Great-Grandma

Collin and Grandma

My kids are lucky enough to have a Great-Grandma around. Jeremy's Grandma lives fairly close by and, although we don't see her a ton, we appreciate the times we do see her. Unfortunately, my only living Grandpa and Grandma live in Idaho, so that leaves our children left with not really ever getting to know them. Great-Grandma Long came by the other day, along with Great-Aunt Janet and Georgia! They are always so generous and love to see the kids. They had yet to see Collin, so having them stop by was extra fun. Samantha is finally getting used to them and enjoyed playing Barbies with the Aunts and cuddling up with Grandma. Of course, she got some fun gifts, along with Parker. They are NEVER left out! We're excited to be able to celebrate Great-Grandma's 90th birthday soon! It's fun to hear all her stories of growing up and a little about Jeremy's Dad, when he was a kid, as well. Thanks for stopping by and letting us visit with you! (Sadly enough, we have no pictures with Sam and Grandma when she was born)

Lovin' Grandma

With Parker, days after he was born

Christmas 2007

July 4th, 2008, with cousins Taylee, Rohne, and Aunt Emily

Spring Is In The Air!

We've had some FABULOUS weather this past week, minus a couple days. Here's some a couple fun things we've done over the week, enjoying the sunshine! First, being we live right next to the park, we headed there...They had just brought in some new wood chips, so that became the main attraction that day. They had a blast climbing on it, even though I warned them about getting slivers in their feet! Luckily, we had none. Samantha is so dramatic about things like that!

We also played in the water! Mostly Samantha enjoyed it. Parker was too busy playing the dirt! The water activity wasn't planned, so Sam is in clothes...Whatever!

We also took a nice drive to Snoqualmie Falls. It was absolutely beautiful!

The rest of our days were mainly working on the yard (which you'll get a good dose of looking at next!). The kids enjoy that though, because they get to help! They love to get out their shovels and rakes.

Yard Work

Warning: If you like gardening and yard work this may interest you...if not, sorry! We had a busy few days last week. And when I say "we" I mainly mean Jeremy...It all started Wednesday of last week, when Jeremy finally finished the rockwall around our front yard. Our front yard has always been an eye sore to me. I pretty much hated it. So, we (Jeremy) had an idea to make a rockwall around the yard to add some character. Before, our yard just sloped down on the front and side and ran into the street and driveway. Very ugly. It didn't help that the grass on the slopes were pretty much dead and looked disgusting. So, that's where the rockwall came in...to replace those endless edges of our yard. Well, after hours and hours of hauling rocks, it's done!!! Now the fun part! We spent a couple days making it look good, with plants and flowers. We also added a fence, which we'll continue on the other side of the driveway at a later time...It was expensive and exhausting, but well worth it. There's only one more thing to do to complete it, which will be happening soon. We plan on laying some gravel down in front where there's some leftover, ugly grass and weeds in front of the rockwall. It serves as good parking. Anyways, here's a bunch of pictures to help visualize what I'm saying! Oh, our next project is a garden. We got a late start, but we bought some veggies already started, so we shouldn't be too behind. I'll post more on that later.

A Whole Lotta Blogging!

I had a little blogging break. Not intentionally, but a newborn really has taken up ALOT of my time. Well, I finally am taking the time (that I still don't really have) to catch up! So, here's a few posts for ya! Keep scrolling down to get your fill :)

Seattle Aquarium (and a forgotten anniversary!)

Seattle Waterfront

We woke up Monday morning wanting to do something FUN! We finally decided on going to Seattle to the Waterfront and heading to the Aquarium. We hadn't been there since they remodeled it, so we were excited to see what they had done (BTW, not much was remodeled, afterall. Just the enterance. But, it's a really cool enterance!). We had a really great time checking out the boats and water before we headed in. It turned out to be a great day to go to the Aquarium. I guess, being a Monday, not many people were there. It made for great viewing! The kids could actually get up-close and personal with ALL the exibits and animals. We even let Parker run around, not having to worry about losing him. After the Aquarium we walked the waterfront and got ice cream. And, of course, visited some shops. It was a great day!

THEN...that night, around 10:00 p.m. I was rocking Collin and thinking about the day when all of the sudden I realized it was May 4th. YES, May 4th! OUR ANNIVERSARY!!!! I walked out of Collin's room and said to Jeremy "Happy Anniversary." "What?!" He felt really, really bad, but it was fine. I wasn't mad at all. I couldn't be. I forgot too! He apologized and gave me a big hug. I guess having a new baby, a birthday boy, a blessing, and now 3 kids was on our minds. Oh well! Our anniversary ended up being a wonderful day with my family. I couldn't have asked for more. It was perfect! Thank you, honey, for being an amazing husband, father, priesthood holder, provider, and so much more! I love you!

Dad, look at all the boats!

A ferry boat coming in

Checking out some starfish

Jeremy helping the kids at the "hands on" tank

Our little octopus

The kids at the underwater dome. We got lucky and got to watch the fish being fed by a diver. Fun!

That was one BRIGHT tank!

Again, we got lucky and watched the seals being fed and get their teeth brushed. Yeah, they used a sonicare toothbrush!

Sam and Mom

Resting on a neat, carved bench

Samantha being goofy on the dock on our way out

Yes, Collin was there. He slept the whole time! What a good baby.

Parker being a little grouchy. He really need a nap, but he's oh-so-cute!

Collin's Blessing

So, this isn't a great picture (Don't look at me...), but it's all I've got! This was taken this past Sunday, on Collin's blessing day. Jeremy gave Collin a wonderful, special blessing with the help of Grandpa Klein, Great Uncle Matt, and Uncle Jake, who stood in. Collin did great through it, although Jeremy claims he cried a little. I don't know. I didn't hear anything! After sacrament we invited family to come back to our house and have a little lunch of sandwiches (on rolls), salads, fruit, chips, and yummy strawberry shortcake and cheesecake for dessert. It was a great afternoon.

Thomas and MORE Thomas

Parker got quite a bit of Thomas the Train stuff for Christmas this past year. But, for his birthday he got quite a bit more to add to his collection. The main thing we've added to is his BIG track. He sits in his room and plays with his trains and track everyday and he has such a great time. He, so intently, puts each train on the track and watches them while laying down on the floor on his stomach, eye level to the track and trains. The other night I caught him lining all his little trains (versus his big, battery operated trains) on the track and pushing them along as well as he could. I thought it was pretty cute :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Parker!

IT'S A SOCCER PARTY!!!!

Our baby isn't much of a baby anymore. Parker is 2 years old now and it's definately showing. From being a Big Brother, to throwing his 2 year old tantrums. He's getting so big! He's been really obsessed with soccer balls lately, so I decided it would be fun to have a soccer ball party. My mother-in-law is a great cake decorator and helped me with his soccer cake. He was so excited! His favorite word that day was "soccer ball" and "soccer cake." He loved it! We just had a small party with family. It was so fun though! Here's our party through pictures...

Pizza with the cousins

Wiffle Ball

More Wiffle Ball with Dad

What's a soccer party without a little soccer?

Playing and reading with Grandma Klein

Presents!

Cake

Down time ...