Our Little Family

Summer 2011

2011-11-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

It is now November and Christmas is coming upon us! I thought now would be a good time to catch up on the rest of our summer! LOL!

We went on a lot of bike rides for fun and to help prepare for our Bike MS ride we went on in September.

We made it to one of Kaden's Motocross races! That kid amazes me! He is a pretty cool kid!

Kambria got a basketball hoop as an early birthday present. We all enjoyed it!

The kids got a horse......oh wait...we already had him! :)

Daddy accidentally crashed on one of our bike rides with Kambria and Benson in the trailer. Benson came out of it without a scratch, Kambria wasn't so lucky, but she was okay. :)

For a Family Home Evening activity shortly after the bike accident, we made cards and took flowers over to a wonderful lady who helped us so much. We made a new friend that day!

Eli and his mis-match flip flops. LOL:) The orange pair were his favorite, but one was lost some where at Coeur d' Alene Lake when we went there for the 4th of July. So this is how he wore his flip flops the rest of the summer. Funny kid!

Kambria's Barbie themed birthday party in our front yard

Kambria turns 7!

Pinata fun!

One of Kambria's favorite birthday presents! She LOVES Monster High stuff right now!

(this is Frankie Stein, Frankenstein's daughter)

One of Benson's favorite foods over the summer!

Before this summer, my kids had never been stung. During the summer, Kambria was stung once and Benson and Eli were both stung twice! Here is the beautiful reaction Benson had to a bee sting on his eye lid while we were in Walla Walla.

Brotherly Love on a road trip to Walla Walla

We took a little trip with our best friends, George and Rhiannon to the Trail of the Coeur d' Alene's to help prepare for the Bike MS ride. It was so fun, beautiful, hot, exhausting, and even ended up spiritual in the end!

Some silliness during one of our breaks :)

I took this picture off of the Trail of the Coeur D' Alene's. LOVE IT!!!

One of our fund raisers for Bike MS

Kambria's first day of 2nd grade!

School starting marks the end of Summer. Now onto Fall.....

A Great Ride into 30!

2011-07-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

For my 30th birthday I wanted to do something different and memorable! For a while, Jon and I had been talking about riding our bikes to Coeur D' Alene on the Centennial trail, staying the night, and riding back the next day. So I thought my birthday weekend would be the perfect time to do it! I was so right!!!! While planning our little getaway I couldn't decided where we should stay. We didn't have a lot of money to spend, but we were really hoping to have a pool to swim in since the lake was very cold and it wasn't quite hot enough to want to swim in it. The day before we were to leave, I finally called The Coeur D' Alene resort. Thinking it was a long shot, I was wondering if they do "fill the room" rates if we just show up and they have space available. The very nice gal that I talked to said they do grant those rates and that if I wanted to reserve a room right then she would give me such a rate. I ask what the cheapest Economy room rate would be; she said $159. Hmmmm.....I wasn't sure??? She then told me that they had quite a few of the tower view rooms available and if I wanted to make my reservations with her then she would upgrade for free!!!! SOLD!!!! :) I was so Excited!!!!!! Those rooms are normally $300+ this time of year!!!
Jon's mom and sister took care of the kids, we are so grateful! We wanted to be in Coeur D' Alene by a certain time and were running behind (yes I know that is surprising, lol) so we had his mom drop us off by the Mirabeau Park trail head. Starting from there, it was about 27 miles to Coeur' D Alene.

Here we are about to head out! :)

We made it to the State Line!!!!

And finally to Coeur D' Alene!!!

After checking in to the Resort, having a wonderful dinner at Tito Macaroni's, taking a short walk around downtown Coeur D' Alene, and Totally ENJOYING the pool, hot tub, and steam room, we took a shower and headed to Dockside for my Birthday dessert!!! We were going to do a half and half Snickers Sundae and Peanut Butter Cup Sundae, but we found out they don't have the Snicker's one anymore. We decided to look at the menu and saw that they have a new one, a 25th Anniversary Sundae! A Heavenly concoction!!!! Jon can actually eat a WHOLE sundae from Dockside, myself on the other hand cannot! We chose to share!

In the morning we called room service to find out if there was a microwave we could use to heat up our left-overs from the night before. They said they would be right up to pick it up and heat it up for us! :) They brought it back laid out nicely on a plate and nice and hot! No Charge! :) So we had dinner food for breakfast........why not??....you can have breakfast food for dinner! :) We enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony, it was so wonderful!!!

One of the views from our 12th floor room!

The other view from our room :)

Even after we checked out, we were still able to enjoy the amenities for the day! :) We hopped on the free boat ride available to guests and headed to the Resort Golf Course for a swim....

.........that's right, a swim!!!!! You can't see it too well in this picture, but they have a brand new pool they just finished! It is AMAZING!!!!!!!!

We were even waited on by pool side employees!!!!!

Just what I needed!!!! So relaxing and blissful!!!!! The pool water drops off the edge, but it looks like it goes right into the lake!

After the boat ride back, we collected our things that were being held for us, grabbed our bikes, rode around a bit to find a bike repair shop, got Jon's bike fixed, ate a quick burger at Hudson Hamburgers, and headed back on the trail toward Spokane again! We rode all the way to Jon's mom's house; a 36 mile trip this time. It was not easy, but definitely worth it and a good work out!!!! We LOVED our break from the kids, but we were excited to see them too!!! The word that I say all the time, but best describes our little biking to Coeur D' Alene getaway, was AMAZING!!!!!

Sunday, July 10th, was my actual birthday. We went over to my cousin Misty's house and I got to celebrate it with some of my Awesome extended family members!!! Misty and I have our birthdays in the same week, so it was a double celebration! We were actually getting together because our cousin, Teresa and her family were in town and we hadn't seen her in a couple years. It was great to see her and have Eli and Daniel meet each other! They were born only a month apart.

In addition to cake, we also roasted marshmellows for smores!

4 of the 5 cousin babies all born within 7 months of eachother!

Eli and Daniel finally get to meet and play!!!! :)

I had to include this picture of Benson I took there too! He is just so cute!!! :)

I had such an AMAZING 30th birthday weekend!!!! What a great way to start off a new decade of life!!!!

Independence Day in Coeur D' Alene

2011-07-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

We went back to our tradition this year and spent the day in Coeur D' Alene for the 4th of July.

First~ The Parade! :)

Second~ Fun on the beach and in the lake!!! :)

Kambria and Audriana

Third~ The fireworks!!!

Benson's first firework show......one that he can enjoy anyway since last year he wasn't even a month old yet. He LOVED it!!!! :)

We are so grateful to live in an Independent and Free country! Happy Independence Day America!

Kambria~ School and Dance

2011-07-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

That's right, it's July and I am still posting about June's stuff! I want to catch up because I am planning on turning my blog posts into books, kind of like yearbooks.

Kambria received a Golden E and and Academic All star award from 1st grade! Way to go Sunshine! We are so proud of you!!!

Kambria finished up her first year of dance with a great recital! She attended Julie's Competitive Edge Dance Academy. Julie was one of my dance teachers when I was younger. :) Her class tapped to "Sugar Sugar", it was super cute!!! :)

Camping Fun!!!!

2011-07-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to go camping for the last couple years and finally decided to go, even just for 1 night. We drove to an area out by Power Lake where you don't have to pay for the campsites, it is just first come first serve. No power, water, or even toilets!!! It was true camping and we had a GREAT time, it was even a little relaxing at times. (which doesn't come easy with 3 kids!)

Eli loved collecting rocks in his dump truck and throw them out into the creek

Snack time! :) Setting up is hard work!

This is where Missy was most of the time! I am pretty sure there were some squirrels or birds, or both that were teasing her! If she wasn't sitting there staring at the tree then she was trying to climb it or jumping at it! :) LOL

Smores!!! Yummmmm!!!!!

Benson slept until almost 11 o'clock the next morning!!! I think the sound of the creek was comforting to him!

Benson got super dirty and Mommy let him!!!! He LOVED it!!!

Kambria spent a lot of time trying to catch the many beautiful butterflies flying around.

.....and she finally caught one!!!! She was so excited! Especially since they were just studying about them in school. :)

We are going to try and make this camping trip an annual thing. Although it was a lot of work preparing and unpacking for this 1 night camping trip, it was definitely worth it!!!!

BENSON IS 1!!!!

2011-07-14T15:22:00.001-07:00

This last year flew by!!! Our little "bugga bugga" turned 1 on June 9th! He is such a happy boy and is full of smiles! He is truly our "big boy"! At his 1 year doc appointment he was 23lbs and 31 inches! Standing next to Eli (2 1/2 years younger), he is already to his shoulders! It has been a wonderful year with Benson in our family! I was even pleasantly surprised with how well Eli dealt with him and not being the "baby" anymore! Eli loves his little brother! Kambria has been a big help and is an wonderful big sister!!! She adores her baby brother and he adores her right back!!!! Benson is a little more of a Daddy's boy, unless he wants to be nursed, which is a nice change for Daddy after Eli being such a Momma's boy! I LOVE my growing family and I am absolutely in love with my little (big) 1 year old boy!!!!

The kids having fun with the "magic" bubbles!

The big cake came from Costco (where else?!:) and I made the little cake for Benson :)

He LOVES his cake!!!!

Yay! Presents!!! :)

Spring 2011 (backwards)

2011-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have fallen way behind, yet again! So here are some fun times and pics from our Spring! I accidentally posted the pics from newest to oldest, so we are going to go backwards. (May back to April)

On Memorial Day, Rhiannon and I got to go on a bike ride, just the two of us! So fun! We rode from downtown Spokane, through Riverfront Park, along the Centennial trail, to the Upriver Damn, and back. Not an extremely long ride, but a nice relaxing one! :)

Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend were spent with my parents. Friday was Jon's birthday, so we went to the Seafood buffet at the Couer d' Alene Casino and then stayed the night in my parent's trailer at the Silverwood Campgrounds. Saturday we spent a fun filled day at Silverwood! :)

Here we are getting ready to leave on the train ride :)

Eli and Mommy time on the old cars. He needs a lot of practice before "really" getting behind the wheel! :)

Daddy, Kambria, and Eli having fun on the train roller coaster!

Silverwood just added a couple new kid rides. This is the new butterfly ride that swings back and forth. There is also a frog ride that is like a kids version of panic plunge. Both hits! :)

Benson's first ride on the carousel! He LOVED it!!!! ;)

He was mesmerized by the top of the carousel!

We did our annual tailgate bbq at the Lilac Parade. Here is Kambria after chowing down! :)

The kids watching all the police cars coming up the street to kick off the parade.

Mommy and my kiddos enjoying the parade :)

Kambria has not made it to the end of all 6 Lilac Parades she has been to!

We went to Walla Walla with my parents to enjoy their annual Hot Air Balloon Stampede. We had a good time, and it was hot and beautiful during the day, but in the evening when they were supposed to have the night glow and fire works a big storm rolled in and canceled it! :( We didn't get to see any hot air balloons, but we still had a great time with the other activities and spending time with great family!!!!

Kambria and Eli painting a couple masterpieces in the Children's museum exhibit.

Bubble Gun from the cool Bubble Booth!!!! :)

Kambria had a blast on the trampoline bungee!!!! Once she flipped she did it over and over again!

Benson and his sun-kissed face watching the storm outside Grandma and Grandpa Great's house

After the storm started to let up a bit, Jon, my dad, Eli, and Benson decided to go outside and enjoy the fresh air and listen to the thunder.

Jon and the kids got me a new (Specialized) bike for Mother's day! I LOVE it!!!! Jon and I went on a 17 mile bike ride to help break it in. :)

Benson getting ready for his first ride in the bike trailer! We took the kids for a bike ride for family home evening after I got my new bike! :)

Kambria and I went to our hairstylist and my cousin to get new hair cuts! I decided to get blonde back in my hair and I love it! :

The kids on Easter Sunday!

Jon and I took the kids to Greenbluff at the Harvest House for their egg hunt. After finding eggs we all got to exchange our tickets for a free ice cream cone or a pumpkin donut. :)

We had a GREAT Spring!

St Patrick's Fun

2011-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

On the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day Spokane throws a parade downtown. To be honest, it is fun in the beginning but then becomes long and boring. We enjoy going to it anyway, especially since by that time of year we are itching to get outside for fun activities! :) This year was especially that way since we have all be sick so much this winter and we aren't used to that! In Fact, the weekend of the parade was at the tail end of a whole line of sickness that went through our house, so it was nice to get outside for some fresh air! Kambria and Kaden watching a funny little boat drive along the street :)

Kambria and Eli with Grandma K, eating some of the candy they got from parade participants

St.Patrick's Day

Jon was out of town, so Rhiannon and the kids stayed for a yummy, GREEN dinner! :)
~Green pasta Alfredo with chicken, broccoli, and garlic toast with Green garlic butter! :)

Yummy dessert! Green (white) chocolate pudding

For school, Kambria and Daddy built a Leprechaun trap. They had fun putting it together and Kambria did a great job presenting it to her class! They didn't catch the Leprechaun, but he left little footprints inside of it! It was a narrow escape!

Eli's Chuck E' Cheese Birthday Party

2011-03-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure how a Chuck E' Cheese birthday party would turn out because of how packed they usually are. But we had a GREAT experience!!! We had his party on his birthday, a Friday night. I totally thought they would be packed, but it was quite the opposite! I suppose a large factor was that it was during one of Spokane's "freezes" after a bunch of snow. Eli's party was the only birthday party there at the time so he got Chuck E's full attention!!! He had so much fun and really got into dancing with Chuck E and his helper! He didn't like the ticket blaster too much, but did try it. Kambria ended up doing it for him and was excited to help! Kambria now wants her birthday party there, so I guess we will see how that one compares. I am just so happy that Eli had such a GREAT Birthday!!! Happy 3rd Birthday Bud! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-03-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

In February, Jon and Kambria attended a Daddy Daughter Dance with her friend Cheyenne and her Dad. It is an annual event put on by the Ferris Cheerleaders as a fundraiser. They had so much fun!!! A special date night with Daddy; dressing up pretty, dinner, and dancing! :)

Kambria and her best friend Cheyenne

A proud Daddy with his beautiful Daughter! :)

Enjoying a little refreshments :)

Cheyenne and her Daddy, Brian

Kambria and Cheyenne having fun dancing! :)

They had so much fun and are planning on doing it again next year!

Way behind again! Another Catch up Post!

2011-03-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of February my mom and I and the kids took a little trip to Walla Walla to visit with my Grandparents. We had a great time! We love spending time with them!!!!

Grandma-Great made Valentine cookies with the kids :)

One of the Sundays in mid February was super nice! We decided to take advantage of it and go for a walk at Riverfront Park

While on our walk on the Centennial Trail (on the other side of the river from Riverfront Park) we saw a tree that Beavers had made bite marks on and knocked down. Daddy was showing Kambria the marks :)

So much Birthday Fun!

2011-02-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 29th was full of Birthday fun!!! We had 3 parties to go to, but only ended up making it to 2. The first was Baby George's 1st birthday party. (pics at the end of this post) The second, and the "funnest" party ever, was Kaden's 6th Birthday party. My brother Brandon reserved spots for us to have fun at "Sky High", a trampoline fun center!!! My Dad, Mom, and I were the only ones that didn't jump, everyone else had a blast jumping for an hour! Next time I will definitely join in on the fun, I was taking care of Benson this time. The 3 of us who didn't jump had a lot of fun watching everyone else though!

Eli was so excited that he didn't even wait for Daddy to go up to the trampoline with him!

Kambria and Jon

Kambria jumping in the children's section, she pretty much had it all to herself at that point! :)

They have an area where you can jump and flip into a pool of foam cubes! Everyone had a blast trying it out! This is a pic of Jon helping Eli out.

I wish I would have gotten some better pictures of Kaden! He was Awesome!!!

Jon

Brandon, from the side wall trampoline! :)

Grandpa sat with Benson while Grandma and I took pictures of everyone jumping into the foam pool. Such a happy cute boy!!!

We went to Brandon's girlfriend's house afterward for some pizza and cake

We bought Kaden a scooter. He got a Nerf set from Grandma and Grandpa, and an awesome bike from his Dad!

Baby George's birthday party was earlier in the day. :)

Happy 1st Birthday sweet boy!!!!

Kambria wanted to wear her cowgirl outfit to the party, she planned it days in advance! :) Here she is with Benson! She loves her baby brother so much! I can't believe he will be 8 months tomorrow!!!

A Loved Sick Mommy

2011-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

The Bronchitis bug hit our house this past month and I got hit with it the worst!!! I am grateful it was me that got it the worst though and not Jon or the kids! Here is a picture Jon took one night when I guess the kids needed their Mommy! :)

A Snowy Spokane Winter

2011-02-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

It is almost the middle of February, and I definitely have the "spring itch" and hope we don't get anymore snow that sticks and would Looooovvve for it to start warming up!!!! We have gotten our fair share of snow this year and have had some amazingly beautiful (yet freezing) days. Here are some pictures outside our house of the beauty and the fun this snowy season has brought. :)

Eli's New Teeth

2011-02-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

Eli's 2 front teeth became very weak and pieces kept chipping off. In the beginning of January he had oral surgery to correct it and got "new teeth". The surgery went really well and he came out of it like a champ.....at least after crying for a short time as he "came back too". We are so happy to have his beautifully cute smile back!!! We love this kid!!!

Christmas in February??? :)

2011-02-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Okay....so I am a little late getting this post up!!! :) Most people would just forget about it and start on current stuff, but I really want to catch up! I LOVE Christmas time.

Our cute kids all dressed up for church and being good for Mommy while she takes pictures in front of the Christmas tree.

Sleeping Santa Baby

Kambria and Eli decided to try and pack themselves up to be wrapped!!! ;)

Christmas Day~ Benson opening his first Christmas present

Eli got a lot of "Cars" and "Toy Story" things

Kambria wanted a black poodle stuffy! Daddy, Grandma K, and I looked ALL OVER for one and finally found one the week of Christmas!!! Thanks Daddy!!!!

The Game "Jenga" became an inside joke between Rhiannon, Jon, and I about George. We Love you George!!! So we bought it for him for Christmas and had fun playing it!!! It got mighty high!!!

We had a GREAT Christmas this year!!! One of my favorite times of the Year!!! We are so blessed with such wonderful friends and family to share it with!!!

The BIG CATCH (up) of 2 Seasons!

2011-01-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

I have been horrible at keeping up with my blog! It used to take priority over Facebook, but now it is quite opposite. Since I have been sick for the last week and am finally on the mend but still don't have the energy to get a lot done at home, I decided that it would be a great time to catch up!!!
Going all the way back to October!!!!

Greenbluff~ a gem of the Spokane area where many go to enjoy something for each season! One of our favorite times to go is right before Halloween for pumpkins and apples. :) This year we went up there with my (Maryanne) family.

Benson looking cute in Daddy's sunglasses while watching his brother, sister, and cousin play in the maze.

Kaden and Kambria showing us where they are in the maze

Eli did not want to get off this tractor! Future farmer maybe??? :)

We went on a hay ride through the apple orchard, Benson fell asleep. :)

We picked LOTS of apples!!!! Here is Kaden trying to get a "high" one!

Grandpa K helping to carry Kambria's pumpkin out of the mostly green pumpkin patch. The weather made for slim pickings this year!

Eli sat and waited on the one that he wanted! :)

A couple days before Halloween we went to my parent's to carve pumpkins. It looks like Eli has been helping himself to the pumpkin guts! :) .....only it is just the yummy frosting from his pumpkin cookie that Grandma gave him. :)

The kids by their finished products. Kambria chose a cat under the night sky and Eli a raccoon popping out of a pumpkin. Thank you Grandpa K and Daddy for helping (mostly doing) the hard work! :)

Our kiddos all dressed up for Halloween! Benson the cute Dalmatian dog, Kambria the beautiful mermaid (she wanted to be like Merlia from Barbie and the Mermaid Tale so she wanted her hair pink) and Eli the adorable Scooby Doo!

In the beginning of November Kambria lost both of her bottom front teeth within a week. She was so excited!!! Especially since she got a visit from the tooth fairy twice in one week! Shortly after, where she lost is where Benson gained! :)

Santa arrived at Riverpark Square the Friday before Thanksgiving. We attended last year and enjoyed it, this year we got there late, but the kids still got to see Santa and we had a good time with Auntie Roo, Madeleine, and Baby George with us too!

Kambria put her reindeer hat on Benson. He is just too cute! :)

Madeleine, Kambria, and Eli having fun on the big gift boxes while waiting to see Santa.

Thanksgiving arrived and brought winter with it!!!!!!! Kambria, Audriana, and Eli had fun playing in it while waiting for dinner to be ready at Grandma Watson's! Eli wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with the snow at first, but as soon as I convinced him to let the girls pull him on the sled, he had a blast! :)

Benson got his first baby food meal for Thanksgiving! Yummy Sweet Potato's!!!

Eli was sneaky and got a hold of the gravy. Before we could do or say anything he had dumped half of it on his plate!

The first Friday of December we went on a date with my parents. We went downtown to enjoy a carriage ride, live band at the Peacock room at the Davenport while eating dinner, and then a stroll around the second level balcony floor where they had a bunch of Amazing Christmas trees displayed!

Benson all bundled up before church in his cute jacket and hat I bought for him before he was born. There are few things that have just been his since he has used a lot of his big brother's clothes.

Eli helping to decorate the Christmas tree. :)

One of the Mondays in December for family home evening we went to the conservatory at Manito Park to enjoy the lights and poinsettias. Kambria was given this exotic/foreign lemon from one of the workers there. She was really excited about it. It smelled so yummy, and later when we broke it open we discovered it to be one of the most sour things we have tasted!

Alrighty.....now that I am caught up to Christmas, I will do a post about that separately. It is nice to finally be getting caught up since I have been thinking about it for a while!

So Far Behind!!!

2010-12-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Wow! I am so far behind!!! I still have Fall stuff to post! I don't even know if I will try and catch up or if I will just do a few collages like I have done before??? hmmm......

Kraziness in the Kennel

2010-11-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

Back in October! We went to Kraziness in the Kennel, a scrimmage and event to kick off the Gonzaga basketball season. This is the first year we have gone and definitely won't be the last! :)

We were the first to get the autographs of all the players and the kids got high fives! :)

Taking a pic on the bulldog outside of McCarthy Athletic Center

We took the kids to Coldstone Creamery afterward for some yummy ice cream! :)

"Squirrel"!!!!!

2010-11-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

There are at least 2 squirrels that live in our trees in our front yard. They LOVE to pester Missy and it is hilarious! :) She will sit and look up in the trees and run back and forth for hours! I finally decided to get pics and take a video of it about a month ago.

All we have to do is say "squirrel" (like in the movie up) and she will run back and forth between the trees, jumping up them, and whining! Oh how we love our dog! :)

I can't get the video to load! At least there are pictures! :)

Valley Fest

2010-11-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

We have always loved going to Valley Fest, but had to miss it last year. This year it was Sept. 25th.....since I am playing catch up again! :) Here are some pics from our fun day!

Uncle Brandon and Kaden met up with us there too! :) Benson loves his Uncle Brandon! :)

There was a gymnastics company that had a set up there that the kids could try out. Kambria flipped over the bar herself, but Eli needed a little help from Daddy. :)

Kaden completing his front flip off the trampoline. :)

They had a "night glow" with 2 hot air balloons! The kids thought it was pretty cool! We are hoping to take them to Walla Walla next year for the Balloon Stamped where they can see a ton of balloons lit up and take flight!

Afterwards we went to dinner and took the kids to the Valley Mall to play for a little bit :) I love our family days and the fun memories we are making for the kids!!!!

Bike MS 2010

2010-10-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Due to funding and me just having a baby a few months prior, Jon rode alone to represent our team, Team Loretta Scott. George, Rhiannon, and I volunteered. It was still a great adventure and experience!!! Jon made friends as he normally does and ended up having a great group to ride with!!! :)
For those of you who don't know, Bike MS is a fundraiser put on every year by our local Multiple Sclerosis chapter. Our local ride is on the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes and is absolutely beautiful!!!! It is a 150 mile bike ride broken up into 2 days of 75 miles, from Mullan, ID to Plummer, ID and the opposite on the second day. We will all be riding it next year, so if anyone wants to join our team let me know!!! :)

Jon getting ready to start the ride

Jon coming into the lunch stop on day 1

Leaving the Harrison rest stop onto the last leg of the ride

Rhiannon and I volunteered at the Harrison rest stop on day 1. It is a beautiful little town on Lake Coeur d' Alene!!!

George, Rhiannon, and I volunteered in Kellogg on day 2 letting the riders know to watch out for traffic while crossing the "busy" street. It wasn't raining when I took this pic, but it rained...no it poured most of the day!!! Thank goodness we had umbrellas!!! Poor Jon got soaked though as you will see!

Jon almost to the finish line!!! Soaked and tired!!!!

Here we all are after Jon was able to dry off and change! You did GREAT Jon and we are all proud of you!!!! We have a lot of fundraising, training, and a weight loss plan to accomplish before the ride next year!

Go Cougs!!!!!!!!

2010-10-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the first home game for WSU Football this season!!! They played Montana State, we knew it would be a good game and would be one that they actually had a pretty good chance of winning! (sad, I know!) It did turn out just that way! It was a GREAT game; especially the second half and even more so, the last quarter!!! They won 23-22 as shown in the last picture. It was a beautiful day and a great day for a Football game!!!!

Eli dancing to the band during half time! :)

Cougs coming back onto the field after half time

Benson cheering with a little help from daddy! :)

Right before a Cougar touchdown!!!!

GO COUGS!!!!!!!

Kambria started Dance classes!

2010-09-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to get Kambria into dance classes and finally did it starting in September! :) She is taking a tap/ballet combo class at Julies Competitive Edge. I grew up taking Dance classes and Julie used to be one of my teachers. So when I found out she had her own studio I knew where I wanted to take Kambria.
Kambria has been wanting tap shoes for the last couple years, so when she got them for her birthday and I told her she was going to start dance she was so excited!!!

Here she is on her first day, both in her tap shoes and her ballet shoes~

Eli loves watching! He even tries doing the steps sometimes. :)

They start off with tap and then change to their ballet slippers for the last 15 minutes of the class.

I am so excited for her to be in dance! A new and fun thing to learn, hopefully a confidence booster, an adorable costume to come, and then the performances!!! :)

Silverwood Fun for Labor Day

2010-09-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

We feel very lucky to be able to go to Silverwood as much as we do! Usually when we go Labor Day weekend it is at least the 4th time going! :) This year the kids and I went Sunday afternoon to stay with Grandma and Grandpa K over night in their trailer at the Silverwood campgrounds. Jon stayed behind since he wasn't feeling well and met us there on Monday with Grandma Watson, Auntie Rose, and Audriana. Here are pics from our Silverwood fun~

Out of all the times that we have been to Silverwood we never knew they had a cute little rock mine for the kids by the train roller coaster. While the kids were playing in the play area there, Grandpa decided to take a look in what he thought was just a little gift shop and found the mine! :) It is a little man made cave where they put shiny rocks in the dirt for the kids to sift through and find.

The kids get this little bag to fill up with as many rocks as they can. I think it was only 2.50?

Grandpa K gave Benson his first taste of ice cream! He loved it!!! :)

Kambria wanted to model some of the cool hats at The General Store. This one is a Tinker Bell hat~

I think this is just the cutest baby boy ever!!! :)

Eli LOVES the train roller coaster!!!

Kambria and Audriana love it too!

This is one of Kambria's favorite rides!! Eli got to go on it for the first time and loved it too!!!

Kambria tried riding the big roller coasters for the first time last year and thought they were too scary, she wanted to try them again when she got "bigger". So we talked her into trying it again this year but ended up with the same result. Oh well, I am sure she will love going on them within the next few years! :)

...the kids watching Jon and Rosalyn on Aftershock

This is another one of Kambria's favorite rides! She is sitting next to Daddy, you just can't see her. I think they went on this ride at least 4 times! :)

I shared my ice cream cone with Eli :)

Kambria and her BLUE tongue from her cotton candy ice cream :)

What a great big sister!!!

Well that's it for Silverwood this year, but I know we will have more adventures there next year! :) Although Jon and I are planning on going to "Scarywood" in October so stay tuned for that scary post later! :)

A little more Randomness

2010-09-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Rhiannon and I bought these onesies for Baby George and Benson. So because we are "cool" mom's we had them wear them both wear them to church. :)
"If you think I'm handsome, you should see my daddy"

We heard that a semi was stopping in Post Falls that was hauling an actual steel beam from the World Trade Center, so we decided to track it down the night before it was scheduled to leave. It was parked outside of a popular biker bar, but the spirit was definitely there. We will "Never Forget"!

Spokane SHOCK

2010-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

We were able to get tickets to the Arena Football league's Championship game! It was Spokane's first season in the AFL, instead of the AF2, and they were fighting for a great title once again!!!! We took Kambria with us and had the boys go to Grandma's. It was a Blast and was such a Great game!!!! Go Shock!!!! :)

We are the Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got to go down on the field! Kambria loved all the confetti!

We got a few autographs from the players too!

Kambria scooping up the confetti to take some home!

We loved the 2 games we went to and are hoping to go to even more next season!

Kambria turned 6!!!

2010-09-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Kambria's birthday was August 19th, but I am just now finally blogging about it! We can't believe our little girl is 6 now!!! She has grown to be a beautiful and sweet girl and we are very proud of her! It has kind of become tradition that we go downtown to have a girls day and get our hair cut from my cousin Rachel at the salon she works at. Usually my mom is with us, but she had to work this year so we decided it would be fun to invite some friends of ours! Anissa is in Kambria's class at church and they became instant friends, her mom Dana is also a friend of mine from church. Kambria's favorite restaurant is also mine, so when she wanted to go to The Olive Garden for lunch I was definitely okay with it! :) She loves their homemade mac and cheese! We even got to eat outside, it was a beautiful day!!!

After lunch, I went to my hair appointment first while Dana took the girls across the street to Riverfront Park to play in the fountain.

Kambria got her hair done after me. Rachel always puts sparkles in her hair, she loves it!!!!

Kambria and Anissa had fun chasing the geese back into the water, it was funny! Anissa was really into it and was hilarious! :)

There was a clown making balloon animals and flowers by the fountain. He had already made the flower hat that Kambria has on, he thought it would be perfect for the birthday girl!!! :)

Anissa made her flower into a hat too! :) Here they are after they rode the dragon roller coaster! One of my favorites when I was little!!!

That evening we went to Five Mile Heights Pizza Parlor (again) for her birthday. It was her pick, we had her birthday there last year and Eli's 2nd birthday there too! :) Audriana also had her birthday there this last year; I guess it has always been a popular place! I used to go there after sports games when I was younger, I think I went there for a few birthday parties too! The statue that they wanted their picture with is the same one that Kambria was horrified of when she was 1!

2 of the cutest little boys at the birthday party sportn' the birthday hats!!!!

Baby George and Benson

I think Eli liked the cake!!! :)

They have a ball pit there that is always the hit of the party! Hello static! LOL!!!

Kaden and Eli

Madeleine and Kaden jumping in!

Kambria had a great day, she said it was one of her "favorite days of her life"! :)

Random Summer Fun!

2010-09-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

I got so far behind on posting about our summer adventures! So I decided to just make one post and make collages of pictures from our fun times!

We went and spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa K while they were staying at Blackwell Island right off of Lake Coeur d' Alene.

....while we were there, Benson put his feet in the water for the first time! I don't think he like it very much! :)

We spent some time with Grandma Watson before she left on her vacation to Florida!

Another fun trip to Silverwood with Grandma and Grandpa K, Uncle Brandon and Kaden! :)

We enjoyed Hillyard days! They even had a parade with lots of candy and.......

.....fireworks!!!! :) Even Benson loved watching them!

That's right.....Another trip to Silverwood! :) This time it was with Daddy's work; Audriana and Grandma K. joined us too!!!! :)

We have had a fun and busy summer!!! It always flies by so fast!!!!!

First Day of 1st Grade

2010-09-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

I have a few posts to catch up on from some summer fun and Kambria's 6th birthday, but I wanted to at least get this one posted today!
My little girl is growing up! I have a 1st grader now! She was so excited to start school and she had a great day!!!!

Eli wanted to be in a picture as well......he wants to go to school too!!! (as you can see in the picture below :)

Oregon Vacation ~ On our Own Adventure

2010-08-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

Since we were heading to Portland, Oregon for my cousin's wedding we decided to make a vacation out of it!!! :) This was a long awaited vacation for Jon and I since we hadn't taken one in 7 years!!!!
We left the Monday after the wedding weekend and headed to Tillamook, OR to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory! This was a planned and anticipated stop since we LOVE Tillamook ice cream, cheese, and teriyaki sticks!!!! It was amazing only driving almost 2 hours and it being a 20+ degree temp. difference from Oregon City to Tillamook which is right near the coast. We went from hot and humid to cool and windy!

Kambria now has a favorite ice cream flavor~Grandma's cake batter! :) (which is the "featured flavor" right now being sold in the stores too). The Factory is the only place in the world where you can choose from any of their 38 flavors!

We stopped in Lincoln City on our way down to Newport to check out the beaches there. The ocean was beautiful even though it was cold and windy! Kambria was so excited to finally see the ocean!!!

Eli found this piece of drift wood and thought it looked like a guitar so he picked it up and started playing it! :)

We bought a kite before we left Spokane knowing the beach is the perfect place to fly one!!!

Kambria and Eli were very excited to sleep in a hotel!!!!

Jon and Kambria woke up at 5 am to walk down to the beach to look for sea shells and sand dollars. They didn't find any sand dollars, but they did find a few shells and also discovered some rocks with these~ (I don't remember what they are called, I just know it is fun to stick your finger in them! :)

They also found this little ocean creature! It looks like an alien frog! :)

It was super foggy in the early morning!

These were the 86 steps they had to walk down to the beach and back up them when they were done! Kambria counted them as she walked back up. :)

Tuesday we went to the Oregon Aquarium in Newport. The kids LOVED it! :)

This was the coolest exhibit! They had 3 very large tanks that you could walk through via glass tunnels. They had a lot of different kinds of fish, sharks, and sting rays!

They even had a few areas on the floor that you could look through!

Its a good thing we were protected by thick layered glass!!!

One of our many sandwich making stops!!! We ate a lot of sandwiches on this trip!!!!! It saved money but it definitely got old!

We toured the Yaquina Bay lighthouse. It was interesting to see, hear, and read about the history of it! :)

Kambria walking down the staircase from the top of the lighthouse~

This is the view from just below the top of the lighthouse~

After we left Newport we drove back to Lincoln City to go to the beach where you can drive onto it and park. This was especially convenient since Eli had just barely fallen asleep when we got there!

Kambria was really looking forward to building a sand castle on our trip! So even though it was cold and a little windy, her and daddy got the buckets and fun tools out and built themselves a sand castle! :)

Kambria took this picture! :) ~

Tuesday night we drove back to Oregon City to stay with family again. We are so grateful for Jami and Adrian and all they did for us!!! :)

Wednesday we decided to wander around downtown Portland for a bit before heading back to Washington. While we were down there we found out about a bunch of interactive fountains that they have. This one, in the picture, we were told was the best!

We didn't stop at Multnomah falls on the way to Oregon City so we decided to stop there on the way back. It is a great and beautiful stop in between Washington and Oregon!!!! :)

Our original plan was to head back home on Wednesday, but we decided to take an extra day and stop in Walla Walla for the night to spend some time with my grandparents! We didn't end up leaving Walla Walla until Thursday evening, but since it was so HOT we had to stop at a yummy ice cream shop they have downtown! This was our last little adventure of our vacation before finally heading home. :)

We had such a great time and are so grateful we got to see so many family members too!!! I love making new memories like these!!!!!

Oregon Vacation ~ The Wedding Weekend

2010-08-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

When we found out my cousin Emily was getting married in Portland toward the end of July we decided to make it a vacation!!! A vacation much needed after 7 years of not going on one!!!! Here are a few of the pics from the weekend of the wedding with the rest of our vacation week on the next post!

Kambria did a lot of coloring while we traveled from each destination! :) I got a great idea from the "Today Show" to use cookie sheets for something hard for the kids to color on! :) They worked out great! :)

My cute Grandpa and my cute boy! :) Eli was entertained for a while climbing up and down Grandpa Great's walker! :)

My cousin, the beautiful bride, and her groom, Chris :)

The beautiful Portland Temple!!!! Always one of my favorites!!!!

The kids, especially mine, were well entertained by the trees while pictures were being taken! :)

I remember having pictures taken of me in front of this same fountain when I was younger! :) Now it is my kids' turn! And I think they look pretty darn cute!!! :)

After we all left the temple, some of the family went to lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant at this Promenade (fancy outdoor stip mall). After lunch Jon and the kids and I decided to walk around for a little bit.......walk off some of the yummy calories we took in! :) We found this little play area for the kids that they had in the middle of everything!

We also decided to have a little after lunch dessert! We ate geleto for the first time from this cute little Italian cafe! :) It was very yummy! :)

Benson with his Grandpa Great at the reception. :)

Daddy loves to dance with his kids! :)

Emily and Chris departed the reception by running through everyone lined up with sparklers! It was my kids' first time experiencing sparklers! Eli loved it but Kambria was very hesitant at first.

Kambria especially loved dancing with my cousin Katie! :)

It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception!!!! And it was so GREAT to see a lot of my family and we missed all the others who couldn't make it!

My Birthday after the Yard Sale

2010-07-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

We had a Yard Sale on my birthday, so afterward I wanted to do something nice and relaxing! My parent's had come over and kept us company for a little while toward the end of the Yard sale so they decided to join us too! I LOVE Plantes Ferry Park!!! It is beautiful and there is a really pretty walk down a path to the river! It is usually pretty busy during the day with people getting out of the river from tubing or rafting. But in the evening when we have gone it is always pretty quiet. My parents went and got Subway for us and even bought me a cake! We had a great little picnic and then enjoyed ourselves down by the water swimming and throwing/skipping rocks. Missy(our dog) even joined us and took a little swim too! :)

Kambria found a stick in the water for Missy to play fetch with :)

My mom and dad relaxing in their chairs by the water

This is where Benson was the whole time! Sleeping like a champ!

Benson's First Photo Shoot

2010-07-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

My cousin Misty is a photographer and always does a great job with our pics! These are my favorites!!! Of course it was hard to choose, so this is most of the shoot! :)

http://www.mistyalger.com

4th of July at Riverfront Park

2010-07-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

After Benson's blessing we went to my parent's house to visit with my Grandparent's for a bit and then we got things ready to head to Riverfront park to hang out and see the fireworks. We usually go to Coeur d' Alene for the fireworks and we love our tradition, but since the day landed on a Sunday this year and we had the blessing we decided to stay in town and check out what Riverfront Park had to offer. We were very happy with our decision! It was very relaxing and the fireworks were GREAT this year, the Best I have ever seen theirs!!! :) Jon's mom, sister, and niece met up with us too, but I didn't get any pics of them.

Grandpa K and Benson hangn' out!

I found these little infant sandals at the quarter sale at Other Mother's when I was pregnant! I thought they were so stinkn' cute!!! They didn't stay on his feet obviously, but I had to get a picture of them!!!!

Kambria LOVES her baby brother!!!! She is always wanting to hold him!

Grandma K brought "Fun Dip" candy! ....brings back memories!!!!

My 3 cute kids in their Red, White, and Blue! :)

Grandma K and Benson

Grandpa K tickling Kambria! :)

Jon, Kambria, Benson, and myself laying down and waiting for the fireworks

Grandma K bought Kambria, Eli, and Audriana light up toys

Taking a snooze waiting for the fireworks

Another great shot with my new camera and the cool firework mode!

Benson's Blessing Day

2010-07-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Benson LaVerne Watson was blessed on the Fourth of July! He was surrounded by great family and friends! We love this sweet little boy so much!

Grandma Great and Benson

Grandpa Great (LaVerne) who Benson gets his middle name from! We were so happy they were able to make it!!! :)

Those on my side of the family who was able to make it! We are so grateful!

Jon's side of the family who came :)

Family Fun and Fireworks at Lake Rosevelt

2010-07-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

The day before the 4th of July, Two Rivers Casino puts on a fireworks display above Lake Roosevelt. We were supposed to spend the day having fun with some of our friends, but after their car broke down, it became just a family day. We missed them, but we made the best of it and enjoyed ourselves!

Jon and Eli walking to the visitors center at Fort Spokane

Kambria coloring a picture of her own "Fort"

The finished product! She did great! And they displayed it on the wall with the other "Fort" drawings!

Solitary Confinement!

Kambria walking around a foundation from one of the old cellars.

Eli, Benson, and I walking around the old barn. I love old barns!!!

Kambria wanted me to read to her what the sign said about the old barn.

After Fort Spokane we headed down to the beach on Lake Roosevelt. It ended up being a really nice day! Not too hot or cold!

Benson trying to stay out of the sun!

Playing around while waiting for the fireworks to start! :)

I love my firework setting on our new camera!!!!

Shock!

2010-07-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

We went to our first Spokane Shock game a couple weeks ago, thanks to a friend in our ward who works for them! It was fun and LOUD!!!! Surprisingly Benson slept through most of it, but I kept him sheltered from the noise. Kambria and Eli had fun and loved chanting "We will, we will SHOCK You!!!" It was a Great game and the won!!! :)

FHE at Riverfront Park

2010-07-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we decided to have Family Home Evening at Riverfront Park. We gave the kids a lesson on some of Heavenly Father's greatest creations, the Earth and all its beauty! What a great place to have that lesson! We sat by the Totum Pole on "Canada Island" where it was quiet, had a picnic dinner, listened to the river rushing by, and the birds chirping.

After the lesson, cleaning up dinner, and properly disposing of the garbage(keeping the earth clean.....also part of the lesson) we took a walk through the park and headed to the fountain!

After having fun in the fountain, even though it was getting dark, we let the kids play on the playground for a few minutes.
Benson even got to be "on" on swings for the first time! :)

Family Time is Great!!!! :)

Oh My Goodness!!!

2010-07-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

............I have so many posts to catch up on! Including Benson's first photo shoot and his blessing (just to name a couple) !!!! Stay tuned....I will try to get them up sometime this week. :)

Just Hanging Out

2010-06-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Kambria and Eli love Benson! :)

Benson's First Bath

2010-06-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

Benson didn't enjoy his first bath at home very much. But baths since haven't been too bad.

Things are all better when you are wrapped up in a towel! :)

Done with Kindergarten!

2010-06-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Kambria's last day of school was the day Benson and I were released from the hospital. Kambria was really excited to be able to show Mrs. Waisman her new baby brother! She did so GREAT this year and is ready to move on to 1st grade! She is getting so big! We love you Sunshine!!!!

\
Kambria and Mrs. Waisman

Our Sweet Benson Has Arrived!

2010-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby boy has finally arrived! :)
Benson was due on Saturday, June 5th, but that day came and went and we began the "over due waiting game". Because we knew he was going to be a bigger baby, my doctor and I decided to set a date to get induced on Wednesday the 9th. On Tuesday I was full of different emotions knowing that the next day we would finally be welcoming our new baby. I wasn't feeling real well all day and I was extremely exhausted. Around 6:30, after taking a nap with Eli, I woke up with contractions. They weren't real painful yet, just very uncomfortable. I was excited because I figured the process would just go that much quicker the next morning with me being in the first stages of labor already before being induced. As the night went on the contractions got stronger! I was scheduled to go into the hospital at 7:30, but by the time 5:00 rolled around I knew I wanted to go in earlier. I called the hospital and asked them if we could come in an hour earlier and I let them know I was already in labor. They agreed that would be best; so at 6:30 we arrived. They quickly got me situated and checked. Sure enough I was dilated to a 4! Not much, but better than the 2cm I was dilated to the week before at my doc. appt. By 8:00 the contractions were coming on very strong so I received my epidural and my doctor came in and broke my water. I was then able to relax and get some sleep. Jon and my mom were also there patiently waiting and keeping me company when I was awake. Around 3:00 he finally started to drop and things really progressed after that. I think it was around 3:40 when I really felt like I needed to start pushing, so the nurse checked me, and sure enough it was time. They finished getting everything they needed in preparation for him to arrive and knowing that there was a lot of mechonium (sp?) in the amniotic fluid, they had to be prepared for anything to go wrong with that too. I pushed for just over 15 minutes and he arrived at 4:03 pm weighing 9lbs .08ozs and was 22 inches long! I will never forget looking into Benson's eyes for the first time as he looked right at me when they laid him on me right after delivery. He was so cute and I was instantly in love with him! :) That moment only lasted just that, a moment, and they had to hurry and take him from me to check him. His cry was so precious, but he was having a bit of a hard time breathing correctly. They then took him out of the room to the Special Care part of the nursery where they had to put him under the oxygen tent. Jon was able to follow them and be with him. They were hoping he wouldn't have to be in there for too long, but when his oxygen level stabilized for a while they tried to take him out and it dropped back down. The doctor decided it would be best to keep him in the Nursery over night to have him continuously monitored closely. (continued throughout pics.....)

Daddy's first touch

Daddy holding his little foot

It wasn't until about 8:00 when I finally got to go see him. I had to wait until the epidural had completely worn off. It was so hard just looking at him through the foggy tent, not being able to hold him close and kiss his cheeks. I just stood there touching his leg and feeling his soft skin.

While I was in the Nursery, Jon came back with the kids and they were able to go in there and see their baby brother for the first time. Kambria was so excited and wished so much that she could hold him too. She kept saying how cute he was and that she loved him.

Eli was excited to see him too! He kept saying "baby!" When Daddy took him out he said "bye baby" a few times. :) The nurses thought that was pretty cute and so did we!! :)

At 2:30 am the nurse came and woke me up to let me know that he was out of the oxygen tent, doing well, and that they wanted to know if I would like to go in there to nurse him for the first time. I woke Jon up, and of course had to use the bathroom, and we were in the Nursery at 2:45. I got to hold him for the first time and nurse him and it was WONDERFUL!!! :)

In the morning he was able to be in the room with us! :) Jon got to hold him for the first time then because while I was nursing him earlier in the morning he had to leave to do our paper route. Daddy loved every moment and did not want to give him up!

My mom came in with Eli around lunch time. He was excited to see his baby brother again and be able to touch him and give him a kiss! :)

Grandma K needed a chance to hold him for the first time too! She had been there for the delivery, but also hadn't gotten the chance to hold him yet.

Daddy went and picked up Kambria from school. She had been so anxious to get to the hospital all day! She was so very excited to hold him for the first time! What a sweet big sister!!! :)

Our first family picture taken Thursday night.

Here are my 3 beautiful kids!!!!

Here are pics of all the special visitors!

Grandpa K

Uncle Brandon

Grandma Pooh (Auntie Adie visited the day before, before we were able to hold him. She came over shortly after we got home, I just don't have those pics loaded yet)

Madeleine

Auntie Roo (Rhiannon)

Grandma and Grandpa "Great" Nelson

Grandma Watson

Auntie Rose and Audriana

And here he is! Benson is all ready to go home! Friday, June 11th.

We are in love with this baby boy!!! So far he has been a great sleeper and loves to eat!

I am feeling so good! This recovery has been so much easier than my last two and it has been wonderful!!! :)

Our last Family Day as a family of 4!

2010-06-07T11:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 5th was the big day!!!....or it was Benson's due date! Since he decided not to arrive, we decided to spend the day as a family and make it our own fun family day! It made it even better that there were two fun activities being held in Spokane that day too, not to mention it was beautiful!!!!

We spent the morning in downtown Hillyard (right by our house) where they were having a Sidewalk chalk event and contest! The kids loved it and did great! After they were done with their drawings, we decided to walk through downtown Hillyard and look through a few of the great antique shops! We have lived near this area for 6 years and have never done this before! We also figured all the walking would help "move things along!" :)

The theme of the event was "Under the Sea" so Kambria drew a picture of a mermaid, some fish, and a couple flowers. :)

After going home for lunch and relaxing a bit, we headed to the Browns Addition neighborhood in the late afternoon to enjoy Artfest. :) I have lived in Spokane all my life and have never actually been to this event! They were celebrating their 25th year. We actually drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find somewhere to park and luckily found a great spot!! Thank goodness!!!!

This guy was a "one man band" and was great! He probably would be one to get "buzzed" out on America's Got Talent, but for Artfest he was very entertaining!!! There are other instruments on his back that are hooked to strings on his feet. :)

Kambria working on her artwork. :) She painted a paper bag fish. :)

We enjoyed some very yummy ice cream cones!!!

When we were done walking around we let the kids play for a while on the playground.

It was a beautiful day for us to enjoy our last "family day" as a family of 4!!!! Next time there will be 5 of us as we are soon to welcome Benson! :)

Kindergarten Concert

2010-06-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

Kambria had her Kindergarten Concert June 3rd. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it or not. Even though I would have loved to have had the baby, it was great to able to go to Kambria's first little concert!!! :)

Uncle Brandon and Kaden came and brought Kambria some beautiful roses!!!!

She was so excited to get flowers!!!! :)

A little bit of May

2010-06-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have quite a bit to catch up on for the month of May. So, I am going to pick a few of my favorite pics from the fun stuff that went on; which is hard since there are a bunch of pictures!!!

Eli got to go to his first Father/Son campout!!! They didn't actually stay the night since we have the paper route and with me being 8 months pregnant at the time Jon didn't want me doing it by myself......I didn't argue with that!!! Hopefully next year they will actually get to stay for the night! They had a lot of fun anyway!!!

Eli was so excited that he was ready to go before Daddy got home so he paced up and down the sidewalk waiting for him! :)

We go to the Armed Forces Day, Torchlight Parade (Lilac Parade) every year. It has become tradition for us to park there early so we can have a little tailgate bbq right before the parade with both sides of our family. This year we ended up in a different spot, but has now become our new favorite! Jon set up an extra chair in front of me so I could put my swollen feet up! I was able to be comfortable the whole parade!

Eli and I got to join Kambria's kindergarten class on their field trip to Mobius Kids!

After having fun in Mobius Kids, Kambria's class got to have a picnic lunch at Riverfront Park. :) After they all ate, the class had fun rolling and running down the big hill! Eli and Kambria did too!!! :)

Jon had a birthday! I had a doctor appt that afternoon. So since the kids were at Jon's sister's we decided to take advantage of that and enjoyed a date at the Onion for his birthday dinner and dessert! The Onion gives away the best and biggest free birthday desserts!!!!

Because it was so close to my due date, we didn't spend all of Memorial Day weekend with my parents like we normally do. Instead, Kaden and Kambria got to spend a whole day with Grandma and Grandpa K by themselves, go to Silverwood, and stay the night in their trailer! They had a blast! Jon, Eli, and I met them in Couer d' Alene the next day to pick them up and enjoy most of the day with them too! We played on the big playground for a while, walked the boardwalk, and then headed to Silverwood for the last half of the day. :)

Eli had fun riding the train roller coaster with Daddy! Kambria met this girl in line and they ended up riding a couple times together. :)

Eli loves keys and phones....and now he is DRIVING!!!! I think he is growing up to fast!! :)

May was full of a lot of fun activities and went by very fast! Here comes June, a new baby, and summer time!!! Yay!!!!!

Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday?

2010-06-07T00:39:00.001-07:00

Benson was due on Saturday so he is now officially 2 days late and counting! I have had some contractions but they have all been tolerable and sporadic, although a little heavier starting Sunday....but still tolerable. If I don't go into the hospital before Wedensday, June 9th, I will be induced that morning. (which also happens to be my parent's anniversary!) The waiting game continues!

I have about 3 or 4 posts that I am behind on right now......so I guess if nothing happens within the next 24 hours (it is 12:44 am Monday morning.....shouldn't be up right now) then I will hopefully catch up so my next post after that will be announcing the birth of our little one!

Eli's "cold" face!

2010-05-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Eli doesn't eat ice cream too often because he thinks it is too cold. When he does though, he usually makes this face, I love it!!!!! He kept saying "cheese" because he thought I was trying to take his picture, I think it was distracting him from the coldness of the ice cream too. :) I love this little boy!

Roller Skating

2010-05-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Pattison's Roller Rink last Saturday for Madeleine's birthday party. We had a lot of fun, especially Kambria! She had only been skating once and that was 2 years ago, but she picked up where she had left off and did Great!

Daddy and Auntie Adie had to help a little at first......

.......but then she was ready to do it on her own! :)

Eli can't wait to be able to get out there too!

Peek-a-Boo Princess

2010-05-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

Time Out For Women

2010-05-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Jenny Oaks Baker was so amazing!!! She earned a masters degree in music from Julliard and was the head violinist for the National Symphony! She was very sweet and humble and an amazing women!

Mariama Kallon is also amazing, but with a heartbreaking story! She grew up in war-torn Sierra Leone, Africa. It was there where she feared for her life everyday and had to watch so many of her loved ones killed. Right before finally being able to flee to safety, she was raped by the rebels and had to watch her sister's legs being cut off. :( She and a few others were saved by the miracle and power of prayer.

There were quite a few women from our ward that went, but Dana, Valerie, and I decided to carpool and sit together. I had a lot of fun with these two awesome ladies! :)

Rhiannon and I got to hang out through the event too! :) I had to share her with her mother in-law and sister in-law though, I was okay with that! :)

Whew! Although very swollen, huge, and uncomfortable I made it through Friday evening and all day Saturday! It was so worth it!!!!

I got to see my Aunt Gwen too! She came up from Walla Walla for the event. I have such and amazing extended family and I miss them!

The speakers and the musical guests were amazing and their words and music were so uplifting! I learned so much and hope that I can take that and make myself a better Wife, Mommy, Friend, and Daughter of God.

Under the Big Top

2010-04-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

My dad buys tickets to the Shrine Circus almost every year to help support the amazing work of the Shriner's Hospital. As of last year, they started holding the circus under the Big Top instead of in the Arena. We didn't go last year, so this is the first year that we have experienced the "Big Top".

Our kids LOVE spending time with Grandma and Grandpa K!!!! :)

Grandma K bought Kambria glowing cotton candy! Yum! :)

She was nice enough to share some with Eli. :)

Kambria was going to ride the Elephants, but decided she wanted her face painted instead.

I think it turned out BEAUTIFUL!!! :)

Kambria has been practicing her hula hooping "skills" so she loved hula hoop performance!

The Elephants....always a classic and a favorite! They are magnificent animals!

I don't know what this thing is called, but we always enjoy this performance! Scary!!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa K for another fun time at the circus!!!!

Twigs for 8 years

2010-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

Jon and I celebrated our 8th anniversary a couple weeks ago by enjoying a yummy dinner at Twigs in Riverpark Square. We had heard great things about it, but had never been there. I totally recommend it to anyone! :) Jon had their Bleu Steak sandwich and I had their Portabello mushroom sandwich, both very yummy! Not to mention their walnut Cesar salad was the best Cesar salad I have ever had!

We don't usually go for dessert, but since this was a special occasion and both of us had smaller meals we decided to splurge a little. Neither one of us had ever had Creme Brule so that is what we decided on. Another yummy choice!! :)

Here we are....8 years, 2 kids, and another baby about to arrive, and still looking onto Eternity!

Note: I am so happy that he still loves me and thinks I'm beautiful no matter how HUGE I get! :) LOL!

"Who Let the Dogs Out?"

2010-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of Kambria's favorite songs! Here is a video of her and Eli dancing to it yesterday! :) She played it at least 10 times before I made her change it to a different song. :)

A Basket Full of Easter!

2010-04-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Easter is just like Christmas in some ways! Both holidays are truly about our Savior Jesus Christ and his amazing life and teachings. But they are also alike because we don't do all the activities and celebrating in one day. The Christmas holiday starts several weeks before, but Easter activities, for us, usually start about a week before.
This year I took the kids to see the Easter bunny a week before. Kambria was very excited, Eli didn't know what to think at first. :) He went right up to him and shook his hand, but then he turned around and started coming back toward me. I picked him up and tried to sit him in the bunny's lap, he didn't like that at all!! But after he saw Kambria sit in his lap he decided it was okay and even said "cheese" for the picture. :)

This year, Easter Sunday landed on General Conference weekend for our Church. (it is always the first weekends of October and April) Because of this, our ward had their Easter services the Sunday before. Kambria picked out her own Easter dress this year and was VERY EXCITED to wear it!
I tried to get a picture of the two of them together, but just like last year Eli was not interested in pictures at that time at all! So this is the best I got! :)

Kambria's Sunday school teacher has a lamb and brought him to church to go with her Easter lesson! The kids were very excited!

The Thursday before Easter we went over to Grandma and Grandpa K's to color Easter eggs. Eli did really well and loved it! He did try to drink out of the colored vinegar water cups a few times, but I think we stopped him each time before he got anything in his mouth! Yuck! LOL!

The kids also colored Easter eggs with Grandma Watson on Friday, but I didn't get any pics because Jon and I got to have a date day/night while they were over there! :)

The day before Easter was very cold and windy! But we decided to brave it out and take the kids to Riverfront park for their annual egg hunt.

The adults weren't allowed in the section that Kambria was in (understandably!) but I was able to get this picture of Kambria bending down to grab her first egg. She is in the middle with the pink hat and fleece jacket.

After I snapped a couple picture of Kambria, I hurried over to Eli's section where him and Daddy were so I could get a few pics of him too!

Finally! Easter morning!!!! Rosalyn (Jon's sister) and Audriana stayed the night at our house the night before so they could join us for breakfast and conference on tv. Audriana got a hula hoop from the Easter bunny and Kambria got a new bike! The Easter bunny doesn't usually bring big gifts to our house such as a bike, but this year Daddy and I had a special talk with the Easter bunny and let him know that Kambria really needed a bigger bike and it couldn't wait for her birthday in August. :) We were very happy when we saw that he honored our wishes this year! :) Hopefully she will learn how to ride it without training wheels by sometime this summer! (fingers crossed!)

She was really excited! But it has been a little bit of an adjustment for her compared to her tiny 12" princess bike she got 3 years ago!

After having a little fun outside, we decided to go in and find out what they got in their Easter buckets! :)

Eli got his first piggy bank and a couple little extra things since he didn't get anything big. He was happy with what he got, but mostly excited about the candy! I had to empty the candy out of his bucket and put it up so he wouldn't eat it all at once!

Then we had a little Easter egg hunt in the living room to find the "real" colored eggs that were hidden in there.

They got to have a second egg hunt outside in the backyard to find the plastic eggs that the Easter bunny hid with jelly beans and money(coin).

Eli was sucking on his "ring pop" like it was a binky! :)

Blue slobber all over after taking his "ring pop" out! :)

Eli had fun emptying his eggs of the money and putting it in his new piggy bank. :)

"Peek a Boo!" :)

After a day of eating too much candy and watching conference with Jon's Mom and Sister, we headed over to my parent's house for dinner and another egg hunt! :)

Eli and Kaden going through their eggs and finding more money and candy! :)

Grandma and Grandpa K got all the kids kites in their Easter baskets. It was a perfect day to fly them so we put them together and got ready to go outside!

~Eli decided it was fun to throw around the yellow grass out of his basket! Thus the grass hanging from his hood! :) LOL!

The kids and the Daddies had a lot of fun flying the kites! Although cold, the wind was perfect for it!

Eli flew his own too! What a big boy!!!!

First day of Spring Family Fun

2010-03-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

It isn't always so, but this year the first day of spring (which landed on a Saturday) was a beautiful day!!! So we decided to take advantage and make it a family day and have some fun!

We first had to get new tires for Jon's truck, not fun, but while waiting we went over to Subway to get an early lunch since we were all hungry! Kambria loves going to Subway, but it usually isn't Eli's favorite. We love that they have all their footlongs for 5 bucks right now, because that means we aren't limited, especially Jon because he loves to get the "spicy Italian". Usually I split part of my footlong with the kids but Eli usually doesn't eat a lot of his part, until this day! He didn't want any of mine, he wanted Daddy's! He is definitely his father's child when it comes to spicy food!! I don't do spicy and Kambria is even more sensitive to it than I am. But Eli has always loved spicy stuff! Once Daddy gave him a bite of his "spicy Italian" he wanted more and more and more! I guess whenever I go there with the kids I will have to get Eli his own kids size "spicy Italian". :)

After getting the truck back we went and bought a bike trailer so we can start doing more bike rides as a family. We headed home to get the bikes and our helmets and then drove over to Mission park to ride the trail from there to Riverfront park.

After a LONG ride, not just to Riverfront park, but through downtown and Browns Addition, we finally stopped at the park and let the kids play on the Wagon slide.

Heading back to the truck so we could get home and get ready for the 2 receptions we had to go to that night.

Kambria fell asleep on the way back to the truck. :)

The first reception we went to was at the Loof Carousel, so fun! The kids and Jon got to ride for free as many times as they wanted! I got to visit with friends that I worked with a couple years ago. Thanks Carmen for the fun reception and Congrats!

After having fun at the carousel it was off to our final wedding reception; which we barely made it too just as they were leaving since we spent so much time at the first one. But it turned out to be a fun day and a great day to welcome Spring!

St Patrick's Day Parade

2010-03-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the St Patrick's Day parade and met Grandma and Grandpa K and Uncle Brandon and Kaden down there too! It was a little cold but we always enjoy parades! This year it was a little long for me (almost 2 hours! oi!) but the kids enjoyed it and they got candy and green necklaces. :)

Grandma K and Eli watching the parade

I love this little boy! :)

Kaden brought "poppers"! Kambria and Kaden had fun throwing them on the ground to get them to pop, but Eli was having a blast stomping on them!

They were so excited to get candy! A couple times they would turn around and run toward me to show what they got!

"Look Mommy! Bubble Gum!!!!!"

I love the beauty of downtown Spokane! I usually take pics of this exact spot every year.

Irritating!

2010-03-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

I tried to change the picture for our header and it is making it huge so it doesn't fit right! So I finally just took it a away! Anyone know what is causing this??????

Eli's 2 year and My Prego pics

2010-03-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

My handsome little Eli!

He LOVES keys and phones!!!!

"You can't drive daddy's truck yet, bud!"

He did the same thing with his tongue in one of his 1 year pics too!

Growing up too fast!

I love this pic of Eli and Daddy!!!!

Our first family pic with Benson in it......he is hiding! :) (27 1/2 weeks along)

I love all the pics with Jon and I! :)

...with my new hair cut!

Love it!!!!!!! Eli knows where the baby is, but he doesn't know what is really coming!

A brand new style!

2010-03-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

My mom, Kambria, and I decided to have a girls day downtown. My cousin Rachel was about to go on Maternity leave and we all needed our hair cut. So Kambria got to be out of school for the day, we dropped Eli off at his Grandma Poo's, and just us girls headed downtown for a little fun!

Here are before and after pics of our new hair styles! :)

After getting our hair done and going out to lunch, we decided to have a little fun on the carousel! Whoa I look like a big prego lady!!!! LOL

After a couple days of having my hair straight, I wanted to see what it would look like curly. I like it! I did take the pics a little soon though, after my hair completely dried and had some time to move, it added more volume and the curls have a more soft look to them. I still like it though! I need to take another pic of what my hair actually looks like curly after being out of the shower for more than a couple hours.

Eli turned 2!

2010-03-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Eli had his 2nd birthday on February 25th. We decided on a "Cars" theme; here is my creative attempt at a cake! :)

We liked having Kambria's birthday at Five Mile Pizza Parlor, so we decided to do the same thing for Eli. The little cottage is cute to have a party in!

Eli wanted to go on the little merry-go-round what seemed like 100 times! :)

Jon decided to join the kids for the ride again (he did the same at Kambria's birthday). He is a kid at heart!

Eli didn't want to stop playing to have cake and open presents, so he wasn't real happy at first. :)

Eating the cake made things a little better!

Eli loved the Jack-in-the-box that Kambria picked out for him!

I forgot to take pics of the kids playing in the balls. :(

It turned out to be a fun little party with close friends and family! The best time to go is during the week too! There were hardly any people there, it was like we had the whole back, play area to ourselves! :)

I can't believe my little boy is 2! Time goes so fast! He may be a handful a lot of the time, but he has grown to be one of the silliest, cutest, and sweetest kids I know! We love you Eli! :)

Valentine Roses

2010-03-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Since Valentines day was on a Sunday this year, Jon and I decided to celebrate it on the Friday before. Grandma Watson happened to be off work on that day so we dropped the kids off in the afternoon and started our date early! We were able to have a 7 hour date! While I was getting ready, Jon came home and surprised me with these beautiful roses! :)

Kambria really wanted a rose from my bunch, but I wasn't ready to break them apart. So we decided to get Kambria her very own Valentine rose. She was really excited...you just can't tell in the pic. :)

Dinosaur

2010-03-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

To promote "Walking with the Dinosaurs" that is coming to Spokane this spring, the production brought their baby T-Rex to Riverpark Square in the beginning of February. We thought it would be fun to see since they are supposed to be "real life" replicas. The kids loved it! We weren't sure if Kambria would be scared or not, but she was brave and wanted to touch it! Some kids got to, but we didn't get close enough to have her do it.

Daddy and Kambria watching as the dinosaur came in.

Those are human legs sticking out of the dinosaur. I guess the baby dinos are the only ones that have people inside of them; the adult size dinos are a lot bigger and are controlled by multiple people and technology.

Little George

2010-03-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

On January 29th, our best friends, George and Rhiannon, welcomed a little baby boy into the world! No-one knew if the baby would be a boy or a girl, so we were super excited to find out he was a BOY!

Kambria was especially excited to hold him! She loves her new baby cousin so much!

Welcome Little George! We love you!

boys already?

2010-03-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of the year I have been horrible at keeping up with our blog, so here we go, back to the beginning of the year!~

In January, Kambria received her first little gift from a BOY! Oi! She was pretty excited to show it to me when she got out of school. A little boy in her class picked 3 girls that he wanted to give jewelry to and Kambria happened to be one of them. :) LOL!
Here is the beautiful piece of jewelry :)~

Virus! :(

2010-03-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our computer caught a bad virus! Yuck! So even though I haven't been very good at keeping our blog up lately I do actually have quite a few things to blog about now! I will get to be on the comptuter a little more once we get our new computer up and running. So until then just stay tuned....

I will have lots of pics! including Eli's 2nd birthday!!! My little boy is growing too fast! :)

Another Boy!!!!!

2010-01-16T18:45:00.000-08:00

I had an ultrasound on Wednesday and we were excited to find out that we are having another boy! Kambria was a little disappointed because she was really hoping to have a baby sister, but she is okay with it! Good thing since she doesn't really have a say in it! :) It will be great for Eli to have a little brother and a playmate!

His name will be Benson LaVerne Watson. The name comes from two of his Great Grandpa's. Benson is the middle name of Jon's Grandpa and LaVerne is the first name of my Grandpa.

We have known for a while that we would name our second boy after my Grandpa because he truly is the best in the world and Jon thinks so too! :) My Grandpa's name is LaVerne Harvey and I didn't want to use either of those for a first name, sorry Grandpa. :) So we started thinking of a first name that would go with LaVerne as the middle name. I asked Jon's mom one day what her dad's full name was and she said Glen B. He didn't like his middle name so he never used it. I went a little further and asked her if she knew what it actually was.......it was Benson. Well I really like it and so does Jon! So that was it......Benson LaVerne! Very fitting and not common just as I like it! :)

FYI~ we are not going to encourage the nickname "Ben"! So please don't call him that when he is born. Thanks! :) If he decides to go by that when he gets older then that will be his decision, but we will always know him as Benson.

Finally....our Christmas post!

2010-01-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

It seems as though I have fallen into the group who now gets hooked on facebook and neglects blogger. So I decided I better post our Christmas pics before it turns into a month later! :)

The weekend before Christmas my dad and I have a tradition to go downtown, walk around, go to dinner, and usually go to a movie. I love it!!! :) This time before our little father/daughter date Jon and I took Kambria to Santa Express downtown so she could pick out our Christmas present and because it benefits the Venessa Behen Crisis Nursery. While waiting for her to come out my dad met us there.....and so did Santa! :)

A pic of the kids in front of the tree the Sunday before Christmas~

We spent Christmas morning at my parent's house. Eli was still half asleep so we didn't get a smile out of him right away, but you could tell he was so excited that Santa brought him a very cool tricycle!!! :)

With Kambria being in Kindergarten we get to start getting home/school made gifts from her! I love it!!! :)

A few weeks before Christmas she saw a picture of a Hannah Montana guitar somewhere and started asking for it. I told her it was probably to late since it was already so close to Christmas and we already purchased all of her gifts. It was so great! About a week before she started asking I had found one at Other Mothers (a children/Mother consignment store) and couldn't resist picking it up for her, especially for 5 bucks!!!!! :)

Christmas day was so beautiful! So Eli got to have fun riding his tricycle in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard!

I didn't get any pics of it, but my parent's bought us the Wii for Christmas! We love it and have had a lot of fun family time with it!!!!!

Another exciting thing is that we got to see Taylor and Micah (Brandon's ex-wife's kids) on Christmas! They have always been just like his own, especially Micah since he helped raise him from a baby. I guess his ex had a nice itch for a day and let him take them! :) So here is Micah, Taylor, Eli, Kaden, and Kambria all together! :)

In the afternoon we went to Jon's mom's house and had a good visit with his mom, sister, and niece.

Auntie Rose and Audriana got Kambria the Wizards of Waverly Place barbie she had been asking for! She was super excited! :)

It was a great Christmas this year, just as they usually are! :)

A Christmas Mix of Pics

2009-12-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

Dress up, Santa at the Mall, and our Christmas tree.....

Every year at the "Nativities Around the World" event thrown by our church, they have a children's area where they get to color, play with toy nativities, and dress up. Eli wanted the sheep costume, Kambria the angel, and Audriana one of the wise men costumes. Too cute eh?! :)

A beautiful Angel standing over the baby Jesus. :)

One afternoon after picking Kambria up from school, we decided to take the kids to the mall to play in the play area. But before we did, Kambria wanted to take a detour to see Santa. :)

Daddy boosting Kambria up to help her get the Angel on top of our tree. That has become tradition, but I think within the next year or two Eli will want a turn to do it too. :)

Kambria wanted to hug the tree! :)

A little blurry, but our pretty tree all decorated! :) We usually put red and gold beaded garland around it, but we knew that wouldn't last very long with Eli around!

Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Kambria and Eli's Grandma Pooh and their Auntie Adie volunteered at a local church's annual "Breakfast with Santa". It was a yummy breakfast and the kids had a blast! :)

Adrianna (Auntie Adie) with Santa! :)

Kambria showing off her candy cane Rudolf the rednose reindeer.

Uncle George, Auntie Roo, and Madeleine were there too! :) I didn't have my camera out yet when Santa had come over to the table to say hi to my kids....sad. George and Rhiannon got there a little later, so I captured a pic of Santa saying hi to Madeleine. :)

Audriana was with us too. :)

A family picture with Santa.....come on Daddy....why don't you sit on Santa's lap???? LOL! :)

Madeleine telling Santa that she wants a barbie for Christmas. :)

"Running" errands with Kambria

2009-12-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

After picking up Kambria from school I took her with me to run a few errands, which included going downtown. When we were by the Bloomsday statues she requested I take a picture of her with them. I just thought it was cute and wanted to share! I love this cute girl! :)

An attempt at our own family pictures.....

2009-12-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

Since we couldn't afford to get new family pics taken by my very talented cousin, we, along with our best friends decided to go to Finch Arboretum and try and take our own of eachother. Well....they didn't turn out too well and neither one of us decided to include them in our Christmas cards this year. :) By the time we got there on a blistery cold Sunday afternoon, it was getting dark fast. Niether of our families had a fancy camera so the pics turned out pretty dark even though it was just barely dusk. Also to add to the fun, the kids were miserable! So we tried......... (at least both of our Christmas cards turned out cute without our family pics). :)

Ahhhh.......the only one I love! :)

I didn't include very many of the attemps in the post, just the better ones. :)

Going back.....day after thanksgiving....

2009-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

After a little shopping with my best friend and a little nap after having only 2 1/2 hours of sleep the night before, we headed to Coeur'd Alene for the night time parade and the Christmas lighting ceremony at the resort. We have made it a tradition with some of Jon's family and always have a good time despite the very cold temps! :)

After the lighting ceremony and a dinner usually consisting of sandwiches and stuff brought from home, we head into the resort hotel to see all the fun decorated Christmas trees and check out that year's entertainment.

Kambria wanted a picture by this tree since it was full of and surrounded by one of her favorite things.....STUFFIES! (stuffed animals)

Eli got to play in the jumping castle since there weren't a bunch of other kids in there at the time. He loved it!!! :)

Our niece Audriana coming down the slide in the castle.

Kambria and Eli decided to go down together :)

We decided to take a break and sit down and watch the entertainment. But the girls and Eli had a different idea......why sit when you can get up and dance! :)

Jon and Grandma Watson decided to join in too. I was busy taking pics of all the cute fun! :)

Some of the lights on the boardwalk....