September 2010

In the month of September, the weather stayed pretty nice, which I was so happy about! Anyone who lives around here, knows how once it starts to rain and get cold, it lasts forever, so we all hang and try to take advantage of every last sunny day!!



This was one of those last few days of summer, and I took my kids, and some of my in-laws kiddos to Lundeen park so they could play on the toys, play in the sand, and of course feed the ducks!




I've realized that Chris and I hardly ever get any pictures together, because one of us (usually me) is always taking the pictures, and I hate asking people to take pictures for me. But this was one of those rare occasions, where we were without our kids, (at my friend Katie's beautiful wedding) and I had someone take our picture, so I thought I would post it!!



We had a few "firsts" this month! Charli had her first ballet class! I guess technically it was called "creative movement". Anyways she was sooooooo excited, mostly because the child loves nothing more than to dress up and dance around! You are aloud to wear pretty much what you want, as long as you have bare feet, so we had fun with that, and got her lots of fun tutus!!




Charli also had her first day of preschool!! I wasn't sure what she was going to think at first, but she has LOVED it from her first step in the door! She attends Elim Christian Preschool, and I love it, she learns so much, has made lots of new friends, and does the coolest (some times messiest) art projects that I would never think to do at home! She's had field trips, activities, and even a Christmas play! Here she is on her first day with her two best friends Grace Bates, and Grace Mitchell!

That's Brooks arm on the left. He and I both wish he could have stayed!!

They learned very quickly to recognize and write their own name!

Here she is on day one, with Ms. Teresa, one of her teachers. Ms, Felicia is her other teacher, and she loves them both!

This is that classic picture that we all take of our child on the front step before the big first day, with a back pack on, and a big smile!! I'm so happy she had such a wonderful experience with preschool this year! I will be sad when it's over in May, but looking forward to next year already!


When it comes to brooks in the month of September, he hit one major mile stone, and that's WALKING!!!! It took him a little longer than Charli who walked at ten months, but I was in no hurry to speed him up, because after walking comes, running, climbing, and therefor getting into EVERYTHING..... which is where we're at now! But of course we were proud of our little boy!!

The last big event of September, was finding out we are expecting baby number 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who didn't already know, I'm due May 18th, and we're having another little baby boy!! I'm seriously praying for a mellow child, considering Brooks is the busiest, craziest kid, who does and goes where ever he feels like, and throws major fits when he doesn't get his way:) ......we NEED an easy baby!! Hahaha! When I found out, I decided to let Brooks be the one to tell Chris, so I found this shirt, and waited for Chris to FINALLY notice what it said!! (it says big brother) His first response was "Whats up with Brooks shirt... did you get it on sale or something, because it doesn't make any sense" There's Chris for ya! But moments later he put it together, and we had a fun night celebrating the big news!

August 2010

August was so hard to go back and recap, because we did so many fun things, a lot of which I didn't take any pictures of! We had such a fun summer, and August was as jam packed as it could have been, from trips to Chelan, camping, the fair, countless trips to parks and beaches, days and days spent at Chris's mom's pool, bbq's, and the list goes on! But I'll start with one of August biggest events in our family, which was Brooks first birthday! We didn't really have a theme, just had lots of friends and family over to have cake and ice cream and jump in the bounce house! Brooks had a blast, and so did we! We love our little boy so much, and couldn't imagine our lives without him! Happy birthday to our little Brooks!!





He's just hangin out before his party



Opening presents! He got waaaaay to much cool stuff!




Charli like all kids, loved helping him open his presents!




We tried to make all the kids line up youngest to oldest to hit the pinata, and it didn't take them long to bust it open

Brooks didn't disappoint when in came time to dig into his cake!

Brooks with his uncle Bucky, and his little cousin Eddie! They recently moved to NYC and we miss them like Crazy!! It was such a fun night, and we lucked out that we had perfect weather for both our kids birthday's!!

We actually made a couple trips to Chelan in August, but I combined these pictures. I absolutely LOVE going to Chelan, any chance I get! Sometimes it may seem like a hassle to pack up the kids, and the dogs, and go for a 3 hour drive, but its ALWAYS worth it! We fish, wake board, intertube, hang out at the beach, smores at night, bbq, boat rides, play at the playground, and swim at the pool. And that's just the summer time!

Here's Charli and Bella, patiently waiting their turn to go go-carting with their Dads!!

Charli loved it!

Tiana, Chris, Torrin, and Brian, showing off their big catch of the day!

Brooks Relaxin with Dad!!! Brooks is seriously obsessed with Chris! He goes to him over me EVERY time!! Although it hurts my feelings a little bit....... Its the cutest thing ever!

Swingin!

Brooks driven the boat like a pro!

Charli wake boarding with her Aunti Katie!! I couldn't believe she was brave enough to try this! I was so proud of her! And Katie is seriously a Pro!

One of Charli's favorite things about being on a boat, is holding up the orange flag, regardless if anyone's in the water of not! I had so many pictures of our trips to Chelan, I wish I was patient enough to put more up here, but lets just say we had SOOOO much fun! Looking at these pictures makes me so excited to go again ASAP!!

One day when Chris was in Alaska, I drove down to Portland to see my family!! Its always great to see them, and on this particular day, we took the kids to the Portland Zoo which was pretty awesome! This is my kids and I, with all my brothers and sisters. Ben, Danielle (holding Brooks), Anna, Charli, Me, and Nick..... Blue shorts is a stranger....

Kind of puts in perspective how big a polar beat is.....

I've never seen anything like this, but it was Amazing!! There were two black bears that were wrestling around like crazy, and growling loud enough for people on the other side of the zoo to hear! It was a super fun day, like always when we drive down there.

I wish I took more pictures of this day, because it was Incredible!! All my sister-in-law's (that live in state) and I were lucky enough to be able to celebrate Lindsay's 18th birthday, and my mother-in-law set us all up with a full spa day at the Gene Juerez at the Bellevue Galleria! We're talking Spa manicure, pedicure, spa facial, massage, Swiss shower, hair cut, makeup, and an amazing catered lunch!! Lindsay needs to turn 18 every year!!

This is all of us after our day. We stopped at Trophy Cupcakes and lit a candle for Lindsay!

Random cute pictures of the Forest Park Petting Zoo!

Charli kept asking me to take this little baby cow home......

Last but not least we had a really fun camping trip at Chris's Dad's property on Whidbey Island. The Mitchell's came with us, and the Bates came up for the first day!! In the summer, its one of the most beautiful places ever. It's peaceful, quiet, and secluded, but at the same time, its two minutes away from the beach, and only a ferry ride away from home! We love it there!

Here's the kids with "Missy" the deer. This is Bill's (friend of the family who takes care of the property) best friend! He loves this deer, and this deer loves bill!! She lives on the property, but comes and goes as she pleases, so you're lucky if you ever see her, and this trip we were lucky!!

Charli and Paisley fishing!

Brooks!

Some of the girls hangin out in the John Deer!! This was such a fun camping trip, I can't wait to do it again this summer. I guess I can't wait for summer in General! Every sunny day we get, it's amazing what a good mood I'm in! I hope this coming August is half as fun as the last one:)

July 2010

To start my recap of July, we might as well start at the 4th!!! Chris once again was in Alaska for our fourth of July celebration, but lets just say he was probably warmer there, then we were that night!! Just take a look at what Charli's wearing, and you'll have an idea of how cold it was. Crazy for July. It was a fun night though, the Hilton's in our ward invited us to their dock on Lake Stevens to watch the fireworks, and it was a perfect view, to see all the firework shows in Seattle, and all the local shows off the lake! Brooks slept through the whole shebang, so you won't see any pictures of him:) Over all it was a great night, just super cold.




This is a step up from the year before when Charli was so scared of the fireworks, she spent the night crying, and slept in my bed! She actually enjoyed doing a few sparklers!!




All bundled up!




I didn't get any cool fireworks in this picture, but you get the idea.






One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to go to Chris's Mom's condo in Lake Chelan!! Its beautiful, the weathers always perfect, and you're guaranteed a great time! We go any chance we get! So one weekend, we stole a few of Judy's kiddos, and took off for the weekend!



Chris was really good at finding gigantic pieces of drift wood, dragging them into the water, and making super fun rafts for the kids!

Chris, Torrin, Tiana, Kofi and Charli

Big smiles from Charli and Tiana!

Tiana's great to have around, she's defiantly my little helper, and just loves, loves, loves, Brooks!!

Ahh cute:)

These next pics, are just some random days of summer fun! here is Charli and her cousin bella, at Mukilto Beach, one sunny day

Brooks and his cousin Mateo, who are only a month apart, same day!

Our kids had way too much fun, in our little blow up pool I put in our back yard!

These next pictures are a little backwards, but they are of Charli's first "Princess Party" She was then and still is now our little princess, and I mean that literally! There is nothing she would rather do than dress up and pretend she is a princess. So for her third birthday party, there was no question in what kind of party it would be!




This is Brooks in "the bounce house" We decided to get one for the kids for both their birthdays:) they LOVE it!! Its seriously so amazing, because in the summer it goes outside, and in the winter, and on rainy days, we put it up in our living room, and the kids go crazy!

Charli in her new bounce house

This birthday was extra special for Charli because the one and only "Cinderella" made a special appearance, and even read the kids a story about a princess, and gave the book to Charli!! Seriousy Charli still talks about Cinderella coming to her birthday, 10 months later!! A HUGE thank you to my friend Rachael for agreeing to come to her birthday!! You were a hit!!

When she left, all the girls were telling their parents that "the real" Cinderella was there!! She played the part from start to finish!

Cinderella Getting ready to read a story to the kids

Our future softball player!

All the little Princess's ....and the handsome Prince!

Charli helping Dad set up!

I tired to make the table cute..... but let me say, the slightest bit of wind made that a challenge! Its amazing what a small and I mean tiny breeze will to to paper plates and napkins!! This party was a lot of work, but it was completely worth it! I can't wait to do more birthday parties in the future, especially when my kids will actually be old enough to really remember them! It was truly a perfect night!

Our little Cinderella, in her new Cinderella outfit!