Ryder is a DAD!

A 3 1/2 year old dad! We got to go visit Ryder's little girl today and she is adorable. She is only one week old and she was soft, sweet, tiny and clean. If only her dad could be some of these, too! Actually, Ryder is a fabulous dog and great with our kiddos.

Here she is, she has Ryder's exact coloring- it was kind-of spooky to see a tiny version of Ryder. Noah wouldn't get within two feet of this cute thing... she scared him!!! I guess Noah prefers the huge/slobbery/stinky ones!

So, I have to share Parker's li'l innocent conversation with me while we were gardening last Friday... it was so cute and I love how my 4 1/2 yr. old is so naive, we'll keep it that way for a while:

Me: Hey Parker, I forgot to tell you that Glacier had a puppy last night.

P: I know that mom, I heard you tell Miss Janelle. She had a girl but the owners wanted a boy and she looks like Ryder. (hmmm, I didn't know he listened to every single word while I talk on the phone!!! ;)) So, mom is Ryder a dad?

Me: Yep, Ryder is a dad. (oh know, was he going to ask more questions on this subject, I wasn't wanting to explain the process, yet!!!)

P: Hmm... so, that means Ryder is a dad and Glacier is a mom, and they have a puppy. That means they are a family. So, why doesn't Ryder live with his family? Families live together!

Me: Parker, you are right... human families live together but God made animal families different.

P: Oh!

And, that was the end of that! Whew! I just thought it was so sweet and innocent that he was confused why Ryder was not with his family!

We are triathletes

I can not believe I am a triathlete! I have never competed in any true competition, so this was a huge deal for me. About 2 months ago, a bunch of us from MOPS and church decided we would "try" a triathlon! We named ourselves the "Valley Rookies". So, most of us joined the gym and started "training" as much as possible. What a blast! Then, we met at the bike course 2 weeks ago to see what we had gotten ourselves into. Here's the practice crew with our Pastor Coach Larry:
Then, we went and set up our bikes and gear, together, the night before the race! We were all a bucket of nerves but it was definitely better to do it with friends!

Here's our long-anticipated wait to jump in the pool. It was such a "kick" waiting there with my teammates, still all-nerves, but the music was fun and we all just wanted to "GO"!

This is me on the bike home stretch and that is Parker cheering me on! I love this picture because it was so fun to have my little guy there- he was all smiles and waves, whenever I came by!

Almost done! What a thrill to enter into that finish line area! Every part of the day was perfect, especially the weather... blue skies, 70s and NO wind!

girlfriends... the only reason I did this race! We all had matching "09" shirts from Old Navy and they were quite the hit with the other triathletes. Everyone looks the same out on the bike course, so it was fun to see your orange teammates from a mile away!

FINISH... that was my favorite word I read all day!

Kep and Parker, my pit crew and pack horses... these were my favorite people I saw all day! I love how my li'l family was so encouraging throughout this whole process. They gave me plenty of time to train- thanks fam.!

So, every part of this triathlon was definitely exhilarating, but this is one of my favorite parts... the shirt, number and cap that you keep at the end!

Go "Valley Rookies"! Now, we have to think of a new name for the 2010 Gold Nugget Triathlon, since we are no longer rookies.

proud of my spandex ridin' hubby!

This is the summer of racing for our li'l family. Kep has always loved to road bike, so this summer he has joined the Arctic Bicycle Club and he is competing in as many road bike races, as possible.

The kiddos and I are excited to be his cheer squad. Parker is daddy's official water boy! Only the first race, the water bottle got dropped so we'll have to practice the bottle hand-off before this week's race.

We are proud of you, dad!

I am in LOVE...

with our weather! We have been blessed with a gorgeous week of blue skies, buds on trees, HOT sunshine AND it hit 75 today! Yippee! This week of weather brings out a different person in me and I suppose that's to be expected since I did spend the first 12 years of my life in the tropics. I am a "native" to warm weather!So, we have been to 3 different parks this week and our swing-set has more hours into it, this week, than all year!

After a full afternoon of sprinkler and pool fun... the boys got their first "Drumstick" ice-cream treats. I thought it was comical how our 2 boys' faces looked so different. That's our Noah... he savors every bite and tries to put the whole thing in his mouth!

Bunny hunters

Kep and the boys went post-Easter bunny hunting last night! I am "such a mom", as Kep always tells me! I can't imagine shooting an adorable, sweet, white, fluffy bunny... especially, after "he" delivered treats last week! But, the boys had a blast!

We bought a camper back in February and Kep has been dying to take the boys out on their first bunny-hunt-overnight. Unfortunately, he forgot to take our camera so we only have these photos in our driveway. They only saw 3 bunnies on their morning hike and shot all 3! It was so cute to get Parker's call on their way home (aren't little kids' voices so sweet on the phone!?!). He was pumped to tell me they shot 3 bunnies and that one was really bloody. I, of course, was "that" mom and asked my boy "Did that make you sad to kill a cute bunny?" But, Parker made his dad proud, "No WAY, it was fun, mom!"

So, Parker and Kep are figuring out how to skin these bunnies so they can hang one or two of them in the garage (where they belong!).

(I told them to do something "silly" and Parker opted to stick out his tongue- normally we don't do that!!! Oh, and notice Parker is wearing gloves, yep, that would be our "first-born"... didn't want to touch any possibility of blood!)

Savannah is UNO

I can't believe our little girl is now 1! Here she is with Parker opening her first present from her cousins! Presents were definitely a hit for our sweet one-year old and her brothers were a big help.

Savannah's kitchen made with 3 1/2 hours of love from her 3 boys! Parker and Noah love playing with it, too!

Savannah's first tea set, it sings and makes cute noises!

I wanted to have a flower party for Savannah. My favorite pie is French Silk Pie, so I had a grand thought of helping Savannah, too, LOVE this pie starting at 1! So, this is my attempt to be creative and make a flower out of mini-pies with a pink whip cream center.

Savannah wasn't too sure what to do with the sticky fingers.

Now, she's OK with the mess- it's yummy!

French Silk Pies make for a great 1st year photo op!

Easter bunny hopped here

Sometime, while we were eating breakfast at IHOP and celebrating our Risen Christ at church... the Easter bunny hopped on our porch. Yep, that would be my clever hubby who hid all the eggs, laid out their baskets and put powdered sugar on our porch while we drove the LONG way around our neighborhood to get the mail! Our boys still think that these patches of powdered sugar are the bunny's footprints!!!

Savannah was so cute. She can't walk, yet, so she crawled with her basket.

"Uh-Oh!" Savannah's new word!

Savannah loves her new kitchen!

outdoor egg hunt

Buchanans hosted our outdoor Easter egg hunt. The boys all had such a great time tromping through the foot of snow and trees hunting for eggs. Savannah our scowling Easter bunny. This is Savannah's new way of charming people! I think she's realized that if you scowl you get a better reaction than smiling, people laugh! Then, she usually is smiling within a few more seconds. The scowl is cute and I hope it reappears when she is sixteen, and legal to date boys!!! Silly girl!

Parker one determined egg hunter. At the end, he hunched over in the woods and started cramming as much chocolate in his mouth while all of us parents were chatting. I think he remembered that he better eat it now before mom starts portioning it out for the next few weeks!

Noah's actually walking on top of a foot of snow! Most the hunt, his boots would fall down every other step!

The clan of egg hunters minus the Gelatt girls who were tardy hunters! What fun!

collecting Mt. Redoubt

Mt. Redoubt has erupted and we are finally smelling the evidence of its many eruptions. Unfortunately, it is dark so we can not see the large ash cloud above our house but we can smell the sulfur and see the ash falling.

After our 3 little ones were tucked in, I met Janelle at Chili's and we ordered a Molten Chocolate Lava Cake (m-mmmm!) We had no idea the ash cloud had arrived but it was ironic that we were enjoying our own yummy volcano inside!!! After every last bite was enjoyed, we noticed the ash all over our windshields! How exciting to think that this powerful volcano has blown time and time again and now we have remnants! I only wish it were day-time so the boys could see the falling ash (and smell it)! But, I did stick a white bowl out on our porch to catch some ash- our little science experiment!

Sea World

Here's to our last day in San Diego. We were gone a week and it's taken me a week to capture all of our memories on here! The boys and I have had fun sorting through all our pictures! Every time we look at our vacation pictures, Parker says "I sure miss San Diego!" Me too! Well, in hopes that I have not completely bored anyone with these lengthy posts- here's our last one- possibly our favorite day! I don't know- though- they were all a blast!The boys in smiles all day- how fun to see all these animals so close! These are the stingrays, in case you aren't familiar with a stingray shadow!

Even Savannah enjoyed the dolphin show- sitting like a big girl in the stands!

So, the dolphins were amazing but the sea lion show was hilarious. So fun, to listen to our boys laugh out loud! I couldn't believe what these trainers could get these animals to do- incredible! And, I don't know what this little animal is... but he was so cute. He's carrying a Pepsi can out to the captain!

Whew- this was a large sea lion but he knew how to wave.

Here's the impressive Shamu stadium! We got there early so we could get front row seats BEHIND the Soak Zone It was a cloudy day so we weren't about to get soaked by Shamu! And, I am glad we didn't sit in the Soak Zone, because one of the killer whales pooped in the water and a huge section of water immediately turned brown!

One of the many times people got soaked!

These trainers and whales are truly amazing- this guy rode on his nose for the length of the pool!

And, here's our last ride of the week- Oscar's Eel. Sea World has a nice Sesame Street playground and set of rides in the center. We let the boys run around in order to get them even more worn out for our plane ride home. It was an uneventful (thank goodness!) trip home and I was pumped to see snow at 2am!!! HA! ;) Well, that's all Folks!