Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Day was spent opening lots of gifts.  Based on the pictures below, it is safe to assume Avery was quite busy.

Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas Eve was spent at the Seidentopf House.  It was a wonderful evening.

The Family

Cousin Lauren, Avery and Cousin Alec

End of December 2008

Let it snow...and boy did it ever!!!!  We had planned to leave for Auburn, Washington on the Tuesday prior to Christmas.  However, with so much snow on the ground and a larger storm on the way, we made a break for it early on Saturday morning.  Fortunately, we arrived safe and sound at Grandma and Grandpa Briscoe's.  Our Christmas was saved because Santa new exactly where we would be spending it.

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays and welcome to our blog.  Instead of a traditional Christmas letter detailing what we have been doing this year, you can just come and take a look for yourself.  We are a busy trio.  

Our year in review consists of Avery graduating from kindergarten and moving on to first grade.  She continues to enjoy swimming, gymnastics, t-ball and soccer.  Mark still works for Tektronix in Marketing and keeps busy with coaching, reading and doing homework with Avery.  Lastly, I am enjoying the busy life as a not so stay at home Mom.  I volunteer at Avery's school, haul her to all the above activities and still substitute at Beaverton Christian.  It is a busy life filled with lots of travel, family, and fun.  

Wishing you the warmest of holiday wishes.

Love, 

Mark, Maureen and Avery

A pretty lengthy conversation with Santa.  I am sure that she is explaining just how good she was this year.

Picture Day

After visiting Santa, we took the opportunity to have Avery's pictures taken.  It is not difficult to have your child smile after Santa promised her the world.  Thank you Santa for the beautiful smile and the toy journey that followed.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, Avery's class put on quite a program.  They sang a few songs and showed off their many classroom projects.  Following the show, Mark and I gathered up Avery and immediately headed for Seattle.  The following day, it was Thanksgiving at Aunt Barbara's House in Olympia.  Mark, Eric, Cousin Alec and Avery engaged in a many hour game of Monopoly.  Based on the reaction below, guess who won.

Avery's First Grade Class

Avery with her teacher Ms. Russell

Intense Game

Always Humble

Halloween and the Beautiful Colors of Fall

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I love the leaves changing colors and the crisp air.  This year has been particularly mild.  Thus, we have enjoyed many days outdoors.  Of course, Halloween was filled with party opportunities for Avery.  She attended four Halloween events requiring two separate costumes.  My goodness our girl is busy.

Our Cheetah Girl

Fi-Fi The Pink Poodle

The Trick or Treating Group

Avery, Vivian, and Weston playing in a pile of leaves

Fall Soccer

Fall Soccer was super fun.  Mark and Neil (Hallie's Dad) continue to coach for their second season.  It is still coed and a good portion of the kids were the same from last year.  It is amazing to see how much they have grown and developed their individual skill sets.  While the goal remains simple "to have fun", we were much more successful in having "fun" this year. The season ended with a great moment for Avery as she scored her first goal ever in a game.  As she reported, she had tears of joy in her eyes.  However, I think it was just the crazy hair getting to her. 

Avery and Hallie:  Soccer Buddies

GOOOOAAAALLLL #1!!!!

Mark Congratulating Avery 

First Day of School

Avery is in first grade.  This is her first year in a new school.  She was incredibly excited.  I was incredibly anxious.  However, I said my goodbyes at the door and she walked right in all by herself.  She is definitely growing up overnight.

Mark and Avery

Strom Family Reunion in Moses Lake,WA and Seahawk Football Game

We headed to Moses Lake, WA in late August for the Strom Family Reunion.  The Stroms are Mark's Moms side of the family.  All members live in different areas of Washington, except for us the lone Oregonians.  We stayed in Moses Lake and hung out at the home of Scott and Stephanie. They were super hospitable.  It was a great time had by all.

After our trip, we headed back home for a few days.  We then headed to Seattle for the Cougar Football Game.  It seems to be the beginning of a long season.  As for us, it would be our last trip of the summer.

The Strom Family

Barry, Anne and Avery

Anne and Barbara

Mark Hanging Out By The Fire

Kevin and Avery

Avery's 6th Birthday Fiesta

Our girl is 6!!!  How can that be?  We celebrated Avery's special day on her actual birthday. However, the weather was terrible.  We faced record heat in Oregon, well over 100 degrees. Thus, her birthday was spent partially indoors and out.  We held most games outdoors while dinner, dessert and presents were indoors with air conditioning. We are very thankful that no children or adults melted.

Sack Race

Pinata

Sombrero Cake

The Gang

Elsa, Avery and Greta

Hallie and Avery

Vacation to Southern California

Southern California is always a great time.  We spent our vacation with the Tramutola Family and enjoyed the many splendors of the area.   Of course, the best memories occur with the family swimming, going to the beach or possibly engaging in a competitive game of badminton.  However, during this vacation, Mark and I had the opportunity to have a little alone time.  We spent one of those days on Catalina Island. We took the boat from Dana Point early in the morning and headed back in the evening.  We engaged in all the tourist activities such as the island bus tour, casino tour and even a game of miniature golf.  It was pretty fun. On another outing, we went to Hollywood to see the Craig Ferguson Show.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it would take more than two hours to get to Hollywood from Orange County in the early afternoon.  I might be dating myself but I remember when it was just an hour.  Needless to say, we missed the show and decided to tour the hills instead. 

Badminton Players and Cousins: Nicky, Ariana, Mikey and Avery

Avery and Mikey in the Pool

Catalina Island

Maureen and Mark in the Hollywood Hills

Disneyland and California Adventure

Disneyland is quite possibly the happiest place on earth for our daughter.  This year has been the turning point from little kid rides to big kid rides.  She has been on all the roller coasters including Space Mountain (her favorite), Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain.  This visit was even better than previous because her good friend Laira and her mom Jennifer went with us.  

Avery and Laira

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Maureen and Avery Waiting in Line... Again