Springtime Traditions

It was a beautiful day and John had the afternoon off from work, so we took off for La Conner to lay our eyes on the beauty of Spring: tulips! Elianna was terrified of the tulips, so just like last year...some wailing, teary-eyed pictures of her! Joel loved being out in nature and also enjoyed seeing some horses and a helicopter that flew overhead. After grabbing the best burgers at the Rockfish Grill in Anacortes...we hit the beach for a quick hour. The kids loved it! Digging in the sand (and Eli eating some!), rocks and teeter-tottering on a log with Daddy...good times.

Easter Egg Hunt & Random Shots

Reading a Boz book. Eli's taken a liking to the big green bear.

Monkey in his cage, I mean laundry basket..."I'm trapped" game.

simply cute

in a spring outfit from Grandma Kathy

Joel's 30 second Easter egg hunt on base. I think he got 1 egg and Daddy got another one for him when he realized Joel was not about to get anymore.

it was a cool, windy day on whidbey island...big surprise!

My Big Birthday Getaway

The B & B we stayed at.

Loved leaving the ND snow to see daffodils!

Our beautiful room, complete with fireplace and jacuzzi tub too!

Opening presents

Well, April brought more than showers this year for me...yep, it was my 30th birthday! A few days before the big day we arrived home from our trip to ND and were reunited with John. That night John surprised me, and I mean !SURPRISED ME! with some early birthday presents. He had bought me a couple outfits and a pretty necklace. He had even bought the right sizes, so thoughtful! The next day we took off, without the kids, for 2 days to relax at a B & B in Langley at the Ashington Manor. It felt really weird to leave the kids with my Mom and have no responsibilities!! I mean, the longest I've ever been away from Eli is like 4 hours since she was born over a year ago. I read books in the quiet, watched tv and ate in bed, went out to eat, and shopped in cute little boutiques. It was unreal!!! After a day of that, I kinda felt bored to be honest. Where's the challenge without all the noise and multitasking!?! John had to go into work while we were "away", but we had the later part of the afternoon and into the night to spend together. The kids did great with Grandma Susan while we were gone. I think they were a handful at times though...I'm sure Grandma would prefer to keep them in shorter, more frequent intervals and let mom deal with the early morning risers and anti-pottiers (not a word i'm sure)!

More of Our Snowy Visit Home in ND

climbing up the mountain of snow at the farm

Grandma kisses from Joel

Aunties Erica, Jess & Miss with the kids. April "09

Joel & Eli with cuz Andrew

Kings of the Snow Hill

They had so much fun playing together!

Andrew loved holding Eli.

Our time home with the Neuharths went by way too fast. We had such a relaxing time hanging out with family. Joel got to go outside with Grandpa Doug and see April, the first calf born in the herd. He also had a blast climbing the snow hills and got sled rides from G Doug too. I think G Doug got tired once and made Joel pull him around too lol. Between playing with G Susan's toy stash (and baby grand piano), playing the shooting Wii game, and wrestling with Andrew; Joel was on cloud 9. Eli also enjoyed the spoiling and being held by her cousin, Andrew. We also watched "The Sound of Music" with Joel for the first time and ate out with Great G & G Neuharth at the local Pizza Ranch. Too soon our time was up and we heard Daddy calling us home, since his deployment finished up earlier than expected. We hopped in our (new to us) red with leather seats! 2000 Pontiac Montana minivan with SUUUUUUPER Grandma Susan in tow as backup. The trip went great and we took our time and did it in 2.5 days...staying in Billings and Spokeanne. It was SO wonderful to get back to spring weather and be reunited with Daddy!

A Snowy Visit Home

The Kids With G & G Telenga. March "09

Snowblowin 18" with Grandpa Keith

Uncle Eric & Auntie Theresa





I felt as though I wasn't walking in God's will with such a rough start to our trip home, but His grace was there through the tough moments. I am convinced traveling with any baby is torture for both them & their caretaker(s)! Eli cried on the train/car ride for a grand total of about 6 hours. With my sister Missy at hand to help, we made it. Potty-training accidents, bad roads, and a case of what seems to be eczema for me was the rest of the stress with the trip home. That said, the kids & I had a great time reconnecting with family. Grandma Kathy took Joel to a Easter party at a nearby Christian school. Joel was really happy to get a butterfly painted on his cheek and fish for a prize (pirate hat and blow-up sword)...along with some yummy treats. Joel enjoyed making a snowman with Grandpa Keith. We had so much fun hanging out with Theresa & Eric...coloring, blowing bubbles, watching "Fox & the Hound", drinking yummy whole chocolate milk, and eating out at Ruby Tuesdays. We had alot of together time considering the 18" of snow that gave everybody time off from work! Thankfully the flooding in the Bismarck area didn't affect G & G's house. We also visited G & G's church and Mommy got to join up with Theresa for some shoppingat the mall without the kids!! Very nice and relaxing!