Shopping!!!

Chelsie and I did go out on black Friday and do some fun shopping!!!! We had a lot of fun and found some good deals. I love shopping with my girls.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.

Chelsie came home from BYU Provo and Jenny, Kurt and the girls came to visit. It was so fun having them. The girls were such a big help with the cooking, and Chelsie made her first apple pie. We ate alot of food and played games, but mostly just relaxed.

Spoiling Tana is so much fun!

I have had such a hard time not spoiling Tana while I am here visiting. She is so much fun to buy for as she gets so excited over new toys and special treats. So...I gave in to temptation and have been doing all sorts of fun things with her. We take trips to the park and to splash pad. And she has a few new toys compliments of Grandma and Grandpa. We bought her a baby doll with a stroller and car seat so that she could bring a baby home from the hospital too. Tana is quite the little mommy and takes Baby Gracie everywhere and feeds her and changes her and sees to all her needs. We also found this cute playhouse that Tana just loves. She actually tried to crawl inside it. It was so funny. Dress up is a constant game around this house. She loves anything that is pink or has to do with princesses. Everything in Tana's world she relates to princesses and she loves to dance and twirl "just like a princess." I love spending time with Tana and I find myself laughing all the time at the comical things she says and the way she voices her view of the world around her.

Our New Granddaughter Taylor Rae!

Brad and Britany celebrated the birth of their second child, a little girl, Taylor Rae Betenson. She was born on Monday September 22nd and weighed in at 7.4 lbs and measured 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. Taylor is now 9 days old and has changed so much. I am here in Arizona with them taking care of everyone and enjoying the new addition to our family. Tana thinks I am just here for her though. She is so cute, she is my shadow pretty much every waking hour of the day. If I move out of her sight she wonders where Nana Julie is and proceeds to wander the house and call out my name over and over until she locates me. It is so cute, and exhausting at the same time. I forget how much work it is to have small children. But I am loving every minute of it. I wish that I lived closer to my grand babies and could see them all the time. Luckily I get to be here for another week. Check back for updated pics of the baby and pics of Tana and all her cute antics.

Chelsie's Last Two Ballroom Competitions

Chelsie a couple of weeks ago competed in Vegas and BYU Provo. She did really well.

In Provo she and Andrew made 2nd in Novice Standard and 6th in Pre-champ Standard. She and Gabe made semi finals in Novice Latin and quarter finals in Pre-champ Latin

In Vegas they placed 6th in Novice Standard and made Semi finals in Pre-champ Standard. In Latin Novice they made quarter finals.

What do you think of her orange and black Standard dress? We are probably going to buy it.

Trip to Oregon

A few weeks ago, Bradon and I went to visit Cindy in Coos Bay Oregon. She lives right on the beach. My sister Kristene and her family also came and we had a house full with all of her 7 kids and Bradon and I. It probably took Cindy a week to clean up after we left. All of Kris's kids loved having their big cousin Bradon to climb all over and play with. I think that he was their new favorite toy. Cindy kept us busy with all kinds of things to do. One of the funnest days was when we went to the dune and went sand boarding by a beautiful lake. Bradon even a few times boarded down the biggest hill right into the lake. One night we had a fire on the beach and roasted marshmallows. What a great time we all had. The Oregon coast is sure beautiful!!!

Summer Review

We have sure had a fun Summer. It started off with Tyler, Brooke and Chelsie coming home and surprising me for my birthday. It was such a wonderful surprise after I got over the shock!!!!! Then we had Britany and Tana come followed by her husband Brad the following week. And then Tiff and the kids surprised us and come that week too. It was so fun having them all come and visit us. I think we should do this every summer. Everyone should come home to Washington. I just could not get enough of them all. I really love and truly miss my kids and grand kids! I wish all the time that we could live closer to them!

Dad's 50th Birthday

I took Ken to Whistler BC for his birthday. We rented a car with a sun roof and enjoyed every minute. I even surprised him with a Zip Line tour down the canyon. It was the first time we had ever done anything like it. I was very nervous about it, but had fun as soon as I was flying down the canyon. Ken of course had fun looking at all the building of the platforms in the tops of the trees that we would launch from. I told Ken that we had do something big for his birthday because you only turn 50 once in your life.

Pantry improvement!

I painted the shelves in the kitchen pantry. Britany suggested I paint them white. After painting them, the pantry is a lot brighter. Britany helped me organize it, Dad installed a new shelf up high and also removed the post that used to be in the corner, which made it seem bigger or at least more usable. I love it!

Dash Point Beach

It was so fun to take Britany and Tana to the Beach. Tana is so cute with all her curls.

A fun day at the beach

We had such a fun day at the beach with Tiffany and the kids. Carter loved the water! It was so fun!!!

Dinner at Melaques

We love to eat at Melaques Mexican restaurant! It is Britany favorite Mexican restaurant, but we all like it. It was so fun to have some of the kids and grandkids home for a week or so.

Our Grandkids

Our cute grandkids! Brooklyn, Tana and Carter. Brooklyn is almost 3 yrs old. Tana is 2 1/2 yrs old and Carter turns one tomorrow. We can't get enough of them. We are so blessed to be grandparents!