Klein Family

Puyallup Fair Time!

2011-11-14T09:39:00.001-08:00

In September (yes, I'm still behind!) we made our annual trip to the Puyallup Fair! After Jeremy got off of work we hurried over to Puyallup to enjoy some yummy food, rides, and animals....

First stop: Food! We ate standing, the only place we could find.

Rides and more rides. This was Collin's first time trying out any ride and he LOVED it!

A nice foot massage after a few hours of walking.

A super fun night! We also enjoy going and visiting Jeremy's aunt who works in the fair. And, thanks to her we get free tickets and free parking!

Liberty High Cheer Camp

2011-11-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

So, these aren't great pictures, but I wanted to document the fun Samantha had at Liberty High School's Cheer Camp this year! She did it last year with her cousin as well, and loved it so we thought we'd give it another try. My camera ran out of batteries at the game, so I didn't get any pictures, really, but here's a glimpse of what she got to be a part of.

Camp:

Game: (not much cheering goin' on right then...)

Meet Your Teacher Day and First Day of School

2011-11-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Samantha had her Meet Your Teacher Day the day before school started, which was August 30th. She has Mrs. Watts this year and is in 1st grade! I can't believe I have a first grader now. Sam is loving school and is doing great. Here she is getting ready to meet Mrs. Watts and check out her classroom...

First Day of School! She was so excited and only a little nervous. Jeremy took her to school that day, since I did the "meet your teacher" thing. Luckily, she already had some great friends in her class from Kindergarten. She got to hang out with some of her old friends from last year while waiting for class to start. Sam is quite the social bug and has no trouble making friends. I'm so happy for her.

Parker also started preschool this year. He goes with some of his good friends from church and is really enjoying it. He attends Miss Tammy's neighborhood preschool, which is the same one Samantha went to. Here's Parker with one of his best buds, Damian, walking into their first day of preschool...Oh, and Collin had to join as well.

Disneyland!

2011-11-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm really, really behind in my blogging. Terrible. BUT, I'm trying to catch up...again. Back in September Jeremy and I had the wonderful opportunity, thanks to Jer's mother, to go to Disneyland. Just us. No kids. Crazy, huh?! We left the kids with Sharon for 3 1/2 days to stay in the Disneyland Hotel, go to Disneyland, and California Adventure and have the time of our lives!!! We stayed out until midnight every night. We rode all the rides...together. AND, we did crazy things like get up at 6:00 a.m. to ride rollercoasters. It was awesome! This was our first trip we had ever taken without the kids. Our first time leaving them, except to have more babies and stay in the hospital. It was so needed and so appreciated. Fantastic! We can't wait to go back. But, next time we'll bring the kids. :) Here's just a small handful of the pictures we took while we were there.

Summer In A Nutshell

2011-09-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged about so many things that we've done this summer! I thought, since I'm so behind I'd just do a "summer" post. So, here's some highlights of the summer! Warning: LOTS of pictures!

Planted a garden

Sprinkler Park

Seattle Aquarium, Feeding the Seagulls at Ivars, and Flowers from Pike Place

Renton River Days Parade

Jeremy and Samantha hike Rattlesnake Ridge

Beach Parks

May Valley Ward Campout

Jerermy Paraglides off PooPoo Point

Newport

2011-09-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

In August we had a fantastic weekend down in Newport, OR. SO MUCH FUN!!! We left on Friday night, stopping for dinner at Red Robin and arrived late in the night, around midnight. We woke early and headed to the beach. We then planned out a fun day sightseeing Newport. We ended up at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, ate lunch at a yummy pizza joint, hung out at fun pirate themed shopping center, played at the beach again. We then went down to the waterfront and watched boats, ate dinner at Mo's, played some arcade games, watched seals, and got ice cream. The next day, on our way home we stopped at the Tillamook Lighthouse, ate lunch at good ol' McDonald's, and drove the scenic route along the ocean. It was beautiful! It was a quick trip, but so nice to get away. The kids were great and slept well in our hotel. The weather was perfect and everyone was happy. That makes for a good trip!

Animal Park

2011-08-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

We took a drive out to Redmond to a fun park that has farm animals, some trails, and a few toys. The kids love it, mostly because of the animals. I love it because it's relaxing and the animals, I must admit, are pretty fun :) We went out there on one of those Seattle days when it's cold in the morning, but starts to get sunny in the afternoon and you're not really sure if it's going to stay warm or get chilly again. The kids were in long pants, but it got super warm and Sam ended up rolling up her pants and I did the same. It was beautiful out and a great day to hang out at the park....

July 4th!

2011-07-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun Independance Day this year, like usual! We have a tradition of having Jeremy's family over for a BBQ and fireworks. The guys usually plan a wiffle ball game in the afternoon as well and us girls hang out and get ready for dinner. This year we also invited some old college friends over to our house. They had just moved here a few days earlier. That made for an extra full house, but extra fun as well!
The day started with Jeremy running the Maple Hills 5K that they do every year... We went along to see him off.

While Jeremy was running, the kids and I headed to Target to get some last minute party supplies and food. We came home and quickly got ready for the next activity: the parade! Yes, the 4th of July Maple Hills parade. It's actually quite comical because there are more people in the parade than come to watch. Most of the neighborhood participates, but we have yet to give it a try. We're great spectators though! Sam did hop on one of our friend's "floats" for a while and had a good time. And, the kids get really excited to get candy that's thrown. After the parade our neighborhood hosts a hot dog lunch at the park. AND, to top it off, the neighborhood fire station brought a truck in to get everyone a little wet. The kids loved it!

After the parade, a quick change of clothes, and a little prep on the food, people started arriving and the wiffle ball game began over at the school just down the street. Us girls hung out a watched the game and kept an eye on the kids. We then headed back to the house and ate, ran through the sprinkler, played games, and started fireworks!

To end the evening we walked over to the park, where the neighborhood likes to gather and set off the BIG fireworks once it's dark. We didn't get there until around 10:00, so it was late and the kids were getting really tired. Collin ended up falling asleep in my arms, with my hands over his ears because it was really, really loud. He must have been really tired to fall asleep through everything. We eventually got headphones on him, which he wouldn't dare let us put on before, and he slept like a log. We ended the night with a BANG (literally) and had another great 4th of July!!!

Survivor Mud Run!!!

2011-07-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, our neighbor, George, asked Jeremy to do a crazy Mud Run last month held in Carnation. Jeremy had already told a few other friends that were doing it that he wasn't going to, but FINALLY after the last request he decided to do it! He got really pumped up the day of, and did great! It was the perfect day to get muddy too. It was typical Seattle weather...RAIN! Jeremy's start time was 1:00, so he was lucky enough to get super muddy, being one of the last start times. The rain had plenty of time to make mud extra muddy and the hundreds of people who ran the course didn't help either. It was a 5K run with about 12 obsticles to go through on the way. I don't know that I would have liked it, but it was fun to watch everyone else :) The kids and I all went to cheer them on and wait at the finish line. We waited a good 2 hours, but it was totally worth it, to see the aftermath of the race. Poor Jeremy and George got to take a completely freezing shower afterwards that was provided for them, and Jeremy said that was probably the worst part of the whole day. The coldest water ever. The kind that gave him a "brain freeze." Fun stuff! Maybe I'll get brave and do it next year...

Before the fun started!

Off they go!

We waited, oh so patiently. The kids did really great, even though it was pouring down rain pretty much the whole time.

And, he did it! Good look, Jer!

Wow! Looks like it's shower time!

The kids were really excited to see Dad. Notice, they kept their distance though!

After a long wait, the kids were ready for some hot dogs. Yum!

Tuckered out.

5K & 1K Fun Run!

2011-07-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Our Stake hosted a Fun Run for us this year! I've never done an "official" 5K before, so I thought I should participate in it :) Samantha, Parker, and Collin also participated by doing the 1K that was for the kids. Jeremy ran with Collin and Samantha and Parker ran it with me. Sam and Parker did AMAZING! Neither one of them stopped at all, and they were so motivated and determined to finish strong. I admit, it did have something to do with the fact that they got a medal at the end of the race. Both of the kids had it in their heads that they had to run the whole way, without stopping or they wouldn't get a medal. I just let them think it. Poor Parker ran so hard his legs hurt the next morning! He woke up crying and said he couldn't walk! We had a really great morning getting some exercise and spending time with friends and family.

The kids and I before our races

Cousin picture! All the kids ran in the 1K and do so good!!!

Kids from our ward who all ran...

Sam and Parker with their medal! They were oh so happy!

Jer and the kids after their run

Just got done!

My sister-in-law, Emily, and I ran together. She's a super good runner, so she kept me on my toes! It was a lot of fun running with her!

Last Days of Kindergarten...

2011-07-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Samantha had a fun last couple of days of Kindergarten. One of her last days her class put on a "Kindergarten Sharing" day, where the parents came in and the kids got to show off all of their art work and reading skills and fun thing they've done in the classroom. It was really fun to watch Sam in her class and see all the things they do (even though I've been volunteering all year and have seen her in action before). Here's Samantha and her teacher, Mrs. Stempson.

At her desk

Excited to show off the science area. They planted corn and were raising tadpoles.

With her good friend, Sydney. And little Alexa's in the background.

Had to get a picture with my girl :) I can't believe she's going into 1st grade now!

She lost a tooth in March and in November. When they lose teeth, they get to write their names in the tooth for that month.

And, Sam with her other good friend, Desi!

Another fun activity that went on the last week of school was a Dance Party. That wasn't the official name, but I can't remember what it was! Anyway, the kindergarten thru 2nd grade classes got together and danced with the guidance of Mrs. Perry-Hardin, their music teacher. It was really fun to watch! They did country line dances, the chicken dance, the electric slide, and many more.

More dancing!

At last, the last day of school!

On the last day of school they had a "field day" where they played games outside all morning. Then, the last 20 minutes of class Mrs. Stempson did a special presentation to move the kids into 1st grade. She had magic rocks that each child got. When you rub them, these magic rocks would help them to always remember Kindergarten. It was pretty cute. She spun each child around 3 times and *poof* they were 1st graders!

Having fun with her friends

They were sharing all the memories they have of Kindergarten.

Samantha and her buddy, Eric.

We had a GREAT first year of school!

Pretzel Tree Trail

2011-06-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to take the kids on a very small hike. It's on Squak Mt. and is called Pretzel Tree trail, due to the "pretzel tree" along the path. Along the way, there was a story to read about a mouse and keeping the forest clean. It kept the kids entertained and looking for what happened next.

This last picture of Collin was taken on Memorial Day as well. Grandma Klein had given us a hula hoop and Collin wanted to sit with it. He ended up falling asleep too.

A Little More Soccer...

2011-06-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Samantha had her last game of the season last week. The girls had a blast! It was great for Samantha to be able to play on a team of girls that were almost all from her class.

The "team mom" put together a fun pizza party for everyone as well. Samantha got a trophy and Coach Chris drew each girl a cute picture of themself and a description of their soccer skills. Sam's said she was a "Super Passer." Here's some pictures of their last game...

And, the pizza party! Samatha and Coach Chris with Sam's picture Coach drew for her.

Soccer Girl

2011-05-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Rain or shine, we've been out in it on Friday nights watching Samantha play some soccer. She's been enjoying herself, but I'm not thinking she LOVES it. We'll see if she wants to do it next season... I think she mostly likes it because almost everyone on her team is in her class at school, so that makes it more enjoyable. And, she defintately wasn't loving playing in the POURING down rain the other night. I wasn't either :) BUT, we've had fun and it's been a good experience for her. Her routine to get ready to go is to warm up to Mousercise in our living room. That's pretty cute. Here's some of the pictures I've shot in the last few weeks...

Sunny game...

During a rainy game...

Parker turned 4!

2011-05-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

Well, Parker turned 4 this past weekend (the 30th). It was a fun, busy weekend and even though it was fun, I'm glad it's over. We started off with a "friend" party on Friday night. We just invited a couple kids and Parker's cousins. It was a Pirate Party, so Jeremy got into character and dressed up and took them on a treasure hunt. Jeremy made a map and we had a neat little treasure box that we filled up with candy, jewels, and gold. We ate hot dogs and cake and opened presents and played with Parker's new toys. It was a really fun night for the kids.

Group picture!

His pirate cake that I made him.

The kids yelling "ahoy",or something like that, during their treasure hunt.

Checking out the treasure with Captain Jeremy

Presents!

Time to blow out his 4 candles!

On Saturday, his birthday, we took him to Chuch E. Cheese. Mistake? Maybe. It was very busy, but not so busy we couldn't have fun. We invited Jer's family to come with us and celebrate. We ordered pizza, opened a few presents and played! He got lots of pirate things from Grandma and Grandpa and a bike, baseball things, and a few other small presents from us. He also got a gift card to Toys R Us from Grandma Linda. I think he was happy!

Mmmm...pizza!

So excited!

Happy to have won the "jackpot" and got over 100 tickets!

Collin loves to drive

I think Parker really had fun!

Checking out his new bike

New T-ball set that broke within 15 minutes!

Easter

2011-05-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Easter was wonderful, as usual. We dyed eggs, did a couple egg hunts, went to church, and had a super good ham dinner at Jeremy's parent's house. It was a great week and Easter day! Here's A LOT of pictures to recap the week! :)

Coloring Easter Eggs:

Jeremy needed a little siesta after work while we colored eggs :)

Maple Hills Egg Hunt on Saturday:

Easter Sunday before church (Collin wouldn't wake up to be in the picture!):

Easter afternoon at Grandpa and Grandma Klein's house, and egg hunt in their basement!:

Happy Easter!!!

Livin' On The "Farm"

2011-05-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Some might say we have a little farm going on in our backyard...I'd say so as well. Since we've moved into our house, which we've lived in for three years, we've accumulated 6 chickens, and 2 rabbits, and we already had 2 cats. Unfortunately,we just have one cat now. One of ours had an accident and is no longer with us. But, I sure do feel like we have a farm going on here! I get to take trips to the local farming store and buy things like hay, chicken feed, rabbit pellets...all that fun stuff. It actually is pretty fun. The bonus of the chickens is, of course, the fresh eggs. The rabbits are fun for the kids (and me!). And, our kitty, Shadow, is a great cat that we've had since Sam was a year old. She's family.

We just recently got some fuzzy yellow chicks, which is what inspired me to do this post. I just had to show off all our critters!

We have our cat, Shadow...

And, our bunnies, Ella and Oreo...

And, finally our four big, black chickens

Jeremy had fun with the eggs one day...

And, this is what my van looks like after going to get hay for the rabbits and chickens...Normally Jer gets it in the truck!

The joys of animals!

HELP!

2011-04-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

My latest post (Collin Turned 2!) looks horrible. The spacing is terrible! Blogger is acting up on me and I don't know why. Everytime I got the spacing just right, I'd post it and it would look totally different than what I had done! OR, when I tried to fix it, it wouldn't even do what I wanted. SOOOO frustrating! So, that's the story. If you have an idea of what I'm doing wrong, please, please let me know...My Spring Break post isn't right either :(

Collin Turned 2!

2011-04-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

We brought Collin home the night before Easter, two years ago, which is funny because I just realized that I'm posting about his 2nd birthday the night before Easter. Anyways...we came home around 8:00 pm and we had to get Easter baskets ready and settle in and get ready for Easter Day. It was an exhausting night!

The next two pictures are the morning (at the hospital) and night (at home) of that day...

Now, here's our "baby" boy all big now! Where has the time gone?! Collin turned 2 on April 10th. We had a truck themed party with Jeremy's family. We BBQ'd, opened presents, and the kids ran around like crazy. Fun night!

He just blew out the candles and dug into the rock candies already.

What a great day! We love you Collin!!!

Spring Break!

2011-04-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

We had spring break the first week of April... We didn't do anything exciting, but we did take one day out of the week to play! Jeremy took the day off and we woke up bright and early (to snow!) and headed to Denny's for breakfast, which was super yummy. Then we finally decided to go to the Science Center in Seattle. Originally, we wanted to go the Family Fun Center, but since we woke up to snow we thought it would be warmer to go to Seattle. The day went great. The kids had fun. Other than the fact that the place was packed because of the Star Wars exhibit, it went pretty smoothly. We came home after our Seattle outing and took late naps then got up to head back out. We went to Southcenter and did some shopping and ate dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. One of my FAVORITES!!! I love it. Even though we didn't go to some warm vacation spot, it was a great day to spend with the family!

Ensign Ranch

2011-03-19T23:10:00.001-07:00

Our little cabin :)

Sledding!

The snow was falling while we were sledding. It was so pretty!

Blurry picture of dinner...mac & cheese and hot dogs.

A little wrestling...

A little coloring...

Off to bed

Sam so happy to be on the top bunk!

Donuts for breakfast

And...back out in the snow. Notice Collin wasn't too thrilled, at first.

Sam making a cave in the huge pile of snow

Happy boy! And, yes, he's wearing pink boots....Jeremy put black duct tape on the tops and all around them so you couldn't tell, except when you see the bottoms! Thrifty,right?!

Collin finally got into the snowy spirit and LOVED sledding with Jer. He hated sledding with me.

Tuckered out on the way home. This was what all the kids looked like within minutes of driving.

Just Words...

2011-03-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

So, I'm using my new laptop (!) right now and I have an urge to do some sort of update on this blog of ours, but no pictures to put up. I'm still waiting for the Hubby to set that up so I can get pictures off our computer downstairs while being upstairs...What technology! If only I knew how it worked. :) We haven't been up to too much, but enough that I thought I'd jot down our latest happenings. First of all, Samantha just finished up a soccer class at the Issaquah Community Center. She's loved it enough that I signed her up for Spring Soccer, through the Issaquah Parks and Rec. I've never played soccer on a real team, or wore the gear, so I was just looking up what I need to get her, online. Now that we've got her signed up though, she's not acting thrilled about it anymore, although she said she'd try out this season and see how it goes. That's my girl! We went up to the Ensign Ranch a couple weekends ago to play in the snow. We stayed over one night in the family cabins and was only gone for about 24 hours. Short and sweet. Too bad I had to pack our whole house, I felt like! Seriously, going "camping" with children is so much work! Or going camping at all, actually. You need all the bedding, clothes, extra clothes, snow clothes, sleep stuff (stuffed animals, blankies, music things, more stuffed animals!) Yes, it's quite a chore. You also need food, drinks, cooking stuff, all the paper products, garbage bags, wood chopping and fire stuff, games, toys, the list goes on...BUT, it was fun! We got their Friday afternoon, unpacked, started the wood stove up, and headed out to play in the snow. Once we were frozen and wet we came in and I made some good old hot dogs and macaroni. The kids played and had fun running around upstairs and snacking on all the goodies we brought. We also tried to stay warm. The wood stove was small and didn't do a whole lot of warming. Not at first at least. By the time it was bedtime it had warmed up enough to not have frozen fingers and we crawled into our sleeping bags for a good night's rest. Well, Samantha and Parker did. I was up with Collin so much! I only slept a few hours that night. And, poor Jeremy was also awake for two reasons: 1) He knew I was up, so he got up with me. 2) He had to keep the fire going. It was freezing outside, which meant if the fire didn't stay burning, we would freeze! He even left in the middle of the night in the van to get more firewood at the wood pile. What a good guy. :) So, it was a rough night. We made it though. On the positive side of my lack of sleep, I was able to watch the snow falling all night and I had the warm fire to sit by. Morning came all too soon (or maybe not...) and we had our breakfast and headed back out to the snow. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining and new fallen snow. Very pretty. We finally headed out around noon and took the scenic route through Cle Elum. We stopped in North Bend for lunch and made a pit stop for chicken feed and got our car washed before heading home. Great weekend! Tired, but fun! Another happening was the loss of our kitty, Cinders. She was such a great cat and LOVED being with us and snuggling with us. We noticed she was gone, which was so not like her. She's always stayed indoors or kept herself in our yard. She was gone about 6 days when Jeremy found her in a pond in the woods in our backyard. It had been pretty cold, so were thinking she may have stepped on it, thinking it was solid and fell in and drowned. Who knows? She didn't have any trauma or signs of being attacked or anything. Weird. We're looking to get a new kitty soon. The talk of a dog has also come up, but we'll see about that one. I think that's it. We've had two birthday parties that Parker and/or Samantha have attended last week. Both were super fun! One was at a trampoline place and the other had a bouncy house at it. Score! They loved them. Collin has been super talkative and I can pretty much hold a conversation with that kid. He's getting so big! He'll be two next month. I just can't believe it. Right now, I love that he ends every phrase or word with "ok, mommy." Even when I'm disciplining him and telling him to do something it's "ok, mommy." Too sweet. It's been a fun month so far. I'll get some pictures up next time! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Snowy Snoqualmie Falls

2011-02-25T22:32:00.001-08:00

I decided the kids and I needed to get out of the house today. It was mostly because Jeremy's been sick and was sleeping. I thought I'd give him some peace and quiet and maybe, just maybe he'd wake up and magically be healthy. No, that didn't happen, but he did get some sleep so that was good. We ended up going to Target, like we end up in every outing :) THEN, we went to Snoqualmie Falls. It was very cold, but very pretty. I've never been out there when it was snowy so I thought it would be nice to get a different view of it, and it was. The kids were even impressed, so that made it even better. We only stayed a short time, but had fun driving out and seeing all the snow that Snoqualmie got. It was super misty, so the pictures look like it's foggy, but it wasn't...

February Snow

2011-02-25T22:07:00.001-08:00

We've had a wintery wonderland at our house the past couple of days. It's been fun, but I'm hoping it's the last. I'm really looking forward to spring! This is only our second snowfall, but it's time for sun!!! Luckily, this time, when I heard the word "snow" from the weatherman I got prepared. Everyone had snowpants and boots, unlike last time, which meant happier kids and more time outside. Today we still have the snow, but it's so cold we didn't get out much. The snow is more like ice. Anyways, not only did the kids venture out, the chickens did too! Last snowfall, the chickens were...um...chicken? They wouldn't step foot in the snow. This time they did, but did a lot of shaking off and their steps were extremely high, like it was going to make it less cold or something. Funny birds. Here's our snowy days!

Trampoline FUN!

2011-02-25T21:51:00.001-08:00

The trampoline has been the best and most used Christmas present we've purchased! The kids love it and so do we! I'd say Parker loves it the most though. He gets sooo excited and is constantly asking me to go outside and jump. And, the kids ask me every time they're on it for me to jump with them. I'm not always as excited, mostly because it's cold outside, but it's a great way for me to spend time with them and a good work out :) Collin will only be on it if Jer or I am holding him, which makes it a little tricky to jump, but still fun....Yeah for the trampoline!!!

Oh, and if you notice the lack of coats and socks it's because, for some reason, they think it's summer when they get on that thing. It's February!!!

Mom Came!

2011-02-03T22:15:00.001-08:00

My mom was able to come visit us the day after Christmas. It was so nice to see her and have her stay with us. The kids loved it and so did I! We spent a lot of time eating, shopping, and just hanging out. The biggest "project" was making tamales. My mom learned how to make authentic, homemade tamales from my Grandma Cerrillo long ago when my parents first got married. I've never had my hand at it, so we thought it would be fun to teach me. It's quite a process, but once you have the ingredients ready it can go pretty quickly with enough hands. My sister came over to help and we ended up making about 7 dozen. With all the prep work I kind of wish we would have made more! They freeze well. It was fun and I'd like to do it again, now that I know what I'm doing...sorta.

After slaving away at the tamales all day we sat down to a tasty mexican dinner that my mom prepared with rice, beans, and tortillas. Thanks for a great dinner, mom!

My mom also took the time to make sugar cookies with the kids on New Year's Eve while Jer and I went on a date. It's was so great having her here with us and doing so much with us. I wish she lived closer so we could do more of these fun things together. Come back soon! We love you!

Christmas Pictures

2011-02-02T20:22:00.001-08:00

So, I'm a little late on posting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I guess it's better late than never!

We started our Christmas Eve off at Jeremy's Grandma's house. We try to go over there every Christmas and see her. Jeremy's aunts and grandma are so generous and always have presents waiting for us when we arrive. We had a nice visit and got some fun presents and of course took our yearly Christmas picture with Grandma.

Later that night we started our annual Klein Family progressive dinner. It started at our house with an appetizer (breadsticks). We then headed to Jake and Emily's house for a super yummy salad, which I loved and want to make myself. After that we went to Grandpa and Grandma Klein's house for our pizza dinner and Jessica's caramel apples. Sharon had sprinkles and fun things for the kids to dip their apples in, which the kids loved. And, as usual, the kids had to dress up for the evening in Grandma's dress-up clothes! We ended the night with everyone getting to open one gift. Christmas Eve gifts are so fun!

We headed home to get ready for Santa to come, but before bed we let the kids open one more gift, from us. Everyone got PillowPets!!! They were a hit! Sam got the penguin she'd been eyeing. Parker got the dolphin (although, he wanted the unicorn for awhile...), and Collin got the dog.

Christmas morning started early. Parker woke up at 12:00 a.m. ready to go! It took us almost 3 hours to get him back to sleep. Crazy kid! We finally got up around 7 and took our time opening gifts. It may not look like we got much under the tree, but in the garage we had a 15ft trampoline waiting for the kids (in the box still!) and a Kinect was in the mix too. Santa came, but we mostly splurged on the bigger gifts. Everyone was happy! After we were dressed and ready for our Christmas day we headed back to Jeremy's parent's house for more Christmas fun.

What a wonderful Christmas! Thanks family!

Ice Skating FHE

2010-12-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

I'm featuring Parker here because it was his first time going ice skating! I was a little concerned because he tends to be a little more shy about doing new things than Samantha is, but he did great! He used the walker along with the help of Jeremy, but by the end, he was doing it all by himself, with only the help of the walker. And, no crying! Samantha had a little harder time. She didn't use the walker, so she fell a lot and got a little discouraged. BUT, she never cried or got too upset. I was pretty proud of her. Overall, they had a great time! Collin and I took pictures and video and ate Yo Go's while Jer had the kids on the ice. Jeremy did take Collin out on the ice once, with ice skates on and everything! Collin held on as best he could to the walker, but he didn't last very long. Maybe next year...

Christmas...So Far

2010-12-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've blogged and realized I have nothing about Christmas on here! We've done quite a bit so far this Christmas. We try to get in as much as we can. Of course, we started off with putting up our decorations. We decided to do two trees this year- one in the playroom/sun room and one in the living room.

We also kicked off December with Jeremy shaving!!! Hallelujah!!! He decided to sport a mustache for the month of November, so on December 1st he finally shaved. Thank goodness! Not a big fan of the mustache...

Also, Samantha sang in our Stake Children's Choir for our Stake's Nativity Creche. It was really beautiful and the kids sang great.

We visited Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. We try to do that every year. The kids love to dance and play music with the drummers and characters that visit, like Rudolph!

We took the kids to get Santa pictures, thanks to Jeremy's work. Usually, I don't do this only because I tried it with Samantha when she was a baby and she screamed and I've never done it again! Samantha absolutely hated it and I've steered clear of Santa pics ever since because I've always seemed to have a baby that I assume will probably cry. Lame, but true. BUT, this year Jeremy's work provided Santa pics free of charge! They did Santa pics a couple years ago as well, but again, Samantha wouldn't get close to him!!! We ended up getting a picture of Parker by himself with Santa. Anyways, we thought we'd try it out and we actually got a really good picture! I was pleased. I probably won't go get Santa pictures again, unless it's free, because I'm also cheap!

Here's the kids before we left to see Santa...Their Santa picture is, obviously, the cute one at the top :)

We went to Clam Lights a few nights ago. It was fairly nice that night so we thought we'd take advantage of the break in the rain.

I'll post more after next week's activities! Jeremy has the week off and we plan on going ice skating, and taking a trip to Seattle. Fun, Fun! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!!!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

2010-12-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving was much like the ones before...football, food, and family! The only difference was the snow. Yes, we had snow on Thanksgiving! We loved it. We got a nice new dusting of it on Thanksgiving morning and it was so pretty, but so cold. Poor Jeremy, along with many others, got to play football in it. I wanted to go watch, but really didn't want my kids to freeze. After a fun game of football for Jeremy we headed over to my in-laws house for some games and pre-Thansgiving snacks, which we always eat way too much of and spoil our appetites for the real deal. I guess that's what Thanksgiving is all about! The kids played dress-up and put on some very funny shows for us. The adults cooked, played some games, and hung out until dinner. I always love Thanksgiving. It's a time to sit back and reflect and be thankful for all you have. I am very blessed and have so much in my life. I'm thankful for the wonderful, loving family that I can spend my Thanksgiving with and for the foundation I have because of the gospel. After a great Thanksgiving Day we did crazy things like go out at midnight to shop at Old Navy and wake up again at 4:00a.m. to shop at electronic stores and Target. Silly us! Thanks to my amazing mother-in-law, Jeremy and I had an early morning date of shopping, eating a yummy McDonald's breakfast, and just being together. Thank you! I wasn't very good at taking pictures this year. Here's the few that I got!

Some fresh snow for Thanksgiving

The Turkey Bowl!

The girls showing us their "special things",which was part of one of their "shows" they performed for us.

Parker and Rohne having some boy time together...

Playing a friendly game of Settlers. Poor Collin...this was the only picture I got of him.

The kids coloring in the midst of all our snacks. Our little Princess Samantha

Parker showing off his goofy personality!

Jess, Aaron, Rohne, and Parker being silly together.

Snow!

2010-11-27T20:25:00.000-08:00

We got our first snowfall of the season! It came as a shock to me because the weatherman totally downplayed it and I thought we'd get nothing or just a trace of it. But, it came alright! We got a good 6 inches, which isn't much for some people but here in Seattle it's a ton. It started snowing on monday during school, so by the time kids were leaving there was quite a bit on the ground. Buses were out until 7 p.m.! Luckily, Sam doesn't take a bus, but those poor kids who do...Anyways, I wasn't prepared, so my poor kids wore rain boots and snow clothes that were too small. They survived, but I did feel bad. Temperatures dropped to the teens, which is rare. It hung around for a few days so school was cancelled tuesday and wednesday, so we had a nice, long Thanksgiving break. Jeremy worked from home those days so we had fun playing in the snow with him. We went sledding a few times and drank lots of hot chocolate and apple cider. It was soooo cold, but so nice to get all warmed up again. I guess this is the start of a cold, snowy winter (or so they say!). I guess I should be better prepared next time so my kids can enjoy it a little more without freezing!

Snow Day #2

Welcome Tooth Fairy!

2010-11-22T23:54:00.001-08:00

Samantha lost her first tooth about a week ago and she was thrilled! I thought I should probably document this because it was such a big deal to her. And, it's kind of a big deal to me as well. My little girl is getting so big! She was so brave and mature about the whole thing. Jeremy helped it along a bit by giving it a little tug, and then it was out. I was shocked that Sam would even let Jeremy touch her. She was most excited about being able to go to school and show her teacher her missing tooth. Having lost a tooth meant she could put her name in the huge tooth that Mrs. Stempson has on her wall for all the kids who lose teeth. She could finally join the gang!

Our 4 days of Halloween!

2010-11-04T20:21:00.001-07:00

We had a fun few days leading up to Halloween this year. It all started on Thursday and just kept on going until Sunday night! It was busy, but very fun! Thurday was Jeremy's work party. Here is the kiddos dressed up, ready to go. We had a GI Joe (aka Iron Man). Parker liked to think that his costume was the "mean" Iron Man. Although, that wasn't accurate either. Just the black suited Iron Man is all. Anyways, Sam was Princess Cinderella. And, my cranky little 18 month old liked to scream and cry and run away anytime I tried to put any costume on him. I tried a dragon, a lion, and Superman. All were unsuccessful. So, he ended up wearing a "I love my Mummy" shirt. Whatever! The kids had fun at Allyis trick-or-treating from office to office and taking full advantage of their goody bags, which you got to fill yourself from huge jars of treats and toys! There was some food to enjoy and some arts and crafts as well. Allyis is always good at throwing fun parties!

Friday was Samantha's Scarecrow Day at school. Every year the Kindergarteners dress up as scarecrows, have a party, and do a parade through the classrooms of the 1st graders. I was up until midnight putting this costume together, but I think it turned out ok. Sam loved it, so that's what matters:)

On Saturday we woke up and went to our neighborhood Firestation. Every Halloween they throw a party and have a haunted house at the station. Samantha has yet to get gutsy enough to go in that part, but the party is great. They have face painting, coloring, carving pumpkins, the firetruck to play in, lots of treats, and the big dalmation to say hi to. The kids look forward to this every year.

Saturday night we had our ward's Trunk-or-Treating. The kids had a ball and brought home way too much candy! I got to dress up like a cat, due to my kids insisting on it. I couldn't say no, right? Jeremy was Sherlock Holmes. It won him 1st place last year at Allyis' Halloween Party for best costume. It's a fun costume! After getting their fill of candy, and donuts the kids hung out in Taylee and Rohne's van with some friends until time to leave.

And finally, Halloween night. We let the kids trick-or-treat to some neighbors and then headed over the G & G Klein's to say hi and get more CANDY! We have so much candy! Too bad Jer and I are the ones eating most of it! By the way, Collin still wouldn't wear a costume....

Carving!

2010-10-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

After we picked our pumpkins (which is in the following post) we came inside and carved a few. Here's our carving experience this year, which went better than last. Samantha actually carved the mouth of her pumpkin all by herself. This is why we are calling it our zombie pumpkin because it's extremely crooked and is just hanging. Parker actually got his hands dirty and cleaned his pumpkin out. These are milestones for my kiddos. Hopefully next year they can do more, which means less work for Mom and Dad! In the picture of our Jack-O-lanterns, it goes: Jeremy's, Parker's, Samantha's, and mine. Collin's isn't shown...his is colored on in pen.

After carving and lighting them up to see how they looked, we decided to roast some marshmallows! Jeremy started the fire and I got out the BBQ tools and Jeremy roasted some for the kids in our living room fireplace. Hey, it works!

Finding The Perfect Pumpkin...

2010-10-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we've worked hard on finally producing that pumpkin patch that we've had envisioned for quite some time....It's not the best, but it was good and it was ours and that's what made us happy! It was finally time to harvest those pumpkins for FHE the other night. We all got on our rain gear and headed to the yard to cut our pumpkins and pick out the best ones for us to carve. And Grandma Klein showed up just in time to help us! The kids had fun picking out their own pumpkins and putting them all in a nice little pile. We were worried none of them would be orange enough, but we ended up having plenty orange ones and a few green ones that we left and can enjoy for November. Our patch has been quite the talk of the neighborhood and we look forward to next year!

Corn Maze

2010-10-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

We've had a fun couple weeks! One of our festivities this Fall have been the Corn Maze. We had gone to this corn maze a couple years ago and thought we'd try it out again. It's a big one, but with the kids with us we went through it quick and only got to one side. Still very fun! We invited Jake and Emily and their kids. The kids had a blast with their cousins, like always. While at the corn maze we also were able to see some farm animals, play in a huge "corn" box, play in some hay in the hay maze, introduce Collin and Tristan to the biggest slides they've seen yet, and be there for the duck race. It was a great outing for everyone. I love all the Fall activities that are around! Have I mentioned that I love Fall?!

Here Fishy, Fishy!

2010-10-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

We are lucky enough to live only about 10 minutes away from Issaquah Creek, which is the home to many, many salmon. Every year they swim upstream to come home to the Salmon Hatchery where they came from. There's a big celebration every October called "Salmon Days" to recognize these fish. It's quite a big deal! We weren't able to attend the big Salmon Days party, but we did go a few days earlier to check out the salmon. Sadly enough, not all of them make it, so you see quite a few on the creekside, but the ones that do are really interesting to watch. They look exhausted! Poor fish. It's a great lifecycle to talk to the kids about and a tradition to go experience every year. Here's our trip to the Salmon Hatchery!

Date Night

2010-10-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I had a FABULOUS night out with my amazing, wonderful husband last weekend! Seriously, it was the best night out that we've had in a really long time. We sooo needed it! We went to a Mariners game, getting there early so we could enjoy some dinner and the view from Safeco Stadium before the game. The level our seats were on gives you a perfect view of the sunset and the waters of Puget Sounds. Beautiful. After a extremely sad, sad game that we totally lost we went home and watched a movie. Just a perfect night. Thanks for a fun night, Jer! We should do it more often!

Fall Time!

2010-10-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

This is what my poor husband battles every Fall!!! He's really good about getting out there and blowing those leaves down in our ravine, but it sure piles up quick! They not only are all over our backyard, but all over our deck and roof as well thanks to the huge maple tree that hangs over them. The only benefit to all of this is the fun the kids have :)

And, the fun critters we find in the midst of the pile!

And I had to include our AWESOME pumpkin patch!!! What's Fall without pumpkins? OH, and our spooky black cat!

HAPPY FALL!!!

6

2010-09-29T21:31:00.001-07:00

My girl turned 6 yesterday! Wow! 6, and in Kindergarten. Crazy. Well, we decided to skip the friend party this year and just stick to family. With cousins around it felt just as exciting and fun as a friend party though. We had a Littlest Pet Shop party, with a LPS cake, decorations, and treat bags. Sam wanted homemade pizza for dinner, so that we did! We let the kids make their own, which I think they liked. Samantha got some really fun gifts this year. Mainly crafty/art stuff, Barbies, and LPS stuff. She seemed pleased! Thanks Grandma Klein for helping with the cake and thank you everyone for the gifts. It was a fun night!

Here's a few first baby pictures...I can't believe she was so little! Especially compared to my latest 10 lb. baby!

Day 1, at the hospital still.

When we arrived home, this is what we got to do!

Finally off the Bili Blanket!

1 month old. First Halloween costume, a bunny.

6th Birthday cake! It was more like a cupcake cake. We did a patch of grass with her LPS friends!

Ladies first...the girls making their pizzas.

Now the boys turn to make their pizzas.

The girls being goofy! Collin likes it :)

Yum, pizza time!

Sam thought Taylee was just hilarious at the moment! Make a wish!

Finally, gifts. Lucky girl!

A Little Catch-Up

2010-09-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Of course, I'm behind again... I'm great at staying behind in my blogging. Here's what's up! Over the past couple weeks we've had Parker start a little sports class, where they're working on soccer right now, Samantha did some cheerleading, and we took a trip to Seattle to visit my Dad and got to spend some time at the Center and enjoy the water fountain. Very nice! Sam and her cousin, Taylee attended a cheerleading camp at Liberty High School and then got to cheer in a football game. She loved it! I knew she would. She loves to scream and get excited, and do some dancing as well. It was a perfect fit. Parker is enjoying his class, but isn't quite getting the concept of keeping his hands off the ball. He's doing better, but still wants to pick it up so bad. He'll get it. Here's some shots of the kiddos doing there thing, and a family pic (don't mind my crazy hair!).

SOCCER!

This is what Collin does during sports class...

CHEER!

Sam and Tay at camp. Cute cheerleaders, huh!?

At the Big Game!

Jer, Grandpa Klein, and the boys enjoying some football.

Our family in Seattle. Beautiful weather!

Evergreen State Fair

2010-09-13T22:16:00.001-07:00

I'm now caught up again on my blogging! It's been difficult this year to keep up, but I will continue to try... Minus a mix up with my "summer" post and "circus" post, things are in order and up-to-date! Last weekend we went to the fair with Jeremy's family. Usually we go to the Puyallup fair, but decided to do something different this year. I'm really glad we did! We started the day off early with everyone enjoying a yummy breakfast at Denny's. We made it to the fair just shortly after they opened the gates, which was so nice. We're not big fans of crowds, so it was perfect. Of course, we went straight to the rides, which Jeremy's parents generously helped provide tickets for everyone. Thank you!!! The kiddie rides were a hit! The kids love them! We then headed over to the big kid rides. Now, I'm not a ride person and Jeremy really isn't either, but Jeremy had the influence of his brother and sister this time and ended up making the rides the focus of the fair. This turned out to be a bad idea because he got sick! My sister-in-law and I took the kids out for more rides and to see the animals while Jeremy went on a few too many and ended up regretting it. Poor guy. Maybe next year he'll think twice :) The fair was a great way to end the summer season. We had so much fun being with family and now look forward to Fall! We love Fall!

Jeremy, Parker and some other guy...I was really impressed with Parker that day. Last year he wouldn't set foot on a ride, but this year he loved them. Even the roller coaster! Samantha LOVES roller coasters, but her and Tay, who sat together, were too short and I couldn't get a picture of her smiling face!

All the kids, minus the babies, who sat in their strollers most of the time.

Like I said...

Everyone watching and waiting for Jer, Jake,Jess, Aaron (Jess' boyfriend), and Dan to be done with their ride.

Parker and Grandpa watching the Loggers put on a show for us.

One of the many rides Jeremy and the gang went on! CRAZY!

My little sheep.

Collin's only ride!

Had to stop by the Petting Farm! We love goats!

First Day of Kindergarten Dinner...

2010-09-13T22:01:00.001-07:00

So, I forgot to post this part of the day in my Kindergarten post! Well, we told Samantha that we would take her out to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner on her first day of school, so we did exactly that. It was ok food, but the atmosphere is fun. Collin was terrified of the "thunderstorms" and Parker was a little too. Before we left we let the kids toss some coins in the alligators mouth, who lives outside the restaurant's enterance. It' tradition. It was quite a day, celebrating our first child going to school. Time sure does fly!!!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2010-09-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Samantha had her first day of Kindergarten about a week and a half ago...Yeah, I'm just now blogging about it, but that doesn't mean I didn't care!!! She's been doing so good so far and absolutely loves it! Her teacher is great and the convienance of the school is awesome. I love being able to just walk up the street and drop her off and pick her up. It takes me about 5 minutes to get from my house to her classroom. LOVE IT! This first picture is actually two days before school started. It's her getting ready for her Meet Your Teacher Day. The rest is of her big first day of school. I was nervous and I could tell she was too, but once she got sat down she looked much more calm and ready to start. Now she's a pro and needs no help or guidance. I'm so proud of her!

The famous "First Day of School" picture.

Maple Hills Elementary

Her desk!

All the kids waving goodbye to their moms and dads! Samantha is hidden behind Mrs. Stempson...

PHEW! The first day is over! Good work, Sam!

Samantha and her friend from church, Sydney. They not only get to sit together at the same table, but their cubbies are next to eachother!

The walk home... We had to stop and pick flowers.

The Last Hoorah!

2010-09-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

On one of the last days that our neighborhood pool was open we had some great weather and took total advantage of it. I knew this was it, and we had to make the most of it. I decided to snap a few shots of our last big swim! After our pool time we headed over to the park knowing it was going to be raining in the very near future and wouldn't be able to enjoy that much either. I love our neightborhood and feel so lucky to be able to live here!

Circus,Circus!!!

2010-09-13T20:50:00.001-07:00

We had a chance to go to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus! It's so fun! We went a couple years ago and loved it and decided to check it out again this year. We let Samantha bring a friend this time, telling her this was her "birthday party" since last year she had a meltdown after her party and told me she didn't want another BIG party. SO, we toned it down a bit by just taking her out and inviting just 1 friend instead of 15! It turned out great! Her birthday isn't until the end of this month, but we figured a little early wouldn't hurt. Anyway, the circus was great and the kids had a fabulous time. Before the circus started they let us go onto the main floor and see some clowns, an elephant, and some other acts. After the circus we stopped for some ice cream (like cotton candy, popcorn, and lemonade weren't enough!). Yes, the kids were on a sugar rush, for sure. But, the circus only comes once a year, so you might as well make the most of it! The kids got some huge circus hats as well. It was a fun day!

CHEERS!

FHE Bowling

2010-08-29T21:19:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we decided to do some bowling for Family Home Evening. The kids loved going with Grandpa Fred and Tanner, so we decided to take them back. Of course, we did the bumper bowling, which made my score look awesome! The kids did a really good job. Parker only got the ball stuck in the middle of the lane once. Samantha had a little more strength and was able to get more pins down. It was a great family night! Poor Collin was locked up most of the time, but that was better than him running down the lanes of everyone, or getting his fingers squished between the bowling balls, which he was trying to do before he got locked in his stroller. We hadn't gone bowling where we actually paid for a long time. Boy, times have changed! I didn't realize it would cost over $40 for one game! Now we know. It was still fun. :)

Backyard Fun!

2010-08-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I love our backyard. It may not have the trampoline we've been wanting to get or a fancy swing set, but it's got LOTS of nature and a ton of room for imagination. Our kids are happy playing in the dirt, finding bugs and picking berries and flowers from our yard. We live on .98 acre and we love the space and freedoms it gives us. Yes, someday we will have that trampoline (I look on craigs list all the time!) and maybe a fun swing set, but for now the sandbox and nature do. Here's a few fun things we've got going on on the outside... First, the tree house, or "fort". Jeremy has been working hard on getting this done for the kids this summer. For the past month or so he's been building a tree house in the woods on the side of our house. I'm a nervous mom about it, but so far they've been fine and they love it. Almost every time we get out of the car, instead of going into the house they run to the tree house. They've been bringing their snacks up there and making a stick collection (that's mainly Parker). They both have binoculars, so they "spy" on our neighbors and cars that go by.

Here's the trail to get to it. This trail runs next to the garden and off of our driveway.

Here's a view of it from the street. It's hidden in the trees, so it's perfect for their "spying" idea, which Jeremy gave them!

View from the bottom.

Here's the kids at the bottom of the stairs.

View from the top. Pretty high up!

Made it up the stairs!

Say "cheese"!

While building the tree house, Jeremy came across this little guy. A salamander. The kids had fun holding it and kept it for a while. They wanted to keep it, but we have enough critters around here! Here it is, in the house and on the table....Nice.

The other day Samantha and Parker were out in the sprinkler while Collin was asleep. Around the time Collin woke up, the kids decided they were done in the sprinkler, but it was still on so Collin took a try at it. He got to it before I could get his clothes off and this is what happened! He was having fun, so I just let him be.

And last, but not least we have our garden. We were skeptical that it would grow due to lack of sunshine at the beginning of the summer, but it's doing quite well now. We've got a pumpkin patch going in hopes to have a Harvest Festival within our neighborhood. We'd love to get to know them better and have a party! A free pumpkin would be the added touch to the event. It may not work out, but it looks neat at least. We've also got some corn that's growing. I have a feeling we won't get any corn, but there's hope. We already harvested our red potatoes, which were delicious! They were getting eaten by slugs, so we dug them up a little early. They were kind of small, but still tasty.

HOT!

2010-08-16T00:14:00.001-07:00

It's HOT here in Seattle! Too hot for my liking. It's been around 95 degrees for the past couple of days. Tomorrow is supposed to be nearly 100! Too bad our house gets to be the same temperature as outside. I don't like it. So, what do you do when it's hot? You make ice cream cookie sandwhiches! SOOO yummy and cold! We've also been eating way too many Otter Pops! They're so good! Stay cool fellow Seattlites!

Seafair

2010-08-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

Seafair was last weekend here in Seattle. For those of you who don't know, Seafair is basically a summer celebration that Seattle puts on with hydroplane races and an awesome show from the Blue Angels. The problem is that the big show and races are always on Sunday. So, for my whole life, living in Seattle, I've never been to it. Crazy, huh? We do get to enjoy the Blue Angels for a couple days before that though, when they are practicing. So, on Thursday I took our kiddos out to the beach where I knew we would be able to watch them put on a little show for us. It was so cool to have them so close. They flew low and right over the beach. Very fun!

We also did some swimming, of course. The goal for Parker, the whole time, was to make a big hole in the sand and put water in it. Don't know why, but he worked so hard to make it. He half way did it. It turned out ok. Some little girl next to us made a huge one and Collin took a swim in hers more than once. She was nice enough to let him. Maybe next time, now that Parker has had some practice, he'll be able to reach his goal a little better...

I now realize that most of these pictures are of the boys! Didn't mean to. Sorry, Sam!

Weekend With The Family!

2010-08-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, we got to spend a lot of time with our wonderful family. My sister-in-law and I took our kids to Kelsey Creek Farm on Friday. The kids had fun playing on the toys and seeing the animals. Our kids love to be together and I have such a good time spending time with my good friend and sil, Emily.

Collin loves to "drive".

The kids by the horses.

Taking a rest in the shade, on the pig bench.

Our cute girls!

The babies in the sandbox.

The Gang!

Then, on Saturday we all went to a fun little medieval village not too far from where we live. They were having their Summer Festival that day, which meant lots to do and see. Everyone in the village roleplays and is anything from a cobbler to a fortune teller. It's entertaining and kind of funny at times. You have to get used to the way they talk and some of the things they do. We ended the afternoon with some yummy Small Fries dinner. Thanks for a fun weekend Kleins!

Tough guys.

Sword fight, anyone?!

The kids loved petting the sheep. They were pretty stinky and gross to me!

The horse was also very liked.

The boys being silly. Parker had this thing will finding sticks that day. This pile of wood was heaven for him!

My little girl being cute.

GRRR....

2010-08-15T22:35:00.001-07:00

So, I don't know that anyone really looks at this blog anymore. I've been pretty bad at keeping it updated, but to those of you who do here's my latest car issue I've had (minus the flat tire that happened just days before this)...So, I was driving home after being at the gym. It was around 10:00 p.m. on a dark, little two laned road that leads to my house (sounds like some scary ghost story or something!). All of the sudden I heard a loud noise like I hit something, or rather, something hit me. I did see something come towards me in my front window, but it happened so fast I had no idea what it was or that it was going to have any effect on me. After I heard this noise the first thing I thought was that I hit a bird. Since I had seen something out of the corner of my eye out my window I thought that was it, for sure. I was almost home, so I just kept on driving and when I got home I found this-

My camera's flash is tempermental and only works when it wants to, so you can't see it too well, but this is a chocolate milk carton hanging out of the side of my headlight. Yes, somebody threw a milk carton at me! Who does that? It's so random and made me so mad! I assume whoever it was was hiding in the bushes that are right along the street and right where it happened. Little twirps! So, now I have a hole in my light and get to pay to have a new one put in. I've had the worst luck with this van. This isn't the first "incident" with it. Unfortunately, the other ones were my fault, but whatever!

Larrabee State Park

2010-08-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!

We have a tradition of going camping with our good friends, the Pynns, every summer. This summer we ventured out to Bellingham, WA to Larrabee State Park. We had never been there, but our friends had. They hadn't actually camped there before, so we thought we'd give it a try. It turned out be awesome! We really did love it. Minus the fact that there was an active, working train track that ran right on the edge of the campground! Yes, in the dead of the night, and wee hours of the morning, we would hear the loud roaring and honking of a train. This went on both nights we were there. Luckily, our kids slept right through it. Jeremy and I didn't, but as long as the kids did we were ok. Besides that, it was a great campground. It was just a short walk from the water and close to town. It had toilets and showers, which are always nice. Although, I never did make it to the shower!!!

Anyways, our trip went something like this...Friday night we drove the almost 2 hour drive to Bellingham. We (and when I say "we" I mean the MEN) set up camp in the dark. Not recommend when you have 5 children ages 5 and under! And, not to mention neither of us (again, I mean our husbands) had ever set up our tents before. Both were brand new, out of the box. :) We finally got the kids to bed around 12:30 a.m. and we followed shortly after, only to be awakened again by that dang train!!! The kids slept through it though and all was well.

Morning came all too soon and Collin was wide awake at 6:30 a.m. I took a walk with him while everyone slept. Jeremy got up about an hour later and took over and I went back to sleep. Finally we were all awake, ready to make some yummy breakfast and get ready for our only full day to enjoy. Our day consisted of a trip to the beach, Collin sleeping wherever he could, a trip into town, a picnic and some soccer at a park in town, a small festival at the park with crafts, music, face painting, ect..., a stop for ice cream, a car tour of Western Washington University (where our friends attended), a hot dog dinner over the fire, smores, a hike out to watch the sunset, chit chat around the fire, games, and lots of snacks! What a day! We ended the night a little earlier, but not much earlier than the previous night. We still got woken up by the train, but the kids did well again and slept through it. And, Collin slept in until 7 this time, which was kind of nice.

Sunday, we made another tasty breakfast and started to pack up. We had a goal of getting to church at a local ward that started at 1:00. To my surprise, it took us all morning, with no time to spare to get ready and make it to church. By the time we got everything packed up in cars, our lunch premade and handy to eat later, get ourselves looking somewhat presentable for church it was 12:45. Who knew?! After an hour of church, we headed out to a park on the marina to eat our lunch and watch the kites that were being flown. It was a nice and relaxing way to end our weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of that park, but it was really pretty. We then headed back to the real world of smelly clothes to wash and lots of camping gear to unload. Thanks Jason and Wendy for a fun weekend!!!

Wiped out!

Cherry Pickin'

2010-08-06T22:26:00.001-07:00

Just out of the blue, last month, Jeremy came home from a run and told me to get ready because we were going to Yakima! Ok....Well, we ended up taking a little day trip over the mountains to Yakima to pick some cherries and cruise the city. Well, if you know Yakima, you know that it's not a very big city. I have family that used to live in neighboring towns, but not in the heart of the city, so we've never really hung out there, just passed by it on the way to Idaho. We ended up just walking around downtown for a while and found a little cherry orchard to do some picking and came home! On the way there we stopped in Ellensburg for lunch and on the way home we stopped in North Bend for dinner. That was the extent of the trip, but it was a fun little outing and great family time. Thanks, Jer, for your spur of the moment ideas!

Splish Splash!

2010-08-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

We've definately had some fun in the sun this summer! Especially in the water. My kids love the water. We have our neighborhood pool that we go to all the time, as well as swimming lessons at the same pool. We usually go to swimming lessons then end up staying afterwards for open swim time for a good hour or two. It's nice and relaxing and the kids love it. On one of our 95 degree days last month (yes, I'm a month behind on my blogging!) we decided to venture out to a spray park near by. We had never been there, and of course we go on the hottest day of the summer to try it out. It was VERY busy, but the kids had fun. I was sweating to death, chasing my baby around and making sure I kept an eye on the other two who were running around. It turned out great though. The kids made new friends, we ate a lunch under a very small tree (meaning little to no shade!), played on the playground, and watched some cool break dancers show off their stuff in the middle of the park...Kind of random, but entertaining. And, to top it off, before we even got all the way out of the car to begin our adventure I ended up consoling a nanny who had locked the kids she was watching in the car!!! Yes, on a 95 degree day!!! It was a little nerve racking, but the police came and with a hit of a hammer on the car window, the kids were free. After that, all was good. SO, here's a few pictures of our spray park adventure!

The Park...

My red headed boy taking it all in.

Enjoying the water!

Collin was content with hanging out by the huge globe. Water ran down it and it made his day!

Sam on top of the HUGE whale. The kids liked to climb to the top and slide down it's head.

The dragon head was a big hit as well!

Lookin' a little hot!

Like I had mentioned before, we did swimming lessons. Actually, we're still doing them...This was Parker's first session of swimming lessons and he's done great! No fear! Sam is just a fish and such a good swimmer. I'd love to put her on the swim team next year! As long as she can swim the length of the pool, she's in. I'm thinking that won't be a problem. Here's my kids just loving the water!

Collin, wishing he was in the water.

Sam with her teacher and classmates. Her teacher is actually in our ward, so it's been fun having him help her along.

Goggle boy!

Doing great with the kickboard. He's willing and ready to do all they ask. I'm so proud of him!

Good job, Sam!

He always climbs on the railing and acts like a monkey, noises and all!

Straight arms and legs, Samantha!

Parker loves his teacher, Hannah!

Laughing, Walking, Crying...A Little of Everything!

2010-07-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd post this video of my kiddos being kind of silly...I have Collin fake laughing and showing off his new walking skills, Parker crying about stuff (as usual!), and Sam being the Big Sister. This gives you a glimpse of my day...when they aren't fighting! Enjoy :) P.S. I'm working on updating this blog! We've done a lot this month!

Independance Day Weekend

2010-07-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

We had a fun, but WET Independence Day Weekend this year. It all started on Saturday, with Jeremy and his brother and friends playing a game of wiffle ball. The guys had fun, while us girls chatted and the kids played on the toys. Collin enjoyed scooting around on his bum, of course, in the dirt. He was absolutely filthy! On Sunday, we first celebrated by watching our annual neighborhood parade. It was right before we were leaving for church, so we sported our nice Sunday clothes out on the side of the road while catching candy and waving at everyone. I felt a little out of place, but it was worth it. The kids loved it. After church we came home and all of Jeremy's family came over for a BBQ. We had a ton of food, like always. We also celebrated our nephew's 1st birthday, which was actually on the 7th. After eating and waiting for the rain to stop we headed outside for some fireworks. Every year we like to buy a few for the kids and put on a mini show for them. We try not to buy too many because we also head over to the park to watch the fireworks there. Now, that's where the show really is! Everyone in the neighborhood likes to bring their fireworks to the park, including a man who owns a firework stand. It makes for a really amazing show, actually. It's incredible. It's almost as good as the professional ones. It's great! Our kids all wore head phones to block out the loudness of it all. Apparently, they work really well, because Collin fell right to sleep in the middle of it all! He's such a good boy! Even though it was a bit wet and soggy, we had a really wonderful 4th of July!

Sad, Sad Boy!

2010-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Collin is starting to really act like a toddler lately (minus the walking part). He loves to do anything his brother and sister are doing. One of his most favorite things to do is anything he can do at the sink. He wants to wash his hands, he wants to brush his teeth, he wants to stand on the stool and just stand there. He loves it! This day though, I wasn't being very cooperative and I didn't help him do anything he wanted to do. The water had been on while Parker was doing something and right when Parker left Collin got right up there to get into that water. I wasn't in the mood to hold my 30 lb. kid and play in the water. Even on the stool, he's a little too short to actually touch it, so what happened? He stood there and bawled! Just screamed like he was dying or something! Miserable. It made me laugh, so I had to get a picture of him being way overly dramatic. He sure knows what he wants!

Glimpses of Summer

2010-07-05T23:04:00.001-07:00

We have had the lousiest summer so far! We've hit the low 70's occasionally, but only a handful of times. It's been bad. SO, those few glimpses of summer that we've seen we've either headed to the pool, or ran through the sprinkler. This day I was a bit lazy and thought the sprinkler sounded fun and a good change. Collin made it into the water a couple times and cried each time. Poor kid! I'm sure it was too cold and from what I saw, he wasn't able to get out fast enough. It was actually quite entertaining, for me. He's funny. Here's the kiddos having some fun in the sun!

A Little Behind...

2010-07-05T21:42:00.001-07:00

Remember that "staycation" we went on? Well, here's the other half of all our fun times! We took it a little slower that week. I think the first week kind of wore us out. We managed to do plenty though. We visited some fun places and ate at some yummy restaurants again. It was still a blast and we created some really great memories. Here it is...

Salt Water State Park

A New Truck!

We finally got rid of our old 60's Ford beater truck right before our little "staycation", but during our "staycation" we bought a MUCH, MUCH newer '93 Ford Ranger. I love it! I'm just so happy to have a reliable truck again!

And, our mini van, which I also love! (don't mind the wood project mess in the corner there...)

Chuck E. Cheese

Museum of Flight

Preschool Graduation!

2010-06-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is getting to be not so little anymore. My baby is going to Kindergarten next year and I'm kind of freaking out! She's totally excited and talks about it almost daily. I'm the nervous one, thinking about the first day of school already. Yikes! Well, I'll get over it but it's still so wierd to think of her as being as old as she is. It's crazy. Anyways, with that, she graduated preschool last week! She was able to go to a wonderful preschool ran by the famous Ms. Tammy. Sam loved her! I did too. I had a really good experience with it and was sad to see Sam's preschool days behind her. Samantha's graduation was adorable. The kids did a little dance and song that they'd been practicing for weeks. They got to wear cute grad hats and get a little "diploma". It was really fun. It was all followed by cake and refreshements. And to top it off, they came home with a handful of helium balloons and a little gift. I'm so happy Sam was able to go to Ms. Tammy's and meet new friends and also have some old friends with her to share that experience.

The class doing their song and dance. It was really cute.

Sam and Ms. Tammy

Congrats, Sam!

Samantha with her friend, Sydney and her cousin, Taylee.

Samantha and Taylee. They're the best of friends!

Week 1 of "Stay-cation"

2010-06-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

Week #1 of our "Stay-cation" was FABULOUS! We had such a great time! I truly felt like I was on vacation. We toured the city of Seattle and even though Jeremy and I had done mostly all of the things we did, it was just nice to do it as a family and have some fun! We ate out everyday. We bought little things at the gift shops for ourselves. We took tons of pictures. We got out the brochures. We "traveled" into the city 3 times. We spent too much money. We did it all! Here's a glimpse...and I mean a glimpse, of the good times we had!

Science Center

Harbor Cruise

Aquarium

Waterfront

EMP (Experience Music Project) and SFM (Science Fiction Museum)

Monorail

Rides At Seattle Center

Space Needle (2 times!)

Alki Beach

Woodland Park Zoo

A little R&R= Chicken Coop and Swimming!

I have so many pictures, I wish I could post them all!

"Stay-cation" Sneak Peak

2010-06-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

So, I've got a lot of posting to do in the near future, but I wanted to give you a little glimpse of what we've been up to...You see, Jeremy has two weeks off which started on Monday (the 7th). We thought about going to Disneyland but decided it was too expensive right now. Then, we decided to go to Idaho to visit my mom and see some sights but changed our minds again because we realized my mom would be coming here this summer anyways and there's not a ton to do that the kids would enjoy. SO, we finally decided on just staying home. BUT, instead of just being vegetables and doing nothing for 2 weeks, we would vacation in Seattle! So, that's what we're doing. It's only day 2 and I've got a ton of pictures! When I have more time I plan on showing them off, but until then... Day #1 (yesterday) of our "stay-cation" was going to the Seattle Science Center and visiting the Space Needle. Here's Collin at the Science Center in their play area. He LOVED driving this little car!

Stay tuned for more! Today's outing was a harbor cruise off the Seattle Waterfront, the Aquarium, and dinner at the Spaghetti Factory! We've got LOTS more planned as well! It should be fun!

A Troll, New Pets, And A Birthday Boy!

2010-06-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Despite our very sickly month, we've managed to do and have a few fun experiences! I've been sooo lazy about blogging these past couple weeks. There's always something more important that needs done...like the fact that I have a HUGE pile of clothes on my bed right now that need to be put away and it's almost 10:00p.m.! Oh well. I had to get updated, so here's what we've been up to lately.

The whole month of May was a sick mess! Everyone got sick at one point and poor Parker got sick twice. BUT, despite all of that I managed to get Parker POTTY TRAINED!!!!!! Yippeeeee!!! Yeah, I'm a little excited. He's doing amazing too! Does EVERYTHING in the potty. It's great.

A couple Saturdays ago I came home to these lovely things in my garage. The bunny was planned and we actually went and got her together as a family later that night, but these little chicks...not really appreciated! I was in shock. I hate birds! BUT, after a while I warmed up to the fact that we had them (but did not warm up to them!). I've only touched one of them once. The other day one of them jumped/flew out of the box and I was so terrified to get it I just let it roam around the garage until Jeremy got home. I love our bunny though. Her name is Ella and she's so cute! Yeah, two different pets in one day. We're really not trying to start a farm here, really. One bonus is the fresh eggs! Right?

Our latest fun was this past weekend. We decided to go do some sight seeing in Seattle. Jeremy and I have both lived here our entire lives and have never seen this huge troll! I mean, how can you miss it, right? Well, we did. It's living under a bridge, in an area called Fremont in Seattle. It's the same troll you seen in the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You". Anyways, it was kinda fun to see and walk around on. I was surprised at how many tourists showed up! At least two big buses with crazy picture-taking tourists arrived while we were there.

On our way home from the Troll, we stopped at GasWorks Park. It's a well-known park that people flock to, to watch fireworks on the 4th. We've seen it from a distance, but in all the years neither of us had ever stopped. SO, in our last sight seeing attempt we stopped and took some pictures and let the kids play. It's got a great view of the lake and some pretty neat old gas chambers (or something like that...really I have no idea what they're called or what I'm talking about, but they have to have something to do with the name of the park, right?)

And, lastly, it was Jeremy's birthday yesterday! Jeremy had to go into work, so we woke up and celebrated a little before he left. Jeremy LOVES ice cream cake, so I got him one and he blew out his 30 candles and we sang Happy Birthday and gave him a few gifts. The kids liked it because I let them eat cake for breakfast. Yum! When Jeremy got home from work we headed out to Mexican food with his family. It was so good! We enjoyed our meal and cupcakes that I brought, then headed to Target to spend his gift card that his sister got him. He didn't waste any time. All in all, it was a great day for him. Happy Birthday, Jer! We love you!

I totally need a new camera! If these pictures are lousy, sorry!

SOOOOO CLOSE!

2010-05-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

I'm just happy to announce that we are soooo darn close to having a fully potty trained boy! He did great yesterday and has been doing overall very good this past week. He did his first #2 last night in the potty and I'm hoping this is the beginning of wonderful things to come! I'll be so, so happy when I can officially say that I only have one child in diapers. I can already see the difference in my diaper pail. I've had many less runs to the garbage can outside. It's great!!! Keep it up, buddy!

Our Week...

2010-05-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

What a week! Since last Friday, it's been quite a rollercoaster of events. On Friday, April 30th, we celebrated Parker's 3rd birthday! He's just growing up so fast. We had a fun pizza night with Jeremy's family, making our very own homemade pizzas. Jeremy was our chef and made all the dough, assembled, and cooked our pizzas. They turned out great! Parker wanted a fireman/firetruck themed party, so we went with it and had firehats and party blowers, and of course decorations. We did cupcakes and ice cream and opened presents. It was fun! THEN, on Saturday we continued the celebration by having his "friend" party. We still did the firetruck theme and had a cool firetruck cake that my mom-in-law helped me make. We had 6 little friends over and we had fun playing a game, they colored, and I let them just go crazy and play as well. I mean, they're 3, right? The kids loved the cake and everyone wanted the ladder. Silly :) Parker loved all his gifts and loved having his buddies over for awhile. SO, our weekend was full of partying (and a baptism Saturday moring). Sunday I had Sharing Time in primary, so I got to finish planning that on Saturday night. Kind of a busy day...Anyways, by monday I was sick. Literally. SOOO sick. I felt horrible. My body hurt, my throat hurt, my head hurt, everything hurt! And, to top it off Collin was sick, with a runny nose and cough and Jeremy was starting to feel it too. Luckily, Jeremy felt well enough to save the day and be home from work and let me rest! What a man! Tuesday I still felt sick, but a tiny bit better. My throat was KILLING me! That was the worst part. Well, tuesday was also our anniversary. So, for our 8 year anniversary we took the kids out for a good old Red Robin dinner. I was kind of miserable from being sick, but it was so nice to be out and get some really good food(even though I could barely swallow!) and spend time with my family. I loved it. The rest of the week consisted of me still being sick, Samantha getting sick and having a 102 degree fever, Parker getting sick with a cold, and Collin still sick with a cold, and Jeremy getting worse. I ended up at the doctor, thinking for sure I had strep but I didn't. That was good, but I hate it when you go to the doctor and you're sent home with nothing. I kinda feel dumb. Oh well. I also ended up losing my voice. Completely. I was at a whisper, which makes it so hard to get through to your kids! That lasted about 3 days. Not fun. So, now we're to yesterday...Mother's Day. I woke up still sick! Everyone was still sick, which meant no church. But, Jeremy, again saves the day and takes care of me, making me breakfast in bed. The kids got their gifts and cards and brought them to me in bed and I ate and opened my gifts. It was wonderful. After that Jeremy let me sleep in even longer while he took care of the kids. By noon though, Collin was getting worse and looking really bad. He had a 102.6 fever and looked horrible. So, I took him in to Urgent Care and got him checked out. I mean, after being sick for 10 days, you'd think he'd be getting better. It turns out he has an ear infection and sinus infection. After spending almost 4 hours at the docs and pharmacy I got home to my family to finish out my mother's day with them. We ended up taking a walk (Collin was feeling a bit more perky after meds and a nap!) along the river and eating a roast beef dinner. It was a crazy sunday, but a nice, relaxing one as well. Now it's monday night and Collin is still not doing so good. He's been on antibiotics for 24 hours now and still has a fever and looks pretty sick. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Luckily, everyone else is looking up, even me. I look forward to a more "normal" week this week. I missed so much last week, I'm feeling a little out of it! Here's a few pictures from Parker's friend birthday party!

Love My Kids...

2010-04-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

My kids can be a handful, but I love them soooo much! They're so funny and smart and loving, and imaginative. They're awesome! I just had to give a little shout out to my amazing children. Love you!

My performer, artist, and BIG helper. She loves to pose and be "pretty". She loves flowers, dresses, make-up (which consists of chapstick and whatever is left over on my blush brush), friends, family, and her cat. She loves to bake cookies and help me with any chores around the house (except clean her own room!). She loves to learn new things. She's quite the girly girl but can also get down and dirty when she wants to. She asks me what we're going to do the next day, every night before bed. She's always ready to make plans and have fun!

My class clown. He loves to make us laugh, especially at the dinner table. He's got quite the temper, but 2 seconds later is as loving and cuddly as can be. He's stubborn. He loves "fighting", watching Caillou, bubblegum, his Bear, games, and being outside with Dad. He's into I SPY books and loves to be sung to sleep. He's a great big brother, but quite a pesty little brother :)

My curious one. He's growing in every way, every day. He loves Mom (a little too much!) and his binky. He's a hefty boy and my arms feel it every day. His new love is his glow worm. He loves to play with anything he can get his hands on, especially the remote. He's the best baby to cuddle with. He's got a great laugh and goofy smile. He's our future quarterback...and retirement plan!

Milestones!

2010-04-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

Collin is 12 months now and is FINALLY starting to feel like a 12 month old! In just the past few weeks he's CRAWLING, pulling himself up to everything, climbing up stairs, and letting of go things for a few seconds at a time. It's about time! He's doing great! I'm starting to be less afraid that he'll be bouncing on his bum the rest of his life :) We took him to the doctors last week for his check-up and here's what we got: Weight- 28lbs. 15 oz. Height- 31.5 inches He's slowing down in his massive weight gain. Luckily. He only gained 2 lbs since his last check-up instead of 4 or 5. He's so big! But, he's movin' and I think he won't be a giant for the rest of his life. Maybe. Go Collin!

I Love To See The Temple

2010-04-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

For family night last week we took a trip to the temple. I think the kids have only done this once before, so we thought it would be a good time to have a lesson about temples and let them walk around. There's lots of pretty flowers and some little trails around the temple that everyone enjoyed. We took time to stop and talk about Angel Moroni and other things about the temple with them. It was great to have Samantha be so involved and know so much about temples already. She sure is growing up! Here's some pictures of our fun family night!

Our Birthday Boy!

2010-04-12T21:32:00.001-07:00

Collin turned 1! I just can't believe how time has flown by! Well, it has, and it's been wonderful. He's been such a joy and so much fun to have around. We LOVE him SO much!!! His birthday was on Saturday (April 10th) and we celebrated by doing yard work! Just kidding :) We did lots that day, but in the evening we had Jeremy's family over and ate some dinner and had a little party. My mom-in-law helped with the cute cake, which turned out great! We ate, played, ate, opened presents, and ate some more! We had lots of good food to enjoy and I sure did enjoy it...too much! Thanks family for the gifts and fun night! Here's some pictures of Collin's 1st birthday!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

We had a very relaxing, yet sickly Easter weekend. It actually started the Sunday before Easter with the traditional wearing of the Easter outfits. I figured since they were dressed up I should take some pictures and not wait for the day of. Parker was a grouch at first, as you can tell in the first pic, but warmed up a bit after awhile. Anyways, the Friday before Easter we dyed some eggs. Then, Saturday we woke up and watched a bit of conference then walked over to the park down the street and did our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. The kids had fun, but it was so wet and cold that we left right after they found their eggs and got their prizes. No playing around on the toys this year! It made me happy though that I could be there...Last year during the egg hunt I was recovering at the hospital from having Collin the night before. Jeremy left me to take them to the hunt. What a good Dad :) After the hunt we came home a chilled for pretty much the whole day. Jeremy left for the priesthood session and we went to the grocery store. Fun, huh? That night Jeremy and I were watching "Where the Wild Things Are" when I heard Parker in bed crying. I went in to find vomit all over, and I mean everywhere! Ick! So, I took care of that and Parker fell asleep on Jeremy while we finished our movie (which, I DO NOT recommend that movie AT ALL!) SO, Easter morning we had a sick child, which meant no candy for him. And, I knew he was still not feeling well because he didn't even ask. We hung out and watched more conference and took naps. That night Jeremy took Samantha over to Grandma and Grandpa Klein's house for Easter dinner. I stayed home with poor Parker who was feeling a bit better, luckily. Sam had fun with another egg hunt in G&G Klein's basement and she was kind enough to get Parker some too. It was a great Easter and we definitely emphasized the true meaning of Easter this year. That's something we're working on . The Easter Bunny brought the kids yummy candy, but also some great things to remind them of Christ and the Resurrection. What a great weekend to celebrate Easter, being able to hear our Prophet as well. I hope everyone had a wonderful day too!

I Love Spring!!!

2010-03-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

My flowers are blooming and I'm so happy! I Love Spring!