My little man thinking he's big! And Elijah very excited that he beat me at memory! I really tried too... Hmmm

Little Lyla growing! Only one month to go!

Ethan playing in the mud!!

Ethan had a blast playing in the mud while we were in Idaho! This was after he had totally caked his clothes with the thick mud. We decided to just take his clothes off and he went straight for the puddle! And the hysterical laughing you hear in the background is Kate B. Foster! She got a real kick out of Thomas comment about it being a "mud bath"! Children are such a joy!!!

Our family is soon to grow!

As I have been growing, very much so in these last few weeks, our family will be too! We are all very excited to meet little Lyla Jane {named after my very dear Grandma}. We have 5 weeks left, give or take, and just can't wait! Just thinking about her being here with us, and being a little girl, brings tears to my eyes!! We have {almost} everything ready and waiting for her special arrival...

More Idaho pics!

IDAHO!!

We went for an extended weekend to go visit some of our dear friends in Idaho! It was so much fun and very relaxing. We drove a little over 8 hours to get there, and the kids were great! We visited a little and settled in for the night. Early the next morning we all packed up and headed to a pond in a nearby town for a kids free fishing derby! That was so much fun! Elijah especially was pleased because he and Papa together caught a nice fish! On the way out the guys took the 2 older kids and went home to pack a picnic lunch, and Rachel and I took the babies and went to the farmers market. After Ethan screaming the whole way in the car because I didn't realize he wanted his puppy, we were all very glad to get to the market and get out of the car!! After we went back to meet up with the guys we took a trip, consisting of very bumpy and narrow mountain back roads, to Elk City! It was a very beautiful drive! We saw deer, elk, an eagle, turkeys, Canadian geese, and a swarm of butterflies! We stopped a few times along the way to fish, but didn't catch a thing. We came home and did a little shooting, and enjoyed BBQ for dinner, including the yummy fish Elijah caught. We played balderdash after the kids went to bed and laughed until we cried!! Love that! Sunday we just relaxed and went to church with Brian and Rachel. Later Hildi, Mark, John and Gretta came over for dinner and then Rachel, Gretta and I took the kids to the circus in Kooskia! It was so much fun and the kids loved it too! Monday was a lazy day of hanging out and and preparing to come back home. It was a sad goodbye for Elijah, he really wanted to stay. God is so good to give us such wonderful friends! Oh and a bit of a scare on the way home...a semi flipped off the road right behind us on one of the country highways. We turned around and Thomas, along with a bunch of other cars that had stopped, ran to the truck to help the driver. Thomas just happened to have his knife on him and he and another guy cut the driver out of the seat belt and got him out of the truck. Emergency people were there very quickly, thank God the guy was okay, a bit shaken up and sore but nothing appeared serious. The rest of the way Elijah wanted to pray for that man and ask God to help us not get into an accident like he did. We got home late Monday night. And I hobbled up the stairs...my feet had swelled so big from sitting in the car so long I looked like I had club feet!! But all together a wonderful trip! We all can't wait to go back!!

Psalm 23

Father/Son camp out!

Thomas and Elijah went on their first father/son camp-out with our church this past weekend! They had such a blast! Some of their activities included...Boating. Swimming. Tubing. Fishing. BBQ. Biking. Hiking. Papa also gave him his first pocket knife and showed him how to whittle a stick! Elijah was especially excited about this! They are both looking forward to next year when they can continue their new tradition!

Me and the boys!

Forest Park!

Nothing better than a cool sprinkler on a hot day!!