The Christmas after Christmas

At the end of the month I drove over to Seattle to visit Phil, Vicky and family, and Grandpa and Grandma while they were in the state.

William was excited to see me...

...although, jumping into mom's arms and out of mine was probably more accurate.
We took a trip to the aquarium and saw many beautiful sea creatures.

It was a very fun time, my favorite might have been petting the sea creature.

wrapped

Who would have thought I was going to do any Christmas shopping this week, much less this year. I thought my presence was enough of a present, but then there was a book store and I was quickly put in the giving mood.

And the project begins

After a full day of work, including three truck loads to the dump, the once garage and soon to be re-remodeled rec room and office space is cleared out.

Unfortunately the idea of a quick makeover was spoiled after ripping up the carpet and finding the need for a whole new sub-floor.

The stairs: naked, gutted, redesigned and rebuilt

The Wall: gutted, naked, redesigned and rebuilt

It's been a great ride

Thanks for all the long trips and amazing heating system. It was a blast. Enjoy your new home!

i miss them already.

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goodbyes

Mark is taking the boys over to Aberdeen for a few weeks to re-remodel his parents' rec room, which was originally the garage. Best of luck!

See you soon.

snowballs are not always fun

One wintery day I was attacked by the evil MiaMonster and Matthewifyer!

I don't like snowballs.They make me ANGRY!!!Now Matthew understands that.

Days of Turkey

Spokane has a small airport with small planes. There is no accordion walkway to shelter you from the harsh weather when boarding the plane.

However, there is not much of a wait time either since all of the carry-ons are handled outside by the flight crew.

instead of in the middle of the isle way by untrained passengers.

...I finally made it to Kent for a fun weekend...

where the excitement never ends
...of family...

My newest cousin Destiny, daughter of Danny and Lydia.

Even Dad was smiling...probably because he conquered Malea at Battleship.

...and food!

Well, truth be told, I didn't actually get any pictures of the food prepared at the Muñoz home. The top picture is a wild turkey John Manio hunted two years ago and froze for such an occasion, while the second picture is of Mark's Turkey and Ham he cooked all day in Cheney.


Because Seattle is not equip for handling snow my trip was quite different than I had expected. Instead of flying out of Spokane Monday night I did not arrive in Kent until Tuesday afternoon; Malea's, Matthew's and Tayla's Tuesday and Wednesday classes were canceled; Mom and Dad were unable to drive to and from work; and the only vehicle trusted between the six of us was Dad's Tundra, with chains, driven by Dad. So rather than hanging out with Malea in an empty house, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Malea in a very full house. There were also a few snowball fights. I will go into more detail later. On Thursday we had Thanksgiving at Grandpa Vince and Grandma Mary's. This time, all of my dad's side AND my mom's side were invited! Crazy and rather happy, but not at all long enough.

turkey time

it's time for the turkey. mom's picking the recipe and i'm just doing what i am told :)

hummus

During last night's grocery run, instead of buying typical snack foods, we picked up garbanzo beans for home made hummus. It was easy-to-make and delicious! Most of the ingredients were ones that I already had in the kitchen (olive oil, salt, garlic and lemon juice- the others are not necessary). I didn't follow the recipe exactly. After reading the user comments and other recipes I decided to leave out the tahini, paprika, and parsley, seeing these as optional, and added some liquid from the garbanzo bean can to help give a smoother texture. If you have a Magic Bullet, combine ingredients in there and let it blend for 30 seconds = perfect texture.

Some of my favorite hummus snacks included:

Carrots dipped in hummus
Lettuce wraps
Cracker+cheese+tomato w/hummus spread
On sandwiches
Let me know if you think of any more!

The Lower Salmon