Rara's Kinder Class

This past Friday, Gavin and I made a trip to Seattle to visit Alexis' (aka, Aunti Rara) kindergarten class. Why we haven't done this sooner, I have no idea. It was such a fun day and so wonderful to see Alexis living her dream. Although we were only able to see her teach for about 30 minutes, I have no doubt that these are some of the luckiest kindergarten students anywhere. I know this, because Alexis loves her job and pours her heart into it!

It was so fun for Gavin to see her class, meet her students, and take part in one of their lessons. He even got to raise his hand and answer a question. And I am sure it wasn't favortism at all that he got called on. =0). If you ask Gavin about the day you will see his eyes light up....he will tell you all about how he got to help hand out snack and then you will get a real sounds description of all the different bells that he heard!

Can you see Gavin in the front row hanging on the teacher's every word.

To make the day even better it was sunny and clear. We took a walk out to the beach that is only a block away from Alexis' school, walk in the sand and of course throw as many rocks back into the water that Gavin could!

Thanks Alexis for a beautiful afternoon and some very special memories! Hopefully we will do it again before the school year is out!

A little catching up!

Well, one of my goals for this year was to blog more than I did last year. It didn't have to be a significant amount more...but at least a little. But, so far this year, I have only managed to do one blog. The time has been flying by and here we are in March already. AAAHH! So, here is a little catch up.

Here we are bringing in the new year with a little fireworks. Of course, Gavin wouldn't even go outside and Keagan had to come inside to watch the loud ones.

wathing the fireworks from the inside!

Then, just a few days into the new year, we made a wonderful trip to our beloved mountain town of Leavenworth. Thanks to our wonderful friends, we had a very posh place to stay! So we did some relaxing, some snow shoeing, sledding at our property and lots of fuseball!

We made a trip to the Pacific Science center for a train expo! Gavin was in heaven.

Keagan, not too sure he likes this too much. The day after we got back from Leavenworth, our wonderful Makka flew in for a 2 week visit! IT was a blast...the boys ate her up and Aaron and I even got away to the ocean for a couple nights alone. THANK YOU MAKKA!

One day we made a trip to Seattle with my friend Shelley and her sweet 2 year old, McKenna. We had a fun morning at the Children's Museum.

Celebrating our sweet Auntie Rara and her birthday! She has been living with us since July and we LOVE having her around.

Then 5 days later...on to celebrate my birthday. The boys got me donuts, flowers, a special spa day....as they were my spa boys. TOO cute! A wonderful day!

my favorite people in all the world!!!!

A sweet Valentines morning....

beautiful flowers from my love.....

just a cute kid who likes to do dishes (aka, playing in the kitchen sink and dripping waters everywhere!)

Boy who loves to climb the ladder in our backyard!

Played outside ALOT in February as it was unusually sunny for that time of year!

And then just a couple weeks ago we decided to paint. Yay for a fresh coat of paint and such great little helpers!

SO, there is a quick re-cap. I will try very hard to stay on top of it now.

2 years

Yesterday was 2 years since Aaron's Dad went to be with the Lord. He has been sorely missed. He was such a kind and generous man with so much love for his family. I miss you Bob! But more than that, I am sad for the things that he has missed out on. I am sad that he doesn't get to see the amazing little man that Gavin has become. I am sad that he missed seeing Keagan on the day he was born and to watch him grow into a little toddler. I am sad that he missed walking his beautiful daughter down the aisle this past September. I am sad that he wasn't here to celebrate Alexis' first job. I am sad for the Birthdays, Christmases and other holidays that he doesn't get to celebrate with us. And I am sad that Aaron doesn't have his dad to celebrate the man that he is! Missing Bob!

For Makka and Grandpa

Keagan Whistling, Walking & some Words

Thankful Turkey

I love this time of year for so many reasons. Thanksgiving and Christmas are something I look forward to all year round. In the past it has been for all the usual reasons....the hieghtened awareness of our savior & all He has done for us, all the festivities & celebrations, getting together with loved ones, the anticipation in the air, the decorations & traditions, the shopping & hustle and bustle (yes, I love those too), the smells and yummy foods.....just about everything that goes with it.

But, this year I have discovered something else I love about it. I love the new opportunites for great discussions with Gavin about God, Jesus & all the reasons for the Seasons. Of course, we try to incorporate this into our everyday lives all year around, but this year he is definately getting old enough to ask some great questions. Today, we made a Thankful Turkey....and we got to talk about what it means to be thankful and who we are ultimately thankful to. We talked about how everything good in our lives comes from God.

I Chronicles 16:8 & 9

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing praise to Him, Sing praise to Him, tell of His wonderful acts.

the Itsy Bitsy Spider