40 - the new 20!

My hubby turned 40 this week. He wasn't too excited about this, but we had a lot of birthday fun! Some of our friends came over last night for an espresso/dessert party. Our famous barista friends, Sean & Dismas, brought a high-end espresso machine and treated everyone to some amazing drinks! Wow...what a treat! The house was full and loud (25 adults + 17 kids—not including our family).... It made my heart happy, however, to see all of those that have been apart of my dear husband's life these past few years here in Seattle. I'm so thankful! Here are a few pictures from the evening:

The "Over the Hill" cake.

Sean and Dismas working hard in our kitchen!

Mark, Philip and Matt.

I love my hubby... I think he is more handsome and wise with each year!!!

13th Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary last weekend. A friend of mine offered to watch our kids so we could get a way for the night!! We also had another friend who gave us over 50% off a hotel room right downtown. We had a room with a great view, we had some great meals out, and lots of time for talking, walking, sharing, sightseeing, and even some reading! Check out a few pictures I took.

This is the view we had from our hotel room. On Sunday there was a cruise boat leaving for Alaska. Maybe we'll do this next year. Ha ha!!

Bon Voyage!

Dinner out with beautiful view of the Sound.

Walks by the water!

Walks in the market. Wow, so many beautiful colors!

We also decided to take a short tour of Theo's Chocolate Factory in Fremont. It was so interesting! We saw how they take cacao fruit (or beans) and make them into the yummy chocolate I love! We got lots of great samples too. My favorite was the Jasmine tea truffle. The picture is blurry, but can you see the fun hair nets we had to wear?

We came home to four happy children! Here Jeffrey is sampling some chocolate that we brought home for them to try! Yummy!

Mother's Day

I'd like to dedicate the quote below to my Mom. This is what she meant to me, and this is what I hope I can be to my children too. Life will be full of hard times, but we will always have Jesus and our mothers!!

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." -Washington Irving

Last weekend when I was in Portland I went up to my Mother's grave sight with my Sister and our girls. For Mother's Day we put some yellow tulips on her grave marker - she loved tulips. It was a beautiful sunny day, and as our thoughts turned to our Mom we remembered how thankful we are to have had her in our lives. How she taught us so much, and helped us to be the women we are today - not perfect but free to be ourselves! Thanks Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Let the Wedding Bells Ring

On May 1st my Dad got married to Joyce in Portland, Oregon. It was a gorgeous Spring day, and God truly blessed their wedding. It was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have been to in a long long time! The pictures below don't come close to capturing it! We are thankful God has brought Joyce into my Dad's life.

♡ The happy couple. ♡

Joyce's exquisite flowers!

My Dad with a few of his granddaughters.

My Dad with Joyce's grandchildren.

The amazingly scrumptious cupcakes (they had a beautiful dessert buffet).

The grand cake!

The girls picking out chocolates: there were truffles and chocolate covered strawberries. Melt in your mouth!

Joyce and her youngest granddaughter.

My Dad and Joyce at the reception.

Who are these handsome boys?

Oh wait, there is another handsome guy!! Matt and Ernst had the honor of ushering at the ceremony.

Asha and Annalise with more flowers!

My Sister and I were bridesmaids—we felt so honored!

All the flowers were amazing!

Even my dearest friend got to join us from Bend, Oregon! All my favorite people in one place! Ahhhh! ♥

Let the baseball season begin.....

This Spring Luke started playing baseball for the first time and Jeffrey began T-ball. It has made many of our evenings and weekends very busy, but they are very fun to watch! They both spend a lot of time thinking about and playing ball, which has been so good for our very active boys! The pictures below are from their first games. So adorable!

Jeffrey hitting the ball off the T.

Run Jeffrey Run!!!

Jeffrey is one of the youngest on his team, but he is a good hitter and has a ton of fun!

Luke playing first base.

Luke up to bat!

Go Giants

& Dodgers!

What is the significance of the cross?

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

Happy Easter!!!!

Science Museum Part 2: Butterfly Garden

After seeing the Star Wars exhibit, we went over to the main museum. We spent most of our time in the butterfly garden. It was so relaxing to just slowly walk around the garden watching the butterflies flutter all around us! I felt like I had escaped to a tropical island!

My four butterflies.

This little butterfly was trying to figure out who he was. He looked like he was reading the butterfly identification chart. Poor guy!

One of my favorite butterflies. Asha thought it looked like a Dalmatian butterfly.

Twin butterflies resting on some pretty flowers.

After all that museum looking...we stopped in at the Golden Arch for some ice cream! What a fun day!!!!!