We're ready

Our decorations are up and we've finished all our shopping, even with the obstacle of all the continuous snow. We are officially 100% ready for Christmas and not a moment too soon. Rachel will be at her dad's this Christmas day so the three of us will celebrate on Christmas Eve at Rob's sisters house. We're looking forward to another great Christmas this year.

Samantha

ANOTHER SNOW DAY!!!

Yesterday school was cancelled because there was a 70% chance of snow (lame). Well, just like I thought it didn't snow at all, until early this morning. Rob and I went to bed around midnight and there was still no sight of snow but early this morning it was here! It sure is pretty. Looks like another snow day for Rachel :)

The snow's back!

It snowed a little bit last night. I had to go do some Christmas shopping early in the morning and when I got back Rachel and Rob were playing in the snow. The second I got out of the car I was immediately pelted with snowballs from all angles. They had fun at least :)

Snowflake Lane (again)

We went to Snowflake Lane again last night with all the Cady clans. We had a lot of fun!

She did it!!!

Rachel's been working very hard to save up money for some white faux fur boots. Today she finally saved up enough money to buy them. She had been doing such a good job helping around the house doing extra chores etc that Rob and I secretly bought them the other day just to make sure they would still available by the time she had the money. She is so proud of them, especially because she bought them herself. She even has a few dollars left to start saving for something else. We are very proud of her too for working so hard and taking the initiative to be a little more independent.

Snowflake Lane

Bellevue is a pretty fun place during the holidays. They have an outdoor ice skating rink in the park downtown and they decorate the city center and call in Snowflake Lane. They also have a nightly show filling the sidewalks with live winter characters, drummers, singing and colorful lights. The best part is at the end they have fake snow falling from the tops of the buildings. Last night we went skating, had dinner and then watch the Snowflake Lane show. We went with Rob's parents, his sister Nicole and her kids Hanna, Cara and Jenna. Watching the kids ice skating was hilarious. You could find them hanging on the wall pretty much the whole time. During the show the characters handed out lollipops and the girls had a great time collecting as much candy as they could. It was a great way to start off the holiday season.

-Samantha

We're bangin!

Rachel's wanted to get bangs for a while now and yesterday was her appointment. So here she is. The new Rachel! She looks SO cute and she loves them!!! She reminds me of pictures I've seen of me when I was younger and had bangs.

-Samantha

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving. This year we went to Rob's sisters house for Thanksgiving. I was asked to bring the dessert so I decided to go all out. I made a classic pumpkin pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, a pear upside down cake and Rachel and I made a New England cranberry duff. I had some extra pumpkin cheesecake mix so I also made some little cupcake sized ones too :) It was my first time making any of them so I was a little nervous how they would turn out. Happily they all ended up looking great and best of all they tasted even better! Let me know if you want any of the recipes. They're really good ones!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

-Samantha

Tonight I was at work sitting at my desk and I happened to look out the window and noticed the sky was all pink and purple. I ran outside and was amazed by the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. It was all pinks and purples and golds. Sadly I didn't bring my camera with me to work that day (of course) so I called Rob and asked him to take some pictures for me. Being the perfect husband that he is, instead of just walking down the end of the driveway he got a ladder and climbed up on the roof to get the best pictures for me that he could - thanks honey :) I just thought I'd share.

-Samantha

Tonight we went to pizza with Philip, Morgan and baby Taylor. She is 2 months old and is so little and cute. We just love her.

-Samantha

JUST DANCE!!!

Last Saturday night I went to see Lady Gaga perform at the Last Supper Club in Seattle with my friend Angela. It was such a great night and turned out to be quite the adventure. I really don't go to events like this anymore, but I absolutely love Lady Gaga and I knew it'd be a great experience to see her at such a small venue.

So here's the story. Lady Gaga is on tour right now with the New Kid's On The Block who were playing at the Tacoma dome that night. I found out a few weeks ago that she was going to do a guest appearance at the Last Supper Club right after the concert. I asked Angela if she wanted to go with me. She is such a fun person so I knew we'd have a blast. Some of her friends from work, Harper and Casie, were going as well so we decided to all go together. Casie also knows the owner so we got on the VIP list as well. The doors opened at 9pm and we got there a little after that. There weren't very many people there yet so it was nice and mellow, just how I like it. Casie went and talked with the owner and found out that they had put too many people on the guest list to get in (like more then twice as many). We knew then it was going to get really crowded. We had been told Lady Gaga would be on at 11pm and around 10:30pm it was already starting to get really packed. Then we heard she wouldn't be on until 11:30pm. While we were waiting in the crowd I ran into Jeff, who knows my friend Becky. He is SO much fun so we hung out with him all night too. Around 11pm they made an announcement that Lady Gaga was on her way from Tacoma. By then it was SO crowded we could hardly breath. Even all way way in the back of the room was crammed so we decided to go downstairs where it was pretty much empty and wait until she got on stage. While we were downstairs, this crowd of security guards suddenly came rushing in from the emergency exit door and there she was! Lady Gaga being whisked up the stairs right in front of me! Security made us wait for a little bit before they let us upstairs because it was too crowded so as soon as we could we rushed upstairs to the stage. The crowd was all over the place. You couldn't really choose where you were going, you were just moved with the crowd. It ended up working out in my favor because I was actually pushed to the very front of the stage. There were literally only like two people in front of me. I got some great pictures and had such an awesome experience. She was only on the stage for 30-45 minutes which was good enough for me. I don't think I could have handled the crowd for too much longer then that.

I had a such great time and am SO glad I was with Angela, Harper, Casie and Jeff. It meant a lot for me to go to this show and I'm so glad I got to share it with such great people!

Angela, I and the lovely Lady Gaga!

-Samantha

"She bangs!"

So, I've finally gone and done it. I got bangs. I've wanted to get them for months but I didn't want to do it until after the wedding just in case I didn't like them. Then I started to get really nervous that I would look stupid so I hurried up and made my hair appointment before I could chicken out. So I got them yesterday and I really like them. Now I can finally wear a pony tail (as pictured) without looking like a slob too which is a total bonus :)

-Samantha

Thinking back

I was going through some of the older pictures I have on my computer and I found this little video I did of Rachel when we were in our apartment in Woodinville back in Feb '06. She's just being a goof showing me how to make a "backwards snow angel", but for some reason I can't watch it enough. I don't know why but I get teared up when I watch it and think of her when she was so young. I wish I would have, at the time, taken in the moments more and enjoyed her being so little. Hearing her little voice and seeing her little body makes me want to take more video of her now (not just of us scaring the crap out of her) so we can watch it later and be amazed at how much she's grown. I've decided I'm going to start one of my New Years resolutions early and start taking more video of us. So from now on when you see me, make sure you're camera ready because you just might end up on a video in my next post :)

Love, Samantha

New Boots?

When Rachel and I were at the mall running errands last Saturday, we walked by Gymboree and she spotted these super cute faux fur boots. Well, of course she HAD to go in "just to look", and since they were pretty cute I said we okay. Well, I made the mistake of also letting her try them on and she fell in love with them. Since Christmas is coming around the corner I couldn't justify buying them so I decided to make this a learning experience for her as well. I told her that we would go home and talk to Rob about it and see if she could earn the money to buy them herself.

When we got home she immediately asked Rob about the boots and he liked the idea of her earning money to buy them herself. We printed out a bunch of big fake $1 bills and came up with a "Rachel's Savings Jar". For every extra chore or extra helping around the house she does she earns one "dollar" that she can put in her Rachel's Savings Jar and when she's earned $40 (that's about how much they are) we can go buy them. She pretty much always does a good job with her normal responsibilities like make her bed every morning, keep her room clean and her stuff put away etc, so I'm not surprised that she's been working really hard asking to help with cooking meals, doing the dishes, setting the table and clearing it after meals. I'm really glad that she's learning the value of a dollar as well as feeling a little more grown up and independent knowing she can earn money for extra things.

- Samantha

Last nights excitement

Last night when Rachel was going to bed, I popped in her room to tell her something and when I walked in she quickly sat up and yelled "MY TOOTH IS FALLING OUT!" I put my hand out to avoid any blood from getting on her white comforter and patooey- she spit the tooth out right in my hand. Even though it's the 6th tooth she's lost, she was still very proud that she didn't even feel it. I'm more glad that she didn't fall asleep and end up swallowing it in the middle of the night. That would have been a bummer for her.

This morning she was very excited to see the tooth fairy had left a $5 bill (I know. What ever happened to a quarter) in the pouch where her tooth had once been.

- Samantha

Muggles Rejoice!

New trailers! This is SO exciting! July 17th isn't getting here soon enough!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

It was such a beautiful day on Saturday, Rachel and I decided to take some photo's while we were running errands in Bellevue. First we were at the mall and then we went to the park. Rachel LOVES to pose for photos. I had to remind her a few times that we're not on America's Next Top Model so she'd tone it down. We ended up with a bunch of great shots and had a lot of fun in the process.

- Samantha

They're here!

Our pictures from our wedding reception in Kirkland, WA are finally available to view online. We are REALLY happy with how they turned out. Now we get to go through all the photos from Maui and Kirkland and put our wedding album together! Here's the website address to view them.

http://www.pictage.com/434086

Be sure to let me know what you think!

We're done!

YAHOO! We are finally 99.9% done with Rachel's room and it looks and feels SO good. All we have left to do is add some shelves in the built in hutch for her books and a stuffed animal hammock and we're finished! It's so bright and cheery, Rachel just loves it. She has her own desk to do her art which she is SO into, she has a floor to ceiling mirror along with a ballerina bar perfect for dancing to her music from her iPod and best of all she has a lot of open space for everything else! Her bed is a trundle so now that her room is done, we are now ready for her to have friends spend the night (which I'm sure will in turn create many more blogs).
- Samantha

YES WE DID!!!

I was talking to my mom the other night and she told me a funny little story she remembered about the 1988 election. I was 8 years old and my parents took me to a Dukakis rally where he was speeking. I was SO excited jumping up and down clapping and waving a sign. Then election day came and Bush won. That night my mom came into my room and I was laying on my bed crying. She asked me what was wrong and I told her that I was upset that Bush had won and I was worried that the world would come to an end. I'm sure I had visions of armageddon in my head. She said she felt so bad and was really surprised that I was scared for our future because of the election.

Last night I, along with the nation, had the honor to witness and be apart of history. I get so emotional when I think about the effect this will have on our future. I have such a good feeling, it overwelms me. I finally feel like the strong divisions this country has had for so many years is fading little by little. This year I wanted to make sure that Rachel knew what a special election this was. I wanted her to see that there is NO limit to who she can be. I want her to aim for the stars and beyond. This election has given me something I haven't had for years. Hope for a better future.

Love, Samantha

YES WE CAN!!!

VOTING TODAY!

If you haven't already, don't forget to vote! Even if you don't think it will make a difference, it is your right to do so. Please just take the time. Many people have lost their lives for the opportunity to do this very simple thing, so don't take advantage of this privilege. Happy voting!!!

Rachel's Sign

Our mission to finish Rachel's room is still in the works but is looking SO cute. My friend Tia is so creative and makes all kinds of super cute decorations. I was on her website http://www.urban-karma.com/ and saw these amazing wood letters or names that she designs so I called her up right away to have her make one for Rachel's room. All I did was bring her some paint chip samples of the colors we painted her room and the color pallet we were going for and then gave her free reign to be as creative as she wanted. We just picked it up the other day and it looks unbelievable! It turned out even better then I imagined and as you can see it matches her room perfectly. We are so excited to get it on the wall. It's going to be the focus of the room so we'll probably put it on the wall above her bed. Hopefully we'll get her room finished in the next week or two (depending on how much time we have to put into it) and I'll be sure to post pictures when we do. Thanks again Tia for doing such an amazing job on Rachel's sign!









- Samantha

Halloween 2008 pictures

Here are some pictures of us last night. Rachel was a vampiress and Rob and I were mobsters.

We also stopped by Becky's to see the kid's costumes. Mason said he was Death, when I asked Michael what he was he gave me the typical preteen boy answer when his friends are around " I don't know" and Chase and Brody were dead skateboarders. They all looked so good!













- Samantha

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween makes me think of my dad. He LOVED Halloween when we grew up and when we were too old to go trick-or-treating he wanted us, or rather him, to have fun with the kids, or rather victims, in the neighborhood. He would spend days planning and decorating scary/fun things outside our house for the trick-or-treaters. We would have spider webs all over the place, fake spiders that fell on your head, spooky music, people jumping out of bushes etc. I have to say it really was a lot of fun scaring all the neighbor kids (even the older ones).

I'm not into Halloween as much as my parents were, but I really enjoy spending it with Rachel and our friends. Since it's Rachel's dad's turn to have her this year I only get her for a few hours, so I'll pick her up and go to Becky's to see her kids and take pictures. The years we do have Rachel are usually also spent at Becky's. Every year she has a bunch of people over and we have snacks and spiced rum and then go trick-or-treating as a group. It's always a lot of fun spending it with Becky but this year Rob and I will be going over to his sister Nicole's house in Everett. She does the same kind of thing and we can spend it with his family and their friends and not worry about Rachel being up too late and then a long drive home.









Here's Mason, Rachel, Michael, Rob and me at Becky's back in '06. If you can't guess, Rachel is Daphne from Scooby Doo.

Here's Rachel last year at a haunted house as a cute cheerleader!










I'll make sure to post pictures tomorrow of tonight. Have fun everyone and be safe!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

-Samantha

Halloween Video

Rob and I showed Rachel one of those Halloween videos where something jumps out at you. It was HILARIOUS! I know. We're mean but as you can see, it was worth it :)

Posse Up!

So, why did I decide to start this blog? My sister, Liz, and friend Tia have blogs and it's been such a great way for me to hear and see pictures of what's going on with them and their families. With a lot of my family and friends living out of state I figured I too should start a blog to share what's going on with us. So why start now? I figured with the three of us starting our new life together it would be the perfect time. The hardest part, to be honest, was thinking of a name. I know what you're thinking. "The Paul Posse?" It's kind of corny, I know, but it works, and what can I say... I LOVE that Sir Mix-a-lot song! :)

Last month, September 18th, Rob and I got married on Maui. It was absolutely beautiful. We had about 50 of our friends and family come from all over. The ceremony was on the Wailea Golf Course overlooking the ocean followed by a reception at The SeaWatch restaurant. When we got back we had another reception in Kirkland so we could share our special day with everyone who couldn't come to Maui. It also went amazing and Rob and I couldn't have asked for anything better. We haven't gotten the pictures back from the Kirkland reception yet, but i'll be sure to post some when they come in.

Now that we're finished with all the wedding stuff, our new challenge has been Rachel and I moving in with Rob. We've been working really hard trying to combine our lives together, or rather all our stuff. We still have a bunch of boxes all over the place, but little by little we've been chipping them away. We made a special bedroom for Rachel with the walls painted the exact color she wanted... a bright orange. It takes your eyes some adjusting when you walk in the room, but she loves it so that's all that really counts.

Well, thanks for reading the first post on our new blog. Please feel fee to leave your comments. I really appreciate any input I can get and love hearing from you! Talk to you soon!

-Samantha