Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Days of Summer
It finally feels like summer here!! At least for a few days anyway. We have had a really yucky summer....lots of clouds, rain, and not very warm, unlike our family members who are experiencing 100+ degree weather!!! That last couple of days it has been in the 80's and we have been soaking it up!! Homemade frozen yogart and FOUNTAINS!!!!
Haylee wasn't too sure about the fountains at first. She just kinda stood back and watched....she jumped in soon enough though!!
Garrett had NO PROBLEMS jumping right in!!!
Haylee's best friend, Kathyrn!! They are only a week apart!!
Garrett filling is mouth up....
.....and spitting it out!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Meeting Old Friends
Meet Jessica Johnson. Jessica and I went to Jr. High together in Ramstein, Germany!! Thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, I saw that Jessica is going to Law school about 1.5 hrs away from me in Salem, OR. The kids and I made a trip to Salem the other day and got to meet up with Jessica and her boyfriend. It was really nice to see her again and talk about all our friends we had 13 years ago!!
Blueberries Are In
Do you LOVE the buckets for picking blueberries???
We picked LOTS of yummy blueberries.....so you know what I made??? That's right, the YUMMY Blueberry Pepper Jelly!! Here's the recipe for anyone that might want to give it a try!!
Blueberry Peppy Jelly
Blend the peppers, blueberries, vinegar, and lemon juice (the juice help blend up the peppers and blueberries). Put the liquid in a large pan with the pectin. Bring to a FULL boil. Then add all the sugar at once. Stir and bring to another full boil and then boil for 5 minutes. Take off the eat and pour into canning jars. Seal with lids. Put the jelly jars in a large pan of water (for the water bath). Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Take out of the water and listen for the jars to seal!!
FYI: It will take them overnight to set!!
How to eat the Pepper Jelly!!! Pour the jelly over a block of cream cheese and eat with ritz crackers or tortilla chips!! YUMMY!!! YUMMY!!! YUMMY!!!
Josh's birthday was on the 20th! He had to go to class which was lame, but I guess that's the real world!! He went shooting with his friend, Aric the week before and then we went to Seattle for the baseball game so I didn't really get anything for him.....sorry Josh. I did decide to throw him a little party though and it was a good turn out!! I invited several people from our church and Josh's school to meet us in the park for dinner, potluck style! It was great!! Hope you have a 26th year Josh!! The kids and I love you so much!! You're doing so amazing at school and I am so proud of you!! Thank you for everything you do for us!!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Oregon Beach
We came home from Seattle after the science museum (the Jackson's went on to the Space Needle and got back to our house a few hours after us), then got up and went to the Oregon Coast!!! It was actually a nice day!! We first had to stop at the Tillamock Cheese Factory where the Jackson's had to take like 10 pictures with the cows (I guess they have an obsession with cows!! :) We had the BEST ice cream EVER for lunch and then headed to the beach!!!
It was 70 degrees but breezing but the kids didn't care!! They put on their swimming suits and jumped in!!!
Haylee LOVED the sand SO much she decided to eat it AND put it in her hair!!!
And you CANNOT go to the beach without getting JUMPING PICTURES!!!
HAPPY BEACH DAY!!!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Seattle Weekend
This weekend we climbed in our van with our friends Aric and Kristin and their son Noah and took a trip up to Seattle where we met Tim and Michele (who took a trip to Canada and were on their way down). We SHOVED all three kids in the back seat and took off for our 3.5 hr trip north!! The kids did GREAT!!
We got to Seattle a little before Tim and Michele arrived so we decided to see if we could find a little park for the kids to run around at after the long car ride. The man at the hotel said there was a beach right down the rode so we decided to go!!!
WORLD'S SMALLEST BEACH!!
That was the beach!! I was standing on one end taking the picture and you can see the other end in the picture!!! It was so cute though!!! It had a little playground and a little pier! It was perfect for our little pint sized kids!!!
Mom and Dad (and Mark)- I couldn't resist!! I think I'll have to get this blown up and framed!!
For those of you who haven't been in my parent's house (or have and have NO IDEA what I'm talking about), Mark (my cousin, Tim's brother, and the greatest photographer!) took a picture of my sister and I holding hands walking down a road. I'm pretty sure it's still up in my parent's house!!
When Tim and Michele arrived we went down town to get something to eat before going to a Seattle Mariner's game, but little did we know there would be a 4 hr wait!! Seriously!!! It was 5pm and the restaurant told us it would be 9pm before they'd have a seat for us!!! EVERYWHERE was like that!! So we decided to go ahead to the game and just eat there....the prices actually weren't that bad.
Doesn't everyone look like they're having a BLAST!!
ps: this WAS before the game started!!
Seattle in the background!!
The view of Seattle from the stadium!!
another view....as the sun is setting
The next day we got up and hit downtown Seattle!! Our first stop....PIKE PLACE MARKET!!!
as you can tell....it was a rainy day!!
Michele just LOVED the flowers!!
......YES!!! This bouquet was only $10!!!!
The VERY FIRST Starbucks!!!
We had to get some coffee from the FIRST Starbucks!!
This is how Michele felt after going through the market!!
After getting some freshly FRIED fish and AWARD WINNING (every shop claimed this) Clam Chowder we headed down to the Space Needle and Pacific Science Center!! I believe that was the kids favorite part!!!
Megan and Garrett lying in a dinosaur print!!
Haylee was AMAZED by the butterflies!!
They had this exhibit all about fears and one of the fears was the Fear of Falling!! Well they had this thing you could get strapped into and it made you fall....well Garrett wanted to do it SO BAD, but there was a height requirement and a LONG line!! We did the height thing and it was about an inch over so we told him there was a long line but he still INSISTED on doing it!! He was SO patient and waited in line for about 25 minutes!!! When it was finally his turn they did his height and said ok....but when they went to strap him in they said he was too small and it wasn't safe enough!! I was SO bummed for him!!! He took it really well though!! He watched his cousin Megan do it and seemed ok. BUMMER GARRETT!!! I'm SO sorry!!! Thank you for being such a big boy though!!
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