Abygail Elizabeth

Abygail Elizabeth was born on October 16, 2008 to my cousin Brent and his wife Emily and their son Micah. Abygail Elizabeth weighed in at 7 pounds, 8ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

She has very long toes!

A Doting Dad
An ecstatic Mom
She seems pretty happy with her family!
Congratulations Brent, Emily & Micah!

Welcome to our family and the world Abygail Elizabeth.

We have been waiting for you!

Tea Party for Terrie

My Aunt Terrie celebrated a birthday on Sept 29th. I have no idea how old she is because I didn't ask! She just so happened to be hanging out with my Mom at her house on the 30th with her granddaughter Trinity. My Mom invited the kids and I over for a Tea Party to celebrate Terrie's birthday. This was Trinity and Terrie's first Tea Party. My children have done lots of tea parties with Grandma, so they knew just what to do to show Terrie and Trinity the ropes. First on the menu was of course Tea. Tea for the adults and milk for the kids. No Tea Party is complete without something sweet. I made mini cupcakes and a mini Heart cake for Terrie. She loves hearts. Red is her favorite color.

Terrie & Trinity blowing out the candle

We also had cookies, grapes, and bear shaped cakes.

My kids really enjoyed the time spent with Grandma and Aunt Terrie. I hope this Tea Party is followed by many more to come! Happy Birthday Terrie. We love you!

Broken Toe and a helpful brother!

Yesterday I was getting ready to mop the kitchen floor. So I moved all my kitchen chairs into the living room. I was walking by the chairs in a rapid pace to reach Mason before he got into something he wasn't supposed to be in. In my haste I stubbed my toe on one of my kitchen chairs. I stubbed it BAD. The chairs are wooden and it isn't the first time I have stubbed a toe on them. It hurt very bad and almost immediately started to swell and turn purple. But I could still walk on it so I just thought it was stubbed. Here it is about 3 hrs after it happened

As the day wore on I felt more pain and it was more swollen. Dave & Mom came over for dinner as well as our friend Landa. They all thought it was getting worse. So we took some more pictures as the night progressed.

When I compared the 2 sets of pictures there was NO denying that it was worse. I took some ibuprofen for the pain and tried to keep it elevated and even iced it for a while. After my guests left and I got the kids into bed I went to bed myself and slept with my foot elevated. In the morning I woke to see this:

Yeah I am pretty sure it is broken. Either that or it is VERY very badly bruised/stubbed. I don't think a Dr could do anything for it and I still can walk on it (albeit not for long periods of time). So I am hoping in few days/weeks I will be back to normal. I am way too busy to deal with a broken toe!
Ignore the fact that my feet are dirty. I was outside trying to help my very loving and helpful brother Dave. He had mercy on me and came over to mow my lawn. I wanted to get it done before Tim got home. Tim has been gone for a week and will be home on Sunday. We are not sure how many days he will get off. It may be just one before he goes back out of town. I did not want him to spend his one day off mowing the lawn, so I had planned on mowing it before he got home. When Dave heard I needed help with that he came over at like 8am to get it done for me. What a sweet brother!

Thanks Dave. You are my hero for the day!!!!!

Diane & Robert come to visit!

Tim's Mom Diane and her boyfriend Robert came to visit us last week. They live in Arizona. We haven't seen Diane since Spring of 2007 and this is our first time meeting Robert. They only stayed 2 days in Spokane and then headed out to see other family and friends. Their visit was short but we feel blessed that they got to see us and the kids even for that short time. The kids really loved connecting with Grandma Diane. We talk about her alot and the kids write to her, but seeing her and being able to play ball with her was a special treat for them. It was also so nice to get to meet Robert. He is a very sweet man and Diane and him seem to be very happy.

The kids were shy at first with both Diane and Robert but after a short time they were climbing in Diane's lap and playing ball with her Robert and Tim. Here are a few pictures.

Jasmyn was the first to climb into Grandma's lap.

Then Mason joined them

Pretty soon Kaleb was playing with them as well.

They stopped playing long enough to pose for this cute picture!Robert
Grandma Diane also got to fix Jasmyn's hair. Jasmyn was just thrilled!
On the last day we went outside to get some family pictures.

Grandma Diane and the kids
Diane & Robert
Tim, Diane, & Kids
The whole gang!
We were sad to see Diane & Robert leave to travel home. We look forward to seeing them the next time they visit. One of these days I would love to travel down and see them. It is warmer in the south. Maybe we will take a nice warm vacation in the middle of the winter one year! We can dream!

Mom has a birthday

I won't reveal the secret of her age. A Lady never tells and a gentleman never asks! LOL! Anyway, she had a birthday on August 10th. We didn't celebrate until the 11th and then we combined Dave's birthday in with hers since he wasn't here in June when his birthday was. I will tell you that Dave turned 35. He likes to think that he is only 30, but since I am 33 and he is 2 years OLDER than me, that makes him the big 35!
For the festivities we all went swimming in the pool at Mom's house. Here are a few pictures of the kids, Tim, Dave and my Mom hanging out in the pool.

Mason Loves to float on his back and kick his feet.

The whole family, except me (hey someone had to take the picture)

Dave. He is such a super star!
After swimming we went up and made dinner. We ate outside on the deck. It was fun. The food was good and the company was great!

After dinner we had Cake and ice cream. I decorated a cake for them. I am starting to really like creating cakes for birthdays. It is fun and lets me be creative. Beside the fact that if it I hate the way it turns out, it still tastes DELICIOUS. No one ever complains about cake! It is a win win even if my decorating looks like a child with a big crayon drew it!

So this cake is a picture of the 4 kids. Kaleb Future Jasmyn & Mason. Dave & Mom both thought the cake was very sweet!

Happy Birthday Mom and Dave. We love you and wish you many more happy birthdays to come!

Uncle David

My kids have been counting down the days until Uncle David gets home. I wanted to make it a positive experience for them. So to prepare them I showed them pictures of them with David, reminded them that he is Future's Dad, and told them how much David loves all of them. We counted down the days until he got home. They were VERY excited to see him. Well Kaleb & Jasmyn said they were excited...LOL! Once we actually saw David they treated him like any other adult that they don't know. They said hello but kept their distance and watched him for awhile until they got more comfortable. I am so happy to say that it hasn't taken long for them to warm up to him. Even Mason, which is the more difficult to convince.

Dave has certainly helped alot by doing things with the kids that provides interaction and some direct attention to them. We went swimming together and David swam underwater and "chased" the kids, he swam with Jasmyn in her life jacket to the deep end of the pool, and he played with a beach ball with Mason. These activities earned him some brownie points with the kiddos.

The next day we saw Dave the kids readily climbed into his lap. So I snapped a few pictures.

Dave & my kids

Then they decided to make silly faces.

Mason became very interested in David's tongue and how far he could stick it out. So Dave and Mason started sticking their tongues out at each other. Jasmyn joined in too.

Tongue lovin' fun!

What NONE of us expected was Mason combining the Tongue fun with his make believe cat personality. He meows at you, rubs against your leg and yes he licks you. All of these things he has seen our cats at home do. So Mason started trying to lick David.

David is NOT happy about this development!

Despite David's best efforts to avoid Mason's tongue but still play the tongue fun game with him.... well Dave got licked...... on his tongue.

We laughed and laughed about these pictures. I think Dave got up and used some mouth wash. Mason thought this was a completely normal way to behave.

He even gave Dave a little smooch to say "tanks for playing"

I give Dave all kinds of props for hanging with Mason during this playtime. I don't even let Mason lick me, let alone any where near my face. But Mason and Dave bonded over that little play session!

After that little play session it was time for dinner. Kaleb wanted to have a tea party. Basically with dinner he wanted to drink juice out of little tiny cups and use the little tiny tea pot to refill the cups over and over. Tea Parties are alot more fun if an adult joins in. Mom and I were still putting the finishing touches on our dinner so Dave sat down and joined the tea party.

Dave's 1st Tea Party!

Those cups look small in the kids hands but they look teeny tiny in Dave's big hands. LOL! He is a good sport!

I am so pleased David is home and that he is connecting with me and my children in such simple but meaningful ways. The kids are starting to make memories with their Uncle Dave. That is a huge part of childhood. Making memories with the ones you love. I feel so blessed that David can be part of making some happy memories with my children and myself.

David is home!

After being away for 3+ years he is finally home. It is an awesome feeling having him back home. This picture was taken at my Moms house in her pool area. I got to see him for a few hours today. I wish it could have been longer, but he has lots of people to see. Besides, he is here now so there will be opportunity to see him and hang out.

Here we are together. I can't even remember the last time we posed for a picture together. It has been years and years. He is taller than I remember! LOL! And we have the same forehead and chin. Thanks Dad for the forehead and Mom for the chin.

I am looking forward to getting to know him again. I need him as much as he needs me. I forgot that until I saw him today. The years he has been gone, not only these past years but the ones before when he was physically here but not mentally, well... we have been robbed of sibling hood. The man I saw today is the one whom I want to get to know again and support, love and respect again.

It is strange that when I was sitting there with him and looking into his eyes that I "saw" him when he looked back. I forgot how piercing his eyes are. How big his teeth and smile are. I see grey hair were once was pink or blond or whatever color he dyed it. I see familiarity but also like meeting someone for the first time. It was very strange.

I am sure that I will be posting more stuff about Dave as time moves forward. He will be a welcome face in my life and heart. I can hardly wait to share that with you all, but more excited to experience it for myself.

4th of July!

We went to my hometown for the 4th of July Parade! It was very fun. After the Parade we went to my Aunt Terrie's house for a family picnic type lunch. Terrie, Brent, Emily, Micah, Ashley, Trinity, Justin & Lizzy, My Mom, My family (except Tim because he had to work) and my friend Katie all were there. We enjoyed each others company very much and the kids had a blast playing with all the cousins!

Here is Jasmyn & Kaleb at the Parade.

Micah slept through the majority of the parade in Brent's lap!
Ashley & Trinity!
L to R: Brent, Micah, Jasmyn, Mary, Mason, Kaleb & Katie
Jasmyn (covering her ears because the fire truck siren was too loud) & Mason sitting with Grandma Mary
After the Parade we had picnic lunch at Terrie's. Trinity smeared Baked Beans, Potato Salad and watermelon all over herself so before we did dishes we gave her a bath in the sink!
Justin relaxing on the couch!

Micah with Uncle Justin

All the kids. L to R: Trinity, Kaleb, Micah, Jasmyn and Mason
Trinity and Jasmyn
Kaleb & Micah
Micah on the little ride on train!

After we ate and hung out inside for a while the kids wanted to play outside. So Mom took them out and tried teaching them to play badminton.

Jasmyn with a racket and Birdie

Kaleb with a racket
Then the guys added some warm water to the pool and the kids got in and played.

Trinity was not too keen on being in with all the kids. Too much splashing I think!

She hung out on the side with either Ashley or Terrie!

Mason was throwing that ball at Grandma Mary
All the kids!

Brent & Micah

The kids, Brent, Emily, Terrie and Mary got in a water fight!
Brent & Mary fighting over a jug of water!
Emily & Micah
Mary & Micah

After the waterplay we got the kids cleaned up. We hung out for a few more hours and then we left to head home. We regrouped at home and then headed downtown to the park to watch our local fireworks. It was a first for my kids seeing big fireworks. Kaleb & Jasmyn loved them. Mason was a bit scared of the big booms, but did warm up to them once he realized that they weren't gonna hurt him. LOL! It was a very fun 4th of July!