Easter and Spring!!

It has been forever since we have blogged, here is what has been going on...again, we have been really busy at work lately but also have been taking a little time to enjoy Spring in Spokane! We have actually had some really nice days and have gotten out to parks and Kennet has been getting a little golf in too. Here are pictures from March and April...the above is on Easter Sunday.
Elsa is checking out what the Easter Bunny brought her! Thanks to all the grandparents, aunts and uncles for the great stuff!!

Here is Elsa in the Mexican dress Brittany and Cameron brought her!!

New Easter dress from Grammy and Papa!!

Kennet and I took Elsa to see the ducks at Manito Park on Easter Sunday.

Lots of fun surprises awaited Elsa on Easter morning!

The neighborhood egg hunt was fun but cold and rainy unfortunately. Elsa LOVED her sugar cookie though from the Easter Bunny!

Meeting the bunny!

Kennet's Dad Poul came to Spokane on a very short work trip so we had him at our house overnight. It was great to see him!

At the park enjoying the sun and tryng out Daddy's shades!

Elsa and her friend Ragan are loving the swings at our nearby park!

More fun at the park!

Elsa and her good friend Kolt playing outside.

We went to see friends Suann, Ragan, and Cade to decorate cookies for Easter...we had a great time, but Elsa was again more into the eating than the decorating!

Frosting a sugar cookie before Elsa lost interest and only wanted to eat them! Heheh!

Las Vegas!!

Kennet and I took our first trip away from Elsa last weekend to Las Vegas! My parents came over and watched Elsa and we flew off to the sunshine!! It was an incredible trip with fantastic weather!! We stayed at the Mirage on the strip. I highly recommend it!! The pool is huge with waterfalls and people everywhere. It was low 70's, which felt very warm to us!!
Again, fantastic pool!! Heated and open year-around!

We played golf at Desert Pines Golf club on Friday. It was a very challenging course with tons of sand and other assorted desert trouble to get into but we had a great time.

Here is Kennet hitting over the water. It was a great shot onto the green!

Here is another view from the cart path of the great course. We played with Bob and Paul (kind of like the Bryce and Gary of Orange County...quite the pair they were.)

Kennet in front of the Venetian Hotel on the strip.

We walked down to the steak house at "Paris" and then came back to the volcano erupting at our hotel, the Mirage. This is the Mirage behind us. It was kind of cool at night but just a little sweater or jacket was all we needed. Perfect time to go to Vegas!

Self-portrait. It was hard to get many of us together since we were there alone, but we tried...

This is the first night, we went out for seafood and gambling. Good times. Kennet lost at Blackjack, but I actually did quite well at the Roulette table!!

Right after we got there...this is oustide Cesars Palace. I have no idea who the other girl is...

Our hotel The Mirage. Perfect location on the strip!

The Bellagio gardens do seasonal floral and plant presentations. This picture was for Elsa...she loves ladybugs!!! This is hundreds of little red flowers.

Kennet was thrilled to be looking at flowers and butterflies...he was a little anxious to get to the casion and the bar!!

The Bellagio Gardens. Love the tulips!

Okay, here he is playing video poker. You can see he is smiling more than in the flowers!

Brunch with the Dahlbergs!

So, we forgot our camera and are stealing these pictures from the Dahlberg blog so all of our friends and family who don't know and see the Dahlberg blog can see them too! I am holding Elsa and our friends' Mike and Danielle's adorable little boy Keaton.
Here is Kennet with his Kappa Sigma brother Mike Dahlberg and the kids!
Elsa was flirting a little with younger Keaton during brunch. She even gave him one of her pony tail holders so he could have a pony tail too...see below.

Pretty cute huh??

Mike and Dani were in town visiting her parents a few weekends ago. We got together for brunch and catch up a little. It was great to see them! Thanks again for taking some great pictures!!

Busy Busy Busy!!

Kennet cooked me a fabulous Valentine's Day dinner of filet and crab. He decided to really celebrate and open the last of his bottles of Sebastiani Cabernet. Kennet, our brother-in-law Charlie, and our good friend John White split a case of this many years ago in Minnesota, each going home with 4 bottles. It is a great wine and shortly after the split case, the entire winery and vineyard burned down in CA. The wine jumped in value and became impossible to get. Kennet slowly savored these bottles over the past 9 years and enjoyed the last one last Saturday. I rarely drink red wine and I even took a second glass! Thus, the picture.

Elsa is ready to go out and play! She is at such an adorable age right now. Even with the challenges of toddler-hood and occasional melt-downs, I really love this age! She is walking everywhere, into everything and has a really funny personality. She says a few words and has really caught onto Baby Sign Language. She uses "please" "thank you" "more" and "all done" really well and we are teaching her more signs all the time.

Here she is with Scotty! Scotty has been such a trooper this past 18 months (yep, Elsa will be 18 months next week!! Crazy!) Scotty is so good around her and she loves him!! She laughs at him, pets him, and now chases him around the living room! Luckily for him, he is still much faster than her and can get away when he wants to.

The living room has been completely toddler-ized. Elsa now has all of our previous knick-knack and what not shelves as toy and book shelves. Here she is with one of her baby dolls (which she loves to play with and put to sleep) and her other favorite...Legos and Mega Blocks! She also LOVES storytime! If you say "storytime" she will drop whatever she is playing with and go find a book to bring over. It's adorable!

Our little Valentine! Thanks to Auntie Marian and Uncle Charlie for her Valentine top! Also to both sets of Grandparents for the cute Spring outfits! She will be wearing them soon!

All in all, things have been great but as the title says...BUSY! Kennet and I have both been very busy at work lately. Kennet is working hard writing proposals to bring in more engineering jobs and doing design and mentoring for EIT's and for students in Engineering at Gonzaga. By the way, Go Zags!!!! I have become quite the Gonzaga basketball fan and can't wait to watch another one of their games tonight! Work has been crazy busy for me too. I have been doing a lot of staff training on health issues since I am the Health Mgr. and only nurse in our Early Head Start program. I have been writing a milliion health plans for kids and working with their doctors and parents etc. It is a great job and such a rewarding field to be in.

Elsa has been growing and changing every day! Like I said, she will be a year and a half old next week! It is so hard to believe how fast time goes! She loves her daycare and so do we! It is such a great curriculum-based child care center with a wonderful staff of teachers that adore Elsa and all the kids! We feel so thrilled to have such a wonderful place to take Elsa to. She gets so excited when we tell her it is time for "school!"

We are getting excited for spring and then summer for the beautiful sunshine in Spokane and eventually golf and lake weather! Kennet and I are going on a get-a-way weekend to Las Vegas in a few weeks!!!!!!!! We are both in need of a Spring Break and it will be my first time away from Elsa ever!! I am nervous but know she will do great here with my parents. Elsa loves time with Grammy and Papa and they are looking forward to it too.

We will try to keep up better on the blog...we'll see how that goes!

The Holidays 2008!!

Becky, Brittany and I threw a party for our parent's 40th Anniversary over the holidays! We hosted it at a wonderful place in Missoula called the Gibson Mansion. It turned out great and everyone had a great time!!

Kennet and I at the Anniversary party.

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!

Kennet, Elsa and I at the Mustard Seed in Missoula after family pictures.

I took Elsa for a ride on the Carousel in Missoula. Kennet took the action shots.

Elsa loves Grammy's rocking chair and spent a lot of time in it!

Elsa on Christmas morning. Auntie Britt gave Elsa her first cell phone!

Our nephews Bryce and Drew with Elsa on Christmas Eve in their new holiday jammies!

Great-Grandma Helen and Elsa posing for a quick photo.

Papa Bryce with Drew and Elsa playing blocks...little Bryce is in the background watching.

Well, here are some belated pictures from Christmas and the holidays in general. Kennet, Elsa, and I got away from the crazy snow in Spokane and drove over to Missoula for a week over Christmas. My whole family was there!! Mom, Dad, Becky and Stuart with Bryce and Drew (drove up from New Mexico...long story), Brittany and Cameron, Aunt Dede, Great-Grandma Helen and Kennet, Elsa and I. We had a wonderful holiday all being together!!! We went sledding, played a lot of Wii, ate and drank a lot, and really enjoyed the time together! My parents were also celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary so we threw them a cocktail party. It turned out great and we had an adults night out! The week was such a great time and we can't wait to see everyone again soon.

Winter Wonderland!!??

Kennet went for a little ride...
Elsa and her friend Ragan loving the sled!!

We're all bundled and having fun in the 2 feet of snow!

First sled ride!

Do you like my new hat? My friend Ragan gave it to me.

"It is hard to move with all these clothes on Mama"

Trying to keep the driveway clear...

View from the back deck.

Kennet getting ready to shovel the deck...22 inches, we measured.

All warm and cozy inside by the fire!

Well, the biggest snowstorm Spokane has ever seen hit here Wednesday. We have over 24 inches in 36 hours. The whole city shut down all schools, businesses, etc. and only emergency vehicles were to be on the roads. Today is our 2nd snow day! Fun!!! We took Elsa out in the snow late yesterday afternoon and she loved it!! We are enjoying the snowed-in days at home. We are looking forward to the holidays next week. We are planning to drive to Missoula on Tuesday...hoping the snow lets up by then!