Look-a-likes???????

Do you see the resemblance? Levi obviously does, because he often mistakes me for a jungle gym! And my new bulging belly (sorry, not pictured above... I was only about three months long then) is just another fun bar to climb, jump, and bounce on. Poor Brinley...not even out of the womb yet and already having to put up with an older brother. :-D

Spray Bottle

One day, Sam sprayed Levi in the face with water from a spray bottle just to tease him. Well, Levi wasn't annoyed... he actually loved it! Now he has figured out how to spray himself in the face with the spray bottle. It is pretty entertaining to watch him get soaked.

Free Tour!

Alright, you can all say it... FINALLY!!!! I have finally gotten around to posting pictures of our new house! I kept waiting until I had the house "more put together", but I've finally realized that when you have twice the square footage as before, it takes A LOT longer to put the house together. So here it is in it's present state, and little by little we'll get more done. So, before we start your free tour, I'd like to give you a few facts about our lovely abode:

- It was built in 1965
- It is officially considered a "one story with basement" because the downstairs is a daylight basement. It is built into a hill, so the backyard is actually level with the top floor of the house.
- It has over 2400 sq ft.
- Lucky us, it has new (within the last two years) windows, roof, HVAC system, kitchen floor, kitchen counters, and remodeled bathrooms. Not sure about the carpet, but it still looks pretty new.
- Since moving in, we have painted the kitchen and one wall in the living room, the ceiling in the kitchen/dining/living rooms, hallway, upstairs bathroom, and deck. We've also done quite a bit of work taming vegetation in all parts of the yard, and Sam (with his dad's help) fixed the rain gutter.

Now, let the tour begin. Hope you enjoy it!

Boating with Millard

So, one of my absolute favorite things about the Tri-Cities is the river. The Columbia River is the fourth largest river in the USA and is only about 3 blocks from our new house. The river really is the heart of the Tri-Cities... everyone spends the summer at the river, and it is lined with beautiful green parks and walking paths. Last night, our friend Millard was nice enough to take us out for a ride on his boat. The weather was absolutely beautiful for boating, the water was like glass, and the lighting was gorgeous. Sam tried out slalom skiing for the first time and did a great job. Levi and I just hung out on the boat. Levi cracks me up... he always gets super chill and doesn't move or smile or laugh whenever we take him on boats, jet skis, or four-wheelers. But he absolutely loves the ride and makes that very evident after the ride is over. We all really had such a great time and can't wait to do it again!

Okay, so a little about a few specific pictures. The skier in the first and last rows are Sam. The two next to each other in the 3rd row are Millard. Feel free to click the collage and make it bigger so you can really see all the pictures.

Okay... the first picture in the 3rd row... kinda hard to tell what it is. It is a deer swimming across the river! Bet you've never seen that before... at least none of us had.

So it was not Millard's first time slalom skiing, and it was pretty fun to watch him. It was hard to get a good picture of him because he moved so fast. So we took this video of him:

Also, I forgot to add this picture into the collage. The moon looks pretty darn cool, huh?

Friday Night Lights

Being back in the Tri-Cities means that we are able to watch Sam's youngest brother, Joe, play football. So far we've been to both of his games. The first, they didn't do too well, but the second game they trampled the other team with a score of 51-3. Joe attends my alma mater, so it is quite the throw back going to the games... the cheerleaders, the band, the stadium, all the purple and gold... brings back A LOT of memories. I have even run into some old teachers who's jaws basically hit the floor when the see me pregnant and carrying an 18-month old. :-)

So I have to admit, I stole the football pictures from our local newspaper, because mine of course turned out crappy. The pictures of Levi also didn't turn out very well, but-strangely enough-the newspapers didn't have any pictures of him so I had to post my own. Levi loves the football games and always dances to the band music and cheers along with the crowd. He mostly loves walking up and down along the bleachers and climbing all over the place.

This is the only picture I could find of Joe. He is #88 (the one in white).

Famous Mormons and Mormon Beliefs

I saw this YouTube video on another friend's blog, and I thought it was pretty cool. Here is one individual member who is trying to share with the world who Mormons really are and what we believe.

Shoe Fettish

Levi has recently become obsessed with shoes. Whether they are his parents, his own, or a complete stranger's, he cannot resist trying on just about every pair of shoes he meets. And his skill level rises with each attempt... he has even accomplished the difficult task of walking in a pair of my wedge sandals! Got to love how he is wearing one of Mom's shoes and one of Dad's... and they are both lefties. :)

We will never forget...

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America. So much has happened in our world since then, and so much of it has been politicized. But I just want to take a moment to remember all those who lost their lives that horrible day and to continue to honor all our "ordinary" heroes who did extraordinary things that day. May God continue to bless America.

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From every mountainside

Let freedom ring!

Our father's God to Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom's holy light,

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God our King.

Random Levi

Wow! Too cute for words, huh? Too bad we all can't get away with wearing only sunglasses, underwear, and slippers! :-)

It can be really hard work playing in the bathtub. I always wrap Levi up in a towel and then tuck him into our bed to keep him warm after his bath while I get a diaper, clothes, and lotion. This time, by the time I got back, he was sound asleep. It was too sweet; I had to take a picture.

This is how how I find Levi every morning and after every nap. Let me tell you, it sure beats screaming and crying. Sometimes, I'll hear him talking and go in to get him, but he won't be done reading yet so I have to sit and wait for him to be ready to get out of bed. He finds this book particularly funny because it has dogs driving cars.

Have a mentioned lately what a copy-cat Levi is? I'm pretty sure I have, but here is another example. Working hard on his computer, just like Mom and Dad do on theirs.

Roses

When we moved into our new house, we were blessed by the previous owners having planted beautiful rose bushes all along the back of our house. Unfortunately, they hadn't done a very good job taking care of them. While the rose bushes were tall (some around 7ft), roses were scarce. So we set to work pruning and hacking back the untamed things. Well, our hard work paid off and now our backyard is full of lovely, sweet-smelling roses! I love being able to go out the back door, make a couple of snips, and have a gorgeous bouquet that brightens up our kitchen. It just makes me so happy!

Throwin' Rocks

As I mentioned in a previous post, Levi quite enjoys throwing rocks. My parents have added a new water feature to their backyard, complete with ponds and waterfalls. Needless to say, the only thing Levi wants to do when we go to Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood's house is throw rocks in the water. (That, or watch a movie on the BIG screen.) Luckily, Grandpa is always willing to take Levi outside and play with him. And, as anyone who knows Levi can attest, he has quite the arm! Perhaps a feature quarterback or pitcher? Only time will tell....

Camping at Mt. Rainer

(Click on the collage to make it bigger)

The weekend of August 15-17th, we had the opportunity to go camping at Mt. Rainer with my sister Amber and her family. I started camping at Mt. Rainer's Ohanapecosh Campground when I was only a baby. Although I haven't camped there every year of my life, I have most of them. So Ohanapecosh holds a very special place in my heart, and I do believe it might be the most beautiful place in the world. Sam has come with me to Mt. Rainer two other times, but this is the first time Levi has been there. I love that I can share this tradition that is so special to me with a family of my own.

So, I just got Picasa 3 and I already love it. The new collage feature is so much easier to use! You might have noticed little numbers on each picture... well, here's what I have to say about each one.

1. When we first got to Ohanapecosh, after we set up camp we went for a walk. The campground is filled with streams, so Sam took Levi down to one and was teaching him to skip rocks. Levi's didn't skip, but they did make a splash! Levi thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I loved watching Sam being a fun daddy.
2. If you look closely, you can see Levi is holding a rock. I didn't get any great ones of him actually throwing the rock. The next day, we went down to the river and Levi was content to throw rocks in the river for hours. Such simple amusements.... :)
3. This picture is really for my family (and you'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it). Last year there was severe flooding at Mt. Rainer. Our favorite loop, C, was especially hit hard. Sam got this picture of site C25. While it may just look like a stream running through it, actually just past the sign is a shear cliff maybe 100 feet high (I don't know, I'm not good at estimating... but it was high!) down to the Ohanapecosh River below. Not a campsite I'd like to stay in. :)
4. It is hard to see what is happening in this picture, but I had to put it in so I'd remember to tell the story. While we were on our walk the first day there, we came across a centipede. As any good parents would, we pointed it out to Levi who immediately wanted to touch it. So Sam is holding Levi back from touching it and talking to him about the centipede, about how we don't want to hurt it and should just leave it alone. About two seconds after this picture is taken (keep in mind what Sam is telling Levi), Levi stomped on the poor bug! So much for leaving it alone! Where'd that come from?
5. We had 3 or 4 of the most beautiful blue jays flying around our campsite. Sam captured this great picture of one right by our firepit.
6. Sam and Levi on the bridge spanning the Ohanapecosh River. Aren't my boys cute?
7. Here is Levi, feeling very chipper, one morning. He was so excited to wake up in a tent and to know that he'd be able to play outside ALL day! I just love this picture.
8. A family photo. So, I told Sam that he had to take a least one picture with me in it, because I'm always the one taking the pictures and never in the pictures. My children are going to look back at their childhood photos and wonder why their mom wasn't ever around! So, we were all packed up, ready to go, and actually in the car leaving to go home when I made the comment about how I still wasn't in any of the pictures. So we hopped out and got a family picture taken. At least Levi will now know I was there on his first trip to Mt. Rainer! :D

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Amber and her family, although they were there as well. In fact, I didn't get hardly any pictures at all. Our battery was pretty much dead, and we could only get one picture out of it before it would shut off and take forever to power back on. Amber was going to send me some pictures for this post, but they are having some technical difficulties with their camera. But the Puzeys were there, and we had a blast camping with them! Thanks for inviting us to go along!

Cousins

I didn't get many pictures while Amber and her kids were staying with us, but I did snag a few of Levi and Carson (Amber's youngest- he's 2). Here they are playing nicely together, just chillin' and watching Madagascar.



I'm glad that Levi has so many cousins his age. I think he will especially appreciate this more and more as he gets older. He has two boys cousins on each side of the family that are all within 3-7 months of him.

Kid in a Candy Store

Last week, my sister Amber and her four kids came to stay with us. It was nice to have the company, as Sam was in California on a business trip. We took a day and drove out to Walla Walla, Washington. (I just love that name!) While we were there, we stopped in at Brights Candy Store. Now I know exactly where the term "kid in a candy store" came from. Levi ran from one bin of candy to the next. We finally settled on one of those big lollipops. He was too cute walking down the street licking a huge ol' sucker. We overheard a lot of people saying "Look! How cute!" I had left my camera in the car, so I didn't get any pictures until we were back in the parking lot. But I still got some rather cute ones, so I'm posting them all (in a slideshow). (And yes, the carseat it still sticky... you'll see what I mean when you get to the last few pictures. The shirt, however, did come clean. I LOVE Tide with Bleach!)