Grandma Linda Love

A visit from Grandma Linda!

Sydney was so happy that Grandma Linda Loo traveled up to the land of Washington

for her baptism.

Tate was pretty happy too!

The same night Grandma flew in the Young Women of our ward (from church)

brought pizza, lots and lots of pizza!  This ward has been amazing at 

welcoming our family. Trent and I agree that this 

has been our smoothest move yet. Thank you cute girls!

And some other random shots of love...

Tate demonstrating "superman" at gymnastics, he takes

it pretty serious.

  Miss Emmy striking a pose.

Ta Ta!

 The Smart's came, conquered and started their LONG journey home.

Sydney got sick the last day they were here, Anna was good to play some 

board games with her. 

Uncle Beetle grilled out in the rain for us.

I always go through a sad phase when our company leaves.

Our house was pretty darn quiet minus the five kids. 

We enjoyed our conference weekend and had our traditional cinnamon roll Sunday.

Whidby Island

 A day at Whidby Island! 

A bit windy and a little chilly but the kiddies had FUN!

Uncle Beetle and Aunt Ninny Noo trying to fly a kite.

 This is how cold it was...

 Fort Casey, we brought Sydney here about 7 years ago.

Deception Pass, at this point the other two were konked out in the 

car so Syd and I checked out this sight on our own. I am so grateful that

the Smarts were up for a day of exploring with us!

American Girls

Syd chose an American Girl night out on the town

for her eighth birthday. She was so happy that Annabelle her cousin

could be a part of it. 

 This place was a girls heaven on earth!

I think Syd smiled the whole time. They even had high chairs

and little place settings for the dolls at the restaurant. 

They sang happy birthday, did a fun American Girl

scavenger hunt and topped it all off with some shopping.

A stop for frozen yogurt and Syd was one happy little girl!

SMARTS

Can life get any better?

I am pretty sure that the best day of Tate's life was the day that this little 

dude Max surprised Tate with a last minute trip to Seattle.  I wish I could

get the video clip to download, Max was standing in the front entry when Tate walked

in from School last Tuesday! Tate started laughing so hard and then face planted on to the wood floor.

That is what I call, a good surprise. My sister Mindy called Monday and said they were thinking a road

 trip to Washington sounded fun for Spring Break. Bring it on sister! I was a little shocked that they pulled an all nighter and got here Tuesday morning. Shocked and dang happy all at the same time!

 I can't imagine 13.5 hours  in a mini van with five kids

but if any one is up for the challenge it is the Smart crew. My kids treat  

Uncle Beetle like a fellow cousin not an Uncle. The guy is a blast and ALWAYS up for a party.

I could have pinched myself 100 times, a total treat to have my little sissy in the land of Washington with me. Look at her little Brigy PIG...13 months and still nursing. I like to tease her about it but she really is one of the best mommies I know. They were able to come and cheer for Tate at his first T-ball game!

WE LOVE THE SMARTS!

Super Weekend

OH MY HECK!

Man, I love these little faces. This will always be a memorable Easter for us.
We moved in this weekend, celebrated Easter and Sydney's 8th birthday. It was  a mixture of chaos
and fun. This is a shot from our patio, I love our backyard and that Trent was willing to snap a few photos for me on a crazy Easter morning.

The kiddies got new Easter jammies.

Syd couldn't decide what she was more excited about,
Easter or her birthday.

Their are so many absolutely terrific things about Sydney!
She makes us so happy. Syd is our family peacemaker, the best
example of someone who wants to choose the right and is not afraid to stand up for what she believes. She is super friendly and almost always has a smile.
 Syd has an awesome sense of adventure that has made moving around almost seamless. We are so excited that she wants to be baptized
and is starting to develop her own testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ.

We have found such awesome friends here all ready!
The Mcbride's hooked us up with an Easter feast and let us
sing Happy Birthday to Syd.

The famous cocoanut cream supreme cake...

The Mcbrides, Owens, and Savage clan!

Life

We should talk about the Washington weather!

It's not so much that it rains all the time but more 

that you never see the sun.

You kind of get use to a light misting in the morning hours. One thing Momma is not

use to is having her little friends underfoot. We get lot's of indoor time.

We decided to do crafts one day to change it up a bit.

I am bummed I forgot to snap photos of our temp housing set up.

Here is one of Tate, he is into making his bed right now and is so proud

of his work. Way to go Tater!

While we were in our temp housing we spent lots of time

driving up to our new house. It's always fun to see progress.

Temp housing is not my favorite part of moving but it helps me appreciate 

our home to be that much more.

We signed the dude up for T-ball.

I roped Trent in to coaching, I think he is pretty pleased with me.

When the gray clouds do lift, you can not find a prettier place!

I think we are going to love our summers here.

Cascades-