Crescent Lake & The Cabin In The Woods

We just had the best family vacation ever! Thanks to Uncle Chuck and Aunt Judith for letting us stay at thier home in Crescent Junction and more thanks to Grandpa who unbelievably entertained us with boating, beaches and food! Here are the boys at Grandpa's house ~

They even got to operate the excavator! This was a true boy's DREAM vacation ~Here is the family on the deck with a view of the forest (Nana, Jessica and Brandon, Aunt Tina, us and John with the silly face)...a big black bear was seen on some of Uncle Chuck's additional property just over our shoulders a couple of nights before, and left some paw prints and bathroom remains that were found even closer....so exciting, HA! The boys fed the horses who detected the bear not far from their little enclosure. They were the nicest horses, the black one is the mommy and the spotted one is her son. Thank you Steve for letting us feed them a little hay snack!~

Some views of Diamond Peak and Crescent Lake from the top of the neighborhood ~
Grandpa took us out on a pontoon boat and this was the first time Dillon and Carter have ever been pulled behind a boat (with their cousin John holding on to them of course!) They LOVED it and we had such a good time that we now have to figure out how to get our own boat now.....ok and our own cabin too....eventually, right?!
This was a pretty long vacation from home for Brady, and by the time we had gotten out on the boat he had missed his daily nap for the fourth day in a row and got scared and cried everytime somebody jumped in the water thinking they were going to get hurt. Then he cried about wearing the life jacket and couldn't stop himself until he fell asleep while still standing up :) He was much happier when we reached the sandy beach and Jim made him a shade hut to hang out in.

This was such a great getaway, and I wasn't quite ready to come home. So we will be bringing the boys back soon! Thank you so much Uncle Chuck, Aunt Judith & Grandpa! This was truly such a special time for us :)

Interesting Perspective...

Cultus Lake

Jim turned 35 on Sunday and took Monday off, so we decided to do something new that we've never done before.....go for a little boat ride! What a great day :) The water was almost warm and so clear, it was just beautiful. Cultus Lake is right below Cultus Peak about 35 minutes from Bend off the Cascade Lakes Highway, you can see Mt.Bachelor and South Sister from the lake (except that the air happened to be a little smoky from it being fire season the day we went) and you can rent little motor boats, jet skis, paddle boats and kayaks, next time we go I want Jim and I to rent a jet ski together, I've never done that before!

This was all during Brayden's nap time and he dozed off for a few seconds while on the first leg of our boat ride. That humming motor must have done the trick...
At our picnic and swimming spot -
On the boat -
Carter and his string -Dillon and his stick -

"What? I can't hear you Mommy!"

Somebody found q-tips out of a travel bag and thought he could sneak them to the back yard (see the pile on the ground behind him?) I couldn't help but take a couple of pictures before invading his sneaky plan....

Loving the Valley

Is it strange that I miss views like this and the smell of the freshly cut hay and mint fields at night?

It was my mom's 59th birthday and Jim's mom's 60th so we all went to visit the valley and spend some family time together, I just love our trips there :) Isn't that sunset so pretty?

Lemme tell ya, its pretty cool when you have an uncle who is a police officer - you get to sit in and explore a real police car and learn about tasers. Seeing a taser was Dillon's life long wish for about a month and he finally got to see it.....whoa, watch out!

All tuckered out....I remember the last times that Dillon and Carter fell asleep on me like this and I'm hoping that this wasn't the last time for Brayden....

There were a few other REALLY entertaining pictures that would have been loads of fun to post - but my better judgement told me not to :) Oh well....

The Dirty Donkey Story

My Aunt Michele sent me this email, I just love it!

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. (oh my gosh!) Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, Never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen anyway.
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more.
Expect less.

NOW ............. Enough of that crap. The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON: When you do something wrong (and mean!) and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you. And that we have to be willing to be at the bottom before we can teach ourselves how to get to the top.

"Now, wait a minute... why wasn't I supposed to get wet?"


Oh well. Wet clothes are the least of my worries - Right before this I caught him drawing with markers on his feet, legs, hands, and face and now the pool water is washing it all off :)

Just A Beautiful Summer Day

This summer is so drastically different than last summer. It is so nice being able to have such calm days with little obligation and lots of relaxation. We have been coming and going as we please and I have purposely not signed the boys up for any summer sports or classes, because I'm loving the freedom of our days and there is no better place to spend beautiful mornings (while its cooler) than this park about 5 minutes from our house. These are pictures from Farewell Park right along the Deschutes River. As you drive down to the park you can see the river getting closer and the setting is canyon-like and there is everything for a handful of boys to do there. You can see Dillon on one of the climbing rocks in the picture above. It is probably my favorite place to take that certain handful.

This outstreched dock is perfectly enclosed so the boys can run around freely over the water. They can't get out......Love it.

This is a popular trail we took along the river, you get to climb over rocks and along little bridges, through catails taller than you can see (if you're 6 or under) and perfect little resting and snack time areas all along the way. We even got to see a hawk dive into the river from high above and catch a fish, we could see the fish squirming in the hawk's grip and the bird almost lost him, but then flew away with lunch. Brayden's little legs went for a full 2 miles with very few requests for Mommy to "Hold Him, Mommy...hold Him." We could come here everyday.......

Naps Are Not Safe Here

This is what happens when Daddy falls asleep on the couch:
It quickly turned out to look like this:

I now know why its a good thing that I don't take naps during the day.

Carter is 4 Today!

Carter is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet. I'm not kidding you, he is a hearthrobbing sweetheart. You will do anything for him, I promise. So today was fun! He wanted to go to Pappy's Pizza to play in the indoor play set, he picked his own cake, and nobody (we won't name names) got to pick on him :) He had a great day! I still think its strange that the Papa's Pizzas turned into Pappy's Pizza over here. Over Father's Day weekend Jim and I - ok, mostly Jim, I just held things, built this treefort in the backyard and we had so much fun doing it too! Here are the boys in it tonight: It was somewhere over 95 degrees today. Doesn't this picture look like it was taken on the coast and not in hot & dry 95 degree Bend? Good thing we love thunder storms :)

Spiders: Family, You'll Appreciate This

When we lived in Albany, the spiders in our neighbrohood, and in our house, were HUGE. Jim won't kill them either because its mean. He studied these HUGE spiders and got quite comfortable with them, catching them and setting up little habitats for them in many various, tightly sealed containers with air holes, and him and the boys would go down to the pet store and purchase poor little crickets and feed them to the spiders too see how big they could "grow" them. Then if the spiders weren't doing well, he would take them to the 'field' down the road a ways and humanely let them go, if they hadn't died in thier carefully made habitats already. And all the while the spider's habitats (spiders in clear highly visable containers) were perched upon my desk at home and everytime I had to work I had to share my space with them. I had to move the dang things everytime I had guests over so it wouldn't freak anyone out. I guess I got pretty comfortable around spiders, I had no choice really. So, since we moved and are missing (yeah right) our pet spiders from Albany, it seemed pretty fitting for Carter to get a remote control trantula for his birthday.....doesn't it? By the way, Nana just LOVES spiders! Hahahaha just kidding.

Opening the spider:

It MOVES:

And yes, the littlest brother made sure he got his share of attention today too....or maybe he was acting on that candy-dinner he had tonight...


Sierra has been staying with us and Nana for the last week or so and Brayden won't leave her alone telling her in a sing-song voice, "Siiiii-errrra, come 'er-re...."

If I Had My Life To Live Over

I had been thumbing through a couple boxes of books to list on Bookins for trading (I have received several great books already!) and I found Chicken Soup For The Soul. I love this series of books, there is also a series called A Cup Of Comfort, of which I just got one for Mothers and Sons from Bookins. Go figure. As I was looking through the Chicken Soup book I came across this little story that I wanted to share because I just love things that make you think in many directions:

"Interviews with the elderly or terminally ill do not report that people have regret for the things they have done but rather people talk about the things they regret not having done."

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax. I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.

(no, thats not our own photo, I just thought it was perfect for this story :)
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments and if I had to do it all over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments. one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter next time.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

- Nadine Stair, age 85

Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you. Life is a test. It is only a test. Had it been an actual life you would have received further instructions on where to go and what to do :)

The Magic Of Believing:

I'm not old enough to play baseball or football. I'm not eight yet. My Mom told me when you start baseball, you aren't going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation. I told Mom I wouldn't need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I'll just hit them out of the park. Then I'll be able to walk.

- Edward J. McGrath, JR.

"An Exceptional View Of Life"

Kindergarten Celebration

Dillon graduates from Kindergarten this year and we went to school for a celebration today. They wore hand made graduation caps and each had a 2007-2008 Memory Book complete with a dedication to his Dad in the front and a page in the back for signatures. It was such a nice surprise and so cute watching all the kids sign each other's year books! I love getting these scrapbooks and memory books because I have been too busy to do any of my own and the ones he works on himself are the best ones to keep!