What a cool place to live

Yo, yo, yo!

Filling up the gatorade bottle with rocks.

"No, I do it myself Dad!"

"Look at my cool rock Mom!" This picture looks like he's holding that big rock, but it's a small one, it just blends in to the big rock in the background.

Just eatin' an oreo.

Brrrrr!!!

Trying to get a decent family photo with a 1 year old and a 2 year old. Oxy-moron? Yes!

Stephanie trying to get Troy to walk.

Dude, seriously?! If it's hurting your knees that badly, maybe you should just walk. We're not hard on him at all can you tell? :)

"I am MAN hear me roar!"

We love Seattle. We love the lakes, the trees, the moderate weather, we love it all! Ok, the rain can sometimes get to you in the winter, but summers here make it worth it I think! And doesn't every place have it's negative side? We love going to new places we've never been, especially with great company. We took a little road trip up to Denny Creek this past weekend with the kids and Rigtrups. They rode on our backs (the kids, not the Rigtrups) while we hiked about a mile up to the creek. What a great work-out! Luckily, Hyrum "man-ed up" and carried Troy for me on the way down. That kid is a tank! But Erik had Brooklyn, I mean, she IS heavier, by a pound. Anyway, Brooklyn had a blast helping the men build a "dam." She and Erik loaded the gatorade bottle up with little pebbles and filled in the holes of the dam. What is it with men when they get into nature thinking they need to build something? Funny boys. Troy had a ball crawling on the smooth rocks and found several small rocks to eat. Yumm! I guess usually this creek is pretty full of water, and you can slide down the smooth rocks on your bum. We had decided before-hand we weren't going to get wet anyway, since it was a little cooler. Although, I probably would have anyway if there were more water. Next year for sure. Plus, hopefully by then Troy will be walking. Hopefully...

T-rex turns 1!

Ok, no more excuses for me. T is officially 1! We enjoyed cake and icecream and opening presents with friends (B opened the presents for him, what a sweet sister ha!). Anyway, T-rex (as we affectionately call him), is such a sweet baby boy. He loves to give kisses and still loves to snuggle, especially with his blankie. He knows quite a few words now too...his newest being "NO, MINE!!!" I credit that one to B. He also says: Dog, Mama, and Dadda, ball, car, and nugh-ugh (while shaking his head no). He can walk, but prefers to crawl, or be carried. He already likes to tease his big sister, and loves chasing her around and tackling her. He is all boy! He is a total Daddy's boy. T likes to eat watermelon, chalk, noodles, yogurt, applesauce, crayons, books, popsicles, and mac n' cheese (those are just a few of his favs). He has a great arm and throws the ball overhand already. And don't even TRY taking a ball from him, he'll scream bloody murder! He makes car noises when he drives his car, and loves driving them on the car ramp. He sleeps great still, and takes 2 naps a day still (YEA!). He has 12 teeth (including his 1 year molars), and if you stick your finger in his mouth, he WILL try and bite it off. He's our sweet little baby boy and we can't imagine life without his sweet little spunky spirit in our home!

Brace yourselves for an overload of pictures, yet again.
B looking beautiful. lol. Did I mention we started potty-training? Hence the big-girl panties. She's doing great too! Troy does NOT like sharing with his sister.
Troy wins!

Ok, now the birthday pics. All he wanted were balls for his b-day.

After a ball had been taken away so he could open another present. He didn't care about the stinkin' present, he wanted the ball!!

Football, finally!

"Are you kidding me?! I just want the ball!!"

"Oooh, fire!"

"What the heck, it's my birthday!! If I want to touch the fire, I can touch the fire!"

Brooklyn sneaking a taste, or 2, or 3, or 4!

Nummy!

"It even feels good in my nose Mom!" Like Father, like son.

In a sugar coma.

Our friends the Bakers.

We like to make the tallest person sit at the little kiddie table.

An after cake "shower" in the kitchen sink. Love that he's playing with the nasty dish brush.

If Mom says no, ask Grandma!

Grandma and Grandpa Hill made the trek over to Seattle this past weekend to see their favorite grand kids (sorry guys, that's what they said! lol). It was SO fun to see them and the kids were SO excited, especially Brooklyn. She looks at pictures of both sets of grandparents every day and you can tell she just longs to be with them. So needless to say, she was in heaven! They got in Saturday evening and we ordered in some yummy Thai food and vegged out. Did I mention they brought our meat and TONS of yummy fruit too?! My parents are total suckers for road-side fruit stands, and bought a big box of peaches, cherries, a cantaloupe, and even made the diversion to Hermiston to pick up a few "fresh from the patch" watermelons. Yum! Sunday was as relaxing as Sunday can be with 2 kids 2 and under, and Erik and I tried to keep them under control during church (the kids, not Grandma and Grandpa). I'm pretty sure Grandma and Grandpa left church thinking how happy they were to be done raising babies! B enjoyed being read book after book, doing puzzles with Grandma and Grandpa, getting to eat anything she wanted on the couch (the couch is definitely showing the evidence now), and riding on Grandpa's shoulders. T enjoyed sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room again. No seriously, it was really fun to see him get to know them too. Although he's kind of in a "clinging to Mom or Dad" stage. Monday we really got down to the knitty-gritty. Dad pulled out the HUGE "beautiful" tree stump from our front yard, while Mom and I weeded, and pruned. He also took down a couple small pine trees with his chain saw. He was a great help!! After I put him to work, we treated them to some Chinese food with Erik (Seattle has the best selection of Asian cuisine). Then Grandma and Grandpa treated US to the Boehms candy shop. YUMMY!! I'm still eating chocolate. I know, hard life right? After our binge-fest, we came home, the kids took naps, and the adults did some more yard work. A very productive day indeed!! They had to head home that evening, so we said our goodbyes. Brooklyn and Troy were very sad to see them go, as was I. I love having my parents come visit. They can never stay long enough. And it was nice to actually be able to visit with them this time! The past couple times they have come, I had just had a baby. Anyway, thanks again Mom and Dad! You guys are the best! Brooklyn has been constantly talking about you and all the fun things you did with her. We can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Love you!

B reading with Grandpa. Thanks for the fun new books!
Chillin' with Grandma, eating a popsicle. She was REALLY focused on that popsicle.
Dad hacking away at the tree with his jig-saw. Who said you can only use jig-saws for construction projects? They make a great mini chainsaw!

B was intrigued with the chainsaw. I was terrified. The chain came off WHILE IT WAS ON and nearly took my Dad's leg off. Good thing he's so tough!

The big ole' eye-sore is now gone! Yippee!! You should have seen the bugs that were under that thing. NASTY! I wish I had taken a before picture, but it's probably best to not remember what it looked like. I think we'll have a ceremonial burning of the "planter" that was on top of the stump. Did I mention the stump had been filled with concrete?

Going private

I hate to do this, but I think it's time. Please leave your email so I can add you to my list if you would like to continue reading our blog. I am going private starting August 26th. Thanks!

Is that the river I hear?

We ventured out with the kids this weekend on their very first camping trip. We made it a group trip with our good friends the Rigtrup's, Baker's, and Jensen's (we missed the Allen's who were sick and had to dog out). So first of all, when the Paternoster's think of camping, we think rural, quiet, virtually no one else around. Well, when we pulled into the state park, we thought it was interesting, to say the least. The camping spots were right on top of the other, and it was packed full!! But the best part? The lulling freeway a few hundred feet away. We designated the freeway as the "river," since it had such calming sounds. haha So anyway, after the initial shock of camping in a state park in Washington, we pulled in, unloaded our crap, and set up our tent. Brooklyn and Troy had a blast running around with the big kids and getting nice and dirty. Thank heavens for running water at least! We roasted s'mores, then made the attempt of getting the kids to bed. Now, Erik and I went into the camping trip with great expectations of virtually no sleep. I'm "happy" to say, those expectations were upheld! Thanks kids!! After nursing and rocking Troy for about a 1/2 hour, I gave up, and Erik went in to lay down with Brooklyn. She was pretty easy and fell right to sleep. Troy finally gave out around 11:30. Layed him down, and he was out for the count...or so we thought. Make a long story short, the kids did NOT sleep well, at all. They really like sleeping in their own beds. So we all "woke" up grumpy and tired to say the least. But we powered up with some omelets-in-a-bag and pancakes, and we were ready to take on the day! We ended up having a great time despite the lack of sleep and couldn't have had better company. And we even learned a few things for our future camping trips...DO NOT TAKE A 1 YEAR OLD AND 2 YEAR OLD CAMPING...EVER.

Ok, ok, I'm being a little dramatic probably because I'm sleep-deprived. It was actually really fun, and not that bad with the kids at all. I think we'll try again next year.

Troy found a fun toy.

Don't you love the look of pure joy on their faces?!

"Aunt" Stephanie

Chillin' by the fire.

What Troy did most of the time. Thank heavens he's a mellow kid.

Messy, messy faces.

The girls.

And a little shout-out to Toni...Happy 29th Birthday!!!! Sorry I'm a doufus and forgot your cake.

The dog days of summer!

We have had tons of fun so far this summer, and have even survived the major heat-wave that came through this week (barely)! We were hotter than Tuscon for a couple days. And remember, practically no one has AC here. So, needless to say, we were at the pool, Target, and the mall...a LOT!

Running through the sprinklers...again. It never gets old!

"When will my Prince Charming ever come?"

At Daddy's work picnic kicking the softball around. Erik's company is so awesome. They throw a big family picnic every summer. So fun! Brooklyn LOVED the bouncy house, but I didn't get any pictures. I should have taken a before and after picture to document how filthy she was when we left. Yuck!

Troy made a new friend at the picnic too, Ruby.

Mmm, popsicle.

Atta boy!A little messy! We have a babysitting co-op with Brooklyn's friend Kimball. They play so well together. Goofy kids.