Crazy busy = Ton of Fun!

Oh my! It has been a busy last couple of days....but so much fun! Let's see, as I mentioned before, the last day of school was Wednesday. I picked the girls up and we had a special celebration at The Cup of Tea with their grandma and great grandma. We are so proud of how well the kids did this year, and again it's hard to believe the school year is over!



On Thursday morning we got Jake and headed out of town with my mom and dad and grandparents.....we took a road trip over the pass to Yakima to celebrate Lindsay's graduation and to see the newest addition to our extended family. My cousin Stephanie had her baby, Elisabeth Natalie, a week ago. We spent the night at a very nice hotel and enjoyed some time with our kids and family. We got a little swimming in, however the camera didn't make it to that part. It was a lot of driving for not a lot of time, but the kids were great and it was nice for Brian to get to see where Yakima was, as he had never been there.......semi retirement is so nice for times like this!!

Our road companions....

Our stop at The Pancake House on top of the pass for lunch

I guess all the writing on her leg really wore her out!!

The boys being boys....

Girls being girls....

And...Daisy being Daisy...choking the poor dog!


After we returned home on Friday late afternoon we had just enough time to repack our bag and head out to Birch Bay to celebrate Trina's 25th Birthday! It was so much fun and perfect weather! Trina's whole family was there along with my mom and dad....it's so neat to get together with all of them, I am so thankful they include us in their family gatherings! The kids had a blast playing on the beach with the other kids. Of course, since Trina is a twin, the celebration was for her sister Treva, as well. Me, being the brainiac that I am, never even thought about this factor until Treva was given a gift and I had to ask the question why...DUH!! Oh well....Happy birthday to my very special sis-in-law and friend! You have blessed our family in so many ways, you don't even know and I am so proud to call you my sis, and friend....love you Treens!


Look mom...baby crabs!!

Ummm..Dad, that will be a 150 dollar fine!!

Tanner and Madison catching crabs!

Jake, Kelsey, Jordan, and Scooter on the hunt...

Daisy, Ryker, and Karsyn on a walk...


Grandma giving Madi some loves....

Time for S'mores!!


Looks like Chad was enjoying himself....

The group....

They are just so darn cute...


Sorry for the long post....I went a little picture crazy, but we packed in a lot in the last couple of days...thats why we are doing this...

Some shots over the last week...

So I have been going through every day since last Monday thinking I need to do another posting.....and well....I am just now getting to it! We have been keeping busy with this and that and I have taken some pictures along the way. The kids have their last day of school tomorrow, which is only a half day. So our summer is officially starting! They all have a lot planned for the next couple of months, so we will continue to stay very busy keeping up with them. We are looking forward to starting it off with a short trip to Yakima on Thursday, to congratulate our cousin Lindsay on her high school graduation! More to come on that trip....but for now...a glance at our last week, well parts of it, at least!

Taking some time on Memorial Day....to remember....sweet Abbey...



Spending some time with part of our family....



Kisses for Gramma...

Chad and Trina got super cool new scooters...they were a hit with the kids!




Daisy enjoying a hot sunny Sunday...before the storm rolled in!



And theres those eyes again....

A moment in time....

Wow!! Where does the time go? Is this the story of your life too? Right now I am thinking about the fact that our kids only have 7 days left of this school year and then we are full on with summer break! This year again has flown by, and I might add that seems to be an understatement! What, might I ask, are we doing with two 4th graders, a second grader and a 2 year old?!! It just doesn't seem possible, but it is reality and I just wish life wasn't whizzing by in fast forward mode, pause for a while would be nice! I feel so proud of these kids, every one of them has developed into their own unique person, each offering so much in their own individual way. As I sit here and reflect even as I type this, I am over filled with joy in thinking of different stories or situations that the kids have come home with this year, stories that have done nothing but make me gleam with humble pride and smile from ear to ear! What an amazing adventure it is to watch these kids become who they are and to continue to help mold them along with their Maker to whom they will become!
This particular instance continues to have such an impact on me personally, it is an example of the kind of growth of character I have seen recently in one of our kids. Last week, one morning, the girls had gotten up, much like they do every morning. This particular morning Madison had popped by our bedroom door first, which is a little unusual as Kelsey is always the first one up. So I jumped out of bed and headed towards their bedroom to make sure she was up. As I approached, the door was closed with only a crack left. So I slowly opened the door to find Kelsey on her knees kneeling by her bed. Startled, she looked up and said, "oh sorry" and quickly got up and came to me. So jokingly, without really thinking, I said, "were you on your knees praying?" She quickly replied, "yes I was." I looked at her and said, what? seriously? She replied "seriously, yes mom, I was." So I asked her what made her do that? She told me that there was so much going on that she just wanted to pray about it and went on to give me a short list of the things that were on her heart. I don't think I could describe at that moment what I felt like. I don't take any credit, none, because along with the joy I felt, I was also extremely humbled and looked up to my daughter for what she was doing, taking the time to pray before she started her day. Something I struggle with doing and always want to be better at. I don't know if this is something she does on a regular basis, she beats me up most mornings. But I do know that had I not peaked in on her I wouldn't have known that she was spending time in prayer. I know it was a very private time she was having and there was nothing showy about it, she was actually kind of embarrassed. So all the while we are trying to be the "teachers" of our kids and then there are these times that they really do teach us!
So cheers to another school year....to 4 wonderful, kind, giving, thoughtful, loving, smart, and I will say, CUTE kids! Prayers for a fun and safe summer and good times together! Thank you Lord for these little lives that have taught me already so much about love,life, and laughter..... the blessing is appreciated!

A Million Smiles...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I sure did! I mentioned before I had too many pictures over the last week to include them all in one blog, so this one is of all the kids enjoying some time at our "new" city park. The Million Smiles playground does just that...it creates millions of smiles! Our town came together and through volunteers and community funding we, as a community, were blessed with an awesome new park for our children to enjoy! I took the girls last Wednesday after school and we went as a family on Saturday. So the pictures are a combo of both times! On a side note, at school the kids made ceramic tiles with their hand print and name. They were used all over the park, so we hunted for them until we found em! We don't think Jake has one because he was gone to Arizona during the making of the tile, hence why there isn't a picture of him with his tile.

The girls with their personalized tiles.


I even made it down the dark, scary slide...hehe

On our way...








My favorite picture of the day....

Jakey's baseball blog!

I figured out after starting this blog that I have taken way too many pictures over the last couple days to include them all in one posting! So I decided to dedicate this posting to Jake. This is the first time this season I have taken any pictures of him playing baseball, I was able to get some good pictures and wanted to share them. I know our Tennessee family will really appreciate seeing these, as I am sure it isn't easy to not be able to see him play...hopefully this will help a little! Jake had a game on Wednesday and Friday night, the pictures are from Wednesday's game. We had great baseball weather both days! Jake is doing very well in baseball. He is learning so much and having a lot of fun! I look forward to going to the games and it is fun to see Brian out there interacting with the kids and participating as one of the coaches! The season ends at the end of this month, we have had two tournaments so far and will have another Memorial Day weekend. GO LYNDEN STORM!! Enjoy the pictures....he's just so cute!


Jake playing catcher...I love this look on his face, he is getting the signs from Coach Dave for the pitcher.

Daisy....AGAIN!!

I want to start off by saying, we do still have 3 other wonderful amazing children who are all doing very well, and I promise to devote a posting to them here in the near future! This post, however, will once again be about the littlest one. I thought I'd share a couple pictures over the last couple of weeks and give an update on her appointments. She had her appointment at Children's Hospital last week Wednesday to get her hearing evaluated, that was another long day!! We actually started the day off with therapy, which again went well. I get the feeling this will be a long process, as far as therapy goes. So the indication from the audiologist is that Daisy's hearing is adequate for speech/language development. She had really no concerns at all as to this being the reason for delay. YEA!!! That was good news. We will need to go back in 3-6 months to get a complete evaluation as her age is a little hard to get a complete reading on more specific sounds and tone ranges. So good news there thanks for praying!! We skipped class last week on Thursday, and don't have therapy this week, so we will be back on schedule next week!! I'll keep an update as to how she is doing in therapy, it continues to be a real interesting experience!! Enjoy this wonderful weather!

Oh lovely child.....it has to happen at least once in every toddlers life....right?(It's lipstick, in case you're wondering!)