memorial day weekend

this was the 4th weekend in a row that was busy and full for us. not too full where it was crazy and stressful- but a just-right kind of full - full of family, friends, relaxing and lots of sunshine.

saturday afternoon we walked to the ski to sea parade with some friends and spent the afternoon in the sun. again, riley loved the parade and was often found dancing, waving and chatting about everything that went by. it is so fun to see everything through her toddler eyes. she is really growing up so quickly. her vocabulary is increasing on a daily basis and she acts like such a big girl!


saturday evening the shooks arrived from ellensburg and we put riley to bed and kristen stayed home while tyler and i went out to dinner for my 29th birthday. we had a wonderful dinner in the sun at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, pepper sisters.

sunday, (my birthday!) was full of: a bike ride to breakfast, (a treat from kristen!), lots of backyard time, a visit from my sisters and watching tyler and dj's ski to sea team finish in fairhaven.






the weekend ended on monday with a lazy day for tyler, riley and i. 3 day weekends are a must! and need to happen more often, for sure.

this week and coming weekend will be another busy one for us...riley and i fly to st. louis on thursday morning to spend 3 nights with andrew. he's needing some extra help and support right now, so we can't wait to visit. wish me luck on the plane with an 18 month old by myself!


and p.s. ~ riley and cora are nursing their babies in the picture above. isn't that to die for?

a true bellingham weekend

we had another full, but relaxing, weekend. it was perfect weather - and a great mix of naps, yard work, friends and lots of celebrating. here is a run-down of what we did:

a bike ride to the junior ski to sea parade on friday night, followed by ice cream with friends



saturday morning yard work


then attended our next-door neighbors gorgeous wedding in the afternoon, along with the neighbors from across the street


sunday we remembered tyler's dad, dave, passing 3 years ago AND celebrated six years of marriage. wow! what a day for us. kind of icky they are both on the same day, but that is how life goes and we have no control. maybe someday we will know why, or maybe there is no reason. but regardless, we miss him and think of him all the time. we wish riley could have known him. he would have gotten a kick out of her! she shares his same passion and joy for life. he loved riding his bike, and so do we, so we like to remember him by doing that. sooo....we rode our bikes to the mt. bakery and basked in the sun while devouring a wonderful breakfast. i think dave would have loved to do that with us.




after breakfast we made our way up the hill to church, back home, naps for all then out to dinner for tyler and i to giuseppe's to remember our wedding and celebrate our marriage. six years is really getting up there! kind of at that point where you start to lose track, haha. but what a marriage we've had. we have seen very bright and sunny days and have also had our fair share of dark and long valleys with only the tiniest bit of light shining through. we are sure thankful to have each other. as well as our wonderful family/friends.

"minni gymmys"

riley had her last class at bellingham bay gymnastics this morning. we just started going last month, but have really enjoyed it. i knew it would be a perfect fit for her!

she got to dance, run, jump, climb, swing and have 45 minutes of un-interrupted play-time with mommy.

i think we'll take the summer off and start up again in the fall. by then riley will no longer be a "minni gymmy"...but will have moved on to the "terrific tots" group. i'm sure she'll be doing cartwheels and jumping off the beam by then...

our big weekend part II

so onto saturday evening...after lunch we all laid low, did some errands then tyler and i said goodbye to riley and we headed to black bottle in belltown to attend our dear friends engagement party. brian and erin are getting married in october in san francisco and we are already excited about our first trip w/o riley! 4 days in the city, marin county and nappa with great friends...what could be better?! we had a fun evening catching up with old friends and even stayed long enough for the dancing to break out. we walked down the hill to our hotel and had our first overnight w/o riley.

it was wonderful to wake up in the morning and not have to jump right out of bed and attend to the needs of our 18 month old. we lounged all morning - reading the paper and eating breakfast while watching a movie. what a great mothers day treat! we ventured back to my moms house and spent the rest of the afternoon eating, being silly and also celebrating martha's 27th birthday.

what a weekend! it really has taken us all week to recover and feel back up to speed. this coming weekend we look forward to being in town, getting some yard work done, attending our neighbors wedding and then on sunday celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary, as well as remembering tyler's dad passing 3 years ago. may is always so full for us - both physically and emotionally. here's to a sunny weekend!

our big weekend part I

last weekend started out with a visit from andrew and lindsay last thursday. i didn't take any pictures - - but we had a nice afternoon of lunch, walk to the park, play in the backyard and yummy bbq salmon dinner. the next morning riley and i drove to seattle with the two of them and we spent the afternoon and evening hanging out at my moms house with our family and then a few of andrews friends joined us for a bbq dinner.

lindsay, andrew & connelly

the 3 chefs for the evening

some bouncing jammy time - gabby, henry & riley jumping off

tyler and i were treated to two nights at this hotel by someone special, so we woke up saturday morning to a big king-size bed, beautiful views and a gorgeous sunny day out. how special! tylers mom happened to be in town and staying at the same hotel, so we met her in the lounge for breakfast and had a chance to have a nice pre-mother's day visit with her and the rest of the gang.

bjorn

riley has really taken to coloring lately and likes to get real close

grandma melinda, riley & bjorn watching the boats

saturday afternoon we headed over to laurelhurst where my aunt and uncle have a house on the water and had an extended family lunch. it was a beautiful day out, so we spent lots of time in their garden and even got to take a boat ride.

riley, henry, carson & jack (my cousin robyn's twin 1 yr olds!)

i will post more tomorrow about saturday night and sunday!

Portland Climb to Conquer Cancer

This past weekend we made the trek down to Portland to participate in this event in support of Andrew, my dear big brother. Erin & Andy organized the event and the team was made up of my mom, sisters, friends, Tyler, myself and 3 cute babies. Check out Erin's post here, as her pictures and words are fabulous! Thanks Erin for organizing this event for Andrew, as well as all of those who have or are affected by cancer. Seems to be most of us these days. And now some pictures from the day...

Riley wanted to walk for a good portion of it. She was even running, with her head down and a huge smile on her face.

Riley getting her face painted with Gma

"Team Comeback 2009"

Erin, Wesley, Eliz, Riley, Martha & Henry

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event. As Andrew said, "If you believe it, you can beat it".