Emery | 8 | Wow!

You can see these bigger if you go to my photoblog.

Emery's 8th B-Day Party

Well, another party down. This year it was a Jonas Brother's theme at the pool. The girls (and Ty the lone boy) all had fun despite that their cupcakes were all melted. Hours of slaving over fondant resulting in 24 droopy microphones. O'well, I tried. And 8-year-olds don't seem to care.

She came home with tons of barbie and Hannah Montana toys which she is playing with in bed with her friend Mylah as I type. I must go and tell them to settle down now.

Lemonade!

The Lemonade sign has replaced the for sale sign. Our house if off the market for now. We shall see what the future has in store for us. But for this school year we will be staying put....and we are okay with that.

Sisters

Are we not pretty? She may kill me for this ;)

Our families...

The cousins...


and quite possibly the only time you will ever see this family all wearing college gear other than WSU, unless of course all three of our children choose another school.

Wisconsin ~ The Pontoon

We rented a pontoon boat one day. Of course the one day the weather turned to cold and rain. But we made the most of it. The kids tubed in the rain, we explored the lake. Did some playing and fishing at the sandbars. Good times.

Wisconsin ~ The Fishing

Wow, I really dont think I have ever gone this long without blogging. Tells you how insanely busy things have been around here. We left on July 10th and really never stopped with craziness of some sort until just a couple of days ago. I am just now feeling back at home and settled in even though it has been a good couple of weeks. Im feeling caught up though...so time to blog!

So much to blog about but let's start with baby steps.

My kids sure did get their fill of fishing in while in Wisconsin. I know they each caught something...especially Ty who got a special fishing tour with his Uncle Kirby and Great Uncle Bob to the "Honey Pot" where the fish were biting. Uncle Kirby even surprised Ty with a new fishing pole...he was so excited. I got a few really sweet pictures on the first evening of fishing on the dock with their cousins.

Vacation Here We Come

I am tying up all loose ends before we head out tomorrow for vacation. I still need to pack and mop the floor for the house sitters but otherwise I feel pretty ready.

If you don't know already we are headed to Wisconsin. I know what you are thinking..."why Wisconsin?" We have gotten that a lot. We decided for this years vacation we wanted someplace we could plant ourselves down and not feel like we had to rush around to see all the sites. Mike's family (Uncle, Aunt, Cousins) have cabins on Lake Wisconsin. They are graciously letting us use one! So not only will we have a full week or so relaxing and playing on the lake, we also get to visit with some relatives. Michelle, Kirby and the boys are coming to stay too since it isn't too far from where they live. The kids are so excited!! Ty might even get a little fishing in with either his Uncle Kirby or his great uncle Bob.

As for me, I plan on sitting back and reading books, drinking wine and coffee with my sister. (and Mike, but he wont do the coffee part)

So far the summer has been busy. I still haven't had a chance to get Emery's pictures developed from camp and I am kicking myself for that. Ty has had Golf Camp all week and he seems to be enjoying it.

As far as the house situation goes, we spent several weeks getting it ready to sell, it looks great. We have had some interest in it, but nothing serious. Today we got an offer (unofficial) for 35,000 below our asking price. Um No. However, in the last week we have been really thinking hard on if selling and moving is what we want to do. We have found two houses that we like, but both would need some work. One is brand new and needs the basement finished, one is really old and needs some serious updates. We just keep coming back to the fact that we love our house...everything about it, aside for it's need of a bedroom and separate office.

When we return home from vacation we have a couple of contractors coming out to put bid on an addition, a much smaller addition than we had originally planned, but hopefully more cost effective. So we shall see. I am hoping some time away helps put some perspective on what we really should be doing.

I leave you with a few random pictures: Ty's very proud of his "Golf Pack"

Piper all proud of her helmet and pads. Her little legs are finally long enough to reach the pedals on her little bike. She feels like one of the big kids now.

And my miss Em. Loves wearing a swim suit. This one she got from Angela's Modbe Samples.

The 4th on Vashon

We went to Vashon Island for the weekend to celebrate the 4th of July with some old, and some new friends. It was so fun, and so relaxing! And I came home probably 10 lbs heavier! Ugh! The kids had so much fun too. Ty became the "fire starter" and a "bottle rocket launcher". He is so proud of his accomplishments :). Emery had fun "tattling" on mommy and daddy to our friends ;). And Piper pretty much remained silent the whole weekend, playing shy.

Here's a link to a slide show with some more pictures: http://www.definingdetails.com/slideshows/4thofJuly/

Reliving the "Glory Days"

A Verse Comes To Mind...

...when I see this image. I love it, and want to live like it!

2009 Family Photoshoot.

A Father's Day tradition lives on...