Our little girl turns 13!

Don't you wish you had a bowling pin cut in half (with the wrong year written on it) for all your friends to sign as a memento of your bowling birthday party? Of course you do! And that is what Courtney is the proud owner of! She had a party during Spring Break at our local bowling alley and, as a party venue, it is pretty slick! All the pop they could drink, shoes, and two games of bowling - perfect! No mess, no fuss!

A quick trip to the cabin...

We headed over to one of our favorite quiet spots near Leavenworth. The infamous cabin on the creek near lake Wenatchee. We celebrated Courtney's 13th birthday there. A special cousin along made the trip extra fun! Courtney spent a good hour in one of the stores trying to decide which of the lovely Willow Tree figurines to buy!

Grandma Bunting and Nana in Chicago...

...playing tag-team babysitting. Good weather, great kids, late nights, early mornings, lot of giggles, hugs, and legos!

Afton Turns 7!

Lucky me...Courtney and I were able to head to Chicago in May to do some serious fun babysitting for Paul and Missy! And a bonus was that we were able to help celebrate Afton's birthday. Both of her Grandmas were there. Val and I overlapped for a day. What a great time we had!

Fragrance Lake Hike

What do you do with a lovely Saturday in March? You pack up a bunch of energetic kids and take them on a hike!! S, Courtney, Lauren, Tanner, Partker and I headed up to Fragrance Lake It is a good 1.9 mile steady climb. We were hungry and ready to eat when we arrived at our destination along the banks of the lake. Many hikers out yesterday made our journey more interesting. It is amazing how many people bring their dogs along. The way back down took half the time as we ran, raced, sprinted, slid, and carreened our way down the windy path. The only mishap was a little interaction with stinging nettles by P.K. (aka Parker). But we discovered that 'baby moss' helps take the sting out. (?) If you think it will, it will! :) Every good hiker knows the first thing you do is find yourself a good walking stick...right?

Announcing the addition of OTIS, the cat, to our household...

So, apparently it is not enough that we have a resident guinea pig, named Rosette. We must have pets, more pets...hence, the search for a cat was begun by Miss Courtney. We made bi-weeky trips to the Humane Society to check out the felines and scope out the options. We also took home an application to fill out, checked out books from the library and read up on cats, we priced all the cat necessities at Wal-mart and PetSmart. We did our research and our homework. Courtney even checked on line at the local newspaper website. Then, one fateful day, she googled cats here locally and, what do you know, there was a beautiful male cat right here in Conway!! His owner had rescued him from an abandoned farmhouse she used to own. She had taken him to be 'fixed' and receive his shots. She was asking about 1/4 what the Humane Society wanted for their cats. He is beautiful, soft, affectionate, does not shed, and litter-box trained!! What more could we hope for? He is adjusting to us and we to him. He has been with us since last Tuesday and, so far, so good. Welcome, OTIS. May the hunt for a pet be satisfied in you.

Cheryl and Doug = cutest couple

We had such a great time with Cheryl and Doug when they came to town for a few days. Sorry this picture did not turn out better, but they are such a darling couple. Thanks for spending time with us!!