Fiddle recital

We were so glad Jared and Jesse could keep up on their violin lessons. BJ and I are really proud of them and their progress. Here are a few pictures from the recital earlier this month.

Sisters

Soooo, this doesn't seem very fair. Amy is about 5-6 weeks behind me this time. I would say there is a pretty big difference in our sizes. Hopefully we can get one more picture together before I deliver...and she will actually look pregnant!

Our offspring....

Girls belong to Amy,

Boys belong to Elaine.

I know I am bigger this time, but I never realize how big until I see a picture of myself. Yikes! I hope I will go back to "normal" after this....whatever "normal" is at this age. :)

Tillamook Cheese Factory

A couple weekends ago my cousin came for a visit. We had told the boys we would visit the cheese factory in Tillamook before the twins were born. Since Big Justin had never been and our calendar was starting to fill up, this looked like our only opportunity. It is always fun to sample the cheese and buy a little icecream treat. :)

This is Judson as an adult farmer...with chocolate icecream on his face. :)

Too bad I don't fit in the bus! Actually, I am having trouble fitting anywhere these days.

Judson Lee

He is growing up. My 19 month old has watched big brother Johnny ride the tractor so many times that he needed to try it for himself.

BJ and I have so enjoyed watching baby Jud grow up and his little personality develop. He is a lot of fun. His facial expressions are priceless as well as his kisses and snuggles right before bedtime.
Each one of our boys are different. BJ and I are excited to see what this little guy is like as he grows up. I sure miss the little baby stage...so glad I get to do it again. And Judson, much to my dismay, as already made to transfer to being a daddy's boy. :)

snake-snake

This is what I discovered as I flipped back our quilt to go to bed. Yes, I screamed. What was really gross is that this fella was still a little slimy from being soaked for 96 hours (exactly...because it is Jared's). The next morning I asked who left me the nice present on my bed. Jared's eyes lowered and he couldn't keep the smirk off his face. :) The joys of boys!

The Duncan's Visit

A few weeks back our dear friends, the Duncans, came for a visit. It was so good to spend time with them again. Chip spoke for church that Sunday, sharing the Lord's leading of them towards the future adoption of a foster child.

After church we fellowshipped with the Duncans and Warners....for old time's sake. Eleven years ago we all lived in Woodburn on the same street. When the Duncans went on the mission field to Hungary, they had one child, the Warners had two, and we had Jared. Now look at our gang!

Here are the kiddos in birth order.

Poor Alyssa is outnumbered! Thankfully, she can hold her own. :)

AG Fest

AG fest is so cool!!! It took place the last Saturday of April. We were impressed with the amount of hands-on activities, educational info, and freebies. Our boys had a good time...and also enjoyed seeing Grandma Connie and Papa Ray.

OMSI

We made it! I wanted to go see the Ancient Egypt exhibit at OMSI all month. We were able to squeeze it in only a few days before it was over. The boys enjoyed it, but I think I was the one most fascinated. I gotta say, it was a little creepy.

My happy mother's day....

Jared worked hard to have this nice breakfast ready for me. I was impressed when I came out of the shower to my "breakfast in bed." :) The note he wrote me was so sweet....and I felt undeserving of such kind words. It described so many ways I strive to be and yet fail. It was such an encouraging answer to prayer...and nice to see my Jar-bear believing in me.

My heros....

I am happy to announce that there are no more bears in my home. The territory has been conquered. :)

Easter 2011

You know me and the messy activites. We actually had a nice day so we dyed eggs outside.... under the supervision of daddy. :)

After a nice Easter service we headed home to do Easter baskets and then to my in-laws' home. We always have such a yummy meal (I seriously look forward to the food) and the boys have fun hunting for eggs.

Grandma Sally put these cool shades in each of the grandkids' easter baskets. Aren't these guys so "cool"?

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter. He is risen indeed!

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm....again

My mom, sister, and nieces met at my house a couple of Fridays ago. My mom's birthday was the day before so it was nice to all be together to celebrate. Here's a few pictures from our outing to the tulip festival. Even with only a 10 minute drive, going anywhere with eight children can be a major ordeal. :) It will be interesting when we add the next three to the group. At least then Amy and I won't be pregnant so we will have more energy, right?

Taking time to "smell the tulips"....
Paisley Mae and Judson Lee were not excited to sit in the shoes.

Jared loves littles. He wants to hold babies any chance he can...Paisley was the youngest one of the bunch.

Unfortunately, we had a lot of grumpies on this day. Since half the kiddos were crying anyway, we told them all to cry. :)

Back at our home we enjoyed pizza, cake, and icecream for my mom's birthday. We are so thankful to have another year to celebrate with her.

Tulip Festival

Now that we live in Woodburn again, we can enjoy the tulip festival! (Sorry Lewis County friends but this one is waaaay better than Degoede's tulip fields in Mossyrock.:) We avoided the crowds by going during a weekday afternoon.

I love these pictures of the boys. Baby Judson didn't like being a tulip.

As you can tell by their eyes, it was a very sunny day.

My boys are a ton of fun. I am so thankful to be their mommy.

Our Family Vacation

It is so nice to get away. We were blessed with a trip to Seaside, thanks to some dear friends in our church. The timing of our trip was wonderful, coming out of an extremely busy week for BJ and missing all the spring break weeks for Oregon and Washington. For the first couple of days it was just our family and a bunch of retired people enjoying Seaside. :) The boys literally oohed and aahed at our place....okay, and mommy did a little too. :)

The boys went for a walk. I snapped a few pictures then went back to our room for a little rest. All by myself. It was divine. :)


Our boys love to swim any chance they get. The weather was chilly and windy, but the pools were heated. I was the only chicken in the family.

Judson was only watching this time, but he got his turn in the water later on.

Daddy and J.R. doing tricks in the kiddie pool.

Poor Jud didn't get his own, but with so many brothers giving him licks, he got his fair share. :)

Another one of BJ's things...I think all of our boys had a turn at wearing a hand towel after their bath at this age.

Each boy got to pick one activity that we would do for sure at the beach. Jesse picked Monopoly. Daddy was the lucky parent to play with them while I knitted and watch a movie with the younger boys.

Johnny had just fallen asleep when we pulled into Pizza Hut. BJ snuggled him for a while, but put him down when our pizza came. He was obviously exhausted because it took a while for him to really wake up.

Jared's choice activity.

Judson loved the kiddie pool.

Definitely a memorable trip. Great time tying strings with the boys and relaxing!