Litte D is THREE!!

Sorry this is so late.
We celebrated Derek's 3rd birthday at Uncle Derek and Auntie Sara's house on Sept 29th (b-day 30th) :)Derek got a BIG Dump Truck, and immediately zoomed all around the living room with Caleb in hot, (ok, not so hot ;)) pursuit!

Next up was an awesome new bike, cruiser style like Derek's Uncle and Auntie! Mom worried he would have trouble riding it but Derek was soon tooling up and down the road outside. For his first go on a 2 wheeled bike (with training wheels of course) Mom was very impressed :D

I don't need to tell you Caleb had a good time ;)


Mom's first go at a Raw birthday cake, this is a Black Forest Cheezecake, and I believe it was a success :D (Derek kept asking for more :D) Auntie Sara was the one who made it look so beautiful, AND was left with all the mess after, THANK YOU to Derek, Sara, Gayle and John for a fun afternoon, Derek had a blast :D
ps Photo copyright belongs to John and Gayle, Thank you!

Riding the DIGGER!

BaBa (Grampa Tobie) called one day and said to bring Derek down for a ride in the mini excavator he has been working in, so we did! BaBa calls this his Phone Booth ;p
As you can imagine, Derek was thrilled, seriously... (he is always very serious about these things;)


There is Uncle Jeremy at the top doin some serious digging too!

Brrrrruuummm! Derek got to ride in this Excavator twice, the second time BaBa let Derek take over the controls and he did really well! There were a few small holes in the driveway afterwards but he got the idea and did some turning and dumping too.

Great Brothers think alike :D

We are back!

As most of you know, I finally got my Green Card and went to BC for the first time in 3 and 1/2 years! I planned to go for a week but as things worked out we (the boys and I, sadly, Brent had to stay home) were there for 3 and 1/2, hmmm, one for each year? ;p
This was Derek and Caleb's first visit to where Nanny and BaBa live, Powell River!
So, here are some pictures to start us off, we went to this beach about 10mins south of my parents house. At low tide it is amazing!

Donnkersley Beach

Stephanie with Caleb. So lucky to see her as she is going, in October, to live in England!
The fearless water walker... even after many mouth fulls, he splashes on! Hmmm, this one is not Donnkersley, it is right below where Mom and Dad live, oops ;p
Derek loved that inflated chair, and Nathan made it lots of fun, here Caleb joined in for a minute but he was not impressed!!
Looking slightly Royal on his personal flotation device that is actually not his ;)

This was too cute, just as we were thinking of going, Derek took off across the sand to where this little girl was playing by herself. When we got there he informed us they were building a sandcastle :) Then Derek showed interest in her boogy board (?) so they took it to the water and she told him to get on! They were about the same size and not really in the water so her attempt to pull him on the wet sand was quite hilarious :):):)
Anyway, Derek definately has no problem finding and making friends!

Busy Day

I told Brent we were running errands in town and he said we should go meet him at his next drop, so we did. Derek had a blast!! He got to watch Dad dump his load of cardboard, drive a forklift, and ride in Dad's truck! WOW!

After Brent lifted him in Derek said "Please shut the door" :) He had an important job to do!
Brrrrrrrrrum!


Big Day for Caleb! Today he took his first steps! He has been standing and squatting by himself for a few weeks now but this is the first time he has walked more than one step :) We have some cute videos but can't load them here :( This is him standing and playing Patty Cake right after some exciting walking :D

Nanny and Baba Visit :)

These pictures are actually from their last visit in May but they are new to us!
So on Wednesday we drove up to Jan and Hilary's and stayed overnight. A great time was had by all and some wonderful pictures were taken by Auntie Hilary so click the link and check them out!
Thursday we had to get some diapers from the local Whole Foods as some silly woman forgot the day time wool cover ;p Then we met Jan, toured his work place (one of them), and hung out by the fountain at Redmond Town Center. Next we made a quick stop at Chaco Canyon Cafe to stock up on raw food for the day, tried some new dishes and they were good. Then on to the Environmental Home Center in Seattle, loved it, and learned that soon they are no longer going to have remnants of Marmoleum available :O yikes!
Finally, we get to our 2:30 appointment; the interviewer was fast and funny, in about 5-10 mins we were told the info is sent electronically and my Green card will arrive in the mail within a month. Haljabalooya!! and Whoopadeedoodah!!!
Now I am hoping it comes in time for me to get to Duncan Convention :) :)
Our trip ended with a stop at the Tacoma mall to avoid the heat and traffic and to meet up with my Mom and Dad who came down for the weekend, so good to see them again!

Derek's passion and art :)

Caleb's current passion and skill :) (walking)


For any one interested, here is the Cafe:http://www.chacocanyoncafe.com/
and the Home store:http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/home.shtml