The Keene Family

Our very favorite place to ski is Long Lake. Recently, we've been able to spend some time there. Our kind friends, the Robertsons, let us use their dock, lawn, and bathrooms... so it's pretty much a great deal. Here JT is playing in an inflatable pool in the front yard. JT's sun hat flew out of the boat, and he doesn't really like his sunglasses. But it was so bright outside and he was in the sun while we were skiing, so Grandma Cole helped him stay covered up. Too funny! After a long two days of boating, JT was ready for a long nap. Grandpa Cole and Grandpa Keene hung out with him in the grass while Jim, Michelle, and I took one last ski run. JT fell asleep in the shade right after his snack. On the way home, Jim smelled a familiar smell in the car... so we pulled off the highway for a diaper change. Then we realized there was a Dairy Queen right there in the parking lot (lucky us)... and then we realized it was awfully close to JT's dinner time, considering he kep...

We got professional pictures taken for JT's first birthday, and we are very happy with how they turned out. If you'd like to check out the whole album, click here . If you'd like to check out our photographer's website, click here . We highly recommend her!

We had the best time having a party for JT's first birthday at the beach. We invited JT's grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends for a barbecue. The kids got to play on the beach and on the big toys, and we all ate burgers and cupcakes and had a wonderful afternoon. Getting ready for the big day JT's friends (That's right - NINE children under the age of three) JT and Aly went for a wagon ride in JT's new wagon, courtesy Grandpa Cole JT enjoys his birthday cupcake Jim and JT go for a swim JT playing in the mud on the beach Going for a walk with Grandma Keene One of the highlights of the afternoon was playing around with JT's water ski. Almost all of the kids went for a ride on in the water on the beach... except the birthday boy, who wouldn't have any of it. Bummer! Here is our god-daughter Aly skiing. And for those of you who are starved for video footage, here is JT while we sing Happy Birthday. As you can see, he took the whole thing very s...

This week, my friend Emrie and I loaded the kids in her minivan and drove down to Enumclaw for the King County Fair. It was so much fun! Here are Eli, Sadie, and JT ready to go... After seeing ducks, chickens, rabbits, and horses, we stopped for a morning snack. While Eli enjoyed riding in the water canoe, JT fell asleep in his stroller. Maybe next year he'll enjoy the rides too! Then, on Saturday, we met the Skagens at Lake Wilderness for the Children's Festival. It was a nice warm day and JT went wading with Jim.

Today began with me singing "Happy Birthday" to JT after I heard him waking up. You can tell that he needs a little time to wake up in the morning, just like me. After breakfast, JT and I went grocery shopping. When we came home, Jim was up and JT got to blow out his birthday candle in his cereal. We tried to get him to wear a birthday hat, but he didn't like the elastic around his ears. Next, JT got to open a couple presents from us. Between the new car seat and the water ski, he didn't get much more today! He spied them sitting on the coffee table and crawled right over and pulled the smaller one off. He must have known they were for him. :) The first package had two cool new t-shirts. You can tell JT is impressed. This look says, "Um, okay, these are nice. Next?" Ah, here are the toys! JT got a Little People Farm Set. He was thrilled to play with the different parts and by the end of the day he was stacking them together quite nicely. Off we went to swim ...

JT's big birthday present came just in time, and we opened it up early: his new car seat! He technically outgrew his infant seat in length a couple of weeks ago, but we had to order this one online and wait for it to get here. He will still be rear facing for as long as possible, but it will be nice to have a bigger car seat. He was getting a little squished! Then we spent the evening having a campfire. We walked down to Safeway (a great city-living perk) and picked up s'mores ingredients, then walked home and played in the backyard until bedtime. Jim is constantly on a quest for the perfectly puffed marshmallow . We are very particular about the type of marshmallows we purchase, as the brands puff differently. This is one of his best from the evening. JT got to have a graham cracker instead of a s'more. He doesn't know what he's missing, so that's okay. :) The highlight of the evening was JT's first backyard ski run. I posted the whole 1.5 minutes. We can...

First of all, I won a patio set. Seriously. I referred my secretary's daughter to Jim's chiropractor. I got a free 60 minute massage (yesssss!) and got entered in a drawing to win a patio set. And then I won! I had no idea. A guy at Jim's work told him that we won after he saw our name on the board at the office, where he happens to go as well. How's that for strange? We love it! I let JT try out his new snack cup while we were shopping last week. It's the kind that doesn't easily spill, but he can get the crackers out. He loved it. He spent the whole shopping trip laughing and getting into his cup. About half the crackers made it to his mouth, and the other half landed on the floor. Sorry, Fred Meyer... We had to kill some time in Tukwila the other day, so we went to Joann's and picked out some fabric for a gift I'm making someone. JT and I had lunch on the bench outside the store before we went home. JT's water ski arrived last week! We've bee...

Lately JT has had several chances to hang out with friends, new and old. Hallie is only six weeks younger than JT. They got to eat side-by-side and share toys. JT especially liked Hallie's play phone. He doesn't have one at our house, but he does have one at Grandma Cole's. (Jim said, "Let's keep it that way!") Hallie did not appreciate JT tackling her. We apologized and told JT that he is only allowed to do that to bigger kids, like Asher and Cole. Speaking of Asher... the Shucks came out in the boat for dinner with us this week. The boys waited patiently in the canoe while we were loading the boat. (Gosh, it looks like that is dangerous, doesn't it? Did I mention that the canoe is sitting on the dock, not in the water?) JT also got to meet his second cousin Gideon for the first time. Gideon is about five months old. He had a great time kicking JT, who thought it was sooooo funny. Gideon is practicing sitting up by himself, so JT was very helpful and hand...