maria gets married

diedre enjoying all the clapping at maria's wedding reception (she had to come as all our babysitters, and back up babysitters, came down with severe illnesses. diedre did really well at this very kid-friendly wedding and lasted until 2pm when we had to leave. it was a 9.30am wedding and noon reception.





me & maria


back of her dress

Diedre's First Steps

Diedre walked her first 3 steps on Wednesday. we didnt get it on video, but we did get her trying to walk again.

Watch the Video

turkey lurky

we had a big day planned: go to Langley, shop, bake a turkey with danielle & help her sew a duvet cover. we didn't get around to the duvet cover mostly because the oven died, so we moved the party and the turkey, to the mellenger's.


practicing stepping on a book

at the mellenger's

and FREEZE!


my poor nephew was sick for a week and he is looking so skinny...what a cutie pie


the diapered duo hamming it up in the kitchen

sunday morning fun

enjoying the rocking cow


she's very good at throwing the ball


just taking a moment to look really cute


very excited about the sippy cup

animals on board

ready for a carride

Happy 30th Derek!

first, i'd like to say Happy Birthday sweetie. i think you are such an awesome husband, father and friend! i hope you have a terrific day today (monday, march 13). xoxo wife


on saturday i threw derek's 30th birthday party. it was a "work" party. the task: construct an outdoor bouldering wall. the guys did a great job and worked late into the evening.


diedre excited to have guests


nice david


diedre, david, miles and gabriel


several party guests. derek held his hand up like that for a very long time while he was describing either the height or angle of the climbing wall.


the project: outdoor bouldering wall


miles, david and sparky (poor miles had no shoes, so he is wearing ziploc bags, with paper towel bottoms (inside), secure with elastics).


derek opening gifts. he got lots of rockclimbing holds, some climbing chalk, a cool hydration pack, and a ball from diedre (she thought it would be fun for him to play ball with her). he also got early birthday gifts of half a bbq (the other half is for me) from his parents and a corded drill from my parents, and a sweater from marsha.


the cake: derek's favorite, angel food cake, a big moat cut out of it, filled with butterscotch pudding, and covered with cool whip. yum! yesterday, he asked if i could make this for him everyday for lunch! ha ha


currently in position. rick is planning to come out this week to help with some more of the construction. thanks for making his party a success guys!

slide time

Diedre playing with her slide


steady now...

father-daughter time

cuddling (napping) with daddy before dinner


aww, so sweet

snow day!

it snowed quite a bit here. there were some really cool hail storms yesterday and the "snow" was little tiny peas of snow. very cool.


first time really in the snow, all suited up, ready to play for hours!


well, not exactly, there was not much interaction with the snow

watch a video:

diedre calls out to sparky

diedre plays with the snow

the rocking cow

kitty goes on


kitty comes off


kitty goes on


kitty comes off


diedre's turn


stop for a hug


side saddle and backwards! wow, what talent!

basket of fun

sad goodbyes to grammy & grampa

at the airport


diedre spots another kitten (we are standing near a flower shop with these cute kittens on display)


diedre is filling her arms with kittens


big hugs to the kittens


one last kiss...and grammy couldn't resist buying her a kitten. she really likes it too. its orange striped.


beautiful bouquet from the flower shop. i thought the flower that is near the bottom of this bouquet was so cool, how its stacked. its called ginger, a type of lily.

grandparents & family time

diedre also got a rocking cow from her third cousin alex. she wanted diedre to have this toy so grammy & grampa had it shipped out to arrive while they were here. she loves it--thank you!


grammy, diedre, two ponies and a dolly


grampa & diedre