Jet skiing

If someone offered you a jet ski that didn't run, would you take it? Ryan did and he and his Dad got it working and now we have ourselves a jet ski! We took it out on the river today for some family fun. All the kids were willing to give it a try and decided jet skiing is a BLAST!EmilyAlaina Lila Rylan

Camping at Alder Lake

Rylan is a dirt magnet. His clothes, face and hands were covered with grime before we even got our tent set up at our site.
I want s'mores! Playing at the lake
Playing in the sand

Flower girls and Camping in Idaho

So its been awhile since I posted anything and I thought I better gets things in gear. We took a trip to Idaho the last week of July and the first part of August to see cousin Ariel get married. She had asked Lila earlier this spring to be her flower girl. All summer Lila has been talking about being a flower "dirl". She did a great job walking down the aisle with cousin Evin. I don't have a picture of her in action, but this is her AFTER she completed her stressful task. She loves her pretty green dress and can't wait to wear it to church. We took two days after the wedding to go camping at Silver Creek Plunge. You drive this winding dirt road into the mountains of Idaho to a hot springs. It was extra special to go there as a family because Ryan used to visit the same place with his family when he was a boy. This pic is taken in front of the very rustic cabin we stayed in. Byron, Becca, and Owen joined us for our camping excursion. The kids loved swimming in the pool because it was so warm - much warmer that the river!

Update on the Grounds

This post is for Neil and Raquel who asked about our recent home improvement projects. The main thing we have gotten done so far this summer is at the side entrance to the house through the laundry room. We finished the steps and patio there and also started on the steps and porch up to the second floor over the garage. As you can see we still have siding and a railing to finish, but we are making progress! That's what counts right? I'll take some more pictures of our other improvements and post those too. Take a look at the two deer hanging out in our driveway. They stood there all calm like when a motorcycle roared by, but as soon as Ryan opened the front door to take a better picture they bolted.

Our little white church

Last weekend was Bald Eagle Days in Cathlamet. This is Cathlamet's big celebration of the summer. There is a parade, fireworks, street vendors, boat show, etc etc. Keith, one of our guys at church built a replica of the HBC building for the parade. Its just like a little playhouse with a door and windows. (You can see a full picture of it on our church blog). The kids were so happy to ride in the parade and throw candy out the windows. Isn't it great to see kids excited to be in church?!?!

Summer fun

Building a Bridge

Project time! Ryan is always looking for things he can work on with the kids and decided to build a bridge to the playground. Emily has been very excited to work on it and got her daddy going bright and early yesterday morning. The girls experienced both the old fashioned way of carpentry - pounding nails with a hammer and the more modern version - using a nail gun (as well as other power tools). Emily was brave enough to squeeze the trigger on the nail gun. Rylan stayed away for most of the proceedings because he is still a little jumpy around the loud noises of the power tools. The project isn't yet complete - handrails and a paint job are next on the list, but the crew accomplished much. Aren't they a cute little work party?