Ripley's Daddy is home

Roger arrived yesterday morning.

We were out shopping within just a few hours. Unlike most of the men in this family - my husband LIKES to shop. He outshops me!

He's alive and well, and trying to adjust to the time.

Ripley is very happy, he has no idea what changes are coming for him on Sunday!

the late one

Sorry I am so late but have been cooking. Had lots of fun with Aunt Betty but wish I was in the snow with you.Hope all had a great holiday. I am back to working on the house so people can buy HOPE HOPE HOPE
We have been cleaning out lots to look like we have little. I think we have had about 20 people look and some twice.
Miss my Grandbabies and hope to see them in the spring. I want to see basketball.
love to all Mom I will be better

I don't write much. But I visit 2-3 times a week and read what others post.
I'm now on my holiday vacation but had been very busy. There is nothing new to say really. It's freezing here. I can't handle it and have become very lazy. Didn't do much for Christmas, just watched "Twilight" for the 2nd time. I started reading the book after the first time. But I finish them quickly. I'm almost finished with the 4th book.
That's been my past month.
I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. Christmas didn't seem to exist over here this year.

Happy Holidays!

My snow pics

Dad posted his, so I had to post mine too....The back yard and front yard, day 1...

The back yard and front yard, day 3...The boys playing, day 4...

The snow stopped for a while, but it has again started up...we are heading to Spokane on Monday (weather permitting), where they have about 3 feet...I will take pictures if we end up out there :) All you in the sun, better be enjoying it!

The Snow of 08

With so much of the family outside of Seattle, it might be hard to really comprehend what we have been dealing with here. According to Frankie, this is the most snow at one time since the family came west from Ohio. Back there, you got some serious snow!

snow falling Friday afternoon


after the first round of snow - notice the front steps

Here is the front porch last night


the neighbor's minivan

a view of the neighbor' pool - kinda cool huh?

Roxy wading thru the snow

The snow got so heavy that it fell thru the slats

Copper walking thru the snow

Main Photo December 18 - 26

The bag..

Merry Christmas from Snohomish

Frankie and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Sorry this is probably late for Roger, since it is the 26th I think over there. We had a nice, quiet day so far. We exchanged gifts. Frankie got a nice new Coach bag and a 40th Anniversary Barbie. I got 2 beautiful limited edition Yankees pictures. There were lots of other presents as well, but these are the big ones.





The rest of the day will be getting the car out of the driveway so that we can go to the movies with Clarence and Lynn. My family used to celebrate Christmas by going to the movies and Chinese food for dinner.


We love you all and hope that you have a great Christmas day.

Merry Christmas from Virginia Vol 2

Hey everyone how are we doing on this lovely winter day. It's 50 degrees and sunny and i can't decide if i would rather be here in this very pleasant weather or in the freezing ass cold where you guys are lol. Of course you guys know there's no place i would rather be during the holidays then with my family. Happy holidays everyone.

Love,
Spenser

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Moses Lake

MERRY CHRISTMAS! to all of you! We miss you and hope you had a wonderful Christmas morning! Here are a few pics of the boys going at presents!

Merry Christmas from Virginia

You wouldn't know it's Christmas here.

Spenser and I are cleaning house, and then off to the movies.

But Santa did come!

it's 6:30

and i should NOT be up! i don't have children, i no longer live at home, and i'm an "adult". so what the hell am i doing up at six thirty in the morning on my day off? oh yeah, i live with a big five year old! haha tomorrow is our two year anniversary!

Christmas Eve at the Firehouse

Spenser has duty crew tonight, so we had dinner with the other families at the firehouse tonight.

It was nice to spend some time with families.

Got Snow Shovel?

It was a balmy 55 degrees today. My snow shovels have cob webs on them. Look one even still has the tags on it

F'in snow!

Ok, I am really done with the snow now! Yes, it is pretty and all, but seriously, we are pushing 2 feet now and it JUST KEEPS COMING!!!! It is supposed to snow steadily here till FRIDAY! Seriously, come on now, that is just ridiculous! It is now just to scary/tough to attempt to leave the house with the boys, so we are all getting cabin fever! And because of all the white crap I am not sure if Guy's parents will make it for Christmas tomorrow, so it will officially be my first Christmas with no family at all, which will be very sad...I am missing everyone terribly right now, and I wish that one Christmas soon we are all back together for the day! I love you all, sorry for the rant, but have a great Christmas tomorrow! Hope to hear from you guys!

DRIVING

WHY CAN'T PEOPLE IN THIS DAMN STATE DRIVE WHEN SOMETHING WET FALLS FROM THE SKY!!! IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO GO 5 MP ON A COMPLETELY CLEAR ROAD?! OR TAKE UP TWO LANES ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN (ONCE AGAIN) THEY ARE CLEAR???? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

Snow sucks

So over the last week, you all know that we have gotten a ton of snow. A ton for us at least. Shawn and Kerry have more, but we have a good amount. The measurement last night on the patio table was 13". I just spent about an hour sweeping, shoveling (with the wrong type of shovel) and kicking the snow away to no avail.

Guys, here is the reason that you don't let your wife drive your 4x4 without telling her how to operate it.

Yup, my truck is stuck at the bottom of the driveway. No comments about it not being a truck, it has 4WD - just not at the moment.

We have used the time at home wisely. We have finished the Yankee Room, hung new curtains in the dining room and we are going to be painting today. The studio is being coverted back into a living room. I will let Frankie tell you the details.

Mail

I like getting mail. It's the only proof that I'm still a member of society. Sometimes I buy stuff, and subscribe to magazines just so I get something. Angie and the web are my lifeline.

Today I received a nice package from Kerry and family. A large tin of her Almond Rocca, a card, and some beef jerky. Thank you Snells from Monroe! Much appreciated.

I get to escape this place in 6 days. I'll be in the US on the morning of the 29th. With some luck I'll get some sleep so the jet lag will be minimal. THey will havae booze, so I should get to sleep -- staying that way is the only problem. The flight is about 16 hours total, and with the 8 hour time difference, I will leave at 9pm and arrive at 6:30am the next morning. It's much longer than the 9:30 minutes it looks like on paper.

I'm looking forward to seeing family. I have to wait a week before I get to see the new member of the family...

Merry Christmas

Hello Everyone
It is a balmy 81 today (that is above 0) well my first week of retirement has come and gone. I have had so much to do I do not know how I had time to work. Money is a little tight which I am sure is with everyone, but you know we love you all very much and all of us have a lot to br thankful for. We may be in diffrent states or countries but we still have have each other in our hearts. Next month I will be looking at a job based out of Orlando, but covers several states including Mexico. I will keep everyone posted on that.
Merry Christmas to everyone hope to see you soon
Love you guys
Dad

update

it's been a while so i must apologize! we are all moved into aunt bob's and finally got internet and tv working this week!! we aren't even using most of the rooms, way too much extra space! it's so weird to go from living in southcenter where you didn't want to look your neighbors in the face for fear of being shot, to moving to a nice neighborhood where everyone says "hi" to you! the nosey neighbors haven't really said much to us, which should surprise aunt bob and rocco is liking the fact that he has a yard. however we haven't shown them the dog door so he doesn't like going outside when he has to! work is good. pretty busy with all the snow. it appears the town of magnolia really comes to life when no one has to work! the last three days we have had a line out the door! we have been carpooling so the commute isn't too bad coming home and i can sleep on the way to work, which is very nice. not much else to report on really....we finished our christmas shopping and spent WAY too much. money and family being so spread out is why i don't really like this holiday anymore!

short update

this has officially been the absolute worst year of my life. no questions. i cant seem to catch a break or even a smidge of good luck.

my friend crashed my car gotta take that to the shop today. $550 there. luckily hes paying me back for it when he gets back from philly. stupid subaru.

trying to finish up all my school paperwork. fafsa is a royal pain. work is still awesome and david is still out of the picture so thats always a plus.

trying to get a second job i think. get some stuff done.

new year please come! 2009 has to be a little bit better.

car fixed means i get to go back to the gym! it has sucked the last two weeks not being able to go. yay miekos!

It's a blizzard!

Since Angie doesn't believe us...we have 15" of snow! What the hell?! I live in Western Washington for a reason. I hate snow.

Main Photo December 9th - December 17th

Snow Dog

Give them a dog house. Give them a heated bed. Give them a bone and they run out in the yard and chew on the bone in the middle of the snow! Bad hip and all! Crazy dog.

Is it break time yet?

I am so looking forward to the Boeing break...12 whole days off!!! It's a sad state of affairs when this is what I am living for right now...*sigh*. 12 glorious days to get stuff done that doesn't involve anything about a freakin' airplane or office politics, this is a good thing.

The list is long and ambitious, and Mikey has accepted the mission. Accepted...drafted...whatever. We will be painting, hanging things, weeding out, cleaning up, filing away and generally being productive members of society. Yes, it might be a sickness... Please feel free to drop by with a paintbrush or hammer anytime...;-).

We are feeling very relieved about the whole Christmas moratorium thing...didn't really get a ton of grief except from Kerry...who is apparently channeling my mother and the guilt thing. Who knew? I did make an exception and pull out my brand new Christmas bear and put him in the barstool where the moose usually resides. Lola is messing with him non-stop, she's pretty sure I bought that for her. I have a basket on the kitchen table...she's pretty sure I bought THAT for her too. Every time I walk into the kitchen, she is passed out in that basket and she is too stinkin' cute to beat, although it has been considered.

Cats are good, dogs are good, kids are..."less dumb" than last year...hahaha. It looks like Mikey's job got funding through all of 09, so we appear to be fairly secure in the jobs for at least another year, so we are thankful for that.

Snell Flashback .... Jan 1996

Remember our first sledding trip?

Not being able to find enough snow...

The magnetic pole... Notice Shawn trying to help her lean!

Spenser heading for it too!

Peach heading toward the pole

Spenser without a sled

The guys found a "ramp" - didn't someone get hurt on this too?

Me and Frankie going town together... I think she remembers this one WELL - still to this day!

Long before digital photography!

My apologies to Mikey and Roger ... sorry guys - we just didn't know you yet.

Leavenworth - not the prison

Last Saturday Frankie, Clarence, Lynn and I went up to Leavenworth for some shopping and the town Christmas tree lighting. None of us had been there in some time, I had only been there once before. A cute little town with like 10,000 people there. A town that small is not meant to have so many people with so few restrooms. Frankie and Lynn had to wait for some time to use one. Clarence and I - no problems.

Here are some pictures from the day....

Main Photo November 30 - December 8

BAAaaahhhhh Humbug

Seems that neither Frankie or I will be putting up a tree this year.

Am I to guess that Kerry and Mom already has theirs up? Actually Kerry should still have a tree - since Erika is still young enough.

I figure Mom probably has 3 - so that is one for me, and one for Frankie.

**I would put one up - but Spenser doesn't care, and doesn't want to help**

Maybe I'll go get a really small live tree - then I can plant it in my yard.

I will be sending the kid's stuff this next week (I'm boxing stuff today).

well hello strangers

yes this is my first post and my first log in. pretty hard when you dont have a computer at your house. but everything doin good here.

still live in northgate with my awesome roomate terry. work at my stand in ballard full time. love love love it. starting school at seattle central next quarter. rated top 5 community colleges in the country and they have a top notch apparel program. since gene juarez academy didnt work out as you all know... im going to the aveda institute next year instead. whats better then hair, makeup and clothes? an education in them all!

david and i broke up. yeah i know finally right? its about time. he's living in new orleans for work and as if it wasnt a hard enough relationship when he was here, its def not working out with him down there. i walked away. be proud. and now that hes far away he cant just show up on my doorstep and try to fix it. thats probably the best part. he's a jerk. and a liar. asshole. am i allowed to swear on here? maybe just when it comes to him :)

so basically i work 6 days a week and come home then go to the gym and sit on my couch with izzy. yes shes still fat but she is on a kitty diet.

as soon as i figure out this new stupid camera ill post some pictures from time to time but apparently they are .TIF files not .jpeg files. i dont even know what those are.

lots of new stuff going on for me i guess. hopefully 2009 will prove better than 2008. its been a rough year for me.

love you guys :)

Main Photo November 22 - 29