Backpacking Part One

Eric took a backpacking trip last week and we saw him off with many well wishes (for many fish!!!) I've never seen him so excited about something (other than his family) and it was wonderful to see that beautiful smile!

All of the things he'll need for six days in that one pack!

Here's three out of four guys so nicely taking the "before" pictures for us. :-) The other guy was meeting them closer to the trail.

Snow capped mountains???? No, actually it's just all granite! That's a lot of rock. Eric came back with many fun stories and that wonderful smile too! This was to be a fishing/backpacking trip and Eric ended up catching over 50, yes, Five-Zero fish!!!! Oh my! One was even over 16 inches long so not just small ones either. Yes, he did release a lot of them but the guys had a fish fry the last night, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

For now we're glad to have him home, but we're glad he took this amazing trip!

Dance Lessons

Grandpa decided to give Ellie some dance lessons. She loved them!
Step 1: Hold hands

Step two: Move your feet

Step Three: Be ready for the dip! :-)

Racing

Every time the kids go to my parents they ask to play the "Race Car Song" which is Real Gone from the soundtrack CARS. Once it's on they race around and around and around the dining room table. The "race" is complete with little boy crashes where they fall down and need "new tires" from Grandpa who actually just tickles them and then picks them up so they can race again. Sometimes Grandpa even announces who's passing whom and that "Missy" (Ellie) has entered the race.

Luke is so engrossed on driving, he even has his hands like he's steering and must make sure the car makes the proper varoom sound. It's neat to see how intensely serious he is about the race. Daniel love the dramatic car pile ups and makes sure there's at least one a lap. Ellie loves to race just as much as the boys and usually is lapped at least once every 10 seconds, but she giggles and laughs the entire time. I think she thinks the boys are chasing her and she just loves the chase if not the race. Of course she has to have her purse with her at all times and heaven forbid she drop it. She will go against traffic and pick it up no matter the danger! It's the funnest thing to watch all my little ones have a blast doing the same thing in their own way.

Friends Week

Daniel's friend labeled this week officially as "Friend's Week" since we're seeing so many friends and family. Our former neighbors have two little girls, the youngest, Abby, is only three weeks apart from Ellie in age and I simply love getting to see them together. Daniel and Luke love to spend time with the oldest little girl who is the same age as Daniel. We miss them terribly, but it's always fun to see old friends. We had a wonderful time (especially the moms!) getting to hang out and chat. The kids played in the Elmo sprinkler and on the slip 'n slide (do you remember those??? You know, the kind you run as fast as you can and then dive-head first-onto a slick piece of plastic that is maybe 2 1/2 feet wide? As kids we all thought it was a blast to see how fast we could throw our little bodies onto the ground!) I cringe at the thought of it for myself now but I loved it then! So...it was hard to explain to the boys how to run and slide without actually doing it! OK, so they just loved sliding around and the boys actually did some cool slides on their knees, but just being in spraying water was a blast for all of us, even the spectators. Abby and Ellie even got in on the Elmo sprinkler, but both thought that brownies our other neighbor, Leila, brought looked like a better option than the crazy stuff the older kids were doing. :-) We truly had a wonderful time and we're so thankful to have times like these with our friends!

Kisses!

Ellie is sending you all a kiss!

No nap?!

As always we stay busy! Grandma and Grandpa L watched the boys and Ellie so we had a dinner alone. It was fun to go over what we'd done the past year and look forward to the next. Apparently at Grandma and Grandpa's house after praying over their meal, Daniel's first words were, "So, what did you do today?" Just as if he was an adult and oh so cute in how grown up he sounded. If that wasn't sweet enough at the end of the meal he said, "Good job Grandma!" To which she asked why and he responded, "for eating all your food." They're growing up so fast, and sometimes they think they can do it all, but as you can see one little guy may still need his nap. :-)

Buying Their First Car

The other day Daniel and Luke came to us and wanted to get a new car. They even had a specific kind they wanted. It had a spoiler and huge mufflers and it was 2 inches long. Yes, it was one of their CARS called Boost. We decided it was time they learned a little about money and how to earn it for something they wanted, and they wanted this badly! Eric had already offered Daniel a penny apiece to de-bud our five flower bushes out front. They were looking pretty bad and it was an easy task, just repetitive. Daniel, being the older one, seemed to catch on that he was going to buy a car with his money and in no time picked over 370 dead flower buds (even with Ellie and Luke playing the whole time!) Honestly, the walk looks a 100 times better and he really cleaned up! When Daniel was done he knew he had earned enough for a car we just needed to go to Wal-Mart, but Luke hearing talk of cars wanted to know which one he was going to get. We explained that he hadn't wanted to clean up and didn't have enough in his money jar. He really wanted to know how he could earn money after that since Daniel had picked clean the bushes. Of course we found more of the same bushes elsewhere in the yard and Luke sat down in the midst of Daniel and Ellie playing now and picked clean the bushes we had indicated. He picked over 350 buds and both had enough money in their jar to head to Wal-Mart.

I never knew how exciting Wal-Mart could be for little boys! Daniel purchased his Boost and Luke decided on a red truck that pulled a trailer and tractor.

Both of them paid separately and saw their money counted out. Who knows if this will be something they remember, but I do know they were soooooooo excited to have these cars and get to look at what they wanted and buy it themselves. Wonderful cars!

Cute Antics

~Daniel playing cars and singing "On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...."

~Luke saying "Varooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm" :)

~Ellie saying "Please" in sign language

~Ellie doing a hi-five on Eric's feet

~Daniel saying "Can I give you one more hug and kiss?!"

~Luke saying "I'm this (holding up three fingers) many."

I read a book to the boys and they wanted to hear it again so I read the first page and started to turn to the next one and Luke says, "No, we need to talk about this page."

I love it all!!!

Weekend with Grandma and Poppa

As you know, all three kids stayed at my parents house for our weekend away. They hardly seemed to miss us when we returned. They had a great time going to the park, eating treats, and riding rides at the local amusement park. They had a fun time just getting to spend time with Grandma and Poppa!

Anniversary Weekend

We had a truly relaxing weekend. We went where we wanted, when we wanted, and it was unbelievably quiet. It's now kind of nice to hear the boys "shhing" each other down the hall and the ride home with all of them was wonderful to hear their little voices. So, now to share what we all did this weekend. Eric and I went by ourselves to dinner and a play on board a paddle boat! I think this was only the second time we've spent sans kids for overnight since they were born and it turned out to be a beautiful evening. We loved walking around the boat and just getting to be together. Grandma and Grandpa W watched the kids so Eric and I decided to sleep in and then go hiking.

This made me laugh......when I started putting on hiking boots, underneath my toes were very girly! They are a dark pink color! I love being both rugged and girly too. Who says I can't be both!



So....we went on a hike to a peak (some of you may remember that almost eight years ago Eric proposed on another peak) and then decided to fish in the lake below the peak afterward. We found a pier at the lake to just relax and fish and read. We drove home and decided it might be fun to see a movie, but the movie was sold out. As we walked back to our car we saw four guys come out of the bushes (of the theatre parking lot mind you) with fishing poles!!!! We didn't even know there was anything behind the bushes so being the inquisitive people that we were (and the fact that we still had Eric's pole in the back of the truck) we decided to see what was there. Low and behold there was a bike path and a little creek and even a flat rock bank so I could pull up a chair and catch up on my reading. We did end up getting Eric's pole and on his first cast he caught a fish. With the fish he caught at the lake and then another at the river he caught a total of three fish (all small so they had to go back) and we had a fantastic time sharing the small pleasures in our day. :-)

(If you can see the peak to the right of Eric's head, that's where we hiked to a few hours before.)


We did a lot of quick trips hear and there and realized even more that we really still love each other's company! :-) It was good to spend time with just each other and even better to come home to three little wonderful children with all their hugs and laughs. What a big blessing!

Accessorize!

As I've said before, Ellie loves her accessories! Anything from hats and sunglasses to shoes and purses she will wear. She even decided today to take my shoes which were off and put them back on my feet. She picked up (or at least showed me that I should pick up) my foot and then guided my shoes onto my feet! I wanted to see how she would react if I took them off and she gave me a little "Ugh!" somewhat like "Mom!" :-) She knew I needed my shoes on too!

It's fun to see my little girl who loves to accessorize and yet can mix it up with the best of them when it comes to chasing after a ball. She gives the boys a run for their money and is not afraid to tackle when it seems necessary! For now the shoes of choice are usually Mommy's heels, but who knows maybe one day they'll be cleats! ;-)

Daniel's Letter

I thought I would share Daniel's first letter. It says.....

DANiEL LUKE

DDADY

(W?) ELLiE

MOMMY

DEAR,

DaDDY

i LOVE U

-DaNiEL

Daniel told me what he wanted to write in his note to Daddy (minus the "Dear" part) and I spelled the words Love and Dear for him, but he did the rest on his own! So exciting!

Mommy and Me

Mother and Daughter!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

A few weeks back we all went as a family to a minor league baseball game. This was Ellie and Luke's first baseball game, and it was the best place to take them as far as a fun sporting event for everyone!

During the entire game there was something going on between innings and it kept Daniel (ever my observer) very busy taking it all in. He loved every minute of it!
Luke loved the food! I think his favorite part of the game was getting to throw the peanut shells on the ground.

Ellie loved that we were the only people in the row so she could stand in the row or turn around and play hide and seek with the people behind us. (I loved the extra space since I didn't know how long she'd really stay on my lap.) I think she was interested more in everything but the game though.

Eric ended up coming home with two give away t-shirts and Daniel got a frisbee. We all went home with great memories!

Overnight Adventures

Yesterday Eric got back from his overnight trip where he went with a friend to Desolation Wilderness. It doesn't sound as beautiful as it looked. They hiked ten miles and ended up catching ten fish in eight lakes.

It sounded like they acted as local guides since people kept asking them where they were and how to get places. Apparently, the guys saw some interesting people including some "hikers" in sandals and carring a hot pink bag of water bottles. Then there were those wearing kilts. (Eric and Mark were carrying full packs with boots and zipper pants just to give a comparison. No kilts involved!) Just before getting to the cars a woman was starting up the trail with her stroller. Needless to say the guys suggested a backpack carrier.

I got to spend time with Annmarie and her girls and we all had a lovely time. We had fun swimming, playing treasure hunt, eating yummy berries and just getting to have a good long chat! The girls and guys didn't get much sleep, but I have to say that both were out of necessity. The guys because Mark was missing a bed roll and the girls because we just had to get in a good talk. :-) We were glad to spend time doing things we all enjoyed and then coming together to share our stories. It was wonderful for all of us.

Our Day

Well, I just thought I'd update you some happenings here. If you're four, three or one then life is jam packed. Who knew I lived with Spiderman and Superman?! I have so many bad guys in my house, along with Monsters that I wonder where all these people or things come from.

Of course there's also the daily "Day at the Races" which includes many car crashes and blown tires. Luke makes all the noises so it truly feels like 50 revving race cars are zooming around the track. I am also privileged to have gourmet meals provided by my own personal chefs who create whatever I desire. This is usually made on our "boat" (it looks strangely like our spare bed! By the way, as I type I've been informed that I'm "in the water" and I need to get into the boat.) Then there's our own zoo exhibits with some demonstrations as to how the creatures walk or talk as done by Daniel.

Now some of you may think I've left Ellie out of this, but I assure you I have not. She's right in the thick of things sometimes to the boys annoyance but she uses all 20 pounds of her to make the most of her space. She plays race cars although it looks more like chase to me since she usually takes a car and then runs as fast as her little legs will go. The boys take off after her screaming like banshees and then just when they get close enough she lets go of the car and laughs. She then tries to make nice and say sorry by going over and giving them a hug and kiss. At which time she takes another car and the process starts again. As for our boat she has her own space and just plays with whatever is on the bed at that time. While Spiderman and Superman are flying or swinging about Ellie is being a little princess trying on any clothes she can find. It doesn't matter if it's her clothes, her brothers or mom or dad's clothes. She loves dressing up!

No day is complete without someone in the stroller though and I don't mean the big one. It's one of those doll strollers, though I don't know if a doll has been in it yet. Cars are seen in it quite often but typically it's Ellie, I do catch Daniel or Luke using it as their car on occasion.

All of this happened today before 9am and since the day has just begun I'll have to let you know what happens next at a later date and time.

Hope you all have a good day! My meal is ready.