Cape Lookout

We had our Ward Campout this weekend out at the coast. It was a ton of fun and the girls had a blast. I, of course, forgot the camera but Shawn got some great shots on his Blackberry - which of course he would never forget anywhere. Don't get me started. :)

Backyard & Barkdust

We have finally completed our back and side yard projects. It took a lot of time and money and we still have lots of planting to do but we're hoping by next year we'll be out of major-project-mode and into maintenance-mode.

Preschool Spring Program

Grace has finished her year at Happy Hearts Preschool. She had a great time and is looking forward to going 3 times a week next year!

Here is Grace singing a song with her class. She did a great job singing all the words but flatly refused to do any of the actions with the songs. She explained to me afterwards that she thought her hands looked pretty holding out her dress. What a princess! :)

Grace with Teachers Pam and Susan. See you next fall!

Remembering...

Thank you, Dad for inviting us to join you at the Sunset Hills cemetery. It's become a little bit of a tradition to visit the grave sites of my great grandparents who are buried there on Memorial Day weekend. There are other family members - great aunts and uncles there as well. My dad brought supplies and flowers so we could spiff up their headstones and leave some flowers. Grace and Jane really got into helping with the clean-up.

The worst possible moment...TWICE!

I don't think there's ever a great time for your washing machine to break down but mine has bit the dust twice in the last couple of weeks and both times have been terrible.

Break down #1: It's two days before we leave for the Netherlands. I have saved all my laundry to the last possible moment so everything in the house is clean when we leave. This is, of course, when the washer decides not to do the final spin cycle any more. It's broken down before but we repaired it and made do. Now, as I wring out a load of towels by hand (my arms are shaking - I do not work out my laundry wringing muscles very often) I think it's time to just buy something new. I run to Lowe's, Home Deport, Best Buy, and Sears which of course I have no time for because I need to be cleaning my house, packing, grocery shopping, etc. I found a good set at Lowe's but they don't have it in stock so I decide to wait. Lo, and behold when I get home the washer miraculously starts working again (thank heaven - literally). I finish my laundry, leave the country and the washer problems leave my mind.

Break down #2: Last Friday our washer conks out again. This is the night that Jane decides to throw up at 3am and then again all over our car on Saturday morning as we are driving to go shop for a new washer (yes, the irony is not lost on me). We now have car seat covers, bed linens and Jane's clothing that could really use a go in a decent working washer. After the car throw-up incident we just turned around and went straight home. We washed everything the best we could hand wringing and running small loads (which the spin will kick on sometimes if we do). We try again that afternoon and we now have purchased a wonderful new washer and dryer. It should be here tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Our new washer and dryer....

Back in the saddle again....

Okay, I have taken an extended break from blogging but I'm going to try and get our family back up to date. For now, I wanted to post some pics from our amazing trip to the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago. See below and enjoy!

Funny Girl

Grace was to dress like a clown or in crazy clothes for preschool today. This seemd to be right up her alley. She had fun finding a mismatched outfit and I realized that even when she was supposed to dress silly I still had a hard time relinquishing control of her wardrobe entirely to her. What is my problem? :) Anyway, we topped the outfit off by doing her hair in four pig tails with ribbons of different colors. What a cutie!