WE'RE BACK

Our trip to Disneyland was a huge success and a very welcome respite from our daily grind! Matt had an initial job interview at Fred Hutch the afternoon before we left and Missy got to spend the weekend at the Parker grandparent's. We suspect that since the Parker parent's cat Simon and Missy got along so well that there might be a new cat addition sometime in the near future at the Ruston house!



We were there on Valentines Day with our cute matching shirts, which we got quite a few compliments on and Matt got a little grief for too! Whoops, sorry Matt! This is the ONLY Valentine decoration in the park! Janelle was disappointed that Disney did not get more in the spirit of love!

Janelle was asked twice by park staff to carry the coveted line marker tag to estimate line waits. Here she is taking her jobs very seriously.

Getting scared for the Haunted House.


Our last night at the park, we managed to accumulate five fast passes, and added two more during the sequence for a total of 7 rides right in a row, which was a really fun way to end our trip. We went on Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, California Soarin', California Screamin', Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and yes you guessed it Thunder Mountain. Overall we had gorgeous weather, very sore feet and an awesome time!

Hope you enjoyed our pics, and as an added bonus, here is a video of Janelle on her favorite ride California Screamin'. Sorry its sideways...

DISNEYLAND HERE WE COME!

We are flying down to (hopefully) sunny California tomorrow to spend some time with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and the whole crew! We have super cheesy matching shirts to wear on Valentines and are hoping that it is decorated for the day of love! Mostly though we are just super excited to get to spend some fun time together away from all the craziness of our regular lives! To Be Continued....

The holidays have come and gone and once again we have neglected to blog at all.

We had a low key Halloween with lots of trick or treaters including one dressed as a pirate who walked right in the door and chased our cat down the hall! Jace strikes again! Yearrrgh maties!

Thanksgiving was spent at Janelle's aunt Kris's house which included a nice visit from Matt's parents. We had a small celebration for Matt's birthday at California Pizza Kitchen and were able to see friends Trish, Craig, Lucas and baby on the way. We're so excited for you guys! Matt's dad took lots of great pictures (who Strode?) one of which we saw on the Fischer's Xmas card. However, we noticed that photography credits were not given...

Christmas was not white this year, which Janelle was VERY happy about. No delays in getting work visits done this year. Matt's parents were back in town and we got in lots of games including a night of Triva at Buckle's, no Buckbeaks, wait um, Barkleys. Oh yeah, Buckley's! It was tons of fun even with the less than stellar announcer. Matt even won a free beer with his knowledge of Zeppelins. We also were able to spend time with Janelle's family and even squeezed in a trip down to Port Orchard to Janelle's high school hang out the Family Pancake House to visit with an old high school buddy who was in town.

This year we again decided to just get some bigger things for the home instead of individual gifts to each other. So we now are the proud owners of Wii and the new Mario Brother's game. (Thanks for the help Steph!) Janelle was sore after one day of bowling, batting, and tennis. We also got a matching arm chair for the living room, so we finally have a little more seating!

Now here we are using the free wi-fi at Panera since we still are in the dark ages with dial up at home. Celebrating New Years day in style. (at least our style what what)

House Projects and Crazy Big Mushrooms

Janelle's dad was up again this weekend to finish the bedroom heater project and did some other little projects as well. Like remove the crazy glass plate heater in the kitchen.

Before...............................After

We have to finish that one up still, but it is so weird how this giant heater just leaves a tiny little hole in the wall to patch and then paint over the area. Its so nice to have a handy dad! While he was here he noticed some giant mushrooms that sprouted up on one of our little flower gardens. It is a little hard to tell how big they are from the pictures, but they are cool!