A Place to call home...

The search is over...for a few months at least. We finally found the place we will call home for at least the next year. It's a 3 bed 2 bath with a beautifully landscaped yard. We, well, mainly me, are VERY excited to be done with living in apartments, although we will still be renting. I can't go to sleep at night, as I rearrange furniture and unpack things in my head. AHHH! (Can you tell I'm excited!)

Because this is an open blog, I won't be posting the address. An e-mail will be sent after we move. We get the keys on August 16th, just 10 days before I send my baby off to kindergarten. (sob!) Actually, I'm more sad that Michael will be losing his playmate for half the day. We'll have to make things extra fun...but that's a post for later....

It's a great location and we even get to attend the church right by the temple! How holy are we?! (Just kidding...please don't take offense...) Isn't it beautiful? It's a mini one and I'm so glad it's so close. Now, let's just keep our fingers crossed that the ward is crammed full of eager babysitters! :)

Happy Birthday Chelsaroody!

(So, I didn't post this yesterday, cause I was really hoping to put some pictures of Chelsea as a baby to accompany it, but haven't gotten around to asking Melissa how to scan in pictures. Check back later...maybe I'll get em on.)

Happy Birthday Stinky!!! I can't believe my little girl is 5 now! Where on earth did all that time go? You looke so big yesterday trying on all those backpacks for school. And I can't belive you've ALREADY graduated from the children's section of shoes and now wear a size 1 in youth!! Slow down! I love your silliness and how sweet you are to your friends, brother, and all your babies. I am so glad you are part of our family. It's going to be such an exciting year with starting school, moving to a new house (or two), meeting new friends, and who knows what else. I'm so glad I get to be there with you through it all. Happy 5th Birthday!

Love, Mom

Slow on the tag

Okay, so here's the tag EVERYONE of you seems to be doing now. . . so I better play. . .


As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!


Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. (Or you can just leave a comment....)

July 4th!

So, before I can start talking about our trip, I have to go way back to the beginning of July, starting with independence day.

We went down to Steilacoom, the first town in Washington, and the actual city the Perry's are from. I think it's the cutest town right on the Puget sound. We walked the main street looking at the different vendor booths, then walked up the hill a little to get front row seats to the parade. Michael and Chelsea loved the parade, especially all the candy that was thrown at them. When Michael got a candy he would be totally engrossed in opening the wrapper, and someone would walk by and try to give him more candy. He wasn't quite sure what to do with himself!


At one point, the parade stopped for a while, and the humane society "float" ended up right in front of us. Michael hopped off his chair and went right up to the big dogs, petting and hugging them. He loves dogs. especially big ones.


someone gave the kids American flags which they had fun waving at the floats.


Besides the army band, my favorite were the librarians. They even had choreographed movements with their book carts.


Later, we roasted hot dogs in the fire pit and did a few fireworks.


The kids stayed up to watch the big firework display over the puget sound...but didn't last long. It was a long, fun-filled day, and by the end of it, we were exhausted!

Casualty

I have much to blog about from our trip to see family, but thought this should take priority....



We were having a great day at the park with my family. It was hot, but we were trying to soak up the sun before we headed back to the Tacoma. Michael was a happy kid and even sat and smiled for the camera.

30 minutes later, the little guy was not so happy.
Michael had been playing on a big concrete drinking fountain with his older cousin Robbie, and fell off onto the sidewalk.

Before the doctor at the urgent care clinic put 4 stitches in his cheek, he asked Michael what happened.

"I fell off the big huge ginking mountain!"

They gave him a few shots to numb the area, then laid the gauze on his face to start sewing him up, and he fell asleep.

Afterwards, Dan took him to Wendy's to get french fries and dip (ketchup) to help cheer him up.

While waiting in the waiting room, Michael was the only little kid, so he got the train table to himself. When some other little kids came in, Michael tried to share his trains with them, but they would look at his sore that was still oozing, and slowly back away from them. Michael got a puzzled look on his face and said "Train! I share!" and tried to hand the kid his train. But the little boy had a horrified look on his face and ran back to his mom, pointing at his cheek. My poor boy. The sweetest little "freak" you've ever seen.

These are pic's that we took right before bed that night. Hopefully it will heal soon and we can be back in the water!

update

Hello everyone! We are a live and doing well. Dan graduated from Dental school in June, we moved from Portland on June 24th to move in with his parents for a little while, while we wait for his license to come, and are currently in Utah visiting my family. I have LOADS of pictures to post, but I just wanted to announce that

chelsea has a blog! :) She got a kid's digital camera for her birthday, so we thought it would be fun to give her a place to show off and tell about her pictures. Feel free to check it out!

Okay, I can't seem to get the link to work, but she's listed on the left under the Perry's.

We have an announcement!

Nope, not a baby, but something almost as important!

We've decided to move to the Tri-cities area of South-Eastern Washington! Dan will be working at a group practice in Kennewick, so we'll live there or the neighboring city of Richland. Unfortunately, it's not quite as green as the Northwest (okay, it's not even close) but it's going to be so great! The columbia river runs right through the three cities, so there's lots of water sports (YAH!) and some mountains are pretty close by so we can get our fill of snow during the winter months.

The best part....LOTS OF SUN!!!!!

AND, check out this awesome bridge! (...that we plan on NOT crossing to get to work....yeah, learned that lesson from all the Portland bridges)

Right now we are living in Lakewood, WA, with Dan's parents. They have been so nice to let us cram all our stuff in their bonus room (actually, there's still quite a bit of room left) and let us lounge around for the month of July. It's been SO nice. The kids love Grandma and Grandpa's house. They have their own beds, and Dan and I have our own room. The kids can play outside all day, splash in the hot-tub, play with Grandma's toys, and we can't forget the awesome selection of cartoon movies!

As for me, I am LOVING my freedom. I was sad to leave all of my friends in Portland, but I seriously felt a huge load fall off of me as I drove away from the apartment complex. I learned a lot from managing, and I've become much more outgoing because of it, but I worry too much. I am so happy that the complex is now in great hands with my good friend Tasha. She's such a quick learner, and SO patient, she's going to do great! And I hope I don't offend anyone that manages, or has managed, or might manage...it is an awesome job, especially since it allowed me to stay at home with my kids.

However, I was never able to actually go on vacation from it, because it was always in the back of my mind. "Is someone's water heater going to go out, or even worse, leak? Did someone not report a leak in the bathroom or that they need a new caulk job in the bathroom and now the water is dripping down below into the kitchen? Did someone ignore the NO GRILLS ALLOWED policy and now the whole complex is on fire?" Although none of these thigns happened...at least while I was AWAY, the fear was always there. I love just being able to focus on my number one job, motherhood. I feel much more relaxed and more patient, which is what I have been so anxious for. I remember when I first started managing, I talked to the previous manager, and she said she was so bored without all the managing stuff to worry about. I wondered how that would be...for two and a half years....and I'm so happy to report, I am NOT bored! I go for walks in the morning, help do yard work, I can scrapbook when I want, THIS IS AWESOME!!!! Thanks Dan, for finally graduating!!!! :)

Hello? You still there? Nah, I don't blame you for falling asleep. I just had to shout that out to the world. Oh, OH! I forgot another awesome part! I GET TO SEE MY FAMILY!!!!! I finally get to go to the Clark reunion again, and I get to see my brothers and sisters in Utah. Both my sisters have had babies, and I haven't seen anyone but my parents in over a year. WAY to long. And how long do I get to see them? AS LONG AS I WANT! (err...as long as they'll let me mooch off their floor space....)

Okay, so that's enough. Kennewick...here we come! And for all you portlanders passing through to Utah, it's just a quick 1/2 hour side-trip from I-5, so come and visit! We miss all of our friends so much, but look forward to many happy reunions to come!