Dancing Elephant!

When I was young I had an imaginary friend named Henry.  He was an elephant the size of a mouse (they're portable that way).  Ever since then (so all my life) I've had a thing for elephants.  I never knew elephants liked to dance though!

I also enjoyed finding the differences between the African and Asian elephant (there was one of each):

Look!  Elephant!

P.S. Happy 2nd birthday Charlotte!!!

Fully Loaded

Note: This is a story from my mom, not a personal experience.

Lili got a new phone.  Mom told Lili "Give me your phone, I'm going to load some numbers in it".  Mom takes phone, puts some numbers in and gives back to Lili: "hm.  It is heavier".  "What?"  "Now that it's loaded.  It's heavier when it's full". 

Gosh I love that girl.  She's hilarious!

Reviews II

Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Loved!  The entire book is comprised of letters between different people.  It took a bit for me to get in to it but well worth it!
• Little Women: Loved!  The entire series is free for the Kindle!  I'll be starting the next one soon.
• Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Awesome!  Dawn Treader is much better than the movie version...all the philosophical/religious stuff actually fits in and doesn't stand out like it was put in as an afterthought.
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Not finished yet, but I think it's hilarious.  It actually uses pieces of the original book.  Here's the first line: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains".  Sound familiar?
• The Hangman's Daughter: Had no idea what this was, but was pleasantly surprised!  It ended up being about medieval witch trials in Europe...which I took a class on in college so I rather enjoyed it.  Warning: it's a bit violent in parts.

Movies:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides:  Better than the last 2 in the series!
• Thor: Had no idea what to expect, but again I was pleasantly surprised.
• HPVII-II: Good.  Sad to see it end.  I guess I'll grow up now...
• Killers: Ok.  Your average romantic comedy.
• Secretariat: Ok.  Sweet, hopeful, underdog rising to the top story...but kind of boring in parts.
• The Switch: Loved!  Sweet and funny.
• Top Gun: Sooooo 80s. 

TV:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I watched the entire series!  This might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it!  I picked up fun phrases like "5 by 5" and "What the banana!".
• So You Think You Can Dance: I watched 2 seasons of this years ago- before I went to college.  I'm rather enjoying it though!  It's nice watching on Hulu and skipping over all the unnecessary talking bits.

"The stories we love best do live in us forever"

I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when I was 11 years old.  That's right, Harry and I started our journey together at the same age (I aged a little faster though)!  To say the least- I loved it!  I was hooked from there on out.  Before the next book was released, I'd re-read the entire series and then stay up all night reading the newest addition.  I had clear images of what every character looked like, the layout of the school, Hogsmeade, everything.  It was vividly painted in my brain...until the movies came out.  I can't remember all of what I imagined now that the movies have interfered with the memories.

I'll miss Harry Potter.  It's all old hat now.  The series has been a part of my life longer than it hasn't.  I know I'll read the books a million more times and watch the movies, but I will greatly miss the anticipation of getting a new book or watching a new movie (there was less movie anticipation).  Authors will try, but no other series will compare to this one.  How do I know?  I won't be 11 years old when I start reading any of them- they can never be as magical!

"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."  JK Rowling

Dancing Queen

Caitlin was initially friends with my sister Megan, but after spending plenty of time with the rest of us, befriended the whole family.  She got married last weekend!  Lovely wedding, beautiful reception, gorgeous bride!  Congratulations Caitlin and Kevin!

Charlotte had a great time too.  Especially on the dance floor!

P.S. This was my 4th wedding of the year!

Love!

Waving to the boats!

Wedding Cards

Sketches

Card:

The inside says "May your life together be sweet. Congratulations!"

And here's the card I made for Sarah and David's wedding:



Independence Day

Kurt, my wonderful husband, came with me to Anacortes on Monday (as he had the day off) to help with all my twin duties.  On the way I called Lili to double check she didn't have work that morning- she didn't.  Anyways, while talking to the Lilster she informed me she was going to be in the Anacortes 4th of July parade!  And that we needed to watch it and wave at her.  This was pretty easy as the parade goes right in front of Lili's apartment.  Kurt and I watched from the two windows...and watched...and watched...and watched.  After 1 hour we still hadn't seen Lili and the parade was still coming.  I told Kurt to keep watching and tell me when Lili came by- I needed to do something productive.  About 10 minutes later Kurt spotted her, "I see her!" I stood up. "And she's in a tank!!!"  "What?"  I ran to the window.  Sure enough, there was Lili riding down the street in a military tank smiling from ear to ear.  She was so excited!  She saw us too and waved back emphatically.  I had just enough time to snap a picture. 

You get the idea

Party time!

Well, it happened!  Luke is 4, Sofia's almost 4, William is 2 and we had a party for them yesterday!  I can't believe how old they're getting!  Sofia and Luke were only 1 and William wasn't even around when I started showing up at Biehl family dinners.


The birthday kids!  I asked Luke if I could take a picture of him and he said "no" so this is the best I've got- he's in his new Captain America outfit.  that's Sofia with her new horse named Spongebob.  As of today the horse's name is now Swiftwind.  And there's Will!  Always adorable!

CAKE!  They always have the cutest home made cakes!

Pinata time!  From left to right: William didn't know what to do.  Sofia hits like a girl.  Kariana had some punch.  And Ammon couldn't find the pinata.

Luke was definitely the best!  First he tapped the ground with his bat, then he made the Ichiro pose before going in to his batting stance, and finally hit the pinata with surprising force for one so small. 

We had a great time!  And enjoyed Luke's presents...

Last year's celebration: here.

Sunset

Well, it's been a crazy week, but it's settling down. As my mom's in Europe for 3 weeks (I think she's in Barcelona right now) I doing much more for the twins than I usually do. Not everything has gone smoothly and Kurt and I ended up making an extra trip up to Anacortes on Wednesday. On our way back to Bothell we decided to stop by Washington Park and watch (some of) the sunset. I can't believe I grew up in such a beautiful place! I forget sometimes. Being able to sit for a half hour and watch the gorgeous sunset was just what I needed.