Cousin Collin's 3rd Birthday Party in Astoria

We drove out to Astoria for Collin's 3rd birthday party last Thursday and the kids had a lot of fun! After we had dinner and cake at Katie's parent's house, we went to the City of Astoria Service Fair. The kids had a great time (this was a wonderful party idea Katie!) sitting in firetrucks, bulldozers, tractors, etc. Here are some pictures:

Collin (the birthday boy) and Mason

Mason in a firetruck

Uncle Josh and Hadley

Collin and Mason

Collin

Leah

Mason

Collin and Mason looking at all the trucks

Leah and Mason in a tractor (Mason had been eying this tractor:)

Yeah! Free cotton candy! Mason was a sticky mess and he loved every minute of it.

Our last stop in Astoria was the dock to see the sea lions, the boats and big ships.

It was a fun birthday party! We are so excited to have Josh and Katie close by again:)

A Weekend Without Mom

Janell went to a home school seminar in Portland one weekend and it was just me and the rug-rats. I figured that I would make the day somewhat memorable with a hike to Hamilton Mountain (although the kids can't make the entire 4 mile hike), we just went about 2 miles to some falls and ate lunch, played in the water and talked for a bit. Here are some pictures from the trip.Below "The Pool of the Winds"

A quiet moment at a spot called "The Pool of the Winds". It was a hollow rock formation with an open top that has a stream flowing into a water fall, then down to another pool area followed by more falls. It was really very peaceful and pretty.

The usual scene between Mason and Leah; "Dad! He/She is not sharing!" and "Give me that!"

Baby Bransen

HOSPITAL PICTURES

PICTURES FROM HOME

Bransen is so cute that I had to put some pictures of him up on our blog! He is just adorable and I can't wait to see him in a few weeks:)

Baby Bransen is Here!

Auntie Brenda a few days ago

Baby Bransen was born today! Great job Brenda!

I haven't seen a picture of him yet, but I hear that he is darn cute and he has lots of long, dark, curly hair and that he looks a lot like Brenda. He was 10lbs 1 oz and 22 or 23 inches long.

Congratulations Brent and Brenda!

Leah, Mason, Collin and Hadley at Ester Short Park Yesterday

Josh and Katie are in town! We are so excited to have them close by and we hope that Uncle Josh will find a job around here:) It was hot yesterday and they kids enjoyed playing at Ester Short park on the playground and in the water.

Collin and "Macy"
Mason was so excited to see Collin again!

Collin with all those handsome curls
He is moves around pretty fast! This is the only close up picture I could get of him:)

Cutie pie Hadley playing in the water

Auntie Katie, Leah and Collin

Primary Water Activity

On Saturday, our ward had a fun Primary activity-a water activity! They had several stations set up with water games/activities and the kids rotated through them. Their favorite was the water slide:

Mason, Dylan, Leah and Olivia waiting for their turn to slide

Dylan helping Mason down the slide

Down goes Leah!
(They put soap on a tarp and had a hose going to help them slide down)

Mason and Leah at the soapy bottom

By chance, the first weekend in August was cool. Who would have guessed? The kids were cold, but they had fun.

A shivering Mason showing off his Iron Man tattoo

Cold Leah eating a snow cone

Mason and his snow cone cup

Horse Tire Swing = Hours and Hours of Fun

Leah got a horse tire swing for her birthday and we set it up on on the covered patio so that she can swing on it rain or shine. She has spent hours swinging on it, feeding it, washing it and helping Mason swing on it.

Leah twirling her friend, Katie around and around

Shopping at the Mall With Uncle Carson and the Kids

Uncle Carson is in town this week and it has been a lot of fun, especially for the kids. On Thursday, we went to the mall to find an outfit for Leah's birthday and I had no idea that Carson was taking pictures until I looked on Facebook. Anyways, here are some candid moments at the mall:

An indecisive moment at Bath and Body Works

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
(This is Mason's favorite letter and his contribution to the blog.)

Movie Date: Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl

Leah and Uncle Carson outside the movie theater

On Saturday we went to see Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl. It takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression and it was an adorable movie! I think that even Uncle Carson enjoyed it a bit.

I was so inspired by the dresses the little girls wore in the movie. I am a true fan of much of the 1930's dress and hat styles, especially for little girls so after the movie, I went home and drafted up a dress pattern for Leah (using several patterns as guides) similar to a dress Kit wore in the movie and I am very pleased with the results:) They just don't make patterns like that anymore . . . I went and picked up some cute fabric today and I should be done with the first dress tomorrow.

Scout Camp '08

It is interesting how things change from when you are a kid...This is me with the only horse I have ever been calm with...his name is Lug Nut. As a kid a scout camp, I was completely fearful of the horses and what they could do to me. With this horse I was completely comfortable and at ease. He obeyed every command I gave and never gave me any trouble. I guess it all comes down to the horses personality and what they are willing to put up with...hmmm, just like people.



At Camp Baldwin they have a Scout Master award deal called, "Scout Master Meritbadge". This is for SM's that do 'extra' at camp besides checking on the boys, chaperoning and generally just being there. We had a sheet that we had to get 300 points to earn level 1 (each level is 300 points more). So each level also has a patch related that is earned when the level is completed. Only 4 SM's did this program in the camp (Jim Serra, Bishop Peterson and myself + 1 from another troop). We ended up pouring cement don't let the smile fool you - not that easy; cleaning the showers 2 days as well as a host of other trying or fun activities that challenges the Scout Master and gets them very tired.


There is a story behind this picture...Our troop did not stay here, we were in Tamarak site. I got this because at my very last scout camp, Dad, Josh and myself stayed in this campsite and had a picture at this exact site that I am standing...the site had changed little, but the old sign had been taken out or decomposed or something. It brought back some memories of having Dad at my last camp as a scout some 14 or 15 years ago.




C'mon...I had to...couldn't resist...what it if said JUMP OFF "(Insert your name here)"...you'd have to as well.