Derek slept the whole way to Mt. Rainier for our anual camping trip with the Matthies' Family!!! He missed the beautiful views...

Here is Papa and Derek getting ready to explore!

First taste of licorice. He loved both!



The Matthies' family anual camping trip was incredible! Derek absolutely loved it! We had a blast at Mt. Rainier throwing rocks in the water, chasing deer, and spending quality time with the family! Derek got into a bit of trouble by a forest ranger, but I'll have to tell the story at a later time once we receive the photos of this "lovely" experience...(We couldn't take them ourselves because we were involved as well!)

Derek is now 18 months old!!! He is such a fun kid, and boy does he love people! He would only watch the bird migration video up until a couple of days ago. Now he will watch Dan Crow! He is already mimicing his facial expressions and tries to sing the "Ham" song. SO FUNNY! I wish you could all watch him grow. He has turned out to be a really neat person! What a gem!

Derek has a new place to play! Tacoma has created several spraygrounds where kids can get wet by large water features which spray water. They took out the old wading pools and installed these spectacular play areas. Here's a look at one of them!

Last week I was unable to post, but for good reason! Ric, Derek, and I made history as we crossed the NEW Narrows Bridge! It was a blast!

Here are some recent photos!

Derek is hilarious! He loves putting on glasses and saying, "COOL!" What a crazy, fun kid!

Holy Cow! It has been quite a while since I have been able to post! I am officially on vacation for the next two and a half months and have time to myself every Sunday! Therefore, I will most likely be able to keep up on the blog!!! On a side note, Ric and I just celebrated our ten year anniversary!!! I am very lucky to be married to my best friend and look forward to growing old with him!

Derek is an amazing soul! He is almost 18 months and growing like a weed! Most people think he is two years old because of his height. He is using his words and less signs lately...He can say "thank you" without prompting and "please" with prompting. He repeats everything we say and FLEXES his muscles for all to see. His face turns bright red and his eyeballs pop out of his head! He loves to make people laugh, hence his flexing routine! He says "HI" to everyone he sees, and is learning his colors. His favorite shape is an "oval" which he will say and find on a fence, wall, etc. Running is very exciting for him and he enjoys being outside to talk to neighbors, go into their backyards, and pull "weeds." One of our neighbors even bought Derek his own little seat to sit back and enjoy her beautiful garden! He is definitely a people person!!! I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you all.

Thank you for being patient with me!