Jody Turns 40!!

My best friend is amazing. In so many ways. There are not enough words to describe how much she means to me and how thankful I am that she is my friend. She turned 40 yesterday. A big milestone. Jody is a HUGE fan of birthdays, hers included. To ring in this big day, she went all crazy and decided to run a marathon! The Seattle Marathon was last Saturday. I left early that morning to head up to the Emerald City for the day to cheer her on and celebrate her birthday.

She looked AMAZING after she crossed the finish line! I have never seen her finish one of her marathons (this is her fifth marathon I think.. it may be more) so it was so special to me to be able to cheer her on at the end. She said it was the most difficult. You certainly wouldn't know to look at her!

 Fellow nurse friends Kendra and Julie also ran the marathon. Another, Katie, ran the half.  It was fun to cheer them on, too! I miss working with all of these awesome gals!

 Happy to be DONE!

 So proud of her! I think we both cried after I took this pic...haha! 

 The runners... they amaze and inspire me!

 Tourist pic!:)

Jody rented a condo in West Seattle to stay for the weekend. It was beautiful and overlooked the Puget Sound. We all went back there after the run and chatted and rested before heading out for a fun dinner party to celebrate the birthday girl! 

 All cleaned up!

 Jody and Lori

 Her dad put together a photo collage of Jody thru the years. It was so fun!

 Pa Fred loves his baby girl!!

 She was well loved on by family and friends, young and old. We all think she is pretty great!

Happy Birthday JoJo!! May this next year... this next decade... be your best yet. I love you and am a better person because of you!! Cheers to 40!!

When Daddy's Away.....

Being that school just got out, I had planned on not doing much this first week of summer break, just enjoying time with the kids with no schedule. Then Doug found out late last week that he would be going to Delaware this week. At that point I knew I had to do some planning of activities for the kids and I to survive the week by ourselves! :)

Sunday night before Doug left, Evelyn came to me and told me we were going to have "Movie Camp" for the week. Each day there would be a craft, a story and a movie. Now.. we don't watch a lot of TV in our house, so a movie EVERY day seemed like too much. But some of the "movies" she had picked were more like a 30 minute show so that made it a little easier to agree to. I told her that as long as her and Matthew got plenty of outside time and exercise then we could probably do her "camp". She was beyond excited.

Her "popcorn craft" she came up with all by herself. Pretty talented, my girl is!

Per the "Movie Camp" rules, she read a story (about the movie we were going to watch) to her brother. 

I didn't get any pictures of them watching the movies, but if you must know, they watched Frozen, Planes, Letter Factory, and two Veggie Tales. Evelyn was very happy that her "camp" was a success!

Like I told them, we needed to make sure we got outside as often as possible. The weather was a mix of rain and clouds and sun, so we got out when we could and did some fun things.

Puddle stompin' is one of their favorite things to do!

...as is exploring the woods by our house! 

What happened to my baby? Sigh....

Running across the football field is pretty fun, too!!

They each did a "show" about some of their favorite toys that were hilarious!

We went berry picking and the kids did SO great! 

Lots of freezer jam to get us thru til next year!

We hung out with our friends the Stenejhems at the park.. a fun time for sure!

And.. finally.. someone lost her other front tooth about an hour before Doug got home!

Happy to have him home!!

When daddy was away, we had a great time, but it always is nice when we are all together again!

Recital Time!

 Since Evelyn started ballet in January, I have to admit I have wondered  if she really had "it" to do well in dance. After all, she is not that flexible and would prefer to just dance around like a crazy monkey. But she REALLY wanted to do it, and I am SO glad she did. Since parents are not allowed into class I really haven't seem much of her dancing, except what she has shown me at home (which hasn't been much). The girls have been working SO hard for the recital that was last weekend and Rodney their instructor has been saying how great the girls are doing, so I was excited to see it for sure.

Dress rehearsal was last Wednesday. That meant full makeup and hair. Which if you know me, you know I have limited skills in both departments on my own person, let along on a SEVEN year old!! Sheesh!! But... I did the best I could with a bun holder and my own makeup and got her to rehearsal. Evelyn  WAS so excited to put on her costume... they danced to "Swan Lake" and they had very beautiful costumes. After getting her put together at the theater, I asked Rodney how I did on hair and makeup. With a smile (I warned him of my lack of skill!) he said I did great but then asked if he could " do a little more". Sure I said..he does this WAY more than I! After working his magic, she was all smiles and ready to go!

Waiting patiently for her class' rehearsal

They had their pictures taken while waiting, too.. I grabbed this with my camera. She looked so pretty!

Finally they got on stage and Rodney did his thing!

As I watched them dance their routine, I couldn't help but get teared up watching her. Oh my.. she seriously knew the routine perfectly and performed beautifully. I was happily surprised to see how lovely, graceful and skilled she was... yes, I may be bias but really, she was so beautiful out there! I am so proud of how hard she has worked (really unbeknownst to me...)!

Her class...

The recital was Saturday. I am glad I had time to practice hair and makeup beforehand... it went much better for the actual performance.

Warming up before changing...

All ready!

Maggie, Evelyn and Nia... two of many nice girls we have met in class.

While I was getting Evelyn ready and settled, Doug and Matthew waited in line with Doug's folk. My mom and her Doug came, too... we are so thankful for their support of our kidss!

I didn't get any pics during the recital, but I did get this one of her taking a bow afterwards.

My pretty girl...

She was celebrated with lots of hugs, photos and flowers after the show!

We took Doug's dad and my mom's Doug out to dinner for Father's Day and to celebrate Evelyn's first recital. It was a fun time.

So thankful for the great grandparents my kids are blessed with!

Evelyn is excited to continue with ballet this summer and this fall. She is already working on stretching and getting more flexible. Who knows what her future in dance is, but I am sure proud of her for doing her best and sticking with it, even when it was hard!!  Love my sweet dancer!