Happy Easter!!!!

Happy Easter. Can you believe three posts in three days. Wow its a miracle. For Easter we woke up to an excited daughter wanting us to get hp so that she could find all the stuff the Easter Bunny hide for her. It was about 8am.

For the afternoon we went over to Karla's parents house, Bob and Marty for lunch. We all stuffed ourselves and enjoyed good conversation. After dinner we had an egg hunt.

Here is Ken and Mandi. You can see it in Mandi's face that she is about to start picking on Ken. LOL

And here they go.

They love picking on each other. As you can see by Ken's face he is really hating it all.

Stop it you two.......it is all fun and games until someone loses as eye. lol

Due to the weather we had our egg hunt in the garage. This was Samantha's first find. Dad told me that she got an egg full of quarters in her Easter Basket. She knows what it sounds like when you shake it. She proceeded to shake each as she picked it up. Hoping for the jackpot. lol It was cute to watch.

As you can see that Ken and Mandi are racing around to get all the eggs. The funny part was they each could find 12 eggs. It was still cute to watch them race to be the first to each.

This is Asaho. She is a student from Japan staying with Dad and family for two weeks. She is very quiet and shy. I don't think she really knew what to think of the egg hunt.

With a little help from mom Samantha got the egg. The small ones had money in them...her favorite.


Checking out the "LOOT"

Samantha's next favorite egg stuffing ia the chocolate.....just note the chipmunk cheeks.

The Good Old 80's

The David and Michelle #1 and Dave and Michelle #2 went out on a double date to the Whamorama given by the Soft Rock Cafe. (Thanks Don for hooking us up with our T-shirts. You know on Monday Michelle and I will be sporting them proudly at work.) Anyway it was an 80's theme dance. We all went dressed up and had a great time. It brought back great memories. Karla and her friend Robin was there as well. I must say that Karla's hair looked totally awesome to the max. Anyway enjoy the pictures.

David before.

David after the cut with his new mohawk.

At one with the hawk/

Us in full 80's gear.

D & M #2.

The Michelle's.

Did we really wear our hair and make-up like this? lol

The whole gang.

Sorry at this time I don't have any photo's of Karla. But, I know that Michelle and Karla got a ton of photo's from the dance itself. Once I get my hands on these photo's I will post more.

Violins and Eggs.

My baby is growing up.


This week we had a couple of adventures for some photos. First was Jordan had an orchestra concert. It was with three other elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. It was a good concert listening to all the schools. Each school did their own little concert. Then at the end they did three songs all together. The amazing part was they had never practice together before. The first song went off with out a hitch. The second song took a second start but end good. It just amazes me how much she has learning in just a few months.

In middle school the kids have a choice of doing orchestra or band. We have left the decision up to Jordan. She can either continue with the violin or decide to play in the band. David and I still have our instruments from when we were both in band. David played the trumpet and I played the flute. Karla did point out that we should let Jordan know that if she chooses band she might not have any classes with her best buddy Summer. They tend to keep the orchestra students together and vis versa with the band students. It is all in her hands now.

Thursday night we did the typical Easter tradition of coloring eggs. This was Ken’s first time coloring eggs. I think he enjoyed it, but don’t tell his friends. lol It was fun watching them work together. Ken is so good with Jordan. We really lucked out getting such a good young man. He parents should be very proud of him. Thanks Ken for being such a good big brother to Jordan.

Working as a creative team!
Check it out!!!

Ken's first eggs.

The final results. I love the hats. I don't know who had more fun Jordan or Ken.

Close up shot. Can you find the one that looks like Ken and the one like Jordan. They are eggdential. lol

Mexication

A view from the plane.

Sorry for any grammar errors but have to get this posted.

We finally made it on our cruise. It has taken my dad three times to book and then re-book. As they say third time is a charm.

Our cruise left on Sunday afternoon of February 10th. This made for a long day for all of us. For me it started with packing all day on Saturday in between running errands and getting the house clean. I always love coming home to a clean house, plus we had our good friend Steve house sitting for us. I was all done packing by 11:00pm. I was able to lay-down and try to get a couple hours of sleep. I then got up at 1:30am got showered and finished up the last bit of packing. We hit the road at 2:50am to meet at my dad’s house at 3:00. Since there were nine of us going down to the airport we had to take two different cars.

Forget the stroller this is more fun. Thanks Michelle S for loaning me the luggage. I know Sammy enjoyed it. lol

We got down to Seattle in good time got all check in. David took Ken over and got him on his plane to San Francisco for the week. Once we got out luggage we called our transportation…the limo we set off on our 30 min trip to the ship. Since my Dad and Karla were Carnival Cruise Club Members we got to go in the V.I.P. line to check into our rooms. Mind you this is all done on shore. Then we got the line up to eventually get on the ship. Thanks to Bob, Karla’s Dad found out that we didn’t need to stand in line with the common people. Yes the V.I.P. line had gone to my head. lol We were able to go right on the ship. Once on the ship we could not yet go to our rooms, they were still being prepared for us. We were instructed to go up to the Mermaid Lounge for so lunch. This was the beginning of our weeklong feast of good food. There was a saying on the boat…..Eat until your tired and sleep until our hungry. It was good food. They seem to have something to please everyone. There was pizza, Asian, sandwiches, fried foods, burgers and dogs. Then yummy desserts as well. After lunch we still had some time to wonder around the ship to check things out. There was a lot to see. Finally sometime after 1pm we were able to go to our rooms. Needless to say we all took a much-needed nap. With the exception of the kids us Adults only had about an hour maybe two of sleep the night before. I kept the curtain open so that we wouldn’t sleep for too long. After our naps our luggage arrived, so it was time to unpack. While David and Jordan did more ship exploring, Mandi and I worked on unpacking. It was then time to get ready for dinner.

Mandi getting out of our Limo
It is preferred by the ship that we get dressed up for dinners. They have two formal nights on the ship; the rest of the time is resort casual. They do not like to see shorts or jeans in the dinning rooms. Not that they would turn you away. I saw plenty of shorts. Our first night was a resort casual. We got cleaned up, changed and headed to dinner. Each night you get to choose a started, salad and a main course. I think Jordan had either steak or prime rib each night. She was in seventh heaven. I on the other had tried things that I would have never ordered in a regular restaurant. The nice thing about the cruise that if you didn’t like it you could order something else. It doesn’t cost extra.

After dinner we walked around the ship some more then headed back to our room. Jordan and Mandi were really tired so they decided to stay in for the night. Dad, Karla, Dave and I headed out for some fun. We went to the show that night. It was cute, but when Simon says on American Idol says you sounded very cruise ship…..I now understand. They did a good job with the shows, but they for sure are not going to be recording artist. Before the show they had a Trivia Game where David and I along with another women were playing against each other. David of course won….I let him. lol He prize was a trophy. They introduced it as a 24-karat plastic ship on a stick. I won a medal. After the show we ended up at the Karaoke bar, which is where you could find us just about every night. Karla and David did all the singing. Dad and I just sat back and cheered them on.

Karla showing her singing skills.
The next day they call it a fun day at sea. We got up had breakfast then look and the daily schedule. Jordan went to the kids club for a few hours. David and I went to I think Trivia game. Played that for a while then headed up to the upper deck where we watched the hairiest man competition. I tell you some of those guys were growing their own sweaters. It was fun to watch. After that Jordan wanted to go on the water slide and swimming. So I planted my rear on a lounge chair and soaked in the sun. I know tough life. That is when we found out that they fill the pool with salt water. We never did ask why? That night was much of the same. The girls went to bed and we went to Karaoke.

Tuesday was another fun day at sea. We did much of the same as the day before, but rather then hairy men they had a Fear Factor game. To which David was chosen. Sorry didn’t have the camera. He first had to dive into the pool and get as many golf balls off the bottom. The two people with the least got cut. Then they had to drink some sort of drink and eat a banana. They never did say what was in the drink. David said tasted like chicken fat with Thousand Island dressing and fruit juice mixed together. The two that won got to go on to the last round. David made it in by the skin of his teeth. It was then the two David’s competing for the Fear Factor Title. The other David was from WA too he was a big guy. I never thought Dave could beat him and Dave was thinking the same thing. They had to eat a huge slice of pepperoni pizza with an ice cream cone on the top. Dave said it wasn’t too bad. The ice cream gave him some liquid to help get the pizza down. At one point the crowd was chanting Dave! Dave! Dave! I must say my David kicked butt. Yes he won another ship on a stick. WOOHOO!!! That evening after dinner Jordan and I stayed in the room with Sammy, who sat and watch the entire movie of Toy Story her favorite. If you interrupt her at all or she starts to cry….Woody Woody!! After Sammy went to bed and Bob came back I headed out to find Dave and the gang at Karaoke. I know we are boring, but it was fun. Lol

Wednesday was our first shore time. We were at Puerto Vallarta. We left the ship about 7:30am and went on a jungle excursion. We took several stops for shopping and photo-opts. Then we got up into the “Jungle”. It wasn’t like the one that my dad and I went on 16 years ago. We ended up going on a hike. David and I were the only ones that went with the group. It had some rough terrain, but was a good hike. On the way back to the ship we stop at a tequila factory. David said it was the best he has every tasted…Karla too. We thought about buying a bottle, but it was $35.00 a bottle. Now we are kicking ourselves for not buying it. Thanks for Jordan for taking photo’s while we were there at least we know the name of the place. We got back the ship about 3:00pm and we all took a much-needed nap. It was hot that day, but still nice. After our nap it was time for dinner. None of us really wanted to get too dressed up. So we went very very resort casual. I think every one, but David and I crashed early that night. He and I wondered around the different areas watching things.

This is the name of the tequila that they loved. If you ever go we will give you the money to buy us a bottle.
The next day was Mazatlan. David, Jordan and I along with some friends we meet went crashed the resort Pueblo Bonito. Our friends where Travis and Anna, really nice couple we meet. They had a cabin next to ours; the bonus part is that they live in Arlington. Any way the resort we crashed is the one we went to two years ago for vacation. Where we had planned on going swimming, but is was a little cold for us adults. So we sat around and had a few drinks and nachos while Jordan went swimming in their pool. After swimming Jordan got her hair braided and we headed across the street to eat lunch and our favorite restaurant for a side of cow…..I mean steak. Then we walked down the street for some shopping before we caught a taxi back to the ship.

Our friends Travis and Anna sitting next to me. Have no idea who the other couple is.
Once we arrived to the terminal to get to the ship I noticed this rather hammered young girl. She had on a bikini on and the bottoms were rather low. I asked her if her parents were there? She said no her boyfriend was there. He didn’t look too with it himself. I leaned over and told her I was going to pull up her bathing suit. She then clung onto me. I ended up taking her back to the ship. Thank goodness she was skinny girl I would have never made it. I got her to the room laid down a bunch of towels on her bed and the floor. Then I got the trashcan and put it by her. Laid her down and it all started to come up. I had hope she learned her lesson. Drinking too much it not good or fun in the end. That night after dinner I got chosen to play survivor. I made it down to the final three, but got voted out. We didn’t have our camera, but I think Karla did.

Friday was our final shore stop was Cabo San Lucas. Bob took us to his time-share for the day. It was a beautiful resort right on the beach. We went swimming in a very cold pool then walked around on the beach. Bob treated us to lunch, and then it was back to the ship for us. We did do a little bit of shopping before we got back on the ship. Since David and I were not the least bit hungry for the 6pm dinner. We waited for the 8pm and eat with Travis and Anna and of course more Karaoke.

Then next day was our last fun day at sea. It was a bit rocky going home. They go a bit faster then they do going down. It wasn’t too bad. That day we chilled and just relaxed on our last day. That night we had our last formal night. We got all dressed up for dinner. After dinner we went back to change for the show. Then we headed to the theater to get good seats. We wanted front row because Travis was in the show. Part of Karaoke was they had try-outs for parts in the show. Some of the parts where Madonna, Garth Brooks and Ricky Martin, Travis got the Ricky Martin part. I think it was the best show of the week. Travis did an awesome job. At midnight they had a big huge buffet that had some incredible ice carvings and food creations. We walked up there to check it out. The food look awesome, but I was nowhere near hungry. We then hit the hay we had to be off the ship at 7ish.

The next morning we got off the ship and headed to the airport. Our plane didn’t leave until 7:45pm. Our plan was to try and get on the 1:30pm flight. It was a no go when we got there. Lucky for us they let us check in out 12 pieces of luggage, but we were way too early to get our boarding passes. So we headed over to the terminal where we could get some food and find a place to sit. Once we got there Bob and my dad decided we would take a little detour since we had soooooo much time on our hands. It was off to Disneyland for about five hours.

On our way into Disney



Mandi, David, Jordan and I waiting in line for the Indiana Jones ride.

Dave and Jordan on Jordan's favorite ride Thunder Mt.

Waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride

I must say that when the day was over we were exhausted, but I tell you we had a blast. Jordan Mandi, David and I ran around the park and got on a couple of rides. Then we met up with Dad, Karla, Sammy and Bob. Hit a few more rides. Then the highlight of the day was Sammy got to meet Woody. She was a little scared of him, but you could tell she enjoyed it. It was cute to watch her. Then even cuter when he left and she kept look around calling Woody…..Woody.

We got back to Seattle and meet Ken got all loaded up. I think it was after midnight when we finally walked in our door. We had a wonderful, fabulous, fantastic vacation, but I must tell you that it felt so good to crawl back into my own bed. We all slept very very well that night. Thank you very MUCH!! Dad and Karla for providing us with another great vacation.

Super Good Times

Everyone getting working on trivia questions

I know it has been forever since I have blogged so I am going to do a couple of entries now to get everyone caught up.

Lets first start with our Annual Super Bowl Party. I must say it was a success. My dad finally won something at the party. We had about 15 people at the party. I will post pictures tonight. Everyone but my dad wanted the Giants to win, it was in the last quarter that my dad jumped over to the Giants side, but that was only because if they made a touch down then he would win the buy a square money.
Watching the game!!
Dad all alone on the Patriots side. lol Well not all alone Karla was giving him a little company.
The kids seemed to really enjoy their own space this year. I rearranged my house…….yes again.(David was not liking me much. lol) Jordan got a new room. It was my storage room. I moved all the storage stuff in to Jordan’s old room’s walk in closet. It all fits perfectly I just can’t get any more junk. lol Then the room itself I made into a TV/Toy/Game room. The kids had that room and Jordan’s room to play. I think Stephani’s son Jay played on the Wii almost the entire Super Bowl game. The next day he told his mom that his arms hurt…..She told him “See I told you video games are evil.” Hehehe I think she got an eye roll and an Ahh MOM!!!
Sammy was checking out the big kids in the play room
Sammy and Summy breaking bread together.
Anyway there was lots of games and prizes won and played at the party. I think everyone had a great time. Our next big event will be our Annual Pre Ski-to-Sea Party. Our friend Jon Brunk is once again the official photographer this year. The party usually starts around 3ish and goes until the last person leaves. It is an open invitation to anyone that wants to come. Just bring a pot luck dish to share and what ever you want to drink. Burgers and Dogs will be provided.

Finally and update.

This photo was taken the first time that Ken and Jordan met. Did have any photos to go with this blog but wanted to post something.
Let me first get started by saying a huge Thank you to Ken and his mom. Ken got a care package from his mom. I got a treat in this care package, a new purse. Ken was surprised that I immediately switched over all my contents from the purse I was using to the new purse. I love getting a new purse. I know it is simple pleasure, but I do enjoy a new purse. So thank you to Ken’s mom. I love it and will enjoy it very much. Jordan has asked if she can use it after I am done with it. I told her of course, but it will be a while before she can have it. lol In the mean time keep your paws off my new purse Jordan.

Right now I am sitting on the couch. This is the second weekend of me being sick. It started a week and a half ago. I woke up with a cough and bit of a head cold. It came on suddenly no warning what so ever. Except maybe I had been a little tired. Thursday morning I woke up with a fever, but I still went to work. I got there and my body ached in the worsted way. When I sat down at the computer I could not remember what my employee number was, which I needed to sign on my computer. I knew it was bad. I got up and went over to my supervisor and told her I was leaving for the day. I don’t even remember the drive home. My temp was 102. I spent the next two days on the couch sleeping while my family made sure I was at least getting liquids in me.

On Saturday I had David take me to the Dr’s my chest felt really heavy and I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t getting bronchitis or worse pneumonia. The on-call Dr said my pulse ox was 94, but that my lungs sounded ok. She just put me on Mucinex to help clear my lungs. I have spent the last week coughing a lot. I have been using Jordan’s nebulizer medicine and machine to help me breath. It wasn’t helping much. This morning I woke up and my chest was very tight with asthma symptoms and I could not stop coughing. I could not breath. I cough rather then wheeze when I am having asthma symptoms. I like my primary physician because when I see her she will listen to me and get me on the road to recovery. But it is the Dr’s that are on-call that don’t treat my or Jordan’s asthma too seriously. I decided to put it back into the hands of our asthma and allergy specialist. They always help Jordan get onto the road to recovery.

After speaking with the on-call Dr from Bellingham Asthma and Allergy, she decided to put me on steroids and an adult dose of nebulizer. Go figure that after using Jordan’s meds I still didn’t feel great. lol Kids dose just doesn’t work for mom. Any way just after getting the first nebulizer I felt much much better. I wanted to call the Dr back and tell her how much I appreciate what she did for me. lol I know that I still have a road to recovery, but just being able to breath again is a big pleasure. Who would have thought something so simple could make me happy.

To Dr Elkeym and associates…..especially Martha, I would like to Thank you for what you did for me today. You have helped me in a big way today and my daughter in the past. Everyone in the office really cares for the patients and it shows. Once again Thank you for everything!!!!!

Now let me go on with the rest of the family.

Not much going on with David except he is getting ready for the winter Soccer season. Which he has talked me into joining the team. It is part of my getting into shape plan. I used to play soccer in high school, but that was 20 years ago. So wish me luck and hope that I will be able to walk off the field after the game. lol Other then that he is working and playing his computer game. He is a bit addicted to the game World of War Craft. But I will look past that I still love him. hehehehe

Jordan is doing well in school. She has joined the fifth grade math champs. They meet after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help improve their math skills. She seems to be enjoying it. She is still playing the violin at school. She has not decided if she wants to continue with the violin or join the band in middle school. That is what I can’t believe that she will be going to middle school next year. No not my baby. I know my buddy Stephani and I will get each other thru this transition of our baby’s going to middle school. Sniff sniff.

Now my boy Ken, he is doing great in school. He brought home one of his reports from school. He got an A+++ on it. It was a history report. I looked thru it and he did a great job. It sounds like he will be getting a good report card for this last semester. Ken has just finished up with the regular swim season. They are still having turn out to get ready for districts. He did well on several of his meets, by getting first and second place in a few meets. Way to go Ken. Wish I could have seen you in one of your meets. Sorry for not being there to cheer you on.

It has been a real joy having Ken be a part of our family. He has fit in with us really well. He puts up with us teasing him especially David. I know David has enjoyed having a son this last couple of months. Ken’s mom and dad should be very proud of him. He is very helpful around the house. He keeps the dishes caught up for me all the time. That is without being asked. What a concept a teenager doing his chores without being asked. He is so sweet and kind to Jordan. Thank you Ken for being YOU!!! I am proud to call you my son. Sorry to Ken’s mom I am not trying to steal your boy just taking good care of him for you while he is here.

That is it for us. Not much of a report, but I knew I needed do an update to let you all know that the Willoughby’s are alive and most of us are well. I am on the

Not much but a little something....

On Christmas we had a great chat with David’s mother Marion. David sent her a link to my blog and she posted a comment that she loved the pictures, but would like to see more of her son. As a mother I can understand that request. So that is why I have posted this photo of David. The reason why a majority of our photos don’t have David in them is because he is on the other side of the camera as he is in this photo. This photo was taken by one of the Lynden parents at one of the many football games that David shoots. He emailed it to David to let him know that the table had been turned that day. Lol Marion I will try to do better at posting more photo’s of David. From one mother to another I can understand your request.

Today started as a typical day in the Willoughby house we did our weekly cleaning of the house. The whole family pitches in and cleans. Today also included putting all the Christmas Decorations away. As my friend Stephani said to me this week that it is kind of depressing putting them away. I have to agree. My house seems a little bare now that they are put away for the year. But it also feels good to have a clean house.

This afternoon we went down to Mt. Vernon for a family get together with Karla’s mom’s side of the family. Quick introduction Karla is my dad’s wife. Here is the most recent family photo that I could find on our computer. This was taken a couple of years ago when we were in Florida. Please note that Karla is about five months pregnant with Samantha.
Anyway Karla’s grandpa had arranged a delicious catered meal for the family. It was a large family gathering and not everyone was there. My dad said it was planned for about 100 plus people to be there. After dinner there was a little program lead by Marty, Karla’s mom. There was singing, a skit and a little commentary done by one of Karla’s cousins. I wish David had taken his camera it would have been nice to get some photos of the event. It is always nice seeing families getting together and having a good time.

We brought home and extra guest my step-cousin Miles. He is 13. He is Karla’s nephew visiting from Idaho. He loves to play the same game that David plays, World of Warcraft. He is staying the night so that he can get his game fix. Plus it is a night without the girls bothering him. The girls are my little sister Mandi who is 14 and Alyssa, Miles’ sister she is 15.

The house is clean and the groceries are put away. I have my last load of laundry washing, so that means tomorrow will be a good Sunday of relaxing. As you know by previous blogs this is my favorite kind of Sunday. I am sure it is the last thing Ken and Jordan want to do especially Ken. He has been stuck home everyday this week. But one more day of rest will be good for him since he has been suffering a bad head cold. Don’t worry Ken come Monday when your swimming coach is pushing you do to one more lap in the pool I am sure you will wish for another lazy day. lol Jordan on the other hand might be happy being able to play her Wii all day. lol

Speaking of Jordan she is finally done with this last dose of Steroids. Lets hope it is her last. I noticed in our Christmas photos that she is suffering from the puffy look. The not so wonderful side effect of steroids. Please pray or send positive thoughts that she stays healthy the rest of the winter.

That’s it for now. Just a little update on the Willoughby’s Please leave me a comment or two.