Matthew's Graduation!

My little graduate!

Matthew was so excited for his big graduation day! He looked darling in his cap and did a great job singing all of the songs in his program!


Matthew loved preschool, but he is so excited to be moving on to Kindergarten! He asked if he would get to go the next day and was a little sad to hear that he would have to wait all summer! He's growing up way too fast for me!

Go Mariners!

We took the kids to a Mariners game for family night last Monday and they loved it! It was a chilly night and it was raining, so the roof was closed, but the boys didn't mind. All three of them really got into the game. Nathan would cheer whenever there was clapping and dance to the music. He is still saying "Go Mar-i-ners!" every time he sees anything related to baseball!

Adam got into the rules of the game and keeping track of the players. He really wanted to catch a foul ball! For the first 6 innings we were in the nose bleed section so there wasn't any hope, but Brian talked to one of the ushers about letting us move down and we sat on the 10th row for the rest of the game. Adam got really excited every foul ball, but sadly didn't get to catch one this time.


Matthew had a great time too! He probably thought that the highlight of the game was the food - kettle corn, cotton candy, and peanuts! My favorite quote of the night was when we were walking down to the lower seats and Matt saw on the floor of a row tons of peanut shells and he said "Who would do such a thing?" He was SO appalled! It just made me laugh. We explained it to him and after we got him some peanuts he learned quickly!

It was a fun night that we'll hopefully get to repeat on a warm sunny Seattle summer night!

Adam's Baptism - May 2nd

What a special day! Adam has been preparing himself for this day for so long and it was wonderful to see how serious he was about participating in this ordinance.

Before his baptism Adam got to open some special gifts. His Nana (my Mom) made a special 'comforter' for him and gave him a wonderful letter and sign to help him remember that the true Comforter is the Holy Ghost. We gave him his scriptures, which he was so excited to receive! He really wants to read the Book of Mormon all the way through. Grammy and Grandpa also started a mission fund for Adam, which I'm sure he will really appreciate in years to come!

Adam had his own meeting for his baptism, which was really nice. For the program he asked Alyssa (his cousin) to speak about baptism and she did a wonderful job! Then he and his cousins sang the first verse to 'When Jesus Christ was Baptized' and then Adam sang the second verse by himself. It was so touching and probably my favorite part of the program. The second verse says:

And now when I am baptized, I'll follow his example -

Be baptized by immersion Through sacred priesthood pow'r.

Then I will be a member Of Heav'nly Father's kingdom

And have the Holy Spirit To guide me ev'ry hour.

Adam was then baptized and the smile on his face when he came out of the water was just precious. Brian confirmed him a member of the church and he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Brian's Mom then gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was such a nice meeting - Adam just glowed!

He was surrounded by friends and loved ones and had a wonderful day! We had a nice dinner with the family after at our home. It was so nice of the Ashtons to come from Boise, my parents to come from Utah, Brian's parents to come from Wenatchee, and the Mitchells to come from Portland to support Adam - it meant a lot to him to have them there supporting him.

Adam is a very in tune young man and is very aware of the Spirit. I'm so grateful that he chose to be baptized and I know that he will strive to keep his covenants. I am so grateful for the wonderful example that he is for his brothers! What a wonderful day!

Mom's Retirement

I went down to Utah on April 25th to be there for my Mom's retirement from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I was so excited to be there, and excited to be in on the surprise for my Mom that Caryn, Cam, & Lori were coming! We all met up at the airport in SLC and when my Mom came to pick me up I told her that I met some people that needed a ride - he he! She was so excited and shocked when she saw that they had come to surprise and support her!

We picked Dad up and went straight to Brick Oven for a yummy lunch! After that we girls went for pedicures - perfect to prepare Mom for her trip to Florida that she was leaving for the next day!

After a fun chick flick we went to Coray & Mindy's house for an excellent BBQ and fun night together! We gave her our gifts - I got thoughts from all of us kids and the grandkids on what it meant for us to have her in the choir the last 10 years and Dad gave her a beautiful engraved music box. It was a special night just sitting around talking about choir memories and spiritual musical moments. (My biggest disappointment was that we didn't have time to play games, but I may get over it someday.)

Sunday was a wonderful day! The broadcast was really nice and it was a bit sad thinking about how I won't get to 'see my Mom' every Sunday anymore. I've personally loved just being able to turn on the TV and feel like she's just not that far away. After the broadcast they had a wonderful program! While setting up for the program President Monson was a hoot! He tinkered around on the organ and played some cute songs and gave high 5's to several kids - such a sweet genuine man.

For the program they spoke about each person and then President Mack and President Monson spoke of their tremendous service and the sweet music that they shared. It was just a wonderful meeting!

After the meeting my Mom and Dad barely made their flight for a week in Florida - my Dad had meetings, but my Mom got to relax and enjoy the freedom of being completely retired from work and choir! Good job Mom - hope you're enjoying your much deserved retirement!

Adam turns 8!

My little guy is growing up! On April 23rd he turned 8 years old! He has grown up so fast and it has been so fun seeing him become such a big kid! He had such a fun birthday - he had been excited about it for months! He wanted a Lego birthday and he got it!

Most of his presents were Legos and he had a Lego party with some of his friends from church. The party was full of Lego centered games and the cake was a hit!

The picture below is one of the only non-Lego gifts, but Adam does love soccer too (and I love the pic because it's one of the only ones I got with his actual smile that I love so much)!

Adam is such a great guy! He is a wonderful brother and friend to both Matthew and Nathan. He can be a pretty intense kid - he gets focused on something and he gets determined to accomplish whatever he sets his mind on. He loves most any project - art, science, math, etc. He is a really bright boy and loves to figure out how things work. It's so fun to have him always asking questions and explaining his theories. He loves to play outside too - his favorites are kickball, soccer, star wars (with light sabers), and hiking. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up - it makes me want to hang on to every day!

Spring Break! April 2nd - April 12th

Doing some catch up on the blog since life has been a little too crazy to keep up on it lately! We had a super fun spring break trip! We started out by staying at the Ashtons on our way to Utah - the boys had a great time with their cousins! Nathan was having trouble breathing in Boise and we took him in and discovered he had the early stages of pneumonia - what a fun way to start a trip!

We arrived in Utah on Friday, watched Conference on Saturday and then on Sunday we got to go to Conference! Adam and Brian got to go to the Sunday morning session and I went to the afternoon session with Mindy (my sister-in-law) and Jonathan and Abby. It was so wonderful to get to be there and watch Mom sing at her last Conference! Oh, and it was neat to see President Monson and the apostles too! :)

We got to spend one more day in Utah and on Tuesday we drove to the Bay area in not-so-sunny California! We stayed with our friends, the Wirthlins, and it was great to see them again - the kids especially loved seeing each other again since they hadn't seen each other since Boston! Since Matthew and Emma are betrothed it was good to see they still like each other! On Wednesday we had a great lunch with the Reids, some good friends from Oregon, and then headed to the city. We explored the Pier and went on great boat tour around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge! We then had a yummy dinner at Chevy's with Cam and Lori!

On Thursday we headed to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in the rain - we were disappointed with the rain (we get enough of that at home), but had already bought our tickets. Luckily the raining died down a little while after we got there and we had a great day! It is a great park - lots of rides for the kids and some great rides for Brian and I too! They also had a lot of marine life - the Dolphin Show, Sea Lion Show, and Killer Whale Show were really entertaining! The bonus was that the intermittent rain kept all the Californians away and we could walk on all of the rides! That night we ate at In-and-Out and drove 3 hours toward Oregon!

Friday we got to Portland and had a great dinner at the Rodman's house - Ryan let us share his birthday with him! It was great to see them again! We then stayed at the Mitchells for the weekend. The Easter Bunny came Saturday morning and had hidden all of the kids Easter baskets - it took Adam the longest time to find his, but we figure that since he's older it must have been in a more challenging spot!

We went to OMSI (science museum) Saturday morning and decorated Easter eggs and had a fun Easter Egg hunt at the Mitchells in the afternoon.

Easter was a wonderful day! Brian's parents came down and met us at church and after we had a really nice dinner. Matthew was sad to leave his cousin, Peter - Matthew has a special place in his heart for babies, especially Peter!

That night we drove back to Maple Valley - it had been a super fun trip! The boys did great and had a blast!

Girlie Weekend of Happiness!

Last weekend my Mom, sister Caryn, and sister-in-laws Mindy and Lori came to Seattle for a Girlie Weekend of Happiness (named so by Jon, Caryn's husband)! We had SO much fun together! It all started with everyone arriving on Thursday night. Friday we went to up to the San Juan Islands - it was a long drive, but lunch at Olive Garden broke up the drive. The ferry ride was fun - we played games and planned the rest of our time together!

Once on the island we went to the lighthouse - it was a really pretty view and although we didn't get to see the whales, the ocean was beautiful! We then went to the little cabin that we were staying in for the night to get in a few games before heading to dinner.

We ate dinner at Roche Harbor with amazing food and a view to match! We were there for sunset and it was fun to just relax and enjoy each others company!

We got back to the cabin and played games till about 1:00 (which was really 2:00 for the Utah and Idaho crowd)!

The ferry the next day was fun - we tried to finish our heck game (super fast crazy game, often called Nertz), but most of us got dizzy from the motion and trying to keep track of the game and we had to play something more subtle.

We drove to Seattle and ate a yummy lunch at Ivar's and Dad picked up the bill - thanks Dad! After that we did a little shopping on the pier and went up to Pike's Place for more. After the shopping we went on the Underground Tour. I was a little unsure of the idea at first, but it was such a good tour - it was about the history of Seattle and they take you to the underground storefronts and sidewalks and such. It was a little shady, but very interesting!

We grabbed some Mexican for dinner and had out last fun night of playing games! Sunday morning I took Lori, Mom, and Mindy to the airport and then Caryn came to Sacrament meeting with me and helped me with the boys during Brian's talk - he did a great job! Then Caryn had to go home too and we were all back to reality!

We had so much fun and I am so grateful for these wonderful women in my life! It was so good to have this time with them and create such great memories! I feel overwhelmingly blessed to have such great friends as family!