Life as We Know it

Winter Blues

The winter was so hard, so lets just post one more time about that and then lets never talk about it again. The sun is out and we are going to the park!

My beautiful independent reading loving girls

Madison's get up for sleeping: books, baby, ohohoh, dede. Comfy huh?

Six days of non stop rain and then we got an evening like this! Tender mercies are real

Ethan and I are terrible with tools so it felt like a million bucks hanging this on the wall

Rearranged a few things and Kelsey claimed it before I could even touch it

Valentines day Party with the besties

She got mad at me and was hiding

These girls love their dad!

My favorite spot in the house!! Love my map! It's all the places we have lived or been.

She doesn't eat very much so I had to capture her downing a hamburger

She has to name all the Zootopia characters before its okay to fall asleep. Its her happy place.

Cousins for the night!!! (Aaron and Carolyn were at a concert)

The aftermath of cousins being at our house.... Someone did not sleep enough :)

Who only eats their artichoke and edamame but doesn't touch their orange chicken!!

Vera comes over every Thursday after dance. It is our favorite day of the week

Sweet girl insists she doesn't need naps and that she wears her "Mimme (minne) shoes" at all times

I found the tracings of a mouse in the garage. It was a rough day

Does it get cooler!

I have never felt grown up until I walked into this meeting. I was terrified! What is going on and where the heck did time go!

1 o'clock church is the absolute worst

My friend has a super awesome discount at the aquarium and let us tag along. Kelsey LOVED touching all the fish and Madison couldn't get enough of the basic fish tanks. We spent many hours there. It was heavenly.

Madison vs the Marker

This girl just won't stop.
We are working really hard with Kelsey to not tattle. She really wants to be Madison's mom but we are trying to help her remember that she is not. One morning after my shower, I got a very quiet knock on the door
"Mom. I really think you should come here."
"Kelsey, is someone hurt, breaking something, or hurting someone else?"
"Mom no! but I really think you should come."

Kelsey tried so hard not to tattle but she just knew that something had to be done. HAHAHA

The thing is, I stopped Madison and I kind of wish I would have let her finish. She truly would have done her whole face and THAT would have been epic.
Clearly I didn't discipline her because I burst out laughing. She knew she was in the clear.

BYU beat Gonzaga

BYU was not very good and Gonzaga was. This game should not have ended in a win for us but I will take it if only to see Dallin and Ethan jump into each others arms multiple times.
The last three minutes were pretty epic as the realization of what was happen started to unfold. They are so cute!

Rattlesnake Ridge

One day, Hannah and I drove up to Rattlesnake Ridge and had a rainy picnic. It was actually crazy fun despite the POURING rain. Luckily Hannah had this crazy awesome tent thing so we were completely protected, but next time we will try to go not in the rain

Bald Eagle

The next time we drove up, I tried to show Ethan how cool this place was and it was bitter cold. BITTER cold with high wind. We didn't actually stay very long, but we tried to make the most of it.

Maybe one day we will go and it will be warm and we can actually enjoy our time there. One day

Pine Lake Park

One afternoon, the girls and I were trying to kill some time and typically I don't go out after 3:30 (no reason, just because) but it was looking a little sunny. I had heard of Pine Lake Park and really wanted to check it out.
Without being too wordy, simply put, Pine Lake Park was the first time that I WANTED to be here. It was the first time that I felt like there was more to see and do than we would ever have time for and that we would benefit from our stay here. Maybe even really like it here. I'm grateful for a moment like this.
Don't get me wrong, I will NEVER deny Seattle's beauty and plethora of activities. It just might not be for me. It sounds crazy typing that out because I basically just said " a beautiful place with TONS to do is not for me," but I don't know. The forecast literally says "Dreary. Rainy. No Sun." I can't take that for 4 solid months. And that's not even the full rainy season. We are learning "rainy seasons is from October- July with it especially heavy in Jen-March. People are telling us the rain lets up around mid July and will settle again come mid October (right when we moved here) I just dont know if I can take another winter like this. When people say its rains every day, they mean it POURS everyday for about 4 days in a row, with no sign of stopping. When it does stop, we get about a day of misty, and then right back to the pouring.
But look at me all doom and gloom! Pine Lake park is beautiful and every sunny day I catch my self saying "gosh, I could live here forever. Its paradise!" so I just don't know what to think. Plus the sun has been setting at 7:30 instead of 3:30 so even on rainy days its still light outside. Ill take it!!!