thanksgiving with family

Thanksgiving this year was extra fun and memorable.  We were in Utah for my sister's wedding than we all trekked down to Arizona where we enjoyed playing in the sun.  We had a blast!  I think you can see that from the pictures... more after the break.

a wedding

My sister got married.  

Her whole family was there to celebrate.  

She wore the dress from my wedding that our sister made.  

And our other sister that did my wedding day makeup was there for her too.  

It was a beautiful occasion for this happy bride.   

* all images by Zack except the last by our cousin Jodi

Thanksgiving 2012

We had Thanksgiving with almost all of my family.

It was a blast.  I'm a thankful girl, I am.

The last Thanksgiving holidays included:

firetrucks and visitors

If you were to come visit us you'd definitely here some little fire truck siren noises coming from Odin.  He is pretty in love with them as well as trucks, cars, tractors, back hoes, police cars (for their siren and lights, of course).  He is a total boy, that is for sure.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take him to a free pancake breakfast and fire truck tour at the the fire station.  Odin loved it all!  And yes, we were those parents that dressed him in a matching firetruck shirt.  Ha!  I never thought I'd be that parent but it happened.  AND it was pretty cute and best of all, he loved it.  It was a pretty great family outing before our visitors came to town later that day.

  Baby sister even came to enjoy the day.  She wasn't as amused as he.  

She just stayed snuggled in tightly with Mama.  

Like I mentioned above, our family came to visit.  

It was short and sweet but we loved having them and introducing our newest family member.  

looking back at the 4th of July

 We had a lovely 4th of July this year.  We brought a picnic to a near by park and enjoyed the day in the sun with our family.  It was one of those perfect summer days and we were very happy to celebrate one of our favorite holidays.  We hoped that I wouldn't make it to see the fire works later that night as we secretly wished for a Forth of July baby.  But as you know, that didn't happen.

 We made it through our daytime picnic, a BBQ with friends and lovely firework lights in the sky.  While we were at the fireworks, labor started. Thanks to my friend and Zack for helping me realize I was indeed in labor we made it to the hospital with plenty of time to deliver my Fifth of July baby.  The whole experience was so special.  What a memorable holiday we had!

father's day

I like this holiday. 

I am so glad I have a dad and that we are close and that we get to see each other often now.  

Happy Father's Day,  DAD!  

(he reads my blog, how cool is he?) 

a lovely holiday to you

Its been a great weekend for us over here.  We visited the San Juan islands and camped there too.  We also camped with family an hour east of our home.  Both were lovely in their different ways and we can't wait to go back.  I look forward to sharing more from our weekend with you later.  But for now...

We'll be remembering the sacrifices of those who have made this country.

playing in the dirt

We had such  good time with my dad.  I was so impressed with the time he took to come visit and shop for us in between his work commitments.  He's the best.  I was so grateful that he repotted all of the plants.  I'm glad I got to help out a bit even if it was just taking plastic wrappers off the pots and then watering the potted plants like a true prissy girl.  It felt just like when I was little (minus the prissy part, that has definitely been a new - blame it on city living - addition to my mannerisms) and I'd follow behind him as he tilled the garden.  The soil under my bare feet was just so lovely, cool and perfectly ready for planting.  Ah, those childhood memories, I do cherish those.  I love gardening and it is never better than with my dad.

At 33 weeks its fun to have a new due date of sorts.  I mean that now I can look forward to 2 or so months when these plants will bare fruit.  This helps me cope with the discomfort and large size I am and will continue to deal with for the next several weeks.  I'm so glad I have this lovely distraction.

Thanks Dad for the time and energy spent!

getting ready for a garden

My dad set us up with our own little backyard garden.  I am so glad he did because at the rate I am going with it, there was just no way it was going to get done.  Now we have tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and cilantro to plant and arrange on my little shelf outside.  We still need to plant them and arrange them just so but I am so excited to have fresh veggies to look forward to this summer that my dad and I planted.  I love gardening with me dad!

*  Odin loved our little adventure to Home Depot.  I can't wait to get it all planted!

we love visitors!

This week we get to spend time with my Dad.  Odin warmed up to him immediately.  I am sure it didn't hurt that  Grandpa "Yao" came bearing gifts.  We got treats, housewarming gifts from Barb and cute things for both kids.  Odin got his very own kite.  What a treat to have him here!

... on another note, it has been so sunny and some days are even too hot!  I'll take the heat though if it means no gloomy cloudy days.  I am learning that I do so much better with sunshine.  :-)

good times with GL and Gramps

We are loving having our family visiting and my mom is helping me get so much done.  Odin is loving all of the attention that comes with visitors.  Today, we're organizing my little "studio" space, our room and then hopefully we'll have time for some decorating of the nursery.  Making progress feels so good!

This has been such a simple and wonderful week so far...  

Can't wait for tomorrow, though.  

Nothing is like Friday!

we're welcoming visitors today

My grandfather is coming along with my mom for a good long visit.  

I am so excited to have them.  

I've had a great day preparing for them and enjoying the warm SUN here. 

we love living by cousins

Odin gets along pretty well with his cousins.  I think he really loves playing with them, probably because they are older and do really fun stuff.  His favorite toy when he goes to their house is their big purple barbie car.  In fact, he tried to get in it just the other day.  We love having cousins so close by to play with.

ps.  we lived by cousins in NYC and that was wonderful too.  But its so much easier to jump in the car and be there in 10 minutes rather than trekking through the city with 2 or 3 transfers and several blocks of walking (carrying the stroller up and down subway stairs) to see them.
We miss you Berta cousins!  Enjoy some sun for us.

to the beach

I wasn't expecting to end up playing on the beach at all this weekend.  After spending time at the Tulip Festival, we separated from the rest of the family and Grammy, me, Zack and Odin went on to drive home through Whidbey Island.

We took our time and ended up at a beautiful park on the ocean.  We played for awhile and enjoyed the sand and waves.  We were so glad to have grammy's cheery company for this little adventure.  There was just so much to see.  We'll certainly be going back sometime soon.

I forget how close I am to water here.  AND, we have a car so we can enjoy it whenever we want!  I think this summer is going to be too good to be true and I can't wait!

spring blossoms

When my family was here visiting there were so many beautiful blossoms out.  I loved seeing them because I miss the east coast, especially Washington DC at this time of year.  I had hoped to move into a house with fruit trees so I could stare at my own blossoms every day but, since that didn't happen I enjoyed the ones around the neighborhood (and these at the Seattle LDS Temple) instead.

... looks like I wasn't the only one.