Hyrum's Birthday

Hyrum's birthday is two days after mine, which is close, perhaps too close to have multiple birthday treats. So far we've always shared. This year Hyrum told me he wanted homemade dark chocolate brownies with fudge mint ganache on top. It's his favorite.

I stuck a Wall-E toy on. To make it special.


Hyrum thoroughly enjoyed blowing out candles.

Hyrum likes it.

Brielle likes it.

Cassandra likes it.

Spencer likes it. We all did, but of course what's not to like, there was GANACHE!

We had Spencer and Roma come over for a birthday dinner. Their kids are the same ages as ours, and they play so well together. Plus Spencer and Russell, and Roma and I play well together too. We always love seeing them!


Hyrum's birthday presents, all rolled into one. His Grandma and Grandpa Francis gave him the train set, and his Grandma and Grandpa Streadbeck gave him the train table. (His parents gave him clothes, and part of a puppy.) =0)

And here you can see a little bit of what we've been doing to our living room.

Hyrum LOVED the train set, he especially loved putting ALL the train pieces together into one very long train. Then holding it with both hands to push it around the track without losing any cabooses.

Happy Birthday Hyrum! Let the Year of Two Year Old Tantrums now commence!!

My birthday puppy

He's a border collie. I named him Jasper, after the dog at Manderley in the classic book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Now whenever I'm outside trimming my jasmine bush or planting my hyacinths, and I call "come here Jasper!" as I walk inside with my clippers, I just think to myself "How Manderley AM I?!!"

(well, minus the servants and mansion that is.)

My Birthday

On my birthday I went to a playground with the kids. While playing there some bad guys....


smashed my car window....


and stole my purse.



Then they started using my credit cards like crazy.

So I spent the day canceling all of my bank cards and credit cards, and calling around to auto glass shops. It was not my favorite birthday.

However I was wished a Happy Birthday on behalf of the entire Seattle Precinct. So thoughtful. It was frustrating going a few days with no credit cards, no money, and no way to use my checks (because my driver's license was gone) Plus I miss my epinephrine injector, my costco card, Aquarium pass, and the three or four gift cards I had in there. But the real killer is knowing that somewhere out there is a criminal, checking out books up the whazoo with MY library card!!!

The next day made up for it though. We drove to Port Orchard, bought a puppy, went out to eat, and took the ferry back by Sunset. It was a beautiful day!

What we do with our garden blueberries...

More berries

And in September we pick the blueberries.


Our kids are delighted that our new house has blueberry bushes. We've been picking buckets full every few days, and making muffins, or eating them fresh. Blueberries are such a friendly fruit, no thorns!

I took these three pictures and then my camera died, hence the blogging hiatus.

Why I love Washington

Everywhere we go we find berries. Every park, every trail, every beach, every playground.

In May we pick Salmon berries
In June we pick Strawberries
In July we pick Raspberries and Huckleberries
In August we pick Blackberries...



...and turn them into this:

Moving can be tedious...

Especially if you're a turtle. Aristotle, Archimedes, and Bernoulli spent a lot of time in a box while their aquarium was being set up.

Tell it like it is.

There are two mirrors in my bathroom. One of them flatters me obsequiously, while the other reflects images that prey maliciously upon my vanity. If only I could find a more ethical looking glass.

Sometimes I worry that I nag too much...

"The hair dryer is not a weapon. The broom is not a weapon. The popcorn maker is not a weapon. The knives are not.....okay, well the knives ARE weapons, but you can't play with them, put those down!!"