Trip to Kennewick

Just after Thanksgiving, Alayna and I drove to Kennewick to see Jeff and Sharon and Sharon's parents. It was a great trip, even though it was a little short. Everyone had a lot of fun playing with Alayna, and I enjoyed having some time with people I miss a lot.

Mary had a lot of fun playing with the munchkin, and seemed to enjoy her exuberant kiddishness. Here they were playing karate with one of Alayna's dolls.

Alayna spent most of the trip showing off for everyone, which is what she's doing here: showing how fast she can spin.

Alayna picked up her usual strange sleeping habits, like falling asleep while she read her puzzle cards.

At the end, we all had a nice time, and were sorry to have to go.

A little story

I know there are a few of you out there that I haven't told this to, and I hope you forgive me. This has all been pretty hard, I hope you understand. Firstly, we're all OK. I know that first couple sentences sounds like someone died. Well, I guess we're all physically OK. Bryan made the decision at the end of July that he didn't want to fight for our marriage anymore. The problems arising out of my stressful job, and our inability to communicate were not getting any better, and so he decided we were done. He moved out in the middle of August and Alayna and I moved in with my parents. (And I can't thank them enough) We are doing well here. Alayna's room is very pretty without being too "Disney Princess". My room is a perpetual mess, but it's comfortable. We are happy here for now. The second half of the drama is that a week after Bryan made his little announcement, my employers at the crappy, stressful job decided that they needed a fall guy for me missing some important things while I was trying to keep up with 4 people's jobs. So I was on the hunt for a job at the same time as I was trying to figure out who I am, what I want, and what I'm going to do with a wonderful, if needy four year old. The good news is that I started my wonderful new job in the middle of September, and it's going very well. I have good, friendly co-workers, supportive management, and I don't have to beg the boss for paper to print my reports. So, that's why I haven't posted anything new since August. I will eventually get my computer re-hooked up, and start sifting through for some more good stuff to post. Bear with me.

Beach Trip with the Kyles

Rusty, Sandy, and Paige Kyle visited from Denver, so Casey, Alayna and I took them to the beach. (and the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and the Tillamook Forest Center) We had a lovely day. We all got a little sun, but not too much, thank goodness. We are all pretty fair, especially the little redhead Paige.

Paige wasn't too sure she liked the sand under her feet.

Alayna had no such qualms.


Running into the surf. She stopped once the cold waves started to splash her.

Alayna's Wedding Dress

Dressing up comes naturally to our little girl, as you can see. So after she and I went to a wedding this spring, she decided that she needs to get married about every other weekend, with full veil, crown, and usually gloves. The veil is actually the skirt to her ballet costume.

Alayna and her Mommy

A rare photo of me. Cherish it, I don't really like posting them, but Alayna looked pretty cute and mostly covers me up.

Guitar Heroine II

Daddy bought himself a late Christmas present. Alayna still loses every time, but sometimes she'll let us play with her. She strums and we push the frets, so we get a little further in the song.

Cooking

Alayna's ready to move beyond the inedible playdough cooking stage and start doing some real work around here. We made tarts for desert. She was actually pretty good at the rolling part, and didn't eat too much.

More Girlie Girl

OK, so maybe this is the girliest outfit ever. Note the fuzzy stuff on the silver high heels.

Girly Girl

Alayna got some very pretty jewelry from her Great-Grandma Gretchen, shoes from her Great-Aunt Gretchen and a new dress from her Nana Jill. So she's all decked out in her girliest outfit, which she danced around in for a while.

Nana and Roman

Alayna loves her Nana and her new cousin Roman. She calls him her baby. He's 7 months old in this photo.

Very Cold!!

It's pretty cold out here, at least for Oregon. We still needed to get out of the house for a little while. Cabin fever sets in pretty quick on a Saturday.

Writing

Alayna can write her own name. When she really wants to.