The new backyard and a new hobby!

When Nick and I moved into this house one of the highlights was the huge deck on the back of the house. Even though the deck was in bad shape we rented the house with the agreement with our landlord that it would be replaced within 90 days.

One of the reasons we liked the deck so much is because we love to entertain and have guests over for dinners or whatever.

So it's been a little over 90 days but we are very excited to have a space to entertain now!! Our landlord went with a patio instead of a deck because the upkeep being much less but also there is no chance of the wood becoming rotten. We both really like the new space and can't wait to have friends and family over to see it!

The deck went from the end of the house (where the stairs are) to about where Nick is standing when taking this picture. Hoping to give you a reference point since we don't have a before picture. We couldn't walk on the deck and feel safe. There were several boards that were very rotten and a chance of a foot going through - hence the reason we haven't had a bbq yet. =)

For some reason I really like that the stones are not all lined up with eachother.

I think the total space is 10' by 20'. The bbq is chillin' on the bottom right corner of this picture.. you just can't see it.

So a few weeks ago I joined a Stampin' Up club with Sue, my mother-in-law. She's been doing it for years and I knew she would love it if I joined. There was no pressure to join and the lady who "hosts" Stampin' Up isn't pushy about the sales at all. She does it just for fun and it's a very small, tight nit group. When I went with Sue there was a total of 5 of us. It took about 3 hours (with some small snack breaks in there) to complete 4 cards. Another cool thing is that all the ladies each bring a card that they have made at home, ahead of time to exchange with everyone. I came home with 7 cards! (Sue had made mine to exchange since I was sick, in bed with a head cold the weekend before!) The 3 on the right are the ones that I made. The 2nd from the left is the one that Sue made for me to exhange and Sue also made the one on the left to exchange. It's something new for me to enjoy. I've always been crafty.. and I really enjoy doing this!





Of course - As soon as I put them up to take a picture of .. Chester has to investigate!
Gizmo is getting his upper K-9's right now and his baby ones have not fallen out yet. It looks really strange, he hasn't been himself the last week or so.. I am amsuming it's because of how much his teeth hurt. We're going to wait to see if they fall out on their own in the next week. Poor little guy. Don't worry.. he's still running around and trying to beat up Chester!

9ilip
}

This is from Gizmo who just walked across the computer. Just trying to help out!



If you look at the bottom of the card.. you can see that I used ribbon too! Oh and the cherry on the top of the cake was my idea. ;-)
What's neat about the stampin' thing is that Wren (the Stampin' Up rep.) has the designs all picked out and ready for us to put them together.

Martha Stewart who!?!


Update on my work situation: I am happy to say that Teri and I have hired 3 fulltime tellers and 1 part time. One of them speak spanish which can be used to increase business at our branch (and she has years of experience with US Bank). One fulltimer started today, one starts next week and other 2 will start around the 9th of Sept. Whoo Hoo! Even though there's a lot of change going on at my branch - I'm sad and excited at the same time. Sad to see some of the one that I really enjoy working with leave and excited to have some new members join our team! We'll see what the future brings... =)
That.. and how I make it through the next 2 weeks - 6 days each week - open to close
= 60 hour work weeks.
Nick is great when I have to do this.. he has dinner ready for me each night AND does the dishes which makes a difference to me! Thanks Nick!! =)

Is it really the middle of August?

Wow.. I'm trying to think of why I haven't posted an update in the last week and a half.. and it's because I/we've been so busy. Time is really flying by this summer!

Last week I worked M-F and was pretty much beat by the time I get home from work. A day at work for me is 11 hours with a lunch break that is about 15 mins. long.

Work has been getting better! Things are starting to come together with the whole "Chase Way". I've been to several manager classes and it's making sense! You know the saying ... "When one door closes another one opens"? Well... that's how it is at my branch! In the last 2 weeks, one employee got a promotion through another branch (last day 8-29), one put in her notice because she has decided to go back to grad. school (last day 9-18), one put in his notice because he found a better job that's at a bank and it's paying more (last day 8-29), one of my tellers was promoted to a personal banker at my branch (last day as a teller is 8-29) and I lost another teller today. WOW! Lot's of changes all in a short amount of time. Oh, did I mention that my assistant manager starts her 2 week vacation this Saturday?!? You know what that means when you're a branch manager? It means that you are expected to work 6 days - Open to close = 60 hours. Oh yeah.. trust me.. I've done the math. So.. all in all.. I've got a few tough weeks ahead but I'm looking forward to all of the changes that are happening. My branch has been doing well, the team that I have left and the new employees that I have hired are all going to make it even better!

Nick and I attended a funeral last Saturday. That was draining to say the least. It was for someone that we didn't know that well but we both wanted to pay our respects to her and her family. The service was nice - there was a slideshow, family members and friends stood up and said something sad or funny about Cindy. Cindy was 53 yrs. old and lost her 2nd battle with cancer. My thoughts are with her family and friends.

On Sunday, I went stamping (yes, I have been sucked in!!) with Sue. She's part of a small group that gets together once a month. I made 4 cards and LOVED it! I had such a good time and can't wait until next month. I'm also going to join Sue at a scrapbooking thing this weekend. I've decided to start a scrapbook with pictures of Nick and I. Cute, huh?

So.... busy, busy, busy... Here are some pictures of things that we've done in the last week and a half..

Our friends Melissa and Mohamad came over for dinner last week and they brought this to drink . It's a cherry flavored syrup that you add to water. It was quite tasty! The funny thing was that I made Sue's corn chicken enchiladas for dinner and Mohamad doesn't like corn! He was a trooper and ate most of it.

Nick and I went over to their house this last Sunday and we played a game called Starship Munchkins.. or something close to that! It took Nick and I a couple of times to get the hang of it.. but it was sooo much fun!

Shelly Crocker in action. Yes, that is flour on my cheeks. Nick likes to call me a tornado when I'm in the kitchen. I like to call it.. a master baker at work. ;-) I was making zuchini bread. Joy, Sue's cousin gave me a 4 pound zuchini from her garden. Thanks Joy!

Does this look familar? I know.. I know.. =) This is the tart that was on the cover of Good Housekeeping magazine a month ago! I had SO much fun making this. I made the crust with graham crakers, honey and almonds. The filling is vanilla ice cream and raspberry sorbet! YUM. (I brought this over to Melissa and Mohamad's house for dessert).

Here's a shot that I got at Chris and Robert's wedding last night. Chris is Renee's cousin. They got married on the beach in Edmonds and then we headed up to Chris' parents house for hors d'oeuvres and cake! Congrats Chris and Robert!!!

Esmee has SOOO much energy! When I arrived to Tim and Renee's last night to get ready for the wedding (went straight from work) Esmee discovered my lower back tattoo! HAHA. She had some tats on her leg that she had colored with some markers.

Both of the girls have gotten several shots since they have been here. Willa was running a fever of 101 last night.. after the motrin kicked in she got her second wind.

Ethan rode with us to the wedding and to the reception. He looks like he's 8 years old! He's so much taller than his sisters. He's such a big brother. =)

Mo Mo. His fur is still so soft. =) He and Chester are getting along really well.

This is at Forrest and Cheryl's house last night after the wedding. Willa looked SO cute with the red headband, as did Esmee with a cute princess choker.

OMG!! Nick took this picture with his phone. This is how Gizmo was laying on the couch next to him. Still a kitten and loves to lay on the back of the couch like this.

Okay.. you've got to laugh at this a little... !!

Congrats Chris and Robert!! The wedding was SHORT and sweet. It started at 7 and Nick, Ethan and I were back in my car at 7:12 heading to Forrest and Cheryl's house! We're so happy for them.

I got goosebumps!! I love weddings. I can't wait for Tim and Lesley's wedding. November 14th. AND.. I'm in it. This is going to be the first wedding I've ever been in (except for my own - haha!).

Love birds right here and are still on our honeymoon!! Thanks Tim for letting me borrow your shades!

Meet Esmee and Willa Jones!!!!

Tim and Renee (Nick's brother and sister-in-law) have been in the process of adopting a little girl from China for years! Around the time that Ethan was born, they started the paperwork. Ethan is going to be 7 years old in December.. so needless to say, it's been a very long wait for Esmee to join our family.

People always say.. Good things come to those who wait. Well, they sure do!! Renee, Tim and Ethan were blessed with not just one little girl from China, but 2!!! After a long wait, it seemed to all happen very fast. Around April or May they offered 2 little girls and by the end of July the girls were here! Tim and Renee spent about 2 1/2 weeks over in China, going through the paperwork, the introductions, and thewaiting period. The flight home was something like 13 hours.. and I think that Renee got about an hour of sleep the whole time! Wow!

From the moment that Renee and Tim met the girls, it's just been amazing. The girls call them mama and papa. They are all doing great as far as communicating with eachother. (Tim and Renee have had exchange students for about 7 years now). Everyone is happy and healthy.

Esmee Cezanne Jones. She'll be turning 7 on February 15th. She's a spitfire! She's not afraid to try anything, is learning fast and will let you know when she doesn't want or like something!

Willa Michele Jones. She'll be 6 next May 15th. She's quiet, watches and learns from everything and is just a love bug!

The girls are VERY independent from eachother but each always knows where the other is. They adore Ethan and pick up on everything he does.

The Jones family went to a Storm game last night and Tim said the girls had a great time. They weren't scared of the large crowd or anything. We had a family breakfast this morning and all the kids all had their own basketball. Esmee and Ethan had small colorful ones and Willa had the regular size green and yellow one. Ethan has been doing a GREAT job of being the big brother. Tim said that he's been hearing "you need to set a good example" often and for Ethan being 6 years old (turning 7 in December) - he's doing a great job.

This is Noelle. Mike and Joy's 10 year old daughter. She's sooo sweet. I'm hoping that Mike and Joy will take me up on my offer and have a date night, so I can hang out with her! (Joy is Sue's 2nd cousin - just in case you're wondering!)





A little photographer in training. SO cute! Even this morning while we were at Denny's for breakfast, Willa was taking pictures with Grandma Sue's camera of everyone. I think she took over 50 pictures in a short amount of time. Willa likes the camera. =)
We were at Denny's this morning to meet Chub's little and youngest sister, Juanita. Juanita is 85 and a healthy little bugger! She's out here for a week to visit with her niece, Judi. Mike and Sue have been doing a great job at keeping them busy. They've even gone up to Canada for the day. It was my first time meeting them both and they are very nice.






This is in Mike and Joy's back yard. We were over at their house last weekend for a family bbq. Joy's brothers' kids were in town. It was great meeting them too! The company and food were amazing!

Are we having fun yet? Or maybe I got this look because I wouldn't put the camera down! I took over 100 pictures this day.

Where there is water, kids will play. It was cute to see Renee come prepared with a bag of clothes for the girls, knowing that they might need them. I haven't seen Renee with a bag of sorts ever.

This is Esmee writing down something in Chineese for me with a piece of ice. Renee said that they saw people doing this in China all over the place. They would do it in the morning time prior to the sun coming out. Interesting.

The girls are both very loving. =) Cute, huh?

Tim and Joy enjoying a drink during this hot summer day.

There was about 5 pounds of strawberries for all of us to enjoy. Esmee and Willa LOVE strawberries!! I think they ate 4.5 of those pounds.

This is Mike! He was in charge of the chicken on the bbq and the corn on the cob. He made the corn on the cob on the bbq. Soaked them in water first and then tossed them on the bbq. It was SO good.

Tim and Renee took off to enjoy a Storm game and Mike and Sue got to babysit the kiddos. This was a great idea of Renee's to keep the girls occupied while they snuck out. The girls were great after Tim and Renee left. They didn't cry or anything!!

Sue = One happy grandma.

All in all... the girls are AMAZING. Everyone is doing great. Ethan is an awesome big brother, Tim and Renee now have a family of 5 and the girls are adjusting really fast. Both of them will be starting school this fall. We're hoping that they get into the same school as Ethan, but we shall see.