What a Wonderful Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

This was certainly true for us as we thoroughly enjoyed this holiday season ~ our first living in WA since we were married.  What a great feeling to not have to get on a plane to see our family!!!  Turned out to be such a blessing this year as well given the snow storms that hit WA beginning the Thursday before Christmas. Once it started snowing, it just didn't stop.  We got probably a foot and a half of snow where we live and they do not plow or treat the roads out here, which meant we were stuck for the most part.  Even G was forced to work from home for two days because there was no navigating out of our neighborhood.  Unfortunately for many, the airport was pretty much shut down and very few flights were getting in and out.  Many people were forced to spend the holiday at the airport because the hotels were all booked.  We were so thankful that we were all home already before the snow hit.  I flew in that Wednesday night from Boston and thank goodness, because if I had gotten a later flight (which I tried to do!)  I would not have made it home before December 26th!!!  YIKES!  It is so scary to think about

We had an amazing time getting ready for and enjoying the holidays.  The biggest excitement and joy for us was waking up in our own home on Christmas Day.  Since were moved to MA the day after we were married and flew to WA every year for the holidays, we never actually spent Christmas in our own home.  How exciting it was to wake up in our own bed and head downstairs with our little Alli to see what Santa left for us . . . Alli was so much fun this year and really got into opening all of the presents.  In fact, in the days leading up to Christmas, she would pick up packages and beg "open, peas (her version of please), open"  Too cute!  Can't wait to see her on her birthday in a couple of months ;-)

Alli about to wash her hands after making rice krispy treats Christmas Eve morning ~ messy!

Mommy & Alli ready to go to Ducky Gramma and Papa's house for Christmas Eve

Christmas morning ~ presents from Santa and Garrett trying on his new clothes!

We hope that all of you had a safe and wonderful holiday season as well.

Let's pray that 2009 is good to all!

Happy Holidays!!!

We have been enjoying the holidays here in WA with our family and friends.  This was our first year celebrating Thanksgiving in WA since 1999 and we convinced the family to let us host.  What a great day we had. My entire family (minus Jenee, my wonderful sister-in-law who had to work ~ nurses don't always get to take a holiday break!) and G's brother Zach were here for a turkey dinner.  We had a great time and the food wasn't too bad, not as good as my mom's cooking but still respectable :)  G's parents joined us all for dessert and Adele was a huge help with the dishes, she even had Alli helping her!  The guys played cards after dinner. All in all, I would say our first Thanksgiving in WA as a family was a huge success!

That weekend, we went and picked out our tree at the Stock's tree farm, owned by G's grandpa and now run mostly by Uncle Greg.  Alli loves playing in the trees and especially loves the candy canes!  With the tree up, the lights on the house, and presents under the tree, we are ready for Christmas. R emarkably, Alli pretty much leaves the tree alone other than to point at the "baby" ornaments that we conveniently placed higher than she can reach

Enjoying a candy cane before we pick out our tree

This is such a fun family outing!

Alli and Garrett cutting down our perfect tree!

Alli having fun with Barbie Gramma and Pop Pop in the trees

Alli loves watching the ice skaters on the pond ~ it took all of her restraint not to touch ;-)

Lights on, it's time to decorate!

Fishy face

Should it go here Mommy?

Finally, the star goes on and we're done!

Now it's time to hang the lights outside . . .

This past week, my friend Cori and her son Cohen, who's 1 week older than Alli, came for a quick visit. We had a wonderful visiting and the kiddos had a blast playing together. The are the same age, size and development, which made for a lot of fun for everyone! Cohen is a little daredevil and Alli a fraidy cat so it was very entertaining. We have singing/dancing snowmen that Alli loves but was afraid to touch, fortunately, Cohen would do it for her ~ such a little gentleman! Alli was sad to see him go, as was I. We love you guys and hope to see you again soon!!!

They both loved the pizza :)

And snuggling with Ducky Papa!

Guess they like each other too ;-)

Playing at the tub provided lots of entertainment ~ notice neither has feet on the ground :)

This weekend was full of holiday fun as we enjoyed the Port Orchard festival of lights and chimes, went to a Santa breakfast this morning and a holiday party this afternoon. Alli wasn't too sure of Santa but loved all of the activity and is actually very good at decorating cookies.

Alli at the Port Orchard library during the holiday festival.

We all had fun, although I wasn't feeling too great this weekend. I got the flu shot this year but I'm thinking it may not have worked. Hopefully, I start feeling better very soon as being run down with a toddler is a tough situation!

We finally added some pictures of the house!

As promised, here are some pictures of the house. Granted, they are a little late and I still need to add some more, but it's a start :)

 Dining Room

Kitchen 

 Upstairs hallway ~ we love how wide it is!

Playroom 

Master bedroom 

Master bath 

Guest room

Alli's room

We're off to a great start to the Holiday week. I'm on vacation this whole week and loving my time as a "stay at home mommy". Alli and I even went to storytime at the library today, where she had a great time playing with the other kiddos. We're also gearing up to host our first family Thanksgiving and cannot wait. It should be quite an experience! Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Excited for Thanksgiving

We have so enjoyed being back in WA and living near our families.  With the holidays quickly approaching, we are very aware how fortunate we are to back with our families.  Although we flew back to WA every year for Christmas, this will be our first Thanksgiving in WA since 1999!  We are so excited that our families have graciously allowed us to host it this year :)  Fortunately, they are also allowing us to host Christmas too! This is particularly special to us because we have never woken up in our own home on Christmas as hard as that is to believe.  We love the holiday season, all of the decorations, yummy food and being with our families.  One thing we are particularly excited for this year is working at Pop's tree farm.  For those of you who do not know, G's g-pa owns a U-Cut Christmas tree farm.  It is so much fun to spend the day up there chatting with happy families and handing out candy canes.  Alli has already had her first candy cane this season and I think we may struggle to get her to give any away as she liked them so much ;-)


Not much else is new with us.  We had our Open House a couple weeks ago and had a wonderful time sharing our house with friends and family.  We had 9 little ones at the Open House (including Alli) and the kids all had a great time playing in the play room.  Alli seemed so excited to have so many friends at her house!  Must have gotten her over her little "shy kick" because since that day, she's had a blast playing at the nursery at church on Sundays ~ YEAH!  We love having her spend the days with her g-parents but we are always looking for ways to get her interactions with others her age.  We are going to start going to story time at the library and are looking into some dance and music classes so hopefully she will continue to enjoy playing with other kids.

Happy Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day, a very special day to me and an opportunity to thank all of the wonderful men and women of this country to serve in our Armed Forces. I would particularly like to thank four special men in our family who have served our country: my Dad, who retired from the NAVY after 26 years of service as a CWO4; my wonderful husband, who proudly served our country in the Air Force for 8 years, separating as a Captain in August; Uncle Greg, who is a retired ARMY Lt Col; and Cousin Brandon, who also served in the ARMY. We are so fortunate for all of the men and women who put our country above all and protect the rights and privileges we all have. Thank you!!!

Here is a picture of my favorite Veteran from his tour in Iraq . . .

What a day to be an American . . .

It will likely come as no shock to anyone that we were less than pleased with the outcome of the election. That said, we are so happy that it is over and we can move forward and pray that we will be proven wrong. The majority (in every sense of the word) has spoken and we have to have faith that this was the right decision for our country at this time. Certainly, in some ways, it is such a proud moment for our country and a true testament that we have come so far. I personally would still like to see an end to the electoral college, however, I am thrilled that for the first time in 8 years, we will not have to debate whether anyone "stole" the election. Although he did not receive our votes, President Elect Obama certainly received the majority of the American votes and won this election fairly. It truly is a proud moment for America! It is extremely unlikely that I will ever agree with the majority of his policies, particularly when it comes to taxes, but I will support him while he is in office and I pray that the rest of the country follows suit. The Office commands our support and respect. I only hope that this country will show him more respect than it has shown our current President. Love them or hate them, they give up much to serve our country and they deserve our respect. Okay, I will get off my soap box now!

Changing times :)

Since we've been at this for awhile, I decided it was high time to change the look of the site.  Given that we just spent the past weekend in Pullman for the the WSU Homecoming festivities, I decided to go for a Cougar theme.  Probably won't last too long (particularly since PLU's homecoming is soon!) but I'm sure the Fishers will be thrilled as it works toward their brainwashing of Alli ("Cougars are the best, you want to be a Coug . . . ")  In all seriousness, we had a such a fabulous weekend over there.  Alli was great on both the drive over and drive back. We, of course, planned to be driving when she would be sleeping ~ such sneaky parents we are!  We arrived late Friday night and woke up early on Saturday to a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

Perfect for watching Zach play in the Alumni vs. Students baseball game. The Alumni lost but only by 1 run and Zach pictched very well ~ 88 mph!!! We had so much fun watching him play again. We took Alli for a walk around parts of the campus, enjoyed some ice cream and then on to the football game. Cougs didn't do so well (63 - 14 ~ ouch!) but they were not expected to so no one was too disappointed. We had a great time in the stands and Alli made it to half time ~ we were thrilled she lasted that long!

Overall, the move to WA has been even better than we hoped or could have expected. We are enjoying being close to the family and are thrilled to see Alli bonding with everyone. She is loving all of her g-ma time! I'm still enjoying the commute to Boston.  It really is not too bad and I find I actually get to spend far more time with Alli than I did when we lived in MA.  Fortunately, it is working well for my work as well so I figure I will keep it up for as long as it is feasible.  Garrett is really enjoying his position at Honeywell. As much as he (and I) enjoyed being part of the Air Force, this is the first time in 8 years that he is excited by his work and it is AWESOME to see and hear this!  Being the go getter that he is, Garrett has begun taking accounting classes at UW.  Although he has his MBA in Finance, he is hoping to ultimately sit for the CPA exam and needs a few more accounting classes before he can do so.  So far, he is enjoying his class.  I find it interesting because with being a securities attorney, I deal with accounting issues constantly and now I can actually have an intelligent conversation with my husband about this ~ woo hoo!  While he was getting his MBA and talking to me about issues, it always went right over my head. But now, I'm actually able to explain some things to him Who would have thought that would ever happen???

As for pictures of the house, I promise to get some up soon. I just want to finish a few more things. More updates soon . . .

Joy and Sorrow for the Fishers

We have made the move to WA and are now settled in to our new home (pics will be posted once we get our Internet hooked up).  August has proven to be a difficult month for our family and we are now ready to share this with you all.  Many of you wondered why we waited so long to make the move to WA rather than going as soon as we sold our house.  We had our reasons . . .


Few of you know that Garrett and I had a very difficult time conceiving Alli.  It was only after we took Clomid and had an IUI that we learned the joy that comes from pregnancy.  Fortunately, we conceived Alli the first month we received treatment.  We had always assumed we would have two children but have now learned that God has other plans for us.  We have spent much of this year trying to conceive another child but after multiple failed IUIs and a failed IVF cycle (in August, i.e. reason for staying in MA!), we now believe it is not meant to be.  It appears that it is God's plan that Alli be an only child.  Many may say, just keep trying, however, the physical and emotional toll it takes on us is simply too great.  Moreover, neither of us believe that having children is meant to be this difficult.

We tell you this for a number of reasons.  First, it is difficult for us to deal with and try to pretend that everything is okay.  While we know that no one means any harm, questions regarding when we are "having another" are very painful to us, as are comments about how  Alli needs a sibling.  Second, this is what God has planned for us and we are trying hard to accept this, which is difficult to do when we are bottling it up.

We are beyond blessed to have Alli ~ she truly is our miracle baby and there could not be a baby more loved and wanted than her.  Each day brings us closer to acceptance but please know that this is a difficult time and comments about how if we just relax, we'll get pregnant or we'll have more children some day hurt more than we can explain.  That said, we will accept this and move forward as the Fisher Family of 3, as we are pretty excited by our family and what lies ahead.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, we appreciate each of you very much!

Please pray!

I know that I have not updated recently (life's been hectic) and, unfortunately, I do not have time to update much now. I am writing to beg for prayers. Some dear friends of ours, who are currently pregnant with twins due in January, learned today that the mommy is dialated and there is little chance of saving the babies. We are praying for a miracle for the family and would greatly appreciate you keeping them in your prayers. Medicine can do only so much, the rest is up to God.

The LONGEST Day . . .

Yesterday, I had to go to Wilmington, Delaware for work. The day started out okay; up at 5 a.m. and on my way to the airport by 5:30. I got there and the lines for security were huge. This is not typical for our airport at that time of day, and to top it off, they didn't have the business traveler line open ~ aagh! Fortunately, given that I was on a 7:15 flight, they let me go to the front. So I get through security and get to my gate as the flight is boarding. No time for breakfast. Great news, I have a row to myself so I'm thinking, okay day is looking up. Then we sit. We don't actually take off until 8 and then the Captain says that due to problems in Philly, we are in a holding pattern. We finally get out of that but we're told to go slow. I was supposed to arrive in Philly by 9, jump in a car and be to Wilmington by 9:30. I was interviewing a witness for one of my cases. I finally get to the interview, which was supposed to start at 10, around 10:30. Thankfully, the interview goes well and I'm back in a car on my way to Philly by 1. I was thrilled when I got to the airport in time to jump on the 2:15 flight (I was booked for the 3:15). So I get to the gate only to find that the plane isn't there yet. It arrived shortly and things were looking good. Then the fun began . . . the weather looked fine, talking to people in Boston, I learn the weather is fine there as well. We're not boarding and they are telling us nothing. This goes on for quite awhile. Fast forward to 4 p.m., still in the terminal, sky is starting to look dark, not surprising since severe storms were threatened for the late afternoon. All they are telling us is that they do not know when we will be departing. Fortunately, the gentleman at the desk is kind and tried to answer all questions. He finally admits the problem is both airports. It's not looking good. I call my secretary trying to find other ways to get back to Boston that night ~ no way was I staying in Philly. Trains are booked but I can take a car service. Still not sure what to do, trying to be optimistic that the flight would go. Suddenly, I look up and see one of the junior partners from my office. He too had been in Wilmington and just switched to my flight. I let him know the situation. He's optimistic the flight will go, I'm not. Then he gets a call from his wife, who tells him about the tornado warnings in New England. Decision made, we're getting a car service and the car should be there within a half hour. We wait, no car. I call the driver who says he'll be at least another 45 minutes. By this point, it's 5:30 so we decide to rent a car and drive. Best decision we could have made. No traffic, weather wasn't bad at all and I finally got home a little after 11 p.m. I had to check the flights to see if they actually went and guess what, all flights had been cancelled. YEAH!!! We made the right choice. I have no desire to return to Philly or Wilmington any time soon!

Fun for the Fishers

Sorry it's been so long since our last update ~ we've been very busy out here! I won't bore you with all of the details but will try to stick to the highlights :)


As you know, since we pulled Alli out of day care the middle of March, the moms took turns coming out to provide what we fondly called "Gramma-care" Well, Gramma-care ended the week before Memorial Weekend and we've been on our own since then. It was challenging at times, but we survived

Garrett's last day working for the Air Force was June 13th.  Alli and I drove down to CT for his going away party and had a great time!

Since then, he and Alli have been having a great time together.  On June 21st, the two of them boarded a flight to WA for a two week visit.  Sadly, I have been so swamped at work (a whole other story!) so I stayed behind in MA.  Fortunately, Salem was with me ~ of course, he was in trouble because he was supposed to fly back with Garrett & Alli but the little stinker ran away for the day.  Turned out to be for the best as it would have been too much for G and I enjoyed the company.  I flew back to WA to meet up with my family on July 2nd.  Salem had his last plane ride ever and is now officially a WA kitty (G's parents were nice enough to let him stay with them until we move).

Since returning to MA, things have been busy!!!  I am still swamped with work but have high hopes that things will return to a more normal pace in August.  G and Alli have been very busy getting us ready for the move.  We're still set to close on July 30th and have set up short term housing for August.  As of now, we're still hoping to be back in WA by Labor Day but there are a few things we have to take care of out here before we move.

We know that the packing may not be as much fun for Alli so we are trying to sprinkle in fun with all of the boring stuff.  Garrett has been taking her out to play at parks with other little ones and we took her to this great place for kids yesterday:  Davis Farmland.  It is an amazing place with lots of animals for petting and cuddling, lots of playgrounds, and a water park!  We spent the entire afternoon there and had a wonderful time.  Alli really liked the bunnies and goats ~ she even ran up to hug a baby goat!  It was going great with the animals until a large sheep "baahed" loudly.  After that, she was pretty scared of all the animals, including a baby chick!!!  Fortuantely, she had fun playing at the various playground and eating ice cream.  Then we played at the Toddler water park.  After getting changed and trying out another playground, we headed home.  It was a long but very fun day!

I have to head back to work today ~ these one day weekends are killing me and I haven't seen a Friday off in I don't know how long. Can't wait until things go back to normal . . .

Well, our biggest news is that Garrett got a job offer from Honeywell!!!!!!!!!!!! He interviewed with them while in WA and made a great impression. Assuming they don't mind him starting in late August, it looks like he's got a new job

I promise to try updating a little sooner next time