SNOW SNOW Everywhere & Baking cookies with Momma!

More snow for the Pacific Northwest and it's a beautiful site. We bought a snow suit for Sydney and she is really digging being out in the snow with all the other kids. Although she still wants to ride her bike in it. She's 2, what can I say?

Last night we baked cookies. Sydney wants to help with EVERYTHING. As her Momma, I want her to experience everything, but as Angie, I want control. :) So...I asked for advice from my other momma friends who said to give her a bowl with some flower and some spoons and she will think she is helping out. I am happy to report that it worked!!! She was a happy little camper and Daddy took some cute pictures.

Jingle Bell Run & the first snow of the season!

Pure winter fun this weekend. The first winter storm has arrived and it's a cold one out there. It sure is pretty though. Sydney had a blast playing in the snow today in the backyard.

This morning we headed to Seattle bright and early for the Jingle Bell Run. My final 5k of the year. This time Mike, Jami, Madison and Zach joined me. Jed was supposed to join, but with broken toes he had to sit this one out. Madison's horse trainer, Angie, and her SIL joined us as well. We had a great time. Singing Jingle Bells in the express lanes and running along side family. I didn't beat my personal best time by any means, but it was really a fun thing to do together.

Pre-race

Post Race

'\

Putting on my game face...it was a chilly one.

The Annual Downtown Seattle Trip

Thanksgiving is done...how did that happen? It was a great day. We had 13 people at our house for the holiday and everything went off without a hitch. It was great...and I was exhausted. I was up at 6am. The turkey went in the oven at 6:45 am and I was out running 4 miles at 7:15am. Doing the, pre-turkey, turkey burn. I was happy I did that because it was my final workout until Monday of the following week.


Sydney had a wonderful time with her cousins Grace and Audrey on Thanksgiving. They played and played and played and Sydney was none to happy to see them go home that evening...but she was off to be at 7:30 that night as Friday, bright and early, we were up and off on our annual Thanksgiving Weekend in Seattle. We were out of the house very early and thankfully got to check into our hotel as soon as we got there. We had an adjoining room with Mike, Jami, Madison and Z and Sydney loved it. She loves them so much. The parade started at about 9am or so and we watched a good majority of it, but as soon as Sydney lost interest so did we. Off to shop and hang out. All in all it was a great weekend and a fun tradition for us all. We did not take as many pictures as we have in the past years, but here are a few from Sunday morning at the Pike Place Market where we had our traditional breakfast at Lowells followed by a quick trip through the market and stroll up Pike Street.

Really fun way to spend Halloween...

We had plans to go to Arizona for Halloween, but the friend's that we were going to stay with had something come up so we made some last minute changes to our plans and off we went to Disneyland! Wow...what a trip. It was a total blast and Sydney had a fantastic time. She loved the characters and many of the rides, but was not happy with the "scary" rides. This was only my 2nd trip to Disney and the last time I was in Disneyland was 10 years ago. California Adventure and Downtown Disney were not there the last time. I have been to the House of Blues once to see a concert in Downtown Disney, but don't ask about that experience because it was a rough one. LOL! Anyway, there are quite a few rides that you would not think would be scary, but they are. Sydney didn't like those, but loved the rides like Dumbo and Nemo. She would have stayed in Mickey's house for the entire time we were in Disneyland. She loved that. California Adventure was a blast too. There is an entire section for A Bug's Life...and Sydney had a blast there. Jed and I managed to do a few rides ourselves in shifts. California Screamin' was really cool, but the best was The Tower of Terror...what a blast. We also did some old standby's, like Space Mountain. It was an awesome couple of days. A great way to spend Halloween and Jed's birthday. The parade was really cool and the fireworks on Friday night were the best fireworks either Jed or I had ever seen.

Here is one for the Grandpa's in her life

I tried to catch Sydney singing Happy Birthday in the car. Took a little coaxing, but the end of the video is worth the wait.

Halloween Halloween Trick or Treat, our costumes can't be beat!

As you can tell, Dora the Explorer is an active member of our family. Even Momma knows all the songs.

So, Halloween 2008. It's not even here yet, but I am posting pictures of us in costumes. :) We did our celebrating a little early. Jed and I went to an adult party on the 11th at our friend and neighbors house and we had a BLAST! Jed went as Justin Timberlake from an SNL skit called D*ck in a Box. About 40% of the others (mostly men) got the joke right away, but others were not so sure...but they all wanted to know what was in his box. LOL. In keeping with the theme, I went as Mary Catherine Gallagher from SNL (Catholic School Girl). I could not find a wig, so it was what it was...but we had fun.

On Saturday we went to a neighborhood party up in the retail part of the neighborhood. All the stores did trick or treating. It was a lot of fun. Sydney was dressed up like a Seahawks cheerleader. We met up with an old friend of mine from high school and his wife and their cute 6 month old daughter, Abigail. She was really precious in her costume.

For the actual Halloween, we are going away for the weekend. It should be fun. I am looking forward to the adventure and the sun.

There's no doubt she loves the camera

Life has been busy at the Garonzik household lately. Lots going on and not a lot of time to sit back and relax. Tons of fun, but just busy busy busy. Sydney is really getting good on her bike and if it wasn't fall we would take the training wheels off the bike and let her learn to ride without them...but I think we will save that for spring. Her language skills are just exploding now and we are amazed at what comes out of her mouth...so far mostly cute things. This last weekend we had her pictures done for Jed's company. She gets to be a sample model since they took her infant, 1 year and now 2 year photos....to finish it off we will have her 3 year ones done next year. She loves the camera and was a complete angel the entire time. It was amazing and even Phil the photographer, said she was very good for a 2 1/2 year old...most of them are not very easy to work with. I think she just loved the attention and the camera. She was the STAR!!! Here are a few pictures from the photoshoot.

Fall is upon us...

It seems like fall is marching in like a lion this year. Who would have thought that a week ago we had nearly 90 degree weather and now it looks like we are in the full swing of fall. I love fall, but with a 2 year old it makes it more of a challenge to wear her out when we can't go outside and play. Thankfully her daddy doesn't mind the rain so much and she couldn't care less about getting wet, so long as she can still ride her bike.

This weekend was my 2nd 5k run. It was up at NW Trek in Eatonville. I wasn't crazy about running in the rain, but that was not going to stop me and it was a good run. My time was about the same as my last run in August. 33 minutes, 54 seconds to run just over 3 miles. Not a very quick pace, but I am not trying to beat anyone...just running the whole way and finishing is enough for me. My next one is in October and I would like to at least beat my time from this one. My SIL, Brandy, and her Aunt, Linda, walked the 5k course. It was a fun, family, day. Jed and Sydney were there along with my mom, my dad and Benjamin and Chase.

The pictures didn't turn out that well due to rain, but here are a couple shots that Jed was able to capture of me running and crossing the finish line as well as one of the 3 of us (Brandy, Linda and me) with the kids after the run.

North to Alaska!

We just returned from 4 days in beautiful Alaska. We had a great time. My older brother, Jeff, and his wife, Amanda, and their two boys, Jackson and Bradford, live about an hour outside of Anchorage. Mostly our trip was to see them and their boys, but we did get a little adventure in. We went out on my brother's boat and went on the Big Sue river on Thursday. It was a really nice adventure...fairly tame, but we are not wilderness folk so it was pretty perfect. Unfortunately the weather was not great and we were unable to get out on Prince William Sound in his other boat...but that will just have to wait for another trip. We do plan to go back sooner rather than later. :) Friday was spent pretty tamely in Palmer (were they live) hanging out, grabbing a bite to eat and letting the kids play together. Saturday Amanda took us into Anchorage and out to Beluga Point to see if we could see anymore wildlife. It was really just a great trip and it makes us miss Jeff, Amanda, Jack and Brad all the more. We can't wait to see them again.

My nephews are little handsome devils and they were really really good with Sydney. She had a great time with them and wants to go back soon. She is so funny, when she really likes a man she calls them a "little boy". It started with my younger brother Ben. She would say, "Uncle Ben Little boy?" and we would tell her that he was a big boy...but soon enough she started calling him a little boy again. She started doing the same thing with Uncle Jeff. I think it's a term of endearment...it's how she tells them she loves them. Of course she says Daddy is a little boy too.

Here are some pictures from the trip! Enjoy!

Little Brad fell asleep on his daddy's chair on the boat as we were cruising the river

He always had a stick or a rock or something. He is such a cutie...and the vocabulary, it blew our minds.

Handsome Jack with Sydney on the boat.

Finding things in the sand.
Sydney and Jack at Beluga Point.

This was out on the Big Sue. We stopped off at a beach so the kids could play a bit.

Another picture of taken at the beach.

Family photo time. Boy those PFD's (personal flotation device) are sure sexy!

This is a picture of Sydney, Bradford and Jackson out on Beluga point.

Bradford, Sydney and Jack (with Gus in the background) on the beach.

Wednesday evening we went out on a drive in search of some wildlife. We didn't see any animals, just some really pretty views/scenery.

Another Big Sue beach photo! These are some good lookin' kids!

Jackson and Bradford (with their daddy in the background) on the boat!

Mommy & Sydney on the boat!

Daddy & Sydney on the boat!

Angie's first 5k!

Today was my first 5k run. I have been preparing for this for about 9 weeks now and this was the first of two that I am registered for. It was harder than I thought it would be. There were times when I was not sure I was going to make it, but thanks to a really nice friend and neighbor, Anjanette and the people waiting for us at the finish line (thanks John, Madison, Kaeda and Dawson) I did finish and in faster time than I ever imagined, 33 minutes! Woo hoo!!! It felt great and crossing that finish line was really satisfying. My next one is in September. I am glad it's not tomorrow.

Me and AJ pre-race...waiting in line for the little girl's room!Coming in for the big finish!!!
Another finishing line photo! I was so happy to see the end.

YAY! WE DID IT!!!!

It was hard work and I am glad I did it. Shows me how far I have come and how far I need to go.

Learning to fly...

They really do not stay little for long, do they??? Here is a video of our, not quite, 2 1/2 year old riding her bike. I think we might be impressed. She is definitely ahead of the curve in the cul-de-sac...and this is only day 2 of her riding her bike. Daddy must be a good coach. She just motors right along with the other kids. Of course she still has training wheels, but those will be history by the time she is 3 (so says her father). She has fallen a few times...Jed has counted 5 times so far and she has a scrape on her elbow, and there hasn't been any tears and just a "get up and do it again" attitude. What a little trooper we have.

Weddings/Birthdays/Old friends

It was a busy weekend for the Garonzik's. Wedding reception on Saturday evening followed by a birthday celebration for my nephew, Benjamin, and then I met with some friends from highschool for drinks and appetizers this evening. It was a fun, but very full weekend. I guess we must like it that way. :) Next weekend won't be any duller, that much I know. It was great fun to meet with Amy and Erica this evening. We got together at a place in Des Moines called Butler Bar & Grill, which is owned by a fellow Alum of our highschool and is fairly new, maybe 7 or 8 months old. We had a great time and chatted for about 3 hours...food was good, service was good and the place really looks nice. Sydney got her first bike today and her daddy helped her learn to ride it after we got home from the birthday party. According to daddy, she is pretty good at it. I will have to check this out tomorrow for myself. We have a bit of a dare devil on our hands for sure, so I reckon we will have some skinned knees in our future.

Proud Poppa and Benjamin, Chase and Sydney.

She is checking out her new bike at Uncle Ben's house!

Sydney and Uncle Ben. You wouldn't know it by this picture, but she barely gives him the time of day, well except when she wants to show someone her pretty hair, then she says, "Show Uncle Ben?"

Getting together with old high school friends. I love to do this! It is so fun to catch up and find out what everyone else has been doing. Although I never like to see pictures of myself, but that's ok...this was a fun evening!