Happy Birthday Dad and Maria

My Dad and sister Maria share a birthday today and we are SO thankful that we are all together to celebrate. This year is my Dad's 60th and I can't think of a better way to celebrate him than for all of his kids to be together. That is all he ever wants for Christmas and birthdays (making him difficult to buy for) and this year he gets his wish.

We have been celebrating their special day on Memorial weekend for as long as I can remember, and usually at Hood Canal. Some years it doesn't work out, and usually someone is in another country or state and not able to make it, but it's been a great memory. Add this weekend to the books!

Happy Birthday Dad & Maria!

Rainy Day

This is what it looked like outside,

so we planted our basil inside!

And lounged around for the morning!

My cousin :)

My cousin Jess is on the cover of this new Jenny McCarthy novel! She picked him out to pose with her (and apparently wear that mullet) on her new book. It may not be on my "must read" list, but we're proud of you anyway Jess!

Thanks Carole!

Why keep old photos in storage when they can make perfect wall art for a little boy's room?

Tummy Time

Kids say the darndest things...

Each day Brett and I are entertained, amazed and laughing at the things that Owen says. Some sentences we realize come directly from us, but the mind of an almost-2-year-old is pretty creative too. I've added a Owen Quotes list to the side of the blog if any of you are interested in his latest sentences. Enjoy-we sure do!

Landscaping

Paul headed for Portland Friday morning just in time to miss our little landscaping project...good thing Owen and Ty were available!

I'll post a "finished pic" soon.

Thanks for visiting us Paul!

Laughing out Loud

Last night Brett and I were getting the kids ready for bed and Brett made Clara laugh! He was changing her and kissing her tummy and she had a big smile and then started giggling. It was too cute! I went to get the camera and of course she stopped as soon as I tried to capture her on film. It's the first time we have heard her laugh out loud!

By the way, I keep telling Brett that just because he made her laugh first doesn't mean he is funnier than I am. Owen and I keep trying to be silly, but we have yet to get her giggling again. We would love to hear it again soon!

Congratulations Paul!

Paul graduated last weekend from Notre Dame with his MBA! Yay Paul! We are so proud of you and also happy to have you back to the Northwest.

This is when Paul came to visit 1 week old Clara on his spring break

Paul is on his way back from South Bend with a full car and is spending a few days with us in Missoula-we love it!

Spokane

Brett and I have been planning a night in Spokane to shop for our birthdays (well, mostly mine) and we did it last weekend. Owen stayed the night with Grandma & Grandpa and we hit the road with Clara. Clara was a pretty good traveler and shopper! We grabbed lunch at Ionic (formerly Sonic), checked into our hotel and shopped the rest of the afternoon. I should also add that Brett was a great sport as well-shopping is not his favorite thing in the world, but I couldn't even tell! Saturday night Lisa, who was finishing up her coaching clinic, came to our hotel and watched Clara while Brett and I went to dinner at the Steam Plant Grill. Lisa and Clara had a good time together, and Brett and I had a nice date! Thank you again Auntie Lis! Sunday we went to St. Al's for church (on GU campus) and walked around campus. We stopped in to visit Kelly and her darling family, and hit up a few more stores before heading back home. Owen had so much fun with Ron, Carole & Ty that he was exhausted, and we were all in bed by 9!

Our Friday night play date at Mya's ended like this :(

Little man was going non-stop and did a little flip off the top of the slide, scraping his face on the ladder on the way. He recovered okay and had some more outside fun before saying goodnight to the Hubbards.

Happy 31st!

Yesterday was Brett's birthday and we had a beautiful day to celebrate. Ron, Carole and Ty came over for tacos on the deck and shortbread with strawberries for dessert. We had a great evening!

Auntie Lis

Lisa was in Spokane for two weekends for a coaching clinic to get her C license. In between sessions she had a 3 day break so she came over to visit us 3 hours away in Missoula. It was so fun to have her and the kiddos loved having Auntie Lis around. Thanks for the visit Lisa! Sorry about the fits that you had to witness:)

lunch at the park (before the meltdown that brought us home with half eaten lunches)

smiles with Clara

Auntie Lis playing "diaper train"-so fun!

Happy Birthday Ty!

We had so many fun things going on this weekend that I forgot to blog about Ty's birthday. We had a delicious BBQ at Ron and Carole's with Ty's requested menu...ribs, chicken, potatoes, and confetti cake! Happy Birthday TY! Owen thought it was so much fun that the next day instead of "Happy Mother's Day" he told me "Happy Birthday Uncle Ty!".

Clara wore her cupcake shirt just for the special occasion!

Bike for Shelter

Saturday Brett took Owen to Bike for Shelter, a bike ride to benefit Watson's Children Shelter. We borrowed the bike trailer from the Hubbards-thanks Mya, and Owen had fun riding behind Dad. He probably liked the after party even more though...snacks and bouncy mazes are awesome!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mom Sue... thank you for being the best mom a girl could have and for being such a big part of who I am. Not to mention a mother that I continue to learn from as I raise your Grandchildren. Thanks Mom!

A special Happy Mother's Day to Nona, an amazing grandmother, "Great-Nona" and mother to my Dad. (by the way, you look too young to be all of those things)

We celebrated the day with church, a brunch at our house, and just hanging out together with the kiddos. I feel so lucky to be blessed with Owen and Clara, and am LOVING being a mom!

Watch CSI NY tomorrow!

My cousin "Jess Allen" is going to be on CSI on May 5th! He has been in LA trying his luck at acting, and he is getting some breaks. It looks like we'll see my little cousin on the big screen! Yay Jessro, we're so proud of you!

Here is the link to the article about him in the Longview Daily News with more info on him and his latest parts.

And watch for the viking on CSI NY tomorrow!

Here is Jess with Uncle Phil (my dad's bro), Aunt Connie, his brother Dave and baby Owen

uh oh...

Today our world changed drastically. Owen opened a door! I knew it would happen sooner or later. We have round door knobs and he has to have the right reach and angle on it to turn it and push the door, and today he got it. When he could not open doors, it made a lot of things easier on us...transitioning to a big bed, making rooms off limits, worrying about stairs, keeping him inside...we'll see how things change!

2 months on May Day

Happy May Day! Owen and I made some May Day flowers to pass out today. I remember stapling the corners of a white paper together making a little wildflower basket to deliver to the neighbors. Well, maybe we didn't have many neighbors so we just gave it to our only real neighbors "Judger" and Dorothy. I though we should carry on the

May Day fun! Owen was in tears when our neighbor Julie wasn't home to get her flower-so sad! She had just been over a few nights before with dinner f

or us and gifts for the kids. What great neighbors we have!

Clara is 2 months today and we are just loving her-Owen too! She is starting to smile back at us, stay awake and happy for longer periods of time, and look around at her surroundings. She is also reaching for things and grabbing them if she can. It's so fun and Owen is so sweet with her. When we got up the other day I told him Clara slept in her own room like a big girl...Owen said "good job Clara...I proud of you".