Winnie-the-Pooh Nursery

Andrew's mom came to visit and was happy to paint a mural on our nursery wall! She said she always wanted to paint a mural in her kids' rooms but never was bold enough to decide on something and then follow through. I think she did a great job.


The base layer of the painting. She wanted it to look like a watercolor painting, as the A. A. Milne text's illustrations are.


Trees to frame the painting.


Rachel loved watching Oma paint.


Time to lower the crib! She's only 9 months old, for goodness sake.


Putting some finishing touches on the beehive.


Owl.


The honeybees.











More characters will appear on the opposite wall at a later date.

Rachel loves it. She waves at Owl when she wakes up and points from Owl and the honeybees whenever we go into her room.

Bath Time!

I generally don't believe in posting pictures of naked babies on the internet, no matter how cute. But these are too funny.

Our friends came to visit us and we put all three kids in the bathtub.


The closest we get to having them all look at the camera at the same time.


The little babies stare at the toddler's craziness.


The nasal aspirator: best bath toy ever. And dog-boy toy ever, too.


"Mom, this is the funnest bath of my life."

So the pictures aren't that funny. But it was a funny bath.

Dash Point Half Marathon

The half marathon is over and done. It was exhausting, grueling, and not really very fun. I mean, as I've been running more, I've enjoyed it, but this was an experience for which I was not prepared. I got the miles in, I should have been able to do it. I just wasn't ready for a trail run that had some really steep parts.

Sarah and I at Dash Point State Park before the race. Ready to ROCK IT!!!

My loves and cheering section.

Lining up in the slow wave.

At the beginning of the race--don't I look fresh and happy to be running?


Running in the forest is fun! Oh actually it isn't because I just ran up a cliff! I'm a good faker.


Daniel running the race (he's Andrew's running buddy).


My friends Sarah and Melissa running. Looking good!


At the aid station--HALFWAY DONE!!!


Now I'm kind of running--don't judge, I'm super pooped.


This is at about mile 8 and I was dying.

By the end of the race, I was ready to cry.

But I persevered and FINISHED.


None of us (me, Sarah, or Daniel) did as well as we had expected to had it been a road race. Daniel was expecting 1:45 and ran it in 2:45, I'm not sure what Sarah expected but she finished in 3:15, and I expected 2:45 and finished at 3:30.

Daniel's wisdom about the race: "Your first trail run should not be a half marathon, and your first half marathon shouldn't be a trail run."

Although I had ran on trails a few times, none of my long runs were on the trails. Moral of the story: train in the race's conditions.

Even though I was dying, I feel like I paced myself really well. My snail pace was consistent and I finished. And, I can say that I ran a half marathon.

Now, to find a good Redemption Race.

Blanca Lake

In July, my brother Matt came to visit and we went hiking to Blanca Lake. It was a really difficult hike and a lot of it was in the snow/cold. Matt is way hardcore at hiking, so I appreciated his patience with me and Rachel.


Ready to go!


I love this picture of us!


Rachel looks like Andrew's aunt Ellen in this photo. Isn't it funny how babies are new people that have all these other people's traits and facial expressions?


Stopping for some lunch.


Crossing some early snow. Rachel is taking a nap. A little further on the hike, we were only on snow.


Some beautiful mountains, Columbia Peak and Kyes Peak.


The first lake, Lake Victoria. Pretty much still frozen.


Good morning, Rachel!


We made it! Blanca Lake was the most amazing aquamarine color! I have never seen water that was actually that color.


That is the Columbia Glacier, which sits between Columbia Peak and Kyes Peak.


Rachel liked sucking on the camelback nozzle while getting her diaper changed.


Milk goatee.


This is actually a better photo of the color  of Blanca Lake.


Love this girl.

And then we hiked back and did not take any pictures.

Our Little Backyard

We have had a lovely backyard for about three months and now I am finally going to post about it.

You may remember that our backyard looked like this when we moved in:





The builders sprayed hydro-seed, which didn't take root because our yard was pretty much a gravel pit. Obviously, something needed to be done. First, we tried digging up the rocks, then we decided that was too much work. We pulled out the big rocks and got to work with my dad in April.


Dad chipping off cement.


Rachel enjoyed watching her grandpa work.


Dad working on the garden box.

And then we bought 10 cubic yards of topsoil so we could cover up the horrid gravel pit.


The dirt in front of the house.


Dad working hard to dig the dirt.


Our neighbor Claire "helping" us.


Hardworking and helpful neighbors.


The dirt was very fun for the neighbor kids to play in. If you ever have a birthday party for two-year-olds, just buy a pile of dirt.


Rachel and I raking.

And a month later, we bought sod for the yard.


Fooray!


Andrew laying the sod. In the bottom corner, you can see the berry box that Andrew built for me for Mother's Day. I'm so excited to fill it with delicious berries!


Rachel blowing raspberries on her walker tray.


That isn't a very flattering face, Rachel.


And Andrew got to use his machete!

We were happy to have our yard done. It is actually a nice place to be now. It's amazing how much some greenery makes your yard feel like an oasis instead of a desert. Next summer we'll focus on flowers and such.

It is a nice place to be. I have built a pathetic fort a few times for Rachel and I to enjoy.




She doesn't care how lame the fort is.

Hooray for the yard!

Coming soon: the first room I actually decorated!