Rachel and Daryl's Family

Li'l Sebastian

2012-01-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know if we really said what we named that kitten we got last month, but just so you can rest easy at night his name is Sebastian. He continues to be a good kitty. He's very energetic and playful, and he can jump really high and far. We think he might have springs in his back paws. Sebastian needs to know what is going on, so he follows me around when the children aren't about. Fortunately he never really gets in the way except when you're going downstairs though. Enjoy some adorable kitten pictures. Just what you need for Monday.

House Update #16

2012-01-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

With all the bad weather last week, naturally we are now at least a week behind. The largest blow was that our flooring woes continued since the wood was supposed to be delivered last week, and it wasn't. The wood floor finally made it to our house on Tuesday, and only needs to acclimate for three days.
We really are winding down. The carpet for the basement is ordered, and should be getting to the house sometime next week. Other than that we are just waiting for a few light fixtures and all the hardware (handles, pulls, etc.) to come in. Let me just say that we are really excited about our master closet. We're not sure we have enough clothes for it, which really is just fine. It would just be my dream come true to have plenty of storage in my closet.
Hopefully soon we will have a concrete date for when the house will be done, but unless we have more crazy weather we should be in next month.

Our hood vent.

The railing on the deck is now complete with the glass inserts, so now we won't lose children through them.

They have put the tile up on our master bedroom's fireplace.

Our master closet is beginning to take shape.

Shower doors!

This is the tub.

Here's our vanity, and off to the right is a towel warmer.

The media room is coming right along. You can see they have the back riser complete.

The shower doors area also in, in the downstairs bathroom.

Our exterior lighting is going up.

A Year of Harper

2012-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's already been a year with Harper. We can hardly believe it. Her birthday was actually on Tuesday, and we saw the doctor yesterday. We are saving a more formal celebration of her birth until we move though, so we were very low key for her birthday. My Dad couldn't resist buying her an ice cream cake, so we had that for Harper over at their house in the afternoon, and then later at our home we gave Harper a slice of the excellent carrot cake that Aimee made. She was actually very dainty with it for a long while. Maybe she wasn't very hungry.

The doctor confirmed that Harper is an awesome baby, but we really need to stuff her full of fatty foods since she isn't even eighteen pounds yet and only in between the fifth and tenth percentile for weight. She is 29 inches tall though, which puts her smack dab in the middle for height percentile. Her head though is a little big. She has three teeth in, but two other teeth are making their way out on the top. Harper is almost walking. She isn't quite confident enough to let go of our fingers yet. Harper loves to talk. She babbles on and on, and can get quite animated with much gesticulating. Avery and Harper are mostly the best of friends. One of their favorite things to do together is take baths, and Avery finds it hilarious when Harper pulls on her hair.

She got into the chair all by herself.

Avery is helping Harper open her birthday present from Alex and Addison.

Avery threw Harper's birthday present of clothes on top of her.

I couldn't get Harper to stop playing with the monkey, so this what you get.

Eating Aunt Aimee's carrot cake.

It took her a long time to pick it up.

I'm done!

Bye Erik

2012-01-25T08:52:00.000-08:00

This Sunday was Daryl's cousin Erik's missionary farewell. He'll be leaving on February first to go to the MTC in Provo before heading out for his mission in Sacramento. We were able to hear his talk in church, which was great by the way, and then go to his open house that night. I took pictures of all the guy cousins that were there, and then forgot my camera at Debbie's. In case you were wondering why it took me a little longer to get posts up, that's why. At any rate, have a great mission Erik and see you in two years!

Erik of course.

The guy cousin's Karl, Erik, Kyle, Scott, and Daryl of course.

This is Erik's mission.

Super Fantastic Sleep Over Extravaganza Fun

2012-01-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

So when all that ice from the previous post came, it weighed downed all the trees that were frozen over causing them to fall or break apart. When they fell over they unfortunately had the tendency to take out a ton of power lines on their way down. It also didn't help that we had a wind storm come into town right after that too. As a result a lot of people were without power, including my brother and sister-in-law Karl and Aimee.

Not wanting to freeze to death in their home and take ridiculously could showers, they came over to our house and stayed. Their power turned off on Thursday and didn't come back on until late Sunday evening. Outside their apartment complex an entire power line pole had fallen down. While they were at our house we baked a lot. Except when I say we I really mean Aimee of course. Aimee made us banana bread, cinnamon rolls, and carrot cake. All of which were excellent. The pictures from down below our Tyler and Avery helping make the carrot cake if I am not mistaken.

Harper was dying to be a part of the fun.

Lots of Ice

2012-01-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen ice like this since our ice storm back in 2006 when Daryl and I were dating. We actually have icicles which we never really get here. There was no new snow, but everything froze over. When we got up this morning and looked out our window we could easily tell that parts of Algona Pacific were without power since all the houses were dark and the stoplight wasn't working. Fortunately we have power.

Fun in the Snow

2012-01-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty much the first time ever that Avery has played in the snow. Daryl got elected to go take her out while I stayed in with Harper since she has a little baby cold. We bundled Avery up in two shirts and two pants, stuck her in rain boots, gloves, hat, and my scarf on her and called it good. She appeared to really like the snow.

Avery really liked putting snowballs into our recycle container that we forgot to bring in last night.

Daryl and Avery made a little snowman.

You can get a good idea about how much snow we got by looking at the electrical boxes behind the snowman.

This is not Normal

2012-01-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

Let's get this straight. I hate snow. That's one reason I love living here. Our distinct lack of snow, but if I really miss it, it's up in the mountains where it belongs. When the snow decides to come down to us that doesn't make Daryl or me happy. It's supposed to keep snowing all day. Lucky us.

Children's Museum in Factoria

2012-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday we met Aimee, Karl, and Tyler at a children's museum in Factoria. The kids of course had a blast. Avery especially loved playing in the water they had there. Harper grabbed onto my finger and one of Aimee's finger and walked around a lot more than she ever had before.

Despite the little smock Avery has on, she still managed to get soaking wet and need her spare outfit.

Harper and Daryl looking very dashing.

Aimee helping out Tyler at one of the stations.

Consumer Electronics Show

2012-01-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

Daryl and I got home Friday from Las Vegas. We were attending the Consumer Electronics Show, and we had a pretty good time seeing giant televisions and robot vacuums. The number of exhibits were overwhelming. They were spread throughout the actual Las Vegas Convention Center, The Venetian, and the old Hilton. We came home with a lot of pens, cords, pamphlets, magazines, and reusable shopping bags.

We stayed at the Excalibur which is probably the cheapest nice place to stay on the strip, and since we were there we saw the Tournament of Kings. Unfortunately they didn't allow pictures so you will have to imagine the show all on your own. We ate Cornish Game Hen and other things all with our bare hands. The actual show was cheesy, but now we can check that off our bucket list.

One day when I was by myself at the Forum Shops I went past a collectibles store and saw Pete Rose there signing autographs and other memorabilia. I went in and met him, so now my claim to fame can be meeting Pete Rose, and that I saw a genuine pair of Spock's ears from the movie Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home.

Also we got to see my brother Phil, his wife Heather, and their two adorable boys Maddux and Aidan. They live in St. George not too far away, so it was nice to see them. On the other hand I realized too late that while we were at CES one of my mission companions, Sister Bowen, was at CES with her husband at the same time. She lives in Alberta, Canada, so this was a perfect opportunity to see her that we missed. We both resolved to brag more about what we were doing on Facebook, so we will realize we are at the same place at the same time in the future. I might have to check all my travel plans with her too from now on.

Maddux and Aidan

Me and Pete Rose!

All the bags we got at CES

Avery's Primary Art Work

2012-01-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned last week, Avery almost always comes running up to me in the Relief Society room after Church is done to excitedly show me her latest coloring page. She loves to color a lot. This week was no exception, but it was even better than usual with the addition of big googly eyes and beautiful yarn hair. I thought I would take a picture of it before ruthlessly chucking it into the recycle bin.

I'm a Sunbeam

2012-01-05T20:02:00.001-08:00

When Relief Society was done last Sunday Avery came running in really eager to show me the page she colored like always, except she was wearing an awesome little sign that said, "I'm a Sunbeam." She was really proud of it, and we heard that she did great on her first day of primary. Although she was really excited about her little sign, she didn't want me to take a picture after church. This is the best shot we got.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

2011-12-31T21:20:00.000-08:00

Avery is watching Yo Gabba Gabba from underneath a pillow.

Daryl is actually keeping Harper away from Sebastian.

See Sebastian is hiding behind the closet door.

I'm making sure I'm ready to teach Relief Society tomorrow.

A Quick Trip

2011-12-31T10:36:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we went down to Sacramento to stay a few days with Nellie and Paul since Alex and Addison spent Christmas there, and DeAnna was coming up to help Alex drive back to Phoenix. We celebrated Alex's birthday on Thursday, and took the kids to a little zoo and park. Avery and Harper really enjoyed playing with Ember the dog. As always it was nice to spend time with all my sisters.

Except for Harper, all the girls spontaneously decided to sit by Daryl.

Apparently Harper has been deprived of this toy that Nellie borrowed for Harper to play in.

Ember actually had baby Minnie on her back for a good while before she shook her off.

Harper thought she needed some of Ashyln's french fries. You also see Addison closing in. Addison snagged one and then she dipped it in Ashlyn's milkshake.

Eleventh Months

2011-12-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

Harper turned eleven months old on Christmas Eve. We can hardly believe we will have a one year old next month. She has finally decided that she could hold her bottle every once in a while, and it looks like tooth number three is making its way in too. Harper goes up and down stairs just fine now, but although we catch her standing on her own from time to time she hasn't quite figured out walking yet. That's okay though. Harper also will wave hi and bye sometimes when she hears someone say them.

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful Christmas day. We went to church with Mom and Dad since theirs was earlier than ours. Afterwards we met them and Adam and Angie at our house for presents and general togetherness. Avery was very cute opening her presents. After opening each present she would of course start playing with it, and the third present was a coloring book. When she saw that she went off to get her coloring crayons, and we had a hard time convincing her that were more presents after that. We gave Avery a bubble gun that shoots bunches of bubbles into the air, and both she and Harper really liked that gift. It was also our newly named kitten Sebastian's, first day out of our room. He was of course enthralled with all of the discarded wrapping paper. Avery and Harper as always enjoyed playing with Adam and Angie. Looking back on my pictures I have once again neglected to take a picture of Daryl and myself.

Mom and Dad wanted their picture in front of the tree, and Avery randomly jumped in.

Harper on the little Mini Cooper that Daryl couldn't resist buying for her.

Adam helping Avery, Harper, and Doll to ride the Mini Cooper.

Christmas Eve at the Olson's

2011-12-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the annual (and rumored to be last) Christmas Eve get together at the Olson's.(Daryl's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kent to be precise.) It was fun as always, and great to see everyone. We missed seeing Steven and Janet, and Michael and Rachael and their families of course. Hopefully we will see them soon. I've got to say that Mike and Jenny's baby, Addie, is just the cutest thing. Addie is five months and Harper is eleventh months, but they both are about the same size and weight. It was great to meet baby Addie at last! I have to say that we scored at this year's white elephant swap.We got the Shake Weight, so next year my arms will be amazing just using my Shake Weight for six minutes a day. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Merry Christmas everyone!

Aimee with baby Harper and Sophie off to the side.

Tyler was really excited to play with this Nerf gun.

Kyle looking very dapper.

Karl also looking dapper.

Obligatory cute baby picture.

Aimee put baby Adeline to sleep.

Debbie being master of ceremonies.

Namma Diane helping Tyler play a game on her cell phone I think.

Erik with Bjorn the dog.

Scott and Kyle in the back there.

Harper, Sophie, and good times.

Tyler, Avery, and Sophie played some very beautiful music for us.

Mike and baby Addie.

Our Newest Family Member

2011-12-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Daryl and I picked up our new kitten today. He's a British Shorthair, and in the roughly six hours that we've had him it's been great. He sat on my lap the entire car ride home and purred his little kitty heart out. British Shorthair's aren't very big talkers, and that was incredibly refreshing. Usually my car rides with cats have involved non-stop meowing. He hasn't met Fox yet, and he doesn't have a name yet either. Right now he is confined to the relative safety of our master suite. Avery liked petting him a lot, but out of sight out of mind. Harper did the classic baby move of tugging on his ears. So far he's a pretty good cat and adorable.

Mom and Dad's Mission Call!

2011-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

My parents got their mission call today. They are going to Santiago, Chile to be temple missionaries. My dad served his mission in Chile back in the day when it was just one mission. They are both temple workers right now, so they are very excited about their call. They will report to the MTC in Provo on April 2, 2012.

Christmas Decorations!

2011-12-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that when it came to decorating for Christmas this year it was bit of a forced march since with the impending move my natural instinct has been to take things down, and pack them away. I definitely wasn't my usual enthusiastic self while decorating, but I managed. Here are my Christmas decorations memorialized for all time!

Here's the mantel. Those stockings don't belong to anyone just purely decorative. I got lucky this year. Harper is too little to try and pull the stockings down, and this year Avery left them alone.

That's right my cats have stockings,and yes, Zoe is dead. I put up her stocking anyway.

Here's Avery's advent calendar, and all the stockings. That extra little pink stocking is one my grandma knitted for me when I was baby. Since she died not too long after that it's actually one of the only things I have that she gave me.

It's a good thing I gave away all the living room furniture, so now the tree fits perfectly. The girls haven't really bothered the tree. I'm a little surprised and relieved. Do you like how I threw a little white tree skirt over the phone modem on the left?

On the right of the tree my Temple Square get up got it's own little table, and Avery has left alone.

I got this play nativity set at Target, and Avery put it under the tree. It melted my heart of course.

I put a garland on my railing and a wreath on my door and called it good.

Seahawks Game

2011-12-14T20:11:00.000-08:00

My best friend, Christie, loves sports, so for her birthday we decided we would go to a Seahawks game. Fortunately for us, this year there were three non-Sunday games to choose from this year in December, so we went to the game this Monday against the St. Louis Rams. We had an awesome time, especially since we won!

Christie and her husband Ben.

Best friends forever shot!

You know who we are.

Santa Train 2011

2011-12-11T17:30:00.001-08:00

This year we rode the Santa Train in Elbe, Washington called the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. It wasn't so scenic though. We did see a lot of motor homes in peoples' backyards. Maybe if it wasn't overcast we could have seen some mountain views. Aimee, Karl, and Tyler came with us, and despite the lackluster scenery we had a good time. Santa was in the last car on the train, so we had to come to him. Avery wasn't really interested in him, but appreciated the candy cane and puzzle he gave her. Harper was similarly disinterested, but loved the little rubber ducky she got. Tyler was not a fan at all, and sat on Aimee who was sitting on Santa's lap. Oh well, look at the cute pictures.

House Update #15

2011-12-07T09:32:00.001-08:00

We had a setback when it turned out that our flooring was warping. At first we thought that the radiant heating might be the culprit, but when the manufacturing was called they confessed that they thought they had corrected a defect that would cause the wood warp. We let them know that wasn't fixed. Daryl and I were just grateful that our general contractor always dry fits the wood at first to see how it will react, so none of the flooring was actually installed.

Yesterday we chose new flooring that will only take three days to get to us, so hopefully this will be the end to our flooring woes. In the meantime a lot of progress has been made by the tile guys and the plumber. Almost all of the tile is installed including our kitchen back splash and our shower. Sinks and faucets are in half of the bathrooms, and the decks are completed. Sometime next week they will start on getting the railing up on the decks. If all goes well it looks like we will be moving in mid-January.

I just want to point out that all of these pictures are taken about two in the afternoon. What a difference lights make even though we have a ton of natural lighting in our home.

Here are the master sinks and faucets.

The flooring of our shower is stone pebbles. It is supposed to be very comfortable to stand on.

Here is our shower completely tiled.

This is our kitchen back splash. It's glass mosaic tile with metal accents, and it's really hard to see since it is so dark in the house right now. Next week we should have more lights working.

Here's one of the decks. It is stamped concrete, so it is very durable and easy to keep clean.

We have toilets in the house now!

Art Fun with Aunt Aimee

2011-12-05T19:45:00.001-08:00

Aimee came over this morning, and we let the kids do some painting. Avery was really into it. Tyler was good after one picture. He and Harper has some good times playing though. You can see Avery had a really, really good time.

10 Months Old

2011-12-03T09:54:00.001-08:00

Harper turned ten months old on Thanksgiving. Apparently she is insisting on getting bigger despite my urging to the contrary. She still only has two teeth on the bottom. She can stand on her own for a very short time. Harper is very happy girl.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving we ended up in Disneyland so we could meet up with my sisters and aunts to celebrate the holiday. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Napa Rose in the Grand Californian hotel at Disneyland. Dinner was great, but it took them three hours to serve it. The children actually were much better about that than the adults. I forgot to take my camera to dinner, so no pictures of that. In attendance beside us were my Aunts Joanne and Dianne, my parents, my niece Ashlyn, my sister Alex and her daughter Addison, and my sister DeAnna with her husband Brad.

We had a great time with all the family and were glad everyone was able to get together. Poor Daryl's ankle was hurting, so he ended up renting a scooter then entire time we were at Disneyland. That wasn't too bad since we got to go in the wheelchair line. Daryl was especially excited to ride the revamped Star Tours. It isn't as bad anymore now that it has more than just one movie. When we checked into the hotel Avery somehow got hold of a penny, and put it in the first place she could see that it shouldn't have gone: our hotel room's key card slot. After we called maintenance we got into our room okay. Then on the plane ride home Harper threw up all over me Exorcist style. Fortunately it was only fifteen minutes before our descent. I smelled pretty awful though.

Of course we put the baby in the dresser drawer.

Daryl in his scooter, and my Dad was getting Aunt Joanne's scooter.

Brad and DeAnna took Harper on Dumbo. She was indifferent.

This is over in California Adventures. Avery loved this ride and Dad endured it for her.

At least Alex was looking at the camera, and Addison was facing the general direction unlike Avery.

Addison and Avery on the Casey Jr. train.

An action shot of Addison and me on the rockets.

The last day we were there with just my parents. We had sent Daryl to ride Space Mountain and Star Tours in peace.

Ashlyn and Alex on Pirates of the Caribbean.

House Update #14

2011-11-15T14:01:00.001-08:00

This last week a lot of progress was made on our master bathroom. All the tile was laid on the floor, and one accent wall of tile was done. Our vanity was also put in place. In general house news, all the doors are hung, and trim is up around almost all the doors and windows. The flooring came in at last, and is busy sitting around the house acclimating. It will have to sit around for about a week before it can be installed. It will be a Christmas miracle if we are in the house before Christmas; although it could be possible. More realistically we will probably be moving in around New Years.

These are the doors they put in the master suite.

This is our closet.

Here's a view of the vanity and flooring. On the right, the pipes that are sticking up are the plumbing for our tub that will be installed eventually.

Here's a better look at our accent wall. It's glass mosaic tile.

Here's our shower waiting for it's time of tile glory.

Happy Birthday Avery!

2011-11-12T21:47:00.001-08:00

Today Avery turned three. Daryl and I took her to the Supermall for some special Mom and Dad time without Harper. After lunch we went and saw the movie Puss in Boots. Avery did pretty good through the movie, but we probably won't be in a hurry to take her to her next movie. After that we had a little family celebration with cake and ice cream, my parents, Adam, Angie, Karl, Aimee, and Tyler. Avery wasn't really excited when we started singing the birthday song. She plugged her ears and tried to run out of the room. She's been plugging her ears lately at loud noises. We'll bring that up with the doctor at her third year check up. At any rate she wasn't so excited about the singing, but she loved her presents.

Avery is pretty fun, very energetic, and generally speaking a happy girl. She loves to sing with her little piano, to Disney movies, and to songs on the radio. She especially likes to sing along to Adele's Rumor has it. She really likes Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, and The Adventures of Mr. Toad and Ichabod Crane. She loves Shaun the Sheep and Ni Hao Kai lan among other t.v. programs. She loves to color and read. Avery hasn't quite learned to pedal her trike yet, but it's coming along. Avery is also loves to brush her teeth. Every time we go into her bathroom she insists on brushing. We love her so much, and honestly can't imagine life without her.

She was so happy riding the carousel.

This is a little trampoline they have at the mall. She wouldn't jump herself, so Daryl would grab her and catapult her up.

She was a big fan of jumping.

I was able to capture this picture of Tyler who of late has not wanted to be photographed.

Daryl helping Avery blow out her candles.

Avery was thrilled to get Angry Bird decals for the walls.

Tyler and Avery sweetly sharing the iPad for a little bit before much complaining about sharing it.

House Update #13

2011-11-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

The bathrooms on the main floor are nearing completion, and they are looking beautiful. We got gutters put on this week, but I forgot to look for them. The backyard was cleared out a bit too. You wouldn't probably believe us that anything had been cleared out though. There's still a lot of work to do in our jungle.

These are cabinets in the master bathroom.

They've added cubbies for our components to go into above our fireplace.

This is a wall of tile in the main floor powder room, and vanity is floating.

This is the girls' bathroom.

Sorry this picture is a little fuzzy.

The tile is going halfway up the wall. Pretty fun.

House Update #12

2011-11-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our counter tops aren't in yet because they were being templated last Friday, but we were able to see the granite we picked out again before they were cut. All the upper cabinets in the kitchen are installed now. They have started putting in a lot of the tile flooring in our bathrooms last week, and the mill work in the basement is completely done. Everything is coming along pretty much like it should.

This is the main floor powder room.

This is the basement powder room.

This is the laundry room in the basement. I'm really excited to have a laundry room with cabinets.

This is what the closet doors look like, and you can see some of the mill work.

This is our master shower waiting for tile.

This is the wall in the master bathroom where the vanity is going. It should be mostly covered in tile when completed.

This is all the tile waiting to be put into our master bath.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

It was Halloween tonight, so we took the girls out trick or treating to some of our family in the area. First off we went to Daryl's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kent's house with Aimee, Karl, and Tyler. After a lovely visit we parted ways, and we went to visit my Mom. Avery went to four houses in Mom's neighborhood, and got a good candy haul. Then we went and visited my brother Adam and his wife Angie. We were done after them. Harper dressed up as a pumpkin because I believe all babies should be dressed up as pumpkins. Avery was Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba. Daryl was dressed as Jack Black as D.J. Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba, and I dressed up as Leslie Hall, an occasional guest star on Yo Gabba Gabba. Also famous for her Internet gallery of very special sweaters.

Aunt Debbie and Harper.

Tyler dressed up as Buzz Lightyear for the second year in a row, and Aimee.

Avery got a Tootsie Pop from Mom's candy. She also really enjoyed holding the flashlight during trick or treating. Probably her favorite part of the whole affair.

Here's the whole family dressed up.

Daryl and I doing are dancy dances.

Baby Harper, and a close up of my bold choice to wear gold leggings for Halloween.

Angie was a super cute witch. She was hoping to have more trick or treaters than last year, which was five. Sadly, Harper and Avery were only two of her three trick or treaters. The third one was Emry, their good friends Bodie and Casey's daughter.

For your additional enjoyment, Avery putting on the gold leggings.

Pumpkin Festivities

2011-10-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

The other night we carved the pumpkins we've had sitting our doorstep since the beginning of the month when we visited the pumpkin patch. I really love carving pumpkins it's probably one of the things I enjoy most about Halloween. Avery was really cute too. She wanted to help with the pumpkin carving so much. She even carried the smallest pumpkin up from the front door to the kitchen.

We only get Papa Murphy's once a year when they churn out this baby. It might not be great pizza, but it was a really easy dinner.

Avery trying to move the pumpkins around. She didn't get very far with the that one.

The finished product. Daryl carved the middle one, and I did the outside pumpkins.

Nine Month Stats

2011-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Harper turned nine months old on Monday, and is doing well. We went to the doctor today, and found out she is 27 inches tall and 16 and half pounds. Harper is pulling herself on just about anything she can reach, and has abandoned all scooting for proper crawling on her hands and knees.

House Update #11

2011-10-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Daryl and I got ridiculously excited to see that we had half a kitchen installed last Friday. The counter tops are going to be installed on this Friday. It will probably be hard for us to stay away that day since we picked out our counter tops ages ago, and we can't really remember what they looked like. Our hardwood floors aren't in yet because they are back ordered and won't be in for two weeks. Fortunately that doesn't really delay any of the other projects in the house. We just don't have the floors in yet.

Here is the kitchen in all its glory. You can see that island cabinets are a contrasting color from the rest of the cabinets.

This is where the fridge is going to go.

A closer look at our island cabinets.

We actually have two lazy susan cabinets. I am just so excited to have real corner units. In our current home they just put regular cabinets in the corner, so it's really hard to reach your hand back there to get things out. I call them our stupid cupboards.

This is where the oven is going to go.

Pull out drawers in my pantry unit!

Here's a close up of the cabinets.

These are the upper cabinets.

It's our front door in the girls' bedroom.

They have also begun to install the baseboards.

Happy Birthday Tyler

2011-10-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today our nephew Tyler turns four years old. The time has just flown by! Tyler's party was on Saturday though at that bouncy place at the Supermall, and Avery had a blast. They had their own private bouncy room with three bouncy toys, and by the time the bouncing part of the party was over Avery's cheeks were bright red. She was also uncharacteristically subdued, and she fell asleep in the car on the ride home. That was one wild party!

Avery and I what was actually a very steep slide.

Daryl bouncing Avery high in the bouncy house.

Avery after all the bouncing. Look how red her cheeks are.

Tyler really likes green at the moment ergo Chick Hicks from Cars is what he wanted on his cake.

They had a big inflatable throne for Tyler to sit on in the room where we had pizza and cake.

This is what Harper did for most of the party.

House Update #10

2011-10-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

We are getting into the home stretch right now. As you will see in the pictures the mudding and taping is all done, and they even sprayed the primer on. Our general contractor has warned us not to go into the house this following week because they will be finishing the painting, and that will be pretty smelly. In fact, the house was not smelling so good when we took these pictures. Additionally they will be installing the wood floor and staining it, so even more noxious fumes. It's pretty exciting though, and I can't wait to see what it looks like after this week.

Getting Bigger

2011-10-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

Avery has figured out how to get water for herself. It's a good thing she can't get the cup herself, or I would have a lot of puddles in the house.

Harper is learning to feed herself. She loves her some puffs.

All smiles as usual.

Maris Farms

2011-10-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so the whole family headed out to the pumpkin patch. Our pumpkin patch of choice is Maris Farms in Buckley which is pretty close to us. Maris Farms has a lot of other activities besides pumpkins as you will see. This was actually the third year in a row that we headed down hear for pumpkins and fun. After we were done at Maris Farms we went to Orting to eat a pizza place we wanted to try before we moved away. That meant we were able to utilize the back way into Orting that I found on one of my meandering drives that I will take with the girls when I need a little quiet time. It also happened to be Orting's Pumpkin Festival that day so we walked around that and let Avery play in the bouncy house there. As is if the day couldn't get any better we ended up at business Costco. Everyone had a really good time, but especially Avery.

Don't let that grumpy face fool you. Harper loved being in the Snugli. She stayed in that thing without complaint for three hours.

The mountain was out for just a moment.

Avery crawling down a giant tube.

This was the bouncy house at Maris Farms, so Avery got to go in two bouncy houses!

Avery loved the pony ride. She had a smile on her face the whole time.

We watched some piglets race for cookies while we were there.

Harper held onto the railing while we watched the pig races.

This slide was actually called the mine shaft because it's a big tube that is buried. Avery was just fine going down this slide in the dark all by herself.

Avery done with pictures.

At Route 66 Pizza. Moments before Avery was coloring with both hands while drinking her soda.

House Update #9

2011-10-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

The house is beginning to look more like a house now. They drywall has all been hung, and either today or tomorrow they will start mudding and taping the drywall. While that is going on in the inside, the exterior of the house is getting painted.

Here is the house with its real color finally.

This is the master suite with some fun exposed beams.

This is the dining area on the main floor.

This is the kitchen.

Eight Months Young!

2011-09-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

What can I say this baby just keeps getting better with age. She now has two bottom teeth. She sits up by backing herself up into it. One of our most favorite things is how she makes fishy faces all the time, and other silly faces by sucking on her lower lip. Unfortunately we have yet to capture that extreme cuteness on camera. Harper gets up on her hands and knees all the time, but still prefers to to scoot all over the place. We really have no complaints about her (except maybe how she lingers over bottles forever). She loves every solid food we have given her with the notable exception of rice cereal. Avery is very concerned about Harper when she cries. One morning Harper started crying in her crib, and Avery beat me to Harper. I found her in the crib with Harper trying to put a blanket on her. I've also found Avery trying to cheer Harper up when she's crying in her crib by dangling a toy for her in between the crib slats. I hope Avery is always this concerned about her little sister's well being.

Avery and Harper sweetly playing together. It does happen.

She loves to stick out her tongue.

You can barely see her two teeth peeking out on her bottom gums.

Harper showing off her amazing core muscles by sitting up.

Taller than her monkey buddy.

Dangerous Baby Explorations!

2011-09-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Harper was trying to go up a step. She has been trying to do down the stairs as well. She even backs herself up to go down backwards.

She is such a ham.

She does a lot of baby yoga.

When Avery saw me with the camera she started yelling cheese and ran got her camera to take pictures too.

House Update #8

2011-09-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

The house looks like cotton candy exploded inside, so that means all the insulation is in. We might even had some drywall up, but the insulation inspector never showed up. Hence, the giant piles of drywall you'll see hanging out in the pictures. The Nana door got re-installed correctly just in time for our weird summer weather to go away and our rain to come back. Also, I got really excited to see that we have a real garage door now.

Here's the Nana Door. It hasn't been in place for about two months now. It's basically a giant folding door.

Daryl said he thought the house smelled like cotton candy.

Yea! A whole bunch of drywall in my kitchen!

More drywall hanging out in the garage along with someone's forgotten Redbull.

This is what the bottom of our deck looks like now. It's sealed tight so no rain can get through. I'm sure the girls will enjoy that a lot.

I'm sure glad I don't have to clean that up.

The garage door!

Avery and her Trike

2011-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Avery got a trike today, so I attempted to teach her how to ride it with mixed results. First off, the whole venture was hampered by Avery's insistence that her tiger bag be included. I did manage to get it away from her, but it's really hard to teach one child to ride a trike and watch the other child at the same time. We lasted a half hour before Harper and I were ready to call it a day.

She really likes that tiger bag, and she wants to take it with her just about anywhere.

Hey guys someone left me here on the side yard.

Avery's trike injury. She took it like a champ. She actually fell quite a few times; her balance is a little off.

Harper seemed to like the our very dry grass.

Later, Avery decided to try on Harper's cat hat again.

Adam and Angie's Wedding Reception

2011-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday brought the official close to all of Adam and Angie's wedding festivities with their reception at the Auburn Golf Course. Angie did all the center pieces herself and everything looked really nice. We were lucky enough to have our Aunt Joanne come into town for the reception, and we had a great time with her on Saturday showing her the new house.

Instead of a guest book you put your wishes for the happy couple on these little cards and hung them from the "tree."

Here are the centerpieces. Each table told a different story about Adam and Angie and their extended families with pictures too. The flowers came from Pike's Place Market that morning.

Here's a shot of myself and Aunt Joanne.

Adam and Angie during their first dance.

Adam looking adoringly at Angie.

Angie looking adoringly at Adam.

House Update #7

2011-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

The big news is that we have passed our framing inspection, so that means they will be working on the insulation this week. We are one step away from drywall; although we will have to have another inspection for the insulation of course. It's very exciting though, and we can't wait to see the house all insulated. While they have been waiting for the framing inspection the siding was all taken down, and it is almost all re-installed correctly. All of our decks have their sub flooring down, and are waiting to be finished up. Fortunately this week is supposed to be sunny and eighty. Perfect weather for completing some decks.

Nellie and Paul got Married!

2011-09-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

The nineteenth of last month my sister Nellie got married to her boyfriend of several years Paul. The wedding was at a resort in the Lake Tahoe area. (They live in Sacramento, so it made sense for them.) We drove down with the girls for the weekend. It was really a quick trip. Besides the wedding the only touristy things we did was the Duck tour on Lake Tahoe, and we went up the Heavenly Gondolas where they had a fantastic view of Lake Tahoe. It is a really beautiful place. We would love to go back again and explore some more.

Paul, the wedding officiator who is actually a friend of theirs, and my niece Ashlyn.

My Dad walking Nellie down the aisle. He was misty eyed of course.

Nellie posing for everyone before the ceremony takes place.

Avery snuck into this picture with me, my siblings, and my cousin Lisa.

Avery was burning up the dance floor.

Harper was put to sleep by my brother Phil, the baby whisperer.

My niece Addison thoroughly enjoying her wedding cupcake.

Everyone under twelve had to wear life jackets on the Duck Tour.

Harper looking way too cute in her life jacket. Addison fell asleep during the tour.

This is at the view point stop on the Heavenly Gondola ride we took. Heavenly is the name of one of the ski resorts up there. We couldn't get the sippy out of the picture.

This is the view from the gondola.

Seven Months of Harper Joy

2011-08-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

You guessed it, Harper turned seven months old last week. It's amazing the difference a month makes when you're a baby. Harper is now army crawling all over the place. Her favorite place to go to is the kitchen. She likes to get in there and thump her hands and feet all over the place. I guess she likes the noise. Another big development is she got her first tooth. It's one of her bottom front teeth, and the best part is that I didn't even notice she was teething. Awesome for us. She got this tooth the day before my sister, Nellie, got married in a transparent ploy to steal her wedding thunder. Harper even had the gall to wear white to the wedding. This baby is unbelievable: unbelievably cute that is!

She is still a big time wiggler.

Flaunting her flexibility.

She is now bigger than the monkey. I wasn't patient enough to get a picture where she actually held her legs straight for a second, so just trust me on this.

Happy Birthday Daryl

2011-08-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Daryl's birthday was last Friday, but he was out of town on business then. We did all the birthday stuff on Sunday instead. I made him a cake and even wrapped up the new James Bond audio book for his birthday present.

Here's the birthday boy!

Avery loved the cake, and ate a very generous sized slice all by herself.

Harper got in on the action by eating some of the chocolate mousse layer. I think a chocolate fan has been born.

Mr. Kitty, however, was not impressed.

What Avery has been up to

2011-08-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Avery is talking more these days. She frequently asks me where the light has gone, and tells me what she sees. She doesn't say love you yet, but the other day she said, "hold me" threes times when she wasn't feeling well. That was almost as good as love you. I catch her singing along to her t.v. shows a lot, and she loves to roar like a dinosaur. Avery adores skirts, especially the tutu kind.

Avery wrapped Harper up in three different blankets. Her baby sister isn't getting hypothermia on her watch.

Avery loves the camera and when she sees it, she immediately says cheese!

Another one of Avery's favorite things is trains. She calls them choos, and gets really excited when she can see them from the windows in our house. Harper loves pretty much everything Avery does.

Tyler and Harper Being Cute of Course

2011-08-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Karl, Aimee, and Tyler came over the other night, and cuteness ensued. If you are wondering where Avery was, she had already put herself to bed at that point.

Tyler wanted to hold Harper.

Tyler thought Harper should wear this hat.

Mr. T doing some break dancing for me.

House Update #6

2011-08-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

The house is coming along. Sometime this week the low-fi guys should be done putting in all the data and t.v plugs in, and all the other stuff they do. After that we will hopefully get our framing inspection done in a timely manner, and then we can move onto drywalling. In the meantime more work on the outside should be getting done. All the subflooring on the decks are on, so those need to be finished off. The siding was put on in a hurried fashion, so that it has to be taken off and installed correctly. After that's done the house needs painting of course. That's pretty much where we are at. Hopefully we will be done sometime in October.

This is the fireplace in our master, and my feet reflected in it.

The subflooring is all in on the master deck.

The sliding door is in off the bedroom in the basement.

The inside view of the sliding glass doors.

There was a small bench wrapped around the basement family room, and we had them tear it out for more real estate down their.

Daryl's Discovery Flight

2011-08-04T09:36:00.001-07:00

For our anniversary back in March I got Daryl an introductory flight lesson through a flight school called Wings Aloft out of Boeing Field. Last Friday Daryl finally got to use it. The best part was they let one other person tag along, so I got to hang out in the plane and take pictures. The plane was a single engine Cessna I believe. Daryl got to help fly the plane of course. We went over to Bremerton's little airport, and Daryl got to try taking off in the plane with some assistance. The pilot quite seriously told Daryl he wasn't afraid for his life once, so we took that as high praise.

Daryl and his instructor Trevor. He was a nice guy, and we enjoyed the lesson a lot.

Bremerton's bustling national airport.

The crown jewel of Seattle, the Space Needle!

This is the aerial view of our new house in west Seattle. The first time I use Photoshop, and all I do is draw a lousy circle.

Harper at Six Months Old

2011-08-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Harper has now been with us half a year, and we can't imagine life without her! She is such a happy little girl. Harper actually turned six months on the 24th of July, but she had her check up just the other week. Harper is still pretty dainty at 14 pounds 10 ounces making her in the 25 percentile for weight, but she is 25.5 inches long. That's a half inch longer than Avery was at this age.

Harper still enjoys wiggling all over the place, and can roll pretty much anywhere. She also has gotten very noisy lately. Most of the time it is wordless, but she is already saying da da da all the time. Harper has also figured out how to blow raspberries. She adores Avery. Pretty much anything Avery does cracks her up, especially when Avery is jumping all over the place. Although Avery scares her when Avery tries to literally smother Harper with her love. The one thing Harper doesn't do is hold her bottle, which is really annoying since she is so dang wiggly! (Avery could hold her bottle at six months. We didn't know how lucky we were.) We love Harper, and are so glad she is a part of our family!

This is in the bath tub in Maui. Avery and Addison were in the tub too actually.

Daryl was playing with Harper as the sun was setting.

Harper napping. She doesn't do it enough. Gotta love all those leg chubs!

She is about the same size as the monkey now.

House Update #5

2011-08-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

When we came back from Hawaii we were really excited to see all the things that had happened to the house while we were gone. The most notable work was done on the exterior. Stacked stone was added to the front of the house, and the old single front doorway was expanded to accommodate a double door. The current front door is basically a filler door until the real one arrives. Basically all that needs to be done before we can put up the drywall is the low voltage guys need to come in and put in all the t.v. jacks, data plugs, cameras, and other electrical thingumabobs.

The A.C. unit is in!

The deck has all its sub floor in place, and was covered up because of the rain. It's going to be finished up with concrete pavers.

The shower unit is in the basement's three quarter bath. The tub has also been put in the girls' bathroom on the main floor.

Eventually this is going to be a sliding glass door leading to the basement patio from the bedroom down there.

In the master bedroom the fireplace has been framed out.

The powder room in the basement has been framed out.

Zip-lining at Piiholo Ranch

2011-07-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

For zip-lining Daryl sat this one out and I went with my sisters Nellie, Alex, and DeAnna, my niece Ashlyn, and the happy couple Adam and Angie. Zip-lining was actually more nerve racking than para-sailing. Probably the worst part is that you climbed up some rickety, wet suspensions bridges at a pretty steep incline up to the towers where you zip-lined from. Once you were going it was fantastic though. It took us two hours to go down four zip lines. We were up in the high country of Maui, and we went over a gulch several times. As you might imagine the views were beautiful.

Adam and Angie hamming it up for the camera.

This was the longest zip-line that we did.

I am on the left in the blue. On the right is nice lady named Tiffany from Texas who was in our group. We are both in the braking position.

Para-sailing

2011-07-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

One of the activities that we enjoyed the most while in Maui was para-sailing. It is remarkably peaceful when you get up there. Daryl and I went together and they had us at 1200 feet high. The view is just beautiful of course. You feel like you are just floating around, and it is so quiet. It was lots of fun, and the water looks so blue beneath you. We also barely got wet.

My sister DeAnna, my niece Ashlyn, and my other sister Alex.

When you come back in you get dipped in the ocean a little bit.

Daryl and I taking off.

The Sugar Cane Train

2011-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

We rode the little steam engine train that originally transported sugar cane to the sugar factory. All the non-golfers rode it while the golfers were at a course that we passed by twice on the train actually. You can see how Avery made the rounds on the train. She liked the train ride, but was scared when the engine released its steam.

Water fun and shopping in Lahaina

2011-07-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

This was Avery's year for the water. In times previous Avery has not enjoyed the water, but this trip to Maui she loved the water. She and Addison had fun splashing in this little kiddie pool that they could run around in. They also got in one of the big pools with help from parents and many aunts and uncles. Addison lives in Phoenix and goes in DeAnna's pool all the time, so she is already great in the water. Avery was really good and let us put her under the water and tried kicking with our help. I think swim lessons are in the near future. We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua so we could stay close to where the wedding was happening. The hotel was nice with four pools and two hot tubs, and the beach it was attached to was awesome for boogie boarding. The only problem is that on that side of the island it tends to be cooler and windier, so actually it was warmer to play in the oceans than in the swimming pools. If we went to Maui again we would probably stay some place in Wailea where it tends to be warmer and less windy. Otherwise it was great , and we were able to take the hotel shuttle to the wedding.

The last half of the pictures are from when we went and visited Lahaina. We did some shopping and stopped at the Banyan Tree Park. The Banyan tree in the park was planted in 1873 and is huge. You can see us posing for pictures on one of its many limbs.

Avery enjoying the water.

Lulled by the tropical warmth, Harper spent a great deal of time sleeping pool side.

Addison in her cute little tutu swimsuit.

This is from lunch at Kimo's in Lahaina. I like how angry Harper looks. I don't think it has anything to do with Grandpa holding her . . .

We remembered to get a picture of us!

Me and my sisters and our girls under the limbs of the Banyan tree.

Avery walking along one of the giant Banyan tree limbs with help from Daryl.

Adam and Angie's Maui Wedding

2011-07-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, July 22nd, my bother Adam got married to his beautiful fiancee Angie. The wedding took place on the beach at Kapalua Bay on the island of Maui. They got married early in the morning at eight o'clock, which actually is eleven o'clock Pacific time. Adam and Angie have been engaged for just over a year now, and we greatly encouraged them to explore the "get married in Hawaii" option they were considering. Now after a year in the making and planning we all made it to and from Maui just fine. It was just amazing to be in Hawaii with pretty much all of my siblings. We arrived on the Saturday before the wedding, and left the day after the wedding. That left us a week to experience Maui. We did a lot of things that I will post about separately. For now enjoy these few photos from Adam and Angie's wedding ceremony which was a nice blend of Hawaiian and modern traditions.

Avery gets a couple tosses in from Adam before the ceremony started.

Angie's dad walking her down the "aisle."

Here's the happy couple with the officiator.

The officiator wasn't happy with their first kiss, so he made them do it again.

This is pretty much what Avery did through the whole wedding ceremony. Harper was even more rude and just fell asleep.

Here's Adam and Angie with all the nephews and nieces there. Starting from the left: Ashlyn holding Harper, Adam holding Addison, Angie holding Avery, and Angie's sister Melissa's childen Jordan and Delaney. Not present are Phil's boys: Maddux and Aidan.

House Update #4

2011-07-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

The big news this week is that our I-beam is now in place and the last vestiges of the old ugly fireplace is gone. Now we don't have a hole in the floor on the main level to worry about. You can see in the pictures where they had to dig up the concrete floor to extend the plumbing that they have begun to repair the radiant tubes and have put in insulation. We are getting closer to having the concrete patched up.

This is in the kitchen. The radiant lines are almost completely repaired, and the plumbing rough ins for the sink and dishwasher are in place.

You can see the brown steel I-beam up in the ceiling almost directly above Daryl.

Here's the I-beam again. It's really opened up the main floor, and you can make out where the hole used to be in the floor.

More duct work in the master suite!

Remember the large pile of dirt that turned into a small pile of dirt? Now there is no dirt!

The powder room in the basement has also been insulated and awaits it's new layer of concrete.

Work on the deck hasn't begun quite yet, but I thought this would be a good reference picture for before and after.

Chenuis Falls Hike

2011-07-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

This past week I dragged my niece Ashlyn out hiking. We went to Mount Rainier National Forest via the Carbon River entrance. I had never been to the part of the park, so I thought we would check it out. We hiked out to Chenuis Falls. It was about eight miles round trip and we did it in about three and a half hours I think. The first 3.7 miles were really boring because you are basically walking on a forest service road, but the last little bit is really exciting. You cross over about six log bridges on the Carbon River, and you get to cross by stepping on stones in between the sand bars. Fortunately neither of us fell in.

Ashlyn on a bridge without a railing.

It's hard to tell, but this is the actually trail that requires you to use the stepping stones to get to the dry part of the river bed.

Some of the bridges had railings on them.

Chenuis Falls

We were able to get a pretty close look at the falls.

Ashlyn and I at the Falls.

Fourth of July

2011-07-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July happens to be my dad's birthday, and the day before is my niece Ashlyn's birthday and my brother-in-law, Brad's, birthday. We were lucky to have my sister Alex and her daughter Addison and our niece Ashlyn come visit for the holiday and my Dad's birthday.

Addison and a fudge pop.

Avery and a fudge pop.

The birthday Grandpa with two of his granddaughters Addison and Harper.

Avery kept the pigtails in for a couple hours.

Daryl was the best husband ever and vacuumed up the flour I spilled while looking for some sugar to make some really good homemade ice cream.

Later in the evening we set off some fireworks and Ashlyn got to light some off. Don't worry Paul we had our fire extinguisher out and ready at the slightest sign of a firework mishap.

Harper and Rachel melt in Phoenix

2011-07-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

The last week in June I went to Phoenix with my mom and Harper to visit my sisters. It was over 110 degrees everyday. Yucky. Harper had her first dip in a pool ever, and she loved it.

Both Avery and Addison have worn this swimming suit. I love it.

Harper with her cousin Addison. Addison loved Harper to pieces. She kept saying baby, baby , baby.

Harper slept on the floor in this special little bed we made up for her. She didn't mind it one bit.

A Visit from Phil and Heather's family

2011-07-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

In June my brother Phil and his wife Heather, and my two adorable nephews Maddux and Aidan came to visit. Here are just a few photos. You can see we roasted marshmallows for S'mores, but Avery was too impatient to roast hers. She just ate the giant novelty sized marshmallow directly off the stick.

Aidan enjoying S'mores.

Here's the whole family watching the turkeys up at our house in Seattle.

Aidan roasting marshmallows with his mom's help.

Maddux at our obligatory breakfast at Sunbreak Cafe in Auburn.

House Update #3

2011-07-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

The house is really coming along. They are pretty much done with the plumbing now, so we are now concentrating on getting our deck done, finishing the wiring, putting in a new steel I beam in the great room, and the duct work for our air conditioning.

There is drywall in our garage! We were excited to see this small patch of drywall anywhere in the house.

This is new framing in the basement that I was excited to see.

This is the new window that will be in our shower unit in the full bath on the main floor.

Duct work up in the master suite for our air conditioning because we love us some air conditioning.

The giant dirt pile in the basement is now replaced with this smaller dirt pile in the basement.

These are the new washer/dryer hookups in our master closet since only having laundry in the basement was going to mean a long walk downstairs.

They moved the washer/dryer hookups in the basement. The hookups were right when you walked in the door before, so the door would have banged into the washer or dryer every time. Someone wasn't thinking when they originally laid out the laundry room.

House Update #2

2011-06-25T21:54:00.001-07:00

Work continues! Much like the previous post, the work that is being done is the kind that is not exciting to see pictures of. Plumbing is still being moved around and electrical is being taken care of. I've included pictures of the progress of the powder room in the basement though. Also you might be wondering what this turkey has to do with our house. We are lucky enough to have turkey neighbors! Our front "yard" actually faces the backyards of two other houses, and one of those houses has two turkeys and about five chickens I think. We like to think of them as guard turkeys since they usually gobble at anyone who walks by.

They had to cut through the concrete in the basement to connect to the existing plumbing lines, which is trickier because of the radiant heating. That's what those clear tubes are sticking out of the concrete.
That's our toilet and sink roughed in.
This is the pile of dirt they unearthed to get the plumbing put in place.

Five Months

2011-06-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Harper at five months old. She's closer to fourteen pounds now. Harper's days are spent laughing, smiling, eating, rolling over, playing with her rattle, and dragging everything she can into her mouth. She desperately would like to sit up, but still isn't quite there. Harper has also been evicted from Mom and Dad's bedroom this past week. She threw up all over her bassinet late at night. I was way too tired to fuss with remaking it, so into the crib she went. Fortunately Avery sleeps through any fussing Harper does, and Harper sleeps through Avery being noisy. Although one night Harper was crying and we heard Avery tell her to be quiet. Otherwise they are pretty good little roommates.

Our Internet has been down for about five days, so I have some catching up to do. Hopefully I'll get another house update out, and I'll post about when my brother and his family came to visit.

House Update

2011-06-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

This Honey Bucket means we are in business. It's probably one of the few times in your life that you would get excited to see a Honey Bucket outside your house, or anywhere for that matter. Our contractor was able to get started these past couple of weeks. Mostly it's been things that are not exciting to see pictures of like rearranged lighting, pulled out wires, and more support beams for our deck.

Here's the ugly, non-working fireplace before:

Now it's gone!

They also framed out the full bath we added on the main floor for the girls, and made the two rooms on the main floor more equal in size. Before there was one big room and a tiny room that was to be the house's second study(really do you need two studies?). Now we have two good sized rooms that are far more useful.

Another Day in Paradise

2011-06-06T17:02:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we fulfilled a long held wish of mine by staying at Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier. It's run by the national park system, and has better than expected food if not the most modern of amenities. That's all part of the charm though. We only stayed one night. As you can see there is a lot of snow from our unusually cold and snowy winter. The snowplow had built up some formidable snow walls. We asked about all the snow and the workers said it doesn't normally look like this in June. Enjoy the pictures. In the first one you can see our new Mini Cooper that we christened Allister.

A Quick Trip

2011-06-02T10:07:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend we drove down to Sacramento with my sister DeAnna because we gave our Honda Accord to her since we bought a new car to replace it. From Sacramento DeAnna drove down to Phoenix with her husband Brad who flew into Sacramento on Saturday.

Harper getting some serious napping in while in the car.
Avery kindly offering to drive the Honda part of the way for Daryl. She even put the seat belt on herself. She's no dummy.

We went to a park that also had a dog park in Sacramento. That's Nellie and Paul's dog Ember. Avery seemed to like Ember, but was uncharacteristically cautious around her.

Harper hanging out in the sun.
Avery decided she liked the dog park better than the regular park.

Four Months Already!

2011-05-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

Harper turned four months old on Tuesday. Time sure does go by quickly. Harper is a whopping 12 pounds 11 ounces and 23.5 inches long. By comparison Avery was 14 pounds 3 ounces and 25 inches long at four months. Harper is happily hanging out in the 25th percentile. Last Saturday she rolled from her back to her tummy twice, but has not cared to repeat the performance yet. She continues to be a happy little girl like her big sister, and enjoys hanging out in the Bumbo now. We are so lucky to have such cute, happy girls!

Plan D

2011-05-19T11:19:00.001-07:00

So Daryl had applied to Pacific Lutheran, Washington State, University of Utah, and Arizona State for the fall semester this year. He was accepted to all of the schools. (Isn't Daryl amazing and super smart.) Well, he isn't going to any of those schools. Instead we are moving up to West Seattle in the Alki area. We are about four or so blocks up from the beach. The house is unfinished; it's down to studs. If we move in before summer is done we will be pleasantly surprised. We are moving up there because Daryl is working at his friend's company that develops apps for the iPad. It's called Monster Costume, and they make really cool games especially for kids. If you have an iPad you should totally check them out. Avery loves to play Bartelby's Book of Buttons. Daryl hasn't completely given up on school. He'll be checking out Seattle University because they have a computer science degree that you can pair up with a minor in entrepreneurship. That wouldn't start until next year though since he has missed the Fall deadlines. I've included pictures of the view from the new house since at this moment these are the only pictures worth looking at from the house.

Goodbye Leela

2011-05-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Remember this picture? You know what Leela was really doing? She was peeing in the baby blankets, and in the days to follow she started peeing on Avery's bed. Apparently Leela didn't like it when I decided to shut her out of our bedroom. I didn't want to deal with her and a new baby, so the cat lost. Leela is the first cat that wasn't allowed to sleep with me. She was just too needy and kept waking me up at night, so we sent her off to live with her aunt and uncle. Leela is enjoying life at my sister Nellie's house, and now can spend all the time she wants to with my niece Ashlyn in her bedroom. I'm happy to say that she uses her litterbox like a good cat, and is happy there. It's a win win situation.

Easter

2011-05-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

This Easter Avery really was into the little egg hunt that my niece Ashlyn and I set up for her. We hid a whole bunch of eggs around my parents house, and Avery was super excited. She kept saying, "I see eggs!" It was pretty cute.

Catching Up

2011-05-15T16:52:00.001-07:00

In April (last month, I know) we traveled down to Phoenix for four reasons:

1)the plane tickets were on sale

2)to see my sisters

3)so I could go to my Great Aunt Mega's 90th birthday party

4)Daryl and I left the girls with my sister DeAnna while we went to Disneyworld.

We had a great time. The girls did really well on the airplane. Mega's birthday party was a nice chance for me to see family I don't normally see. I drove over from Phoenix with my parents, DeAnna, Harper, and Aunt Liz while Daryl stayed back with Avery at Alex and Tim's where Addison and Avery had a great time making big messes. Mega lives in Farmington, New Mexico, and all I can say is Farmington is a hole. The trip to New Mexico was just a quick weekend thing. When I got back we stayed a couple days with my sisters before leaving the girls and flying to Orlando. We enjoyed Disneyworld, especially the water parks, a lot. As always it's great to have child free time. It was a great trip, but we were happy to be home as it was a longer trip at two weeks.

Great Aunt Mega(pronounced meega), my cousin Kim, DeAnna, and me.
Addison getting super messy. She is adorable.
The magic kingdom at night. It was super magical.
Harper contemplating life's many mysteries.

3 Months Old

2011-05-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

Harper turned three months old on Easter actually, I just have a lot to catch up on here. Harper continues to be a delightful baby. She loves to wiggle and smile still, and she only gets up once during the night. Everything is going pretty well.

Compare and Contrast

2011-05-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've gathered all the baby pictures in the family so we could all get a good look at everyone as babies. Daryl and I don't think Harper and Avery look that much alike, but we don't think she looks too much like either of us. Although we definitely think Harper takes after my side of the family. Enjoy Daryl's baby leisure suit.

Daryl Rachel

Harper Avery

Harper Smiling

2011-04-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Avery Loves the iPad 2

2011-04-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

After General Conference, an apparently exhausted Avery, gave us the rare gift of a nap cuddled up with our iPad.

A Lazy Saturday Morning

2011-04-02T08:38:00.001-07:00

No more pictures Mom and Dad!

Two Months

2011-03-27T18:52:00.001-07:00

Harper turned two months old on Thursday. She is now ten pounds three ounces and twenty-two inches long. She loves to wiggle, smile, and snuggle. In short, she's a pretty awesome baby.

President's Day Weekend with the Sisters

2011-03-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

My sisters DeAnna, Nellie, and Alex came President's Day weekend with my nieces Addison and Ashlyn of course. It was fun having all the sisters together as well as all the granddaughters. We had some professional pictures taken, hung out, and ate way too much junk food. Everyone was very happy to meet Harper, and she was never really put down the whole weekend. We were also lucky to have Aunt Joanne come visit and meet Harper too. The last picture shows my fourteen year old niece Ashlyn wearing my Mom's wedding dress. Apparently Mom was ridiculously small when she got married and not fourteen.

Grandma on her phone, Ashlyn holding Harper while DeAnna is looking on. Alex snuggling Harper.

Fun Uncle Adam holding Addison and Avery.

Ashlyn twirling Addison and Avery around. Nellie and Ashlyn together.

Ashlyn in her Grandma's wedding dress.

Baby Stats

2011-02-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

Harper turned a whole month old yesterday, and she continues to do great. She is now a whopping seven pounds twelve ounces and nineteen and a half inches long, so I swiped the monkey from Avery's bed to take some comparison shots that I am afraid reveal more about my great lack of photography skills more than anything else. As always enjoy!

By Popular Demand

2011-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

Harper is three weeks old now and has been home for two weeks, and everything is going pretty well. Avery loves Harper. She puts blankets, bibs, burpies, and hats on her. She loves to give her kisses, tries to pick her up, and she likes to point to her body parts for me. Avery especially enjoys pointing out her toes. More alarmingly she tries to pick her up, and she has only flipped Harper over once. (Harper was quickly rescued. Hopefully Avery will understand her baby sister is fragile, but we're not holding our breath.)

The only one having the toughest time transitioning to the new baby is our silly cat Leela. Leela doesn't know you, but she desperately needs your love and affection. I have never had such a needy cat. She has been shut out from the bedroom at night since I didn't want to deal with a newborn and an overly needy cat. Maybe this whole experience will make her love Daryl more. I can only wish!

Harper is Home

2011-01-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

After spending a few extra days under observation Harper has come home! She was born on 1/24/2011 at 9:56 am. She was 6 lbs .03 oz and 17 and a half inches long. She is a tiny thing, and the nurses nick named her peanut during her stay. She has redish blond hair and doesn't look a thing like Avery. Everyone agrees she has her mother's nose, but otherwise we don't see ourselves in her which is very different from Avery who was a mini me. (mini Daryl).

Here are pictures for your enjoyment.

More Harper Photos

Update

2011-01-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

So I didn't have a baby last week while Daryl was gone which was fine with everyone. In about six months Daryl's vision will settle and he can get whatever kind of eye prescription he needs then. In the meantime he can't wear contacts for the next week, so he has been wearing my glasses a lot since his old glasses don't correct his vision anymore since it markedly improved. Why my glasses work well for him right now is a little bit of a mystery to me since I had worse vision than he did before his eye surgery already. At any rate we will both be glad when he can go to the eye doctor next week to get him some temporary contacts, and I can reclaim my glasses.

Down below I've included this entertaining picture of me 37 weeks pregnant (in other words what I look like now). You can also see how I cut my hair off last month.

Christmas Day

2011-01-07T10:30:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day was spent with Grandma and Grandpa Layman, Adam, Angie, Brad, and DeAnna. I unfortunately forgot to put the family through the joy of attempting to take family pictures so this is what we got instead. We had a great time and can't wait to see DeAnna again in February with Alex and Addison too! But sadly no Brad :(

Aren't they just adorable?

Brad was a very nice uncle and helped Avery open up her Christmas haul.

This is what Dad pretty much did the whole time we opened presents.

Adam and Angie are helping Avery get set up with the cool keyboard Grandma and Grandpa got her.

Mom looking good on Christmas morning.

Avery loves being pushed around in her baby doll stroller, but does not care for her real stroller that much unfortunately.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-07T09:36:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with Namma Diane, Karl, Aimee, and Tyler. After having some yummy food at the Buttered Biscuit in Sumner we came back to our house for Christmas fun. We attempted some family pictures which turned out with only partial success, but they sure are fun!

Got to love our new camera that helped us capture this moment of Avery's frustration.

Tyler has pretty much gotten away and Avery is poised to make her escape.

Now for the most part everyone looks good except for Avery again who was mad that she had to sit with Mom instead of rocking in the chair. What a horrible mother I am.

Avery and Tyler helped make the bed and then snuggled in for some t.v. watching. Tyler thought he could just stay all night there.

Tyler and Avery attacked the gingerbread house and had a good time eating the candy off it.

Keratoconus

2011-01-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

So a few years a go I was diagnosed with Keratoconus. It's not life threating or anything, it just means that my eyes are slowly changing shape, into a 'cone'. It could take years before it becomes serious enough for a surgery, or it could be shorter, or it could even stop progressing. It effects everyone differently so there is no way to know exactly what will happen to me. So there is a newer treatment available now that stops and can even correct the progression, not with full FDA approval, but it has finished clinical trials and has been approved to be performed at a few places in the US. (Europe it has full approval). At any rate my doctor thinks I should do the procedure, it's called Corneal Collagen Crosslinking with Riboflavin. So this week I am headed off to Beverly Hills, CA to have it while Rachel stays at home with Avery. Hopefully Harper will not arrive while I am gone!

(severe Keratoconus)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratoconus

Olson Family Christmas

2010-12-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday on the 18th we got together for the Olson Family Christmas and we did some cousin pictures. Here are the best shots we got. We had a great time. Avery loved playing with the cousins as did Daryl. Thanks to Debbie and everyone else who made the night so much fun. The food was great!