Good times with good friends...and family!

The past two weekends have been spent with family and friends. This past weekend we ventured up to Sedro Wooley to celebrate a good friend's second birthday. It's amazing how fast these past two years have gone. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were meeting Alexis for the first time as a very tiny newborn. Now she is a running, jumping, vivacious little girl. The kids, Eli, Alexis and Natalie, had a wonderful time playing together and the adults enjoyed catching up and playing too.

While we were there, I had a fun time playing with our camera and ended up with some shots of Steph and the girls. I haven't had the chance to play with the pictures yet, but wanted to share a few pictures from our visit.

I love this shot of Steph and Alexis. It is one of those "caught in the moment" pictures that just makes you smile.

Of course, I had to get one of her and the girls. Yes, there's no Peter. He and Jess were off playing somewhere.
Eli had a wonderful time running and playing in their HUGE yard. They even had some of the big Tonka trucks to play with. He was in seventh heaven!
Natalie loves playing with Eli. She would hold his hand and try to make him play with her. She had a difficult time understanding that he wasn't a baby anymore, but that he also wasn't as big as herself. He was a good sport though and loved playing with her.
Of course, there has to be a picture of the adults here too.
And of course they boys had to play around!




MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

On Memorial Day weekend, my aunt, uncle, cousin and her family all drove out from eastern Montana. We spent a few days together and ventured to Snoqualmie Falls. It was a beautiful day which meant the falls were packed with people. Dad and Jess never did make it out of the truck, we saw the falls and walked back out before they ever found parking! Unbelievable. The amount of water cascading the cliff was amazing. There was quite the layer of mist in the air as well - you couldn't stay in the covered lookout very long because it was practically raining in there! Eli finally warmed up to his Great Uncle Darwin and Great Aunt Darlene and half-way smiled in a picture. Of course, now I can't find this particular picture...hmmm, I'll have to do a little searching!

I love this picture of Darwin and Eli. This family has always held a special place in my heart. When I was a kid, we spent holidays and summers together at their ranch in eastern Montana. I haven't seen them since my cousin Raleigh's wedding 5 years ago!
On our way home from the falls, we stopped at the train "museum" in North Bend/Snoqualmie. Eli LOVES trains (planes, cars, trucks, helicopters, you name it) and we saw these, so we let him look. A nice gentleman pushing his sleeping daughter in their stroller offered to take a picture for us. It's not often we get a family shot so we take what we can get!

I have a lot more pictures from their visit, but want to play with some of the pictures and adjust the exposure and colors a bit.

While we were at Gramma and Papa's house waiting for the guests to arrive, he figured out the doggy door and thought it should be used as an Eli door.


I wanted to include this picture to show Eli's big, brown eyes. Jess and I are both amazed at his beautiful brown eyes. Jess has blue and I have more of a greenish hazel. He got his Papa's brown eyes somehow!