Happy Birthday Gma. Toot!

It was SO good to see Gma. Toot while in San Diego. She LOVED every minute of our visit and laughed the whole time. Josiah was very playful and happy with her. She was overwhelmed by all the cards and spent awhile deciding on the perfect spot for her new frogs. I showed her my blog, mybita and isaiah's blog so she was able to see current pictures of everyone. I think she felt very celebrated. It was very hard for me to leave...I wanted to bring her home with me.

Father's Day

I'm kicking myself for forgetting to get a picture of Mike with the kids on Father's Day...but I then I remembered how busy that day was. We did, however, get a shot of Papa and his two youngest grandsons. It was a quick visit with our early morning flight but so good to see everyone.

The Cake

Making the birthday cake to match the party theme is one of my very favorite parts of hosting my kids birthday parties. When Maicee requested a horse birthday I was a little nervous about doing a horse head but it turned out fine.

Horsin' Around

Pinata's are always such dangerous fun at my kids parties. Mike clung to the rope as Christain braved the swingers - his job was to start and stop them which is scary with 12 under 10 year olds swinging a sawed-off closet rod. It's all worth it in the end.

Yee-Haw!

The birthday girl and her bb gun

Maicee wanted to ride the pony all day long.

Josiah gave it a try with help from aunt bekah

Shooting water balloons with help from 'Uncle Christian" - Maicee's God-Father

Xander concentrates as Uncle Mike instructs. Looks serious.

Maicee's cowgirl party went off without a hitch! Friends and family gathered to celebrate with pony rides, a sharp shooter contest, a bit of horse wackin' (pinata) and all the grub they could eat.

Happy Birthday!

A donut for breakfast with candles - how exciting!

A new doll house from Grammy and Gpa.

Ice Cream Sundaes with all the fixin's

Birthday pic with Mom

Birthday pic with Dad

Our sweet Maicee turned 5 today! She had her 'birthday donut' this morning and we celebrated with Grammy, Gpa., Bekah and Cameron this evening with her choice of hamburgers for dinner and 'make-your-own sundaes', my personal fav! She is very excited about being 5. The best part of the day was when I was tucking her in bed and after a particularly mature prayer from Maicee I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. We talked about it and she eagerly prayed with me. As her mama I can't ask for anything more. How blessed we are!

more Gold Beach, Oregon

Brianne making mermaids and cutting them out.

Maicee singing and Josiah enjoying the fun swivel chair.

Mike giving river fishing a try - it was cold!

Josiah saying shoes or "shoosh" as he pronounces it.

The Rouge River bridge viewpoint from the river side

We so enjoyed our time away, our time with Brianne, Maicee and Josiah and our time in such a beautiful place.

The West Coast Game Park Safari

One rainy day we drove up the coast about 50 miles to the West Coast Game Park Safari. There are free roaming animals, babies to hold and wild beasts behind bars but very close. This was so fun for the kids...and Mike. We even got to see wild Elk who 'answered back' when Mike made an elk call. Maicee was the brave one to hold a baby walaby, skunk with his stinker removed and a cross-eyed opposum. (we cracked up at him)

Rouge River

It was very windy while we were in Oregon so we looked for things to do away from the shore. The Rouge River winds from the beautiful redwoods into Gold Beach so we followed a few trails along the river. We collected some smooth rocks from the riverbanks to bring home to our garden and to add to Ama's rock collection.

Hiking in Gold Beach

We took several easy hikes through the redwoods. We took the kids to the Prehistoric Gardens, a trail with life-size dinosaurs placed throughout the hike. Most of the trail was fenced with a short wooden fence so Josiah felt big like the girls and was able to stay on the path, something he usually doesn't do.

Gold Beach, Oregon

We took a family vacation to Gold Beach. It was a beautiful drive and a beautiful place to visit. We enjoyed time together just the five of us, eating out and seeing the rocky sea shore and river.

Car Washing Fun

Josiah and Maicee entertained themselves for an hour with the bucket and sponges as they 'helped' me wash my car. It was a fun afternoon.