Forever Young

Staying at the house where I grew up makes it almost impossible to not feel like a kid. Add that to  hanging out with my girls and niece and nephew and I feel like an even bigger kid. It's fun to step out of adult life and responsibilities and just enjoy the carefree days of summer. A rare treat to be sure... Here are the kids with the homemade pizza and strawberry milkshakes we made. Delicious. Regan picked the strawberries from Grandma's hill.
Here's a "fun" picture of me, racing cars on my brother's birthday (one of the biggest grown up kids I know). A big group of us went. My competitive nature was squashed when I got confused during the first lap and drove into the pit area.  I looked at the guy and said "I'm not supposed to be here, am I?" He had to push me back out and it really shook my confidence. Every time I came to that part in the track I had to force myself to not drive into the pit area. I want a rematch! Regardless of my lousy racing times, I had a great time. It's fun to let your hair loose (or not, depending on whether or not you have to wear a helmet).

Daddy's Princesses

We love you!

Gone fishin'

Grandma has a waterfall and small pond in her backyard. There used to be big gold and white fish in their until the protected Blue Heron swooped down and ate them. When our cuzins flew out from Chicago to play at Grandma's house, we went to the store and picked out four fish: one for each visiting cousin, and a pond sucker (too ugly to take a picture of).

Regan skims the water, while Grandma prepares the fish for their new home

Lady liked the fish, but Bell was a bit scared of them. The pondsucker fish popped his plastic bag with is powerful suck.

Here the fish acclimate for 10 minutes before their final release into their new home.

We love you, Daddy!

My girls are so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy. He is so much fun to play with. He buys and flies kites with them (yes, we bought another kite... better quality and it actually lasted more than a day), sings and plays songs for them, reads to them, plays outside with them, goes for walks with them, makes breakfast for them so Mommy can catch up on sleep in the morning, etc, etc. He is very hands-on when he is home, not only in a fun way, but in all the necessary chores that come when caring for young children. The only thing he can't do is put ponytails in the girls hair (or braids), but we don't expect him to do that! The girls adore their Daddy. When we talk to him at night on the phone Lady usually says "Daddy, you're too far away. I can give you a big hug and a big kiss." It melts your heart. When Bell gets hurt, she usually cries for her daddy. Because we extended our trip out West, we missed spending Father's Day with our favorite man. Lady helped me by picking out three ties to send to Daddy in a care package. We can't wait to see him wear them. It's hard to be apart for so long, but we look forward to our happy reunion with him. We love you Daddy!

Sleepless in Seattle

We had a happy surprise when we found out Daddy's mother was visiting Daddy's sister in Seattle. Grandma B decided to drive down to see us in Oregon with cousins and aunts in tow. Mommy's mother (Grandma P) made a delicious Mexican feast to our weary road warriors. It was fun to see the girls play with their cousins, aunts and grandma, but it was not enough time, so we hopped in the car and followed them up to Seattle. Four and a half hours later (we did stop for dinner), we collapsed into Cuzin Cam's bed. Three of us slept... I'll bet you can guess, which one of the four did not. Oh well. The girls had so much fun running around Aunt Dana's 2 acre property seeing the newborn fawns, chasing Aunt Marin and Sarah, having their toenails painted by Aunt Karen. It's a wonder I was able to get them in the car to return to Oregon.

Grandma B with Baby G.

The girls walked on the treadmill for 11 minutes after they saw Aunt Karen working out.

Aunt Marin shows them the "finer things in life" as they relax in a comfy hammock.

One of the best parts of our reunion was meeting Cousin Daniel, born three months after Baby G. Daniel is the 26th grandchild for Grandma Bryce--- evening out the number of girls and boys to be 13 and 13. He sure is a cutie!

Four Generations

Technically, there are only 3 generations showing in this picture, but I am present, just behind the camera. My grandmother, affectionately known as "Grammy," flew up as a surprise for my brother's birthday. It was a great opportunity for her to meet Baby and see the girls (and me) as well. She read stories to the girls and brought them fun toys and clothes. We went out for yummy Thai food and did a little shopping. The time went by fast, but we were glad we could see Grammy. I won't post her real age, because she would take another flight up here and beat me with her heavy handbag, but let me just say... people have accused her of being MY mother's sister, and everyone thinks my mother is in her early 40's... so there you have it.

Our time in Or-gone

We barely... okay... I barely made the L-O-N-G plane ride across country. I will later post a pic of baby on her first plane ride. For now I will give a few highlights of our trip. One of the biggest draws is Uncle Michael... or as the girls call him "My Michael." He and his wife Chelsea are visiting Grandma and Papa for part of our time here. He chases the girls and scares them into the high pitch screams that only little girls can muster (how do they get that high?). Today he said "I'm gonna get Grandma," and Bell said adamantly "No, you can't get Grandma." So he started after her. As he was about to grab her she said "Get Grandma, get Grandma... and she's right there." My, oh my, how quick she was to sell Grandma out.

Having a pool in Oregon is pointless. The weather is too rainy to get any real use of it. But, to a small child, a hot tub IS a pool, with automatic bubbles. Does it get any better? Yes, that's a picture of me in a bathing suit... not mine, mind you. It's one of my mother's "favorites." You know you're a Grandma when you stop buying black slimming suits in favor of the loudest, eye- catching tropical suit you can find.

Here is little Baby. Her favorite game right now is for me to sing "If you're happy and you know it," while I clap her hands to the beat. She screams with laughter.

Bell wearing the sombrero I bought Uncle Michael in Tijuana a hundred years ago. The end of the ties come together in a tassel, which the girls thought was a flower. Bell said to Lady "do you want to smell it?"

Lady donning the sombrero. Notice Bell is eyeing that "flower."

Baby's blessing

Today we blessed our sweet Baby. She wore the blessing dress Bell wore, made with loving care by Grandma. Daddy blessed her, along with Papa in the circle, and Daddy Gibby, our bishop, and friend Eric (who also helped bless the twins). Baby cried the whole time, so it was almost impossible to hear what was said. I had a tender moment with her while I was dressing her before the blessing. I sat holding her and explained that she would be getting a special blessing and was being dedicated to the Lord. I told her how lucky she was to have the gospel in her life and that if I did my job correctly as a mother, she would learn to pray, read the scriptures, seek the guidance of the Lord in her life, and serve others. It was a tender moment and reminded me of the great responsibility I have as a mother to not only teach my daughters these things, but to also do them.
Our little family with Baby on her special day.
Grandma and Papa with Baby.

Grandma & Papa Arrive!

My parents flew in for the weekend for Baby's blessing. We didn't do much except sleep and eat. Here is a picture of the grand-daughters at Olive Garden.
What tops off a big Italian meal? Ice cream, of course... from mom's two best friends from NYC: Ben and Jerry. Here Bell and Lady dig into their first taste of B&J heaven: chocolate chip cookie dough. It was so rich, they couldn't even get through half the scoop.
The adults didn't have any trouble finishing all the ice cream. Sigh. Oh, those new year's resolutions!

Fun on the Farm

On a last minute whim, we headed off to a local farm with our friend Naomi and Jessica. There is nothing quite like seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Here the girls are looking at a pen of goats.
Among the animals we saw: sheep, chickens, pigs, horses, cows, many birds...
The definite highlight of the trip was playing in the garden dirt box. It was down right dirty.
Bell ate some of the dirt. According to my pediatrician, that's actually healthy.
Lady: future member of the Audoban Society