Sunday best

Here is Cameron’s Sunday attire for his zoom meeting devotional. He was one of the speakers. 

Summer finally arrived 7/14

Summer showed up today, better late than never. 

Welcome!

FHE

Hope

Tonight as Mitch and I were coming out of dinner a rainbow filled the sky. A whole rainbow that went from one end of the sky to the other. It was so vibrant. It was just what I needed today. 

Lady Liberty

4th of July

4th of July Shenanigans

Lady Liberty, Aunty Sam, Abe, and a patriotic kangaroo.

(See I told you that when you think 4th of July you think kangaroo!) 

Hard to believe that we have all these costumes.  Ha ha 

It is apparent that Cameron hasn't had to wear his church clothes in awhile.  He went to put on his suit and it is on the smaall side.  By the time we really go back to church, he will really not be able to fit into anything!

Mitch offered these guys $25 each if they went to the main road and waved at cars as they drove past.  Too bad for the teenagers in making some fast cash because "that would be soooo embarrassing."

We spent the evening  at Mitch's sisters house.  Had a nice bbq, the kids got to swim and enjoyed some fireworks. All and all, a nice day. 

Kangaroo Farm

To kick off the holiday weekend, we decided to visit a kangaroo farm in Arlington. I mean, I know you think kangaroo when you think of the 4th of July!  It was fun to pet and watch the kangaroos jump. They are so soft, who knew!

They had other fun animals. I have so many pictures through the years with Mitch and odd animals. It might be one of my favorite things.

We were excited that Grandma came along with us.

Traffic was a nightmare getting to the farm so we missed the time slot that we were shooting for. So to burn sometime before the next tour we visited the outlet mall in Marysville. It was PACKED with people and the rules to get into the stores with everything going on was insane. The girls really wanted to go to the Crocs store so we waited at least 30 minutes in line to go in. It was a win for them as they all snagged some new Crocs. Lucy's Crocs were a blessing because the other day she wiped out on her bike and if she hadn't been wearing her new Crocs her feet would have been a mess.  Her knee, elbow and side weren't so lucky.

Cameron wanted to go into the Nike store. The line was so big that it would have taken hours to finally get inside. We skipped that! It looked like some crazy line at Disneyland, the difference being the lines at Disneyland at least move. Other than the Croc store the lines were too long and my back too bad but it was fun to get out even if it was with a mask.

Birthday girl

The highly anticipated day arrived. Julia has been counting the days till her birthday for quite some time now.  The day turned out to be sort of a cool rainy day but despite the weather she was all smiles.

Julia’s birthday wishlist was released a few months ago. She was so kind to rank her wishlist in price and importance. 

This was Cameron’s gift to her. The driver’s ed manual. 

Julia’s special request for dinner was Papa Murphys pizza, Caesar salad and Olive Garden bread sticks. 

Blonde bombshell

Natalie is looking pretty darn grown up these days. With her long blonde hair and blue eyes I think we might be in big trouble when the boys start coming around any day now.

Finished

Jules started this paint by number project the first week of the COVID shutdown here and finished it the other day.  So now you know what it takes to finish one of these...about 15 weeks of being home bound.

Father’s Day

Father’s Day happened to land on Cameron’s birthday this year. So we got to celebrate both our boys on the same day. Later in the day we headed up to Marysville to celebrate with Grandpa. Gratefully for all these boys in my life.

Birthday boy

SEVENTEEN!

Seventeen sounds old! 

If he is old what does that make me? Crazy, how time flies by. 

Cameron wanted to go to Parkland Putters on Saturday for his birthday.  It was a good time. At least one person cried and I got hit in the face with a golf club by Lucy. The weather wasn’t cooperating and it rained on us but all in all it was a typical Seattle day with some good ole family competition.  For the record Mitch and I beat them all. 

Cameron requested this sweatshirt for his birthday.  We knew that it was gong to take awhile with everything going on to get it.  We ordered it through what turned out to be a bad company.  After waiting and waiting for it to arrive and his birthday days away we realized it was never coming. We then ordered it through another company, using a very expensive express shipping so that we would get it here on time.  It arrived two days before his birthday and because ya know how it goes, the original one arrived the next day.  He now has two custom, non-returnable sweatshirts.  Lucky for him that his parents love him, a whole lot. $$$

Happy birthday Cameron!  We do sure love you.

The end.

I feel like the school year ended with a fizzle. No parties, field days, year book signings (in fact 3 of my 4 kids still haven’t gotten them yet, all due to Covid 19). No field trips, award ceremonies, you get it as the list goes on. Online ended sort of as abruptly as it started. Tomorrow is officially the last day with one last 9 am Zoom meeting.

Today the elementary school had a teacher parade to end the year. They had one at the beginning of this whole mess and now ended the year with one. It was very cute. A few days ago we had to go to the elementary school to drive up and pick up all Lucy’s school supplies. I guess I didn’t do a very good job of explaining about what was going on because Lucy thought she was going into her classroom to retrieve her things, see her classroom one last time and say good bye to her teacher. She almost started crying when I told her what was really happening. She didn’t cry but it sure made me cry. We are crossing all fingers and toes that we will be able to go back this fall.

Getting ready for the parade.

She made the cutest sign for her teacher but I didn’t get a picture of it. Today is garbage day and the recycling came before I got a picture of it!

We made this cute little planter for her teacher that we will drop off at her house tomorrow.  I won't even tell how I almost lost my mind trying to find a wood yardstick and then find one without a bunch of words written on it.  Not so easy.  But just like most crafts, I find that even when it looks simple I find a way to make it difficult.  Good thing I don't craft often!

So long school year and frankly good riddance!  I now have a SENIOR!!!!  How is that even humanly possible???

Million Dollar Smile

Well maybe not a million dollars but after I finish braces with all of my kids I will have paid almost that to the orthodontist.

This guy got his braces off! Only about 12 weeks late due to the orthodontist closing but HEY!

He might have the straightest teeth ever.

Just because life is just that kind, he chipped his front tooth the other week. The mold was taken with the chip. The orthodontist was nice to smooth it out but I think it still might need a little more smoothing as it is rough in a spot. Well 2 down, Natalie is up next! 

Ghost town

Took a trip into Seattle to attend a Black Lives Matter Protest.

Ha, can you imagine?
 Not quite.

We have taken to family drives to pass the time on Sundays. Since we don’t take the kids to stores they love getting in the car and go for a drive just to get out. And let’s be honest, the kids are just hoping that they won’t have to go to bed any time soon.

Downtown was eerily quiet. No sports happening and no cars or people on the streets. It was nice to see that the city isn’t burning down like the news portrays. Saw freaks, people in masks and we even went to Mitch's office. We saw people walking to a protest but it was pretty calm. We didn’t drive down to the Autonomous Zone. Felt like maybe that wouldn’t have been too responsible with a car full of kids.  😳