ride the chair lift for the very first time! I caught it on video, of course. So, take a look, and get fired up for the Olympics!!!

Making Room For Betty

Okay, I'm incredibly overdue for an update so there's a lot to share. But first, let's recap, since it's been so long...

June 10, 2009, Regina's Mom, Betty suffered a massive stroke in her Virginia home. She lost use of her right side and spent the next three months in the hospital there. Labor day weekend, Matt and Edy helped Betty fly to Portland where she moved into a facility very near our apartment there. About a month later, Regina lost her job in Portland, so we all moved back up to Seattle. Regina, Katie and I moved back into our house, which thankfully never did sell and Betty moved into Briarwood in nearby Issaquah. We immediately began making plans to move Betty in with us eventually. Briarwood is truly a wonderful place and they take excellent care of her, but we just don't have the financial means for it! So, Regina and I are going to make adjustments in our home and in our lives to make room for Betty. We'll do whatever it takes. Currently, we are in the middle of preparations for bringing her home to live with us.

Betty's condition is such that she does not walk or stand anymore. She's wheelchair bound, so obviously that presents lots of challenges. Fortunately though, the world we live in today offers many accessibility solutions for wheelchair-bound folks. We are installing a Bruno Chair Lift so she can be gently lifted and lowered up and down the stairs. It'll be so nice that she can have access to the entire house, even the second story! Her bedroom will be the front room upstairs across the hall from Katie that I have been using as my office/sewing/craft room. I sold the huge custom wood desk we had in there and it was moved out last week. That whole transaction went way better than I expected! We now have all my stuff cleared out (minus a few boxes in the closet, which I'll get out later ~sigh~) and Regina's been busy putting away her Mom's clothes, putting up pictures, organizing jewelry and perfume, etc. We bought a floor lamp (LOVE this lamp!), dresser and a bench at IKEA, got a 32" flat screen at COSTCO, oh and a crazy "peacock chair" from Pier One that Regina absolutely fell in love with and simply had to have! We also put up curtains that coordinate nicely with the chair and also with the blue duvet cover we found. We seem to have a blue/brown theme going on. This is one of my favorite color combos, so I love it.

Another challenge will be showering Betty. We need a shower large enough to accomodate a shower chair for Betty to sit in and also a second person (Regina or me) to bathe her. So, it needs to be pretty big and it needs to have a hand-held showerhead. We realized though, as we brainstormed our options, that we really didn't want to end up with a bathroom that looked like a handicapped bathroom. Mostly because it would negatively impact resale value down the road. So, we've decided to go for a large, luxurious, "wow" shower that will enhance the house while also allowing accessibility for Betty and her chair. In addition to the hand-held shower head, we're also installing a stationary shower head on the other wall and on the ceiling will be a rain shower head! How cool is that?! We're also having a bench installed so you can sit to shave your legs or if you just get exhausted while showering and need to, I don't know, rest. And finally, we'll have built-in storage shelves for shampoo and stuff, in the corner, as well as soap dishes on the wall.

Here are a few pictures of the work so far:

click picture to to enlarge

Transportation is also an issue so we traded in our Jeep and Accord for a Honda Odyssey Mini-Van. We really felt it was necessary so we would have room for the wheel chair, portable ramp, and any other gadget we might need. And, most importantly, the mini van can be made wheelchair accessible, if we were to chose that option, and we have. We chose Absolute Mobility Center to install a Carony seat. They simply remove one of the mini-van's seats and put their's in its place. When you no longer need the Carony seat, you can have the original seat put back in.

Originally, we were really hoping to have everything ready for Betty to move in with us this weekend, January 30, but the chair lift and the bathroom won't be ready by then. So, we'll just have to postpone. You know, it just means she gets to enjoy a few more days of pampering at Briarwood! They are so sweet to her there.

Meanwhile, we'll enjoy a visit from Regina's sister, Sue who will fly in Thursday night from Philadelphia. I'm glad she'll have this time to spend with her Mom.

Scenic Road Trip to Leavenworth

Mom, Bonnie and I took advantage of another gorgeous day to drive through Stevens Pass to Leavenworth in the Cascade mountains. The trip was so incredibly scenic, but there are no places to pull over, so Mom and Bonnie were snapping pictures from the car, as we drove by.

~ Leavenworth ~

Kids (and adults) were having a blast sledding down this hill in the middle of town.
Made me wish we had brought our sled with us!
Oh well, next time I'll know to be prepared with sled in trunk.

Mt. Rainier Photo Op

Yay, sunshine and clear skies! Mom, Bonnie and I decided to take advantage of such a perfect day by taking pictures of this beautiful part of the country. We drove around searching for good views of Mt. Rainier. The trick was finding not only a good photo op, but also a place where we could safely pull over to get the shot. We finally found one!

Santa Came Through!

Santa was feeling generous this year and finally brought Katie the Jeep she has wanted since last Christmas! She was excited, but nervous about driving it the first time. However, it didn't take her long to get the hang of it. She drove down the street and picked up her friend who also seemed to enjoy the ride.

Happy 6th Birthday, Sweet Katie!

Six years ago, my baby girl was born,
promptly on her due date at 2:11am.
7lbs., 12 ozs., 19"
The best Christmas gift ever.
The best day of my life.

Her cake was shaped like a dog bone.

Garden d'Lights 2009

Regina, Katie, my Mom, my sister and I visited the Bellevue Botanical Garden to enjoy their beautiful holiday display of lights. It was spectacular, as always!

Decorating Cookies

Regina baked up some sugar cookies and my Mom made some butter cookies... um, too many, actually! And of course, they needed to be decorated. Katie, Regina and my Mom took on the task and did a delicious job!

It's a Party!

This year we decided to have a birthday party for Katie so she could invite her friends to celebrate with her. Because it's such a busy time of year anyway, we hesitated to add to the chaos, but in the end, we went ahead with it because Katie wanted it so badly. So, we held it at KidzBounce in Preston so the kids could bounce off the walls and get all of their wiggles out! Katie was thrilled!

Festival of Peace and Light

Katie's school presented an impressive holiday concert today. The kindergarten students sang Trotta Trotta Cavellino in Italian, Jingle Bells in Spanish, and Peace in 12 Languages. They held it at the BCC gym and it lasted about an hour. Here is a 2-minute video of Katie's participation:

DAY 6 - VA to WA

LONG day! 15 hours on the road, 845 miles. Park City, UT to Fall City, WA (home). While we slept last night, it snowed probably 3 or 4 inches, but it was a dry, powder that easily blew off the car. The drive today was difficult though. By the end of the day we were so tired of driving in snow/rain/sleet! Miraculously though, we could finally relax when it cleared up right around the WA state border.

DAY 5 - VA to WA

8 hours on the road, 504 miles. Estes Park, CO to Park City, UT. Tomorrow we hope to finish the trip in Seattle.

DAY 4 - VA to WA

9.5 hours on the road, 595 miles. Topeka, KS to Estes Park, CO. My sister, Bonnie is with me for the rest of the trip. We're staying tonight at the Stanley Hotel, which is a beautiful, 100-year-old, haunted hotel in the mountains with quite a haunted history. This hotel is where Stephen King stayed, in room 217, which is a haunted room, and he was inspired to write The Shining. Apparently, the strange things he wrote about in The Shining are based on personal experiences he had during his stay at the Stanley Hotel.

DAY 3 - VA to WA

Hanging out in Topeka, KS today. Waiting for the roads to be a little bit safer after the snow storm yesterday. Bonnie and I are planning to head out tomorrow morning. It's sunny, windy and FRIGID cold here. I haven't felt this kind of cold in years. Brings back childhood memories of growing up here.

DAY 2 - VA to WA

Drove 11.5 hours, 646 miles. Lexington, KY to Topeka, KS. Lots of rain today. The trip ended with sleet turning into snow. I hate driving in snow. But I did it! Fortunately, the car's navigation system guided me perfectly to my sister's apartment, where I'm staying tonight.

DAY 1 - VA to WA

Yesterday, Regina and Katie flew back to Seattle. Katie has to be back in school today. I stayed behind to drive Betty's (Regina's Mom) car back to Seattle. Now that it's been 6 months since her stroke this summer, it's pretty clear she won't be driving anymore. Betty's car is brand new, so Regina and I will buy it from her to replace ours which we are ready to trade in anyway.

Regina and Edy went through Betty's house and packed the car with as many of her things as they thought she could still use. Betty will move in with us as soon as we have made some changes in the house necessary to accomodate her immobility.

I started driving today, but got a later start than I had anticipated. Didn't leave Edy's house until about 1pm. Drove 391 miles, 6 hours on the road, from Waynesboro, VA to Lexington, KY. Tonight I'm crashing at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Lexington.

Waynesboro, VA: Dec 3-6

We decided to take advantage of Katie's days off from school Dec 3 and 4th to fly back to Waynesboro, VA to visit with Regina's sister, Edy, and family. It was our first opportunity to meet MacKenzie Lee who was born last month.





While we were there, MacKenzie was baptized, so we attended the ceremony. I was responsible for photography and decorating the baptism candle. Katelyn and I spent quite a bit of time designing and executing our idea for the candle. We were a good team and I'm happy with how it turned out.


Also while we were there, we got several inches of snow. Fortunately, it didn't get in the way of any plans and it was beautiful!

Santa Train 2009

This year I finally was able to get tickets for the Santa Train. It's a short ride on the old railway from North Bend to Snoqualmie. You get cookies and hot chocolate and a visit with Santa.