Changing jobs for the new year ...

2008 has gotten off to quite the start here in the O'Donnell household. At the end of December I was offered a full time position at DHL and I accepted the position. Once I had put in my letter of resignation to UPS my manager tried to persuade me to stay. It turns out they did a good job persuading me to stay because just Wednesday I accepted an offer. UPS came in at the 11th hour with a great offer for a full time job, I'm now an Industrial Engineer for UPS. They came to me when I only had 2 more days with the company.

I had to then call DHL and let them know the situation and that I wouldn't be starting with them on Monday. It was a tough decision to stay with UPS, but I definitely believe it is a decision that will payoff in the end.

Now it's time to shift schedules a little bit again. I'll be working from 4:30 ish - 1:00 am ish. A little better than what I'm doing now, but more importantly it will allow our family to start getting ahead a little bit and start planning for the future. One of the pre-requisites to taking the job is that I can still coach soccer in the fall and they have said that it shouldn't be a problem, which was very important to me!

So now the question is ... "What can brown do for you?" Pretty cheesy eh?

Happy New Year!!!

We had the opportunity to spend some time with friends on the Olympic Peninsula in Quilcene. It was great to get away from it all and welcome the new year with friends & family . The boys had a great time on the beach, and B learned how to look for Oysters, even though there was no way he would ever eat one. The weather was amazing, for December on the coast.

Brennen walking on the shoreline

BJ with an oyster ... he thinks it is!

We had a chance to get some family pics, much to B's dismay, and took the opportunity. Brennen is so blonde, sometimes his hair blends in with the sky & the sun. I think we got a couple of good ones! (Take note of the shorts Bryan & B are wearing, even in the cold, by the water in DECEMBER!)
Brennen absolutely loved his adventure and the ferry! I don't think there's much that this kid wouldn't try.

Brennen had to be in the front of the ferry, with all the wind

Sunset on the Olympic Peninsula

Goodbye 2007 - we're ready and waiting for the fun and happiness that 2008 brings with it! Happy New Year to all of our friends and family, and may the new year bring you nothing but love, laughter & happiness! Check out more pics from our New Year's Eve!

Christmas '07

It was a great Christmas this year. Both of the boys really got into the whole thing. For the first time, Brennen really understood that Santa brought presents & he had to be good.

It's so much fun for Bryan and I to see Brennen grow & begin to realize things that some of us forget about or take for granted. We always have a great time remembering when B was that age and reminding him how much he cried on Christmas when he was about the same age. He opened one present and just wanted to play with that one present. Brennen, like most aspects, is 180 degrees from B. He dove in headfirst and started opening all of his ... and then some that weren't his.

All in all it was a great day and the boys had a great time. Their annual gift from me (some sort of Nerf dart gun, ball launched) sparked an all out fight between Bryan, B, Brennen, Tim & PJ. Good times had by all, every once in a while it's good to break out the nerf guns and just start shooting at each other. War games in the house!

Brennen was most happy to get his monster trucks from Santa, BJ & his uncles Tim & PJ. Bryan and I were also "thinking" when we bought our kids a hockey / soccer set complete with little goals to fit in the hallway. Only after we were thinking ... "seriously, did we really give our kids sticks to play against each other with?" Good times!

Yea! More monster trucks for Brennen
Don't forget those yummy stocking stuffers early in the morning

Then it snowed! Something we Seattleites are not accustomed to! In fact of all the people I talked to today, none of us could remember the last time we had a white Christmas. B took the opportunity to have a snowball fight with his uncles & managed to hit uncle Timmy & take him out for most of it, I guess it takes one hit just right for a guy and he's done with the snowball fight. It made the day complete!

B playing with his sled on the little hill in our back yard

Maybe he's getting ready to go snowboarding?

Brennen with one of his new toys

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Holidays are coming

It's been a very busy year and so far, a very busy holiday season. We're doing well and today BJ started his winter break. He's very excited for his next couple of weeks off for the holidays. So, things in our house have been buzzing and hopefully 2008 will have many good changes to come!

It's been crazy & I haven't been able to post near as much as I'd like. With the holidays & a little time off, I'll have more time to post! I will post more here soon, I promise.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!