Catch-Up Time!

Man! Time sure flies when you are havin fun! :) We have been doing lots of fun things since I was last on here. Things have gotten so busy that I haven't been on here in ages but I am hoping to be able to catch up some on all the things that have happened in the past 2 or 3 months. So, bear with me while I get back into the groove of this stuff.
Love to you all!

Sorry About The Craziness On Our Blog!

I have not been doing this for very long and have not figured out the best way to do all of this. So, sorry for all the weirdness that I have had on here. Hopefully I will get it right soon. =o) Thought I was doing ok, then, BAM! Feel like I am starting over on learning how to do this! Bear with me! If anyone has some good advice for me please let me know! Love & miss you all! Hope to see and/or talk to you soon!

Love, Melissa

My Chair Project With Nita

The 'Before' chair. Really didn't look too bad--just not a great color to deal with for kids. They were starting to look pretty dirty. This is one of the better ones. Plus they were just covered with fabric-hard to clean. I wanted to put plastic on them so they would be easy to clean.

August 11th, 2010

The 'before' chair seat up close. Yuck! We got them from Goodwill for like $5 a piece. They really weren't too bad. We used them this way for months before doing this project.

August 11th, 2010

Using the old material off the chair seat as a pattern for the new material. Worked pretty well. Then we cut it out and started attatching the new material.

August 11th, 2010

Working on stapeling the corners first. Then we worked our way around the edges.

August 11th, 2010

Pulling the fabric and plastic tight around all the edges to staple it securely.

August 11th, 2010

The bottom of the seat once we got both the material and the plastic layers attatched with staples.

August 11th, 2010

Looking at the bottom once we got the soft cotton cover back on to hide all the staples.

August 11th, 2010

Nita working on putting the screws back into the bottom that hold the seat in securely.

August 11th, 2010

The seat after just putting it in. Looks so much better than they did before!

August 11th, 2010

All done! We did 4 of them and they look great!

We have really been enjoying them!

August 11th, 2010

The Finished product! They turned out AWESOME and we have been loving them!

Thanks again, Nita, for all your help!

August 11th, 2010

Our Visit with Cody's Mom

Nita came up for a visit that started with Zachary's 11th birthday (I think it was 11). We went to the church to do the party stuff since it was raining and we couldn't go to the beach.
August 7th, 2010










All of us: Cody & our family, Leo & his kids, David & his family, & Devin & Natasha and Nita & Grant. They all came up for Zachary's birthday and then Nita & Grant stayed long enough to be to Xander's birthday too. This is at the church near David & Tracy's house in Lake Stevens.
August 7th, 2010

Nita & Grant at Long Lake. We went and met Cody there after he was done with Scouts the last night Nita was here with us. It was a fun place to go!

August 12th, 2010

Nita & Tracy at the fountain park. We all got together there for Xander's 5th birthday.

August 13th, 2010

Nita, Cody, & Leo on the foot ferry going back to our house for Xander's birthday stuff. Sorry the ferry made you sick! We had a great time having here and hope you come again soon! We love you!

August 13th, 2010

Xander's 5th Birthday!

For Xander's 5th Birthday we took Nana, Grandma & Grandpa Hansen, Caleb, Brionna, Aunt Tracy and her boys over on the foot ferry to the water fountain park to play. They had a great time and love playing in the fountains! This is Xander & Collin posing while waiting for the water to hit them.

August 13th, 2010

Xander & Collin on the walkway back to the foot ferry headed home. Silly boys!

August 13th, 2010
















Xander back at our house after the fountain park for birthday cake and presents.

August 13th, 2010

Xander-very proud of his 'I'm 5 Today' sticker that came in the card we gave him.

August 13th, 2010

Xander hollering excitedly over the nerf gun we gave him. He was ecstatic over all the gifts that he got. He just kept saying, "I love ALL my gifts, Mom! They are EXACTLY what I wanted!!" =o) Totally cute! Thanks to everyone for the gifts and for being there! We missed those of you who couldn't come!

August 13th, 2010














Xander got a new bike from his mom and dad this year. He had far outgrown the little bike he has been using for years. He loves it and rides around like a maniac on it! =o) We took the training wheels off it after just a couple days-he had been riding without them for ages on his other one-so we just gave him time to get used to the new size of this one before taking them off. He's had a blast with it!!
August 13th, 2010







Xander and his birthday cake. He wanted to have the same kind of cake Cody did for his birthday while camping so we made the regular kind. Then at the last minute he decided he wanted an Ironman Cake so we improvised and stuck an Ironman guy on top! =o) He loved it!
August 13th, 2010

Xander & Collin trying out Xander's new game, Candyland, that he got from Aunt Tracy and her family for his birthday.

August 13th, 2010

Camping for Cody's 29th Birthday!

We went camping for Cody's 29th birthday this year. We had never been camping-just our family-and had tons of fun! We didn't go too far from our home-we went to Belfair State Park. It's about 30 minutes or so from Port Orchard. But it was great to go and we loved it. Will definitely be doing it again!
July 30th, 2010

Emy was extremely excited about Daddy getting Skittles for his bday! =o) They thought it was a total blast to have Cody's bday while we were camping! They kept trying to invite all the neighbor kids to join us! =o)

July 30th, 2010

Emily & Xander loved the little cakes we did for Cody's birthday cake. I just got the little strawberry shortcakes and then did the whip cream and strawberries mixed like the Montgomery's do and we each had our own individual little cake. They loved it!!

July 30th, 2010

The kids and I at dinner that first night.

July 30th, 2010

Cody and the kids at Theller Wetlands. They are close to Belfair and we just drove around to them one afternoon while camping. Could see pretty birds and lots of flowers, etc.

July 31st, 2010

Xander and Emily at Theller Wetlands.

July 31st, 2010

Emily helping me cook breakfast. They loved helping to cook while we were out in the woods! Basically, they loved it all! Can't wait to be able to go again!

August 1st, 2010

Rachel & Donnie & Family Come To Visit!

Rachel & Donnie and kids came to see us in July. This is on the foot ferry, the Carlisle II, that Cody and Leo ride to and from work every day. We knew the kids would have fun with it.

July 17th, 2010

Bracken, Grant, Shaylynn, & Aleatha on the foot ferry.

July 17th, 2010.

Grant, Bracken & Xander checking out the fountain while they wait for it to erupt. They had lots of fun here.

July 17th, 2010.

Grant, Donnie, Peyton, Zachary, Bracken, Jodon, Xander, (some girl we don't know), then Aleatha on the far right as the fountain erupted. They had a lot of fun going back n forth between the fountains and catching them as they erupted.

July 17th, 2010.

Rachel & Kenny got in as well. Emily had fun playing with Kenny while Rachel held him in the water. He thought it was great. We loved having them here and hope they come again soon! We Love and miss them all!

July 17th, 2010.

Fun at Aunt Trudy's House!

Emily helping Aunt Trudy with the chocolate frosting for the mini cupcakes they made for me as a homecoming present after I had been in Nampa for the movers for a week. So cute!! They even made me a banner that said "Welcome Home Mommy!"

Feb. 26th, 2010.

Xander taking his turn with the whisk at the stove. He loved this!! Thought is was totally awesome! X & E wanted to make me something yummy--and they have quickly come to know that Aunt Trudy is the best person around here to go to for yummy treats! Feb. 26th, 2010.

Xander learning the art of frosting without using a knife. He thought this was the coolest thing! He had a hard time at first, but it didn't take him too long to figure it out after Aunt Trudy helped him a couple times!

Feb. 26th, 2010.

Awww! Sweet Success!! He got really good at frosting the cupcakes and had so much fun with the whole thing. After he got them all frosted they put a little candy heart on the top of each one. So cute and SO YUMMY!

Feb. 26th, 2010.

Our First Trip to Manchester State Park

Cody, Emily, and Xander-in background-at Manchester State Park near Leo & Trudy's house. We have had a lot of fun here since we moved. There are a couple of old buildings there-this one is full of picnic tables and little grills to build fires in for cooking. Would be a neat place for a party sometime!

Feb. 20th, 2010.

Hazelynn, Peyton, and Zachary in the woods in Manchester Park. They had fun hiding in there and jumping out at us as we went by. Feb. 20th, 2010.

One of the starfish we found in the tide pools while at Manchester. The kids loved looking for things like this. Feb. 20th, 2010.

Cody, Xander, and Emily out on the point. We carefully climbed over all these rocks out to the point--had a couple falls along the way--so we could a lot farther. Got some good pics out here. Feb. 20th, 2010.

David & Tracy and their family were with us also. Tracy and I neither one had good shoes on to be climbing around on rocks, but we managed. We all tooks pics out here on the point before trying to climb back up to the trail. Feb. 20th, 2010.

My Xander boy and I out on the point. He was really into the picture-taking that was going on. I don't usually volunteer for having my picture taken, but this one turned out ok. It's also nice to have evidence once in a while that I was there, too. =o) And to top it all off--how could I refuse to have my picture taken when Xander wanted one with me so badly? I couldn't-obviously! Oh, how I love that boy!

Feb. 20th, 2010.

Jackson-Lund Park

Emily at Jackson-Lund Park. This was just a few days after we moved here. Feb. 18th, 2010.

Xander on the slide at the park. He loves going down it as fast as possible!

Feb. 18, 2010.

Emily up on the top of the slide.

She is a little daredevil!

She didn't have any problems looking over the edge at me while I took this picture!

I had to talk her into not climbing any further!

Feb. 18

, 2010.

Emily & Jodon playing with a football. He was helping her catch it and throw it. Daddy and Uncle Leo had been playing when she decided it looked like fun.

Feb. 18, 2010.