It’s been a full and blessed year for the Haleys in 2009 and they’d like to share some of the highlights. (The blue, underlined words are links to pictures on smugmug or to other sites.)
As grandparents, they successfully navigated two of their grandkids – Mya and Austin - becoming teenagers. The parents on the other hand…well let’s just say they’ve done a lot of commenting on what THEY must have been like for Cheryl and Doug when they were teens. LOL The remaining nine grandkids: Taylor, Serena and Tanner turned 11, Reghan and Kinley turned 10, Ashton and Makenah turned 6, Ella turned 4 and Josiah turned 3.
The year started with Doug losing his job at Agros due to a lay-off. Through a lot of prayer and networking, he was employed again within a month as the interim Director of Development for LATCH - a coalition of Lutheran congregations whose mission is to build safe and nurturing communities that recognize the right to affordable housing. While there, a response came to an earlier inquiry about an opening for an office manager with a Seattle law firm. After several interviews, he started at Ellis, Li & McKinstry PLLC on April 15th as their Office Manager overseeing office operations, H/R, benefits, IT and accounting. It’s been an incredible opportunity for him – one he is enjoying very much!
Cheryl remains with Skyline Properties where her role has been somewhat modified over the year. She was able to take some of her duties, namely the Bellevue Office Manager role, off her plate and concentrate on Corporate Operations.
Social networking – Facebook, Twitter, etc. – became a part of Cheryl and Doug's life this past year. They both have re-connected with friends from junior and senior high, previous jobs and long-lost friends. As a result of these reconnections, Cheryl spent a weekend in Colville with a “best friend” from High School and Doug attended a reunion of Cordell Hull Junior High classmates – both in October. They’ve connected with friends that are local and as far away as France and Germany. They still enjoy the more personal & private sharing on MyFamily, but Facebook allows them to be a more frequent part of their extended family and friend’s everyday life. They are on face book as Cheryl Haley and as Doug Haley.
With the change in jobs they decided to remain in their Kent home for the time being, although future plans still include selling and setting off on an adventure in a motorhome or 5th wheel.
The year chronologically…
First of all, they had a wonderful 2008 Christmas including time with Doug's sisters Diana and Debbie, and a belated Christmas Eve with Marissa and her family. 
January saw them kicking off the New Year in Boise again. Their trip included lots of fun time with family, a ski/boarding trip to Bogus Basin and a 16 hour ride home due to closed passes. Check out the pictures here as well as their blog post about the trip.
Also in January, they had visitors from Germany – Michael and Marit. Michael was a foreign exchange student that spent a school year with Cheryl’s family some 15 years ago. Cheryl and Doug enjoyed showing them the Emerald City. Check out - Michael and Marit.
February found them headed back to Boise to celebrate Arvid’s (Cheryl’s Dad) 75th birthday. A photographer was hired to come take pictures of the whole family!
In March Doug ran his 7th straight St. Patrick’s Day Dash. His brothers Dan and Greg, as well as Greg’s wife Gwen, all from Spokane, joined in on the new, longer course. Snow fell on all of them as they waited to run and they were all wet and cold at the end… It was the first race since Doug's heart surgery two-and-a-half years earlier, where he actually ran the entire race, rather than alternating between walking and running. No speed record set but an accomplishment. Cheryl plans on doing the 2010 dash with him and he is hoping that 2010 will include more runs than 2009.
April found them winging their way to Ventura, California. There they visited with Doug's Mom and Ed, met up with friends of Cheryl for some time at the beach (Doug even tried surfing…), visited Tijuana and of course visited some wineries, this time in the Temecula area.
Check out the blog posts and links to pictures: In May they traveled to Salt Lake City where they spent a few days with Cheryl’s daughter Monica at the Lagoon. Somehow Doug can’t find any pictures from this trip… :( They spent time at the park – Doug loves water parks! – took in a movie and enjoyed eating out.
May also included a trip to Westport, WA for some Halibut fishing. Doug joined Wes (the organizer), Kenny, Colin, Inder, Abhinav, his Dad, Uncle Tom, Uncle Kenny and his sons-in-law Johnny and Stephen. Stephen however, had to leave early due to the death of his grandpa. Check out some pictures here. Doug came home with some great halibut and lingcod.
June included a sturgeon fishing trip to Astoria, Oregon where they got skunked (NOT EVEN a bite!),
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celebration of Doug's sister Diana’s 50th birthday (Doug is not sure how she got to be OLDER than him…) and the arrival of Monica’s kids – Mya, Tanner and Reghan for a week-long stay. .jpg)
Oh and they can’t forget Doug's Dad’s motorhome catching on fire in front of there house! No one hurt and the motorhome was repaired and back on the road within a couple of weeks.In July they headed for Ocean Shores with Mya, Tanner and Reghan for the 4th of July weekend.
They were blessed with a hotel right on the beach and a wonderful time. And upon their return to Seattle activities included a Mariner’s game and drive-in movie where they all sat outside in lawn chairs and watched Ice Age 3. .jpg)
Check out some pictures of their fun with the grandkids here..jpg)
Later in July, Austin (Talya’s oldest) arrived for a two week-stay. He started his visit and ended his visit with Doug and Cheryl, mainly due to their proximity to the airport. He visited with other relatives, including his Aunt Marissa, his Dad Tony and his Grandma Diane. Here are some pictures of some time with Marissa.
August saw the arrival of Caleb to spend a SeaFair weekend with his Mom.
Doug had the opportunity to go on a “guys” motorcycle ride to
Loomis, WA and was gone for the weekend.
August also included a visit from Cheryl’s other son Greg, his wife Megan and their children Makenah, Ella and Josiah. They were in Seattle for a long weekend and Doug and Cheryl managed, as usual, to cram a LOT in!.jpg)
September started with the bi-annual Darrington reunion over Labor Day weekend.
Over 200 pictures of the weekend that included nearly 100 members of the family can be seen here.
Cheryl’s nephew Brian married Courtney in September. This allowed Doug and Cheryl a trip to Sandpoint, Idaho and a stay on Lake Pend Oreille. They actually rode the Gold Wing to the wedding - 870 miles roundtrip!September also included a weekend visit from Cheryl’s brother Kevin and his wife Janet.
They all enjoyed the sites of Seattle, including a visit to the Seattle Underground and you can read more about it here and take in some pictures here.October was a little slower for them… Cheryl went to Colville for the weekend to reconnect with a “best friend” from High School and Doug attended a small reunion of friends from Junior High. What fun to reconnect and hear about everyone’s life. You look back at where they have come from and realize they have all turned out pretty darn good considering the curve balls life has thrown them.
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They did manage a day away when Doug surprised Cheryl with an Amtrak ride to Portland and a play - August: Osage County.Cheryl’s parents visited in October
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and included a trip to Paradise, Mount Rainier for lunch!And did someone say October was “slower”?
November brought Doug and Cheryl's 4th Anniversary and a weekend trip to the Olympic Peninsula planned by Cheryl as a surprise. They did some wine tasting, attended a wine-maker’s dinner and did some shopping. Read all about it:
November also included a Seahawk game – Doug's first in 6+ years and Cheryl’s first. They experienced a rare win against the Lions! Yeah!!
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They also rented a condo in McCall, Idaho where they spent the Thanksgiving weekend with Cheryl’s children and their families. They had a great time visiting, watching movies, playing games, sledding and of course, eating! Haha
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Check out the wonderful (if Doug says so himself…) pictures here..jpg)
So far December has included a 2nd Seahawk game (they beat the 49ers) and Christmas parties galore. Doug and Cheryl will be celebrating Christmas Eve with Doug's daughter Marissa and her family. Then on Christmas Day they will head to Spokane where there will be skiing at Schweitzer Mountain and visiting with Doug's family – Dad and Linda, and brothers, sister, nephews and nieces.
Well, wow…it really has been a full year! And they didn’t even tell you about Taylor’s baseball and Ashton’s football games, or about all of there motorcycle rides – they put over 11,000 miles on the Gold Wing between April and October. Doug has even been riding it on 16 degree days this month so far!
I guess the Haleys just need to to say they have a very blessed life. They are thankful to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for their health, jobs and beautiful family.
