Our lazy summer of 2014

It's been almost a year since we moved into our forever house. We really do love living here and are so grateful to be back in the PNW.  In some ways it's been an amazing year full of tender mercies and grace. In other ways it's been so hard. It's been hard for me to feel like journaling here just because everything would be so negative. Who wants to read that?

So, skipping all of that, here's our summer recap. We had a great summer. My kids all grew about 2 inches this summer and laughed a lot. Meg spent time with her Big Gramma and lots of time with her BFF cousin Alex. They went camping at Ensign ranch where they went horseback riding and water sliding. They picked cherries, made jam, slept on the floor and ate junk food. They were in total Grandma heaven. The Big kid went to a week of scout camp. For the first time ever, he loved it. He's had some rough scouting experiences, but this was so good for him. He is still talking about it. We spent time at the local lake, played with friends and in our newly built backyard playground. We visited Wenatchee, camped at Sawmill Flats with Grandma Cleo and Aunt Wendy and clan, had a fun 4th of July with them too, spent time in Snohomish with Great Grandma Cozette and even more cousins, and  took lots of walks and made lots of homemade ice cream. The Big kid also had time in the midst of all of that to accomplish his big goal, which was finishing an entire series on Netflix. Lofty goals.

We have done lots of berry picking, cherry picking, canning and jam making. So excited to enjoy all of that this winter. We have a little garden spot for veggies which didn't do great, but we have a new plan for next year. We also spent time dreaming of our new yard and collecting plants for free or cheap so we can make that a reality. We did lots of digging. Joey loved it. It's a long term process, but it will come together. We spent time riding bikes and enjoying the exceptional summer weather. I am not sure how to store that sunshine for the long, rainy, winter months, but I am trying.

It wasn't all good though. Life just throws things at you to make sure you are paying attention I guess. My sister's Kathy's house burned down. Thankfully they were not at home at the time the fire started, but it was a total loss. (There is still an open Go Fund Me account to help them get back on their feet.)

What a hard adjustment for all of them. Selfishly, it's hard on us too because they had to move across the state. I kind of liked having my sister and kiddos close enough to visit. The girls think video chatting is the best thing ever. Thank heavens for technology.

We also spent our fair share of time in the ER. Baby Trouble Finder got a hold of some medicine and had a little snack. It got scary for a while. He even got to take an ambulance trip to the specialized children's hospital. They EMT showed up and asked him if he was excited to take his first ambulance ride. Ummm, not his first. "Well," the guys says, "That explains a lot." They next day he was totally fine though. We are thankful for modern medicine too. I had an ER visit and both boys had specialty appointments. We spent a lot of time crossing the toll bridge.

The kids started school this week. Back to the comfort of a routine. It's hard to believe they are growing so fast. We are in full teen mode with Big Kid. Justin and I figured out a while back that we would have a teenager in the house for 19 years because of the spacing of our kids. Heaven help us. Enjoy the photos quick insight to our life. Love and miss you all.

 He approved the hashtag. Even though he doesn't have any social media accounts, he liked this one. In case you can't read it, it says #reallywiththepicsmom?