Our Little Artist

Chance has a great imagination and it really comes out in his drawings. He loves to sit and draw and color. Aaron and I really enjoy having him explain to us about his drawings. The one below is one of our favorites. I am hoping he will follow in Aaron's footsteps and develop this talent as he grows.

A quick explanation: Dad (Aaron) is hanging from the helicopter. He was stabbed with a knife and is about to be attacked by that eagle flying towards him. He barely escaped from the bear that was chasing him through the woods. Chance's explanation was much, much, much, :) more detailed, maybe I will have him help me edit this later. There is even a fallen log in the forest and the cave the bear just came out of behind him.

Huh?

Cody:
Yesterday as we were pulling into a store parking lot, Cody says to Aaron and I, "Mom and Dad can we adopt an 'african brother', I hear they are a lot of fun. My friend Capri from school is getting one." Aaron and I busted up laughing, it was like she was talking about a new toy or something. Cody has never ceased to amaze us with the things that leave her mouth.

Anna:
Last Thursday Aaron and I were cleaning up dinner and heard a loud gulping noise. I didn't think much about it, but Aaron looked over and saw Anna staring up at him with wide eyes. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he started questioning her as to what happened. She told him that she had swallowed a penny. I started questioning her at this point and found out that she had actually swallowed a quarter! Aaron was wigging out a little bit and went to get some answers online. I decided that since she was breathing perfectly fine, we didn't need to take her into the ER, that there wasn't much they could or would do at this point. (I hate taking my kids in only to find out that there is nothing they can do.) So we started watching every bathroom trip, but still haven't seen the illusive quarter. I have to admit, that we are not looking all that well, but I am still leary and keep hoping that she doesn't end up with some crazy blockage. Ugh!

Nothing says happiness like a .....

RIDING LAWN MOWER! A guy from church was getting rid of his riding lawn mower and asked Aaron if he wanted it. He told him it wasn't working, but if Aaron wanted to fix it he could have it. Of course Aaron wanted it! He has been wanting one for forever, even when we didn't have grass to mow. I swear Aaron can fix anything, he had that thing running in a couple of hours. It wasn't put all the way back together in these pictures, but it is now. After the grass was all mowed, he started pulling the kids around on sleds behind the mower just for an excuse to use his mower. Boys and their toys. Look at the happiness radiating from him.

Whistling away while he's cutting the grass. Oh yeah, I think his tractor's sexy!

This next one is just for fun. Aaron has been building us a shed with a really steep pitch to the roof. So to roof the shed, he decided to build himself a harness. He wanted to try it out before getting up on the roof, so he grabbed the dog's leash and hooked himself up to the porch. While he was up there the log he was standing on rolled out from underneath him and off the porch. This is what I saw when I opened the door to a soft knocking sound. I couldn't help myself, I let him hang there while I went to find the camera. Ha! Life is never dull with Aaron around.

Jeffers Visit - One "Fly" Week! ;)

Whew!!! This is a lot of pictures, but I think it pretty much sums up our week up with the Jeffers.

Aaron and Holli at Ocean Shores, WA. You have to love Spencer in the background.

The is in the Quinalt rain forest. The trees were fascinating there. It was fun to see, I can't wait to make it to the Hoh rain forest, that is supposed to be even better.

Aaron and bud. Have I told you how much I love taking a dog with us everywhere in our 7 passenger minivan. He makes 8 and makes himself very comfortable!:)

Hollow tree in the rain forest. That is Cait, Spence and Cody at the end there

I am concerned that Aaron may have become a tree hugger during our stay in Washington.

I like this one a lot. All 10 of the kiddos lined up by age - cute kids!

Chance with his collection of crab shells

Cait with her perfect sand dollar, she found two but gave one to Aaron. I haven't found any cool shells on the beach in a long time. It was fun to find these.

Mady the cutie pie.

Cameron with his sand dollars.

This is what Mady and Anna looked like during the kids water fight - Little princesses- I like Mady's unmatched shoes. Isn't that taboo for the little queen of shoes?

Fun picture of Spencer with his find on the beach.

I still can't get over this. I think the dog slept with Spencer and Cameron every night. He was pretty sad when they left.

This cracks me up. Here is Chance, Spencer and Payton bracing themselves for the upcoming water fight. That is Chance and Spencer hiding behind the snow sleds and Payton grabbed Aaron's hawk (for doing wall texture) and was trying to hide behind it. :)

Cody dipping her line in at Deception Pass. We didn't feel the need to tell the kids they were using fresh water poles in salt water. We just let all the other fisherman laugh at them.

Anna was pretty sure she knew how to fish all by herself so we turned her loose with the fishing pole and untangled it later.

Buddies! Cody and Aaron have always been good buddies, it is fun to watch them together.

Payton had a great time watching the other fishermen, finding rocks, and climbing the cliffs here.

Aaron was like a kid again with the boys all week long. This is them ninja fighting.

Bud welcomed Holli as soon as she got in the door. Holli laid down shortly after getting here and Bud joined right in. She especially loved it when he tried to lick her face :)

On the days the kids were in school Holli and I took the kids down to the park to fish and play on the toys. It was really frustrating fishing, because we could see the trout in the water but never caught anything. I suppose that is what you get when you have Holli and I trying to help you fish. Sorry boys, I will work on my fishing skills before the next time you come.

Spencer trying to catch the big one.

Holli and her kids came to visit us and from the minute they arrived life was full throttle. Aaron flew into California to help her drive up and when Aaron drives, he doesn't fool around. They arrived at 6:30 in the morning on Sunday after leaving Grandpa and Grandma's around noon on Saturday. I stayed up the night before watching all the movies that Aaron doesn't enjoy, like Pride and Prejudice, thinking I could sleep in and be ready for their arrival in the afternoon. Right from then I have been sleep deprived and have not recovered. There was not one single night that we went to bed before midnight. Anyone who knows Holli, knows that she is twice as much fun after 10 p.m. In the mornings we made enough pancakes, eggs, or french toast to feed a small country or at least the 10 kids. The days were filled with fishing, boxing, exploring, day trips to the ocean, bike rides, the rain forest, deception pass, playing with the dog, water fights, Aaron leading Cameron and Spencer to believe he was cool and convincing them to bring back the word "fly", dishes, lots of laundry, and making more food. We had a great time Jeffers! Can't wait until next year :) Thanks for the visit.

Fishing Derby

We took the kids to a fishing derby yesterday morning. It was so fun. They have a little area called fishing school where they teach the kids to fish and guarantee that they will catch one. You might wonder how this is accomplished. Well, they dump 500 trout into a 10 x 10 netted area and that is where the kids fish from. If you ask me, it doesn't really teach the kids much about fishing because in my experience, patience is the most important skill in fishing, but that is beside the point. The kids absolutely loved this. In about 10 minutes all of our kids had reeled in a great catch. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the van in our rush to get in line. That really was too bad because we missed some priceless moments. Chance of course loves fishing. He is always asking to go fishing. You can tell from the picture he was in heaven. Cait reeled a 12 inch trout in immediately and was all smiles. Cody was a doll in her pink and camo bass pro shops hat. She really didn't want to have them gut her fishing for eating. She wanted to take it home for a pet. She is starting to lean toward vegetarian these days. I am pretty sure that has something to do with living in Washington. Anna thought fishing was fun until they put her fish in a bag and wanted her to hold it. She wanted nothing to do with that wiggly fish. Colten drooled in anticipation of catching a fish. When he landed his fish it was love at first sight. He wouldn't let go of that fish. When we handed the fish to the cleaning station, he cried as they cut his fish open. In the picture you can see him starring at his fish in amazement. He was one proud fisherman. All day long we had to keep telling him to go put the fish back in the fridge. He wanted his fish to go everywhere with him. After dinner he went to the fridge looking for his fish, but they were no where to be found. It was a mighty tasty dinner.

Two

Once again, I wrote first and then added pictures, so the story is below.


Let's finish that french toast and cupcake off with a candy necklace and balloon, more of Colten's favorites.


Look at the the fish!


Up and over!




Cute little toes!


Nothing like a mountain of sand to play on.




When it snowed a couple weeks ago Colten ran to the closet and put on his own hat and mitten and headed out for some fun.

My baby turned 2 yesterday... I love him so much.

He is so sweet and ornery, independent and dependent, a laugher and a crier, a mama's boy and daddy's little man, a lover and a fighter, oh so guilty and yet so innocent, my perfect baby boy.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather yesterday and I couldn't think of anything else that Colten loves more than sand and water, so we headed down to the river. We enjoyed a very relaxing time playing in the sand and the icy river water. When we got home, the neighbor had given him (and the rest of the kids) a "slip 'n slide." His style was more of a run and slip. That was worth a good 30 minutes of laughter. For dinner we had his favorite - french toast. After 2 1/2 pieces he fell asleep. We let him sleep for a little while and then had to wake him up because we were all anxious to share his cupcakes with him. Despite being half asleep, he was a good sport while we sang happy birthday and urged him to blow out his candles. I had to run off to a meeting and as usual, when I got home, he was still awake. He came running up with a "mama!" and a extraordinarily big bear hug. I could tell he knew it was a special day for him. I asked him if he had a happy birthday and he earnestly nodded yes! It was a good day!

Grandpa's Party

Grandpa turned 90 this year and had a big celebration. We were able to drive down for the party and had a great time. Grandma threw a great party, there was a jumper for the kids, good food, Aunt Kym gave all the kids horse rides, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Grandpa is so much fun to be around. He tells great stories, gives great hugs, cracks funny jokes, and in general just makes you feel plain old good. I selfishly hope he lives for another 10 years.

Anna had just kissed grandpa and got a little embarressed afterwards.


It took quite a while to pull out those ninety candles and even longer to light them.


The morning after the party, we took some pictures, I like how relaxed everyone was in this one.





Grandpa getting ready to blow out the candles. Good thing he had a bunch of great -grandkids standing around to help. (No way I was having a piece of that cake.)

Cody getting some Grandpa lovin'.

Chance thoroughly enjoying his ride.

Colten had no fear, he was quite happy to get up in that saddle....That's my boy! Kym must have walked in circles for at least two hours giving the kids rides. Thanks Kym!

I love these two guys.

Cait doing her best to follow Kym's instructions.

An airplane flew by while Colten was visiting with Summer. I can't believe that horse is almost 30 years old. I suppose that is the beauty of Arabians.