Thanks 2011

 Cousin Emily, Finn, and Niamh

This marks 2 years in a row that penis was thrown around the dinner table. Er, um, the word penis that is. I'm pretty sure that Denny, The Patriarch, was the one who started the vulgarities both years. The Westovers are a fun bunch. 

Another tradition, checking The Ledger. Steve's mom kept a ledger for each of her 4 children that kept count of the money they borrowed from her growing up. Gas, tuition, prom corsage, bike repairs, and who knows what else, its all there in great detail in the book. All but Steve have paid their debts. Correct me if I'm wrong, Pat, but I think Steve is still about $700+ in the hole. Don't expect payment in full until the front room of our house is fully furnished. Thanks for dinner, though! 

Each year I am more and more thankful for my family near and far. If the Shaws promise to shout out body parts at the dinner table, we will book Thanksgiving 2012 in San Fransisco. You up for the challenge, Dad?

My Bests

You know how you meet some people and you just click? You can't explain why, but you just really really like them?

Well, I really really like these gals. 

5 years after meeting them I have lots of reasons why.

It goes way beyond the stripes.

Professional Parents

Niamh drew this picture of Steve and I at our jobs.

Steve works for Contour HD, doing something in Marketing. I don't really know what he does all day but the product is pretty awesome (and makes a great Christmas gift), he works hard, and really enjoys his job and co-workers. 

I'm a Nurse in the ICU at Seattle Childrens Hospital. 

The kids have visited us both at our jobs, so they've seen our work environments, and apparently pay close attention to what they see. Its a darn good thing neither of us work for a secret government agency because our cover would be blown with the accuracy of this drawing.  

For Steve's office, Niamh drew a shelf with the cameras mounted to bike/ski/skate helmets, Daddy at his desk holding a document he is working on, and someone in front of the vending machine saying I'm hungry.

In the hospital, Niamh depicts a nurse charting at a desk, and me in front of a baby on a radiant warmer attached to bags of medicine. The baby looks pretty ill with his tongue hanging out and his eyes drawn as x's. They baby is saying Blech, which probably describes exactly how he's feeling.

 

Then, at the end of the day, Steve and I stand together looking totally dazed, exhausted, and void of expression.

Blech.

Hallo

"HALLO!" 

That's what my dad says whenever he greets someone.
"Hallo!" 

He has an Irish accent but I'm not sure that has anything to do with how he says "Hallo!" 

How my dad says "Hallo" has nothing to do with this post either. This post is about HALLOween. You can see how I got sidetracked.

The morning of Halloween, I got in trouble with Finn for not having any decorations up. Specifically, he wanted spider webs on our front door like the Berrymans have. I told him that I don't really have Halloween decorations to put up. Then he screamed at me, But our house isn't SPOOKY! Then I screamed back, Really? Because I'm terrified every time I pull in to the driveway or open the front door! 
Then, I calmly reminded him that Halloween isn't about decorations and spook. Its about him getting candy from our neighbors, and me peeking inside their homes at their room decor when they open their doors. He agreed, our fight ended, he went to school, I thought about going to Archie McPhee's for spider webs, I got distracted again, then it was 3:30 and I had to pick the two up from school. Spider webs are definitely on my packing list for next year.
Here we go, the prep.

Our neighbor, Erin, had us and our posse of neighbor-friends over for a spaghetti feast before hitting the pavement. Thanks, Erin! Finn kept worrying about his lipstick as he ate his spaghetti.

Then off we went to take treats from neighbors and check out their entry rooms.

Kieran-Fire Truck and Fireman, Anjali-Box of Popcorn, Ella-Ballerina, Niamh-Devil, Rosie-Butterfly, Finn-Vampire, Neighbor Finn-Pirate

The loot was impressive (and so was the crown molding).

This last photo was taken moments before Finn went in to a hyperglycemic coma...but his lipstick was still in place.

The kid costumes were ok, but the real star of the show was....

 

LEGO MAN!

 

In his Lego Man Costume, Steve experienced what it would be like to be Cinderella at Disneyland. Children unknown to us would hug Steve and gaze up at him like they were in love. I think it was the most admiration Steve has ever received. I hope he enjoyed it.

Peace Out, Man. I'm going to go check Target for spider webs on sale.