Merry Christmas!!!

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy the adventures and pictures of our family! Have a great Holiday and best wishes for what may come in the new year!

Love,

Audrey, the author and creator of this blog

Helpful hint: Click the link 'older post' to see other blogs.

Darrel & LaRae

An update on Darrel and LaRae…oh wait, there is not much to say. They both do the same old routine that I have written the last five years!! Talk about boring! During the summer my parents spent two weeks on our boat in the San Juan and Gulf Islands Desolation Sound, which is between Vancouver Island and the mainland of Canada, was their ultimate destination. They didn't want to come home. My mom keeps talking about selling the house and moving to the islands when they retire. I wouldn't doubt it if they did. She is bored with the house and yard. Funny thing is the yard never looks done, because she is always starting new projects. She makes no sense sometimes!

Crazy parents…goofballs at heart. Their new email address is chard92@q.com.

Rachel & Joel

Rachel and Joel...where should I even start with them? Oh, I know!!!! They are engaged and the date has been set for June 20, 2009. The wedding will take place in my mom's garden. It is going to be a small wedding, only immediate family. Rachel and Joel are planning a surfing honeymoon in Costa Rica.

In July, Rachel and Joel took a two week vacation to drive from WA to WA DC. They made several stops including: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Chicago and more. Rachel moved to Maryland to work for the National Institute of Health (NIH) on cancer research. She is taking a year off from medical school, but will return next year (if she doesn't go for a PhD). She is researching how head and neck cancer spreads. She has been keeping busy with the labs and going on adventures to New York. And she is addicted to election news.

Joel stayed in Portland and still works for Oregon Health and Science University in a lab. Joel studies insulin secretion disorders, such as diabetes. He was going to move with Rachel, but his boss offered a raise and said they would pay for him to go visit her once a month. What a deal!

Joel is in to surfing, so he comes home to Port Angeles often to surf and freeze his bum off. He is keeping busy with work and tries to surf when he can. Glad to have him soon be apart of the family for real!!

Rachel's email is rachel.chard@gmail.com if you would like to send her a greeting!

Audrey & Bunny

So what’s up with me? I finished the medical assistant program this December and am now job hunting. Wish me luck!

I still have my cute little house and am slowly doing more remodeling here and there. Bunny is still hopping around and is getting use to the wood floor. He is making daring trips across the living room to pee on the couch and tear up the rugs. Still gotta love that fuzz ball!

My email is audrey.chard@gmail.com!

Family Trip to Sayulita!

In June, we took a week-long family trip to Sayulita, Mexico. Sayulita is a small surf town outside of Puerto Vallarta (Pacific side). We stayed in a hacienda with our own private beach. It was hot, humid and beautiful.

The home was cared for by a great guy, Eric, and his family. Eric's mother offered to make us dinner - homemade traditional Mexican food - which we could not pass up. We were all overwhelmed with the amount of food, but it was heavenly. Eric’s mother and wife would come to our place and cook in our kitchen. We were spoiled!

Our first guests at the house were the friendly little crabs that liked to come out in the night hours. We could hear their claws tapping across the floors and scratching on the screen doors as they climbed up. When we slept, it was so warm that our bodies were sticky. The sound of thunder and lightning started to rumble and strike in the night. I can close my eyes and still hear the rumble, the fire-alarm sound of a high-pitched bugs and smell of salt in the air. Oh, I miss it.

One of the days, we went on a 50 foot trimaran sailboat with group of 15 people. The captain, Noah, was a 19-year-old and his brother and friend were the first mates. We went to an island that had a hidden beach in the middle. We all snorkeled into a cave-like tunnel to the beach. The current would go in and out of the caves which caused us to not be able to control where we were trying to swim. We were all laughing as we try to stand up or swim because we would be pushed by the current and pulled back in- like a toilet flushing. When you went through the caves you felt like you were being attacked by little needles, but you couldn’t see anything around you. We finally figured out that it was jelly fish that were getting us. It was a weird sensation. On the way back things got a little rowdy when the other group started taking tequila shots. Our little family looked kind of boring next to them all. We were all relaxed but they were all crazy. Many memories!!

In the mist of good times, Joel had an unpleasant experience that put him to bed rest for a couple hours. While snorkeling in our private beach he was stung by a sting ray, but we didn’t know at first what it was. He was stung by his ankle and the tail was still there, so it had to be pulled out. Rachel took the tail and went around asking in Spanish to our neighbors what it was and what to do. She learned that it was a small sting ray and that it was uncommon to see one in this shallow of water. That didn’t help matters, ha-ha. The neighbors had several suggestions: bleach water to clean wound, boil ray plants to place on wound and to take antibiotics. After he woke up he had no pain what-so-ever and felt like he never was stung! It was amazing!

We still talk about the yummy food and the incredible view that we saw everyday. Here is a website of the area and the boat we went on, http://www.sayulitalife.com/business/sse.htm.

Pictures of Sayulita, Mexico

Padre Y Hijas (Daughters)



The Town of Sayulita, Mexico



Rachel and Joel Enjoying Margaritas!



The Cooks of Our Wonderful Homemade Mexican Food!



Madre Y Aud



Strike a Pose Time!



Super Model!


The Future Beer Ad



Padre Y Aud



Trimaran Boat Trip to Island



View from Our House



Padre in Front of Our Week Home Sweet Home



Rachel and Joel Walking



Joel Nursing His Sting Ray Injury



The Tail of the Sting Ray

Random Pictures Over the Year

A picture that Audrey's friend Chas took when out in the Port Angeles Harbor.



LaRae's classroom door that Audrey did for the first day of school, each bee has a student name on it.



Randy's three girls here for the summer enjoying the convertible!



Family shot taken from ski trip last Dec. in Apex Mountain in Canada