Sweet Blackberry Syrup

Emily and Alaina picked some blackberries during a walk with Grandma and Grandpa. They brought them home for Daddy to make some blackberry syrup so our Labor Day breakfast was waffles with fresh blackberry syrup. Rylan thought it was lip smacking good!

Seattle Visit

We took a couple of days last week and headed up to our old stomping grounds to visit family and friends. We wanted to squeeze in one last trip before the school year started. Our first stop was at the McFarlands house where we had a great time visiting and marveling at the changes in the kids. We celebrated Jessica and Rylan's birthdays together (Jessica's at the end of Aug and Rylan's at the beginning of Sept) with candles on their ice cream. Next we headed over to John and Amy's new home in Bothell. There we spent time with Great Grandma, John, Amy, and Grace. Grace wasn't quite sure what to make of her rambunctious cousins. We had fun catching up with them and spending time together. The kids all enjoyed their afternoon walk to the park and play on the big toys there.

Tractor Drivin'

The latest

Our kids are growing up! Rylan now sleeps in a big boy bed. He gets the bunk bed that used to be Emilys and Alainas. Lila is looking forward to sleeping in brothers room on the top bunk every once in awhile. Lila just got her hair cut short today. It was getting pretty long and she has wanted it short like her big sisters for some time now. Emily is losing teeth left and right. She lost one yesterday and two earlier this summer when Rylan's head collided with her mouth. She also still has a gap from the fused tooth that the dentist pulled last year. She has a hard time eating to say the least. Alaina keeps us hopping with her questions and negotiation skills. This is her attempting to persuade me NOT to take a picture of her. It's so amazing to me how each one of our kids are so unique in their personalities and ideas. Its so fun to watch them grow!

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!