Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Greg surprised me with this beautiful painting by a local artist. We haven't figured out where to hang it, yet, but I love and and can't wait to have it on the wall! Thank you Greg!

Backyard Fun

Playing peek-a-boo in the shed.

This was taken at our friends house last weekend...but it could have been anywhere that there's dirt. She makes a bee-line for it and sits, digs, throws, and generally gets filthy any time she has the opportunity!

Yesterday they found this snake out in the backyard...

Like father, like son.

Spring Weekend

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a little hike at Camelback. Then after playing at the park, we went to dinner at a place nearby. It was so nice to get out and enjoy Boise!

Maren enjoyed riding in the backpack while Joel led the way up the steep hill!

My sweet family.

Even after a long afternoon of walking and playing, they still wanted to climb the little hill by the car. I love it that they get along and want to play together.

New Bike Helmets

Last weekend St Lukes (the hospital Greg works for) opened a new facility and to celebrate they had, among other things, brand new helmets for $5 each! We went out and got the kids fitted and they got to try them out on bikes in the parking lot.

Maren's is still a bit big, but they gave us extra foam strips to put on the inside to make it snug. Hers also came with a pair of Elmo sunglasses!

We needed one for Maren for taking longer rides in the bike trailer - she is still a bit too little for even this tricycle!

Joel's helmet came with knee and elbow pads, which is great because we are hoping he will learn to ride his bike with no training wheels this summer! So far he just likes wearing them around the house and in the car. Safety first!

Monkeys Jumping

A favorite pastime for these two...jumping on the bed! Maren can't really jump yet, but she likes to get bounced around by Joel!

Smith Family

After our short stay in Portland, we went up to Tacoma to spend some time with my Grandparents up there (Mom's side). Greg also had his licensing interview with the Covenant Church near Seattle, so it was great timing for us to be there!Here I am with Grammy and Grandaddy. I am 1 of 14 grandchildren ranging in age from 36 to 4. And they have 9 great-grandchildren!
We spent some time looking at albums of when they were young parents!
We tried to get a picture of all of us, including the kids, but Maren wasn't cooperating, so we took them out of it all together!

Grammy had a lot of fun playing with the kids.

The Girls - we took a walk to the park in the freezing, windy, weather!


The Boys - Grandaddy was a week away from having back surgery, so he wasn't out and about like he usually is. But he was still cheerful and loved having us there.

We stayed at the Baughman's house just a mile away. They are home from France for an extended stay and we have gotten to see them several times. These are three of the four kids (my cousins) that were home at the time with their dad (my uncle), and the younger 4 kids and their mom were at a retreat.

Saying goodbye.

Grammy and Grandaddy gave the kids this slinky - they played with it the WHOLE time we were there!

Exhausted from an eventful trip!

Thomas Family

While we were in Portland we got to see my Aunt Ruth and Grandparents (on my Dad's side). It was so nice to see them all and we had a really fun time together.

Grandma and Greg had a great time together...laughing and teasing the whole time.
This is my fun Aunt Ruth...she is so great with kids and she loves to tell stories. She brings these boxes with her when she visits the neices and nephews and tells interactive Bible stories. Here she is getting Joel ready to be in the club to hear the story.

Today's story was about creation..she had all kinds of animals and people and planets in the box.

Thank you Aunt Ruth!

Portland for a Minute

After our weekend at the beach, we stopped in Portland for 24 hours before heading up to Tacoma. It was such a short visit, but we always love going to Mimi and Del's house. We are looking forward to having Mimi come for a longer visit in June!

Mimi always manages to spend quality time with the kids, no matter how short the visit!

Here we all are...getting a last minute picture before saying goodbye!

We also got to see my Grandparents and Aunt Ruth (on my Dads side) while we were in Portland, but I couldn't find my camera, so I took pictures with my mom's camera. I will post those when I get them!

Family Reunion at Seaside!

Last weekend we got to go to the Oregon coast to spend the weekend with my Dad and Connie, Both of my sisters and their families (we missed my brother Kevin, who wasn't able to come.)! My dad rented a big house with a view of the ocean and we spent the weekend eating, playing games, laughing, watching the crazy weather, and just enjoying being all together for such a long time! There were 8 adults and 7 kids to keep things interesting!

This is the view from the porch - despite the snow, hail, wind, sleet and fog...we did see moments of sun, too!

The first walk down to the beach - Greg, Joel, Grandpa, Dave and Dean.

This is "Spring" break in Oregon!

Cousins - Jordan, Maren and William

Joel and Jordan became fast friends...they are only 6 weeks apart in age and they spent the whole weekend playing and laughing and just having so much fun together! They insisted on sitting together at every meal, and once Jordan even told Joel she wanted to marry him! (We put an end to those thoughts really fast!)

The four "big kids" getting bundled up for a walk on the beach.

How cute is that?!?!?!

It wouldn't be a trip to the beach without a surf adventure! Yes, they acutally went out into that freezing water and attempted to surf. The waves were so close together that it took a lot of energy to just paddle out (especially for someone who hasn't surfed in a LONG time! Greg caught one wave and was done. Geoff stayed in a little bit longer and was able to catch a couple of waves.
My sister Rebekah and her baby Dean the youngest of the kids at 6 months!

Beka's hubby Dave with their cute little guy.
Quality time with Grandpa and Maren.
Quality time scrapbooking! For her baby shower, Christina and I had given Rebekah our scrapbooking services, for Dean's baby book. We started scrapbooking his first year this weekend....I think we got through the first day...maybe? Connie was working on the pictures from the trip she and my Dad took to China last October.
Sisters...we celebrated my birthday as well as Jordan's (hers is on the same day as mine - April 5th!) and William's - March 21st.
Happy 2nd birthday, William!
Happy 4th birthday, Jordan! And I am exactly 27 years older than her!

Brothers-in-law...everyone was festive for the birthday celebration!



We thought it would be fun for the kids to do egg dying together, so we spent one afternoon doing that while the little kids took a nap. On the last morning we had a big egg hunt in the basement. It was so fun!

Dad and Connie, thank you so much for planning this trip for all of us! We had so much fun and made lots of memories!