all about us.

snow :)

 Ever since we moved to the ranch in July, we have talked about how amazing it would look in the snow.  Our winter started off record warm and dry, but we finally caught a break and got our yearly snow :)  Tomrrow, we should get a nice amount...6-10 inches are expected.  Not too normal for around these parts! It should quickly warm and turn to rain on thursday, but it will be here long enough to play with, and be done with it.  That's what i love!!  The kids are so darn excited.  I love that they get to experience these little things as they grow up. It's magical to them!

 Just a few snaps! Tomorrow, hopefully the kids will have a snow day off school and can sled and play!

(don't you love that bent tree top? I feel like it's Dr. Suess-ish. whimsical.)

The snow is really coming down....I'm looking out, and everything is thoroughly covered in white. It's so bright...something that's hard to really capture on camera without the photo looking blown out and unnatural.  i feel like i'm in a snow globe since we have so many windows in this house.  it's breathtaking.  I posted on facebook that i feel as though i'm in a cabin up in the mountains.  It's pretty magical.  

ok, off to make more coffee and enjoy the quietness of the snow.  Don't you love the "sound" of snow? It's a silence that is wonderful.  Ashlyn was talking about it earlier. I knew just what she meant.

it's been a long time, i know.

 i know.  facebook is to blame, but tonight i have so many thoughts roaming around, that i needed a place to spill them.  i was lying in bed, thinking, and i had to come out to the living room to get them out of my head so i could sleep :)

 nothing huge.  just the fact that today was one of those days that i would stare repeatedly at my family and would be overcome with emotion, love, and gratitude.  A mother probably feels every emotion in the "emotion spectrum" each day...maybe even more than once.  Today, for me, it was nothing but awe. Awe that these amazing people are a part of me.  Awe that my babies are just so smart and loving and funny and creative and beautiful.  They are a combination of me and the one person i love most in this world.  I stare at them...looking at every curve on their faces...picking out what feature belongs to adam's side and which to mine.  I watch them as they talk, interact, sing, do... how can i describe this feeling? If you are a mother/father, you know. Don't you? My babes are becoming these... people...real people who have thoughts and ideas and are funny and cleaver.  They are amazing.  I honestly ddon't feel deserving of these little blessings.  How did i become the one that God entrusted them to? How am i even worthy of such a responsibility? They make me want to be better. They teach me and show me more than they will ever realize.  I am overcome.  I want time to stand still.  These really are the best days of our lives...with our babies under our roof.  The four of us together--a family.

  And my husband? The one who has watched me grow from a girl to a woman....a bride to a mother.  The man who has loved me through it all.  He is my biggest fan, he laughs with me, adores me, teaches me, is patient with my shortcomings, has loved me when i'm unlovable,  and supports me when i feel down. He has given me so very, very much and has added so much to my life.  12 years next month...i pray we have decades and decades more of life to share together.   

 i feel blessed this Christmas. so very blessed.

 

Mt. Rainier

 Even though we moved to Washington 6 years ago, we have never gone to Mt. Rainier National Park. I love this mountain. I get excited every time "the mountain is out" on a clear day.  So, yesterday, we went to go see it.  Now, technically, we never made it into the national park.  We stayed just outside of it since the area we originally planned to visit is still covered in snow.  Usually the melt happens May-June, but here we are mid-August, and it's still largely covered.  So, we stayed lower in elevation and were directed by a nice woman at the visitor center to a road (gorgeous and forest-y, but bumpy, rocky & non-paved ;) ) that lead to a view of the Mtn with trails you could hike.  We never made it to the trails because we were on a time schedule, but it was such an exciting moment when we drove over a bend and BOOM. Mt. Rainier.  The top was covered in clouds, but it was still pretty darn majestic. 

 
 
  
 

this is the view below us: 
 
 
 

oops...didn't expose for the mountain  
 
 
 

me and my mountain...uh, kinda. 

some scenary on the ride back down

 
 

we came across a field of wild daisies...i love daisies :)
 

 
  

 

  

we crossed a small bridge and got out to watch the river. So pretty! i wish the camera could accurately portray it. 
 
 

lol.  This was the road marker.  it was mostly hidden from the main road. We were lucky we found it!

 
 

We had a quick lunch...

 
 
 

..and then a scenic train ride.

 

 
 

benjamin was reaching for the biggest one. lol

 
 
 

this kid spent the whole 2 hour train ride just like this. i don't think he had his head inside for more than a couple minutes :)

 
 
 
 
 

adam doesn't EVER pass up the chance for popcorn :) 
 

We passed a beaver dam...SO cool.  So amazing how they do it. 
 

here is a side view.  You can see the higher water, the dam, and then the lower ground base below.
 
 
they stopped the train at Mineral Lake halfway and let everyone out for 15 min.

 
 
  

adam and ben "racing" lol 
 

 

and more snacks.. we can't help it. we like snacks.  And amazingly enough, they were really cheap on the train!

the sweetest love ever.

 
 
 
 
 

my handsome man :) 
 
 
 
 
This was such a fun family day.  At&t has no service up there, so we were completely unplugged from the rest of the world, and were able to be completely present in the moment. Sad that it takes no cell service to do that these days. But we were so relaxed and we all had a blast.  The kids loved the trip as much as we did. We definitely want to go back and spend some real time exploring everything!!!

sigh. great day :)

 

outside and inside

 I stuck a card table out on the front porch this saturday in effort to bring the kids outside to do crafts, eat, play games, etc.  It's working so far. 

 
 

Angel Rock 
 

homemade iced coffee.  So good!
 

The boy who won't let me take his photo. i have to sneak them these days.
 
 

making a dream catcher from a thin aspen branch, yarn, twine, and feathers. 
 
 

Outside of the kids' bedrooms, i put a framed photo of them and mini cork boards so they could hang art, signs, etc (in hopes to get them to not ruin the doors). i thought it was cute that he made a frame out of foam sheets and put a family photo up :) 
 
 
 

these next ones made me laugh...i was just snapping away at her, and didn't realize til i uploaded them that the whole time, she was making a strange face in like, 8 of them. haha. It looks like she's...what? feeling some weird bump in her mouth? a new tooth? making a strange face for fun? not sure.

lol. how did i not notice this?  

now looking at herself in the mirror doing it..

 

wild daisies 
 

Ruby, our landlord's dog. She likes to come over to be pet.

Ben decided to wash my car for me 

and then didn't want to put the hose down.   
 

"Sorry" this morning 
 
 
 
"Life" this afternoon.

 
 

Snuggling in my lap was pretty popular with the boys around here this weekend. 

  
 
and i put this up on facebook earlier this week.  i needed a growth chart for the kids and didn't want to mark up the wall again. Plus, i wanted one i can take with me when we move again (not that we are planning to anytime soon!!) .  I went onto Pinterest and search for growth charts, and one i really liked came up.  With more searching, i found the blog tutorial, and realized it was cheap, simple, and unisex to boot. Perfect.

 
 

 We went to the YMCA pool yesterday, and adam spent time with the kids trying to teach them swimming basics.  There is something quite attractive in watching your husband patiently teach your kids, smile, laugh, and have fun with them.  Sigh.  Anyway, Benjamin finally got the courage to put his head under (and then wouldn't stop), he is starting to learn to dog paddle, and even swam a few feet underwater. It's a start! Ashlyn is still quite nervous, and so frustrated that she can't do it.  Once the fear subsides, and she gets more comfortable, i think she'll get it.  Adam is going to take her for "date night" and maybe the one on one will be successful. It's harder the older you get, for sure.  Not to mention, if you can't swim, they only allow you in the shallow area.  Not all that great for learning if you can just put your feet down :-/

that's all for now!

this and that

 I'm already seeing the difference of having Adam home and around more.  With Benjamin, especially. He's always asking when daddy is going to be home, b/c he has something new to show him or something to ask him. When he lost his tooth, almost immediately i heard the phone dialing away b/c he was calling daddy to tell him about it.  His new kick is that he's trying to be more grown up like a man to be more like daddy. He's wearing collared button down shirts (he told me yesterday, "Just call me little dad!"), he's trying to sleep without music or a nightlight, and last night when i told him to put pj's on, he came out with a robe... with only underwear on underneath (to sleep like daddy, haha!).  Last night, he asked Adam to build his "structure" with him out of lincoln logs.  Ben has been building with those logs since saturday...building after building.  Maybe he'll be a builder like daddy too :)

 

They built a drive-in movie theater for Ben's Cars.  Adam set up his iphone for the screen! awesome.

 
 

and here are just some randoms from this past week.

adam hitting a double

 

ben watching with some of the boys...fyi, that taller kid is 2 years younger than ben! haha)  Ben kept saying, "There's my dad! That's my dad! number 88!)

i love these.  so delicate! looks like a snowflake. 
 

certain trees getting a bit of summer blush on them.  so pretty against the blue sky

 

uncle scotty and ashlyn.  He kept telling her she was getting awkward to hold.  i looked down and saw that her feet were dangling down by his shins.  She's getting a bit big to hold like this.

 

her legs and arms just crack me up. long and lanky

 

That's it for now!