October came and went

October was yet, another busy month for us!

 

Date night!!  Aaron and I were able to get away for a  few hours for some drinks and dinner – it’s always nice to slow down and catch up without any distractions.  Love this man and our date nights!

 

We might have a tradition on our hands – we made it out to the Country Mercantile with the Stirlings for the second year in a row.  The kids had a blast riding on trains, planes and roller coasters, seeing the animals, climbing straw mountains and even getting lost in a corn maze.  We finished the outing with a tractor ride to get a few pumpkins and had some lunch too!

The second weekend of the month Aaron headed out to hunt with his dad and brother – although no deer were “caught”, as I used to say, the guys had a good time!  Aaron’s excited that in a few years he’ll be able to take Addison – let’s see if she has it in her J.  While the guys hunted, the rest of us were kept busy with a fun-filled weekend with the grandmas.  First off  - my first toddler sleepover at my house with one of Addi’s friends.  Lots of running and screaming, but even more fun!  The next day was my 3^rd 10K and the kid’s 1^st one mile run – the 10K was a success and overall the mile was too, but the kids got a bit tired and cranky.  That night we all went to the movies (Gwen was visiting for the weekend and my mom joined us) and then dinner.  The movie was hilarious and kept AJ’s attention the entire time – yay!  And then it was craft time after that!

Fast forward to the third weekend and I headed out of town to Wenatchee by myself to visit with family and partake in the annual college girl’s weekend!  My sisters and I started the day off with a gorgeous hike up Saddle Rock – the view is just amazing at the top!  It’s always nice talking with my sisters – no fuss, no muss – just sisterly love and lots of laughing J.  Then I met up with an old high school friend for lunch – we haven’t seen each other in years, but that didn’t matter, it was like we’d never been apart!  Afterwards I met back up with my sisters and we went and had a quick drink with my dad and stepmom before all heading to dinner and meeting up with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law – lots of family!!!  We all took turns holding Avery, the new little baby addition to the family – she’s so stinkin cute!

The college girl’s weekend was spent catching up with friends – we hiked, spent hours talking, played with the new baby additions (Noah and Hadley) and laughed till we cried.  We headed to Oktoberfest in Leavenworth Saturday afternoon and the evening didn’t disappoint – we just have such a good time together.  Can’t wait for next year!

The last weekend in October was super busy.  AJ’s birthday party was so much fun - I think there were 13 kids running around!  Thanks to Pinterest I had a lot of fun with the food this year – probably too much fun.  I may need to layoff the website for awhile – it was starting to become stressful!  We had family come in from out of town too – I guess AJ is a pretty special kid J.  The parties didn’t stop there though.  That night we threw a mini surprise party for Aaron – Seahawks themed of course.  After a delicious dinner of steaks and more cake, we crashed big time that night!  I’ve said this before, but AJ’s birthday seems to overshadow Aaron’s, but he’s a very good sport about the whole thing.  Happy Birthday to my boys!!

Halloween was spent trick-or-treating at my work, followed by a jaunt around the neighborhood.  This was the first year that AJ really understood what was going on and he loved it!  Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures from that day, but I can guarantee there were lots of candy and smiles!

We’re already into November and things have slowed down a bit – phew J

The Sparks in September

Probably the biggest news this month is that my mom and stepdad moved to the Tri-Cities!  They’re only about 20 minutes away from our house now, instead of over two hours.  It’s great to be close to them again and the kids are loving the visits that get to happen more often.

Beer Olympics was on the docket again this year and it didn’t disappoint!  We claimed Mexico again as our country and I think we came in third place this year.  It’s such a fun event with lots of friends and many, many laughs!

Poland, Korea and Mexico!

 

Seahawks season is among us…

Celebrating my birthday by making cookies with the kids!

My niece Kelsee was in town to visit - We had lunch a few times and even got in some quick shopping!

The circus was in town, so Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the weekend.  The kids really enjoyed it and so did the adults.  We also got in a morning walk before they left town and found an interesting critter on the sidewalk.

Addi ran into one of her best friends, Brianna!

Addi and AJ switched spots in the sit and stand stroller for the walk home - silly kids!

August happenings...

I apologize for the late post recapping August - this blog website hasn't allowed me to post until now.

WOW – when I was going through pictures to decide what to blog about from August, I was overwhelmed at how busy we were!  Here it goes…

The first weekend in August we were lucky enough to have the Bessonette’s stay with us!  Audrey and her husband, Aaron, are college friends of ours and they have two little kiddos close in age to ours.  Our weekend included a morning run and a stop at Starbucks (for the girls), golf (for the guys), trampoline park (for the kids), pool time (for all of us) and a fun dinner at our house to wrap things up! 

The second weekend we found ourselves in Portland to celebrate a family friend’s wedding.  We started out at the zoo and the kids had a blast!  The wedding was beautiful and the kids enjoyed all of the fun kid activities provided and of course, the dessert table (I think I enjoyed that one as well)!

I was able to get some girl time in the third weekend with a trip to Chelan with my high school friends.  We get together annually for a fun trip and last year we were supposed to meet up in Palm Springs and my flight got cancelled and I didn’t end up going – it was very sad.  But this year Chelan was our destination and we made the most of it!  When we arrived Friday, of course we had to eat lunch at the Lakeview Drive-In (best burgers and fries around)!  For the rest of the weekend we laid out and ate pizza around the pool, relaxed on an enormous floatie at the lake, wine tasted and even got a quick run in!  These girls are so much fun – the weekend was full of so many laughs and just catching up!

As we neared the end of August we got ready for Addi’s first day of kindergarten.  She was very excited, which made Aaron and I very excited!  No tears from us – we just enjoyed watching Addi start a new journey in her life!  She loves her new teacher and has really caught on to the whole “bus-riding” thing.  That girl is so independent!

Mid-week we took the kids to the fair – they had a great time riding the rides, petting the animals, eating mounds of curly fries and watching the Rodeo.  I’ve always loved going to the fair growing up and I love watching the kids enjoy it too.

The very last weekend in August we headed to the Alta Lake Golf Course for an annual trip we make with Aaron’s family.  The weekend was full of golf (for the kids too), pool time, waterslides in Chelan, Husky game, board games and so much more!  We also had a surprise 40^th wedding anniversary celebration for Aaron’s parents – we had a cake made with their wedding picture on it and it and made a toast to the huge accomplishment!

So that wraps up our weekends, but here’s a few additional pictures that recaps our other adventures throughout the month…

DIY Bookshelf Project:  I was bored with our bookshelf in our bedroom.  After seeing a few examples on Pinterest, I removed the back of the bookshelf and covered it with a fun fabric.  Then I moved it into the kitchen – now it’s more of a decoration piece rather than a bookshelf.  I still have hopes that it could either be a beverage type station or possibly a homework station for the kids in the future, but for now I like it way more than a boring bookshelf!!

I attended my first CrosSport workout with sister, dad and brother.  WOW – super hard!!

The kids have a new obsession – iPads.  They love watching movies and playing games – and it helps with long trips in the car!

Yay for custom designed Nike’s for my birthday! 

My brother Nathan and his wife Amber had a little baby girl – Avery!!  I was able to hold her this last weekend and she is adorable!!

July happenings…

I’m trying a new approach to this whole blogging thing – I’m going to post monthly updates so I can really capture everything we’ve been up to. 

Family night at the Country Club – the kids ate, swam, made home-made ice cream and then finished off the evening watching Toy Story as the sun went down.

IPAD obsessions – watching two different movies, but still able to sit right next to each other.

 

Addi being treated to a special lunch after a visit with the dermatologist (she had a spider vein removed).

In Sequim for the Annual Priesto Golf Tournament – took the kids to the Sequim Bay National Park and the Olympic Game Farm.  Aaron golfed with family and friends to honor his Uncle Jim and then we all met up for a bbq to finish off the day.  Great times!

See you in a month for the August recap!