Vi turns 5

 Violet turned 5 last week!  Happy Birthday sweet princess!  Violet had a great birthday.  We went out to dinner with G and G Corier and had cake a presents at their house that night.

 Vi has been asking for this cake for months.  She was so excited when we opened the box.  Peter got her trick candles and it was pretty funny.  She kept shouting...OH NO!  it isn't working!

 On Friday we had a party with the Wright family.  The girls love pinata's for their birthday.

 They have yet to break one open on their own, luckily there were a lot of helpers there that day ;)

 Claire is very serious about her pinata duties.

 Diana found a baker in shelton that made this adorable rapunzel cake for Violet.  Tangled is a favorite cartoon in our house (it even has inspired  V to cut her hair a few times)

 Present time!  Vi got so many wonderful presents and she had so much fun.  I can't believe she is 5 already.

 Vi got a rapunzel costume from her Aunt Diana and Claire is in love with the shoes.
they are heels! starting young!

 V as Rapunzel the bride.  She is in love with this costume and wears it all the time!  Thank you Aunt Diana!

 Claire takes a turn as Rapunzel

Dress up time!

Hope everyone is doing well.  We are excited for the Corier Reunion in a few weeks.  It is going to be very fun.  I would like to celebrate Claire's birthday while we are at the beach since everyone is here, so come ready for cake and party games! :)

MICHAEL JAMES WOOD  18 APR 2012  WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MY YOUNG FRIEND

MOM AND I WERE IN HOUSTON FOR THIS DELIVERY, ABOUT 1/4 PAST 11PM EMILY CAME DOWN STARIS AND SAID THAT IT MIGHT BE TIME TO GO. JONATHAN VERY CALMLY PICKED UP HER BAG AND THEY WERE OUT THE DOOR.  GRANDMA LOOKED AT HER WATCH WHICH READ 11:32 SHE SAID LET JUST HOW LONG THIS TAKES. BY 12:15 AM   I GET A PHONE CALL FROM EMILY SAYING HE'S HERE ALL IS WELL, WHICH WAS WONDERFUL AND AMAZING. BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW AMAZING UNTIL THE NEXT DAY WHEN WE WENT TO MEET MICHEAL AT THE  HOSPITAL IN HOUSTON WHICH IS JUST ABOUT 20 MINS AWAY FROM THEIR HOME. MICHAEL WAS ALMOST A FRONTSEAT PASSANGER SIDE BUCKET SEAT BABY.  THAT AFTERNOON BEFORE THE BIRTH , EMILY WALKED TO WESLEYS SCHOOL AND HOME JUST ABOUT 2 MILES DRAGGING ALLISON AND SAM WITH HER , MOM AND I TRIED TO KEEP UP AND HELP BUT WE SOON FOUND THAT WE WERE SLOWING THEM DOWN, SO WE LET THEM SPRINT AHEAD OF US. EMILY IS SOMETHING ELSE!

 THESE PICTURES ARE OF OUR VISIT FOR TWO WONDERFUL AND EXCITING WEEKS. GRAND MA GETS TO HOLD THE BABY A LOT, WHICH WHY WE CAME I BELIEVE.

 EMILY AND MICHEAL ON OUR 1ST VISIT, THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PICTURES

WESLEY IS A VERY THOUGHTFUL AND LOVING BIG BROTHER HE ACTUALLY MADE AND POSTED A WELCOME SIGN WHICH HE ATTACHED TO OUR BEDROOM DOOR WHEN WE CAME . AT THIS POINT HE IS IN TO CARS AND CAN TELL YOU MAKE AND MODEL  OF ALMOST ANY CAR. SCHOOL IS A SOURCE OF JOY AND EXCITEMENT FOR HIM, HE HAS LOTS OF FRIENDS THERE AND IS A VERY GOOD STUDENT.

THE HOSPITAL PROVIDED A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR ALL THE FAMILY WHICH ALL THE KIDS LOVED, THEY TOOK VERY GOOD CARE OF MICHAEL AND EMILY WE WERE QUITE IMPRESSED.

 ALL THE KIDS GOT TO HOLD AND LOVE MICHAEL, SAMMY WAS VERY VERY TENDER WITH HIM AND HAD A TON OF KISSES AND HUGS FOR HIM.

 ALLISON ON THE OTHER HAND WANTED HER MOTHER MOST AND WAS SO0 VERY GLAD TO BE WITH HER.

 ALLISON SPENT AS MUCH TIME IN BED WITH EMILY AS DID THE BABY. SHE LOVES HER MOMMY VERY MUCH

 JONATHAN IS A MODEL HUSBAND AND FATHER, HE IS GOOD TO EMILY ( WHICH IS WHAT DADS PRAY FOR ABOUT THEIR LITTLE GIRLS) HERE HE LOOKS THE PROUD PAPA AND HE SHOULD  HE IS WONDERFUL. HAPPY BIRTH DAY JONATHAN!!!

 SOME ONE MENTIONED WE SHOULD GO TO MCDONALDS AFTER OUR VISIT. SAM WAS READY. ONE DAY I WAS LOOKING AT A BOOK WITH SAM WHICH SHOW PICTURES OF ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN SPECIFIC AREAS OF THE WORLD. WE CAME TO THE PAGE ON OCEAN LIFE I POINTED TO THE OCTOPUS AND SAID SAMMY WHAT CAN YOU TELL GRANDPA ABOUT AN OCTOPUS. HE THOUGHT FOR A MIN. AND SAID " HE LIVES IN THE OCEAN AND HE'S A PUSS."  THIS GUY IS SHARP

 WHEN MICHAEL CAME HOME WE HAD A BABY SHOWER FOR HIM . THIS WAS PROVIDED BY MICHAELS AUNT ,UNCLE AND COUSINS IN OLYMPIA. ELLEN PETER VIOLET AND CLAIRE. GREAT IDEA WITH SOME VERY EXCITING GAMES AND LAUGHTS GALORE FOR A FIRST FAMILY NIGHT AT HOME FOR MICHAEL.

 OF COURSE ANY GOOD FAMILY NIGHT ALWAYS SPINS OFF INTO A GAME OF BASEBALL, EVERY ONE GOT TO HIT

 AND EVERY ONE GOT TO SCORE.

 WHAT A HAPPY FAMILY JONATHAN AND EMILY ARE. WE WERE SAD TO LEAVE BUT THEY NEEDED THEIR LIVES TO GET BACK TO AS MUCH AS NORMAL AS 4 CHILDRED CAN BRING. AS A GRAND PA  I SAY WHAT WONDERFUL HOST, FANTASTIC PARENTS, OUTSTANDING  CHILDRED AND GRAND CHILDREN, AND HUMBLE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST THE WOODS ARE.

 ON A PERSONNEL NOTE  I WAS ABLE TO ATTEND SIX SESSONS AT THE HOUSTON TEMPLE, IT IS SUCH A WARM AND FRIENDLY PLACE, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE TRAVELING IN THAT DIRECTION.

THIS LAST PICTURE IS OF ALLISON WHEN SHE WAS A WEEK OLD. SHE DOESN'T LOOK ALOT LIKE MICHAEL BUT THE COMPAIRSONS ARE FUN.


TO ALL HAVE A VERY FUNNY DAD

OLE DAD

little bit of everything

Today we went to the Procession of the Species parade for Arts Walk.  I love the Procession.  The girls love it too.  We had a great day.  We took a lunch downtown and spent a few hours in the park and then went to stake out our spot on the parade route and the girls colored and danced in the street.  It was a blast.  Here are some videos of the procession.  Everyone is dressed up like some sort of animal or element.   Any ideas as to what the tutu monster is supposed to be?

This guy dressed as a blue avatar is kind of famous in Olympia for his feather dancing.  He performs locally and I used to watch him practice at evergreen when I would go there for swim practice.

I love these dancers.

 besides the parade we've done a few other things.  We had Easter at my parents house.  The girls are starting to understand holidays and are starting to look forward to them.  They like easter because easter equals candy.

 Here's Diana and John with their easter baskets

 Mom and Dad after dinner.

 Last weekend we took the girls and went up with my family to Anacortes and La Conner to the tulip festival.  We stayed in one of the campgrounds we go to.  We stayed there last year.  I love this campground because it is right on the water and so pretty.

 Shots at the beach

 The sun came out!

 We went to the Roozengaarde display garden and tulip fields.  They have so many different kinds of tulips, it's amazing!  I wish my patio were bigger so I could grow a bunch of tulips in pots out there.

 Roozengaarde's has a large display garden that you can walk through and see all the varieties that they sell and then they have huge tulip fields with red, yellow and purple tulips.  It's amazing.

 Here are the girls back at the cabin.  Violet is starting to understand the whole "look at the camera" business...Claire is more interested in her popsicle.

 Violet's beautiful profile.  Doesn't she have a cute little nose?

 V at the campground playground.  The beach is rocky so the playground needs to be full of sand.

 Zelda is a big fan of sand, she thoroughly enjoyed vacation.  She ran in the water, rolled in something stinky on the beach and dug up all the sand at the playground.  Needless to say she got a bath when we got home!

 The rest are pictures from today.  Here are the girls having lunch down town. We sat on top of the little mound at the park by the lake.  It's actually a time capsule marker but we used it as a picnic table.

 The girls wanted to be carried and to show Peter all the ducks.

 Violet before the parades started.  We had about an hour wait so the food bank hands out chalk all along the parade route and people color all over the street and people (my girls for example) dance in the street.  It is a ton of fun!

 Dancing in the street.

 Claire told me I had to take her picture and then she stood still just for me.  It was great....now if she would just look at me :)

 Mrs. Sun

 A preying Mantis...about 10 feet tall

The Orca.

we've had a busy and fun couple of weeks.  We hope everyone is doing well.  Love ya!