Leavenworth

Leavenworth is a little "Bavarian" town in the Cascades. Tons of darling shops to look at and eat at. :) We grabbed some ice cream and a pretzel. Emily checked out a book store and the others really liked a store with all kinds of rocks and such.

While Emily wanted to spend her money on books, the others spent theirs on some bouncy rides.

Love that he's wairing two different socks!

Katelyn the daredevil!

Erin decided to spend her money on the rock climbing wall. She made it to the top 3 times. She was up and down 2 times before those boys around her got up there! She loved every minute of it! When she got down, she said (with a huge grin on her face) "It's really scary at the top! " She is quite the adventurer!

The kids had the most fun at a place called the "Icicle Station". (I'm guessing it is really cool at Christmastime!) It had everything: hotel, pool, park, basketball, miniature golf, an arcade, and a movie theatre. The kids loved playing miniature golf!


Erin showing a practice swing.

Asked Em to get a picture of me.

Beautiful Emily.

Ian at the windmill! I think this was his hole in one!

I love this one of Ian getting ready to "kill" his ball while Katelyn is setting hers up for a little put.

After the miniature golf, we played some arcade games and then saw the new " Night at the Museum 2" at the theatre. It was cheaper than at home! :) We left late with promises to the kids that we would have to return! We had a great time together.

Drive to Leavenworth

Last Saturday, we took a drive out to Leavenworth. (More pictures to follow) The drive was beautiful, but LONG! We were stuck in horrible holiday traffic and went about 20 miles in an hour and 15 minutes! It was only supposed to take about 2 hours to get there total! Finally, we made it through the small towns and saw a huge group of bike riders stopped for a break at a tiny cafe. It must have been them, because it was clear sailing after that! A friend had told us about a stop called Deception Falls. The kids were grateful to get out of the car and it was quite a cool little place!

Kids enjoying being out of the car!

Having to climb on the bridge making mommy very nervous! :)

Bottom of Deception Falls

I got this tiny video. My camera's batteries died.


Back in the car, we drove over Stevens Pass and saw the ski slopes. The little ones couldn't believe we were so close to snow. In fact, Ian informed us that the snow to the sides of the road couldn't be cold. He said it was just 'dry snow'.

It was slow going, but we did enjoy really looking at the beautiful details of the countryside as we drove along. A blessing in disguise!

A Book's a Magic Carpet

Katelyn participated in a 1st and 2nd grade concert. The First graders sang a song called "A Book's a Magic Carpet" among others. My camera is HORRIBLE at their assemblies. (The problem couldn't be that we are always in the back! :) I did manage to get this on tape. It is a cute film. Katelyn is on the left side, very top row, 3rd from right (or middle of room) with a Red Bandana and Cowboy hat on. She wanted to be Alex Rover from the book "Nims Island". (More likely from the movie. :)
You can barely see her, but I hope you can see the cute actions and hear the cute song.

Freddy's Baptism

May 17th was extra special in that we got to go to our Nephew, Freddy's baptism. His Grandma and Grandpa Byington came from Virginia and his Grandpa Byington baptized and confirmed him. His Uncle Spencer gave the talk on Baptism and Uncle Doug gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Freddy, his sister, Bridget, and his cousins got up and sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus". It was beautiful and the spirit was very strong! We were so happy that we could be there and be a part of his special day!


Grandma and Grandpa Byington, Jen, Freddy, and Bridget.


Cousins "trying" to be still and happy.

So much easier to do a silly picture!!

Freddy with his Uncle Spence and Uncle Doug

Group Picture!

Emily's first Sacrament Meeting Talk

On May 17th, Emily gave her first Sacrament Meeting Talk. We were lucky that Doug, Theresa, and their family were there to hear it! She chose to speak on Honesty. As this is our 'Family Journal' of sorts, I thought I'd include it in here. She wrote it entirely by herself and I was very proud of her especially as she looked up and even smiled! :) (If you know Emily, you know that was a huge feat!)


Hi, I'm Emily Oliver an I chose to give my talk on Honesty. In life, honesty is one of the most important things ever. If we remain honest, we will not only be much more happier, we will return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
In the 'For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet', it says that if you are honest, you will be blessed with peace of mind and self-respect.

In Alma 27:27 it states that "And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the poeple who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end."

One way honesty helps me is at school or at a friends' house. Recently, at my friends house, we were listening to her ipod. After finishing a song, it went to another. As my friend heard the tune, she quickly turned it to another good song. She said to me that that song wasn't very good. Because I had been honest with her about my beliefs, I didn't have to listen to a bad song.

As we go about our daily lives, we never realize the little things that require honesty. Say you bought something at the mall and the cashier accidently gave you too much change. Would you go back and give him the extra change or would you keep it and think it's no big deal? Even things like that require honesty. When yo are dishonest, you damage your spirit and it is really easy to do it again and again.

I would like to bear my testimony about honesty and how I know that if we are honest, we can be much happier people.

Bridging the Gap

On May 12th, we went to a special program at our new High School. It was called Bridging the Gap. It was for all of the 6th grade Band Students from the 3 elementary schools that will combine next year at our Middle School.
They performed 4 songs for us. Then, the Middle School Band members played. Finally, the High School Marching Band came out (flag line and all) and got everyone all jazzed up! It was a really fun concert and it was cool to see the developement of the kids at each level.

I was so far up that I didn't get any good pictures, but here is the video of one of the songs Emily played. Emily is right above the conductors right hand playing the clarinet.

Erin's 10th Birthday Party

We had to celebrate Erin's birthday a little late this year as she was doing the play on her birthday. She invited friends over after school for snacks and cake and ice cream. Then, we hit the theatre for the new Hannah Montana Movie. I think they all had a great time!


I know, not as cool as the Roller Skate cake from last year. But 6 layers of yummy goodness from her mama! :)



Erin LOVES Peanut Butter!!




Crazy, Cool Girlies!!!

Night of the Arts at the Elementary School

On May 7th, the kids Elementary School put on a "Night of the Arts" in the Common Area. The Band performed off and on throughout the evening. Here is a video of one of their songs. They are actually pretty good for a 6th grade band!

Well, that isn't working...Here are some pictures from the night.

Emily playing her clarinet for me.


The 6th graders did their own versions of the "Mona Lisa". Emily's, of course, was a vampire Mona Lisa. (Great news! Emily saw a girl at her Middle School orientation that was a Goth. I think seeing someone in real life who looks, acts, and radiates that helped her decide she DOESN"T want to dress and look that way! Whew!)


The masks reminded me of the masks we would see in Venice.



Each class had different themes and mediums of art. Here are two from Erin:

Katelyn's class did kind of Indian patterns with their beans. Very fun!

Springtime Picnics

On May 1st, we met Spencer downtown at the Seattle Arboretum to have a picnic dinner and walk around. It is so gorgeous and peaceful there! We all had a great time together!

While waiting for Spencer, the kids played catch


and Erin tried to fly her kite that Jen, Freddy, and Bridget got her for her birthday.



Yay! Daddy arrived and we got to have a picnic under the beautiful trees!

(Whoa! Mommy's looking a bit tired! :)

We had a great time walking around and goofing off!

Emily loved the flowering trees!

Isn't she beautiful!!

Erin always finds the best trees to climb! This one was perfect!

I'm so very glad that May is here. Washington is absolutely GORGEOUS May through about October! We love it here!!

Mommy and Ian at The Farm

On April 29th, I got to go on Ian's first "field trip". We went with his preschool class to "The Farm" down in Snohomish. We are so lucky to be so close to places like this! We learned about plants and animals and even got to go on a hay ride. Ian planted a pumpkin seed and Farmer Ben said that one pumpkin seed can actually produce many pumpkins. I tried to remember where we were so that in the Fall, we can go back and purchase a pumpkin for Halloween that just might be from Ian's seed! :)


This is Farmer Carol teaching the kids about plants and how they need soil, sun, and water.

Ian getting his Marigold and soil to plant it with.

So proud of himself!

Ian loved seeing the new baby animals...

Aren't they cute???

Ian eating his popsicle with his buddy Kaleb.

Ian's preschool class. What a fun day!

Erin in he "Emperor's New Clothes"

Erin decided to try the Drama Club this Spring and had two parts in the Spring Musical, "The Emporer's New Clothes". She got to be a Princess and a Weaver. She had a lot of fun, but found that it was more of a time commitment than she wanted to give. (Stayed after school til 6pm, 4 days a week!) It was very cute and fun and she did an excellent job!

Erin learned how to juggle especially for the play and we found that she is a natural!

Here is Erin as a Princess.

Erin singing the "Tikki Bird Song"

Erin singing as a Weaver.

In the Wedding Line.

T-ball Funnies

Don't you just love going to t-ball games! In this post I'll show you a few fun moments at one of Ian's games. This was in April. (I know, I always play catch up!)

As most of you know, in T-ball, everyone who hits gets to run to 1st base and stays there. They rotate through the lineup and when the last batter hits, everyone runs home. Well, in this game, he was the last batter and this is what happened! :)

The same day Ian learned a new trick and wanted me to get a picture of it. He didn't realize that I was videoing and thought I missed it!

I don't know if you can see, but Ian is concentrating so hard on blowing bubbles (while in the field) he doesn't realize what it looks like he's doing! :)

And to end, I have a good video of him up to bat--enjoy!