Assisted Walking

We have this little walker from when Elliot was little and Grey has found it and thinks he is pretty hot stuff to be able to walk with it. It is sure funny to see him use it. And he puts a little wave in the video to boot.

I wish he would give up crawling and just walk for real. Crawling seems so dirty to me and, if you are going to be mobile, walking would just be so much nicer.

Bump

A bed and a baby and hard wood floors don't mix. This is even a good 24-36 hours after the fall off the bed. He had a pretty good sized goose egg on his poor noggin.

And after it happened, Elliot says to Justin, "Bet you didn't see that one coming!"

Elliot's Birthday Party

Saturday was Elliot's birthday party. We were lucky enough to get Justin's family to all drive over from Spokane for the afternoon. And we were even more lucky to have the sun out so we could walk down to the park to play for a few while the hamburgers were cooking.

From the left: Brooks (6), Kolby (4), Faith (4), Elliot (4), and Ryan (3)

Faith and Elliot were born less than a day apart.
Even a big person likes a swing once in a while:

We had a princess theme party, which of course, needed a Castle Cake:

(and it was pretty darn tasty to boot)

A highlight of the day was getting a Ken doll, finally. We had lots of Barbies, but no Ken! Ryan even wanted in on the action of playing!

Unfortunately, Justin was sick with the stomach flu Thursday night, all day Friday and into Saturday (actually he still isn't feeling well). He was a trooper though Saturday with helping get the house the rest of the way ready and BBQing hamburgers for us. He stuck it out even with all the commotion of all the little kids. Thank you so much!!! We love you!!!

These last couple of pictures are of her birthday when she was opening her presents from mom and dad, Grandma Jill, and Grandma Dolma. It is always fun to get something in the mail, especially on your birthday!

New Barbie House:

Swim suit from Grandma Dolma:

Grandmas send the best stuff (especially princess gum!)

Happy Birthday Elliot!

My little girl is 4 years old today. At 10:21 AM, Saturday, April 16, 2005, Elliot Lisa was born in Olympia, WA. She was 8 lbs, 2 oz, 19.5 inches long and absolutely perfect. She shocked us all with the full head of black hair. She was such a good baby and grew so fast. Before I knew it she was a chunky monkey and I loved every little roll she had.

Elliot at 2 months:

Elliot at 6 months:

(I love the rolls!)

Elliot's First Birthday:

Elliot this afternoon, 4 years old:

Elliot, I love you so much. You have so much personality and so much love for everything around you. Keep smiling, Beautiful Girl!

Oh boy...

It was a little too quiet upstairs...

(I think it was my Aunt Peggy Ann who said a roll of toilet paper is sure a cheap toy though.)

And I found this too:

He was playing there in the pots and pans for at least 20 minutes, banging away. He opened the cupboard himself and everything.

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter! We started the week off by dying easter eggs for FHE Monday night. It was a great 7 minute activity. Luckily Elliot doesn't get to adventurous with the eggs. Although the first thing she wanted to know the next morning was if the eggs were dry so she could put stickers on them.

Saturday we decide to go to the city's Eater Egg Hunt. I thought it would be tons of fun, a great photo opportunity and Elliot was very excited about it. This was her before:

And this was her walking back to the car only a minute or two after the siren went off to start the hunt. She just wouldn't do it and so we went home with her crying. Fun.

She doesn't like crowds so I should have known better. Better luck next time.

We woke up this morning and had our little easter baskets and treats from Aunt Lisa and Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.

And here are the kids in their Easter outfits.

Such a little man!

Easter is a lot of candy, new outfits, bunnies and such, but I wanted to make mention of the real meaning of Easter. I am so grateful for a Savior who atoned for our sins. He lives and that is the true reason for celebrating Easter. Without Him, our life here on earth would be meaningless.

Happy Easter!!!

Portland for Spring Break

We were lucky enough to be able to leave Ephrata for a few days over spring break. The dentist that I work for was taking the staff to Portland for a dental convention. I am still pretty attatched to Grey, at least for overnights and didn't want Justin to struggle for the 3 days that I would be gone so I told Dr. Klingel I could go if my family could come along. He agreed so we planned our trip. I did go to 2 classes, but we had a lot of fun as a family as well. We left Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Portland about 6. We stayed at this swanky place called The Nines. I was bummed there was no pool, but it was pretty sweet other than that. We ate that night with the staff at the restaurant in the hotel. Justin had a 24 oz Porterhouse. And he had no problem putting it away either. Elliot was entertaining us all throughout the meal. Grey was getting a little antsy, but we managed to make it through our meal.


Thursday morning we woke up and headed on the light rail train that Portland has that runs through the city. It was GREAT! I LOVE mass transit! Ever since New York City last spring, I have loved trains and subways. They are cheap, fast, and easy to use. We didn't have to use the car at all, no parking, and no trying to manuever in a strange city.




The train picked us up right outside the hotel and dropped us off right at the Children's Museum about 10 minutes away. It was a fun place for Elliot to play. There was so much to look at and do. They had babies, food, shopping carts, restaurant, building things, a forest, dress-up, and a Bob the Builder area. Elliot was a little overwhelmed with it and it would have been more fun to have someone to play with.




We stayed for a hour or hour and a half and the Justin suggested that we go over to the Oregon Zoo that was just across the parking lot since we were here. Elliot thought that would be fun so we headed out. It was a lot of fun to see all the animals- bears, bats, elephants, cougar, mountain goat, snakes. It wasn't very crowded and the weather turned out better than expected- the sun even popped out a bit. I didn't get the best pictures here looking back. I think Justin was in charge of the camera at this time. Grey slept the whole way in the stroller which was great for us all.

This showed how big the bears are.
The coolest part was seeing the polar bears swim.

Of course, there is no picture of this to share though :(

After we made it around the zoo, Elliot's legs were tired and it was close to time to get back anyways, so back on the train we went. Justin and the kids rested in the hotel while I went to the convention center to a class. I got back around 5:30 and we went across the street to the mall and walked around and did some shopping. We saw a restaurant that was all-you-can-eat seafood and sushi and kids eat free so we thought we would give it a try. It was decent and very convenient. Even Grey was having a good time!

I went back to the hotel with the kids (and watched the ER finale) and Justin headed to Powells Book Store to have a few hours to himself. Friday morning I went to another class and then we all met up for lunch again before we headed out of town. It was a long ride home, but the kids did pretty darn well. Grey is getting over ear infection #2 and the altitude changes bothered him a little bit towards the end. Overall the kids were terrific and Justin was so supportive in taking the kids and letting me go to my classes and tagging along with a couple of meals with my co-workers. And a big thanks to Dr. Kligel for his generosity in making it possible for my whole family to go and for our team to go and be treated so well. If your family is looking for a new dentist and are in the area, I know I am biased, but I highly recommend Desert Sun Dental. Check out our website too. There is a link on the right hand column of my blog. Great people and great dentistry.