"Santa, I promise I've been good!!!"

I was taking a few minutes to relax and look through a Christmas catalog, when I looked up and noticed Annie sitting on Santa's lap!  How cute is this??  Santa's already gotten a few Christmas goodies for our little Annie.

Christmas Table

Poinsettia applique on the silky napkin

Embroidered Poinsettias on the corners of the tablecloth.

The full effect

This has been the first "Friday after Thanksgiving" that we haven't celebrated our anniversary because Thanksgiving actually fell after our anniversary, instead of before.  So, we spent yesterday dragging out all the Christmas decorations to begin the process of transforming the house.  My favorite part is decorating the dining room.  I just love getting out all of my holiday table linens and making it look so festive.  However, this year I have grown tired of my Christmas linens and wanted some new ones. But I was not interested one bit in fighting holiday crowds on "Black Friday".  Thankfully, Christina called me and said that she and her friends family were going to go shopping.  She offered to pick me up something if I told her what I wanted.  So, I quick looked online at Bed, Bath & Beyond website and found a table cloth that I really liked.  She took down the name and size and found it for me!  She brought it to me later that evening and I got to finish decorating my table.  I am so happy about that!!  Thank you Chrissy!

Our Anniversary Weekend - 17 years!!

Today marks 17 years that Ward and I have been married. So much has happened during those years - good, bad, sad, exciting, challenging, etc.  We've spent the last few anniversaries celebrating in Port Townsend, a maritime, victorian town on the peninsula. We like to stay in the penthouse at the Swan hotel, shop the holiday themed stores, drink beer from the two breweries in town, read books in the pub, dance to music until the wee hours of the morning, and enjoy the things together that we like to do. We also got some Christmas shopping done, which is great because Port Townsend has some really unique gifts. We ate at the "fireplace table" at our favorite romantic restaurant, and we just had a really nice time together.  I was sad to see it end come Sunday at 11:00! 

And, a special thanks to both Grandmas who took care of Nick while we were away!!  

Here are several pictures of our penthouse and view:  Click a picture to see a full size view. 

The Swan Hotel.  We have the entire top floor & crow's nest. 

View from our back balcony.  You can see Mt. Baker behind the tallest mast

The reading nook.  I read a novel about a cat called "Dewey" while sitting here. 

Spiral staircase leading up to the crows nest where we had the best view in town!

The awesome dining room. I love the woodwork in here.

Hard to see, but we could also see Mt. Rainier in the distance. 

Best breakfast joint in town. 

Just Checking In...

I haven't posted in awhile so thought I would drop a line or two to catch up on things...

We are SOOO happy to learn that our grandbaby is a BOY!!! Woohoo! Yay for boys! If I won the lottery, I would stay home and take care of that baby. I am so excited. And, I am so thankful that Christina has had an uneventful and healthy pregnancy thus far. I pray her and the baby's health continue to thrive.

Nick is doing baseball a couple of times a week. His select team, The Bruins (no joke) started practicing this week at BLE, an indoor baseball facility in Auburn. You can view the Bruin's website here.   Yes, the Bruins.  That was the "sign from above" that indicated this was the right team for Nick.  Hee hee  (you gotta know Ward to appreciate that). Games don't start until the spring.  Through all the sports activity, Nick is managing to keep his grades up pretty darn well:  A's and B's.  He loves his new school, primarily because it is so much bigger, with more activities to offer.  

We are just thrilled with Annie, our new kitten.  She has finally cajoled Lucy into playing with her, which is fabulous, because Lucy is really old and needs that interaction.  And, Annie has stopped being terrified of Gus.  Gus still barely even knows she exists.  Annie is really sweet, loving and lots of fun.  She is doing all the funny kitten stuff like stalking everything in sight, including feet that are walking by.  I worry that she is going to get stepped on, but so far that has only happened a few times.  

Work is busy and tumultuous for both Ward and me.  I am thankful we have good jobs and hope to stay that way!  

We are all going to the UCLA v UW football game with a bunch of friends this weekend, and I am torn about what sweatshirt to wear:  Bruins or Huskies.  My heart is with the Dawgs, but I married this crazy Bruin fan.  Last year, I wore my Bruin jersey and felt like I was 'living a lie'!  hahaha!  But I am torn again this year, especially because the Huskies are so terrible.  That's me - fair weather fan.  My Bruins jersey is looking pretty good!! 

Have a great rest of the week, 

Chris

Doe Bay

For you loyal readers.... do you remember that I went to Doe Bay in July for a bachelorette party? Here is a great picture from my friend. Does this look like a fun group of ladies or what?!

Our Saturday....

I woke up this morning at about 6:30 am to my work phone alarm going off, which indicates a system problem. I went downstairs to investigate. Made a phonecall to redirect the problem and was thinking about heading back to bed for some additional shuteye. Nick's game wasn't until noon today and we were scheduled to drive to Portland this afternoon to attend an annual Halloween par-tay, so I thought I could/should sleep in today. Well, that wasn't to be. Soon after, I heard Ward scuttling around upstairs. Then down the stairs to where I am. He says, "Annie is a naughty little kitty". What happened, I ask? Apparently, she climbed up onto Ward's side of the bed, with him still in it, and peed on his down comforter. Ugghghgh. Thankfully, I had just received my order of "Anti-Icky-Poo" (seriously), which is unbeatable for removing pet stains like that. It has some enzyme that breaks down protein molecules. Once that incident is under control, after the work incident, I hear Nick yell "Mom, Lucy just threw up in the game room..." ughghgghgh. Again, it's Anti-Icky-Poo to the rescue. I rush in only to find that, well, Gus beat me to it. So, I won't explain details here but suffice it to say that he earned his keep today. Tomorrow, I will steam clean that carpet!!

I did have just enough time to cook Nick a really healthy breakfast before his game, and get a 30 minute workout in on the elliptical machine.

Then off to the 2 1/2 hour baseball game in the rain!! Did you think they were supposed to call the games when it rains? So did I! Well, Nick's team handled the opposing Steel Lake White Sox quite effectively. Nick had a double and two singles, and pitched pretty well. His pitching arm was bothering him from where he got his TDAP booster two days ago. Then, at his last at-bat, he got drilled in the back (again) by a pitch. ouchie!

So we hurry home to gather our costumes and overnight goodies to head down to Portland. We didn't get on the road until after 4:00 pm. Wayyy too late. Add in a bad accident south of Tacoma, hungry tummies, and hard driving rain, and we ended up turning around and heading home. We did stop at Cabella's to check that out. Hey, did you know that it is HUNTING SEASON??!! Everything in Cabella's is geared towards hunting. Nick bought himself some kind of hunting-related XBOX 360 game. I honestly am REALLY glad that I married into something as innocuous as the Grateful Dead culture, as opposed to the "hunting" culture. That just ain't for me.

We finally made it back home and are enjoying a fire in the fireplace, a nice glass of wine, and then we are going to watch "To the Moon and Back" an HBO series about the space race in the '60s and '70s - getting to the moon! I think that is the title, I may be wrong about that, but it is really good.

Anyway, here is a picture of my little Annie girl. There are more pictures and movies of her playing posted in the "Kaatz Family Album" link.

Chris