Merry Christmas!

Ahhh, Christams - jam packed with festive fun!  Christmas Eve Eve has become a new pub crawl tradition with friends so we went to dinner at Joey's house and then headed out to Queen Anne.  The next day was followed by an early morning drive to Moses Lake for Christmas Eve with the Anderson family.  There was quite a bit of snow (well compared to a balmy 50 degrees in Seattle) and our Bernese mountain dog LOVED the white stuff!  We had a great time seeing my family but it was a short trip as we headed back over the pass on Christmas day for the annual dinner with Tony's family.  As always it was so fun to see the kids rip open their presents, gorge ourselves with more food and my favorite part -the heated Christmas ornament exchange! We headed home with tons of leftovers and too many presents...our families are too generous! 

The day after Christmas we had family over to our house for a quick brunch and we were left with the rest of the day to enjoy lounging around and recovering from our food hangover.  We are so very blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives.  Wishing you all a happy holiday season and best wishes in 2011!!

 Sofie and our real tree - they just smell so good!

 My mom's table for Christmas - so Martha!

Sofie in the snow in Moses Lake



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

WOW!  Has it really been 2 months since there has been a new post?  I'm sure you all understand the crazy times associated with the holiday season.  That and the fact that I'm now working at Starbucks headquarters (loving it!!) has made for even less down time to blog.

So without further ado, here is what we have been up to lately.  For starters, we had a fantastic Thanksgiving in Seattle with Tony's family and dessert with mine.  The day after Thanksgiving,  Tony and I headed to Vancouver, BC for an NHL game.  We watched the Canucks vs. Sharks and had a blast up in Canada on our little get away. 

The next weekend Tony was off to Pullman for Apple  Cup to cheer on his Cougs while I stayed in Seattle to cheer on the Zags in Battle in Seattle.  Although neither of our teams won, we still had a blast at each event with friends and family.

The weekend after our sporting events I headed back to Boston and Philadelphia to visit Jen and Jen.  Jen M. and I had a great time doing what we do best - shopping and dinking around Boston.  We went to our favorite Italian restaurant in the North End and it was so great to catch up!  Then I met up with Jen H. and our friend Courtney from Portland to see the sites in Philly.  What an amazing city and we truly had a great trip!  Spent a day seeing the historical sites, some time shopping and enjoying some great eats at a few BYOBs.  And yes, doing our own taste test of the best Philly cheesesteaks in town - Pat's vs. Geno's.  I voted Pat’s :)

A December/holiday season wouldn't be complete without the annual Marino Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  It is always fun to see friends and celebrate the season.  The party was a success!

On our way to Canada - and my plug for my new gig at Starbucks :)

 Canucks vs. Sharks

 Liberty Bell - Philly

 Philly

 City of Brotherly Love w/Jen and Courtney

 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - Nate and Tony

 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - Anderson/Marino Santa Picture



Pumpkins and Halloween

Ahhh, more of fall.  Love it!!  Leaf raking and all.  Last weekend we headed out to the Fall City Farms Pumpkin Patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins - and to have some mini doughnuts too :)  It was nice to get out of the city even if it was just a little bit.  After our pumpkin adventure we went to my cousin Kate and her husband Peter's house for a great night of dinner and chatting. 

Yesterday, yes only a few days before Halloween, we finally carved our pumpkins.  And in the spirit of upcoming Halloween, had Sofie model her bee outfit. 

 



A Celebration Weekend!

What an amazing weekend! My mom, Tiena, was in town to celebrate her birthday which included a trip to the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum (which I am now a volunteer), a delicious dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant and wine tasting in Woodinville.

Another highlight of the weekend - the Jeep is back in commission!! Very exciting! Tony spent Saturday working on the Jeep with my Uncle Stan. The Wolf family was in town for some soccer games so it all worked out perfect to have him help Tony tinker away until the Jeep was purrrrrring. Great to have the Wolf clan over here from Spokane for the weekend too!

By far, the best event of the weekend was welcoming Anna Rose Guo to the world on Sunday, October 17th. She was 7 lbs, 7 oz and 19 inches long. Adding yet another October birthday to the family. She is simply beautiful and we are proud to have another niece! Congrats to the proud parents Jason and Kristi.

Fence Project

Tony and I augured the holes, scraped out the roots and rocks, set the posts and poured the concrete. With some added help from our buddy Ben, we put in the rails and pickets. It has been a challenging project but exciting to see the progress we have made. The neighbors have been impressed as well and a lot of them have stopped by to chat. Just a few finishing touches left and we will be completely finished. It is definitely nice to have more privacy. Now for the shared fence with the neighbor? Maybe in the Spring.

Chain link before the project. We kept it up as we set the posts.

We found a body when we dug the holes - well a Barbie doll body anyway.

Setting the rails

Nearly finished! Some post end caps and some work on the gate and we are done :)

KICKBALL CHAMPS!

For the 3rd year in the row, The Comandos, are the Kickball Champions!!

Fall :)

Gotta love fall!  The leaves have started to change and the crock pot has already been put to use.  With fall comes Tony's birthday and football.  This year is our first year having season Seahawks tickets together and we are having a blast going to the games.

Double birthday - Tony & Dennis 

Sofie doesn't seem too excited abou the season...

....but we are!

Outdoor Transformation

With the addition of our puppy, Sofie, we decided to pull out some plants she found pretty tasty and put in her one and only love - GRASS!  A few photos of that trasformation.  A fence next?  I hope so!

Before

During

After - Sofie loves it!

House to Home

Now that we have been in our house for the last 14 months and the wedding is over, it is time for a few decorative touches.  Most of our house is already put together pretty well, but we added some photos and a few touches recently.  Here is a transformation of the guest bedroom.

Before

After



Crazy Summer of Events!

This summer has been crazy with 7 weddings on the calendar including ours.  On top of wedding weekends away, we have had baby showers, bridal showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, a new puppy, a honeymoon, the Ellensburg Rodeo/Vantage weekend....aka not many weekends at home.  Here are some photos from our wild summer!

 Ben & Molly's Wedding

Moses Lake bridal shower

 New addition to the family - Sofie - Bernese Mountain Dog

We tie the knot on a beautiful July day

In St. Lucia 

 Getting ready with the bride - Courtney

Ellensburg Rodeo 

Sofie (left) & her sister Lucy