Going a little retro

The weekend in review: We started Saturday morning with the ward Easter egg hunt/Primary activity. I dressed Troy up in his "vintage" outfit. Believe it or not, it used to be Erik's!! How sweet and precious is that?! He looked adorable if I do say so myself. And he was very angry with me when I removed the jacket for a picture. Yes, that paci is a permanent fixture to his face. Brooklyn was never this attached. It should be fun when I throw them away...eventually. For now I'm content with him still being my "baby." LOVE it without the jacket too! I hope it fits him in the summer.

Brooklyn coloring her "bunny ears."

"Where are all the dang eggs guys?!"

Sunday morning is always interesting getting the kids ready for 8:30 am church. Erik has early meetings, so I go it alone. I'm happy to report though that we have only been late once! Ok, now twice since I had to snap some photos of the kids in their Easter attire.

And I paid extra attention to Brooklyn's hair that morning.

Snapping a good photo on the fly with these two is hard to come by! But they still look cute. Love those two!!

2nd attempt and paint!

We made it to the Children's museum again this past Saturday, and it was actually open! Yea!! The kids had a blast. Brooklyn's favorite part was definitely the "grocery shopping," while Troy REALLY enjoyed driving the "fire-truck" and "bus." We can't wait to go back! Brooklyn has been asking every day since if she can go grocery shopping again.

Troy's cart: ice-cream and bread! My kind of man.

"Checking out"

Hard at work in the "construction" zone.

And finally some pictures of our new paint in the living room. Erik took these last night, so there's some clutter I'd rather not every one see, but I guess it's real right? :) Oh and you can finally see the finished window too. Now we just need to paint the door and trim around it. I'm still working on the whole decorating part in the living room as well. It's a gradual process.Don't worry, we have a vent for that huge hole. We're getting our ducts cleaned today, so we'll put it back up when they're finished. Oh and that huge monstrosity of a cabinet? It's looking for a coat of paint as well. Eventually...

Cute bums, crazy kids, and Seattle Center

How cute is that little tush?! He loves his sisters pink boots. "Hi Mom!"Saturday we ventured into Seattle to take the kids to the Children's Museum. We are getting passes for them this year and it will be great to have them, especially on rainy days. So we paid the $7 in parking, walked over to Seattle Center, and there was a power outage. Bummer! So we let the kids run around outside and took a ride on one of the carnival rides. The kids had a great time and didn't even seem to miss going to the museum. Dark picture, but cool shot of the Space Needle.

Climbing on the whale sculptures in the park.

That ride was cruising! Brooklyn was a big girl and rode all by herself! She didn't realize she could use the handle to get it to go up and down though. Maybe next time!

Troy had fun too, even though I was squishing the poor kid.

All tuckered out. Notice her leg haha!

Let's go to the zoo!

And "Mother of the Year" award goes to...Me!! Poor little guy, just wanted to take a nap. This is what happens when I blog during the day. lol

Saturday we decided to take advantage of another beautiful weekend and head to the Woodland Park Zoo. The weather here this year has been so beautiful aka dry! I think the past month every weekend has been sunny and in the 60's and we are LOVING it!! I definitely haven't gotten stir crazy like I did last year around this time. Some people may attribute the beautiful weather to "global warming," but I personally attribute it to all our prayers and fasting that the dam wouldn't break on the Henry Hudson and flood the valley. The Lord works in mysterious ways I tell you!! And I'm not complaining one bit. :)

So anyway, we headed to the zoo with our friends the Burkman's and had a great time. We only got to about 1/4 of the zoo (it's HUGE!), but luckily we have passes to go back whenever we want. Brooklyn's favorite part she said were the elephants, and they were amazing! My favorite part was the jaguar. And Troy's favorite parts were the squirrels and seagulls. 'Cause we can't see those in our own back-yard right?! I can't wait to go back and take them to the petting zoo area. They will LOVE IT!! What did YOU do this weekend?

Mommy gorilla and her baby playing.

Finally!

I haven't posted in a while (as you can see). I have been trying to find a happy medium with computer time lately. I tried not turning on the computer at all during the day because it seemed like when I did, my kids were lacking attention. But then at night when I had planned to at least check my email, I would forget or be too busy. Anyway, there's my explanation for lack of posting lately. I still haven't found that happy medium yet, but I'm workin' on it.

Yesterday was the anniversary of my very dear friend's passing. Her name was Natalie Joy Call, and she was such an amazing, talented, beautiful person. There was never a dull moment when you were with her. She was always the life of the party, and was always making someone laugh, or laughing herself. It has been 14 years since she died, but my heart is still so heavy. I miss her like crazy. I wish my kids could know her. I wish Brooklyn could know the girl who she shares her middle name with (Joy). I wish Erik could meet her and see how awesome she is. Natalie has 6 other amazing sisters (all equally hilarious as well!), and two handsome brothers. Our moms were roommates at BYU. Our families have always been close, like family, even when we don't see them for long amounts of time. Anyway, Natalie will always be missed. Every time I use Brooklyn's full name (usually when she's being naughty lol), I think of Natalie. And I think she's probably looking down at Brooklyn egging her on, and showing her just how to keep me on my toes. I was thinking yesterday (and telling a friend) about Natalie. I was with her the night before she died. I went to school the next day knowing I would probably get a phone call from my mom. As I left the office crying after hearing the news from my mom of her passing, I ran into another dear friend of mine, who just so happened to be in the hall-way at the same time. Ash, you really helped me that day. You probably don't know how much I needed you there at that time. So, I just wanted to say thanks! I am so thankful for dear friends, the ones that are still with me, and the ones that have gone on to live with our Heavenly Father. I can't wait to see you all again. I miss you tons Natalie!! Thanks for watching over us!! Love you