28 Years

At the end of April, my Dad retired from Lakewood/ West Pierce fire department! I am so proud of him. 28 years is a long time to work in one place!
To celebrate his legacy, there is a tradition that West Pierce does. They pick up the retiree and drive him around in his fire engine for the day, then one final tone out and they take him home. Its bittersweet and I am so lucky I got to spend the day with my dad as he rode around bidding his farewells. Here are some highlights!
West Pierce recently received money to purchase a fire boat. This thing is amazing! Its called the Endeavor. My dad was trained on this boat so as part of his day, we were all picked up by the boat on my parents' beach. It was a beautiful day for it!

The Endeavor showing its water power in honor of dad!

Dad with the boat

Boarding the Endeavor

 It was so cool to see what this boat could do. It can stop faster than anything. I loved watching my dad operate the boat. He is super passionate about it and his career.

Shot from under the bridges

Dad and his "crew"

 When we got to the boat house, Dad's engine was waiting for him.

 I had so much fun. We rode around and then went to a barbecue where Matt and the boys met us. During that time, my dad and the other retirees were honored for their service. They have dedicate a large chunk of their lives to the service of others; so inspiring! The final tone out was emotional for all, but the end of a great career!

Levi and the fire engines!

 The guys my dad worked with for many years, that he mentored and grew with, drove us home to my parents' house. First there was a great trip around Lakewood where many stories were shared.

My dad signing out

Dad's Crew

What an amazing day, and an amazing career! I am so proud of my dad and his accomplishments!

Taylor's Baby Shower!

In April, my aunt Kathleen and I threw Taylor a baby shower for baby Levi! We ordered a very cute invitation from etsy that featured blue mason jars, which became our "theme".
Here are some highlights.

The living room of Kathleen's house before the guests arrived. Her decor matched perfectly!

I made this banner using burlap from Hobby Lobby and my Cricut to stencil the letters. I then sewed(!) it and strung twine like rope through it!

We had our guests fill our wishes for baby. I got these from Inklings Paperie. They were so cute and came with a little tin for Taylor to store them in. I got the adorable subway art from  the blog eighteen25.

We served lemonade in these cute bottles

I made this banner with my Cricut. It says, "Hello baby"

Kathleen's friend is starting a cupcake business and kindly made these delicious cupcakes for the occasion. The colors matched perfectly!
To keep the guests interested in the opening of gifts, I ordered baby bingo from Inklings Paperie. Everyone filled in their guesses for gifts Taylor might receive. They then checked them off as she opened gifts. When they got a Bingo they got a scratch ticket! We had three gifts and three winners. People got very excited!

All the gifts for the mama to be!

It was such a great day! We all had fun celebrating Taylor and baby Levi. I am so excited to be an auntie! I can hardly wait!

Taylor's having a baby!

In October, we found out that my sister Taylor, was expecting a baby! It was shocking and exciting news! I am so excited to be an auntie. I worried there for a bit that my boys wouldn't have any cousins close in age, but we are so excited that baby is only going to be 18 months younger than Henry.

In January, Taylor had a gender reveal party. We were super excited to see what the little nugget would be! She had cupcakes in pink and blue, Hershey's bars, yummy soup and lots of excitement.

I picked out a jammie set in each gender, so Taylor would have a gift to open! I hid them in the car :)

Each person wore their guess of what they thought the baby would be. Here was the beginning tally! My vote was boy!

To make the big reveal, everyone popped the balloons at the same time. The confetti was our answer!juuu

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!

My sweet little nephew, Levi Thomas

Catch up!

Summer is here and now it is time to get back to blogging! So much has happened so I plan on updating some of the fun and exciting things that have happened in our family life. Stay tuned!

Our little man is 1!

Henry is 1! To celebrate our little man baby, we had a little man party, complete with mustaches and all! We hosted the party at my parents' house because our house is just too small to have all the people who are so important to us and Henry! Get ready for picture overload!

I have taken a monthly picture of both boys their first year of life. Here is Henry's banner. My favorite was 10 months when I couldn't get him to sit still, so its the back of him. Real life!

I used these paper fans that I found on amazon, to add to the decor. I used my cricut to create the banner.

I again went to our local bakery to create Henry's cake and smash cake! Both turned out super cute! The party would not be complete without paper straws and mustaches! These were a hit. I used my cricut to cut out the 'staches and bought the adorable straws on etsy!

For favors, I made chocolate mustaches out of white and milk chocolate. They were also used as props for pictures :). I was surprised how easy it was to make my own lollypops!

It was an amazing first year with Henry. We went through lots of up and some downs. I am so blessed to be his mama, and loved celebrating with our friends and family. It truly does take a village!

The birthday boy! Onesie from our local baby store!

My adorable grandparents!

Enjoying his yummy cake!

We love you Henry Blaine!

Jack's Third Birthday

It feels weird to write that; Jack's Third Birthday. Wasn't it just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with him? And now he is three? Wow, the old cliche is true; time does fly!

We celebrated Jack's third birthday on Veteran's day. Having two children with birthdays three days apart, we had to split the parties as far as we could. We had just a few family members come over to have soup and cake for our little man!
Jack is very into Thomas the Train so we had a Thomas party.I ordered these incredibly cute invites off of Etsy from the shop ianandlola.

We decorated the house with colorful balloons, lots of Thomas the Train paraphernalia and of course a handmade banner made by me. Jack loved it all! He didn't want me to take the decorations down after the party was over, so they hung around for most of the week.

To make his birthday extra special, I ordered a Thomas cake from a local bakery, Corina Bakery. It turned out amazing! When we discussed what I wanted, they told me just to bring in a train. I had no idea what to expect. The cake was definitely a highlight of the party!

Jack loved his birthday! I think he felt special. He was very excited for the roundhouse for his trains. Unfortunately it was the first thing he opened, and had no desire to open any other presents. After a talk in the other room, and Nana hiding the roundhouse we were able to proceed with a happy birthday boy!

I cannot believe he is three. Each day is a new adventure with Mr. Jack Thomas!We are so blessed to be this little man's mommy and daddy. I am so thankful for him, the joy he brings to us and everyone who meets him. Happy Birthday, Jack!

Well hello there!

Oh, you dear, poor neglected blog! How has it been so long? Could it be that I have so little time to devote to you? Please know I have not forgotten you or the few people who check it to see if I have posted.

I am back, and ready to catch up on what has happened in the last three months. I miss blogging, but honestly felt a little overwhelmed with getting everything posted that I wanted to. But here I am, and here come some posts that include, birthdays, Christmas, Kerwin the Elf, daily life and an update on Henry's allergies. WOW! Here we go dear friends. Thank you for those that continue to check back to see whats new.

With love,
Kelly