Max’s 1 Year Anniversary

The 29th of December marked the first full year Max has been a part of our family. The kids could hardly believe it when they realized a year had passed so quickly. Just like a proud Mama, here is a year in photos ~

The night we brought Max home.

He stayed very close to the kids those next few days.

Josh continued the training Steve had started with him.

We took many family walks those first few days.

We bought him this bed, though it made too much noise… Max would not step foot on it. We returned it for a softer, quieter bed.

Max learned to ride in the car.

And quickly figured out the vet office gives out treats if you follow directions!

James and Max bonded quickly. You can often find them snuggling and/or wrestling.

Max and the kids quickly learned they share everything.

Max has learned all about camping RV style.

He has fun on all the adventures we take him on!

Trying to get away with sleeping on our bed with the kids…

Always curious about new things we bring into the house.

Max loves to play rough with Josh.

You normally don’t see one boy without the other.

Happy Easter Max.

helping Granddad & Josh pull out the dishwasher.

The day Max met Ruby.

Family Movie Nights…

Time Out

Can we help cook, girls?

Summer Roadtrip

More summer camping…

James teaching Max how to smile

Max, the 80 pound lap dog!

What a guy! Max has been an incredible addition to our family. I never in a million years would have thought we would have a giganormous dog living with us, and now I can’t imagine life any other way. I look forward to Max waking me up with his damp snout each morning, running up and down the hall each time we give him too much love! Listening to him bark at cats and birds outside (although it does get old – I do love his BIG bark!) He is funny, young-spirited, feisty, yet loving, snuggly, comforting and protective. I just love our boy, Max.

Christmas Day

We were all excited that James slept in until almost 8 o’clock Christmas morning. We started the morning looking through our stockings, my favorite part!

After we enjoyed looking through our stockings and having coffee, tea, and cocoa ~ we moved into the Family Room to see the gifts Santa left…

The kids passed out their gifts

Presents unwrapped…

On to Gramma’s house for snacks. dinner. family. stockings. gifts. fun…

Nana told the kids Christmas stories

Uncle Derek got to spend some time with us in the evening!

~Christmas at Aana & Upa’s House~

Aana made Abbie a new stocking this year.

James was excited to get fishing gear for Christmas!

Abbie sewing Christmas stockings for her friends, 34 socks in all.

Lots of Holiday Activities

Abbie and the middle school band kicked off the holiday season for us with a great holiday concert.

James and all the kids from Country Friends gave us the gift of song…

We had Breakfast with Santa!

Participated in the Tarter Family Christmas Go-Around

Hosted the Primary School Holiday Staff Party

… where we had lots of food & drink

The kids made gingerbread people in the Bonus Room

… and spent lots of time running around bouncing off walls!

James ‘sciencing’ and tree that turns into a snowman in water. He received this in the mail from some special friends!

James loving on Max every second he gets… Max loving the snuggles!

We met Gramma on Christmas eve for a holiday cocktail and snacks on the Columbia River

Stacie sporting the new apron she received in the mail from a good friend! Getting ready to make the annual Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. Yum!


Joshgiving

Every 4 years Josh’s birthday lands on turkey-day. This was one of those years. Josh requested Pizza & Jo-Jo’s. Instead, he got Joshgiving. A somewhat traditional turkey feast, with some of his favorite things. Instead of pumpkin & apple pies we had creme brulee & molton chocolate cakes. It was a day filled with football, food, family, & fun.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Josh always loves getting those T-shirts with the silly saying. Stephanie is so good at finding the best ones!

Birthday candles & singing…

What a relaxing & fun-filled Joshgiving Day.

Birthday Celebration

September 22nd we celebrated Aana’s birthday with a big family dinner party!

It was nice to have everyone together. Aana was showered with extra-special gifts. Amara picked out some great additions to Aana’s Fairy Garden thinking the fairies might like to travel in a camper just like Aana & Upa’s new one… how sweet & thoughtful!

The Littles helped Aana blow out her candles after we sang Happy Birthday, of course!

Big smiles & happy hearts: Aana with a handful of her favorite kids!

Nana & Granddad loving Luis with his big smile and funny, little personality. For a minute, I thought they might scoop him up and take him home!

It’s been so long since we’ve all been together, I insisted on a family photo. Though I heard many groans, everybody grouped together and smiled! (Josh was our photographer)

Bathes were a must for the littlest party goers. Ice Cream cake can be quite messy!

Aamie’s Birthday

We celebrated my mom last night. My sister & I both made a batch of soup and bread, a few snacks, and our mom’s favorite strawberry cream pie. It was simple.

My mom’s long-time friend, Lisa, delighted us all when she made a surprise visit to wish mom a Happy Birthday! It was great to see Lisa and catch up. We realized it had been 6 years since our last visit.

Mom enjoyed some fun with her grandbabies.

Leave it to the boy in the family to create a bow-and-arrow out of a party hat!

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Getting Caught Up…


Josh and I have both had a whirlwind end to the school-year. It felt as though we were running on full speed for weeks. Yesterday was Josh’s final day for the 2009-2010 school year… so now we can take time to rest & slow down.

Here are the highlights of the past 2 months:

Stacie attended a Marzano Workshop with some ladies from work. It was inspiring, refreshing, and fun! We stayed at a waterpark… so of course we hit the water slides at night!

Cary & I (Cary & I are teaching partners & friends!)

The group of us after dinner & drinks posing for a picture!

Josh and Larry installed a new garage door opener complete with remotes for the cars! No more running through the rain to close the garage door & hop back into the car drenched! (Our house came with an opener that worked intermittently and had no remotes)

Max & Ruby continue to make us laugh! They love to sit on either side of the baby-gate and and play “paw-tag”

Ruby’s favorite place to lounge is on Abbie’s bed… we giggle saying she likes it because she’s camoflauged.

I finally found the perfect  duvet cover for our room!

Stacie riding the Primary School float in the Fun Days Parade

Our Little Man made it through one of life’s big milestones and is now excited to move into the Primary School

Grampa Fred flew up from Mexico and stayed almost 2 weeks with us! He was able to celebrate many things with all the grandkids while he was here. He also became Mr. Mom, driving the carpool around!

A special dinner to celebrate all of us!

The pool has been patiently waiting for a face lift and finally, weather permitting, it happens!!

The water truck was not avaliable on the day we needed it, so I ran all over town renting fire hose, 800 feet to be exact.

Once the guys got the liner in and wrinkle free, the filling began!

and that night, as chilly as the water was… the kids still went for a swim!

Our super-cool & energy-efficient washer & dryer are in and working beautifully! We plan to paint the laundry room a water-blue and I have a cute rug to lay on the floor once the paint is up!

James has turned into a super-science kid… so his room is transforming from a bedroom to a science room. We organized the science mess last night… we plan to paint the walls and add some animals to the walls… but for now we have a start with critters & a science table!

and I saved the BEST for last… Monday morning we are headed out on the open road for a trip in the RV!!!

(some GREAT friends of our dropped this little gift off to us yesterday! I now have a table book for the motorhome!)

James – End of the Year

James is quite a little man. He has spent the year absorbing and learning all about life… a BIG part of this wonder about science and his sense of adventure is thanks to the amazing teachers at Country Friends Preschool.

~ Celebrating James ~

“Kindergarten Cross-Over”

Miss Kathy – James – Miss Georgine

Josh & I were excited to share these bug-filled books with James.

James has made so many good buddies. He has learned so much about sharing, friendship, and feelings through the daily routine with his buddies at Country Friends.

Jaylynn – Addy – James – Carter

It is hard to believe my Little Man starts kindergarten in September.

One of the centers James LOVED at school was the Take-Aparts. James spent hours pulling apart donated electronics. He wore safety goggles & used tools… He has bags of electronic treasures. His plan: to make a robot.

The good news… Grampa Fred turned out to be a GREAT Robot Builder!

Together, these two built a quite the little robot!

James with the almost complete Robot! He is VERY proud of he & Grampa’s work.

James is also enjoying Taekwando. We are taking the summer off, but will resume in the Fall.

He walked in the Hockinson Fun Days Parade with many of the other TKD students. It was awfully cute to watch!

Amara was waiting for him at the end of the parade with some refreshing treats!

Sam (one of James’ favorite people & babysitter) rode the fire truck with the HS BBall team.

While camping over Memorial Day weekend, Jeff (an avid fisherman) was happy to share his love of fishing with the always curious James.

Jeff and James with the white fish they caught!

James posing for a picture with Caleb & Michael. The boys caught another fish and brought it back to camp for James. James ended up keeping it and took it to school for show & tell (where they made fish prints and dissected it).

What a fun idea for a birthday party ~ Roller Skating!

James thought this would be easy-ka-beezy!

turns out… not as easy as he’d anticipated

He tried a few tricks to stay upright…

they didn’t work so well…

he decided to take the skates off…

He enjoyed playing with his friends and wishing Stellan a happy day!

One thing James never tires of is playing with his favorite buddy of all: Max.

End of the Year: Abbie

Abbie has finished her 7th grade year and is now officially a teenager!

Track wasn’t something I ever expected Abbie to be interested in, but she wanted a Spring sport, so she tried it… and guess what? She is really good! She ran hurdles, the 400 meter, and long jump. She learned much and excelled at all three. Josh & I were both shocked and impressed with her ability and determination!

But never fear… she is still as drama as ever, even when competing at a meet!

The Hockinson Middle School Band marched in the Junior Rose Parade in Portland, Oregon and took 1st Place! You can see the band marching in our Hockinson Fun Days festival!

Abbie celebrated her 13th birthday May 30th and since it was Memorial Day weekend, we decided what better way to celebrate it – camping! We headed out with The Picard Family and school-friends to lake Simtustus in Central Oregon.

Abbie did not get her wish of a hot & sunny day, but it was a fun-filled day none the less!

… and of course, she dressed the part of a sunny day!

We spent the day on the lake fishing and playing in the water.

That night we celebrated Abbie by the warmth of a camp fire with tasty treats & fun gifts!

We ended the evening listening to Abbie & Michael share the speeches they had written for Student Government.

Abbie planned on running for student body all year… she wanted to be Secretary (cause that’s where all the fun is). Abbie made shirts for her and all her friends to wear. Her slogan: Don’t be Crabby Vote for Abbie!

She made posters & signs -

She handed out personalized pencils: Abbie for Secretary

She wrote an inspiring speech, that I was able to watch her give to the 5th graders at the Intermediate School… but in the end, the girl who did not give a speech – rather rapped a tune to Vanilla Ice – won the election. It is true, a catchy little tune sticks with you. Of course, I think Abbie would have made a better Secretary… but of course, I’m biased.

The end of the school year brought one final field trip… a trip to the bowling alley!

A great year full of friends, fun, and many ups & downs along the way.

Abbie & Lauren

Abbie & Ashley

Abbie & Ariel

Abbie & Michael

Abbie & Taylor

Abbie & Madi

Scrunch Celebrates #1

Maya is 1 year old

May 15, 2010

Happy Birthday to our little Scrunchy Bug, Maya!

Her mommy went to lots of work to put together a scrunchy, little party.

Look at this cake…

and these plates, are they not amazing!

and the decorations… all about the scrunchy-little bug!

Maya spent some time showing off her new skill, walking! As sister read some books.

She showed James what a big girl she is now… and that she really likes to play!

!The party kids!

While opening her gifts, she found the paper far more interesting than what was inside!

Luckily, James & Amara came to the rescue!

I never did figure out who liked her toys more… the Littles, Daddy, or Maya?

She didn’t want to cooperate and keep on the fun-1st-birthday hat!

She wasn’t too sure about the bright-pink bug cake. She poked at it a few times.

Amara was very proud to help her little sis blow out the candle!

Maya didn’t really like getting her fingers sticky…

So, big sis decided to help!

A perfect celebration of a perfectly-wonderful little Scrunch!

Mom’s Day

Josh and I celebrated our Mom’s with a tasty-little Sunday Brunch.

The menu included banana bread, rhubarb coffee cake, scones, banana cakes with fresh whip-topping, chocolate-dipped strawberries, skewered fruit, & an egg-ham-potato bake.

I received some wonderful gifts including our garden troll. He has been apart of our lives since college. Josh and I bought him at a garage sale and he has traveled and lived with us in the “yard or lack there of” ever since. Somehow he was left behind on our last move. He is getting old and has lost some body parts… so Judie built him a little troll house to keep him safe and sound while he watches over our yard/garden.

James’ class made all the mama’s a cookbook. His recipe -

Chocolate Covered Bananas

by James

You put sprinkles on the bananas and then you pour the chocolate of a cup onto the banana. Then you squirt caramel all over the banana. Then you put little Halloween and Easter candies on it. Then you put rainbow candy on it. Then you put celery leaves on it. And Valentines candies on it. And that’s how you make chocolate covered bananas.

abbie presented me with a gift certificate to a local nail salon with enough $$ on it for 2 pedicures and 2 manicures. At the bottom it read, “for me and you!”

What a lucky mama I am.