Roughing it

We've been roughing it this week.

Bedtime snacks of banana slices with peanut butter and raisins

have been eaten outside where it's still over 90 at 9:30 p.m.

Our downstairs was invaded tonight by a strange orange object.

We bought a new tent in preparation for Boring I. We now have

an opportunity to put it to use this weekend, so we decided to make sure

we could put it together. It was still close to 100 tonight at 9:30 when we started. So, we decided that we'd put it up in the living room. Surely it would fit! Only just barely, and we have a pretty big space down there. The kids, of course, love it.

Bedtime stories were read, songs were sang, and it was off to sleep...in the tent...

in the living room.

Christmas is Coming

Did that title get your attention?

I know...it's a long ways off...

unless you're trying to do a handcrafted Christmas and have

a very large family and wonderful friends.

So, my question to you is...

if you knew you were getting a handcrafted Christmas

present, what would you want it to be?

Cards? A small scrapbook? Crayon rolls with matching bags for your kids?

Aprons? Bags? A perpetual birthday card box? Food?

If you look back through my posts, you'll see some of the items I've made

in the past. If you're a friend on Facebook, look in my

handcrafted album.

I need to know what people like, and I also need some new ideas!

Thanks so much for your help!!

A little snippit

We've been enjoying summer this week!

Mostly, we've been enjoying it by staying inside.

Here are a few photos from this week.

Wow, Uncle Matt, those are big muscles...

...but mine are bigger!

Aaahhh...quiet time. The kids are covering my walls with

masterpieces. Priceless artwork!

Enjoying fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.

~~~

Yep, that's all for now. I can't remember the last time my post only had

three photos! I'm sure you're all breathing a sigh of relief! :)

~~~

Off to make fudge for my big brother. This is normally a Christmas-time-only treat,

but he did ask nicely. If you live close enough, you might just get

a little treat delivered to your door. I don't want any leftovers at my house!

Emma, Mom and I spent Saturday morning at a lavender festival in Nampa.

It was a mild overcast morning. With the trees, beautiful fields and Lake Lowel in the

background, it felt like we were in the Willamette Valley.

Emma loved cutting the lavender. The field was full of bees. But once Mom explained that they were pollinating and wouldn't bother her, Emma was willing to walk carefully through
the field.

When Emma was six months old, we went to a lavender festival near

Salem. I have a photo of Emma sitting in Mom's lap in the middle of the

lavender field. I wish it was on my computer...it's neat to see them

in the same environment four years later.

Lake Lowell in the background

The lavender we picked, along with Emma's colorful contribution.

When we first arrived at the festival, we were able to taste lavender cookies.

They came back out of Emma's mouth very quickly. Before we left, we tried lavender icecream and lavender honey. She loved both of them. We bought a honey bear to

take home with us.

What a wonderful way to spend the morning!

We picked Matt up at the airport past week.

The kids were so excited! Even though they see him just once a year,

there's never a need to "get to know him" again.

The kids, Matt and I headed to Nyssa on Thursday for

Thunderegg Days. Ryan inherited Max's interest in rocks (and his rock collection).

He's very serious about selecting just the perfect rocks to buy. Emma

bought a few this year, also.

While we waited for Mom to get off of work, we took a break at A&W for

ice cream cones.

Many people tell me that Ryan looks a lot like Matt (just a lot less hairy!)
What do you think?

Here's Matt teaching Emma how to play the piano.

It doesn't look quite right to me!

Maybe a little less fists and a little more fingertips?

Mom and Dad's raspberry bushes are producing like crazy. The kids

got to pick (and eat) the berries for Mom.

It seems like this grasshopper is saying, "This is

my flower. Find your own!"

Blog, I've missed you!

Dear Blog,

We spend a lot of time together, you and I. You are the link for friends and family.

You are the place where I record my thoughts. You store the photos of the ones I love and the places I love. You are the deliverer of wonderful comments from friends and family.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been gone for a while, and I missed you!

Here are just a few (hee hee...a few more than a few) photos of what we've been

doing over the past two weeks.

~K

June 24 was Bob's 37th birthday. He got extra hugs from the kids and

a few new things to play with (seriously....he got a 20th anniversary Transformer's

Optimis Prime). His real gifts were two tickets to the uncoming Journey concert...he's been a fan of theirs forever.

For some reason, I've never made enchiladas. Bob requested them, and they turned out quite

tasty. I had no idea they were so easy to make! We'll be eating them

a bit more often here!

Ryan helped prepare Bob's birthday dinner. I love that

the kids love to help in the kitchen.


A little father~daughter conversation.

The sunset the night before we left on our trip.

Think I culd convince someone to move the power pole and school that

keeps interfering with my sunset shots?

Friday we traveled to La Grande and stayed with Bob's parents.

The kids had been sitting for a while, so we took them to Riverside

Park. This is the park where Bob and I were married almost 11 years ago.

While we were there, I noticed that there were quite a few women wearing skirts

over in the covered area. I took and peek and discovered that

I knew quite a few people there. It's always nice to see a familiar face. They

were having a potluck for a brand new adopted baby...cutest little guy!

This photo cracked me up...Emma had to take time from her

ride on the "bike" to work on her nails.

She's a tough little thing, but she's still all girl!

On Saturday, we continued on to Pendelton. Bob's brother and his wife

are adopting a little boy, Paul, from China. We hope to meet him before

Fall. Our sister-in-law, April, held a beautiful toddler shower. Somehow I uploaded the wrong photo, but she made three gorgeous cakes...two that look like quilts and another 3D duck that they can freeze for his next birthday. Ann received tons of wonderful gifts that Paul (and his cousins when they come to visit) will definately enjoy. I was busy assembling an advice scrapbook that Ann had designed, so I didn't take many photos.

Once the shower was over, we headed over to the park to celebrate Rick's 40th

birthday.

Some of the Beery boys...two of Bob's brothers and all five nephews that live in the northwest.

You gotta love brothers! What I find interesting about this photo (and all of the others that go with it) is that Greg (the one looking away on the right hand side behind Bob) was the one that came up with this idea and got everyone else involved. I think he's almost trying to look innocent here...hmmmm

Sunday, we headed for Portland.

The kids' cousin, J, let Emma play with his Scooby-Doo

figures. They, along with Uncle Greg, played with these all week while

we were there. They'd make up stories, complete with the right voices.

When we left, J was so nice to let Emma have them. Thanks!

Now can you come here and do the voices for her?

I love watching the kids walk together. J and Emma always hold hands.

Their conversations are quite interesting. On this particular afternoon, we were headed

to the local park to play on the splashpad.

Emma wasn't quite sure she wanted to get in the cold water!

Yep....Ryan is shivering...he had fun, though.

When we got back, they played "Splash Out." It's a ball that you toss back and forth. It has a water balloon inside and a timer. Once the timer runs out, the balloon pops and whomever has it gets wet. After that, they just took the water balloons and had fun

with those.

J has a Wii. Ryan spent quite a bit of time playing different games.

While he was there, he attained pro status on bowling. I had never played

it before...I enjoyed some of the sports games. Yes...the campaign has started to try to

convince me to buy one...I think I'll win on this one!

Cousins

The water gun gang

Locked and Loaded

Get him!

Pool time

This is the life!

Enjoying the playground at J's school.

I had never seen a teter-totter like this. You are balancing with the person

diagonal to you.

Ryan and J apparently weigh exactly the same!

Behind J's house is a great wildlife area and park with a boardwalk.

Holli informed me that there were lots of snakes around....however, thankfully, I never saw one. I didn't venture off of the boardwalk, though!

Three of the mornings we were there, Holli and I got up and went for hour-long very brisk walks. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning. Something was blooming, and the air smelled wonderful. The views were pretty nice, too. Oh, but the hills....our thighs and calves got a lot of exercise!

Blowing bubbles for Emma (while watching for snakes).

On Friday the third, we headed over to Beaverton for a birthday party. We had some time to kill, so we went to our favorite stores and bought some things we can't find here. Then, we went to the mall. Emma played for a bit on the play area we used to go too...she's about an inch from being too big!

The birthday party was at Safari Sams in Sherwood.

The kids had a blast!

Tammarie, Betty and I

We stayed the night with Betty and boys on the third and then headed back to

Greg and Holli's on the fourth for the celebration in their park.

One very tired girl...

We had a great visit...but it's so nice to be home.