Ryanne explaining her picture to me. I think I am the one with yellow hair. I asked who is the blue one with four eyes and four arms, and she said it is Alex, and they aren't eyes, they are tears because he is crying. No explanation on the four arms though.

Nighttime calisthenics = Push ups.

My two little cowboys

Yes ma'am, I surely will pick up my room.

Here's Alex reading a book in his chair, where we always read his goodnight stories. Whenever he disappears to his room, I know where I will find him - in his chair reading. That's my kid for sure.

Alex as "purple princess" - poor guy - you can probably guess who implored him to play dress up, and who picked out his outfit and helped him get dressed...

That's more like it.

Reading with Aunt Celeste in Portland. Ryanne told me today that from now on she wants to be known by "Leigh" (her middle name). It made me laugh. I'm not sure if she was serious or not.

Mama's shoes

Snuggling with Di

Here are some shots of my recent Vietnam trip. We went to Ha Long bay, which means descending dragon bay. It was kind of a gray and misty day out until the end of the trip, when the sun finally appeared. By that point my camera battery was too tired to take any more shots so everything I captured was kind of dark.

I love Vietnam.

And here is Ryanne, jumping off the fridge to be caught by Jason. She thought this was great fun.

Recent Doings

I've been behind in my blogging but I'm finally catching up - I'm up to this week and weekend! Just in time to leave for Vietnam for a week. Laura, Matt, Avery and Jay came down this weekend to visit. We had a lovely dinner at John and Vera's on Saturday and delicious brunch at the Homestead today. And, I also included some pictures of the skinny dippers from a couple of evenings ago. We spend a lot of time in the $8 Wal Mart pool.

"Wow! That's cold!"

Cute sleeping girls:

The boys taking a bath:

Say "naptime!"

Last Weekend - Family Reunion and Fun with Friends

Last weekend I bravely traveled to Seattle with two kids for a weekend of fun. Ryanne insisted on stopping at every rest area we saw so the trip took a little longer than usual. Friday we saw a great group of people including Kristin, Shannon and Yvonne, and I was remiss in not taking pictures. :( Saturday we watched a parade, then we spent the day at Lake Tye for a family reunion. Sunday was breakfast with people we love, Rand and Geraldine, followed by a visit to Great Grandma Corinne, and then playing at the park with Kristin. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

CUPCAKES!!!

Splashing in Lake Tye

Snuggling with Aunt Gail watching Poltergeist.

Just kidding it's Ratatouille.

Ryanne and Great-Grandma

Ryanne and mom at Yvonne's house

Jakarta!

Jakarta at night:

Playing tourist and posing with the Obama statue at the school he attended as a child.

View from the hotel room:

We Love Summer!

Alex getting some play time on the playset.

Swinging together

Hellooooo down there!

Ice cream after her three year check (and shots :( but she did great - 85% for weight and 97% for height, surprise surprise)

The playset is finally done!!!
Everyone loves the swings.

The mighty fortress

Alex was in bed when these shots were taken but he loves it too! he even has his own extra safe baby swing now so he can swing all he wants to.

Why? Why can't I do this?

"You should see the other guy!"

This town ain't big enough for the both of us...