Christmas Time is Here Again!

Well we're back here again! Christmas time is upon us! And it's almost time to start another new year. Even though we've been through so many changes this year, we have a lot to be thankful for. We're so thankful to my family who, through everything we've been through, have always been supportive and never asked for anything in return! Love you mom and dad. We are truly blessed! We're also thankful for Aaron's family because with out them we wouldn't have the ability to laugh through some of the tough times, and it's Aaron's ability to make me laugh that has carried us through so much! We love you all!



We had the most amazing summer. The older the kids get, the more fun they are! I can honestly say we took just about every opportunity (and sunny day) to get out and do things.



Recap on the year: We sold our house on the lake but were fortunate enough to land in a wonderful house, with a playground next door (as the kids will excitedly tell you)! We lost our dog, Smokey, (who had been with us since we first got married), yet we've gained a new family member in our new puppy, Rocket.



There have been many ups and downs this year but as they say, what doesn't kill ya...

On a more positive note, Tyler started Kindergarten and is doing so well it just floors us how grown up he's getting. Isabelle is doing equally as well in Pre-K, and she's loving every minute of it.



Aaron started a new band, Can't Complain, and it's been so much fun going out to shows to support them and watch them play!


We're excited to get this new year started, as we always are! Looking forward to the new additions being made to the Germaine clan (congratulations to the Fennell Family). We can't wait to meet him (or) her!





Our Santa picture for this year was a huge success!
What a wonderful time mom and I had taking the kids to Seattle to ride the monorail and see Santa. It was something our family used to do when we were kids. It was super special to experience it with kids of my own, and we hope to make it a tradition once again. Continuing in the Christmas fun, this week the kids have been cooking up a little Christmas cheer of their own! (( Stay tuned))


So later, when all the wonderful Christmas projects and decorations have been taken down and stored for next year, it will be nice to have had good memories of 2010 as we move into 2011.
To everyone out there reading this Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Love and Hugs!
The Germaines

Pickles

We set out this day to make pickles. And boy did we ever!

We got the supplies

scrubbed all the pickles

made sure we had all the ingredients lined up

and we started jarring up the pickles

All that hard work and 64 jars later,

and we have PICKLES!

Next I think we'll have to try jam. Who's with me???

SummerTime

As the summer draws to a close, I can't help but think it went by all too fast. But at least we made the most of it. Tyler officially starts school this year (he'll be a Kindergartner). Another big change, we recently sold our lake house which was bitter sweet. We were very fortunate to be able to spend one last summer in the house before the big move. Happily we settled back in Marysville in the same old neighborhood we used to live in (Aspen). Here's a quick recap of the summer:

Aaron and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary!


and even though summer weather seemed to be off and on we still had fun!

We even got to fit in a little bit of camping

and lots of swimming!

Aquafest was a blast. Not only did we do the children's parade but we got to be in the main parade with some friends.

Aaron started playing shows with his band Can't Complain

We hung out with family as much as possible.


And of course Rocket grew! He's only 6 months old and over 60 lbs.

So now we look forward to the beginning of the school year and new memories to come....

Rocket!

We always knew we loved having a dog in our lives. Smokey was the best dog ever and he was such a big part of our lives, after all we had him for 9 years. When he passed away it was way too soon and a hole was definitely left in our lives. With all the best intentions of "just looking" for a new dog to open our home to we began our search. What we came across surprised even us. We found a 9 week old Rottweiler. Too cute to pass up, this puppy truly chose us. Among the 6 puppies in the litter, one kept coming back to play with us time and time again. So we picked him up and took him home. On the way home we discussed many different names and at one point Isabelle started talking about a rocket. So we decided to name our newest addition to the family Rocket or Rocky for short.
What makes it even more wonderful is that he's already fitting in with the family and we have some other new puppy additions as well. We hope these two will be best friends.

ZOO

Cough + runny nose = no school
So what do you do with two kiddos who are too sick for school but have energy to spare? My guess was take 'em to the zoo!

my two little turtlesand of course the penguins! Nothing better to wear them out than walking the whole zoo. The weather was pretty good, aside from a few showers we stayed pretty dry and entertained.