Birthday Videos

I can't resist taking pictures of Adyson. She is so cute!

I Love Summer in the Northwest

This a Dianthus is full bloom in our front yard. We love the mild summers here and in return we have a lot of green and color.
I could not resist taking a picture of our first raspberries to ripen. This was a couple of days ago. Today I went out and picked over 20 ripe, red berries. The next berry to come on will be my blueberries.
I love eating peas right out in the garden fresh off the vine. I planted so many peas this year that I was even able to freeze some. Shelling all those peas reminded me of the farm and helping shell peas every year.

Birthday Time Again

Colin is setting up his new birthday present while Owen waits patiently for it to be ready!
Brent who just turned 23 yrs on the 17th, lovin' on Adyson.
Colin who isn't in the picture challenged Brent to a fight. Guess who won?
These three cousin are all very close in age and are so excited to see each other. Ethan not so much. I think he is being smashed by Jennifer!
Camron, 13 and half, is always photogenic.
Kali and I fixed the kids dinner and said our goodbye as she left the party
Kali bought a group present for all the birthdays in June. The croquet set was well used and even the 3 and 4 yr olds could wield a mallet! Chelle and Dave were there earlier but were sleep deprived from a Friday night campout so they had to go home and catch up on their Z's.
Jennifer took a minute to pose with a croquet mallet and pretty faced croquet ball!

A spirited game of good old-fashioned 4-square took place just outside. Competition was fierce as Camron and Brent were involved.

There is nothing like a simple balloon to mesmerize Adyson. The ladybug boots were a gift from Aunt Kali and Uncle Gabe.
Colin is imagining what Aunt Chelle's giant cupcake is going to taste like. It had yummy chocolate mouse in the middle.

Stanwood/Camano Island Soap Box Derby

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to watch a local Soap Box Derby right in our little town.

Our neighbors had two boys participating in the 13 yr and 7 yr old divisions.
It was a challenge to snap pictures since the cars are going downhill at about 30 miles an hour.

Soccer Fest on Whidbey Island

Kali is happy because her team won the game 2 to 1. This is the second year she has coached. She is learning to hon her skills as a soccer coach! Yea Kali.

Jennifer has become a very aggressive soccer player. She had a head-on with an opposing player and her leg just above the knee was stepped on by the other player's cleats. She came out of the game hurt but went back in 10 minutes or less later. What a trooper! No pain, no gain so they say!
Coach Kali with her assistant coach yelling out instructions to players on the field. The day was so beautiful and sunny that Frank got sunburned on his face and hands; the only things on his body that weren't covered. I just got a little sunburn on my nose, thank goodness.
Ethan and Jen had an all-day soccer tournament and since we had not been to any games this year we decided to make the drive over.
This is the only picture I got of Ethan with his biological Dad, Andy. I regret I didn't get any pictures of Ethan's games. They both have grown, physically taller and improved in their soccer skills tremendously.
Frank and I took the ferry back to the mainland to go to a sealing of a couple in the temple married for 50 years! Then Frank and I participated in a sealing team that we had signed up for last month. We stopped to get gas and groceries and home by 8:30 pm tired from our long day.

How Does My Garden Grow?

Blueberries in clusters on my four blueberry bushes! Love the fresh taste right off the bush.
Peaches getting bigger on my two peach trees!

My poppies in my container bloom every spring and are so spectacular. I save the pods with the poppy seeds and share with my neighbors and friends.


We had a zillion and I mean it, bees pollinating our raspberry flowers. The sound of them all sounded like a whole bee-hive was in my backyard.
I just went out today and ate a couple of red, ripe strawberries. One the slugs had eaten part of, so I cut off that part and it was as good as new.
This raised bed is my pea patch. I picked a bunch yesterday for Michelle like they sell in the bags at Costco. There will be more pickings in the next two weeks. I love peas right out of the garden. Half of them never make it indoors. They are devoured by yours truly.

Adyson and Owen's B-Day

Owen and Ady had a great birthday celebration. I brought Strawberry Yogurt cake covered with a scrumptious layer of fresh strawberries. Michelle just recently posted the recipe on her blog. Ady loved the Barbie car she received from her Dad. The really funny part was the picture of Colin showing her how to use the Barbie comb for Barbie's hair. She received an ABC book from Chelle and Dave. The wierd thing was that Owen was more interested in the book than Ady. He loves to sing the ABC song with the book.
The most favorite present that Owen received was a soccer ball from Aunt Chelle and Uncle Dave. He played with that most of the 5 hours that we were there. Grandma Julie taught him how to receive the ball and stop it with his foot instead of his hands. He kept picking up the ball and finally understood that you can't do that in soccer. He will be able to play soccer this fall! His older brother Colin, who is turning 6 in a week was kicking the ball really hard to Owen. I explained that if he kicked it soft Owen could learn how to stop it with his feet. Colin complied and also showed Owen how Colin could stop it with HIS feet! Such a nice older brother. I was simply impressed.
Grandma Julie was excited that Ady liked her Strawberry Shortcake picture for her wall.
Terrin, who's 9 has a birthday on the 26th of June kept saying he wished we could celebrate all the birthdays at the same time. I said, "I know why you want to celebrate them all at once. You just want to get presents before YOUR birthday!" He agreed that I had guessed the real reason.

Camron, 13 and a half, was just there for the cake, so he said!
Aunt Chelle was baking for another birthday party that day and so she baked a huge gigantic cupcake for Owen and Ady. They had fun blowing out the candles. Ady was funny. Everytime Eric lite the candles she would blow them out before we could sing happy birthday. After the second time we were able to sing a quick Happy Birthday at double time speed before she blew them out. In this picture she is so proud of herself. She has just blown out ALL the candles!

Obie, his nickname, is excited that his candles are burning away and seems more interested in the camera than the candle burning the house down!

We gave Owen a Sponge Bog Square Pants hoppy ball. But he was more intrigued with his soccer ball. His older brother, Colin and younger sister loved it though. Here is a video of Colin riding the bouncy ball.
It was a great day to see everyone! Frank did some dishes, washed the table and made himself useful. I'm sure Eric appreciated it a lot.

Where'd the Time Go?

About the 20th of May I started having pain in my chest. I went to the doc on a Monday and he called for ex-rays which said nothing was wrong. So on Thursday I was having a cat scan which revealed a hair-line fracture of my sternum. The oncologist said that the bones become weak and brittle from the steriods during chemo. I also have the beginnings of Osteoporosis. And I lifted a couple of heavy fertilizer sacks out of my trunk. I think I've learned the really hard way that I "caint do dat no mo." There is no way to cast a sternum so into my pharmacy of pills I went to find my Oxycodon and extra-strength Tylenlol. Sitting up from a laying position was impossible. I had to roll out of bed, slowly.

It has been three weeks and I am healing. I can lift up my chest from a laying position without pain. Don't get me wrong. I still have pain but it is much, much less. I am now only on the Tylenlol every four hours.

Here is a quote from Ernest Hemingway from "A Farewell to Arms:"

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.

I guess I must be strong in a lot of broken places because I've broken so many bones! LOL

I've been watching a lot of movies lately since I can't do a lot physically. The movie "Miss Potter" is about the life of Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit. I did not ever know her story, but it is a fascinating one and I think you would all love the movie. We just put it on hold at the local library, but I had no idea what or who it was about. We borrowed another great movie entitled Nicolas Nickleby by Charles Dickens from Chelle. That was another great movie that I liked and I think I am going to check out the book from the library. Right now I am reading a book called "First Mothers (The Women Who Shaped the Presidents) by Bonnie Angelo. It lists very similar traits that each of these mothers had in raising their sons.

We even made to the temple yesterday to do a session and I did OK. We stopped at Chelle's house to pick up some homemade whole wheat bread I had asked her to make. It was delicious. My daughter sure is a great bread maker. She also lent us some more DVD's. (We don't currently have TV)

Grandkids: The Monday after I got hurt Kali and Jennifer and Ethan came over and brought a lovely dinner. They mopped my kitchen floor and vacuumed for me. Then we all sat down to watch the movie "Australia" they brought. We really enjoyed it a lot - Great movie.
Then the next Monday, Memorial Day Michelle came up and planted the rest of my garden for me and watered all my plants. I have been so appreciative of my daughters and their concern for me and my health. Last Saturday we were at Eric's helping to pack for his move and Chelle kept me in line by saying, "sit down Mom; don't lift anything Mom, now Mom I told you not to do anything." Needless to say I shouldn't have gone because I can't just not do anything. It is not in my nature. Nevertheless I went to 9 am church the next day for the whole three hours without a lot of painn so I must have not done too much!

I had been going over to Eric's twice a week to babysit half-days, but when I got injured that had to end. Eric's family moved this last Wed. to a home just as big but for less rent.The kids won't have to change schools and they now have a new house in which to make new memories.

Right after Easter Ady's older brother Colin who is 5 decided she needed a hair cut. So he proceeded to give her one. So Ady lost her lost pig tails, just when Eric had figured out how to do her hair decent. They took her to the hair salon and she has a cute little bob. Eric said he does miss her long hair. So I will try to find my camera (it is currently in hiding); or you could say I mis-placed it. So today I am on a mission to find that runaway camera so I can take pictures at the birthday celebration and put them on my blog!
Sunday we will celebrate Adyson and Owen's birthdays. Ady turned 3 on Thurs and Owen 4 on Sunday. Colin will turn 6 on the 14th so June is our beaucoup b-day month.