Candids of the kids

Just some random shot of the kids from the last few weeks. They are mostly of Makenna again because Parker was either running away from the camera or had a binkie in his mouth. That kids still loves his binkie. We are getting rid of them when he turns three. I always think I've rounded them all up and then Parker uses his "binkie sonar" and somehow finds one to stick in his mouth. I think it's going to be a rough experience getting him to stop (and he turns three in just a few weeks!) Yikes!

The Frog Blog

Andrew has been bugging me to post this for a while so here you go, honey. In the last week or so we have had some frogs end up in our living room. We just figured out yesterday that they are getting in through the space between the bottom of our window and our little window AC unit. I happen to think that it's actually just one frog who really likes us and so he keeps coming back.(: They are super cute and to quote Parker, "really tiny baby frogs". Everytime we find one Andrew wants to keep it as a pet and everytime I shut him down. I just can't see a wild frog being happy stuck in a cage. I also don't want to have to buy it and feed it dead bugs. I hate bugs, even dead ones.

A visit from Mike and Renee

We had a great visit from my aunt Renee and uncle Mike last week. The kids and I got to go swimming at their hotel pool and we met Andrew later for dinner at The Cheescake Factory. We are so glad that we got a chance to see them while they were out here in Washington!

All about Andrew

Jamie tagged me like a week and a half ago I'm just getting to it. Here you go!

What is his name?
Andrew Barnes

How long have you been married?
6 1/2 yrs now

How long did you date?
We were friends for 4 years before we really started dating. We both had crushes on eachother but we somehow never hooked up until after Andrew's mission. After we finally got together I think it was maybe 2 months before we got engaged.

Who said I love you first?
He did...in spanish. It was romantic.

Who sings better?
Man, after like 10 years of voice lessons, I hope I do.

Who is taller?
Andrew, which is not hard

Whose temper is worse?
Mine. I'm a spaz and Andrew is super chill

Who does the laundry?
Me. Always me.(:

Who does the dishes?
Me again.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me still.

Who does the cooking?
You guessed it...me.

Who is more stubborn?
Hmmm...probably me.

Who proposed?
Andrew

Who wears the pants in the family?
It depends on the situation

Why do you love your husband?
He is always happy to see me. He loves his kids. He loves to be with us more than anything else. He is a great provider. He loves me no matter what. He's super handsome. I really could go on and on...

Who do I want to tag?
Danielle, Jenny, and Malinda

Hike at the beach

Yesterday we went out to the a beach on the Puget Sound. I saw a trail right in front of where we parked, so we decided to take a little hike. One of the things I love the most about Washingon is that it is surrounded by thick forest everywhere so there are beautiful trails all over the place. Poor Makenna got bounced around a little bit in the umbrella stroller she was in until Andrew decided to hold her. We need to get a baby backpack for her or something. Paker and Sadie were having the time of their lives running up the trail! It was fun to watch them. After we walked the trail we headed down to the beach and Parker had some fun playing in the sand. And, by the way, Makenna is finally crawling! I was beginning to think she was just going to roll everywhere until she learned to walk, but she proved me wrong. Life just got a lot busier!(:

My name

Here's and interesting little tidbit of information for you. (Thanks Reagan)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 58 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

A Day Out with Thomas!

Wow! Lots of posting for me this week! This post should catch me up on all our adventures. Last Saturday was the big day! Parker's day out with Thomas! Parker LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine so when I found out that they have a traveling "Thomas" engine that kids could take a ride on, I had to get us tickets. Parker had been looking forward to this for a long time. He, of course, was in heaven surrounded by everything Thomas. Andrew and I were....really hot. It was priceless to see his face when he first saw Thomas, though. Shear delight. He got a Percy (Thomas' friend) tatoo and he freaked out the next day when we tried to get him in the shower. The whole shower he cried and covered his tatoo so it wouldn't wash off.(: It was definitely one of the hightlights of Parker's summer.

Parker, Andrew, and Sir Topham Hatt

Waiting in line for our ride on Thomas. Parker usually pulls this face for pictures because he hates having them taken.

Parker, Andrew, and Thomas

The real, live Thomas!

Parker in his own little paradise...surrounded by trains and tracks to drive them on.

Woodland Park Zoo

As you may have noticed by now, last week was a busy one! We went to the Woodland Park zoo in Seattle last Friday. It is a really neat zoo and it's huge! Parker and Makenna had a great time playing with Jamie and Adam there. It was cute to see Parker glued to Adam's hip all through the park.

Pike's St. Market and Snoqualmie Falls

The last few days of Jamie and Adam's trip we got to do some fun things with them. Pike's street market was super crowded but it was neat to be there. Everything was pretty expensive for cheapies like us, but we did find some golden rasberry jam that is to die for! Yum! Later that day we hiked down to the base of Snoqualmie Falls. We've been there quite a few times in the summers we've spent in WA, but the beauty of the falls never fails to take my breath away. Neither does the hike back up!(:

We found some of "Parker's" pickles at the market and we had to get a picture with them. Pickles are Parker's favorite food so it's fitting that there are pickles named after him!(:

We ate lunch at Ivar's on the pier and the thing to do is feed the seagulls. I got a good shot of a seagull taking a fry from Andrew's hand.

Andrew at the base of Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls

Daddy and Makenna at Pike's Street Market

Northwest Trek

My sister and her husband came out to visit us last week and we had tons of fun. We also got a chance to do some really neat stuff. The first day we went to a place called Northwest Trek. It's like a zoo and nature preserve in one. We took a tram ride around the preserve and saw moose, caribou, bison, and mountain goats. Jamie and I also had serious allergy attacks and spent most of the time rubbing our eyes and sneazing. Parker loved every minute of it. Most of the animals in the zoo part we alseep because it was so hot. Well, hot for Washington. It was probably about 90 degrees. So we didn't get to see many of them doing much, we had a good time anyway. Here are some pictures from the day.

It's sort of hard to see, but there is a cute little fawn in the grass.


Jamie, Adam, Parker, and Makenna

One of the black bears had his leg up on a rock while he was sleeping. I thought it looked kind of funny, so I got a picture.


The bison we saw.

The elk were much bigger than I ever thought they would be. I love how majestic they look.

The 4th of July part 2

Here are some more pictures of our 4th of July celebration.

Here is Makenna with our friend, Jordyn.

Making funny faces at eachother is a cute daddy/daughter thing that they do all the time. Andrew can get the silliest looks out of Makenna and they crack him up. Something about seeing these two together melts my heart.

Here is one of Parker on the slide he played on the whole evening.

Parker caught a ball for the first time at the bbq! I was lucky enough to be taking pictures at just the right moment. Yay for my coordinated little guy! He was so proud of himself!

The 4th of July part 1

We had a great 4th of July! Andrew only worked until 3pm, which was wonderful! It was so fun to have some time to just be together. We went to a party that Andrew's office was having. Parker mostly hung out on the playground and had a blast. Makenna and I watched Parker play and chatted with the girls. Andrew got to play some basketball with the boys. It was one of those perfect days.

Here is my super handsome husband!

Makenna is not a fan of grass yet. (:

Parker running up to the slide. He pretty much just played on the slide the whole time.

Parker was so funny! Some of the girls were talking on the grass and just he walked up and sat down across from them. I guess he decided he wanted to join in the conversation. Never too young to flirt!(:

I took some pictures of Makenna and I. Ignore my chubby face! I love the way Makenna is snuggling me! Love that baby!

BBQ for Melanoma

Here are a few pictures of our bbq in honor of my mother. There aren't many because my camera died after like 4 shots, but Jamie got some cute ones.

Here is my grandma with Makenna. She sure has a way with babies and the kids love her. I do too! (:

Here are a couple of cute ones of Parker and his cousin Crandall. They sure are handsome boys!



Once again, thanks to all who were able to make it to the bbq and to donate to the Melanoma Research Foundation. It meant so much to Jamie and I.