Grandpa's birthday hike

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday by going for a hike up Kennesaw "mountain". Scott makes fun of the classification compared to the Olympics or Cascades, but Grandpa just reminded us that the Eastern mountains still have the big mountain spirit in them; they are just much, much older than those young western mountains and are getting worn down now. Anyway, we had a great time with G and G and Robert's family. We made it all the way up and down without the shuttle bus with all the little kids. We had a family picnic afterwards - outside! in December! with just sweatshirts on. We enjoyed a family dinner with Briant's family, too, that evening at Mil and Fil's. Fun day!

Woo-hoo! 9 states in 8 days!

Whew! We made it! It took us 8 full days, but we're here in Georgia! Sorry the above pictures are really out of order. We'll let you figure out what's what, but we went to Portland to pick up Beth and Jill who so graciously came out to caravan with us. We drove through the mountain passes between Oregon and California and continued south to warm weather! We saw beautiful mountains and stopped at Joshua Tree Natl Park after 3 nights in CA. We thought we'd never get out of that state. We spent the night with Guy and Karen and then the next day with Scott's other aunts and uncles in Phoenix, Joe and Mary and Brent and Marion. We got to visit with cousins one night which was so fun for Jack and Katya. We also played at the park with Louisa and Spencer and family which thrilled Katya and the dogs, too. We went up to see the painted desert and the petrified forest, but they were closed! Merry Christmas! There were hardly any places open for food or gas and NM is not very well populated on I-40, so we had to make a pit stop for Katya and Scott. We made it all the way to Wichita Falls the next night and then on to Robbie and Gene's in Clinton, MS the next night. It was so nice to have the respites of family homes to stay in. We visited with cousins that nice and the next morning. We were able to see Elisa's new home in Jackson which is beautiful. We drove all the way back to GA that night, and I told the kids we wouldn't go anywhere the next day at all. However, we compromised for gelatto for Grandpa's birthday. I didn't hear any complaints. We are so grateful for our safe travel and loving family. The kids and dogs (and adults) did extremely well for such a long trip.

Saying Goodbye

Katya had the greatest preschool in Washington. We will miss it so much. These are pictures from her last day with her teacher and some of her best friends.
Katya and Mrs. Logan share one more hug.

Last pics from Washington

These are some great pictures of the kids taken just before we left our home in Washington.
Jack and his "Buddy".
Crazy Kikko...always the performer.
A couple of artists.
All smiles.

Kissing Cousins!!!

We had the BEST Thanksgiving holiday here in Washington! We thought we were going to be all alone, especially compared to the Mildenhall Soiree in GA, but the Duncans so graciously offered to come for Thanksgiving break to keep us company. We were afraid the kids would be scared of each other or not interested, but we had such fun! They were all so excited to see each other and played so well. Thankfully the Duncan kids are very imaginative too and don't need a whole lot of things to occupy themselves. The weather was gorgeous, so we spent lots of time outside. The kids played in the backyard the first day while we cooked and ran errands. Then Friday, we took a ferry boat ride over to Seattle and went to the famous Pike Place market. We had lots of sweeties and bought some fish and headed home for some leftovers. The next day we went to see the "Salmon Run", which is when the salmon swim upstream to spawn each fall/winter around here. It was really cool to be so close to the fish and the kids played in an old cedar tree and Jack threw rocks in the stream and we hiked around in the state park. Then we went to a Christmas bazaar that was kind of lame, but I did get some cute moose ornaments for my work party's ornament exchange. And Maddie cracked her head - but not open - so she was OK. Then we walked down to the waterfront in Allyn - of course we picked the coldest day they were here to do that - and played outside for a couple hours. Then we got to see Santa at the Allyn gazebo. We had salmon that night for dinner, very tasty, but Maddie said she didn't have much of an appetite because of all the dead fish she'd seen (and smelled) that morning. Sunday we went to church and then relaxed at home and played games one last time. The adults got to catch up on their game playing, which we are really missing out on these days, since we can't go to the after-football game nights at the bishop's any more now that Scott is working nights. Anyway, it was so nice to be with family and have lots of kids in the house. Hope your holiday was great!

Over nights, once a week, and hide and seek

Good news abounds here in the great Northwest. Rebekah is officially out of the Navy, after receiving yet another award for excellence. Plenty of rain, Scott has a job, Rebekah has a job and Robert is still a slob. Jack has begun speech therapy for his developmental delay in that area. Not to worry though, he is still ahead of the curve in his obstinacy in eating habits. Katya continues to grow and grow, always such a big girl. Scott is working the over night shift at an Alzheimer's memory care facility and boarding home not far from home. Rebekah is working labor and delivery/post partum at a small hospital south of our hamlet once or twice a week to fill in the gaps of their schedule. We are, as always, anxious to return to GA, but we are enjoying our time here.

Cleanliness is next to Katyaness

Our Kids are great, and by great, I mean crazy. They are both getting so big now, Jack is starting to say words and phrases, his most preferred by far is "I eat apples" said in various tones and pitches. Thanks to all of you for remembering us as we attempt to move back to the beautiful south, hope to be there soon. All else is quite well here.

Jack is 2!

I realize that I never posted any pictures of Jack's birthday. We had so much fun. We invited some friends from church and work for a BBQ - as you westerners like to say - or for a cookout - for you southern folks. We had about 20 people come. We ate yummy hamburgers and hot dogs by the grillmeister Scott and then played with waterguns. I was originally just trying to think of something the kids would actually like to take home to play with and that wouldn't be so expensive and feeling like I had to produce something of substance for all the kddos to take home like every other middle class mother does these days, finally noticed the waterguns in a big package at the hardware store. I was hoping the waterguns weren't too lame, but they were a big hit with the kids and adults. We then opened Jack's presents for him - he was only excited will coercion - about the first one. However, Katya and the rest of the kids thought all the toys were great. Of course he loves the all now, but after a watergun fight, nothing really compares - and all those toys at once is kind of overwhelming. We ate some so-so ice cream cake and then everyone headed home. Here are some pics...Unfortunately, all the birthday pics got erased:( So sorry you couldn't see the water gun fight!

Megan's shower

Our friend Megan is having a baby next month and Katya and I got to go to a fancy party for her. We had high tea with delicious sandwiches and desserts and lots of fun games and presents. It was the best shower I've ever been to. We had a blessing circle for us to all give Megan or Brynn (her baby) a blessing and our friend Liz read a short book by Dr. Suess's wife that was really sweet. We also came up with a prototype of what Brynn will be like in 20 years and drew a picture for her including all of her traits. One of the midwives drew a picture of her baby in her belly with a permanent marker - one of her signature things she does for lots of her patients. We played some other fun games too. Katya felt like such a grown up girl and it was nice spending girl time together.

Katya's birthday

We did visit Georgia last month and Katya had a birthday on the 14th. Sorry things are kind of out of order. Here's pics of her TWO parties at the gps.

Summer Days

Last week, you probably heard about the Pacific Northwest heatwave. Well we spent a lot of time outside, because it was finally nice! We went to a lot of parks and to the lake in our neighborhood. Here are some photos and we'll send more soon...

Katya's temple trip

We took a trip to the Seattle temple for a Primary activity. We had a very nice time. The weather was beautiful, so we picnicked in a park next door and then took nature trails over to the temple grounds. The children walked around the nature trails and gardens and posed on the statues. Then we went in and spoke with the matron. Here are a few pics of Katya having fun.

To everything...turn, turn, turn

Sorry about the sideways picture of Jack. Here it is again...

LUCY!

Our new puppy -much to Mil's chagrin...Ain't she cute!

We took Lucy and Dexter to the Dog Park last week and we all had a blast. A couple more cute pics for you of the kids...

Outstanding

Using its varying definitions, some coming from the Ged book of facts, Outstanding is the most appropriate word for the blog edition.

Definition 1: Our time since our last posting has given us an outstanding balance of things to tell our loved ones.


Definition 2: While visiting the various museums, zoos, and monuments with a stroller in the District of Columbia, we spent a more than normal amount of time waiting to go out the "out" door. Usually requiring the assistance of some kind person to hold the door open for us. After watching queue after queue of self absorbed teenagers walk right past. Thus we spent some time standing in the "out" doorway, or outstanding.



Definition 3: It was truly an outstanding time with our old (and young) friends in Chesapeake, family in DC and of course the Wagleys, both in DC and Richmond. The wedding was great, we are so happy for Taylor and Kristen.