Mud puddles

 So what do you do in March when the weather is unusually warm and there are puddles from a recent rainy day?  Ride your bikes and jump in the puddles of course! Addy loves to be on her bike and can go forever!

 These two have been buddies since birth and I expect they will continue to be for a very long time. Greyson and Kai loved the chance to get wet and muddy as well.

 Not to be left out. Bennett got into the action as well. Sometimes as a mother you need to let go of the fear of getting dirty and doing laundry and let boys be boys! They had a great time.

Happy Birthday Marin

 In March we celebrated the birthday of our favorite oldest daughter! Hard to believe it's been 9 years since she was born into our family.

Marin is a kind and gracious young lady. Her teachers always comment how helpful she is in class. She is always willing to help those who don't understand something. She is a great big sister to her brothers and sister. Marin loves to read and can often be found lost in a book. She is also a talented author and illustrator who can spend hours writing stories and poetry. Marin is one of the most creative people I know. She recently sewed together a cover for her mp3 player and stitched a pillow by hand without a pattern. Marin is great with younger children and is keen to make sure all are involved. Marin loves to be in the kitchen and is learning how to be a great cook and follow recipes. She is a sweet child and we are so grateful she is part of our family!

Escape from Wenatchee

 Long winter days and Zach working long hours give us all a case of cabin fever. So when a 4 day weekend appeared in February the kids and I took full advantage and went to visit Seattle. It was a beautiful sunny day going over Snoqualmie Pass.

 We stopped at the LDS Temple in Bellevue for a picnic lunch. Thankfully the good weather followed us over the mountains.

 No use asking for a nice picture, after 2 hours in the car this is what you get!

 Next stop was Dizzy's TumbleBus just down from the temple. Here we met a friend from college who still lives in the area. Her kids are the same ages as mine roughly, but alas no pics were taken together.  The kids did have fun playing on the equipment and running off their endless energy.

                                                               Rock a bye Addy!

 Head first is definitely the best way to go down the slide!
Especially when the landing is guaranteed to be soft!

 Just hangin' around.

 We met up with our friend Lisa, again no pictures. But we got to eat a Georges in Kirkland. It was perfect, pancakes for the kids and yummy greek food for the adults. The pancake dinner was topped off by popsicles at Lisa's house!

 Who wouldn't love popsicles before bed?

 This is a rare sight and probably the last time it will happen. All four kids asleep on one full size futon! Sweet dreams....adventures await you in the morning!

 Yay for a sunny winter day in Seattle. Here we went to one of my favorite places...Pike Place Market!

 What's a visit to the market without some mini doughnuts?

 Yep finger lickin' good!

 It was a bit windy and cold, so we didn't spend much time outside, but we loved the sun!

 After the market we were all starving so Lisa treated us to lunch at the new Nieman Marcus in Bellevue.

Check out the cute cups of chicken broth!

Greyson's lunch was equally cute. PB&J on white complete with the crusts cut off, a little cup of fruit and potato chips. The kids also enjoyed shirley temples for the first time. A royal treat! We had a fantastic time, thanks to Lisa for hosting us it was a much needed break from small town life.

Catch up?

Dear poor neglected blog....now that the slower days of summer are here, it is my intention to get caught up. Mainly for my own benefit and journaling for our family.

Home for Christmas

First things first, once we got back home we had to make sugar cookies!

 Mmmmm more sprinkles Addy!

 Nope he doesn't like cookies at all...

 See?? Total ham!

 Ahhh quiet on Christmas Eve....looks like everything is ready!

 Stockings filled with care....

And....the aftermath!

Greyson's favorite thing....a beginner snowboard!

Christmas with the family

 After Seattle we headed to Vancouver to spend some quality time with the grandparents. 

Puzzles were put together.

 Saw the big tree in Pioneer Square, downtown Portland

 mmmm making poached eggs for eggs benedict, a Christmas tradition with my mom's side of the family.

Soooo cute! All the boy cousins gathered around one little ipod watching Bennett play games! They stayed like this for a good 10 minutes!

Doin' the big city!

 A class for Zach in Seattle gave us the perfect opportunity to play! We drove over after school and had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. ( I used to work here in college) boy that brought back some old memories of college days and living in the city!

 This is what we do with 2 queen beds! Fly from one to the other! Isn't that what you are supposed to do in hotels?

 Mmmm yummy belgian waffles for breakfast!

 We took the stairs instead of the elevator and the banisters were perfect for gliding down the stairs!

 After a great breakfast and getting everything out to the car, we headed for the Seattle Children's Museum, where Greyson promptly caught his little sister.

 We loved all that there was to do there. I love this picture because it captures Marin, she is a great big sister! Always willing to help especially Bennett. He was getting into his firefighter gear.

 Santa was there and the kids stayed a safe distance for the picture. Bennett wanted nothing to do with Santa or the picture but finally caved when a candy cane was offered.

 There were displays of living and getting around in different places. I think this was from Indonesia, but I could be wrong.

 Mmmm yummy fake mexican food to order and serve.

 It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Seattle! The fountain was on and the kids loved watching it and running around the outside edge.

 Dancing to the music

Isn't he the cutest 7yr old ever? He's always willing to pose and smile for me when the camera comes out!

Holiday Merry-Making

At last the holidays are upon us and we love doing all we can to celebrate~

 Wenatchee operates a miniature railroad at RiverFront Park. It was freezing outside when we went for a ride, but it was FREE! We love free activities!

 It just cracks me up when Bennett wears this hat, he said he wanted to be a clown! It fits his playful, goofy, class clown personality.

 A holiday tradition....Aunt Julie called up and wanted to make gingerbread houses, she even brought all the stuff! So fun!  Good thing I took a picture because Greyson's house fell down after the picture was taken.

 Marin takes lots of time and attention to detail on her house.

Addy and her classic head tilt while I take her picture. She loves to create as well.

Bennett made one too, but he wouldn't stay in one place long enough to get a good picture so you'll have to take my word on that one.

 We were all set up to take family pics outside, but then the snow storm hit and it was snowing heavily so we ditched that idea and set up the camera on ladder with the timer.  This picture was my favorite because the personality comes out. But alas I wasn't the only one making the decision

This one was the winner. 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!