Winter Wonderland

We were surprised by the snow that hit Suncadia this weekend.

Warming up by the cozy fire!

Diggy and Ryan enjoying the

view from the Lodge.

Cousin Maria and Aunt Tamara decided to join the fun.

We are hoping for more snow when we go back for Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

What's not to love...

Pumpkin patch with cousins,

Dressing up,

Halloween parties and carnivals,

Pumpkin Carving,

Caramel Apples with Grandma,

And to top it off...

Trick or Treating!

So much fun!

( Addy was Tinkerbell, Snow White, and a Queen this Halloween- a new costume with each event!)

Harvest Fest

Gorgeous blue sky and colorful leaves everywhere,

Addy's first horse ride,

Mamas and babies bonding ~

Perfect day!

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as you are living,

My baby you'll be."-Robert Munsch

Happy Birthday to our sweetest and most cuddly baby boy.

This past year has been pure joy! You are the most perfect addition to our family. We can't wait to see what year two brings. Thank you for being the easiest and happiest baby ever.

We love you Griffin John.

Summer Highlights

Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon in June

Afternoons at the beach

Playing in the sand at the river

Celebrating Grandma and Papa's 60th birthday and

40th Wedding Anniversary

Two of the most beautiful weddings and fun get away weekends

Lots of trips to Suncadia

Loving the pool.

And best of all we welcomed three new babies into our family!

Brodie John

Evan Michael

And Jackson Henry

We are hoping the nice weather sticks around a little longer.

We aren't ready for summer to be over.

Welcome

Jackson Henry Parker

Born July 10, 2011

7 lbs 2oz.

You are so loved baby boy!

Sink or Swim

Addy has two goals this summer. Learn to swim and learn to ride a bike. Swimming has been a bit difficult since she is scared to death to swim with a life jacket, noodle, or any type of flotation device that is not her Mom or Dad.

Most of her pool time has been spent holding onto the side or playing on the stairs.

I decided it was time to implement some tough love or Addy would never learn to swim. I put her life jacket on her and we swam out to the middle of the pool. I then let go of her for a couple seconds, mind you she had a life jacket on, and she would scream on the top of her lungs... yes it was quite a scene. Then when I would grab her she would laugh so I knew I wasn't traumatizing her too bad. I continued this torturous activity for several minutes. Addy would scream then laugh, scream then laugh, and so on. It took about two days of torture then I tried a new technique... I told her there was a magic fairy on the side of the pool watching her swim. She needed to swim to the wall to get her three wishes... I gave her a little push and she kicked her way to the wall. We played this game for several minutes and all of a sudden she was swimming independently (with her life jacket).

Swim Addy Swim!

P.S. Addy started formal swimming lessons this week and has loved every minute of it.

Now, we need to work on goal #2- riding a bike with training wheels.

I'm All, I'm All, I'm Alright!!!!

It's a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight, so I guess I am doin' all right!

So my all time favorite country music star is coming to Longview!

It is very rare to get any good entertainment around here...

I know she may have hit her peak back in the late 90's but I could not be more excited to see her show.

Now the question is... who wants to join me???

You know you are the second child when...

you have to wear your sister's old yellow flower sun hat,

your Mom lets you eat a sugary pop-cycle at 8 months old,

and you are already feeding yourself dinner.

We love you Griffin John.

Lake Chelan

We celebrated Diggy's bachelorette party in Chelan last weekend.

We stayed at our favorite house in Wapato Point.

It was so fun to have two nights away from home with my girls.

(BTW Matt did great with the kiddos at home.)

We can't wait for the wedding in July.

Congrats Diggy and thanks girls for such a fun weekend.