a couple weeks in iPhotos

per the uge, i'm a little behind in the iPhoto dump.  these last couple of weeks have been crazy... thanksgiving followed by another road trip to the eastside of the state for my 98 year old grandma's funeral.

and while you may be inclined to say "i'm sorry for your loss," there really is no need to be sorry.  she was 98, she had lived an amazing life & died peacefully in her sleep while snuggling my grandpa, her husband of 66 years.  we all knew she would be going soon & are so happy she went exactly as she would have planned it.  the funeral was a great reunion of family & friends & while i am sad she is gone, i know she is in a better place, has her eyesight back & no longer needs her walker.

and bonus!  all of my sisters who live in utah & hadn't met elliot yet were there & got to see him!  that's the good news.  bad news is that somewhere along all of our holiday & funeral travels, elliot & parker both picked up colds.  lame.  'tis the season, right?  so that's resulted in some {what feels like} sleepless nights & rough days.  and a relapse in my cookie dough habit.

anywho, here's what all those travels {and everything in between} looked like in iPhotos.

our week by iPhone - week 71

my mom is visiting from salt lake all of this week & next so we are showing her a really good time.  and by "a good time" i mean dragging her repeatedly to stroller strides, target & the grocery store.  because that's what we do around here.

the first couple days of our week i was a little too busy showing my mom said good time to take too many pictures but don't worry, i made up for it in the end with an extra day o' fun.

here we go!

monday.  lunch at the pita pit after picking mom up from the airport.  face-timing with my dad back in salt lake & being face-time bombed by p-ray who just wants to see their puppy.  he's obsessed.

tuesday.  we braved torrential downpours to go to stroller strides.  which by the way, my mom rocked.  guzzling nesquick in the store parking lot so i can rid the evidence before getting home.  p-ray sleeping in weird positions, per the uge.

wednesday.  snuggles & sesame street in the morning, new bubbles at the grocery store & lunch out with me ma.  weird napper minus a sock & half his shirt.  hide & seek/tag/wrestling with dad after work.  my mom making her world famous potato salad to eat with her also world famous oven-fried chicken.  yummmmmmmmm.

thursday.  a headache & allergies at work alleviated by quiznos & hot chocolate at lunch.  {proven cures.}  a "popped" belly button that can no longer be hidden & maternity clothes shopping for clothes that aren't mumus & tents.  cute little mister in the bathtub & another one-sock sleeping incident at bedtime.

friday.  stories on the nook with grandma before some serious shopping at trader joe's on an unbelievably gorgeous day in the northwest!  win!

saturday.  day-trip into downtown seattle for some of THE best fish n' chips in the whole wide world & a quick jaunt around pike place.  there was produce eating, flower buying & the "original" starbuck's store visiting.  once home it was puppies on youtube & snuggling.

all & all?  perfect week.

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***photos edited via instagram.  do you instagram?  find me @amy_agoodlife & let's picture bond!***
that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=137714" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

wordless{ish} wednesday: christmas in a collage.

holy whirlwind weekend of a holiday, right?

yes, we're among the group of those who are still recovering.  we were out of town friday through monday with sam's family & now?  we're gearing up for some more time away with my family this coming week.  but i had to stop in & post some pictures of our holiday.  because it was fantastic.

what these pictures don't show are the hours of laughing, good-food-eating, puzzle-putting-together-ing, secret-santa-plotting & delivering, relaxing & all around general good-times-having.  because that pretty much sums up our weekend.

parker had a crazy amount of fun with his nana & papa & his auntie & uncle & we all had fun spoiling him & watching him take it all in.  he loved all his presents & it just makes me so much more excited for more christmases to come when he gets the whole thing a little bit more.

so because heaps of laundry & overflowing suitcases are currently calling my name {as is my bed!} here is an unedited photo dump from our day.  i am so so SO sad i didn't get a picture of our little family all dressed up in our sunday best for church but i only have myself to blame.  i totally forgot!  fail.

i guess there's always next year.  only 362 more days til christmas!

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

our week by iPhone - week 54

well, we're back.  and just like every other vacay i have mixed emotions about being home.  on one hand we're back in our own beds on our normal routine in the normal swing of things however boring it may be, it's also kinda nice.  but mostly?  boo!  vacation's over.

we had an awesome time.  you may have noticed it was pretty much crickets over here on the ol' blog because on this trip?  vacation meant vacation.  besides some internet surfing & some facebook checking, i spent last week's long weekend pretty much unplugged & it was niiiiccce.  i realized going to bed before 1:00 am & at the same time as sam was kinda awesome.  and that watching a movie without a computer on your lap & a blog post hanging over your head is pretty sweet too.

i needed that time away.  and i also realized that i probably need to start putting less pressure on myself about this here blog.  my sleep & my sanity & my family are pretty much priorities numero uno & that's gonna mean a lot less late nights staying up with the interwebz.  but this is probably info for another post...

anywho, here's our week!

{pilgrim babies.  family picture outfits.  road trip lunch.  

driving over the snowy pass.  hanging out.  mini mozart.  

baby hangout.  thanksgiving feasting.  my grandma & grandpa!  

ryan, christie, parker & duncan.  parker & duncan going for a walk.  driving home.}

i wasn't too great about taking millions of pictures every day.  i managed to get a few snapshots here & there & this is what we ended up with.

we trekked over the mountains to spend thanksgiving with our friends ryan & christie & their cute little five month old, duncan.  we got to see lots of friends & family, meet a new baby & visit with my amazing 98 year old grandma & 92 year old grandpa!  and i am so excited to have these pictures with parker & his great-grandparents.

hope everyone had an awesome holiday & are as excited as i am for christmas!  i am totally a you-don't-celebrate-christmas-until-after-thanksgiving kinda girl so now i'm totally ready to go full swing into christmas mode this week.  bring on the music, the decorations & the shopping.  hooray!

happy monday friends.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=118444" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

grandparents & great grandparents.

first & foremost, i definitely have to mention the ginormous news we all heard around eight pm pst last night.  because blogging about something besides the osama bin laden story seems a little disconnected... ya know, since it is the only thing being talked about in any sort of media today.

and because years from now, i'm pretty sure it'll be one of those, "where were you when you found out" kinda things.  so for record keeping's sake - i was at home, & found out via twitter.  thank you social media.

and political beliefs aside, it was amazing to watch all the news coverage for hours last night & learn about the combined efforts of our military intelligence, our troops, & our president & how they worked together strategically to bring down one of the world's most horrible terrorists.

i don't know what this means for our future national security, for next year's presidential elections, or for your personal moral beliefs concerning the celebration of someone's death.  what i do know is that last night our country felt unified & we celebrated & we remembered the lives that were lost on one of the worst days in our country's history... 9/11.  and that those who lost loved ones in those attacks felt a little bit of justice.  and that i got serious goosebumps watching crowds gather at the white house & at ground zero & sing & celebrate & recite the pledge of allegiance.

go team usa.

and that's all i'm gonna say about that.

******************************************************

last week p-ray & i got to head over to spokane with my parents {who were visiting from utah} to visit my grandparents.  i was a little bit nervous about taking parker to stay with my grandparents for four days & was worrying about how i would entertain him & pass the time.  but as usual, things went great.  he was totally on good behavior & we found plenty of things to do.  we went on walks, we went to target, we visited other family members, & we took naps.

but mostly, we visited.  and we all enjoyed that too.

{my dad, parker, my mom.}

{parker & my dad.}

{parker & my grandma... his great-grandma.  she is 97 years old.  no big deal.  no wait, that is totally a big deal.}

{parker & my grandpa... his great-grandpa.  this is where parker gets his middle name of "ray" after my grandpa ray bates.  they pretty much bonded on this trip.}

{parker & his great-grandparents.  did i mention my grandma is 97?  she's still walking & lives pretty independently.  but my grandpa, who is 90, has to be credited for taking amazing care of her, too.  they are quite the inspirational pair.}

we had such a blast spending quality time with so much family.  and now that we're back at home i can officially begin my family withdrawals.  whaaaa.

every vote helps me feel just a little bit better.

goodnight nana.

how freaking awesome is skype, right?

letting geographically distant grandparents tuck in their grandkids since 2010.
{in our household, anyway}

wordless wednesday... with a few words

p-ray's first trip to the zoo, just taking in all the sights with grandma & grandpa.

my little monkey.

click it. click it. click it.