We're still here.

A lot has been going on at our house. So much that i haven't had time to document anything. So here is a quick recap before me and the girls go on a little vacation (where i will then have more to document: the never ending cycle).
Tesila is walking!!!

Swimming Lessons!
(Dalia's first class just by herself)

Tesila's first swimming lessons.
(Mom and Dad got to help Tes out in the pool).

Lots of Picnics on our deck.

Hiking!
Dalia is a great hiker, she only has to be carried sometimes (usually on the way back to the car).

We got a sandbox!

Grandma Carolyn came to visit for a week, fun!
(Dalia's new Princess bike that she got for her birthday!)

We hiked to a waterfall (Wallace Falls).

Climbed on daddy in our pretty girl tutu's.

Made a bike train!

Our awesome Rhody tree bloomed!
The girls riding their bikes in the driveway.

Smiley baby Tes and her mama!

It has been in the 80's here so we have been playing in our kiddie pool and running through the sprinklers.

Relaxing on our deck in the evening (taken by photographer Dalia).

Our Pumpkin seed is growing!
(it seems to double in size just about every day).

K Friends

Our friends the K family came over to play tonight!

We love getting together with them. Not only do us wives get along, but our husbands do too! And not only that our kids get along and each have a playmate!

Sophie (4 yrs) & Dalia (3 yrs) - Jonas (1 yr) & Tesila (1 yr)
June 2009

Tes (3 months) & Jonas (4 months) - June 2008
Sophie (3 yrs) & Dalia (2 yrs) - June 2008

Barclay Lake

Barclay Lake Hike
This summer we are trying to hike more. It is something that Brian and i both enjoy and that we didn't do enough of last summer. We also live in a great area that has lots of hikes close by and which are kid friendly. This day we hiked to Barclay Lake (about 4 miles round trip). It was a beautiful hike (most of the hikes here are) with moss covered trees everywhere and a shaded trail most of the way. Cool log bridges and fun rocks to climb on (dalia wants to climb on everyone, i wonder where she gets that from?! Brian!). Dalia is such a good hiker. She hiked all the way to the lake herself. And Brian is such a good carrier. He carried Tesila all the way to the lake and carried Dalia back to the car while i carried Tes.

log thing

Brian always finds something fun to do with the girls!
I went to a baby shower tonight and came home to find them balancing on a board and log. Dalia had fun holding onto daddy's leg while he made it move.

Dalia also could walk across the board herself.

VIDEO: Dalia walking over the board.


VIDEO: Brian riding his bike over the board.

Tesila Loves Babies!

Tesila Rose loves babies!

All of a sudden she wants to carry these baby dolls around and wrap them up in blankets! And as you can tell from the pictures, she is very proud and excited when she holds her babies. (However, on a sad note to me, she doesn't seem to like Cabbage Patch Dolls. When she asks for her baby if i give her her cabbage patch doll she throws it on the floor and continues to cry for her baby until i give her one of the baby dolls where their eyes open and close.)

Color.Water.Lick

The girls like to color. Tesila likes to help me do lots of things, especially watering the flowers. Tesila learned how to lick beaters today! By her teacher Dalia!

Forest Park Splash Park

Before swimming lessons today we met Brian at the park after work and had a picnic dinner and then played at the splash park until it was time for swimming lessons. Dalia loved it! Tesila was interested in the water and where the water was coming from. But once the water started squirting out and when it would touch her she would turn and run away. Brian seemed to enjoy it too!

Dalia & Daddy

Dalia & Daddy!

They are so funny!

Kiddie Pool

At the beginning of June it was really hot here in Everett (80-90 degree weather). We spent most of the week in our backyard in the kiddie pool and jumping in the sprinklers. Dalia had to put all our balls in the kiddie pool. Tesila loved throwing them out and Dalia would whine and put them back in.

Sisters - 15 months old

Here are the girls at about the same age.

New Bikes

Last night Eric & Emily watched the girls while Brian and i went to the Temple. Eric & Emily also just moved into their first house a few weeks ago. The previous owners left a few things behind. Two kid bikes! When we picked the girls up last night, Tes kept saying 'bike' (her new word for the day, she seems to be learning a new word every day). She was quite excited about it. Well Eric & Emily let us have the little baby push bike and the red trike (which Dalia calls her 'red bike'). So today while Brian and Eric went biking the girls went biking in our drive way! Dalia is learning how to pedal and can so far pedal the trike better than her bike. Tes loves to walk around with her little bike. I also got out the sidewalk chalk and the girls liked drawing. My rhododenrum plant has finally bloomed and it is georgous! i love rhody plants! and their are lots of them around here. Later that night Brian and the girls had a little bike parade!

Videos: Tes riding her bike!

Dalia riding her trike!

My Family

I love these 3 people!

Tes & Dalia greeting Daddy as he walked in the door from work!

Cute tutu Tes!

Wallace Falls

Memorial Day!
Today we hiked to Wallace falls!

Eric & Emily came with us. Dalia hiked to the lower falls while Brian carried Tes. Then I carried Tes and Brian carried Dalia to the Middle and Upper Falls and back down! At one point in our hike down Brian and i started to hold hands. The girls were then close together and started to hold hands too! So cute!

Sandbox & Picnics

Our Backyard!

Brian and the girls got me a Turtle Sandbox for Mother's day!
Thanks for your hard work Brian.

I love Picnics! That is one thing i love about our deck and the summer time. We have been enjoying eating our lunch and dinner outside on our deck. Dalia, Tes, and friend Lily even like playing picnic in our house! I love picnics at the park too! We have many of those too!

Dalia Dixie

Dalia Dixie - 3 Years Old

She loves to go to the library for story time and to check out books. She completed the early readers reading chart and got a free book! She loves to help me cook anything (here she is helping me make her new favorite thing to eat - Oatmeal with raisins!) She likes to sit on her bike, when i tell her to pedal her feet go backwards and put on the brakes. She loves to stir anything and loves juice! She loves her new Cinderella doll. Her head as come off twice now. Here she is holding Cinderella with a orange neck brace on after daddy glued her head back on.
Video:

Tesila Rose

Tesila Rose - 15 Months Old

This month she started walking! She now loves to push the doll stroller all around the house. She still sucks on her same two middle fingers on her right hand. She is also started to say quite a few words! One of her favorite words is "ball" because she likes toy balls. When she sees a ball she starts to say ball and then goes over to pick up the ball. Started her first swim lessons and loves the water! She kicks her feet, splashes with her hands, and blows bubbles (well she actually just sticks her face in the water with her mouth open and then come out of the water smiling!)

Video:

Lord Hill Park

This summer we want to do a lot more hiking then we did last summer (i believe last summer of 2008 we went on 1 maybe 2 hikes). To start our hiking adventures we choose a park that you can either, walk, bike, or ride horseback; called Lord Hill Park. Eric came with us since Emily was in Alaska. Eric & Brian rode their bikes while us three girls walked. It was so very pretty there! So green and very shady. We enjoyed the hike but we didn't really seem to find a destitation. We just hiked in a big circle back to our car. We passed a few horses and the girls liked that.

Video: After our hike we ate some apples (she LOVES apples) before getting in the car to go home and Tesila said a new word! "Please" however, she says it more like "Pease"

Planting Flowers

As Tesila is getting older i'm seeing more and more of her personality. She loves to Help and do whatever i am doing. This morning i was planting my flower pots. She noticed me taking handfuls of dirt and putting the dirt in the flower pots so of course she had to do that too. It was so cute. I think more dirt ended up on the floor, but she means well.
Video:

Friends

Preston came to play at our house today! We always like when he comes to play. We colored, danced, sang songs, and ate snacks. That night Preston's parents come over too. We cooked marshmallows over Brian's new firepit that he built in our blackberry field.

Swim Lessons

We took swim lessons at Forest Park this year!
It was Dalia's first swim lessons all by herself (you have to be 3 yr. old to go by yourself).
It was Tesila's first swim lessons. Brian and I got to get in the water with Tes and help her out in her swim class. (Grandma got to watch and take our pictures).
Tesila had lots of fun in the water. She didn't seem scared at all. She seemed to have fun playing with Daddy and laughing at him.
Dalia loved playing in the water with the other kids in her class and swimming with her teacher, Jordi.

We love Grandma

Dalia loves spending time with Grandma. She loves to play candy land that she got for her birthday. Our cousins came over and Matthew and Scott really liked playing Candy land too.
The 5 Everett Cousins: Luke, Scott, Tesila, Matthew, & Dalia

We love Grandma!
Walking the trails at Forest Park, playing on the playground, and Dalia painting (she LOVES to paint!)



Today we played in the utility easement in our backyard! The girls had so much fun playing with Grandma! Here they are sword fighting. Dalia was 'Peter Pan,' Grandma was 'Captain Hook' (or Captain Cook - That's how Dalia says it), and Tesila was 'Smee' or 'Tinkerbelle.' Thank you for coming to stay with us! Come back soon!

Fun Pictures that Grandma took!
Dalia feel asleep at the shopping car wheel! Tesila is so cute when she sleeps, sucking on her two favorite fingers. Dalia and her cute toys! Dalia wearing mommy's bug eye sun glasses. Us at one of our favorite places to go - Story time at the Library!

Howarth Beach

Tonight we took Grandma to one of our favorite beaches here called Howarth Beach. We had a picnic over looking the Sound, played on the playground, played in the sand, and threw sticks in the water.

Yard Work

While Grandma was here we went to work on some yard projects that we have been wanting to complete. Since she lives in an apartment and doesn't have a yard to care for we knew that she would love to help. She helped dig out lots of bushes. Lots in the front yard, especially by our front porch. And in the backyard just outside of Brian's man room. We tour out some rose bushes and Brian leveled out the ground and we gathered every single brick that we could find in our yard to create a little patio! (a sandbox coming shortly to put on top of the patio).

We also planted our 3 pumpkin seeds from Grandpa Lane in the backyard. Brian helped Dalia practice riding her bike. Grandma experimented with putting curlers in Tesila's hair. She seemed to love it. She looked so cute with the curlers in her hair and so cute with curls all over her little head.

Dalia's Bike

Dalia's birthday party at home!

We had a 2nd blue's clues birthday party for Dalia when we got home. She got a purple princess bicycle for her birthday from her mama and daddy (it wouldn't fit in our suitcases to take to utah). We played blues clues to find out that she was getting a bicycle. She was so excited and loved to sit on it. But she can't quite peddal yet. After awhile she got off and wanted mommy to ride her bike. She also got some really cool puzzles that grandma Dixie made for her. Happy 3 year old Dalia!!

Back to WA

Our last day in Utah the girls spent the day with Grandma in SLC. They went to the park and Dalia helped Grandma make cookies in their pink aprons! I met up with my friend Marissa! Marissa was my neighbor my first year of college at BYU-I. Oh how i love Marissa! It was very last minute but i'm so glad that we were able to get together. We went out to lunch at the Garden restuarant in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was so fun to see her and talk about our college lives together and about our new lives as wives.

That evening Grandpa Lane took us to the airport and Grandma Carolyn flew on the airplane with us to Seattle!! What a fun plane ride. The girls were so good. We were all so excited to see Brian when he picked us up a the SeaTac Airport! We sure missed him.

Friends, SLC Temple

Heather, Lilly, & Molly - Brooke & Adah

My friend Heather drove down from Idaho with her two little girls (Lilly & Molly) to have a sleepover with me and my girls at my mom's apartment. My sister Callie was there too since her husband was gone too. It was awesome! It felt like we were back in college (except for the fact that we had babies running around who were calling us Mom!) We put the babies to bed and stayed up and talked until 5:00 AM! Yes, i know we are crazy. But it sure was fun!
The next day our friend Brooke and her baby Adah came to play with us. We had fun playing with our girls and walking around Temple square! (Recreating our Temple square day from back in college; except we traded in Skye (one of Heather and Brooke's guy friends) for our 5 cute baby girls! so fun!
Thank you Heather and Brooke for coming! I really enjoyed see you!

Dalia has really been interested in Temples lately. So i was really excited to show her the Salt Lake Temple. My mom and Jami spent the day with us too!

Cousins

Cousins in Utah!

While we were in Utah we spent a day with our cousins at Aunt Charla's house! So fun!

Another night we had cousins over at Grandma & Grandpa How's home! We had a Family Home Evening about Temples and then walked across the street to Temple Square to see the Salt Lake Temple and let all the kids touch the Temple doors and get a picture with Grandma & Grandpa!

We sure love cousins and miss them when we are back at home in Washington.

Jami's Graduation

Hooray for Jami Lyn!
She graduated from Utah State May 2, 2009!

We were all there but Brian :(

Jami, Callie, Britni, Jerry
Me and my 3 siblings in reverse order.

Weekend with Papa

Brian had to go back to Washington to work, but me and the girls stayed in Utah for another week visiting family. The first few days we stayed with my dad, aka: Papa.

Lately we have been learning about Temples at our house. Dalia likes to talk about the temple and to sing the song, "I love to see the Temple." We have a temple just 45 mins. south of our house, but since we normally don't make it to the temple with Dalia she doesn't see them very often. So i was excited to go to Utah so that Dalia could see all the temple. My dad took us to see the Mt. Timpanogus LDS Temple. We were also lucky enough to have Ava come play with us the entire day! Ava kept calling the temple "Ava's Temple," (it is close to her new house). The girls really liked walking around the temple and chasing each other a little bit (i made them walk). They also liked that they got to touch the temple. How lucky we are to have Temples on the earth today! and so many.

We also spent some time playing in Papa's yard. We had fun drawing with sidewalk chalk and playing hopscotch. We also got to have dinner at Great Grandma & Grandpa A.'s house and play with their toys.

We went swimming at the Orem Rec Center with Papa! Dalia was Ariel, Ava was Flounder, and Papa was a shark! Picture of us at G&G A.'s house: Papa, Ava, Grandma, Dalia, Grandpa, Britni, & Tesila. Grandma with the three little girls. And finally Dalia with her best friend, Cousin Ava! They came out of the bedroom each with a sucker and so proud (they found them in my bag and helped themselves).

Tesila in Papa's famous boots! May 3, 2009
All of my dad's four kids have a picture of them in the boots and so of course the 3 granddaughters do as well. Today Tesila found a new place to stick her finger - Up her Nose! And lastly saying goodbye to papa (dalia was sleeping in this picture). We love you Papa! Thank you for taking care of us while we were at your house!

video: Monkey Dalia - Dalia being a monkey on papa's tredmil

video:Tes saying Dalia - This is when i realized that Tesila could say Dalia and knew who she was.