Riley's 5th Birthday

Unbelievably Riley is now 5 years old!  I can't believe how fast these five years have gone by.  She was just my little brown eyed baby and always will be.  We threw a dance party with her friend Allie (who is 4 days younger) and invited all of their friends to a dance studio.  They had an instructor doing ballet and free dance with them.  Ella loved every minute of it, you would've thought it was her party.  She was the only 2 year old in a group of 4-6 yr old girls and followed all the directions of the teacher.  They broke for about 30 minutes for cake and presents and then went right back out there to dance some more.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Halloween & Future Beauty Queen?

Tonight was our church's Halloween party...which means tons of food, cake walks, games, costume contest, pie eating, etc....  During the costume contest everyone passed by on stage.  Riley took Ella's hand and showed her what to do by taking her the first time around.  Little did we know that Ella thought this was the perfect opportunity to practice her pageant queen wave.  She walked across the stage, down the stairs, and to the other side to repeat 4 more times all by herself!!  I finally got this video of her walking across for the 3rd time.  She was too funny!  I think she found her calling in life and it most likely will take place center stage.

Riley's casual strut across stage

Colorado-The Sun, the Sun!!

This past week we flew down to Colorado for my cousin's wedding.  This would also be the first time my parents have seen Jarom's parents in 8 years!  The wedding was at Red Rocks, which is just beautiful, I can't believe I'd never seen a concert there when we lived there.  The girls were bouncing off the chapel's walls, so I had to contain them with the Iphone through the whole ceremony.  The reception wasn't much better since it was past their bedtime and they hadn't eaten dinner yet.  We went to a pumpkin patch on a nice hot sunny day (it was 80!).  The girls loved picking out the perfect pumpkin, especially Riley.  Ella just sat back on a pumpkin and sang to herself.  The last day we drove out to Morrison to visit my friend Kate (go MIAMI!)  She has two cute kiddos herself and wants us to move back ASAP!  I don't blame her, what could you not like about CO.  It sure did make me miss it.  So thank you Colorado for our yearly dose of Vitamin D.  See you again soon.

Boy stuff

So the day we found out we were having a boy, I had some sweet friends send me my first boy items.
Sarah delivered a bouquet of boy balloons and a bear, made me cry!  Then a girl from Jarom's work bought us our first little Guess outfit and a picture frame.  This is definitely going to be fun buying something other than pink and tutus!

Baby BOY!

The day I had been waiting for has finally come and my instincts were actually right this time.  I just somehow felt different about this pregnancy and hoping there was a reason.  The ultrasound tech announced right away that "it's a boy" and I just couldn't believe it.  So many things just started going through my mind, decorating the nursery with sports themes, buying all new clothes, and how the girls were just going to adore their baby brother.  I knew that Heavenly Father had a plan and this little miracle seems to complete us.  I tear up just thinking of him.  The tech said that our little boy has long legs, (just like the girls did) and a big head (uh oh).  He's also been measuring 4 days ahead of schedule.  This could be the athlete Jarom always wanted ;)   We are so excited and can't wait to meet him soon.

It's a BOY picture

First day

I know I haven't posted anything in exactly one month, but I seriously couldn't think of anything to post.  I've been so wrapped up in waiting to find out the sex of our baby (not till next week).  So here's Riley's first day of her last year of preschool.  I can't believe she's been in preschool for 3 long years! She seems very ready for kindergarten.  A lot of her friends are already there so it leaves her with just one other girl in her class this year.  One day last week she had a meltdown because her friend was out sick.  When I picked her up later that afternoon she was back to normal and said "I guess I have to play with those boys now."  

Ella wanted a picture too

I put Ella's hair in a ponytail for the first time, she looked so much older!

Parents in Seattle

This week my parents came to visit and we had sunny beautiful weather all week for a change.  We went to Tillicum Village on Blake Island, lots of yummy salmon and amazing views of the city and mountains.  The next day we were of to Chateau St. Michelle, a local winery just east of Seattle.  The girls entertained themselves by collecting acorns while we sat on the lawn enjoying the day.  We also went to the Point Defiance Zoo and saw the cute baby tiger cubs.  Saturday we took the Sounders train from Tacoma to Seattle and saw a Mariners game.   Luckily they have a playground in the stadium, but near the end the girls got into the chanting of "I chi RO!!"  Unfortunately they lost.  I think everyone had a great time, it's always hard to say goodbye until next time.

Our little starfish

Camel ride with Nana

Parasailing over the needle

Sounders train

Tillicum village

Winery