Night Out event in Seattle

Wren and I got a gig in Seattle recently ("Night Out" an event to build community to help prevent crime in the city) through our good friend Sam Williams. The event took place in the center of three places: a church, a retirement home, and a men's half-way house-type place. Wren and I had a great time, and from the organizers feedback, everyone else did too. Here's some pictures from the event... we did a bit of teaching as well as roaming and performing. This guy was super into the ropes, it was awesome!

 Wren entertaining the food line.

 Us performing our juggling routine.

 Teachin' the kiddos diabolo.

 They're totally doin' it.

 Wren's totally doin' it too, nice job buddy.

 No bigs, just Wren juggling SEVEN balls!

 Me playing with my hat.

 And this guy again...

 and again!

Super fun event. Thanks Sam Williams!

An evening with Julia

One of my favorite people is Julia. We were roommates at the Dean house for a few years. We loved rearranging the living spaces together, drinking tea on the porch on sunny mornings, and loving up on her (now deceased) hilariously obese cat, Rudolf. Another activity we shared, was eating. Julia is a supurb cook, and is extremely generous with her masterpieces. Here is our most recent meal together, enchiladas... wow, just look at that cheese!

When Rudolf was appearing to wind down, Julia decided to get a kitten. Here is the now teen-version of that kitten, Ramsey. Soon after, she collected Ramsey's brother. The two of them are a fabulously rambunctious duo.

Another regular occurance of our hangouts is our reminiscing of times together with Claire. We both adore her, and regularly discuss how awesome it would be if she were still around. We took this picture to send to her.

Times with Julia are so great. She has an extra bed she puts me up in, and we catch up on our lives, and simply enjoy our time together. I'm so lucky to have her as my friend.

Christmas in Port Townsend

This year my cousin Squeek came to our family Christmas... (it was so awesome having her there...she played Santa)

along with Wren,

my brother Duane,

sister Darcy,

Mom,

and Dad,

(Dad practicing selfies),

(and Louie, the almost 20-year old cat).

Christmas with my family is typically centered around food. For dinner, Dad cooked a ham, made mashed potatoes, served creamed corn and green beans, and dinner rolls. Breakfast the next morning was biscuits and bacon-gravy. Wren and I gave all homemade gifts... homemade jam, dog biscuits,

yarn (that Wren sheered, carded and spun), our 2015 calendar,

and dried fruit (all from dad's trees).

I got moustache swag,

an awesome old video of me playing racquetball, cash, and a tazer.

Wren got crossword swag, finger-less gloves (me too, and matching!),

and a remote-controlled car. Plus we both got candy, socks,

and other goodies. Squeek gave everyone a sourdough pancake mix starter (which we made into fun christmas-inspired shapes like this reindeer, obviously).

We drove around to see the Christmas lights, watched the movie Paul,

and helped/watched dad with his wood chopper. We went for a walk, saw Darcy's dog Maryah, and made a breakfast scramble for Mom and Dad. We took our Christmas photo (sweet, with a space for Thaddeus, and with sexy angry faces),

and our yearly Sibling Face Stack (with young version of 15yr old Thaddeus in the background).

Merry Christmas family! And special thanks to Mom and Dad!

I love you guys!

Chipp's Juggle Bag!

I made this fire juggle bag for Chipps!

Woot!

Merry Christmas to you!

Twas the Night Before Xmas...

Twas the night before Christmas,

in our Vegas Hooters hotel,

a full day of adventure,

make these dogs tired as hell.

We got a bunch of free stuff,

at a time-share presentation,

and almost purchased vacation houses,

in 61 various locations.

We saw Penn and Teller,

do their magic and funny,
for what we experienced,
we didn't pay much money (worst photo ever).

Shows were our mission,

we saw KA by Cirque du Soliel,

we admired the high production and performers' fitness,

then looked straight for a fatty buffet.

Mac King, he's my favorite,

with his comedy magic show,

Wren got picked to volunteer,

So awesome, right? I know!

We came late to Jeff Civilino,

so they let us in for free, no pay,

he's a street performer gone vegas,

doing comedy circus his way
(though really very similar,
to most solo male multi-circus skill acts,
and a K's Champ-style snippit,
including pie in the face if he drops the ax).

We watched the Bellagio fountain,

  gambled and even won a buck,

Saw Galifianakis with his baby,

And crushed a penny for good luck.

A romantic Vegas Christmas,

Has our eyes and stomachs fed,

We drift off into dreams together,

In our Hooters' king size bed (bed not pictured here).

Merry Christmas! We even got to see Claire and play Koob!

This was a total, Christmas bonus.

Christmas in Spokane

Wren and I had Christmas at the Shean-Schultz's in Spokane this year. It worked out that I got to ride with Margret. That was sweet, we listened to some hilarious stories from cd's she borrowed from the library. I got to hang out with the family for a day before Wren flew in from the Dominican Republic. The initial plan was for me to take the train and get there two days after Wren, but Margaret and I decided to make it a surprise. Cora and I made cookies to celebrate!

It was a great success. Cora, Margaret, and I pulled it off, Wren was totally surprised when I came from the backseat with cookies in hand.

Cutest trio!

Soren "booped" and fell down like this (I am showing him with my hand).

Soren's go-to hand position. This info should be included in the "Boop Goes Boop 2"!

Here's the family Christmas photo... brilliant.

Wren and I have been fortunate enough to have a friend sharing her travel perks with us. Wren has been getting her companion pass for almost 2 years now, and I have the perks of occasional buddie passes. This time, we paid for my ticket home from Spokane (to Vegas for Christmas!). We were gunna have to take 2 separate flights for a bunch of reasons, then found out we might be able to take the same early flight, but then couldn't because changing mine to an earlier one would have cost over 200 bucks, but the lady at the counter worked it out for us! What a gal!

See ya in Vegas!