Happy 19th Birthday Nickolas

Happy Birthday my son !!!  You birthday will always be a special day for many reasons. You were my last child, you are my only son, you made our family complete, you brought joy and laughter into our house,  AND you were born on the last day of the year. My wish for you is to ALWAYS be happy, ALWAYS know you are loved so much and to ALWAYS be proud of who you are. I have three things that I hold dear to my heart.. your dad, your sister... and YOU. I will love you until the end of time my son, never forget that. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!  ~ Mom

LT ~ Romero Jan Vivit III 1990~2011

I am having a very hard putting this blog into words.. I feel like if I write it, it will be true, and that makes my heart break.

 Let me start off by saying how much LT was/is loved, by everyone. He could make you smile in a heart beat and if you were upset make you laugh out loud. One of the best things he did was to have his son, Romero Jan Vivit IV.

I met LT back in 1991, we had just moved in next do to his mom Clair and his sister. LT was almost a year old and he and Kayleigh became fast friends. Kayleigh was only 6mos old at the time, but would laugh whenever LT would come over. LT was full of life, doing the things little guys do, he was always laughing and had such a "grown up" laugh that came out of his little body.. and in turn.. made you laugh. After I had Nickolas, we moved from the Apt we had next to LT, Shanet and Clair and moved into a bigger home.. but never losing contact with them.. they were stuck with us as much as we were stuck with them :)  In 1996 we moved back to Spokane and Clair and the kids let Kayleigh, Nick and I live with them while Lonnie joined the U.S. Army and went off to Basic so for 9 weeks we were a family !! LT was in Kinder then and I remember him getting ready for school with Kayleigh watching and wishing she could go. When LT would come home, they all ran up to the playroom and played until it was time for homework or dinner. LT helped Nick see that getting a haircut was ok and very cool. I remember going to a place and we had LT go first to show Nick that it didn't hurt and  you didn't have to cry and scream, after that day.. Nick never cried again.. he was a big boy just like LT !!  I remember taking the kids to a Mead Basketball game I think I had 5 kids with me that night.. and had a blast. I remember having snowball fights with them in the driveway (after Clair has shoveled the driveway for about an hour) making crafts at the kitchen table and just watching them play like brother and sisters. It was probably one of the best 9 weeks ever!! 

After Lonnie was done with Basic, we moved to GA for a school he had there. But we always kept in touch. A call once a week to " Just checking in" was our thing and we gave updates on the kids, what they were doing, what they were into. When we had the chance, and in town, we would always see LT, Clair and Shanet.  I think that the last time I saw LT was when he was in 7th grade.  Kayleigh and Nick saw him about 5 years ago, we were in town for my 20th HS reunion and Clair took the kids out and they saw LT skateboarding.. I guess Kayleigh yelled at him to get his butt in the car and they hung out the rest of the day.. a day she has never forgotten. I had always got updates on the kids so even if I had not seen them .. I felt like I knew what they were up to. And we were just talking about the kids about three weeks ago when we came into Seattle and had lunch with Clair.

When Clair called me on Dec 18th.. my heart sank.. she called to tell me LT had been missing since Dec. 17th and his jacket had been found. I was headed to Spokane to see my dad on the 19th, I put Clair on hold, told Lonnie she needed a ticket.. not really telling him why.. and he got her one. I guess that's what family does, you don't need to ask why sometimes, you just do it.  On my flight over, all I could do was think about LT.. was he ok.. where was he.. how I was going to chew him out for putting us through this.. In my head, I knew something horrific had happened, but my heart would not let me believe.  On Dec. 20th.. I got a phone call from Clair, She was crying so hard I could barley understand her.. "They found his body in the river" was all I could make out.. I could not begin to tell you how I felt .. crying and shaking on the phone with one of my best friends.. who had just lost her son. There are no true words. I told my dad and he drove me over to where Clair and Shanet were staying. I stayed with her, holding her hand and crying together.

I had to fly back to Puyallup, but told her to keep me up to date with things and if she needed me.. I would come back.   She called to tell me that on Dec 29, 2011 she would be burying LT.  Kayleigh, Lonnie and I dove over on the 28th. Stayed at the same hotel as her and hung out with her that night.. The morning of the 29th we go up.. went to the store and bought them out of Mike and Ike's and Hot Tamales.. LT's favorite. We went to the Centerpoint where the Memorial was going to be and then we drove to Wellpinit to the Longhouse where they were having another memorial there on the Indian Reservation.  In the Indian culture, you have to have the body in the ground by the it got dark so at about 3pm we went to Ford Washington to bury our friend LT. I had never been to an Indian funeral and thought how respectful they were and the traditions they had, they dig the space by hand and lower the body down by hand.. then all the young men cover him with dirt. Again, all of this had to be done be dark. For me, this made it final. It was true.. LT was gone.. and as I sit here typing this.. I cry for the little boy I knew and loved so much. My heart is still broke and there are so many unanswered questions we have. But I do know he is watching over his mom and loves her so much.  RIP LT ~ We will always love you.
Auntie Liz

Romero Jan Vivit III 1990-2011

RIP <3


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/spokesman/obituary.aspx?n=romero-jan-vivit&pid=155228833&refsvce=facebook#.TvrE7mLCFVU.facebook

Kayleigh Turns 21

21 years ago today, I held my newborn baby girl in my arms.. now, she a 21 year old beautiful women and I could not be more proud of her !! Where did the time go?!?  Tonight we took Kayleigh out to dinner with Alex, Nick and their friends Cristina and Fay. We went to The Rainforest Cafe, it was nice and Alex & Fays first time there. I love you Kayleigh Ann !!

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas everyone !! We have had a blessed year !!! This year we spent it at home..however, I did go to Spokane to see my Dad and spend a pre-Christmas with him. Kids and Lonnie could not come because of work. I spent four days at my Dads house, seeing my mom De and sister Kimberlee and one of my best friends Barbara and her son. (my little Joey) I got home on Friday the 23rd and wrapped more gifts. On Christmas Eve the kids came over. Alex, Kayleigh and her friend Cristina who is here on break from Alaska. Nick had to work until 330pm. We all sat around and then decided we were hungry. Off to the RAM we go.. had some lunch.and went by the store to pick up the food for dinner on Sunday, by the time we got home, Nick was walking in. we hung out at home, kids wrapped more gifts they brought and then headed out for Chinese food. (which now I think we will do every Christmas Eve) and then to a movie. When we got home.. I made everyone go to bed.  Christmas morning.. I think I was the last one to wake up..ha ha.. and the madness of opening gifts started.  We got so many nice things !! I feel like I was really spoiled this year ... again... After gifts, Lonnie made is "famous" pancakes with his new crepe pan from his secret Santa. Then I started on our dinner. At our house we have Lasagna every year.. homemade !!! We have been doing this for about 6ish years.  We had a wonderful Christmas, talked to family and friends. (Alex got to talk/see his mom on Skype) I hope you had a very nice and blessed Christmas also.

Random Day In Seattle

Lonnie and I went into Seattle today to give Nick one of his gifts early.. He needed it for his new job.. but he was gone, out doing things with his friends, so we picked up Alex and headed into town. I love Seattle.. I always see something new ! We started off by stopping off to see Clair at work. She was really busy, so we went and got some lunch.. Russian food !! Love that about a big city, you can get anything you want to eat! Then we were off.. walking around. We ended up walking around Pioneer Square and stopped in to see Lonnie's cousin Windy who owns a place called Shot Gun Weddings.. we had not see her in years and it was nice. We headed back to Alex's house to wait for Kayleigh to get home from work.. said HI to her and then headed back home. It was a really beautiful day and I'm glad we got to hang out with Alex.

Wyatt Joseph Williams

Welcome to the world little Wyatt !!  My Brother in law Kristian and his wife Kristine welcomed their second child into the world this morning.. Wyatt Joseph Williams was born today 12-16-11 this morning. 8lbs 12.5 oz and 20.25 in. So happy for them and big sister Samantha.

Chopstix...

Tonight Lonnie took me out on a date.. a surprise date.. Lonnie told me on Monday that we were going on a date on Thurs. I of course said ok and wanted to know where we were going.. The one thing I really don't like is a surprise... (like them for others.. just not for me) I started asking questions about this date.. but he would not tell me.. which is ok.. it was sort of fun not knowing.. on the way there, we got "lost" and he kept asking me where we were.. I had to laugh because I didn't know where we were going, so I couldn't help him..haha.. We ended up at the place called ..... Chopstix~ A Dueling Piano Bar. It was alot of fun.. when we first go there it was us and two other tables and we thought.. "hmmmm.. wonder if anyone else will be here" it was a Thurs. so we were not sure. It turned out alot of people come out on a Thurs..haha.. We are so going back.. going to try a Friday or Sat. and take some friends the next time.. Thanks for the date babe.. I had a great time !!

Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas..

                                    

Harbor Lights..

Little blurry

Last night we ~ Lonnie, Nick and I ~ went to our friends Gary and Diane's house in Gig Harbor WA. about 30 min from our house. When we got to the house we has some drinks and then went into town down to the Harbor to see the Christmas lights on the boats.  Every year people put Christmas lights on their boats and take them up and down the harbor for everyone to see.  Some of them were really pretty. It was a nice time and was nice to get to spend time with Nick. He is M.I. A. in alot of pictures because he is so busy with other things, it was good to hang out with him. ~He even came back to our house and stayed the night~ After seeing alot of the boats we went to dinner and had some good Italian food.

Mia And Her Sweater

Mia in her sweater

Today Lonnie and I went to the Fairgrounds for the Victorian Christmas Fair.. there was so much to look at, but I did manage to pick up a few things, one being two new sweaters for Mia.. since we have moved back to the states, it has been cold.. Mia is not used to the weather and I think she gets cold.. (although Lonnie thinks I am nuts) Here is a picture of Mia.. she is NOT happy about the sweater. Hahaha

A Walk In The Park....

Today Lonnie and I decided to walk the dogs to the park... We have been talking about this since we moved in "We can take them everyday" Well, today we did.. the park is only about 3 blocks away so really, we should have been doing this.. not like its way out of the way.. we got to the park and it was beautiful! The lake there in the middle of the park was like a picture.. the water was like glass and the sun hit it just right to make me think this could be in a movie. We walked the trail around the lake with Meko and Mia... everything there was new to them, so they were going crazy.. and didn't do bad when other dogs came by. As we came around the one side of the lake, we ran into a flock of geese. Meko went crazy.. and Mia joined in just because..haha. it was really funny to see them go wild over them. We will for sure be back !!!

Birthday In Seattle

This year Lonnie planned a wonderful night for me for my birthday !! This is how our day went:









We woke up and Lonnie took the dogs to "daycare" at Petsmart for their first time, he came back and we loaded up the car with Kayleigh and Alex and all of our things and headed to West Seattle to drop off Alex and take Kayleigh to work. Then we headed into Seattle to check into the hotel. Lonnie booked a room at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel for us. (I love this hotel, we stayed once for our Anniv.) We were early, so we checked out bags and headed out to find a place to eat lunch. We found our way to the Cheesecake Factory.. Yuummm !!! I had the Chicken Caesar Salad and Creamy Chicken Soup AND my first drink of the day :) After we ate, I got a birthday cheesecake and it was so good !! (Peppermint Bark Cheesecake) After lunch we walked around downtown. We decided to walk back to the hotel to see if we could check in early.. on our way we back, we walked past some guys and figured out that they were from the Washington Redskins. At the hotel we ran into one of the players, OLB Lorenzo Alexander, I told him it was my birthday and he took a picture with me (for the record, we didn't know who it was until I showed this kid in the lobby of the hotel) When we got to the lobby, it was still not time to check in, so we hit the bar..ha ha :) After TWO hours of waiting for our room, we got to check in.  When I walked into the room it was beautiful !! I had chocolate covered strawberries waiting for me !! It was getting close to our dinner resv. so we got cleaned up and dressed for dinner. Lonnie had made reservations at the Georgian Restaurant.. it was so nice !! The food presentation was amazing and was so good !! We ate ourselves into a food coma !!!  We got our picture taken at the Christmas tree (there were Christmas trees throughout the lobby of the hotel)  This was by far one of the most wonderful birthdays I have had in a long time.. Thank you to my amazing, wonderful, loving husband who I love so much !! I had a wonderful time <3 (BTW.. it was my 44th Birthday :) )

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Liz and Nicole

Happy Thanksgiving to all !!! This year we went over to Nicole and Marty's house.. As I was sitting at the table, I thought about all the things I was thankful for and thought I would share a few of them: I am thankful for my family~ I am thankful for my husband who I love more then he will ever know and make me beyond happy~I am thankful for my daughter, I am proud of the women she is becoming~I am thankful for my son, who can put a smile on my face and always seems to give me a hug when I need one.~ I am thankful for Alex and that he makes Kayleigh happy and so glad he spent another Thanksgiving with us ~  I am thankful for my amazing friends, here and around the world. I hope that everyone had a great day !!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving !!

This year we will be spending Thanksgiving with our amazing friend Nicole and Marty Brugler and their family. The kids are coming in from Seattle to be with us and I am so happy that we can be a family for another year. I am in charge of pies and rolls this year.. so Costco, here I come :) I will be "making" 2pumpkin, 1pecan and 1 chocolate pie this year.. also can't for get the Cool Whip !! I am really looking forward to going over !! I love Nicole and have known her since I was in 7th grade !! She is like a sister to me and can't think of my life without her in it.  The kids will be coming in on the train around 4-5pm tonight. Alex and Kayleigh have Friday (Black Friday) off, but Nick has to work.. AT 4 A.M. !! So Lonnie will be driving him back to Seattle sometime Thurs night. Happy Pre-Thanksgiving to all.. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends in Okinawa Japan !!

                                                                       

Out With Clair

At Clair's



                                       Out for Sushi

Since we have been back, I have got to hang out with one of my good friends Clair Sarsozo (she has a blog called The Paperologist) The first time we met was back in 1991, right after we moved into the apt next door to her. Now almost 21 years later, we are still good friends :) She invited us over to her house on 11/8 for a wonderful dinner and some wine. Last night we were in Seattle to get car stuff done with the kids, and we met up for dinner at Wann a really good Japanese restaurant, we had great sushi and alot of laughs. Can't wait to meet up with her again soon !

Seattle vs. Baltimore Game

Our friends Ron and Robin asked us back in Sept. if we wanted to go to a Seahawks game with them when we got to Washington.. YES !! was our answer. So, today was game day. We met them and some of their friends at the train station in Sumner and took into Seattle. We had great seats and I had a blast at the game. It was so good to see them and meet new friends too. Seahawks won the game 22-17. We are planning on going again soon.. maybe take the kids with us. Thank you so much Ron and Robin.. we had a great time !!!