The last few months have been pretty eventful for us.  I have wanted to blog long before now, but just couldn't make it happen.  Here's why.  Spring Break was at the end of March, so we drove out to Washington to see Ian, Kaylene, their kids and then Dad and Lisa.  Of course like any vacation we take, it rained most of the time.  Ce La Vie!

These photos are from the day we went with Ian to Tacoma.  We walked around the Tacoma Conservatory (it was closed so we didn't go inside), and the kids played on a pretty playground nearby.

We also went for a drive through some beautiful parks and got out to look at this tree.  I always knew Ian was a tree fan, but on this trip it hit me just how much he really loves trees.  We had driven by this one but he had us turn around so we could get out and look at how beautiful this tree really was. It was huge, too.

 Yay!  We're out of the car!  I'm sure Birch was happy about that.

Well I wish I would have gotten more photos of our time with Ian and Kaylene, and a photo of Kaylene!  The night before we left we chowed down on some serious sushi and the four of us chatted while the kids played downstairs.  I'm happy to say I think a night of sushi is becoming tradition when we get together!
Then we were off to Anacortes.  More rain, but we did get some sunshine too.  One morning I ventured a run along the Washington Park loop.  Eric and I ran up there once, but only until we hit a trail and then we pretty much were off the loop the rest of the time.  This time I decided I was going to run the loop and boy was I in for a shock.  The loop had so many climbs!  Just when I had finished one climb and thought the pain was over another hill began.  It was tough.  Above is a photo from the top.

Taking the kids to the tidepools.....and playing on rocks and trees of course.

Washington Park has a pretty playground, and its just down the street from Dad and Lisa's.  I love that Eric is playing on some kind of swing in the background.

One day Dad pulled out his fossils to show the kids and it was a treat to watch their eyes light up. Oakley especially couldn't believe what his little eyes were seeing: Megaladon teeth?!  Among other things.  My kids love their Papi but I think his coolness points went up even more after that morning.

Dad and Lisa taught Eric and I how to play Sequence when they lived in South Carolina and we were immediate fans.  So on more than one night Lisa put on some tunes when the kids were in bed and we played.  Lisa and I would usually dance in our seats and ham things up a bit but Dad and Eric weren't taking the bait.  Lisa and I had fun though; embarrassing our husbands.

At Rosario beach collecting rocks for Papi to polish for us and send to us later.  I love this tradition. Can't get enough rocks! ;)

Ahhh Rosario Beach.  One of the most beautiful and serene places to be.

We were in Anacortes the week of Easter so we got to decorate eggs with Marmi and Papi, which was great!  Of course Lisa, being the over-achiever that she is (with a capital O, and I mean that in the fondest way possible), had the coolest dying kits and our egg decoration options were limitless.  A fun night and the end of a fun trip.  We left Saturday morning so we could be home for Easter.

We bought a new house.  This is the main reason I haven't been able to blog for so long.  Once we got back from Spring Break things progressed really quickly and we closed mid-April, 2 weeks sooner than we had planned.  Everything happened so fast.  We went through the house at the end of February, put in the offer at the beginning of March, and closed 6 weeks later.  Its been a whirlwind but we're finally at a place where I have an evening to record my thoughts.
Our new home was previously owned by a retired couple who were in our church congregation. When we saw they were selling their house (which is just down the street from our other home) we decided on a whim to walk through it.  Afterward Eric and I commented to each other how much we liked the floor plan, and decided to go through it again.  We then went through the home a third time (all in the same week), and decided it was a no-brainer.  We had wanted to look for homes in the neighborhood next to ours for several reasons, and this house was amazing.  But could we really do it?  Leave our home we loved for this one?  We weren't even seriously thinking of moving when we first went through the house!
I told Eric I needed to pray about it.  I needed to know it was what the Lord wanted us to do.  I prayed several times, pondered about it, prayed some more, and felt that while it was a good decision, it was up to us.  I never got that lightening bolt answer I was looking for.  Well now that all is said and done, I cannot describe the blessings that have come from making this move!  I think the Lord sometimes holds back an answer so we can learn and grow.  I am so glad we made this decision; it has not only affected our lives but the lives of some of those around us.  I'll go into this later in another post. This is all jumping ahead though.  Back to April.

One of the things the Easter Bunny brought Aspen was a balloon kit.  We had a lot of fun making creations with her twisty balloons.  Eric's white puppy was especially good, I thought, compared to my pink out-of-proportion puppy!

Oakley continues to use his imagination in the most creative ways.  The other day he spelled his name out of random objects that were on the table.

After our trip to WA I decided on a whim to cut my hair and get some bangs.  Aspen's hair is never short enough for her so we went to the salon together.  It was a fun thing to do together.  Sorry for the blur!

I have been taking some blood pressure medication lately for headaches.  I have suffered with headaches all my life but they have become so frequent I knew I needed some help.  The medication I'm on helps a lot, but it also tires me out and affects my endurance.  Running has been more of a challenge for me lately, both getting out the door and keeping up my pace.  It's a sacrifice that is definitely worth it; I'm just in adjustment mode.  Anyway this is a view of one of my favorite routes.

 At the park :)  My little reader.

I thought it would be fun to do something different to my new pantry before we moved in, and decided to pain the shelves the gray color we have on the walls of our other house.  I really like the way it turned out.

 The kids playing in Aspen's room.

 B sleeping.  Now that he is out of his crib he isn't doing this as smoothly as he used to!  Little punk...

I took this of the boys one afternoon while we were picnicking in the backyard.  I love it so much, I may need to frame it and hang it somewhere.

The weekend after we started moving into the house I took a trip to Utah to spend a girls' weekend with Mom, Sasha and Demri.  We went to Park City and stayed in a cute condo there.  Boise has been very hot lately, and it was especially hot in April.  So when we got to Park City and I saw it was going to snow the next day, I couldn't believe it!  I was pretty excited to have one last snow until next winter.
That night we had some dinner and then went and looked at some shops.  I took this photo above and sent it to Eric; one shop had a large amount of antique skis, and on each one was a tag listing the type of skis they were, the year they were made, and something interesting about them.  It would have been fun to have had Eric there to see them all.

Park City has some really fun shops.  They also have some amazing art galleries, and we just soaked up all the beautiful nature photographs that were featured in most of them.  We went back to look at them on Saturday, after we had breakfasted and taken a dip in the hot tub.  Once it started snowing we had an early dinner, went for a drive, and then headed back to the condo.

Here's a photo from our condo window.  It's hard to tell but its snowing.  It snowed all evening and through the night.  So neat.  Our condo had a wood burning fireplace so Mom bought some wood and built a fire so we could be extra cozy as we played games, ate chocolate and watched HGTV.  So glad I'm not the only one that likes to do that when I'm on vacation!!

Oakley only has a few days of preschool left, and then he's off to kindergarten next year.  His graduation is a week from today; I can't believe it!  His teacher has been so amazing and Oakley loves her so much; I think it would be harder for him to accept leaving if it weren't for Aspen's enthusiasm about him going to the same school she is next year.  Anyway one day last week his class took a field trip to the Boise Botanical Gardens.  It was so much fun.  The kids listened to the tour while us mommies got to chat!  And it was such a beautiful day.

 Makenna, Addie, Casha, Anna, Easton, Spencer, Oakley and Smith (by the way, is Smith not the coolest name?)

After 3 weeks of hard work we were finally out of the house!  We have decided to keep the house and rent it out, which definitely makes saying good-bye easier.  Eric and I are woosies.  Don't think we could part with it!  I took this photo as a last good-bye of sorts.

More B sleeping.  Love it when this kid sleeps!  B runs so funny.  I better mention this now so I don't forget later.  When he runs, he looks like he's going as fast as his little legs can possibly take him, but he doesn't move his arms.  It's so funny; I've got to remember to film it sometime before he gets some running skills.

I put all our beach treasures, including the polished rocks Dad sends us, in this wooden tray on the table.  At some point each day Birch climbs up to the bench with his little tractor and digs in the rocks.  Makes me so happy. The rocks are pretty and functional!

Yesterday while O was at preschool I grabbed some of his dinos and blocks and put them on the counter like this.   When he came home he demanded to know how they got there.  Did I put them there?  What was going on?  I told him, "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.  All I know is, they weren't there before."  Total nonsense answer but he accepted it and stopped asking, so I'm not sure what his little mind is envisioning.

Took the kids to the park today for an hour.  Met my friend Brandi there and we happened to get in about 10 minutes of conversation between chasing the kids around.  I told Brandi next week we would have a playdate at my house, in the backyard, with shade, chairs and Otterpops for the kids!

Mother's Day.  Or is it Mothers' Day?  Took a picture with the kiddos on Mother's Day a few years back and wish I had done it every year since.  Its a tradition I'd like to do from now on!!