Papa and Brady's Birthday

I will not reveal their ages online. :)

We celebrated Papa Greg and Uncle Brady's birthdays during the first few days of our Spring Break. I brought the kids down on Thursday and Jeff joined us Friday after work. Saturday was the big party after the guys helped Uncle Jerry paint his shop. G'ma Joan made delicious lasagna and German Chocolate Cake for the birthday dessert.

Cheerios on the piano bench. Joshy loves the farm.

Gracie knows the routine here--usually every meal precedes bath time.

April Fools' Day

I have no idea who these people are...

...and I have no idea how these pictures got on my camera.

And why are cows putting picket signs in my Grandma Trudy's yard?

Happy April 1st, Everyone!

Sweet Lauren Claudia

Lauren Claudia Largent

Born March 30, 2011

Welcomed by proud parents Ryan and Angela

and big brother Anthony

Grace and Josh have a new cousin! We got to go to the hospital to see her when she was a day old, and from our encounter, we think she's going to be a sweet addition to our family!

Lauren with her mommy, Angela

Posing for the camera at such a young age...

The kids were so curious about her. I think Josh was just aware that someone ELSE was in my lap, but Gracie was intrigued by her miniature features.

Welcome to the family, Lauren Claudia!

We look forward to many, many years of fun times together!

C'mon, Spring!

We are ITCHING to get outside to play! We've had to play in spite of cold, wind, and rain. Oh, and the April SNOW we have gotten twice, now. I keep talking about how we'll go outside a lot "when the grass turns green" so Gracie is constantly telling me that she sees green in our lawn. We have no idea what we'll do with Josh outside this year--what do you do with an almost-walking tot? I can't wait to get pictures of him eating dirt and rocks and grass... What fun! C'mon, spring!

Josh's Birthday Day--Part 2

Joshy and his ring-toy cake! Josh loves this toy, so we thought it only

fitting to create his cake to look like one. Daddy tried his hand at

fondant for this cake but thinks he'll go back to frosting next year...

Mmmm...the thumb.

Curious George partyware for our "Curious Man."

The loopy parents...can you tell we were up until 11 making cake

and up until 2 putting finishing touches on Josh's baby book?

Crazy parents!

Cousin Janie, sister Grace

Cousins Megan and Anthony

Presents! Josh got lots of fun toys and clothes...

...Gracie had the most fun opening for him.

Josh body-surfing the crowd.

He is so lovey--he visited almost everyone and snuggled in to most.

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Ben are back from Anchorage!

So fun to have them at the party.

Party hat or G'ma beak? Hmmmm...

Such a great day! We are so blessed to have so many friends

and family members who love our boy and don't mind

squishing into a small house to show him just that. :)

We can't believe a year has gone by already...

What a sweet boy we've been given.

Happy Birthday, Joshua-wa-wa!

Josh's Birthday Day--Part 1

To celebrate Josh's 1st birthday, we started the day by going out for doughnuts at Fred Meyer. He got to have an entire maple doughnut all to himself. He LIKED it.

Happy 1st Birthday, Joshua Scott!

March 26, 2011

Almost ONE!

A couple of days before Josh turned ONE, we transitioned him into his facing-forward car seat.

He claps for himself after any major task--closing the cupboard, putting his cars in a box, and in this case, sitting in his big boy car seat. He is such a happy kid!

He LOVES facing forward. What a big kid!

And he loves the dishwasher. Here he's climbed up to get closer to the dishes, but most of the time he'll stand at the edge, grab an abandoned spoon or unlucky toy and drop it in the rack to see how it plunks around and then finally falls through the rack. It's like he's playing pinball--we call him our Little Pinball Wizard.

It's so hard to say no to this face. But, not wanting to replace a dishwasher helps motivate parents to discipline. After a couple of pics, that is...

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Cousin Abby turned SEVEN this year and we went down for her party on a Sunday afternoon. Her house was packed with aunts and uncles and cousins and cupcakes and PIZZA.

We helped out with the pizza and cupcakes before we left--

and as the house emptied, we left with packed stomachs.

We love you, Abby girl! :)

Debbie & Randy Waltman

Our very good friend, Debbie Cunningham is now Debbie Waltman! She and Randy got married on March 19, 2011. We are overjoyed to see them unite their lives, and were so pleased to be part of their amazing wedding week.


These are the 1,000 tulips that the Riggs family forced--and God allowed to bloom accordingly!--to create a beautiful ceremony and reception.


Auntie Julie saved the day--Jeff had his first track meet of the season on this day (even he said, boo! hiss!) so he couldn't be with us. We were spoiled to have Julie fill the void and make the day special. Josh and Grace had to skip nap time, but Julie got Josh to fall asleep for a catnap.

Debbie's Aunt Beth was our house guest for the week--along with Zoe, her four-legged faithful companion. The kids loved having Zoe with us for a week, and Gracie thought it was "so silly" that even Zoe got to wear a dress at the wedding. Gracie got to be the flower girl and did a great job walking down the aisle. We didn't know if she'd do it, because at the rehearsal we ended up carrying her down, but she pulled it off!

Joshy with his Debbie. (In the outfit Julie ran to purchase the morning of the wedding--an outfit for Josh? Sheeesh! Skipped right over that one...)

And Josh with Auntie Cassie. He is quite the dancer.

What a beautiful day.