Kindergarten Celebration

Yesterday Lizzy participated in the Kindergarten Celebration. She has been very excited the last few weeks because she got to go to music class. They learned 4 songs that they performed for the parents. Lizzy did a great job and is in her element singing. She had a great year of kindergarten and it is kind of hard to believe it's over. Here she is with her awesome teacher, Mrs. Cleofe (Clee-off-ee).

Bling

This past year Lizzy has taken a dance class that includes Tap, Jazz and hip hop. The recital was entitled Bling and she LOVED performing. She had a huge smile the whole time she performed. My camera got messed up during the first dance which was a dissappointment since she was in the front row and I thought I got a great video. You can enjoy the second dance though. The first pictures are from recital rehersal. Lizzy is with her good friend Kayla and then part of her class. All of the girls didn't make it to the dress rehersal.

 

Primary Talent Show

6/1/12

This year for the primary talent show, Lizzy decided she wanted to Hula Hoop. It was kind of a last minute thing and I didn't have time to help coordinate a "routine" as her dance recital rehearsal was the day before. In the end, I decided that James better get on stage with her or he would feel left out. They were adorable, of course.

Memorial Day

It feels like we have not gone anywhere for a long time since our life has been consumed with other things at home. I thought it would be nice to head to Pasco for the Holiday weekend. In 10 years of marriage Adam and I have never gone to Pasco for Memorial Day. We had a nice trip to Pasco despite the extra 30 minutes it took due to traffic. On the way we pass Ensign Ranch, which is a church campground where we have camped before. I said, "Look kids, it's Ensign Ranch". James then said, " No Mom, It's Outside ranch. It was pretty funny.

Also, when we started driving through Ellensburg, James looked out his window and said, "Look, it's the pinwheels!" We realized he was talking about the windmills that dot the hills. Didn't know he called them pinwheels!

The kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. James and Luke were in heaven as they got to ride 4-wheelers all day. What kid wouldn't be in heaven?

Monday, we went to the cemetery to celebrate memorial day. It is a tradition in my family to gather there each memorial day and to visit our deceased relatives and reminisce about My Grandpa Bleazard. We always have a little program. My Grandpa Tunem (my mom's dad), cousin Jena, and Great Aunt Doris (Grandma Bleazard's sister) are all buried there. During the program this time Grandma told us some stories about Grandpa. She was telling my cousins wife, how in our church we have what is called a Patriarchal Blessing which gives us guidance for our life. In Grandpa's it mentioned how his life would be preserved on several occasions. When World War 2 came, Grandpa listed in the air core. He was training to be a paratrooper. One day he took a jump out of a plane and his chute didn't open until right before hitting a tree. As he hit the tree, his leg was broken. His life was saved that he didn't die from the jump, but also that he didn't have to go overseas to fight.  Another time on the farm, Grandpa came inside from work and Grandma mentioned to him that the bull had gotten out again and needed to be put back in the pen. Grandpa said that he would go and do it. He grabbed a pitchfork and headed over to where the bull was. On his way he walked by a 2x4 and decided to grab it. When he got to the bull it started charging him. He threw the 2x4 at his head and it hit him right between the eyes. The bull stopped in hits tracks. Grandpa was able to use the pitchfork and put the bull back in the pen with no problem. Another way his life was preserved.

Grandma also talked about how much Grandpa loved the grand kids and if they didn't come over to the house he would ask Grandma what she did to them to make them stay away. This was hilarious to me as I know Grandma loves the grand kids more than anything. My aunts spoke about how much he really loved the babies. When Aunt Cindy had her 5th child, Jason, he had some heart problems and had to go to the hospital in Spokane which is a 2 hour drive away. Apparently, my Grandfather had some sort of heart murmur and blamed himself for Jason's illness even though it was something that was not his fault and not hereditary or anything. Aunt Cindy said, that Grandma and Grandpa drove all the way to Spokane just to check on Jason and make sure he was OK and that meant a lot to them.

I wish I would have recorded my grandma talking, but I was mesmerized by the stories and didn't want to break away. Lastly, I want to mention that Grandpa was born in 1919. The picture got cut off.

After the cemetery, we all went to Granny's buffet for lunch. It was so fun and Lizzy loved that she got to sit by Ashley, Emily and Sarah. They even taught her how to braid Emily's hair and she hasn't stopped talking about it!

After lunch, grandma and grandpa took the kids to get them a book for the way home and then we went to the park. It was such a great weekend and I love being with my family!

The Garden

Lizzy and James have been begging us to plant a garden. I have not been up for it since I have been nice and sick due to pregnancy. However, Adam, being the great dad that he is got up one Saturday in April to take the kids to Home Depot to get stuff for a garden. I was against anything big and he assured me that we could keep it small. I went to get in the van with the family and Lizzy said, what are you doing here? I asked if I was aloud to come along. She said, I thought it was going to be just me, Dad and James. I assured it that it would be OK if I came because I needed to get some other things.

We got what we needed at the store and the kids planted there garden and were so happy and excited! It has now been growing for 1 month and the plants look great. Lizzy makes sure to remind her Dad to help her water it and checks her plants every day. I like how this is there project and I can just watch from the window.

10 Years Ago...

10 years ago, Adam and I got engaged to be married on July 6th, 2002. Here we are then.....

This year we decided to celebrate our anniversary by going somewhere warm. We didn't want to wait until July when it was actually nice in Seattle so we went the first week of April over Grandma Cindy's spring break. I first have to THANK my wonderful in-laws for watching our kiddos. Adam and I knew they would be great and we had an awesome relaxing trip in the Bahamas as you can tell from all the pictures. We enjoyed the beach, the beautiful turquoise water, reading on the beach, napping on the beach, swimming, snorkeling, shopping, trying new foods, exploring via foot, scooter, and the local buses (called Jitney's). The Bahamas is definitely what we needed! I am so glad I married Adam and couldn't ask for a better life!

 View from our hotel room, and yes, the water did look exactly like that!

 Riding the aqua cycle

 our hotel (from the aqua cycle)

 Guy carving outside the straw market (such a fun place to barter and shop)

 downtown Nassau

 Conch is super famous here. They put it in salads, etc and then sell the shells

 the famous Atlantis. We checked out the aquarium and watched the 2 huge sting rays for a long time!

 the cheap water taxi to Atlantis

 The Fish Fry was the place to get local grub (it was yummy--we ate conch fritter, grouper, peas and rice, and a weird baked mac and cheese)

 snorkel tour to Rose Island. It was a really cool island and the snorkeling was OK

 A fort and our awesome scooter--notice the missing fender and all the scratches....

 The beach at night. We saw the coolest lightning storm that night. It filled the whole sky and we watched for almost a hour. When we made it back inside the hotel, it rained for about 10 minutes and we enjoyed sun the next day.

Love you Bahamas!

Isn't It Ironic?

This week we eagerly anticipated Thursday as I was going to the doctor to have my 20 week ultrasound. Adam and I took Lizzy with us as I knew how badly she wanted a baby sister. She was excited when Luke was born, but for the next couple of months afterwards if she would ever get too tired she would cry and say, "but I wanted a baby sister!". If it was a baby sister, I knew she would be thrilled and so excited. However, if it was a baby brother she had said she would be OK, but I wasn't so sure.

The first thing Lizzy asked the tech when we got in the room was, "Is it a baby sister?" It took a little bit to see as the tech said the baby was deep inside because my placenta was at the front. These were actually the worst ultrasound pictures I have had and that must be the reason. When the tech told Lizzy it was a girl, she was so excited and couldn't stop talking and jumping up and down the rest of the time.

After we were done looking inside, the tech asked Lizzy what she thought we should name the baby, she said, "well maybe we shouldn't name her Surprise!" We all laughed. The fact is, this little girl was a surprise for our family. We are happy (and maybe a little scared) that she is coming!