Isn't He Wonderful!!!

My little guy, he isn't even 4 yet and his favorite thing is to write letters. He sends me "emails." He'll write random letters on a paper and bring them to me. Lately he's been really into writing out the alphabet, this is the best he's ever done. He definitely gets the smarts from his dad - thats for sure...
The "o" is there it's just really small...

His smile looks pretty goofy here but at least he let me take a picture, he's into making faces during pictures or running away.

This is my brag moment:) My little boy is so smart!!!!!!!!!

(he'll be 4 in the end of August)

In My Mommy's Shoes...

My kids LOVE wearing my shoes, but only my heels. Pretty much every Sunday and a few other times a week I'll find all the shoes from my closet strewn over the floor and my babies clomping around in 3 inch heels. Don't tell my husband, Dillon does it too... :)

Forever and Always a Book Worm...

I love books, they are like air to me. How silly:) I am in a constant search for the next book or the next series so I thought others might be also. Here is a compilation of a few of my favorites - only a few because to create an actual list of all the books I've read would more than likely be impossible. They are not in order, I don't think that's possible either:)

The Sisters Grimm (series) Michael Buckley
These is my Words Nancy Turner
Amelia Peabody (series) Elizabeth Peters
Princess Academy (and others) Shannon Hale
Stephenie Meyer, though I will be very upset if this last book disappoints me as much as the 3rd did.
Hannah Swenson Mystery (series) Joanne Fluke
Diane Mott Davidson (series) These last two are a similar style, a chef with mysteries to solve - my favorite part about these is that they include recipes... yeah! Thats another thing I'm always hunting for.
Mrs. Pollifax (series) Dorothy Gilman
Oh, a big duh... Harry Potter - all of them.
Anne Perry! Both series - Pitt or Monk are wonderful!
I do so enjoy those LDS romances - yeah I know... :)
Last but not least, The Persian Pickle Club Sandra Dallas

You might wonder how I read so much and keep a (relatively...) clean house - books on CD - they've saved me. They feed my addiction and keep me motivated to clean the kitchen because I can only find out who did what if I am in there working. I bake a lot if I have a really good book going...

Side note, if you read and enjoy any of my suggestions, you are now obligated to suggest a book to me:) Happy reading!

5 Years - Who'da thunk?

We just celebrated our 5th anniversary - who knew?!?!? 5 years has absolutely flown by, I can't even believe it! We went on a date to Seattle (a million thanks to Brittney for watching our kids for sooooo long!!! She wouldn't even let us pay her - a round of applause everyone, thanks...) We went to Pikes Place Market and had so much fun! A word of caution, never take a stroller there! We were grateful we didn't go with children, it's insane! It was jam packed and 90 degrees, bad combination. We parked and walked down 5 flights of stairs, than found out we needed to walk right back up 5 flights of stairs to get to the market - oops. Nice and tired after that one. Another note - if you go BUY CHEESECAKE! We got a tiny little single serve Raspberry White Chocolate cheesecake at a place called The Confectional ... so amazing. This cheesecake will be in heaven so if you never get a chance you can try it there. :)


We were going to go also to the space needle, but does anyone have any idea how expensive it is??? It was a minimum of $10 just to park, then of course you have to pay to go up - you all must know how cheap I am, right? Then of course there is the tidbit I discovered walking down the creepy old winding staircase 5 stories above the city - I'm pretty scared of heights - why would I pay $50 for an outing in which I may or may not wet my pants?!?!? So we drove around exploring the city and then went out for the best Chinese food I've ever had... sauteed green beans ... yum. Such a good day! I think these years have gone so quickly because I'm the happiest I've ever been, ahhhhh:) My husband is beyond wonderful. He is so patient with me, when most of the time I don't deserve his sweetness! Even though he never looks at this - thank you honey. I love you!

SDS & dodging a bullet!

We had a fabulous night out with a few girls from our ward, it was such a blast! Please check out my friend Jessica's blog (cause she took pictures:) also on her blog go down, past her adorable little girl to the Heavenly Hash Brownies recipe- AAAAAAmazing.) One of the best things about this move has been the friends we've made here in Kent and how quickly we have been able to adapt.

http://www.jessandjaron.blogspot.com/

Within the last year a ton of young couples have moved into our ward and it's perfect! Most of us live in The Lakes and a few across town. We get together a few times a month for playgroup, scrapbook night and my personal fav!!! Simply Doing Something!!!

Well folks. It happened again. I got called in to receive a calling and they changed their mind. I made the mistake of leaving during Sunday School and ran into the 2nd councilor while in the hallway at church and he asked to meet with Brandon & I after church. He wanted to get to know us and what callings we'd previously had etc. He mentioned that he had a calling for me but he had changed his mind. I was going to be put into the nursery (AHHHHHH!!!!) and at some point during our conversation he decided against it. (breath, phew) He did get a glimmer in his eye when I mentioned how much I love young womens ... he said he'll be in touch:) The last time this happened I was called to be the ward chorister and instead ended up being the Beehive adviser... As Brandon says (as an answer for just about EVERY question I ask) "we'll see..."

The Lakes

We are living in a subdivision of apartments and townhomes, it's so pretty. There are little lakes all over and it makes going on walks so refreshing!

There are gazebos all over that look out over the water and every Sunday (that isn't raining) we've gone on a family walk to all of them. Ducks and geese are all over, the kids love it!
This type of tree is all over and I think they are so lovely, probably the cause of my rise in allergy problems but totally worth it:) Any idea what kind of tree it is? Mom, Sherry, Gwen?
This is our building, our back door is the bottom left where you can see the BBQ. Overall we love it here. Brandon wishes we could stay, I would wish that too if I could ever convince anyone to come visit us:)

Rain Boots

One new thing we are experiencing is mud. It rains a lot. Therefore - mud. We have a fun little play ground out our back door but it is usually so covered in mud & puddles we come in and head straight for the tub. So we all bought rainboots (except Brandon - he was a bit of a party pooper:) ) Kenzie wants to wear them all the time, she follows us around carrying her boots yelling, "BOO, Boo!" That's boots in Kenzie talk. They make puddle jumping way more fun:)

Funny Dillon

Brandon and Dillon were recently sitting at the computer listening to music together. Brandon pointed out that the next singer was a 'chick.' After a few seconds of listening Dillon asked if the chicken was really singing. Dillon has been taught a valuable lesson, he now knows about chicks and dudes... :)

Happy Mothers Day!

Life was a little hairy there for a little while but it has certainly gone uphill (knock on wood...) I wanted to say how grateful I am for how well things are going now. There was so much uncertainty about moving and a new job and everything that goes along with all of that. I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find friends as good as I had in Meridian and so much fear about Brandon's new job. I can happily say that I am making beautiful life long friends that I am so excited about ( not to replace the old ones but a welcome addition:)!)

We are doing so well here. We LOVE Washington, it is so amazingly beautiful. Brandon loves his job, yesterday he said that he loves the weekends but he is actually excited about going back when the weekend is over. I can't tell you what a good feeling it is to see my husband so happy again, he was unhappy for so long at his old job - it was like he was torturing himself everyday, that's hard to see! My kids are also doing well. Dillon is starting a little sports program on Wednesday that is an intro to a few different sports and Kenzie is finally adjusting to nursery:). My friends and I started a little scrap booking club and our first meeting went until 11pm, not a lot of scrapbooking got done... oops;) We also are doing playgroup and SDS (Simply Doing Something) that a friend started - we just do 'something' all us youngish' gals once a month. It's so good to have things to look forward to, this month it's a spa night:).

I was so unbelievably homesick when we first moved here and although I will always miss being near my dear sisters and Boise friends I am very grateful to have been welcomed so warmly here in Washington!

Brandon made today so special, he is really good at being a sweetheart (when he wants to be...) and it has been such a good day!

Happy Mothers Day!

Daddy Time

Here's Dillon & Brandon having some quality Wii - time. Brandon's started his busy season last week so Daddy time is at a premium - much like gas prices at almost 4 freakin' dollars... ahhh! Anyway. Last week he worked 60 hours and from here on out it will only get worse. I'll just daydream about the end of August when it should start to slow down and he'll go back to getting off at 3pm:) The best part about it is - he actually likes his job!!! Before a 60 hour week would be the equivalent of murder. From finance to pest control - who knew??? He now tells me everything I need to know about the ants eating the crumbs on the floor... and I am happy to report that this is and forever will be the most spider free house in all of Kent - possibly all of Washington:)

Kenzie's Hair Cut!

Our lil' cutie got her first hair cut, she's had a few trims but this time we chopped. All her baby hair had grown in different lengths and was getting a little scraggly. Of course I cut it way shorter than I had intended but I think it ended up pretty cute. Ignore the spill all down her onesie...
Smile, or cough - whichever:) I am guessing she got a hair in her mouth and she wouldn't smile for the pictures.
She looked like such a little doll at church today with a little bow in her hair and looking so cute the whole time I chased her up the rows in Sacrament meeting... but she pulled it out before we got home:)