Summer fun----already!!!

Well, today was the 1st day of summer break for the kids. We have been blessed to have a wonderful sitter for Hunter and Grace on the days I have to work. Christi came today, and went over and beyond with the kids. She took them to Michael's (to buy "craft" supplies), then to Chick-fil-A for lunch, then came back home and helped them make (sew) their own "Perry the Platypus" animal. (For those of you who don't know what I am talking about..."Perry the Platypus" is a character on a Disney cartoon they watch). Needless to say, the kids are thrilled, and have been playing with their "inaction figures" all afternoon. Thanks, Christi for being a fun sitter!!! The kids love you! ***Check out their videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIT-3yyOqgo

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHw7xNtCKU ***

Our future leaders

April 23rd was "Take your son/daughter to work" day for 3rd-8th grade, so Marty and I decided to split up the day with Hunter. I took him to my work in the morning, and Marty had him in the afternoon. He seemed to enjoy it.

At my work, he learned how to take vital signs, dip/check urine, get height and weight, and even got to listen to a patients heartbeat with my stethoscope (after hearing his heartbeat, he told the patient "Sounds good...you are going to be okay"!). :)

At Marty's work, he got to go on a little field trip to visit a judge, see a courtroom, and even was given a gavel to keep!! (Thanks Judge Walker!!!)

Grace is looking forward to doing this too once she is in 3rd grade!

Happy 7th Birthday, Grace Spring!

Saturday was Grace's 7th birthday. It's weird to think our little baby is 7 now. Wow. My sister, Angela and her 3 kids drove up from Umatilla for the weekend to celebrate with us. Grace wanted a "Bobby Jack" monkey birthday theme this year, and wanted to go to Build-A-Bear with Autumn and Addy. So we went to Build-A-Bear in the morning, then came back home to have "Bobby Jack" birthday cake (an amazing cake, made by Marty's office manager, Patti Williams) with the rest of the family. Uncle Nate even decorated cookies by putting monkeys on them (made from icing) for the girls! :) It was a fun weekend.

Another thing added to "My favorite things"

I have a new favorite book (and that means a lot coming from me, because I really don't enjoy reading). I am not quite done reading it yet, but I am loving it so far. It is speaking words of encouragement and knowledge to me...words that I need to hear...in a simple, practical way (I'm very "simple-minded"---no laughing please!). If you're looking for a book to help you with your family life, raising your children up to love and serve God, and providing a spiritually and emotionally safe place for your children, then you might want to check this book out too. Just thought I'd share.... :)

Horseshoe Beach weekend

Our friend, Joseph Lee, has a condo at Horseshoe Beach that he invites us to once in awhile. It's more like a fishing community rather than a beach, so we get to go out on his boat and fish, ride the golf cart around town (the kids love to do this), and swim in the pool while there. We always have a fun time when we go. This time, Marty's mom went with us too. Unfortunately Hunter got sick while we were there, and slept most of the time, but everyone else had a lot of fun (thanks Joe)!

One happy girl!

For about a week now, Grace has had a loose tooth. She wiggles it everyday...pulling at it, and threatening us that she will get a string and just "yank it out". It would bleed every now and then, but wouldn't come out....until today! It looked so loose today when she showed me, so I took her in the bathroom, got a piece of toilet paper, grabbed ahold of the tooth, and pulled! Out it came! We both screamed with excitement! :) She is sooooooo excited! She wrote the tooth fairy a note asking if she could keep the tooth since it's her 1st. :) We love you Grace!! :) You are such a sweet and precious little girl.

Last basketball game of the season

Hunter had his last "upwards" basketball game on Saturday. We were very proud of him for sticking it out through the entire season (although quitting wasn't really even an option). He is an awesome defensive player....on his man all the time! In the last game, he was passed the ball, and took a shot----the ball hit the backboard, then the rim, then---bounced out. :( But, we were soooo excited he tried and took the shot!!!! His face was glowing with excitement too! It was cool. Great job, HD! We are proud of you! Grace wants to play next year too! :)