Disneyland

Everyone had such a good time at Disneyland! Jack's highlights of the trip were Star Wars and Splash Mountain. I loved the Electrical Parade at California Adventure, and the character breakfast at Disneyland. Jovie loved It's a Small World, and the big waterfall at California Adventure. Rob loved the Soarin' Over California ride at California Adventure. Sara loved Space Mountain, although her highlight was probably spotting Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter outside of the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland. I don't know if Joe had a favorite ride, but he sure pushed Jovie around in the stroller a lot (Thanks!), and I think Cathy just enjoyed being with her children and grandchildren. We loved this vacation. It was much needed for us, and of course, we can't wait to go back.

Clint Black

Yesterday my sisters, my mom, and I went to our local fair to see Clint Black. It was an amazing show! More than a decade ago (actually more like 15 years?), my mom took us girls down to the Puyallup Fair to see Clint Black. We loved it then, and loved it even more now. He's a great entertainer, and still looks and sounds great! It was a special evening. My mom presented us with the tickets on Christmas. She wrapped a framed family picture for each of us from Beth's wedding, and placed the ticket right on top. Soon after we all unwrapped them and realized what it was, Julie's next words were "Well, I guess I'll have to get a babysitter"...her way of telling us that she was pregnant. Needless to say, it was more than just a fun evening out with my favorite girls in the world! Thanks Beth for the picture, and thanks mom for always making everything so special!

Jack is 4!

Four years ago on August 5th, our first child, Jack, was born. He made his appearance 13 days late, forcing me through many hours of labor, and then ultimately a c-section. All of that unpleasantness was quickly forgotten when I held him for the first time. It was love at first sight. Now he's 4, is about to start his 2nd year of preschool, rarely lets me change his clothes or help in the bathroom anymore, and is becoming so independent and self-assured that he reminds me to calm down when I get too uptight. "Mom, just calm" he says.

A few months ago I asked Jack if I could read him my favorite book "I'll Love You Forever". It was my favorite book as a child, and is still my favorite book because my mom gifted it to me at the hospital on the day that Jack was born. When my mom used to read it to me, she would sing the words of the song with her own little made up tune (at least I think she made it up). I now do the same for Jack, and even though he's starting to get annoyed with me when I do it, he usually lets me. The last few months have been pretty difficult and emotional, and the last time I read the book to Jack I was a complete basket case. However, it just reminds me that there is no stronger love than a parent for their child, and even though Jack is growing and the years are flying by, my baby he'll always be.

Gotta love that enthusiasm! This present is a Star Wars light-saber by the way.

Yes, he is actually hugging his new Transformers pj's saying, "I love it!"

A Lego Star Wars Starship

Baseballs!

Happy Birthday to you Jack! I can't believe you are 4!

My Helper

Just a sweet thing that makes me smile!

Family Pictures

Photos by Brea Bateman

Roosevelt

Me and the kids went over to my aunt and uncles house at Lake Roosevelt with my family last weekend. I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. Everyone had a lot of fun. The weather was great so we got to ride the wave runners and go on the pontoon boat (party barge). Jack liked going fast on the wave runners, fishing, and playing on the beach/water. Jovie was pretty good too considering she didn't get a good nap in the entire time we were there. She likes to be included in the party...doesn't want to miss anything.

Sun-bathing beauties! Jovie, Grammy, Ryan
Me and the kids
Jack and Grampy (in their jammies) feeding the deer. These deer come right up to the house. I'm actually standing on the deck taking this picture. What spoiled little buggers!
Priceless!

I Love Summer Vacation

As most of you know, this week was my first official week of summer vacation. It has been much needed. The kids and I have slept in every day so far...well, all two of them that is. We've also been able to some much needed catching up with friends. My friends Anya, Kyrsten, Lindsey, and Natasha (visiting from San Diego) came over yesterday, and Jack had a great time playing with the boys. Today we visited my mom, who is doing really great by the way, and planted some flowers. I just love the freedom that this time of year allows me! I will eventually get my housework done...however I've learned in the last month that there are so many more important things in life. The house will always be here waiting to be cleaned!

These pictures of the kids depict another aspect of summer that I just love...eating:) Jack and I have been frequenting The Green Barn, where we have been loving the plums, apricots, and nectarines. He is on a "fruit-with-pits" kick. He ate two plums yesterday, and a nectarine and a plum today. Looking at this picture of him eating this plum just makes me smile, which is why I just had to post it. Jovie on the other hand is following in her big brother's foot steps and is devouring the baby food. She's only had sweet potatoes, squash (which she doesn't like), and pears, but we can already tell we have another good little eater on our hands.

Finally, even though summer vacation is my Heaven on Earth, it means extended hours and busy weekends for Rob out at the resort. I guess at least I am home to counteract his busy summer schedule. Tomorrow and the next day we will share our first days off together since March 16...the day I went back to work after having Jovie. Rob has been splitting his days off since then to accommodate to our busy full-time working schedules so that childcare was less of an issue. PTL that we can finally see each other two days in a row once again! I don't think we're doing that again next year. It means one extra day of daycare for Jovie, but in turn, one extra day together as a family, which I think is more important.

Okay, now that I've bored you all...peace!

Home

After 6 days away from Rob and the kids, I am finally home. Most of you are following up on the CarePages website regarding my mom's surgery, but just in case I forgot to send you the link, you go to www.carepages.com and create a username for yourself. After you've set up an id and password, you can visit the page "wecareforkathy" There you can read all the updates that we've posted since Friday of last week...the day of surgery. 

Thanks to all of you who are thinking of us and praying for us. We really feel your love. I hope to catch up with some of you who I've missed soon. I'm so sorry I've been SO out of touch. 

Rollin' and Teeth

Jovie just turned five months old, and is unveiling all sorts of milestones to prove it! She just gave us her first roll from back to front, her first tooth just broke last night, and she's sitting at the dinner table with us eating rice cereal (more pictures of that to follow). In addition, I think it's safe to say she's sleeping through the night. It's been a pretty consistent couple of weeks that she wakes up to eat at around 6am. It's been such a blessing! Other than suffering from a little cold, she's just as happy as can be.

Now Jack's turn. Jack just finished his first year of preschool! He's learned so much and we've been so happy with where he was at, and we are very excited for him to go back next year. He learned so much about playing with others, sharing, manners, bible stories, letter and number recognition, and the list goes on! Thanks Danielle for your unyielding patience with Jack and all the rest of the kids! We're so looking forward to next year. Other things that Jack is into right now are...Legos, Lego video games, his truck, his bike, watering the lawn with his dad, and playing with his baby sister.

The school year is almost coming to an end for me. I have a week and 3 days left of school, although some of that time is going be spent in California for my mom's surgery and recovery next week/weekend. Surgery is on Friday, June 12th to remove some of the cancer before treatment. We pray that the surgery is a success and that she can go home and start recovering like a champ! We really feel like this opportunity to go down to USC is a ray of hope from God, so just join us in prayer for everything to go smoothly.

That's all for now. It's been ages since I posted anything, I know, and I know I still need to post more pictures. I'll try to get that done in the next couple days.

The Happiest Place on Earth

This last Sunday, the 3rd, was my birthday. Rob surprised me with this cake and a trip to Disneyland planned for August! Yes, we just went last June, but had such a great time together as a family that we just couldn't wait until next year (2010 was the original plan) to go back. Rob's parents and sister are also coming along for the fun, which we are very excited about. Rob and his mom schemed together to make it possible. Needless to say it was the best birthday I can remember in a long time. The news came at a perfect time too. I've been back at work for almost two months, and it's really taken its toll on me, the house, and us as a family. We just don't see each other enough. Anyway, it's just another reminder that summer vacation is right around the corner, and that we've got a great week long trip to look forward to. 

Rob has a long-standing tradition of baking and decorating really amazing birthday cakes for me. Even though this one is simple, it's been my favorite so far. 

Skills

Jovie's got skills. After much concentration Jovie can reach and grab for things. This play mat is her new favorite thing, as well as the jingly thing on her car seat that jingles with the slightest move of the car (which drives me crazy, but she loves it). Jovie is almost 4 months old and the time is going so fast. It's hard for me to believe that she's quickly developing and isn't such a newborn anymore. She acts older and older every day. She's also giving her vocal chords quite the workout. I think we're in trouble with that one!

Post-Easter Celebration

Jovie finally got to wear her "Easter" outfit today. We had a post-Easter celebration with my mom's side of the family because the weather was so horrible last weekend. Jack had a blast hunting eggs a 2nd time in my aunt and uncle's huge back yard, and Jovie finally got to get dressed up and have a photo shoot. I'm pretty sure she's the cutest little girl there ever was, but I guess I'm supposed to say that right?

Eggs

After an extremely long day and night at the silent auction fundraising event for the American Cancer Society that my family put on (raised $7,000 by the way), Rob and Jack were insistent that we still decorate Easter eggs. I think we were up until midnight, but oh well, it was fun. Also, I realized that I didn't take any pictures on Easter! My mom took pictures of the kids doing the hunt, so I'll have to get those from her, and there isn't a picture to be found of Jovie on her first Easter. She slept through the whole celebration, and I've learned my lesson multiple times about waking her up! Anyway, it was a good day, even though we couldn't go outside because of the rain. Oh well, the grass is nice and green so I guess we needed it.

Happy Easter

I'll post pictures and such later, but just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter! We are heading to Julie and Adam's house for our Easter celebration this year. I just hope it stops raining so that the kids can have their egg hunt outside instead of inside! Check in later for Easter pictures.

Spring Break...Looking Ahead

To kick off my spring break last weekend, we went over to Lake Roosevelt with our dear friends Jason and Sydney. We had a great 3 nights there just catching up, feeding the deer, watching the turkeys, playing Mexican Train, and overall just relaxing!

We even got to take my Grandpa's four wheeler out for a spin after charging the battery, changing a spark plug, and filling the oil. Here is Jack and Jason ("Uncle Juice" as Jack so lovingly calls him). Jack had a blast on that thing, as did Rob and Jason. In fact, they are just dying to get dirt bikes now.

Jovie and I had to take a break in the house to get warmed up and refueled!

Doing chores for my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Bill...picking up sticks from when my Grandpa and Grandma Van Diest pruned the fruit trees. Syd and Jack were the ones to do this chore. It was a little difficult for me to bend down and pick up sticks with Jovie in the front pack, so I thought I'd take pictures of them hard at work.

Happy Jack...mom and dad on vacation, playing outside with Uncle Juice and Aunt Syd...life doesn't get much better than this! 

Looking ahead...as most of you can guess by the absence of updates on the blog, I'm back at work after 2 1/2 short months of being home with Jovie and Jack. I went back to work, and then two weeks later it was spring break, so at least my transition into it has been slow. What's more is that between Rob, Rob's mom, and my mom, we didn't have to start Jovie at daycare until after spring break. She starts at a daycare in Mount Vernon on April 7th. I am hoping that this transition goes smoothly, so please be thinking of us this week. Being a full time working mom has definitely proved to be challenging for me, but overall we thrive on the routine and know that our children are in good hands while we are away at work. Plus, summer vacation is just right around the corner!

Relay for Life Carwash

Hey everyone! I wanted to spread the word that our Relay for Life team (The Van Diest Family) is having a carwash this Saturday, March 14th from 10am-3pm at Hinton's in Lynden. In addition to washing cars by donation, we will be selling a hotdog, chip, and pop/water lunch for $2.50! What a deal! I hope to see some of you there with your super dirty cars! Get all that yucky salt and de-icer off from this winter that we've had!

Joelle

Cute Bunny Sweater

I just love this little bunny sweater that my Grandma Day got for me!