Sunday, October 30, 2011

Family Campout 2011 ~ Part 1

A totally awesome thing happened this summer, most of my side
of the family gathered together for the first time in a long time
for a family campout!! Brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins,
grandparents, grandkids...it was amazing!! We were missing a few
that couldn't come (Tim & Dulcey and their kids, Heather, 
and Caitlin, John & Pedro), And the best part??? We are already
planning next year's campout so everyone can
make vacation plans so they can be there!!
God is so Good!

Campsite Day 1
Simeon, Hannah and the boys arrived first, then Mike, me,
Aubrey and her girls arrived later that day
(Billy would be coming the next day).

Hannah, Aubrey & S
biked down to put up a sign for the rest of the family
to let them know where the group site was...
it was a bit hard to find!

N, O, and E also rode down
the kids all enjoyed riding their bikes this weekend!

Hannah & N

Aubrey & S

S dreaming of riding with the big kids

J, Brie's little boy

Beautiful Brie!
She and Josh arrived on the second morning, and set
up their camp right away! We found out this weekend
that Josh is an excellent camp chef!!

T made the traditional sailboat!

Mike, E & T

S & O
Love the fashion! Hot, sunny Eastern Washington
and rubber boots!

Simeon climbed trees to put up
a tarp windbreak! It was really windy the
first day and second morning!

Aubrey helping Simeon

Grampa's girls!

T

O

E

N

S

Hannah with C

hiking with Grampa

happy J!

Brie, J and Aubrey

We had beautiful weather the entire weekend!
The only time we experienced strong winds
were on the first day and the last day.
More photos & memories to come!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

CraZy Busy!

My life has taken on a life of it's own! Things have been crazy busy lately and to make things worse I look at the calendar and it's mid-September already!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!?!?! After this weekend is over I hope to:

1. Get a bit caught up on my blog posts...notice I said "a bit" knowing that I wouldn't be able to get totally caught up. So many posts to blog, so little time!

2. Visit some friends on Orcas Island...I miss them sooooooo much!

3. Try to get away with Mike for a mini-vacation or something....we really need it!

Although I haven't been keeping up on my blog, I have been keeping up on my friend's blogs...and now my daughter Hannah has begun blogging too! Love it! Love her more!! Feel free to check out her blog at http://www.mamawhimsy.blogspot.com/

Love you guys!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

All 6!

Hard to believe that we caught all 6 of our grandkids
in one good photo!
N looks like he's planning something,
T is growing up so fast,
S is being a little clown,
C is a charmer,
O is keeping C safe,
and E is sweetly leaning on her big sister!
We are so blessed!!
(photo is from Aubrey's camera/phone)

Washer/Dryer Installation is DONE!!


Didn't Mike do a beautiful job of finishing the wood surround!
It looks like it's always been here! I am so glad to be able to do
laundry at home. He also put a couple of shelves in the
closet to hold the laundry supplies. It's been finished for awhile,
and I love how Mike is such a blessing in my life!

Firepit for Caitlin!

Mike built this beautiful firepit for Caitlin....he created it out of a huge brake drum from a truck, welded a thick steel plate in the bottom (with holes for air), and then welded the 'feet' on it. He then created the grill by welding rebar in a tight pattern. She LOVED it!! It weighs alot! We delivered it to her in Seattle....so glad she had a couple of friends visiting that helped unload it!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

bending & twisting.....learning a new art form!

first attempt

this one was for Aubrey

Hannah got this one

Celtic tree ornament
I made several of these for gifts this year.
Some with green glass beads
and some with vintage crystals.
No two exactly alike!

Aubrey's birthday

Hannah's birthday

dragonfly hair or scarf pin

I am enjoying (for the most part) learning how to create
a little magic with wire. Copper wire can be tricky to work with,
especially as the wire I have needs to be straightened
before I can use it & the more you work the wire, the stronger
 it seems to get. I have broken a lot of wire! I hope to get
better at making the wire do what I want it to do....
usually one side  turns out better than the other.
I like working with the steel wire, copper wire can
be fun too and I am so glad that
 April introduced me to wire twisting!