Nolan's 8th Birthday

Today was Nolan's birthday, and to know that it's his 8th is still unbelievable to us right now. In a week and a half he is going to hit his first milestone in his life at his baptism. It is fun and not so fun at the same time to see him grow and develop into a young man. We are excited for the big day to celebrate with him and we're so proud to have him in our family and the "protector" of his younger sisters. We love you Polley!

U.S. Figure Skating Championships

One of the perks of living up here near Spokane was being able to go watch the Championship Figure Skating this past weekend. The winners are the ones that will represent the U.S.A. in the Olympics here in a few weeks. You really get a bigger appreciation when your 5 rows from the ice of what they go through. It was a neat experience, Roo and I had a great time!

Nolan's Final Flag Football Game

I know that it has been awhile for us, no excuses to give and none would be good enough anyway. Today was Nolan's last football game. These are pictures from last week. All we got today from his game is live video footage. I was the head coach and it was a good experience to be in that role for different reasons and other reasons I didn't care for. All in all the team had a winning season and I could see improvement from each boy (some more than others) which is what these sports are all about. Nolan is getting more and more confident in his abilities now that he is getting to understand the sport and himself better.

Silver Mountain High!

We were able to go Kellogg, ID to Silver Mountain ski resort with Gina's cousin and family and take the gondola up to the top and do some hiking and just enjoy the cool mountain air. We all had a great time exploring more of this beautiful area up here.

Summer Swimming

Gina and the kids were able to go swimming at Aunt Kami's mom's house just outside of Spokane. They had a great time in the pool. This may be a frequent place throughout the summer to go especially with these crazy high temperatures.




and here's our cute little Buddha

He's official!

Nolan has been bugging us for quite sometime about getting his own set of golf clubs and today they showed up. At night time he takes them out and puts them in the back of the car by his dad's so he's ready. He goes out and tells them good night before he goes to bed and then when he wakes up he goes and tells them good morning (what a little whip!). He is excited to go out and start using them.

Baking

Vanessa woke up from her nap and lots of fun in the flour!


Getting the pies ready for the oven. We made fresh blueberry and peach pie(they were delicious). The kids also learned how to wash the blueberries.


Yesterday I decided I wanted to make rolls to go with corn chowder for dinner. I don't care that it is 90 plus degrees outside I like to bake. I also decided to make some pies for a church activity on Saturday with we didn't end up going to. So after I layed Vanessa down for her nap I started to make the rolls and of course I have 2 little helpers right by my side. I have a hard time letting them help me in the kitchen because I want to do things right then and I don't want to take the time to teach because I feel like I don't have the time but I tried really hard yesterday to let them help and be calm. They learned how to measure flour. It was hard but we all survived!