Where to Begin???

The logical place is, of course, at the beginning. It's just that the beginning is so long ago and I'm having trouble keeping up with the here and now. So this is going to come at you in small bursts. First off, our big adventure began July 8th as the kids and I loaded up the van and headed to Idaho. Since we were daddy-less for the drive, we decided to take it real slow and easy. The first day we left at lunch time and only planned to go as far as the Tri-Cities area. A wonderful family we happen to be friends with agreed to take us in for the night. The kids had a blast playing at their country home complete with lots of animals and lots of kids.

Ezra found himself a kitty whose hair matched his own.
These kids are used to animals and taking care of them. It's fun to watch.
The sun looks nice and friendly in these pictures, but don't be deceived. It was over 100 degrees and HOT.
Ezra was allowed to head out and help feed the animals the next morning.

"Goatee" is the baby goat the boys of the farm were bringing up from babyhood.
He was still drinking bottles of milk and Ezra got to help give him his morning bottle. After a delicious egg and cinnamon roll breakfast, we loaded back up and hit the trail again. That day's goal was to get as far as Boise where we had a motel booked.

We made it safely to Boise and lost an hour in the process. Our motel had a pool and we took a dip--no pictures though because my hands were quite full enough.
The next morning the kids lounged in motel beds and feasted on donuts and bananas while I loaded up yet again.

From Boise to American Falls was a mere 3 hour drive...and we finally reached our end destination--Grandpa and Grandma Idaho's! Boy were we excited to get there. More on our week in our old stomping grounds at a later date.

We Have a New Three Year Old in the House!

Happy Birthday to my precious Caroline Avy.

Last evening while Grandma was getting her a birthday pedicure she started complaining that her cheek hurt. By the time she got home she was crying pretty hard. A trip to the urgent care revealed double ear infections. Hmmm...fun birthday surprise. Although, she did come away with lots of fun gifts from the friendly children's urgent care staff.

Today should only get better!

Kids

Some fun shots I forgot to post from back when Jacob and Emily came to visit. All three kids joined them in their bed first thing in the morning.

I almost titled this post "A girl and her bike" because our little Kine is quite attached to her bicycle these days. She mastered going for long rides, going up steep hills and using the brakes. She's currently working on taking off her training wheels. She has practice sessions each week with her Daddy. She has a much better attitude than her brother did about this whole matter. And when she gets off her training wheel-less bike she walks with more swagger than I can even describe.

Sometimes the tricycle out back can be just as much fun.
Brother and sister: friends!
Ice cream and bikes, what describes summer better?
Our little Nora is 4.5 months old now. She weighed in at 3 pounds 3 ounces less than her sister did at her 4 month appointment : ) And yet, she was still in the 90% for her age. Haha, Caroline was quite obese.
Here she is modeling her summer swim suit--a gift from Aunt Emmy.

Now why is that a grown woman's chunky style thighs are just not this cute in a swimsuit???

Caroline and her other baby Nora.
This is how you ride double. Of course, it inevitably ends in a fight...like most things do with a 4 year old and his almost 3 (going on 16) year old sister.

Dinner At the Beach

Granted, this is not a warm sandy beach, it is a beach still the same. Calmly lapping water, the smell of salt in the air, rocks to throw in the drink and the sound of happy kids. Last week we were supposed to be on a vacation with Tadd's whole family. The various branches of the family were packed and ready to leave Saturday morning. Friday afternoon we got a call that rocked each of us. Tadd's dear Uncle Richard had gone Home to be with the Lord. We were all in shock. Our hearts ached, and still ache for his immediate family. Loss is so hard. Praise the Lord we know where Uncle Rich has gone and we know that all who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour will join him there. But loss is still hard. We made the decision to cancel the trip and sadly explained to all the children why. Missing out on a trip is no fun, but losing a family member is much worse. Tadd was able to make the trek back to Idaho for the funeral. Unfortunately, the rest of us weren't able to go with him like we wanted to. He made the trip a quick one. The night we picked him up we grabbed some fast food and headed for the mentioned beach to eat and relax.

On the way to pick up our beloved Daddy I asked Ezra and Caroline "Would you like to have dinner at the beach tonight?" Ezra quickly replied "Which beach, Hawaii??". I wish.

I think I was saying "please DO NOT take my picture" here. You know, the way you do it with a semi-smile just in case the "photographer" ignores your request (order).

The Puget Sound is not warm. Not at all. Ever. And on this particular night the air was not warm either. I was not prepared with swim suits or towels. But, my kids went swimming anyway. Crazy kids. Not just wading either. They fully immersed.

Nora wished for a way out of the front pack and into the water. Good thing wishing gets you no where!


It was a semi-relaxing evening. And don't feel too sorry for us about the missed vacation because another one has already been rescheduled. It's an even bigger adventure than the last one. If I live through the adventure I'll tell you why : )