07-31-14

Look, look!  All four of us together in one room!  Not for a meal, and only for 5 minutes, but its a start.

07-30-14

Peekaboo!

Made it to midweek.  Middle Eastern Chickpea burgers for dinner, long walk afterwards in the bright sun.

07-29-14

Bruce and I had yet another meal without the kids.  It's becoming commonplace.

We tried out a new recipe, Velvety Red Lentil Dahl.  It's a keeper for sure.

I was going to freeze the leftovers but Bruce wants to keep them out for his lunches.

07-29-14

We were off to a different theater Monday night.  We decided to watch the local Monticello Hotel episode of Hotel Hell from the Kelso Theater Pub. It added to the experience, as the room continually erupted in boo's for owner Phillip, but also cast a spotlight on what a sad sad story the whole thing is.

Love Gordon Ramsey...

07-27-14

I have two "having fun" photos for today, and no surprise that Bruce is int eh center of both.  This photo was kind of interesting, because it captures Kayla throwing popcorn at him in a unique way.  We went to a melodrama today, where popcorn is handed out to throw at the villain.  Or at the fun uncle...

07-26-14

Today was a food filled day.  We chased down our CSA share (moved due to the county fair), I baked and cooked for the community potluck, then eating and watching a demo at the potluck.  This gentleman, no longer showing any signs of MS, showed us how to make raw chili with taco meat made out of walnuts.

07-25-14

Scrap ladies night out, TGIF!

They loved my hand woven basket from Hawaii, but not so much my misshapen Mighty Muffins.

That's OK, Xander likes them.

07-24-14

Nice to see people recreating on the lake.  Weather this evening was nice enough for lake concert and kayak rentals.  

Xander is home form Silverwood, with a waterlogged sleeping bag.  There was a big storm, they had to evacuate their campsites and leave the tents because they were penned under fallen trees.

Thrilled nobody got hurt, and thankful to be enjoying a calm evening near home.

07-23-14

What a difference a day makes!

Went to bed to the sound of rain, and today there are puddles and raindrops on our lake walk.

I've been spoiled, I'd like the sunshine back.  But it does feel like home.

07-22-14

And Bruce and I are solo again.  Anastasia is back at camp after getting her braces fixed up, and Xander is off to Silverwood with youth group.  Leaving us to eat in front of the TV and roam as we please.  But walking to the bank and Winco is the best we could come up with...

07-21-14

Two works of art side by side.

Hard to believe my mom is  a beginning painter!  These are her first two works of art.

Xander likes it, Mom!  The shadow of the scooter is especially cool...

07-20-14

"Not another Mexican Train photo!" - Mom

Yep, it's the only photo I took today.  

07-19-14

Church at the Electric Bean this evening.  Xander is in the back of the room, taking a break from barista-ing.

07-18-14

When I looked on-line for ideas for how to spend an anniversary, cooking a meal together, playing Monopoly naked, and berry picking kept popping up.  Well, we don’t share the kitchen well, I hate Monopoly, and we had already planned to go berry picking today… happy 22 years!

It was a hot afternoon, but we managed to pick 15 pounds of blueberries and raspberries to freeze for winter.

07-17-14

Another sun streaked photo.  Another sun streaked day.  Spent a lot of it watching TV to relax (vacation day!), but we did get outdoors a bit and visited the summer concert at the lake.

07-16-14

Work, eat, walk, sleep.  Feels like the routine of late.  Tonight we walked with the sun low in the sky.

07-15-14

A birthday (Diana!), a warm day (#sleeveless), a grocery scavenger hunt (oat bran, I found you!), and getting adjusted to new glasses (bifocals!).

07-14-14

The day started out overcast and chilly, but ended up to be not a scorcher and not cold either.  A perfect evening for paddleboarding, in fact!

07-13-14

We didn't go berry picking today, thinking it would be too hot.  We went to an outdoor evening Christian rock concert across the river instead, and actually got rained on for awhile!  It was fun seeing so many familiar faces from so many different places worshiping with us.

07-13-14

Hanging on the front porch, keeping cool, sporting new shoes.

07-11-14

Look who has bangs again!

TGIF!  Looking forward to a quiet restful weekend staying cool through the heat wave.

07-10-14

Hopefully nobody notices that I'm wearing the same shirt two days in a row... changed into shorts and a T when I got home, and guess this one was on top for a reason.

Thursday nights are concerts at the lake.  Tonight was Johnny Cash.  We kinda just kept walking.

07-09-14

Another warm day, so we peddled popsicles in the Highlands.

"We're giving out fruit bars today, would you or anyone in the house care for one?"
"We have a lot of kids here!"
"How many is a lot?"
"Six."
"No problem, lime or berry?"

One hour and $20 to spread good cheer, well worth it.

07-08-14

Last night we saw a lot of baby ducks at the lake.  Seems really late for babies.

Tonight we went looking for them, with no luck, so here's a photo from Bruce's favorite bench instead.

07-07-14

Now that the Go Fourth festivities are all swept up, I can get back on the lake.  The water is a yucky color and the wind is stiff, but I still enjoy my time out there, trying to recite 1 John.

07-06-14

Another warm day, so got outside in the early morning and later evening.  We ended up not making it to church this weekend, but today felt like a true Sabbath - plenty of time to lounge around.  Great way to end a four day weekend.

07-05-14

The day after the fourth, watching our lake transform back from a crowded chaotic frenzy to our calm surroundings.  In some ways it is sad, in some ways it is welcome.

We spent some time at the playground with less crowds.

07-04-14

Happy Fourth of July!

Ironically, I did not eat the salmon BBQ for the first time in years this year, but I did march in the parade holding the salmon BBQ banner!

We decided to have a water gun fight with the entire family this year.  The weather was certainly warm enough!  It was fun.

07-03-14

Today was a big day!  Bruce and I were interviewed to be on episode 80 of the BiggerPockets podcast.  It worked out that Brandon and Josh were available on a day that I had off work, sot hat worked out great.  Leading up to it we had questionnaires to fill out, sound checks, and I tried to prep whatever I could think to.  Bruce moved the dining room table to be as close as possible to the wi-fi.  I was nervous, but the hour went by really fast (we could have covered so much more).  It was a good experience.  And fun that Anastasia thought to snap this photo right after we wrapped up.  Happy landlording!

07-02-14

The 4th of July madness has begun!  No parking anywhere near the house after work.  Xander is sending all his friends to our house to use the restroom.  Seeing tons of people we know as we walk around the crowded lake.

We enjoyed the cardboard boat Regatta this evening, with our little human friends Cali and Bethany.  More sinking boats this year, a real crowd pleaser.

07-01-14

Happy July!  The first Tuesday of the month means a Relay for Life meeting for Anastasia and I.  Bring on the purple swag!