Cousin Camp 2008

Every year for the past seven years, Connor's Aunt Kim has invited all the cousins of his side of the family to her home in Vancouver Wash. to attend "Cousin's Camp". It's four days filled with singing, crafting, camping, learning, cooking, laughing, and endless cousin fun. What I love most about this wonderful idea of hers, is that the cousins really get to know each other better. A couple of them even fly up from Arizona each year to join the fun! It's a happy place where they can just be kids and create memories to last a lifetime.

Madison, Jessica, Miranda, Kennedy

Nolan, Colten

Ben, Nita, Jay, and Nicholas

In this picture you see the whole crew...well almost the whole crew, We're missing Uncle Ed.

Granny Marie (Helpful, sweet, great grandmother of this entire group of kids), Aunt Kim (Camp leader extraordinaire, fearless leader, and owner of this lovely camp), and Shannon (Camp cook, camp nurse, camp photographer, and busy worker bee.)

Here's Uncle Ed, giving my boy some serious driving lessons. I know who to blame when Nick gets his first ticket.

Time for picking pea pods! Here's Kennedy, she flew all the way from Scottsdale to attend camp!

Miranda pushing Nita on the tree swing

Madison and Ben

I LOVE this picture. It's just plain cute.

(Aunt Kim with Nick)

Jessica creating a work of art on the patio.

Nita, her dimples, and Aunt Kim!

Cousin buddies! Colten and Ben

Look at this beautiful home- It's the perfect place to gather cousins for a weekend full of fun activities. Here are their painted box forts. One for the girls and one for the boys!

Sack race time! When I was a kid, we used old scratchy potato sacks--- This here sack came straight from Arizona and it was lined with velvet, so chic!

It is impossible for Nolan to concentrate without sticking out his tongue...He's tried many times.

Three legged races! Come on kids, work together now!

Nita sitting with Miranda and Kennedy (twins from Arizona)

Victorious Jay! Celebrating his paintball victory-first bulls eye of the group!

Nolan's turn... He looks a little too happy to be holding that if you ask me.

Colten just relaxing and catching some rays while Nolan paddles him around the pond.
Stroke. Stroke.

Girls!! Tall girls!

CRAZY

Cousins!



Each and everyone of these kids had a blast this year. Many thanks to Kim, Ed, Granny, and Shannon for putting so much effort and time into making camp so much darn fun! We truly appreciate all you do for our kids and want you to know that they treasure this time each year. They have learned a lot from you and always come away from camp with fantastic stories to tell, fun songs to sing, and happy memories.

Thank you!!!

Birthday Wishes

Who's Birthday is it today???

Well, I'll give you a few hints...



She's a fabulous cook...

She can read an entire novel in less than two hours...

Once she gets an idea in her head, she must act on that idea...IMMEDIATELY...

She's got some mad decoration skills, her home is pretty...

A box of "Good n' Plenty" will bring a smile to her face...

She has beautiful hair, and always disagrees with me when I say so...

Everytime I see this gal, she's got a new T-shirt on that says something funny...

I've never met anyone who likes to play practical jokes as much as this woman, April fools is a hoot at her house!

She's got two doting nephews who think she is a lot of fun...

She's got a big heart, big enough to adopt two kids into her home that were in need of a big heart...

She plays the piano, very well I might add...

She'll kick anybody's butt when it comes to movie trivia, especially the old classics!...

Her brother feels lucky to have such a close relationship with her after all these years...

Her brother's wife is lucky to have her and considers her a sister and great friend!...

Creative is her middle name, she can knit a scarf in about an hour and design some gorgeous earrings in no time flat!...

She's got four adorable kids that love her to the hilt...

Her brain is always working overtime, this gal is smart...

She is very deserving of a fun-filled birthday...

This Birthday girl is......

SHANNON

Happy Birthday!!

S'more Summer Fun

Do you remember Summer nights when you were a kid?

The nights linger on, perfect for a game of tag or hide and seek until you can hardly see.

Last night, Nick and Nolan invited a couple friends over for a backyard camp out.We pitched the tent...

Gathered around the fire to roast some hot dogs...

Got a little goofy...

and even a little goofier...

Roasted or should I say ignited a few marshmallows for some delicious s'mores.

I had fun being camp counselor for the evening. The boys were great and it was fun watching them chat around the bonfire...even though the burp to word ratio was a little on the high end.

Gotta love Summer!

Six Simple Words

I've been asked by Karen to list six words that describe my life...

This is no easy task, but here goes:

1. Happy

2. Fulfilling

3. Loving

4. Blessed

5. Entertaining

6. Joyful

There's no doubt I live a blessed life... My husband and kids bring me more joy than I could possibly deserve. They also deliver a great deal of entertainment my way! I'm lovin' life!!

As Cute As A Bug?

The other night I sat down next to Nick on the couch to spend a little quality time with the kid while watching one of his favorite shows. He was all wrapped up in one of our throw blankets looking warm and cozy...perfect for cuddling. Lucky for me, he still likes to cuddle. I know those days are numbered, so as I plopped down on the couch I said "where's my cuddle bug?"



He said "I don't know about any cuddle bug, but here's your cuddle grub."



"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you correctly? Did you just say grub?"



"Well, with my arms and legs all wrapped up in this blanket I don't much look like a bug!"



He had me laughing pretty good, then I happily wrapped my arms around my little larva and enjoyed the rest of the show.

Like Going to Summer Camp With our Kids!

We just got home from a fun trip to Sunriver Oregon.

I've heard of so many people going there over the last several years and touting how much fun it was, that I wanted to find out for myself.

(Nolan, Nita, and Gary)

So...we packed up the FJ to the gills with bicycles, tennis gear, munchies, suitcases, and of course some eager passengers!

(That gold van behind us is full of my sis-in-law Shannon's family)

Six hours later we rolled into town. It's such a interesting place, like nothing I've seen before. First of all, there are 35 miles of paved bicycle paths EVERYWHERE. They did such a great job planning this community because the bicycle paths rarely intersect with the roads. It's beautiful because it's located in a forest full of pine trees and nestled next to a slowly meandering river that is flanked by meadows. Sunriver is much larger than I was expecting... there must be over a thousand homes sprinkled throughout the property. It's easy to get lost on the maze of streets especially when all the homes look similar, but by the end of our trip we had pretty much figured it out!

We went on countless bike rides throughout our stay. Nick and Nolan were perfect ages for this vacation, Nick told me he felt like he was driving his own car while pedaling down the pathways. They couldn't get enough biking!! The only problem was the house we rented came with nicer bikes than the ones we brought and now my boys both think they need new bikes!

(Gary, Jessica, Nolan, and Nicholas in front of the Sunriver nature center)

The home we rented was a perfect retreat for all of us (we shared this house with Shannon's family and our friend Gary). There was plenty of room for all 11 of us to stretch out and relax. The kids had dibs on the loft area/TV room. And the grown-ups were happy to let them have it! We preferred the back deck off the kitchen where there was peace and serenity along with a good drink to cool us off!

(Here was our home away from home..)

When we weren't biking you could find most of us at the local pool. I LOVED just lying on my towel while my boys splashed the day away with their cousins havin' a grand O' time. The water slide was also a huge bonus for them!

(Jay and Nick)

(Nick shootin' off the end of the slide)

(Nolan happy to be at the pool)

One day, Connor, Nick, Nolan, Shannon, Jessica, and myself had quite an adventure. We signed up for a whitewater river trip down the Deshutes river. I have to admit that it was WAY rougher than I thought it was going to be but I LOVED every minute of it. I think it is possible to be petrified and have fun at the same time. At one point during the excursion, our guide, pulled us off to the side of the river to let us get out for a short hike to see what kind of rapids we would soon be going over. HOLY COW! I was shocked and tried hard not to let my boys see my fear. Nolan couldn't wait to hop back in the raft for the craziness that we were about to experience. The first set of rapids was called the "Kenmore" after the washing machine. Yeah---crazy! Well we all survived the wash cycle and came out the end with huge smiles and soaking wet clothes. I'm so glad I made myself do this, it reminded me that I need to break out of my comfort zone more often!!

(Dig in!)

(Nolan's face says it all!)

So with that thought in mind, why not hop on the back of a giant four legged animal? So we and Gary rode our bikes to the stables where they gave horseback rides through the forest along the edge of the river. The meadows, trees and river were so lovely. Luckily, my horse was compliant and didn't give me any problems. However, Nolan's horse "Felix" thought it was snack time pretty much the entire ride. Nolan kept having to pull up on the reins to convince Felix that he wasn't allowed to eat lunch while on Nolan's watch!

(Here we are about to go for our ride, Nick had "Slate", Nolan had "Felix, I had "Carlson", and Connor's horse was named "Rushmore")

Unfortunately, while we were just getting onto our horses, there was a terrible plane crash only about 200 yards from the stables at the little private Sunriver airport. Luckily our horses didn't get spooked by the sirens and go galloping off over the landscape (of course that was the scenario playing in my head). It was surreal being so close to such a tragedy...the pilot didn't survive and apparently many families witnessed the impact because of all the bike paths nearby.

On a brighter note...It's safe to say we had a very nice vacation with days filled with fun in the sun and evenings bubbling away in the hot tub or playing games with our friends. (We even invented our own version of Scattergories that included Shannon having to spit her ice from her drink onto a hand drawn alphabet grid- Yup...our vacation brains had gone into overdrive that evening!)

(Nolan, myself, and Nick...I pretty muched lived in that hat all week!)

(Awhh, how cute. Claude and Connor)

You would have to be a manequin in order to get bored in this place... There is a never ending supply of activites around every corner. While all of them were fun, it was nice to slow down and watch the deer walk by our back patio and watch the sun set over the river too.

Perfection!

***Sadly, I just realized I have no pictures of Shannon or Ben! I'm hoping Shannon will send some my way so I can update my blog soon!!

Introducing.....Caleb Joseph

I'm excited to say that I have another nephew as of today!Here's the little man himself!

He weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz

and is 21 3/4 inches long

...and he is perfect in every way.

Now, how did we spend the morning hours waiting for this latest addition to the family you ask?

Well... blowing bubbles of course!

And some serious monkey action helped the time tick by.
(Nita and Savannah)

Next thing we knew, we were staring at this little guy through the glass door.
It was really cute seeing all the kids pressed up against the door with smiles plastered across their faces. They were so excited to see their new cousin.

Savannah, Sarah, Caleb, and "Pizza" (Savannah's little toy dog)

Welcome little Caleb, we are beyond thrilled that you are here safe and sound. I was so tickled that I was able to meet you on your big day and that I was one of the lucky few to hold you this morning. You are a sweetheart.

We love you.

Ahoy Matey

Thanks to Connor's awesome employer...we had the opportunity to watch the "Tall Ships" sail into Tacoma's Commencement Bay.

I think we had one of the best viewpoints in the whole city.

We were perched upon the 12th floor of his office building which sits just about as close as you can get to the waterway.

We were greeted by pirates as we entered the lobby and they gave Nick and Nolan a pirate flag.

Of course, they were stoked... they even got to have their picture taken with one of the pirates

As we got off the elevator, we walked into a room that was filled to the brim with a buffet of junk food! It was every kid's dream come true. Everything from Popsicles, cracker jacks, red ropes, and candy bars... Nothin' better than watching pirate ships sail by while munching on sugary sweetness. Nolan was in heaven!

A few of the ships shot cannons into the air.

It's hard to see from these pictures, but some of these ships were enormous. Some had three and four masts on them. This one was said to be used in the making of the "Pirates of The Caribbean" movies.

Here's a little video of what our view was like on top!

Tacoma is actually quite beautiful when seen from this angle. And these cute kids didn't hurt the scenery in the least!