Kathryn Turns THREE!

Kathryn's 3rd birthday allows me the chance to reflect on all that this third child has brought to our lives. Kathryn is a study in extremes. She has brought us the sweetest singing voice (black is for the sin I made, red is for the blood he gave, white is cleansing of my sin. . .) and the shrillest screaming (MINE, NO!). She can flash the most brillant smile or perform the deepest pout (all within a nanosecond!) She will cuddle up to read a book and then jump up to wrestle with her brother. She can bring out mommy's worst and best:-) Our family is blessed to celebrate three year with our Kathryn Grace.

We celebrated with pizza and cake with our "Ripon family": Anemas, Hoekstras, & Schoollands. It was a great time to get together, chat, watch the kids play, and sing "Happy Birthday" to Kat.

Making Kat's flip-flop cake:

The birthday girl helping to put the candies on the cake:

The finished product:

Mommy and the birthday girl:

Kat opening a gift from Grandma:

Getting some help from the sibs:

Posing in her new duds (She loved the clothes; she just wasn't happy about Mommy taking a pictures!):

Getting ready for the party:

Singing to Kathryn:

Another gift:

New jammies and princess dishes from Mom & Dad and Little Peoples horse trailer from Grandma!

Mother's Day 2011

Even as I type this post, I'm enjoying the sounds of happy workers in my kitchen:-) I had a wonderful Mother's Day! Lloyd is the hero of the day, creating a gourmet meal: marinaded peppercorn filet mignon, creamy twice-baked potatoes, seasoned green beans, and a Columbia valley red. Wow! (And he and the kids cleaned it all up too.) I'm so spoiled. I also enjoyed numerous mother's day pictures and crafts. Anika couldn't wait to give me her gifts from school so I was able to enjoy them a few days early:-)

My AMAZING meal: Anika took this pic:

The reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day = Anika, Andrew & Kathryn.

A few excerpts from Anika's special gift to me:

"She makes good meals & she loves me"

"books or flowers or a gold necklace" (Books first, I noticed. She knows her mama!)

Anika and I were having a tough moment on Fri when she tearily gave me this gift. She wanted me to see this page.

My allergies really like these flowers:-)

Anika's (New) Favorite Thing

Since we weren't going away, Anika's only request over Spring Break was to go bowling. (Of course, I forgot my camera -- that is getting to be a terrible habit!) Lloyd snapped these pics with his iphone so the quality isn't great, but hopefully the kids' delight is clear:-)

Yosemite

After three years of living within driving distance of Yosemite, we FINALLY made it. And it certainly won't be our last trip! It was simply amazing! Even though I'm prone to car sickness, I would brave this adventure again. We just took our time, stopped when we wanted to, enjoyed a picnic lunch, took a few easy, short hikes to see the phenomenal, spring waterfalls, and gloried in God's creation. I tried to par down my 100+ photos.

Yosemite Valley:

With the spring snow melt, there were waterfalls everywhere!

At Tunnel View you can see three famous Yosemite Landmarks - El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls.

Kat with the binoculars. (I'm pretty sure she never saw a thing but she desperately wanted her turn.)

The family at tunnel view:

Bridalveil Falls:

Picnic Lunch:

Our fearless leader:

A big "Yosemite" yell:

Skipping stones with Daddy. (This ranked pretty high on Anika's fav. things list. I think she is going to spend the summer in MO learning to skip stones.)

Yosemite Falls:

Half-Dome:

Hiking to Lower Yosemite Falls:

The family getting wet at Lower Yosemite Falls - beautiful, powerful. . .

Upper & Lower Falls:

Our last look at Half-Dome:

A quick trip back to let the kids hike to Bridalveil Falls. (Mom held a sleeping Kat 1/2 way down the trail -- I could quite carry her all the way up.):