Spooners 2010

We came to WA on a kind of spontaneously a few weeks ago and stayed for two weeks. This is me recapping that trip. We of course had to make a trip to Spooners...Braden had fallen asleep and so he was a little grumpy...sadly...so we tried to cheer him up.

Emmitt on the other hand was happy as usual and enjoying his first class ride in the wheel barrow, chauferred by uncle dav.

my little pumpkin fits right in

glad mom knows how to look at the camera

we tried to get all the kids with uncle dav, braden was pretty unhappy about this as you can see

Megan and Lance

Happy Harvast time...

Emmitt is 4 Months....already!

Emmitt is 4 months today!
He is 17lbs, yikes!! That's 2 lbs in 2 months.
And look at those blue eyes!

Over this past weekend he grew up...he is now rolling onto his side and trying really hard to make it onto his tummy, hold toys and sucking on them, and when I hold a toy in front of him he thinks about it for a minute then slowly reaches up and tries grabbing for the toy. YAY! Oh the little things we have to learn. Such a fun milestone.

He is being Mr. Serious in these pics, but he has the sweetest smile. He is super happy and giggles a lot, mainly at me. He is really ticklish! He is the BEST baby! I didn't know babies could sleep so well and be so happy this little (this was not my experience with the first). Emmitt is pretty happy as long as he is fed, changed and not tired. He still eats quite frequently; however, we have progressed to every three hours most of the time because we have started rice cereal and or bananas once a day. Can't wait for him to get to try all sorts of other yummy foods. Braden ate anything as a baby so hopefully Emmitt will enjoy food as much as he did. He goes to bed about 8pm, eats once at night then sleeps til about 7am. He still naps 4 times a day, 3 shorter ones and 1 longer in the afternoon. I am hoping we can get to 2 long naps soon and move to sleeping through the night. He has slept through the night several times but was going to bed later and waking up earlier to eat, like 5am. So I am much happier with his current schedule. He loves bath time! He loves Braden! When Braden isn't being loud and all smothery he loves watching Braden. He of course loves Daddy and Mommy and we love him!!

Moving to Washington....

So yes, the news is true I AM MOVING HOME! This post is dedicated to the MANY reasons why I love Washington, but particularly why I love the Pacific Northwest/Puget Sound/Home of Mt. Rainier whatever you want to call it.
First, I must begin with Mt. Rainer the backdrop of my life until age 18. Above is my parent's neighborhood and the magnificent Mt. Rainier. Below is Brian and I hiking the foot hills. Oh how I have missed seeing you these past 8 years.

On the piers of the Seattle water front I took Brian when we were first engaged...we haven't been back for a while, so this is on the top of our to sees when we return to WA.

Space Needle....a classic....yummy food on top. I actually never ate up there until I lived in Idaho and went back for work. However, I have been to it several times before that. Now I need to take Brian up there, oh so many great things for him to see. SO in no particular order I have found photos to show all the sweet things WA has to offer.

Eagles! This is an important one. While I was growing up my mom always pointed out when she saw a bald eagle, she believes after this life she will get to work with the eagles...they are amazing birds. You also can check them out of close and personal at Point Defiance Zoo and aquarium, another fun thing I grew up doing. Brian and I have been there together too.

Ferry Rides.....for pleasure or just commuting.

City lights....can't wait for city night life! Not sure Idaho knows what that is. Don't get me wrong Idaho has its own beauty to offer, just nothing like this.

Tacoma water front..water, water, water.....YAY! Real lakes, real ocean!!

Glass museum....pretty much any kind of museum....Seattle Art Museum, science center, oh there are lots I won't list them all....

TRAFFIC! For those of you who thought Rexburg had traffic, HA!

Not that in any way do I miss traffic, but its a part of moving to the big town. So there is the lame traffic (above) and there is the pretty traffic (below).

Zoo Lights!

Snoqualmie Pass....tubing, skiing, boarding!!

Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners....

Fabulous Sea Food, really fabulous food, I mean the restauants our endless....good bye to the lame option of Applesbees in Rexburg (well may I add that that is a lame option anywhere....its like fast food sit down style) or Jakers in Twin...however I might on occasion miss the Sandpiper or Cellar of Idaho Falls, but I am sure I can find places better! So clam chowder here I come, Halibut, crab, shrimp, yum yum yum.

Overcast days, rain, fog, rain, no sun, rain, rain, did I mention rain. I am going to have to get use to that again. I guess rain is the price we pay for such green beauty!

OH back to food again...the Bite of Seattle, taste of Tacoma.......

Narrows bridge...

Puyallup Fair!!!

Whales! Ocean! Jellyfish!

Northwest Trek, a classic as a kid. We took Braden here on one of our trips home already so he is already prepared for the future excitement of tram rides. LOL

Daffodil parade....I played the flute in jr. high in this parade for three years, and then danced in it for two...what can I say I like to be part of the action.

So to all of you who already get to live in this great part of the world if you have not experienced the great things of this area (and there are about a zillion more I didn't list....) get out there and enjoy where you live! After being away for school then brian's school I am even more grateful for the part of the world I was born in. I was surrounded by so many fun things to do, eat, and see....I didn't realize until moving away how great it was.

Oh and this is the State Capital....we are moving just next door to the town of Lacey.

First Pumpkin Treat of the Season....

Making pumpkin bars with mom....Braden loves watching the mixer while it is whippin' stuff around. Then as I let him lick the batter he proceeded to dip it in the pan.

These weren't great exposures but love the expression on his face.

Glass Pumpkins

Today we finished up our glass pumpkins we started on Saturday as one of our October projects. Braden had a good time "painting" he actually did pretty well, but eventually got bored with the glass and so he painted on paper too. See the concentration while loading his brush with more paint.

Here are our finished projects...after like 4 coats of paint...next time I will be spray painting these. Braden's is the little one with the face of course. We added a few embellishments to complete our project...just used some decorative wire that I had and some green fabric scraps. I guess I should get a pic of them all lit up....I took Braden in the bathroom to show him they glow.

Painting with Chocolate Pudding

As one of our projects between conference sessions we painted with chocolate pudding...very yummy. Braden thought that was cool. He always wants me to draw trains and spell our names. This time we just did letters for each of our names.

Going Red

Of course I didn't take a picture of it while it was not painted. So this little chair was made by Brian's Grandpa, Braden's Great Grandpa; however, it was not painted or stained. So we decided to paint it up to match Braden's room. This is just one of our fun projects from conference weekend. I had to have things for us to do together since Brian is in Washington and Braden needed to have some fun things to do so I could enjoy listening to conference. It worked out pretty well. I just spray painted it (love spray paint, no brush strokes), then I applied a clear coat for extra protection. Finally, we used some craft bond to add a few finishing touches. I just cut these out of a flat sheet that came with his bedding. What two year old uses a flat sheet.

There you have it chair going red...