Jordan's Party

Jordan had her little birthday party at H2Oasis on Wednesday. We had a great time splashing and playing with friends. Jordy said she had a great birthday.




Doobie had a blast!


Jordan and Sophie, little fishes.


Josh and Kate. It was her first time at the park. He showed her the ropes.


Jake is brave these days. He even gets his face wet.


Jordan and Kate, having a snack.


All that swimming makes us hungry.


Party People!


The big FOUR!


Hugging baby Kate.


Hugging Sophie.


Huggin' Grandma.


Hugging DOOBIE!


Even I got one.

Munchkee is FOUR!

Happy birthday to my sweet baby Jordan! Four years ago today, after 5 short (but intense) hours of labor, Jordan Emily Powers was born at 3:52pm (during the Dr. Phil show - yes I was watching) at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. She weighed 7 pounds 8.5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Meeting big brother for the first time. This poke in the eye would foreshadow the next four years very acurately.


Bundled up on her sweet blanket made by Lucy.

We are getting ready for a fabulous day of fun so expect more pictures later...or tomorrow...or whenever I get to it.

Tiny Dancer

Today was a big day for Jordan - and a HUGE day for me. Her very first official dance class at Studio 49. The living vicariously through my only daughter has begun.

Getting the hang of those little tappers. Slippery little suckers.


Heel, toe across the floor. The older girls were student teachers. They were awesome. Always holding hands and correcting feet and arms.


Now toe, heel back across the floor.

Now, slide to the side...


No, that would be sideways please...


Now she's got it.


We have just changed into our acro shoes. Some ballet positions on the floor. Here is a plie in first position.


An attempt at fifth position. I LOVE her fat little belly.


Watching the mats be put out.


Now we're tumbling.


And bear walking.


Now we're tumbling backwards.


Rolling like a crayon. A RED crayon.


No, not traumatized. Just rocking.


Jordy's kickin' it freestyle at the end of class. I taught her that move. It loses a little something in the translation I think.

Please forgive me for the poor photo quality. I didn't want to use my flash and disturb the class and also, I dropped my camera about an hour before and things weren't working right after that. So I'd appreciate it if you'd indulge me by considering it as artistic flair rather than equipment malfunction and operator clumsiness.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!

This entry was actually supposed to post yesterday, but for some reason it didn't publish and I didn't notice until this morning...



26 years ago today, I was staying with my Aunt Pat while my mom was having a baby. Being the only girl in the midst of three boys, I was seriously hoping for a sister. It was beyond hope actually. I was praying desperately. I was about 5 or 6 years old and I have a fuzzy memory of being with my cousin, Kaycee when her mom came in to give us the big news.

"It's a boy!"

Aunt Pat and Kaycee squealed with joy while I collapsed into inconsolable tears. Four brothers. A fact that seemed incredibly tortuous to me in that moment. 26 years later I can now appreciate the situation. My brothers all agree that I was spoiled rotten as the only girl, an accusation that I vehemently deny in public. My baby brother turned out to be an amazing blessing (eventually) and I love him so much. He is awesome in every way and I'm so glad he's not a girl.

Happy Birthday to my baby brother, Josh. He is 26 today (I'm pretty sure). And he reads my blog (I think), so Josh, I hope you have a wonderful day!


Uncle Josh and Baby Jake 2007


Uncle Josh with Jordan and Jake where we celebrated his birthday two years ago. Hurray for the zoo!


Josh and I 2009

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

The weather has turned a bit sour over the past couple days. We've still been trying to make the most of it though. On Wednesday we took the kids to the indoor water park, H2Oasis. Jordan learned to swim on her own with a life jacket, no more clinging and clawing me in a panic. Jake and Daddy went down the Master Blaster together (the biggest slide in the joint). When they shot out of the tunnel at the end, Jake looked more stunned slash terrified than I have EVER seen him. He said he had fun but he wouldn't ride it again.

On Friday, Darrin FINALLY fixed his Jeep. Now we have two vehicles again and my life just got a whole lot simpler.

Yesterday was Saturday and we started the morning running errands. We went and purchased dance shoes for Jordan as she starts classes on Tuesday (her birthday is on Wednesday and this is one of her presents). We met Grandma Diana for lunch at Birch tree and then she took the kids home so that Darrin and I could go to Costco and Target to finish shopping for Jordy's birthday. We bought her a Barbie laptop.

When we got home it was time to take advantage of the blustery day by busting out a kite.

Daddy giving complicated instructions to Jake on just how to hold the kite and then launch it.


Now...RUN!


But wait for Doobie!


Doobie was a little bit sick so he got tired of running pretty quickly.


Let's try again!


It just keeps crashing. Poor Doobie. He's worn out.


Jake's not giving up though.


Doobie is. He's walking home.


I caught up to him and we walked home together.


In a much better mood now.


Hey look! We found a Grandma!


Grandma laying down some wisdom.


Lots of pocket people!


Hey look! Something to break!


A parting shot of Doobie the Cuteness.