Twilight

I know I have a lot of blogging friends out there that absolutely love the Twilight series, so I thought I'd make the announcement that I have FINALLY read Stephanie Meyer's Twilight!!! And...I have to say that I thought it was totally AWESOME!!! I have friends here in my ward and some family members that just couldn't, and still can't, stop talking about it. Plus, every time I checked blogs there was something about Breaking Dawn, so I decided it must be a good book/series if everyone I know is gooshing about it AND it made it to the big screen. I can't believe I was so behind the times with this one! I haven't read a book since Samantha was born. I just haven't made time for it. But, I'm so glad I decided to. It took me a bit longer than the average, crazed Stephanie Meyer fan, only because I've been SO stink'n tired lately! Just this baby, sucking the life out of me...it really gets me so exhausted. So, by the time I have time to read it's getting to be bedtime and I just really need to go to bed. I would start reading and by the 5th page I was out. Well, I had a somewhat burst of energy today and decided today was the day to finish. I read about 150 pages. It's now pushing 11 p.m. or so and I'm done!!! I'm so ready to start the next one. I need to go out and just buy it...tomorrow. I borrowed Twilight from a friend, but I'm gonna want them anyway, so I'll just fork out the money and get it myself. Wait, I guess I need Twilight too if I'm gonna have the whole series on my shelf. Maybe I'll have to buy both. Well, there's my Twilight story. Thanks to all the fans out there that gave me the push, even if you didn't know it. It's great! Now I can see the movie and not feel like a nerd for not even reading the book!

Scary Pond!

So, a little earlier today I had a "mother's worst nightmare" event happen! The kids were playing outside and I was in the sunroom watching them and also playing around on the computer. I noticed that Parker was wandering towards our pond, so I got up to watch exactly where he was going to go and what he was going to do. Our backyard isn't fenced AND we have a pond, so I'm constantly watching to make sure everyone is accounted for. Anyways, he walked up the hill a little and ended up walking right next to the pond (the pond is on a hill, so there's a little drop into one side and the other side is level with the rest of the yard), so I started to get up to go tell him "no" and direct him elsewhere when all of the sudden...SPLASH, right into the pond!!!! He had a little fall too, because he was on the hillside of it. So, luckily I watched him fall in so I was totally ready to run after him. It's not really that far from our deck to the pond, but when you're running to your baby in a pond it's the longest run ever! The whole way to get him I couldn't see him because of a bush and because it's kinda sunken down, but I could hear him splashing. I was so scared! Then right before I got to him, before I could actually see him, it just went silent. I thought for sure he drowned. To my relief he had got himself turned on his back and was bracing himself up with his hands on the sides of the pond (it's a small pond...) and his head was up out of the water. He had the most scared look on his face I've ever seen. Poor kid! Well, he fell in head first, so his head was totally covered in mud and green stuff and he was soaked from head to toe. The only way to get him was to get in myself, so I did. I got him out and hugged him a minute then stripped him down to his diaper then brought him inside to get in the bath. I had to strip down before coming in too. So, here I am in my undies walking through the house holding a screaming, nasty, dirty kid. It was crazy! Now he's clean and happy and just fine. I've never felt that kind of adrenaline though. I've never been in a situation where I have to save my baby like that! Thank goodness everything's ok! Now that I look back, I wished I had a picture of how soaked and muddy he was, but of course that's not the first thing you think of when you're pulling your kid out of a pond! I think we'll be putting a little fence around the pond now. Now we know that even when you're watching closely, accidents happen!

Doin' the Puyallup!

Yep, the good old Puyallup fair has been going on. It's such a big deal around the Seattle area. At one time, it was the largest fair in the country! That's just a tid bit of information that Jeremy shared with me today... Anyways, we went today and had such a good time. We figured, being a week day that there wouldn't be much of a crowd. The crowd was a little more than expected, but totally ok still. Not like any Saturday or anything! It's great because we get in free every year thanks to Jer's aunt, who works in the Art Pavillion at the fair. She gets us free parking too! Thanks Aunt Georgia! Samantha had a blast riding rides and Parker enjoyed the cows. I mostly enjoyed the food. I was hot and tired by the time we got to the animals, so I didn't get any shots of that. Oh well. So, here's a few pics of our fair fun!

Parker, working on a corn dog for lunch.

This huge slide looked really fun. I would have loved to go on some rides, but Samantha always wanted Jer to take her. How sad!

Parker waiting oh so patiently for Samantha to get done with the ride she was on.

I thought for sure Sam would be scared of this "ghost" ride. She wasn't at all. She only said it was loud.

This isn't a great shot, but you get the picture. She loves merry go rounds and of course Jeremy got to go again. Actually, by that time I was used to her wanting to do it with him so I didn't even ask.

Sam milking a pretend cow. The utters were just full of water and they had a bucket there to do some milking.

 

Wild Wild West BBQ

This weekend our Stake (Bellevue South) put on a huge BBQ for us. This is a first. I had never heard of this. We recently got a new Stake President and he had a brilliant idea to have a huge party and invite our non-member friends and neighbors. This BBQ consisted of lots of food, big bouncy toys, pony rides, live bands, balloon animals (done by my talented husband!), magician, face painting, and a dunk tank. LOTS of fun! It is confirmed that at least 2500 people showed up. This was a great missionary effort that seemed to be very successful. They are talking, already, about having another one next year. Jeremy, being the balloon guy, was busy the whole time so I got to run around with the kids myself. I did have some helping hands with Grandma Klein and Emily, my sister-in-law, around. Once they left I spent a lot of time with some friends from my ward and the stake. It was a great Saturday night we had! There was a lot of work put into it and it turned out wonderfully!

A view of the party. Mt. Si is in the background.

Jeremy making the kids their balloon animals. He did this for 4 hours straight!

Samantha loves pony rides!

Samantha and Taylee going down the bouncy toy slide. I think Samantha did this about 10 times. It was her favorite!

Waiting in line for the dunk tank.

This is the moon coming out as it's getting dark. I took this while we were STILL waiting in the dunk tank line. It was really long and for some reason, Sam really wanted to do it.

Finally! Sam didn't hit the target, but they let her push the button in the end. She thought it was so funny!

Here's Sam and her friend, Elisabeth. We were just waiting for Jeremy to get done making balloon animals, already!!! It had been a long afternoon...

Here's Parker. Just proof that he WAS actually there!

Remembering 9/11

I woke up this morning remembering that is was the anniversary of 9/11. It was such a huge day for this whole country and I remember it like it was yesterday...I was in bed, sleeping away, at my parent's house when my mom came in and told me that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. I didn't think much of it, being half asleep. She didn't give details, but I decided to get up and see what the big hoopla was all about. I had a TV in my room, so I turned it on and was in complete shock. I couldn't believe what was happening! And all the live footage was just amazing. I got up and sat in our family room with my mom for hours that day watching the TV, just waiting to see what was going to happen next. Jeremy taught seminary at the time (no, we weren't married yet) and came over to my house after he was done and watched with us. It was such a horrific time and event in our country's history that I can't help but think about it today. To be alive and old enough to understand what the heck was going on...it's something to talk with the kids about someday as they learn about it in their history books. I hope everyone takes some time today to reflect and remember all the lives that were taken, but at the same time, all the heroes that risked their lives that day.

What were you doing on that memorable morning?

Circus!

Again, Sam had a great idea that she wouldn't shake...she wanted to go to the circus. I don't think I've ever been to the circus, so I really had no idea when we would ever make it there. Well, to my surprise I found, on the internet, that the famous Ringling Bros. Circus was coming to town! I quickly ordered tickets and we went to the circus on Saturday morning. We only took Samantha because the thought of keeping Parker in a seat or lap for over 2 hours was exhausting. We ended up having such a great time! It was extremely entertaining, with lots of music, lights, animals, clowns, dancers, and tons of other acts too. I'm really happy we went. The only draw back is that it's expensive and for us, it was kinda a lengthy drive. Of course there were tons of souvenirs and fun things to buy, but we were able to get out of there with only buying food. But, let me tell you, that wasn't cheap either! I mean, cotton candy for $12!!! A little extreme, but we gave in and got it. We also got popcorn and a cute Ringling Bros. water bottle with lemonade in it. Luckily, the popcorn came with a Ring Master's hat, so that was our fun little souvenir that Sam truly loved. It was a great Saturday morning that we spent with Samantha. The day wasn't over yet though...We still had a family dinner to go to at Red Robin that night and I had a baby shower in between those two things. I haven't been that tired in a long time. I was exhausted by the end of the day. It was worth it though! We had such a fun time!

The hour before the show started you were able to go down on the main floor and meet the clowns and see some animals. That's where this is.

Here's the opening act with everyone. There's lots of singing by the Ringmaster and dancers and animals. Fun!

Here's Sam in her Ringmaster hat.

The cage had 7 motorcycles going in all directions at the same time! Totally freaked me out!

Here's the Ringmaster during one of his performances.

The tigers were a hit! Samantha really liked them. She liked all the animals. Jeremy was pretty intrigued too.

Trapeze

Of course you have to have elephants at a circus!

More elephant fun. They did have a bathroom issue during their performance. Every single one of them!!! GROSS!

Closing act with everyone again. SO FUN!

Our Deer Friends

This may not be too exciting for some of you, but I think it's really fun...So, we have this little family of deer that come to our backyard fairly often. Today I was coming up from downstairs and I went into the kitchen to find our new friends eating away at our jungle of weeds and bushes. They are really cute! I was able to sit on our deck for about 10 minutes and just watch them. It's kinda relaxing. Anyway, I thought I'd share the family of deer that come to visit us with you all!

Here's the Momma

The two Babies

Baby #1

Baby #2