He is Risen........He is RISEN Indeed!

Easter Sunday, 4-4-10

Elissa was in the choir at church. I wish you could post bigger size clips, but here is a little taste of the morning. :-) In the middle she sees Nana and Grandma so she wants to go see them and I say "No" and so she mouths "mom" to me. LOL!

They did such a great job!

A Cabin, a Hot Tub and Great Friends

Friday - Tuesday, March 26-30, 2010

What a fun extended weekend!

We stayed in Roslyn Ridge (thru Roslyn and then just outside of Ronald) in a cabin with Kirstin & Kirk and their family. The kids were super excited to spend days and nights together and even more excited that there was a hot tub to play in. :-)

Kirstin, the kids and I left on Friday around 2pm all packed into the Acadia. The guys were coming later with all the food and clothes and stuff. It is nice that Roslyn is just a couple of hours drive from our house. We were there before the kids got too antsy.

It was a really nice cabin with plenty of room for 4 adults and 5 children. The kids immediately ran to the back to play in the woods and then they were in the hot tub soon after.

Kirstin and I took our turn as soon as the kids were down for the count. I think we finally got to bed around 2:30am. Wow, it was so nice to have quality time to talk and talk and talk about everything in our lives. There is something about being with your best friend and being able to just let everything out and be really real and know that you are safe. I feel blessed! I cherish the little bit of time we get to spend with each other. We are SO thankful that our husbands like to hang out too. :-)

 

 

 

The weekend was filled with so many great memories.

Saturday night the guys built a campfire for the kids. We brought no wood or paper or matches......but of course the guys figured something out. The kids loved it!

Of course we were in the hot tub every day.
I'm always trying to get Darin to buy us one. :-)

Cute P!

Sunday afternoon we took the kids to Lake Cle Elum to run around. It was beautiful there.

We had a fun time skipping rocks and finding treasures. :-)

The guys left at 5pm that evening to go back to the "rat race". In the mean time, Kirstin and I extended for one more day to leave on Tuesday instead of Monday. :-)

We had a great last couple of days relaxing. Though Sunday night we did make the mistake of taking the kids to a family restaurant in Roslyn. The kids were cranky and the food was bad and it was torture. :-) Then Monday was the craziest weather day. We maybe saw a little sun in the morning and then rain and snow mix the whole rest of the day. We took the kids into Cle Elum to play at Burger King to run off some steam. The evening was nice and relaxing and the kids just zonked out one by one.

It was a really fun and exhausting almost 5 days together!

Happy Birthday Papa!

We love you!!!

(The big SIX - 0 next year!)

We hope you loved the cookies, coffee and card!

Spring!

Saturday, 3-20-10

It was one of the most amazing first days of Spring!

I would swear that it reached 70 degrees in the afternoon.

While Zach was taking his nap, Elissa made this little chaise (with a bit of help from mom) and spent the afternoon there coloring in this little book she got at a birthday party the night before. She just looked so grown up and princess-like. :-) I was amazed at how quiet she was and content just sitting out there by herself. That is so not her. She is growing up!

Bring on Spring!!

Why are you wet??

Thursday, 3-18-10

I'm sure people were thinking as I walked out of the Y fully clothed, but soaking wet.

The kids had swimming lessons tonight. Before class they were playing in the shallow pool walking and jumping around. Nana came to watch, so when Zach's class started she took him to his lesson while I stayed with Elissa.

Pretty soon Nana is calling me from across the way telling me that Zach is not behaving in class. He is jumping into the water when it is not his turn and maybe I should come over so I can keep him in line. :-) He finished up class and so we went to meet Nana and Elissa. But not before he jumped into the shallow pool again and "swam" across. They were closing the pool for swim lessons and he was being stubborn about getting out.

He got out and said he wanted to go sit "in" the hot tub (they know that they can only sit on the top step) that was just in front of us, so I said ok. I was talking to Nana and telling Elissa that she needed to come over for her swim lessons. Then Nana said, "I don't see Zach."

I looked at the back end of the hot tub and there is Zach in the middle with his face just above the water trying to do the doggy paddle to keep his face out of the water. I run over there and think for 2 seconds.....what am I going to do? I can't reach him. I don't see anyone in a bathing suit close to pull him out and no life guard. I have to jump in.

So, fully clothed, I jumped in and saved my little boy.

I'm not sure if he knew he needed saving. He thought he was swimmin'. Though when I picture his little face just barely above the water I see a bit of panic on it.

Of course the life guards are there after the fact offering me towels and apologizing for not being there. Then I see a lady with her daughter just sitting in the hot tub and she apologizes for not seeing Zach. And I'm trying not to cry.

I should have known with the evening we were having. He kept on jumping into the water by himself. He must be feeling really confident since he is now in swim lessons. He thinks he can swim.

So what do I do now? I have no other clothes. So Nana stays with Elissa for her lesson and Zach and I head out of the Y - trailing water throughout the place and getting questioning looks - we get in the car and drive home.

Thankfully Zach is not traumatized by it and afraid of the water. He wanted to take a bath when we got home. :-)  Mommy......just a little.

I can swim!

Well, Zach can't exactly swim yet but he is super excited to be taking swim lessons. Elissa started in January and I told him that he could start swim lessons when he turned 3. It was a long time coming, but the day finally arrived when he had his first lesson.

He is taking lessons at the Y and his teacher's name is Kelsey. He loves it and is always very excited about his accomplishments. Just ask him, he'll tell you all about it. :-)

Aaaaa Woooooo Oooooo!

Sunday-Tuesday, 2/28 - 3/2/10

That is the call at Great Wolf Lodge to open the water park. :-)

What a super fun time!!

This was our 2nd time there. Last time Elissa was 4yrs and Zach was 1 1/2yrs. Last time we went for Elissa's birthday and this time we went for Zach and my birthday. Last time Elissa wasn't tall enough for the tube rides, this time she was. Last time Zach didn't leave the toddler area and this time he was going down the red and yellow slides. Last time we didn't think Elissa was old enough for Magic Quest, this time she was. Last time we had so much family fun and this time we had just as much - maybe even more!

Though Elissa was tall enough to go on the tube rides, she didn't want to. Daddy got her to go on the double clear tubes and she was scared to death. Then Grandma, Papa and I talked her into going on the newer river ride because we had gone on it and knew that there was nothing scary about the ride. Well she went down and was scared to tears again and then would absolutely NOT go on any more tube rides. :-( BUT she loved going on the red and yellow slides and playing in the activity pool and wave pool.

Now Zach, on the other hand, is our little dare devil. Darin took him over to the red and yellow slides and down he went and then right back up again. Round and round he would go. :-) He is a super talkative guy, but as soon as he was in the water park he would just go play and swim and go down slides and we didn't hear much from him. He knew one of us was following him and he would just go where ever his little heart desired.

Grandma and Papa came for one night, which made it extra fun! The kids love playing with them and Darin & I were able to go down a couple of tube rides together. We were going to go hang out by ourselves that evening, but we were just exhausted having just come from Zach's birthday party the night before. It was an early night for all.

Here are a few picture highlights!