Memorial Day Weekend

Ever since we went to Lewiston/Clarkston, I've been itching to go out again and explore our area. I'm realizing I love our short little day trips where we don't have to unpack suitcases of dirty clothes or clean the car out because we've lived in it for a week on our travels. These little day trips have been so fun for us. So on Friday, Rhett got work off a little early, and we headed out again. This time, we went to the Cataldo Mission in Idaho. Just an hour away from us. It is one of the oldest buildings in Idaho. We walked around the land for a bit--saw this hummingbird that hovered over us for about three minutes, and explored other beautiful scenery.

This is the old wheat grinder. 

 (As we were walking, Basil pulled out her play phone and made a phone call. This kid cracks me up.)

Summer found some moss and was very excited.

This was the old church bell.

A pretty view from the hill.

This is the church that was built to help bridge the gap between the white settlers and the Native Americans living in the area. Both peoples would gather and talk about God and religion.

Entering the church.

Claire feeling better after confession.

Pyper saying, "Guess what Claire just told me!!!"

This blue house was right next to the church. It was the office where they would host guests, meet, eat, etc.

Claire running to catch up with the other girls.

Another view from the top of the hill.

We drove with the windows rolled down for a bit on the way home. I love her face in this picture!

Grandpa Barney's visit and Basil's Birthday

As I was getting ready to post pictures from Memorial Day, I realized I'd forgotten to post about Grandpa's visit and Basil's birthday. So Memorial Day will have to wait . . .

In the beginning of April, Grandpa Barney came to visit. We had such a great time. We happened upon Earth Day downtown at the park, we visited Mount Spokane, and we attended Japanese Day at the museum--family free day! 

Here are a couple pictures from Mount Spokane. We didn't get to go to the spot we wanted to, but we did find a fun place to explore.

And in the mid-end of April, we celebrated Basil's SECOND birthday! It was so much fun. The girls are really getting into the whole gift-giving thing. They went with Rhett to pick some things out for Basil. I love that they are so excited about it, but I'm thinking we are going to have to set some price limits or something! haha.

We had strawberry shortcake cupcakes for the celebration.

 I don't know what this face is for, but I love it.

 This is what Claire picked out--a GIANT coloring book.

I think Pyper picked out the crayons?? I can't remember.

For our birthday parties, we always play a little family game that we don't do often. This time, we did sardines. It was the girls' first time playing it. It was WAY TOO fun! On the second to last round, we could not find Claire. Seriously. I was starting to worry. We searched for quite a while, and no one could find her. FINALLY, we found her! She was hiding in the windowsill behind the curtains in our bedroom. Since I had my big belly and my feet poked out the bottom, it was a little more obvious where we were hiding. As the rest of the girls joined us, we couldn't stop laughing. Rhett had the camera, and when he found us at the end, he threw the curtains open and got pictures.

Rhett had one more good hiding spot. So he headed out while we all counted. I knew where he was going because I'd checked there when I was looking for Claire, and I'd thought, "Now this is a good spot!"
But it was too tricky to climb in with him and hide, and I accidentally gave it away. The girls found him--and I was the one to take pictures this time.

It was such a fun birthday. I can't believe our sweet Basil is two years old now. She is getting so big and mature. She could count to thirteen before she turned two, she says her own prayers now ("Thank you daddy comes home soon" etc.), and she is just so much. She and Summer have a special connection because they get a little extra time together while the other two are at school. When Summer leaves, Basil misses her so much. A few days ago when Summer was at school, Basil got hurt and was crying. Claire said, "Basil, do you want me to hold you?" She said no. Claire asked, "Do you want mom?" Basil said no. Claire asked, "Who do you want?" And Basil said, "I want Summy." :) So sweet and tender. I love it.

One Year and Five Weeks

On Saturday, we celebrated our ONE YEAR anniversary for being in our home. We are so happy in our home. There is still a lot of progress to be made and work to be done, but we love how far we've come, and all the possibilities of what we can do.

Whenever we go out for "ice cream," we usually just go to the frozen yogurt shop called "Just Chillin'." But this time, we took the girls to Baskin Robbins. They'd never been before, and it was fun for them to see all the different kinds of ice cream.

I was looking for some old pictures of our house to post the then and now stuff, but I can't find any. So instead, I'll post pictures of the the girls eating ice cream. :)

The girls played with Rhett's phone and now he's stuck on this blue-tone setting. I think it makes the pictures look professional!

And we are FIVE WEEKS away from becoming a family of SEVEN! We are so excited to meet this new little addition--and to discover whether we are getting a little brother or sister. (Or triplets, as Claire is hoping for.) I think it's going to rock Basil's world, but she does have that genuine, happy love for other babies. Here she is holding our friend's daughter last night at their house. The baby is only four months, but almost as big as Basil! haha. She loved every minute of it, and was very fascinated with the baby. It was fun to watch.

I do think I'm carrying this baby differently, but I'm attributing it to all sorts of sagginess and stretched out skin and muscles. I'm hoping to take pictures in the next few days to document what I look like. I'm feeling well, and big, but I know there's still more growing to do. And no, no names yet. . .