Spring has Sprung!

Jacqui and I have been very busy the last couple of weeks working on the yard and making it beautiful! We have weeded and planted and landscaped and we even ran drip lines to all the plants so we don't have to sprinkle the whole area! Grandad helped with that project! We have done a lot of work and the yard is looking great. Last year, with work and school and all the construction going on out front in the street I didn't do anything with the yard and it showed... this year will be a different story. We had Senske come out and fertilize and aerate the soil... I got home after it was done and all I could think about was G&G's old J street house and how they used to get the yard aerated, and we (at least I remember I did!) all thought it was poop all over the yard because of all the little plugs pulled out of the ground (I'm sure some of the grown-ups encouraged that line of thinking for us young and vulnerable kids:). Anyways, it was a random and fun memory I thought I would share.
This is the old window in the rental...
Our other project is installing all new vinyl windows in our house, and my other rental up here in Spokane. We have gotten a few of the windows in and they look fabulous! Such an exciting thing to get to do... working on improving that curb appeal! The rental has the old single pain windows that rattle when a bus goes by and that are essentially worthless when it comes to energy efficiency. So I'm excited to be able to get those done so the house is more energy efficient and it helps the renters significantly with the heating bill and what not. I haven't started replacing my windows yet, they get here in 2 weeks, and I have 6 to do here at my house and 6 more to do at the rental. I am liking the work and am proud of the finished product. It is neat to be able to do that stuff independently :) This is the much new and improved vinyl and opening window! Trims isn't done yet... but what a difference!
Jacqui gets to go spend time with Grandad #1 AND Grandma Dixie and Grandad #2 this weekend. She has a 4 day weekend since they didn't use any snow days this year. She is going to spend the night with G&G (I think so far is the plan) and go fishing with Grandad #1 for her birthday surprise. She is super excited and I will post pics when I get a chance.
As soon as she gets back from visiting them, we are going on our first BIG trip. We are both super excited... We are going to fly down to Texas and visit Hank for a week. This will be Jacqui's first airplane experience and I am hoping that it goes well :) We have plans to go to Sea World and Six Flags while we are down there and we both can't wait to have a vacation from all the projects and work we've been doing lately! Ooh! And the most exciting part is Jacqui is now barely over 4 feet tall, so she is tall enough to go on some of the fun rides (I'M excited about that one!). We will post lots of pics and stories as we can, please pray that our trip is safe and that she handles the plane ride ok.
Love you all, miss you bunches. We will keep you posted in the next coming weeks of all that is transpiring in our world.

Tulips 2010

Cass went and saw the tulips with Mike and I on our way back from Uncle Paul's service. It was nice seeing family and spending Easter all together!

Happy Birthday Jacqui Rose!

Jacqui Rose is 6 years old today! It seems like just yesterday she was a little baby that we could all hold and snuggle with... She is growing so big, so fast. We have word that she was accepted into the Montessori program and will attending the one that is closer to our house starting next year. We are both very excited for her to participate in this program, and I think it will be a great experience for her.
Grandma Quack Quack came up to stay with us this last weekend for a special birthday treat. She got to go to school with Jacqui on Friday and help out in the class. They are learning all about frogs right now and Jacqui is loving it! We also went out for birthday lunch all weekend. We went to the Onion on Saturday and the waitress sang Jacqui a Beauty Pageant Birthday and had her walk around the restaurant blowing kisses to everyone. Jacqui was a little bit hesitant, but didn't take long to warm up to showing off. After she was done they had her make a wish, she closed her eyes and got very serious and quiet... After her wish was made she blew out her candle on her brownie ice cream treat, we all clapped for her. She was beaming ear to ear. Then this random lady who was eating lunch came over and said "Happy birthday little girl, I think you are the cutest little girl I've seen and I think you are very special and I wanted to give you a birthday present" and she gave Jacqui a $10 bill! Grandma Quack Quack and mom were shocked and Jacqui was just tickled to death. She talked all the way home about what a special and important girl' she is and how we are all pretty lucky to be around her:) Grandma and mom had to agree of course! We had a great weekend with Grandma Quack Quack and are looking forward to Grandad #1 visiting next weekend. We love you all and Jacqui wants everyone to remember that she is now 6 years old and is going to a big kids all day school next year AND she is going to learn to ride her bike this year. I'll put more pics up later this week for everyone. We love you guys!

Updates for the last month or so...

Well Jacqui is going to six years old on Monday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by... it seems just yesterday that she was so tiny I could hold her and changed her diapers and all that baby stuff... Now she is growing like a weed and is way to big for me to carry anymore :( But she is excited to be turning 6! I will put some b'day pics up next week for you all to see.

She lost another of her top teeth yesterday. I think she has lost 8 total now, but her adult teeth are coming in fine and the dentist said he is very impressed with her brushing and how good her teeth look.

I had my interview with the team in Walla Walla and didn't get that job. They felt I did a great interview, but didn't have as much experience as some of the other applicants. It was a great learning experience for me and I learned some new areas to focus on and leadership opportunities to pursue. My work here in Spokane just notified me that they are putting me on day shift in the next few weeks. That will be a blessing for when Jacqui is in school all day next year and will allow me to spend more quality time with her and help more with homework. I'm very excited to be able to spend the evenings and nights with her again. :)

We went to see the 'Walking with the Dinosaurs' show last week for her birthday present. She loved it and it was a pretty awesome show! She got a pet dinosaur to take home and has named it Sarah after the triceratops on the 'Land Before Time'.




We also had a pretty special Easter weekend. Grandad came up to spend some time with us since I had to work all weekend and was not able to get any time off. We took Jacqui up to Green Bluff for their Easter Egg Hunt and she was tickled to death about the Easter Eggs and the baby chicks. She was NOT however, so happy about the big bunnies... She would not go near them, let alone get a picture with them. But she did take a picture of Grandad and I, and so we called that good:) Hope your Easter was blessed.


Miss you all and hope to see you all soon!