Family Memories in July

The exciting event of our summer has been welcoming my sister, Carolyn, home from her 18 month mission in the Dominican Republic. Her return prompted the perfect timing for a Kay Family Gathering where nearly all of my siblings and their children were able to attend. With 18 adults and 20 children (9 and under) together for a week, everyone got along remarkably well and we had a great time. I was not very good taking pictures except for Saturday, July 25th...so here are a few from that day.
It was a treat for us all to be together for my nephew's baptism.

Before our reunion, my dad thought it would be fun to get all the grandkids T-shirts. The number on each child's shirt coincides with their birth order....from 1 to 23. Thanks to Amye's quick ordering, the shirts were a huge success. This is our attempt to get pictures of all 20 that were there.

Getting them to stay in order was no easy feat!!

There is no doubt that these kids are all loved by their Grandparents!! Thanks for the fabulous week!!! It will be a forever memory for all of us! I am so thankful for my amazing family.

Summer Adventures

This summer, for a weekly Park Group that I organize, we decided to go on a hiking adventure every other week. The turn out wasn't that great, but we discovered some fun places to see in the area. This one is Lucia & Moulton Falls in Yacolt. The scenery was beautiful and it was a nice level trail suitable for a stroller.


I was so greatful that my sister, Shari, was with us. After the 2.5 mile walk in ONE direction, the kids were done after 1 mile with complaints of being tired and feet hurting and I must admit I was dreading the walk back to the car as well. Shari volunteered to run/walk the 2.5 miles back to the car and drive it to the end of the trail. What a life saver!!!

The kids were able to enjoy the water a little while we waited for Shari to arrive. The water was so clear. They had fun trying to catch the little fish swimming around.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a little drama. :O) It was a nice day...and the kids took a nice nap that day!

Memorial Day Weekend

So, the plan on Friday night was to have a camp fire and roast marshmellows with their cousins. Well Uncle Jared built a NICE fire. Kyle says it all:

Roasting marshmellows was no easy task...



For Memorial Day, the weather warmed up enough to go to the lake. It brought back a lot of memories for me of all the time I spent as a child at the lake...so many great times! The kids had a blast thanks to their great Uncles and Aunt who played with them.

Tulip Festival

My sister-in-law, Misty, was in town in May and we got to meet my neice ZuriAnn for the first time. We planned to go to the Woodburn Tulip Festival together. So we went on May 7th. Unfortunately the Tulip Festival was OVER. We went to the half-empty, muddy tulip fields and took some pictures in the few remaining, almost dead, tulips. Workers were busily working in the fields ripping up the tulips, but we managed to snap some pics before they were all gone. It really was a blast and we laughed A LOT at the whole scenerio.

Spring Birthdays

Kyle turned 2 in April and loved all the attention on him!

Notice the Skittles that Kyle is clenching in his fist. Once he opened that he didn't want to let it go. Yes, he is our candy monster!

Kyle loved hanging out in our newly filled sandbox playing with his new sand toys.

James turned 4 in May!! He chose to have a "Nemo" party. The kids had fun decorating paper fish and then taking turns to go fish with our fishing pole.

Spring Break

Let's see it's been 8 months since my last post....So sad! I thought I would recap the last year with highlights from the last 5 months. Spring Break seemed like a good place to start. We took a day trip to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill, unfortunantly it was a VERY COLD day! The sights were beautiful and the Mill fascinating...just too cold and wet, oh yeah, did I mention it was SNOWING there (on our spring break)! :o)

We enjoyed having Amye and the kids stay with us for the last half of Spring Break while Jared was at the Dental Convention in Portland. The first night was movie night.

The next day we took a trip to a local swimming pool. This was definitely everyone's favorite. The kids loved going down the slide over and over again. This picture is before the fun even began...but they were SOOOO excited!



On Day 3 we ventured out into the damp outdoors to visit Fort Vancouver:

Our journey began at the sun dial....

And moved to the canons......

And finished off at the sun dial once again..... yes that is some sun!

The night concluded with my favorite part. We hired two babysitters and my parents treated Jared & Amye and Joe & I to dinner and an evening performance of "Wicked." It was fabulous!!! What a treat!!!