"Christmas morning"

Let me tell you, that Santa is one miracle worker. First of all, he found the stockings!!Then he recruited a few friends and even filled them.

He even made Huskie a new Huskie outfit...

And whipped us up a little White Christmas!!

May all your Christmas dreams come true!!!

Early White Christmas

Christmas Eve at the Kalers!! So here is how we come up with brilliant ideas like this one... Shayna is processing how we are going to be in sunshine all next year and not even near the snow, and she started desperately dreaming of a white Christmas. It was Saturday in December, with a forecast of snow for that night. We started thinking... so what if we make tonight Christmas Eve?? We'll be in LA this year for the actual day, so......We started looking for our stockings. Aack!! Greg actually cleaned and organized the garage this year, so well, we can't find them. So the kids write a little note to Santa.... "we are having an early Christmas and we can't find our stockings. Help us please?" We had a nice night of advent, one gift each. Snuggly blankets, a remote lantern for JJ... and lots of good love. And as the night went on, sure enough..........

Jack Frost came to town! Watch for sledding pics soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday me!!

Here it is.... me and my brand new laptop.... (its blue) and my promise to blog once a week!

I just finished up with an amazing birthday weekend, thanks to my precious kiddoes and my amazing hubby. Greg surprised us all by making his very first cake EVER. He pulled it off, despite some serious smoke in the kitchen and realizing that using pie tins makes the thing look like the Space Needle!

Believe it or not, it was the best darn cake I've tasted in a long while! Major points for hubby!!

My friends even liked it too. By the way Mom, the Eddie Bauer sweater and skirt fit great, it is warm and wintery and stylin' too. I got a compliment on it at church today :)

Thanks for making my birthday amazing!! Hope you enjoy the blogging groove, I believe I have some catching up to do!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyy for my ownnnnnnnnnnnnn lap topppppppppppp!!! (I'll try to get some homework done too..... )

Merry Christmas

WANTED…Kaler Family OF five.

Gregory Brian, 41. P.E. Teacher and alleged RV shopper. Often at basketball courts attempting lay-ins despite his age. Self inflicted buzz haircut. Last seen: test driving an SUV.

Cheryl Anne, 37. Interpreter and aspiring counselor. Strangely missing from scrapbooking venues for over a year. Frequently found behind laptop, disguising blogging addiction with excuse of homework. Watch for concealed Dr. Pepper. Last seen: random TV’s throughout the nation wearing strange ear piece.

Shayna Renee, 10. Origami jewelry artist. Eyebrows clearly recognizable protruding beyond edge of a book. Frequently found near kittens. Last seen: eating vegetarian cuisine and looking for her glasses.

Jeremiah Gregory, 8. Baseball card trading entrepreneur. AKA “Fancy Footwork”. Warning: will outrun in pursuit. Similar buzz cut as his father can be seen under baseball cap of choice. Last seen: posing as a Red Sox fan.

Josiah Harold, 6. Card shark extraordinaire. Leaves trail of toys, clothes, or crumbs along almost every path. Dangerous if armed with markers. Last seen: digging through your family game closet.

This family is plotting hooky for an entire year, disguised as “sabbatical.” Will attempt to smuggle children over U.S. borders. Easily recognizable at baseball stadiums wearing hostile Mariners gear. Please watch your doorstep in case they seek refuge from 28x8 ft mobile living quarters. Recommend providing hot meal and counseling.

Merry Christmas Everybody!!! HUGGGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

lookout laptop, here I come!

Well guess what. We've had some laptop nightmares this fall and GUESS WHAT WE LOST??

Almost all of our awesome traveling pictures. So, thank God for blogspots. If anyone knows how to pull them off the blog just in case I can ever get to scrapbooking again, let me know!!

Meanwhile, we're ready to ditch Greg's lovely school issued nightmare and I shall soon have my very own. No more laptop fighting. Thankfully, it is a gift, and with it comes the promise that I have to blog at least once a week! I love it.

So, I'm starting by posting our Christmas letter in the very next post! Happy Birthday, me!! -Cheryl

Lake Cushman, plus....??

Hello die hard family and friends!! Now that we are back home in Seattle, I know you are a true friend if you are still reading this. Smile!!!

Last Saturday we had sunshine in Seattle. Wooohaw! Since we've been back we've had about total 7 days. Anyway, we decided to hop out to Lake Cushman with no other plans than to get our cool little boat out of the box and enjoy it (it's been awhile!). We had a great day at the lake, goofing off and loving the weather. As it got dark we decided we better head out and figure out where we were gonna sleep for the night... (Daddy wanted hotel, kids wanted camping....) well everything was booked so we went for the only thing available, an RV lot.

We woke up the next morning (we slept in the van!! Flashbacks to driving across the country!!) and we were quite pleased to our accomodations. An awesome view of the sound, a hot tub, laundry facilities, cocoa inside, friendly RV people.... we started thinking, this is kinda cool!! We just need a little more comfortable beds!!

Then it started raining and we had to get the flock outa there. It's been raining ever since.

Oh sigh, I thought blogging this would help me forget about the rain. Oh well. So now instead we're thinking about tent trailers. For a year. In the sun.....

Meanwhile school is starting next week and we really are back in Seattle for awhile... hope all of you are ready for a great year and stay in touch!! Hugs -C

bye Nana

Sunday Morning we went out on Vern's boat to share family time and remember our Nana. (It is one of those "unbloggable" moments, even though I make an attempt...). I love my brother Vern so much. He had flowers for us all to release in the water... thanks Vern for having and sharing the boat, and for the time together. Thank you Lord for my Nana, who helped me know how much You love me and are always there to listen to me. Thank you that she rests with you. Thanks for still hearing my prayers. Thank you for my family.

The boat ride was successful emotionally as well as physically (nobody puked.) All in all there was only one near casualty, and that was the croc. (I swear, we have a hard time keeping crocs in vehicles!)
Greg attempted a rescue manuever.
And failed. So he called in reinforcemtents....

And they got it!! No lost croc after all!!

Redondo Beach

There are many things in this blog that will keep us coming back for more. The sunshine, salt and fun is one thing...... the time with brother Ron even better!! Ron, we once made a promise to let our kids grow up knowing each other. Thank you for taking the time to make good on that promise when we're in town.... we're wishing a great year of teaching for you and let's plan on lots more times like this in the (near) future. LOVE YOU