A day of deception

Did I lure you in with my title? Intriguing, I know. Well, Monday was officially Gracie's birthday and we woke up to sunshine! Mark had the day off so we bundled up (the sun was out but it was still nippy outside) and we ventured over to Deception Pass.

We let Gracie choose from where we would eat lunch and without any surprise to Mark and I she said "chicken nuggets" (mcdonalds). We cruised until we found some golden arches, then we grabbed 'chicken nuggets' to go and we snacked on the car ride there. This was Gracie's first time ever going across the Deception pass bridge (outside of a car) - I've been too scared to walk her across - but since she's 3 years old now I decided to let my fears go, and... she LOVED it! We walked along the bridge and then down a trail that lead us to the water.

We had a wondeful time spending the day together as a family

We even got to bring 'Parker boy'(Gracie's term of endearment for Parker).
(Here's proof of Parker's "mad hops" in case there were any doubters out there!:)

We spent the rest of our time throwing rocks into the shimmering blue

and watching Parker tip-toe around (he's somewhat of a wuss when it comes to getting wet). Mark climbed up a small rock wall and Gracie sat there in awe...

she was tickled pink when daddy reached his hand down to pull her up! On our way home we decided to end our little adventure with some ice cream. Yummy!
Happy Birthday Gracie! Mommy and Daddy love you!!!

Princess Party

(Gracie (in her "pretty dress") with one of her favorite people in the whole wide world - her aunt Maddy).

This past Friday night (Jan. 22nd) we celebrated Gracie's 3rd birthday... princess style. She picked out cute little princess invites and we sent them out with a photo of her in her princess attire... then we counted down the days until the "royal ball". During the days prior Gracie kept telling me that she 'needs' a party. Also, every morning she woke up saying two things: "I'm hungry mom" and "Where's my 'pretty dress'?". We decided to keep things as low-key as possible by only inviting family members - 2 sets of grandparents, 2 sets of great-grandparents, some of her uncles and her aunt Maddy. We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner, followed by presents, and then cake. Gracie LOVED opening her gifts and it definitely showed! We had a great evening and as Gracie was falling asleep during storytime she said, "Gracie gonna do the party again tomorrow" I said,"Well honey, today was your special party and we won't be having another one tomorrow, but I'm glad you had fun." She then said, "okay, thanks mom." What a sweetie pie... I sure do love my princess! Here's a pic of Gracie's princess castle cake (carrot cake, yum-yum!)...


Here's the video of us singing "Happy birthday"/Gracie blowing out her 3 candles... it's a little dark - hopefully you can still see her proud little expression.

A walk in the dark...

Last Monday night we had a fun FHE (Family Home Evening) that revolved around Light - as in Jesus is our light. We talked with Gracie about Him and how He lights our way. We waited until it was dark, then we bundled up and grabbed a flashlight. There's a trail that runs along the back of our house that seperates our yard from a large field and it is especially dark back there where there are no streetlights. Before we ventured on along the trail we explained (in very simple terms) that sometimes things can seem dark (like the sky) and it can feel like we're all alone but Jesus is always there to guide us (que the flashlight). We then went on a nice little night walk. It was a clear night, the stars were bright and it was quiet and peaceful. Gracie had a blast being in charge of the flashlight! It was a really fun evening!