Happy Happy Birthday Lucy!

6 years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl






Oh, the things we've experienced over those years!

First piggy tails...


to fun hairdo's.




Rebel days...

and sweet days!

Sad days...


and silly days!


Learning to put on socks...


and makeup!


Fun costumes!



First days of Preschool...



to the first day of kindergarten!

First road race...


Dance classes



swim lessons

Gymnastics...



A baby brother...

and a baby sister...


These 6 years we've watched you learn, grow, cry, laugh, and love. We are so glad you are part of our family!
Happy Birthday Chelse! WE love you and can't wait for more experiences together!

365 project pictures.

I find I have lots of random pictures that I take for my "365 project" and never post them on the blog. Here's a quick sample:


My sweet, beautiful girls!


The before and after of a dresser I spray-painted. It may be a while before we can afford decent furniture, so I'm having fun with what I have!



Chelsea and her dirt cups, made for FHE.



Making cookies with mom. We made sugar cookies and decided to color them pink!


Juice pops! I used to love making these as a kid.

Michael rocked Brinly to sleep. He CAN be gentle!



Our "Toy room". I am so excited to have a spot designated for all toys. This was the first room moved and put together at the new house. I was amazed at how everything seemed to have a spot! It's not finished yet, but I'm so, SO excited!



Brinly was the first one to sleep in the "girl's room". (I think I'm obsessed with quotation marks...) A friend watched Chelsea and Michael, and Brinly just slept a few hours so I could unpack a few things. I couldn't help but take a bajilion pictures! Here's just a few:

Oh, need to see her a little closer?


Closer still? I don't blame ya. I can hardly get enough of her myself!

A Few overheard at our house(s)

Overheard #1
Setting: I'm down at Michael's eye level, scolding him for something he had done. I don't remember now what it is...there's been too many "scoldings" lately...

Me: Michael, I never want to see you doing that again! Do you understand me

Michael has been looking back and forth from one of my eyes to the other..and slowly...a smile creeps onto his face

Me: What? What are you smiling at?

michael: Mom! There's a Michael in your eye!

At this point, we both start laughing. So much for keeping a serious tone!


Overheard #2
We are at Grandma Perry's house for the wedding (see post below..) and notice Michael and his cousin Josh, are missing. (There's only a 9 day difference in their age) Chelsea tells us they are out front.

We go to get them and see this:





Grandma: What's this water on the front porch?

Michael: It's PEE!

GROSS! We're still not sure who did it, as neither confessed, but either one could have been found guilty. My hunch is that is was Michael...although he insists it was Josh. I've just caught him one too many times in our back yard "watering the bush".

Wedding in Seattle

This past weekend we went up to Seattle for a quick trip...up Friday night and back Saturday night.

Dan's uncle Darrell got married! It was fun to see (and meet) relatives from the Perry side.

First we had to get pictures taken...


Dan's job was to keep the kids from getting dirty.


Brinly has been practicing her smiles, and she's getting better at it, but it's still hard to capture them on camera yet.

The boys had a hard time waiting through the ceremony, especially with hershey kisses and bubbles on the table just waiting to be played with!



Brinly got so much attention, you would have thought it was HER day. She is such a lucky girl to have so many people that love her. Here are just a few:

Grandma Perry and Brinly



Grandpa Perry and Brinly


Great Grandma Perry and Brinly

Aunty Melissa (or as my favorite new name given to her by my nephew Josh...well, it's how he says it..."Witta")
My kids are getting so sad that Melissa is leaving soon for college. I'm not sure what they'll do! Good thing Grandma and Grandpa Perry are still so much fun!


***Notice that Chelsea and Brinly are wearing matching dresses? I hated dressing like my sisters growing up, but now I can see why my mom did it. SO cute! And to my defense...it was Chelsea that begged to get Brinly a matching dress!***

Clark Family Reunion!

(Sorry the pictures are so small! I didn't want to sit around forever uploading them due to all the packing and moving we still have to do!)

Every year, in July, the Clark's have a reunion at the family Ranch in Idaho. The Clark's are on Dan's mom's side of the family. There is a cabin at the ranch, but everyone brings up their tents and camps. I was the lucky exception, due to the new baby, and got to sleep in the loft on a queen size bed. AHHH. :)

As usual, we all had a great time!

Here's the reunion in a nutshell.

Playing with cousins..





adults visiting...


water guns...


and just plain water...



and if you're thirsty...just get a quick drink from the hose!

making homemade ice-cream in ziploc baggies...



cute kids...

(my adorable nephew Robert)

eating LOADS of sweets...



learning about strange features of relatives. Like Uncle John's toe that was cut off by a lawn mower when he was little. You can still feel the bone...as demonstrated by Aunt Janet.

or learning that Jennifer is double jointed..somewhere...which enables her to do funky things with her arms...


Playing fun family games, like the egg toss..


and kickball...

taking TONS of pictures...(It looks like we have our very own paparazzi to crash our reunion, 'cause we're so cool!)

throwing tantrums...

and torturing younger cousins...


and lastly, hitting TWO pinatas CRAMMED with candy!



(The younger cousins/grandkids/great-grandkids showing off their loot)


Hopefully next year, more relatives will be able to make it, and we can have even more fun!