Bruins Lost :(

Well, the Bruins lost a close one today 6-5 against the number one seed team in the tournament. It was a real heartbreaker. Our boys played really well today and made no errors. They came from behind to even up the score, and then held them through several innings. Unfortunately, we left the bases loaded, and seemingly got 'robbed' from a base hit that would have won the game for the Bruins. Nick had a couple of amazing plays at first base, and a couple of scorcher hits. But in the final inning, with two outs, one of their batters came up and scored a run. Such is life. Next tournament is in three weeks in Wenatchee.

Academic Achievement!!

Nick Kaatz Joins the Honor Society

In addition to playing basketball and year-round baseball, Nick managed to maintain at least a 3.5 GPA at school.  Last Friday evening, he participated in an Honor Society "induction ceremony" at his school.  It was a really nice presentation.  Amongst all the focus on sports, etc., it's great to see such an emphasis and recognition for the academic achievement part of the student's life.  The folks at Cascade Middle School really did it up nicely with a somewhat formal candle lighting ceremony, an oath, the orchestra, a certificate presentation, and then cake afterwards.  Then we all went to The Ram in Kent for dinner and met up with Jill, mom and the girls.  Too fun!  

Gabby Johnson Graduates from High School

On Saturday night, my cousin Gabby graduated from High School.  She, along with another young lady, were home schooled and their ceremony was at Valley View.  This too was very awesome, special, and touching.  Gabby came to live with my aunt and uncle in 2003, and was coming from a rather difficult life situation.  She has worked so hard to turn that around and has grown into this amazing, capable, beautiful, talented young lady.  Only two years ago she discovered that she has a real gift for playing the piano, and has become quite an accomplished pianist.  We had family fly in from out of town to see Gabby graduate.  We are all so proud of her and are so thankful that she is a part of our family.  Way to go Gabby!

Our New RV!!!

We got a new RV today!! We have been wanting one since we got our camping property a year and a half ago. But knew practically nothing about RVs and weren't sure what kind was right for us. We decided on a pull-trailer kind, so we can drop it off and go into town without hauling it around. We also still wanted to use the back of the truck for hauling things when we aren't camping, so that meant no fifth-wheel. And, with Nick's baseball tournaments, we thought an RV would come in handy.  Over the weekend, we rented an RV and took it to the Gorge this weekend for a concert and that was it - we were sold. After returning the rented RV in Tacoma, we stopped at Bardos in Fife and found the one we want at the price we want.   Some cool features are:  two bedrooms at each end of the trailer.  The front bedroom has a queen size mattress, the kids bedroom has a good size bunk bed, it's own dining area, another pull-down bed, a TV mount, and a closing door!!! The bathroom has two entrances: one from inside the trailer, and one from the outside.  So, dirty baseball boys don't have to track dirt through the RV to get to the bathroom.  Yay!  It has NO carpet, which is important to me for keeping it clean, and it has TONS of storage.  It also has an oven, which I think will come in handy for Thanskgiving / Holiday dinners when you could use an extra oven.  Oh, and it has a flat-screen TV mount so the TV is visible from the main living area, and it swivels around so you can watch TV from the front (our) bedroom.  Yay!  Isn't it great to be able to get away from it all and still have XBOX and the ability to lay in bed, eat bon-bons and watch TV?  

Here are a few pictures kindof out of order:

This is the kid's dinette in the kids room.  The table pops down and makes into a bed.  And, the wood frame drops down for another kid sleeping area.  These are big enough for full grown kids too! 

This is Nick's room with the bunk beds.  A TV will bolt down to the top of the dresser. 

This is the bathroom showing the exterior door.  I LOVE that feature!  Someone really had their noggin' on...  Probably a Baseball Mom. :-)  Oh, and the shower is tall enough so that Ward can stand up in it.  

This is the kitchen.  Microwave, stove, oven, fridge, freezer.  All represented. 

Bump-out Dining table and Sofa.  And yes - the clock STAYS!!

This is where the flat-screen TV goes.  This wall is also the divider wall from the front bedroom (aka: OUR bedroom) and the main living area.  It has sliding pocket doors and the TV frame swivels.  

Bedroom window complete with day/night privacy shutters.

Front bed / storage.  There is also storage underneath the mattress. 

View along the outside.  Notice the porch lights, the awning, and the dual doors.  Cool!  

It's a Surveyor by Forest River.  Warren Buffet just bought this company. 

Dual Propane tanks with auto and manual switching.  Even the casing is cool.  You don't have to lift it off to switch a tank. 

That's it!!!  Can't wait for camping!! 

I am baaaaack!

OK - I haven't posted in a couple of months... Seems like FaceBook is taking all my attention! What is it about that electronic friendship generator that is so darn addicting?? Actually, I love the fact that I have connected with so many long-lost friends from grade school. Folks have been posting class pictures and commenting about them and laughing at all the clothes, etc. It's been a blast. A couple of weekends ago, I hosted a mini-reunion and it was so much fun seeing everyone again. Everyone had a really good time, I think.

Nick has been VERY busy with baseball. Several tournament games as well as league. We are playing in a Bellevue league, and it's real interesting to see kids with ex-mariners names on their jerseys - meaning, they really are the ex-mariners' kids in this league. We've seen a few other local semi-celebrities on the field too. Nick has had a screamin' great year so far. He primarily plays first base, but also pitches from time to time. His batting has improved dramatically this year, and is currently batting fourth in the "clean up" position. Check out his game schedule and pictures at www.bruinsbaseballclub.com

Little Luke is now 2 months old! It's just amazing how fast time flies. He is an absolutely perfect, beautiful baby boy. His mommy and daddy seem to have settled into a nice routine with him, and other than managing a sensitive little tummy, he seems to be thriving! He can already hold his head up, and actually he could do that since he was born! NOT making that up. He is the most snuggly little baby boy I have ever held, and I just adore him! Being a "grammy" is really really great. For all the latest pictures of Luke, check out Ben and Christina's blogspot - link to the right.

More later!

More Pics of Baby Luke

Ward took these pictures of baby Luke. For a complete story of little Luke's arrival, check Christina's blog site by clicking on the link "Ben and Christina".

Little Boy Luke

Lucas Benjamin Johnson was born late March 3rd at 11:47 pm via C-section at Valley Medical Center. He weighed 6 lbs and 5 oz, and is 18 inches long. He was originally due on March 28, so he is a bit early. But he is doing quite well, as are his mommy and daddy. As you can see by the pictures, Luke is a beautiful little baby. I am head over heels in love with this little guy. Last night I got to hold him for a long time and he is just the sweetest little thing. Little Luke was born early because his mommy was involved in a small accident (she is OK), which resulted in a free trip to the hospital in an ambulance. Her blood pressure was pretty high, and they weren't able to get it to come down. They were concerned about the baby, of course, and didn't think that labor was an option. No pesky labor pains for Chrissy!!

Great job, Ben and Christina!! We love you all so much.

Springtime means....

Here is a picture of Ward's Caprisi Salad that he made us last night...

So, the excitement of Facebook has definitely derailed me from Blogspot. But after much nagging by Ward, I am finally updating my poor, lonely site again.

I've been pretty excited for Spring to come. Seems like it's right around the corner. The days are getting longer and little buds are starting to sprout. Yay!

Springtime means that little boy Luke will arrive soon! I tell you I cannot wait to hold that little babe in my arms. A new baby brings hope, joy, and excitement. I often wonder how this little tiny baby is going to spin our lives around - in a very good way! I can't wait for the little things like keeping a basket of toys handy, childproofing the house, having sleepovers at gramma and grandpa's house, stocking up on baby supplies... Most of all, I can't wait to see Ward fall in love with his grandson.

Springtime means BASEBALL, and soon Nick's tournament team will start playing lots and lots of games. I am really excited for that. Nick has been working so hard through the winter at pitching, in particular. I can't wait to see how his hard work pays off. I will post his game schedule very soon.

Springtime means YARD cleanup and recovering from the winter... We're going to the home and garden show today to look at new gazebos since ours was lost to the Christmas snowstorm.

And.... Springtime means the launch of PACE - our long awaited portfolio accounting system at Russell. There are a lot of people who are going to be extremely GLAD when this platform is live. YAY!

Update - It's been awhile.....

Hi everyone -

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for Christina at my house. It turned out so well, I think. It was so much fun to plan and pull together. Ward helped decorate and Theresa brought amazing food. I was pretty nervous because I wanted it to be exactly perfect for Chrissy. It was really perfect. She got tons of really cute baby clothes and a lot of equipment that they needed, like their car seat. And again, I am so excited for baby Luke to come!! You should see the nursery. Click on "Ben and Christina Johnson" to the right, and look at the pictures she posted of the baby's room. It's a dream!

All the rest of the news is:

My work = crazy
Wards' work = crazy
Nick's life = school + baseball (can it get any better than that?)
Kitten Annie = double-crazy


But..... Today, we helped celebrate a dear friend's 75th birthday in the lovely hamlet of Black Diamond. We spent a lovely afternoon together. Then, mom and I went shopping at Westfield mall. We stopped by World Market and I got these lovely items to update my dining room table for upcoming spring. I set up the table and the first thing Ward and Nick say, is "Cool, Bruin colors...".

I just smiled and said yes. that was my intention... :-)

Nick and Mom day in Seattle

Nick and I both had today off in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We had been talking for awhile about spending the day in Seattle. So today, we did! Ward did not have the day off, so it was just Nick and me. We got kindof a late start and had to make sure we were on the road back home by 3:00 pm. So we didn't have a full day, but we had a good couple of hours to bum around. It may have been foggy here, but in Seattle, it was a bright sunshiny day. A beautiful Seattle day! Our first stop was the market, where we explored all the little funny shops. Nick spent the most time in a baseball card & coin collection shop. He talked me in to buying him two stamp-signed rookie baseball cards of "someone" - I don't even know. The old man behind the counter knocked off a few dollars from the price and assured me I was getting a 'deal'. He also said my son has good taste in baseball cards! We hung around the fish stand trying to see if we could catch the guys throwing the fish around, but we weren't there at the right time and never saw that. Next, we went to that little park that overlooks the sound on the North end of the market and just looked at the beautiful scenery. The Olympics were out in full, but somewhat hazy force today. This is the only picture I managed to take, and it is supposed to look like NIck is holding up the totem pole. After the market, we wandered thru Post Alley and totally ruined our lunch appetite by eating too many baked goodies offered along the way. Then we made our way down to the waterfront to check out some of the nifty shops down that way. Then Nick got his caricature drawn by this crusty old British guy. We could barely understand him!! I wanted to say, "speak English!", but he was!!! His process was he took a picture and then drew the cartoon body and scenery around it. I didn't realize he did not draw the cartoon face too. Thats what I wanted. But this was cute and NIck had fun. After that, we only had one hour left and Nick still wanted to go to the Seattle Center. In particular, he wanted to ride the monorail and go to that Food Circus thing. So, we high tailed it up a jillion stairs and up to Westlake center where we caught the monorail and made it to Seattle Center just in time for him to eat a Subway Sandwich (all the cool places to eat in Seattle and this is what he picks!) and then head back to the monorail. We made it to our car and were on I-5 by 3:00 sharp! All in all it was a really fun, but too short, day. A great mom & me thing.

4th Picture of 4th folder

OK, here is my fourth picture in my fourth folder:

Back into the swing of things...

Wow, I sure loved having 2 weeks off during the holidays. That was so great! i really relaxed and playing in the snow with the kids was so much fun. Lots of good family time. Now we are back into the swing of our routines and trying to fight flooding water instead of freezing water. I do appreciate a good vacation, but consistent routine is appreciated.

Not really too much new to report. Nick has resumed baseball training and school. I heard him actually "regret" eating so much junk over the holidays. Wow! Ward is just trying to get back in the swing of work mode, and has a fair amount of "home" projects to do as well. I am swung fully back into work mode and am hitting as many yoga sessions as I can in order to deal with extra holiday pounds.

Ben and Christina seem to be doing well. Chrissy is looking third-trimester pregnant, but looks absolutely beautiful and healthy. She's been preparing the nursery and it is an absolute dream. Looks like it could be a magazine picture with lots of pretty browns and blues.

Stay dry everyone!!

Happy New Year!!

We had fun celebrating the arrival of 2009 with our long-time friends, George, Christy and Oliver. We made dinner, drank wine and talked about the upcoming year. January 1 was "slow" for me as I recovered from too much wine. Ward and Nick went to a Seattle University basketball game, and I got a lovely visit from Christina. Of course, we talked about baby-things. :-)