Happy Holidays!

What? No pictures?
Can you believe it? I did not take one single Christmas picture this year. What the heck is wrong with me?
I think now that the kids are getting older and we're all getting busier that digging out the camera didn't seem important.
Now that we have teenagers that like to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, Christmas morning doesn't start near as early as it did in years gone by. The kids didn't get up until 9:00 on Christmas morning. They opened their stockings and presents and then we just hung out during the day. I pulled out the china and the good silverware for Christmas dinner and we ate in the dining room. These are things that rarely happen in our house, so it is truly a special event when this occurs.
The kids got most of their Christmas wishes and have cash to go buy the things they didn't get. There will be very little returning this year...a very good thing!
Based on the Christmas gifts I received from my friends, I've deducted that they all think I've been really stressed out....or.... I need to bathe more often! I'm going to go with the first option, just to make myself feel better! I got lots of lovely home spa goodies. I think I can take a different scented bubble bath every day of the week without repeating a scent. I'm not complaining...I think its really sweet that all of my friends think I need to pamper myself a little more and were trying to get that through my very thick head. I even received a gift certificate to my favorite spa in Tacoma, which will be used with great pleasure!
Tim and I have no special plans for New Years Eve this year and the kids are at their other parents'. Timmy has a really bad cold and isn't feeling too hot. I have tons of studying to do before my last exam next Friday. I think we'll just hang out and maybe go out for dinner. Our activity level will be determined by how Tim is feeling by then. You know he's sick when he cancels his Friday morning "breakfast with the boys", which he did this morning. Other than the wedding we are attending tomorrow, most of my weekend will be spent with the books and practice tests. Sounds fun, doesn't it? We really know how to party-in the New Year! Whoo Hoo!
I hope Santa brought you everything you were wishing for and that the New Year brings you nothing but joy and good health!
I won't be sorry to put 2007 to rest. It has been a year of varying challenges in my work and personal life. I'm looking forward to a much more peaceful and joyful 2008!
Happy Holidays!

It snowed!

Today is my Family Christmas party with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. Its a tradition that dates back long before I was even born. This year it's our turn to host the party and in about an hour, 40 people will show up on my door step. In the Christmas spirit, this morning it snowed! I took this opportunity to make the kids pose for our annual Christmas photo (our personal photographer was a little busy this year planning for her wedding, so I had to take the shot myself - pity!). Anyway, this isn't the photo we are using for the Christmas cards, but it was really cute, so I blogged it. The kids are so grown up!
Watch your mailbox for the "real" Lewis/Babbitt children Christmas picture.

I Passed!!!!!

This morning I passed my Series 9 Securities Licensing (Supervisory Options) exam! Whoo Hoo! (The photo is my celebration cocktail!)

That's 3 exams down and only one left to go! I can see the light at the end of this long tunnel, but it is still very faint. The Series 10 is the exam I have left, which is a 4-hour supervisory-level exam. Once that test is successfully completed, I will have met all of the hurdles for my new manager job at Merrill. It's been a long busy year, with lots of life changes.

I haven't blogged much lately. I've been really busy dealing with my Dad's estate, the year-end workload at the office, and studying for these exams. Last week I spent a few days in San Francisco taking a crash-course for these exams. The weather was a beautiful and sunny 60 degrees. I came back to all the nasty rain and wind here in Washington.

What else is new in the Babbitt/Lewis household?
Both Rose and Kaitlyn are finishing up Driver's Ed this week. Rose has been driving with her permit since last summer, but needed to complete Driver's Ed before she could get her license. I imagine that will be just around the corner. Kaitlyn started Driver's Ed and driving at the beginning of November. It is definitely a test of my patience (I fail that test frequently!) but she is doing pretty well considering the short amount of time. Unfortunately, she can't drive at her Dad's house as they only have stick-shift vehicles, so she's limited to the times she can actually get behind the wheel.

This weekend kicks off the Holiday Party season. Tim and I are going to a party on Friday night, Saturday night, and hosting my family Christmas party on Sunday afternoon. It will be a whirl-wind weekend. Next weekend is the Merrill Lynch office parties and hopefully we'll have some time to get together with our friends during the Season!

Tim is busy working and doing training. He spent part of last week in Yakima teaching a class for one of their customers. This week he's teaching a class in Kent.

We are busy little beavers, as is everyone else this time of year. I will try and be better about blogging and include photos in the future. Our kids are growing up so fast and look so different from last year's Christmas photo. I have to find time to sneak in a group shot for this year's cards. I'll just add that to the every growing list of to-do's!