Christmas!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Our Christmas was awesome. My sister and her three children were able to celebrate it with us. Christmas dinner was the BEST EVER! James made the best prime rib! I got awesome gift, sierra was spoiled and james like his stuff too :) Tom had Sierra open her BB gun at the exact time the kid does it in the movie A Christmas Story. We always watch that Christmas morning while opening gifts.

Imagine Children's museum

Tom, Carday, Nick and Sparky went to the children's museum with Sierra on Saturday. More pics to follow later and maybe video from her recital that night!

I need to update more often!

So, here we are less than a week away from thanksgiving. This year has gone by so very fast. Sorry, I havent updated more often but i've had no time.

My sister and her children moved here to Washington. It's nice having more family so close :).

Work is going well for me. I really love my job. My co-workers are awesome too :P.

Sierra's doing well in school. She is having a blast with dance and it's keeping her VERY busy. Her first competition is in January so she has a LOT of dance classes coming up in December.

James is doing well also. We are gearing up for him being gone most of the beginning of the year.

We've started christmas shopping. I feel so disorganized this year! Hopefully once all of the puppies are gone (there are 4 left) I will really be able to start to work on organizing our christmas stuff.

I think that is all for now. I will try to find time to add posts more often. Next term I am taking 4 classes! Someone shoot me! lol.

Halloween

Happy lated Halloween!

We had a costume emergency the night before so we had to go to the store and TRY to find a decent costume. We didn't find what we wanted but we found something that we could make do with.

So, Sierra was a 50's girl. :)

Mary Kay!

As if our lives werent crazy enough I had to add to it. I am offically selling Mary Kay. I am excited about it.

My website is www.Marykay.com/traceyramsey

I love MK products and with me wearing makeup everyday these days & sierra needing makeup for dance it just made sense!

Pumpkin Patch!

Fall is here! You can feel it outside & I am loving it. One thing I must admit is that I love the colors of fall in Washington. I've lived all over the country and I must say Washington has some of the most beautiful fall colors. Hopefully within the next few weeks i'll be able to get some pictures of all of us at the park or something under a big tree!.

Sierra's parent teacher conference went very well today. They said she's reading well above her level! I am so proud of her!!!

Nothing else to report. Just getting excited for the coming holidays. We really havent started christmas shopping yet so i am starting to freak out but all will be fine!

It's fall!

Hopefully I can get a shoot done soon. It always rains on my days off and it's usually dark once I get off work on the other days. Cross your finger the rain stays away on wednesday because we are going to try and go to the pumpkin patch that day.

College!

I started college Monday! I am taking only two classes this term because most of the classes needed for my degree were full by the time I signed up. I am taking a computer class (which is pretty easy for me but I figured I can always learn something.. it also goes into Microsoft word which I know how to use but I don't know everything). That class is online. I am also taking Spanish 121. I took spanish in high school but I don't remember everything. This spanish class is a hybrid so it's very fast paced. I only go to that class once a week and I go for 2 1/2 hours. The rest is done online. I am glad I know some spanish because if I didn't I would be lost. lol. College spanish is much more faster paced then highschool. So far I really like my professor. He talks to us in spanish almost exclusively.

Next term I plan to take a Math, English, Business 101 & Spanish 122.

Miley Cyrus Concert!

Last wednesday (september 16th)Sierra went to the Miley Cyrus concert! She had a BLAST! We picked her up from school early and took her to get her nails done. Kind of to get her in the mood. Then we drove to Tacoma and stopped at the mall to get black converse shoes to match her outfit :). Metro Station (the band Miley Cyrus' brother is in) opened the show. Miley was on for a little over an hour. She actually played a lot of songs in that time. Sierra was in the 4th row and she was singing along and screaming.

We have a 2nd grader!

Sierra's first day of 2nd grade was yesterday. It's hard to believe it. She is growing up way too fast. She actually has the same teacher she had last year and she is really excited about that!

Yesterday was also my first day at my new job! So far I love it. Its so me! lol. This one is a keeper! It's been hard to find something that fits our life.

Today is the offical start of the 2009/2010 competitive dance season! She is really excited and eager to start!

Ehh...Oh and we finally got a PS3. The lower price can't be beat! So of course that meant we had to buy a new LCD TV for our bedroom so we can put our 'old' blu ray player in there :P

yes, her hair is wet. It was also my first day of work so I was trying rush to get to work on time.

Slacker

So, i've been a slacker on our blog. I know. I stink. Anyway, Last Saturday James and Sierra went to a concert. It was slipknot, saliva, static x, mudvayne and a few more bands. Sierra had a blast. Slipknot didn't end up playing but they seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Other than that things have been pretty boring. I finally got the job i've wanted to that will be nice! I am so over being home all day! I am ready to be working again. I start this next Tuesday.

Sierra has dance class tonight & then maybe a few times next week. The dance season doesn't offically start until school starts which is september 8th. I am sure I will have a lot of news to share in the coming months!

I think that is about it. I will try to be better at keeping my blog up to date!

What we've been up to

I know I haven't posted much lately.

Last weekend we went and decluttered up stairs. We got rid of a lot of Sierra's old clothes and toys. I also move some of the furniture in her room around and I like how it looks now!

Yesterday I had a job interview that went really well and I was told I will for sure be getting a call back so I am looking forward to that. It's the perfect job for me so we will see!

Thursday is Sierra's dance teams parents meeting. We will find out a lot of information about the upcomming competition season. We should find out her class schedule and when the competitions are. I am looking forward to the meeting!

Friday is Sierra's team meeting for the kids. She will be told what is expected, etc.

Saturday we are cleaning out the garage. We have way too much stuff in there.

Next wednesday we are going to a concert where my brother in law Tom will be opening for a band.

And some exciting news for Sierra. She is going to a Miley Cyrus concert next month! She is very excited to go! She will have a lot of fun.

Other then that not much new to report.

Family Day Cruise 2009

James' ship had a family day cruise today. We had a blast! We drove to the base and caught a bus to Seattle. The ship was in Seattle for seafair. At first it was a little chilly and very windy but eventually it got hot (of course, we are still having a heat wave... at least its not 102 anymore!). The ship did a couple of cool things... they sped up as fast as they could and did an emergency stop. That was pretty cool because the waves behind us crashed under the ship. Then they did a man overboard drill where they dropped a rhib (a small little boat) into the water and rescue swimmers "searched" for the person. They kept announcing how far they were from the person who went overboard and how long they'd be in the water. Then they had a BBQ with steaks, chicken and burgers. In the middle of the underway sierra lost a tooth. This is the second one she has lost. When we were pulling into port there were sea lions along this floating fense thingy they had. pretty cool! Below are soem pictures and if you want to view more you can see them at the link to the side of this blog ;)


going fast :)


James and Sierra

can you find the sea lion?

lost another tooth!



Also, Sierra has been selected to be in her dance school's competition team. It is an honor and sierra is extremely excited. She goes to one of the best dance schools in the northwest and they always win!

Playing around with Picnik

Nothing new to report really. We've been pretty boring the last couple of weeks, lol. But I will have new photos to share next Monday as we are going to Seattle! Fun.
James is home but is leaving very, very soon. It's a short underway and then after this one the ship is supposed to be in port until the end of the year. Yay!

This is a picture from homecoming last October. I was just playing around with Picnik.

Harry Potter!

Not much new to report but tonight we are going to see Harry Potter! We are going to the 8:30pm showing.

When the first one came out we thought "Oh this movie is going to be dumb! Don't even bother watching it!". We managed to see it at a friends house but I still wasnt impressed.

When the second one we completely ignored it.

Then the third one came out and we watched it at my brother & sister in laws house. We were like "wow, this is actually pretty good". So we went and bought 1,2 & 3.

Four & Five we saw in theatre. And now we are going to watch six! Yay!

Oh and we joined the YMCA again. It will be so much easier to workout with the YMCA being so close. The base isnt super far but its a long way to go to workout!

Another update

I know it's been a while since i've updated. Things have just been crazy and i've been too lazy to update my blog. Last week Tuesday we drove down to Seattle to go to ride the Seattle Monorail, Westlake Center, Pike Place Market (the fish market where they throw the fish) and the Pacific Science Center. That night we drove to Tacoma to stay at my brother in laws house. On wednesday morning we left bright and early and went to Wild Waves/Enchanted village. We had a blast! It's a theme and water park. Sierra loved the roller coasters. She even went on the ring of fire. My brother refused to even try the ring of fire. After that we went back to the space needle. Then we went to Outback steakhouse for dinner. Yummy.

Sierra has started dance camp. She loves it! She goes for 4 & 1/2 hours on Weds & Friday and 5 1/2 hours on Tues and Thursday. She's taking a mixture of Ballet, Jazz, Tumbling, Ribbons, Musical Theatre and Flex class (which is 90 minutes long and works on flexability).

You can view pictures at the link on the side of this blog!

A little update on our lives

Sierra had her recital on Saturday. She did so well! I am very proud of her and she is getting better. Hopefully the DVD's of the recital will be in soon and hopefully I will be able to post the video. We'll see. She's starting dance camp this summer. She will go for four weeks four hours a day four days a week. Lots of fours... huh? I figure it will keep her busy. And you can't beat the price!

I finally got a job that I know i'll enjoy. And it's something I will be able to do and still go to insurance school. I will be making about as much as I did working at VCS. Yay! And i've even found someone I trust to watch Sierra.

My brother is still here and on Tuesday we are going to the space needle and Wild Waves on Wednesday. Fun!

James is doing well. Nothing new to report. He's scheduled to be home a lot over the next couple of months so we are happy about that.

Brownie!

Sierra is now officially a brownie! Last night was her Girl Scout bridging. She went from being a Daisy to a Brownie. Today is her last girl scout meeting for the year. She will have a few get togethers over the summer but this is the last official Daisy meeting.

James and Jonathan also returned yesterday. I forgot to leave my camera with James but he managed to get some pics on his Iphone that I will post later.

Surprise Portland OR trip

This week James' ship was in Portland. Portland is having their Rose festival and the Navy decided that this is a great way to show off. On the way back from Portland his ship is having a Tiger cruise. A tiger cruse is where friends/family of the sailor can ride the ship and learn about Navy life. My little brother Jonathan was going to go on the tiger cruise but last week I decided it was just too long of a drive and too expensive of a trip. We are still recovering from our Disneyland trip. Saturday morning I woke up and decided we would go to Portland. We left at around Noon. The drive wasnt bad... just long. We got to Portland at 4 and then came the fun of trying to find James. We parked and I called him and we finally found each other. We decided to go ahead and check into the hotel and find some dinner. We got lost a couple of times trying to find the hotel but we finally made it. Hotels in Portland are expensive! We walked to Denny's for dinner. At dinner I decided to text my friend Kahlene(we were good friends growing up) and ask her if I could meet up with her to say hello. I haven't seen her since like 2000. She said sure and we met up quickly to say hello and try and catch up. Hopefully sometime soon she can come visit us. By this time it was around 8 and we drove to the ship so James could get a few things he needed for the night.

In the morning we woke up and went to breakfast at the hotel. After that we headed to the ship it took us forever to find parking. Finally we parked and James gave us a tour of the ship. Then we decided to head to the mall to look around and grab some lunch. We found our way to the Loyd Center fairly easy. We looked around and had lunch. After that we headed back to the area where she ship was and see what they had going on around the ship. They had a little fair and a Saturday market. By this point we were trying to figure out if James and Jonathan would be able to spend that night on the ship... since we really didnt want to have to pay for another hotel plus they had no way to get from the hotel to the ship. I agreed to stay in town until he found out... incase he needed a ride to the ship. He made a few phone calls and finally someone else who had a tiger said they'd find out and let him know. We decided to head to dinner hoping that we might have an answer by the time we were done. We finished dinner and came back to the area where the ship was. We decided we'd just sit in the car and wait since there wasnt anything to do and I wanted to head out as soon as we knew. About an hour later we got the phone call we were waiting for and James and Jonathan headed to the ship. Finally, at 9pm I was on my way home.

After we left I called my brother in law tom and asked if I got too tired if i could stop at his house. He lives about 2.5hrs from Portland and about 1.5hrs from my house. He said that we should just plan to stop and that Carady and him would be happy to let us stay the night. We got to his house at around 11:30 and we stayed up and chatted until around 2am and by then I was so tired I passed out right away. We left his house this morning and got back home at around noon. I am so happy to be home! The trip was fun and now we are looking forward to James and Jonathan returning.

Below are some pics from our trip. See more at the "more pictures" link to the right. Enjoy.


Jonathan on the ship where James works. The poles keep the food boxes from sliding during rough seas.


Sierra in Daddy's work chair


Three Canadian ships. They are so small! The biggest one of the three was smaller than James' ship and his ship is pretty small. The two smaller ones...were VERY small. I can't imagine how many people are on them.


Sierra and Jonathan outside the ice rink at the mall. It was out of order....too bad!

Our little girl is getting so big.

Sierra is getting so big. It's hard to believe. She will be a second grader very, very soon. She's doing well in Jazz and her recital is on the 27th. Below are some pictures from the pre-recital photo shoot.

Disneyland/ Family Reunion

Wow. Has this been a CRAZY week! Friday (the 22nd) we left our house at 2:30 am to drive to the airport. Well, actually we drove to the park and fly place. As we are dropping off our car and waiting for the shuttle we notice cops surrounding the area and a police helicopter circling over head. We get to the airport and go and eat breakfast at Wendy's. By this time it was around 4am. At 5:30am they started boarding the plane. That plane ride went pretty fast. We had a 2 hour layover in Salt Lake City. We arrived in San Diego at around 12:30 and then had some drama with our car rental. We were able to finally leave the airport at around 2:30. Traffic was HORRIBLE to Oceanside. A 30 mile ride took almost 90 minutes. Shortly after we got there my sister in law and I had to drive back to the airport to pick up my little brother. Traffic was horrible to the airport and it took almost 2hrs to get there. We finally got back to her house around 8.

Saturday we got up at 5:30 to go to our first day of Disneyland. We had 15 people to get ready and we ended up leaving a little late. Then when we got there half of our group had to park elsewhere and they had to wait like 30 minutes for the tram to the park. I don't know what time it was by the time we finally got into the park but it seemed to take forever. First we got a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride. That was pretty cute. Then we went on Space Mountain. Sierra was scared. But by the end of our trip she was begging to go back on it. After that we had lunch and then everyone else went on Autopia while Carady and I went and got fast passes for Indiana Jones. While we were waiting on those to be ripe we went on Pirates of the Carribbean and the train ride. After Indiana jones we went on the haunted mansion. I remembered that ride be better than it was. After that we went to toon town to take some pics. The park was VERY busy that day so by then everyone was tired and ready to go back to my sister in law & brother in laws house. On the way we stopped at a Chineese buffet. It was very good. We all crashed pretty early that night.

Sunday we hung around the house in the morning and then went to see the tanks on the base. They had a museum that had old tank and old military vehicles. After that we went to the beach to have a BBQ on the beach.

Monday almost everyone left on Monday. Except for us (and obviously my sister in law and brother in law who live there). We relaxed this day. It had been a long weekend.

Tuesday we left bright and early to go back to Disneyland and to check into our hotel that was down the street. We stayed at the super 8 that was 1/2 a mile away. We parked at the hotel and walked to the park. We made it to the park before they opened. That day we got a lot done. We bought Sierra an autograph/photo album. She got a lot of Autographs that day. The first ride we went on that day was Thunder Mountain. Then we went to get a fast pass for space mountain. While we were waiting for our fast pass time we went on the matterhorn bobsleds, the teacups, the alice in the wonderland ride and it's a small world. We had lunch and then went on space mountain. After lunch we went over to Disney's California Adventure. First ride we went on was the tower of terror. This ride... hands down is the BEST ride there. Sierra loved it. You go up on an elevator and then drop 13 stories.... three times! It also has a cute story that goes along with it that makes it seem even more real. After that we went over to California Screamin but just our luck the ride breaks down 30 minutes into waiting to ride it. After that we went back to Disneyland. After we got back we got fast passes for Splash mountain. While we were waiting for that we went to the Pirates of the Carribbean ride. Then we went on the raft to Tom Sawyer Island. We didnt stay on there long. Then we went on the winnie the pooh ride. That was a cute ride and an easy way to kill time. Then we got in line to meet some winnie the pooh characters. Finally around 5pm we were able to ride Spash mountian. I sat in the front row. BIG MISTAKE. I got soaked. Not just a little soaked. So wet that over 2 hours later i was still soaked and had to search disneyland for clothes to buy (its hard to find pants/shorts at disneyland). After splash mountain we went to eat dinner in toon town. After that we got fast passes for space mountain and then watched the parade (while james, jonathan and Sierra were finding a spot to watch it i was searching for clothes). The parade was cute. After the parade we went on the Star tours ride and then space mountian before heading back to the hotel. We watched the fireworks from the hotel.

Wednesday morning we woke up and checked out of the hotel. We were running a little late because we were so worn out from the day before. We went to Denny's for breakfast then made the big mistake of going to the lot that requires you to ride the tram. It takes forever to get to a parking spot in that lot and then forever to actually get to the park. I actually prefer the Pumbaa parking lot which is a short walk to the park and you dont have to go through a maze to get to a spot. It litterly took us 45minutes just to park. Wednesday is really a blurr. We went on a lot of the same rides... Did indiana jones again, space mountain, thunder mountian... headed over to Cali Adventure to do Tower of terror then we went on Cali Screamin. Sierra LOVED that ride. We got to ride quite a bit of rides that day. We left the park at around 5 beacuse we didnt want to eat dinner in the park and by this time we were ready to eat and get back on the road since we had an hour long drive to my inlaws. We ate dinner at the Kidd Buffet across the street from disney. It was pretty cheap... 7.99 per person... but I was not impressed. We wont go back there during future vists. We got to my sister in laws just before seven. We hang around with them and watched the movie Taken. That was actually a good movie.

Thursday we just relaxed and then headed to the airport around 1:30pm. We got there around 2:30 and we were supposed to fly out at 4:30 but our flight was delayed till 5:46. We had another lay over in SLC and of course that flight was delayed too. We got to Seatac at around 10:30 and then had to pick up our bags and wait for the shuttle to the park and fly place. On the way back to the park and fly place the driver tells us we arrived just in time because someone had stolen a car (from somewhere else) and there had been a police chase.. he got out on foot and the car ran into a pole. The police had the area surrounded trying to find the guy. We got home atound 1am.

Below are some pics. To see more go to my Webshots album. The link is on the right side of this blog.

James is home!

James got back yesterday. It's so nice having him home again. We miss him so much when he is gone... even if it's only for a short time. Last night we went to Old Navy because they were having a sale on all of their beach wear. We managed to get James and Sierra some summer clothes. We have to go to Target today to get 2 pairs of shorts but that will have to be later on today since James is at work right now. Then we will be done shopping and done spending money until after our trip! Speaking of the trip.. we are at less than a week. Sierra is super excited. I am sure I will have tons of pictures when we get back.

12 days...

Twelve days till we leave for vactation! Yay!!!!!!!! The puppies are all gone. The last two went to the same home. I think they will be really happy there. I am working for now at the Navy Exchange gas station. Its very part time.. only about 15-18hrs a week. But it gives me something to do until I get licensed to sell insurance. It is a very long process of classes, testing, finger printing and a bunch of other things. I am signed up for my classes and they are paid for. I can't wait! Sierra is doing well in Soccer. This is the first year she has played. Normally she plays baseball in the spring but James wanted something different and if you know James at all you know how much he loves Soccer. The other day Sierra was goalie and blocked 3 balls and only let the other team score one point. Usually Sierra plays forward but they rotate out the goalie each game.

Horrible blogger

I am a horrible blogger... i know! UGH! Anyway... we are just 19 days away from our trip! Yay! Sierra is excited, we are excited. We seriously need a vacation! The puppies are getting so big! We just have two left to find homes for. We have someone coming to look at them today so hopefully!!

It's been forever... i know

Sorry I haven't update lately. My life has been a little crazy! Those of you who know me know the details :P. Anyway, Easter was fun! Tom came up the weekend before. We had Ham and all of the Easter fixings on the Monday before Easter. Tom left Monday night. James' brother and his wife and two kids are staying with us for a little while. It's been nice having so much family around. Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt but I didn't get a lot of pictures because some of the kids ran too early and then everyone else followed them. After that we went to the Alfy's that Brady works at for lunch. Sunday we went bowling.

Today I had a job interview. It went well. It's working at a tanning salon but it's only until I can get licensed to sell insurance in the state of Washington. Hopefully I will be fully licensed by July. Below are some pictures. You can click on them to see bigger or go to the link to the right to see more. Enjoy.



Dyeing eggs







Sierra at the easter egg hunt


Sierra, Michelle (my sister in law) and Robert

3wks 2days

The puppies are now 3weeks 2days old. They are getting so big!... well, as big a Shih Tzu puppies get. Sadie is getting so much better with them. She likes to lick them and play with them. She thinks they are her wind up toys. She really enjoys waking them up when they are sleeping. Here are some photos. We've given them names (at least until they find their forever homes).

Above is Elvis

Above is Max

And our only girl (who happens to look like Sadie) is named Oreo.