Spurts

Thomassen Farm

2010-10-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

This was such a fantastic day for the kids!! They had so much fun and there were so many things to do! Kayelin is standing in the corn box where they had a slide and she thought the kernels tasted yummy. We went on October 8th

The kids thought that the pumpkins were fun to look at.
So many great places to take pics if you have willing subjects.
Kayelin finding a pumpkin
Joshua is holding his "very own special pumpkin, I love you so much Pumpkin." I swear it was love at first sight, he even likes to have it close by him when he is sleeping.
Playing on the hay
taking a tractor ride with Wyatt.
Having fun at the water pump. They had little ducks that you could race, so very cute!
bubble play

One of the big hits for the boys was the sand box with big tractors. This will definitely become a tradition for the kiddos. I love October!!

September 2010

2010-10-15T11:10:00.001-07:00

Elsa Showed me this great park in Federal Way by Steel Lake. It had a fabulous playground for the kids. They had a great time playing.
Joshua's first day of Preschool with his teacher Mrs. Callier. I can't believe how big he is getting!

August 2010

2010-10-15T10:40:00.001-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday to Kayelin!! She really enjoyed her birthday cake and made a wonderful big mess. I have some video of her going to town. Joshua enjoyed the ducks at the park and wanted to constantly feed them!

Kayelin and Joshua at the Tacoma zoo. It was such a nice day and they loved it!

Going to the park with friends. There were a lot of hot days this summer so to beat the heat we took the kids to the park! Joshua loved playing in the sand. Kayelin was happy to be out of the house. Wyatt had a great time as well. The water feature of course was a great hit. Gotta love going to the park!

July 2010

2010-10-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

For Joshua's birthday we were at Moses Lake with Ben's family. So we did a pinata and cake and ice cream, unfortunately my camera died before I could get his cake. But Joshua is happy that he is THREE!!

Kayelin taking after her daddy. She will crawl under the chair to get to the keyboard.

June 2010

2010-10-11T12:56:00.001-07:00

My Mischievous little Monkey had somehow managed in a short time to pull of the top of a brand new soap bottle from Costco and make a big mess. She was quite pleased with herself and I had a long day of trying to clean up soap from the carpet. It was not so much fun for me, but apparently a blast for Kayelin.
Joshua playing hard and needing a nap.

bath time with the kiddos is a fun time. They seem to play well together in the tub.

May 2010

2010-10-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ben and I took the kids to the park on a nice Saturday afternoon. Joshua enjoyed the little pond and having a stick to play with.

April 2010

2010-10-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

For my birthday weekend we went camping and decided to check out Ohmes garden. It was a really neat garden that is worth seeing.
Kayelin's decided to pull herself up in the crib so it was time to lower it. First sign she is simply getting too big too quick.
On my birthday Ben was a sweetheart and sent me flowers. It made my day to have flowers delivered to my door. The good news is, I have miraculously been able to still keep them alive! What a great hubby I have.

March 2009

2010-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

A cute Happy little Kayelin
This needs to happen way more than it ever does.
Just playing together

My parents and I took the kids on a little vacation at Zion's camp for the weekend. The kids had a great time and it was such a good weekend. I love any weekend outings that I can get!

February 2010

2010-10-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Joshua playing peekaboo in mommy's bed
dressing for Valentine's Day. We all match! Kayelin had a bad case of Eczema so she is a little pink in the face.
I love bed head hair!! It looks so cute on Joshua!
Joshua loves his trains and needed to have his pic taken with them
Kayelin and tummy time were not great friends.
Kayelin getting bigger.
Kayelin's first teeth!

January 2010

2010-10-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

December 2009

2010-10-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Making Christmas cookies and goodies with Grandma Wilkins. Joshua had a great time.
Our candy Christmas wreaths that mom and I made last year. It was quite the production and lots of snitching of yummy candy!

November 2009

2010-10-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Just a cute picture of Kayelin in a snuggly outfit.
Thanksgiving craft with Nana Giles and cousins.
Play date with Wyatt. Maybe some budding musical talent.
Joshua proud of himself for putting his shirt on.

Just a couple of cute kids!

October 2009

2010-10-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Museum of flight. Joshua enjoyed looking at the planes from the outside and had a great time. He however did not like going inside any of the model planes.

Last October we went to Crab Fest which was in Sequim, WA. You gotta love fresh crab! After that we took a drive to Fort Kinzie and walked around. We then took a ferry boat ride home and had ourselves a wonderful weekend.

This is Kayelin at 2mnths. I was so proud that I even made her first little bracelet with some friend's help!

This is a little trip to the Seattle Aquarium

For Halloween Joshua was a pirate, but all he would wear was his hat, and Kayelin was a bug.
You gotta love sleeping babies!

September 2009

2010-10-08T22:16:00.001-07:00

This is a pic of when kayelin was 1mnth and Joshua having fun playing with his little immobile sis.

August of 2009

2010-10-08T20:31:00.001-07:00

This is Kayelin's week old pic.

Where have I Been????

2010-10-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

I know that I have been a major slacker when it comes to blogging. All I can say is that having two little ones has kept me busy!! So I am going to attempt to catch up with some pics from where I left off in August right after Kayelin came home. Hope whoever does care to read this sad little blog will enjoy.

Kayelin Violet Giles

2009-08-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl is finally here!! She was born on Saturday August 22 at 11:00pm. She weighed 7.2 lbs and was 19inch long. She has been a precious new addition to our family and we are so excited to have her in our lives!

Joshua turns Two

2009-08-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my baby is now a toddler who can walk and talk and be a little person. The time goes by way too fast!

Unwelcome visitors

2009-08-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had notice some bees trying to make a little home over by an outside vent. So after trying a couple of different sprays to kill them off, which didn't work, so we tried to cover their hole to trap them in hopes of them dying inside. The first time didn't work and so Ben tried again the night before he went on a business trip. After having plugged it a second time he went to read about how you shouldn't do that. We woke up to Bee's that decided to find an exit in our house. needless to say we had to get an exterminator and have mass clean up of bees! We learned an expensive lesson that day!

The Ape Caves

2009-08-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

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There are a set of Lava tubes close to Mt St Helens that we have been wanting to check out for quite some time. So we decided to go camping for the weekend and go exploring. It was really fun except for it being a little too cold and long for Joshua otherwise we had a good time!

4th Anniversary

2009-08-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ben and I went to a little town called Seaview in Wa that is just outside Astoria, OR for our Anniversary. We stayed in a bed and breakfast that had WONDERFUL food. I love the anticipation of good food. We had a great time together and it was nice to get away before baby number 2 came along.

It's a....

2009-05-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

We've learned what we are suppose to be having come around August the 24th. We are happily awaiting the arrival of a baby girl. It will be fun to have one of each!

Easter

2009-05-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

Joshua learned this year that Easter eggs have chocolate in them. There couldn't be anything better in the world to that child than chocolate. The apple didn't fall far from the tree with the chocolate addiction.

Barber Shop of horror

2009-05-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Does my child have an older sibling to blame this on? No. Did he magically get a hold of a pair of scissors? No. Was there any way that I could have possibly been able to point my fingers at someone else or something else? No. I was simply impatient. His hair was getting so long I could not stand it any longer and decided that I indeed could cut this child's hair. I mean how hard could it really be? I watched my sisters-in -law give me a demonstration and figured indeed I could do it. So off I went with the little buzzer thing and buzz buzz buzz. I took one look and started peeling over with laughter at what I had done!! I guess there was no beginner's luck for me that day. I put that buzzer thing away called up my sister-in-law Sara and went in for an emergency fix. Let's just say I haven't had to see his hair that long for MONTHS. It has been kept short to help even out the damage. You gotta start somewhere and at least he doesn't care and there is no one that can hurt his feelings about his hair, so I figure all is well, until the next time I take to cutting hair!!

The zoo

2009-05-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Elsa and I and our kids went to the zoo the other day and we had a great day. Joshua had gone to the zoo when he was a few months old and so it was fun to go when he was older. He was happy to be outside and run around. The funny part was when he got really super duper excited to see.....a puddle!! Yep, my child is easily amused, give the kid a puddle and you have made his day. The animals were okay, but nothing compared to having a puddle to play in.
We thought it would be fun to see how it would look for Joshua and Alexis to have a little house together with a happy little visitor. I can just see the future.

Writing on the wall

2009-05-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

I have heard stories where almost every child decides to use their creativity and create artwork where one perhaps doesn't want it. I had tried to monitor the crayons to avoid that kind of a situation, but alas a mom can only have so many eyes to help her in the task of doing everything. I was getting ready for the day and Joshua was happily playing until I turned around and found this!! I quickly got my camera took a picture and then proceeded to do the motherly thing and tell Joshua that it was a big no no. To tell the truth, how lucky am I that he only wrote on the mirror? I'm hoping that this is all the creativity that I ever see on the walls of my home. A mother can always hope.

Sometimes you win sometimes you lose

2009-01-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

Joshua has had a cold and with it a very runny yucky snotty nose. He can start to grasp on to the idea of blowing his nose which has been wonderful. Then one day I was doing laundry on the bed when Joshua thought he would use his wonderful new skill on all of my clean clothes. The first time was funny, by the fifth time I had to move the basket; no one wants to wear snotty clothes and I don't want to do more laundry!!

storytelling

2009-01-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

I put Joshua in the Chair and left him to play. A little while later I heard him talking. So I went in to sneak a peak and there he was reading himself a story. It was hard trying to get him to do it once he was found out, but here is a little snipit.

What Does....

2009-01-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

What does feeling really tired and wanting almost a daily nap, and not being able to keep down ones lunch and dinner on a daily basis add up to?????
Answer: I'M PREGNANT!!! yep we are crazy parents that are on to number 2. This little bun bun cake should be ready by August 24th!! We are pretty excited. I am however ready to be done with the first trimester!!! Also I have a new calling in my ward. Just as my child is about to turn 18mnths and I can have a break and put him in nursery, somebody had a funny thought and decided that I should go too!!! So I get to be the Nursery leader. I am curious to how it will all turn out. At least I have being pregnant on my side if it gets to be too much!!!

Let it snow

2009-01-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons that I love Western Washington is because of the mild summer and mild winters!!! Snow happens about once a year and it usually melts the next day or by the afternoon. Thanks to all of those global warming fanatics we had snow for about a week and it was past 8inches!! I know to some people it's not that big of a deal, but I prefer to drive to the snow instead of having it all over the icy hilly roads. My poor husband attempted to go to work one day in his vanpool and it took him 3 HOURS to get there!! Seattle does not fair well in this kind of weather!! It was however fun to go to the park and go sledding with Joshua who wasn't so sure about the whole thing. Would you believe that it actually snowed on Christmas day. It was nice to have a white Christmas.

Independance

2009-01-09T22:49:00.001-08:00

Like most one year olds they start to want to be big and do things on their own. I usually give Joshua a decoy spoon while I feed him. He does not like that I have a spoon and sometimes puts up a fuss to have both of the feeding utensils. One day I wanted to clean the kitchen and thought that I should give him a chance to feed himself. The results are shown above!! Luckily a few months later he can now almost successfully feed himself oatmeal with out a mess. I can't wait til he can do it all his own as long as it doesn't get too messy!

The Big Bad Wolf and his blankie

2009-01-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

Joshua was the big bad wolf for Halloween this year. He was really cute for the short time that he kept his hat on. We went to the ward trunk or treat and had fun and went home expecting to have lots of trick or treaters. Total for that night was a big whopping ONE!!! At least we bought good candy to eat.

Girls night at Forks

2009-01-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

For a few years we have been having girls night once a month where we get together and do things together for that night. We each take a turn and we have had some wonderful times together. This is our first little excursion where we went away for the night. Since we had all read the twilight series we thought that it would be perfect to go to Forks and check out the vampire territory. Luckily no one got bitten. We started our trip with a ferry ride from Seattle.
We then drove up to Port Angelas where we were daring to take a little hike in the woods to this little waterfall.

We spent the day shopping in Port Angelas and checking out the sites where Bella had been to. We went to the book store and the clothing store where she shopped and finished the night with a dinner where Bella and Edward ate. We even bought the mushroom dish that she had. The waiter told us that it was never on their menu until the book came out.
We made sure that our accommodations were vampire free. You never know what could happen while you are in Forks.
We then went to the local hospital where they put up a parking space for Dr. Cullen.
This is the swans house where Bella lives.
Here is the Cullen's home. Apparently they leave a message on the board every day for visitors.
We checked out this classic that Bella drove. Actually if I remember right the seats were missing!!
We took a detour from our twilight tour and went to check out the Olympic rain forest since we were so close. It was neat to see all of the moss covered trees.

We ended our trip by going to the first beach on the Quinault reservation where Bella and Jacob talk about his ancestors legends. We had a blast and are excited for our next great adventure!! Sara suggested that we should read a book based in Hawaii next time!

Pumpkin patch and hay ride

2009-01-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

We took Joshua to a local pumpkin patch for October. He loved looking at all the pumpkins and anything else that was in his reach. We had fun but by the end we had a very muddy dirty little boy.

Our first home improvement

2009-01-09T21:54:00.001-08:00

extra wall space not enough cupboards equals a built in pantry!! We had bishop Grover from our old ward who does cabinetry build us a new pantry that matches the existing cupboards in our kitchen. It looks great and is wonderful to have!!! I have so much more storage I don't know why we didn't do it sooner!!!

Chehalis camping trip

2009-01-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

My parents, Ben, Joshua, and I all went camping in September in Chehalis. We had such a fun time!! We went on a small scenic train ride, followed by a hike to some caves that were used by local natives from way back that was fun to look at. Then found a garden that was beautiful to walk through. We had a great time together.

Like father like son

2009-01-09T21:25:00.001-08:00

Joshua has a huge love for the computer. I wonder where he gets it from?? I found some baby games online that all he has to do is press some keys and cartoon characters move. He thinks that is the best and constantly wants me off of my computer and him on!! You gotta love examples.

Park

2009-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Here we are at a park close to our house enjoying some nice sun and the end of the summer days!!

2009-01-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

I've been receiving hints from everyone that there has been a lack of pictures on my blog for ohhh about six months or so. I keep meaning to post and forgot how quickly six months can go by. So here is a catch up of what has been going on for the last little while. Hopefully I can get up to date!!!!

The Unthinkable

2008-10-03T15:44:00.001-07:00

Not very often in a male's life are you able to get away with such unmentionable actions such as getting your nails painted. So I took the opportunity that I could and tried it out. Joshua wasn't too thrilled about staying still to have pretties on his nails. We could only get the big toes before he ran away. Ben's reaction was the best when he had seen what was done. He demanded that the paint be promptly removed before we go to church so that no one could see that his wife was making his boy a wussy.

summer days

2008-10-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

For my brother's birthday we went to the lake and walked around. It was a beautiful day and we were able to get a lot of sun! My mom had a lot of fun taking him around since Joshua thought he need to stay mobile all day long.

Joshua's Birthday

2008-10-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Before
During
After

I know that it's been about two months since I have last posted but I thought that I would get a little caught up on my blogging. Here are some pics of Joshua's birthday party a few months back. I can't believe how fast a year can go by and how much one little baby can grow in that amount of time!! Joshua's favorite thing to do at the park was to play in a nice little wet puddle. Well, he had a blast as well as the rest of the family did. I love park birthday parties!!

New Family

2008-08-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

I am excited to meet the newest member to our family, miss Bailey Babb. Ben's sister Sara had her on July 28th and she is absolutely adorable!! Lots of dark hair and she looks like both of her beautiful older sisters Payton and Maddison. Ben's other sister Emma also just had another baby!! On the 8th of August! I am so excited for the new additions and hope that there are many more to come!!

2008-08-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who do not know, my cousin's wife Alison VanGieson was in a car accident last month and passed away. She will be missed greatly. She was one of those people that had a beautiful warm light about her. She was always pleasant, happy, and a joy to be around. She was a wonderful mother and wife. Our hearts and prayers are with Jeremy and his children as well as to Ali's family. I'm thankful for the small time that I had to get to know her.

What would Ben be???

2008-07-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ben was given the privilege to talk in church on Sunday. So Saturday night he was by his computer trying to find something profound to say. A guy in our ward noticed that Ben was at his computer and stopped his car and yelled from his window that Ben had been at the computer for three days. Then the guy jokingly said that Ben should help him with his flooring project. Ben replied that he was trying to work on a talk for the following day. So Sunday comes along and Ben uses this little conversation that the two had in his talk. He then related it to the scripture about 'eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.' It got a pretty good laugh. Then the guy was giving Ben a hard time in Sunday school,(he's the teacher.) He remarked to me that he had cooled off with teasing Ben awhile ago, but now the game was on. I laughed and said, have you ever seen 'God's must be crazy 2' If Ben was an animal he would most likely be a badger. Once he bites, he won't let go. If you have ever engaged in a discussion with Ben and contradicted his view, then you know what I am talking about.

Summer Fun

2008-06-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

The sun is out and the heat is on. After some depressing Summer weather we are now able to enjoy the bright Sunny days!! Here we are chilling over at Heather's house and having a great time watching the cousins play!

Here is a small group picture of the cousins playing in the smallest pool. Joshua wasn't a fan of being in the pool, he liked playing on the outside. Summer, Madison, Skylar, Victoria, and Joshua. We finally got Victoria to go 'swimming' with the rest of the guys.

I just love this quirky picture of Joshua! You can tell that he is related to Ben and I; we are all white as snow in our complexion.

Summer brought out her bubble machine and it was an immediate big hit with Joshua!! It kept him entertained for half of the day!

The other half of the day was the joy of dumping the magic cup in and out of the water. Who knew that such simple things could be so fascinating?

Tinkle Fingers

2008-06-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

Joshua has discovered how to play the piano. He has gotten quite to the young Mozart stage perhaps he is far from it, but he thinks his music is beautiful and fun!

Blankie Love

2008-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Joshua is starting to favor this blanket and likes to walk around with it. It's fun to watch because he carries it in-between his legs and trips all over it.

Olympic Peninsula

2008-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

For our Anniversary get away we decided to go to the Olympic Rain Forest. It was a beautiful place and we had a fabulous time and get away! Here we are at the Largest Sitka Spruce in the world!

I just love all of the drooping moss, it was beautiful to discover.

We got to spend a Saturday walking around different trails in the area nearby where we were staying at. It was so fun with just the two of us (Joshua had his first overnighter with the grandparents.) We met a lot of people and a couple that we met paid for our breakfast on Saturday morning which was quite the surprise and very sweet.

We are standing in the center of a large cedar tree that was hollowed out. some of those trees were absolutely humongous!

Three Years and Counting

2008-06-29T22:13:00.001-07:00

Ben and I just had our three year anniversary this last week. It has flown by relatively fast with lots of happenings in our lives!! We got married, bought a house, had a baby, and who knows what will happen around the bend! On the whole we still like each other so I think we are doing pretty good!

Family Picnic

2008-06-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics that Jennifer took at our Giles family picnic. Poor Joshua was not having a good day at all. Cassidy even tried to make her little friend feel better by trying to play with him, but he was just not in the mood!! The picnic was great and the weather was perfect!

Hair Do's

2008-06-03T15:08:00.001-07:00

Joshua had just woken up with this bed-head and I thought that it was sooo cute that I left it in all day. Generally his hair looks really good and I don't have to do too much to it, so I was very thrilled!

Joshua had a bath and I was putting some thick lotion in his hair to help with his itching. Needless to say, I got a little carried away with what one could do with a lotion up baby!!

Off the Well Beaten path

2008-06-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ben thought that Joshua was getting bored so he decided to liven him up a bit. Joshua loved it, the guys had fun, and I worried how long that poor stroller will last with it's new ownership!

Scenic View

2008-06-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of us on a nice scenic walk that we took when we were up at Whistler Canada. It was really beautiful. We had a great time hanging out with Aaron and Christina and of course our little mumchkin!

Happy Little Family

2008-05-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

After almost 10mnths I finally have a decent photo of all three of us together. I had a brilliant brainstorm and figured out how to use my timer on the camera!! Unfortunately Joshua hasn't learned how to smile without someone behind the camera! oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

Uook & Gook

2008-05-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Be grateful for being able to blow your own nose!! Joshua and I have a cold and this is how he looked this morning when he woke up. The yucky part is having to wipe all the nasty yellow snot drooling from his nose!! I am anticipating the day when he can blow his own nose instead of having me clean it up!! GROSS!!

2008-05-08T10:04:00.001-07:00

Toe Sucker

2008-05-08T10:00:00.001-07:00

I didn't get quite the picture that I was looking for. Joshua occasionally gets a little hungry and thinks that his big toe is a great substitute for a thumb or a passifier. It is very interesting to watch!

Piggy Back

2008-04-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

There's nothing in the world that makes a kid feel so proud than being taller than all those that are around him. I bet he feels like he is as tall as Bigfoot and can conquer the world.

Farmer boy

2008-04-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

My parents found this little toy tractor at an antique shop and brought it over to see what Joshua's verdict would be. Even though his toes can't touch the ground, it was a big hit!

Natural Intstincts

2008-04-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a natural bond that develops between a boy and a ball. This one toy that Joshua will play at all day! He doesn't seem to ever get tired of playing with his little round friend.

Joining the blogosphere

2008-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I decided to get with the times and BLOG! I've titled my blog spurts because I will probably be writing this in such a manner. This is my new favorite pic of Joshua who loves to have whatever his mom has!! I can't blame him though, who wouldn't want their hands on a pink hammer?