McCormick Family

Uncle Eric and Uncle Ryan came from San Fransico, Gram and Papa came from Holladay, and our great friends Bill, Diane, Mitch, Evan, Alex and Paige came over on Christmas Eve to celebrate with us. We ate way too much, played pool and games and watched the snow blowing sideways.

They said that we were expected to get some snow and have a white Christmas, but we didn't expect 18-24 inches at our house. Christmas Day a neighbor came over and showed off his new snow blower, which we were grateful for. It saved us HOURS of digging and sore bodies.

We has the typical Christmas Dinner with leftovers for 3 days, opened pj's, played pool and Mexican train while the kids played video games and then headed to bed so Santa could deliver gifts.



I love Christmas morning. The expectation, ooo's and ahhh's, and now the kids are older, the sleeping in until 7 :). Whaooo! Jill got a sewing machine and a whole bunch of goodies to go with it and sat with it on her lap all a morning, until her legs fell asleep. Parker got a camera (to take on his mission), and a cover for his latest phone. All Abby asked for is clothes, shoes and makeup, and that is just what she got and a few cd's. Dave got an old book, I am so nice:). It is actually an out of print art book by Andrew Loomis that he has wanted for years. I got a freezer for the garage and North's was the "big" gift this year, he got a SNAKE! I know I am crazy!

He is a red tail boa with unique markings around his mouth, which gave him his name, Moostache (you have to say it with a french accent). I hope North likes him because they live for about 30 years!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday and love you all!!

Well, November has come and gone and we are barreling on to Christmas. North and Parker have both been very busy!

Parker ~ The artist in a skater body :)

He has been at it again.... making shoes that is. Here is his latest pair he made for a boys birthday.

He did a beautiful job on them and got all the boys favorite things on them. What to draw on the tongues stumped him for a short time but, he figured it out and I think they are awesome!!

Also, the tea pot he has been working on all semester was entered into the reflections contest at school and won for 3D art. It is going to State now. I know... it is not your traditional teapot :)

Then North, with some of his talent being in music, challenged himself this recital with 2 pieces to play. The first was Victor's Piano Solo by Danny Elfman, from Corpse Bride and the other was Waltz of Chihio by Curry Wu, from the movie Castle in the Sky. He played perfectly and is onto the next challenge.

In November North was honors with the South Hills Student of the Month award. He was nominated by one of his teacher and sustained by 7 more to make it. The school gave the students of the month(a boy and girl from each grade) with a breakfast and an award.

Jill and her friend from school, Becky, have started a clothing line together. Jill is the illustrator and designer and Becky is the expert pattern maker and business woman and they both sew. They have created a line of sexy secretary that is modest and Becky sent them out to several places. Shabby Apple loved their stuff but they only do dresses so asked if they would send 3 or 4 for them to see. They put together some of their shirts and skirts and made them into one piece outfits and sent them 6. Shabby Apple called and said they loved all of them and wanted to manufacture all 6!!! Be on the look out for M.C. Square's' line on ShabbyApple.com mid November!!!!

We finally got our train to Oceanside watching the ocean go by. In Oceanside we walked to the beach and took off our shoes and socks and walked about a mile down the beach with the water splashing around our feet.

We walked down the pier and watched some people fish and then headed back to the train, where we met some very interesting people. They were going to the Padres game and getting drunk on the way there because they said beer was too much money at the game.... go figure!

We went to a restaurant called Por Favor where they make the best chili Verde enchiladas I have ever had, and then back to the condo. The next day we made a trip to the Old Town where they have an original hacienda and cute shops set up. We only made it about half way around and had to go to the airport, so we are definitely coming back for that and the aircraft carrier Midway!!

Our last day... We were at sea most of the day coming down the Juan De Fuca strait into Victoria. We docked at 5 pm, we didnt have any excursions planned so we just walked on thru the town and back to the dock. At the docks there was a light house way out on a man made bridge of sorts so we walked out to the end where the light house was. Whew.. what a long walk. We went back to the ship, packed, ate dinner and played another game of scrabble in our favorite seats in the back corner of a lounge by a large window and watched as we pushed out at midnight on our way back to Seattle the next morning.

Only one day left.... NO!!!! Today we are at sea. We slept in, ate, played scrabble by the window watching the sea go by. Dave beat me more than once, but we aren't going to talk about that :).

In the evening saw a juggler who won the national juggling competition this year. He was hilarious and juggled 7 balls at once, pins while on a unicycle, torches lit afire, and a bowling ball, which he just tossed a few inches and caught. Then we were the audience for the newly wed - no so newly game. They had 3 couples: couple 1 married 60yrs, couple 2 married 38 yrs, and couple 3 married on the ship 4 days in. Of course the questions were suggestive and the answers more to the point. On that just killed us was from the couple married 60 years. The question was "Where is the craziest place you have made whoopee?" Answers from them was "On the Star Princess." The MC asked for them to be more specific. They said " well, usually on the balcony but last night it was to cold so we had to go in." :)

In the morning we will be in Victoria, British Columbia.

Today we came into port to in Skagway. We took a train on the tracks built by men in the great gold rush of the Yukon. The tracks were built thru the Alaskan and Canadian mountains to get to where the gold was. We went over the original trestles and one tunnel that was made by them, and most of of the tracks are on sheer cliffs. At the summit it was 3000 feet. We came around a bend and a black bear was about 4 feet for the train looking at us, wondering what we were all looking at.

We passed into Canada at White Summit Pass where the marker for the boarder is. Our buses were waiting for us in Fraser. We boarded them and went to the Yukon Suspension Bridge that crosses the Tutshi River and canyon. There are parts of this river that are rapids that are the highest class (cat 6) and no one has traversed it successfully.

From there we went back down the mountain on the buses (that was driven by a girl from Idaho). On the side of the road we spotted a mama black bear and her 2 cubs. We stopped and took photos and just as they went over the hill and out of site a bike rider passed. I would not want to be on a bike with a bear 6 inches off the road.

After going thru customs again we headed to Jewells Gardens for lunch. Lunch was ok and the garden was pretty but not worth what we paid and not for as long as we were there. As a mater of fact Dave sneaked off down the road to the gold mining tour for an hour.

Today was the first day at sea. It was morning it was foggy but cleared up quickly, looking like it was pulling back from the ship to the land. Again another beautiful sunny day. We are traveling up the coast of Canada and it comes into view every now and again. We played scrabble be the window watching the sea go by, went to dinner trying new foods but we have had so much food, we can't remember what we had. :) We went to a production called Cinematastic and then to a magic show where we where on the front row and totally amazed and entertained. Tomorrow we are in Kitchikan.

I am having a hard time finding an internet cafe that has access to download our photos... I will keep trying. Love and miss you all!!

Well, Alesha has got me interested in this blogging stuff, so we are going to try it out. I have always loved technology and the ability it has to keep us all connected. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my phone for that reason. I love to txt, what a great way to stay in touch with my kids, family and friends!!

We are all great, here at the McCormick house. Dave still owns and operates his own window cleaning business and has for the last 16 years. There is more work than he can do and he loves being his own boss. He hasn't done much painting lately but still loves it and plans to do more in the future. We moved into our new home at the end of August and he had the basement finished in 13 weeks. He does such beautiful work. He added 3 bedrooms (one of which is my office), a full bath, a food storage room and storage under the stairs, a game room with a pool table, a full home theater and a snack bar area. Next is the yard... whew!

I am still with jetBlue. I love the airline!! It is a little scary with 6 airlines in the last two months closing their doors but I think that we will weather thru the high fuel costs and recession that is to come, as we are not immune from them, but we have a great leader, wonderful crew members and amazing customers!

Jilli is almost 20 (AAAGGGGHHHHHH). I am simply not old enough to have a 20 year old! She is going to SLCC in the fashion illustration program and getting straight A's, unlike high school when she discovered boys! She is also working full time as a server and has 2 internships with fashion companies that produce fashion shows, not to mention dating. We see her in passing, in and out of the house.

Parker is almost 18 (AAAGGGGHHHHHH, again) and will be a senior next year. This winter he gave up drum lessons for a ski pass and skied all winter. When it is not snowing or raining you will find him at the skate park acquiring bruises and scars. He is working with Dave doing the window thing and likes the income.

North (13) is our cool nerd (said with much love and affection). He has started piano lessons and blown us all way with his ability to play. He challenges himself and has started to write some of his own music. He is hoping to play his own piece in a recital some day. He has also started programing. This will not make any since to me but.... he has learned C+ and C++ and HTML and Java programing. He is in the process of creating an online game and made a web site for his scout troop and is in charge of updating it. What ever it is... he loves it.

Abby Babby Shmabby is all girl!! Jill is aways commenting on how 'pink' Abby is. She will be 12 in 3 months and will turn 16 (she wishes). She is practicing applying makeup and flipping her hair. Our ward recently split and the first Sunday together with the new one, Abby was looking around to see if she knew anyone. She excitedly leaned over to Jill and pointed a few rows up then her face went as red as a tomato. A boy she has a crush on in school is in our new ward. I thought she would hyperventilate on the spot. Total girl, she even does the giggly girl thing:).