A fun Thursday

My friend Tracy's daughter had a pool party for her 5th birthday. There were lots of little kids, perfect weather, cake, toys & a few water balloons too. I think some of the moms enjoyed the water balloons more than the kids. Thanks to Tracy & her parents for hosting at their pool. Always great to see friends you don't see often enough.

Happy Birthday sweet Sami!

Singing to Sami.

Stefanie H. with little Delaney & Ravenna

Chowing down on cupcakes & ice cream.

Checking things out before they make their move.

Thursday AM we were able to meet up with friends of ours who adopted 3 year old Evan from China. Hudson & Evan share the similar birth defect of missing hand/limb. Hudson is missing his hand & Evan is missing his arm from just above the elbow. This is the second time we have got these 2 together & they seemed to really enjoy one another. They are both so handsome & close in age. I think this will be a great friendship for years to come. So thankful to live close to eachother so we can continue to get them together. Evan also has an older sister Anna & brother Brayden. Such a sweet family. Thanks again Steph for organizing.

Checking out the toys at Shadle Park.

Discussing all things important to little boys.

So much fun!

If you know me well enough you know I have my camera in my purse at all times. This digital age has allowed us (me) to document our everyday lives at the slightest whim. My husband is convinced the amount of photographs I have taken of our children is slightly rivaling Paris, Britney, etc... See he is from a family of 12 children. The few photos that survived his childhood through a house fire & quite frankly his parents being too busy with so many kids are few. There is no way to even get close to the amount of pictures Ravenna & Hudson have. I think deep down Stephan has some "childhood picture issues." However, I am not about to let that stop me from snapping away though.
On to my next point, the blog. I love to blog. I am addicted. So for those of you who follow along please bear/bare (not sure which one) with this next slide show....it's a long one. Keep in mind I cut it down significantly. One of the hardest parts is deciding what pictures to add. Really one of my biggest struggles in my daily life. I'm kidding! I know there are some of you who are just as addicted to your blogs/photo taking as me. I won't name any names, you know who you are.
I truly enjoy documenting my children's lives. Throw some family & friends into the mix & there you have our life.
ENJOY, we do!

Just a quick synopsis of this slide show:

• My sister in law Tiffany participated in a sprint triathlon out in Medical Lake, WA. It was so fun to watch her. She has embraced this sport & all her training and hard work is evident & paying off. She placed first in her age group. Way to go Tiff!
• My friends Kara & Rob's daughter Avery had her 2nd birthday party. They live out on Long Lake & had the perfect setting for such a fun party with so many kids. They had a bounce castle, water slide, kiddie pools, and 2 little battery powered 4 wheelers my children took a particular liking to. It was a perfect day & so fun to get parents & kids together at once. Thanks so much for such a fun party, the kids & I had a ball.
• On Sunday my mom and aunt Barb had a shower for my cousin in law Kolby. She is having her 3rd little boy in August. Those are the pictures of Ravenna & Hudson in the daisies.
• Since the weather has been so nice we got our little kiddie pool out. It provides plenty of entertainment for these little 2 year olds & some neighbor kids. It is a quick fix if we aren't at the lake.
• The last set of pictures is of my sister in law's birthday party. Alicia or Aunty Lala turned 44 yesterday. Some of my other sister in laws brought the kids out to nana & papa's pool today for some fun time together. Alicia made it out after work for some good food, cake, presents & time with her nieces & nephews who love her so. Happy Birthday Aunty Lala! We love you!
• On a side note, my father in law was actually seen in his swim shorts today and not putzing around his place. The only thing that slows him down is his grandkids. Good thing there were plenty of them out there today!
  
  
  

Kelly, Kelly

My good friend from college Kelly (Simpson) came to visit from Portland. She just finished her school year teaching ESL to 6th graders. She is headed down to travel the Baja with her boyfriend for the month of July, but was able to squeeze in a little Priest Lake time & meet Hudson. Every time we get together it's like we never miss a beat. We catch up & continually laugh about our wonderfully great time in college at the University of Idaho. I love you dearly Simps! Thanks for such a great visit & have fun in Baja!

Getting some dinner at Cavanaugh Bay Resort.

Hudson, playing in the freezing water with Nolan & Brayden (his 2nd cousins). It's great to see these boys, cause we don't often enough. They all had a ball together.
Nolan is so good with the little kids. Ravenna especially loved Nolan.
Quasi Moto? No just Ravenna after being bit by a mosquito in the same place twice. The swelling is finally almost gone 3 days later. Poor little Boo!
Singing with grandma on Uncle Doug's swing.

Cute Kelly getting bundled up for the 4 wheeler ride back to the cabin.Kelly & Hudson looking north up Priest...so pretty!

Checking things out at the Leonard Paul Store in Coolin. Kelly's first time 4 wheeling, probably not her last....she loved it.

Down by the marina in Coolin.

Maybe these will help me see better through this swollen eye?

Showing off his new "Lightning McQueen" shorts from grandma & grandpa.

Whitefish or Bust

We loaded up the Budget truck & made the trip over to "Big Sky Country". We now have a residence in Whitefish, MT. We call it the "little condo". Which is precisely what it is. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how the whole move went. After lots of painting, cleaning, unpacking, & rearranging we have a "homey" little place to land over there. It will be great for Stephan as his work continues to get busier in Hungry Horse. It will also be a great spot for the kids and I to be during our Montana stays. I wouldn't be a big fan living full time out of a 2 bed, 2 bath place, but we feel luckky to have it. Here are a few snapshots of our week.

Thank you to Grandpa for help loading the truck with Stephan. And a huge thank you to James, his friend Cody & O'brien for help unloading & carrying up 3 flights of stairs. YUCK!

Our new place in Whitefish! 2 blocks from downtown, 15 minutes from Whitefish Mtn. ski hill, and 1 block from their path which follows Whitefish River & Lake. A perfect location for us!

Our first dinner in the condo. Healthy as you can see.

I asked Ravenna if she wanted to sleep in her "pak-n-play" and she said no & pointed to her big girl bed. With a little sadness I let her sleep in her big girl bed. And just like that my little girl, got a little bigger. Don't worry she is still in her crib at home.

Hudson in his new bed, the first night.

This is the town of Stephan's development. I have been dying to get a picture by this sign for years, so we finally did so.

Another first for us. Hudson got his first hair cut. He did great!

So handsome!

Father's Day at the pool at Ironhorse.

On the way home to Spokane!

3 months

We have had the pleasure of having Hudson in our lives for 3 months. In some ways it seems like he has always been part of our family & other times I remember how short it has been. Either way we are so fortunate!
So here's to our little man!
He is so many things but here are a few of my favorite descriptions: a constant & rather loud talker, quick learner, wonderful brother, lover/snuggler, mimicker, bike rider, reader, and our son!

Farm Chicks

I went to "The Farm Chicks" show this afternoon with my sister in law Alicia & my mother in law Irene. It was FANTASTIC! For those of you who don't know what "The Farm Chicks" is checkout their website http://www.thefarmchicks.com/. One of the founders Serena (the brown haired one on their website) is a friend of the families. It was at the fairgrounds this year which I thought would take away from the "funky" feel of years/locations past. I was wrong. They did a wonderful job with music, decorations, and vendors (the best yet). We went on the tail end of the show, so I was a little concerned there wouldn't be much selection left. I was wrong again. First of all there were no crowds, and there were great deals to be had as it was the end of the show. The vendors were into selling rather than packing things up again. I was in my heaven! It was just what I was hoping for. This would be a really fun "girls weekend" event for the future.

Thank you to my husband for watching our 2 little monkeys, so I could make this show.

There were so many cute/funky things!

Check out some of our finds. The cute decoupage table I got for $25!

Thank you Lish & Ron for picking up some of the "loot" with your truck & Irene for carting 2 of my tables home for me.

Seattle

Highlights of our weekend in Seattle

• Ravenna getting car sick on the way over Friday afternoon
• Meeting up with Stephan & other friends for dinner Friday night at Bucca di Beppo's
• Space Needle with kids Saturday AM
• Mariners game at 1pm (the kids enjoyed all the happenings)
• A walk along the waterfront of Lake Union & dinner with the Oster's, Haff's & Kenny's
• Went swimming with the kids before bed Saturday night
• Sunday went to Pike Place Market to take in the sights & buy some gorgeous flowers
• Headed down to Gig Harbor to stay with our friends Dave & Kristen Gormley
• Had a wonderful dinner & sampled some of their fabulous wine collection (we're not big wine connoisseurs but they sure tasted great...thanks so much Gormley's)
• The kids had fun playing together.
• Monday headed home with a stop at Snoqualmie Falls, North Bend outlets & a little fuel for our bellies at Moses Lake Perkins

Another weekend of firsts for our kiddos, so fun to watch them experience life.