Saturday, May 4, 2013

Spring Happenings

Hello, everyone!

Today was a great day—we planted flowers in the hopes of attracting butterflies to honor my Granny who recently passed away.  We miss her terribly but remember her with the utmost fondness.

David has gotten our whole family interested in geocaching, so another thing we did in Granny’s honor was to create & plant a geocache on the Oregon Trail near our home.  We all walked up & picked the spot, so it will be interesting to see who is the first to find it; and even people who never had the pleasure of knowing Granny will get a small glimpse of her unique personality.  If you’ve never heard of geocaching, you can read more about it here: www.geocaching.com

To back track a bit…..we had a lovely Valentines Day.  David & I got to have a date night thanks to the grandparents. :)  And I also took the kids to a Valentines Day party with the Idaho Moms’ Network.  They had a lot of fun!

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In March, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, and the kids had a blast with the treasure hunt the “leprechaun” left for them.  We made green food, listened to Irish music, and they even got to take a green bath!  Here are some fun photos:

We also took Ariel to Kindergarten registration in March, and that was exciting!  It’s kind of sad too that she is growing up so fast!  But she was very proud & did well with her readiness “exam” by identifying shapes, numbers, colors & counting & telling stories.  She’ll start in August.

We did some fun things with the Idaho Moms’ Network including a pee wee soccer trial class at the park.  The kids loved it!  And Ariel was thrilled when she won the Lego tower building contest at the library!

We also enjoyed four Easter celebrations in the month of March!  We had one with the Idaho Moms’ Network, another with our own little family, one with David’s side of the family combined with his Auntie Jill’s birthday, and the last one with my parents & sister.  The kids were just thrilled!  Though I think next year we really need to work on encouraging everyone to leave quarters rather than candy in the eggs for the Easter egg hunts because that was a whole lot of CANDY!  :)

Ariel had her preschool bike rodeo in April, and we all had so much fun watching her participate.  She really thought she won the whole race, and was so excited that she grabbed Dylan & picked him up in a happy embrace.  So cute!  It was great having Nana, Grama & Grampa there too!

We celebrated David’s grandma’s (Laurice’s) 80th birthday near the end of the month.  Ariel & Dylan sure enjoyed the cake!  They really like singing the Happy Birthday song too.

We attended another birthday party the very next day—my friend’s Jessica’s little boy, Adric, who turned two.  So now Dylan thinks it’s someone’s birthday everyday (technically, it is…but not always someone we know of course).  Ha, Ha!  The kids had a blast playing in the backyard and eating cake again!

Ariel also started her Hot Shots gymnastics class in April, which is a class for more advanced 3 & 4 year old girls.  She gets to do more floor work (routines, cart wheels, & such) and she also gets to work on the “big girl” bars, balance beams & trampolines.  She was a little nervous about the changes at first, but she’s doing great now.

And of course the end of the month brought very sad news of my Granny’s passing.  Angie & I flew to Minneapolis & then drove to Iowa to be there with our  family for the funeral.  It was the most beautiful ceremony I’ve ever seen & so perfect for Granny—she would’ve loved it.  My cousins, Tom, Ryan, & Greg made it personal and tailored to Granny individually by creating a perfect eulogy, playing a beautiful harmonica song, and reading one of Granny’s poems.  We were all moved to tears of course; but we were able to sit down & reminisce later and  laughed so hard sharing stories of Granny and honoring her wish of remembering her with our smiles.  She will never be forgotten; her optimism, strength & love will be in our hearts forever.

We had a brief visit with Jackie (my sister), Xander (my nephew) and Bert (my stepmom) while we were in Iowa.  We look forward to spending more time with all of the family again soon.

Love to you all,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

p.s. Here are some bonus photos:

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

2012 Wrap Up & Happenings in the New Year

Hello, everyone!  I hope the new year is treating you well so far!  There’s lots to catch up on, so I’ll start with November. We had a visit from my best friend, Maria, and her kids, Livie & Carson; and it was great catching up & letting the kids play together.  We also got a fun opportunity to tour the post office with the Idaho Moms’ Network, & the kids liked playing in the mail truck.  And of course, we celebrated three Thanksgivings last year, and each was quite a feast!  It’s a good thing they were spaced out a bit.  We also put up my parents’ Christmas tree at their house & bought a real one for our house.  Here are some photos:

Then in December, we celebrated my 32nd b-day, four Christmases, and David’s 31st b-day. We also went to see the Winter Garden Aglow at the Botanical Gardens here in Boise, visited the downtown Santa Claus, attended a Christmas party, and hung out with family. Busy month!  The kids had a lot of fun opening gifts this year, and Ariel helped to pass them out too.  They were thrilled with the packages they received in the mail too!  We also toured a paramedics unit with the Idaho Moms’ Network, and the kids got to sit inside an ambulance.  And David has gotten into a new hobby—terrariums; you’ll see his first attempt in the photo album.

January brought colder than normal winter weather for us & much more snow than we’re used to in Boise!  We celebrated Dylan’s 2nd birthday with a cute Mickey Mouse theme, and he really enjoyed having family over & opening his gifts. Here are the photos of the birthday boy and his party:

Dylan had his two year check up at the doctor’s office last month as well, and he now weighs 33 lbs, 2 oz (93%); he’s 36 inches tall (87%).  He’s a big boy!  Here are his “tree photos” to see how he’s grown…the tree not so much yet.

Ariel weighs 38 lbs & is 41 inches tall, so Dylan is catching up to his big sister!  He’s adopted her habit of having a hot chocolate & watching a t.v. show first thing in the morning, so it’s pretty cute to see the two of them with their drinks & blankets on the couch together.

We also had a visit from Patrice last month, and we all went to McCall for the winter festival.  The kids had a lot of fun looking at the snow sculptures, and Ariel even got to climb & slide down some of them.  Dylan had just gotten over a nasty stomach bug prior to the trip, so we were lucky that we still got to go.  Unfortunately, David & I got sick the day we were driving back, which made for a long drive, but we got through it.  It was a lot of fun at the hotel—the kids really enjoyed playing at the pool—that was quite a treat for them given that it’s winter & that’s not a normal activity we can do!  We didn’t get a lot of photos because I remembered to pack everything but the camera, but here are a few:

And now it’s February & we’re looking forward to Valentine’s Day.  Ariel & Dylan have been making Valentine hearts for everyone & we have several taped on our window too.  They love celebrating holidays. ;) 

We hope you are all doing well & staying healthy.  Lots of love from all of us!

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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Fun in the Fall

Hello, everyone!

We’ve been having so much fun playing in the leaves & enjoying the cooler weather that comes with fall.  The kids had a ball trick-or-treating this year as well. 

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Ariel is doing great in preschool; she loves going & really enjoys getting to paint each time.  They also do circle time, story time, art projects, dancing/singing, & free play outside on the playground.  She was recently selected to have Curious George visit our house for the week.  So, Ariel took him to a variety of places & also decided to throw a birthday party for him; and since he’s a curious little monkey, we decided to pretend he got a hold of the mixer & made a big mess, which our cat cleaned up. We had to do a scrapbook page with the photos from his visit and then Ariel shared her story with the class. Here are the photos:

Dylan is copying everything these days, so you have to watch what you say & do.  He saw Ariel leap off her dress up trunk, so now he does it.  And he leaps off the furniture & climbs everything in sight! Both our kids are little monkeys!  Dylan escaped at the library last week, and Ariel & I found him trying to climb up on the coloring table---Argh!  Toddlers!  But he’s so cute!

David & I are doing well too.  I’m still involved in my mom’s groups & help plan events for one of them.  We have been on two tours this month—the food bank and the grocery store; and we’ll visit the post office for a tour later this month.  It’s always challenging with Dylan, but Ariel sure enjoys it.

I finally finished knitting David’s hat; here he is modeling it:

In September, we visited the aquarium, attended a princess themed b-day party, went to Ariel’s preschool’s Harvest Party, went to the art museum, attended a mermaid themed b-day party, played at parks, enjoyed the outdoors & of course spent time with family.  Here are some photos:

 

 

In October, we went on a fieldtrip with Ariel’s preschool class to Linder Farms, painted pumpkins, attended the Idaho Moms’ Network Halloween Party, visited the Botanical Gardens for the Scarecrow Stroll, took the kids to my parents house for an overnight stay so we could celebrate ten years of being a couple, commemorated my sister, Angie’s, b-day at Chuck E Cheese, dressed Ariel in pajamas for Pajama Day at preschool, and of course-went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Ariel was a witch, and Dylan was a pirate---I was so proud tha both kids knew exactly what to do & wore their hats the whole time for Halloween night.  Here are the photos:

 

Now it’s already the middle of November, and we’ve been planting flowers & raking leaves, seeing friends & having playdates, visiting the Discovery Center & World Center Birds of Prey (Ariel’s second class field trip) & looking forward to Thanksgiving & Christmas! 

Hope you are all doing well! 

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Our trip to Cascade & other end of summmer happenings…

Hello, everyone!

Hope you’re all having a great September so far—can’t believe we’re so close to the fall season! 

We went to Cascade for our annual trip to the cabin with Janeen at the end of August.  It was a great time!  Surprisingly, the kids slept really well there and though they kept us busy during the day, we had peaceful evenings reading books & just relaxing. 

We spent a lot of time by the lake; the kids just loved getting their feet wet & splashing around.  We also went to a few restaurants & shops.  There was a chalk art festival when we were visiting too, so you’ll see some of those photos. We also went for a super short hike because Ariel spotted the lake down below, so we ended up spending time by the water again. And one of the highlights for the kids was seeing two snakes at the park!  It was a great time!  Here are our photos from the trip:

The other big event we’ve had recently was Ariel’s first day of preschool!  She did great!  I was the helper parent that day, so I got to see what the routine is like, meet other kids/moms and see how the teacher runs the class.  Everything went really well, and Ariel really enjoyed participating in circle time by calling out shapes & colors, dancing & singing, and she loved painting most of all.  Here are a few photos from her first day:

Ariel is still involved in gymnastics as well; and since we’re also in two moms’ groups, we stay very busy.  We’ve painted, gone to parks, hosted an ice-cream social in our backyard, & attended some music classes. Here are some photos of some of our recent activities:

Ariel had her four year check up in August, and she was very brave—she had to get three shots.  She weighs nearly 38 lbs now & is 40.5 inches tall; she’s in the 75% for weight & height.  She’s growing up so fast!  I forgot to post her “tree photos” on the last blog to show how big she & her tree are getting—so here they are:

And a few bonus pics of Ariel:

Dylan has been going through a hitting/kicking & “No!” phase, so that’s been a bit challenging!  But of course he’s still a happy guy most of the time.  Here are some photos of our cute little dude:

David & I celebrated our 7th marriage anniversary on September 8.  Janeen (David’s mom) was so sweet to babysit for us so we could enjoy Art in the Park.  We had a great time!

We get each other traditional gifts each year to celebrate our marriage anniversary, and this year was wool or copper.  So I am knitting David a wool hat (didn’t finish on time though), and he got me a copper decorative tree we put on the shed facing our garden patio. 

David has recently gotten into target shooting. He plans on upgrading his rifle periodically to make gradual improvement. He went out last weekend & took a few photos:

Hope you’re all doing well & staying healthy!  Here are just a few bonus photos:

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Happy 4th Birthday to Ariel & More Adventures…

Hello!  We can’t believe that summer is coming to an end with only a few weeks left before Ariel starts preschool.  We’ve had a great summer though & still have more to look forward to with our annual trip to Cascade coming up soon and other fun activities.

At the end of July, we attended Victoria’s birthday party.  Her parents, Mark & Kendra, are good friends of ours.  One of the gifts Victoria received was a box of pretend hair care products, so the girls immediately started using them on Kendra—so cute!  We had a great time at the party!  Here are a few photos:

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We also had some time to make a few improvements in our yard.  David extended our patio a bit by adding some cement blocks.  We bought a fountain & potted a Japanese Maple tree to spruce up the area.  The kids really like playing in the fountain.

And just a few days later, Chris, David’s dad, visited us from New Zealand & was able to be here for Ariel’s birthday.  It was great seeing him but always hard to say goodbye!  We wish we could see each other more often—and that goes for the Iowa family too!  We miss all of you!

We did lots of things with Chris while he was here—went to a local candy shop, took a walk on the greenbelt, visited the zoo, went to our community pool, played at the park, got ice-cream at Goody’s, attended a concert at the Botanical Gardens & hung out in the backyard of course.  And on one occasion, we went to Janeen’s house, where Nathan (David’s brother) pretended to be a dog to Ariel’s delight, and Dylan started copying him—so cute!  Chris was also extremely helpful in putting together Ariel’s birthday gift, a dollhouse taller than her!  David & Chris were up until nearly midnight putting that thing together.  She loved it!  Here are some photos from Chris’s visit:

We had such a great time at Ariel’s birthday—can’t believe she is already 4 years old!  It started off a bit crazy, as the cake I had made her fell apart overnight because of my inexperience with cooling  cakes.  But everything worked out in the end; Janeen & Jill (David’s mom & aunt) came over and helped us fix the cake & get the decorations up on time.  And my parents took Ariel during Dylan’s nap so we could get the house in order.

I ended up making a batch of cupcakes just in case, and all was well.  They turned out really neat—I made a rainbow cake & cupcakes to go with Ariel’s rainbow theme.  Ariel had a great time painting at her party & playing with everyone.  Nana Janeen (David’s mom) made the blue dress in the photos, and we got her studio photos in that dress as well.

It was great having family & friends here to help celebrate.  We really missed Maria & her family this year, but we were happy to have Kendra & Victoria here as well as Jess, Les & Adric, and our family friend, Steven. And without my sister, Ang, we wouldn’t have these photos to share!  We were so grateful to have so much help from our family with the whole party, and it really turned out well.  Here are the photos:

Luckily, it was a beautiful day for Ariel’s birthday party—hot, but clear.  We’ve had a lot of smoke & haze in the air lately from all the surrounding forest fires as well as smaller grass fires in the area.  Here are a few photos David took right outside his work:

We are really looking forward to our trip to Cascade with Janeen & will post pictures of that soon.  Hope you are all doing well!  Lots of love to all of you!

Love, Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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Friday, July 27, 2012

Summer Festivities

Hello, everyone!  We are all doing well & staying busy of course.  We can’t believe it’s nearly August already—with all the celebrations that come with summer and other happenings, it has really gone by fast!  And so much more to look forward to as well!

Ariel will be four August 3rd.  She is really looking forward to her birthday party and says “she won’t be scared of Grandad Chris when he gets here but Dylan might be.”  She’s so funny! She still loves art, and helped Daddy build & paint a bird house.  Here are some photos of her:

Dylan turned 18 months on July 10, and he is just full of love.  He is always smiling & teasing Ariel.  He just adores her.  He is now 29 lb 7oz (in the 90% for his age), and he’s nearly 35 inches tall (off the charts for his height—above 97%). 

David & I are doing well too.  I am now the Calendar Coordinator for one of the mom’s groups I’m in, so I stay busy making plans for us to do.  We toured an ice-cream shop today. It was during Dylan’s nap time, so David stayed home with him. Here are some photos:

We had a belated birthday for Zada, our cat, in June.  We sort of forgot in May with everything going on, & Ariel wanted to make cupcakes for her & have a “party,” so we did.  Zada’s 9 now.

Patrice (David’s sister) visited us in June as well.  She was here for her high school reunion.  It was great catching up with her!  Here are some photos:

And of course Father’s Day was in June. We went to Kathryn Albertsons Park for Father’s Day & enjoyed a nature walk. Here are some photos:

And here are the photos from Alan’s b-day & Father’s Day celebration at our house:

At the beginning of this month, we celebrated my mom’s birthday as well as the 4th of July.

We bought fire crackers for the first time this year to let Ariel try her hand at them.  She really enjoyed the “pop-its” and “snakes,” but also got to try the sparklers.  Dylan thought the “pop-its” were pretty cool too.  We didn’t watch fireworks though—we’ll save that for when the kids are older.

We also went boating with my family; it was Dylan’s first time on the boat.  Ariel really enjoys being on the boat & “driving” with Grampa.  Dylan liked helping to “drive” too, but it was a good thing my parents were camping that weekend because he really didn’t want to stay on the boat for too long.  So we hung out at their campground.  Here are some photos:

We also celebrated David’s mom’s birthday over at his brother, Nathan’s house. 

And Ariel started gymnastics this month.  She loves it!  She is great on the balance beam & loves the trampoline too.  We hope she’ll continue with it in the years to come, but of course it will be up to her.

We are looking forward to Chris’s visit & Ariel’s birthday coming up very soon.  And then we’ll be taking our annual trip to Cascade at the cabin with Janeen in August. 

Here are a few bonus photos:

Hope you are all doing well! 

Lots of love, Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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