Sweet Listenings

I'm visiting Ron's daughter Janae and her husband Peter down in Oregon for a week. Janae is on strict bed rest during the final months of her pregnancy, so there is no heavy lifting of any kind...and that includes sweet little Annabelle. So I've been one of the fortunate ones who gets to play all day with little Miss A. and occassionally fill Janae's water mug. I've had the opportunity to meet some of her friends as they have come over to visit her. She always introduces me as " my dad's wife...", which I know I am...but it sounds kinda like she's introducing the cleaning lady, or the pool boy, or the plumber that lives down the street. So the last person who came over I introduced myself as Janae's wicked step-mother. There. That sounds a little more personal. You may be thinking "Why would she title this post Sweet Listenings?"  Well this afternoon Peter was putting Annabelle down for her nap...that baby girl goes down unlike any other child I've ever seen...and I could hear them in her bedroom singing "I am a Child of God" together. She's only two! I'm telling you it was the sweetest thing ever!

Annabelle today at the park

Cannon Beach Family Gathering

Our family trip to Cannon Beach, Oregon was fabulous! Everyone had such a good time being together!

From left, top row: Chris, Angela, Jon, Ben, Erin, Bryce, Peter, Andrew, Amy, Shannon.

Middle row seated: Landon, Ron, Grandpa Talbot, Grandma Talbot, Kathy, Annabelle, Hudson, Dave.

Front row: Logan, Tyler, Ella, Nathan, Elly, Owen, Coleman.

We're missing: Sean, Vanessa, William, Gracie, Daniel and Janae : (

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  Our theme this year was THE WILLIAMS FAMILY CIRCUS....And believe me, it was very fitting at times! The cousins had fun getting to play with each other again, and Ella and Coleman were immediately included as if they were always part of the gang. That's what I love about kids...no agenda's, just come play with me. We were trying to take a picture of all the grandkids at the same time...kinda like trying to count baby chicks...I think I did get everyone in this shot except Bryce (I think he was napping).


From left to right: Hudson, Annabelle, Elly, Owen, Coleman, Landon, Nathan, Ella, Logan and Tyler.
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Of course no trip to the beach would be complete without a sandcastle! Or in our case a sand circus tent!

Everyone is packing down the sand as it is piled up....we have professionals here. It was fun to build something so big. Here is the finished product: Williams Family Circus.

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....And off to our next adventure: Walking out to Haystack Rock at low tide to see the star fish   sea stars.

(I still call them star fish) I don't think I've ever seen a real, live starfish. They are actually kinda gross. All fat and squishy looking, hanging on to the rocks by super suction leggy things....eww.

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Really, does it get any more hysterical than this??

                                                 Bryce and Owen

 

"...got room for one more?" Dave packing Hudson in the front, Coleman on top, and I was wondering if Ella was hangin' on the back!

...and this. Oh my goodness this child makes me laugh!

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Kids playing with their circus cars they painted for one of our activities.

Circus performances by the grandkiddo's!

Using their "balancing stick" they walked across the "high wire".

(with a little help from Uncle Peter, Uncle Andrew & Grandpa)

They also jumped through hoops and learned how to juggle!

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And Finally.........

Elly giving hugs to Great Grandma Talbot.

Sorry it's blurry, but I thought it was so precious.

This is what family get-togethers are all about!

A Room I Love!

Is it possible to L.O.V.E. a room? If so, I do! My newest room redo is my yummy space that my husband and I have created. It's just so much fun to be in here. I'm giving you a little taste...a mere morsel of the deliciousness of the entire space for two reasons: 1) my camera is crapazoid and 2) some of the awesomeness is covered by projects that I'm working on....a baby shower for my friends new grand baby, a project for my Primary activity day girls, and our Cannon Beach family trip surprises. That's what's so fabulous about this room, lot's of space to work on lot's of projects at the same time and I can leave it all out and come back to it. So here's a few pic's. Thanks for reading!

                                         Ribbon added to shade                                              

My Alphabet wall in the making. 








 

Mom and Dad

                                            by artist Kevin Taylor

                                  My sister's wall of adventures!

                                       One of my favorite quotes.

Where did June go??

I can't believe it's almost (like tomorrow almost) July! What happened to June? And for that matter, May! Life has got to slow down. I'm still going to write on our fabulous trip to the Islands...soon.

Grandbabies visit Washington!

I really want to tell you about my fabulous trip to Hawaii. But first I must tell you about my grandbabies coming to visit me in Washington. First 'Nessa and William came for a visit. William is a 27 pound ball of energy! It was really fun to have them here. We did some shopping and sightseeing. The Japanese L.O.V. E. little curly, blonde headed babies, and they were fascinated with Will at Pikes Market in Seattle. Grandpa Ron gave Will piggyback rides and read books and played drums with him. I let him have fun with potatoes from the pantry and the dust mops...that kid loves to push a mop around! I wish I had his energy. As soon as they were gone I missed them. The house was too quiet!                                                                 

 A few days later Shannon came up for a visit with Hudson. Hudson isn't as old as William and not nearly as mobile. It was so great to have them both here. Shannon taught me her recipe for cinnamon rolls. (delish!) and it made so many, that I had Ron take some to work. Needless to say, they were a big hit at his office! We also did some touristy things with Shannon & H.  Shannon and I went exploring to some places that I hadn't been to before, including an antique shop where I purchased some old glass fishing floats, used on fisherman's nets long ago. Ron treated us like queens on Mother's Day...complete with crowns and a lovely dinner that he and Hudson prepared for us. It was so nice to have them here, I really wish everyone could live closer.

Hawaii 2011

I love Maui. It is my favorite island.

My sweetheart and I found these heart shaped

pieces of coral *rocks, as is, on the beach. I

mounted them on a piece of grocery bag that I

 moistened, crinkled and touched up with Distress Ink,

making it look like cork. I had this frame that I found

 at Fred Meyer. It's one of those clearance items that 

border on ugly, but it was so cheap that I couldn't pass it up.

I thought I'd paint it or cover it if I ever got around to using it,

but it worked out perfectly for this Maui momento project.

It didn't come with glass, (maybe that's why it was on clearance)

but I wouldn't have used the glass anyway. So there ya go!

Easy summer art, with great memories attatched!

Minus 2 days and counting (the minutes)!

This just in: Two more days till we go on our cruise. To say I'm excited to be away with my new hubby for two weeks, is like saying the Pacific Ocean is a little damp. Film at 11:00.