Snow Fun!

Since the snow is still around and we have been suffering from cabin fever, we decided to take the girls down to grandmas to do some sledding. We went on Friday and they loved it so much, we did it again today.

(Nobody was hurt in the making of these videos:)

A Busy Month!

Since about the week before Thanksgiving it seems as though we haven't stopped. We have been busy with some service type projects, it is very important to me to teach our children about serving others. We have been baking excessively, eating sometype of goodie almost everyday. On top of that their was shopping, which still isn't complete, getting a tree, decorating, going to the aquarium, seeing santa, making crafts, Abbys 1st birthday and now snow!
We got a tree from our normal location, JFK gardens in Maple Valley. It is different than our usual. We like the nobles, but with lots of spacing between the layers. They didn't have one like that this year and so ours is fuller, but I am finding that I like it a lot. We got the house decorated, Jer went crazy with the outdoor lights, but it looks beautiful. The girls made some ginger bread men and we put those on the tree. We have chirstmas music on constantly and it is so nice to feel the christmas spirit. We are busy this year with parties and it has been a lot of fun.
Abby turned a year last Wednesday. She is still so little and cute. We celebrated on Sunday with family. We had dinner and I made a special cake for her. It was time consuming, but I think it turned out really well.
She wasn't too into the her party. She just liked crawling around to everyone and saying hi.
Not everyone was able to come to Abbys birthday because we got SNOW!!! It was like 25 degrees so it was also frozen and icy on the roads. We missed those who weren't able to come. The girls are liking the snow, but it is so cold out that they don't last very long. They are also liking the hot chocolate that goes along with getting chilly.

5 years already?!

Jer and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Cassie celebrated her 5th birthday on Wednesday. She was really excited for her special day, which was fun to see. She received a lot of phone calls from Grandmas and aunts. I was really proud to hear her tell everyone 'thankyou' for wishing her a happy birthday. She was even willing to share her toys with Jessie. Cass chose spaghetti for dinner which Abby loves. She didn't want a cake, so we did ice cream sundaes instead. We also had a little party for her today. We took the girls skating and we had cousins and a few friends over. It is amazing to think about all the things that have happened in 5 years. In so many ways it has been incredibly fast and in others it seems like more time has passed than that.

Our Herd

On Saturday we participated in our ward service project, which was to clean up a park by GRCC. The girls helped pick up garbage, branches, and scrub some benches. Jer and I think that they did really well, especially since there was a playground just waiting! When we finished up there, we went to the pumpkin patch. The girls were quick this year to find their pumpkins, we were in and out, which I know Jer loved. They are really excited to carve them tomorrow. It has been a good week and we look forward to the trunk or treat and halloween coming up! YEA!

Field trip

Well yesterday we went on a field trip to V2 farms in Enumclaw with Cassie and the rest of her preschool mates and their families. It was a lot of fun! This farm has new owners who decided that their mission is to have a farm, but allow it to be open to the public so they can experience a little of the farm life. They had animals, a donkey that was so cute, a pony, two trouble making goats, chickens, pigs, horses and a dog. The kids did a hay maze, went on a hay ride, visited some teepees, picked corn and fed it to the horses and pigs, jumped on the bouncy toy, chased chickens and played some games. It was two hours of action packed excitement. Krista, a good friend of ours, went with us too. She knows farmer Andy and Jenny from a fundraiser they did this summer. I think she had as much fun (if not more) than the girls. I really appreciated all her help too!

MT SI

"Are you Crazy?" Is what Cassie might have asked me if she and we knew what we were getting into. We wanted to spend our Saturday doing something fun. We had a few ideas and somehow we decided to go on a hike. Jer suggested Mt Si and I aksed him to look it up online to see how easy it was. He got directions and we were on our way. The girls love to be outside and they like hiking. We just did not realize how grueling this hike is. It was beautiful, pretty much all up hill, lots of stairs. Not that these are bad things, just challenging when you have a 10 month old, that doesn't like her carrier, a 3 year old who wants to be carried and a five year old that is whinny. To get to the top is 4 miles but I think we are lucky if we made it to one before turning back. Abby screamed almost the entire way back. Yikes! It made me realize how out of shape I am, my legs were jello about half way back. I am sure Jer was thinking he was going to have to somehow drag me back. Don't get me wrong, we had a really good time, it was just challenging. We decided that next hike we will make sure it is family friendly, and Jer and I will conquer mt si on our own.

Fall

Fall is probably my favorite season. I love all the beautiful colors. The oranges, reds and yellows always get my attention. I enjoy the warm days and cool evenings. I even welcome the rain. We have a road by our house that I love to drive down the end of October, early November on a slightly windy, but sunny day. It is lined by huge really old maples. The leaves fall all around as you drive and it's really hard to describe how it makes me feel, but it is something I look forward to doing every year. Another reason I love the fall is because it means the holidays are just around the corner. I also enjoy the baking that comes with the weather change. The smells, tastes, its a piece of heaven!

Picture Time!

My side of the family hasn't had any pictures since I was in about 8th grade so we were really over due. We asked Kali Leenstra to be our photographer, she took Janni and Caleb's wedding pictures, and once again we are impressed with her work. Here are a few that she had posted... the rest are still to come and we can hardly wait to see them.



Here are Lane and Rj. They are both so Handsome. I like how proud Rj looks, almost like he's showing Lane off.


This is my little Bro, Matt and his girlfriend Taylor. You can tell these two are in love! They're so adorable!

Here are a few of the girls! They are so beautiful!




Last but not least, one of all of us.

Lately

Well it has been a while since I have posted anything, so I summarize what we've been up to.
We went on a trip to Idaho, we drove with the kids who did really well. We went with Rusty, Nea and their boys & other Grandma & Grandpa. We went to Preston to visit Phyllis and the rest of the Moser family & to scout it out for a potential move. We love it there! We would love to have the kids grow up in a place like that, but we do not know how realistic it is. We also went to Utah to visit our friend Katrice. It was great to see her and the kids loved seeing each other. I wish we had more time to spend together. Since we were in the area we went to temple quare. It was fun to be able to be there and feel the spirit no matter where you were.
We went to the fair too. The kids loved the animals, food and rides. Cassie was especially funny. On every ride she'd put her hands in the air and yell, Woo hoo! Jessie is a little timid, she hangs on for dear life. Jer was able to take a break from work and meet us down there for a few hours. We really enjoyed his company.
Cassie is in Preschool this year. I was so close to skipping it, but she loves going and loves her teacher. It is every Mon, Wed and Fri for two and a half hours.
Abby says mama and dada, and is figuring out her tongue. She loves to eat too.
Jessie is going through a sassy and argumentative stage. I hope we are done with it soon. She is so smart and remembers everything she hears, so I have to be careful how I deal with her.
Jer went hunting and got a deer. He says it makes him feel good to see all the meat in the freezer. I have been canning lately too and that is rewarding to see when its on the shelves.

Our Favorites with Dad

These are just some pictures of the things we like to do the most...with our Dad.
Story time is a must. Some of our Favorites are: Little Critter, The Gruffalo, Green Eggs and Ham, Are you my Mother?, and anything by Sandra Boynton. Dad is usually the one to read to us. He does a good job.
Dad is always good for a laugh. He likes to tickle us, tease us, chase us, anything to make us giggle.
We also like to just hang out with him. He gives us rides in his work truck, feeds us treats, takes us to the park and the lake. He likes to keep us on the go. He is a great dad, and we are grateful to him for all he does for our family. WE LOVE YOU!

Turn on Your Volume

Many of us think that Abbie is a mute, no laughing, talking etc. Well here is proof that she does laugh! She will laugh at anything Cassie does in front of her. (This time Cassie is spinning in circles). It is fun to see the two of them have fun.

A Natural

When I take Cassie's pictures latley she always is wanting to pose. Her Dad is always saying she is going to be a model... maybe she is already practicing.

Crawler!, Jumper too!

Abby will be 8 months old on Sunday the 10th. She has been attempting to crawl for a few weeks now. I have been telling everyone that she could even though it was highly questionable. Well, she for sure is now a crawler and she is all over the place. We are excited and cannot believe how fast she is growing. Cass and Jess love to try to get her to crawl to things and to race her. Its pretty funny. I love it when they look at the floor with their head down, not watching where their going as they crawl, too cute! I am grateful she hasn't found the stairs yet! She seems happy to finally be mobile.

Joanie picked us up a jumperoo on craigs list, Lane has one and Abby liked to play in it. Its not the kind that hangs on the door, it is a seat in the center of 3 legs. its pretty cool, it plays music and has toys on it. Abby has never really been a big jumper, she'd just kind of rock and sway in it. Well recently she has discovered how to jump and now we can't get her to stop! She does it in the chair, and even out of the chair. She just lays on the floor and pulls her legs in and out like she is jumping, and if you stand her up while you are holding her, she is jumping. I'm starting to think she may be part frog...

Garden

Every summer I TRY to have a garden. It usually is over run with weeds and we get enough vegetables to contribute to a meal or two. This year so far we are doing a little better than normal. We started out strong. We killed all the grass that was taking over, thank you mom! Jer brought in some compost and we rototilled it in. We planted a little late, but better is late than never. We put in peas, beans, corn, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, zuchini & cucumbers. There isn't that much of any, just a little taste of each. The ony thing that didn't some up was the carrots. They are Cassies favorites. The girls liked to help plant the seeds, but they really don't want to help weed it. I always thought that is why I was having kids, to do the things I didn't want too! We are now getting some veggies. It is so amazing the difference in taste! We have an abundance in Zuchini, and cucumbers. I only planted 2 plants of each, but they are growing the veggies like crazy! Abby likes to help me, she just liked to sit in the garden and look around, maybe try to grab a plant or two, but yesterday she figured out that she could pick up the dirt and put it in her mouth! YUK!

NW Trek

We are trying to do something fun every Monday with Big Grandma (my mom), since it is her day off. Last Monday we went to NW Trek. I wasn't to excited with the suggestion. Last time we had gone it seemed like there was a lot of walking, and then the tram took forever with hardly no animals to be seen. Well, this time I was proved wrong! There was quite a bit of walking but the tram ride went really fast. It seemed like around every corner was an animal. The kids loved it. They were so excited to see all the sheep, deer, elk, bison, and moose. Cassies favorite was a raccoon at a display. Jessie liked the bear taking a bath. We went with all our cousins, Cole, Mason, Lane and RJ. Morgan was with us too. It was fun to see Grandma keep them all together. i am wondering if she is rethinking all this quality time?!

Camping

This last weekend we want camping with some other young families in our ward. We went to Zions camp just outside of Belfair. We had never been before, so we didn't know what to expect. It is beautiful there! We loved the campsites, they are spaced so you don't feel like everyone around you can hear and see your every move. Anyway, they have a huge playing field with all kinds of swings, and forts. The kids loved it there. We went on a paddle boat, did some swimming, played badmiton and ping pong. Loads of fun for us. We look forward to going back!