We started July off with a birthday get together for my Mom at Eric's house. Then headed back up north to celebrate the 4th at home. Our neighborhood always puts on a good show and a nice buffet of food. I wish it would have been a little warmer but it stayed dry, at least for the most part.

Sidney went to Florida with her Dad for a week and a half. When she returned, she started band camp the very next day and that took up all of her July. We didn't get to see her much during the month. However, we made the most of our two weekends together. I took her and cousin Kali to see Eclipse and then spend the night at Mimi and Papa's house. They had fun riding the go karts. Sidney was also able to make it to the big 'All Fluked Up Rib Cook Off.' The 3rd annual cook off was held at my in-laws and on my mother-in-law's birthday to boot. so twice the occasion this year. There is always a large crowd out there; All my in-laws and their friends; Our friends and their families. It was so neat to see family from my side join us this year. My parents have actually made it out every year. The first year, along with my parents, Eric, Geetha, Kali, Kole, Uncle Sam and Grandma Mo made it. But this year, even family from California made it; Uncle Bo, Scott, Shelly, Ashley and Cody made it along with my parents, my brother and his family, Uncle Sam and Jerad! The more the merrier! The weather was great. It's a full day and evening of festivities. Most pitch tents in the yard and camp out. It's quite the event.

The last weekend of the month, Chase and I were able to go visit my parents down in Silver Creek. The weather was beautiful. I took Chase out on the go kart. He also got to ride on Papa's big tractor and run around out in the big back yard. Chase loved it. We played some 10,000, a family dice game that's been around all my life from my dad's side. The next day, we headed back to Olympia to see Sidney play the clarinet in her Summer Band Camp Concert. We followed that up with a late lunch-early dinner at a close by Mexican Restaurant.

So now, August here we come, time to start getting things together for our big camping trip...

June was a fun filled month. Sidney graduated from Elementary School and will now be entering the 6th grade at Aspire Middle School, which is a performing Arts middle school. She is excited to be able to incorporate her passion for dance and music into her school activities.

Chase and I had a short zoo visit with the little girl that I watch a few days per week. He was very excited to see the animals and to make their noises. Some were quite comical.

The last weekend of the month, our whole family went to Spokane, Washington for an extended weekend. Eli plays a 3 on 3 basketball tournament called Hoopfest, which is always held the last weekend in June. Just like last year, we went a day early to go to Silverwood Theme Park and Water Park. It was a hot weekend in eastern Washington, which was a nice break from the crummy summer we were having at home. Eli's sister, Marie, tagged along with us this year, which was a great addition. Eli, Marie and Sidney enjoyed the rides as Chase and I watched and waited. Of course, I wasn't able to join the festivities since pregnant people are not allowed to ride. Chase was too small for most rides and wasn't too into the rides that he was tall enough for. We were all able to get into the water and play though. Chase loved that part. It was refreshing to get into the cooler water! I love the sun and heat, but being pregnant in it is a whole other story!

Eli's team did well in the tournament, they won their bracket! We didn't get to see my cousin, Jerad, play as much as I would have liked to. We were able to see him play alot last year and it was fun to watch. But, all in all, it was a fun trip and everyone enjoyed it. All but the long ride home. It was a little gruelling. Time to get ready for the 4th of July now...

May came and went so fast. Most of my weekends were occupied with Sidney playing volleyball, but we were still able to have some other fun too. The weather was not our typical May weather this year. Not enough sunshine! We got a few nice days and tried to make the best of those.

Chase and I went to visit Grammy and Papa Fluke and made a trip to Cabella's. It was like an indoor zoo for Chase, except the animals weren't breathing. He had fun looking at all the animals and fish, running in and out of tents, seeing the big tractor out front and meeting Smokey the Bear! Got some great pics and enjoyed watching Chase react to everything around us.

I had a nice Mother's Day. Grammy Fluke came up Friday before Mother's Day and hung out with us. She was able to watch Sidney's volleyball game on Saturday with us before going home. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't feeling well, so my mom and dad did not end up coming to visit as originally planned. Sidney and Chase gave me a cute card and some beautiful flowers, my favorite...orchids! I also had the nice surprise of getting a gift card for a facial. I always wanted to get one but never have before, now I know how great it is...I want to go more often. Maybe I can get one on my birthday too.

We had our ultrasound and found out we are having a baby girl! Sidney and I were very excited and had to celebrate by buying some clothes for our new little girl. Eli wasn't expecting to hear that news, but he's gotten used to the idea and is already acting like a nervous dad thinking about when his little girl grows up...talking about locking her up until she's 35 and all that nonsense. It's somewhat comical. We are all excited.

Sidney got one weekend off from volleyball, they had a bye that weekend...so, as she was promised for her birthday in March, I planned a road trip to take her and a friend over to Forks and LaPush to do the Twilight thing. Luckily, I was able to convince my mom to come with me. We drove just a bit south of our home to catch the ferry that put us into Kingston and drove over to Port Angeles to stop at a couple of the Edward and Bella spots and ate lunch there before journeying on to Forks. We hit up all the Forks points of interest per the Twilight books and then stayed in a room called the 'Bella Suite.' It was really neat for the girls and my mom and I both enjoyed watching them bask in it all. They delivered sparkling cider and some champagne glasses to our room so we could have a toast and then watch our Twilight movies before calling it a night. The next day, we drove to La Push and checked out the Jacob and Bella spots. It was a good time. A nice girls weekend. Great pics and memories.

We spent Memorial Day weekend at home, decided to not mess with the traffic. Sidney got away with a friend to go camping out towards Chelan and luckily got some nice weather over there.

Ok, I think that sums up May...

April started off with a fun Easter holiday. My parents met us over at my in-laws where we had a great dinner, some quality visit time, an Easter egg hunt and even a special visit from the Easter Bunny. It was a great time. Sidney cruised through the big yard collecting eggs so fast I couldn't even catch her in a picture. Chase was easier to capture since I can still move faster than him...so far. They both got quite the heap of candy, coins and even cash filled eggs. Of course, the Easter Bunny and grandparents brought them a load of gifts too, seemed more like Christmas almost...geesh!

Sidney is still playing volleyball three days a week, going to school and getting outdoors whenever she is able to. She's a busy body and keeps me busy too. We were lucky to get a few days of beautiful weather in April, where Chase and I were able to take a walk to a nearby park during the day and play. He loved it!

Eli had to get a gnarly surgery on his mouth. He didn't get his wisdom teeth out when he was younger, so he finally decided to get it done after being told it needed to happen by two different dentists. Unfortunately, since he waited so long, it ended up being a much more complicated surgery. It wasn't fun...but he made it through and has finally healed up for the most part. Had to take a week off work, so I got to play nurse...

That pretty much wraps up our month of April.

As for the rest of March, we had some more fun activities other than Sidney's birthday.

At Sidney's school, they held a fundraiser in which students were able to earn special rewards, including a carnival type function after school. Sidney was able to earn this and it was great fun. They had a giant hamster ball they got to run in. There was an air filled obstacle course and a giant air filled slide. They also had a big video game truck there with Mario Kart, Rockband and other fun video games for the kids. The principle even allowed the kids to throw pies at him, what a brave man! Chase enjoyed watching Sidney, especially at the video game truck since there was a big Mario on the side of the truck.

Sidney began her volleyball season. This is her 5th season and she has really become a great player. She gets that from her Momma! Sidney has had a volleyball in her hands since she was just a baby. I have some great photos of that, as well as her bumping the ball. She was a natural. Maybe because she played with me in my belly until I was about 5 months pregnant with her. Or maybe it has something to do with her watching Mommy play since she was just 2 weeks old...I don't know, but Sidney sure has got it and I love being a volleyball Mom!

Chase, Sidney and I have also enjoyed some quality visits down at my parent's house. It's a long drive, but great to spend time with them since we don't get to see them as much as we'd like.

That just about wraps up March. It was a fun month!

I know I'm behind, so let's catch up. Sidney turned 11 on March 4th. She had many celebrations. First, on the day of, we celebrated by bringing in huge snickerdoodle cookies to her classroom at school. That evening, at home in Lake Stevens, we had some friends over and I made Sidney one of her favorite dinners...lasagne. We had cupcakes, per Sidney's request and she was spoiled with many gifts. The following Sunday, we had a Birthday party for her in Olympia in order to celebrate with friends and family in that area. Again, a dinner request from Sidney was made and we had cupcakes for dessert. Then, a showering of gifts. If you can believe it, a third celebration occurred the following weekend at the local Movie Theater with a group of her girlfriends. They were all given tokens to play video games in the lobby area, a tour of the projection room and reserved special seating for the movie, with personally served popcorn, soda and treats. Sidney got to start the movie herself up in the projection room. It was a neat and fun experience. They watched Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. We had a great time!

Hello everyone. I hope to keep this updated in attempt to keep in touch with all of our friends and family out there. So far in 2010, we have celebrated both Chase's 2nd birthday and Eli's ** birthday as well...I guess we'll leave that number out. We are old enough now that we don't want to keep count exactly.

Chase is getting so big and learning new things all the time. He is such a character and so full of energy! He is alot of fun!

We are getting ready for Sidney's 11th birthday now. It's so unbelievable to me. She has grown so fast. Sidney is still dancing every opportunity she gets, but no longer taking actual lessons, unfortunately. Hopefully we will be able to get her back into that soon. She does enjoy playing volleyball. She will start her 3rd season this spring. Of course, I thoroughly enjoy that!

Eli is still working at Boeing,playing basketball and playing his favorite video games.

I stay busy taking care of the kids, watching another little one 2-3 days a week and working for a business owner once a week doing office work.

Eli and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting a new addition to our family in September. I think Chase will make a great big brother as he already shows quality big brother skills with the little girl I watch 2-3 days a week here at home. So, he's getting good practice. Sidney will be such great help for us. She is already a wonderful BIg Sister! And, of course, the Grandparents are thrilled!

So, that gets us up to speed. Until next time...