Bear Lake

So the end of the first week the kids and I were in Utah, my family went to Bear Lake. And I think we picked the perfect weekend: Raspberry Days. The only difference was there were more people and plenty of local venders selling their stuff. So it made for some good shopping at Bear Lake. And it was just fun to play at the beach and on the boat. Here is cousin Trey helping Clark out with his binky. Thanks Trey!

Grace had her first experience riding a water banana. I love the look on her face in this picture (which is why I chose it)!

One of Clark's favorite foods is bananas. If you're not too careful, he'll bite off more than he can chew and swallow. My uncle Matt was in town, so he came with us that weekend. He seemed to really enjoy spending time with Clark. And by the look of it, Clark enjoyed his company (or food).

This picture is of my parents with all their grandkids. This one was probably the best one of all that were taken. They should have taken the picture early on in our little trip, instead of the very end when everyone is tired and ready to go home!

And a proud grandpa! I wanted to post a picture of my dad water skiing, since I was so proud of how well he did. But I didn't want to embarrass him. So I thought this was a bit better.

Here are some more pictures that captured a bit more of what we did while at the lake!

Lagoon Day

So the day before we left for Bear Lake with my family (sorry the post is out of order), we all went to Lagoon. I really enjoy roller coaster rides, but I wasn't too sure about Grace. Luckily she did not get her dad's stomach. She couldn't get enough of the rides! I think I had more fun just watching her reactions.

I'm all for the thrill of the rides, but one thing that I don't enjoy is the free fall rides. My Uncle Matt was trying to talk me into going on the skycoaster (where they hoist you up thousands of feet, then let you fly!). I said no thanks, but my brave sister, Cassandra and brother, John said yes!

Afterwards we went over to my sister, Marie's house, to wish John a happy birthday on 08.08.08! And wouldn't you believe that he turned 24! And to wish him farewell. The next morning he left for South Korea for a two week training. He is now in the ROTC. Way to go John! I just spoke to him on the phone, and he is home now and survived his training.

I just had to add this picture. Again, here is Trey putting Clark's binky in for him. He is such a helper!

The next week of our little trip, I picked up Andy from the airport. He had told me that he wanted to go out, just the two of us, after I picked him up. I was pretty excited! He didn't fly in until 9pm, so I figured it would be a quick bite to eat then call it good. But much to my surprise, he had made reservations at the INN on the HILL! Needless to say, that was probably my favorite part of the whole trip!

If you look close enough, those two specs are us.

That week we also put Grace in swim lessons with her cousins. She did not want to go back after the first day. But I'm so glad we didn't give in, because she really, really enjoyed it the next two days. She was swimming under water and jumping in without having to hold on to someone's hands! I couldn't believe the progress she made just in those 3 short lessons! It was pretty fun to watch her too. After every time she swam with the teacher she would give me a big thumbs up or a high five. Too bad we haven't been in a pool since to see if it stuck with her.

Her cheering section!
(Andrea, sister-in-law, with George, Kathy, 'Grammy', and proud mom!)

Bub and Lisa

Last but not least, the real reason behind our trip to Utah: Clint & Lisa's Wedding! They were married on Friday, Aug. 15th at the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards, we stayed for pictures of course, then went to the Erekson's to get things ready for the reception. The weather was perfect! It was only in the mid 80's, while all our friends suffered in the 100 degree weather in Portland!
Anyway, we are very happy for the happy couple! Welcome to the family, Lisa!

The 3 matching cousins!

The happy couple (pictured below, not to be confused with the other happy couple above!) at their wedding dinner (the night before the wedding) at the Lion House.

Here are some of the other pictures of the wedding celebration:

New Tricks

We're back from Utah! While I'm in the process of gathering some pictures from our trip, I thought I would post this video of Clark. (Please pay no attention to the annoying lady behind the camera!)

Summer Lovin'

I can't believe it's already July 19th! I swear it was July 4th just yesterday. Let's just pretend for a moment that it was and then I won't feel too bad about taking so long to publish this post. So speaking of yesterday, we went up to Spokane, WA to spend some quality time with our good friends Adam, Heidi & Campbell. It was a lot of fun! To honor our nation's independence day, we had a great bar.b.que, watched movies, and saw a fantastic fireworks display!

Here we are with our boys!

While there we enjoyed a lovely bike ride with kids-in-tow. My butt was sore for days after, but it was well worth it!

Close to their house is a fun park with a water structure right next to the play area. Not only did Grace love it, but as you can see by the look on his face, Clark loved getting his feet wet!

Here we are sporting our red, whites, and blue!

Heidi and Campbell enjoying the great outdoors!

Since they live in Liberty Lake, we decided to watch the fireworks at that lake. It was perfect! We found a perfect spot, with not a whole lot of people and saw a great fireworks display. Here we are waiting for the show. And the view was gorgeous!

Grace has been into making a funny face for the camera lately. This was no exception.

What I Did This Summer

So I know that summer is far from over, but I couldn't think of anything else clever. Anyway, to catch up on our lives, we celebrated our 7th Anniversary on the 14th of June by eating out at the Olive Garden, without the kids! It was delicious!





Earlier that morning I ran a half marathon. Since I wasn't able to train all that much the last couple of weeks because of sick kids then I got sick, it kicked my butt! It really helped that Andy, the kids and my friend, Ciara with her kids were at mile 4 and then mile 10. Thanks for the support! I didn't do much else that day. I finally got my strength back just in time to go out to eat.




I realized the other day that I haven't posted much about the kids. So here goes:
I am amazed at Grace sometimes. She is a quick learner! We are big fans of the videos Signing Time. She has those songs memorized and is always repeating the signs. This fall I am going to have her in a preschool co-op. By the way, if anyone is interested there is a gal in our ward here who developed a preschool curriculum called Smart Cookies. They are working on a website, but the lessons are amazing! I'll give anyone the info if you'd like. She talks of going to school, everyday! She's so excited! She can write her name, kind of (she writes her G and C backwards and the R is a tricky one!). And lately she has become a great help! She loves to set the table, sweep (that one is going to take some practice), and feed Clark (carefully supervised)!

Then there's Clark. He is such a mama's boy! It seems the more I try and get him to get use to other people, the worse he gets. We call him our little 'stinker'! And whenever we feed him solid foods and ask him if he wants more, he cries really hard. I am not exaggerating! But he is also the sweetest little baby I've ever known. He loves to snuggle (which I love!), blow raspberries, and take baths. He could be crabby, but once I get him in the tub, he's happy! It's really hard to believe that he is now 8months!


So far, the kids just love each other! They just both light up when the other is around. If Grace wakes up from a nap and she's not too happy, all I have to do is sit Clark in front of her and her bad mood disappears! And Grace can get Clark to laugh like no one else! I just hope they continue to be good buddies.