Pre-Summer and Summer fun(lots of catching up)

Jake has a friend b-day party every other year and always in June. His b-day is July 6th so now you know why we do it early.. we have always wanted to do a pool party but always chicken out because most of his friends swim but there are a few who still cannot and the pool is big and can be over 5 feet deep. maybe next year.. we invited over 35 kiddos from school, the gym, TKD, and b-ball. about 20 showed up.. Sunshine was perfect for this large amount.. they were allot of fun and very well behaved.. i was proud of Jakie he read every card out loud before opening the gift and said thank you.. He got sponge bob Lego's, Baku gons(no idea what they are and how to spell it) more Lego's. gift cards from a couple stores, money, a chalk sprayer(cool) transformers and a cool rocket.. it was a great time for all of us.. on his real birthday we always have a family party. i cannot believe my baby will be 8 soon.. the time has flown!!!







Jake was kind of mad here.. after Tanner lit the candles someone else blew them out. then they went out again by accident by Tanner(that was funny) third time was a charm and good luck i told him....



good friends Darrel and Laura on one of our Date nights.



Summer fun consists of swimming at the pool few times a week.. water balloon fights and making there own jewelery Ashely, Jake and Evan. They also made a balloon man and popped him to make him skinny again.(don't we wish it was that simple? LOL

he's loves to swim would go every day if we could... well i guess we could when were home...




baby Anna banana(Seths baby sister...





This was a great party for the kids. the following day i bounced in it at 7am!!
Happy Birthday Ashley



showing his football skills.... and track and field day...



baseball end of the year party... Great year for Jakers


last day of school..









last day of school fun.. track and field day and a picnic at the park.. i received a reminder that day that Jake could be really good at football and i am not sure my feelings on that...
Jake being creative...



Garden after the planting.. as of June 25th you should see how well it's doing:) (As long as i don't wait another month to post!!!












my garden dated mid-may after all the planting and my new fountain...



roses from my husband......

Garrett, Jared, and Jake at a party...
these three are always together.. i really hope they get in the same class for next year...


What better way to catch up by letting the pictures tell the story....


Yes i realize not many of Tanner..(he's a teen now you know) he has dedicated this summer to helping out with some church things, working out and hanging with a few friends. He has also just received his RED belt and will have those pictures posted soon(probably in Aug LOL)
He may have a tournament in July but have not decide if he should do it... in my opinion summers are for playing not doing too many sports however i do plan to run the Sauve Half to try to PR. my bike riding is on the back burner but did some killer hill rides before school let out. i did Vernonia (long way and hills) in a little over 4 hours not too shabby for being almost 40. Dax is fishing his hiney off i am making jewelery and were both enjoying life. nice dinner(Portland City Grill) last week. and doing our fire pit thing..
These were all pictures from my old camera my new one has much more still learning and really want to edit.. this camera had almost 400 pictures and i had a heck of a time picking and choosing what to post in the last 2 months. i know crazy huh? well i had to replant my strawberries this year. i have no idea what happen but my little crop was no more this spring. i have a ton of mint though.. we love strawberries but not strawberry jam(we love raspberry here) but we did pick and enjoyed Lemon strawberry shortcake and muffins. i also freeze a bunch for our smoothies. we eat them by the flat i tell you.. we do like raspberry jam and hope to go picking for that and blueberries.. but it's the blackberry's that i really love....We are most excited for some trips but will posts those as we do them... Summer is definitely my favorite time of the year... Enjoy yours everyone and do not sweat the little things in life don't worry about a "clean house" play with your kids because before you know it they are 13 and you are lucky if they even let you run with them.. LOL...

So many things to write about.....

But never seem to be able to get on here to do it... As i wait for my infamous GPS to find it's satellite so i can go yet again another long run i find myself checking my friends BLOGS messing with my farm on FACE BOOK and wondering where i shall begin...Bottom line.. it's already been a great SUMMER!!!Oh and my GPS in now ready to go which means i am ready to go... i do promise however to get all caught up maybe post a few pictures at least by the time we are ready to go on our long vacation:)

messing around with editing..

I have ALOT to learn but messed around with these two pictures... i LOVE black and white. If you have been to my home you'll know that.. anyway hoping to get some more fun shots this weekend...The one of the boys i tried too blow it up but the resolution started to look off? i don't know.. just playing whenever i have a free moment which isn't very often..


i enjoyed a decent run 6 miles with one friend(Stephenie) and my other friend Candy for a little over 2 miles.. As Steph and I were finishing we ran into Candy and I wanted to play "catch up" with her more than anything since we havn't seen one another for onver a week. It was the motivation i needed to get back in the swing of things:) I got 9 miles in and have not ran a long day in over a week.

I am on a Roll!!!

I have been playing catch up today on blogging. I am about 6 BLOGS in Check them all out:) All the way back to SUMMER...:) Are you just so proud of me? LOL!!!

Jake getting his first belt in TKD and Tanner Gold in another competition!

Jake started TKD near the end of Jan this year. He tested for his first belt at the end of April. it just dawned on me I never posted this on my blog... He really enjoys it and has picked it up quite fast. With the baseball season so demanding we have done a fairly decent job and with the luck of only a few games falling on Mon/Wed. He has done great keeping it up... With the help of Tanner he has picked up his 1st form well. Like his brother he loves to Spar and break the boards.. Keep up the great work. On a side note. In any martial Art you are required to keep up good grades. both boys have done so with Jake excelling and Tanner remains a 4.0. TKD is not just about Sparring it also teaches kids Respect for other as well as themselves and to lead and make good choices. Tanner had another competition and had gotten a Gold in sparring. Here's his medal picture. i was not able to attend because of a baseball game. It was the 1st one I missed. he has done so well this year in competition.. I am proud of you Tanner!

more baseball Jake

first day with the NIKON D90...

If you are just looking at my BLOG and have not done so in the past day. i suggest you continue back on some old posts. i am playing major catch up. So bear with me everyone:) at least i am posting now LOL... I think this is my 5 th post in the past few days:) If you also compare these B-ball pictures to last Thursday pictures you can already see some improvement in my shots.. Not to sound greedy but i am already thinking of getting other lenses right away....