Leap Day Baby!

My sister Barb had her baby--Sage Elaine.  She was just past 38 weeks and still over ten pounds. Look at those cheeks!

Easter Cousins

We had an especially nice Easter this year, since we got to spend it with family.  Grandma Mary was here for a few days, and then Doug's sister Erika's family came down from Everett Sunday afternoon.  The kids loved having more people around to play with!



We went to a friend's neighborhood egg hunt Saturday morning, but I had also dyed a few of our own eggs, so I put those out after we got back from Church. Gotta get the Easter basket photos, right?



Andy helped.  A couple of the eggs got slightly cracked as he threw them into the basket a bit exuberantly. 



"How many eggs are in the basket, Andy?"



When I was growing up we once dyed some eggs using onion skins, and we wrapped carrot tops around them (tied in place with string) to give them a cool leafy pattern.  (I think my mom saw the idea in a church magazine or something.)   I thought I'd give it a try  this year (not the onion skins, but the leafy part).  I forgot to get carrot tops, but I went over to the woods and picked a few fern leaves to try.  I wrapped them around a couple of the eggs and then tied nylons over them to hold the leaves in place (found that suggestion online).  I did get a little bit of a pattern.  Probably would have worked better if the fern leaves hadn't been so dry.  I'll have to try it again another time!



Aunt Erika and family arrived in the afternoon. (Yay!) Kate enjoyed playing outside with Chloe...



...while Sabin got Doug's crash course in beginning fencing.  I've watched Doug do this with a few of the neighborhood kids before.  He's really good at it and the kids just eat it up.

We had a super-fun game of Apples to Apples (where Sabin won by a landslide).  The kids stayed overnight, camped out in the living room, so they could leave with Grandma in the morning and go back down to their dad's house in Portland.  Kate was a little too excited at having cousins sleeping over,  but we eventually got her settled down.  (And then Sabin was looking for something to read so I hooked him up with Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians... bwa-ha-ha!)



Doug started a new quarter and was back to class bright and early in the morning.  The kids had a little more time to hang out, and then we got some pictures together before they had to go. (Andy looks suspicious.) 



Hugs! Awww!   We all loved having some Cousin Time and Grandma Time.  We're having a reunion (and Erika and Lee's wedding!) in July, and then we get to see all the other cousins too. It'll be great to get everybody together.

Cousin Margaret Rose

My brother Peter and his wife Karen welcomed their third daughter, Margaret Rose (they're going to call her Megan for short), July 23 at 1:06 pm, 8 lbs 6 oz, 21.5", with red hair like her sister Lizbeth. Baby and parents are doing well!

Growing up, Peter occasionally lamented being the only boy in the family. Now he has three girls!

Introducing Cousin Oliver!

My sister Barb and her husband Kyle welcomed their second child into the world: Oliver James, born May 16 at at 2:31 PM MDT. 8 lbs. 7 oz, 20 inches long.



(Doesn't he look like such a little peanut? I should mention that Barb has very long hands.)

Kyle mentioned that they had a hard time agreeing on a name, especially since Barb has been teaching for seven years, so pretty much any name already has associations for her. (I've heard this is a common difficulty for teachers.) Oliver was the only one on their list that they both liked, and James is the name of both grandfathers.

Among my parents and siblings, my brother Peter is the only one who has a birthday on an even-numbered day. The rest of us are all odd numbers. The funny thing is that, up to till now, this has held true for spouses and children as well. Peter's wife and their two girls both have even-numbered birthdays; my family's are all odd-numbered. Barb's family was not only all odd, but all prime numbers. Barb was the one who noticed this. (She mentioned some years ago that she had realized she's more like our engineer dad than she thought. Which apparently comes in handy when designing quilts.)

Well, little Oliver decided to buck this trend and come on an even-numbered day. (Perhaps an early indication of rebelliousness... or an independent streak!)

Welcome to the world!

Three Days in Utah

I got to go to Utah and meet RoseE Hadden, who just got home from the Korea Busan mission. I found her blog back in January (where her mom posted her weekly emails home), and we exchanged letters a few times. It was great to meet her in person!



I took Andy with me and flew out Saturday evening, stayed at the Haddens' house, and went to church and heard RoseE's homecoming talk the next day. (She did a great job--my own homecoming talk is but a hazy memory but I'm sure it was nowhere near as coherent.) I got to meet a couple of other sisters from the mission, too. RoseE introduced me to everyone as her blog-stalker.

Andy, unfortunately, was not feeling well (he was feverish and snotty) which put a damper on things. It was horribly hot and he was just miserable. I called Barb late Sunday afternoon and she came down from Roy to get us. After a ride in a nice cool car, and being in a cooler house, Andy did perk up a bit.

Having family in the area gives me a legitimate reason to go to Utah, besides blog-stalking. Barb and Kyle live in Roy (north of Salt Lake) and Peter and Karen live in Orem (south of Salt Lake). I was hoping that we could all get together, especially since I hadn't met Baby Bridget yet. (My dad was able to go out for Bridget's blessing two weeks before that.)

We talked about meeting up at the zoo or a park or something, but with Andy being sick I felt like I didn't really want to do anything out in the heat, or anything too strenuous. Plus Barb was having some trouble with her car. I said, "I'd like to get together, but it doesn't necessarily have to involve actually doing anything." So Peter and Karen drove up to Barb's house Monday morning and we just hung out and had a nice laid-back visit. Very laid-back...after lunch Barb got Hazel down for a nap and ran out to get some more food from the store, and the rest of us all fell asleep watching Shaun the Sheep. Elizabeth was the only person in the house who was awake, sitting on the couch between her sleeping parents. (Kyle was at work.) Family nap!

In the afternoon it cooled down some (seemed like there was a storm blowing in, though I don't think it actually rained) and we went in the back yard and took some pictures. Andy was still not up for much but I got some cute pics of Hazel and Elizabeth.



Hazel is so big! I hadn't seen her since last June. She's nine weeks older than Andy and weighs half again as much. (Seriously... Andy's 20 pounds and Hazel's 30.) She's talking some, too. Very cute.




Cousins! Hazel will be two in October and Elizabeth will be three in January. They're almost the same size.



Uncle Peter is hi-larious.



Barb has some gorgeous flowers in her yard.



And here's Baby Bridget! (Almost two months old.) She's a good sleeper.



Such a cute little smile.



Here's where Barb and Kyle put my giraffe painting up in the living room. It was fun to see it on the wall.



Right by the Korean wedding ducks!

It was a good little trip. I would have liked to go to a Korean restaurant with RoseE, or go to temple square and find the Korean sister missionaries, but it just didn't work out this time, with Andy not feeling well. He took a few days to get back to his normal chipper self. But I'm glad I got to go. Big thanks to Barb, and to RoseE's mom!

Cousin Bridget

Peter and Karen (my brother and his wife) welcomed their new baby girl this morning:
Bridget Ellen,
born at 10:15 (Utah time),
7 lbs 9.6 oz, 19 1/2" long.

We think she looks a lot like her big sister Elizabeth.



Welcome to the world, Bridget!

Update: details and more pics on Karen's blog.

Brian and Rachel's Wedding

At the end of July we went down to Portland for Doug's brother Brian's wedding. (Brian and Rachel have been together for twelve years and finally got married! Yay!) This was our second trip to Portland for a family gathering this year. It was nice to be getting together for a wedding this time rather than a funeral.



Here's Andy with his Uncle Al. Al is only a couple of years older than Doug, but he has grandkids who are older than Andy. (Yep, we got a late start.)

Al drove out from Utah with his wife Margit. Erika and Mom came up from Klamath Falls. Melody came without the rest of her family this time (in fact we were the only ones who brought kids, which made things considerably less hectic).

We camped out in tents in the back yard, but I ended up bringing Andy inside. I think maybe he didn't like the slippery sleeping bag.




Brian and Rachel have some gorgeous flowers in their yard!

The evening before the wedding, we were all (except Brian and Rachel) sitting on the back porch talking, so I got out the camera. Andy got passed around a lot.













Lots of preparations the next morning, including the impromptu creation of a fruit centerpiece. (Mostly fruit, that is.)

The wedding was held at a nearby park. I got to be the photographer, and spent most of the time circling the area with my long lens on, clicking away. (The lighting was blotchy. Tricky!)



Erika was Best Woman.



Brian with Erika and Mom.



Rachel's nieces McKayla and Zoe were the flower girls.



The bride walked down the aisle to "She'll Make Me Happy" from The Muppets Take Manhattan.













The attendants (that's Erika's Vomiting Sparrow tattoo--it's a Burning Man thing).











Kate really wanted to go to the playground on the other side of the park, and kept asking about it. She had to wait a long time, but she did pretty well.






The wedding party (Erika was doing something else at this point).



The happy couple!



Rachel with her sister Sarah.




Kate had some fun playing with McKayla.





Melody and Mom.



Food!








Marion berry and poppy seed cake.



Yum!



(We had changed Kate by this point.) This was right at the beginning of that week that was so beastly hot. After this we went back to the house and sat in the living room with the little struggling air conditioner. I was too hot to get up and go rummage around in the hot tent for something cooler to wear.



Family picture the next morning, missing Dad and Craig.