Lacey joins the family...

Hello again! Here are a couple of pictures of the latest addition to our family! Yea!! Lacey is a pure-bred salt and pepper Miniature Schnauzer. She currently weighs 7 lbs. She is the only other estrogen in this household, so I'm VERY happy that she is with us! :) She's not quite potty trained (yesterday was a rough day), but she's getting the hang of it. We just taught her to sit and she's working on "lay down." She has been such a great puppy for Andrew. She runs all over the yard with him and NEVER leaves the yard. She's curious, but stays in the boundaries. She LOVES attention, and SLEEP. :) We went all the way to Spanaway (outside of Seattle) to get her, but it was well worth it! She's a WONDERFUL puppy and we are thrilled to have her as part of the family!

At the Cabin...

Hi Everyone!
We spent a couple of days out at the cabin a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share pictures! Our boys are SO cute (wouldn't you agree?)! We got to spend some time with JJ's Grandfather, James Block, who Mason is named after (his middle name is James). It was nice to get away from the "city" and back to po-dunk Plain! :) No, we REALLY enjoy being out there. It's quiet and just beautiful. We'll have lots of pictures up from Memorial Day Weekend when we spend a little more time out there. :) Anyway, enjoy the pictures! Love to you all!

This is Andrew!

The video says it all!

A lotta talk and some smiles / visiting the Platts

Well, Here is a video of our little Mason. He's getting SO big! He's barely 3 months old, but he's as big as his cousin, Toby, who is already 6 months! We don't say Mason is chubby. We say he's "thriving." haha.

Last week I was able to take the boys and make a trip to Utah to see my family. What a fun time that was! I spent SO much time with my mommy and got to see almost everyone. The only people who didn't make it out were Jon and Randi, but they were here in Washington! :) We got to meet Damien and Toby, and Andrew had SO much fun playing with Hannah, Josslyn and Katherine! It was really such a fun trip! On Monday, Ben stayed home from school for a full day to spend time with all of us. Greg and Ilene went apartment hunting and I had the DELIGHTFUL pleasure of helping to watch Toby while they were gone! What a ham! Donovan and Olya came by that day, too, so Damien and Hannah were there to play and show off! It was So nice being able to catch up with Olya and Ilene again. They are such a wonderful part of our family! Tanya made it over, too, and Doug came Monday with his new girlfriend, Sarah. (Thurday he brought Josslyn and Kathy to see us.) Julie had an honor choir concert on Wednesday night (in which, I must say, she did a FANTASTIC job!), and we got lots of game and talk time in! Andrew just LOVED being with Grandma and Grandpa and he gave the BEST hugs, complete with good pats on the back! :) It was a LONG drive to spend just a few days, but it was SO worth it. The kids were fantastic, but they were sure happy to see Daddy when we got home!! What a blessing! We are so happy to be back on the Western side of the U.S. again. This drive is actually possible with two children! :) Thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting us impose again! We sure loved being there! We'll see you all again in July! :)

Grandma and Mason
Grandma and Andrew

Grandma is GOOD at getting babies to sleep!

Andrew LOVED the stairs!
All the cousins that could make it down!
Hannah, Damien, Toby, Andrew and Mason
Grandpa and Andrew
Grandpa and Mason

There is NOTHING better than family members getting together and enjoying each other!

Cindy Turns The Big 2-5!

So My birthday was fun. JJ's parents came on the 5th and watched Mason and Andrew for us so we could go out as a couple to celebrate! We got all dressed up fancy and JJ took me to a local Italian restaurant (Leonardo's) which had FABULOUS food! Then we went driving and just spent time together as a couple...it's been a LONG time since we were able to do that! After a long drive we stopped by Dairy Queen for a yummy snack and then headed home. What a wonderful evening! On our way home we crossed the Odabashian bridge on the North end of town coming home. As we started onto the bridge, a car sped past us at about 100 mph (no exaggeration) and threw a BEER BOTTLE at our car. Luckily nothing was broken but the bottle, but we ended up with two dents, scratched paint and scratched glass. I am relatively irritated and JJ was so mad that we ended up speeding to catch up with the car, to no avail. If it were up to JJ, we would have followed the car and probably gotten into a fight, so I'm glad that I told him NO and we went home to our family. I swear, the drama never ends! But, the birthday celebration was fun! :) So, now I'm 25 years... a whole quarter of a century! It's amazing the things that we see and accomplish in our lifetimes. I have a whole lot more to do, though! Looking forward to the rest of my life! "I plan to live forever.... so far so good!"

Our Easter

This year was the first year Andrew could really enjoy his Easter. We had so much fun getting AJ and Mason dressed up and handsome for church! John's parents were able to drop by for a couple of hours for dinner and for an Easter egg hunt. The weather was pretty nice, but we had a few rain drops during the hunt. Andrew was so cute reaching down and finding eggs that we hid in plain sight. Next year he'll have to really search for them! JJ's buddy, KC, was up visiting before his move to Phoenix, so we had a full house and it was SO fun! In fact, since JJ had to work that day, KC and I went to church together with the boys. The Chapel was full, so we were sitting on metal chairs in the cultural hall. One moment Andrew was sitting next to me and the next he was on the floor behind the chairs. He almost landed on the people behind us as he slid THROUGH the back of the chair and onto the floor. That was a moment I had wished for a camera! He was such a trooper that he didn't even cry, though I was terrified that he would! What a good kid!

March Madness!

Well, Well, Well! It's MARCH! Can you believe how time is FLYING this year!? It's been quite an adventure for all of us here in the Cross Household.


JJ is still going to school. Almost finished with his first quarter. He's cut hours at work to part time and is going to school full time. He's taking a FULL load of 18 credits and it's been a challenge. I'm sure that next quarter will be easier.

Andrew is getting bigger, but not gaining much weight. In November he weighed 3 ounces more than he does now, but he's grown 2 inches. He's in the 75th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight. He's healthy, he's just slender! Lately he's learned how to throw fits and has spent some time in time-out because of it. Poor kid. Learning and being disciplined is so hard! :) He might start in to the terrible twos a little early. Oh joy!

Mason is holding his head up for quite a while now. He's getting bigger. He's up to 11 lbs 4 oz as of last week, which means he's gained a pound a week since birth. Good for him! We love our "Chunky Monkey"

My life is relatively boring. No, it's pretty busy. I watch a little boy named Hunter Monday through Friday for 10 hours. It's fun because he's a month younger than Andrew and they enjoy playing together. He weighs 10 lbs MORE than Andrew and is about 2" shorter, so it's a whole different situation when I pick HIM up! He's a cutie, though. We have a lot of fun.

Well, here are the latest photos. Hope you enjoy them! Love you all.

Cindy and the rest of the Cross Family

Helping Daddy In The Garage

Sleepy Time With Daddy

Passed Out!

An Indoor Camp out!

Just The Boys (Daddy and Andrew are PLOTTING something!)

Andrew is learning to comb his hair!

He's well-fed, wouldn't you agree?

Brothers share EVERYTHING (right mommy?!)