one more warner

What have you been up to little girl? (It's been a year!!!)

4th of July

The Warner's donned their finest red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th. BBQ, sun, fun and fireworks with friends at the river!

Celebrating Grammie

We celebrated the matriarch of our family the best way we knew how...wine tasting in the beautiful Willamette valley! It was a beautiful afternoon of beverage, surprises, and time celebrating our favorite...Grammie!

Trip to Tennessee

Saying good-bye to our favorite girl, Ashlin, and the Sample family was tough. We had lots of fun memories with this not-so-little family.

We couldn't stay away from them long...secret planning between the two moms, and we pulled off a surprise girl's trip to Tennessee for some much needed hugs.

It was a week full of fun - pool time, shopping, water park, amusement park, getting "seconds" (ear piercings) with Ash and when these two get together there is always cheer!

The flight home gave us girls the opportunity for some more hugs from our family in Denver (thank you long layover!). So good to see and visit with cousins Sean and Bailey, and get time with Aunt Diane!

Wildfires

The Rocky Mountain high, unfortunately, didn't last long. A few days after returning home, historic wildfires hit Oregon, including the Santiam Canyon where Grammie and Papa live. A 1:00 a.m. evacuation, including Elizabeth the cat, brought them to our house in Salem where they stayed for a week. A very emotional week. Our saving grace was their Ring camera where we watched the fiery sky, and luckily, had some peace-of-mind that their home was still standing. Our world stood still for a week - locked-in because of a pandemic and living in smoke and ash. They were able to return home to minimal damage. Many, many, MANY, others were not so lucky.

Before and after's of the river...

Elizabeth making herself right at home at the Warner's for a week.

Start of 4th grade

As with everything this year, forth grade started out a little different. Full-time virtual school different. Although she had her first day of school picture, in her first day of school outfit, and our obligatory day one white chucks - it was back upstairs to her computer for her first day of school. We are so lucky to have a smart and independent little girl. She got through her school day, following her schedule, navigating technology and remembering to unmute! So proud of her resilience and perseverance. I, on the other hand, am still working on the mute skill.

Our girl came back

She didn't stay away long! While most of her family continued to settle in Tennessee, Ashlin was able to come back to Oregon to complete her high school career. We were so lucky to be one of her surrogate families while she finished her senior year in high school and cheer. We got the honor of accompanying her to her senior pictures - we got to sneak in on a few as well. She may not be a part of our family by blood, but she sure is by love! We love this girl to the moon and back. We will have to say good-bye again soon as she heads off to her next journey, to college and to cheer as a Tennessee Volunteer cheerleader...but we aren't ready for those tears again, yet.

Halloween

Trips to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving and our annual trick-or-treating with friends. Our "Broken Doll" once again brought her "A-game" in spooky celebration.

Coast

The Warner family took a little getaway to our favorite spot on the Oregon coast - Seaside/Astoria. There is just something about this spot that I love and look forward to revisiting over and over. Maybe it's the coastal atmosphere, maybe it's spending time with our good friends who live there, maybe it's the breweries. Maybe it's just being able to get away and just spend time...

Back to the gym

Some COVID restrictions lifted which meant getting back in the gym. Back to somewhat normal, back to doing what she loves best. Protocols were different - masks on in the gym, six feet of social distance at all times, consistent sanitizer and handwashing, and no parents in the lobby - but the smile on the faces, behind the masks, remained the same and were priceless!

Thanksgiving

Lots to be thankful for - but even more was to come, as we were right in the middle of selling our house during the holiday. Stress may have been one reason we overloaded on turkey and beer. Or maybe not...

Parker has become quite the cake decorator!

Thanksgiving tradition continues...finding the perfect Christmas tree.

Christmas

We had another great Christmas at the river with Grammie and Papa. Grammie always has a theme for her tree...of course it's only apropos for it to be "2020" - complete with toilet paper, masks, and murder hornet ornaments, as well as ornaments for a year of memories including Parker and mommy braces. Every year, we give Grammie a themed nutcracker...I am very much my mother's daughter.

Reading a letter from Santa...

New year, New home

We literally welcomed the new year, by moving into a new home on January 1. While it was (kind of) sad leaving our first family home (1300 sqft) we promoted up to a new beautiful house (3000+ sqft) that checked all the boxes on our wish list. Daddy got a dream man cave, mommy got an actual office, and Tillie got a fenced back yard. Parker's wish list came true courtesy of Papa and Grammie. They spent days on Parker's palace by demo-ing and adding an archway between her bedroom and "hangout room". Something every spoiled 9 year old should have. We absolutely LOVE our new home, and we scored in the neighbor department! (Looking at you Harris's, Mahi's and Smith's!)

In progress...

final product!

The many talents of papa

Moving to a new home ignited the talents of Papa. We kept him busy - we asked and we received! We are proud owners of Papa originals - a sofa table, side table, man cave bar, and décor galore. His creativity and skills never cease to amaze. We are so spoiled by him, his talents and the fact that he likes to create!

Snow place like home

We weren't in the house long before the snow came - luckily our bestie Ella and her family knew the perfect sledding spot for an afternoon of chilly fun.

Following the snow, came a crazy ice storm. Lot's of power outages and damage to trees and homes. Nature is amazing...so much damage, so beautiful, so scary.

Competitions and facemasks

Cheer must go on! We still had a cheer season, although a unique one. Competitions became virtual, and facemasks became part of the uniform. The girls were persevering, worked hard, and when the camera's turned on, so did they.

Watching livestreamed results...

Back to school

As restrictions lifted, Parker was able to go back to school...kind of. Two days a week, Parker got to be in class with half of her class (the other half going opposite days). School doesn't look the same - desks are spaced 6' apart, kids staying the same distance from each other, masks are mandatory, lunch is at your desk and sanitizer is at every corner. But...she. got. to. go. back. to. school!!! Seeing friends and TWO recesses makes it all worth it. Dropping her off that first day of in-person school was like any other first day of school...yes, I cried.

Daddy celebrates another year

Daddy celebrated another year around the sun. Papa made him personalized cornhole boards, Parker made him a complimenting cake. He's got some pretty awesome caddy's on his team.

The love of baking (and decorating)

Parker love exercising her creativity in decorating cakes ("happy birthday papa", "thank you Grammie and Papa", and "Happy Chinese New Year") - then she moved on to cookies! Our friends Katie and Wyatt came over to teach Parker how to make "made-from-scratch" sugar cookies.

Bunny

Another Easter at the river. We found the bunny at the local coffee shop - she must have left a good impression because he left some eggs behind the next day.

Her Easter scavenger hunt ended in the river outhouse! tee hee...classy!

Boise bound

While most of the season was virtual, we did get to travel to one in-person cheer comp. Boise didn't disappoint. Seeing the girls (without masks) smiling and leaving their heart on the stage was priceless. Results may not have been what we wanted - but it's not the place in the competition that we'll remember, it's the memories made that we'll never forget - the roadtrip with Parker and Ashlin, celebrating Parker's first travel competition, and Ashlin's last competition as a senior. Lots of team stunting in the pools and terrace. Good food, new friends, and Bar 812.

That's a wrap

Boise meant the end of the 2020-21 cheer season - which also meant the end of season showcase and awards. Once again, the gym thought out-of-the-box and made this event COVID safe and special for athletes and parents.

My heart...

Parker won the "Spirit Award" on team Shimmer. I think this award sums her up pretty well.

The spirit stick symbolizes the heart of cheerleading….we were looking for a consistent positive attitude, someone who encourages others, a cooperative team player, and an ever-present smile. This person rarely complains, can be found pumping up the team, cheering everybody on & displaying great sportsmanship in all situations.

It's the big ONE ZERO

And just like that - she's 10. It feels like it happened overnight - she became a beautiful, responsible, independent young lady.

And in true Warner form - we had not one, but three events celebrating our girl.

Neighborhood Girl's party - we had a special celebration with two best friends. These three amigos (also known as The Neighborhood Girls) had a day full of fun at the river, then home for a sleepover that included lots of squeals, sweets, laughs, and some sleep.

The actual big day - The day she welcomed being a decade old involved fun with family and a few surprises. Sweet cheer friends arranged a surprise ice cream celebration. Again, where there are cheerleaders, there is always someone on someone else's back!

Daddy took the day off to spend the day decorating the house and prepping the birthday girl's favorite meal...ribs. And we couldn't have a rib dinner without our other biggest rib fan (Ash) join us to celebrate our new double digit girl.

The Big 10 party - We took full advantage of Grammie and Papa's house for all the birthday parties this year - holding the big 10th birthday party next to the river with hot dogs, burgers, and s'mores. The rain threatened but couldn't ruin the fun for the littles (and adults)!

Oregon Balloon Decor for the festive win!

Pictures - If you know me, you know I document everything by taking a ridiculous amount of photos. Turning 10 is no exception and such a special occasion was a job for the professionals.

Photos by Dru - Our sweet friend Dru is a teammate who likes to take pictures. She is so genuine, sincere, talented-beyond-words and found her calling (besides cheer). We had a fun day with Dru and her mom, Stacie, capturing the 10-year old! (Photo cred to Dru for the totally cool pic at the top of this post!!)

No Drama Llama! - Last birthday, Parker invited Caesar the No Drama Llama (Google him, you won't regret it!) to her virtual Zoom birthday party. How could we say no to the opportunity to take photos with our beautiful fluffy friend to celebrate this year as well!

Parker-ism's
(Mommy) “Mommy used to go here. Before COVID mommy would go to....”
(Parker) “The bar!”
(Corey loses it.)
- playing Taboo trying to get Parker to guess “the Office”

"This summer went so fast for not even having camp or anything."

- regarding school starting the next day and having more-or-less a six month summer due to the pandemic

Parker sat on my lap one morning and wanted to help me work before online school started. I was creating a document and asked her to type things and had her sound them out. I told her to type "stakeholder engagement". Zoom in...(read: STAY COLDER).