2011?

So, it's 2011. And not just 2011, but we're into the SECOND MONTH of 2011. Blog slacker! I really have good intentions...but there is just SO much to occupy my time...cooking, cleaning, volunteering, laundry, etc etc. OK. honestly. I've gotten a REALLY good ZUMA score this week, I cleaned a bathroom, worked on my blurb book a bit, and played outside with the kids. I don't know what happened to January. Really I don't.

But, I have gotten some motivation since I've been working on my blurb book from, ahem, 2008. If I don't post I don't have a very fun book. 2009 will be ok. 2010 will be severe slim pickins. 2011 will be better. Hopefully! So, I am going to catch up (eventually?) I'm gonna post some past stuff, and leave it up for a couple of days then I'm gonna change the date and get it filed up in the right order. Quirky I know.

So, while I gather my wits and organize myself. Thought I'd leave you with a little tidbit of what I did today. Seems like we are definitely heading into the last days with all the crazy weather the country seems to be having. Snow. Freezing temps....but here in the good old pacific northwest it was

BE-AU-TI-FUL!

We played outside a lot of the afternoon. Rode bikes (which we had to pump the tires up on), jumped rope, blew bubbles, rode scooters, did some chalk drawings, and enjoyed the sunshine. It was fun because this was Ian's first time outside since learning how to walk. He was able to enjoy it SO much more! Hope you enjoy the pictures-and can enjoy the sunshine vicariously :)

Ian Had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

Ok I am having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my little Ian is 1! I can't believe that one year ago he we had a little baby in our house.

Now we have moved on to the fun, smiley, active, and handsome little guy we call Mr. Ian or Ian-Boy. He is such a joy to have in our family. He fits right in and is so patient as we drag him from soccer, to carpooling, to meetings, or dance. He LOVES balls. He LOVES cars. He LOVES music. We are so lucky to have him in our family! We had a small family party to celebrate Ian. The other kids were more excited than he was ;)

We started out with a birthday dinner of spaghetti.

This is Ian's first spaghetti. He liked it. A lot.

Then it was PRESENT TiMe!!!


Presents. He liked them. Mostly the paper, but he has had fun playing with his cars, blocks, and balls since!


Ian was lucky to have lots of helpers on hand for when he got bored of opening presents.


Makenna can't let Ian have ALL the attention...

Then it was CAKE TiMe!!!
(ok...so I'm not a cake artist. But we had fun with it anyway. Had to keep up the cupcake sculpture theme...Audri had a caterpillar and Makenna had flowers...)


At first he wasn't too sure. Even tried to throw it off the high chair...but I put a piece of cake in his mouth, and the rest as they say, is history.

I really should have taken piece of cake off his face. It looks like it's either going up or coming out of his nose. It was funny tho so we left it. We couldn't help ourselves.

Anyway, he loved his cake and made a great mess. We cleaned him up and played with his new toys the rest of the night. Oh, and did I mention he also took his FIRST 4 STEPS!!! Won't be long now!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Ian BOY!

Wow.

You go on a blogging hiatus and see what happens? Blogger makes it SO much easier to customize and design your blog. Wow. I've been playing today. Maybe we'll even get in a new post before the weekend is over...or maybe not...but it is a good thought.

Hey. Just being realistic.

Today is a GOOD day

Ok...so in the in the world of blogging I have been a class-a slacker. And even now, I have SO MANY things I want to post. Pictures that everyone NEEDS to see, because my kids are growing so fast and are so DARN CUTE! Summer stuff, the first day of school, family visits, staycations, Makenna's birthday, fall festivities...the list goes on and on!

BUT

For today. I just want to post this. Because it has been a GOOD day. Because of this:



Yes. That is Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and entryway that are cleaner than they have been...in a long time. Embarrassingly enough. It feels so good to have my house clean and smelling yummy (scentsy black raspberry vanilla, YUM!)

And did you notice that my door is open letting in the glorious sunshine?

But mostly it is a good day because of them:


And yes, Ian is in his bed. I know it's not the cutest picture, well, not even a very good one...but it was an essential part of the beginning of this post! And did you notice that Brayden is wearing shorts?!?! It is November 2nd! Such a beautiful day. Now, off to make dinner...and yes, I am even happy to do that tonight!

The Best Day of Ian's Life, So Far

A discarded ice cream container...and a little alone time

The realization that there is something pretty tasty here

"Oh, hello. I didn't know you were standing there!"

"Yeah. You caught me."

"Totally worth it"

104 Days of Summer Vacation...

and school comes around just to end it!

Ok. Obviously I didn't blog this summer. Well, I did once. So what did we do in those other 103 days?

Did:

We, went to the pool. A few times.

We went camping.

We went to the Cheese factory. A few times.

Brayden went to Disneyland.

Jeremy and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a trip to Bend. (That was 3 days of pure enjoyment!)

We went to the park. (not as much as we should have)

I went to Girls camp.

Gladstone Chautauqua Days

We saw movies.

We went to the zoo.

We went to the Clackamas County fair.

I got pulled over for the first time in my life. Twice. In one day. It was bad.

We went to Enchanted Forest for the first time. It was good.

DIDN'T

Spend as much time with friends as we should have.

Have enough picnics.

Have really warm weather until it seemed like summer was over!

Go to any playgroups.

Go to library story time.

Set up the pool in our yard.

Ride bikes like we should have.

This post would be so much more interesting with pictures. Especially of the things that we DID do. But one thing I did this summer was get a NEW laptop (YAY!) But I'm too lazy to find the cord to my camera to transfer pictures because this laptop doesn't have a card reader. SO I don't have any of those pictures here with me. And the other computer is ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS. And it's old. So it takes forever to boot up. Hopefully I will get some pictures up here soon. Now that summer is over and school has started I have really been trying to find a groove and a routine. It may take a couple of weeks though. Three kids in school. One ten month old (can you believe Ian is 10 months?!?! I really need to get pics of that little man up-he is just SO cute I can hardly stand it) that is constantly getting into things, turning off the computer or pulling toilet paper all over the house keeps me busy enough. Oh, and did I mention soccer? That about rules our life right now. Not that I am complaining. Cause really I love it. I do. Really.

Soooooooooooooooo...for anyone who still reads this: Thank you for your patience. And Pics coming soon!

Brayden's Baptism

On Saturday June 26th we had the great privilege of celebrating Brayden's baptism. It was so great to have so many family members come and celebrate with us. My parents were able to come from NJ, my brother and his little family came from UT, and my sister and her hubby came from WY. We also happened to be able to have Jim and Lucy, my other grandparents, be there too. Jeremy's parents and grandma were also able to come and be with us. We have been looking forward to this day for many months. We are so proud of Brayden and his decision to be baptized, and we are thankful for all of the family and friends that came to support him. We had a great program that included a talk by Grandma Kato about baptism. She talked about all of the little steps we take before we get baptized and how Brayden had been preparing for this day for a long time. We had a musical number by Audri and Makenna. They sang the song "Baptism" and did a great job. It was so sweet of them to sing for their brother's program (and I am sure they would have done it without the bribe of new paints...) Then Brayden was baptized by Jeremy. I can't quite describe what it felt like to see them down in the water. I was just so grateful to have a son who was excited about this next step and how awesome it is to have a husband who honors his priesthood and is worthy to do this for our children. While we were waiting for them to get dried off, we had a short lesson presented by the full time missionaries of our ward. Elder Liljenquist and Elder Daniels did a great job, and they are really great missionaries. They taught Brayden the discussions and it was really good to have them in our home. Grandma Fowler gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost when the boys came back. She helped to remind us of the gift that we have been given and ways that we can feel it in our lives. Then Brayden was given the gift of the Holy Ghost, again by Jeremy, but also surrounded by all of the great men in his life: Grandpa Fowler, Grandpa Kato, Uncle Tyler, Uncle Kendall, Great Grandpa Jim, and some great friends from the ward: Michael Taylor, Russ Hokanson (who also conducted the meeting) and Bishop Nicholson. It was a big circle of loving friends and family. We had beautiful weather, and afterwards we headed home to hang out and eat pizza. What a wonderful day, don't think it could have gone more perfectly!

Dad and Brayden


So hard to believe I have an 8 year old!


All 4 of my beautiful babies.

Brayden and Grandma and Grandpa Fowler

Everyone who loves Brayden!


Standing outside afterwards. Makenna fell asleep during the program!


My side of the family. We don't get all together very often. It was great to have them all here!


All of us pointing at the guest of honor. I love his hands in his pockets!


A candid, getting a group together for pictures is HARD work. Thanks Carrie, for taking our pics! (I love how Audri thinks she has to help Brayden smile)