Tri-Cities & M-F...

When my mom was here a few weeks ago we devised a plan for a little get together. She told me that she wanted to go back to school shopping with the boys (Tucker and my nephew Keyton) and that we should all meet in Tri-Cities ( a central area to all of us) for the night and let the boys go swimming  and then do a little shopping. You know I'm all over any mention of the word shopping! :) I also had to go down to Milton-Freewater to take some Senior pics for my cute little cousin, so I thought I would combine the trips and we'd have a grand ol' time! And that we did!

Our first stop was Tri-Cities. We met up with Allen and his family and my mom there and got us some hotel rooms for the night. The kids had a blast with their cousins!

These two both love to rough house and I think that their siblings really enjoyed a few days off of being tortured. :) They had a great time together!

Of course, these two also had a great time together:

After dinner we went swimming in the pool. Allen & Aubrey...

Tucker & Keyton...

Of course, one by one all the kids (and adults) end up in the hot tub!

All the kids:

These two are buddies, too:

My little fish blowing me a kiss as he jumps in the pool:

After swimming for a while we all went upstairs and the kids got one heck of a bubble bath! It looked so fun, I just wanted to jump right in! :)

We had a late night that night, but all woke up the next day as happy as can be!

The next day was spent shopping. Three stops: Old Navy, Gap and Target. Oh, and Olive Garden for lunch!!! Does it get any better than that??? And of course, Grandma spoiled the kids rotten.

I'd say it was a pretty good shopping day! ;)

That night Allen & Kelli went home to Quincy and I loaded up my kids and Keyton and followed my mom to Milton-Freewater. Through a series of events, we ended up staying in a hotel while in M-F. (sick people, not enough room in houses etc..) But, the kids, of course, loved it and were excited to swim some more! :)

This girl loves her some grandma:

The next evening I had to take the pictures, so during the day we had nothing to do but swim and lounge around in our hotel room. I had these grand plans to take them to the park and out to lunch, but Taylor konked after swimming in the morning, so we had pizza delivered and hung out in the room! This is what the boys did while Taylor was taking her nap:

We also had a few glow in the dark baths, which were a big hit!

And one can't go to Walla-Walla without getting an Ice-burg milk shake! They are the best and they have every single flavor you can imagine. We've been going there since I was a little girl! I got a salted Caramel and it was divine! 

It was fun spending some time with my mom and brother and his family and my grandma and my cousins and aunts and uncles--can't wait 'til next year!!! :) ha ha-if grandma can afford it again! :)
And somehow even ended up coming home with one of these:

Thanks to infomercials, Tucker has been begging for one for months! "MOM! You can turn ANYTHING into a slushy!!" We had fun coming up with different concoctions, Tucker even did Chocolate milk & pink Lemonade, which he claimed to love, but I wouldn't even try! :)

Grandma just always knows exactly what to get! :)
But quite possibly my favorite things we came home with were these:

There's nothing cuter than little kid shoes! I don't know what it is! I love them! I love their little feet, too!!

Thanks for EVERYTHING B-ma, you're the best!
PS..
Here's the cute girl I got to spend the evening with:

You are beautiful Stormee! And thank-you Junior & Trin for watching the kids for me while I shot these! I owe ya big time!

London calling...

To say that my friend Alicia is a fan of the Olympics would be a gross understatement! She is a FANATIC! She was the one who made Taylor that cute Olympic onesie when she was just a few weeks old (Taylor was born during the Winter Olympics in 2010) She dreams about the Olympics, and eats and breathes the Olympics when they come around. So, naturally, she threw a huge Olympic Opening Ceremonies party. Her and her sister threw it together (who is equally obsessed-She bore her testimony of the Olympics that week at Girls camp and got teary eyed-which I loved!) :) Her sister got a huge blow up screen for her backyard, and literally had the Olympics showing on it the whole two weeks they were on. Anyone, anytime who wanted to watch the Olympics could come over. It was awesome! Everyone who came to the party had to bring an Olympic themed or British dessert or appetizer.

My mom happened to be in town so she joined us in the festivities:

There was a torch relay to begin the Opening Ceremonies. All of the kids 8-12 participated in that, and they started at the end of the street and passed it off until they got up into the yard. Here is Tanner's leg: :)

Once the flame was lit (which you can't see very well in this picture) Fireworks were lit:

And the Olympics were under way!!

All of the kids 8 years and younger got to compete in a decathlon.

There were lots and lots of events, and Tucker had so much fun doing every single one of them. But here are a few:

They got to Box Alicia! (Lucky Girl!) :)

Luckily Taylor had Katie to help her with most events:

And Taylor and Grandma crossing the finish line:

(everyone next to me was cheering for her which is why she is waving-I think she really thought she was an Olympic Athlete!)

Every child who crossed the finish line got a medal and to stand on the podium. It was pretty cool!

Thanks Nicole & Alicia, you guys are Awesome! You deserve a medal just for throwing this amazing party! :) We, of course, then enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremonies and just had a great time hanging with friends! I look forward to the Olympics every year they are on. I am glued to the TV the entire two weeks and I love getting into the sports. It is so inspiring! And I love Bob Costas! :)

Carter & Chase come to visit...

In August, my brother and his family came to visit! They just moved half way across the country, so we won't be seeing them as much anymore! boo! But we sure had fun with our cousins, Carter & Chase! :)

I did a little mini session with Chase at the park one night, so while Angie & I were doing this:

{He was making the cutest faces!!!}

We had papa watch the other kids while they roamed the park! They found a stage and had a great time dancing:

Taylor getting some good air:

It looks like they had a GREAT time, wouldn't you say??? :)

And then we thought, well, since Papa is here, why don't we try and get some good pics of him with the kids. I snapped a couple real quick, I mean real quick. It didn't last long at all! :)

This is seriously the best one of all 4 of the kids together! :)

We love it when our cousins are in town!!!

Summer Lovin'... Had me a blast...

Summer Lovin'...Happened so fast!!! We have had one heckuva busy summer. In between all of our post worthy activities, here are a few extra things we did:

Of course, hung out with friends! My best friend in High-School came home for a week with her cute family from New York! Her and her family went camping at Lake Roosevelt so we went up for the day to hang with them. This is the only picture I got:

And another dear friend, Shar came in for a few weeks. They spent most of it at her parents cabin on Lake C'da.  So we went out a few times to visit. It was fun reminiscing of the summers where we spent many a nights at that cabin with them! We miss the Enloes!!!

And, like I mentioned before, lots of swimming!!! A few of our really good friends either have pools or are members at a pool and invite us! So, that helps out a bit! :)

Taylor sunbathing with Katrina:

Buddies, Tucker & Maggie:

I went and got my nails done and had to take Taylor with me. She kept asking me the whole time when it was her turn, so after my nails, the guy who was doing my nails offered to paint her nails for no charge! :) It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. She was sitting so proudly on that chair just chatting away with him. She loves to be a 'big girl' My nails were drying under the machine or I would have gotten a picture of it. When my nails were finally dry, I snapped a few:

(her dad must have dressed her this day!) :)

Of course, lots of trips to the park:

My dad asked me to take some pictures of his truck for his insurance and Taylor happened to be standing by it. So I told her to pose. This is what she did:

Of course, a few stops to the ice-cream truck may have happened as it drove by! :) A summer-time must!

Much to my chagrin, Ben, Taylor & Tucker have adopted a cat in our backyard. It passed by our backyard a few times and then one day Ben came home from work with a bag of cat food. I knew it was all downhill from there. I am in a house full of animal lovers. I think it's still scared of me, but has definitely claimed our back yard as it's own! Gross!!

Lov'in this girl in a ponytail! Doesn't get much cuter than this! :)

Early morning play time with the squinkies:

Lots of friends over to play.

We had Darius & James for a week and Tucker was in heaven! They are Ben's partners two little boys and they are too cute!

We attempted  to grow some radishes and tomatoes from a kit we got from G-ma. But, it doesn't help when you leave town for a month and forget to water. Needless to say, they didn't survive the heat without water! oops!

And of course, many dance parties were had. This girls' favorite thing:

And I love it when we have a sun kissed summer's glow around these parts. There is nothing better than a Spokane summer, they are perfect! :)

August was a packed month and we had a blast!