Day at the course

It was time for the Boeing Classic golf tournament once again. We love this tournament because it is held at the golf course in our neighborhood, so it is in walking distance. It is always fun to spend time as a family walking the course, enjoying the beautiful view, and seeing some amazing golf being played.

In the afternoon, we cooled off with some ice cream. This was one of the highlights of the day for the boys. It was so hot, the ice cream melted fast, so we had to eat fast.

Here we are at the 9th green. It is our favorite spot on the course.

There are a number of vendors with booths set up at the entrance of the course. Many of them give away free gifts. We got some cool things including the wrist bands Jacob is modeling and some golf tees that Jacob hid in his wrist band. We also got some cool Fred Couples bobblehead dolls.

We had a great time. It's always fun to spend time together as a family. --Kelly

Soccer

Thursday was Andrews last day of soccer.

He loved playing and was supper good too.

Congratulations on the great season Andrew. 'Till next year! -- Mom

Andrew is in the gray Star Wars shirt.

Bus Wash

Our yearly tradition of helping grandma get her bus ready for the first day of school was fantastic as always.

The boys washed and squeegeed the windows.

Then scrubbed and sprayed the outside of grandma's giant bus.

Andrew even swabbed the decks :)

Poor Mr. Jake had woken up with a really bad stiff neck. He is much better now, but for two days his poor little head was on crooked, as you can see in all the pictures above. --emily

Pancake Breakfast

Our local fire station hosts a yearly pancake breakfast with the proceeds benefiting their station. We donated our empty bellys and a few bucks to our local heroes. If my boys could pick the perfect breakfast, it would be pancakes. I am not a huge fan. I will eat them yes, but I wouldn't choose them if I had a choice. Needless to say, the boys were in heaven! A great morning seeing friends and neighbors. The boys enjoyed climbing all over the firetruck and ambulance and of course the free balloons. --emily

Girls camp 2011

Our stake divides the girls into units. My unit had eight girls: three junior counselors, me, and a partner adult counselor. We had girls from several different wards. We were such an amazing mix of girls. No major drama. They were kind, helpful, and happy girls. Here they are working through some ropes course activities.

This day we decided to dress up and be silly.

Every morning my unit girls participated in the polar dip. I went as the supportive friend/counselor, but I was too much of a chicken to jump in. Way too cold for this old lady! Here are my cute girls looking frozen.

Here is Fred our unit chipmunk. He wasn't afraid of the girls at all. They even tossed rocks at him and he just hung out. Stupid chipmunk!

This is our ward group. What a good looking group of dirty girls.

This Amazing hair belongs to Annie. The more stuff in your hair the better. 2 chopsticks, 2 braids, 1 glow stick, a bandanna, and an Asian fan. Her group was the kung fu pandas.

Sisterly Love! Cute Kate and Meg.

My car filled with darling girls. "i i love you like a love song baby, i i love you like a love song baby, i i love you like a love song baby and I keep hitting re p p p p p p p eat"

This group of crazy girls went down the freezing cold river 10 times this day. I was there to capture their fun. I sat in a folding chair placed in the river with my feet cooling off my warm body. I chatted with the adult ladies and loved my girls as they ended their river run right in front of us. Here they are proudly showing me what run they are on.

Who can forget the friendly pranks. One evening I was lovingly greeted by Miss Beverly neatly tucked into my sleeping bag. She is just a little creepy, don't you think? Thanks Mara and Katelyn. She is a perfect, pee-your-pants, not-mean type of prank.

My first time ever shooting a gun. Not too bad for a girl who doesn't like guns.

Ward night we played fun Minute-to-Win-It games. Here they are sporting their straws that they used to pick up (suck) an M&M and carry it to another bowl 10 feet away.

After memorizing each "value scriptures," the stake YW presidency painted one nail with the coordinating color for the value. After memorizing all 8, you received a root beer float. Your painted nails were the ticket to get a root beer float everyday after that. This was good motivation to get the girls to do their memorizing done early. Only at camp can you get away with awesome nails like this. My toes happen to be purple. I think they look good together.

It was a great week up at girls camp! To the average person it looks FUN, but the reality is it's an emotional, hard-manual-labor, exhausting, no-sleep week. Some of the girls have never had to be responsible for cooking a meal or pick up after themselves. I am not complaining. I had an amazing group of girls, and I can't wait till next year, but camp doesn't just happen by itself. There are so many pre-camp hours before we ever get up to the dirt. Ahhhh . . . camp is complete 'till next year. --emily

Day at the Beach

Today we went to the beach with the cousins. It was a great day for playing in the sun and checking out the low tide. Rachel did the research and found this great beach in Burien. It was Awesome!

The kids had a great day digging in the sand and swimming in the surf, but I think the highlight of the afternoon was combing the beach for dead crab bodies. By the end of the day the kids had quite a large collection. Here is one Jacob was proudly showing me.

Before we left for home I wanted to get a picture of the gang. Like always it is almost impossible to get my boys to stand and pose for a picture, so here we have "the bribed posed picture." It kind of worked. They all earned a few red swedish fish. --emily

Lavender Festival

It is tradition to go to the lavender festival with the girls of my family. This year we were half-way through the farms when we were rained out. The farms were in the middle of a separation/debate of some sort too, so this made things feel odd. Even though all this was going on, we still had great company and fun conversation. --emily

Ward Party

On Saturday or ward had a BBQ at a local park. It was a fun party. They thought of everything. The boys favorite part was the balloons. The Primary was in charge of bringing activities for the kids. They brought sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and balloons to tie! In my option the best part about the balloons was the cute mom tying them. She admittedly had no ideal what she was doing, but the kids didn't notice or care. They thought it was great. Jacob has on a balloon hat that is an amazing mess, but he believes it is the best thing ever because a 14 year old boy made it just for him. --emily

Trying New Things

This weekend I joined the crazy world of "Cake Pops". After watching a few tutorials on You-Tube about how they are made, I felt like I had graduated from chocolatier school and could make them like a professional. So a "Cake Pop" is this desert item where you take a perfectly good cake and cut it up in pieces, mix it in the Kitchen Aid until it is the consistency of Play Doh, role it into cookie-size balls, chill, and cover in chocolate. I had a hard time bringing myself to take a perfectly good cake and chop it up into mush, but after making and tasting them, I am now converted. Jacob, whose birthday isn't until September, told me today that this is the desert he wanted for his birthday celebration. This is saying something because I make a mean cupcake. --emily

Soccer

Tonight Andrew had his first Soccer class. He loved it!

When Andrew got dressed for the day, he put his soccer clothes on. In the early afternoon he even put on his shin guards and socks. He wore them for hours before his game. He was so excited.

Andrew, you did a great job tonight. Keep up the good work and your enthusiasm for doing fun things and meeting new friends.

--Love, Mom and Dad