Bacchelorette Party

The last fling before her ring.

Hooray for Sadie, Hooray for Sadie.

Friday night we celebrated in style. 

We painted T-town red in our huge party bus.

Twenty-some girls got together to celebrate

Ksavera and her engagement to Jason.

We stopped by a few of her old favorite hot spots.

Few pictures were taken in the beginning of the evening.

Enjoy.

Grandparents Day

In honor of Grandparent's Day (September 12, 2010),

Caitlyn got to take her grandparent's to school.

Everyone was able to make it (Pappy met them at the school).

She is so incredibly LOVED!

Out of Towners

One of my favorite friends came to visit from Idaho. We used to work together... and by work together... I mean we used to carpool, pass meds, break, check blood sugars, go on candy runs, break, work doubles, train new emplyees, wander in the courtyard, and take breaks together.

She came in from Idaho and our other old work friend came in from Hawaii.  We all met up and spent an entire day together at the zoo, then at cold stone, then at the Tai Bistro.  It was so super nice to see an old friend.

Click on the pic of Caitlyn's hair as she slid down the slide... Priceless.

1st Day of Preschool

Caitlyn Leigh's 1st day of Preschool.

She attends a Lutheran school

2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday)

She's in a class of 9 children.

Her and Audrey are the only girls,

3 out of the 7 boys are named Elijah.

Sept 30th-I'm in charge of snacks.

We took over a hundred pictures of her on her 1st day.

I will post only 5 so I don't bore you.  

Above is a picture of the proud parents and brother of a preschooler.

This one was taken in the parking lot when we arrived, I'm pretty sure she was giving me two thumbs up... reassuring me that everything would be alright.

I had to get one more right before she entered the classroom.

The night before, I felt a little anxiety as I realized that other children and teachers would influence her life now.  I felt a sudden need to remind her of how to behave... I reminded her to say please and thank-you, and to share her toys, and to be nice to all the other children.  The conversation ended with her telling me,

'Mommy, Me do yat... me do all of yat.'

That's when I knew she was ready.

When we picked her up, all the parents stood in the lobby and the teacher would call downstairs to the teacher's assistant who's parent's had arrived to pick up the children. It felt like graduation...

The teacher called Caitlyn's name and she climbed the stairs along with the other children all of them with their oversized back packs, carrying her lovely art work.

I was SO PROUD!

♥

Ash took this picture and I absolutely had to put it on the blog.

It reminded me of line from one of Mine and Caitlyn's FAVORITE books,

Someday.

Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me 

until I no longer see you.

Lake Trask 2010

Labor day was spent with Ash's family at their lake property.

Lots of fun and laughter... and spiders!

The kiddos LOVE it there!

Meet & Greet

We met with Caitlyn's preschool teacher and all her tiny preschool friends.

I cried twice... Ash and I were holding hands watching Caitlyn run and play with her new friends, he looked at me, squeezed my hand, and asked if I was ok. I nodded because I knew if I tried to speak, I'd cry.  I watched her as she played on a merry-go round type toy and she waved to me and asked, 'Mommy, you go bye bye now?' It took everything I had to tell her (without crying) that I was staying for this night and next time I'd leave her all alone... without my supervision... under the influence of all the other preschoolers and teacher Julie where she'd just begin her preschool years which, I know, will help her grow and develop into a beautiful young woman who will- with just a blink of an eye- be heading off to college soon. 

Sweet Summer's Eve

I'm not positive, but this might be the last day of nice weather this summer.  So we spent it with tons of friends at the sprayground, came home and took a really long nap, then headed back to the park for a picnic dinner. 

These two melt my heart.

Kite Festival 2010

The Kite Festival has come and gone and we had so much fun.

I am a little embarrassed to admit...

I didn't even get my camera out until the second to the last day.

Therefore very few pics were taken...

Caitlyn is a 'camping queen'...

which is just one more thing she did NOT get from me.

Ashton was also a great camper... until it came time to sleep.

He wasn't sure how to fall asleep without his crib.

The beach was a tad bit too cold for my littles, they were not interested in the sand or the waves. In fact the only thing they were interested in was being held by me, so we napped in the sand and then headed back to the camper before the kites were even in the air.

I might not have been voted the 'camping comedian' or even nominated for the 'gummi bear award'... but I'll tell you what!!!

I for sure won the most stylish camper with this smoking hot, vintage red sweatshirt, gifted to me from my mom (est.~1985).

Here's the whole camping gang after our tournament of champions.

(Caitlyn was super happy to be included in the pic.)

This year was probably one of my favorite years at the kite festival, and although I don't really have the pictures to prove it... my kids and everyone else loved it too. 

Fun in the Sun

These past few days have been

in the 90s here in Western Washington.

The second we saw the forcast, I called my Aunt Cindy to let her know I was bringing the kids over to keep cool.

My cousin, Larissa, loved to take pics of the little ones, the above pic is one of my absolute favs!!!

Caitlyn was introduced to arm floaties and about two seconds afterwards... she could swim independently.

She loved swimming so much...

another thing she loved... applying sunscreen independently... she's got the technique down, turn nozzle directly into face and spray into eyes until they foam... she was done after that...

and decided to steal her brother's bink and take a two hour nap in the 90 degree heat with her blanket.

after she awoke... she skinny dipped... totally cute.

Ashton all of a sudden couldn't get enough of the camera.

I've got about 30 pictures of him posing next to the monkey bars, each one cuter than the last.

Seriously... he's too cute!

I'm only posting this next collage for one person. 

There are 2 things that would've made this collage more complete.
1- if Tiffany was right next to me performing these highly dangerous dives

2- if my perfectly posed tripod was caught on camera.

I ♥ Summer 2010!

Caitlyn Leigh Turns 3!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet daughter, Caitlyn Leigh.

We celebrated, luau style, on Sunday with all her favorite people.

Caitlyn has been talking about her 3rd birthday ever since Ashton turned 1. So I was a little surprised when she turned shy for present opening. Thanks goodness little Miss Avery was there to help her along.  Even though everything about the cake was NOT what I ordered (except the pink Hawaiian flowers), it was still a crowd pleaser and brought about many many blue laughs (see the pics below).

The party was everything I imagined for my 3 year old daughter.

There was family and friends

and lots of love and laughter.

I even surprised myself by holding it all together unless you count the three times I cried in the morning getting ready, the one time while we were opening all the cute clothes she received for presents and as I pictured her wearing them on her way to preschool, or the one last time I laid in bed with Ashley talking about the perfect day and I leaned over to turn out the light but instead grabbed her 'Welcome to the 2010-2011 School Year' packet and lost it again.

It was a great day. 

On her actual Birthday, Ash took the day off and we started with cinnamon rolls, lots of play time, lunch at Red Robin where we were joined by Auntie Scarlet.  After lunch, we all headed to the supermall to ride the carousel, came home watched two movies, ate dinner and headed to bed early.

Another great day for a great 3-year old. 

I know that this year is gonna be a big one.

She begins preschool in less than a month and I already know she's gonna l♥ve it!

Just for Fun

Cousin Brian, Poppy and his girls visited Washington during their way too short trip to the USA.  Caitlyn and Ashton absolutely LOVE Myranda and Kassidy. I wish they were here everyday!

Fun times were had by all... as they always are when Brian visits. We miss him and all his girls already.  We rocked the West End Karoake and man did it bring back some memories.  We went out just with our family and I can't even remember the last time I was able to relax and simply hang out with such fun people.  Although we have our ups and downs (as most families do), I LOVE each and everyone of these guys.  I couldn't help but remembering my Dad always saying when we were little (and he still says it to this day),

"Friends will come and go... Families are Forever!"

Oh, what a fun night.

The kids and I also traveled a little North on the 5 to visit Mandy. Ung-King Jon was able to get off work a little early to join us for a dip in the pool.  We had a blast and plan to do it more often... thanks Ung-King Jon and Mandy for such a great time.

♥

Handsome Haircut

Before...

During...

After...

...and after...

....again...

this time without his sister stealing his sucker

♥

♥

So stinkin' HANDSOME!!!

Ksavera's Shower

It turned out perfect and it only made me a thousand times more excited for the wedding...

if that's even possible!

Thank you to everyone who helped make her day super special!

Fudgsicle Faces

My two cuties after enjoying one of their favorite summertime treats.

♥

This post has gotta make you smile

Guess Who's Back...

Back to the 'world of blogging' that is.

What have we been up to this past month

........let's see..........

My cousin Brian and his girls came to visit from Korea

we've participated in  many BBQs

celebrated Father's Day

gone on a few weekend trips

started plans for the upcoming wedding shower, bachelorette party

and the wedding of course.

celebrated the 4th... 'Steve Riggs Birthday Style'
I've read 3 good books

completed home projects

geocached some rough terrain (my dad has the wounds to prove it)

celebrated many birthdays

gotten a few pedicures

and really we've been living life..simply.

♥

A collage to try and recap the past month.

The 4th of July/Steve's Birthday

Here are a few updates on the fam-

Caitlyn- She is almost 3 and plans for her big day have already begun.  We sing happy birthday to one person by her request every night... and if you're reading this... I'm sure we've sang to you! She totally enjoys the fact that Ashton can play with her now. We've spent many nights laughing until our guts hurt watching them two wrestle each other. They each have great moves. Caitlyn has spent a few nights with Babcia and Dziadzia and Gram and Pap... which she loves and usually will talk about for over week.  She surprises us daily with words we never knew she knew.  Even on our hardest days, she finds ways to make us smile.  Some of her favs right now are: everything about the outside, water balloons, our mini pool, the beach, the ice cream man, her bike and new helmet, noodles, and her hair pretties. 
Ashton-  He's almost 15 months.  He kinda runs the house right now. He still takes 2 naps, but occasionally he will sleep in til ten and then he only takes an afternoon nap.  He still only has 5 teeth, but has been working on a mouth full for a long while now. His teething has made for many days with extra long naps, not much eating, ibuprofen as his and our savior, and even the re-introduction of a bottle here and there (only on a few days where I think he could benefit from some calories he lost from not eating well).  He can speak two words intentionally: dada and uh oh, he can say mumma a lot... but not sure he knows it's me.  He signs milk, more, airplane, dog, and thank you (I swear there's more but can't think of them right now). Some of his favs are: his bike, the mini-pool, the sand at the beach, climbing, dancing (he's got great moves), oatmeal with blueberries, and being held by the one and only... me.
Ashley- He has recently graduated from the Leadership Institute of South Puget Sound.  The graduation ceremony was super nice and I was and still am so so so proud of all his hard work.  His graduation project with the coolest.  If any of you are in the Auburn area and see any of the large white drop-off bins feel free to drop off any hygiene products for the homeless (you know you've got them... left over from the hotels and vacays you've all been on).  He and the Auburn Food Bank teamed together to make these bins possible.  You should've seen it being dropped off... there was a huge crane, the CEO of Top Foods, and the Mayor of Auburn... huge deal... still proud!  He also has joined a bowling league with his BFF, Ian, Ksavera, and Scarlet.  They're really not that good... but he has a BLAST doing it... that should count for something. He participated in Hoop Fest 2010 with my bro and they had their best record in their teams history: 2 wins, 2 losses, while he was gone I tried surprising him with a clean deck... which brings me to my story.

I haven't climbed any mountains, ran any marathons, white water rafted down the Wenatchee, or hiked to the Enchantments (wink wink to one of my besties that has, Tiffany Jeanne), but I'll tell you what I have done though... in an attempt to surprise my husband, I have scrubbed the deck clean, stained the deck... not liked the deck stain, stripped the deck of stain, cleaned it again and re stained it all the way I liked it.  Thought it'd take me a day... maybe two, instead it took me three weeks... but we finally have our improved outdoor living space.... perfect and in time for the shower and Cait's  3rd birthday.
I've had a lot of days off this past month, actually I've hardly worked... my grandpa passed away and my Mom traveled to WI for the celebration of his life, therefore I took bereavement and experienced what it'd be like to be a stay at home mom.  I was actually very happy to have my mom back and to return to work. I love my children deeply, but I also really enjoy what I do and the team I do it with.  Which makes me love and appreciate my Mom in so many ways I can't even explain. 
On my days off, I have been to the beach a few times, the zoo more than a few times, had many play dates, and really I've just been enjoying the routine that has become my life.  My children's age right now... so far... is my favorite!  They're both so incredibly sweet and so much fun!

Although this post took me three days, not because it was so lengthy but because I have two little interrupters... it's good to be back.