Thursday, August 19, 2010

Oregon Weekend--Epperson Half

We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Epperson this weekend for a visit and so we could attend the Jenson Family Reunion. We had a great time beating the heat while wading in the creek and celebrating their 62nd anniversary with them.
We stopped by Roake's hot dog stand on the way in to get the traditional Coney Island Dog. Grandma Joan's family started this business years back.
From August 2010

From August 2010

Tony making rapids
From August 2010

It was so hot and the water felt sooo good
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Best picture ever
From August 2010

And the video to go along with it (This was Ryan's first time in the creek and he loved it)

The back of the house
From August 2010

We made and decorated this cake for the anniversary fete!
From August 2010

A cute shot of Grandma and Ryan
From August 2010

Happy 62nd Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for letting us celebrate it with you!
From August 2010

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Little Tree Visitors

I forgot to post that in all the times we've been to this house, we've never seen these little tree frogs but two Sundays ago, the Rhododendron had a little family in it. It was quite fun to see Max watch them in amazement.

From August 2010

From August 2010

From August 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

We Love Whidbey

Whidbey Island is beautiful. We went camping with a few other families and experienced family camping in the rain (2nd weekend of August, for reals), but we loved it. We stayed at Deception Pass State Park which is very kid-friendly. Some of us ladies caravanned on the way there and our husbands carpooled after work. We rode the ferry (and learned that the Port Townsend/Keystone ferry is one of 2 in Washington that requires reservations--would have been good to know that). We had ice-cream in the cute town of Port Townsend and saw a seal near the beach while we waited for the next ferry. It wasn't going to be likely that we got on and luckily we did! One ferry ride later and a drive through the island and we were at our campsite!
Loving the ferry
From August 2010

Ryan needed his mama a lot during the big unknown of the campsite.
From August 2010

From August 2010

The cute Gavin
From August 2010

The Masters
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Tallie and Hank
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Max had a blast. He really loved shining his flashlight at the smoke, at the ground, at eyes
From August 2010

The Whites
From August 2010

A few older kids playing UNO
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From August 2010

I loved this. Luke was teaching Max to play. He was so patient with him and even let him "win"
From August 2010

Deception Pass Bridge from the beach
From August 2010

The kids rode bikes, threw rocks, played in the sand and even enjoyed a drift wood teeter totter
From August 2010

From August 2010

Gavin had a huge collection of rocks in his hoodie pocket but didn't want to show it off to the camera
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Max was busy making x's all morning
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From August 2010

From August 2010

And I got to stop by a lavender farm, so beautiful and romantic inside the gift shop
From August 2010

Kind of a secret garden motif
From August 2010

Sequim has much better lavender farms but here is some of the purple beautifulness
From August 2010

Walking on the bridge
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From August 2010

From August 2010

Even though we got rained on and packed up camp early, it was still a blast!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Mom Sleeps

Last night we had a fun family home evening and we played and sang and talked about how important our little family is. I asked Max to tell us what was "special" about each of us. Here is the conversation:

Me: Max, what is special about daddy?
Max: He goes to work

Me: Max, what is special about Ryan?
Max: He crawls

Me: Max, what is special about mommy?
Max: You sleep

hahhahaha
Really? For the record, I don't sleep during the day; Im not a nap person. Tony of course had to look at me "knowingly" because he likes to tease me that all I do is sleep all day. It's a total joke to anyone wondering, he knows how hard I work and he values that I'm a stay-at-home mom. Max just comes up with the funniest things sometimes.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Paddle Boarding and Monster Trucks

I've taken a hiatus from being "the mom who takes pictures of every moment of her kids' lives". We've been spending lots of time at the park and with friends and all of the normal summer stuff. Last night for FHE, we went and spent the evening on Raft Island with the ever hospitable Chris. His granddaughter, B, came with us and she and Max played together. We paddle boarded, threw rocks and overturned rocks to see the crabs scuttling away. We walked around the beautiful island which is definitely amazing. Back at the house, she and Max played with her fun toys. She has a battery-powered monster truck. When Max was sitting in it, he came up to my waist. He did really well at maneuvering around, even putting it in reverse. He kept hopping out to "look a the motor" (who's his daddy?). When we started noticing that it was getting late, we asked Chris what time it was. He didn't know of course because we were on "island time". Gotta love it!

Monday, August 2, 2010

New Bikes

We are always grateful when friends share their loved items so that our boys can love them too. This weekend we inherited 3 little bikes for the boys to enjoy. I have to say the term boys loosely because as you can see from these pics, it's not just the boys who enjoy them.
From August 2010

From August 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Caught in the Act

This is Max "reading" to himself (a book he knows well). I caught him by surprise. About a minute into the video he sings the BYU fight song. He's getting it down even more since I shot this video last Saturday. My little Coug fan!