Family Update

Welcome back!!

Nothing like a little "cluster-blogging"

Thought it might be good to do an update. .

Especially since I had so many fun pictures to share!

This girl has gotten about 3 years older all at once. .

She is growing in manners and politeness. .

And is getting to be fine help!!

She got to participate in a gymnastics class and a dance class this year.

She loved them both!

She has gotten pretty tricky at front handsprings on the trampoline. .

And loves practicing!

She had her first recital right before Easter. She was excited and nervous all rolled into one!

She got flowers for the first time in her WHOLE life (Her words). .

And can't wait for it to start all over again next year.

She gets to/has to stay home this summer. Her dad works right at the house in his shop. .But she isn't highly motivated on her own. .so she is despairing the whole idea. .more because she knows that she will have to do some "work". .and that she will get into trouble if she isn't careful!

I am hoping that she will take care of some watering and learn how to get dinner started.

I think it will be a good step for her!

This guy will be graduating GRADUATED. .from 8th grade next week LAST NIGHT (by the time I actually got back to finishing this post :-). He is super excited! He will finally get his very own cell phone! He has been doing a lot of driving with his instructional permit. .and has the mandatory 50 hours of driving done so he can get his farm permit, which will allow him to drive to and from school alone, and to get parts or errands run for his job--working for his dad.

He is glad to be done with track, which he never really liked. .And will look forward to going out for basketball and golf next year as a freshman. He did join a neighboring school to participate in a high school trap shooting team. .and will get to shoot on their varsity team in a few weeks at the state competition. He and his dad are both really excited about that!

Grant and Tristan both graduated last Thursday from tech school in Topeka.

Look at the excitement!

Tristan started a job last week for a commercial carpentry crew. .and got to work on one of the buildings on the campus at the University of Kansas. .He loved every minute of it! He gets to be an 'intern' for 3 months before deciding whether this will be the job for him.

I think he has already decided that it is!!

Grant will continue to work for the feed store that employed him part time through the school year. He will do that until after he and his dad and brothers take their guided fishing trip in a few weeks. After that, he will start working at Kenworth-fixing the big semi rigs that he has loved since he was a tot!

Both of them got their dream jobs. .and we couldn't be happier for them. .

Or prouder! It was a fun weekend to hang out together. .

And, after 50 pictures. .I decided that they aren't any easier to photograph now. .than they were when they were little. Someone was always doing something dumb. .or looking the wrong way. .or making silly faces. .or kissing/licking the person standing next to them. UG!

In the last week. .since I started this post the first time. .

We have finished up a lot of the "end of school" things.

We have been through Cami's play day at school. .

It is essentially a mini-track meet for K-5th.

She did a great job. .

And unfortunately, in about 2 more weeks-it will seem-she will be wearing her own cap and gown!!

These guys were also back all weekend for Devin's graduation. .

Our church celebrated a 100 year anniversary on Sunday. .

So we were busy with that as well as a graduation BBQ in honor of Devin.

Not to mention all the graduation celebrations for the kids of our friends!

It was lots of cooking and hangin.

Devin is heading to get his farmer's permit today. .

And he will be raking in the "dough" at the shop soon!

Tristan had to head back late last night to return to work. .

Grant is heading there today. .as well as my mom returning home. .

So when I get home tonight. .

It should be back to the quiet life. .

As quiet as it gets anyway!

Here is our little grand-pet. .

Rastus. .is Tristan's little hedgehog. .

He is quite ugly, really. .which ALMOST makes him a touch cute.

Cami and Devin are in love. .and I hope I can remain firm in not having one in my own home in the future!

Well. .

That's it from this crazy crew. .

We have a characteristically busy summer getting started as soon as next week. .

Camps, jobs, an exchange student coming, road trips, and of course. .

the LAKE!

I hope to showcase some garden blooms again soon. .

But then, you know how that sometimes goes!!

Thanks for stopping by!

2017 updates. .

I seriously don't know where the time goes to! It has been so long since I have posted any pictures. .or added any updates!! I don't do facebook very often. .and rarely post pictures or information. .So that's not my excuse. .I guess I just get caught up in the day to day.

Seems like everyone is still growing by leaps and bounds. .and changes are occurring regularly. .

Like Jeremy's hair!! HA!

I did have to include our Halloween picture. .

Cami is not about to let us stop celebrating the season with a still-huge costume party.

Now it's all about her. .and her friends. .

But we only must survive 2 more. We are well into double digit hosting now. .And I suppose, that all these "lasts" will be more bittersweet than all the "firsts!"

Tristan has just flourished this year. He is finishing up a year of cabinetry school. He works part time at Lowes and has been able to find regular carpentry projects in the community too.

He is looking at his options for employment in May-thinking he wants to keep doing the broader spectrum of carpentry for a while to increase his skill set.

Grant is also starting to consider employment options. He is finishing up diesel mechanic training. .and is hoping to work for a large company on their trucking fleet. There are several options around

Topeka. He is working part time for a small farm and ranch store there and that keeps him busy and provides some spending money.

We got to enjoy them at home for about a week around the holidays. Last month, we visited them one weekend and enjoyed going to a local trampoline park. .

This old woman was super sore after jumping for an hour. .but it was a blast, and we all decided we would do it again in a heartbeat!!

This guy is growing INCHES at a time!! Seriously, this photo was taken one morning when he was all at once taller than he had been the day before! It was a monumental day for him. .He finally was taller than his mama!! I am 5'10". .and he was super pumped! I guess it won't be long and I might be the shortest. .which doesn't happen very often-trust me!

He is pretty excited for high school next year. .

And, again, I can't believe that time has gotten to this stage. He is 14 and his dad promised to take him to get his farm permit to drive. .We have seriously missed the big boys carpooling the kids around to where they needed to be!!

They just finished basketball last week. .League champions! And we will look forward to a slower month before the crazy spring activities start! He has been involved in a local drumline. .and is now on to playing his 3rd instrument since 5th grade. .the baritone sax. I think that he is going to be a man of many talents as he grows!!

He and his dad are making more time to go fishing as the weather warms. .and the guys have a guided fishing trip booked for June. .for all 4 of them. Cami and I are going to need a girls trip too I think!! Devin will keep us busy and young for a while yet. .as he has a lot of passions. .and wants to be in the middle of most anything!

And then Miss Cami.

She and her brother have gotten used to having their brothers gone. They tolerated it better than I expected. .and better than I certainly did! She and Devin are pretty good buddies now. She is still ALL girl. .but likes shooting her pink camo BB gun and her cross bow.

She's in 3rd grade. .For her birthday, her friends brought their aprons and enjoyed doing a little cooking. It's different having girls at the party than boys!!

She still loves cheerleading and is in her first year of a gymnastics class and dance. She has been mastering handsprings on the trampoline. She is totally a mama's girl. .and wants to be wherever I am at. .or maybe I should say. .she wants ME to be wherever SHE is at!! She is quite something!

She has mastered the social media sphere of SNAPCHAT. .and will snapchat her brothers, the neighbors, and her cousin! It has been fun for her to keep connected with them that way!

Not too much has changed with us old farts though! We're getting ready to be a little older. .and we are trying hard to get a little wiser as we go. Lots of work. .and plenty of play. .both of us are ready for the warmer weather to come around and stay!

We finally made it to that iconic family of 4. .one girl. .one boy. .it's super weird!! I am not sure I will ever learn to cook for less than an army. We get sick of leftovers. .I get sick of not having to cook something new for days. Laundry doesn't take that long though anymore!! That is a plus.

We did apply to get an international 4-H student for a month this summer. .either from Costa Rica or Japan. THAT will be incredible!!

So that is about all we are up to. .

 

Thanks for checkin in on us! Wish I could say when the next update will come. .Some day I look forward to catching up on everyone else's blogs as well. .Enjoy the few weeks left of winter!

Best Vacation. EVER. Part 2

Welcome back. .

Here's the second and final part of our trip to the beautiful state of Oregon!

So. .we headed out of Crescent City California on Wednesday morning. .Giving us 3 whole days to make the approximately 8 hour trip back up to Portland. Our plan was to drive up Highway 101 as far as we could--hopefully all the way to Washington. .which we were able to do without rushing!

I was so amazed at all the different variations of the coastline!! I just randomly picked photos to upload. .but, without taking time to study them in order again. .I would be hard pressed to tell you where they were taken!!

Often times as we drove, there were signs alerting travelers to the pull-out spots where you could get off the highway and get out to hike or gasp at the views! We did a lot of both!

Once, I think Cami and I walked about a mile because they would have bridges and walkways between the ocean cliff and the highway. We walked to the  next pull off and Jeremy and a boy or two would hop in the car and drive forward. It was AWESOME!!

We put about 1500 miles on our rented suburban while we were in Oregon!

We drove to many of the lighthouses on the coast. They are such interesting structures! We really only got to tour one that we hit during the open hours. This one was Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

This little stop was actually at Heceta Head. .and the lighthouse was behind Cami out of the photo. She is standing next to the jaw bone of a whale (I'm at a loss for what kind of whale) We never spotted whales again after leaving Crescent Beach. .so I was so thankful that we were able to view them multiple times from our hotel and beach there!!

On Wednesday night we were fortunate enough to find another hotel on the beach in Florence. We stayed at Driftwood Shores Resort in an amazing little 3 bedroom condo! It was very cloudy the night we stayed. .and drizzling the next morning. The ocean had a more sinister feel to it here than it had the entire rest of our trip.

The resort was very isolated. .and not all that busy due to our timing I suspect. .so if felt a little lonesome here. The boys were ready to relax with their electronics by this time. .so Cami and her dad enjoyed walking on the beaches looking for shells! This was the one place that all the kids enjoyed the indoor pool. .however. .Devin and Cami didn't miss one day of pool swimming. .which is always a highlight for them!!

I was really looking forward to seeing Cape Perpetua and the violent wave action that they get there. The tide was fairly low when we were there. .but the force of the waves was still incredible!! I took this picture before Grant got completely soaked from the waist down by the wave that came up over the rock he is standing on. He was NOT impressed!!

It was still cool and drizzling as we came across this area. It made the force of the water that much more frightening! We had just finished studying the last 8 chapters in the book of Acts before we left on vacation. .and this area made me stop and think about how frightening Pauls'  shipwreck was if the water during the storm was even partially as violent as this water was!

The foxgloves were blooming EVERYWHERE. .in the ditches, under the trees, on the rocky cliff areas. They were so beautiful!! All of the flowers were!

This is Yaquina Bay Lighthouse near Newport. Some of our crew headed for a bathroom break. .but Grant and I ran into the lighthouse to do a quick tour. It was really interesting!

The rooms were bigger than I would have thought. .and they were still decorated for the period.

The lighthouse keeper and his wife had 8 kids.

What a view from your second story window!! We did get to go to the 3rd story to see the little bedroom the lighthouse keeper stayed in each night. But the shaft that he looked through to see how the light was doing was closed up.

While we chose not to stop at the big Sea Lion cave near Florence. .we were delighted to see some sea lions both in Crescent City. .and again in the Old Downtown Newport.

They were SO noisy. .

But fun to watch!

Jeremy convinced Cami to try oysters on the half shell. .

Which she was a little skeptical about. But this girl can eat sardines and oysters right out of the can!

She thought they were "ok" but she probably wouldn't eat them again :-)

Look how huge those suckers are!!

I was so excited to see one of these little guys for the first time at AJ's house. It's a stellar jay. I caught this picture outside of our hotel window!! It actually reminds me of a couple of paintings hanging on my bedroom walls with tree branches and bird silhouettes. I'm thinking about getting this guy blown up and framing him! I did notice that there didn't seem to be a lot of birds that we could see in the redwoods, where I thought we would see a ton!! We saw a few different varieties in the trees along the coast. .but we saw mainly the same types of birds that we have in Kansas. .and a lot of the same vegetation as well!

I could drink this view in every single day!!

Thursday night found us staying on the ocean at Rockaway Beach. This was a beautiful beach right out of our hotel windows. The hotel was not so great. .but sometimes compromise is necessary. And by then, we figured out that staying on the beach was just what we all needed! The water was still icy cold. .

But that didn't deter the two young kids in their swim suits from getting wet!! Of course, they later warmed up in the heated indoor pool!! And. .You can make out by the photo. .that those who have all their mental faculties. .have on sweatshirts!!

The sunset was phenomenal that night. .and we were able to get some great photos and some great memories!!

The last day found us finishing up the Oregon coast! Beautiful blue skies. .and equally beautiful blue to aquamarine colored waters!

Look at the force of that seemingly innocent water crashing over the rock!! I still can't get over the sheer force of the waves on this coast. It was much different than what we saw of the Atlantic in Boston and southern Maine. .and that of the oceans surrounding Key West!

We stopped at so many tiny beaches to run and play that I lost track of where we were. I am hoping to put most of our photos into a digital album. .and am just hoping that I can get it done before I forget all of it!!

Grant found a live star fish. .and then complained the rest of the day because I made him throw it back! His dad felt so sorry for him that he bought him a starfish shell when we stopped to shop in Seaside!

Incredible rock formations like this jutted out from the water everywhere! I guess I didn't get a photo of Haystack Rock onto the blog. .but I walked about a mile along Cannon beach to get as close as possible to it so I could see the little black puffins. I never saw one up close. .but it was a beautiful place! Cannon Beach was by far, the busiest beach we ran into the whole trip! For the most part there were only small handfuls of people any place we went until then. And I wouldn't say it was crowded like I imagine it is during peak vacation time!

A picture of the Seaside Oregon sign in their famous little roundabout! We enjoyed some shopping and wandering on the streets there. We went further north to Astoria Oregon.

I didn't take a picture of this bridge. .because I was too busy freaking out about going over it. .Instead I copied this one from google images (For all I know. .Grant took this photo from the backseat and posted it!) It crosses the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. It is 196 feet above the river at high tide. .and it is 4.1 miles long!! There were some ginormous cargo boats on the river--which was also very interesting to see!  We drove north into Washington for a bit before our GPS routed us back through Astoria to get to Portland. .so we crossed it TWICE!

 

We were glad to be headed home back to Kansas on Saturday.

It was a super fun trip. .Great family time. .Lots to do and see.

Memories to last a lifetime!

Thanks for coming with me to re-live it a little bit!!

 

Grabbed some photos of the garden a few days ago. .

Will share them soon!