Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!!
♥, The Suetta Family

All things Christmas....and an update ;-)

Christmas "stuff" is in full swing around this house. We got our tree cut, up and decorated a little over a week ago. Norah and Nolan (mostly Norah) had an awesome time decorating the tree, and a little one in their room too! We put up our holiday decorations around the house, but we don't have a ton so It'll be an easy clean up :) And, if we get a break in the rain this week Casey is gonna try to put some lights up on the house.
Friday I took the kids to see Santa and get their pictures taken. I'll just say that the pictures turned out way better than the experience. I thought I might just have to walk away because my charming little 2 year old, wasn't being quite so charming. He was actually being down right naughty and defiant :( He shaped up though just in time to get a few good shots! Here is my fave!

Friday night I ran out by myself and got a good chunk of Christmas shopping done, that felt good. And Friday, Saturday and Sunday we baked Christmas cookies :) Saturday evening one of the Dr.'s I work with hosted a Christmas party for all the employees at The Pagoda at Pt. Defiance. Casey and I took the kids and spent a couple of hours mingling with friends, having a yummy dinner and there was even Santa there to visit the kids.
Today had to have been the best day of the weekend for me. Not a thing on the agenda. So, we relaxed, did some house work, played hide-and-go-seek with the kids and I got a little bit more shopping done during nap time! We had yummy homemade baked potato soup for dinner and I got my Christmas cards ordered(better late than never ;)) Here's a sneak peek at the photo we picked for our cards....

*****
Just a really quick update on things non-Christmas. Casey is taking some online courses for real estate appraisal and will be making a career move in the new year :) I have been though a some stressful times at work recently regarding the possibility of a change in hours and/or schedule. I am thankful to say that neither of these things happened and I am keeping my current work hours and days, yay! I do have to say that I am truly saddened for the wonderful people I work with that this was not the case for :( Norah is doing awesome as a kindergartner and just last week got her very 1st report card!!! She's is right on track for where she should be and her teacher couldn't have had nicer comments about her, I'm very proud of my girl! And last but not least my little Nolan. This was a big weekend of potty training for him. He hasn't worn a single pull up since Thursday. I am calling him potty-trained!!! I know there will be "accidents" but something clicked with him and I know he's got it! Also this will be my last week to get in the pool with Nolan at swimming lessons....sigh! I am greatful to not have to get in that cold pool 2x a week but, I am kinda sad that this era is over. I have been in the pool with one of my kiddos 2x a week for the better part of the last 5 years! Maybe it's time to have another one ;)

10 years

Saturday was the 10 year anniversary of my Mom's death. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and sometimes it feels like SO long ago. As I reflected on it over the weekend it's really hard to believe it's been that long and it really makes me sad to think about all the things she's missed and that I have missed out on because she's not here. I do know that she is looking down on me and my family and watching over us. I also know she has made me the mother that I am, because I had the BEST example to follow! I really still think about her every single day.
Several years ago my little sister Sarah got this tattoo in honor of my mom, not only to remember her death but, she also collected angels too. She had over 200 of them! So after wanting the same tattoo for many years, I thought no better time to get it than now. Yesterday was the day, I have these little angel wings and halo in the inside of my left ankle. They are outlined in black, have pale blue and while on the wings and a gold halo. I love them, and I love and miss you Mom!!!!!

Snowy Days

Last week we had some serious snow around here! It was the most I've seen in a really long time, and it stuck around longer than usual too. That was good for me because I was on my long stretch at work and didn't get to play in it with the kids until Wednesday. No worries there was still plenty of snow and me and the kids had a great time.

This was from the first snowy day. Casey took the kids out to play and they had a blast. I love this picture for a few reasons. One, he's just so dang cute. Two, his red, runny nose indicative of cold weather. And, three his ears popping out from under his beanie :)

I love this one too, she looks like a little Eskimo snow princess, and her smile says "I'm happy!"

These next few are from the day I got to go out and play with them. They took turns climbing off this rock and jumping/sliding into the powdery snow below. Who new a rock could be so much fun!

You can really see how much snow we got in this picture....a lot!

More happy faces, the snow made my kids (and me & daddy) happy!

I just really thought this was a cool picture Casey got one of the days. I love how all you can really see is snow and how it is sparkling in the light, so pretty!

Happy Turkey Day

I hope everyone out there has a very
happy, healthy, and delicious
Thanksgiving!

Today I am very, very thankful for everything in my life! I am most thankful for my healthy, happy little family :) I am also very thankful today for my amazing Dad and siblings and the very best friends around!!!

My 30th, soccer, a princess party and a birthday celebration!

Well I did it, I officially turned 30 last Thursday! And I have to say it's not that bad ;-) I am actually loving my little life at this very moment, I have a feeling 30 is going to be great and I that I will have some of my best years ahead of me! My birthday turned out really nice. Norah got to stay home from school (Veteran's Day) so me and the kids lounged around for a bit eating chocolate chip pancakes in our jammies! Then we headed to the gym and the store, even though it was my birthday I still wanted to get my workout in and hey we gotta eat! Shortly after we got home my mother in law stopped by with lunch, presents and cupcakes! Thank You Jamie!!! Later that night my family came over and we enjoyed wine, pizza and cheesecake. I got some great gifts and was thankful to have a nice night at home with my family.

Saturday my little soccer star had her last game! She shot for a goal but it was blocked :( Oh well it's still super cute to watch them play and she has a blast. After her game we headed to a pizza party to celebrate her team. They got certificates and medals, she was so proud of herself.

Next on our Saturday agenda was a princess party for our favorite 3 year old, Miss Avery! A big happy birthday to her and a thank you for having us over for such a fun party.

To finish Saturday off Casey and I headed to Dukes for a little romantic dinner for my birthday, just the 2 of us. I kinda thought he might have something planned for after dinner but I wasn't sure ;-) We had a great dinner and a couple drinks then he said we should maybe go out and get a drink and dance, that's when I knew he had something planned! We headed for 6th ave in Tacoma and ended up at a place called Sax. We've been there before and I was pretty sure I was gonna be surprised by some friends and family!

I was right! Waiting for us were some of my very best friends, my sister and brother and some of my really good work friends too! Thank you Casey and anyone else that helped arrange it, it was a great time and I couldn't have asked for anything better for my birthday than to be with my best friends and family. I love all of you!!!!
P.S. there are more pictures from my fun birthday celebration on FB!

Trick-or-Treat

This year we joined the Newgard and Riggs families for some trick-or-treating.
Here's all our little ones; we had a pretty in pink fairy, buzz lightyear,
little mermaid pricess, an adorable little monkey,
the cutest giraffe you've ever seen and a little lion!
They were all just too cute!

The 4 older kids definitely had this trick-or-treating thing down!
They did great at every single door,
even the couple houses Nolan snuck into didn't mind a bit ;)

Norah led the trick-or-treating pack, she's an old pro by now!

My loves!
They both picked out their own costumes,
and I think they did a great job!

Buzz and his princess showing off their spider rings!

Yay for a family photo where we are all looking at the camera!

Thank you to the Newgards for having us over for some Halloween fun! Trick-or-treating with our friends and yummy homemade chili made for a perfect holiday night!

Halloween was just the end to a fabulously fun, very busy Halloween weekend(week really). Wednesday night we carved pumpkins, thursday night we made caramel apples, friday night we went to a Fall harvest celebration at Norah's school and went out and celebrated one of my best friends' 30th birthdays! Saturday was our annual work Halloween party(see Tiffany's blog for some great pics of our costumes!) And finally Sunday Halloween! What a long weekend, but all very worth it!

On a side note I had to go home from work early last night because I couldn't keep my food down. It's no fun throwing up at work. I feel a little better today and am hoping my queasyness and vomiting spells are behind me. I guess all the indulging(food & drinks) I did over the weekend caught up with me :( I'm not 21 anymore! In fact I will be 30 in 9 short days, Yikes!

Spooner Farms

About a week ago we headed to Spooner farms for some Fall fun!
We looked around at all the cool pupmkins and decorations and went through a fantastic Alice in Wonderland inspired corn maze.

Me and the kids

The kids just venturing into the tunnel that starts the maze.

Norah LOVED the corn maze and was really into it!
Nolan was distracted by the corn stalks and decorations and didn't really care about making it through the maze.

He did like this miniature door, super cute!

I just loved this picture of hops that Casey took!

They have this cute cow when you first enter the farm and it's a great spot for pictures!

Here's my favorite of the whole bunch....LOVE them!

I ♥ Maui

Maui rundown.....

The pool and a our view from the Westin grounds,
they are so pretty!

This is the beach just in front of our condo,
we spent A LOT of time here soaking up the sun, and just plain old relaxing.

We snorkeled a lot too. It was amazing to see all the sea life,
literally just a few steps into the ocean.

One morning 5 of us girls got up bright and early(3am!) and head to watch sunrise at Haleakala! It was pretty beautiful, I just wish someone would have told me it was going to be 42 degrees up there. It was CHILLY!!!

Here's all of us girls, minus Jo :(
There were 11 of us from work that made the trip!
11 crazy girls is sure to = a great time.

This is Black rock.
Jessica & I got brave and jumped off this thing.
We weren't quite brave enough to go to the very top, but we got pretty close.

This guy was just plain AMAZING! We snorkeled at Black Rock where we saw this very large sea turtle and 2 of his friends.

Swimming with the sea turtles was definitely one of the neatest experiences I have ever had!

We also spent a day at Makena Beach.
It was really pretty and there were no hotels, buildings, ect
just the beach.

And this beach had much bigger waves than the ones by our condo.
Pretty impressive!

Finally sunset, so pretty.
I actually took this picture while floating in the water ;)

All in all, such a great trip!!!! I still didn't enjoy the plane ride even with Valium on board, but it was bearable! I missed Casey and the kids like crazy, but we where able to video chat via our new iPhone 4's which made being away from them a lot easier. I came home relaxed and refreshed and loving my little fam even more! I also came home to a nice bottle of wine and a clean house, thanks babe for always supporting me!!!!

Maui Bound

In less than 72 hours I will be boarding a plane to one of the most beautiful places around with an amazing group of girls, but even as I am typing this my heart rate is speeding up and a bit of anxiety is creeping over me. I don't really know where this is coming from, I'm NOT an anxious person and I AM really excited and grateful to be going. I do know a few of things though; I WILL have a great time once I am there, I am pretty terrified of the plane ride and am hoping to get some relief from that with either a few Zanax from my doc or a couple shots of vodka prior to boarding the plane ;), I can't wait to be sitting on the beach, relaxing with friends and soaking it all in, and I will MISS my husband and kids more than I am anticipating!

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions, and it's only Tuesday. When Casey got home yesterday he probably wanted to run for the door. I was a MESS, to say the least. He is so great though, and as I was sobbing so hard I could barley talk about nothing really at all, he was exactly the comfort I needed! I LOVE him, and am reassured that I will be leaving my kids with a VERY capable daddy.

Ok, so this post was more just for me to vent a bit, nothing really interesting but nice to get it out! I REALLY am excited to be going, it's my 1st ever trip to Hawaii! My next post will most likely be when I return, and it will be all about how great of a trip it was :)

Can't get enough of these smiles....

.....and I've been seeing a lot of them lately!
We've had a VERY nice couple of days around here. Yesterday we skipped the gym and headed down to the Puyallup River(thanks to the Newgards for the tip on the spot) we had a great time just the 4 of us. After we played we had pizza and headed home past the kiddos bed time, oops! It's ok though cause Norah doesn't have school today or tomorrow so I'm enjoying it. Today the kids and I played, did some shopping, decorated for Halloween, made some animal inspired crafts and enjoyed a "show" put on by Norah, it was a good one! They are growing up SO fast and I remind myself almost daily that this is a once in a life time chance to enjoy them at this stage in their lives!

Jack keeps getting better!

Jack Johnson that is! This past Saturday we headed to the Gorge for our 3rd Jack Johnson concert there! We had the best time and both Casey and I thought it was his best show yet! He played all of our faves and some cool covers, he is amazing ;) I definitely will be there anytime he plays the Gorge!

Me, Kimberly and Tiffany heading to the show

Here's some of the guys
Kory, Brandon & Casey

Me and my bestie!

Brandon and Kimberly were so awesome to let us all stay at their condo in Crescent Bar. So glad we could, they are a blast. Thanks guys!

So glad Holly, her husband Rick and their friends Mark and Kari could make the show as well! We love these guys!

I seriously love this guy, couldn't ask for a better hubby!

Me, Rick & Kari enjoying the show!

Here's a little collage of some pictures of the concert, we only brought along our little point and shoot. I don't think it did too bad, but I think we're gonna try to sneak in the Nikon next time ;)

Random stuff

I grew this.....from a seed!
I planted 6 of them last May and here is the end result!
I love them, and they are taller than my little one story house!

So I guess she can't be good at everything ;)
Casey loves to let her dress herself on the weekends that I work.
This is what I woke up to one Sunday afternoon.
And yes, she did go out in public mismatched socks and all!
I sure do love her ♥

Teeny Toddler Sports anyone?
Nolan and mommy have been participating in this class at the Y on Friday mornings while Norah is at school. It's fun and short and is helping Nolan to be a better listener and have fun doing it. Will he be the next hockey superstar, I doubt it. He might have used it like a baseball bat or golf club more than a hockey stick but it was cute to watch! So far he liked basketball most of all, good thing because he is one tall 2 year old. He has also been developing quite the sense of humor, I think we might have a class clown on our hands :) He will do anything to get a laugh out of us, and he is truly good at it!

Our 1st time hosting a sleepover! Norah's bestie Alissa came over after soccer practice last friday for a sleepover and they all had a blast! It was nearly 11 by the time the 3 of them fell asleep(3 hours past N&N's normal bedtime, yikes)! They still were all wide awake and ready to go the next morning by 7, gotta love a kids' energy. I made them chocolate chip pancakes and they played outside in the yard before I took Alissa home. It was a fun adventure and I see many more to come in the future!