Wilcox Family Reunion

The last day of our trip to Oregon was the Wilcox (Chris' side of the family) family reunion. It was a great opportunity to visit with family we rarely see. Francie and Fred hosted us, the weather was beautiful and we had a great time visiting, eating and playing in the sun. I only took one picture but it's has three generations of Peppmeiers: Mick, Doug and Will.

Trip to the Oregon Zoo

After trying for at least 30 minutes to find a parking spot at the zoo on Tuesday you'd think we would have given up. Nope, today we tried again and had no problem finding parking probably because we were there when the zoo opened. We didn't go to the zoo during our trip to Oregon last summer so it was fun to see what was new. Matt, Caleb, Chris and my mom all joined us. We saw lots of animals, and a highlight was when a bird pooped on Doug in an exhibit. We were all thoroughly exhausted when we left around lunch time.

The boys ready with their maps.

The bear height chart. I think Caleb and the Black Bear are comparable in height.
Jack with his most favorite animal, the penguin.

Annemarie and I taking a quick break.

Jack and Matt brushing a goat. I love that that's an option now instead of only feeding the goats. Now they're not only full but have shiny coats as well.

The boys, Doug, Annemarie Mom and Chris.
The sweet elephant who kept trying to open it's gate.

Group shot of the cousins.

Kid Time with Hovdes & Knights

Hovdes, Knights and Peppmeiers (minus Annemarie) all met at Jamison Park this afternoon. We all had lunch together and the kids played in the fountain. We had such a nice time catching up!

All five kids in the same picture! Gilbert is behind Evelyne, then Jack, Luke, Will and I'm pretty sure that's Jonah in the bottom right corner.

It was only about 65-70 degrees out but the kids were soaked within 10 seconds.

The kids loving the water.

Doug, Dianne, Dina and Ryan relaxing and enjoying the sun.

Father's Day 2010

For Father's Day this year we were in Oregon. Will and I celebrated with my dad in the morning, we had a delicious breakfast together in Lake Oswego. In the afternoon we had a barbecue and celebrated with the Peppmeiers. Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our lives! Especially Doug, Dad, Mick, Steve and Jason. Thank you for being such great dads!

The dads, Doug, Steve, Jason and Mick.

Jason sporting his Father's Day tie from Tyler. Sara and Doug keeping tabs on Chris through the the kitchen/take out window.

Tyler doesn't look too sure about Uncle Doug. What a happy guy!

Tyler doing his Shrek impression.

The Peppmeiers. Back row: Chris, Mick and Steve. Front row: Annemarie, Doug, Kelly, Jack, Jason, Sara, Tyler and Will.

McAuliffe Get Together

We were in Oregon a couple of weeks ago and I'm just now posting pictures from our trip. I cannot believe we're almost halfway through the summer. We've been busy and are enjoying every minute of it!

We got together with the McAuliffe side of the family to visit, celebrate Matthew's birthday and Father's Day. We had a lot to celebrate! The kids had fun playing and the adults had fun catching up. Matthew and Ryan have gotten so big. Thank you Dennis and Marcie for hosting us!

All the boys. Will, Matthew, Doug, Jack and Ryan's behind the rocket.

Enjoying Matthew's birthday cupcakes! From the left Papa, Uncle Neill, Dad, Will, Mom and the back of Annemarie.

Testing out all of Matthew's birthday gifts with (Great) Uncle Neill.

Jack, Ryan, Annemarie, Matthew and Will. All the little ones. Believe it or not, this was the best picture I got out of 5 or 6.

Barbecue at the Larkin's

Last Sunday Scott and Stef had us over for a barbecue. The food was delicious and the company was even better! The weather was amazing, warm and sunny. Recently the Larkins fenced their backyard. It turned out great. The kids were contained and the yard looks huge!

Tyler following Will - it reminds me of that Beatles picture in the crosswalk, they just need two more people

Jack blowing bubbles, Tyler enjoying them

Doug and his boys

The girls (and Tyler of course)

The lovely Larkins

Pretty Annemarie

Here's a recent picture of our busy girl. She loves to explore and prefers to walk on her own instead of being held. And if she gets too crazy and you pick her up most likely she'll start thrashing around and screaming, such a fun thing! The talking continues....the other day in Target Annemarie pointed at me and told a lady, "that's my mom" which was funny because she calls me mommy and I've never heard her say something like that before. Also, there's a lot of "I see..." for example when we were at the store she said "I see the receipt". And my most favorite so far, a woman told Annemarie how cute she was and she said "I know". I couldn't believe she said that! We're working on saying "thank you" now.

Last Day of School

I cannot believe another school year has come and gone! My boys are getting so old! Today was a half day and Preschool and Kindergarten were supposed to have a field day outside. Unfortunately it rained (it's been feeling a lot like the Pacific Northwest out here) so they had games inside. Both Will and Jack really liked their teachers and did so well this year. This morning as we were rushing to get to school I remembered to take a picture of them, as you can see Jack could not muster a smile. Oh, well.

Last T-Ball Game

The boys last game was on the 27th. What a great season. Will and Jack really enjoyed playing t-ball and they loved have Doug as their coach.

Getting ready for the last cheer of the season. Way to go Rays!

Will Loses His First Tooth!

Will lost his first tooth the other night. It was the bottom left tooth and the next day he lost the other bottom tooth. Two teeth in two days! The tooth fairy was busy. The new teeth popped up a couple of weeks ago. I took Will to the dentist because I was worried. They referred to him as a shark and said this happens a lot with kids. However, the new teeth are completely at an angle and there is not enough space for them. I know his mouth will grow (along with the rest of him) but for right now he's pretty excited to show off his new teeth.

Annemarie Riding Her Bike

I forgot I had this video of Annemarie "riding" her bike. She needs to grow another inch or two and she'll be able to sit on the seat. She really enjoys being outside with the boys and loves doing what they do.

Visit From Opah

My dad was in Whitefish last month for work and a visit. It was so nice to see him and the kids enjoyed playing with him and showing off all their new tricks (riding bikes, etc.) and toys.

WCA Spring Concert & Talent Show

Last Thursday was the spring concert for the boys' school. Here's a clip of Will and Jack's classes singing. Will's in the center in the green shirt and Jack's in the second row toward the left with the navy blue shirt.

Will's Volcano Project

A recent masterpiece by Will. They've been learning about volcanos during enrichment and made a model.

New Sunglasses

Annemarie loves the new sunglasses Erin got for her. I think they're so funny. Everytime she puts them on she gets silly...smiling and yelling, a great combination. It's really funny. Thanks Aunt Erin!

It's T-Ball Time

This year Will, Jack and Doug (he's the coach of course) are all on the same team. I cannot believe we're already half way through the season. The boys are really enjoying playing twice a week and as the weather improves it's a lot of fun to be out there watching them. Each game they play three innings the first two hitting off the tee and then during the third inning the coaches practice with soft pitch. It's so much fun to watch them improve!

Strike a pose!

Mother's Day 2010

Thanks to Doug and my little munchkins this was one of the best Mother's Day ever! I slept in on Sunday and then proceeded to read in bed, take a nap and basically be extremely lazy. Doug took over all child/house responsibilities and did a fantastic job. This was exactly what I wanted and I loved every minute of it. We did get out and have dinner together at Mackenzie River. The kids were so good! Thank you for such a great day, I love you all!

Mother's Day Tea

Jack's class had a Mother's Day Tea on Friday. First Jack and I painted a flower pot together. Then we we had our snack. It was really fun, there was even a chocolate fountain! As you can tell from the treats on Jack's plate we had a bit of sugar. Mrs. Morrison Jack's teacher read a really sweet story and then the kids sang songs. It was a lot of fun and the kids were so cute!

Jack being silly - most pictures of Jack nowadays look like this...

A picture of the class. We didn't even ask them to be silly this is them getting ready to sing their songs.

Preschool performing one of their songs.

Quiet Time

The weather has been pretty wet the last few days. This weekend the kids were watching a show and they were all so quiet and content. I just had to take their picture. Then we noticed what Annemarie was wearing.

Not that her clothes are unusual but she's making a habit of always wearing hoods if they are available. What we found amusing were the boots (Jack's old ones that are a few sizes too big). She wore them for hours! And just like the dress up heels she can run in them too!

Jack Rides a Two-Wheeler

Check out Jack on his bike! Yesterday for the first time he was able to stay up on two wheels. What a big kid! Way to go Jack!