2009 Year in Review

Well it is a few days late but better late than never I guess.

The Likes' have been very busy this year! Let's get started!

In January, we were able to take our second trip to Disney World.

Gracie wasn't to sure about this, but she braved Big Thunder Mountain and I am sure you can see she was very happy in the end.





I also decided it was time to stop being afraid of the manual setting on my camera and took Juliette's one year pics, a little late as always!



February we were gearing up for the big move to the West coast. Travis had his last flight wth VT-2. The girls were very excited to wet down their daddy!







March brought on the big move to the PNW, where Travis will be assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln. We made a huge road trip and were able to stop in San Antonio, El Paso, Scottsdale, Disneyland, Sacramento, and Eugene before hitting our final destination in Snohomish, WA.

Beautiful Sunset in Scottsdale.



Disneyland and California Adventure









April we were still settling into our new house and getting use to the area. We had a little bit of snow on the first of April, what an April Fools Day! Travis went to his shooter school in New Jersey and the girls and I stayed behind to do Easter by ourselves. Also in April we were able to visit Pike Place Market, Deception Pass, The Tulip Festival, and take a Grey Whale Tour. It was quite the busy tourist month for us!

Our April Fools Day Snow.





Grey Whale- They make a heart shape when they come up for air. Baleen whales have two blow holes and tooth whales have one.



Easter!



Imagine Children's Museum



Our First Visit to Pike Place Market.







Deception Pass



The Tulip Festival





During May my sister came for a visit to keep us company while Travis was in another school in CA. During her visit we were able to play tourist again and visit the Space Needle, The Pacific Science Museum, Pike Place Market, do a harbor ferry tour, Seattle Aquarium, Freemont Troll,and the Woodland Zoo. My sister and I were able to take two days to ourselves. The first we did a Orca Whale Tour and the second, planned by Travis, we were treated to facials, pedicures, and dinner out, what a good job Travis. Travis was also deployed this month to the USS Regan to complete his shooter training.

Space Needle



The Harbor Ferry Tour



My sister found Edward at Pike Place Market.



Visiting my sister's favorite place, Seattle's Best Coffee



The Orca Whale Tour



The Freemont Troll



June brought lots of visitors. My friend Leticia, who we know from Kingsbay, came for visit, as while as the Costello's. It was nice to have some company while Travis was gone. Not to mention the help packing the house up so we could move at the end of the month.

Travis with Hawaii behind him.



Doing his one part of his job.



July- The girls and I moved into our new home. Luckily we had friends here to help me move while Travis was still out on the ship. It was hard but us Likes girls are strong and we got it done! Travis was able to visit Thailand. Abuela and Boompa paid us a visit and took Molly and Gracie back home to Florida with them for a week. Abuela flew back with the girls and stayed a few days to help me finish the final decorating details of the new house. Also while Abuela was here we celebrated Hunter's sixth birthday and saw the Torchlight Parade.

A blimp from the Torchlight Parade.



Abuela helping Molly with her yoga poses.



Hunter showing off her birthday bracelet.



The view from Travis' room in Thailand.



August brought more friendly visits. My friend Leticia came for another visit and we were able to take the girls to Great Wolf Lodge. Then the same day she left my sister arrived. We didn't do much while she was here this time. My sister brought us the present of a cold. So we just hung out and spent time with each other. This month I also lost a very dear pet of mine. Samantha was our Quaker Parrot that Travis and I have had for 12 years. She was very sweet and will be missed very much. Gracie had her 8th birthday party! Travis visited Dubai this month and we were hoping for his return next month!

Gracie turns 8!





The Great Wolf Lodge.





Travis' desert jeep ride in Dubai.



September brought us happy times! Travis came home at the beginning of September, right on time for school to start. My sister headed home the day after he returned. It was so nice to be able to have all of our visitors here while he was gone. Our friends Sarah and Garrett came for a visit. Juliette was very happy to see her little boyfriend. School started for the girls, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. Before school started we were able to take a quick break to The Great Wolf Lodge again. It was so nice to finally be a family again.

He's almost here!



We see him!



We love our DADDY!



Good to have him home.



JuJu and her boyfriend Garrett



Molly's first concert, Mile Cyrus.



October was a great month. We were able to visit Disney World one last time before our passes expired. We also celebrated Molly's 10th birthday and Halloween! Poor Travis missed out this Halloween, but we will have many more.

Halloween



Molly's Birthday



Disney World























November started the holiday season for us. We celebrated Juliette's second birthday this month.



December we were busy as you could see by my last two post. In addition to my post we were also able to visit Snoqualmie Falls and Zoo lights in Tacoma. We especially loved Buddy and his mischief, I can't wait for his return next year from the North Pole!

Zoo Lights at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma.





Snoqualmie Falls, it is 100ft taller than Niagara Falls.



It has been quite the year and I feel very blessed to have all of my friend and family in my life. We are in for another crazy year! Keep your eye peeled for my post!

Christmas

The Likes family had a very busy couple of days. We are very exhausted for sure! Yesterday we made a visit to Frost, since Santa has to have Frost Doughnuts to take with him. Then we came home to make our Gingerbread and have some homemade hot cocoa. We finished the night off with UP the movie. What a sweet little movie.

Playing around with my early delivery from Santa. I decided to shoot a few quick shots.

This is Buddy the Elf. He gets into mischief at night while we sleep. He went back home to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. But will be back next year. Hunter cried and I let her kiss him good bye.



Gracie is always more than happy to flash her cute little smile at me.







The girls taking a picture of me while I get a picture of them too!




With all the festivities, I wasn't able to get a complete picture of the gingerbread house, but here is what it looked like mid way through. It was a very yummy house I must say.



Molly being mama Molly and holding Juliette while we make the Gingerbread house.



Christmas morning came and the girls were good and waited till 7:30 to wake us up. We have a rule that it must be daylight before they wake us up, but it is very hard to follow that rule here when it is very dark in the winter time. Right now the sun comes up around 7:30-8 and goes down about 4pm.

The girls made out this year. Santa delivered Molly a club penguin club card, converse, and a MP3 player. Gracie got Playmobil Pony farm and an add on for it. Hunter received City and Castle Lego sets and Juliette got Blocks and a train table. We got the girls a few board games, movies, and PJs this year. The funny thing is that they still haven't played with any of the Wii games. They played with Legos most of the day and Gracie was occupied with a puzzle for about three hours!

While downloading my pics, I noticed that Buddy was playing with my camera before Santa picked him up. That little Elf is always causing trouble! Here are a few of his self portraits.







Leaving Frost Salted Carmel Doughnut, Peppermint Joe Joes, Milk, and carrots for the reindeer.



Girls in the morning while opening the presents.











We had a great day! It was kind of bittersweet knowing that Travis won't be here next year, but we are very glad to have him here while we can!

We are hoping to get the girls on skis soon. Look for an update on that one!

Leavenworth-SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

I always say I am going to keep up with this thing and never do. I have a feeling here in a few weeks that I will have a little more time on my hands in the evenings to dedicate to this blog though.

This past Saturday we took a trip to Leavenworth. We have been throwing around the idea to go for a while but since the pass was clear, we made the quick decision that Saturday was the day to go!

Leavenworth is a cute little town about two hours east of us. It is a Bavarian Heaven. If you are looking for a little town in the Alps you have found it. On the way there we stoped at Stevens Pass Ski Resort and let the girls see how deep the snow really can get. It was a couple feet above their heads. We didn't stay long though, we wanted to get going to see the Christmas lights at Leavenworth.

The girls were very excited to finally be at our destination. We quickly found some snow and began to make a snowman.

JuJu a little cautious at first.



Gracie and Hunter, very excited about all the snow!



Hunter and Gracie get started on a snowman.



JuJu starting to really like the snow.



Snow Angels.



Molly was already in Leavenworth for the weekend. She was staying with her friend Mia.



Gracie is gearing up for a snowball fight!



Travis and I pretending we are in the Alps on a vacation.



While planning out trip online, I ran across this gingerbread store. We got some of the best cookies ever and a super cool gingerbread house to make. Also scored an excellent place for the girls to make a HUGE snowman.



Waiting for the lights to come on. It was raining and cold!



The Christmas lights. The entire town lights up. It is really amazing and a beautiful place to visit. I can't wait to go back!

Sorry about the blurry pic. Hand held, while holding a baby, in the dark, is a hard thing to do.