27.8.08

Josh and Kenzie are shucking Champions.

135 136

Mackenzie got second place in the corn shucking contest and Joshua got the award for the cleanest corn. We went to the Evergreen Fair on $2 Tuesday. It was the last day before I had to go back to work and the price was right. Mackenzie was also selected as the crowd cheer leader for one of the racing pigs.

24.8.08

Isaiah 40:28-31

I love this verse and wanted to share it.
New International Version (NIV)

28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.

14.7.08

Josh Baptized

 

We had a great day at the Pilchuck River. We had a bunch of friends and family out for the occasion and most back to our house afterward for some grub. Thanks to everyone for coming. We had a great time. We were busy and only got 5 or 6 pictures. Here are the best 2. If you want to see some other great pics of that day check out grammy dee's farm.

027

Josh enjoying the river.

031

Erin and Bella at our house. Thanks for coming! Your welcome to swing by our place anytime.

6.7.08

5.7.08

4th of July Watermelon

Levi was watching some fireworks, so he put down his watermelon for a moment. My mom found this idea somewhere to cut out the watermelon with cookie cutters and then put it on tongue depressors and freeze. It was delicious.

25.6.08

Camping at Seaside with the Elenbaas Family

We went camping in Seaside, Oregon this last weekend. We left on Friday and got home on Tuesday night. It was a great trip, our annual camping trip with the Elenbaas family.

100_0596 
On our way out of town we stopped at a gas station for some ice and saw this car with an interesting license plate. I'll let you decide what it means.

100_0600

We needed to stop for lunch and to get the kids out around Olympia so we got off at the capitol. Parking was...well interesting with Hank attached to the back of the van. We enjoyed lunch downtown by the lake below the capitol. There was a huge grass lawn adjacent to the path around the lake. Across the street was a cool water park, but we didn't have the time to go enjoy it.

100_0603

There were little fish in the lake and the kids decided to count them.

100_0608

Back to the car we go. We stopped shortly in Longview for gas and then made it the rest of the way without incident.

100_0610

We went swimming 3 or 4 times while we were in Seaside. This is one of the kids favorite activities. Once some kid lost a chunk of doody at the side of the pool and then another kid yacked so we had to get out and come back the next day while they cleaned.

100_0612

Levi loved the water again and this time enjoyed playing with the kickboard. There were a couple of moments where I thought that he swallowed too much water and was going to ralph; thankfully he did not.

100_0616

Julie was a much better swimmer than I remember from before. She was chasing me and I could hardly get away. She's turning into quite the little fish.

100_0621

Solon is getting ready to toss Josh into the air.

100_0626_edited

OK, so it's not the 4th of July, but the shirts are still clean at this point. There's Hank hanging out in the background. Gabe is all smiles. Levi and Gabe were great boys on the trip.

100_0648

This playground was a very short walk from our campsite. Levi surprised me the entire time he was here. He climbed all over these structures and ropes like he was a monkey. And, after watching Jacob and Josh, he even slid down the pole.

100_0657

As you can see, the beach was a little cold on the Saturday. Levi needed to wear his coat because of the wind. This guy was riding a dune buggy skateboard while being pulled by the power of his kite. Levi ended up in the ocean which was his week long dream. Coat and all. Joanna was not pleased with me because she didn't want him to get wet and I was letting him play in the waves. He absolutely loved it, but I ended up having to strip him down, bundle him up in a blanket, and carry him to the van. Our beach trip that day ended a bit early. It was a bit too windy to eat lunch there anyway. Sorry Joanna.

100_0662

Here is Alyssa being a cutie at the beach.

100_0672

The boys and girls took turns doing the dishes. The boys were thrilled about this.

100_0676

On Sunday we went into town. The kids rode the carousel and went on the bumper cars. We ate lunch on the promenade and then found a couple of geocaches at the beach.

100_0693

Lewis, Clark, Seaman the dog, and the Allinson's

 

100_0701

Sara took some family photos at the beach for us and this is the best one Solon got with our camera. I like it. Thanks guys.

100_0705

Movies at  night for the adults. We watched Fool's Gold one night and The Bucket List the next. I went to bed early on the first movie night because I had already seen it and was a bit tired. The boys slept in well every day. We Josh and Kenzie were little we would be up at the crack of dawn with the kids while camping. Well, it was a great trip. Until the next one...

14.6.08

Harry Potter Puppet Pals

I have read the first 2 or 3 Harry Potter books way back when and I did enjoy them. I just haven't felt like reading the rest. Maybe it's because I wont let my kids read them.

Anyway... If you like Harry Potter at all, or even if you don't you have to see this youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

A few students in the following video are in my class and performed the following at our Prom assembly. I though it was great and learned that they were performing a popular youtube video. I went home and watched the link I put above, and then found my students were now on there as well.

Check that out here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnVWj8P9jvs

I hope you enjoyed them.