Rain, Rain...GO AWAY!!!!!

A Blast From The Past!

An old high school friend, Jessica, came to visit us for the weekend! We had so much fun catching up!

Amya and Sadie

Knock Knock!

Amya surprised us yesterday, with her first knock knock joke! We can't figure out where she learned how to tell a knock knock joke, but needles to say, we were pretty impressed! This is how it went: Amya: Knock knock.
Us: Who's there?
Amya: Cock-a-doodle-do.
Us: Cock-a-doodle-do who?
Amya: Cock-a-doodle-do-Mia! I a chicken! (there's some room for improvement here)

The rest of the day the punch line changed to "Mia, Amyo!" ("Amyo" is the hybrid name for herself and Elmo. Last Fall it was the only thing she would call herself)

Happy Belated Birthday...

...Grandpa Rusty!

We love you and miss you! See you in a couple months!

Happy Spring!!!

Time for the Spring flowers to come up ... I love seeing what the previous owner had planted! Time to eat strawberries...
...and work in the garden.


The Shaws are very happy to welcome Spring! ...now, if it would just stop raining everyday...

It's Good To Be Green!

Happy Birthday Willow!

We hope you have the best birthday you've ever had!

When in Washington.....

So we have been a one car family pretty much since we moved out here.....not anymore! The little subaru just wasn't making a good firewood hauler so we started looking for a old beat up- cheaper-than-dirt-but-still-runs pickup truck....and we found one....introducing...."Sasquatch"








a 1985 Ford F250 4x4 Diesel. Pushing 200K miles and louder than a gypsy drinkin two buck chuck...this truck was bought by us from one of the local brew pubs. It was used to deliver beer kegs to the mountain ski towns in the winter. When we heard that, we knew we had to have this little piece of Hood River history. So we made a lowball offer on the already dirt cheap price and whala.....we now fit in the with our neighbors....next on the list are ....some guns (hunting and handguns) , a 30year old camper with no wheels in the front yard for a "guest house", and a bumper sticker that says something about "gittin outta my way, im drivin a truck..." or something like that...


Amya digs the new ride. In the morning when she wakes up she looks out the window and says "new truck..new truck....and likes to sit in it and pretend shes driving....

To initiate the whole truck lifestyle, we put the girls in their overalls, drove to walmart and bought some shovels and motor oil and stuff.....(baby steps people...we need to work up to the guns....)

It Is Good Enough For The French!

And it's good enough for me! My coffee percolator broke on Sunday (*insert crying here*). If you know me, you know that the only break I've had from coffee since I was 2 years old was the first half of my pregnancy (yes, I said half).

Amya had a cold yesterday and needed breathing treatments all day long, so I got through it re-heating the coffee that was still in the percolator. This morning I scrambled through my cupboards in desperation. I just knew I had unpacked a French Press during the move! Yes, I had, and I found it! I hadn't actually used a French Press since college (a great birthday present from Bryce), so I called up a friend at an early hour (she has a kid, so I was safe), and got a tutorial. It was so easy, Amya could do it! And she did!

She stopped half way through to clap for herself!

...now I'm good...

(until company comes...this way could take a while!)

**Amya is much better today!**

Yeah!...A Sunny Day!

Kristen and I took Sadie and Amya to the park on Friday. The girls kept hugging each other and giggling. How cute is that, I ask?

Don't You Hate It....

...when the other people know their picture is being taken and you don't?!

Yup, She's A Toddler!

Before I took my shower this morning, I set Amya up at a little table with some yogurt and a cartoon. This is how I buy myself a few min. of uninterrupted shower time. When I emerged from the bathroom, this is what I found......... Amya decided to eat the yogurt, but on the chair, instead of at the table (I found the trail!). She also decided her toy Wuzzle needed to go swimming in the yogurt container. She found a pair of her diaper covers and put those on (pink). Then she found her wet Elmo washcloth, and decided that needed to be on her head!....and was flipping through the channels looking for a "diffa cahtoon" (different cartoon)!

Happy Birthday, Friend!

We miss you and can't wait until you're done with your Masters! Hang in there...just a few more weeks to go!

Future Make-Up Artist

Amya loves to paint. Her favorite backdrop is her face. She has watched me put make-up on many times and sometimes I let her try some. Today, she took it upon herself to use her watercolors to give herself a complete makeover!

You'd better run, Lewis! She may decide that cats are her new favorite backdrop!!

Dan's New Toy

Dan's birthday present arrived in the mail today....Russian Knights SU-27! Dan loves flying remote controlled model airplanes...he even figured out a way to turn it into a business and make money, but that's another story.

This is an excerpt from Dan and Amya's conversation:

Dan: "Amya, look at Daddy's new toy! Do you want to fly this with me?"

Amya: "Yah, Dadda! Let's go!"

Dan: "Oh wait, Amya! I didn't mean it was a real toy! Put it down gently!"
This is even better... This is a direct quote right off the front of the box...

"Base on excellence jet fighter of Russian, we extract design the electric jet model of SU-27."

There is a proof-reader somewhere out there, out of a job!

Toddler Fits!!

Amya is very good at them. This one was inspired when we told Amya she needed to take her paints, paper and brush back to the table, and she couldn't paint in the Den (carpeted area). I missed the beginning, but you can imagine her throwing down all the contents in her hands, then standing, with a pause, and staring straight ahead (vintage Taylor Priest, circa 2001). When she realized she had caught our attention, the wailing started!

Goodbye Grammy And Pappy!

...we had fun!

Goofin' Around