cousins

after a long day playing at the beach....off to a hotel room for the night. good memories.

all time favorite as well

caught in the moment

love this one too

summer

this is one of my all time favorite shots of noah!

Beach Olympics

God's majesty

randal's message....invitation....10 new kids for Christ

worship on the beach @ sunset

matilda - the trophy
the winning team spray paints her the winning teams color

120 kids - ona beach

these kids played hard! lots of games, lots of fun and laughter


i have attended beach olympics one other year and i missed all the games! this year we arrived right at lunch and watched the kids play their games, running back and forth. it was amazing. lots of activity. lots of fun. not too many medical issues. just lots of kids on fire for Christ!

the best part was after dinner we all headed back down to the beach for a time of worship, prayer and an invitation to know Christ! the winning team was announced........red team won. each team mate took their turn spraying matilda red! the kids took their seats again with their gold medals gleaming in the sun, the look of winning showing on their smiling faces. they had won beach olympics! as randal walked to the podium the sun slowly faded into the horizon, the worship band led us in some amazing worship, reminding us that God is the creator, the King!

10 kid accepted Christ that day.

oh well

so our dear friends went up to suttle lake today to try and find a spot for all of us to camp........the camp host laughed at them and told them there was no way that they would find a site for all of us!

but secretly this works out well for me...........my brother has his annual beach olympics kids ministry this weekend and has been begging me to go! sooooooooooo now it get to!!

thank you to our dear friends for driving up to find a site, eating dinner and coming home!!!

YOU ROCK!!!!

another trip, another load of laundry

this week has been continual loads of laundry and repacking getting ready for one more camping trip. that means that my family room looks like mt everest...you have to climb over the loads of bags, camp cots, sleeping bags, shoes, games and other "stuff" that we could not live without while out in the woods. my camping food box is sitting on my counter, waiting for food to be swapped out or added to! it is annoying me beyond annoying.

but it will all be worth it in the end when we join our friends up on the pass to spend another weekend around the campfire, eating smores and playing in the dirt! this time we are going with several friends from church and the kids are looking forward to playing with their friends....i am looking forward to the kids being occupied and spending time sitting on my bum and reading and chatting with friends.

team jacob

bella and jacob - new moon


i have to admit to you all that i really, truly am a team jacob girl!
i love jacob's character and i am super excited for the new movie
to hit theater's in november! i love that jacob will have such a
big part in this movie and that they decided to keep
taylor lautner in the role. three more months!!!!

another year

i am so blessed with amazing parents who invest time in my children. they would give anything to see my kids or do anything for them. they truly are amazing. they look forward to our annual camping trip as much as i do and every year it is worth it. they drive up early to reserve sites for us and dad does most of the cooking....not alot of parents would do that! my dad takes the kids for walks and fishing and swims with them. my mom always has lots of crafts and fun goodies to give the kids. these are memories that will last a lifetime! thanks mom and dad.

Fishing and Rafting

Fishing at Twilight

he loves to fish

she is just happy she did not throw
her pole in the water this time

noah is a natural caster....he just gets it

very excited about going for a raft ride

waitin'

i love this one

this is what happens when you give
a seven year old the camera

aye, aye matey

is she just adorable



usually our outings at crescent lake involve a raft ride or two...but this time that is all noah wanted to do; that and fish! he did not even want to ride his bike this year! one morning thad and him went out fishing and sydnie, grandpa and i took a long bike ride on the main road up to the lodge! it is always nice to be out on the water in a boat, even if it never goes above 5mph! sydnie tried her hand at rowing the boat this year, she did pretty good aside from splashing me everytime she lifted the oars out of the water. thad has now decided that he needs to build a canoe with the kids and we can haul that with us! sounds like a plan...although I would prefer some type of boat with speed! there truly is nothing like being out on the water early in the morning or late in the evening....calm and serene.

Paulina Falls

our last stop of the day

i have the best dad....what a goofball

climbing in his flip flops

just about ready to go into the river

ummm....that is the wrong way

grandpa saves the day

another hike, but this time to some really beautiful waterfalls. there was a great little trail that we hiked around for awhile and took in the sights. there were people fishing and some horseback riders on the other side of the river. noah got a little too adventurous and almost took a spill in the river! it would have been better if he had had shoes on! my dad is so patient and takes the time to explain to the kids different facts and just enjoys his time with them.

it was a great way to spend the afternoon and all of us really enjoyed it.
a little lunch at the waterfalls and some great hiking!

7,894 feet

our second stop of the day

it was so foggy up there one minute it looked like this

and the next it looked like this

budha grandpa

taking in the view

i would like to say that this was a breathtaking view, but it was so foggy and freezing cold that you really could not see much. when i first stepped out of the car the breeze and cold air literally took my breath away. we did not stay long, but it was pretty amazing that you could drive up that high on a one lane gravel road. i did not look out the side too much, since heights really freak me out....but it was a great trip up the mtn and down.

Obsidian Flows - Paulina Lake

our first stop of the day

she really wanted to keep some obsidian

his throne for the day

grandpa and sydnie

noah ran through the flows

noah's "i'm done" booty dance

this year we arrived at crescent lake and it was cold and overcast....not a lot of beach time was going to happen this year, so we decided to go and view the sites in the area. our first stop was the obsidian flows around paulina and east lake. we had never taken the kids there, wanted to make sure that they remembered them. we had a blast. it was perfect weather for a hike. noah and thad went through the flows pretty quickly. sydnie and grandpa and i took our time and looked around. we were trying to find the frogs that migrate through there during august...never found one. sydnie kept picking up obsidian and storing it in her pocket to take home. i think we made it home with 3 small pieces and a fear that the rangers were going to come and find her.

were off

our annual camping trip to crescent lake is upon us.......we are trying to get out the door as i write this. it has been a effort to get out the door this time. we have had to repack several times. but we are heading out the door and we will enjoy our time together!

my honey dew list

where has the summer gone? it is already the beginning of august and i still have a to do list before i go back to work? the first thing i tackled was the playroom.....i cleaned it, put everything in it's place, put stuff back in storage and within one day noah had the floor covered in playmobile figures and castles. i went through all the kids's school papers and filtered out a bunch and kept a handful and put it in their school boxes. i cleaned my art room (still have about 2 hours worth of shredding to do). got rid of the extra computer and boxes that were cluttering the art room.

but for some reason the simpliest tasks are the ones i have been putting off. going to goodwill. cleaning the baseboards and wiping down all the doors and stairs. cleaning the windows. cleaning the couch cushions. painting noah's bedroom!

why oh why do i wait on the easy stuff. i think it is because if this stuff never happens i will not pull my hair out from frustrations. i will choose to exist with this to do list in the back of my mind and tell myself that someday it will get done! ha ha.

unfortunately we are heading into our busy camping month and none of this will actually get done.......but that is okay!

Nye Beach

my favorite beach

waiting for chowder

the best clam chowder!!

having fun with the art!

"here" is cuteness

memories

this beach is so much a part of who i am. in high school i went to nye beach all the time. i played on the rocks. i shopped at the shops. i stayed in a house on a girls weekend (we decided to skip the winter formal and just hang out together). the peerless puffin has been around forever....it used to be my favorite shop. the beach has changed through the years and so have i.
but i still love it here.

Upward Family Weekend

after spending many, many months working on Upward Basketball it can take a lot out of a family and one generous benefactor recognized that and bought the Upward families a weekend at seakrest in Newport. It was a chance to recover, spend time together, with family, doing something fun rather than always giving of themselves. it was a great weekend. a couple of late nights for the adults and lots and lots of running, screaming, playing for the kids! Thank you generous mystery person....it truly was appreciated!!!