Farewell to Elder Stevens!

This weekend I flew home to go to my youngest brother Mike's mission farewell. He reports to the Brazilian MTC on May 5th.
There was a lot of family home to see him off! These are some of my favorite pictures.

My brothers: Mike and Richard.

Some of my favorite memories from the visit:

*Dad gave me a new lens for my camera that I got to play around with the whole trip, with his help!

*Seeing so many of my family together! We had a fun barbeque one night, and a nice dinner on Sunday. Mom had to feed a whole crew!

*Playing "Ticket to Ride" with my brothers and cousins, good times!

*My chats with my aunts Tina and Linda, and cousins Shanell and Abby. I love these ladies!!

*Seeing all the cute second cousins (my cousins' kiddos).

*Going to lunch with Mom and Dad to their new favorite place, trying out empanadas. Yumm!!!

*Listening to Mike give his talk at his farewell. I'm so proud of him!

*Hugging my Grandma Stevens....I love you!!!

*Visiting with Eric's aunt Patty, and checking out her new 'do!

*Quiet conversation with Mom and Dad....I just don't see them often enough!

*Sharing family prayer with my family.

Mom and Grandma

Dad

Good luck, Michael!

We will miss you, but can't wait to hear about this exciting new adventure!

Birthday Girl

We had a fun time celebrating Elise's birthday yesterday....She got excited seeing all the wrapped packages. She was a little cautious about tearing the paper open, however. Perhaps I've told her "NO" a few too many times for her to think she could do it!
She loved discovering the bright and noisy toys inside. She got a great haul of toys, books, clothes, and a swing seat that we plan on hanging outside.

Her cake was a simple one this year. It was a pineapple upside-down cake (except that it was right-side up!) covered in whipped topping. I was immediately reminded of Elise when I saw this figurine because of a new "trick" she's recently discovered....

.....We think it means she wants a hug when she does this. She throws her arms out in a very dramatic manner-- it's pretty cute! I was also inspired from the figurine because she is standing....YAY!

I can't believe it has been six years....

My little girl is growing up!

Happy Birthday, Elise!

It's hard to believe, but six years ago today we welcomed one of the world's sweetest little spirits into our home. And what a blessing she has been!!

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From the very beginning, her start into this world was unusual. She arrived after an intense, but brief, 90 minutes of labor, barely giving us enough time to make it to the hospital. She then made it a miraculous three months before she showed signs of her condition, when normally she should have started having seizures from the very beginning.

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She has responded in miraculous ways to the medications and therapy offered her, and has far exceeded what was originally predicted to be her developmental potential. Whereas before I thought I would never see her stand on her own, I am now certain that in time she will walk. We simply can't keep that girl down!

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She has bonded in very special and specific ways with everyone who comes in contact with her. Every babysitter, therapist, doctor, Primary teacher, and bus driver she has ever had is absolutely in love with her. She is impossible to resist! Her laugh and her smile warm me heart and soul.

She is a very vital part of our family and we are so blessed to have her in our home!

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Happy Birthday, Elise!!!

We Love You!!!

Heaven on Earth

I think that there are three important reasons to take your family on a true vacation:

1. It can be a source of renewal and relaxation.

2. It can fill your need for an adventure or two.

3. It builds lasting memories together as a family.

For Spring Break, we took the kids to San Juan Island last weekend. What an amazing trip! To me, it truly met my vital needs as listed above. Check, check, and check!

Here is the house we rented. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, tucked away into the trees, with a beautiful view of the water.

This is the view from the house, complete with wildlife galore! In case anyone is interested, we noticed the property is currently for sale.....only $750K, a mere trifle, really.



We explored all over the island. This is me and Erica at Roche Harbor. Erica really loved the water, and was quite annoyed with my reluctance to let her jump right in. The weather was beautiful, but not that warm!

We found a playground and let the kids play a bit. The swings faced the water, with a beautiful view.

We found this Mausoleum a short hike from Roche Harbor. It was cool, and a bit strange. We walked through a very old cemetary to get there. I ran ahead for a few minutes, to see where the path was leading. As I was running through the trees, with this haunting feeling surrounding me I felt a bit like I was on Twilight. Eric rolled his eyes at this fanciful description. Ha ha

The West Coast had a wonderful view of the Sound, with a picturesque lighthouse. We got there as the sun was setting. You can see Ethan hoping to catch site of a whale.

Ethan didn't find a whale, but he did discover a sea lion catching the last of the warm sunrays.

There was plenty of wildlife on the island. We saw this red fox several times, as well as her black companion. They both came right up to the car.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting an Alpaca farm. This group of young males were particularly interested in the kids. They kept investigating them at the fence, making a strange meowing sound. Erica got pretty good at imitating them. She was, of course, in pure ecstasy being so close to these big furry friends!

In the little gift shop were some beautiful hats, scarves, and sweaters hand crafted from Alpaca wool. I would have loved to purchase a few of them, until I saw the price tag! Erica, unfortunately, found a tiny stuffed Alpaca (made with probably about 50 cents worth of wool) that she loved enough to give a slimy, boogery kiss to, requiring me to purchase the $16 souvenir.

The South Beach is very different from the other parts of the island. It is a wind-swept and rugged area, with rocky cliffs and some great pebbly beaches.

Erica couldn't resist all the smooth pebbles, and had to throw as many back into the water as she could find. The driftwood was also a wonder of jungle-gymns to climb.

What a wonderful place.....

The more I see of the world (not that I have seen that much, but I fully intend to see as much as possible!), the more I am amazed at it's wonder and beauty. It fills my soul with such peace and contemplation as I marvel at God's creations. He truly made a glorious place for us to live, and I love that I can feel nearer to Him when I detach myself from my own little world, and look at this earth around me.

It really is Heaven on Earth.

Tulip Festival

This week was Spring Break for the kids, so I wanted to do some fun things. One thing we did was go to the Tulip Festival on Wednesday. It was a very cold, windy day, but the tulips were gorgeous!! After trekking through all the mud and water puddles, we finally made it out to the fields.

More from our Spring Break adventures coming soon....

A Troll, Some Gas, and a Little Buble'

What a fantastic weekend we had!!

My parents and my brother Michael came for a short, but fun-filled weekend.

First off, we did a little exploring downtown. We found the Fremont Troll....

....and Heidi did a little exploring of her own....


Then we found ourselves at Gas Works Park, in a very cold, blustery wind....



We explored some of the "works"....

....and scaled a few mountains....

That night Eric and I enjoyed a date night with my parents. We first ate at Duke's Chowder House....

....and thoroughly enjoyed the chowder!!

After dinner we went to the much anticipated Michael Buble' concert at the Key Arena!!

What a show!! It was completely sold out, with 14,000 seats filled!

Buble' performed for an hour and forty-five minutes straight. What a performer! He is originally from Vancouver, B.C., which is pretty close to here, so he said it was like coming home. He had a large number of family members at the performance, and even brought his little nephew onto the stage and dedicated a song to his grandpa. The last number he performed was his "Song for You," ending it by singing the last verse completely A Capella, even without a microphone. It was very personal and touching, and a great way to end the night. And what a fantastic way to end the weekend!!

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!

Growing an Artist

Erica loves to draw and color. She will use anything she can find, which is no difficult task in MY house, unfortunately. I am always confiscating some sort of pencil, crayon, stick, fork, pen, and of course her favorite: markers.

Today she found the Holy Grail of markers: The Sharpie!

Is any surface safe from her artistic decoration?

The answer is NO....

....which she went around saying the whole rest of the day, showing us her tummy and repeating, "No, no, no!"

My new toy....

Over the weekend I ordered myself a new cell phone.

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Pretty cool, huh? It's the new BlackBerry Curve smartphone. It must be cool if it has the word "smart" in the name. I feel very hip and current with it. It has a nice key pad, with a big gorgeous screen, and even a not-so-lame camera. The only problem is....

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I don't really know how to use it yet.

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I thought I could figure it out myself. And since I got it without telling Eric first, I wanted to "show him" that I could be all smart and tech-y and get it all set up myself.

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I am so lame....

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Ummm, Eric.......?