A Quick Summer, A Quick Post

What a fun summer. It has taken awhile to get this up, but I am babysitting and so will have to be quick here.

Went to Washington and had fun at the Palmer Reunion with the brothers and sisters.

Went camping a few days in Mount Ranier National Park--Definitely going to do this again. We will do more of this type of thing in Washington in the future I hope.

Went to the Palmer Reunion with cousins, uncles and aunts. A lot of fun and good to see everyone again. Sorry there wasn't more time to visit with each of the family, but a got to visit with some of you!

We decided we had so much fun that we deserved a reality check and stayed and extra week to experience the hottest day on record EVER in seattle, despite the lack of fans for a day or two we survived and built a great deal of character that week. We ended with a really fun day at Lake Washington watching the Blue Angels and a birthday party for nephew Jaden. It is fun to experience those milestones iwth family! We even had a spa night!

There are a few pics from Emily's birthday.

And one of me holding my friend's new baby with my new haircut (not a drastic one, but at least it has a little shape to it now!)

Vacation!

okay here is a run down of our fabulous vacation to West Virginia...

Beautiful view while I did laundry. This is the drizzly weather and number of people we saw while at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. We practically had the place to ourselves. It was really amazing.
Here are Caleb, Dan, Alexa and Madi, and Uncle Mike. This hike was a real challenge for Caleb, but he made it to the top! Yahoo!

Here are all the girl cousins at the Top of Seneca Rocks.

Here is Dan at the top of Seneca Rocks. You can see why they built the overlook a little lower down!

Bet you didn't know there are lots of caves in West Virginia! Yep, I didn't either, until this trip.

Due to all the rain, we spent quite a bit of time at the indoor pool. Much to the dismay of the lady who was in charge of making sure the rules were obeyed. Oops. We also became regulars at Big Johnny's pizza place in town, where a good samaritan gave the kids all his tickets he didn't want a caused a rush on the prize counter.

Here are the Tyler grandparents with the Smith cousins and our kids. We loved the cabins and all the woods around them. It was a little cold and wet for too much exploration,but they got enough to feel like they had been in the woods. Especially tromping off trail while geocaching and building a big fort in the backyard woods--thanks to the muscle of Uncle Mike.

Then off to Knoxville Tennessee to see an old friend of ours Angelina Ribero. We met back up on facebook after about 15 years and had a chance on our trip to have our families meet and celebrate the 3rd of July (Thanks Bordens for rearranging the holiday for US!)

We had a fabulous party with super yummy BBQ, screamer balloons, slip and slide, fireworks, mafia, spoons, rootbeer floats, catching fireflies, and just overall great fun. Thanks to the Bordens for a very memorable 4th of July celebration. The fireworks were fun because I have never seen kids cheering like these guys did for these fireworks. So Fun!

We drove home via Smoky Mt. National Park--the most visited national park in the country--on the fourth of July, so you can imagine we contrasted the wildness of West Virginia with that circus. But we have decided we must go back for a week because the area is wonderful and there is SO MUCH to do! We had a lovely snack and climbed on the rocks in the river at Chimney Tops picnic area. A word of warning--If you ever want to do this, you must stake out your spot in the early morning (at least on the fourth). We had to park outside the picnic area and walk in.


All in All a FABULOUS vacation!

Wait 'til you see this!

It's been a busy week, but just wanted to share a few fun pics from the week.

Danya got her braces off! The work is not quite done, but still an exciting step nonetheless!

Caleb planted this sunflower a couple of months ago and it opened this week. It has been really fun to see this grow.
Carson got some dinosaur sunglasses!



Emily and I, with lots of help from Danya, Caleb and Carson (kind of), built this rollercoaster from K'nex. It is really cool!

As promised...Emily! And a minor disaster.

I had said i would post next about Emily. The other kids tend to dominate the limelight which is fine with Em, but occasionally we all need a little attention. Emily finished up 6th grade with all A's she worked very hard all year to bring up her Math grade and finally did it! She was so proud of herself, and surprised. The school sent me an e-mail and I got to deliver the good news myself.

This is a blurry picture of Emilys scar where her stiches were in April.


Emily and Danya went to volleyball camp the first week of summer and had a good time.
She was disappointed the put her in Danya's group (the beginners) but I thought it was fine and she worked on fundamentals. Plus, she was a shining star in this group and earned camper of the week. Great for her confidence, I am sure!

The second week Danya went to Girl Scout Camp and I volunteered all five days. That was fun and I enjoyed working with the girls in my group. This arrangement meant I needed a babysitter all week for the boys. So Emily helped me out there--and did a GREAT job. In fact on Friday I called her during the morning and asked her to get everyone ready for the waterpark and feed them lunch by 12:30 and she did. That was a big deal for our family and she has my full confidence now. (Actually, she had my confidence before or I wouldn't have left her home.)

We are vacation right now, but the next big thing for Emily this summer is to repaint her bedroom. First she has got to keep her room clean for a while.

This last picture is of Carson's staples. He fell of the chair on June 4th and blood was gushing. I wasn't home, but Dan called me at Enrichment night to tell me he had left Danya and Caleb home alone and was on his way to the hospital with Carson. He was panicked I could tell. And Danya called our neighbor Miss Murda to come over because Caleb was crying and scared. By the time I got home from the church Murda and her daughter Ana had calmed everyone down and they were playing a game and having such a good time they stayed to finish the game.

Carson did good at the hospital and a week later had the staples removed without so much as a whimper. Even though he is weak kneed when it comes to blood, so far Dan has been in charge of all Emergency Room visits.