Hoppy Easter

I forgot to mention that we took Easter pictures when the Mildenhalls were here the night before they left. We all got a kick out of these two cute bunnies. Hope your Easter was great!

Recent Happenings

Since the Mildenhalls visit we've done a few things... Jack got his first tooth! Katya's last day of preschool was last week. She's actually loving going now. Thankfully we'll meet this summer for some play dates. She is always asking to go to school now. And she turns 3 in two weeks! They had a summer birthday party for 3 of the kids in her class on Thursday, so she felt very special. Jack and Katya started swimming lessons last week. They are parent-child lessons, so the four of us go together, which is quite fun. The kids have a blast while their parents try to keep moving to stay warm! We've planted some veggies and fruit. Hopefully they will stay alive while we're gone to the south for our vacation in a couple of weeks. I had a great Mother's Day. Scott made me feel very special even though I had to work! Scott was called as the Young Men's President so he has been very busy with meetings and outings. We are getting ready for our Youth Trek this summer and had a preparation activity last weekend. Scott and I taught people how to milk a cow and Scott placed in the sack race. The kids learned how to make soap and butter, too. We both found out we are not very skilled at stilt walking. Scott and Preston (whom Katya now calls her boyfriend) went camping again this weekend. Scott actually got tired while hiking, so it must have been pretty difficult. I'm grateful I didn't go. I attended a Rummi-kub going away party for a family in our ward, which I'm sure was much more fun. Can't wait to see many of you in 10 days!

Mildenhall visit - Day 4

The next day we relaxed around the house for a bit - we were quite tired from all our adventures thus far! Then we went to one of our favorite parks in beautiful Seabeck. After that we poked around Poulsbo, a scandinavian-influenced community. We got cookies at the bakery, chocolate at the candy store, and looked at some cute shops there. After that we went to the Central Market, which is a lot like Harry's in Atlanta for those of you who know that store. For those of you who don't, it's basically a big supermarket where you can get almost anything any recipe might call for - from organic veggies to exotic cheeses to 20 different kind of olives to foriegn foods to environmentally-friendly cleaners. We had fun - got some Oregon blue cheese and gyozas, so Dad was happy. On the way home we stopped at the hospital for a quick tour. We were beat by that point. The Mildenhalls left the next day. We were so sorry to see them go - but we get to see them again in just a couple of weeks!

Mildenhall visit - Day 3

We rode the ferry to Seattle the next day and went to Pike's Place market where we got some yummy cheese and candied apples. Then we saw a statue that was the spitting image of Robert and couldn't pass up the opportunity for a picture with him. We went to see the space needle, but decided it would be more fun to go to the indoor amusement park they had there. After that we met Kyle and Amy at Ivar's on the pier. It was the first time Kyle had met them and Kyle was in love with Jack. Of course, Katya wouldn't be separated from Amy, just like when we were at the aquarium. Scott drove back in the pouring rain, while Mom and I and the kids slept!

Mildenhall visit - Day 2

We got up the next morning and played on the beach a little more - it seemed much colder! katya wouldn't even get down out of my arms. Scott and Grandpa found lots of sanddollars. We packed up and drove around the western edge of the Olympic national forest stopping to eat lunch on the coast and to visit a huge cedar tree which Scott and Katya couldn't resist climbing. Then we continued around the national forest and saw beautiful coastline, Canada, and stopped in a cute town for some ice cream - even though it was too cold for Grandma to get out of the car. Never too cold for ice cream! We continued down along the Hood Canal and ate mexican in our hometown and got done just in time for me to attend a R.S. leadership meeting.

Mildenhall visit

scott's mom and dad came for a visit the next week. It was very exciting because we hadn't seen Grandma since Jack was 2 months and this was her first visit to our new home. We went out to the coast the first day and stayed overnight at Pacific Beach at a military resort (?) in a cabin. We played with some cool kites on the beach. Even Katya got a froggy kite that was easy to hold and fly and she held on to it the whole time. Even though it was quite cold she had a blast in her shorts and bare feet. It was beautiful! We played in the stream that ran down into the ocean. Dexter was able to go with us and had a great time on the beach. After we had wrecked the kite and had as much wind as our ears could stand, we headed back to the cabin. We had a scrumptious dinner despite lack of cooking pans/ utensils. We made brownies in a skillet in the oven and they actually turned out perfect. At least that's what Scott said. The rest of us just got a taste. We played a game before all of us couldn't keep our heads up anymore, except katya who wanted to stay up and watch a movie.

Camping in the North West

Since day light savings, and springtime rolling in, it now is light here in the northwest past 6:30PM , and now the sun doesn't set until 9:30! Lots of time to enjoy the great outdoors. Scott went camping back at the end of march in the Olympic national forest with Preston Russell for 2 days. After 11 miles the first day, they decided to stop and make camp, the next day they decided to make for sundown pass, but were ill prepared for what met them. Upon reaching around 4,000 feet, they went from 3 inches of snow, to 3 feet of snow. So they hiked the 5 miles back to their campsite and played in the river instead. On the hike back, they decided to attempt any higher elevation would have to wait until at least June. The Olympic National park is a treasure, and being one of the first ones on the trail this season was a real breath - taking experience, but that's what hiking is all about I suppose.

Spring Break: Day 6

We started the morning by a drive through the 17-mile drive. Beautiful... We stopped at Spanish Bay and flew a kite and let the kids play in the sand. We then drove across the state to King's Canyon where there was tons of snow on the ground! We could only get in to see the general Grant grove forest. General Sherman grove was snowed in. We had fun in the cold and Scott and the kids hiked off the beaten path to break the rules and play inside the gigantic trees. We spent a fun last night together playing scrabble in the main room of the lodge there in front of a huge stone firplace with a beautiful fire made by Scott. When we woke up the next morning, Kirby (our van) was covered with snow! Thank goodness Scott was there to plow him off and navigate the roads for us. We took Beth and the girls back to the airport and then started our long trip back home arriving at 3 am. Whew! It was hectic, but fun!

Spring Break: Day 5

So we started our day by driving to Monterey. A beautiful drive through the agricultural fields of CA where we had a good time trying to decipher the crops being grown. Monterey is beautiful! The kids and Scott played at a cool playground that had an old train and a rock wall while Beth and I went to the Naval postgrad school for some tickets for local attractions. Then we headed over to catch our whale watching boat. I think the general consensus was to never recommend that experience to anyone, unless they were your worst enemy. Beth and I both agreed it was worse than labor. We were nauseated, cold, wet, couldn't stand up without falling down, scared, nauseated, cold, wet. Pretty much - miserable. I spent my time puking over the back of the boat, while Beth and Rachel tried to hold their lunch in while consoling Jack and Katya while trying not to drop them over fall overboard. Jessica was too afraid to come out of the cabin and looked green and slept the whole trip. Of course Scott thought it was great! We got to see a two second glipse of the back of a gray whale. Whoo-hoo! Definitely worth the $90. We were so happy to see land again - we actually did see some cool seal lions, otters, and birds in the harbor - that we didn't mind the cheesy shops, since they were warm and dry. We spent a long time drying our hands/hair/faces/clothes in the bathroom under the warmers. We then headed over to the very cool aquarium. We spent a good afternoon there and Jack and Katya had fun in the Kid's Zone. We went for some good seafood afterwards and then back to our room to do laundry and SLEEP!