Bend, Oregon

We just returned from a week-long vacation in Bend, Oregon, which is a high elevation desert. We spent the majority of the time at the resort pool. It's great now that both boys are swimming independently!

We rode the ski lift to the top of Mt. Bachelor on Wednesday and enjoyed the beautiful view. Matthew was a little unsure of the lift, so he held on tight.

Once we arrived at the top of Mt. Bachelor, we saw patches of snow everywhere. It was quite warm, though, and the boys thought it was great to play in the snow in their shorts!

We also enjoyed learning how to roller blade and playing mini golf at the resort. On Thursday night, we visited an Observatory and got to view the moon, Saturn, Venus and Jupiter through high-powered telescopes. We even saw a shooting star! Friday, we visited the High Desert Museum and learned about the hardships of the Oregon Trail. Oh, and we had dinner at the Deschutes Brewery one evening and felt like we were back in London. They made excellent fish-n-chips. All we were missing were the smashed peas!

Lauren's Baby Shower

We had a fun time today celebrating with Lauren. She got so many lovely things, and I enjoyed planning fun games for us ladies. My favorite game was the one I picked up from Erin's shower when she was pregnant with Eli. I had Lauren walk in with a tray of baby items and warned the girls they had only 10 seconds to memorize the tray. Then when Lauren took the tray out, I asked them all kinds of questions about LAUREN!! What color is her shirt, etc. It was so funny to see the expression on the lady's faces when they realized my questions weren't about the baby items on the tray at all. Was that a dirty trick or what??

See My Cucumber....er, Zucchini Plant

I am so bummed!! I faithfully planted what was labeled to be a cucumber plant beside my tomatoes. I LOVE cucumbers and tomatoes together. I noticed last week that the vegetable growing out of it looked suspiciously like a zucchini, but didn't let minor details like that bother me. But yesterday, when my next-door neighbor Lisa complimented me on my little garden and said, "Your zucchini plant is really taking off," my heart dropped to my toes. I told her, "I don't WANT zucchinis. I wanted cucumbers!!" She thought it was quite funny and promised me several zucchini recipes she has.

Here's my little garden. Closest to you are my two basil plants. Then lemon thyme, rosemary, oregano, and you can't quite see the chives in the picture. Then ZUCCHINI and two tomato plants.

Book Club

So we had our summer book club meeting tonight and enjoyed discussing "When Life and Beliefs Collide" by Carolyn Custis James. One issue we discussed in-depth is the mystery of concurrence. The author explains it like this: "This doctrine helps us understand that God is intimately involved in our lives and mysteriously exercises His will through our wills. Concurrence is when two actions occur simultaneously, or concurrently. It means that God is good and absolutely sovereign over all things, yet at the same time, we are not puppets or robots but have real choices and willingly exercise our wills." I love that because sometimes it seems like people come down on the issues of God's sovereignty and man's free will as an 'either/or' proposition, but the Bible teaches both. Concurrence seems to help tie it together some in my mind...it's still a mystery though.

Weekend Activities

What a busy weekend! We picked up Joshua on Saturday and enjoyed hearing about all his adventures at camp and then spent the evening with friends who live on a nearby lake. Patrick took me out in their small motor boat for a little date while the boys played in the lake near their house with them. We all had a lot of fun.

Then yesterday we had a going away party for friends from church who are moving to another state. We met at a park and had hot dogs and visited. The men and boys played whiffle ball and it was so fun to watch. The men would chase the boys all the way around the bases and let them get home runs every time. Patrick and I talked about how we need to do this more often...not just when people are moving!

Yesterday our youth pastor preached, and he talked about how we all need encouragement from one another. Then he proceeded to tell how Matthew had been an encouragement to him!! He told us later that Matthew came up to him one Sunday after he spoke and said, "You did a great job speaking. Jesus spoke through you." !!!! :)

Remlinger Farms

Matthew and I met up with our friends Rachel and Cameron for an afternoon at Remlinger Farms today. The weather was perfect, and the boys had a great time on the rides while Rachel and I fit in a fun visit. Of course, their favorite part was playing tag on the play place train at the entrance to the park. We could have saved our money and just deposited them at the play place if we'd known that would be the big hit!!

Joshua at Camp Berachah

Joshua is away at his first church camp this whole week! He called me on Tuesday to say he is having a blast, and later that day, one of the counselors sent out pictures of the campers. Here's Joshua modeling one of his favorite hang-outs...the country store!

Baseball Boys

The boys had a fun baseball season this year! All Matthew's games were in the neighborhood which was so convenient. He knew several players on the other teams, so it was always fun to meet up with friends. Joshua's games were farther away, but we enjoyed meeting new friends and carpooling with each other.

My Amazing Husband

While the boys and I were in Ohio cuddling our brand new nephew Gideon, Patrick was working on a huge surprise for me. He single-handedly ripped the carpet out of our bathroom and laid down tile! Isn't he the best husband ever?!?! He did a great job, and I love how it looks.

Matthew's T-ball Trophy

Matthew had a great t-ball season. As Coach Roddy gave him his trophy, he said, "This trophy goes to the wittiest five year old I ever met." Matthew sure is a funny guy all right!

Joshua with Adalei

Here's a picture of Joshua cuddling Adalei, our friend Matt and Jenelle's newest baby. Matt and Jenelle used to live behind us and we enjoy visiting with them and their two sweet daughters.

Baby Shower Invitations

I'm throwing a baby shower for my girlfriend Lauren who is due the end of August. I rounded up my scrapbook supplies and found some ribbon and cute buttons at my neighborhood scrapbook shop and set to work to create some fun invitations. This is what I came up with. You can't tell from the picture, but the sticker and Baby Shower note are both lifted off the page with double sided tape.

Boating!

For Patrick's birthday, we rented a boat and had a blast on Lake Washington! The boys had a great time riding the waves in their inner tube and we all enjoyed the beautiful view of Mt. Rainier in the distance. We docked at Ivar's for an outdoor lunch and then took off again for more fun.

4th of July

The 4th of July celebrations are always fun here in Snoqualmie. The boys rode their decorated bikes in the neighborhood parade to the commons area where loads of inflatables, wall climbing, face painting, a ferris wheel, train rides and free cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn awaited them. We headed for the parade with our neighbors and spent the day enjoying the festivities. Later in the afternoon, we set up a picnic table in the alley and enjoyed a cook-out with the neighbors and our friends Lauren and Troy. Afterwards, Patrick and I supplied homemade ice cream and Lisa made wonderful brownies to top it off. Around 8:30, the men couldn't stand it anymore and herded us all out front where they set off an amazing display of fireworks at the park across the street. It was beautiful and overwhelming! Here we are with our back-door neighbors enjoying the neighborhood train ride.

Up and Running!!

After being coaxed and inspired by my friend Allison, here I am with my own blog! Apparently it didn't take too much coaxing because she just mentioned it to me this afternoon over instant messenger, and here I am up and running less than two hours later thanks to my wonderful husband. Are you proud of me, Al? Now I'll try to figure out how to insert pictures for the benefit of friends and family.