45!!!

I'm so behind in blogging...

Here is a photo from Big Daddy's 45th Birthday celebration in July.  

I'm so in love with this amazing man!

Happy 45 Jeff!

Fun with the bestie...

Early in July I went to Seattle to meet up with my bestie of 27+ years.

We hung out in Seattle and then went over to Orcas Island. 

We shopped, we drank, we laughed.. a lot!

I even survived driving in Seattle traffic.. :)

I took mostly iphone pics, but I was able to capture some fun street photography/signage.

Here's just a few of the photos from our get-away.

 Staci and I were in the Pike Market and turned down a back ally and saw this homeless man napping.  I could't help but take a picture.  I have never really gotten into street photography, but this really spoke to me.  It's one of my favorites. 

I love to think of myself as a "wanna be" hippie, so when Staci pointed this out to me I had to take a photo of it.  

I found this sign on Amazon and I plan on ordering it.  :)

Thanks Staci!  Let's do it again soon!

Some super heros don't wear capes..

A few weeks ago we celebrated this man.. we had him over for dinner and showered him with gift cards to some of his favorite places.

This man was Lucy's 4th grade teacher, he was the one who help us discover Lucy's vision suppression and dyslexia.  

He adores Lucy and wanted to continue to help her.

He came to us this past fall and asked if he could tutor Lucy through 5th grade. 

He came to our house every Monday night this past school year and tutored Lucy for free!  

You read that right, Free!  

He is an amazing man and teacher! A true super hero in our books!

With his help, Lucy has made great progress.  We has helped build her foundation to soar. 

I always pray that our kids would be blessed with great friends and great teachers!

It's great to see those prayers answered.  

Start of summer...

This is our first official week of summer vacation...

Jeff recently found a new job (yes, here in town) and his last day of his previous job was Friday.

He decided to take a week off between his old job and new job.

We are getting some projects out of the way and spending some quality family time together.

We went yesterday to pick strawberries.

Just look at this gorgeous backdrop.  Spokane really has some beautiful landscapes.

My trio..

They are all about the same size, which makes laundry sorting difficult, especially when it comes to black athletic shorts.   :)

Olivia was the least excited about waking up early and picking strawberries, then she was the one saying we had to stay and pick more.  It's hard for me to believe she will be a senior in the fall.

So, I've posted before about how handy Jeff is.... 

He can seriously do or fix anything.

We have been creating an outdoor oasis for the past few months.

We LOVE our gorgeous/private yard and we enjoy the summer months relaxing and eating outside.

We have an outdoor dining table that seats 6.

We have found it difficult to have room for both our plates and food dishes.

We decided it would be good to have an outdoor buffet table to set food and drinks on.

I found some plans on Pinterest and Jeff went to work...

This is before I stained it...

Here it is stained and in it's spot on the deck.

We used it last night for dinner and it was great! I absolutely love it!

Now Jeff is ready to make an outdoor coffee table for our lower deck.

Freshman!

It's official... this boy is now a high school freshman!

Jack had his 8th grade "stepping up" yesterday.

He picked out the pink bow tie and blue suede shoes.

I love his sense of style... 

he knows what he likes.  :)

I have to admit, this boy has some big changes ahead and I am both nervous and excited. 

Jack and I will be traveling to Los Angeles for the months of August and September. 

Jack will be auditioning for new upcoming TV pilots.

He will be busy working with an acting coach via Skype to prepare.

Thankfully, I have a friend in LA who is willing to let Jack and I stay with her.

This is going to bring some added stress to our family, but this is a once in lifetime opportunity and we feel that if Jack really wants this, then we have to pursue it. 

To be honest, I'm more afraid of him making it, than not.

We are opening doors that could be life changing...

We are going to buckle up and enjoy the ride.  :)