6/30/09

Last day of June and summer is FINALLY here in Oregon! We got our new pool set up yesterday and the kids got to swim in it today. (It had to run the chemicals through the filter all night.) My neices came over and everyone had a great time in the pool. This is the aftermath of swim suits hanging in the kid's bathroom.

6/29/09

My oldest son, Ethan, was playing in the yard with his brothers and cousins when he had an accident. I'm not sure exactly how he did it, but he somehow stabbed himself in the leg with a stick. It was a big enough gash that I didn't know exactly what to do for it, so I ended up taking him to the ER. This is him waiting for the doctor to come stitch up his leg! He was such a big boy about the whole thing too. He only cried when they gave him the shot. I'm getting pretty used to hanging out in the ER... is it bad when you recognize the triage nurse?

6/28/09

Gary Brumbelow is a very special person in our lives. He was commissioned as an elder today. Him and his wife Valerie lead our home group this past year. They are a wonderful couple with such a sweet romantic story. We appreciate all the support and prayer we've recieved from them this year, and are so happy that he's now an elder of our church!

6/27/09

On Saturday we had a reunion of a group we called the Young Married's. We met for sunday school for years. We were a very close group, but the class came to an end several years ago. There was no longer a need for that particular group. We decided to do a big reunion this year. We had people come from across the country! It was so much fun to see how much everyone's kids had grown, and what everyone is doing these days. Almost everyone got to come, but we're missing a few people in this pic.

6/26/09

One of the stations the kids go to @ VBS is a science station. On the last day had black lights all over the room and all kinds of things that glowed for the kids to play with. I played with the settings on my camera and found that I could take decent pics in the dark! I had SO many pics in this room and it was hard to pic one. This isn't the best one, but I thought it showed the lights and the stuff that glowed the best. This table had neon paper and highlighter pens on it for the kids to play with.

6/25/09

This is Mrs. B. She is my children's sunday school teacher, and she tells the missionary story every year @ VBS. She's a fantatstic lady and we all love her dearly! She is the mother of six boys who are all grown now, and I learn so much from her every time I talk to her! She's one of the best storytellers I've ever heard and the kids just hang on her every word. She did an amazing job with the story this year!

6/24/09

This week @ our church (Clackamas Bible Church) we had Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was Wildwood Forest. It was so cool! The whole church was turned into a forest! Even the sanctuary. I don't know how they did it, but it was fantastic! Yes, that's a giant tree in the corner of the sanctuary!

6/23/09

On Tuesday we were all bored, and decided to use our new box of sidewalk chalk. I started outlining in the middle and Eric and the boys followed behind me coloring it all in. By the time we were finished we had covered almost that whole section of driveway! I thought it looked pretty cool.

6/22/09

On Monday we rode our bikes from Oaks Bottom Park to downtown Portland. We were sitting there deciding where to get dinner and this building/trees/bench caught my eye. I love how the sun is shining on it all!

6/21/09

I found some cheap plastic horseshoe sets @ Target. Eric thought it would be fun for the boys. He spent Sunday afternoon teaching them to play. So much fun!

6/20/09

My parents took the kids all weekend, so on Saturday Eric took me to all the fancy yarn shops in downtown Portland. I got some fancy sock yarn and couldn't wait to start knitting my new socks! They are VERY soft and I just love the name of the color... Wicked Witch! So funny!

6/19/09

I learned a new setting on my camera today. White Balance. Shows you how little I know about photography, and my cheezy camera, but I had fun playing with it. This is the candle through my empty ice cream dish. I thought it was sorta neat.

6/18/09

Voo-Doo Donuts... need I say more?

6/17/09

Daniel was sad about something. Not sure what, but his pouting was cute. He got even more upset when he realized I was taking a pic of him!

6/16/09

It got pretty late on Tuesday cuz we had a dinner demonstration here, and while I was cleaning up I realized I hadn't taken my camera out at all that day. I decided to take some pics of the aftermath. This is the best I got. Red wine left in the bottom of a glass... not mine!

6/15/09

This is seriously one of the coolest pics I've taken all year! This dragon fly zoomed into our yard while we were outside today. I got right up to him and took pics! These are taken with my camera on the macro setting! I've never seen a red one before. You could see his little eyes looking right at me too!

6/14/09

This is my friend Sarah. Her mom made her this shirt, and I think it's fantastic! Sarah really likes cheese, so it tells you just how much she likes Nathan! LOL!

6/13/09

Saturday was our ten year high school reunion. This is the Milwaukie High School Class of 1999! Not a very good pic, but it's the best one I got. MUSTANG BORN! MUSTANG BRED! GONNA BE A MUSTANG 'TIL I'M DEAD!!!

6/12/09

I made 15 batches of strawberry freezer jam... now to find the room in my freezer for them all!

6/11/09

I went and picked two flats of strawberries on Thursday. When we got them home, I set up a sort of assembly line to prepare them for making jam. Ethan had the job of putting the berries into the blender and pureeing them. He did a very good job!

6/10/09

We went to a birthday party for a friend on Wednesday. Ethan discovered that he's grown enough to get up onto the monkey bars all by himself! He was very proud. He said, "Mama, look what I can do!"

6/9/09

I caught Taylor getting into the fridge for something! I love the little feet standing there with the fridge wide open! I'm sure I'll get over that pretty quick though...

6/8/09

We went for a bike ride on Monday. Taylor was having a lot of fun in front of me. "Look, Ma! No feet!"

6/7/09

While we were sitting on the bank waiting for my husband's race, a family of geese came up to us. They had the most adorable little goslings! So fluffy!

6/6/09

Dragon Boat Race weekend! This is the PGE Power Dragons (my hubby's team) racing against another team. They ended up getting first place that race! And they finished the weekend making it into division 1! They were very proud of themselves. YEA!

6/5/09

Game night this week was a special night! Our friend from high school, Onica and her family came! We had a lot of fun. This is my pic of the day cuz both Onica and Skylar wanted a retake of an earlier pic so they could both be smiling in it! So funny! (Onica is in the pink & Skylar is in the white)

6/4/09

I love fucias. I got several hanging baskets full of them this spring and they're just starting to bloom. They're so beautiful... even if my lame-o camera doesn't do them justice.

6/3/09

I was playing around while we waited for our dinner on Wednesday. I totally love this pic, and the fact that you can totally tell it's Ethan just by his eyes!

6/2/09

I went for a bike ride with some friends of mine today. It was a total of 12.4 miles. We had a wonderful time and needed to document it with a pic of the four of us. We saw a bald eagle in a tree, and the filming of the new Harrison Ford movie! (L-R Susan, Me, Esther and Patricia)

6/1/09

On the first, the grandaughter of a friend of mine brought us a duckling. She had found him on the side of the road next to his dead mama. She took him home and cared for him for a month, until she realized that he wasn't getting what he needed in her tiny appartment. He's very tame and while we were watching him from the back door, the other ducks chased him and he ran straight for us! He jumped right into my house and made himself right at home. Eric came home and saw that he was in the kitchen and said, "Dinner!". I love this pic!

5/31/09

On Sunday it was such a beautiful day and I took lots of pics while we were downtown. Daniel was "hiding" behind the tree. I thought it was so cute, as you could see him on both sides of the tree!

5/30/09

Saturday was one of my favorite events of the year! The Starlight Parade! We go every year and sit in the same place. I generally go early in the day to save our place and everyone else comes after the streets close. This is Jacki and Stephanie P. blowing bubbles for the kids.

5/29/09

Game night again. We played Buzz Word, one of our favorite games. It's the first time we had a draw!

5/28/09

Every year on the Thursday before the Starlight Parade, I go downtown and chalk off our spot. I was unaware that the laws had changed and you weren't supposed to be marking your spots anymore. This is Elizabeth, her and her sister, Kaitlin, helped me "mark" our territory. Thankfully our space was still reserved on Saturday when we got there!