Summer Swimming

My neighbor went away for the weekend and gave me the key to use his pool! We took full advantage of the good weather and spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon playing. We had such a fun time and once again we had almost everyone show up!

On Sunday after church I was sitting at the table eating lunch as everyone started pulling into the driveway and unloading kids. I thought to myself, "I am one lucky mama!"

And me and Mario decided that the next house is going to have a pool! Good insurance for keeping the grandkids visiting!

Family Time

Our family spent last week in Lincoln City. We invited the whole gang to come join us whenever they could. We now have 13 children, spouses and grandchildren and 12 of them joined us at some point! We never had everyone together at once, but it was so wonderful to hang out with our family and enjoy that time together. (We missed you Tyler!)

Cleo

Running in the water

 I had so much fun with Cleo on the beach. It was just the two of us while the big girls went shopping and we spent almost two hours building (and destroying) sand castles and chasing waves. Cleo was very afraid of the waves at first. She kept asking if there were sharks in the water. But as she conquered each level of wave she got more brave and went to the next level. Soon she was up to her knees and soaking wet, giggling as we ran and let the waves chase us to safety.

Trying to fly our kites

Koen smashing Mario's sand castle

beginning to bury Koen

 Our last day in Lincoln City and we all headed out to the beach. It wasn't a very sunny or warm day, but that didn't stop Chandler and Koen from braving the ocean waters. We buried Koen in the sand, which made for a great excuse to get back in the water to wash the sand off. We tried to fly a kite with a small amount of success, as there just wasn't enough wind to keep it going without some work and concentration.

Mario and Kelli

Savannah and Emilia

Chial and Nikki

One night we went bowling in the old, smelly 8 lane bowling alley of Lincoln City. It was so much fun! Especially since I got FIRST PLACE in the second game and third place in the first game....and I was playing with some pretty serious competitors! Yay me!!

Kelli, Amos, Jordan, Parker, G

G is the little spot out in the water to the left. We could not keep him out of the water!

 Saturday morning the tide was a negative tide (I think that's what it's called), when the tide is even lower than normal low tide. We had a great walk on the beach with the boys and the dogs and were rewarded with spectacular tide pools. G loves the water and would not stay out of it. Amos was the complete opposite. If I would take him to the water he would turn around and run as the waves came in. Hilarious!

Alexis and Shawn's Wedding Day

The wedding was last September, but I finally got my hands on some pictures. When Alexis and Shawn stopped to see us in Lincoln City, I asked how we could get access to the wedding pictures and she happened to have the CD with her so I was able to load them on my computer right there. There were over 700 pictures, so here are just a few. I can't even say if they are my favorites because I haven't had time to go through them that closely, but here are a few!

It's that most wonderful time of the year.....

STRAWBERRY SEASON

So in honor of my annual love of the short Oregon strawberry season in which I spend too much money on fresh strawberries and gorge myself for a few weeks, here is this years winner of best use of these delicious berries!

Gluten free strawberry pie

I used a gluten free crust (so much easier) and pre-baked it.
I mixed 6 ounces of cream cheese with some sugar and a few strawberries, then spread on the bottom and sides of the cooled crust. The strawberries added to the cream cheese made the mixture a little thin, but I still liked it. You could just used cream cheese with a little sugar.
Fill the crust with whole strawberries. I also cut some in half to fill in every little space.
Cover with strawberry glaze:

1. In a sauce pan, put 1 cup sliced berries, ½ cup sugar, salt, and ¼ cup water. Bring to boil.
2. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Mix 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Add to sauce pan.
4.  Return to heat. Stir until thickened, about 2 minutes.
5. Allow to cool. 
6.  

YUMMY!!!!!!!

Chandler and Drea's Wedding

We got a text message last Tuesday night that Chandler and Drea had decided to get married on July 4th. It was a whirlwind 6 days of preparations for them! The weather was beautiful and the day was perfect for their wedding. We are so happy for them and feel blessed to have gained a beautiful daughter and grandson to the family.

Weddings Galore!!

Get ready for a few new posts. We have had three children get married in the last 10 months, and two of them were in the last three weeks. We also gained a granddaughter and grandson in the deal, and we couldn't be happier or more in love with them!

LOVE

Koen, G, Amos & Regan

I got to spend the morning with these two cuties! They may not be my own flesh and blood grandchildren but I love them and want to pour all that love on them. We ate candy, fed the chickens, played a silly game, ate more candy (I can do that-I'm not their mom!) and then went out to lunch. When they give me hugs I think my life couldn't get any better!

My Movie Date

Regan watching Rio and eating popcorn.

So cute!!

The Whole Gang in Seaside, OR

The kids!

Mario & Rolando

Susie & Kelli

Kelli, Issac, Anna, & Emilia having fun at the hat shop

Anna has her mom's sense of humor!

Alex, Anna, Issac

Koen loved Issac! They were instant friends. 

Such a fun weekend with Mario's family visiting! I love when they come. I've said it before, I love them so much.  They are fun and loving and drama free. It is refreshing and relaxing.

We had the wedding on Friday. Saturday began with a big breakfast at home, shopping at Red, White & Blue, lunch, and downtown to take in some people watching at the waterfront. We got there too late to tour any ships and we decided not to spend all that money to get into the Fun Center. But we did pay for one person to enter and load us up on junk food for the drive home. We came home and BBQ'd and made s'mores by the fire. It was a beautiful day. We were surprised that the bride and groom came and joined us late in the evening. It was a blast to hear their take on the wedding day from behind the scenes!

Sunday morning was sunny and promising and I thought we might be in for a summer day, but things quickly changed to clouds. We piled everyone into two cars and headed to Seaside. Even though we were greeted by some raindrops we had a great time. We immediately dispersed to find food. I took Emilia, Anna and Isaac to get pizza, and while the others ate somewhere else the kids rode the carousel, tried on silly hats at the hat store and perused the toy store. It was fun. We met up with everyone else at the beach and most of us got our toes wet in the Pacific Ocean. After a little shopping we headed home where we met up with Chandler, Drea, Koen, Chial and Jordan and had a late dinner.

I hate to see them leave, but they will head home to Utah early in the morning.