4th of July

It's a tradition of ours to go to the Edmonds 4th of July parade, and we were excited that a few of our friends from church joined us this year.  Here all the kids sit eagerly in the street waiting for the parade to start.  

 Jeffrey and his friend waiting for any candy that might be thrown their way. 

After the parade we went to a near by park where the local firefighters had a water ball competition.  Lots of sun and water were involved!!  

Love these boys....and my sweet girls! 

 Jeffrey enjoyed getting wet and wild! 

Luke got a turn using the firefighter's hose.  

What a fun day!  We also took the kids to the firework show in the evening.  This is the first time they have ever seen fireworks live!  

Summer Fun

Summer has begun here in Seattle!  We have many fun things planned this summer.  One of the first things we did was go strawberry picking with a few of our friends.  The strawberries were amazing!  Big and juicy!!  The kids were all very helpful and only got a "little" muddy! 

 Here is Lana and her friend. 

 Sweet Jeffrey who did more eating then picking! 

 Luke and his friend enjoying their time together!

 Asha and her friend....I think they picked more than me!  Good job girls! 

All the kiddos!!  What a great start to our summer fun! 

Sister Time

My sister came to Seattle with her four youngest children for a few days at the end of June.  We made some fun memories!  One was taking Annalise to the American Girl Doll store and cafe for her 11th birthday.  

Here we are eating lunch at the cafe (each with their dolls). 

 Cousins and friends!

My beautiful sister!!   Can you believe she has 7 children?  No way! 

Special times with sweet Aunika!  We decided that she can NOT grow up anymore!!  What a fun age!

 Love this girl! 

Jeffrey also really enjoyed his littlest cousin!  Asking often if he could hold her.  So thankful for these times we share as a family!!  

Treasures! 

EXPO 2012

The home school resource center that we are involved with has an end of the year expo where the kids can showcase some of the things they have learned or done throughout the year.  This was such a fun time of being with friends and enjoying the many talents of all of these kids!  Wow!  

 Here Asha is enjoying some time with her friends. 

Luke and Lana did a recorder performance with their music class.  I was so proud of both of them and the time they put into practicing their recorders!  Luke is in the above picture, and Lana is below.  These pics did not turn out well because I was sitting quite a distance away.  boohoo! 

 Asha made her first quilt in her sewing class.  

Asha was also involved in a fashion show that showed the different clothing items that the students in the sewing class made throughout the year.  Asha made and designed the shirt that she is wearing here. She has become quite a seamstress.  She certainly didn't pick up this talent from me!  =) 

Guinea Pig Fun

Tonight as I was making dinner I could hear guinea pigs squeaking off in the distance....calling out to us from way down in the basement.  Yes, our guinea pigs call to us when they are hungry.  It is quite funny actually!  "Lana," I call out,  "George and Squeakie are hungry".  They are fun to have....but boy they can eat a lot!  Maybe that is why they are called pigs.  Here are a couple random pictures of the little guys!

 George pigging out on lettuce! 

Girl's Weekend

This past weekend my sister, three of her girls, two of my girls, and myself all went to Seaside, OR.  We stayed in a cute little house a few blocks from the ocean!  It was the perfect little get away!!  The first night there was a beautiful sunset to enjoy!  I love sunsets over the ocean!

 We got each of the girls a small kite.  My girls said this was one of their highlights of the trip.  The beach had the perfect wind and open air!!  

Aunika enjoyed the girl's weekend too!  What a good baby she is! 

Below are some pictures of Lana flying her kite!  She was very enthusiastic about kite flying! 

Malaya and I made this fun sand castle together!  

Happy to be cousins! 

 Melt Auntie Colette's heart!  Love this girl!! 

The four girls all together.  The second day was BEAUTIFUL!!! We didn't want to leave!  

The water even felt warm (ish)!!  

So thankful for this time away...especially for the time spent with my sister!  Feeling so blessed that not only is she my sister but my friend!!  

Asha's baptism

A few months ago we had a talk with our daughter about what baptism means, and later she shared that she felt like she was ready to make this proclamation.  In our church they do a sprinkling of water on the head.  It was beautiful to watch Asha bravely step forward to be baptized.  She is growing into such a wonderful young lady who honors the Lord with her life. Before our pastor baptized her he talked about the meaning of her name, shared some verses, and then prayed over her.  It was a special time!  

 In the pictures Asha is with our pastor and one of the elders.  Our whole family also got to stand up front with her.  This was a day to remember!