What a year it has been so far!!

Greetings Friends & Family -
I hope all is well with you. This is such a great time of year... I love a crisp Fall day when the sun is shining down on the trees with their many colors. Although we didn't have much of a summer, and it seemed as though last Winter extended into Spring... nevertheless, we have had a very fun-filled last 9 months:

After we rang in the New Year, the month of January started off with a visit from my favorite wild life visitors--the elusive Bobcat. We celebrated Austin's 10th Birthday in January and Amanda's 13th Birthday in February. This last winter, Austin played on the Everett Youth Basketball league and we really enjoyed seeing him in action on the court!

March was filled with Lots of Fun Events, including a lovely Easter dinner with the Foster & Goodwin family and a lovely snow day just in time for Erika's birthday celebration.
Speaking of no Spring earlier... we also had April Snow late in the month. So much for all my new Spring plantings!!!

One of the most exciting things that happened this year was The Great Penelope... starring Amanda, with her dad playing the role of her dad in the play. Very cool!!
We had a great time celebrating with lots of friends and family at Gianni's Restaurant after both productions of the play.

In Marvelous May, we got a few sunny days. I had a lovely Mother's Day, accompanied Amanda's school choir to their festival, where they scored very high, enjoyed a day at Edmonds Beach with the kids, and was able to spend some time in my garden with the kitties.

On June 1, I hosted a Garden Party in my back yard. It was quite chilly but we ladies had a lovely time despite the cold weather. The rest of June was Jam Packed with lots of end of the year school fun, Father's Day, and more. We lucked out with very sunny days for those events.

Amanda and Bob performed in the Applause Studio annual recital in June and Alyson and Susan hosted an amazing Cousins Tea! On June 29, Jasmine Graduated from Western Washington University!! with a B.A. in Finance and Economics. She is now working at T-Mobile as a Fraud Analyst!!

Once July and August arrived... we were off and running:
* Bob and I saw Stevie Wonder in concert
* Amanda and Bob performed a 45-minute version of The Great Penelope at the the Mill Creek Festival
* We took the family Camping at Kalaloch in July
* Enjoyed the many sunny days of Joyous July when we celebrated Jasmine's birthday and went to two concderts... Ringo Starr & James Taylor at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville.
* Bob and I saw Joe Cocker & Steve Miller at the Gorge on August 2
* Had an Amazing August with Family and Friends. We didn't get to celebrate Jesse's birthday with him as he was down feeding the fire fighters in Oregon and California. My Mom and Bill came up for a visit in August, so we got the Ross Family together.
* We took one last summer Trip to Seaside Oregon with the kids in late August.

Now school is back in sessioni and summer is over. We had a Sensational September and are looking forward to the festive season ahead. We finally got to Celebrate Jesse's birthday two months late. It is great to have him back in Washington.

We hope your year has been just as blessed and we look forward to seeing everyone over the holidays.

Much love....
The Rice FamilyBob, Julie, Amanda, and Austin