Spencer's 5th Birthday

Spencer's 5th birthday was a lot of fun. Last year I found a great sale on pirate party decorations and favors. It took me until 2 weeks before his birthday to convince him that he should have a pirate party instead of a super hero or dinosaur themed party.I don't know what actually changed his mind, but it took almost a whole year of me talking it up before he would go for it. In the end, he said it was really great. I asked him what his favorite part of his day was and he said that he loved hunting for pirate treasure. I asked him what the worst part of the day was and he said "That it had to end." So all in all I would call that a success.

Here are his cutie pa-tootie friends that came. We gave them all eye patches, earrings, tattoos and facial make-up to look more like pirates before they went hunting for treasure.

They followed a map and found the pirate ship full of gold bubble gum coins, gummy rotten teeth, and skeleton lollipops hidden in a bay behind the waterfall.

They put their loot in treasure boxes to take home.On his actual birthday he woke up and within minutes he said he really liked being five. However, he didn't think he should have to go to school on his birthday. I could only convince him to go by telling him I was bringing cookies and milk to his class later in the day. His cute crown that he got from school.

He has been asking Siena to make him hand puppets, so she made some for his birthday.

Growing up

Last May Siena completed Middle School and Spencer completed Preschool. I never got these events posted so I am finally getting around to that now.

Spencer loved having his best friend Ryan's mom, Mrs. Beckie, as his preschool teacher.Little Ella is one of Spencer's favorite people. He told me shortly after preschool began last year that he is going to marry Ella when he gets big. He was very matter of fact about it and he continues to plan his future around her. He isn't all gushy about her, but he does get a silly grin on his face when he sees her. There was a bit of a problem when she told him that Carter wanted to marry her too, but when Carter moved into a different ward Spencer figured it would work out after all. He tells me that when he and Ella are married they will live close by me and they will come over for dinner and they will leave their kids to spend the night with me and Paul. I am already excited for my special grand kids sleepovers. He also asked me one day how would he be able to take Ella to the hospital when she is going to have a baby because he doesn't know how to get there. While I was still formulating an answer he said, "Oh I know! I will use my GPS." Since starting Kindergarten Spencer decided he wanted to be a police man so he can "see what it looks like inside a jail". At least he wants to be on the right side of the law. However, this week he says he doesn't want to be a police man anymore, he wants to be a paleontologist so he can be on "Dinosaur Train." At least he is planning for the future. He is going to have a family to support, afterall.

Tom's Wedding

We were home from our big summer trip less than a week when Paul and I headed back out again to attend my brother's wedding in CA. Since Siena was at band camp, we decided to pawn off our other two kids so that Paul and I could have a pre-anniversary trip of our own. It was high time since it had been 11 years since we had gone anywhere without the kids.

We hadn't met Linda or her kids prior to the wedding so I was excited to meet them. Linda is very nice and her kids were great, too. Tom seemed really happy and he and the kids have formed a special bond. It was nice to see them giving him big hugs. He fits right in with them. He even seems to know a lot of Chinese which shouldn't surprise me since he is quite the linguist. Of course, I don't know any Chinese so I can't be too sure of how much he knows, but they looked like they understood each other in either English or Chinese. So it works either way.
I really like Linda's extended family, too. Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. I was so glad that we could go and meet everyone.
We also got to see Lindsay and Elissa. They've grown up a lot since I've last seen them. I was impressed with how well they handled seeing their Dad get remarried.

One story that I'll never let Tom live down was when we were at his reception and one of his guests asked if I was Tom's daughter. He looked around, saw me, and shreaked, "No, she's my SISTER!" It was so funny, especially since Tom is only 16 months older than me. I'll be telling that story until my dying day. Paul and I enjoyed our time away. Actually, I think we both kind of missed the kids, but we decided that we need to take more vacations on our own and not wait another 11 years. It was great knowing that our kids were well taken care of and in fact, I don't even think they missed us. Spencer was having so much fun that he didn't even want to leave when we went to pick him up from his friend's house. Lily was perfectly content staying at the Ryan House. I'm sure she enjoyed the attention she received from all the staff there.

Visiting the whole Krey family

After breaking up our 24 hour journey into two weeks of stops, we made it to our final destination- Woodinville, WA. We had such a great time visiting with our friends, but were ready to stay in one place for a while. The first week all I wanted to do was hang out and let the kids play with their cousins outside. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. It was so nice. The weather was perfect. We were there a week and a half before Paul could take off work and fly up to meet us. Once he was there we kept busy again. One activity Paul had been looking forward to for months was to go out on Dan and Kacey's new boat. It was the best day. It was really hot outside so cruising around Lake Washington with the wind in our hair was the best way to spend the day. The kids even jumped in the really cold water!

We had dinner with Paul's dear friends. They are such great people.We went on the Edmond's ferry to Kingston where we had ice cream and played on the beach.

Spencer and Duncan found some really cool things on the beach.

I love this picture of Paul and his mom. Poor Papa had been in an accident and had his mouth wired closed the whole time we were there. He was a good sport about it. It couldn't have been fun.

Penny and two of her kids were there, too. I wish John could have come, then we would have seen the entire family!

Siena and SaraJane had lots of fun together. I don't know if they ever got much sleep, but they kept each other laughing. Siena and Trevor camped out on the boat one night. That was quite an adventure.

We had a family picnic on the 4th of July and that night we had the most amazing fireworks that I've ever seen at Dan's house. For the first time ever, Siena wasn't scared. She even helped set some off. However, this was the one time she actually should have been scared. It gets dark so late there that Spencer couldn't stay awake a minute longer and fell asleep with loud booms and sparks flying all around him.

While I was there I got a bad crick in my neck (I think from all the driving). Lucky for me Ben fixed me up.

Spencer has a girl he has wanted to marry for a year now, but he was ready to give her up to marry his cousin, Olivia. I told him he can't because we don't plan on moving to Kentucky. You can see why he would want to marry her though. She's as cute as can be and such a sweetheart. She takes after her Momma.

Chris and Anna fixed us a lovely breakfast at their apartment. It was fun spending time with the not so newlyweds.

Pike Place market is always a must see. And thanks to my stopwatch we were there the entire two hours on our parking meter with only seconds to spare as we zoomed out of the garage.

Kingsley is an adventurer. You should have seen how fast he climbed this tree. He is high up there, too. You can't tell, but I've got my camera zoomed in all the way.Siena and her cousins played a Kool-aid game. I wish Trevor would have let me take his picture, but he was drooling too much.

They always practice rope tying with Papa. I think Siena won the timed trials.

After 33 days of being on the road, we drove back home as fast as we could get here. Unfortunately, it was the middle of July and it was HOT! But oh, what a nice summer we had. Thanks to all our friends and family who put up with our crew for as long as you did.