Jammin' Time!

Every year Jeremy's dad comes up and brings us some of the best strawberries around. Hood Strawberries! Oh we love them, and we love to make freezer jam out of them. So to continue with our tradition we jammed our strawberries for the year. :) Cami and grandpa de-stemmed. Alex used Jeremy's 'revolutionary' method of mashing them (aka, the Bosch:). And then Jeremy quickly got them all stirred in with the pectin on his lunch break. What did I do?? Well, someone had to take the pictures, right? Haha

Carson was our biggest strawberry muncher. He was sneaking them all day... I believe we have discovered his favorite fruit. Although he is a 'fruitatarion', so it's only natural to have an unresistable desire to devour any fruit in sight :).

Splash Pad

There's a new Splash Pad by my parents house and thought since Granpa Steve was visiting we could all go and try it out! We grabbed some take out and enjoyed a delicous evening. :) I love splash pads because I don't have to stress out about anyone drowning and of course, because the kids always have a blast running around in the water... and it's free!

The kiddos got alittle cold so they curled up on the bench for a moment to try and warm themselves up. Haha, this has been a nice little break for all of us. It's been busy here, but you still have to make some time to play to stay sane :).

Riverside

Yesterday the kids and I went to the Columbia River and had alitte bit of muddy fun while waiting for Jeremy and Grandpa Steve to bring the new (actually older, and recently spruced up by Jeremy's handy dandy work and effort) fishing boat that Jeremy's ex-step dad gave him. The kids were itching to at least put their feet in the water, so I gave in (despite my ridiculous fear of the water, mainly rivers and oceans) and it was quite refreshing!

The kids had so much fun making and tossing mud balls. Then digging in the ground for gigantic rocks to throw. Little did we know, and later we found out, the mosquitos (that I did not see) had gotten Alex a few times.
I absolutely love how the simpilest things can be so fun for children. :)

The boat ride was wonderful with perfect weather for it. And I do believe that this will be a frequent family outing. It was funny because Alex wanted to jump in the river, so we let him... his face was in total shock, lol. It was c-c-c-cold!!

What does it mean?

Fantastically
Amazing (what can't he do?!)
Terrifically

Heroic (he is always saving the day)

Excellently

Rambunctious (he is full of surprises)

To us, this is what father means. We love you Jeremy! Thank you for being a most wonderful Dad!

BONFIRE!!

Last night I called up my family to see if they wanted to join us for a small bonfire and smores. Our house is about a 45 minute trek for their place, but they came anyway, even on a last minute notice!! It was so much fun to visit and watch the cousins down, oh I don't know how many marshmallows and hot dogs! But I will have to say, to me the best way to have a smore is with a Reese's Peanut Butter cup, hands down!

I love and appreciate family so much. We enjoyed the time around the fire, and then had the cousins sleep over, woohoo!! We only have a few more weeks in this home and will soon move to another place. So it was wonderful to have one last get together. :)

Last Day

Today I let the boys pick the things we'd do this morning while Cami enjoyed her last day of school. I will have to say, I have absolutely loved having one on one time with my boys. It has been the best thing for us. So today they went outside with flyswatters and tried to smack any insect in sight. Then we played a little baseball, had otter pops, and then grabbed our picnic blanket and had lunch outside.

Alex and I have had our differences in the past, but this last year, for some wonderful reason, we have grown much closer. He constantly melts my heart with his genuine sweetness towards me and his siblings. He is so into star wars these days that is makes me laugh! He'll grab the markers, stack them on top of each other and pretend they are his light sabers, then go pull some Jedi moves in the living room, haha! Hes my big bud!

I feel like Carson has grown 6 inches in the last 2 days! He's been getting so big, and his little personality is growing so fast! Carson is our little ball player. It's almost routine that right before scripture time, he pulls out a ball and starts shootn' hoops in his little tykes basketball hoop. He makes us laugh so much and its so fun to watch him try to wrestle with Alex. Most of the time they play great... but sometimes I have to step in as a referee and break it up. Boys!

They have been the highlight of my year! We are so excited for Cami to be home and play with us now. :) They all grow up too fast... time for another one right?? Haha! Well, until then I will soak up all of their love and craziness! I love you Alex and Carson!!