Grandpa's Party

Grandpa turned 90 this year and had a big celebration. We were able to drive down for the party and had a great time. Grandma threw a great party, there was a jumper for the kids, good food, Aunt Kym gave all the kids horse rides, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Grandpa is so much fun to be around. He tells great stories, gives great hugs, cracks funny jokes, and in general just makes you feel plain old good. I selfishly hope he lives for another 10 years.

Anna had just kissed grandpa and got a little embarressed afterwards.


It took quite a while to pull out those ninety candles and even longer to light them.


The morning after the party, we took some pictures, I like how relaxed everyone was in this one.





Grandpa getting ready to blow out the candles. Good thing he had a bunch of great -grandkids standing around to help. (No way I was having a piece of that cake.)

Cody getting some Grandpa lovin'.

Chance thoroughly enjoying his ride.

Colten had no fear, he was quite happy to get up in that saddle....That's my boy! Kym must have walked in circles for at least two hours giving the kids rides. Thanks Kym!

I love these two guys.

Cait doing her best to follow Kym's instructions.

An airplane flew by while Colten was visiting with Summer. I can't believe that horse is almost 30 years old. I suppose that is the beauty of Arabians.

Mint Green Gem

Aunt Dee Dee, sent Caitlyn her old snowsuit. Everytime I see it, it makes me giggle. From the mint green suit itself to the mint green goggles to the braided green ear-warmer. Sadly she did not wear the braided ear-warmer today, I will have to wait for a photo of that. I am pretty sure this snowsuit is straight out of the eighties. Caitlyn has absolutely loved this, especially with all the snow we have had this winter. She will play outside for hours with this on. The rest of the kids are jealous of her mint green gem. It snowed here again last night, so I quickly snapped some pictures of Cait in her fine attire. On a side note....Yes, that is our cat out there playing with the kids in the snow. She is a crazy cat, the kids absolutely love her and she enjoys being with them.

This will be one of those pictures that Cait will want to kill me for someday.

Cody getting ready to launch a snow ball. Too bad Cait is well protected in her snowsuit.

Proof!

I was talking with Grandpa the other day, telling him about all of Colten's Antics. When I was done going down the list, Grandpa chuckled and implied that I was surely exaggerating a little. Grandpa, I assure you I was not. So I set out today to supply you with some proof. These do not include the two other times he discarded his diaper, the pee on the floor, the spilled soup at dinner time, and the 4 times he came up to me with a cup and the jug of milk. Warning!- The first one is a little graphic. Aaron was taking pictures.



How about some bread and butter. Yes, that is a whole cube of butter! Also take note that he is no longer wearing his pants in this picture. There is a diaper under there, but he is constantly removing his clothes. Sometimes he comes out wearing only mittens and socks.


Ahh, I can't wait to brush my teeth tonight. Who knows what he did with that tube of toothpaste before he smeared it all over the floor! yuck!


He gnawed through the bag of brown sugar like a little mouse. There was sticky sugar mess all over the walls and him.


Then there is the never ending battle to keep the cat safe. I have never met a more patient, tolerant cat. Even after all this, she will go cuddle with him while he is sleeping!

Finally dragged her out.

Loving her to death, literally.

I'm not sure who is biting who here, but when she does, it is never hard.

More Snow!

I don't understand, we woke up this morning to this. MORE SNOW! Isn't this the first week of spring? I officially have a love-hate relationship with Washington. I love it when the sun is shining and hate it when it isn't. Why can't you be like Arizona and have the sun shine while it rains. Someone please let me know when the economy picks up in Tucson. I will be on my way home.

Kevin and Kristyn Visit

Kevin and Kristyn came to visit over Valentine's weekend. The kids were so excited to have them come. They couldn't wait to have Uncle Kevin throw them in the air. We went on quite a few little excursions and really enjoyed seeing the sights around the Seattle area. I know it's a lot of pictures but I had a really hard time narrowing them down. I love seeing all the sights around here. It is still so amazing to me how green it is here, even in the winter.

Poulsbo - pretty little tourist town.


Caitlyn desperately trying to feed the seagulls.


Chance, thinking he is pretty tough for climbing this rock.


Colten doing some kind of warrior dance at the park.

Liberty Bay in Poulsbo - I'm sure this is much prettier in the summer. Notice the nice toxic shellfish sign. Good thing we didn't eat here.

Cody on the front of the ferry with the Olympic mountains in the background

Still trying to feed the seagulls, incidentally Aaron did finally get one to eat out of his hand, but of course we had all quit watching by then.

Anna aftering braving the frigid Puget Sound waters.

Crazy kids- first thing they did is take their shoes off and jump in the ocean.

Aaron and Kevin playing on the driftwood.

Bridge at Deception Pass

Musicians at Pike Place Market- Colten really enjoyed them. They were actually pretty good.

Pikes Place market pig. I don't know why we didn't put Colten and Anna on the pig. Maybe next time.

Deception Pass Bridge- The water was so pretty.

Pikes Place

Updates

Cait:
What luck! Aaron got home a little early and took Caitlyn to her game. Apparently it's true what they say about practice. According to Aaron and the other mom I usually sit with. Caitlyn was noticeably improved. Woo Hoo! I am so happy. I think the next game will be a family event. Aaron has been teaching her how to foul to improve her aggressiveness. She has bruises on her arms from their practice last night. We are also bribing her with Dairy Queen. If she makes a basket or steals the ball from the other team, she can have whatever blizzard she wants.

Colten:
Colten has gone the ways of the backwoods Washington hippies (I don't really know any, I just suspect they might be like this.) He loves nudity! We have to tape his diapers on now and sometimes that doesn't even work! I can always tell when he has stripped down, because it triggers a lively squeal and quickens his step. The pitter patter across the floor is much more happy and quick. What is it about nudity that makes you want to streak?

Bambi On Ice

Caitlyn has a friend that plays basketball on a local league. They started playing basketball the first week in January. We heard two weeks ago that they were still looking for players and Cait's friend had asked her if she wanted to play. We decided it would be a good experience for Cait since she has never played on a team, but wants to learn to play more sports. I took Caitlyn to her first practice last week and.....IT WAS TORTURE!....FOR ME!. Poor Cait, you could tell her head was spinning. I felt like I had thrown her into the lions pit. Oh I wish she was more confident and would just go for it! Get aggressive! Get up in their space!, but no, she just jogged back and forth across the court with her eyes as big as saucers, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Torturing me even more with the occasional "what have you done to me mom?" glance across the court. In the middle of practice, the coach blows the whistle, stops the game completely so that the entire gym is attentive as she yells to me, "Hey mom, rent Hoosiers" to which I brilliantly reply "Huh!" I could feel my face flushing crimson as she repeats, "Rent Hoosiers....the basketball movie." Oh, of course, what idiot doesn't get Hoosiers on the first try at a basketball game. Pretty sure that was one of those times that Caitlyn would have liked to pretend that we weren't related. After that, I begged Aaron to please take her to basketball from now on, but with him working 10 hour days, I quickly realized we are both just going to have to suck it up. We are stuck together in this mess. Thankfully "our" second practice on Monday went a little better. Caitlyn seemed a little more at ease after we spent Saturday as the park practicing. Tonight is the teams first real game and I can't wait to see what comes of it. Please let this experience turn into a Cinderella story! Note to self: Start Cody and Chance in sports as soon as possible!