Riverside Park

The girls and I got to visit beautiful Riverside Park on the Spokane River over the weekend with some friends. The temperature was perfect, and the river was huge! Here we are on the bridge over the Bowl and Pitcher rapids. Abby had a fabulous time roaming the hillside, picking wildflowers.

Little Miss Independent

Evidently, Abby proudly sported this "flashback to 1987" outfit to preschool while we were out of town. My favorite features are: the fleece socks with sandals, the drop-waist belt with an empire-waist dress, and the size 2T coat. She was probably the envy of her preschool class in this get-up!

Piggies: Before and After

Here are Katie's cute
pigtails Sunday morning.

Here they are Sunday
evening, after two naps
and a three-hour
wrestling match with
Mama at church.
(Luke was working, so
I was on my own.)

Hey, at least she's still
smiling, right?

Lots of News!

Well, I've been seriously absent from the blogging world for about a month now, but I do have quite a bit to show for it! Here's what's been going on around here:


We are expanding our family! We're expecting Baby #3 on October 23rd. (Hooray! . . . Yikes!)


I'm 3 1/2 months along and feeling really good, now that the nausea is gone. :)

Abby turned 4 years-old! Our little "Sweet Pea" is so grown-up and had a great birthday. She's still way into Calico Critters, so that was her party theme again this year!

An extra special part of Abby's birthday was having Luke's mom and sister, Nora and Lara, in town for it. They stayed with Abby and Katie while Luke and I went to St. Louis to find a home . . . what lifesavers! It sounds like they had some fun adventures together while we were gone.

While in St. Louis, we bought this house! We're excited about it, but nervous, of course, to be first-time homeowners. This is an older home (built in 1941), but it's roomy and charming. We're excited about the big yard, the cute attic bedrooms for the girls, and the pretty wood floors. It seems like a fun neighborhood with lots of kids. Things are destined to be a little crazy for these next few months, until we're settled, but I think we're up for the adventure.

On our way back from St. Louis, we had a layover in Salt Lake. I stayed for two days and got to attend my mom's 60th birthday party! All eight of us siblings made it, which was really fun. (Too bad Luke and my brother-in-law Spencer had to miss it.) The party was planned for a nice restaurant but had to be moved to . . . Intermountain Medical Center! My dad broke his hip about a month ago (no, not the "old person slips and breaks his hip" syndrome--he was mountain biking!). He is recovering from his second surgery on it, so we held the party in the waiting room of the OB/GYN department, where my brother-in-law Dan works. You can see my dad, ever the good sport, joining the party from his hospital gurney. It actually turned out great . . . and very memorable! I was in SLC for less than 48 hours, so I didn't see many people, but it was awesome to hang out with my family!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter! I hope you did too. We enjoyed egg hunts and a visit from the Easter Bunny, and we tried to focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and all that He has done for each of us. Maybe some of our teaching about His resurrection has sunk in with Abby, because today she asked, "Can I take my lovies (blankies) with me when I die? 'Cause I don't want to just sleep on a plain pillow!"

Here are Abby and Katie in their matching Easter dresses . . . two cuties, if I do say so myself! I wish I had gotten a traditional outdoor, full-length posed Easter shot of them, but a) it was freezing cold outside, and b) by the time they were dressed, I had to rush off early to church and accompany the choir. So it just didn't happen.(Maybe we'll re-create it later when spring finally arrives!)

Katie, Abby, and Daddy after our Easter-morning egg hunt. (I don't know who had more fun, "Master Egg Hider Luke" or the girls!)



Katie munching on goldfish crackers from her eggs. All week she has been sneaking into Abby's room, finding her Easter basket, and pulling out all sorts of yummy loot! Her favorite find is Hershey's Kisses WITH the wrappers on. Abby hasn't minded too much, since she still has some Halloween candy left. :)

Abby was excited about her Sleeping Beauty doll from the Easter Bunny!