Can it be? Our Danika's Three!

The many faces, poses and hats of Danika

Danika is three years old today! Whether she is wearing a Burger King crown or a Birthday tiara she is always our Little Junior Miss!

Here is a brief photo journal from the past few months.

Danika is officially my "happy helper".

Precious, precocious, and perfectly packaged!

We are so blessed to have Danika Dolly as one of our Granddaughters.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweetheart!

Play time and a trip to Powells

Youngest Grands

What a difference a few months make at this age. Katie is 5 months and Garrett 2 months old. This picture also depicts perfectly the girl/boy differences. Katie's carseat though not totally girly is much more so than Garrett's plaid one. Stereotypically, girls love horses and boys like dinosaurs. She's all about the pink and he is brown and blue. I'm looking forward to these two joining the others in the wild rumpus times around here. Fun Fun!

Target

It had been quite a while since we'd been shopping and we had not gone with all the kids since they've been here. It was an experience! We pretty much tag teamed to keep everyone occupied and engaged while I did the shopping. Takes me back a few years!

Bubbles are always a good idea.

Genevieve got a small container of bubbles and wand from church. Like all kids she loves to blow them. She even got Grampa in the act.

That is one thing I need to invest in or perhaps make a batch of to allow all of the kids to blow bubbles. Spilled bubble liquid is not a bad upholstery cleaner or rug shampoo and it is even a good cleaner of cement! Nice and benign play.

Serious exercise

I thought I'd mix it up a little for Garrett's tummy time. I put a soft roll under the blanket and draped him over the hump. I wasn't long before he was pushing up to look around.

He looks like he is posing for one of those fill in the caption photos.

"Are you looking at me?"

POWELLS City of Books

I mentioned in a previous post that I should introduce our younger 3 kids to Powells. Hayden has now been officially introduced.

He has been reading and collecting a few Manga series. It seems to be formatted like a comic book but I'm told they are "graphic novels". They have a story line with cliff hangers and all to keep you interested in the next one. My philosophy is that if they are reading it's a good thing! All of my kids like to read now, some more than others but... at least one of my life goals has been accomplished.

My "person" and her sister + more

"I'll be your person."

I have a little helper every time I work in the kitchen. As I head to make any sort of meal, Danika traipses along behind saying "I'll be your person Gramma." I think she means helper but she sure is a cute person!

She is a great helper. Genevieve came in to help as well. She was in charge of the tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella dish.

Both girls did a great job.

It was pizza night but we had some fresh veggies as well.

Celebrating a job well done!

My Puzzle Girl

Genevieve loves building puzzles... and is quite good at it. She was working with Hayden's city scape puzzle blocks and made her own skyline.

First Haircut

Of course this isn't Wyatt's first haircut but it is the first time he's been to a shop for one. He was very polite and did a great job of sitting still. It helped that the hairdresser was one that Rowan had gone to before so Wyatt had to rise to the challenge of behaving as well as his cousin.

He is looking forward to his next visit!

Back from Alaska

Nicole is back! Krystle holed up in the music room with her and looked at some fan fiction. Danika climbed up for a cuddle. Genevieve is super excited to have her back as well. It was super great to have her here for a night.

Mr Observant

Garrett is reaching that point in development where if something catches his eye he is very intent on studying it. Grampa brought him outside last night and he was fascinated by the sky.

Cousins!!!!

These cousins have so much fun together. This time Katie seemed to be a huge novelty. She is interacting more and more so these bigger cousins want to interact with her. Rowan is always a fun guy to have around. He is always up for a wrestle or game or just laughing together.

Artistic Daughters are Wonderful!

I am in awe of Alyssa's artistic talent. I can follow craft directions but I can't hold a candle to this woman. She has such a gift for working with many different mediums. She has served children's ministries in churches here in Portland and up near her house. She has been commissioned to create several paintings for buddies of Logan's as well. She has a flair for communicating through art that is for sure!

The weekends are never long enough when the kids come to visit. All too soon they are heading out. Thanks for coming guys!!!!

Growing pains and celebrations

The growing and pain (shots)

This week started out with Garrett's 2 month check-up.

He's doing very well for having been a preemie.

He started out at 6 lbs 10 oz and 19 in. long.

He is currently 11 pounds and 22 in!

He also has a 16 in head circumference.

He had a bit of a hard time after his appointment as he got his first 3 shots :_( It was also a very warm day so I stripped him down to just a diaper and let him have a little tummy time. Seemed to do the trick to comfort him.

Summer Heat Wave

We've had a bit of hot weather in the last week. Every day the kids put on their suits and played with the garden hose sprayer. It has multiple settings so it's fun. They'd get chilled and run and sit on the hot driveway. They are busy but we are having some fun.

Balmy Birthday Forecast

After many sunny days... this is the first time a possible thundershower was forecasted. Didn't materialize. It turned out to be a lovely evening to celebrate.

Hayden's Birthday Dinner

The restaurant was the Bombay Cricket Club Restaurant. He was wanting to eat Indian food and this place had some good reviews. It's only open for dinner and it's not a huge place so reservations are a good idea, though we got there just as they were opening for the day and there was plenty of room. The food was YUMMY!

Sweet Sixteen!

Hayden is a good guy and sweet is a word that would be used to describe him.

After dinner we came home to open presents and have cake on the porch. Hayden is now bigger than his dad so we have only one boy (Cam) left in the house. They will be spending more time at their computers in a couple of weeks as school starts on August 31st. (I'm sure they don't want to be reminded of that!)

The summer has flown by so quickly. I'm glad I've been able to photo journal some of the activities with this blog. We have one more birthday to celebrate this month when Danika turns 3 on the 29th.

I'll be looking forward to having a little nip in the air and drinking hot coffee on the porch.

The Walla weekend

Having taken hundreds of pictures, how do I decide what to blog?

Here goes....

On the Road

I coerced the boys to pose at the one of the rest stops we made.

Henry's House

Henry, Katie & Garrett, our youngest three grands, in very different stages of development.

The next morning, Further illustration of the differences in these 3 born within the last year. Henry turns 1 on Aug 17th, Katie just turned 5 months and Garrett was 2 months old the day this was taken.

A milestone for Katie... day two of cereal. YUM! She looks like a pro.

Traditional stop in the Wallas.

I think there has been only one time when we were in town and didn't make it to the Ice-Burg.

Rowan was there with us for the first time. Henry looks like he's been there before. At least it looks like he knows the ropes.

Pendleton Water Park

The girls, the boys, the old lady and the baby.

Everyone had a great time!

Cam spent the last hour we were there going down one and then the other waterslide.

Hitting the Road

Lyssa and Logan were on the final leg of their holidays and left early Saturday evening in order to get home by midnight. I took a picture of Lyssa with our dear friend Lauren. Kiel and Cherise rent their apartment from her and she's been a wonderful mentor and friend to Cherise. I also took a quick picture of Rowan's new bike before they drove off. It's pretty cool if you ask me!

Dedication of Henry Owen

Kiel and Cherise stood before their friends and family and dedicated their Henry to God. Journey Church is a great place for their family at this time. I feel that it is one of the most "well watered" places in Walla Walla. Such a refreshing fellowship.

Happy 1st Birthday

Since it was the weekend it was the ideal time to have an early birthday party for Henry. He is turning one this week.

His Momma made him some super healthful carrot cake cupcakes and he took to them quite quickly.

Beautiful women of God, Sarah, Olivia and Lauren with baby Garrett just before we headed back to Portland.

Boys n the Country

Perhaps Garrett may become one but I doubt my boys will ever be country boys.

I may have taken the boys out of the city but it would take some doing to take the city out of these boys. The closer we got to Portland the more Hayden commented on all the things he loves about it. He wants to do some traveling but everywhere he mentions going is a large urban area.

We appreciated the time away and enjoyed the grandeur

of the gorge. It's nice to be reminded that there is a great big world out there and it truly is AWE inspiring!