Mommy's Little Helper

So Malea has hit a phase where she wants to do whatever Mommy & Daddy do. She has become our little "helper." She watches what we do, and then tries to imitate us. It is SO cute! She helps us with the laundry, dishes, and sweeping. I hope that she continues to be this helpful!

My Crafty Projects

Here are some crafty projects I've finished in the last few months. I got a Cri-cut for Christmas from my dad (best gift EVER!!) and I've had so much fun with it. Here is my first major project, a 2009 calendar with pictures from 2008. It took me a long time to finish it, but I had a lot of fun, and I will be able to keep the pages in my scrapbook once the year is over.

This is my first attempt at using vinyl lettering.....I am still trying to get the hang of it (it is a little crooked, but it wasn't too bad for a first try). I am working on a frame right now that will have "U.S.A." on it with vinyl lettering. I will post a pic once I'm done.

Here are a couple of frames that I made for baby shower gifts. I got invited to a double-baby shower for two of my friends from high school and both of them are having boys. One of the girls is decorating the baby's room in a beach/surfer theme, and the other girl is doing a sports theme. I hope they like them!

My new favorite thing to do lately is decorate gift bags. I feel like it gives it a personal touch, and it is a lot of fun to do!

Family Traditions: Old & New

Art City Days has been a tradition of my family since I was a kid. We have gone to the parade and carnival for as long as I can remember. I also remember watching the fireworks from my Grandma "M's" front lawn. A new tradition that we have decided to do every year is the Art City Days 5K. I didn't even know that they did a 5K until this year, but apparently they have been doing it for years. This is a picture of me with my mom and my friend Laura Butler, who also did the 5K that day. It was so fun!

This is us coming to the finish line. We had a good time, and Malea did so well. All I can say is, I am so out of shape! I ran maybe 1 of the 3 miles, and I thought I was going to puke! Pathetic, I know. Well, I guess you have to start somewhere. I am going to start training for the next one!

All of us at the Art City Days parade. We brought umbrellas thinking it might rain, and then we ended up needing the umbrellas for shade! I am so glad that the weather was nice. For the last couple of years, the older grandkids spend the night at my mom's the night before the parade, and then they wake up in the morning and go to the parade. Maybe a few more years and Malea can sleep over!

Malea hanging out on her pink chair. She loves this chair, and if anyone else tries to sit on it she throws a fit! Yeah, she has hit the stage of not wanting to share (so fun!). I think she really enjoyed the parade, and she got to eat lots of treats (thanks to Grandma Vicki!). This is Malea's second year of Art City Days. She seemed to have fun, but mostly walked around the whole time looking for dogs to pet. :)



Grandma Vicki with baby Sienna. She is growing up so fast! What a cutie. Its weird to think that Malea was about the same age when she went to the parade last year! How time flies!





All the grand kids watching the parade and enjoying the bounteous amounts of candy they are getting!

After the parade, we went back to my mom's house to have a birthday party for my nephew Corben. Happy 5th Birthday Corben! Unfortunately, Malea decided to take a 3 1/2 hour nap and slept right through the entire birthday party! Here's Malea with Grandma Vicki, and her cousins Hunter and Sienna. Us girls got to stick together!

Of course Art City Days wouldn't be complete without heading down to the carnival. This is a picture of Malea and I on a ride (we're the second car from the right). Malea had fun the first couple of times around, but apparently wasn't loving it after that (I couldn't see her face.....I was just worried about holding on to her!).

We had a great time at Art City Days this year! See you in 2010!

Washington Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend we took a trip to the tri-cities to visit Keith's family. It was really fun! We also went to Seattle for a day and then spent the night at his Aunt Susan & Uncle Dave's house in Maple Valley (about 45 minutes from Seattle). We were able to visit some friends of Keith's who live in Seattle and go to U-Dub (University of WA). It has been so long since we have seen them.....in fact, one of the friends has 2 kids that we have never even seen yet! It was a really fun trip. We spent 6 days there, and were still rushing to do everything we wanted to do and see everyone we wanted to see.

Malea had so much fun playing with her cousin Corbin! They played really well together, even though Corbin is 3 and Malea is 1. She just thought he was the coolest!

Sporting the sunglasses on the way to the cabin.


Up at the cabin in Goldendale, there are wind turbins on the property just above Keith's parents property. We decided to take a little hike to check out the turbins. The view was awesome!


Malea & me on Memorial Day.....we had a really fun family BBQ at Keith's Grandma & Grandpa's house.


On our way to Seattle, we stopped to see the Seattle temple. It is so beautiful! The grounds were amazing. There were so many beautiful flowers.


Cool picture of the Space Needle on the Seattle skyline


Checking out the water front.



After spending a few hours on the water front, we decided to drive up to check out the Space Needle. However, Malea fell asleep after about 30 seconds in the car, so we decided to take pictures of it from the road. She was such a trooper!

Before.....

After.....


Hi Space Needle!

Having dinner with Keith's friends Ben & Brandon Wilson and their wives/families in the U-District. It was so much fun! We haven't seen them for a long time.


To view all of the pictures from our Washington trip, see my facebook profile. If you are not a facebook user, you can copy & paste this link to view the album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95910&id=531687030&l=f1c8feb299