Brylee's swim lessons

Brylee took a 2 week swim lessons at a friends house this summer.  She had a GREAT time and loved it until.....

The lessons moved to the diving board.  Yep - this is her screaming on it.  She eventually did jump off a few times and was very proud of herself!!

Drive-in movie and Lagoon

On a recent trip to Utah we went to the drive in movies and Lagoon (among many other things!!)

Good thing my sister Kristy always has her camera handy!!

I may have got slightly wet on the Rattle Snake Rapids

Such good little buddies!!  We love our cousins!

Wolf to Bear

Ethan started scouts a year ago and completed his requirement to earn his Wolf and move to Bear.

Most of the time he spent as a wolf (yours truly) was his den leader.  It was a fun and new experience for me as I have no brothers and no exposure to the scouting world.

So proud of our Ethan!!

OREGON COAST!!

One of my favorite places to visit is the Oregon Coast.  It is a cold, crazy, fun beach.  This year we hit Seaside and (every so briefly) Depot Bay.

We met up with my parents and Aunt Kristy, cousins Cayden and Kaysha, and Cousin Uncle Colby.

We got lucky in that there were a few warm days.  If you have ever visited here - you count your lucky stars if you aren't freezing!

Thane wasn't able to get the time off work, but we tried to make the best of it without him.  We were grateful for family who would help out.

The beach swings are always a hit!!

At Cannon Beach we got to see a lot of star fish and other fun sea creatures.

The 4 wheel bike.  DO NOT BE FOOLED!  This may look fun....but it is HARD work!  Ok...it was fun....but it was HARD work!!  Good thing we had Alexis to pull us through, she was the strongest one!

One of the fun things about Seaside is walking the shops..we got to:

Try on silly hats

Visit a shark museum..  (no child was injured in this photo)

Ride the Seaside Carousel..

Get treats at the candy shop

Played Fascination (a certain Mom who shall remain nameless ROCKED blackout and won over 1,000 tickets :)

Ate at Pig N' Pancake

We also flew kites on the beach and (MY FAVORITE) built a fire and roasted marshmellows.

We had some Karate Kid moments

To top it off, we stopped at Multnomah Falls on the drive back home!  It was pouring rain but my kids loved it.  VERY FUN TRIP!

Ethan's 9th Birthday!!!

Mr. Ethan turned 9!!  Once again on the 4th of July :) 

The only thing he really wanted was to spend his birthday with Grandpa B. - who also happens to have a birthday on the 4th of July!!

We gave in and bought him an Ipod Touch for his birthday.  HE WAS THRILLED!   He hugged me and told me thank you many times.  What a sweet boy!!  He also got a golf club and glove from Grandpa and Grandpa B. and a lego set he has been DYING to have from Grandpa and Grandpa H.  He was a happy camper!

Grandma and Ethan worked on a Lego Ninjago cake that turned out spectacular - but for some reason we didn't get a pic!!

He had a great day ending with fireworks - just for Ethan :) ! 

The weekend before his b-day we hosted a pary for Ethan.  Aunt Kristy had a great idea of a backyard campout.  He invited 3 of his close friends and we roasted hot dogs/s'mores, destroyed a pinata, and watched Ghost Busters outside on the big screen!!  They boys slept in the tent and had a fabulous time.

9 fun facts about ETHAN!!

1.   He LOVES Lego's
2.   His favorite color is green
3.   He is the only one that can make Brylee laugh a true belly laugh
4.   He is very tender hearted
5.   He is a good friend
6.   He can jump on the trampoline for hours
7.   He can eat over 10 pancakes in one sitting
8.   His favorite sport is golf
9.   He will dip almost anything in ketchup

WE LOVE YOU ETHAN!!  Happy 9th, we are so proud of you!