Here are a couple of recent pictures of the kids

A fun day at the park!!!

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a great time playing with Grandma & Grandpa Glad over the 4th. Here are some of the photos from our adventures, we hope you enjoy!

+ Coeur d'Alene for the parade, and our favorite two shops... All Things Irish & Figpickles Toy Emporium - if you haven't been you will have a great time.

+ Some good friends had a great BBQ that we were able to join them for. Sasha enjoyed playing in the water/mud puddles at the bottom of the inflatable water slide, maybe next year she will want to slide down and get really wet.

+ We opted out on fireworks, the kids without their bedtime... can get a little scary.

+ Walter's Fruit Farm for a pony ride, "choo-choo" ride, playing in the "pea" box, seeing the animals, our favorite Huckleberry Preserves, picking our own strawberries. Sasha loved it!!! We really did have a great morning.

We hope that you all had a great Fourth of July. It is a great time to reflect on our country and all of the many blessings that we are given because we are here. I am truly thankful for our forefathers and all that they went though to help us have this free country, as well as those who so honorably serve our nation now. We are in your debt and forever thankful for all that you do!!!

HAPPY FOURTH of JULY!!!!

Memories...

As of yesterday afternoon... while daddy is away the kids and mommy will play. I'm hoping that we will make it through, Brit is such a great help around the house and especially with the kids, they really miss him. Sasha keeps telling me "daddy a boys" she knows that he is off camping with them (until Saturday). So until I have a little more time to post some pictures... a couple of friends have posted this on their blogs, and I thought that it might be fun. Enjoy... Here is a fun little game... Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark...get set...blog your memories!!

HAPPY...

I am here to say THANK YOU to everyone that has been ever so generous to me in the past 5 years. I couldn't ask any one person to give me something like this, so many of you have! I have been saving my Birthday, Easter, Mother's Day, Anniversary, Christmas... $$$ until I could afford this.

Brit thinks that I'm a bit crazy, but I love photography. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have an uncanny eye for detail, so the clarity that comes with pictures taken on an SLR camera is much more exciting for me. Not to mention I was a bit tired of the lag time on our point and shoot, I could rarely get the shot that I wanted. The kids were on the other side of the room before the shutter would click. Now to save for the lens that I really want. Oh well in a few more years maybe. Again THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!

First Foods

Here are a few shots of some of the kids "first foods" This is Sasha's first Ice Cream Sandwich, and she loved it!!! We were all down with Hand Foot & Mouth, except Brit, somehow he makes it through most things unscathed. All that we could eat were cold things, Sasha wasn't too sure, but since Mommy was eating one she wanted to try one also. Braden just doesn't care for baby cereal, he will only take a couple of bites if I'm trying to feed him. When Sasha takes over he will eat all of it (most of the time). She loves to help feed him, and he loves it too.

Fun in the Sun

We had a great time rollerblading at Riverfront Park

As you can see Sasha loves the Big Red Wagon slide, thanks to the older kids who have shown her how to swing, at least to this point there have been no casualties, we hope to keep it that way.

We couldn't find Braden's hat, and he wouldn't let us cover his seat to keep him from burning. Thankfully we were able to keep this blanket on him. He was having a great time just "chilling" in his seat. He wouldn't keep his feet "inside" the stroller, he wanted them out the side.

Thank you Brit for pushing the kids, they loved it!!!

A bit of Boise

We had a great time in Boise with Ann, Stan & Tattie!!!

Thank you so much for letting us come stay with you.

We had a blast spending time with you!

While we had a wonderful time, we forgot to take many pictures, so we wanted to share a few that we did get. Hope that you enjoy.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

ALLERGIES!!!

Here is a glimpse of why we got started down the road of life at the allergist's office, and all of the joys that have accompanied allergies. While there are challenges we are very blessed that it has never been too serious, and that she really has been a very healthy little girl.

Now that Sasha had her second birthday it was time to head on over to the allergist again. It was like a second home, or so it seemed, last year. The poor girl was in and out of the office getting poked over and over so that we could find out what was causing all of the trouble for her. I got her appointment scheduled, they sent us a lab slip, she had her blood work done over a month ago, so it would be available when we went in. It was a two month wait to get in to see Dr. Drain (whom we love by the way, it is worth waiting so we can see her) from when I called to schedule an appointment. When you go to the doctor most are only with you for a few min, Dr. Drain was in the room with us for nearly an hour today. She specialized in pediatrics and worked there for a few years and then did a specialty in asthma & allergies (whatever that is called), so she has been amazing with Sasha.

And the results are:

• Avocado now officially an allergy... we knew that from her reaction, now it is in her chart, so it is still off limits.
• Berries - not an allergy now... we are so happy that she can have these again, in small/reasonable quantities
• Dairy - no longer an allergy (the Doctor cheered, so did we)
• Egg - both the Doctor and parents think this is a false positive, she has never had a reaction, but good luck getting her to eat any, even smothered in her beloved ketchup
• Peanut - blood work showed no allergy, but the skin test showed a slight reaction still, so we are avoiding this one for another year.
  
  We are so happy that she is outgrowing her allergies, and hoping that Braden doesn't have any. Though if he does we hope they are the same ones.

Sasha & Braden

Here are some of the pictures that Ashley took of Sasha and Braden last month.

We love them and wanted to share them with you.

Thanks Ashley!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Braden and His BUBBLES

I am grateful to have this medium to do a little journaling of our daily lives. I have never been great at writing in a journal, but this has allowed me some excitement of recording things that I would otherwise most likely forget, like many things in my life previously. We all have those, the things that have made such an impact on us that we were sure that we would always remember, well then if we were lucky we wrote them down and at some future time were looking back, reading through a journal and come across one of those times. I know I have been surprised as I think back and am grateful that I had recorded what I was thinking about, feeling, and what happened. I also regret not being more through at times, or recording some things at all.

For anyone who has forgotten the simple joys of what life has to offer you only need to spend a little time with a young child. They have so much excitement for life and all it has to offer. They help us rediscover all of the things that are so easily taken for granted; the way grass grows, and where, the joy of discovering the perfect "flower" (a dandelion), bugs walking around, swinging, sliding, airplanes (how often that can be a joy when living under a flight path). Sasha makes new discoveries every day. Her favorite phrases and words change as she can say new things she develops new fixations, as these change I will post them on the side... Quotes by Sasha. Even Braden shows us frequently many joys that are easily forgotten, or over looked as we grow older. I am thankful to have some of these moments recorded in picture or on video to remind me of things that I love, and hope not to forget.

Thank you to our wonderful children for reminding me of all of the joyful things around us.

This is one of those things that makes me smile!

You may need to turn up your volume to hear Braden, sorry the mike on the camera didn't pick up his voice as well as I had hoped.