It has been more than 1 year and 3 months since my last update to this website. I am terribly ashamed with myself for not keeping it relatively current.  But I now have the capability of making quick and easy changes to the site so I hope to keep on top of it more frequently.

So, what's happened with the Lam Fam over the last year and a quarter? Well, let me think.... uuuuhhh... let's see....... Oh, sadly, our cat Jade got really sick and had to be put down to sleep.  It was a very sad day for us.  I got her as a present for Samantha about the time we started dating.  I brought her home in an empty Milwaukee's Best Light, half-rack box.  She was a great kitty and we miss her a lot.   As of now we are back to being a one cat family (until Sam shows up with another one).  What else happened this year?  Alex turned 8 years old and is in 2nd Grade. Lily turned 4 and has another year of pre-k before starting kindergarten.  I'm looking at the pictures of them on this site and realize I need to get some more current photos of them.  I had a couple of birthdays as well but I'm not going to say how old I am now (it's too depressing).  Not really, I don't mind being 30 that much.  I just keep reminding myself that most of my friends are older than me and my wife is still younger than me.

Probably the most recent news I have is our trip to Disneyland over New Year '04/'05.  As a Christmas present to the kids we surprised them with a 5 day vacation to Disneyland and California Adventure.  They were totally freaking out about it so I had to capture it on video and post it in the "Media Gallery" video section.  I've also put together a short video of our trip.  You can find that in the video section also.  We had a great time - Lily did every ride that she was big enough to do and now has a list of rides she will never go on again; Big Thunder Mountain, The Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, and pretty much anything fast or scary including the Haunted Mansion when it is not decorated as The Nightmare before Christmas.  Alex did every ride he could get on as well - I think there were only like 2 or 3 that he couldn't do because of height restrictions.  His favorite was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. 

But the biggest news of all has to be our celebrity encounter with Paris and Nikki Hilton.  We were at the Los Angeles Airport waiting to catch our flight home and we stopped in to the Wolfgang Puck's restaurant for a bite to eat.  Oblivious as I am I walked right in and sat down with the kids while Sam waited at the counter to pick up her order.  She scurried over to me with bottled up excitement and said "Chris, that's Paris and Nikki Hilton at the table next to us!"  Holy cow it actually was!  I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by and l luckily we happened to have a little disposable camera with us that Alex got for Christmas.  I told Sam to ask them for a picture but she freaked and ran away to observe from a safe distance.  Being the wonderful father that I am I first gave my son the opportunity to pose with the 2 for a picture.  He didn't want to pull away from his food long enough to get a shot so I moved on to my sweet little Lily Anne.  Who could resist her curly hair and button nose?  Luckily she was willing to be my bait and agreed to come with me.  We walked over to the two and in my most polite way I asked if they wouldn't mind taking a picture with my daughter.  They obliged and stood up for a snap shot.  I picked up Lily, handed her over to Paris, took the picture (praying that the camera would actually work) and said thank you very much.  Paris said "Bye, bye princess" to Lily and that was that.  Click on this link to see the picture. 

So that's what's new with the Lam Fam.  I'd love to hear what's new with you.  Click on the "Feedback" link to send us a message.

Alex celebrated his 7th birthday with 15 of his friends and most of his family at the Snohomish County Children's Museum.  It was a lot of fun and he had a great time!  Some of  the gifts he received include a very cool skateboard, a street hockey set, a football and a tennis racket with balls.  It looks like we're raising a little athlete.  The only things left for him to take up next year might be horse shoes or squash.  We'll have to wait and see.  I've put together a "Photo Gallery" page of his party if you'd like to see some of the pictures.  

Well, it seems that summer has come to an end because Alex is back in school.  He began 1st grade this year and it's the first time he'll be in school all day long.  What will Samantha do with her time?  She's got plenty to keep her busy with helping out in Alex's classroom, playgroup with Lily, serving on the board of the PTA and soooo much more.  Meanwhile, Chris is plugging away at work and Lily is excited to start her preschool 2 days a week.

For her 28th birthday Sam's dad, Bill, took her skydiving at Harvey Field in Snohomish.  From 13,000 feet in the sky they freefell for nearly 60 seconds before opening their chutes.  It was a beautiful summer evening and they said they could see all the way to Seattle.  Not to be outdone, Chris is already planning his jump next July.  Anyone wanna come along?  Be sure to watch the video clip in the "Media Gallery" for an exciting highlight reel.

We all knew it was coming.  Some of us were looking forward to it, some of us not so much.  After all, we've all heard how the 10 year reunion can be kinda lame.  We were planning on going for at least one of the nights because I knew I would regret it if I didn't and there were some friends going who I hadn't seen in a really long time. I ended up going Friday for the casual night at Belltown Billiards while Sam stayed home with the kids and we both attended the formal Saturday night function at the new Everett Train Station and the family picnic at Legion Park.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and I'm really glad we went.  If you weren't able to make it to this one, I hope we see you at the 20.  If I get some pictures I'll post them in the "Media Gallery".