Memorial day weekend and June visit to UT

Busy month...but fun :)

For Memorial Day weekend, Caleb and the kids camped in the backyard. The kids thought this was the greatest! (I thought it was great that we didn't have to pack and unpack the car and drive somewhere to set up tent...) We also had a fire and roasted marshmallows. Fern didn't bother with the roasting part and just ate the marshmallows.
Fern, Henry and I went to UT to visit my family for 9 days, while Caleb stayed home and worked. (Landscape design doesn't slow down for summer vacation...) The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It was tough to get them to go to sleep at night...but that's another story :)

A group of us went on a hike to Timpanogos Cave while my dad stayed home with the younger kids. It was a fun hike up, but Henry wasn't a fan of being inside a dark cave...thank goodness for uncles---Peter for bringing a flashlight he could hold and Taige for helping him going down narrow passageways--since I couldn't be in front and in back of him at the same time :) This is a picture of our whole group.
And on the way down there was a torrential downpour. We got to witness big boulders come rolling down the mountain...along with a waterfall....and cover the trail ahead of us.....and after the water slowed down (and we were freezing...), the ranger said we could go ahead and hike down. Luckily there was a couple and their two 20-ish year-old kids that were able to help us traverse the rock slides...definitely not my favorite part of the vacation...but we made it down. (Also, luckily uncle Taige carried Henry all the way down the mountain...when the thunder, lightning, and buckets of rain started, he was DONE...and that was before the rock slides...) This picture doesn't do this rock slide justice...it was much bigger from the other side's angle and on the other side that you can't see there was a stream... (I didn't even take pictures of the other slides, for fear of ruining my camera with rain.)
Fern loves her cousin Judy and at every activity wanted to be with "Judy boody".
Happy Henry on a horse
Happy Fernie in a small playhouse
It was lots of fun to go and spend time with all the cousins and everyone.

Caleb was very glad when we came back--he missed all the chaos of having all of us around :) Seems that the house is far too quiet when we're gone. We're glad to be back too.

Well we have been busy enjoying the sunshine. I have been very busy at work, which I like. I am selling alot and I hope that we can keep busy thru the summer. We went to the zoo the other day to see the new penguin exhibit. You all know that Henry is the worlds biggest penguin fan. He has been anticipating this trip for nearly 9 months now. He was so excited that he took his stuffed penguin to show him. It was pretty neat. The penguins are desert penguins from Peru. The volunteer that was educating people was also from Peru. They live on the shore near Nazca. They build their nests in the guano that piles up 1-2 foot thick. (It used to be several hundred feet thick but Guano harvesting in the late 1800's reduced it down to the level it's at today)
Any how the exhibit has thick plexi-glass windows that let you watch them underwater. They had one window that was a inwardly dished and you could sit "in" it and be surrounded by water.
It was very cool. Me and Henry sat there for probably 45 minutes, watching the penguins. But wait!... Where was Fern? Behind us chatting on the phone, with Laura (our friend, Ferns hero)
Afterwards we went out for pizza (Lyn had a coupon! the only way we eat out.) On our way back to the Trooper we saw this sign. "Henry Nelson Real Estate" Then we went by this neat park and gardens in the Wallingford area. It ended up being a late night but was lots of fun.
Yesterday Henry and I spent the day finishing the chicken coop, then we went on a bike ride along the Sammamish River Trail. We biked 7 miles! Everyone always says that Henry looks like a young Lance Armstrong, Now he bikes like one too.
Tonight we are going to set up the tent so that we can "camp" in the backyard, since tomorrow is Memorial day and I don't have to go to work. Instead we will be going to the Folk Life festival in downtown. (really just a bunch of hippies--yay!)
Oh and we need to paint the chicken coop too. That should be fun!

Family Update 7:35pm

As I am typing this (well just before) Henry lost his first tooth. He now has a cute little gap on his lower teeth. Hurray for Henry!!!
Now the Tooth Faerie will have to pay a visit...

Spring is here...maybe!

OK, the sun has come out of hiding and we have tried to make the most of it. The past couple days we went to the park, the Seattle Center, the UW arboretum and yesterday went on a walk, Caleb and Henry went on a bike ride, danced in the rain, etc. (This beautiful tree is at the arboretum--very cool picture by Caleb.)
Henry is really not one for posing for pictures--every time I try to take his picture he usually turns around, runs away, or covers his face, so this was a lucky shot! (In contrast to Fern...every time the camera is out she flashes her smile and poses...)
Fern and Caleb running away from the International Fountain before the water started back again. Henry wasn't too excited with the tradition of touching the silver on the fountain in between songs/waterdisplays--he was content to sit and watch the people getting wet.
Two little kids sitting still in the midst of lots of flowers and things to explore? We were lucky to have them both looking at the camera at the same moment!
We went on an exploring drive down a dirt road near the Wild Horse Monument on the Columbia River. Turns out that it just takes you up to the top. The view was cool, but the drive was a little tippy for my taste. (I am constantly worried of the truck falling off the side of the mountain and rolling down...I'm told that it takes a lot more to overturn a vehicle...but try to explain that to my gut...)
My little helpers... I like having a garden and starting my seeds, but I think I'm learning patience more from letting the kids help in the process than from waiting for seeds to sprout...

Grandma Nelson, Fern and cousin Carli snuggling on the back porch

I'm hoping for more sunshine and beautiful springtime weather this week. I find that I am so much more productive and happy after experiencing the warmth of the sun. Yesterday I organized/cleaned out my bathroom, vacuumed the whole house, did laundry and folded and put it away, organized the computer desk, cleaned all the dishes and put them away, took care of the paper party in the kitchen (bills, coupons, to-do lists that congregate),.....and felt great.

Off to read books with Henry. (I've been trying to do this while he is watching/commenting on lava movies on youtube on the other side of the screen..needless to say, I'm not doing so well on the multi-tasking as well as managing the conflict of not being as attentive as I need to be & feeling guilt for not doing either thing well...so that's it for today!)

April fun in the sun (or at least not in the rain!)

Silly Chicken, Speedy, and Chepe--our new baby chicks

We added some baby chicks to our family this last week. We have 2 black Australorps and 1 Plymouth barred rock (in case you're wondering...) The kids love to go out and check on them and talk to them. We are planning to let them free-range in our yard. We have them mostly for learning, but we will also use and share the eggs. They have been a lot of fun so far.
Yesterday we went up north to the church camp and I helped design and install a buffer zone to provide privacy to the camp. It was beautiful day and we had fun. Henry worked along side of me for 2.5 hours! He helped plant and tagged all the plants. He really knows how to put his nose to the grindstone. I am really proud of him. Afterwards we played by the river; throwing rocks into it and stacking them, and I took a nap in the sand.

Here are the kids in a huge swing with a barrel to sit in. FUN!
Afterwards we went to Thenos Dairy because they had $1 scoops in honor of their 65th Anniversary. They were huge scoops too. I had French Apple and Peach Cobbler. And as you can clearly see, Fern had Strawberry! Both kids were nasty little messes by the end of the day, but it was a good day out in the sun, being together as a family and providing service.

They sure are cute little guys though aren't they?! Well Monday is supposed to be int he mid 70's! So we are very excited for that. spring has been a long time coming and we are so grateful that it looks to finally be here. Anyhow, hugs and kisses to all. Have a nice week.

Easter Update

Well there are number of things to talk about today. First off: Happy Easter!
April 1st my Bro.Logan came up from Utah with his family and spent a few days with us. Henry and Fern couldn't get enough of their cousins. Logan's youngest; Davis is such a cute little guy. We love them all. The idea for the visit was that we were going to go downtown and see some stuff, but it was raining cats and dogs. So much so that we set a new state record for most rain over two days (in April?) 1.31 inches! My poor Mom doesn't get that in several months over in E. WA! Logan was only going to spend one night but it turned to snow that evening so there was a bonus night.
Friday thru Tuesday it was sunny and low70's! We planted our garden on Saturday, We had so much fun. We spent over 5 hours there. We tilled, raked, set the paths, and got he first round of veggies in. Then the kids got horse rides to boot. We all got some sun and went to bed tired and content. We have been starting our seeds indoors under a grow light, that is placed under the kitchen table, as that is the only space we have in this small house. Oh how we love our garden! On Wednesday we will be purchasing 3 baby chicks, as we will be raising chickens for the kids learning (and some eggs).One thing that I guess that you all would be interested to know is that we are looking to purchase our first home. With e economy so far down, as also the housing market, coupled with massive amounts of foreclosures, there are some great deals to be had. Mostly meaning that we can finally afford a home. Still most home that we can afford are fixer-uppers, but Lyn and I tend to prefer that, since we can feed our own personalities into it, vs a sterile, characterless new home. One nice thing about a foreclosed, fixer, is that there is tons of equity to be gained! The home we are most excited about(a remodeled 50's home) sold 3 years ago for $247K at 1,010 sq ft. Thanks to a finished basement it is now 1,820, and we are looking to pick it up for around $170K ! although we think that we might wait a few months to see how much further this will go down. Even The Fed doesn't think that the economy will stabilize till sometime in 2010. Anyhow we will keep you posted.
Yesterday (Sat 11) we went to West Seattle to the tide pools. We missed low Tide by 2 hours, although the starfish, and Sea Slugs were further out, we still were able to see alot of neat creatures. We played with Sea Anemones, Geoducks (giant clams), and tiny Rock Crabs. Also the afternoon was just beautiful. Henry kept running around exclaiming "Hey, Look at this!" . we wore our rubber boots so that we could wade further out. Rubber boots are essential here in WA for myriad reasons. After that we went to a trendy used record store and found some cool music. Then we saw a cool furniture store and got some ideas for our 50's house. Then finally we found a model train store that was packed with lots of neat stuff. After we got home and had French toast for dinner, we colored eggs, and then the kids feel asleep instantly. :)
so anywho that's about it for now.
have a nice week.