Poppe visit

Well, here we are at Grandma and Grandpa Del's in Silverdale, WA again. Weather's still perfect.

Celina Poppe was wonderful enough to bring her crew (Elly, Henry, Tessa, and grandma Shirley) over for a visit. The Poppe's were close friends when we all lived in Eagle River Alaska and we still miss them.

Yes, the kids all had a great time renewing their friendships while swinging on the rope swing, picking carrots and peas in the garden, and perfecting their skills at walking on stilts.

Thank you SO much for making time for the visit!! We all had a great time!!

Stilts and Daisy crowns

The other day Grandma made halo crowns out of daisies for Tia and Sara. Aren't they cute?

Grandpa Del made some beginner stilts for the girls too and they spent all day practicing their new skill. They're just like the ones I had when I was their age. Grandma remembers walking all the way around the block on stilts with her brothers in Edmonds when she was younger too.

After several days, they've even gotten good enough to convince us to raise the level a little.

Ta Da!

Kay Family get-together

Quyen was in Washington for one weekend this summer and the rest of his family was wonderful to plan a big get-together where we could see everyone! It was great!

We all met over at the house Tim owns by Vantage and almost everyone was able to come. It was an extra special treat to have Richard and Jasmine up from Houston so all 23 cousins were together. We caught them all in a picture except Travis as he was away on a golf lesson. I'll try to add you with PhotoShop later, Travis!

Perfect weather all weekend so the some adults and smaller cousins played in the pool, and others accompanied the older cousins tubing behind Tim's boat on the river.

We all tried to help out with the food, but of course Mom made sure every meal was delicious. As usual, I think something new and delicious emerged from the kitchen every hour. Yum!!

Quyen, Tia, Sara, and I really want to thank everyone for making this all come together. We miss you guys!

Dad and Hazel visit

What a wonderful vist we had with Dad and Hazel over the 4th of July. Tia, Sara, and I spent a week with them at the house they were borrowing on Lk Coeur D'Alene and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The cabin was more than comfortable and as great hosts, Dad and Hazel had prepared the cabin with lots of fun extras- warm smiles, good food, their boat equipped with a tube for riding in, etc.

We took the boat across the lake the first day to a small town where we all 5 rented bikes to tour the "rails to trails". Sara was too small for the childs size bike so they even rented us one of those neat half-bikes that attached to the back of her grandaddy's bike and away we all went! It was great! And the homemade icecream we all enjoyed at the end made for a perfect day.

The following days were perfectly sunny and the lake water was so warm, even two girls used to swimming in Indonesian warm weather had fun playing in the water toys with their Grandaddy.

Justin,Joy, Emma, and Audrey arrived a few days before the 4th and Hazel's two children, Sue, and Matt with his new wife Kasie (sorry if I spelled that wrong) came too. We all had fun getting to know each other a little while water skiing and tubing, relaxing on the dock, and eating more delicious meals together. Emma even got up waterskiing for her first time!! The cabin had enough room for all of us, except for Sue who got to sleep on the boat. :-) On the 4th, we took the boat out on the lake and watched the numerous fireworks displays all along the shore. A very relaxing way to celebrate our nation's independence.

Dad and Hazel's house renovations were complete as far as the new cement deck and roofing when we arrived and looked very impressive. The inside work began in full-swing on the Monday we left. I can't wait to see pictures when eveything is completed. Good luck Dad and Hazel!

Overall, we had a terrific visit and I think Dad and Hazel really appreciated getting all their "family" together over the 4th.

Thank you for everything Dad and Hazel! Paula

Tia's Show and NO training wheels for Sara

Tia's 1st Grade class has been studying Australian Animals as a unit in school and it culminated last week in a fun musical, "The Platypus from Patteson's Pond". The kids all dressed as cool kangaroos, sleepy opossums, sarcastic kookaburras, big-bottomed wombats, and Tia's class was the cutest- koalas. :-)They all did a great job.

Sara's big news is that she's gotten rid of her training wheels yesterday! Our living room has been rearranged with all the furniture stacked in the middle for several days. That tile floor made for a great training track and I from my vantage point through the office door, I just saw her zip by a dozen times. I think we're heading outside to try her birthday bike without training wheels next.

Sara's Birthday

Sara woke her daddy with kisses this morning and told him "this is your first kisses from your new 6-year-old Daddy!"He was headed out to the field for several days so she'd gotten to open her family gifts the night before. Her favorite was the simple pink doll she promptly named "Pinkie Pie".

School was dismissed at 11AM today so I picked up most of the girls from Sara's class and brought them home for Sara's "Baby" birthday party. Each girl brought their favorite baby doll and decorated bibs for themselves and matching smaller bibs for their babies. They even played the baby party version of "pin the tail on the donkey", "pin the bottle on the baby" :-) Took their babies for a ride in the bouncy castle, toured them through the house on a treasure hunt, and even wore the bibs for their pizza, cake and ice cream lunch.Lots of giggling and cuddling today. It was fun.