where did summer go?

On our way to Silverwood!

4th of July at Bayview

Griff and Lauren's Bachellor parties. Tootsie roll?

Sporting piggy tails at the lake

Going on the elephants with Daddy

Milk bubbles = fun

Running laps at the track!

wow, it's been a while!

Blogging has clearly not been at the top of my priority list these days... But here's a quick update with some current pics of our little crazy woman :) That's what she's been saying these days, "mommy! I'm going crazy!!" lol. Really though, she is so fun, funny, witty, cute, athletic, smart (I am not biased...) and we are so proud of her! And Brandon and I are great too. He's kicking butt at his job and loving it at the same time, still working out and is an amazing daddy. The last few months I've taken up running again and am loving it. It's me, Claire, and Gracie bonding time :) Yay for sun, finally, and Happy Summer!!!

April update

Well April has come and all but gone already! Claire will be 2 next month and we can't believe it. She is so smart and funny and affectionate and we are beyond blessed. Here are some current pictures of our almost-2-year-old girl!k

Easter 2010

Well we had a great Easter in our neck of the woods. The Easter bunny brought Claire a basket full of Caillou books (which she LOVES) and and summer time fun toys. He also hid eggs at both Grandma Kari's house and Nana and Papa Garske's yard. Here are some long overdue pictures of Claire and a few of her cousins too.

Claire, Maddie and Elsa

Cousins James, Maddie, Elsa and Claire

Claire's Easter basket before she got her mits on it:)

Dumping it out

Claire and Maddie

Hunting for eggs

Help from Papa

Love this one:)

Griff and Lauren and Claire

Yes, she is just wearing this apron and her shoes:)

Loves her Gramps

She's even a good leg workout

Playing with Daddy

Riverfront Park FUN!!

Well we took our first trip of the season to Riverfront Park yesterday and it was great! The weather couldn't have better. To say that Claire (and us, too, for that matter) had fun is an understatement. She rode the Carousell for the first time, fed the goat, and threw bread to the duckies. Spokane at it's finest ;)

We also had Brandon's 28th bday party last weekend and were blessed with yet another weekend of sunny bbq weather. Here's a pic of Brandon and his cake I made him and Claire blowing out the candles.

Enjoy the pics!!!

Wow, here we are in February already! Is it just me or was January mostly a blur? Claire is amazing. She is talking up a storm and is so good at telling us what she wants. We had a major breakthrough last week. Drumroll please............... She started using her big girl potty!!! I can't tell you how excited we all are and it is so cute how she is just so proud of herself for doing it! She really is growing up. Here are some recent pics of her. Brandon and I are great. He is loving his job with DJO and really doing well at it. Ok, I hope everyone has a great month and enjoy the photos!

This is Claire's current favorite thing to do;)

Love this smile

Oh yeah, this one's going to be a heartbreaker;)

Claire and Jackson playing at the park. Yeah for good weather!!!

Claire and her cousin Parker. He is only a month younger than her. Love this pic!

Playing the piano with Nana. And singing too!

Us on Christmas. Would have used this as a Christmas card if I could have gotten around to it...

We LOVE this girl!

A late, but very Merry Christmas!!

Wow, this is kind of a picture overload;) But here it is. We had a great Christmas. Claire was hilarious tearing through all of her (and everyone elses) presents. It has been a wonderful week of family and friends and we really have so much to be thankful for. We also had an engagement party for Griff and Lauren yesterday and it was so much fun! They are so loved and you could really see it! Happy New Year to everyone and here's to a fantastic 2010!;)

Claire and Daddy at the engagement party. She takes off her clothes all the time these days. We'll have to work on that...

Gracie, I haven't put a pic of her on for a while. Claire loves her so much and Gracie couldn't be more tolerant;)

At Grandma Kari's house. The girls: Elsa, Maddie and Claire

Claire and Elsa spinning in the chair. How cute is she?!?!?

Aunt Karissa;) I forget what this stuff is called that she is feeding them, something sweedish I'm sure

Claire snuggles everything. So cute

Checking out her new Berenstain Bears movie

I LOVE this pic. Uncle Griff helping Claire put on her new dress up shoes. She is better in high heels than I am!!

She still really does adore her feet, like love them. She kisses and snuggles them all the time;)

Claire and Grams after Christmas Eve dinner, yum! And that is the dog collar... She is obsessed with it. She wore it all night

Griff and I after church.

The annual family post church in front of the tree pic. She really did wear the tutu to church;)