Yard Work

Dustin decided that our front lawn was in need of dethatching so he bought a special blade for the lawn mower and proceeded to tear up the whole front yard. Now it looks like the grass has a buzz cut with Mohawk stripes. Not exactly an improvement! I am told that after a few weeks, some grass seed and fertilizer, rain and sunshine it will look much better. I guess we will see :)

The kids were more than willing to pitch in with the yard work.

Rakes and dead grass- sign me up, Papa!

Betcha can't guess what Dustin was thinking of doing to Colin's exposed back.....

Sometimes hands just work better.

Janessa was determined to help the boys. There was no slower her down.

Ok, time for a break. Put my feet up and smell the pretty flowers.

Lets walk around the rocks.

Piece of cake, Mom

A little more concentration for Janessa to balance.

They were troopers. And for their hard work and dedication to the task they were rewarded with juice boxes and freshly made oatmeal chocolate chips cookies.

Anybody else want to come work in the yard, I have lots more cookies!!

Eliana & GG Purvis

Eliana and Great Grandma Purvis, aka. GG were having a fun laugh session tonight.

Eliana has just started giggling and something GG was saying was especially funny.

What a flirt!

We all gathered together tonight to hear where my youngest brother Michael will be going on his mission. He was called to Riverside, CA. He leaves the middle of May and will be gone for 2 years. Its a hard concept to explain to the kids. Its even harder when we explain that Colin will be 7 years old, Janessa will be Colin's age now and Eliana will be Janessa's age now when he returns. I know he is excited about this new time in his life but its hard to think of all of the family things he will miss. I am so proud of you little brother!!

My Beautiful Girls

Janessa & Eliana

They already seem to enjoy being sisters.

Janessa always wants Eliana to come to bed when she does.

She thinks I should just hand her over when she wants to hold her.

She wants to help get whatever Eliana needs and pick out her clothes everyday.

It sure is sweet to watch my beautiful girls together!

So Delicious!

A rare but much enjoyed treat, ice cream.

And not just any ice cream, So Delicious soy ice cream for my household

full of lactose intolerant people.

We decided to try the chocolate version.

Do you think Colin is enjoying his cone?

Janessa in a complete sugar coma.
We had to encourage her to eat the cone,
she wanted a spoon to get the rest of the ice cream out.

How in the world did a milk loving person get put with a family of people who can't have it?
Must be Murphy's Law!

Fantastic News!!

I recieved a phone call from my Mom Friday morning. Usually early morning calls are really good or really bad.... this one was fantastic!!!
Most of you know that she has been fighting breast cancer for the last six years. Thru the tough times and all the changes she has been so strong and has refused to be defeated. Her oncologist has always said that the tumor marker number we want to see is anything below 40. The numbers have steadily decreased sometimes in leaps and bounds, or times point by point.
The fantastic news is that the marker is number is 33!!!!!
For now that means her every other week treatment will continue and then probably go down to once a month. We are all so excited at the progress that has been made. Not only is the cancer being beaten into submission but she is able to do most everything for herself again.
The kids love to spend special time with Grandma Vicki. We are so blessed to have her in our daily lives! I love you Mom!

Salem Riverfront Carousel

The last time we came to the carousel Janessa was maybe a little older than Eliana is now and Colin was young enough not to remember it. So what better thing to do on a beautiful day when you all have colds but don't feel like sitting around the house for another day.

Her first ride was on the unicorn named Magic.

Janessa was quite funny on the way to Salem. She had no idea what a carousel was let alone what it meant to ride one of the horses. She told me that she had forgotten her rope. When I asked her what she needed rope for she told me, "to hold onto the horse while she was riding". I tried to explain that the horses were not real and that she would be just fine because they had buckles and Mommy would stay with her and keep her safe.

Ready for our first ride.

Colin chose Abby for his first trip.
She was decked out in red, white, and blue.

Janessa's next choice was named Larry the circus pony.

He was the perfect size for her and didn't go up and down quite as much

as some of the bigger horses.

Colin's next ride was on Francis the mule.

This is Snickerdoodle. She ended up being Janessa's favorite horse.

See the kitty on the back.

Auntie Kelley bought her a post card of Snickerdoodle for a souvenir.

We told Janessa that Snickerdoodle was a kind of cookie but she didn't believe us.

So after nap time we made a batch. She helped roll the dough in the

cinnamon sugar and put them on the tray. They turned out delicious!

Colin's favorite horse was the General. Unfortunately we didn't get a good picture of him.

Auntie Kelley got him a postcard of this horse for a souvenir.

And of course, on the way back to the car he wanted "just one more ride Mom".

Near the carousel is an enormous globe covered in tile. We hadn't seen it before and Janessa insisted that we investigate. I'm glad we did. It was a really cool thing!

Auntie Kelley holding the weight of the world!

Around and around we went. It was hard to see the detail at

the top of the globe because it was so tall.

Colin walking the chain bridge at the park next to the carousel.

They didn't want to leave when it was time.

Maybe we'll bring a picnic and stay longer next trip.

Silly rabbits, that is a diaper wipe box

What do you do with an empty baby wipe box?

Wear it on your head of course!!

Unfortunately Janessa is too short to be able to see out of the handle hole.

So walking around with the box on her head was a little dangerous.

Colin was almost the right size for the box.

He figured out how to peek out of the hole.

Now, Grandpa Ron was the perfect size for the box "hat".

Silly Grandpa, you have to keep it on your head!

Eliana- 2 months old

Eliana is 2 1/2 months old now and full of smiles and sounds.

We went into the Dr office for a checkup and immunizations.

She is now 12 lbs 13 oz and 23" long.

That is a growth of 4" and a gain of 5 lbs 7 oz,

in other words she doesn't miss too many meals!

The Dr said she looks wonderful and to keep up whatever we are doing

because she seems to be very content.

Sitting her up with her Boppy pillow was a bit of a challenge.

Every time she got excited she would kick her legs out and be flat on her back.

Tummy time worked much better.
This way she could enjoy big brother kisses and the musical ball with flashing lights.

Resting that heavy head. She looks to be deep in thought.

Hi Mom! Look at me. What a big girl I am becoming :)

Fun at the park

Little did we realize 9 plus years ago when we purchased our house how much time we would spend at the neighborhood park that is so close by.

The sun was out and it was relatively warm, 50 degrees.

So we all headed to the park for some fresh air.

Colin has become quite the dare devil.

His new trick involves jumping from the balance bar up onto the hanging bar.
Of course, he thinks its a show stopper and everyone must witness his feat.

Did you see that Mom?

Our ever sleeping angel.

Sometimes I wonder if she'll ever be awake enough to be involved in our little outings.

I learned something new today; timing pictures of a swinging child can be tricky.
They are either too far away and looking down.

Totally cut off of the picture.

Or too close entirely!

Colin thought it was histerical that I almost got kicked.

What an imp!!!

Janessa is at her most peaceful and yet insecure when swinging.

My usual dare devil does not like to go high or too fast on a swing,

even the bucket one for toddlers.

What a beautiful smile :)

Going to the moon.

A random tree picture.

I've seen other people take similar pictures while standing at

the trunk looking up and just wanted to see if I could do the shot justice.

Dr. Smith, I Presume.....

Colin's preschool is doing a unit on medical professions.

Today he came home with a dr bag that he had laced and cut and glued pictures into.

Of course, this meant we had to play doctor.

Their first visitors were nurses and the kids were given masks, caps, gloves, and footies.

Dr. Smith measuring his patient.

She turned compative when it was time to measure her head.
After a sedative he was able to start taking her vitals.

First was her tempertature.

Uh, oh. It shows she is running a fever.

Would you look at those ears, they are full of potatoes!

Don't worry miss, we can fix you right up.

Take nice deep breaths. Your lungs sound clear.

Time to take your blood pressure.

130/90 thats a little high.

I think we should start you on some medication for your heart.

Four M&Ms should do it.

Call me in two days if you are not feeling better.

She is recovering nicely.

Notice the band-aids from her earlier surgery.

Dr. Colin, I mean Dr. Cone Head!!

Thanks for your hard work, that was touch and go for a while.