A Short Spring Storm

We had a very short storm this evening, but it produced the most beautiful rainbow. It hailed a little, too.

Science Fair

It's amazing to me that my little baby is in elementary school, and able to do more than just walk and talk. The latest evidence that she's not quite so little anymore is that she did a project for the school science fair. She was one of about six in the kindergarten and first grade to do a project. She attempted to make rock candy. I suppose she leaned something about patience, as the crytals still haven't grown much. She made a lovely poster for the fair, though.

Easter 2009

The official Easter portrait.



The Easter Egg hunt at church. They held the hunt inside due to the rain. The very tall munchkin is Pierce, one of Alayna's favorite people. He was the high-schooler in charge of the K-2 egg hunt.
Alayna with Papa and Grandma







Alayna and her doll, Isabella. When we went to get Alayna's Easter dress, there were these really beautiful dresses that came with matching doll dresses. Alayna was heart broken when they didn't fit. So I did the next best thing and made Isabella a dress to match.

Ski Trip

It's high time Alayna learned to ski, or at least so says my sister and her husband. My dad works with someone with a ski chalet near Ski Bowl, so we rented his house for the weekend. It was a lovely and comfortable townhome with an outdoor pool nearby. (I forgot to get photos of us at the pool.) Alayna had her first ski lesson, and she loved it. She was just the cutest ski bunny out there. There was one baby (probably 2 years old) that was out on skis, but Alayna was still the cutest.

Alayna and her instructor headed over to the flat part to practice wearing skis.

One of the first trips down the hill.













Mom and Dad and Alayna in the lodge for a break at lunch.












Jen helped Alayna ski after lunch. It snowed pretty hard intermittently, but it was never miserable. Alayna got pretty tired after they were skiing for a little while, but she was a real trooper for a long time.












One of Alayna's favorite things are icicles. And the community had a lot of icicles. The ones on the tops of the buildings were humongous. Here's Alayna with one of the more managable ones.

After we all got back from skiing, and rested a little while, we went snowshoeing around the lake. Looks like something out of a postcard, doesn't it?

Collins Lake:

Hula!

Alayna's hula skirt and coconuts actually came from Hawaii, so dancing to Lilo and Stitch seems appropriate.

Reading to the baby

Introducing Isabella, the baby Alayna got for Christmas. Today, she finally got her back-ordered matching pajamas. Aren't they so cute together? Thanks, Gramma!

The really hard puzzle

My sister Jen is very smart, and a bit of a ham, and so is my Dad (he's the voice you hear). This is from Alayna's second birthday.

Pictures

This is what happens when you give two 5 year olds a digital camera and tell them to have fun.

Alayna's Valentine's Present

Alayna has been bugging me to paint her nails for a while. So I got some special nail stuff for her Valentine's present. It's sparkly purple nail polish and these really cute nail stickers. She's really happy. Alayna says she looks adorable.

Tooth #2!

Alayna lost her second tooth tonight. We were having some chocolates for dessert, and she picked one with nuts. I guess that was just too much for the already very wiggly tooth, and it popped right out. She's really looking forward to the tooth fairy coming again.

Alayna, being Alayna

This is my goofy little girl... She made herself jewelry out of floam, and was dancing to the theme from Handy Manny. The look on her face says it all.

My Mountain

On a really good day, this is what I see outside my window...

(Same window, three different days)

Christmas 2008

Well, it was certainly an interesting Christmas season. For several reasons, it was long and drawn out, which is both good and bad. Before we got to celebrate, we had to get through the snow. (As previously shown) Portlanders do not like snow, and they do not know how to deal with it. Impossible roads; stores closed, even if you could actually make it out; too many people on the roads when it was possible to get around. So shopping was out of the question. Church was even mostly out, which was rather strange. So I was cooped up in my apartment for the better part of 3 weeks.

Alayna was with Bryan for actual Christmas, and Jen and Roger were in Logan, UT with Roger's family. So, as it happens every other year, we did pretend Christmas (as Alayna said) on New Year's Day. For actual Christmas it was Mom and Dad and me, which was a little odd, but still really nice. Probably the lowest key holiday I've ever had.

New Year's Eve was Mom, Dad, Alayna and I. The biggest event was Alayna losing her first tooth. Otherwise, we went to see The Tale of Despereaux, hung out and played games, Mom shortened several pairs of Alayna's pants, and we allowed a 5 year old to stay up 4 hours past bedtime.

We spent pretend Christmas at Jen and Roger's new house. It was really nice. My Mom's lasagna recipe, using her Mom's recipe for spaghetti sauce. It's amazing how many presents the kid gets when everyone has said they are cutting back due to the economy, etc. She had a great evening with her favorite person in the world, and the rest of us, too.

There's a hole in Alayna's head!

Alayna has lost her first tooth. She lost it New Year's Eve. She drew this picture and wrote the story for her Kindergarten class's Tooth Journal.

Alayna without her tooth...

Snow! Take 2

Well, it has continued to snow. We've got a lot on the ground now. Pretty much everything was shut down this weekend, and we both stayed home on Monday.

Snow Angel 2.0: the snow was much better for angels today.

Snowman: Alayna was more interested in eating the snow than building a snowman. It wasn't really good enough snow for snowmen anyway. There was a layer of ice in the middle of all the snow.

There were a bunch of people sledding out in the street. Every once in a while someone would yell "car" and they would all move out of the way. After a little while a family strode up on some cross-country skis.

Arctic Blast 2008!!!

...at least that what it's being called on the TV. It really has been quite the storm. We thought last Sunday was bad, and then it just didn't stop.

Church Pageant

The church pageant was almost cancelled this year because of the snow, but the show must go on. Some of the roles were reassigned, but it went pretty well. Alayna was a little angel.