These Guys

Let's do this thang...

2012-01-09T12:27:00.001-08:00

I always loved keeping a family blog and especially enjoyed blogging through my last pregnancy. I've gotten away from it over the last few years but its been on my heart to get back with it. Since I'm supposed to be resting this is a good time to start it up again.

Some of you already know, but I'm ready to shed a little light on what's been going on with me over the last few months. Mid august I had some tests done that revealed a stomach bacteria called H-pylori. My stomach was full of ulcers and damaged so badly I could no longer absorb vitamin B12. After several attempts to get rid of the HP it became clear it was immuned to all antibiotics so it is something I will keep with me lifelong. It is manageable and my ulcers have since healed , but it also left me with megaloblastic anemia. This has caused the biggest problem. I have some pretty significant neurological damage. Sometimes I don't know where I am for a few minutes, it affects my memory, my personality, caused a severe depression over the summer, I get dizzy, clumsy and have shortness of breath because my blood is not getting enough oxygen to my organs. For the same lack of oxygen I have muscle weakness and a cosntant flu like muscle ache. Because of my clumsiness and lack of coordination I fall a lot. For me this has been the worst, especially since our new home has seven million stairs. I fall a few times a week, sometimes.I'm fine sometimes I get all jacked up. Right now I'm supposed to be on bed rest for a broken tailbone, sacrum and 3 ruptured discs in my lower lumbar.

I'm not sharing this for sympathy, but because its something that's a permanent part of me and this is part of accepting that and learning to deal with it positively and not as a disability.

My treatments have been multiple blood transfusions which I hope I am done with as they are no fun. I get weekly b12 injections and several other medications. It takes a while to begin feeling normal...I'm told several months, but I am starting to feel like I'm on the road to feeling good again. My prayer is that by spring I will have the energy and my body will be healed enough to work on a garden and my beautiful yard. Looking out my Windows everyday and seeing all the projects I'd love to be doing has been hard for me emotionally...but now I am at the point where I can look out the same window and become inspired to be well. I will get healthy! I won't let this keep me from enjoying life.

I'm so thankful for the love and support from friends and family. Especially my husband, my one true love who has put his own needs and responsibilities aside to help me. I know how hard this has been for him but still he continues to love and care for me with all his heart. Thank you darling.

Here's to a new year, healing and health!

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Been a while...

2010-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to come here and write about our family when such a huge part of it is in Afghansitan. My heart and my lungs are in Afghanistan. I can't breathe, and I can't think clearly most hours of the day. Such is life of a Marine wife? I don't know...the girls around me make it look so easy. I don't think this huge Marine base was the best place for me through a deployment. Surrounded by constant reminders. Everyone is busy being busy. Busy being young and carefree and busy going about their business while the man is Deployed. I respect that they are capable of this freedom that I can not find. I am debilitated by his absence. No...I am not so dependent on him that I can not find happiness with out him. I am so in love with him that I refuse it. I adore my little children and I put on quite the show of smiles and happiness for them. But inside I am bawling and agonizing for his touch, his scent, his good heart beating beneath the chest that I love to lay my head against.

'God was showing off when he made you'.

Those are the first words I said to him when we met. And that was before I even had a glimpse of how true it was. I adore this man...more then breath. I don't deserve him, I never have and I never will. He is to good for me, he is to good for anyone. He is to good for this world.

I love you Colin Arthur, my man, my honeybear, my Beast and my warrior.

Mamas big babies

2009-09-17T12:28:00.001-07:00

Sea World!!!Angelo the bottle nosed dolphin!

Sitting in the splash zone!

Soakenasss wet!Shamu say HAHA

HOLY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Summers over....blah blah blah from here :(...

No really though. Fun can come from school season believe it or not. Olivia is just starting Volleyball and she is AMAZING after never playing a day in her life! She has some work to do on service...but she looks as though she has been playing forever after just one practice. Angelo on the other hand is involved in NOOO extracurricular activities on his own accord. He is just interested in body building, body boarding, bird watching and black widow hunting. All of which are solo sports. This week he entered his first academic group sport involvement and ended up having a terrible experience of over stimulation and aggravating embarrassment. And so is the life of Angelo....our little solo artist. Our little Angelo. We will continue to seek out fun and exciting experiences for him but we understand and respect his yearning to stay away from 'dumb dancing and wierd music'. Ohhh...Angelo.

Moving Day...

2009-09-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Are we there yet...

2009-07-30T15:28:00.001-07:00

Yes we are.

It was hell but we made it. Took 2 weeks rather then the 5 days we set aside because the Jetta broke twice and the Jeep had to take it super slow because of heat exhaustion. We ended up towing the Jetta from Redding, around 700 miles with the help of some dear new friends.

Life is crazy and I am not interested in reflecting on the last three weeks so if you want to know...just ask Colin.

Our stuff finally made it to the house here in San Onofre on Tuesday and I have been busy making a new home.

Will post pics and all that junk when I can.

Love and miss you all....

Killing Time....

2009-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Still in Chehalis. The car was aupposed to be fixed yesterday. I don't want to get in to that much. We have had a good stay here. God has shown his presence so many times. People here have been abnormally kind and generous. If I thought about it hard enough I would probably freak out a little just because I am a planner and scheduler and we have been here waylayed for nearly a week now....but we are by no means stranded or down and out. We are together.

Last night we were at this great little restaurant called The Country Cousin in Centralia. It was the best down home country style cooking I have ever had in a restarant. You don't find places like this in Washington in my opinion, but Colin has found them in the South and in PA here and there. We were talking with the waitress about our car and situation....by no means were we complaining and I really doubt any frustrations were coming through in the conversation...but I guess someone at another table over heard and when it came time to get the check we found that some thoughtful family had picked ours up. Things like this still amaze me. I know there are people in this world that are hurting financialy and in desperate need of kindness and help. So the fact that someone would do somethig like us, regular old people, it just really cements the fact that God wants his pressence to be felt, to be seen. A little gesture of kindness and thought from a stranger. I know the Lord put that on that persons heart. I am so thankful that this person listened, I am thankful they had empathy for my little family. They will not know the affect this act has had on us. Thank you Jesus.

So supposedly the car will be ready by noon....on the road again......we hope.

Short trip.....

2009-07-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

Well we are off! And now we are not. We got 80 miles yesterday....made it into Chehalis when the Dub lost all power to the engine. I stalled out in the fast lane at around 70mph (the speed limit). Suddenly the engine had no power but the entire console and electrical system for the rest of the car was working. I got a light on the dash for the battery and could no longer accelerate however I did not lose my power steering. So I was able to make it off the next exit which was thankfully close. Colin was right behind me in the jeep. We attempted to turn the car over a while but it made no sound so we called a tow. When the tow arrived the car was charging a little so it was attempting to turn over but was idling very high so the drivers suspected it was something with timing belt, maybe it had broken. I was really hoping it was related to the alternator. We crossed our fingers. The tow guy was great and called another guy out with an ex cab to haul me and the babes. They were both so helpful and hooked us up with Maxmilian Motor Sports in Chehalis. How random is it that we break down in an area with a world renowned award winning German mechanic with an immense amount of empathy for our situation?!! So he hooked us up with a hotel deal through a manager friend at the local Holiday inn express where we are now. He did some looking at the jetta and thinks 98% positive the problem is something with the electrical system and not the timing belt at all. It is a difference of thousands of dollars in repair so this is great news. We are sitting p[patiently waiting to hear from him this morning and will keep posted on any updates.

Lets all keep our fingers crossed so we can be back on the road ASAP. At this point we just want to get there safely with out further incident.

Peace y'all. J

Transition

2009-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

I had an entire post written up and just accidentally erased it. I guess thats that! We are staying at nonnies the next 9 days. She had a beautiful room all set for us. That helped our transition so much as we are all so sad to leave our house. The movers came all last week and the house is now sparkly clean. I turn the kes in tomorrow and thats that.

Who knows our future, only God. We do know that we all love it here and hope to return soon. Nonnie gifted us her property in Manchester so when we are finished with ou adventures out in the world we will return to Manchester and build our dream home.

We leave for our adventure on the 9th. We will head down 101 along the coast and take about 5 days getting to our new home. We will keep you all postd along the way as we are able and of course you will be bombarded with pictures and fun stories of our trip when we get settled in.

Bon Voyage.....

May...so far.

2009-05-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Momma and Hayla

Ang and Hayla

Liv and Hayla

Livvy spent an hour or more collecting these shells....only to find they were inhabited right before we brought them home !!

Livvy and Colin play dog

Angelo and his new friend Carson

We thought they looked like a couple old men!!

Colin and Hayla on our picnic

Angelo flipping rocks for crabs and eels

Mothers day was amazing as always. Just being a mommy is wonderful so getting to spend a day just dedicated to being with my little family is always good. I got to start the morning with breakfast in bed served (and shared) by Angelo. We then packed a picnic and drove out to Twanoh state park. The sun was out though it was still a bit chilly for me. Colin BBQ'd steaks and hotdogs and veggies. Angelo spent the entire day flipping rocks for crabs and he met a new friend named Colman or Carter or Carson...something with a 'C'. They were so cute walking and talking together. Olivia pretty much stuck close to us. She and Colin played dog for an hour or so (until it became annoying) she was rolling over, fetching and playing dead. Colin is a lazy dog owner : ) Hayla spent her day the same as she does any day we spend out side...irritated and fussy. So far she hates anything about being out side. Sun, rain, a slight breeze...she just does not see the fun in it. I lounged and played with all the kids. I was back and forth from the beach to the blanket to make sure I got plenty of love from everyone. T'was a good day.

May is also our anniversary month. It has been two years now since Colin and I fell in love. Seems to both of us like it was only yesterday. We set this whole last weekend aside just to spend together doing the things we enjoy doing together. Friday night we had our babysitter come to be with Hayla. The big kids were with Dan. Hayla is getting better about staying with a sitter and is taking bottle quite well now. Colin and I went out to Poulsbo for Viking fest that evening. I guess it was fitting that on or anniversary Colin lost his wedding band. We stopped at a jewelry vendor to look at rings. Colin has wanted a large turquoise stone set ring like the one his grandfather has so he tried a few on and some where along the line he realized his wedding band was gone. He and the vendor looked and looked but never found it. It just got mixed in with all the other rings some how. Colin thinks the guy swiped it to sell later. Allll....welll....On with the weekend. Saturday we puttered and Colin played the open mic for the second time. Sunday we got on the ferry and took a long drive from West Seattle all along the water to fife. We love to drive and Hayla did great in the car all day. We went to Ikea and then to dinner at the first Sonic drive in of our area. YUM.

I can't wait for many more years with my man.

So we have about 5 weeks till our move to California and we are really getting down to the dirty part of moving. We are attacking the basement this weekend and making a dump run. We have a bunch of stuff for sale and for free on craigslist so hopefully the basement will be cleared out by the end of the week and we wont have to think about it anymore. Aaahh deep breath! It is so hard thinking about leaving this place when my favorite time of year hear is just upon us.

We hope to have a little going away party soon....keep posted for dates and times ;)

Basketball Livvy!!!

2009-05-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

So far this season has been pretty tough for the girls. Olivia's coaches, Josh and Kalani wanted to keep the team together even though many of the girls were old enough to move onto the next age level....so they moved the entire team to the next level. So Olivia and her 4th/5th/6th grade team have been playing against 7th/8th/9th grade girls....needless to say these girls have a couple years of practice on them, and they are tough. BUT....!!!! This week was a morale booster for our team. Monday night we played a Silverdale team that we were accidentally paired with because of a schedule error. The other team was 15-17 year olds, and our Stars scored 26 POINTS ON THEM!! Okay, okay....the actual ending score was 62 to 26 but how awesome is it that we were able to score so high with this hard core team? We even had to endure some cursing from them. I guess getting your butts handed to you by a bunch of 10-12 year olds is a little embarrassing!!! Then last night we were able to play a team of girls in the same level as our team and we beat them 26 to 12. Olivia made 2 baskets and picked up several rebounds. Her defense has improved so much with the last couple games and her offense is picking up to. This season has been so exciting so far. I think I may need blood pressure meds by the time its over!!

Spring adventures

2009-04-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Colin and Hayla and I finally got over to the Experience Music Project this spring. It was such a beautiful clear day.... a nice day to hit the city. It was Colin's first time there and I was so excited for him to see it all. He loves music and gets a little obsessive about his favorite artists. Well at the top of his list is Kurt Cobain and Jimmy Hendrix so he was able to see a lot of memorabilia for each, since they are both from Seattle. Hand written notes, songs, diaries.....and best of all, Cobains favorite Guitar!

Basketball season is upon us and Olivia is back in the court! Her team has done so well the last couple years that the coaches did not want to lose the older girls to the next age level teams. So in order to keep the team together they moved the entire team to the next level. This means that our 4,5 and 6th graders are playing against 6,7 and 8th grade girls with a couple years of practice on them. Our girls are holding up pretty well though. So far they have been beat pretty good the last 3 games but with each game they are playing more as a team and more defensively. It has been a lot of fun to watch. I will post next weeks schedule here as soon as I get it, if any one's interested in coming we would love to see you there.

Angelo has been in an extended learning class every day for an hour after kindergarten. It was innitially to get him at the reading lievel of the average kindergartner and It really worked. When he started he was refusing to read at home and was having a hard time keeping interest at school. Now every where he goes he is sounding out words. Especially in his dino and shark books. He also started writing little stories. He is still learning about spacing but if you look close you can figure them out. Pretty awesome to see my little guy reading!!

My cousin Caty Lieseke recently had a game in Tacoma so we were finally able to see her play for her college. She goes to Whitworth. She is so awesome!!

Easetr was great this year. We went to an agg hunt at the fitness club with my whole family.

Olivia said she was going to try harder next year...I wonder though...will she still be interested in Easter egg hunts at 11 years old? I hope so.

With the move coming up I have been hard at work on line finding things to help the kids adjust to California. I found a summer camp at an aquarium in San Diego that offers a 'Marine Biologist for a week' course for Olivia (her dream job!) and several different camp options for Ang. Pretty cool stuff!

School is coming to an end. Olivia will be in 5th grade!! Holy cow I am old! And Angelo is going into 1st. We hope to have an end of the year/going away party with a fire for dog roasting and maybe a camp out as well. Sometimes in June....keep an eye out for a date!

First Gig, Orders, Life

2009-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Life is going good, we've got orders, I had my first gig and the family is growing! We have orders to Camp Pendleton, CA end of July and it's pretty exciting! Being totally honest I am definately not ready to leave yet that's for sure. The weather finally just took a turn for the better and I really cant wait to enjoy the first part of the summer here with my family. Our beautiful little girl Hayla is getting so big and finally noticed her hands and the pacifier!

Had my first two gigs last weekend and it went really great! I really have to give thanks to Jeanette for giving me the influence and inspiration to get up there and play, without her I couldnt have made that big step in my musical "career".

First Gig, Orders, Life

2009-04-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Had my very first two gigs last weekend and it was awesome!!! It actually went really good and was not as nervous as I should or could have been. Music is a huge part of my life and without the influence of my wife and the confidence she gives me I probably wouldn't have taken that huge step in my musical "career".

As Jeanette already said we finally have orders and it cant be more exciting to finally know what the heck is going on! I cant say I'm ready to leave just yet, I love it here way too much! The weather has finally taken a turn for the better and I'm looking forward to a beginning of the summer with my family.

Little Hayla isnt so little anymore and she's getting bigger by the week! She so beautiful and she's definately started to discover her hands and the power of the pacifier! Life is definately moving forward.

Orders!!!

2009-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well we finally have them, all though not in hand yet. The word is end of July for Colins check in date...so we should be around here until July sometime. Probably move out of the house by July 1st and squat somewhere until we leave!!

Waiting on orders.....

2009-03-31T23:42:00.000-07:00

So....most of you know that Colin is PCSing (permanent change of station) soon. We are expecting orders for Camp Pendelton, Ca between Oceanside and San clemente....near San Diego. He was supposed to check in May first originally but his orders were stopped with an op to do MARSOC. He turned down that opurtunity as it would not benefit our family right now and every since we have been waiting for the orders to re issue. We know for sure they were extended to June first....but so far we have not heard a word.

It can get frustrating some times for me. I am really the kind of person who likes to keep a calendar, I like to know my future. I dont need to control everything, I just get a little stressed when things are up in the air. It is hard not knowing where my children will go to school next year or where we will live. Housing at pendleton has a fairly significant waiting list and we need to be on it now to get a house by june first but we need paper orders to get on the list. I am still learning that being a Marine wive means hurry up and wait....

Just asking for some prayers.

Honestly.... I have been preparing my heart and mind for the biggest move I have ever been through for several months. My children have so much to lose leaveing here...nonnie and all the cousins, their half brother Rex....its been a big deal preparing for the move and now that it may be extended it just means more time to have to think about all we are leaving behind. If waiting means we stay hear longer I would love it. I would just love to KNOW it so I can enjoy it. You know?

Whats new with the family?....

2009-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

This page has been ignored for the last few months with the preparation and then arrival of our little girl Hayla Lavender. But believe us so much has been going on with the rest of the family.

Over the next few months we will be preparing for our first move as a family...and its a big one. It has come time for Colin to transfer to Camp Pendleton. After much debate on what to do...should the kids and I stay based here and go back and forth, should Colin come back and forth, should we all just go....what a hard decision. But, we are going. We have such a wonderful little family and we both hate to separate it. We love being close to the cousins and Auntie and Nonnie and it is going to be the hardest thing in the world to drive away from here. But....God has a plan for us and we need to love him and let him work in our lives. This is the next step. Come April Colin will get his new orders and checks in May first. The kids and I will stay here until school ends and then we will head down to be with Colin. The kids are both excited for different reasons but I don't think they fully grasp that we are going to be gone. This will no longer be our home and we will no longer see our family on a regular basis. I don't know when it will really hit them and I hope you all pray that I can find a way to help them through it.

Some cool news....Olivia got a guitar for christmas, a nice one. We have been working on getting her into lessons and She starts this Friday. We are excited to see how she does. Angelo is starting up the next level of swim lessons soon so that will be something wonderful for his life to revolve around for a while!!

I am still falling in love with Hayla and just now starting to get the daycare going again....well at least doing some advertising. I am in no hurry for any distraction from my girl.

Life.....is ever changing. But good.

Happy Birthday Puppydog!!!

2008-10-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

Colin's birthday is coming up the 29th!! we had his birthday fest over the weekend and it turned out well. Plenty of friends over, plenty of good food. I made salmon and cream cheese dip, roasted tomatoe, fetta cheese pasta sallad, bacon wrapped scallops and Manessa made grandmas famous cocktail dogs. My momma brought pizza and the hippy dogs!! I made the strongest jello shots ever with the cherries we had soaked in vodka for 2 months and Electric Koolaid punch. We decorated the sun porch with black lights and blacklight posters. It looked rad. I think everyone had a good time. Except my favorite pasta pot, now in the trash due to puke contamination. All well.

The kids went to the sock hop at school with their dad who is back now from working in San D since July. They stopped by before they went and I was able to get this pic of them with their baby brother Rex!! Little hippies!!
(as you can see Angelo is not a happy hippy!!)

This week Angelo has no school and Olivia has half days. Uncle Robert is back from training in ID so I think we will have a birthday party for him Tuesday. Colin and I will go to Seattle for a special birthday dinner on Thursday, and the kids will be with Dad on Halloween so Im not sure what we will do that night...But!! Olivia's big birthday party is Saturday the first. The birthday rush has just begun!!

Bassetball Jonezzzz

2008-10-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Olivia started the basketball season this week. First Practice Tuesday night and right into a game last night. I had to get Angelo to Awana so my sister brought the girly to her game. I am sorry I missed it! She got 5 baskets, 10 points!! The most of the game. They had a victory of 35 to 15 I believe?

Girl is getting gooooood!!

Seasons Changing

2008-10-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am almost in tears right now writing this. I just accidentally deleted couple days worth of thoughts I had gotten in here. When Colin and I first started this we had big hopes of keeping up on it but like many things lately it has been forgotten on a daily basis. I think that in time we will get used to coming here and sharing our thoughts and adventures and that over more time, we will be thankful that we did. Being able to look back over our time together and the growing babies is important. This place is for us to look back at memories as well as share them with others.

That said, I will attempt to recap my original post. It was a reflection of our summer and an anticipation of the following seasons.

I was thinking a lot about how much we enjoyed having Kevin, Colin's dad and every since he left we have been asking him back. We just learned last week he plans another visit in January after Hayla has arrived. Colin loved having him here and having him see into our little lives. We love sharing all that we have together. I loved having him here because I feel like I get to be closer to Colin when I spend time with his family, those who have known him his life through. I see more deeply into the man he is. Now our prayer is to somehow convince Brandon to come out. I know Colin is a tough marine and does not express it much, but he really misses his brother and wants time with him, and really wants him to come see our life and our home. I pray for that to be something God works for us.

I have also been thinking a lot about summer and how it seemed it never really arrived. I yearned for more days of lounging by lake Cushman with my momma and husband and kids. But I am more then grateful for the day we had. It was soooo warm and the water was not freezing like normal. We had a good day, good food, good swimming and floating. Even Olivia flinging and yelling about bugs was a good memory. And Angelo's crazy dance on the floating mattress to scare off horseflies...and swimming the whole family out to the big rock to jump off. It was a sad ending to the day to find that Canyon burger had been leveled. A small random roadside burger joint I had gone to all my life. So many stops after camping, hiking, a day at the pumpkin patch...It seems every time I was there I was cold wet and tired and always left full, happy and warm. RIP Canyon Burger...

October is here and there is so much ahead of us for the next month. The 25th we have a party for Colin, the 29th being his birthday. That day I have a huge surprise for him...cant wait to share it with you all after the fact!! Then comes miss Olivia turning 10 Nov 4th. My little baby girl!! Then the 7th is the USMC Ball and nonnies birthday on the 11th. A couple weeks later on the 25th little Mister Angelo turns 6 and then comes Thanksgiving!! So after all of the birthdays and business of October and November we will begin the relaxation and resting through December awaiting our new baby love!

With all the business preparing for baby we have still managed to get some other hose hold work done. We got the bathroom and playroom painted, the sunny side of the house repainted and the guys came and fixed the septic that was causing back ups and a flooding basement. That ended up just being an electrical issue and about 10grand less then the original price tag.

The Bathroom

We also have a couple gallons of blackberry wine brewing. It's not as good as my momma's but it will be good for celebrating our baby arrival.

Colin and I are both so excited about Christmas this year. Not just for the baby but the Holiday and all that comes with it. When I was growing up Christmas was such a special time of year. I feel like I lost that part of it for a few years. It seemed like all the magic and excitement was replaced by stress and anxiety. Since Colin has been in my life the things that are really important to me that I lost, such as Christmas and family, have all come back. He is so fun to look forward to things with and being with him and the kids makes everything special again. We cant wait to decorate our house and get our tree and be with our family through the Holiday. I am excited about preparing for birthday parites, cooking for Thanksgiving and wrapping presents...all the things that in recent years would have made me tense and grumpy are back to being fun and exciting. I wonder if this year we will have our baby with us. Or even birth her on Christmas!! Who knows!!

Well we love you all and cant wait to spend memorable moments with you over the next couple months.

In Jesus....

Life is Good

2008-09-09T14:15:00.001-07:00

Life couldnt be better now, kids are in school and excited about it everyday they come home! It was especially awesome as a dad to see little Angelo going to school for the first time in his life, big kindergardener!!! Momma is doing real good as well! Her little belly grows here and there every now and then and she's glowing with happiness more than ever! Its as if life is starting to settle into its place and its an amazing feeling as a young man to have a beautiful wife and kids, a beautiful house and all that comes with it. I thought it would have taken me years to have what I have now but I know that God has blessed me with everything that I could ever want at such a young age. Just to know that I have a little daughter growing in my wife's stomach is just........you just cant describe it, it's an emotion that one can only feel in their heart and soul. Everyones doing great, my father will be here this upcoming weekend and I couldnt be more stoked! Good things!!!!!

Summer's over, school is here!

2008-09-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well....summer is over. At least summer vacation. The sunny 70 something weather may continue for another month or so here and there, but officially...summer is over.

I am now the mother of two school kids. I already got all emotional about it in Hayla's blog so I wont go through it again. But I want to share some pictures.

Hot summer days!!

2008-08-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

FINALLY its been nice again the last couple days. Colin and I went and played tennis...well tried to....the other day and it was so hot I could barely move. I love it. Its supposed to last a couple days longer so hopefully it will hold out for our camping trip to Staircase this weekend.

So speaking of tennis, Colin and I have been really into Badminton these days. Its funny though...our net fell (again) so we play netless. And, we dont play by the same rules. We dont have rules. We dont keep score. In fact, if I score, I get pissed at Colin for missing. And likewise... Our goal is to hit it back and forth over and over with out dropping it. We play for hours this way with the kids running around us. Its a great family event. And, you can bring it ANYWHERE!!

So summer is almost over, only like a month left but we have had a good time so far and kept pretty busy despite my lazy pregnant woman attitude. Colin and I went to the Rush concert at the Gorge and camped out, then spent the day in Leavenworth lounging and eating. Then we went to the Def Leopard or some show, no it was White snake, oh I dont know...haha. We spent a great day with mom and the kids at Lake Cushman floating and playing, gone to some nice festivals and watched a crapton of Frasier. Good times.

Up in the next month we have a lot packed in. Camping this weekend, Hemp fest next, Kitsap fair.....fun fun fun.

Stay tuned, maybe Colin will write something funny?

La Push Camping 08

2008-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

La Push 2008! Man what a great time Jeanette and I had! On a friday we decided to head out to La Push so the wife and I packed the car full of beer and the camping essentials...all the beer was of course for daddy! So after the car was packed we headed out to La Push and man was it a beautiful drive! I am so fortunate to have seen the things I've seen in this state because after you see them you never want to leave! So after a few hours of driving we made it to our site, a little campsite tucked in some trees off the side of the trail...it was quaint, quiet and beautiful. We quickly set up camp...well momma started cooking some dinner while pappa furiously tried setting up a tent the size of the Taj Ma Hal, thank God for the beer! I dont know how she does it but Jeanette cooked a mean dinner of ribs, skewered vegetables and potatoes...my God it was freaking amazing! We spent the night drinking (just me of course) playing the guitar and remenising about the past year and the next few days to come. After a peaceful night in the sack with momma it was morning. Egg sandwhiches and coffee by the fire was on the menu. We spent the day down at the beach watching the surfer's trying to catch some waves, the local indians tearing ass up on the water in their speed canoes, and enjoying the weather. We hit up a local street fair and momma got some fry bread and a smile as we watched speed canoes and the coast guard giving tours.....we spent the rest of the weekend enjoying each others company...I picked out a few tunes for Hayla's song on the guitar and before I knew it we were packed and headed home. The drive home was an adventure in itself. We saw Lake Cresent...that's all I need to say about that, beautiful. To some up the end of the trip we stopped for brunch at a place called the Hungry Bear. Great atmosphere..the food was of a different matter. I ordered a chili burger with fries. When it came out it was just that, a chili burger with fries. A hamburger bun SMOTHERED in the most bland chili you can imagine...I mean absolutely devoid of all taste, it was weird. Thank God I had some Alaskan IPA to wash it down. Then the cook came from out from behind the kitchen....an ominously large, dirty, missing teeth, bandaid holding the fingernail on that was just sturring my chili kind of guy....love the boondocks. In the end we had such a great time on our trip to La Push and I cant wait to share the next experience out that way again with my wife, the great outdoors, and a case of brewered happiness!-Colin

Summer in Southworth

2008-07-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Strawberry fest weekend

2008-07-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

We had a mellow weekend, did exactly what we needed to do. Layed in the sun! SAturday Olivia stayed at Aunties while we hung around the house all morning,fried some taters and played with Angelo. Colin and I had a 2 hour family meeting over a game of badminton to discuss our future courtesy of USMC. By the end of the game we both had soar arms and a good idea of what we have to look forward given a couple different scenarios. That afternoon we headed to Long Lake for a float. Angelo played in the water and made friends while Colin and I got some good sunburns. That evening after the kids went with Dan for the night we took our 5 mile walk around the neighborhood. We took a different route then normal and discovered some nice hunks of wood fo Colin to covet. We found a sweet old mini farm house that we daydreamed Nonnie would buy. It wa a good evening completed by Colin enjoying 3 coney dogs from a&w. Sunday we rose early and got the ferry to vashon Island for Strawberry fest, Colin and Jeanettes 2nd annual together. Its a small street fair with a lot of hippies and dogs roaming the streets. Some good music and short cakes. Our speed all around!! After cruising the fair we took a long drive around the island then had a good late lunch. We ended the wonderful hot weekend with a small campfire out back with Nonnie.....

Now back to the weekly schedule! Summer is good.