Washington Part II

Self-timer family photo.  It was great to be able to capture this!!  

The fam @ the Bellevue Botanical Gardens 

We found a tree that looked like a J!  Jeremiah had to have a photo by it.  He's posing like quite the model.  

The day after we arrived in Washington, Jeremiah started riding a bike with no training wheels!  This was very exciting - he's been 'riding' his old bike with no pedals to learn how to balance, and the moment he got on this bike with pedals, he was off.  It was like he'd been doing it for months!!  As you can imagine, we spent a lot of time bike riding while we were in Washington. Caleb (who's birthday is the day before Jeremiah's) also got a brand new bike with gears for his birthday, so he was eager to on his new bike, too.  

Anita threw a party for Caleb's 8th birthday while we were there!  It was so fun to celebrate with him and watch him open his gifts.  

The kids love this park and the tire swings.  The boys always want to go faster than Sarah, though.  

We took photos by this tree last year, so we had to take them again!  

(Last years photo - my how they change!) 

Not the best photo, but Caleb is taking karate 3x/week.  We went along to watch his class, and Jeremiah and Sarah were invited to participate in the 3-5 yr old class.  They loved it - I'm on the lookout for a karate class for them here in Phoenix!  

Sarah and Caleb - how cute are they?  

We spent some time on a little beach in Juanita, WA.  They had so much fun playing in the sand.  

Super cool photo by this huge bulldozer!!  

Cute photo of everyone, except Caleb is missing. He was at art class (The kid is a super talented artist already!!)  

We met Thomas the Train!  It was fun. 

Giant Root Beer Floats at XXX Root Beer (yes, that's it real name!!)  

This photo was taken after a fun morning at an 'eco-fair' in Redmond, and on the way to a fun BBQ through Microsoft.  Unfortunately, not long after this photo was taken, we ran out of gas!  On the I-90, which is a busy, busy freeway. Thankfully, we were able to get onto the side of the road safely, and AAA came out with a gallon of gas after about a half hour.  It was definitely hair-raising, it seemed every semi-truck that came by was driving right on the edge of the road - it was terrifying.  I spent a lot of time praying! 

My Aunt Shelley and Uncle Carl were actually in Seattle for an Alaskan cruise.  They've never met J & Sarah, so we got together for dinner at their hip hotel in Seattle.  It was so good to see them, and the kids loved them.  

Jeremiah and Sarah look absolutely comfortable with them!  

Again, with the bike riding.  This is how we spent most of our last few days in Washington.  It was so much fun - we spent a lot of time just doing 'normal' things - hanging around, spending time together.  It was a great vacation, and we miss our Washington family so much!  

Washington/Oregon

The three musketeers were so happy to be reunited.  

We had a chance to watch Caleb's karate class - so fun!  

Shawn and his mom conquered this climbing thing at the playground.  Silly.  

Donut, anyone?  This was his breakfast before we all piled in our 90's minivan to drive to the Oregon Coast. What's the best stop on the way?  PORTLAND!

We got to see Brittany, Justin, Holden and Archer!  We met at a beautiful park in Portland so the kids could run around (and not trash Britt's house) and we could have lunch.  It was so good to see them!! 

Brittany and I - it's safe to say there are NO parks like this in Phoenix! 

Meet Grandpa Ralph and Margaret.  It was so good to see them - Grandpa was quite feisty - he'd occasionally sneak up on Margaret and growl at her, which resulted in her shrieking in terror.  Then they'd laugh and laugh...and not long later he'd pull the same trick.  It was quite funny.  Sarah found that she had a kindred spirit in Grandpa Ralph, as she could communicate via growls (one of her favorite methods).  

Shawn and I on the beach!  

Sarah was so excited to go visit the beaches (which we did) - she's jumping and saying "beach!"

The sunset on our final evening in Neskowin.  It was so much fun visiting Oregon again - the kids had a blast playing, and we had an awesome time visiting with Grandpa Ralph and Margaret. The weather was amazing - last year when we visited it was cold.  This year, it, of course was windy, but it was warm and not freezing.   

It's been too long!!

Life has just been flying by.  Things happens so fast, it seems.  Jeremiah starts kindergarten next month, and we couldn't be more excited...and Sarah keeps growing and growing.  Here's a little recap of what's been going on with us:

We had a weekend 'staycation' at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak.  

It was so much fun and we stayed in a big condo - the kids slept great and 

loved playing in the water park.  

We've been going out to eat, a lot.  

I had a girls weekend with some friends at the Hotel Valley Ho - 

it was so much fun and a great escape! 

Jeremiah had his last day of preschool.  He still misses it, 

but we've been having fun during the day.  

Shawn and I had an amazing weekend away together in Sedona.  

It was so great - I highly recommend weekend getaways for 

ALL married couples. 

Jeremiah had his birthday party at Scooptacular, again.  It 

is so worth it - a great, air conditioned room, the birthday boy made 'cheetah' ice cream, 

and the kids have a blast.  It's the best place to have a birthday party.  

We had a fun pool party with some friends - here's Sarah and Lily.  How cute!

Went to Postino's to celebrate a friends birthday.  

Jeremiah turned the big FIVE!  Shawn took him 

out to breakfast to celebrate  - what a sweet tradition 

to start! 

Then we headed to Revo Burrito for his birthday dinner.  

The kids had their 'white star' swim lessons with the 

City of Phoenix.  They were great!  Sarah started putting her face 

in the water for her teacher.  

Jeremiah, as you can see, was fearless.  He was a little fish! 

He's now in 'red star' and Sarah's in white star again.  

I love the swim lessons - he's learning how to properly 

swim in his new class, and Sarah's still working on going underwater, 

but yesterday she actually jumped in the pool (amazing!) 

and put her head completely underwater.  

We also just returned from a trip to Washington that was nearly 3 weeks...and I'll share that later!  

Funny Quotes: Sarah

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a cleaning person.  No, a pink police officer."

"When will we be there?  This is taking a long time ago!!" 

"Can I be a finfess?"  (princess)

"Can I have some juicy please?"  (She says this while nodding, as if her nodding will encourage you to nod and say yes...a little sales person already!) 

"Mmmmm *slurp slurp*" (said whenever something is particularly delicious)

Month In Photos

Caleb and Anita came for a visit in the beginning of April...

We headed to Coronado Island for a mini-vacation.  

Breakfast by the beach..

Legoland! 

Jeremiah was so happy to get the police helicopter.  

Jaws!! 

Family @ the Hotel Del Coronado 

Playing on the beach... (how cute are they??) 

S'mores on the beach.  

Better photo - but I love them both.  

Family shot before we left - I am wearing LEGGINGS!  Oh my gosh :) 

Easter Family photos in the front yard. 

Egg hunt at Cher's house. 

My little cutie squishy face.  

We went to a "princess ball" 

Jeremiah was my 'date' 

Jeremiah paid very close attention to the dance lessons.  Sarah...did not. 

We went out for sushi afterwards...the kids love sushi (and so do we!) 

This sweet gal had her tonsils out on 4/30.  Well, and her adenoids.  And they cut her frenulum.  

This is what she looked like post-surgery (still groggy). 

This is what she looked like later that day.  No ice cream, ice pop, milk shake could tempt her.  

Oh, and this guy...got pink eye the same day.  Sweet!  (not really)  At one point they were both screaming in her hospital room - she was having an exhausted meltdown, I was attempting to put eyedrops in his eyes.  

Sarah 'performing' her Puggles poem at Awana Awards Night.  

Jeremiah singing his Cubbies song.  

We celebrated at Scooptacular!  (where else!) 

Jeremiah memorized his whole book...and got the little bear on his shoulder!  Go J! 

Grandpa Dan came to visit!!  YAY!

We went to Schnepf Farms. 

How cute are these two?  So many good photo ops at Schnepf Farms. 

More photos with Grandpa. 

Running and jumping into our baby pool.  

Grandpa drawing for the kids.  (he's an amazing artist) 

And THAT'S THAT!  I'll try to stay more on top of things...we're going to be documenting the hilarious things the kids say.