Saturday....whew!

Saturday was a crazy day. We started with a surprise for Hudson & Ravenna. They both love to point out fire engines whenever we drive by one, as I'm sure all kids do. I found out Spokane Parks & Rec was putting on a tour of a fire station & the engines, so I signed them up. They had a great time. The firemen showed us the engine, turned the lights & the siren on, got all suited up in their gear(Ravenna wasn't a big fan of that), and we got a tour of the station. The whole thing lasted about an hour, it was perfect.

Then we were lucky enough to see our little cousin Ruby Montana Byrd be baptised down at the Spokane River. She looked beautiful in her gown & was a perfect little angel during the ceremony. What a gorgeous day for it. So lucky to live near Matt & Stefanie & watch little Ruby grow.

Last but not least our friends the Todd's twin girls turned 5. On Megan & Bridget's invitation it said B.Y.O.B (bring your own bike). There was a bike parade through their neighborhood. It was great evening the kids & parents had a ball. Lots of fun, food, & presents for the 2 sweeties. Thanks to Candi & Tim for always hosting a great party.

Sunday we didn't do much!

Journey, Heart, & Cheap Trick

My good friend Carrie called me this summer & asked if I wanted to see Journey, Heart, & Cheap Trick. We have seen some fabulous concerts together in the past & I always try to never turn down any type of concert. Something about live performances I just love. I have yet to see a bad one. With all that said I went to one of the best last Monday night. It was FANTASTIC for a few reasons: we knew every song (how fun is that?), we had awesome seats (12 rows back on the floor), we had hilarious people around us, and went to a great "happy hour" at Steelheads before the concert to catch up. Thanks Smith, love you!

Journey, doesn't this album cover just bring back great memories?

Carrie & I

The only change was no Steve Perry, which I thought would be a bummer. Until you heard this guy sing, he sounded just like him & was a ball of energy.

Heart, those sisters rock. Makes me wish I could play the electric guitar.

Cheap Trick opened they were so fun!

Birthday Weekend

We had a couple birthday parties to go to this past weekend. The first was a surprise 40th for our great friend TT. His wife Candi never spares any detail & she managed to keep it a surprise until they pulled into the parking lot. The night was a blast. Happy birthday TT, here's to many more fun years & memories with our families.

We saw another great friend we don't see often enough....Frankie. It's hard to describe Frankie, he's the loyalest of friends & always makes you laugh till it hurts (a great combo). You just have to know him, if you do the following pictures will be of no surprise.

Tim & his youngest Emily Jean (getting a little tuckered out).

The infamous Frankie.

Some of the late night dance crew.

Tim & Candi

Happy 40th TT!

"You can never have enough cow bell"

Tom & Frankie trying desperately to be part of the band.

And we digress!

My cousin Erika's daughter Emily turned one. I remember seeing her for the first time, so tiny. Fast forward one year & wow! She is so animated especially these last couple of months. She was content just watching all of us & the kids gathered for her party. Erika & Jacob are expecting their second next year & we know Emily will love being a big sister.

Emily turns 1 year old!

Happy Birthday sweet Emily!

Mom's day

My mom's birthday was August 8th. For a present she wanted a day with just her & I. Fast forward to September 18th and mom got her wish. We started with a little breakfast at Bittersweet Bakery, then to Rockford, on to Coeur d' Alene, and finished up in downtown Spokane. We shopped, talked, laughed, and had just a wonderful day. We were also able to see some wooden boats which were in Coeur d' Alene for the International Wooden Boat Show. They are so beautiful & remind me of a more elegant & opulent time.

I am so thankful for my mom & to live near one another so we can have these memorable days. Thanks so much mom, I love you!

More stain.....really???

Over the 12-14th of September we had a work weekend at the lake. My dad decided to re-stain the WHOLE outside of the cabin. Now keep in mind that the cabin is only in its' 2nd summer. As always though....dad knows best. The new stain is more UV resistant & it looks beautiful (so hopefully we won't have to do it again for a while). We were also able to enjoy some great 90 degree weather on Monday. We went for a boat ride, a last ski, and had a great lunch at Hill's. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work & especially to my dad who makes the "cabin go round."

Spokane Interstate Fair

Thanks grandma & grandpa for such a fun day at the fair!

A "Hudsonism"

-"I love left turns mommy"-

One of Hudson's many, funny, little quotes. This one was uttered while I was driving the other day.

Senate Bill #1738

I just did this for both Maria Cantwell & Patty Murray. It only took 10 minutes. Please help get this bill passed! They go into session Sept. 26th so hurry!
Just go to www.senate.gov, choose your state, select your senators & copy & paste the following letter under "web form".

Help Pass Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act

Hundreds of thousands of children are victims of sexual abuse each year. Due to the sheer lack of resources, law enforcement is unable to follow up on the majority of leads they have.The PROTECT Our Children Act will:

Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators. Act Now!Your U.S. senators will be voting on the bill soon, so it is crucial you contact them immediately.Go to www.senate.gov to find contact information for the senators in your state. Search for your senator by name or state by clicking on the arrow from either drop down menu. Contact information is provided here. To send an e-mail, click on "Web Form" below his or her name, and e-mail your letter to make a difference! Call Your Senators if you choose to contact your senators by phone, be sure to tell them, "Vote yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act."

Dear Senator:

I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured.

Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch).

This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.

(Your name here)

Montana wedding

We headed to the Flathead Valley for another Byrd wedding. This has become a summer event, given the large familiy my husband comes from. I LOVE IT! We welcomed Megan & her daughter Scout to this wonderful family. Brenden is Stephan's cousin & they got married in his parents yard with views of the Flathead River and Glacier National Park. It was a beautiful setting. The kids wore themselves out playing with all of their Montana cousins. We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country. Heck just to live in the USA!

Brenden & Megan

Ravenna & Erika showing their cute little buns.

Jumping with daddy in the wading pool.

Feeding Papa fishy crackers. Papa should consider himself lucky, as my kids don't give up their coveted snacks very easily.

Pre-school & Potty

We had a big week of some pretty important milestones at the Byrd household. Hudson had his first week of pre-school. He goes on Tues/Thurs. mornings & seems to be loving it. He talks about his teacher Mrs. Hooper, St. Charles, snack time, and his cousin Caden who also goes there. I was unsure how he would handle the first day & he just gave me a kiss, waved to me & said "bye bye mommy". This was a different Hudson from the week prior. On orientation night we looked over at Hudson to find him crying in his chair while the teacher was going over things. He looked at Stephan and said "no daddy, no mommy, no Mei Mei, only Hudson?" It just broke my heart. So, fast forward to having one week in the bag & things are going smooth. He is such a happy, kind hearted, energetic little sweetie. We are so proud!

Hudson's first day of pre-school

To preoccupied with things to look at the camera

Big girl Elmo panties
first time going on the potty

A little "privacy" please

I am so proud to announce Ravenna is potty trained!!! In the past she has told us she has to go potty, so we put her on there, and nothing happens. We have done this drill a few times a week for the past couple of months. The other day was different. I heard her in there, fussing with her toilet seat. So I asked if she needed to go, she said yes, and on the toilet she went. She asked for "privacy" and I went about doing whatever it is I do. About 5 minutes later she called out "all done mommy, poopoo" with this big grin on her little face. I couldn't believe it. Hudson & I danced around, rewarded her with M&M's, and went to put on her big girl panties. I figured there is no going back now. Here we are almost 1 week down, and only 3 accidents later. Keep in mind we have been back & forth to Montana (5 hour car ride). She has done such a great job. At night she is still wearing diapers, but still no mess. She wakes up about once in the night & calls for me to go potty and that is that! Being this is my first experience potty training (as Hudson already was) it has been a breeze. I wish I could offer some advice to those who will be traveling down this road, but I have none. Ravenna gets all the credit here!

Kung Fu Panda

We decided to take Hudson & Ravenna to their first movie in a theater. Our choice was Kung Fu Panda at the Garland Theater. For those of you not familiar with the Garland, it's an old "art deco" theater not far from our house & they play movies for $2.50 a person. Kids 3 & under are free. We thought this would be a safe investment if it was a bust. I was pretty confident Hudson would be mesmerized, he loves movies! Ravenna I was a little unsure about. She never watches tv or movies, her attention span lasts about 5 minutes.

Hudson LOVED it, and Ravenna lasted the whole movie. She only started saying "all done" with about 15 minutes left....not bad for her. Another first for our kiddos! What fun it is to experience some of the best memories I had as a child now with my kids.

Plese more

I have been a little behind with things, but that is the way my summer goes. I had to put some pictures on the blog of a family weekend we had. The Plese clan, Eric & Tiffany, Danny, Ron & Lala were able to make it up to spend some time at the cabin, but mostly in the water. It was a hot one! We had lots of laughs, good food & drink, as well as plenty of swimming. It was the first time for some of this crew to see our new cabin. We enjoyed having everyone up.

It was a big weekend for Hudson. He imitated everything his cousin Caden did & that included jumping off of the dock, as well as jumping off the walkway to the dock (which is much higher). He has come a long way in these few months we have had him. Ravenna got a little braver as well & floated in her life jacket by herself. Thanks to her Aunty Lala, Tiffany & Mimi, although we pretty much decided she was touching her tippie toes. It's all about little steps though.
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family & fortunate for the time we get to spend with them.