Always keeping an eye on her sisters, doing their hair, getting them ready for school, driving to/from activities, Heather was ready (and mostly obliging) to help and step in when needed. A UW graduate, Heather has made an amazing career for herself in the male-dominated construction world, probably because she's great at managing and multi-tasking. She must have gotten a lot of practice with two little sisters to keep track of!
Leigh and Margo met the summer before 5th grade, when Margo's family moved next door to Leigh's. What a lucky move that was! As their parents (who are now great friends) awkwardly made them all stand in the garage and say 'hi, nice to meet you,' it wasn't long until Leigh was inviting Margo & Lindsey over to make obstacle courses in the yard, walk to the 'little store' to buy candy or going swimming in the lake after school. Throughout their lives, they've maintained an extraordinary friendship with lots of laughter, tons of love, great food and plenty of wine.
Audrey (8) and Norah (turing 6 on June 8, what a party she will have!) are Margo's nieces/ daughters of Heather & her husband, Neil. They are incredibly sweet, smart and very special to both Margo and Mark. This past summer, Margo and Mark moved to West Seattle and it just so happened that the house they fell in love with was half a mile from them. Now, they get to see the girls often and Mark is basically super uncle, picking them up from school, treating them to hot chocolate, playing leggo's and more.
Mark met Kelby when he was born in 1994, and Mark’s life changed forever at that time. Mark immediately loved hanging out with Kelby; watching him grow from an infant to a successful young man has been one the greatest joys of Mark’s life. Mark and Kelby often have good challenging conversations on politics, world events and giving their loving Mom a hard time. Mark and Kelby often love to get a good laugh in with inside jokes and pushing each other’s buttons. Although Kelby currently lives in Europe, they talk on the phone routinely and talk through next steps in each other’s lives and plan the next time they will see each other.
Mark met Cody the summer of 2004 while studying international business in Hungary as part of a Central Washington University study abroad program. Mark and Cody didn’t know each other before the trip, but soon became good friends as they were roommates and the only guys on the trip with six other girls. After returning back to the U.S., they became even better friends, often floating the Yakima River, barbecuing chicken and having a good time. Similar to Mark, Cody is an accountant and the two of them love to travel - they have been to five countries and four continents together.
While Mark was living in Amsterdam, he needed a bright accountant to join his Philips audit team. Mark received Dustin’s name from a recruiter and called for a phone interview. Mark knew right away that Dustin was perfect for the role. A short while later, Dustin moved to Amsterdam and their close friendship began. Mark and Dustin worked very long hours while in Amsterdam and some of their favorite times were decompressing after a long day on their bike ride home. When Mark moved back to Seattle, Dustin decided it was also a good time to move and joined Amazon accounting team. While they don’t work day to day together, they get to have fun both in and outside of work like they used to do in Amsterdam.
Mark joined KPMG right after college and met Todd soon after. Todd was a mentor to Mark, but they also became close as a result of playing in the Seattle CPA basketball league as well as during the KPMG basketball open gyms. Todd and Mark became even better friends when Mark started to work with Todd on a challenging audit. They have a routine of getting chicken wings with each other periodically throughout their friendship and both love the Seahawks and sports. Todd and Charmaine (Todd’s wife) introduced Mark to Margo as Charmaine works with Margo. You can always see Mark practicing his basketball moves on Todd even when we they are not on the basketball court.
Mark first met Jake in the second grade in a fight over a Slurpee. They have since made up.
Jake and Mark had the same fourth grade teacher and immediately hit it off and partnered on a science project. The friendship continued together along with Jake’s brother Nathan, as the three of them would play in the neighborhood and spent the night at each other’s houses almost weekly. In high school, Mark and Jake played on Stadium’s basketball team and continued to be inseparable most of the time. Jake got Mark into the Dave Matthews Band and other good music as well as concerts. You can find Jake and Mark at times bickering about who is right and who is wrong, eating good food, watching sporting events and laughing.
Mark also met Nathan in the second grade and began a friendship a couple of years later. Although a few years older, Nathan and Mark became good friends right away sharing a strong interest in video games as well as playing sports such as basketball. After High School, Nathan joined the military and after discharge moved to Kansas. Mark and Nathan kept up their friendship - Mark visited Nathan multiple times and would make time to catch up over the phone. Nathan moved back to Seattle and almost every weekend since would be hanging out, watching and betting on football games and having a good laugh. Mark and Nathan can get each other laughing so hard that they cry and at times others don’t even know what they are laughing about.