Help, please?!

We need gardening help! When we bought this house, we inherited a barrage of crazy plants, trees and bushes that we have no idea what to do with. There are many we can't even identify! I know that some of you out there who read this are more proficient in the yard than we are.... so I humbly beg for your help!

Pictured below are 2 different plants we cannot seem to identify. The first is a tree that has just recently started blooming-- beautiful yellow blooms. Anyone know what this is?











The second is much smaller-- more like a hydrangea. It has also recently started blooming and so far has dark pink blooms. Any thoughts on this one?





If you have all kinds of wisdom to pass my way, please feel free to email me instead of leaving a comment :)

Thanks gardeners!

PRAISE THE LORD!

The picture of JOY...

joy–noun 1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying (in this case: swinging!); elation.

Pure, uninhibited joy.

I love it!

Zoo Pictures

Daddy and kiddos-- notice the stroller/backpack switch :)


These are at the end of the day... can you tell?
(this one is for you Kate!)


Doesn't she look mischievous? She gets it from her Dad.



This is the 5 month old female tiger.... she was so cute!



I tried to come up with a good caption to describe this Gorilla's expression. Nothing came to me... any suggestions?



Reagan LOVES hippos... thanks to the book "But Not the Hippopotamus".



Here's the Peacock/Crow Standoff. This Peacock was really ticked... it was pretty funny! He was shaking like crazy.

Happy 30th Birthday Sean!

Today is Sean's 30th birthday!
I talked his boss into giving him the day off and we had a fun day together! We went to the Woodland Park Zoo and visited all the animals. It was so much fun! The highlight was the 5 month old tiger... so cute! And the peacock trying to scare away the crows... hilarious! I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them off of the camera.
We also took Sean birthday shopping at the Seattle REI. He had fun there :)

I love my husband for so many reasons... I thought this would be a good chance to tell you why.

1. He loves God.
2. He loves me.
3. He loves Reagan & Ian.
4. He makes me laugh.
5. He loves to play and be silly-- especially with our kids.
6. He likes my cooking (at least he says so!)
7. He's spontaneous.
8. He is a hard worker-- has a great work ethic.
9. He is committed to me-- forever. No matter how much of a stinker I am.
10. He is just plain FUN!!!
And there are so many more.......

Reagan says: I LOVE YOU DADDY!!!!
Ian says: dadadadadadada
Lindsey says: I love you and I am so thankful for you. Not just today because it is your birthday-- I am thankful for you everyday!


Thank you Sean, for loving us so much. And for letting us steal you from work to play all day.


Happy Birthday!!

Dog!

Ian has a official first word. We don't count "mamamama" and "dadadada". He's been saying "dog" for a week or so and we finally figured that he really was saying "dog"! He has a little stuffed dog that he sleeps with and this is probably why it ended up being his first word. (For the record... we don't have a pet dog-- just 2 crazy cats)

Anyhow... this post is not to blab about Ian's first word... it is to tell a funny story.

We were at Costco (fun!) the other night and Sean was wandering around carrying Ian. He wandered into an aisle and came upon a woman wearing a very large (slightly obnoxious) fur coat. When they got closer to her, Ian lunged forward with hands stretched and said "DOG!".
Needless to say, Sean quickly exited the aisle.

Seriously. So funny.

Easter Bucket Hazards...

+ =

(You cannot really appreciate the actual bruises in this picture. It's pretty sad...)

And this is what makes Mommy a hero! :)

And so... the life lesson here is....

"Don't wear an Easter bucket on your head while Mommy is loading the dishwasher".

Tulip Festival

First off... Happy Easter! What a glorious time it is to celebrate the risen Lord! May we celebrate His presence and grace in our lives every day!

We had a great weekend celebrating Easter with family. Sean's parents were in town from Spokane and we took a day trip to Mt. Vernon for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Sean and I have done this for a few years and it was fun to introduce Sean's parents to the beauty of the tulip fields up north.

We also had an Easter Egg hunt at my parents house last night. It was raining (surprise!), but that didn't stop us! We hunted for eggs in the rain and then continued the hunt inside the house. The kids were hilarious! I have some great pictures of that too... I'll save those for another post.

Anyhow... back to the tulip festival...

Reagan loves flowers. She loves to look at them, smell them, touch them, and learn their names. She was definitely in her element at the tulip festival! We took a tractor ride when we first arrived that took us around the perimeter of the fields. You can't describe the beauty in words so I'll attach a few pictures. If you enjoy flowers, intense colors and being outside it can almost be sensory overload!

Here we go.....

I'm SO excited!

Look at THAT!!

WOW!

Look at me frolic!

You mean, you WANT me to sit in the dirt?