Girls day

One weekend, while Dennis was in San Diego, I invited 2 of my very good friends and their kids over for a girls day. We went to coffee first and then shopping with lunch in there. We had a great time! Trek is 2 1/2 and Ava is a little over 1 1/2. A good time was had by all! Rhonda and Jenny, lets do it again someday soon!

Trek being adorable as always. I love his big brown eyes!

Ava being super cute! I also love her eyes - blue!

Trek had tried his hat on Ava but he wanted it back so was putting it back on himself!

Blanket / Quilt for Larry

Recently I had a co-worker retire from work as he was battling cancer. He always saw the good in everyone he met and was a prince of a gentleman. I had asked Larry what his favorite animal was and when he said elephant I got really excited because they are my favorite animal too. I had heard that cancer patients get cold easily so I found a beautiful elephant panel and bought some more soft, cozy, fuzzy fabric to make a blanket for him. The material I chose happened to be really hard to work with so I had a gracious co-worker offer to quilt the blanket for me. I was super pleased with the results! Larry passed away April 30th and I know he will be missed by all. The company I work for, in the 20 years it has been in business has never shut down for anything. However Lightspeed did close the afternoon of Larry's memorial service so many of his co-workers could attend. We all miss Larry dearly and think of his wife and daughters often. Hug your family and love them with all the love you have. And, be like Larry and kind to everyone you meet. You don't know what others might be going through.

The front of the blanket laying down on a bed

The back of the blanket. Can you see the beautiful quilting design?

The blanket being held up outside. It was fairly good sized.

After visiting Larry once he was at home, he told me that he cuddled with the blanket all the time and that he showed and told everyone that came over about it. I am so thankful that he made use out of something that I put not just work but a lot of love into!

Girls weekend!

One fine weekend in April, my mom's 2 sisters decided to go visit her and have a girls weekend. 2 of my girl cousins got to join in on the fun. I decided that it would be fun to go and surprise everyone by showing up. When I arrived on Friday night, I rang the doorbell and my girl cousins ran to the door screaming "Jenny Jenny Jenny is here." We had a great time that weekend. Friday night was filled with food and visiting. I was shocked and amazed when at about 9:00 my mom and her sisters were ready to turn in for the night! I sure know that I take after the Smith side of my family being a night owl. Good thing I had a book to keep me up until an appropriate time to turn in for a Friday night! :) Saturday, I took the girls to a park and then we went shopping. We also went out for coffee and had a lavender latte! Have you ever had one? If not, it's definitely worth a try (although one of my aunties didn't care for her's too much) Saturday evening 2 more of my cousins, who live in the area spent the night at moms house. There were 4 little bodies in the living room for the night. I was once again shocked and amazed when on Sunday morning I heard my 4 cousins talking, giggling, and some arguing at 6:30 am!!! I was definitely not ready to face the day yet! Anyway - a great time was had by all. I'm thankful that my mom, aunts and girl cousins let me in on their girls weekend (uh, not that they had much choice) :)

Sophie posing and being cute!

Chloe's turn for posing. This rock was so tall - she is an amazing rock climber!

Chloe and Sophie - my 2 adorable cousins!

The girls and me! Thanks to Chloe's fast climbing ability and the auto setting on my camera we were able to capture all 3 of us!

Again my adorable cousins. Chloe helped Sophie up this rock, it was super cute to see them working together!

Sophie wearing Auntie Debbie's reading glasses and typing at the old typewriter!

4 bugs in 4 rugs!

Sunday morning I did the girl's hair! For Chloe and Sophie I did criss cross french braids. They are sort of hard to see in this picture but super cute! Willa wanted a ponytail so that's what she got!

The kids all crammed in the car - heading back to Uncle Chris's to drop off 2 kids! See Finn tucked way in the back?

My mom and her lovely sisters! Aren't the beautiful? What an honor to have them in my family!

Dale and Kari visit!

We had the privilege of having Dale and Kari stay a night with us on their journey to Oregon. We had such a wonderful time with them and realize how much we miss seeing them often. We had dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant, Ixtapa and then us girls went shopping at Mudpuddles an amazing toy store. It was so much fun to see Rowena and Mari again and to meet the newest addition, Katelynn. She is adorable and it was fun to have a lively household full of children. We are looking forward to the next time we can see our good friends!

Mari and sharing a laugh today. I love the sweet moments I had with each girl.

Rowena giving me a hug - another sweet moment for me!

Holding Katelynn - what a sweet baby!

Ollie just hung out - he likes to be where people are - even with kids around!

2 of Rowena's favorite belongings of Jen's. Jen's purple phone and Elephant!

Again, Rowena with Jen's phone and Elephant.

Sweet Mari! I love her blue eyes and blond hair. She is such a sweetheart too!

Dennis and Rowena sharing a laugh!

Dennis holding Mari. She can be extremely cuddly

And, Dennis even held Katelynn ... of course I had to document it! :)

Kitty not too happy with company - uh, or rather kids here. We think it was because Dennis and I were gone so his comfort people weren't here.

Ollie tolerates kids pretty well.

Katelynn in a huge bed! Well, it's just a full but it looks huge with her in it!

Beautiful Mari

Sweet Mari again

Katelynn looking at the camera

Close up of Katelynn

I love Mari's blue eyes! She melts my heart!

Rowena playing outside in her yard. When she lived in this house she would spend hours playing in these same rocks!

Rowena giving Mari a hug

Rowena weeding for us! If only we could have kept her longer our yard would look amazing! Guess I have lots of work to do this spring/summer.

It was impossible to get all 5 of these people to look at the camera. So, this is my favorite pic. Kari looking at Rowena. Dale and Mari looking at Katelynn! Thanks for fitting us into your schedule.

All packed up and ready to go.

We are looking forward to the next time we can see you beautiful girls and your wonderful parents who are our great friends!

Dennis and I have been married for 4 years! Wow, really 4 years? Where has the time gone? Does that mean that we are no longer newlyweds? Are we beginning to fit into the category of an 'old married couple?' Anyway - this year our anniversary trip brought us to Leavenworth, Wa. I had been there, but Dennis never had. When we were discussing where to go to celebrate - here are the things on his list. #1 snow #2 mountains #3 secluded #4 not a lot of people #5 pretty scenery. He wanted to go sledding but because of his shoulder surgery we decided to be safe and just stay on our two feet. We had a splendid time and are highly recommending this place to others. It was super relaxing, private and we just had a great time!

Where we stayed - Wedge Mountain Cottage - a lovely place

On our way there, of course we had to stop by the Cle Elum Bakery. As a child on road trips Dad Smith would ALWAYS stop by the bakery in Cle Elum!

And we stopped by Owens Meat Market too - they have wonderful pepperoni sticks and beef jerky too! Worth the stop!

On our anniversary - happy 4 years to the love of my life

Outside our cottage - we had beautiful mountain views

In Leavenworth - they were shooting snow/ice onto trees. Then they quit as the weather was getting warmer. Couldn't figure that one out. Anyway - they were preparing to shoot a movie there and needed more snow

A very cool tractor outside of the Bavarian Lodge

Us on a walk in Leavenworth

My handsome hubby

And his smiley wife

Pizza on my head? The Hat Shoppe!

Uh, Dennis your hair is a little outta control. Maybe I should learn how to cut mens hair?

Dennis cooking us supper!

Our cozy cabin.

On a drive - we saw some pretty scenery

From the old tv series Northern Exposure. We stopped by Roslyn on our way back home. "The Brick" Sadly we didn't go in - but hopefully someday we can!

Roslyn cafe. I kept looking for a moose but never did see one crossing the road!

Frozen waterfalls on our journey home near Snoqualmie Pass.

We had a great time - next year I am thinking a cruise or Hawaii for our anniversary trip - I need sunshine! :)