River Rafting + Camping & friends = A good time !

Me & Casey and our friends Rick & Holly
Check out the bottom left pic, see how sunburned we got after rafting!

All of our group getting ready for rafting, there were 12 of us total!

Me at Eagle falls

Me & Casey at the falls

Friday Night when Casey got home from work we headed for Leavenworth for a weekend camping and river rafting trip. Our friends Rick and Holly organized the whole thing, they have done these rafting trips for several years now, it was mine and Casey's first time! Friday night we hung out at the campsite, had a fire, some drinks, snacks and games and Casey played lots of good music on his guitar! That night I got sick, had a fever and severe sinus headache with tons of snot, YUK! Needless to say I got very little sleep and was a bit worried about how I would feel Saturday morning for rafting.

After some tylenol, various allergy medicine and coffee I was ready to raft. We drove to Cashmere and then got suited up for rafting and took a very crowded bus back to Leavenworth. That was where we met our guide and got in the river. We rafted down the river for 4 -5 hours and it was SO FUN! The Wenatchee river is beautiful and there were some pretty exciting rapids! At one point I thought for sure that our boat was going to tip over, but to my amazement it didn't. Casey and I are definitely looking forward to doing this again. Saturday night I was feeling better and actually got a pretty good nights sleep!

Sunday we had breakfast at the campsite, got all packed up and headed into town(Leaveworth) for some shopping and lunch. It was fun but we were both anxious to get home to the kids who stayed at our house with Casey's mom, (thanks Jamie)! On our way back we pulled off the road and stopped at this amazingly beautiful spot called Eagle Falls near Steven's Pass. The water there is an incredible clear aquamarine color and the rocks are smooth, sleek and huge, it was really VERY pretty. We got home around 4:30 and were greeted by 2 very excited kiddos! It's always nice to have a little break but we missed the kids so much, and it was so great to spend some time with them.

Weird !

Just waking up from a nap together

Oh, I guess all that napping made Paulie hungry!

Really ?!?!

Okay so this is not a new happening around our house, but I thought our kitten would have outgrown it by now! It started when we first got our little fur ball, he quickly became attached to Abby our 6 yo female dog. We have had him about 2 months now and he continues to nurse from Abby daily, and I think more frequently now than ever before. Being the curious nurse that I am I tried to express milk from Abby's nipple and sure enough she's lactating, she's never even had puppies. Crazy, right? So while I am a bit disturbed, I also think it is very sweet and cute when they just cuddle together. I wonder how long this will continue.....I guess only time will tell :)

Happy Birthday BFF

Happy Birthday to my amazing, talented, gorgeous, fun, outgoing and caring best friend. There are so many more words I could use to describe my best friend Kristy but these are just a few that came to mind! I hope you have a great birthday, you better at least be taking the day off work and enjoying yourself :) I can't wait to see you next month when you come and visit, miss you and love you!

Happy Daddy's Day!

Happy Father's Day
to my amazing husband,
my wonderful dad, and
my awesome father-in-law!

I hope you all have very special days!

Home Alone

I'm home alone all weekend! It's a very strange thing, and I'm really not used to it. Last night Casey packed up the kiddos and took them down to his parents house for the weekend. The little town where they live has some kind of festival with a parade and other activites that will be fun for the kids and he will get to spend Father's Day with his dad so it worked out nice! Last night after they left I finished all of Norah's b-day invitations, had some wine and made cookies to take to my dads on Father's Day. I stayed up late on purpose hoping to sleep in today(I work tonight), but even after staying up till 2 am the best I could do was 9:15 :(
Today I think I will keep myself busy with a trip to the farmers market, maybe a trim(my hair is in desperate need of one) and Fathers Day shopping :) Maybe I can even take a nap this afternoon before work. Being a wife and a mommy sometimes I feel like I never have any time to myself, which for the most part is true! Now that I do, I don't even know what to do with myself :) I miss them already, silly I know but I do. I'm just hoping that they get home tomorrow evening before I have to go to work, so I can spend a little time with them.

Happy Birthday Dad !

Happy 54th
Birthday

We love you !

Saturday BBQ

Saturday was so much fun !
Saturday morning my sister and I ran the Sound to Narrows 12 K for the 2nd year! It was perfect running weather and such a pretty course, a fantastic way to start the morning. Later that day we had some friends over and BBQ'd yummy hamburgers and hot dogs! Everyone brought lots of other yummy treats too. We also tried out our new pool, it was nice. Still a bit chilly for sure but that didn't stop a few of us from going in. Nolan loved it while Norah cried standing on the ladder, too cold for her :( Casey has seriously done an awesome job getting that pool going, someone gave it to us at the end of last summer and it needed some major TLC to get it up and ready this year.
After all the little ones went to sleep(every room in our house was filled with a sleeping toddler) Casey and the other boys made a camp fire and we roasted marshmallows and made smores, yum! Sleeping babies, a campfire, some drinks, smores and good friends are definitely a winning combo! We are so looking forward to more nights like this.

Very cool !

South Hill, Puyallup (where we live) now has it's very own farmer's market! YAY! Downtown Puyallup has had one for quite a while and we really enjoy it. But, it's become very popular and is rather crowded especially when trying to navigate through it with a stroller and a preschooler. So last Saturday the South Hill one opened and today me and the kids decided to go check it out. It was very cool, small but worth checking out. I got some yummy fresh asparagus, salad greens and giant garlic. The kids got some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and I got some fresh baked honey wheat bread. Norah got to do some painting at one booth, and they even gave her some coffee seeds to take home and sprout. We will bring them back to the booth and plant them once they sprout.

Some of the fresh flowers you can buy there!

Norah painting

The painting being created by many kids

Nolan happy while playing with a drum :)

Wedding pics and more !

The Happy Couple
Derek and Shelly Suetta

Casey and his sister Kelly

I love how they are looking at each other in this picture!

My handsome hubby with my best friend Kristy and her friend Gary

Norah and her new friend Isabella

Nolan and his cousin Jenna dancin

Norah being silly before the wedding

Back at Grandma and Grandpas playin the drums

Last but not least Casey took this AMAZING shot of Norah swinging at his parents house the night we got home from our trip. I have to say I've got one talented husband :)

It's all fun and games until you leave your keys in California!!!!

We are finally back home and getting back into our normal routine. Last Wednesday we left and headed for Etna a small town in northern CA for Casey's bro Dereks wedding. We Stayed one night at his parents then flew most of the way there on Thursday. We had lots of fun spending time with family and friends, enjoying a great rehersal dinner and beautiful wedding. And, my best friend Kristy and her boyfriend Gary even made the long 12 hour drive up to the tiny little town to spend the weekend with us. It was great and we had a blast.
Fast forward to around 1 pm Sunday afternoon..... Casey, myself and the kids are now standing in the hot, asphalt covered Portland airport parking lot ripping through all of our luggage, digging in every bag and pants pocket we could find and asking ourselves and each other where are the friggin car keys? Well turns out they were back in our hotel room drawer in California!!!! OH CRAP!!! To make a long story short we ended up spending almost 6 hours wandering the Portland airport with kids in tow. Luckily Casey's parents were still there and able to get our keys and bring them to us. The kids were troopers and thank goodness for a fabulous play area and lots of places to eat and shop!
*****
Pictures of our trip and the wedding coming soon!