2nd Annual 85 Stoner Block Party Ends Like an Episode of COPS

On August 25th the neighborhood came out for our 2nd annual Stone Avenue block party. Dan was back at it again as the event's official Grill Master. Tons of great food was shared amongst friends and chit-chatting went on well into the evening. However, the party didn't end without its drama. After dark a group of teenagers threw rocks at the block party and the night ended with the kids being chased down, one teenager in a head lock leading him to pass out, and the area surrounded by firetrucks and cop cars. I can report that the Rossi family was not involved in the teenage take down, but we did talk our neighbor Adam into getting us a few pictures with his camera phone while we watched the events unfold. Can't wait until next years party!

Rossi's Celebrate their 5th Anniversary in Disney Style!

On Wednesday August 15th we set out on a 7am flight to L.A. with Amy and our good friend Donnie to celebrate our 5th Anniversary. We spent four full days at Disneyland with one day at Universal Studios. Upon arrival in L.A. we picked our mode of transportation to be a yellow PT Cruiser we called the "Bumble Bee." It just made us laugh to look at it, so we had to have it. The weather was scorching hot (in the high 90's most every day) making it necessary to go on Splash Mountain and any other ride we could get soaked on as many times as possible. We spent one full day at Disney with my friend and college roomie, Kelly (who now lives in LA working for Jeopardy). On this day the gang talked me into going on all of the scary rides at California Adventure (California Screamin Roller Coaster and the Hotel Tower of Terror). Once was enough for me as I begged to go back to Disney and the Pirates of the Caribbean. On Friday August 17th we celebrated our Anniversary with a fabulous dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant (located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride). It is completely candlelit and reminds you of New Orleans. I had the pork chop, Amy Salmon, and the boys prime rib. We ended the evening standing in a long line for the new Finding Nemo ride (we didn't get on until after midnight and it was a bit of a let down). Other highlights included my three corn dogs at Disney (probably the best I've ever had), getting completely soaked on the Jurassic Park Ride at Universal Studios, seeing Will Smith filming Hancock on the Universal lot (a highlight for the rest of the gang as I couldn't see him), and spending time at our hotel pool sipping Pina Coladas. Favorite rides (besides the scary ones) included Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Indiana Jones Ride (we had to get our daily dose of these). While I think I've exhausted Disneyland in California for a while, I am now open to visiting all of the Disneylands in the world (just a fun travel goal of mine).

3 Alarm BBQ Places 1st in Pulled Pork!

On Saturday August 11th we left the Mitchell's cabin and headed to Chehalis for Dan and Dad's 3rd Annual Cascade Country Cook-Off BBQ Competition. They fired up their smokers around 10pm and BBQ'd through the night (Dan taking the late shift until 4am). They turned in pork butt, brisket, chicken and ribs throughout the day on Sunday. At 5pm the awards were announced and we were pleasantly surprised (although we knew they had it in 'em) when we heard it announced "3 Alarm BBQ First Place in Pulled Pork." Quite impressive knowing they beat out 21 teams!!! They also placed 9th in Chicken and 6th overall. They came home with a nice trophy and wood cutting board for the pork along with over $200 in prize money. Dad also took home a trophy for the "Best 50's Car" at the car show that was taking place alongside the BBQ competition. WAY TO GO 3 ALARM BBQ!

85 Stoners leave the neighborhood and head out to Trent and Rachelle's Cabin

On Friday August 10th Dan and I headed out to our neighbor's family cabin (Trent, Rachelle, and Kylee Mitchell). We left around 8pm on Friday night and drove to the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry. Their cabin was a short drive off of the ferry where we met up with more of our neighbors and a few more of the Mitchell's friends. That evening we sat outside on the deck chatting into the evening. The next morning it was a very short walk over to the Puget Sound where we got a lesson in Skimboarding from Trent. We also enjoyed playing a friendly game of tennis with our neighbors, Brian and Emily (who are due with their first baby in November). We also took several pictures of three baby raccoons that made their way onto the cabin deck and up a tree right in front of us. It was a great time had by all. We left late afternoon on Saturday and drove to Chehalis for Dan and Dad's annual BBQ competition.

Baby Spacciante is born

Congratulations Leah and Anthony. Baby "Kate Irene Spacciante" was born last night (August 6th). Lucky for me, she was born at UW Medical Center, so I was able to spend some time with her on my lunch hour. Isn't she CUTE!!!!

Street of Dreams

On Saturday July 28th Dan and I headed out for our annual Seattle Street of Dreams date. As always, we had a great time dreaming and scheming about how we too would one day have our dream home. While we didn't find a home that matched our favorite home last year (The Retreat) there was one home that we thought we could live with :) After touring the homes we headed over to the Red Hook Brewery for a little pub grub. To visit the Street of Dreams website go to http://www.seattlestreetofdreams.com

Help me supermodel social worker!

That's right people...this just proves what we all already knew. The great Mandita is a very handsome lady! It is for this reason that she was picked to represent the University of Washington Medical Center in the 2007 swimsuit calendar and hospital poster. I'll only show you the poster because she's in a see through top in the calendar. We're all very proud of Mandy and I'm harboring secret hopes that her modeling career will take off and she'll become my sugar mama!