Memorial Day Weekend

We had great weather this weekend for my niece and nephew's birthday playdate @ Birch Bay. Uncle Beav planned a great activity: make an island of sand to stand on after the tide comes in. With 2 shovels and a wheel barrow they went to work. Above is the tribe on the sand island! The girls loved sitting in the warm tide pools and playing in the sand. Above is cousin Tabby - relaxing in the sun. Lesha made us all a wonderful lunch w/ cupcakes for dessert.... but the Overstreet twins prefered shells and rocks! Above is Honor's shell snack & Justice is chilling is his cute hat. Julie got a nasty cut on her foot from a clam of all things....but she is recovering fine.

Tim and I got to go out bowling with my brothers on Friday night and Sat. after the beach we had dinner w/ my folks and brother Josh and his kiddos. We played w/ them till bed time!

On Sunday we met my brother @ church then went back to the Elenbaas's to celebrate Oma's birthday and officially say "bye" to Aunt Brooke who has been visiting from Texas. Brooke made some yummy Indian style food. We also got to see baby Trey :)

We couldnt head home without seeing my bro 1 more time so we went to Cornwall park for a picnic dinner: THEN HOME!! Monday was spent sleeping in and working in our backyard.

Baby Trey

Yippie! It's a boy. Our nephew/cousin was born on the 18th @ a healthy 8.5 lbs. We went up to meet him, and give our congrats to his mommy & daddy! . Alyssa and Jake could only peek through the window to see him. He has been jaundice, but is doing better. We look forward to all the visits to come!

Julie is 13!

Our precious freckly Shmoopy is a teen! She wanted waffles for her birthday dinner & had ice cream for dessert. She got many calls from relatives and some cards in the mail. The Allinson family came over that weekend and celebrated with us too. She is loved!!

We had a great Easter weekend with both sides of our family. A cool thing on my side, was Josh's girlfriend introduced us to the Mexican tradition of cascarones. Dyed eggs filled w/ confetti- to be broken on the heads of others. On Tim's side it was nice to see everyone- especially the little Overstreet twins, and my sister in laws preggo belly (she just delivered today so stay tuned for related post). Julie turned 13 last Tues!! Aack- I have a teen. She wanted waffles for her birthday dinner. I am planning on taking her 13 yr photos soon.

We made it through conferences and report cards. Right now Jacob is involved in Chess club through the school, and Alyssa is doing indoor co-ed soccer through the YMCA. Julie is just trying to keep her grades up and go to youth group.

Before spring break we took the kids to a christian rock concert at Key Arena. They had a great time and we picked a sponsor child from The Dominican Republic.

For spring break the kids spent 2 nights @ both grandparents & Solon & I went to Vegas.

The weather was nice except the day we left. Some firsts for us in Vegas were: visiting Freemont St., going up in the Stratosphere (above picture), and going to see a Cirque de Solei show "O" (it was awesome!). We also took a bus tour to The Grand Canyon ( above pic), it was very pretty...and I wish we had more time there!

Back home the weather has been so nice! My youngest brother played at a darts championship in Shelton. I went down to meet him, my other bro, & their ladies. His team only won their first game, but they got a bit of moolah to play w/ at the casino. I had a good time.

Solon & I celebrated our 13th anniversary yesterday. We just went out for a nice family dinner & rented a movie.

Now Easter is upon us! We will celebrate w/ my family Sat. & Solon's on Sunday. Then I need to focus and plan Julie's 13TH!!

Almost March

I cant believe it is almost March! There is still snow on & off. My bulbs are poking up out of the ground...I guess the squirrels missed some. Solon played Frisbee outside with the kids last weekend. It is fun to get out in the yard as a family when it's nice out. Here are the kids competing for the frisbee.

52 card...I mean DAY pickup

So really it's been MORE than 52 days since my last update. Funny thing about 52 card pick up is: I was playing speed w/ Solon recently w/ a new deck of cards. He was winning of course, so I pouted saying "you're gonna play 52 card pick up". He then replied " you wanna play 52 card pick up?", and bent the deck of cards in his hand....well they were brand new crisp cards...so they shot out of his hand INTO my eyeball. ouch! After I beat him I forgave him.
Anyway, Christmas was great. The kids said it was their best yet. In Bellingham,We got to see alot of both sides of the family! Everyone knows how much snow there was over Christmas break....it was fun sometimes (like when we were pulled on inner tubes behind the tractor by Uncle Nicci or Uncle Beav), but not so fun driving or being stuck at home some of the days.
New Years Eve was fun too. We went to the Allinson's. Ate great food and played lots of games. We had a potluck with some of our old college days friends too.
It's back to the regular hectic schedule. Alyssa turned 7 on Jan 22! We had a fun party ....thanks to the bouncy house we borrowed from Ricardo. Payton and Mackenzie spent the night, which was also fun.