Today was another busy day for the Greene family (what else is new!). We started our morning at the crack of dawn headed out to a T-ball game for Ben. What a fun time we had. There is nothing like watching a bunch of five year olds run around a field without a clue as to how to play baseball but loving every minute none-the-less!

After we got home, we quickly changed our clothes and headed to base to go to Paiges BEST friends birthday party. When Paige was three months old, Lilly was born and they have been best friends ever since! We started the party out at the bowling alley and the kids bowled a few games. We then moved the party to Paul and Ami's house where we had a grill out and other yummy things to eat. We sat around and laughed and talked and ate, and laughed and ate some more! Paige is spending the night there, another big surprise (NOT!).

We are now home and going to relax and watch a movie. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hugs,
Mark,Jaye and Gang

Here is a little video of Ben running to home plate at his last T-Ball game. Notice how he stops halfway and waves to the third base line coach? Nice manners Ben!
Hugs,
Mark,Jaye and Gang

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday To You,
Happy Birthday To You,
Happy Birthday dear Mark...
Happy Birthday to Youuuuuuu.....

Marks 35th Birthday was yesterday and we had a family celebration complete with cake (as seen in the above picture!). We actually took him out for an early birthday lunch at Red Robin when Shelby and Ellie were here last week, but had his 'actual' birthday celebration last night. He cooked (yah, nice birthday when you have to cook yourself! haha) lamb chops on the grill, while I did red potatoes and onions in the oven and also made an Italian salad that Mark just L-O-V-E-S! (Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, proscuitto, fresh ground pepper, kosher salt and olve oil). We finished dinner off with cake and chocolate dipped strawberries.

Mark recieved lots of nice cards (Thanks Peggy and Gordon, Mom and Dad, Gramma, Dan and Laura), some with money inside! The kids and I bought him an electronic battleship game, a new Lego submarine and a nice orange down vest for hunting. I told him when he got his new car that IT was his birthday gift! hehehe.....

Paige had borrowed the movie "Jaws" from a friend of hers, so we watched that while we knoshed on cake and strawberries....

All in all a nice family celebration!

Hugs,
Mark,Jaye and Gang

It's official! Ben is now an 'official' T-Ball player...and he has the uniform and number to prove it! Little League Opening day is Saturday. Their team "The Sturgeons" doesn't have a game but we will be there to start the season off right!

Hugs
Mark,Jaye and Gang

This is our last picture of Shelby and Ellie on their Spring Break vacation out to WA....we will miss them both so much and can't wait until Shelby is back with us in June!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and gang

The Easter Bunny left eggs all over our yard on Easter...the kids had fun finding them!

Just a little experiment with a photo montage. Here are some pictures of the kids decorating Easter eggs yesterday...enjoy!

Hugs,
Mark,Jaye and Gang

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Here is a little tidbit of what our breakfast entertainment was like in Leavenworth...enjoy!!

Mark, Jaye and gang

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

It's that time of year again! Time to break out the dye and colour some eggs! The kids all did some really neat eggs....Ben manages every year to get his eggs dyed colours that aren't even in the dye cups! I think he just dumps them into each one and hopes for the best...turns out this is a pretty good plan as he has some exceptionally neat coloured eggs this year. One of the kits I bought had beads and glitter etc in it so the girls were able to make some very pretty 'girly' eggs. You can see Marks masterpiece on the bottom-his Darth Vader Egg! (Yes Peggy, you can have it if you want it!).

The kids baskets are sitting out empty on the Island in the kitchen awaiting the Easter Bunnies arrival. We will get up in the morning and see if he left any eggs for a 'hunt' and to check out our baskets. We will then have some breakfast and get ready for the day. Paige and Ben and I are headed to Church-another Egg hunt for the kids and a lovely service for me! Mark is headed to the airport in the morning as Shelby and Ellie are headed back to Wisconsin.

We have had so much fun with our girls, and are sad to send them back! We offered to adopt Ellie but her parents didn't want to let her go! :) She has got to be the funniest, kindest girl we have met! It goes without saying that we are going to miss Shelby too with her sense of humor and giggle, but she will be back in nine weeks for the summer!

When I get home from Church tomorrow, I will be starting to cook our Easter dinner. Mark gets home mid afternoon so we will be able to sit down as a family and have a nice Easter dinner together (Ham, mashed potatoes, corn, carrots, fresh breadsticks....and strawberries for dessert if we have any room!).

Have a wonderful Easter everyone! Remember the reason we celebrate Easter and take comfort in the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Without his suffering and offering up his life, our own life wouldn't be worth living.

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Yesterday (Friday) saw the weather get unseasonably warm. So warm that the kids all wanted to go to Wild Cat lake to swim (are they nuts?!?). As you can see in the picture, Shelby was the only sane one as she didn't want to get into the water. The rest of the kids didn't stay in for very long but they DID all manage a short swim! Brave souls! After they got out they played in the park at the lake to dry off and warm up. By the time we were ready to leave it was dinner time so we came home and Mark fired up the grill. We did a lovely dry rub pork roast and red potatoes... a nice finish to a really nice day..

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

The last thing we did before leaving Leavenworth was to take the girls horseback riding. Actually, Mark took them riding while Ben and I went into town and did a little 'Ben' shopping. The age requirements for horseback riding were six years old and they were very strict about it....so Ben and I had to find other things to do. The girls had a blast and Mark said they all did really well on their horses. Paiges horse was "Valentine", Shelbys horse was "Cloud", Ellies horse was "Red" and Marks horse was "The Terminator" (I'd be scared to ride a horse with that name!). The ride took about an hour and twenty minutes and went up into the mountains. At one point in the ride there was a small animal in the bushes that spooked the horses a bit but they all did really well.....

Once the "Cowfolks" got back from their ride, we headed back to Bremerton. What a wonderful trip it turned out to be. Leavenworth will definately be a place we go back to!

Today (Friday) Mark was able to get Shelby and Ellie on a submarine. They really liked that! Shelby is an old hand at being on a sub, but this was Ellies first time. Ben, Paige and I met Mark and the girls at Red Robin as Mark had a coupon for a free burger for his Bday (April 11). After that, we did a bit of grocery shopping and then headed to Wild Cat lake where some of the crazy people in our home went swimming! (All who know ME, know I am sane so I was NOT in this group! hehehe). Tonight has Mark grilling a pork roast and we are going to kick back and watch a movie or play a game. Tomorrow will be another day with more adventures to write about I am sure!....

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

One of the perks at our hotel was a bottle of 'kid wine' as my kids call it...it's also known as sparkling apple juice! Tuesday night we all went down to the pool to swim and after a bit, I decided to head back to the room to shower before the hordes returned and took over the bathroom. A short while later, Mark brought Ben up to get warmed up and into bed (Mark and the girls swam for about another hour). Once Ben was ensconced in his bed with a movie on, he wanted some 'kidwine'. So here he is, in the lap of luxury, laying in bed, watching Chip and Dale and sipping his 'wine' (and yes, that's a jacuzzi tub in the right hand corner of the picture). I was in our bed reading my book in the other room (we had a two room suite) and I looked over at him and he was holding his glass up in the air and wiggling it at me for more! I guess he figured if he was going to be living the life of the Rich and Famous he should have a maid as well! What a kid! :)

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

After we had breakfast on Tuesday morning, we took the kids to Icicle Junction and played mini golf. Like everything else in Leavenworth, it's theme was an old Bavarian village. The weather really cooperated with us this whole trip, and as you can see, we were able to play a wonderful round of golf in beautiful, sunshiny (yes that's a real word!) weather! Ben thought he was a championship golfer and on more than one occasion whacked his ball well beyond the hole we were on (five year old boys- go figure!). We all commented on how odd it was to be playing in shirt sleeves in the warm sunshine while all around us were snow covered mountains! Spring is definately an interesting time of year to go to Leavenworth, as you will be surrounded by snowy mountains, but have tulips blooming in town! After our golf game, we went back into town to do some more shopping. Ellie wanted to pick up gifts for her family, and she is quite the bargain hunter! She also bought herself another pair of shoes, which as we have learned, she really needed as she hardly has any shoes......(this is sarcastic of course as Ellie has more shoes than anyone I know! hahaha)........

Lunch was had at a place called "Munchen Haus" which was an open air restaurant that specialized in all sorts of Brats done on the grill! Yummers! It was so lovely to sit out on the deck in the warm sunshine eathing a fresh grilled brat and enjoying a glass of locally vinted wine! We definately were spoiled rotten on this trip!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Our hotel cost included an all you can eat continental breakfast. In most hotels that we have had this 'extra', breakfast was cold cereal and toast based on a choice of several types of bread. Not at the Enzian Inn! There were several cold fruits (fruit salad, peaches, watermelon, applesauce) to choose from. Then there was oatmeal (the real European kind!), a meat (one morning it was ham, the other morning it was bacon), scrambled eggs and french toast. There was also an 'omelette making station' that had all sorts of 'fillers' that you could choose from (bacon, ham, cheese, chives, mushrooms) and they were made for you right in front of you. Then on another table there was a full assortment of European style breakfast pastries ( there were three different kinds each morning) as well as an assortment of fresh baked muffins. Juice, milk, tea and coffee as well as your choice of toast rounded out an already amazing breakfast choice! This made it very economical for us as paying for a breakfast of this quality for six people would have been fairly expensive! Not only did they provide this marvelous gastronomical start to our day, they also provided us with live entertainment! As you can see in the picture above, we were serenaded during breakfast with an Alpenhorn demonstration. This gentleman wore traditional 'swiss garb' and played two lovely songs. Of course, being surrounded by mountains, the notes went out and echoed around the valley, creating the most wonderful, almost haunting music. What an experience for us all. I'd recommend this place to anyone who goes to Leavenworth. It was well worth every penny!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

On Monday night we went to a restaurant called Gustav's. It was just across the street from our hotel so we were able to walk over, which was nice considering we'd spent hours in the van! You can see the view out the window behind Ellie.....like I said in an earlier post, this whole town is just surrounded by mountains which makes for breathtaking views even while eating dinner! Mark and I had some of the best halibut and chips at this place, not greasy, nice and fresh and crunchy...just perfect! The kids all had chicken of some sort or other (some had chicken fingers, others had burgers). All in all, it was a really nice way to end our day!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

As you can see by the top two pictures, Leavenworth is nestled in a valley surrounded by the most beautiful mountains, most of which still have substantial amounts of snow on them. After we arrived in town, our room wasn't quite ready, so we walked around for an hour doing a little 'sight seeing'. Mark took a break on a bench with Ben while we girls shopped, and in the bottom picture you can see Shelby, Paige and Ellie outside the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory posing with their Bear Mascot! We bought some fudge and a few treats. We are going to spend some more time wandering around tomorrow as we didn't quite get to all the shops. I think our favorite so far was a place called "Kris Kringle". They advertise it as 'All Christmas, All Year Long" and is it ever! Two stories of nothing but Christmas! WHEEEEEEEEE.....I was in heaven and managed to find a really unique snowman statue to add to my ever expanding collection! Mark and I also found a Christmas village that we'd like to start collecting and so we'll have to see if we can find it somewhere a little more convenient than Leavenworth to buy each piece or we'll add hundreds of dollars in gas just to get the whole set! :)

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here are the pool rats! The Enzian Inn has both and indoor pool and hot tub as well as an outdoor pool and hot tub. The outdoor pool is open but not heated so we opted for the indoor version this afternoon! I sat in the hot tub and then layed on a deck chair reading my book while Mark and Ellie and Paige and Shelby had 'duck fights' and Ben swam back and forth by the stairs. A nice way to let off some energy after being cooped up in the van for three hours!

Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here are some pictures of our suite at the Enzian Inn in Leavenworth WA. As you can see by the top picture, Mark and I have a four poster bed. The kids are in the room with the jacuzzi and fireplace...not sure who has the better deal here! hehe...

Notice the artwork on both the wardrobe and above the fireplace. The whole hotel is full of artwork like this. Quite detailed and really cute.

We have already been to the pool and are now aiming to get down to the ping pong room.

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here we are at a little 'mom and pop' resaurant just inside the Wenatchee National Forest. The owner was taking care of his neice during spring break (she must have been 7 at the oldest) and she was our 'waitress' (Uncle helped her). She was sooooo cute! Aside from us, there was only one other family in the place so she wasn't too busy. The food was all 'home cooked' and reasonably priced...a nice break in driving just before we reached Leavenworth! You can see the wall behind everyone has a sort of latice on it. This was were they sold all sorts of 'crafts' that were made by various family members! What a cute place!

And yes, Mom, we left the little girl a five dollar tip! ( I know you are wondering that!) :)

Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Yes that is SNOW on the ground! And YES, it's April! Welcome to WA state! These were pictures we took as we went through Snoqualmie Pass this afternoon. There was only one chair lift open on Mount Baker as the snow quality isn't that great this time of year, but that didn't stop a few die hard skiers! These pictures were actually taken at a rest stop just past Mount Baker. The 'outhouse' type bathrooms had a button inside each one that said 'press for heat' (which activated a heat lamp in the roof), only here in WA in the passes I guess! hehehe.....

It snowed off and on all day and in some spots was coming down quite fast. All in all a neat experience just before Easter weekend!

Hugs

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here is Shelby, Ellie and Me at Kings Wok Buffet last night! Ellie's parents so very kindly sent some money with Ellie to 'take us out for a meal' and this is where we chose to eat! What a nice treat! Thank you Robin and Mark and Ellie! :)

Ellie thought it was really neat how there were so many choices....Kings Wok is a Chinese food buffet, so everyone can take as much or as little of whatever is their favorite things! We all had our fill of yummy things before heading home to pack for our trip and watch a movie!

Hugs

Mark, Jaye and Gang