March Dance and Musicals

Dancing and singing! Emily’s dance class recently performed at the high school Drill Review.  They did well dancing in sync to “This is Me”.  Robbie performed in his elementary school’s musical, 101 Dalmatians. Robbie did great playing the understudy for Horace alongside his classmates and helping out as stage crew.  Both Emi and Robbie came to me asking to be involved in these activities.  That’s great because then I know they have a genuine interest, and I am happy to see them discovering their interests and talents!

A Family Home Evening Post

 

For a recent Family Home Evening, we had a good time sharing with the kids what their names mean.  We've done this before and have learned some things that we didn't know before, like that Tessa in Greek means "fourth born", which is pretty interesting considering Tessa is our fourth child.  The kids really enjoy remembering the meaning behind each other's names, most especially their own!  

We finished the evening with treats as usual, this time sugar cookies cut out in the shapes of our initials.  That made for a lot of letters, but we couldn't leave anyone out!

Katelyn

James

Tessa cutting out cookie letters alongside James and Robbie

Robbie

Michael—caught him squinting :)

Emily

Adam had the idea to arrange the cookies in a fun way--his initials and mine followed by each of the kids'.

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22: 1

Baby Natalie Newborn Photos

I found a quiet moment at home to take photos of newborn baby Natalie.  I like taking the photos at home myself, as I have done with all my babies when they were newborn.  She is wearing a little dress my mom gave us--I love the soft colors and textures in her outfit and in the background. 

Sweet baby Natalie Pearl at one month of age.

Day Trip to Zion Part 1

Even though we spent just one day at the park, I took a lot of photos!  Enough that I want to spread them over two posts. 

My dad came up with the idea to check out Zion National Park during my mom’s and his visit this fall.  The kids stayed home from school and we headed for the park mid-morning and arrived around noon.

Waiting for the shuttle. Fortunately, we didn't have a long wait.  We rode the shuttle all the way to the last stop.  It was a good way to see all the park has to offer with a future visit in mind.

Cool kids! At the start of our hike on the Riverside walk

 Strong kids!  “Holding up” this boulder

Adam, Kari and Katelyn

The whole family

Grandpa and Grandma

Adam and Katelyn in the good ol' Kelty pack we've used to carry each of our kids when they were toddlers.

Day Trip to Woodland Park Zoo

I will archive this to July 2017 in a couple days...just trying to catch up on missed posts!

Since moving away from the Northwest, I like to take my family to one of my favorite places each time we visit Washington state.  Growing up, I have fond memories of visiting Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo with my family and my grandparents.  We decided to take the kids there this summer, and what made it an even more fun day was that my sister Elsa, her family, and my parents came too!

The park has expanded a lot through the years.  Some of my favorite exhibits are the Northern Trail and the Tropical Rain Forest.  The elephants were a delight to watch, but they no longer have elephants.  I love seeing a lot of the animals, but my favorite might be the gorillas; I remember years ago visiting the zoo and seeing a mama gorilla with her baby. I just loved observing the way they interacted.

It was exciting to see grizzly bears up close with only a glass window between the big bears and us, and it was fun to see them swim in the water.

This time, I noticed there were more people and, of course, everyone was trying to catch a video or photo with their cell phones.

The river otters were a joy to see swimming in their little "river".  And the penguins are a lot of fun to watch, too.  There is so much to see at the Woodland Park Zoo, we could have spent two days taking it all in.

My parents visited the zoo quite often when they were a newly married couple living in Seattle. I'm sure it was a lot different (and cheaper to get in) then.

Bills Berry Farm

We had a great time visiting Bills Berry Farm with some family visiting us this summer.  Adam and I have loved bringing our kids here since moving to the Yakima Valley, and we really enjoy being just a short drive from the farm now that we live in Sunnyside.  The family who owns and runs the farm are a real inspiration to us--they have nine children and work together to set up a fun, family-friendly setting where visitors like us get to enjoy a sample of farm life. :)

 

Samantha, Emily, and Katelyn (just 6 weeks old)

Julian, Robbie, Liam, Michael and Alec

Sammy, Em, and Riv on the barnyard train!

 Carrie takes a turn holding baby Kate

Marta with Jovi

River and Tess ready to go

Fresh, yummy donuts--a favorite

Mom with Katelyn

Robbie helps Jovana, who is almost one

Liam and Michael

Kari and Kate

Adam and James

Adam and Kari