HAPPY 4th of July!!!

Here's hoping everyone has a great (SAFE) Independence Day... from our Fam to yours :)

Easter!

Look of "Joy" when she saw her Easter Basket (I love the funny face!)

All her presents spread-out (Josh trying to steal the chocolate bunny)--how cute is the Bunny-Potato-Head?!

Doodling-AwayChecking her basket after the Egg Hunt
Break-time with Gramma-Bunny... I mean Gramma Susan

After she had dumped all of her eggs out... Great Gramma Harriett trying to help "pick-up, put-away"
4 Generations... laughing and smiling (Jade is really getting the hang of saying 'cheese!')

And last but certainly not least, a beautiful little "bunny"

This was the first Easter that Jade really could understand--and it was so much fun! Jade was really good about everything (considering how much we did and how many places we went to)... not a single meltdown :) We opened the Easter Basket from us at home before going out for the day--lots of toys, and I think she liked all of them except maybe the Cookie Monster and Elmo in an egg... maybe she'll grow into it.

After a bath and dressing-up, we went to church with Gramma Susan and Great Grandparents Harriett and Ben; a group did a "dramatic display" as the pastor called it that I thought was really great. Jade got to go to the nursery during service, and when Josh picked her up one of the gals said "she's always smiling and happy!" That she is...

Next we did a quick Easter-Egg Hunt and opened Gramma Susan's basket o' goodies. Jade LOVED the egg hunt, and we are still doing them at home pretty much every night! She also got the cute bunny ears from Gramma Susan she is wearing above--both Jade and Susan ;)

Then it was off to Gramma Diana's and Great-Aunt Debbie's for a late brunch. Lots of yummy food, a cute easter "bag" with more goodies (and of course--CLOTHES) from Gramma Diana... and 2 more big egg hunts! She got the eggs in all the small places no one else could fit into, and broke into a few candy-filled eggs before Mom got them all from her... atta girl. No pics from that get-together, as there was so much going on with so many people we completely spaced it.

Finally, it was off to home--but not without a call to Grammie and Papa in Houston to wish each other a Happy Easter and say "I loll you". Waiting at home was yet ANOTHER easter basket from Ivana--she especially liked the "blowy" (pinwheel). And despite not really having a nap because she couldn't sleep with all the candy in her system, it was a pretty great day :) Thanks to all our friends and family for helping and sharing and loving to make such a great Easter!!!

Fun with Dada at the Playground

Something interesting down there?

The end of a beautiful day

At the Paccar Open House - Big pretty blue Kenworth

Paccar open house - BIG yellow Kenworth (tires were almost as tall as Josh!)

Future Fire-Fighter?

Or maybe not... check-out that pout!

A few weeks ago, we all went to the Open House at Paccar--they only do this once a year, and apparently it is a big deal because there were TONS of people there, and they had a sheriff and Search & Rescue checking cars as they came through the front, barbed-wire gate. I hadn't ever heard of Paccar, but I guess they do testing, diagnostics, and technology work for large trucks (Semis, large equipment, firetrucks, etc.)--it was actually pretty cool! We met up with a friend from work, Danielle, and her hubby and little one--thanks Danielle, for inviting us and cluing us in on what turned-out to be a pretty interesting place. They had big balloons, fire-fighter hats, and a coloring area for the kids--Jade also got the opportunity to sit in the fire-truck driver seat, but she almost started crying... I guess we can cross fire-fighter off her list of things she wants to be when she grows up! But we did get a nice printed picture of a pretty purple semi with her name on it. They also had lots of pretty, brand-new semis--including some Hybrids--and lots of antique trucks as well. The coolest part was inside where they did all of the testing--they had big vibrating/shaking machines testing cabs and front-ends of semis... it was so weird to see such big equipment shaking and moving so much! There was also a "deep-freeze" machine that could build-up frost on the equipment being tested at something like 1 foot every 1/2 hour--also very "cool" (haha--get it? "Cool" like cold?) Unfortunately, my brief description is all I can share--no pictures were allowed in those areas... but trust me, so neat!

I also included some pictures from the park that same weekend--Josh was SO EXCITED to finally get to spend some time with Jade, and I kept making them pose and "say cheese". We have been to the park/playground at least once a weekend since he has been done with the turnaround--Jade goes to the swing in between every slide or "rock wall"... she's a little obsessed with the swing :)

In a word, CUTE

Upside down on Mom's Lap (reaching for the camera, of course)

Dress and Boots
Her bib even says CutiePie...

2 Years (+2)

During the craziness of the turnaround, it was mine and Josh's 2nd anniversary--yay for us :) It was rather uneventful, but we both enjoyed it very much--I made a yummy dinner (Halibut steaks with a lemon-dill cream sauce covered in finely crushed cashews--no, really, I made that!) complete with a "beer-quet" (that's a bouquet of different beers... I even put little paper flowers on the caps). He sent me two-dozen long-stem red roses at work--I was so surprised, and they were so beautiful! To top it all off, Jade was a super-sweetheart all night, and gave us lots of hugs and kisses.

It's crazy how quickly 4 years has gone by (counting the 2 years we dated before getting married)... seems like just yesterday he noticed my booty and I noticed his dimples--haha! They have been exciting, life-changing, wonderful, love-filled years, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my years playing and laughing and growing with my best friend--I love you, hubby!

No pictures, but there were lots of smiles--so, just look at any previous picture of us smiling and you'll feel like you were there :P