From Spring to Summer

I love this glorious time when spring turns into summer. Joseph has one more day of Preschool and we will miss it so much. I have been so happy with the school and his teacher and I just feel it was worth every penny. We learned which Elementary School Joseph will go to for Kindergarten in the fall, so I'm freaking out about that and so looking forward to relaxing this summer before that scary and nerve-racking transition. For the Mom, not for Joseph. He told me today that he wants to start Kindergarten right after Preschool is over. But I am already anxiety-ridden about starting my long-term relationship with the Public School system and giving up my baby to them. But I digress. We're talking about summer here! In pictures, here is our family's transition from spring to summer.Joseph loved flying his kite; the perfect spring activity.Yes, I'm going to bore you with all the pictures of my very first garden experience. These are my strawberries. When I took these pictures, I was all giddy about how everything was growing so well. But apparently, they've been growing a little too well and it turns out, I'm really just feeding the squirrels! See the strawberry that's just turning pink? After it ripened, I found it half-eaten in the soil. Same with the next one that ripened. So it's time to either move them to the greenhouse or Darren said he'd help me build a cage to go around them.And it'll probably start happening with my tomatoes here too once they pop out. Kind of a downer when you don't get to taste the fruits of your labor!My lettuce.So the last three things were grown from plant starts. But these are my cucumbers that grew from seeds.
And my carrots that finally popped up a little. I can see why people get into this. It's so satisfying to witness the magic of planting a seed and watching it grow. The squirrels won't dig up my carrots, right? I really have no idea what I'm doing. I just decided to put stuff in the dirt and see what happened. Enough garden talk. Look at my cute boys! The brothers having a good time in the tub after getting so dirty outside. And finally, what says summer better than a slip and slide?! My friend has one and invited us over (thanks, Shannon!) It was so fun to watch our boys enjoy it together in the summer heat we've had lately!JosephJustin

Happy Summer!

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

This post is long overdue. I just can't believe he's 5! We celebrated this year with a little party for him and all of his friends. It was really fun, especially since the weather cooperated. We threw water balloons at targets and whacked a Spiderman pinata. And of course, cake and presents!The kids and their spoils.Even after the pinata broke open, the kids wanted to take turns whacking the head.Happy Birthday, Joseph. Love you, buddy! I just wish I could slow down your growing a little bit.

Welcome to Seattle, Elder Anderson!

Elder Anderson made it home safe and sound and now he's back to being my good old brother Taylor. He and my sister, Jordan, drove out for a visit and we had a great time. This picture was taken right after he walked in the door. Don't you love the look on Justin's face? It's like he's thinking "Who is this guy and what's all the fuss about?"But as you can see, it didn't take long for them to fall in love! The theme of the visit seemed to be roadside oddities. We went to see the troll under the Aurora bridge. Jordan remembered it's on the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You." It's pretty fun to climb on him and yes, I am picking his nose.Gotta throw rocks in the water at the beach. Even if it's raining. We took the ferry to Vashon Island to check it out. The boys were excited about being on a boat.The bike-eating tree! How weird is this? This bike actually grew into the tree.Hanging out on the beach. Now I can officially say, welcome home, Taylor! We missed you, we're proud of the way you served and now we're so glad you're home. Thanks for making the trip and thanks to Jordan for coming with him! We love you both!