Tristan and Sofia are taking swimming lessons!!

For Sofia's 3rd birthday, we decided to give her swimming lessons as all kids need to learn this life skill. Well, we couldn't just take Sofia, so Tristan is learning too. The first week we arrived at the wrong time, so they had to be in a more advanced class. This worked well for Tristan, but not so much for Sofia as she wouldn't even put her feet in the water. However, Tristan learned very quickly and even enjoyed dunking under the water. They use styrofoam barbells to teach them to float on their stomach and back, and Tristan did very well!! Don't you just love his face?

Their second lesson was with the correct class and Sofia finally got in the water and actually enjoyed herself. Melissa took several pictures and will post them soon.

Summer project #2, flower bed inside of a wall!

We had this flowerbed outside of our nook window. I used to love planting impatiens in it each year and it had a lovely hydrangea, bleeding heart, hosta, ground covers and........lots and lots of roots from the maple tree, so much that I couldn't plant anymore. So.................we thought it would be great to dig out the plants, build a wall and fill it in with fresh dirt, replant the plants and add some more too. Well, long story short, or short project long, we did dig out the old plants but couldn't save any of them as those roots were so thick that it took a pick axe in some parts just to remove the plants. Terry also wanted to move a sprinkler head. Luckily 20 years ago when he put our sprinkler system in he also took lots of pictures. He knew where the pipes should be. They were there alright, but directly under a huge tree root. He had to chop through the root just to find the pipe so that he could re-route the pipe for the new head. (oh please, little tree, don't die) After digging out plants and re-routing the sprinkler head, it was time to build the trenches around the bed to lay gravel and to build the wall. The pick axe came in handy many times. Terry also broke our hoe and thank goodness for good old Sears. Since it was a Craftsman hoe with a lifetime guarantee, Sears replaced it for free with their top-of-the-line, no less. Cody, Anna and Reid came to help (a Father's Day gift) and truthfully without them, we would still be putting this flowerbed in instead of enjoying it so much!! Hope you enjoy the pictures, and please come and enjoy our back yard too.

Cody beginning to edge the bed in order to begin digging the trenches. Notice that Anna is having to hold Reid back because of the next picture!

Of course Reid thought all of this dirt had been dug up just for him, and Wow, so much dirt and so little time to play in it.

Terry and Cody have dug the trenches, laid the gravel, and finally the cornerstone is in.

The wall began to grow pretty quickly from there. As in all projects, not everything fit together perfectly, so Cody hand-honed several of the blocks to get them to look and fit perfectly. Thanks Cody for your perfectionism.

Anna and I began the long job of filling and hauling the wheelbarrow with dirt from the front driveway to the back yard and dumping. After each load, we had to "dance" on the dirt to help it settle, then rake, dump, dance, sprinkle with water, dump, rake, dance etc. This process took until the end of the week!

Notice we left the end open. It was easier to wheelbarrow each load through the opening and dump it than it was to have to shovel each load back out of the wheelbarrow. Wish we had counted how many loads it took. We had 4 yards of dirt delivered and we have about 1½ yards still on the driveway. Oh, more projects to come just to use up the dirt!!

Here is the end result!!! Dirt all in, the end of the wall finished, top layer cemented to the second layer, and finally the most fun part of all, THE PLANTING!!! I mostly planted annuals this year except for 2 ferns and 3 hostas. I am hopeful that there is enough of a growing season left for all of these to grow together and create a lot of color. I have never planted rex begonias or caladiums before, so it will be fun to see how they look full-grown. There is a small area to the right of the bed that I also dug out, added dirt and planted yesterday. Next year I may make this a kitchen herb garden.

Celebrating America's Birthday and Cody's Graduation

Here we all are, dressed in red, white and blue to celebrate our Country's birthday!! The weather was HOT! the food delicious, the drinks refreshing, and the company wonderful.

Grandbabies, Sofia on the far left, 3 1/2, Lillie 2 on the horse, Tristan on the far right is 5 3/4 and Reid in front is our baby at nearly 9 months!!

Congratulations Cody on achieving your Masters Degree!! We are very proud of you and also love that you are still a great bartender!!

Reid just loved the water and didn't seem to mind if it was cold, at least if he was only sitting in it. If you splashed him, well that was a different story! Don't you love his hat and adorable smile?

Here is our smaller patio all aglow! We ended our wonderful day playing cards on the big patio and watching and listening to all the fireworks bursting in the air all around us. We couldn't believe that Reid slept through the whole thing. You will have to follow Cody and Anna's blog as well as April's and Melissa's facebooks to see all the other wonderful pictures from the day. April got some great ones of Tristan in mid-leap over the pool!!

Hope you enjoyed your 4th of July as much as we did.

Reid's first trip to see and touch the ocean!

Reid and Anna enjoying the beach! Doesn't Reid look like a little clam? We took a few days to visit Ocean Park and Long Beach, Washington. Thanks to the Kelly's, we enjoyed a beautiful home to vacation in. Reid loved the sand and water and didn't seem afraid at all. We visited Marshalls very strange museum, drove through Oysterville, played on the beach, cooked, enjoyed reading in the sun, had a movie and popcorn night and just relaxed!

Cody and Reid playing on the beach

Grandpa, Grandma and a very attentive Reid at Long Beach

Cody, Anna and Reid

Here is our sweet Reid enjoying playing on the deck at the Kelly's beach House! Don't you just love his dapper hat?

Easter 2009

Easter weekend began with the traditional coloring of the eggs!! Tristan, Sofia and Lillie did such a wonderful job this year. Tristan even learned how to stripe his eggs from Papa.
We were very impressed that both Tristan and Sofia handled their eggs with such care using the bended wire egg holder!!
Experience tells us to strip the kids down for this colorful experience. You can't do anything for the colored hands however.Here is Reid enjoying all the eggs after they were colored!
Lillie and April on Easter afternoon admiring the Rice Krispie Egg!

Lillie in her Easter finery under our big blooming Cherry tree~ She just loved her hat!
Reid high up in he Cherry Tree! Isn't he getting so big?
Sofia and Tristan look so cute don't they?
Just love this picture of the oldest 3 after shedding their Easter clothes!!
Tristan holding Reid, Lillie and Sofia. By this point Lillie already has her shoes off and Sofia insisted on wearing her new summer flip flops over her tights!!

Melissa turns 30!!!!!

CHEERS!!! We decided to do something totally fun for Melissa's 30th birthday. We had a cocktail party and asked the guests to dress up. Everyone came dressed to the 9's. We created a bar in the kitchen, all the lighting was either candles, fire light or lamp light, made some very fun hors-de-vours and listened to big band music. We had a wonderful time until the wee hours of the morning!

Cody at the "bar", as our Bartender extraordinaire! Cody and Anna named all the drinks after Melissa's childhood, and it was fun to order a "Sasa Sour" or a "Winnie the Wino Sangria".

Friends, deciding which drinks to choose. Doesn't Andrew just look so Dapper? He also wore black and white shoes!!

Old tried and true friends! Becky Huntington (Conners) and her husband Aaron joined us and they brought a picture of Becky and Melissa at Becky's 4th birthday party, so fun!!

The food was delicious!! We had everything from fresh shrimp to fresh fruit!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!

We began the month of March with a painting project! Below is the "old" bathroom after removing the border of wallpaper. Do you remember "ragging"? This bathroom was ragged on the top with a peach color, then the border, then a myriad of colors ragged on the bottom to match the garden wallpaper border. Innovative for its time, but as we have been told many, many times, "I's time to change". So change we did!!!What do you think of this??? We love it, love it, love it!!! The wall pictures were taken by Melissa, didn't she do a fantastic job? We love having her art on our walls. Next came the laundry room. It wasn't ragged on the top half of the wall with peach, but the bottom was the same as the bathroom. Check out the "old" laundry room.We just love this pumpkin color and the yellow and brown accents are perfect!
Tristan and Sofia love helping Papa with his many projects. Do you think Tristan hopes to fill his Papa's shoes one day? :0)

I started growing this amaryllis about 3 years ago as a single bulb. Each spring after frost has passed, I take it outside. It grows huge with lots of leaves and blooms again around July. Before it frosts again I bring it inside for the winter. Slowly, one by one the leaves turn yellow and fall off, then leaves begin to grow again and this year it also grew 4 stalks of flowers! They are so showy.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I love to collect Cabbage dishes and this holiday is the best day to use as many as I can.
Three of our 4 grandbabies. Lillie, Tristan and Sofia!
These two girls are nearly the same size even though there are 15 months between them!!
Our sweet Reid, now 5 months old. Doesn't he just look dapper in green?
After a long day of celebrating, Reid and his friends are all tuckered out!! :o)

The beginning of January always begins with the traditional "burning of the Christmas Greens!". This year Tristan got to help Papa and he really enjoyed the roar of the flames and watching the tree get smaller and smaller.

Isn't she lovely, isn't she beautiful???? In January we celebrated Sofia's 3rd Birthday! She had a princess birthday and she and all her little princess friends enjoyed a wonderful tea party complete with a cake that Uncle Cody and Auntie Anna made. They enjoyed little heart shaped tea sandwiches, scones, fruit and of course the ultimate, a pedicure!!There were 3 pedicure stations set up and Sofia tried each one out! I think she truly is a PRINCESS!

Here is Sofia looking over the edge of her beautiful table waiting for her guests to arrive!

Can you believe that Cody and Anna made this beautiful teapot cake with cream and sugar. Everyone enjoyed eating it especially Sofia who ate the white chocolate spout and Tristan who ate the handle! Thanks SO MUCH Uncle Cody and Auntie Anna!

In February April and Chris hosted Cyndy's birthday dinner. The table was just beautiful and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of Lasagne, enjoying being together and playing with Reid and Lillie. We had the privilege of babysitting Reid on the Thursday before Valentines Day so his Mommy and Daddy could enjoy a date out together. We all had fun playing!

I can't believe it is almost March and my last post was all about Christmas. One thing is for certain, our weather is still as crazy as ever. Last Monday we woke up to everything covered in snow and the sun was shinning! What do they say about March coming in like a lion, well, we may have a whole herd here in the beautiful Northwest!!

This coming weekend we are hosting a Cocktail party in Celebration of Melissa's 30th Birthday! I will post pictures next week. Until then, beware the ide's of March!