Our New Pets

Once again we adopted some new animals! We introduce to you Squeaky and George - our pet guinea pigs! Aren't they adorable!!

We found them on Craig's List. A lady could no longer care for them and needed to place them in a new home. They are two years old and are very friendly & sweet! Their favorite things to eat are hay, lettuce and carrots. It is very cute to watch them eat!

We are enjoying our newest additions (even Rusty, our dog, is getting used to his new brothers)!

Summer's Here (Part 3)

roasted marshmallows

fresh fruit

evening walks with the dog

weddings

neighbors out

vacation bible school

early morning runs

thunder storms

yard work

Summer's Here.....

Matt taught Luke how to use the weed whacker over the weekend. He really got into it!

Family Trip to Leavenworth

Our family loves going to Leavenworth! It's a great little German style town with beautiful mountains all around it! They brag about having over 300 days of sunshine a year! How convenient, we can drive two hours and be in the sun and mountains!

This time we stayed for three nights in a condo near the town. It was a perfect spot for our family! Here are some pictures of our time, and some of the memories we made.

Welcome to Leavenworth!

Asha with her new flower hat. The town was filled with beautiful flowers like this.

We rode on the trolley through town. We had to do this twice because the kids enjoyed it so much.

One of the many views near our condo.

While in town we got to listen to several talented musicians (one being a famous yodeller). The girls enjoyed dancing to the music, and several joined in with them.

We found a beautiful lake on one of our hikes. The water felt like snow...but the kids still had a blast playing in it! We ended up staying here for hours!

We also hiked near a fish hatchery, and found lots of unique flowers (or weeds).

Our last day in Leavenworth we took a short hike near our condo. On this hike Matt actually spotted a little bear right near our path! That freaked us all out.....since we didn't quite know what we should do if we confronted one head on. Do you run? Stay still? Walk away slowly? Give it food? Better look that up for the next time we are there!

What great memories we made as a family!!

Thank you Lord for this time!!!

Summer's Here (Part 2)

crab hunting

popsicles

lazy afternoons

sandy feet

sunburns

7-Eleven Slurpee's

bike rides

vacation planning

garage sales

outdoor concerts

picnics

Summer's here.....

We had a garage sale last weekend. Asha and Lana made some money selling freshly baked m&m cookies. Yummy!

All decked out for 4th of July

One of our favorite things to do on the 4th of July is to go down to Edmonds, WA and take part in their parade. This year we actually participated in the children's parade first, and then sat and watched the real parade. It was a bit more crowded this year (I think because the weather was so amazingly beautiful), but we all still had a fun time! Here are some pictures of the kids "all decked out for 4th of July".

Red, white and blue!!!

Check out those great patriotic sunglasses...way to go Jeffrey!

"Bring on the candy!" says Luke.

The kids said their favorite part of the parade was seeing the Star Wars people walk by. Here is one of the sand people. He was looking right at me....pretty scary, if you ask me!

Love this great big green truck.....pulling a band playing country gospel music! My favorite!

Summer's Here

night walks

water fights

open windows

blue skies

flip flops

lemonade

BBQ

farmer's market

fresh fruit

sunscreen

tire swing

schools out

pool's blown up

Summer's Here...

Matt put up a new tire swing in our back yard! What fun!!

Wedding Memories.....

While we were in Oregon, Matt and I made a stop at a place that is very special to us. It was the church that we got married in (13 years ago). When I was a senior at George Fox University I would walk by this church everyday on my way to campus. I remember thinking, "someday I want to get married in this church". So, when Matt asked me to marry him he very graciously agreed to go to Oregon to get married (we were living all the way in State College, PA at the time). Ahhh...sweet memories!

Camp Tilikum

We recently returned from spending two weeks in Oregon. My Sister and I were vigorously trying to clear out my Dad's condo to get it ready to be rented....while the kids got to attend an awesome day camp. Camp Tilikum is affiliated with George Fox University (where I graduated) in Newberg, OR. The camp is five days of outdoor fun and adventure. They got to go swimming in the lake, canoeing, rafting, on a big swing, zip line, and hiking. They also learned lots of songs, games, and most importantly learned many lessons about God's love! We would drop them off at 8:45am and didn't pick them up until 3:45. They have so many great memories from their time! We hope we can do it again next Summer!!!

Camp Tilikum..and the lake they played in.

Tyler and Luke ready for adventure and some serious cousin time!

One morning my Dad and his new bride (Joyce) took all six of the kids to Tilikum. It was a 45 minute drive each way...so we were happy for the break!

My sweet girls!

Asha and Annalise were in the same group...their camp leader was so special to them (her name was Rito).

The Last Baseball Games of 2011

On June 11th both of our boys had their last baseball game of the season. This was their first time playing on a team, and they both had a lot of fun! We met some great people and learned a lot!

Luke up to bat.

Luke in outfield.

Luke's coach (Tomas) giving Luke his trophy at his baseball celebration after the game.

We were so proud of Luke! Not only did he get his first trophy, but he got a special award (gift card to see a movie) for being the only boy who did his baseball "homework" the coach gave during the season. Way to go Luke!!

Both of my baseball boys!

Jeffrey's last T-ball game.

Jeffrey's T-ball team (all 5 & 6 years old) and coaches.

Silly shot.

Jeffrey's coach (Jeff) giving him his trophy at a pizza party after the last game.

Way to go Jeffrey!

What a great season!!