2013

We have a teenager!

Crossed a trip with my mom off my bucket list. My cousin Michelle's wedding, exploring Memphis, and devouring fried chicken.

Thrifting for the win.

Grandma Ellen comes to visit.

She finished Aden's basement bedroom with a Seattle skyline.

Still shaking my head at this pack of soon to be men that I hang with on the daily.

Sledding adventure with the Rose's.

Andrea brought Miles to Seattle. We brought Miles to the beach.

I resolved to embrace the camera. So there are a lot of pictures with me in them. It's awkward but rewarding in the end.

Lacrosse dominated our spring and summer. Parker and Kaleb were able to continue on the same team, Parker at goalie and Kaleb gravitating toward defense.

Neither thrilled at having their picture taken.

Super fan!

I got to meet up with my long time friend Krissy downtown. Great connection even after years gone by.

We attended church downtown. The trek through the urban landscape to get to service was church in itself.

You can always count on our family to keep it weird.

We have always bred giant children but this year Parker outgrew me and fit into his dad's high school cleats. (The cleats are now too small. Size 13 feet at age 13!)

Morning walks to the bus stop. 3 kids at the same elementary school for the last year.

Mother's day with my loves.

New friends.

New pursuits.

New responsibilities.

The biggest show of patriotism.

The best in provoking spontaneous outbursts of joy.

Finally experiencing nature's low-tide treasures.

And Justin introduced us to skimboarding.

Matt and I did a week long vegan cleanse. I tried to get over sugar and had a good run.

This guy said good-bye to his elementary school days.

And this guy graduated Kindergarten.

I discovered CSA glory. This will happen again in 2014. It's l  ike Christmas morning, opening those weekly boxes.

Dinner at the top of the Space Needle.

Strawberry pickin' on a family fun day. ( You will have fun, dammit!)

4th of July shirts from Grandpa Ken and Granny Annie. Snail mail love from them is the best.

Wednesday nights with Auntie.

Full bellies at the Dragon Fest in the International District.

Sent these two off to church camp. They're hooked, already asking about next year.

Delighted by this freckle faced boy with my introvert tendencies.

 Celebrated the return of the Twinkie.

 And took the boys to appreciate some real good food at Toulouse.

Felt like we had been placed in the coolest neighborhood in Seattle. No doubt.

Reveled in the beautiful city we got to call "home."




 Celebrated my lil' sister's 30th birthday, say what?

And then we said good-bye. As the doors closed in Seattle and opportunities arose back in Idaho, we were going to move again.2 1/2 years felt like 10. I really think we got the best the city had to offer.

Teaching looks good on Matt, eh? 
Our Seattle home sold the first week on the market.

 Good friends opened their home to ease our Idaho transition. (And provide hours of therapy.)

 The cousins got together.

 Our family get togethers with my parents are one of the best parts of being back in Idaho. Love all the time I've spent with Great Grandma Beryl, she is the sassiest thing.

 Autumn blew my mind. The weather was perfect and we really got out to enjoy it.

 New space to shape into our home.

 I embarked on a homeschool adventure with all four kiddos.

 Shared a high school favorite hangout with the boys.

 Ruth brought donuts and encouragement. I swear all my best friends I met at North Junior High!

 Caught up with some of my dad's family and relived the beauty of the Botanical Garden.

 Still love a reason to dress up silly.

 Selfies.

 And forced smiles.

 Real good cooks.

 Most likely to rough house.

 Friendsgiving!

 Most understated.

 Best in show for facial hair. Matt's, not mine ;)

 Hello Durango and move over Swagger Wagon

 Da Vinci still inspiring greatness.

 Auntie Claus came to town!

 And another visit with the cousins!

 Capped off the year with a family vacation for the record books.

Welcome 2014! Looking forward to more connection with our Idaho loved ones and a trip to see our Seattle friends. Thank you for reading, your comments make this memory keeper a more complete picture of the beautiful, wild life I've been given.

Disneyland 003

Let's talk a moment about fanny packs. My kids teased Matt and I endlessly about rocking the ever useful fanny pack at Disney. It made the trip so much easier. Thanks mom and Ken for holding onto these gems! And for the record we saw a few hipster teens wearing them at the park. We've still got it, babe.

 We made a mad dash for Pirates of the Caribbean (love me some Jack Sparrow) and then Splash Mountain first thing. The cool morning weather meant the line wasn't stacked up yet. Each of us compiled a list of our 5 can't miss attractions and Splash Mountain was on it for Parker. I have the pictures the park takes of all the rides we rode for another post.
Aden picked Haunted Mansion as one of his five. We had just watched Nightmare Before Christmas so it was fitting. No pictures because it's a super dark creepfest.

 Frontier Shooting Expedition was on Kaleb's list, of course. No line, gotta love that. 

 

Matt spotted another no line attraction, a raft ride to Pirate's Lair. It was essentially an island playground for the boys to explore while the park was packed midday.

 

 I had no idea my huge Michael Jackson fan hubby had never experienced Captain EO! That obviously needed to be remedied. Another no wait attraction.

 Note:deluxe fanny pack with water bottle holder, modeled in reverse. Werk.

DIsney can really take it's toll on a girl.

This was just the first half of the first day! Glad you all are interested in this vacation slide show.

Disneyland 002

 Where did we leave off? Collin creeping in the palm trees at In and Out, sounds about right.

 After all that driving, the break down and nearly a speeding ticket, we arrived in sunny Annaheim just after lunch.

 

Downtown Disney is fun to explore. They have shopping and dining with some of that Disney magic but you don't have to pay to get in. It was a great way to let the boys spend some of the cash they'd saved for the trip and stretch our legs.

 Because it was New Years Day the place was packed. Collin was so excited by all the giant Lego creations in the store, he kept running around photo-bombing everyone in the place. I thought it was hilarious. Mostly you could just find me swooning at the organized Lego wall. OCD-ers unite!

I had heard great reviews for Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney, so off to a creole dinner we went.

  Here's a snap of my shrimp and grits for the foodies. Parker ordered some excellent fried chicken as well. I just count myself so lucky that my boys (Matt included!) will venture out to try new things. I knew the next days would be all corn dogs and churros, this was the best eatin' we did on the trip.

  We opted to stay in a hotel about 1 mile away from Disneyland instead of the Disney hotels. The half day we spent getting oriented and checking out Downtown Disney was super helpful for making the most of the parks on the days we paid for. And we walked to and from our hotel so we could eat more Disney delicacies. Can you tell where my head is at? mmm...churros... ;)

Disneyland 001

Awhile back Matt and I decided the Disney window for our family was fast approaching. The time when our oldest is still engaged but the youngest isn't still in diapers. With Matt's extended winter break the timing just worked out. The countdown was on for our big family Disney vacation.

 The car ride started out fine but we broke down just a couple hours out of town. A tow, a new fuel pump, and five hours later we were back on the road.

Buffalo Wild Wings was a pretty great place to pass the time while the car was worked on.

 As the New Year's Eve fireworks exploded over Vegas, we drove into our hotel in Henderson, NV. And we awoke to sunshine in the desert. Kaleb is my early bird so we explored while Dad and brothers slept in.

 The boys do so well on the road, only a few (dozen) "are we there yet?" and some spilled hot cocoa.

Collin was living it up for the few hours we were in our hotel near Vegas. Sometimes you just live life on the edge and enjoy chocolate milk in a huge bubble bath.

 Now for the first food highlight of the trip: In and Out!!

 I think our work is done here.

I am hoping to cover the trip on this blog in under 10 posts ;)
 It turned out to be an amazing time with this wildly beautiful family o' mine.

boyz in the hood

Hide your daughters ;)