Alysee/Mom Seattle Science Center

Alysee and I had the opportunity to go on a field trip together with her Honors Science class to the Seattle Pacific Science Center.  The last field trip that I accompanied Alysee was a few years ago and I was a total embarrassment.  I had a really bad cold and took some medicine to curb the cold symptoms.  I ended up being a drooling mess on the bus and couldn't keep my eyes open for the life of me.  This time I was determined to not be the photo opportunity for all of Alysee's friends (on the previous field trip kids were taking pictures of me with the drool and all).

The highlight of the trip was certainly Alysee's best buddy, Micah Ricks.  Micah was just getting ready to move away so it made the trip extra special.

3D I-Max Show

Butterfly Garden

Mirror of Craziness

Love this Girl!!!  And I'm proud to say that I didn't drool or fall asleep the entire trip!

Alex...tennis awesomeness

Tennis wrapped up nicely for Alex.  He played in districts and made it to the second round, losing to the eventual winner of the tournament.

Pretty excited that Alex ended up lettering in Varsity Tennis on his first year playing.

Alex was given some nice compliments by his coach, Nannette McGrath.  Tennis sure ended up being a rewarding experience for Alex.  He is looking forward to next season! 

Mother, I Love You

Happy Mother's Day!

Love MY Man

A tribute goes out to my momma!  I think it is natural as you become a parent to have a greater appreciation to your own parents.  I have always loved my mom but certainly after I have become a mother myself I have truly gain a new appreciation for the dedication and love she has showed each one of my siblings.  Being a mom is tough stuff!

My one and only bikini!

Ladies in Waiting

Never too old to dream...

Ladies in Waiting...Alysee and Chloe

Chloe Takes Off On Two-Wheels

Chloe started asking a few weeks ago if she could paint her bike a girl color.  Her little red bike has gone through all six kids but she decided that she really needed a girl bike.  We told her that after she learned how to ride her bike without training wheels we could take down the bigger girl bike off the garage ceiling and she could use it.  Five minutes later she had convinced Tyler to get the wrench and take off her training wheels. 

 Tyler was so patient with Chloe and spend an afternoon running up and down our driveway.

 Chloe made a lot of progress but still wasn't ready to take off.  A couple of days later she had Alex outside helping her build her confidence.

 After pouting a few times she was ready to have Daddy work his magic. 

 And she's off...

On Saturday I looked out the window and Chloe had gotten on the bike herself (big deal) and ridden out to the mailbox to get the mail. She put the mail in her little basket and road back to the house all on her own.  Several times a piece of mail would fall out of her basket and she would hop off and load her basket up again.  I know it is silly but I got a few tears in my eyes to see her be so independent and keep at it until she got it down.

Crazy to think all of our kids ride two-wheelers now!

Because of Him...Easter 2014

I will forever be grateful for a friend that asked Alex five years ago what our family traditions were for Easter.  His response, "Um...I think we have an Easter egg hunt."  She then proceeded to take pity on our family and invited us to our first passover meal. 

Since that time we have made the week prior to Easter a really beautiful daily reminder of Christ's life and his attributes.  We kicked off Palm Sunday with a tasty meal with our fake palm leaves on the table and then off to a wonderful youth concert celebrating Christ's life.  The following days we made sure to do something special even if it was only for a few minutes after dinner.  We "Egged" a few people's houses, made resurrection cookies, watched a neat video about Christ, gave service, and wrote daily on our L.O.A. (love one another) windows.

Sunday morning I was sure to blast the "Halleluiah" chorus to wake up the last few sleepy heads.  Birch gave a really nice lesson on the symbols of Easter to all the primary children at church.   We all came home from church at the same time (a real treat since Birch was called to be Bishop).

Easter Morning 2014

Sunday afternoon lunch -- our Jerusalem meal with the Andersens

We've kind of nicknamed this meal "The Nasty Meal" but I'm thinking we are going to need to amend that title as it was actually really yummy this year.  We dined on:  marinaded grilled lamb, tilapia, olives, parsley, Mediterranean couscous, dried apricots, pistachios, dates, figs, jicama, jerky, naan bread, resurrection cookies, green salad with sweet vinegar dressing, grapes, white grape juice, honey, pomegranate infused cranberries, and goat cheese.

The kids love it that we are all required to dress up for our Easter meal.  Some day they will thank me, right??

We had a fun little family Easter Egg Hunt with the Andersen ladies after lunch.  Hazel was in sugar heaven!!  She pretty much loves me!

Each child was allowed to find nineteen eggs.  Poor Mila ended up with THREE!  The older kids had the technique of hoarding as many eggs as they could and then at the end they counted to keep just nineteen of them.  

In the end, Mila ended up having her own private hunt with all the extra eggs the bigger kids had taken.

Birch and I were dying over Hazel's saggy diaper bum.

We sure love having the Andersen's back in town!!

A glimpse at our L.O.A. (love one another) windows.

Another beautiful Easter down!

Farewell to Uncle Luke

Hard to believe that our Uncle Lukey is graduating from college and heading off to Japan for his next adventure.  We're so proud of him for finishing his degree and following his dreams.  Luke is one passionate boy...wait, is he a man now?  It's hard to let him grow up. 

Luke has always been creative in the way he makes his money such as participating in medical studies that I wouldn't even think of doing for money.  I'm anxious to see what artistic dreams he follows in Japan.  I only understand about 65% of what Luke digs...music and art; I do love him 100%, though!!

 Luke has had the opportunity to be in several of the new bible videos that have been put out by our church recently.

I spent many years wiping this boy's bum, giving him baths, singing him "How many roads must a man walk down?" to bed, and cheering him on throughout his adventures.  Luke has always been an ORIG...I think these pictures speak for themselves.

  Japan feels awful far away so I'm grateful for technology!  Luke, keep a blog just for me PLEASE!!

The uniqueness doesn't fall far from the tree.

Coop and Uncle Luke love each other and have a special bond...uniqueness!!!

 Coop drew this picture for Uncle Luke of the Clone Wars characters from Star Wars.  

Luke is compassionate, a great cook, terrific masseuse, super fun uncle, talented, creative, and has such a thoughtful intellect about spirituality and ethics.

We're sure going to miss you Uncle Lukey!!!