FINALLY HOME

We finally arrived home at about 1:15 AM on Thursday, the 24th. I decided to take a quick picture of our laundry heap...so here it is..

and here is Katelynne surveying the damage...

"you have a lot of work to do, Mommy"

Western Adventure Part VIII---HOMEWARD BOUND

The majority of our eighth day was spent packing and getting ready to head home. One of our bags on the way to Washington had exceeded the 50 lb. weight limit, and we had to pay for the extra, so we wanted to avoid that happening a second time, so we were adjusting things in an attempt to do so. We then headed to the airport, where we were able to avoid a fine, thanks to a kind ticket officer. Then it was on to our long flights home...here are some pictures I snapped.

Abbie on the plane...

she was fascinated with the safety

instruction cards on all the flights we were on...

maybe she has a future in flight???

The girls in their stroller on the tarmac...

our first plane was so small, we had to get off of it,

go across the tarmac and into the terminal.

The mountains around Salt Lake City from the plane window

The clouds above the mountains...

my Mom loves clouds, so I took a

bunch of cloud pics for her and

thought I would share one with you...

Washington Adventure Part VII

On Day Seven of the Great Western Adventure, we played "tourists" around Spokane, that was after our GREAT breakfast at our hotel. We stayed at the Shilo Hotel in Downtown Spokane, and I would recommend it highly...especially the breakfast and pool/hot tub. Mostly what we did was walk around the Riverfront Park, which was an industrial area that was redone for the 1974 World's Fair. There were a lot of neat things to see as well as a swing set/park that the girls enjoyed. Here are some pictures of our seventh day...It is hard to see from this picture,

but the irony in the sign is that,

anyone that would jump in here to swim, is doing so

because they don't care what the sign says...

the water is moving pretty fast and there is a pretty good current going byMy sweet baby on the swings...Abbie and her daddy on the Looff Carousel.

This carousel was hand made by the same man who

made the original one on Coney Island in NYC.

It is almost 100 years old. Abbie loved her ride.The plaque commemorating the World's Fair countries of 1974...

it was interesting to see that with many of

these countries our relationship has soured

the water headed toward Spokane Falls...

I couldn't get a good pic of the actual falls

Washington Adventure Part VI

On Day Six, we (reluctantly) left the wonderful hospitality and food

at Jen's parents' home and headed to

Spokane for a few days of touristing... This is the snow descending the mountain right above the Ronnei's.

They live at about 2300 feet.
My girlies in their sister shirts...look below for clearer pics.
Kate in her little sister shirt
Abbie lounging in her big sister shirt
Some things are easier to get into than out of...

Washington Adventure Part V----WEDDING DAY!!!

Day Five of our adventure was the WEDDING!!!

Here are a few of my snapshots of the happy day!!!Jen sneaking up behind Gordon
The happy couple before the wedding

(they took all the pics before the wedding)

My beautiful baby, the flower girl
Mark (Gordon's roommate on Mercy Ships),

Ed (the best man), Gordon (the groom)

and Seth (Gordon's friend from Houghton)

The flower girl and the guys....

You look beautiful, Auntie Jen!!!
Who is that cool looking girl in the shades???
Abbie loves her Uncle Gordy
Stefanie (Jen's roommate from Mercy ships),

Abbie (niece of the groom), Jen (the bride),

Maggie (friend of the bride from Central and Roberts Wesleyan),

and Jeni (maid of honor and friend of the bride from high school)

My baby laughing at Laura blowing bubbles at the reception

Our Washington Adventure Part IV

FINALLY, we made it to Chewelah,

we went to the Ronnei's house (Jen's family),

where Abbie got to hold her first kitten... Now what am I supposed to do with this thing???
Can I kiss it, Mom???
What is the big deal...I am a baby too, you know??
Uncle Gordy, soon to be Auntie Jen,

and the girls by the pond at the Ronnei's
the soon to be newlyweds...

Washington Adventure Part III

On the third day of our Great Western Adventure, we left the coast and headed back toward Chewelah, where the wedding was being held. On our way, we took a "quick" detour through Seattle and wandered through the Pikes Place Market for an hour... and then drove by the Space Needle...
We also stopped at Snoqualmie Falls,

which are 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls, but not near as big.

They were beautiful anyway...as you can see.

Here are my babies admiring the falls...

see them holding hands...

I think it is so cute.
Here we all are overlooking the falls.

Washington Part II

Ed was totally taken with the mountains of Western Washington, so for his sake here is a picture so you can enjoy them too. I will admit that pictures do not do them justice in the least. Maybe I failed to mention this in my last post, we flew into Spokane (Eastern Washington), but decided that we wanted to go see the Pacific Ocean (Western Washington). It was a lot of travelling in a few days, but we are glad we did it. On the second day of our adventure,

we visited the Port Defiance Zoo and Aquarium,

which is right on the edge of Puget Sound.

We found it to be an excellent zoo and aquarium,

and a lovely setting.

The Keesler family in front of the Pacific Ocean...

I did stick my feet in, and it was FREEZING!!

The Pacific Ocean during the day...and at night...

Our trip to Washington Part 1

Ed's younger brother, Gordon got married in Washington state over the weekend, and since Ed was the best man and Abbie was the flower girl (see earlier post), we decided to all go. We actually made a real family vacation of it and had some pretty fun adventures. The next few blogs will chronicle those adventures...
These pictures are of our first day

The one of Ed and Katelynne is in the airplane on the way there and the other one was taken at a really nice Arboretum that Gordon and Jen took us to when we got there.

Fun in the Sand...well, it's almost the beach

Last week, Daddy put Katelynne in the sandbox for the first time. Let me tell you, for those of you who weren't part of our lives when Abbie had her first sand encounters, the reaction was completely different. As you can see by these pictures, Katelynne LOVED it. Abbie has just learned over the past year or so to really enjoy and play in the sand. my girls having fun in the sand box
see what I can do, Mommy???
Mommy, just let us play!!!

The sand on Katelynne's head is thanks

to her sister who decided to sprinkle

her head...maybe to make her grow???

Katelynne's "friend" party

On Sunday, May 6th, we had a "friend" party for Katelynne...I know you are all thinking...she is one, she doesn't have friends...well, her daddy thinks otherwise, so we had a party with friends. Really we invited our friends with kids (the McPhauls and the Quinns) and had a good time. The Mc Phauls have a daughter Abbie's age, Anna, and a daughter Katelynne's age, Emma, and the Quinns have Maddie, Abbie's best friend. Daddy's Masterpiece...Katelynne's cake...
What are you looking at???
What IS that stuff???
Emma McPhaul, Katelynne's little friend
Mommy's messy girl