The Stachelski Family

Monday, January 19, 2009

Las Vegas... a birthday SURPRISE for Amber!

Jamie and I have been planning this surprise since September...and we did it!! I was going to be in Vegas with Bravo so Jamie & I decided it would be great to surprise Amber there for our 30th Birthday! So Jamie told her that he "won" a trip to Vegas & got her up there Thursday afternoon. Dan and I walked into the bar at the Treasure Island hotel & she just about fell out of her chair. It was so great! She was so surprised. Dan & Jessica met us down there too. We all had a blast!

Out for Dinner

Jamie, Amber, Dan & I in front of the Mirage Hotel...just watched the volcano explode- very cool!

Jessica, Amber & I at Tao for dinner

Old Town Vegas...trying on crazy hats

Happy 30th Birthday!

Twins!

...totally Amber- Another crazy hat

...but we settled with some cool caps instead :)

Dan caught our "surprise" on video....pretty funny (he was talking on the phone at the same time so that is why he is recording the ground at first-hahha)

Happy New Year - 2009

We celebrated New Years with some friends this year and had a great time. Here are a few pictures....

12 o'clock...Happy New Year!

Crazy lights on Dan's face

Kretz was DJing the event....

Rebecca & JJ

Dan & I

Kretz & his DJ Crew

Jessica & Rebecca...Hot Mamas!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

{ Our First Snow...}

Well, today we received our first snow! We were supposed to get snow yesterday & really did not get any...and Mr. Dan was not a happy camper- until, about 9AM this morning...the flakes began to fall. Dan stayed home today so we all got to hang out together. We played in the snow on our driveway this afternoon & the kids were exhausted afterwards & took great naps! Later we walked up to dinner with our friends about 5PM. It was so beautiful...the sun had just gone down & the snow was still falling. I love how silent it is when it is snowing too. The guys then hit the big hill next to our house and ZOOMED down on Geoffrey's crazy nice sled. All-in-all....it was a great day!

Snow on the back of our deck

Bailey building a mini Frosty. She loves Frosty the Snowman right now

Peyton & Daddy

Dan LOVES the snow :)

sledding down our driveway

Ms. Peyton in her sled...she could not move very well...we had her bundled up pretty well- hahah

Peyton trying out the sled

Go Peyties!

Getting ready to face the snow again & walk to dinner

{ All Aboard!...time to get on the Snoqualmie Express }

This year we decided to do the Santa Train. The train leaves from the North Bend station & travels down to the Snoqualmie station. The trip was about 15 minutes & the kids had so much fun! We were able to do this with a bunch of our neighbors

On the train...going to see Santa

The girls see the trains every time they go to school...and today they got to ride on the train. They were so excited

After the train stopped in Snoqualmie, we got off & poked around the Snoqualmie Train Station for about an hour. We played around the trains, ate cookies (as you can tell above Ms. Peyton is loving!) and even got to see Santa!

Aleksey & Peyton

Daddy & the girls playing by the BIG trains

Cutie Pie Peyton

Sweet Ms. Bailey

Daddy & Peyton

Mommy & Peyton

Waiting for the train to come back....and the Sheriff below was keeping everyone in line :)

Bailey has not been to hot about sitting on Santa's lap...but she felt much better visiting with her best buddy Cole

Back on the train & time to head home

Choo-Choo! It was a great day :)

{ Here comes Santa Claus....on a Fire Truck! }

Our fabulous neighbors, Dee & Mark (AKA Lita & Papa) bid on the "Santa Fire Truck" every year at the Snoqualmie Fire Dept Auction. So, all the neighborhood kids gather at their house & all of a sudden you can hear sirens from down the street and here comes SANTA! Santa comes with his bag full of gifts (that we gave Dee the week before) & he calls out each child's name...so they get an actual gift from Santa! There were about 20 kids here this year....it was very, very cute! Thank you Lita & Papa!

Here comes Santa!

Santa and Aleksey

Ms. Presley was not too sure about Santa...hahaha- I love these kinds of pictures!

And then Santa is off, to deliver more gives to other kiddos in the neighborhood. Bye Santa!

The kiddos watched him drive away in amazement- so cute!

Griffin & Bailey watching Santa leave

{ Gearing up for Christmas }

It was super rainy at the beginning of December & we made a last minute decision to go to "Redmond Lights" downtown Redmond. It poured all day & cleared up for us around 4PM. I am so glad we decided to go....it was a great way to kick of the Christmas Season. Bailey is SO excited for Santa this year. Here are a few pictures from our night ...

Bailey, Mom, Peyton & Daddy