West Seattle with "Bepelle"

My best friend from high school married a high
school friend of ours and they still reside in the harbor.
It's always fun to catch up when we're in town and
see how each other's children have grown! Her husband
has recently started a new career in Seattle, which makes
for a VERY long commute from the Gig Harbor area. So
naturally, they are looking to relocate. She found her utopia
in West Seattle; so she decided to take me there and sell
me on the place!



Grandma graciously agreed to chaperone
the outing; without her, it would've been
all work and no fun...so a BIG thanks to Grandma
for being super fun and playing with us on
MANY occasions during our month-long
stay in the harbor! ( I should mention here
that she also brought me back to good health
from a near-death episode of mastitis...that's only
maybe a tiny bit dramatic. Seriously lousy...so
thankful I wasn't in CT alone!)



I'm envious of my carefree 5 year
old for a lot of reasons I won't mention
here. One of them I will mention is
the ease with which friendships are
forged and renewed after a long
separation.



The old school park in WS had this fabulous
zipline swing! Out of control; most modern
parks today would ban such an amusement
for the liabilities sake...





Check out the sweet air Grandma and Macy
got!



After a HOT (seems to me the temp. was in the 90's) morning
playing at the park, we spent a lazy afternoon cooling our
jets in the wade pool. Finished off a near perfect day
with a gorgeous return trip on the ferry!




And here are the stars of the day!
Bepelle is how her baby brother Rigby
pronounces Bethelle, her real name (:

More from the zoo

This year I've really come to a greater
appreciation for all the grandmas in my life and
the lives of my children. We are all better people
because we love and are loved by them. So thank you
to each of you for the unique ways you have blessed
our lives this year and always. We love you Grandma
Cleo, Mama Toby, Nana Cope, Grandma Johns,
Great-Grandma Johns, Great-Grandma White (
and the grandpas too, naturally!)




One of the new species we discovered this year...
real reindeer! There fuzzy antlers and size
are really something to see! And I thought they
were make believe!

Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Grandma Johns took us one lazy afternoon to the local
zoo and aquarium. It was very nice. There isn't so much to see
that you feel it's a chore, but there also isn't too little. It's a great
combination of land & sea life. Of course, who could pass up the
opportunity to have a ride on the camels? The girls thought they
were with Prince Ali and his menagerie....wink





And they were so excited to identify the reef dwellers
to Grandma; she was a gracious and thoughtful student,
of course!




We snapped this cameo of Max in the parking lot
when it was time to go...angel baby of mine




He has been the poster child of what good looks
like for roadtripping/coast-to-coast flying/ all day
strolling infants. Love him all the more for his flexibility
with the nap schedule so we could have a memory-filled
vacation as a family!

Independence Day

I feel a tremendous sense of relief to be over my post layout mishaps...moving on now...Grandpa Johns holding the first male grandbaby. Guess that's one good thing about being the oldest on my side, I've had a lot of the firsts for the family!

Kennedy took an immediate liking to Uncle Sean and acted as if he'd never been gone serving a mission for two years! To my knowledge she's had two crushes in her life: uncle Brandon and uncle Sean. I hope that trend persists at least prior to the tween years. If she maintains this kind of taste in the opposite sex, I have no worries about the dating years.

See what I mean?

Totally enamored!

We all enjoyed ourselves at the 4th of July

pancake breakfast!

And unfortunately (sorry Jonny) this is the only pic

I got that evening before the fireworks show. Guess

you'll just have to believe me that we went to a great

venue with live music, terriyaki and pit bbq, corn on the cob,

kettle corn (yes there does appear to be a food theme here),

port-o-potties, teenage dance-offs, and of course, FIREWORKS!

I LOVE the U.S.A. A heartfelt thanks to my friends and family

who have or are currently serving the armed forces to protect

our FREEDOM. IN GOD WE TRUST!

Visit to Grandma & Grandpa's

Daddy found a jellyfish at Owen beach during our trip to Washington. Good thing it was dead because it appears to be one of the poisonous variety!

Me and my surfer dude at Owen beach...Jonathan will go on record to confirm that one of the names I pitched during the baby name game was Ryder Crush (as in Finding Nemo). Guess I'll always be a beach bum at heart! You can take the girl out of California,

but you can't take the California out of the girl!

Max at four months...pour fella has spent one quarter of his life so far on the road. Vacation was so much fun, but I'm ready to get back into a 'routine' again.

Feeding the duckies at Pt. Defiance. Just look at the cute little family we discovered; in that moment, I felt a kinship with the mama duck!

And gorgeous Mt. Rainier...a constant reminder of the grandeur and glory of God's creations. It's a familiar friend that reminds me where home is!

More Block Island

Did you notice that my little experimentation with different

blog layout styles has been a complete flop? Well now you did because I pointed it out...oh well, c'est la vie. I had to include this picture because it is SOO Kennedy. Ever the dramatic one ( I wonder where she got that from???) Look how she closes her eyes while she hugs Grandma. I love it; it looks as if she is soaking her in with all the senses. That's how she loves, with every fiber of her being.

I love pictures like this one; they remind me that the girls really DO love each other, a WHOLE lot! What a gift to have a sister to experience life's ups and downs with.

And finally, this masterpiece. Can you see the little person Kennedy created with rocks, seashells, and seaglass?! I'm so grateful to be a mother. Truly grateful. I'm much too pragmatic for my own good. Thankfully my children bring plenty of spontaneity, whimsy, and sheer joy to my life. I'm beginning to see how this adventure called motherhood is permanently altering me for the better. I love you forever and ever Kennedy, Macy, and Max!

Block Island, Rhode Island

My parents came to visit for Memorial weekend. Besides the boatload of honey-do items that got accomplished, thanks in large part to Dad's expertise, we managed to squeeze in a quick weekend trip to Block Island, Rhode Island. We stayed in the Hendrickson House, pictured left. It was a comfortable condo with quick and convenient access to the Island's Old Harbor district.

We enjoyed a host of activities including beach combing, sandcastle building, moped riding, walking the island and exploring the interior, hiking to one of the historic lighthouses, visiting a small collection of farm animals, and tree climbing! That's Kennedy's little head poking out of the foliage to the left.

One peculiarity I noted was the absence of privacy fences to delineate one parcel of land from another. The result was this fabulous spot of rolling green pasture plunked right in the middle of a circle of homesteads. I wish we planned our communities like this today. Wouldn't that be great to send the kids out the back door to play and know they have a huge enclosure of outdoor space to play in, which could be looked upon from the backyard of every Mom in the neighborhood?

The girls didn't require any encouragement to get out and play. There's just something irresistible about wide open spaces; it feels like an open invitation to find an adventure! The girls soon had these geese on the run; poor fellas!

Sunday's weather proved to be nothing but beachy feeling, fortunately it made staying away from the beach and keeping the Sabbath a lot easier. There aren't any LDS congregations on Block Island, so we opted to spend the day exploring some of the lesser seen treasures of the island, including this lighthouse. I really couldn't get a good picture because it was so shrouded with fog, but it was a fun hike. We barely missed being able to see the inside as the keeper of the light had closed shop literally minutes before our arrival.