Partying with the Family

What's better than a party at home with JUST YOUR OWN little famiy? Hhhmm, maybe that princess party, but this one was fun, too!


And there's nothing better than Dad's homemade Crepes with fresh strawberries and whip cream. That's our kids favorite birthday breakfast every year, but Ryan picked it for her birthday dinner! (So, we made it her cake, too!)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOPS!

Princess Ryan Jane turns 6

Ryan wanted a princess party for her party this year so we (King Donald and Queen Heidi) sent out a Royal Decree requesting the honour of all the princesses in the kingdom to join us for her celebration!

And they came...all decked out in their fanciest attire.


They "kissed a frog", searched for jewels in the sand, made their own tiaras and picture frames and showered Princess Ryan with gifts. We even had Princess Aurora (Gillian) and Princess Belle (Ginger) as the special helpers for the party. It was quite the celebration!

Playin' in the Rain

One of those warmer, autumn rains that you can't help but allow your kids to go out in. You can tell by their smiles that they were loving it.

Sun Lakes 2008

A huge group of our friends take a trip to Sun Lakes every year together and have been inviting us to go for 4 years now. With Don's schedule and our annual family reunion, we have never been able to make it. And this year, Don had a business trip he couldn't miss, so we didn't think we were going to get to go again. Well, after much coaxing from some very good friends, they talked me into going without Don. This trip was just weeks after my sister died and I knew I would need to be around friends, especially with Don gone for a week. It was too late to reserve a cabin, so Shelly and Brittani were kind enough to let my huge gang of six share their cabins. We had so much fun bunking together and soaking up some much needed sun.


One thing they do every year is drive down to the Basalt Cliffs to go cliff jumping. On our hike over to the cliffs I couldn't help but notice this HUGE sign right in front of us...


I knew for sure that I would NOT be jumping since I had injured my knee a couple weeks before. But as you can see by this picture, I gave into peer pressure by a number of friends, as well as my own children. How can you hurt your knee just jumping into the water? I know how. It hurt so bad! But, at least I got a cool picture to prove how brave I was. Make sure you get a closer look on the look of terror on my friend, Brittani's face. Hilarious!


Ginger had no problem jumping and even jumped off the SUPER high cliff without my knowledge! Gillian was very nervous, but eventually did it and was so proud of herself. Davis did hesitate a little bit, but did it several times. Ryan was all prepared to do it, but when it came time to jump, she burst into tears and chickened out. A while later, she pulled herself together and was determined to go, but panicked and broke down again. She had this internal struggle going on! Poor girl. She wanted to so bad, but just couldn't make herself do it. She cried the whole way home. And Ethan...he was definitely thinking about it!


Another Sun Lakes tradition is to have a Lip Sync on Monday night for Family Home Evening. We were late in joining the group and without Don, I was not about to get up there and perform with just my kids. So Shelly and I decided to let our kids be the performers and Brittani had her kids jump in at the last minute. They were the band and singers for "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2. It was fabulous!

We spent four days and three nights just relaxing and boating and swimming and basking in the sunshine. It was a great trip for all of us and a great blessing to me to be surrounded by good friends at a time I needed them. We only wished Don could have been there with us.

Check out Gillian's first try on the knee board! She was the only one of my kids brave enough to try it.

Gilli on the kneeboard

The Splash Yard

A couple of good friends invited me and the kids to hop on the foot ferry and spend an afternoon at the Splash Yard to let the kids cool off on a nice, hot summer day. The water shoots out from one of five fountains high into the air every 30 seconds or so. The kids loved it and we had fun eating lunch, hanging out and watching the kids together. As you can tell by the look on Ethan's face, the water was COLD and he did not want to go in.

Boat Ride to Blake Island

We seriously have the best Home Teacher in the world! He and his wife treated us to a boat ride to Blake Island one Monday night for Family Home Evening and even took care of dinner! It was a beautiful afternoon/evening and it just doesn't get any more beautiful when the weather is nice out here in the summer in Washington.


The kids loved the boat ride and were thrilled to get to see great, big sea otters out relaxing on the buoys. We hiked along the shore for hours, barbecued, and enjoyed the most incredible view of Seattle across the water. It was a wonderful evening.

Davis' Baptism Day

Yes, my baby boy turned eight years old and was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by his dad. What is it about being baptized that makes your children seem so grown-up? It's hard to believe we have three baptized children now. That really makes me feel old!


Davis was lucky to be baptized with three of his friends from his Primary class; Zachary, Lucas, and Natalie. And he was so happy to have so many members of his family there in attendance, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Stacy, Uncle Scott and Aunt Karen, Uncle Craig and Aunt Krisette, and lots and lots of cousins.

It was a happy day for our family, but a little sad for me, too. The passing of my sister was still so fresh it was hard to be really happy that day. The Baptism room was jam packed full of people, with standing room only. But, during the opening song, I noticed the chair right next to me was empty, the only empty chair in the room because Ryan had decided to share a chair with her cousin down the row. In my mind's eye I could see my sister, Ginger, sitting there right beside me, telling me she was there with me and reminding me to be happy and rejoice that my son was taking such a vital step in his journey back to our Heavenly Father. My eyes overflowed with tears and I felt so comforted and happy. It was a tender and sweet experience for me.

I did it!

I finally blogged about our entire trip to California. 16 posts! So, you're going to have to scroll way down to get to the beginning of our vacation since it's all in chronological order. It has taken me a long time to do this, but it was so therapeutic and healing for me. I shed many tears just reliving those last weeks and days with my sister and only wish my weak attempts at journaling did them better justice. Enjoy!