Mommy's New Best Friend

Our neighborhood is having their yearly garage sales and we scored big time this year!!! We now have what we like to call our glorified outdoor playpen...a trampoline. The kids just love it and it was in awesome condition. If you are nearby, come on over and jump! It's tons of fun!!!!

I'd like to take a moment to point out what happens when you let your daughter pick out her own clothes...we get a pink flowered top, green striped skirt, and orange pumpkin socks. Yikes!
Joel
Caleb
While I was gone, my sister-in-law took Eli and Kiera to Color-me-mine where they painted bowls. She did a really cute job and loved it!




Our feuding baseball teams...courtesy of CA friends...
Caleb in back, Joel in front...I love how Caleb has his shirt up....what a guy thing

We'll Call it the Mommymoon...

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A few weeks ago my dad had surgery to remove, what they found out to be, a cancerous tumor. He has been struggling with colon cancer for the past 3 years and I felt I really wanted to spend some quality time with my dad and family. Ryan encouraged me to go out to WA for a week alone...no kids!!! I flew out Friday the 16th and stayed until the 23rd. My sister Tami was also able to come out, so our whole family was together. Ryan's mom came for the week to help with the kids while he was at work. She did a great job and I never worried once...even when Caleb was taken to urgent care for strep throat. I had full confidence in them and was able to enjoy a wonderful week with my family. It was also a great time to get some R&R for myself after the last year and a half. I enjoyed LOTS of chatting with my sisters, yummy food provided by mom, shopping (which turns out to be enjoyable when you don't have kids), meals eaten out (ah Red Robin, how I've missed you), a visit to the legendary Skagit Valley Tulip fields which I hadn't seen in over a decade, games played, and enjoying my nieces who have never seen me without kids. We had some great times together and it was nice to have lunch everyday with my dad and even catch quite a few Mariners games together!!! I feel rested and rejuvenated from my little "mommymoon" and thank everyone who helped make it a reality!!!

30th Celebrations!

Mmmmmm ice cream cake!!!

Now some explaining...Ryan and my sister Tami were awesome in getting friends and family to send me 30 things for turning 30. Here are the samples of a few of the things I got. Enjoy the laughs! I sure did! Thanks everyone for the fun and for making my birthday a blast!
I LOVE TRUFFLES!!!!! (from Mom & Dad Link)
30 "Kix" from baby Sakuma...due in August
30 minutes of pampering from the Sakumas! Awesome!!!
Even my sister dog got in on it...Kiera loves eating the tootsie-rolls.
My kids gave me this card with the glued rocks
Dad...I love you...what more can I say!!!!
The CA relatives gave me the 30 bags of nuts to remind me of my CA days! Mmmmm!!!!
30 mostly blue scrapbook pages from the Nelsons!!! Now to find 30 minutes....
Cousin Joy and family gave me this book of 30 fun stories for tuckered out moms
Flowers from friends so I'll stay young (notice the Calla lillies have Hot Flashes on the label)




Mom knows well that I need 30 nights of good sleep (these are for Ryan, so I can sleep!(:)
Oostras gave me these...30 sucks, licks (licorice sticks), and Blows!
And 30 stinks!!! Kiera thought it was so funny that I got diapers.
Valerie and Jake sent me 30 goldfish x 3 tries. When I was 16 she and a friend gave me 16 real goldfish...I managed to kill them all in a short amount of time...almost half a lifetime later I get a 2nd try with a little bit easier variety!

Thanks everyone for making my 30th birthday bearable!!! It was so much fun!!!