Memorial Day Weekend Tradition

Last year marked the first year of a Memorial Day Hiking trip with the guys. These guys spend weeks planning on where they will hike, what they will eat, who's bringing the tent and the cooking stove etc... This year 5 of them took off for the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains near Joseph, Oregon. They were better prepared this year as well with snow shoes (they learned that lesson from last year) Which you'll see from the pictures the snow shoes were highly needed! Below are the 5 guys and some of the BEAUTIFUL (and cold) scenery they encountered along the way.

Longing for Florida

It's been almost one week since our return from Florida.  Our tans are fading and I even had to turn the heat up in our house the other morning because the lows were in the upper 30's.  Not quite the Florida life I was starting to get used to.  However, we have tried to recreate a little of the beach scene in our own backyard.  My dear friend Johanna found this sandbox for me at a garage sale.  We filled it up and tried to imagine the sound of the ocean in the background as we played with the sand :-)  (NOT THE SAME!) 

Anniversary Getaway

We're back from Florida with tanned skin and fun memories and a little bit of sadness as we're not sure when the whole family will be able to get together again. Our camera is really bad, so we didn't get very many good pictures, however I do know my sister Kelli did since she's a photographer and all so we'll wait for her good ones.  She took the picture of us at the top of the blog.  

Brian and I's 5 year anniversary is right around when our baby girl is due so we decided to take advantage of all the aunts and uncles and of course yiayia and grandaddy and leave Josiah to have a getaway night. We went to Daytona Beach and stayed at the Hilton right on the water. Going to sleep to the sound of the ocean right outside our window and then waking up to the same sound was pretty amazing and definitely just what Brian and I needed!! While in our room looking out at the vastness that is the ocean we were prompted to read from Job

"Where were you, Job, when I layed the foundations of the earth, tell me if you understand who marked off its dimensions?  Do you send lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens...for God views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.  When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters..."

What a Mighty God we serve!

Florida Fun!!!

Lovin' our time in Florida. It will be hard to leave!

Bad Dog!

We have a Yorkshire Terrior Poodle Mix dog. He's a YorkiePoo. His name is Martin and usually we love him. He's a great lap dog and loves to cuddle. The thing about Terriers, they love to dig, especially fresh dirt. It's like a drug to them. Brian and I are currently fighting a battle with Martin and we are losing big time. He's been digging up Brian's freshly planted bushes. At least one out of the 4 are destroyed. And this morning I look out and notice the big pot on my deck! He actually dug up my dragon lily! I currently don't want to be a dog owner. Maybe this week while we are away the plants will have a break from Martin and a fighting chance to come back and survive. UGH!

Florida here we come!

We starting pulling out our summer stuff today because on Sat. we go to Florida! We are so excited for this time to get to relax, swim and be with family. For all you Harry Potter fans, Brian and I plan on making a little getaway to Orlando and see the Harry Potter Theme Park!!

Florida here we come!

Lunch Time

Seriously I walk away for just a second and here's what I find upon my return.

He was truly very happy that he smashed his Peanut Butter sandwhich on his head.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the Greatest Mother Ever! Thanks for being a godly example and teaching me to follow Jesus. Your life will impact my children as I try to follow your example to raise them. I love you mom!

Mother's Day Weekend

Yay! Brian is home and it's Mother's Day Weekend! We are making it a tradition to plant our garden every year at Mother's Day (which is a safe time to plant because of the frost threat here in the PNW during spring time). And even though it was Josiah's nap time he still let us go and pick out all our fun plants that we are going to plant this year.

The garden is planted and now we wait. I'm most excited about the Okra and Asparagus plants. I'v never planted those, so we'll see.

And here's the 29 week belly

It's a sure thing if Brian is outside working Josiah is going to be "working" right along with his daddy.

4!

Check out Josiah's first set of golf clubs. He's a little wild with them. We need dad to come home and really teach him some golf moves that involve less swinging.

New Paint Job!

In a previous post I mentioned painting Josiah's room a more neutral color since baby sister will share the room with him. Well, it's done! It's a light green color and we like it. I also found a cute crib bumper for baby girl that matches perfect with the room color and Josiah's blanket on his bed. The best part was it cost $8.00 at a consignment shop and it's pottery barn kids brand (and no stains which isn't always the case with used baby items). So yay, that project is done. The problem is Brian is out of town for the week and it's only Monday. Guess I'm off to find another project to work on... (maybe organize that changing table in the picture below ;-)

Bloomsday!

Today was the annual Bloomsday run in downtown Spokane. When Brian and I first moved to Spokane this fun run was one of the first things we heard about and we began training for the 7.5 mile race while still living in MA. We moved out here and ran that race together and wanted to make it a tradition to continue to do it every year after. Out of 4 years being here I have already missed 2 due to pregnancies, but next year I plan on running again. Brian ran this morning and did GREAT (like he always does at any sporting activity he participates in). Each year they have a new t-shirt and it's a big surprise what the shirt looks like until you get to the end of the race. Bloomsday is a HUGE deal with approximately 55,000 runners each year. The highest number of runners was 61,298 in 1996 (like I said, HUGE DEAL). The first year they had this race was in 1977 with a little over 1,000 runners so it's definitely grown as the years have gone on.

PS After running the race Brian came home and mowed the lawn - what a man!

Big Boy!

So our little boy is definitely becoming a big boy. It has happened so quickly. While I was in CA for the weekend Brian decided to start working on a project with Josiah to surprise me. The project: Transition Joey to a Toddler Bed! And it worked! The crib is no longer an option as Brian just took it out of his room. Now my project to work on this week while Brian is out of town in MA is to paint that blue wall you see, light green. I'm trying to neutralize the colors a bit in the room as this little girl will soon be joining her big brother in his big boy room.