Monday, April 30, 2012

Party in the Woods


Instead of doing chores around our farmhouse, we drove to Leavenworth to camp with Elliott.
We joined our climbing/bouldering friends for a party in the woods Saturday night.
Of course, Elliott was the cutest camper we've ever seen.
He thought the pine needles were strange.
We did a nice ridge hike called "The 4th of July Trail"

Monday, April 23, 2012

1 year

Today marks 1 year since my sister, Briana, died. It's hard to know what to say beside that I miss her. Actually, I have a lot to say, but it isn't simple to write.
Today, I have read many sweet notes from Briana's friends. I went to work with Elliott for a few hours this morning.
Then, we ate dinner with Adam's Mom before she left for the airport.
After, Adam went rock climbing and Elliott and I discovered Yogurtland...you get unlimited self serve samples!
And it's across the street from our house!
Here we have: pistachio, taro, chocolate cookie, strawberry, cheesecake, cupcake batter, AND nuttr buttr. Plus a couple popping boba.
Over the weekend, we were at a park with Adam's mom and Elliott had his first ride in a swing! It was adorable:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Adam's Mom in town

Adam's Mom is in town visiting!
She and Elliott are having a great time together!
Tonight we played some kid D&D in our "game room"
Adam was the Dungeon Master; George was _ the ranger; Oliver was Jake the dwarf; and Mom was Sheira, Warrior Princess of Nature.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Sewing Room/Closet

I just painted the downstairs bedroom a lovely light blue-green. I used Martha Stewart's "Spring Melt" in eggshell. It reminds me of that vintage blue green, robin's egg type color you see on antique windows and doors.

All my project to still finish are in the giant black trunk, my fabric and other supplies (bookbinding, etc.) are in the tall, black closet, and all the trim, buttons, ribbon, etc. are in the grey dresser. It is so nice to have a place for all this crap...now I can actually see what I have so I can try to use it up - or get rid of it. Also very nice to have a place to leave unfinished projects instead of on the dining room table.
Still need to fix up this corner:

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Current photos

Some of our latest photos:
Kitchen helper-
Bow ties for Elliott-
Heart waffles with blueberry syrup I apparently made when Elliott was 2 weeks old (date on lid says August 11th). Hahaha, what was I thinking canning blueberries 2 weeks post partum?! I guess it's little projects like that that keep me sane through the most difficult times...
Trying on wool suspender shorts-
Adam's new D&D dungeon tiles - he made a map of a tavern near a dock.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

treasure

Upon moving in to this house, I have unpacked many treasures I had squirreled away in storage awaiting the day I'd have more space or more time to enjoy them. Those days have come!
One exciting box I recently unpacked contained all the antique plates I received from my bridal shower. Wasn't that a cute gift idea?: all the guests were asked to bring an antique plate they thought I would like; combined together, I now have a large, eclectic collection!
I enjoyed unpacking each plate and remembering who gave it. Some people had put their name tags from the shower on their plate so I would know who it was from. As I was going through the box, I saw one plate I didn't remember (it has been 3 years!) and then I saw the name tag:
Thanks Briana, I love you and I love your plate. You always had great taste. I miss you and cherish your gift and memory every day.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was incredibly warm and sunny. So hot, in fact, we peeled the plastic off one of our upstairs windows to ventilate - surely a sign of warm days ahead!
We feasted at Adam's sister's and enjoyed the evening with her family.
Elliott is wearing the overalls Adam picked out before Elliott was born - before we knew if it would be a boy or girl!
Good thing we had some warm weather, or he might have outgrown these before he could wear them :)

The kids dyed eggs and they turned out wonderful:

On Saturday, Adam transported 16,000 pounds of wood!
...a lot of these logs are so large/heavy I can barely lift them.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Videos of Elliott Playing

I hid behind a door to get these cute videos of Elliott playing with his favorite toys.

He is growing up so fast!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Parents' Room

Photos of the parents' room (Adam and I are parents now!)

Close up of my temporary nightstand:

We also have a giant TV on the wall opposite our bed which Adam and my Dad expertly hung so that no cords can be seen! We like to watch shows (Portlandia, Top Shot, Doomsday Preppers), movies, and live music videos.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Grey Whales

We went on a Grey Whale (Eschrichtius robustus)Tour on Saturday! We toured with Island Adventures out of Everett Harbor. Spring is the best time for grey whale sightings around here because they are migrating North to eat for the summer and many of the males stop in Puget Sound to eat Ghost Shrimp.

We saw 3 whales, but watched them for about 30 minutes each. One, Number 723, was easy to identify by its two large, white scars on its back. When the whales surface for air between bites of food, you can see their formidable dorsal ridge and a stream of air and water as they blow through their spout. Grey whales are not the breaching(jumping)/singing type - those are humpback whales and their migration can be seen in the Fall. We definitely want to go on that tour.

We went with 3 other families from our previous ward.
After the grey whale dorsal ridge lost our attention, we watched this frog.