Little Sister Getting Married

I am now feeling really old. I turn 30 this year and my little sister Janni is getting married next month, on Aug. 16th. She's the youngest of the 8 of us. Rusty and I got to go through the temple with her Tuesday night. It was wonderful!! We are excited for you two, Janni and Caleb! Good luck, love you!

Who's the boss?

Cole has been talking to his toys a lot lately, and this morning at breakfast-- same thing. He has conversations with them, and I had to laugh when I heard him roughly say to his truck "okay, who's the boss here?" Hmmm, do you think he hears that around the house every once in a while? Whoops. I love this kid.

Did you ever do this when you were a kid?

Rusty thought Mason should experience olives on his fingers. He liked it, but had no interet in eating them, so Rusty helped him out with that part!

Book Boys

Every morning when I get Mason out of bed, this is the first thing he and Cole head to. I think it is so cute.

I hope my boys love reading forever!

5 Years Down, An Eternity To Go!

Rusty and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this last weekend. We had commitments on Saturday, our actual day, so we went out Friday to celebrate. Many thanks to Rusty's parents for watching Cole and Mason. Rusty surprised me with a Dinner Cruise leaving out of Seattle and traveling around the ocean. It was wonderful! Great food, and beautiful weather to cruise around the Puget Sound for the evening. I have no photos to post yet b/c I used a disposable camera that was left over from our cruise last Feb. But that actually had been our real anniversary celebration-- going on a cruise to the Western Caribbean area, stopping in Cozumel, Belize, and the Bahamas. We had a blast-- this was our ship.

We left our boys for the first time-- a big thanks to my mom and my sister Koriane for watching them! And we enjoyed paradise, and a much-needed escape!
I love my husband for all that he does to keep me laughing from now thru eternity!

What doesn't go in his mouth these days?

So now that Mason is 18 months, I was thinking we were passed the stuff-in-the-mouth phase, aside from the typical rocks and dirt. Apparently not.
This is normal:


But this is not! I think he's just being silly (you can see him always smiling underneath). Here are some items and a few photos of what I have had to rescue from a slobber bath this last week or so: socks, numerous not-meant-for-the-mouth toys, a frisbee, and an America flag of all things! And it almost looks like the flag is getting a salute!





Fortunately, I just get the cutest smile ever when I take them away. What a lucky mom I am!

Hey Slipper Mamma!

Cole has been coming up with the weirdest phrases. The other day while Mason was napping, Cole and I went out to the tramp with no shoes on. After jumping a while, I told him I was going to go inside and check on Mason and get some shoes. By shoes, I guess I meant slippers (that are way more convenient to get on and off while holding a baby and getting onto the tramp again). When I came back out with Mason and I was wearing slippers, he looked at me and goes "Hey Slipper Mamma". The way he said it was so funny. What's crazier is that he keeps saying it to me at random times when I'll come into the room (wearing NO slippers). It seems I have a new nickname. Another phrase he said later that day while holding a toy phone was "hey phone mamma". He seemed to make a face like he thought that didn't sound quite right and then switched his words around and said "hey phoney mamma". Ummm, I think I'd rather be "slipper mamma".

Fun Fourth!

Our tradition for the fourth has been to participate in the Enumclaw Parade with Rusty's family. His sister and her family (4 fun girl cousins for the kids to pal around with) usually come up from Portland and together, we enjoy the happenin' parade down the main drag of Enumclaw. The kids decorate and ride their bikes or get pulled in a wagon. This year, Cole and Mason sat on the sidelines with us in their decorated wagon so they wouldn't miss all the action. We enjoyed the trucks and trailers, several groups of dancers, and lots of animals like dogs, alpacas, and dancing horses.
Waving at the firetrucks was a highlight, as well as hanging out with cousins!

Afterwards, we rode bikes and hung out around Grandpa Bob and Grandma Gena's, had a yummy bbq, and enjoyed some fireworks.




Cole showing off his firework truck he got to light and holding a sparkler:

We all had a great time with family, and are grateful for this free country that we are blessed to be citizens of.

Scattergory Tag

Erase my answers, enter yours, and post it. *Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...*They have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Lynnea Marie
4 LETTER WORD: Love
VEHICLE: Limo
CITY: Las Vegas
BOY NAME: Landon
GIRL NAME: Lindsay
OCCUPATION: Lawyer
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Lingerie
FOOD: Lasagna
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Lotion
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Lost track of time
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Love you!

Anyone reading this-- it's your turn!

Quick Get-away

Our family got a chance for a quick 1 night get-away to Zion's Camp with some fellow ward members. It was much too short, but very much needed for some good R&R. We had a wonderful time!
We love the outdoors and Rusty was completely in his element. It's fun to see him that way. He got a chance to fish, and caught several (but could only keep 1 per day). This was a 16 1/2" Rainbow Trout.



Mason- do you want a fish or a banana for breakfast? Hmmm,
choice is clear...


Actually, we aren't big fish eaters, so Rusty gave the fish away to one of his employees.


There was a fun play area for kids. We're on our way to check it out:


The boys especially loved the swings:




We hope for many more get-aways this summer, before the rush of Rusty's work come fall/winter.

Two Surprises waiting for us at home!

Cole, Mason and I just recently got back from a trip to AZ to watch my sister's 3 kids while her and her husband went on a trip themselves. Hmmm, 5 kids for 10 days- interesting! Makes me re-evaluate how many kids I want to have myself. Anyways, we had a blast-- I got to visit with my older sister Koriane, whom I adore, and a few college friends from my old Ricks and BYU-Hawaii days. (Miss you Dan, Katrina, and Tahlea)
Mason loved being outside-- mostly eating flowers and rocks, or having his tongue hanging out, waiting to find something else to eat.





Cole's favorite thing there was his cousin's trampoline-- he was on it 24/7, or at least as much as possible in the 107 degree weather.
It was such a struggle to get him off the thing; he insisted he would sleep there, until he got too hot that is:
So anyways, I was not looking forward to long days at home and facing the inevitable "I wanna jump on the trampoline" comments (when we had no trampoline). Ta Dum-- enter Rusty, who saves the day:

Hallelujah! We'd been wanting to get one for a while, but hadn't pursued it further than that. While we were gone, Rusty found a good deal and the timing was perfect. Look at Cole's smile:

It's also been great for me to put the boys on it (since they can't escape the zipper and lock) while I am out mowing the lawn or working in the garden and don't want to constantly monitor the amount of rocks and dirt entering Mason's mouth.

We are now on that thing every day, and it is great for Cole, and me also. It helps to tire him out so that naptime isn't such a struggle. (Or is that just my way to rationalize a pricey purchase?) Either way, we are loving it. Anyone is welcome to come and jump!

We had a second surprise waiting for us when we got home from AZ. Rusty has always liked to hunt, but has been getting more into it this last year or so. He got a bobcat here in the area (that is still at the taxidermist getting stuffed). And he went on a big trip last November to Montana for bigger game, and came home with this deer:

We have been loving the deer jerky, steaks, and other meat. It's been a fun change, and Rusty has loved feeling like he's literally "bringing home the bacon (um, venison)" for our family. Well, his deer has been at the taxidermist for the past few months, and he was finally able to pick it up while we were gone. So surprise-- it is now hanging in our family room:

I'm not a huge fan of this (okay, I hate it actually), but at least it's not in our living room above the fireplace (where he first wanted to put it). So, it's a compromise and I know it means a lot to him to have it hanging up. I'm just scared for this coming year and what other creatures may soon take up space on our wall. Yikes! And beware when visiting!

Family Update...

Thought I'd let you all know what we are currently up to...
Rusty and I will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this month. Here we are, back on July 12, 2003. What a couple of young kids...


And now we will turn 30 this year!! Yikes!

We bought a home 3 years ago in Kent, WA, and have loved it! Since then, we've had 2 boys. Cole will turn 3 in August, and Mason is 18 months. Here they are:


What a couple of cuties, huh? They sure brighten our days. I am blessed to stay home and care for them, while Rusty works like crazy for us. He is the Elder's Quorum President in our ward, so that is often time-consuming. Also, he started his own business a few years ago. He does building and construction-- mostly installing fireplaces and running gas lines, but now is in the middle of a 2-home remodel project that he's enjoying. I do his office/book work, so I stay super busy with that, as well as trying to keep up with our kids. Some days we go crazy, though we are having fun nonetheless, and are grateful for how blessed we are.

Me-- A Blogger??

Here is my entrance into the world of blogging-- been meaning to do this for a while now to keep in touch better, but like all things-- I'm good at procrastinating. Here's to hoping this blog does not suffer too badly... Wish me luck!!