Marvelous May

It happened again, we blinked and another month is over!  Even though I feel like our life is getting crazier by the minute, I wouldn't trade our craziness for anything!!!
Now, I have to admit that this whole mess is really my fault.  Tori asked me where one of her toys was.  The truth- Prince ate said toy a couple months ago and it had to be thrown away.  I reminded her of this, but she just kept asking where it was.  Finally, I told her it might be in her toy boxes and she should look for it!  Half an hour later I found her like this- she did a very thorough search!!!

Check it out- Garrett's very first thumbs up!!!

We were able to spend an evening with Jared's old lab mates earlier this month.  We had a grand time eating really yummy food and catching up with some great friends.  Tori had fun playing outside, but she was absolutely in heaven when she found this dollhouse!

Garrett is already a fan of reading- what a smart kid!!!

This picture just makes me laugh!  I love Tori's crazy hair- I guess that's what a bunch of braids will do!

For one of our Family Home Evening activities we went outside to blow bubbles- Tori loved it!

Yep- one happy little girl and an awesome Daddy!!!

Garrett is a great reading companion!

I started taking this video to capture Garrett 'talking' and quickly switched to capture Tori 'walking.'  We were reminded today that if she gets wet, she gets a rash really quickly- we found that out last summer and just forgot about it.  I know it shouldn't be funny, but we cracked up all night watching her walk around- she really didn't seem to be in pain, I think it just felt strange.

It's so fun watching Garrett enjoy playing with his toys!

I sometimes wonder how she finds room enough in her bed for her books, special friends, and herself!

We saw Sister Turner after church one day and she gave Tori this beautiful rose (she had used it as part of her lesson).  Tori held it all the way home and smelled it all night long!!!

Playing hide and seek with Tori and blankie!

What a silly girl!

You might think Tori is hugging a pillow.  Nope, that would be Prince!

One afternoon we had a miracle occur- Tori actually asked if she could hold Garrett!  Jared handed her Garrett while she was sitting on the couch and she held him for about two seconds!  Of course she was all done by the time I got the camera on to capture the moment.  We tried again, but the moment had passed.  Then Tori said she wanted to hold Garrett on the slide - we did capture this one!!!

Hurrah, I have been wanting to get a good picture of these two together for the longest time!!!

Garrett has perfect crawling form- now we just need him to start moving!

This boy is a drool machine!

Welcome to the Allen and Co. dance party!

Garrett loves hanging out with his Daddy!

My two handsome boys!!!

Hurrah for another month- our May really was pretty marvelous!!!

Memorial Day

Hurrah for a day when Jared is home during the week- we don't get too many of these during the school year!  We decided that we would start our day off by visiting Sodalis Nature Park.  This is really the first hike we have gone on as a family- a pretty exciting first for Tori and Garrett!

Here are Jared and Garrett getting all ready for the hike!

We decided to tackle the Beaver trail- I think it was the shortest one.  Tori took off on a run right from the start!

Tori had so much fun finding rocks (many rocks) along the way!

Garrett was loving hanging out with Daddy!

Tori was even more ecstatic when we gave her the map- she loved making sure we were on the right path!!!

Here is the one family photo we got on our hike.  It's crazy and for that very reason I love it!  Our camera was propped up on the diaper bag, Tori did not want to be in the picture and was trying to escape, my eyes are closed, Jared has a crazy look on his face, and you can barely see Garrett.  But we are all in there!!!

Check out our cute girl and her walking stick!!!

 Tori with her map and walking stick- she was in heaven!!!

After the hike we checked out the lake for a few minutes- it really is a beautiful park and a beautiful girl!

After our hike we went to McDonald's for ice cream cones.  Now, Tori has had ice cream plenty of times, but this was the first time she had an ice cream cone- she loved it!

Love this cute girl and her smile!!!

It was super hot today and our ice cream cones hit the spot perfectly!!!

The rest of the day we just hung out and relaxed as a family.  It was such a perfect way to spend our Memorial Day together!!!

Our DJ

Jared got to DJ the Mid-singles' dance this evening.  He DJ-ed one of their dances last October and had a blast, so he was really excited to do another one.  This time around the planning committee asked him to provide an invoice.  Of course, Jared can never go half way.  He asked Douglas to design him a logo and this is what he came up with!  (Douglas is amazing and does awesome stuff!  Check out his website for more of his incredible work!!! Dougster Design )  Isn't it just fabulous- thanks so much Douglas!!!

Tori, Garrett, and I were invited to attend the dinner before the dance.  So, we all headed over early to help with getting Jared set up.  This is how Garrett helped!

And this is how Tori helped- she kept taking things off the tables (note the cup and the blue necklace used for a table decoration!)!!

While Jared was checking everything out, Garrett and I had our very first Mother and Son dance- he is a natural just like his Daddy!!!

Here he is- our very own DJ Allen!!!

The kids and I stayed for the first few songs of the dance.  It was so fun watching Tori get all excited when each new song started.  She even tried a little bit of break dancing!!!

Sadly, the attendance was a little down from the last one, so the dance ended a bit early.  But Jared still had a great time and did a fantastic job providing music for the evening!!!

Tori's Tea Party!

This afternoon Tori had a tea party and invited Grandma Allen and Garrett to attend!  Now, she has had tea parties in the past.  But Tori always seemed to be more in her own little tea party and occasionally would share a cup, plate, or spoon.  But today, she seemed to make sure that Garrett and Grandma were a part of the whole experience.  It was so cute watching her be the little hostess and sharing with her little brother!

Apparently, chewing on the dishes was part of the party!

 Garrett even got juice today (usually he only gets water!)!!

 Tori enjoyed a little juice herself!

 

This was my favorite picture of the party!!!

 Grandma got to be a part of the party, too!

 I think Garrett even got a cookie this afternoon!

 It is so fun watching these two play together!

 Our perfect little hostess!!!

Thanks for throwing such a fun party, Tori!  All in attendance had a grand time!!!

Now a Baseball Game

 Tonight we hit our last extracurricular Pike event for the school year- a baseball game!  Jared has two students on the team this year.  Tori, Garrett, and I were running a little late getting up to the school, so we only got to see the last few innings- but we still had a great time!  Once again we enjoyed a picnic dinner!

I think Tori saw even less of this game then the softball game we went to last week.  She had a grand time playing by this tree!

And throwing this ball around!

 And carrying the same ball around!  (I was really surprised she was okay with us leaving the ball there, she was attached to it all night long!)

 Daddy had a great time showing Garrett the ins and outs of baseball!!!

 Tori loved her first baseball game, too!!!

Sadly, Pike lost this game as well.  We might be bad luck when it comes to ball games!  Even so, we had so much fun as a family and being able to support a few more of Jared's kids!!!