Madison is a Yellow Belt!

On June 1st Madison passed her Taekwondo test to get her Yellow Belt!  She did a great job!  We are so proud of her!  She had to go out in front of 4 judges with a group of 4 other kids who were also testing.  She had to show her form and two different sparing forms.  She did not make any mistakes and was very strong.  Next up is testing for Camo Belt.  She will try and be ready for for this test in August!    

The Short Clip above was one of the sparing forms.

Happy 8th Birthday Madison!

I can't believe my baby is 8 years old! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She is a fun, energetic, strong willed, independent and smart little girl! She enjoys reading, friends, taekwondo, playing her i-touch, sweets of any kind, and the beach. She is always asking questions and wants to learn how things work or why things do what they do. I have really noticed how her communication skills have changed and she can carry on a conversation in person or on the phone, and not just answer the questions asked of her.

 I love her so much and she is such a blessing to our family!

Happy birthday Maddie!

For her “friend party” Madison decided to invite 3 girl friends, 4 including Peyton, to go and get manicures and pedicures. We then had a pizza dinner and make your own ice cream sundae bar. The girls were cute and enjoyed each others company. It was nice to have a smaller group and the party felt more personal.

A little game of Just Dance 3!

Does she look like she is enjoying herself?

Peyton was pretty funny. She loved the entire experience.
 At one point I thought she was going to climb right in and sit in the tub of water!
 She would laugh a belly laugh because the bubbles tickled her feet!

All done and lookin' good in their matching flip flops!

The Party Favors...rainbow flip flops.

Peyton's First Music Program

Peyton was SO excited to have her very first preschool music program.  She has been learning songs all school year and knew it was her turn to shine.  It was pretty cute how she practiced nonstop for 2 days before the program.  Once she got on stage she looked a little more like her shy self, but soon warmed up and was singing her little heart out.  It was priceless and I LOVED every moment of the performance!    

 Ice cream treat after the show!

Peyton has been doing this little cross your arms and fingers thing lately.  She will cross everything and give us a head nod with confidence and a little click of the tongue.  She picked it up from the movie The Parent Trap.  It's pretty funny that she grabbed onto that one thing and made it her own.

Wine Tour

One Bryan's Coworkers wife, and our friend, Aubrey, organizes a wine tour every year.  We were able to go to 3 different wineries in Hood River.  There were 16 people and we rode in style in a party bus.  We had a really good time!  I do not recall the name of the first winery we stopped at.  The 2nd one was The Gorge White House.  This was the most beautiful setting.  They had a really good pear wine and grow pears right there on site.  

The 3rd stop was at the Naked Winery right in downtown Hood River.  We had quite a few good laughs at this stop. 

Hope to go again next year!

Bryan took this picture for Eric and Heather. We saw this wine at the first stop. 

Trying to figure out the best way to hold the sign!

Pulled it all together! All the girls in the group. This picture was at the Naked Winery.

Hippie Chick Half Marathon 2012

Over the Mother's Day weekend I walked the Hippie Chick Quarter Marathon with a couple of friends.  It was 6.2 miles.  The course was nice and mostly flat.  The weather turned out perfect!  Not too hot, since it was early in the day.  I felt pretty good during and after.  It is time to start training for Portland to Coast that takes place in August... this was the start of my training. 

All finished with the race!

 We received a BRIGHT yellow shirt (modeled below) and cute necklace at the finish line!

  

Tryon Creek Hike

Tryon Creek has some really great hiking trails for kids.  The trails are easy, flat, wide, and kid friendly.  The park was holding a family event called "Muddy Boots Family Hike".  I was pretty excited to take the girls and enjoy the day.  In the end Bryan had to take them by himself because my back was in such spasms that I was not able to hike, much less walk.  Anyway,  on this day there were different stations set up along the trail to learn about different animals, habitats, and trees that are in the northwest.  The girls received stamps, on a map, at each station.  They were able to learn about beavers, owls, trees, fish, water insects, and other various creatures.  It sounds like they had a lot of fun!  Bryan was nice to take some pictures so I could share the day with them through photos.

Tulip Field Pictures

Here are some of the professional pictures we had taken at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fields.  It was a very windy, cold, and cloudy day.  We really wanted some good family pictures, but the wind was crazy and the girls and I had our hair blowing in our face and everywhere.  So, we did end up with one good family picture and a few of the girls.  We had may pictures to choose from,  here are some of our favorites.