"She thinks my tractors sexy"....

After a few months of seaching and deciding....we took the plunge and bought Carlie a tractor. He is very excited and a little bummed he could not "play" with it more last night -- got dark! I figure I will now be a "tractor widow" because I have a feeling any spare time he has, him and Gracie will be out on the property moving dirt, mowing, etc. Congrats Carlie!!

"Happy is Good......."

......was the theme to the 2007 Puyallup Fair. Played hookey on Wed. and hit the fair. The weather held out for us and we had a great day. Gracie again proves to us that she has no fear when it comes to the rides. SHE LOVES 'EM. Another couple of inches and the amount of rides she will get to go on will increase. We did make it to Sillyville at the end of the day, but really those rides just don't cut if for her (except for the Bear ride and the Rollercoaster). Obviously she did not get that from me!! Enjoyed spending time with Carl, Deb, Carleena, Kayla and Cara too. Kayla, you were such a great help with Gracie...thank you (surprise, surprise...Gracie can be a bit whiny and impatient...HA!!). Plus, towards the end we got to spend a bit of time with Kevin, Nadine, Maddy and Kameron too! The fair reminds us that fall is upon us and it was truly a great way to get it started.
XXOO

Here are some pictures:

Gracie in her cowgirl hat. With those freckles, it is a perfect "fit".



Yup, that is Debbie on the EXTREME SCREAM. Kayla, Debbie, Cara and Carlie braved the ride and I think they all had fun. Although I believe my mother in law said something the effect of "NEVER AGAIN". She was a trooper though!


Love this picture of the girls before they went on the Materhorn. Cara, Gracie, Kayla

Carl and Carlie playing games. Love this picture too. Unfortunately they came out empty handed on this one.

Maddy and Gracie on the Bear ride that goes round and round. I think this is Gracie's favorite. You can't see him but Kevin is in there doing the steering.

1st day of Kindergarten

Well, I survived Gracie's first day of Kindergarten. This weekend she was asked if she was excited for Kindergarten and she responded with "yes, NO MORE NAPPING!". Funny that was all she could think about. It was a little tricky not having Pooh Bear but I am sure she was fine. So this morning I planned on taking her in later than normal so I could met her teacher, Miss Jill ~ but before hand I surprised her took her to McDonalds for breakfast. She thought that was the BEST! Miss Jill seemed very nice and I look forward to seeing how her 1st week goes. Thanks Auntie Carleena for the beautiful outfit for my first day -- she loved it (can you tell by the way she is posing?).

Hope all our kids 1st days of this school year are awesome!!
XXOO

Labor Day 2007

Another year, another great Labor Day! Thanks again to Carl and Deb for hosting this weekend and allowing us to have some really wonderful family time! Check out the attached pictures (thanks Heather for helping me figure out how to get these on her as a link!). Sorry I don't have pics of Hay, Softball or eggs ~ battery was charging.

LABOR DAY PICS

Go Hawks!

It may only be pre-season but we "got the fever" (as if I even like football..ha). The Milligans hosted a "no Raiders" night just to rub it in Tom's face as he is a huge Raiders fan. Seahawks won.....of course!!

Melissa, Kristie and Kris -- GO BLUE! GO GREEN!

Gracie thought the wig was pretty funny!
Reese giving Gracie and Jake a SQUEEZE!

Okay, we'll sit here for a nice picture.....if we have to! Geez they are cute!

A Happy Girl

With the Labor Day celebration upon us, we decided to give Gracie a very early birthday present. She was completely excited and loves it of course. At this rate, we may have to put in an intersection and stop lights at Carl and Deb's for all the kid's "cars". Looking forward to seeing everyone!

What? No more 4x4'in??

Yee-Ha! After several hard winters - our road was on it's last leg so to speak. You definitely needed it in 4 wheel drive to get to our house. With Carl's help and connections -- we have finally repaired our road. It may still be gravel...but it is so smoooothhhhh. We didn't snag a picture of the final results so you all will have to come over just to drive on the road!! Thanks Dad for everything!! It's fantastic!!

Good News...

Aaron left Krygyzstan last night!! He should be arriving in Baltimore sometime today and scheduled to be back in South Dakota tomorrow. We wanted to thank everyone for their love, prayers and support during his deployment. It truly meant the world to all of us but especially him. We hope he will be able to take leave sometime this fall before his impending re-deployment in January (but let's not think about that right now!). He will be living off base so once he is settled and I have his address/phone, I will pass it on.

Have a great weekend!
XXOO

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY AARON JAMES!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR AARONNNNNNNNNNNN.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. THERE ARE FOUR PRECIOUS DAYS IN MY LIFE THAT WITHOUT THEM I WOULD NOT BE WHO I AM OR WHERE I AM TODAY. I HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED BECAUSE OF ALL OF THEM AND IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER, I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING. THIS IS THEM IN ORDER:

AARON WAS BORN ON AUGUST 21, 1986. IT WAS A SCARY TIME FOR ME BUT HAVING MY SON IN MY ARMS MADE IT ALL OKAY. I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE MY SON AARON AND I COULD NOT IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU! I LOVE YOU SON!!

MY FIRST DATE WITH CARLIE - NOVEMBER 8, 1997. I KNEW AS WE SAT AT WOLFGANG PUCKS FOR DINNER (I HAD THE ROSEMARY CHICKEN..HA!) THAT I WOULD BE YOUR WIFE. I THANK GOD YOU FINALLY CALLED ME AS I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR YOU ALL MY LIFE.

OUR WEDDING - AUGUST 28, 1999. EASY.......BEAUTIFUL DAY, BEAUTIFUL WEDDING, BEAUTIFUL RECEPTION, BEAUTIFUL HUSBAND.

FINALLY, MISS GRACIE COMING INTO THE WORLD, NOVEMBER 8, 2001. I HAD WAITIED SO LONG FOR HER AND SHE IS A TRUE BLESSING. NOT ONLY IS SHE A MOMMA'S GIRL BUT A DADDY'S GIRL TOO -- AND SHE ABSOLUTELY ADORES HER BROTHER!!!

AARON - YOU "STARTED" MY LIFE ROLLING AND I AM SO PROUD OF THE MAN YOU HAVE BECOME AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO START NOTING WHAT YOU WILL MARK AS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS.


I LOVE YOU ALWAYS ~ YOUR MOMMA

Goats, Goats, Goats

The barn is a little more crowded at Carl and Deb's with the addition of 3 pigmi goats for Kayla, Cara and Gracie. Thanks Grandma and Papa -- we love them!

Meet: Macy (Kara's Goat), Savannah (Gracie's Goat) and Faith (Cara's Goat)

Gracie and Kayla
Gracie and Cara
Here Goat, Goat, Goat.....

Carlie, Gracie and Cara hangin' in the barn with the goats.

Ashley Rae XXOO

My niece Ashley was home from Montana just for the weekend. Always so wonderful to see her!! She is back to Montana today starting her sophomore year at Montana State next week. We are so proud of you Ashley and WE LOVE YOU!!

Ashley and Gracie. They always have their picture taken like this and always looks beautiful!
Gracie 5; Ashley 21, Alaina 8 months (guess who's crawling all over the place!!)

Gracie, Ashley, Tyler (Ashley's b-friend -- we love him too!!), Cody, TJ and Alaina. Don't forget Duke the Dog.

Bestest Friends

The Scanlon kids were over for a bit and snapped this great picture. How lucky we are that our friends are so close and we can see your kids grow up together. I LOVE IT!!

Jake, Gracie, Jaiden, Casey
P.S. Is Jake eyeballing Gracie's legs?????? Look at that grin! HA!!

Summer Fun @ Carlie & Deb's

The weather held out and it was a beautiful day to spend at Carl and Deb's for the Svendard Picnic. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Cara and Gracie in the pool -- Gracie is really our "buggy" with those goggles on!!

Danyela and Brian ~ all grown up!


Steven and Gracie playing a little "ball"

Carlie got a little to close to the pool you think? Got a few 'sprinkles" on him :)

Gracie Posing

Gracie at the Coeur d' Alene Park



Gracie playing with her makeup. I told her she looked like she was ready to step onto Broadway!

More picures

This is the picture of Gracie and her cousins Griffin and Adian on the Coeur d' Alene river. Somehow I deleted the picture from the previous post



I love this picure of Grace -- playing in @ Coeur d' Alene Lake

The Coeur d' Alene Park has the greatest play ground. Not only is the entire park clean, with tables but the entire park has lush green grass. About 12 years ago Ft. Sherman playground was built completely by volunteers. It is one of the best play grounds I have ever been too. A big difference from the old circular metal slide that I burnt my arm on because it was so hot that was there when I was a little girl (about 5 I think). I remember having my arm in the water fountain all afternoon....HA!!

Picture of some of my friends from high schools kids. We met at the Johnson's that lived just around the corner from my house that I grew up in. Laurie's parents still live there and my dad still lives around the corner. Our friend Cathi joined us for breakfast as well. Top Row: Cathi's kids: Bob (Robert Jr.) and Deven. Bottom Row: Laurie's son Jack. Then Gracie and Cathi's daugher Courtney. Cathi's oldest son Dustin did not make the trip.

Gracie being silly at Grandpa Gary's. He has one of those travel pillows and Gracie put it on her head and announced "look at my MOHAWK!". It was pretty darn funny at the time.

Family/Class Reunion

Gracie and I went on vacation to Coeur d' Alene earlier this month for a family reunion on Aaron's dad's side of the family and my 20 year class reunion (Carlie had to work..sniff/sniff). Had a great time at both as well as visiting with my mom and my dad. Did not take as many pictures as usual but wanted to share ~

This is Independance Point in Coeur d'Alene. The resort is in the background as well as Tubbs Hill where we used to hike and jump off the rocks. Spent my entire childhood playing and swimming at this lake. I love being close enough to have shared it with Aaron and now Gracie.


This is Gracie posing at Hauser Lake where my mom lives.

Gracie with her cousins Griffin and Adian at the Coeur d' Alene river.

Gracie with Grandpa Gary - my daddy.

King County Fair - 2007

Rain or Shine we hit the King County Fair in Enumclaw again this year. I must say the fair itself was pretty disappointing, but the kids (and Carlie) had fun on the rides. A great day!

Carlie, Cara, Gracie, Kayla and Trever -- Gracie loves going round and round FAST in this thing! She is so done with the kiddie rides and I quote "these are boring". Our very own "Ricky Bobby"!


Cara helped Gracie get her blanket set up to go down the Big Slide by herself for the 1st time. Go Gracie!

Carlie went on all the rides with the kids. This one whipped them around like rag dolls. I think the whole fair could hear Cara and Kayla screaming!!

Gracie had to stand by and just watch. Do you think she is thinking "how long's it gonna take for me to be big enough to ride on there?". Poor thing....

This ride was a great ride close to heading out. Good times!