In The Past Few Days...

...we said goodbye to John and his family and they returned to the east coast.


(Waiting for the ferry home from the family reunion)

...I drove to Forks with my buddy Jessica just for the fun of it.


...I hung out with some friends from high school for a movie night that lasted until 2am!

(Amy, Jessica, Jennifer, Me, Heather and Rachael)

Family Reunion Photos

On Sunday our entire family met up in the Bremerton area for a reunion. This was the only day that all of the Stewart kids were together at one time. This hasn't happened since my wedding ten years ago. We took a LOT of pictures.


The whole entire crew except my Darrin.


Mom, me and my sisters in law, Kate, Shannon and Beth and little niece, Lia.


My baby brother, Josh.


My oldest brother, Paul and his family.


All the Stewart kids and our Grandma Stewart.


My Mom and ALL her many siblings.


My niece and nephew, Taylor and Justin.


My younger brother JR and his wife Kate.


My cute Mommy and Daddy.


My older brother John and his family.


All the little cousins.


All the Stewart kids with Mom and Pops.

Another Night On The Town

On Saturday night we all went out again to attend my brother John's class reunion in Kirkland. Though we said we come home earlier than the night before, we ended up being quite a bit later. And Pops was waiting up for us. Oops.


I impressed everyone with my awesome ping pong skillz. Not really.


Josh's friend showed up on a scooter and now Josh REALLY wants a scooter.


Kate, Shannon and Josh did a fantastic rendition of Guns n Roses - Sweet Child of Mine.


The night ended late (or the morning ended early) and we made it home to sleep for a couple of hours before the big family reunion in Bremerton the next day.

Cousin Night

I am currently in Seattle where, for the first time in 10 years, all of my brothers and I were together in one place. We marked the occasion by never sleeping. First, on Friday night we all (except Paul) headed to Seattle to meet up with several of our cousins. Cousin Night, as it was dubbed, was held at Owl N Thistle near the waterfront. Cousins arrived by car and ferry. We made it home by 2am.


Sisters In Law Shannon and Kate on the way to Cousin Night.


John, David, the back of Brenda's head, some dude, Shannon, Josh, Kate's arm and JR.


Cousin Brenda and me.


Me and brother, JR and JR's friend that lives up his nose.


Brother John and Cousin Brenda


Brother JR.


Some of the East Coast crew. Sister in Law, Shannon and brother Josh. They don't go together though.


Brother Josh and Sister In Law, Kate. They don't go together either.


Half of myself, Sister In Law, Kate and brother JR. They DO go togeher.


Shannon and Josh, dueling blackberries.


Sisters In Laws


Brother John and Cousin David.

We didn't think to bust out the cameras until some of the cousins had already left to catch their ferry. So unpictured for the evening were Matt and Randi Aiken, and Ian Campbell. There were also some assorted friends on hand as well.

Once upon a time there was a young couple who had been married for only three months. At that time, the young man found himself working on a car at a friend's house. He placed his wedding ring on the bumper to protect it from grease and grime. A short time later he took the car out for a test drive. The ring was never recovered.

Fast forward four years and the young couple now find themselves in Hawaii. This particular day they are scuba diving and rejoicing in the discovery that their first baby is on the way. The young woman placed her wedding ring in her shorts pocket before donning a wet suit and heading under water. Hours later, she realized the ring was gone, either stolen by the boat crew while she was underwater, or lost to the ocean afterward.

Another six years and three kids later, the couple is in Mexico, celebrating ten years of marital bliss. While there, they visited a small store selling silver jewelery.

Now, after so many years, they finally look officially married.

Simple Woman Week 2

I was supposed to do this on Monday but I'm on "vacation time" so here it is for Wednesday...

For Today...April 8, 2009

Outside my window... is the ocean. So amazingly beautiful. We sleep with the windows and doors open so we can hear it.

I am thinking... about how I wish I wouldn't have gotten a sunburn on Monday that would put a damper on the rest of the week.

I am thankful for... my parents. Especially for watching my rugrats for a WEEK so we could celebrate our 10 year anniversary this way.

From the kitchen... hot pockets and cereal to save money on eating out while on vacation.


I am wearing... long shorts and a big tee shirt to cover up my sunburn. Flip flops and a visor round out the ensemble. OH! And my new wedding band. We bought new matching bands in Mexico yesterday. After 10 years, we finally "look" like a married couple!

I am reading... I just finished "City of Bones." Interesting story but I hated the author's writing style.

I am hoping... for the sunburn to subside a bit so I can wear my cute Mexico clothes.

I am creating... Vacation memories!

I am hearing... the ocean and conversations about timeshare deals. (I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel)

One of my favorite things... sleeping in for as long as I want.

A few plans for the rest of the week... underwater mini-sub adventure tomorrow, dinner out in Cabo San Lucas, more relaxing, sleeping in and staring at the ocean.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...Darrin took this picture of me from our balcony. I was exploring tide pools.


The Simple Woman's Daybook

HOLA!

Greetings from beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! We made it to our destination on Saturday afternoon and discovered that my volcano had erupted big time at 6am that morning. What did I care though? WE MADE IT OUT!

The rest of Saturday was spent unpacking in our beautiful rooms, admiring the beautiful views and going out to a yummy dinner at the resort.

On Sunday we sat through the obligatory time share meeting and our poor sales rep (who we liked) knew within 15 minutes of meeting us that we were a no sale. It wasn't too rough and we got a fee breakfast out of the deal. Later we rented a car and drove to downtown Cabo San Lucas. We toured the mall, ate lunch and went to Walmart to get groceries for the rest of the trip. Eating out is expensive!

Today is Monday and we slept in then went to the pool for several hours. Now I'm sitting in the lobby on the internet just for you.

After a relatively quiet volcano day yesterday, activity is picking up slowly but surely this morning. Which of course does not bode well for my plans.

New Camera!

Darrin and I bought a new point and shoot camera this week. I didn't want to drag my big Rebel all over Mexico (and break it or lose it) so we decided to purchase a small, sleek little number for our Mexi-Cabo adventures.

Here is the first test shot using the 10 second timer.


And Today Jake went to kindergarten at Daddy's work while Josh, Jordy and I went to Kohls. He got an EXCELLENT on his behavior slip. Such a good boy.

Kohls is OPEN.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm OBSESSED with this volcano. I monitor it nearly every waking second (currently no news worthy activity since yesterday's small eruption).

Today I had a date with the ladies to hit the grand opening of Kohl's. I have been super excited and DYING to go check it out. I will admit, however, that being away from volcano monitoring was a little bit stressful. I don't have a cell phone so I couldn't get my twitter updates.

I survived though (even dragging two kids through the overly crowded store) and I'm back on duty.

Nothing new to report. All is calm(ish) for now.