born 30 years ago today!

happy 30th birthday andrew!


me, andrew & our cousin alexa

i feel so terrible! i forgot to call andrew on his actual birthday. i NEVER forget his birthday. i guess i usually call early in the morning so he was wondering what happened...my only excuse was i had a bad night last night, only 5 hours of sleep...i hope that gets me off the hook!

anyway, andyroo, its been a great 27 years and 9 and a half months of knowing you! i hope you enjoy these images of our childhood. these are the only good pictures i have of you at that age (mom? do you know what age we are in these photos?).

love you big brother xo

amanda

derek & diedre love you too but they didn't forget your birthday like i did, so don't hold it against them :D happy birthday from them too.

playtime

playing with daddy hee hee, i mean a turtle


practicing putting her dolly up on the chair


and again. she is definitely into the repetition stage. lots of practicing. she was also putting a book on one sofa chair and climbing into it, then putting the book into the other chair and climbing into it. its pretty cute stuff :D


expressing her frustration (she's not always happy and serene as you might think!)


taking a big drink of water which she pronounces "watoo!" in a very excited way


big sip


sharing her drink with dolly (daddy is protecting himself because she was swinging her sippy cup kind of wildly)

hey brother, happy big three oh

between the fifteen of us there were 5 babies that needed watching...we tried (heather, joanna & i) to find a babysitter brave enough to "sit" while 4 of the babies slept (fifth one was with grandparents) so we could go out to the Washington Avenue Grill. finally on friday it all came together. a lady and her daughter from our old church in Langley agreed. they came for 2 hours and we were all able to go out for andrew's 30th birthday dinner. yay!


the whole dinner party.


danielle & rick


quentin & lisa


andrew & craig being silly


craig, brent & kristin & janet (close right, craigs gf)


ben, shawn & joanna


the very silly salmons


derek's photo stylings


heather & andrew


brother & sister & spouses


big smiles, tired, we don't usually get to go out this late at night ha ha (dinner reservations were at 8pm and we had to be home before 10pm to relieve the babysitters).


presenting the cake


andrew heading up the hill (not over the hill, although andrew said downhill is much more fun)


happy 30th birthday big brother!!!

cousins riding the train

we were all hanging around the mellenger's waiting to go out for dinner for andrew's 30th birthday party

11 months old!

diedre has said lots of words now (but she won't really say them on demand): dad, daddy, mom, fish, yellow, butter(fly), up, kitty, hi, hello. she can clap now. she pulls herself up to standing and walks around a little using furniture. she eats a wide array of foods too.

i can't believe how fast she's grown and that her one year birthday will be in a month :(

well, at least i have thoroughly enjoyed the last 11 months. its been a really great experience (even with some frustrating times too, of course).


what a fun car


it even comes with a cell phone!

snuggles with mommy

cutie pie


love you!

fun with westley

oh this is too exciting--i can't stand it!


kitty!


big hug

storytime

diedre has been doing really well at going to sleep. tonight she had her bath with daddy, then wanted him to read her story after story after story, then i nursed her, brushed her teeth (she loves that too), then put her into her crib, said goodnight, and i haven't heard a peep from her since. ahhhh, the days of rocking, bouncing, swaddling her are over :)

chompy

diedre waiting patiently for bath time


going for a high-speed basket ride

bath times are so much fun

fun bath time! derek has been having daily bath time with diedre lately. she's been saying "fish" and "yellow" for him!

its a bit of a break for me to hear them splashing away but it sounds like they're having so much fun that i end up going in to watch them play. diedre is very chatty in the bath. its gotten to the point where she will fuss at the door of the bathroom if she hears that derek is in there after work. she knows its bath time and she wants in!


bedtime snack

an oldie but a goodie

rick and danielle came over tonight...here they were back when diedre was 1 month old 

a sunny day!!! off to the park!

its been very exciting to watch the changes happening at my local park. during the past few weeks of heavy rain there has been some serious construction going on. they have added a younger children's play area onto the park. it was only recently completed and then we had a sunny day. lots of kids were out today. there are some rockclimbing ramps for kids too! i'll have to get derek out there to coach diedre next time!


joanna & gabe. joanna, grandma roy and the kids came to join me in checking out the "new" park. it was great for david to get to run around.


auntie joanna made diedre laugh


david


the kids and grandma roy


nice brand-new horsey


there must have been something of great interest off in the distance


what a sly smile you have there gabe!


grandma roy teaches david a new skill

yay, rick & danielle are back!

after returning from a month long holiday home to NS, our good friends have finally returned! diedre has grown so much and learned so much in their absence. it was great to get together.


sharing an inside joke across the couch


"i think i remember you..."


you definitely have "the glow" danielle! you look so cute :)