New Beds!

I love garage sale season. One man's garbage is another man's treasure. So up until now Easton has been in a big full size bed and Luke is in a crib. We don't have a large apartment, so we've been wondering what to do when Luke needs a real bed, because the full size and another bed won't fit well in thier bedroom. Well, on my way home from the gym I thought I'd stop at a garage sale. There were 2 matching beds!! Good news because we already had a mattress for one of them that we got at a different garage sale 2 months ago for only $15. I saw that the original price was $75 and then was marked down to $50 each. I asked if she would take $30 each and she said yes!! So we had to move things around, get a storage unit, go to my grandparents house and pick up the mattress, and buy new bedding because we've never owned a twin bed before, and we've got ourselves 2 new beds. (The second one to be moved in when I'm ready to deal with Luke being out of a crib.) Totally awesome!! Easton's favoring part is the little cubby hole. He played in it all afternoon and called it his "new house".

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to comment on what my children are unable to, because they are so young! Scott is a great dad!! He wakes up with our kids every morning (while I lazily sleep in) at a bright and early time of 5:30am. (Don't worry Easton, in spite of it, we still love you.) He makes meals, helps me clean, plays with the kids and takes them to the park when its nice out or to the mall playground when its yucky outside. He loves his boys so much! And they love him too. They ask me many times during the day when he is coming home. Luke sometimes has a hard time even letting Scott get out the door for work and grabs onto his pant legs or crys hard enough to get one last hug before he leaves. Scott also has taken up the role as single parent when I am on bedrest, and let me tell you not a single word of resentment or murmuring came out of his mouth the entire 2 months. He is just the best!! I hope I can raise my boys to be good men like thier dad.

Side note: I have a father too and he is great! Always helping out when we were young, being involved in all our activities, making big weekend breakfasts, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and taking us out on father-daughter outings like boating or just a trip to 7-11 for a slurpee are some of my fond memories of my dad being an awesome dad. He helped my mom raise 3 daughters, which was a little difficult at times, but we turned out great and he did a good job! Thanks dad!

Likes and Dislikes

So we have lived in Federal Way, WA for a year now and we've had time to assess our likes and dislikes of our new home. These are in no particular order:

Likes:
1. We really like our apartment. It is a major step up from what we've experienced before, the area is quiet, and we've got lots of room for the little guys to run around, plus thier very own play room.

2. We love our ward! Lots of good people and everyone is very involved.

3. Scott loves his job!! For most of you who thought we were going to New York and then it didn't work out, it was a good thing, because one of his fellow MPA grads actually did get one of the internships up there and he has already quit because he hated it so much! Scott gets tons of awesome projects that he gets to head up and put his name on, and gets a ton of face time with the big wigs who have been great mentors to him.

4. We live in the city where Scott works, which for this area is pretty unheard of. In fact, we live only 1.8 miles from City Hall, and Scott saves us money by running to work most of the time.

5. We are finally back out west and a lot closer to family. We even have extended family in the area (aunts, uncles, cousins, and Lindsey's grandparents).

6. We are close to all of the advantages and things to do in the big city, without the big city lifestyle, and we also have an array of outdoor activities available. An awesome vacation is but a short drive away!


Dislikes:
1. The weather! It never stops raining! Today is June 8th, and it is around 50 degrees outside, and although it is not raining now, it should by night fall. We still have our heat on, and we're wearing pants, coats, socks and shoes. Not really summer weather!! (p.s. This is not a fluke; its been like this for about 2-3 weeks and I don't think we'll see 60 degrees for about another week.)

2. Its expensive!! Unlike other major metropolis cities who have taken the economic blow, Seattle's housing market is still fairing pretty well. Scott was notified of the 1st house in Federal Way that fell below 200K last week, and it was a foreclosure!

3. Although we are out west and a lot closer to family, we are still very far away. We are still looking forward to the day when we can actually visit our family on a three-day weekend, or at least be a days drive away from them instead of a 17-23 hour drive. And worst of all, my sister just moved 3 days ago to New Mexico. (sniff, sniff, tear.)


We're still not sure if we'd actually like to settle here if the opportunity presented itself, but its doing okay for us now, and I guess thats all we could ask for. Who knows what the future will hold for the Pingel family.

Easton's 3rd Birthday

Today we had a party for Easton's 3rd Birthday. We invited some of his buddies from church and my sister and her family were there as well. It was a fish theme, so they played pin the fish on the hook, throw the fish back in the bowl, and a fish matching game using a fishing pole to pick up the fish. They all had a great time. Easton was so excited for his party last night that when Scott told him that he'd have his party after he took his nap (bedtime) he ran up to me and said "goodnight, mommy!" and then went into his room and fell right to sleep without a peep (which is a miracle!). He also had a cake decorated with little plastic fish figurines. He had so much fun! It was a great birthday.

Summer Weather?!

This weekend has been awesome! We've had weather in the 70's and today it was in the 80's. Not a cloud in the sky!! Scott worked a ton of nights this week and so took off a little early from work this afternoon. Once the boys were up we got into out swim gear and headed for the beach. It was great! Luke had no hesitations or reservations about getting into the water (and might I mention it was ice cold). As soon as he saw water, he was running and he screamed when we made him get out. He also loved jumping in the waves and splashing in the little run-off stream. Easton was a different story. It took him a while to warm up to it and he did not like the fact that his feet kept getting dirty from the sand, and he wouldn't let go in the big water, especially if there were waves coming. But in the end I think he had a good time. Scott and I totally loved just being outside for once! I hope we get lots more weather like this over the summer. We can't wait to go to the beach again! (It is just down the street from our church, so the opportunity is always there, weather permitting).