What's up Lucy?????

I should probably also add that Lucy is also playing with toys, well, eating toys and going to Sonic!!!!!

Monkey Puzzle

Kristie was so excited when she was here in Washington and she saw the Monkey Puzzle Tree from Chile.  I can’t remember what she called it.  Chile and Washington have similar climates and the tree grows well in both places.  Here is a picture of the tree in bloom.

Ok I’m just kidding.  The blossoms were from some nearby flowering bushes.  The part about the tree being from Chile is true though.

Grandma smells……

A few days ago Emma came and sat on my lap and said in her sweet voice  “Mom, do you know how Grandma smells? Like all fresh and powdery?  Well, when I saw a picture of her on the blog, my brain thought it smelled her.”  Emma sat with me for a minute, gave me a hug, smiled and said “I love that blog.”

I love that blog too. 

Tiny Taylor

It never ceases to amaze me how much love the heart can hold .... it just seems to expand in response to the need presented.

Eliott and Miara are doing a good job of taking care of tiny Taylor and I'm touched by the help the family offers ... especially Jayson, Jaqui and Jaylin, who shared clothes and blankets and Grandpapa Jon who used his well practiced (and admittedly above average) burping and swaddling skills to sooth Taylor and rock her gently to sleep just in time for me to come home and hold her and watch her open her big brown eyes and look all around at her world.

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday

Well folks, Jon has turned 30 for the 16th time. Clever fellow to give his birthday away ....

There is no need to ask Eliott how he wants to celebrate his birthday ... every year it is the same request: "Take me to Red Lobster and buy me a big old lobster ..." This year it was a TWO POUNDER ... 

Lucky for us Clay and Nate's employment nets us a discount on Eliott's expensive tastes.

We had a great time laughing, eating and watching Eliott and Jon enjoy an evening out. We were lucky to be joined by Miara, Gabby and teeny tiny Taylor.

Lucy’s Fan Club

Here the kids are on Easter afternoon before church.  Lucy and her fan club took a few minutes to pose for a picture.  There is a new thing called a bumbo that allows young babies to sit up safely.   Lucy even consented to smile.

Sunrise Service at Snowbird

 

A friend and I went to the Easter sunrise service at Snowbird and this is what it looked like most of the time.

The best part of the service was the singing.  The sun came out for a second while we were singing “Here comes the Sun”

 

Easter Spider.

Not sure how many of you had the Easter Spider show up at your house this year, But this is what he did to ours.

Snowshoe adventure

I found some end of season deals on snowshoes. I was hooked after the first time I did it. It is like hiking but absolutely peaceful. There are no dogs, horses or people on the trails. (I don’t mind dogs, horses or people but when you get to be all alone that makes the mountains that much more peaceful)

Here are a few pictures and comments about the trip.

We had just left our house and were headed up to The Mountain when we saw a several hundred kids lined up for an Easter Egg hunt. Of course we had to stop. We got a great parking spot, rummaged through the car for plastic sacks and had an impromptu egg hunt. The kids thought it was a blast. Even the 5th grader!

Emma getting all bundled up for the trip. It wasn’t really that cold on this day. I would guess it was in the low 40s but she wanted to be sure that she was warm. While we were in the parking lot we enjoyed some chips and were buzzed by the steller jays who have obviously been fed by tourists. They were a little upset when we wouldn't share our chips. One bird even got in the van with Lucy.

When life gives you snowshoes make cartwheels. I’m sure my mother could make up a better fable than that but it is the best I could come up with. Of course Chas is always in motion. I was helping all the kids get snowshoes on so I didn’t see this until after the trip. Pretty funny stuff.

On the trail finally. Lucy was in the awesome carrier that our friends in GA bought as a baby gift for Crystal. That carrier has been sledding, hiking and now snowshoeing. We love it!!!

Spring is slowly coming to the mountains. You can see the ferns growing next to the little trickle of water. The water is rust color because of the minerals in the area. It is a mineral springs area on Mt. Rainier that was used for health benefits in the 1900s. The water smells very strongly of sulfur. People used to bathe in it. I guess bathing in stinky water was a cure-all back then.

The great fall. (Grandmas best not read this section) Crystal was crossing this bridge and lost her balance. To her credit she maintained her balance until she finished crossing the bridge. At which point she fell down on her back to avoid squishing Lucy! The snow had melted into a peak and it was tough to get two snowshoes on it. I would guess at points the snow was only 8 inches wide with a 4 foot drop on either side. This was the worst bridge of the trip. Occasionally we had to traverse across bare ground as the snow had melted around melt off streams. At other points it was five feet deep. Luckily no one was hurt and we finished a great hike.

My Mater My Mater

Chas and I put the first tomatoes in the garden this last weekend.  Growing them here will definitely be more of an adventure than GA.  It is supposed to be down in the low 30s this week.  Mike turned me onto the walls o water that insulate the tomato plants.  They keep the plants warm enough to plant early in the season.  If they work as well as he says I will have tomatoes by the 4th of July.  If not I will have 3 dead tomato plants at the end of the week! :)

Flying a Kite w/ POPS and Joe

Dad and Joe came dowm to South Carolina for the weekend. It was a lot of fun, we flew our kite, Joe fell asleep playing in the sand. Its always good to have family come down and visit:)