June 27-28 Family Campout in the back yard

May 28 & June 1st, 2015 - Alissa's Gymnastics Performances

Today was a special day for Alissa, but unfortunately, Steve and I were in Los Angelas (LA) for a U2 Concert. When we told Alissa's Gymnastics instructors that we would be gone the week of memorial day and were unable to attend the performance, they came up with a fabulous suggestion. Since the Monday class was unable to do their performance this week, due to the holiday, they suggested for Alissa to perform a second time for Steve and I, once we returned from our trip. Since Alissa wasn't going to LA with us, we decided to invite her grandparents to see her Thursday Performance. My wonderful friend, Julie Slack, offered to take pictures of  both events so we could treasure these moments forever.

Alissa on the beam

 Alissa doing her group floor routine 

 Alissa doing her individual floor routine

 Alissa Vaulting

 Alissa on the bars 

Alissa with her Little Gym Trophy

 Alissa with her grandparents, Grandpa & Grandpa D. and Grandma & Grandpa S. 

Here are the pictures from her second performance on Monday, June 1, 2015. 

Handstand on the single bar

Laying down on the single bar

Uneven bars

Beam

Back summer sault on the floor

Alissa with her trophy

May 24, 2015 - Our Hike To Donut Falls

 Our family hiked to Donut falls today. We accidently stumbled upon the trail last weekend, on May 17, 2015, but Alissa was wearing flip flops and it started to rain on us. Therefore, we decided to leave and come back another day. Today seemed the perfect day for it. The hike was NOT muddy this time around and we hiked the trail with ease. Alissa was excited to see some chipmunks along the way and we even saw one eating. Here are some fun pictures. You may notice that our pant legs are all rolled up in the pictures. This is because we had to cross the creek in order to get to the falls. It wasn't safe for us to hike up to the DONUT part of the falls since it's very slippery and not recommended, especially for a 6 year old.

Here are two of the chipmunks that Alissa saw

This one is eating a carrot or something that was given to him

In this picture, Alissa is hiking up the hill to look for more chipmunks 

 Here is Alissa crossing the creek to head back to the car after our fun day. Unfortunately, I followed her across the logs and ended up falling into the water and hitting my head on a rock, but my injuries were mild. I was cold and wet, but I was able to hike the trail back to the car to warm up. 

 Steve and Alissa enjoyed running down the trail since they knew I was in a hurry to get back to the car. Unfortunately, I didn't feel much like running since I was so cold. But, I'm grateful I wasn't seriously injured and I had a wonderful day. I will definately take this hike again when the right opportunity presents itself. 

FAMILY PHOTO's

My friend, Julie Slack, took these wonderful family photo's for me. I always wanted our picture taken by railroad tracks, but had never done it before. So, Julie offered to take these pics for me. I was super pleased with the results. I love my beautiful family.

 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

 Alissa and I spent Saturday making these two picture frames for both Grandma's for Mothers Day. Alissa did most of the painting herself and I helped her glue the flowers on each frame. Of course, a picture frame is not complete without a family photo. 

 Daddy and Alissa surprised me when I woke up this morning. These gifts were sitting on the kitchen counter. The roses are from Steve and the colorful flowers are from Alissa as she picked them out herself. Steve also gave me my favorite movie, Divergent, and Alissa made this homemade picture frame for me at school. She even drew a picture inside the frame. I'm the luckiest women in the world to have such a thoughtful husband and daughter. They have both made my life so happy. 

 Alissa decided to wear her new birthday dress for Mothers Day since we went to Little America with Steve's family for Mothers Day Brunch. They had every type of food imaginable to choose from. The brunch was delicious and we had a wonderful time visiting with family. Of course we gave Grandma the homemade picture frame and she loved it. We visited the other grandma later that evening and gave her the picture frame as well. She immediately displayed it in her family room. 

April 13, 2015 - Birthday Time

Alissa turned 6 today. She had a wonderful Birthday today. Steve ordered some cupcakes decorated with Frozen rings on them to share with her Kindergarten class. We made sure that Alissa ended up with the cupcake that she wanted since she requested a ring of Sven, the reindeer. Alissa's teacher made her the traditional Kindergarten Birthday hat to wear in class all day. She loved it so much that she wore it to her dinner party as well. We took are to Chuck-E-Cheese and invited her cousins Heber and Rose along with her best friend Ariana. We purchased Pizza for everyone and had a Frozen Birthday Cake for dessert. Alissa was very happy.  

Mother and Daugther

 Alissa's Frozen Birthday Cake

 Mother, Daughter, Daddy

 Alissa with her Birthday Stash

 Alissa dancing with Ariana and Chuck-E-Cheese

Day 6 - Washington Vacation - Snoqualmie Falls

These pictures speak for themselves because Snoqualmie Falls is so beautiful. We started at the top of the falls and then hiked down to the bottom. Alissa had a wonderful time. I thought it was cold, but it was bearable and the view made it so worth our trip to the North Bend. There was lots of things to see during our hike and Alissa made sure we spent time with all of it. There is nothing like the excitement of a little child to make you appreciate things you may not otherwise notice. 

Here we are at the top of the falls looking down

Grandma has always called Alissa a monkey for a reason. She loves to climb. While I'm not sure exactly what this tunnel of steel is, Alissa had a great time running in and out of it and climbing up and down. I think she would have stayed here all day if we let her. 

Alissa asked if this was a waterslide as she wanted to go down it. We explained that these tubes were used for the water to travel fast and efficiently in order to generate electricity. 

Here we are at the bottom of the falls

Day 5 - Washington Vacation - Bracketts Landing Beach and Richmond Park

Today, we spend the day with my former supervisor, Norma, who moved to Washington in 2004. We visited Bracket Landing Beach for a low tide walk and Alissa collected all kinds of treasures. Norma brought some shovels and rakes so Alissa could use them to collect sea shells and such. Uncle Brad spent some time showing Alissa some great treasures that he found for Alissa. 

Here is Uncle Brad showing Alissa what he found

Here is Alissa with her bag of treasures. She is a happy camper

Here is Norma, Jill, Alissa, and I having a good time at the beach

Norma made us a delicious lunch of Spaghetti. It was so flavorful and declicious. Norma taught us a secret to bringing out all the flavors when using seasoning. You sprinkle the seasoning in the palm of your hand and then rub your hands together as the seasoning falls onto a plate. This brings the flavors out of the seasoning. WOW! Delicious...

After lunch, we all went to Richmond Beach and played a game of tag. There was a super fun playground that overlooks the ocean. There are also lots of walking trails and beautiful trees everywhere. We had a wonderful time.