Jackie Kennedy Portrait with Mom and Babushka December 2005

 

Jacqueline Kennedy's Solo Portrait December 2005

 

The Portraits Are In

In December, Jacqueline, Elena and Svetlana went to Brant's Photographers in Bellevue (where my high school senior portrait was take over 25 years ago) to have some portraits done. They came out great! 

Jacqueline Kennedy Loves Hanging Out with Her Babushka

 

Jacqueline Kennedy with Babushka

Baba Svetlana has been successful in teaching Jackie the joys of books. 

A Rare (?) Pose from Jackie Kennedy

 

Jackie Kennedy at My Gym

 

Jackie Having a Ball at My Gym

 

Mom's Christmas Collage

 

Jacqueline Kennedy hard at work

Jackqueline Kennedy, age 2, hard at work 

Jackie Kennedy makes her first pizza!

This is the first pizza that Jackie ever made (although she has helped eat a lot of pies prior to this) 

3 Generations at Garden D'Lights

 

Merry (Orthodox) Christmas

Just when you thought the holidays were over ... Today is actually Christmas Day in many countries, including Ukraine where my wife Elena is from. So we get to celebrate Christmas again today.

I've been looking for a way to delay Christmas celebration until after the After Christmas Sales - this may be it. Next year we will do all our celebrating on January 7th (if only it was that simple).

Sonics Try to Save their season by firing Weiss

Just as I had written off the Sonic's season as a lost cause, Wally Walker finally made a decision that had to be made. I'm sure Bob Weiss is a nice guy and knows a lot about basketball, but his head coaching was terrible at best. It didn't help him that Ray Allen has been playing like crap and that opposing teams have started really taking advantage of his lack of DEFENSE (like Indiana did the other night).

I hope Bob Hill can pull these guys together, they do have some great talent and if they played defense and rebounded, they could definitely be a playoff team again this year (especially considering how terrible all the teams in their division have been playing). If he cannot get them winning, he should at least be playing Petro - that guy is going to be good!

I guess I will have to start watching the games again and hope that we can string together some victories. Go Sonics!

Jackie & Elena Kennedy with Santa, December 2005

Jackie would not sit on Santa's lap this year, but her mommy got her in a photo with him anyway. 

Brett Farve to Retire?

After watching the Seahawks mostly second and third string lose to the Greenbay Packers to end their great regular season, it was fitting that Brett Farve received so much applause and gratitude from the Packer faithful. The fans stayed long after the game was over and Farve weaved his way through a huge crowd of photographers to wave to them.

The Pack has had a couple of tough seasons, but Farve had a great career and really seems to be a classy guy who has many accomplishments.

If he does retire, and I think he would be smart to do so before his body takes too much more punishment, he will do so on his terms - and will be healthy enough to enjoy the rest of his life. That said, it will be strange to see the Packers with someone else playing quarterback.

The Presidents Rocked the House at EMP on New Years Eve 2005

Last night at Seattle and Paul Allens EMP (Experience Music Project),
the Presidents of the United States of America rocked the packed house and rang in the new year with a rockin show.

They opened the show with a tone-setting "Love Everybody" and there was definitely a lot of love for this great band.

As usual, the Presidents played a highly energetic and entertaining show and a great time was had by all. All three band members concluded their show by literally risking their necks by diving into the crowd.

If you haven't seen the Presidents play before, I highly recommend that you can whenever possible. They have been playing all over the world a lot lately, but they usually make sure they play at least a few shows each year for their hometown Seattle fans.

I had never been to EMP before, but it was a great experience. I look forward to returning frequently (hopefully when it's not quite as crowded) - and especially want to take Jackie there as she continues to love music of all kinds ...

Jason Finn wailing on the drums at the Presidents show at EMP

 
 

Dave Dederer - guitarist for PUSA

 
 

Chris Ballew of PUSA

 
 

Anna Lisa is going to have a baby!

I just found out that my long time friend Anna Lisa Wannack from Humble, Texas is going to be a Mom! Congratulations to her and Todd!

I bet she is going to be a great mother and love have a child. I'm sure I will be writing more about this in the future, but here is the picture she sent as an announcement: