Daniel & Heather & The Kid

3 Day Weekend!

2012-01-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

Went for a walk at the Theler Wetlands in Belfair with Susan,

First Snow of the Year,

Heels??

Cleaning Fish's fish bowl,

Cool new toy,

First snowman of the year with Allison,

Good weekend! :)

Dance, Dance

2012-01-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Allison was so cute, she was really getting into the dancing, watch out boys here she comes!

Two parties for the Two year old..

2012-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Horsing around..

2012-01-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Daniel the pack Mule..

Ridge and his good friends Lily and Wesley

Searching for snow

2012-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Mt Elinor today looking for snow but all we found was some dirty ice. It was very slick and someone in a truck got stuck so Daniel and a guy with a cool Jeep Wrangler pulled him out.

Meanwhile Ridge and I fed the birds.

Ridge is giving this birdie a stair down..

Is that Ridge or Scooby Due??

Birthday party for Ridge

2012-01-01T22:36:00.000-08:00

We had a little birthday party for Ridge with Daniel parents, Rachel, Tyler, and their kids. Dinner was Ridge's favorite; chicken tenders, tator tots, green beans, and root beer.. We had fun playing a few games, eating brownie/cake, and opening presents. From the picture below you can see Ridge was very excited about the candy he got from Grandma Beck.

Ridge got Cars 2, so we don't have to watched Cars 1 over, and over..

He got a pirate ship from the Fordhams which was a big hit.

Grandma Wolf had got him luggage with his name on it and says
"Going to Grandmas" he is going to be traveling in style..

Tytus give Ridge a kiss

We played a game of bean bag toss,
(see the bean bag flying through the air?)

Then it was pin the tires on the truck

Ridge cheated but he's the birthday boy so it was ok

Tyler's turn, looks like he's pointing in the wrong direction :)

Even Grandpa had a turn

The cars cake (Ridge really likes cars)

I think the ice cream was a little cold,,

Then the kids played, and played with the balloons

Pirate Adele

Ridge was nice and snug with G, G, and Garrett on the couch

then Ridge decided he wanted a hug from Garrett, he loves his cousins

Me and Ty Ty

To funny!

Birthday spankings,, but only 2

Ridge enjoying his new chair while eating left over tots

It was a fun party and even though I'm not ready for Ridge to be a year older he sure is cute!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

Daniel, Ridge and I spent Christmas with my family in The Dalles, but on the way we stopped by and visited Ridges two cute cousins Naomi and Ramona.

Ridge asked over and over for a "ride"..

Cookie bins for the cookie drop and run

Christmas morning at the Wolf house

Daniel got a giant remote control shark, it was super funny! Him and Connor had fun putting it together but sadly it didn't last long. Short story as Ridge would say it "Fish, fly, bye bye"..

Ian and Connor playing with new toys

Ian & Riley swimming in wrapping paper

Fun new "Who am I" game

Ridge enjoying some play dough

It was a good Christmas with good company, now on to the new year.

2nd Christmas Ornament

2011-12-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

I finally found the perfect ornament for Ridge's second Christmas.. He loves EeEe's (monkeys), I had taught him that monkeys say Ee Ee Ah Ah and he only caught on the the EeEe part so now that is what monkeys are called, and what monkeys say.

I gave him this little sock monkey ornament and he instantly loved it, he gave it kisses and he even gave it a piggy back ride. I don't know if he'll let me keep it on the tree since now he thinks it his own little toy.

Ridge is showing me the Mouse ornament, another favorite of his..

Ridge giving the monkey a hug.

This is the ornament I made for Ridge's first Christmas.

Pre-Christmas

2011-12-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

We had our little family Christmas a week early this year. We were excited to see how Ridge would react to his gifts now that he's a little older. His first request was his saw, he needed it to saw open the presents. He sure was cute and we had a great morning.

And now we get another Christmas next weekend, Yippee!!

We got him age appropriate Lego's but he was a little disappointed there were no guns or swords but it didn't take long for him to figure out that he could build guns and swords.

The big hit of the morning was his little T-ball set, its small enough he can do everything all on his own, he thought it was pretty cool!

cheese ball!

Quick family photo before church that turned out blurry, bummer.

That night we had dinner and a little gift exchange with Daniel's parents, Grandparents, Tyler and Rachel and their kids. We wont be here on Christmas Eve with them so we were very happy to still get together and share a little Christmas Cheer.

Adele showing off her new Pom Poms from Aunt Heather

We got "The Big Country Western" toy set and as you can see by Ridges face he was in aw and disbelief, its like a dream come true for our little Cowboy. :)

Great Grandpa and Grandma Beck enjoying the crazy kids

Grandma Debbie and Tytus

Ridge loves his cousins Garrett, Spencer, and Adele

Ridge liked Uncle Tyler's chatter teeth..

Loves fake Santa, not real Santa..

2011-12-21T22:32:00.001-08:00

Ridge can spot Santa out of any crowd and find the tiniest Santa ornament, sticker, or magnet,, but he has no interest in sitting on Santa's lap! Maybe next year..

Few More Thanksgiving Pictures..

2011-12-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

My sister made me a disc of pictures from other peoples cameras, so here are a few more random pictures from Thanksgiving weekend in Newport Oregon.

Yum!

Daniel is the best jungle gym,, the kids loved him.

(Daniel is somewhere under that pile of kids, I think Ridge is sitting on his face.. hehe.)

Connor taking Riley for a walk

look at Symon (the dog), funny!

Happy cowboys

Watching the seals sleep..

Ha! Clayton looking, um, bloated..

a family that crabs together stays together. :)

cousins being cute

There is something so funny about a crying baby, especially when its because there are no more cookies..

My little Cutie Patootie!

2011-12-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

I'm almost 2!!

Ridge likes movie time but he has to have his Popcorn!
The other day Ridge wanted me to blow bubbles, he was holding a tiny Lego sword and ran around stabbing the bubbles making fighting noises. Boys don't need to be taught these things, it all comes naturally. :)
He has a few different voices these days, he'll growl talk with a deep gruff voice, or he does a frog/Peewee Herman voice, both of which crack me up..
He helps put my folded laundry into the appropriate rooms, but just throws it on the floor so it doesn't always stay folder.
Its amazing how much he knows and understands. He knows things have a name, and he understands what I'm telling or asking him,,, but he still can't quite communicate what he is thinking and/or feeling especially when grumpy, its still a bunch off whiny gibberish. But I'll be sad when he looses he cute little voice and baby talk.
One day we walked outside and he saw the neighbors inflated Santa decoration then he said "Santa ho ho" its was so cute and unexpected. That was something Grandma Beck had taught him. Now he loves Santa and any Santa we see he says Hi then bye, he's so friendly.
I am constatnly amazed at how fast Ridge is growing, how smart he is, and how much I let him get away with things because he's so darn cute!! :)

Christmas Tree and Christmas Parade

2011-12-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Saturday Ridge and I tagged along with our neighbors and did a little Christmas shopping then picked out a Christmas tree, it was a lot of fun! I get a little inpatient when it comes to Christmas trees so instead of waiting for Daniel to get home to help put it up I did it all on my own. It was easy as pie, I vacuumed the tree off in the garage, accidentally broke a few branches in the process, then I brought it in tried to put it up but found it was too tall, so I got a hand saw and cut off part of the trunk, got saw dust all over the floor along with a little blood, then it was the right height but the base was too wide for the tree stand so I did some more sawing, then got it in, up, even, watered, lights on and started decorating when Daniel got home. Next year I might wait for him, or buy a chainsaw.. :)

Ridge woke up from his nap in time to help decorate
(hence the funky hair and outfit)

I just realized this is a terrible picture of the tree its not fully decorated and its blurry. oops..

That night Ridge and I met up with friends and watched the Christmas parade. Ridge was cute all bundled and in his stroller, he calmly watch and occasionally waved or pointed at the Snowman and Santa.

He got a front row seat on his own while I stood back and watched from the curb.

Thanksgiving weekend in Newport Oregon!

2011-11-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we rented a house with my family in Newport Oregon. It was a long drive but we had so much fun. We got up around 4am Thursday and when we got there Daniel headed out to go crabbing with the boys and I stayed to help with dinner and finish pies. By the afternoon it was sideways rain so we were all huddled inside waiting for the big feast.

Clayton and his family were there as well as Tawnya's family but April and Valorie didn't make it this year.

Later that evening the rain stopped and we played on the beach in the dark with the kids until a sneak wave got us wet and almost swept Ayden and her rubber boots out to sea, so we went in..

Friday morning I must have been a little too excited to go shopping because I woke up at 4:15 and started getting ready thinking it must be at least 7am, however I didn't have a watch or clock and it wasn't until Bill woke up and told me the time that I realized my error. Ridge must have also been excited because he woke up too so we had a snack then went back to bed.

After shopping the guys went shooting and we played on the beach which was so nice since we lucked out with sunny 50+ degree weather both Friday and Saturday. The rest of the weekend we explored the sea life on the rocks at low tide (in the dark), did family photo shoots, walked around the old down town, went claming, played games, watched movies, ate lots of pie, and then said goodbye..

It was a good thanksgiving and I very blessed and thankful for my hard working husband and our fun, little, crazy Ridge!

Ridge loved the "bubbles" and the orange guns..

Connor tried to stay on the log while the wave came up around him but he'd chicken out at the last minute and run for shore but get wet in the process.

Ridge and Ayden running for freedom

Clayton, Chelsea, and Ayden (cute little family)

some of us but not everyone

Riley loved scooping up the "bubbles"

Tawnya and Symon

ooh, look at the little crab

little buddies finding treasures

Ridge, Daniel and I on a walk at 6:30am, no we did not get much sleep over the weekend!

I'll probably post more pictures from everyone else's cameras when I get them.

What Ridge puts up with..

2011-11-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

Ridge might think twice next time before giving his Daddy tape...

The funny thing was is Ridge just sat there and let him, he didn't fuss at all, he was actually enjoying it.

The above picture is my favorite;

Ridge looks a bit concerned now that he saw his reflection in the mirror, while Mom is taking a picture,

and Dad is laughing!

He didn't really like the tape ripped off,,, sorry bud..

Videos in the leaves

2011-11-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to rake leaves!

2011-11-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to get pictures of Ridge in the leaves and Saturday morning I had my chance, it wasn't raining yet and due to the wind the night before we had a bunch of leaves in our back yard. Ridge was a very good helper raking up the leaves and a very good sport when mommy kept taking pictures..

He would run then flop into the leaves.

Oh my, Ridge always has some kind of gun (wooden drill) in his hand, and he looks like a little sniper.

don't worry he's smiling..

Party for Kingston

2011-11-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ridge went to his buddy Kingston's 2nd birthday party on Saturday, it was a very cute party and Ridge had a fun time.

What cute cupcakes!

Ridge and Kingston

Yum

They had this cool blow up jumpy gym thing in the dinning room, it was a huge hit!

Is it work or play??

2011-11-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ridge and I went to Tawnya's house Thursday night and Friday. My parents were there for the weekend and we all helped install the septic field at their property and played a little with the excavator. It was a good visit, good to get outside and work, and Ridge had fun with his cousins like always.

Is someone behind me??

I want one of these.. :)

Halloween

2011-11-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!

Monday at work we had our annual costume contest, my coworker and I were cave women, there was a lot of great costumes so I didn't win anything but it was still lots of fun. I got off work a half hour early and walked Ridge around so people could see him and so he could do some trick or treating. He was a hit!! everyone loved his costume.

The rest of the evening we spent at home with my friend Suzan and visiting with other friends and family that stopped by. This was also our first year passing out candy so we had a busy evening.

Lily and Wesley as super cute Dorothy and Gnome!

Cousin Adele as the beautiful Princess Leia

Cousins Spencer and Garrett as handsome Hans Solo and Luke.

And don't forget little Chubaca! What a little ham. :)

stage 1 of the make up removal process

stage 2

and stage 3.. the tub was filthy!

Suzan brought over her air popper and Ridge was very excited to watch pop corn be made. He got to stay up late and watch the opening credits of our movie and eat some pop corn then it was bed time.

We had a great Halloween and are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

Friday night Halloween Party

2011-11-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Friday night Ridge and I went to the church Halloween party, he looked very cute and was a little shy but still enjoyed getting free candy.

He loved this big spider!

Ridge's good friends Wesley and Lily were there.

When Ridge and I first arrived we were talking with people in the hall way and I heard someone say "Heather its me, Kelly" I had no idea that this creapy Grim Reaper was my friend, she looked great!!

Fishy

2011-10-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Ridge has recently discovered fish and he loves them.. He sat here happily looking at the fish for a while then he turns to Kelly and says,

"hold fish". That boy loves holding everything from babies, and cars, to fish... Whenever he asks to hold something he folds his arms like he's acting out what he wants to do, I think it's super cute to see him come up to you with his arms folded saying "hold fish, peas, hold fish"..

I asked Daniel if we could get Ridge a fish and he said

"No they are too stinky, I want to get him a dog instead"..

(Ha, like dogs arn't stinky..)

Fun with the Autumn leaves..

2011-10-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ridge and his buddy Terek!

New PUD#3 Building

2011-10-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

My work is building a new Big office! Currently we have three buidings; one for customer service, another for administration, and another for engineeing, and our warehouse is on the other side of town.. It will be so nice to have all the offices together in one location and its fancy!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ridge and I carved pumpkins together, he really, really, enjoyed stabbing his pumpkin with a butter knife. His pumpkin is a little white/green one that he picked out at the pumpkin patch and called his baby. Its a nasty little thing that is already molding and now has tons of stab marks but Ridge loves it.

Sharp looking little man.

2011-10-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday Ridge looked all grown up

He even picked out his own socks, hehe.

Earning a Treat

2011-10-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ridge is a very good helper, after dinner I will hand him items from the table and he will put them in the fridge, garbage, or sink, its really cute to watch and he enjoys helping. So one time I gave him a treat from the jar, now every time he helps he points to the jar and says "teat".. How can I say no..

Random videos I found on my camera

2011-10-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

He's a well rounded kid.

2011-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I am glad Ridge is in tune with his feminine side. :)

I took these with my cell phone so the quality isn't great and I had to post all of the pictures because they were too funny...

Birthday bash with the girls..

2011-10-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

A little dinner at the Rusty Tractor in Elma, then

Bowling!!

Thanks girlies for being so great, I had a wonderful time!!

My Birthday!

2011-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

For my birthday we had a Chocolate Chip Cookie contest at work. A hand full of my coworkers all baked homemade cookies, then I ate one, or two, or three of each until I decided which was my favorite. Everyone got to vote on their favorite but I had the final say and the winner was named CS Cookie Maker of 2011. Everyone had a lot of fun and I enjoyed all the yummy cookies!!

We also had a 6 foot Subway sandwich, SO YUMMY!!

Wendi was the winner of the Cookie contest, her Chocolate Chip Cookies were just how I like them, Congratulations! Her award was a cookie monster shirt and spatula, hehe..

Wedding Rehearsal and Dinner

2011-09-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

My brother Clayton got married September 24th in Salt Lake City, UT. Ridge and I got to fly down for the weekend and be apart of all the action, we had a wonderful time.

They got married in a big warehouse type building, it was a little ghetto well maybe a lot. When we pulled up to the building for the first time I was a little nervous since its in a part of town I wouldn't normally go to alone or at night. But they worked hard on the place, had very nice decorations and a very nice wedding.

Ridge helping clean, or just looking cute.

Clayton showing off his wedding site

It looks like there are spots on my camera lens but that was just all the dust that was in the air.

There was a cool freight elevator in the building that everyone had fun riding on, and that Clayton and Chelsea came up in before they walked down the aisle, it was neat.

Ridge found a cane and was riding around on it like a horse.

Scott trying to give Valorie a boost

We all went to Chuck-A-Ramas for dinner

We have no idea what Scott was looking at but he sure thought it was funny.

This is Aiden one of my new cute nieces

The hairy guys behind me is Clayton's friend from Alaska who is a gold miner, cool..

Cute little Ashley looking very mature in Ridge's sweater

Sexy Sisters

Um, Seth I was taking a picture of the wedding invitations not you..

Clayton and his Best Man, Chris Carter

April and Jason, looking good!!

No Comment..

Joseph is a toy inventor so he has cool apps on his phone that the kids thought were neat,

and so did Jason and Seth..

The excited Father of the Groom

My mom was very happy Ridge was holding her hand.

When we all finally left the restaurant we change the name from

Chuck-A-Ramas to Chunk-A-Ramas and this picture of ridge shows you why. haha!!

Last minute wedding prep and a little fun

2011-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

My new sister in-law made us these cute little tu-tu skirts, it took us a while to figure out how to wear them but we had fun doing it..

and we had fun trying on our new shoes!

Picture below: Valorie I think we should have worn our skirts like that, totally hot! hehe..

Now our outfits are complete, all we needed was the hunky Groom :)

Joseph found another use for the skirts, very nice..

Recreating the past

2011-09-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

Clayton's last night of freedom

2011-09-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

My Brothers Wedding

2011-09-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

The Big Day for Clayton and Chelsea

Chelsea made the cake, it was amazing!

Cute picture! But Scott whats with the creepy hand behind Valorie's back..

I told my dad to stand by the wall for a picture and this is what he did, silly man..

Here is Valorie and Clayton posing for a picture and my dad not realizing he is in the way :)

Izaac enjoying a yummy sugar cookie

My mom has always been taller then us girls,,, but not when we wear high heels..

reality check..

Now everyone on the street knows who was getting married

Ethan with a dirt mustache and goatee

Ridge loves his chicken nuggets

fun with a random frame that was lying around

Cutting the cake,, be nice..

My hilarious cousin Joseph

the cute sweaty newly weds after shakin' it on the dance floor.

the not so cute couple after some vigorous dancing.

loves with the new sister in-law

last minute car decorating,, eew, not cool,, but funny..

Congratulations and good luck with the next stages of life!! :)

Fun at Aunt April and Uncle Jason's house

2011-09-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tanner teaching Ridge how to play the piano

Ridge's new cheesy grin

Ethan getting a lap dance from Uncle Clayton

hanging out

what happens after 2am..

Getting in trouble for staying up so late..

Quick little Birthday Party for April and I

2011-09-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

My Birthday is the 28th and Aprils is the 29th so we had a little party together in Utah.

FYI, my family sets each gift on your head says "heavy, heavy hang over your head, what are you going to do with it", then lists off ideas of what to do with the gift on your head then you have to pick one.

It's a fun tradition.

The head scratchier that April got from Valorie was a big hit! (it feels soo good)

Ridge likes watching "Wipe Out" on TV

2011-09-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Rainy family walk

2011-09-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

We went to a little state park near Steamboat Island and had fun family walk in the rain. It was a very pretty place so we'll probably go again.

Helping with the Laundry

2011-09-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

2011-09-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ridge and I went to The Dalles for the weekend, it was my 10 high school reunion so Valorie flew down to go with me but instead we ended up just enjoying time together amongst other things..

Ridge helping frost the brownies.

Valorie being beautiful

Valorie making Ridge beautiful

He loved his toes painted so much he wanted his nails done.

My best friend Kaitlyn who I haven't seen in about 7 years just happened to be passing through The Dalles this weekend, it was so fun to see her and I'm so excited she is moving closer!

Ridge likes trucks.

Ridge at 20 months

2011-09-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ridge had his 18 month Dr appointment at 20 months. He does so good at the doctors office, he just sits there and lets the doctor check him out while he calmly watches.

I think at his last appointment he had a recent growth spurt because he was above average on his measurements but this time he was back to being my little average Joe.

Height = 33 1/2 inch (50th %)

Head = 48 1/2 Cm (50th %)

Weight = 26 lbs (35th %)(He usually weighs more then this but he didn't eat much dinner the night before, and had a major blow out that morning so he was definitely skinnier then normal).

Ridge is right on track with his development and still growing way too fast.

He loves playing with other kids and roughhousing.

He loves toy guns and making anything into a gun!

He will give you a toy or stick then try to sword fight with you.

He loves, loves, holding/kissing/hugging babies.

He talks a lot, his first sentence was "Where'd Daddy go?"

He tip toes all around.

He really likes Root Beer and can chug a small cup full.

He is a good helper, he helps rinse dishes, and puts the wet clothes into the dryer.

He has 4 different smiles, one is a courtesy smirk, one is his big happy smile, one is his cheesy smile for the camera, and one is his mischievous smile..

He knows he is funny and likes to make us laugh.

He does new cute things everyday and gets us wrapped around his little finger more and more!!

Lake of the Angels and beyond..

2011-09-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Daniel and I got up around 5am Monday morning and hiked up to Lake of the Angels. Its a hike we've done a few times before but a favorite. Each time we go we hike to a different destination beyond the lake, this time we hiked along the Mt. Hopper way trail. It was so much fun, we hiked from one mountain Ridge to the next, scrambled up rocks, and slid down snow fields. We hiked for over seven hours and stopped only long enough to enjoy the views, eat a snack, and take a few pictures. We were like two little mountain goats, well until the way down then we were like a crippled old couple, hiking downhill is hard on the joints!!

Daniel at Lake of the Angels, we didn't hang out here long there were way too many mosquitoes!

I sure love the mountain wild flowers and even though its almost Autumn time all the flowers were just coming out like it was spring.

Pictures never show how beautiful a field of flowers truly are.

Smoke from the Duckabush fire. :(

Photo above and below is the snow field we slid down, it was a little steeper then we realized but oh so fun..

One of the Hegan Lakes with snow still on it in September, Crazy!

One of the rocks we got to scramble up

Too bad we don't get to do that every weekend..

Mt Rainier

2011-08-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

We wanted to go to Mt Rainier for the day on Saturday and Daniel said if we do we have to get up at 6am to avoid the crowds. We managed to get there by 8:30 and it was a beautiful day, beautiful blue sky, and beautiful views. We went on a short hike (that's about all we can do carrying a heavy kid on your back) up to Snow Lake and Bench Lake. It's almost the end of August yet it looked like spring, everything was so green, the flowers were freshly in bloom, and there was still a good amount of snow in some areas. We couldn't have asked for a better day and we had lots of fun. And luckily we did get an early start because when we left at about 12:30 the parking lots were full and there was a line almost a mile long of cars wanting to get into the park.

We love family living close..

2011-08-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Daniel's sister Rachel and her family moved to Olympia so we are very excited to see them more often. Saturday they invited us out to roast hot dogs, we had a very good time and I think it's an understatement to say Ridge loves hanging with his cousins!!

Adele and "Buddy Ridge" as she called him.

Ridge trying to give her a kiss

Just being cute

Fun game of "Kanjam" and for the record, Rachel and I were the champions!

How sweet are those two!

Bath time!

mines the white one :)

How many dirty kids fit in one tub??

Adele lookin' stylish

Two little monkeys left in the tub

Um, kids the waters all gone..

and then there was one..

Wild Waves

2011-08-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ridge has gone to Wild Waves twice now with his friend Terek. He loves the rides but doesn't like getting off them, and he really, really love the wave pool. I didn't get to go with him but I'm just glad he had fun and isn't afraid of water.

Wolf/Burton/Beck Camp Out

2011-08-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Friday 8/5/11 we went camping with my family up at Lake Whynoochee. My parents picked Ridge and I up Friday afternoon and when we got to the camp ground there was only one site left and one overflow site left. We snagged up the last site and took a sigh of relief, that was a little too close.. I had been stressing all week about getting a camp site so late on Friday but its a non reservation campground and I had to work half day Friday so we were just hoping there would still be an open site.. Anyway Tawnya and her family arrived a little later and Daniel drove up that evening after work. We all had a great time visiting and we thought we lucked out and had the perfect camp site. It was next to one family who had a trailer and were super quiet and the bathrooms. But it wasn't till that night that we realized that behind the bathrooms was a large, loud group! They had music on loud and were very noisy, we new they were just having a good time but you still have to be respectful of the close quarters, and of quiet hours. At about midnight I finally got ear plugs for Daniel so he could sleep and not go get in a fight, then at about 1am I'd had enough and drove down to the camp host who wasn't there (he was smart and went home for the night), so I finally got ear plugs for myself, then at about 2am I heard other campers asking the group to be quiet. At that point I have to admit I was wanting to go slash their tires, run over their sterio, or sound off a blow horn at 5am to wake them all up. But instead, Saturday we enjoyed the morning and the rest of the day.

uh oh, Ridge found the cookies

Connor made his own hot dog stick

Ridge ready to cook some marshmallows

Daniel cooked everyone a yummy breakfast

Went on a little hike to a waterfall, too bad it wasn't warmer weather because it was a perfect swimming spot

The Wolfs

Mr Frog

The Burtons

The Becks

Ridge and his cousin Riley, they're little buddies

My dad rafting with Connor and Ian,

guess my dad decided he wanted to raft alone, hehe

Now I just need a cup of Lemonade

After camping, hiking, and swimming, we went to Montesano and had burgers and huge ice cream cones!

My dad and his partially eaten large ice cream, yes it started out even bigger then that, he was in ice cream heaven!

Sunday stroll

2011-08-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

What a perfect day to take an evening stroll up the Skok Valley and play by the river.

Ridge loves throwing rocks,,

Wow, look at his splash! ;)

I gladly gave up a day at work for a day at the Zoo..

2011-07-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ridge and I went with my friends Kelly and Jamie and their kids to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Ridge, Terek and Allison

I loved the Elephants, This one liked his picture taken..

Ridge and I watched as Allison and Terek got to ride on a Camel

Cutie

Ridge brushing a goat above

and

feeding a goat below,,, what fun!

I don't remember what these flowers are called but they are my Favorite!!

Someone forgot to tell Ridge not to eat the crayons

Wow, look at that shark..

The group

Grandpa Camp weekend 2011

2011-07-25T22:10:00.001-07:00

Ridge got to participate in this years Grandpa Camp weekend and he had a great time. Ridge is lucky to have 13 cousins just on the Beck family side and I'm sure there are more to come.

Camp started Friday morning, we didn't make it in time for pancakes but Ridge still got checked in by getting his weight and height, then he was given the camp shirt and necklace.

Ridge giving Sienna loves,,

as you will see Ridge LOVES babies. He gave each of them hugs and kisses over and over and over.

First on the agenda was as trip to Cabelas and of course all the kids loved seeing the animals and fish.

I love the Bum shots :)

Ridge "trying" to give Adele loves

After Cabelas we went home and had a fun lunch prepared by Rachel, it was called

Grandma's Goofy Garden.

Ridge giving Titus loves

Ridge loved picking and eating the Huckleberries

Ridge just being Ridge..

Steve made this amazing kid size kayak, it is a beautiful boat, it fits the older grand kids perfectly and they loved taking it out for the first time.

Steve also has a drift boat that he made a while back, it works great for taking the little kids around.

This is everyone; each of Daniel's 4 sisters and their families

Grandma and Grandpa Beck and their 14 grand kids

Yes they're twins. :)

This guy was sunbathing in the middle of Kneeland park, it was too funny I had to get a picture.

Ridge wasn't interested in the archery he just wanted to beat the bushes with the arrows

The blow gun clan

Ridge giving Lydia loves

Of course I didn't offer to help Hector carry two kids and all the beverages, I just took his picture.

Pickleball anyone? But watch out these guys don't mess around.

Boat making

The cutest non-diaper bubble bum ever.

Ridge enjoyed bobbing around the pool in the hot sun.

Sad,,
now Happy..

Grandpa Camp 2011 was very fun, we enjoy spending time with family and Ridge loves playing with his cousins. I can't wait till next year to see how much the kids have grown and see what new additions there are..

At church on Sunday Tyler blessed his new baby boy Titus, it was very special and we were all there.

Debbie gave all us girls a beautiful necklace made from one of her Grandma's necklaces, it was very special to her and is now very special to each of us.

Do you think Daniel is ready for another little baby?

Sunday night after Grandpa Camp, Daniel was able to take the boys that were left camping up at Deer Park, from the looks of it I think they had a great time and beautiful views.

hehehe... see any bugers?

That's either a very friendly buck or very hungry..

Yummy Berries and Ugly Slugs

2011-07-14T16:20:00.001-07:00

This has been such a bad year for Slugs, they are everywhere and eating my berries and flowers! Usually I throw the slugs in the road and let them get run over but this year there are too many, so I put about 20 in a bucked and dumped salt all over them with some water so they floated to their salty death.. And luckily it has also been a good year for my berries so despite the slugs we still have lots of Blueberries, Strawberries, and Raspberries..

Ridge is a good berry picking helper, it took him a while to realize he liked the berries but he loves to feed them to you..

Well, I thought he was a good helper till he dumped the bucket and found that stomping on the berries was more fun..

Good Bye Big Tree

2011-07-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had a little wind last week and some branches from the big maple tree fell into our neighbors yard. Long story short they complained and in order to make everyone happy (except us) and to eliminate any possible future complaints, insurance claims, or law suits we had to cut the tree down. We did not want to because it was a nice beerier between us and our neighbors and now its wide open. And it was also money that we were not planning on spending, but we found a tree guys who was reasonably priced, and now hopefully there won't be any future complaints from the neighbors.

Before

During

After

We left a tall stump in hopes that new branches will grow

18 Months

2011-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Ridge turned 18 months on July 3, I'm finally starting to realize he's not my baby anymore. It's sad but he is such a fun 18 month old that I guess its ok. And maybe someday soon I can have another baby.. (just kidding!!)

Here are a few tidbits about my growing boy:

He can now go to nursery at church, but its right during his nap time so he might not enjoy it for a while, and I like having him with me at church so I'm not too excited about it either.

He is a tip toe walker. It's so cute to see him walking around on his tip toes, but I can never seem to get a picture of it.

He loves books! He'll climb up on the couch and read his books.

He still loves to say "No" but his vocabulary is growing, some words are Drink, Bubbles, Balloon, Kitty, Neigh Neigh, Sock, then there's "wow" , "uh-oh"and "owey" and of course his favorites Ball, Dog, Car and Gun..

One of my favorites,, he can throw his Diaper in the garbage and put his dishes in the sink! But I have to be careful because I told him to put his bottle in the sink and I later found it in the garbage, and once I found it in the clothes hamper.

He loves finding, poking, blowing on, and stomping bugs.

When I give him a hug or hold him he pats my back, its so sweet.

He kisses everything, he'll kiss the pages on his book, his stuffed animals, his blanket, toys, etc.

If he is not wearing pants he's figured out how to take his diaper off, but watch out because he might poop in the corner of the living room, eew!

When I'm going t take his picture I say "smile" and he gives me a big grin, its so cute, but I have to be fast with the camera before the moment is gone.

Ridge LOVES babies!! he say "baby, baby" and he wants to hold them, hug, them, and kiss them over and over and over..

July 4th weekend in The Dalles

2011-07-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

My sister Valorie brought her boyfriend from Texas home to meet the parents so of course we all had to come too. Clayton and his girlfriend and her daughter came up from Utah and Tawnya's family was there. We had a great time. Saturday Daniel took my oldest nephew Connor squirrel hunting while I went hiking to some waterfalls up the Gorge. Seth, me, Valorie, Scott, Chelsey, Clayton

The Oneonta hike is a lot of fun, you have to walk through the water most of the way and since we had such a wet winter the water level was so high we actually had to jump in and swim a section of it. Yes, it was VERY cold!!

The boys think their so cool showing off there muscles,,

But I can do it too, hehe..

Horse Tail falls

Siblings having fun..

Scott wanted to stand under a waterfall but Oregon water is not as warm as it is in Texas!

That evening we did the traditional float down the Klicatate River. Daniel went in the drift boat with Bill and kids while Ridge and I watched from shore and played in the sand with Tawnya and Grandma. Ridge will get to go next year in the drift boat not the kayak..

the Gang

me and Connor

Ian and Ridge, (Ian is so good with his little cousin)

Clayton and Chelsey in the Kayak

Bill, Daniel, Aden (Chelsey's daughter) and Riley

My dad taking on the rapids on his own.

Valorie, Scott, & Connor in the raft (Connor was there to keep his eye on the little love birds)

Ridge loves gettin' dirty!

My cute nephews!

Tawnya's pup really did not want to go in the water, too funny!

Ahh, Auntie love

Sorry Ridge I think your getting a little too big..

I found the test of approval Valorie had given Daniel when we were dating so I copied it and gave it to Scott to take. Then I gave him the "Ultimite test",, he had to make chocolate chip cookies then each of us got to score the cookies from 1-10. Our family loves cc cookies and have made them our whole life so Scott was a little nervous. He did a great job but definitly has room for impovement. However my dad gave him and A for effort so I guess he passed.

Connor already running from girls at age 11

Ridge got a soft air gun from Aunt Valorie (she sometimes forgets how young he is),, but she learned her lesson after he shot her. It was so funny, all the boys got a gun and out of no where Valorie yipes and hits Scott thinking he had just shot her. He admitted it wasnt him so we all looked around and I was holding Ridge who had his finger on the trigger and the gun aimed at her.. We had no idea the gun was loaded and will definitly never let him play with a loaded gun again till he's much older. Ridge however doens't care if he has bullets he spent the rest of the time on the hill like a sniper shooting all the other kids, he loves guns..

There's a new Sheriff in town..

2011-07-01T08:47:00.001-07:00

I found this little Cowboy vest at the antique store and I had to get it for Ridge! He is our lil' Cowboy and a cute one at that. Now I just need to find him little boots.

He does like the vest he was just really tired and I was trying to make him pose for pictures. So I'm sure there will be more happier pictures to come.. :)

4 day weekend!

2011-06-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Daniel and I took off work Thursday and Friday June 23-24. We camped at the base of Hurricane Ridge on Wednesday night. It was the first time camping with Ridge and the first time we'd camped together since the summer before Ridge was born so we were excited to go. Ridge had a lot of fun being outside and staying up late but he didn't sleep so well or should I say Daniel and I didn't sleep so well. Then Ridge woke up at 5:30 so we had breakfast, packed up camp and drove up to Hurricane Ridge to get an early start on hiking...

However,, up at Hurricane Ridge its was 35 degrees and cloudy. We walked around for about 20 minutes then decided it was way too cold!!

So instead we drove near Sequim and went to the Dungeness Spit and it was sunny and way warmer!! We had a great time playing in the sand and basking in the sun. I am so glad we didn't try to stick it out in the snow..

That evening we got stuff put away and the house cleaned then my mom came to visit because Friday we were going shopping! Daniel wasn't up for a full shopping day so he went hiking up Mt Ellinor with his friend Tim.

Ridge was well behaved considering he didn't get much of a nap, but about 5pm he was done. We dropped him off at home with Daniel and went back for more shopping, I wish stores were open later then 9pm.. :)

There is still tons of snow for this time of year so that puts a restriction on some high altitude hikes but Daniel managed to embrace it and have a fun day.

Misc Cell phone pictures..

2011-06-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

My boy is so cute!

Naked baby on the loose!!

This is not a very good pictures and Ridge has his eyes closed but I was amazed that he climbed all the way UP the slide..

Already such a difference..

2011-06-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how much kids change in such short time. This first picture was taken last fall and Jamie had to hold Ridge in the Jeep while Terek drove slow so he wouldn't fall out..

Now Ridge and Terek cruse all over as fast as the little Jeep can go. They're cute little buddies. (It's funny, Ridge holds on to the little CB radio speaker the whole time everytime.)

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Daniel turned 32 on 6/16/11

This picture was from when he turned 30 but its my favorite, and I haven't taken any recent pictures of my old husband since he's been the big 32.

Change of plans

2011-06-11T22:48:00.001-07:00

We were suppose to go camping this weekend up at Lake Whynochee and meet up with some friends. But as you can see we didn't quite make it. Luckily we had a rig full of camping gear just in case we were stranded for a long time, and I had cell service. I called Daniel's dad who has two tow truck driver friends and their phone numbers memorized. The first one I called happened to have just finished a tow job and was able to pick us up before going to the next job. We only had to wait about a half hour and we all got to squeeze in the front seat which Ridge thought was fun. We arrived home safe and now Daniel gets the opportunity to be a mechanic..

"No" to Baths

2011-06-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

For almost a week now Ridge has cried every time I've tried to give him a bath and not just being stubborn he seems scared. I don't know whats wrong or what caused it, he usually loves bath time. Finally I had to give him a bath in the sink since he was getting a little stinky and he did ok so I'm hoping it's just a phase. But he's still a cutie..

Fun in the sun

2011-06-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

We got Ridge's little Ducky tub/pool out last weekend. He loved dragging it around the house and sitting in it but I think he was really excited when I put water in it.

Hiking on a nice hot day.

2011-06-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go hiking. We hiked up the WagonWheel trail but didn't go to the lake because there was still a lot of snow. Ridge had fun hanging out in the pack, but what he really loves is throwing rocks into the river. We're excited for more warm days.

Ridge is a good little hiker.

"LOTS" of showers brings spring flowers.

2011-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

I think spring has finally come, but now the question is will we ever get summer!??

I didn't even tell him to smell the flowers, he did it all on his own.

Last minute trip to Yakima

2011-05-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

We went to Yakima over Memorial weekend to visit Daniel's sisters and their families. We had a great time fishing, enjoying the sunshine, visiting, playing, and eating great food..

The wee ones visiting with each other.

Adele was happy to see her cousin Ridge.

Ridge and Nicole

Garrett the determined fisherman.

Best Buds

How many cute faces does silly little Adele have??

Hope to see you all again soon.

We are entertained by anything and everything this kid does!

2011-05-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Ridge keeps getting more and more fun. He has become a good helper and understands a lot of what we tell him. I can't think of specifics right now but pretty much everything his does is cute and entertaining.

Ridge loves the animals at Cabela's but he can squeeze through the bars so I have to watch him closely.

Ridge loves animal shows, one night a Bear show was on Discovery and he was laughing, pointing at the screen, and stopping his foot. He is a Bear lover..

What happens if Ridge gets too close to Daddy while he is washing dishes,

If you looks close you can see the suds flying off his head..

Ridge is on a Daddy hunt,,

Success, Daddy is down..

But don't get too close or he'll get'cha..

Our little outdoor boy ready for summer,,

or you could call him an

Old Navy Advertisement.. :)

but he's still cute!

Starting some spring cleaning.

2011-05-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

Ridge makes any chore fun. :)

Kelly's Birthday party night..

2011-05-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Night out on the town with the girls = fun crazy times!

The Birthday Girl and Dorky me.

Enjoying the Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma

For Kelly's party I made her a scavenger hunt including silly things she had to do.

One of the things was do one thing each of the girls tells her to do; Jamie enjoyed that and dared Kelly to jump in the fountain. Kelly also had to sing "Tomorrow" on the corner, run up stairs like Rocky,

Walk like a Gangsta for a block,

pose by the statue,

and go dancing, we didn't have a good place for dancing so the back of her truck was the next best thing. Jamie was showing her how to get her grove on. hehe..

Summer projects have begun!

2011-05-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

Steve B helped Daniel put in a sliding glass door, I am So excited!!!

Before:

During:

I had to teach Ridge it is not okay to put holes in the wall unless you are wearing a

Bennett Painting Co. shirt..

We were lucky it was a nice day.

(Ridge is in his highchair in the kitchen watching)

All Done:

Thanks boys it looks AMAZING!

Now we just need a deck :)

"Can we keep him?"

2011-05-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

One night Daniel found a baby Possum outside, he was a cute little thing but feisty! Later that week we started noticing little poop piles in the garage next to Sammy's water bowl, we finally realized the baby Possum must be trapped in. Daniel looked all around the garage but couldn't find the critter so he put a live trap out and sure enough once night time came we caught the little bugger..

In this first pictures he almost looks cute and cuddly.

But don't be fooled by the sad innocent look, he was arching and hissing at us.

Ramona Dawn

2011-05-09T21:33:00.001-07:00

We got to meet our little niece Ramona on Sunday at her baby blessing. She is a very beautiful and chill baby. We had a good time visiting and are excited to see them again soon.

Ridge loved Ramona and kept wanting to give her kisses.

Leah and Naomi

Joe was more focused on burping Ramona then smiling for the picture. :)

The cutest Uncle and Cousin!!

Turn that frown upside down,,

2011-05-02T08:08:00.001-07:00

I noticed in a lot of pictures of Ridge he has a straight face. It's funny because he is a happy boy but sometimes he takes his play very seriously so it's hard to get a smile picture, and sometimes he just won't smile for the camera. So last night I was pinching him to get some pictures showing his smile.

Afternoon Outing..

2011-05-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

We took Ridge to a little section of state owned beach on Harstien Island where Daniel had worked on when he was a park aid. Ridge loved trowing rocks into the water, I was able to distract him a few time and have him dig in the sand but then he'd go right back to throwing rocks and I pretty much just took picture after picture.. Everyone says digital cameras are great because you can take all the pictures you want and delete them later,, but honestly is hard to delete them! If its blurry that's one thing but all the others are too cute to delete even if I have hundreds.

"What did you say mom, eat the sand?"

(I was trying to wipe off his face after this picture so

I wasn't able to get the pictures of his mouth full of sand)

looks like he's showing off his red undies, hehe..

Ridge happy as a clam throwing a rock

Is that a seal or an otter? Nope it's Sammy!

Little stinker looked down on purpose.

Um, Ridge you have a stick coming out of your ear. :)

I was experimenting with the zoom, but how could I delete that face..

Ducking under the log

The day wouldn't be complete without him getting wet and dirty!

Playing with a new litter of puppies

2011-05-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

He loved giving them kisses,,

but he also liked to pick them up then drop them so we had a little lesson on being gentle..