Seattle Temple

The temple in our area is a little far away (about 1 1/2 hours), so we hadn't taken the kids to see it even though we like to. We are glad it is so close, since after we move the drive will be about 6 hours, but we just don't get up that way very often unless we are specifically going to the temple. We decided to take a little detour on our way home from the tulip festival and walk around the grounds with them. Ryan and I went last weekend and the grounds were beautiful.


They have some replicas of the statues from the Women's Garden in Nauvoo, which the kids LOVED. They also had beautiful flowers and even a nice little garden area with paths winding through it.





It was a nice visit and I think the kids really enjoyed it to. Good way to round out the day!

Tulips Everywhere!

There is a place in Washington called the Skagit Valley that is a little bit special. We drove through it when we went to buy our Jeep in Anacortes. This is the area that grows the most tulips in the world next to Holland. They have a tulip festival every April and after checking and waiting, they finally were blooming this last week, so we decided to go. There are a couple of different places you can go and they have fields of tulips all over the valley. We didn't drive around and see the scattered fields, we just went to one of the companies called Tulip Town and saw their display garden. It was rows and rows of different kinds of tulips. There were a LOT of different kinds and colors and the sure were pretty! It would be hard for me to pick a favorite. Kim, of course, liked the pink ones the best, and the purple ones after that. Glade, unfortunately, wasn't feeling great and had kind of a nasty cough, but still enjoyed it. Enjoy the selection of pictures. We took a lot more, but couldn't possibly put all of them up.

The entrance. Notice the kites in the air. More to come on that later.


Dad and Glade in front of some cheerful yellow tulips.


Mom and the kids in the middle of a bunch of pink ones.


They were flying these HUGE kites when we got there. The wind eventually died and the had to bring them down, but these two got tangled up and they came down. Kim went over to investigate. You can see how huge they really were. The picture only shows one of the big kites.


Mom and one of the few good pictures of Glade.


I love this one of Kim. I think I might try to crop and frame it for her pictures for the year. I like the way she matches the tulips.


Kim REALLY wanted to ride the "trolley" which was a big wagon towed behind a tractor. She and I did it while Glade and Dad took naps in the car.


The trolley did give great views of the rainbow field of tulips.


I really like this one of Kim too. She really liked all of the flowers.


Dad and the kids. Kim kind of blends in on this one.


It was kind of a long drive, but I thought it was worth it! The flowers were impressive and worth the trip and the sun came out in the afternoon, so that was nice too.

The Big 5

I can't believe my little girl is 5! Kimberly had a good birthday (I think). We did a little party with some friends last weekend and then celebrated again on her real birthday. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

The Birthday Girl



Everything flowers, even the cake!


Flowers from Dad and pretty new dress from Grammy and Grandad.


New Umbrella from Grandpa and Grandma, can't wait for the rain!

Eggsetera

We dyed eggs the night before we left for AZ. Even Glade got into it this year. I'm still not brave enough to let him do the dye, but he enjoyed the crayons. It is hard to teach a 2-year old to be soft when coloring eggs. :)




Here's a video Ryan took of Kimberly hunting for dyed eggs that the Easter Bunny hid on Saturday. I think it is kind of fun because you can start to see her reasoning skills develop.

Down by the River

Ryan scouted out a place that we have enjoyed going a few times. He even took the kids there once and let me have a break. He likes it because it is off-road and he gets to drive the Jeep down to it. We all enjoy it, though. It is a nice, quiet little area. Last week we went down and had a little fire, roasted hot dogs, and just enjoyed the area and each other.


See what a pretty place it is?


Our Trusty Fire Builder


Turns out Glade and roasted marshmallows don't mix. No more for him! What a sticky mess!


Kim walking between two puddles


Throwing rocks in the river.

While I was Gone. . .

I'm not sure what all they did, but Kim and Ryan did quite a it while Glade and I were gone. Here are a few pictures I liked.


Okay, so this one is from after I got back. It's Glade with his new Easter sunglasses. He REALLY likes them.


I have no idea where they were, but it looks like fun.


Northwest Trek


Easter Morning (actually Saturday)


I missed them, but looks like they had fun.

Quick Trip

Glade and I ended up going to AZ last minute for my Grandpa Payne's funeral. I was really glad I went. Of 26 cousins, all but 3 were there and the ones that were missing are all in the mission field. I would have hated to be the only cousin not there. As I said in my earlier post about Grandpa, I love, love, LOVED growing up close to my grandparents and it was nice to visit and see my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. The only problem was that we were gone over Easter. I didn't take the camera, because I wanted Ryan to have it here for Easter with Kim. Plus, I figured all of my siblings and my parents would have theirs. So, now's the time people. Share pictures with me, please! :)

Thanks for a great weekend! It was great to see everyone. Thanks By and Jessie for the pickup at the airport and ride to Duncan. Thanks for putting up with us Dad and Mom. Thanks for the ride back to the airport Calvin and Terra. It was nice to have the extra driving time to visit with my brothers and their wives and kids.

I am out of Grandparents now, so I guess we'll have to come up with a better excuse to get a cousin's reunion again.

Thanks, honey, for keeping Kimberly so I could go!

Farewell Smurf

Well, we finally did it, we sold our little Geo "Smurf." It was kind of sad to do. I bought the care in 1998 when I was living in AZ and it has traveled with me to BYU, through marriage, across the country to Ohio, and back across to Washington. The real kicker was that we are moving to Fairbanks in a few months and I didn't want Ryan driving it in the winter up there. We opted for a 4-wheel drive vehicle instead. So, since we don't need 3 cars, the smurf had to go. Funny thing, the guy that bought it from us is the uncle of some friends from Ohio, in our ward, and also in dental school, just a year behind. Small world, I guess.

The Smurf in its pre-children glory in Provo.

Grandpa

My last living grandparent passed away last weekend. It was a good time for me to reflect and remember all of the good things about growing up close to grandparents. I was very lucky to have all of my grandparents close by, and when I say that, I mean withing 10 minutes. It made for great memories and close family ties. Some of our favorite times were when we could go and spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma's house and we even caught the bus from there sometimes to get to school.

With that, I am sure Grandpa was happy to get back to his sweetheart, who died more than 7 years ago, a month or so before Ryan and I were married. He died the day after their anniversary, which I thought was interesting. I am sorry to see him go, but will always remember the good times I spent with him and how much he loved me.

Four Generations: My mom, me, Grandpa, and Kim