Tommy & Amanda's Wedding

On Saturday, July 7, my cousin, Tommy got married in Coeur d'Alene. The location was outdoors in a stunning location overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene and their world-famous golf course. The only problem was the 105 degree weather!

 

It was a beautiful ceremony and at the end, they released butterflies. Many of them stayed close by and the kids had fun watching them them fly around. Kyler even had one land on his hand so he walked around with it there for awhile before it eventually flew off. 

Congratulations Tommy & Amanda. We were so happy to share in your special day with you!

4th of July

For 4^th of July this year, we considered going down to Wallowa Lake for the day or even spending the night down there. But after just returning home from such a long driving trip, the last thing I wanted to do was get in the car and drive, even if was only a couple hours away. So in the end, we decided to embrace “Small Town America” and enjoy the holiday festivities in Walla Walla.

There was a community event in a park with games, food, and other vendors. There were bounce houses for the kids, mini golf, dunk tanks, and lots of other fun things. In the center pavilion there was live music and some dancing. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time walking around and enjoying the various activities. 

After we left the park, we made a quick stop by Dairy Queen for some ice cream (it was cheaper than what was offered at the park!). Then we went home and ate dinner. Later that night we headed to the community college where they had the local fireworks display. I was trying to think back to remember if either of the kids have seen fireworks before and I don't think they have.

We found ourselves a place to sit and wait for the fireworks to begin. They were supposed to start around 10:15 but they had some sort of delay because they didn't end up starting until almost 11 pm! That is VERY late when you have a 3- and 6-year old! :/ There was lots of crying and whining but once the show finally started, we all enjoyed it! I have to say I was impressed at the amount of fireworks and the quality of the show considering we are in Walla Walla... 

We ended the very late night with sparklers in our

driveway - Kyler's first time seeing one of those!

It was a very late night but we made some fun memories and I'm sure the kids will talk about it for a long time. And, I am very grateful the kids and I had nowhere to be the next morning!

Fun with Friends

The last couple days we spent in California the kids played hard with their friends. It is so hard to move away from your best friends and not know when you are going to see them again. We were so happy to get to spend this time together and the kids had so much fun.

Our friends that we stay with have two acres of land they recently moved onto. They bought a large tarp and folded it in half so it was 50 feet long and set up water on one end to make a giant slip n slide. Oh. My. Goodness. The kids had so much fun! They slid for so many hours they ended up with bruises all over themselves from throwing themselves to the ground! Here's a short video of Kyler going down the slip n slide while my friend cheers him on.

Best friends!

Brayden (7 1/2 yr), Kyler (6 yr), Ellie (4 yr)

Unfortunately, the good times had to come to an end and we had to say goodbye once again. :( We got a few pictures of the kids before getting on the road to drive back to Walla Walla. 

Uh, Mom!  The sun is bright!

 Aren't they adorable?!

We miss you already!  Can't wait to see you on our next visit!

10 Days Post-Op

We stayed down in Sacramento for almost two weeks because Caden needed to have a post-op appointment to make sure everything was healing well. On Thursday, June 28, I took Caden to see his surgeon. After doing an exam and asking some questions, he determined all looked good and we were good to go home.

 Caden checking himself out in the mirror
while we wait to see the doctor

 Look Mom!  No Tube!  :)

The incision area where it is stitched closed is slightly raised and is a little hard to the touch. But I guess this is normal and the doctor said over time, this will diminish. He said it could take up to a couple of years but it really depends on the person. He said it wasn't anything to be concerned about. I am so relieved at how well everything went and that the tube is gone and we can get on with the rest of our lives!

Gracepoint VBS

I was so excited when I realized we would be in California the week our old church had their VBS program. I looked forward to that program every year when we lived there. They do such a great job with the whole thing AND they take 3-year-olds! Most programs don't take kids under age four. This meant that I could take both my kids to VBS this year at our old church. :) This made me a very happy mommy!

I knew Kyler would LOVE VBS because he is just that way. He loves this kind of activity and he was going to be in a crew with his best friend, Brayden. So in his world, life couldn't get much better. Caden on the other hand, wasn't as convinced that VBS was a good thing. He is quite attached to me and he was not too keen on me leaving him in the preschool room with a leader he didn't know. However, there were several kids he knew in his crew so that helped the transition.

For those who aren't familiar, VBS usually happens for a couple hours every day for 5 days. Our church does their program in the evening because they get more volunteers to help at that time instead of doing it during the day when many people are working.

Monday night went pretty well. Caden was sad when I left but he got used to it pretty quickly. I got a couple phone calls from his preschool teacher asking me about snack items that would be okay for him but otherwise, it went really well. Tuesday night, he also did well but was slightly more emotional. By Wednesday night, he was a wreck and didn't want me to leave. I figured after I left, he would calm down and be fine. But he cried quite a bit that night and they ended up calling me to come back and stay with him until the end. The second I got there, he was totally fine. :/ Thursday night, I wasn't sure how he would do but he did okay. He cried a little but he made it through the evening without me needing to come back. Unfortunately we weren't able to be there on Friday night. We had to leave that day to start our drive home.

Overall, it was a great week and both the kids had a good time. They love to sing the songs over and over and over again. They made some good memories!

Here are some pictures of both the kids and at the end is a short video of Caden dancing and doing hand motions to the song on the first night. :)

Caden with his crew during song time

Kyler with his crew getting ready to play games

Caden enjoying sidewalk chalk

I love Kyler's face (middle left in a blue shirt)!

Kyler with his crew being serious

Kyler and his crew being silly!  haha!

Caden with his crew - he's not amused...

Kyler and his crew leader, Ed

Caden with his crew leader, Marcy

The artwork for photo backdrops - amazing!

The backdrop on the stage at the front of the church!

I love Caden dancing around trying to do the
handmotions on the first night of VBS!