Bridal Tea - Wedding Rehearsal

August 15th - 20th

The five days after the party were jam packed with fun activities.

The Bridal Tea:

My Aunt Sherri threw a lovely tea for Carly, my cousin to be, at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle. And all of the girls got to go! Kivi was asked to be the flower girl, so she got to sip hot cocoa and eat delicious desserts too. It was here that I fell in love with coconut tea and a new cute style of apron, which costs $85, so I'm now trying to make them.

Pioneer Farms:

We had to take my family to our favorite Pioneer Farms! We love this place! And this time we got all dressed up for the occasion too. It's a working 1880's hands on pioneer museum. Here we're getting a lesson in 8 year old boy chores: chopping wood! We also learned all the household chores, from washing clothes to the 3 year old chore of chopping vegetables.

In this log cabin Peter's obsession with fresh bread baking began. He has made a fresh loaf of bread (really, really good bread!) almost everyday since!

Nonnie working with Opal on her walking. If she was a pioneer child, I don't know if she'd make it. I'm pretty sure walking was required of children before 18 months.

Jasper enjoying his horse ride.

Don't worry, the chicken really liked this.

Nonnie and Kivi making wool into yarn.

Flaming Geyser:

Our group was too big to fit in one vehicle so instead of taking 2, we took 3! Nonnie and I rode on the back of the motorcycles to the park and Buggy and Dodie on the way back.

We ate some lunch, roasted some pink marshmallows in the Flaming Geyser flame and took a short hike.

Indian Stew:

We had dinner one night over the fire down by the beach. Everyone added their own ingredients and seasonings to their foil pouch then we stuck them in the fire ( a little too long for some) and ate at the new picnic table Peter built this summer, along with a fresh loaf of bread and homemade jam of course.

Eben enjoying his Indian Stew.

Manicure Day:

All the girls went to get French manicures before the wedding. This was Kivi's first one and she was so excited! Mimi already had her nails done so she got a pedicure.

The Weltes, Johnstons, Tagues and Johnsons:

My pop's sister Aunt Mary and her family were able to visit briefly before they had to visit Uncle Tom's dad and we had to leave for the wedding rehearsal. My cousin, Kenzie, and her family live in Dubai. So it was great to see them even for a short time.

Cowgirl Kivi's Hoedown!

Kivi turned 4 on July 14th! Yee Haw!

My cousin Brian got married in August, so we decided to wait until my whole family would be up in WA for the wedding so they could all come to Kivi's big day. She chose a hoedown this year! It was so much fun! I love putting together parties, but for some reason I got really stressed out about it this time. I love the details. Too much. I went really crazy for a bit, but Peter brought me back to reality, and I decided to trust God that everything would be great. And it was, it didn't even rain! Which was my biggest fear. I have my priorities out of wack, I know.

We had a great time chowin' down on Miss Tiffany's Baked Whistleberries, Grandma Jacque's Country Cornbread and Gruntsteak (pulled pork) Sandwiches. Kivi wanted a pink boot shaped cake, so that's what she got. And since I'm a crazy party nut, she got a lot more than that. But I'll admit it, it's mainly for me. I'm pretty sure she'd have been happy with just the cake.

Mama and Dada with the big 4 year old birthday girl.

Bubba retreating to the hay to scarf down his food. (And a dead horse in the background. It had been riden too hard on the trampoline giving kids turns "bull riding".)

One of my favorite pics of the day. Miss Tiffany doing her lasso thing!

The dad's had a pig callin' contest, of which no one won, and a lasso contest, which both Grandpa's won. Here's Poppie ropin' the haas. We also had a pig race were the kids worn pig snouts and crawled to their parent.

Peter filled his truck with hay and tossed tons of coins in and let the kids search for treasure in the hay the whole time. The kids loved this! Especially Trey and Logan.

Our sign.

Details. Tin cans. Bandanas. They were hung everywhere too.

It was a girly hoedown.

More details. Our cowboy/cowgirl boot party favor cookies.

More boots.

Opal and Kivi had matching pink boots. Opal's first pair of shoes that actually fit on her feet.

Opal "standing" for the longest time while we took family pictures. Her stance kept getting wider and wider.

All the cowboy and cowgirls. Kivi was the only one not looking at the camera!

My other favorite pic: Jayna still wearing her pig nose after the pig race. Kivi loves pigs! So we had to incorporated the favorite farm animal in the party.

Eben and Aunt Sherri

Kivi girl waving to her adoring fans as they sing her "Happy Birthday". It was so cute! She had the biggest smile!

We love you Kivi Pea! Your precious smile, the way you share, how you're always ready to help Mama, Dada or your brothers. You can entertain Opie for hours. You're the smartest girl ever - reading and writing already! You always think about what God would want you to do and try so hard to use your self-control. You have an infectious love of Jesus even at such a young age. You are loved and cared for by lots of people and especially by God. We are so proud that God chose us to be your Mama and Dada. Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Pea!

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get sidetracked in your lifetime on the wrong details. And I want to apologize now for when I do. Because the main thing is that your are loved. So please forgive me if I freak out about stuff, and remind me to just love you. And to trust God.

Motorcycles and a Bubba Story

Motorcycles

Peter's been getting in a lot of motorcycle time lately. We took the bike to Anderson Island when Travis and Crystal hosted an HFG weekend at their parent's cabin. Which was great fun!

But I think that was mainly to get ready for Peter's big motorcycle trip with his friends from college B-Dog and Jared. Chris loaned them a bike and they went around Washington for a couple of days (Aug 7-10th) and camped in the rain in a tent. Peter said they had a lot of fun. He hasn't gotten to ride for that long since before we were married! And the kids were super excited because they got to meet real, live Lodgeboys when they got back from their trip!

A Bubba Story

So after Peter got back from his trip, I took all the kids to the grocery store. I shop at Market Place. It's...different, but really cheap, so I love it! As we entered the store I noticed a slightly overweight woman. OK, like 500+ lbs. overweight. And that would've been fine, except she was wearing shorts that could've fit me. So they turned right into a "G"string. You get the picture. And whether it was right or wrong, I steered in the opposite direction. I had all 4 kids with me.

I made it through every isle of the grocery store without any problems, the kids did great! As we were checking out, I was putting the food on the checkout thingy with my back to the cashier and the 2 customers in front of me. Eben was in front of me in la la land humming and staring at the ceiling, Opal was holding a box of cereal in the cart. And Kivi and Jasper were in back of me near the other customers checking out.

All of a sudden, I heard Kivi cracking up laughing. I turned around to see her laughing at Jasper, who was standing about 2 feet away from the previously mentioned woman. His arms were outstretched like he was about to grab her large derrière loudly singing, "A big fat booty, a big fat booty" over and over! Aaaahhhhhh!

I had no idea what to do. I quickly went over to Jasper, took him by the arm and led him to the cart. I told him to stay right by the cart so I could see him. Then he started crying loudly and yells, "What did I do, Mama?" I couldn't even look at the lady. I'm not sure if she understood his 2 year old little voice, and I didn't want to make it more awkward by having him apologize. I didn't even look at the checker when it was my turn. I probably failed that one. Needless to say, we've had a lovely talk about booties, the word "fat", and not saying those two words together to anyone.

End of July Recap

July 10th - The Kid's Surprise Dada

We surprised Dada in his little work cubicle for his birthday. We had a coworker call about a fake meeting so we could get Dada to come to the police station and we hid and yelled "Surprise!" as he came to his desk. They were so excited to give him balloons, cards and a cake, which said, "sexy 31". (Happy Birthday didn't fit.) When Eben asked what sexy meant I told him that it meant we thought Dada was the best looking dada ever. He nodded his head and agreed.

July 11th - Alaska Airlines Party

The Grondahls invited us come to Wendy's company picnic which was held at Remlinger Farms. It was so much fun! It was one of those times I wished our kids weren't on a schedule so we could've kept them up forever. There was so much to do we didn't even get to it all. We were able to cram in lassoing, bull riding, a clown show, panning for treasure in the creek, face painting, going on the jumpy toy and obstacle course, and a great feast! So thanks so much Rich and Wendy! We had such a great time!!

July 12th - Peter's Real Surprise

We gathered at Stanley and Seafort's for Peter's real surprise birthday celebration with friends and family under the guise of an HFG event (Thanks Shari!). So Peter actually ended up making his own plans and making it harder for everyone. But it was the first time I've succeeded in keeping it a real secret. He's really good at finding things out. And he had no idea of his very detailed birthday cake, a journey of his life, by Adeliz.

July 14th - NASA & the government

It was Kivi's birthday, but we didn't celebrate it... yet. We sang, "Happy Birthday" and Dada went with her to Home Depot to buy a bar and rings for the play toy. (So now she can do flips, our adventurous girl!)

Then we went to Olympia to see the NASA Space trailer, which really was not all that impressive. The only cool thing in the whole big rig was the moon rock that we got to touch, which looked more like a tumbled stone.

We figured the kids would all want to go to the Children's Museum afterward, since it's right across the street, but they all wanted to go see the capital building. It really was great and gynormous. (I don't think that's really a word, so I can't spell it wrong.) And we were the only ones in there. The kid's favorite part was eating ice cream in "the cave", a really dark room they found with tables in it.

July 17-19th - LC3 MOPS Steering Retreat

I'm going to be the Table Leader Leader for my Mops group at Lake City next year, and our retreat was at a quaint cottage in Sea Brooke. All the houses in the development were Cape Cod, wrap around porch, cedar shake style and the one we stayed at was decorated so cute. I had so much fun getting to know the girls better and planning out our year. Not to mention the hot tub, great food (thanks Becca!), and beautiful views of the ocean!

July 19th - Backyard Camp-out

We finally purchased a tent! And we had to try it out, so we set up camp on the lawn. The kids had so much fun bringing all their household "necessities" into the tent, but there was no room to sleep. So they had to take it all back inside and make room for the sleeping bags. As we were all making our way to the backyard for the final time (after putting Opal to sleep in her crib, in the house - cheating, I know), Kivi loudly whispers, "I see a deer!" Peter and I are thinking she's really getting into this! How fun! And then we both see a real live deer in the direction she's pointing. It was standing right next to the play toy, about 15 feet away!

We did some neat s'mores, with fingers as roasting sticks and no fire. And then got jammies on and read our night-time book The Princess and The Goblin while snuggling in our sleeping bags. Then Peter and I watched a movie on his brand new iphone to test out the quiet 3 room tent feature and fell asleep. Only to be woken up at stinkin' 3 in the morning to our neighbor who calls her cats in every night. The obnoxiously loud cat calling lasted a good 1/2 hour. I wanted to yell, "Woman, it's a cat, and we're trying to sleep outside in a tent. Shut-up!" But I didn't. And none of the kids woke up. I'm just glad that regularly we sleep in a cement house, and don't hear a thing.

Oh, and on July 28th, it reached 104* - yes, in WA!

Family Devotions

We've been doing family devotions after dinner (from a book called Step Into The Bible that I got at last years Mops convention) off and on for about a year. The book has verses that we work on with the kids and so far they know about 11 random verses from the Bible. We make up little motions to help the kids and they are so cute when they do them all together. Then we have to let them recite the verse on their own. And if anyone talks during someone else's recitation - oh my! Sorry Jesus, we're still learning.

Here they are reciting some of their favorites:

Deuteronomy 31:6 - by Jasper:

I Timothy 4:12 - by Kivi:

John 3:16 - by Eben:

Proverbs 3:5 - by all of them:

Our prayer is that these family devotions, scripture memory and Bible reading times will guide our kids in their lives. Help them when they have troubles, and learn to trust in and love the Lord as they grow. Because this is really the most important thing we can teach them in this life.

The Fourth!

The 4th of July = Big Party at our house! We look forward to the fun of having lots friends over, swimming, eating and of course fireworks!

Here's Jasper sporting the look of summer:

Clara and Opal in their patriotic colors with matching confused looks:

Eben and Hayden hard at work digging a trench:

Peter and I and our little people on the dock:

The famous "Sparkler Picture":

Last year Peter got free sparklers with the fireworks he bought and we got smoked out. So this year he bought top of the line fireworks, and they were so powerful and emitted such a flame, that we all got burned. One of these years we'll get it right!

A super-excited Kivi, ready to light her roman candle:

All the boys waiting in the roman candle line on the dock:

The firework show at the end of the night was fantastic this year - a great ending to a wonderful day!

Mexico!!!

On June 18th we left Eben and Kivi at Grandma and Grandpa's and flew down to Orange County, CA with Jasper and Opal - the two freebies. After a day at the Magic Castle (a super cool magician's mansion) we left the babies with Poppie and Nonnie and joined up with our church's Mexico mission team at the Long Beach airport.

After many failed attempts to cross the border into Mexico, we finally remembered to pray and God got us right in. Our Mexico experience was awesome! We stayed in a hotel in San Vicente, which we brought in our own military cots to sleep on - yes, in the hotel. There were roosters to wake us up every morning at 4 am. And it was so hot that we all made a special stop at a Home Depot before the border so everyone could buy fans - which basically just blew the hot air around the room. Oh well, it sounded like it was doing something.

Every day we would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in this cutest hut:

And I fell in love with refried beans. We had them at every meal. I keep trying to make them and I'm failing miserably.

Our main goal while we were there was to build pig pens, a fenced garden, a chicken coop, plant an orchard, and erect a windmill to pump water to the afore mentioned things on a men's recovery ranch. I was on team garden, and Peter was the leader of the pig team.

Day one however, everyone ended up on Peter's pig team because he needed 50 some odd holes dug out of the clay/cement dirt for post holes and the rest of us had to wait for the back hoe to dig holes for our projects. After digging about 16 holes by hand at the end of day, no one thought we were going to finish our projects by the end of the week. But plans were changed (pounding rebar instead of digging post holes), the back hoe finished and God was good...and all of the projects were completed!!

We even did a little extra project, our Women Shed:

No boys were allowed in the building of the two Women Sheds and this whole thing was put together with one screwdriver! What? No one thought to bring more than one screwdriver? No. Oh yes, we had a drill, but it had no bits.

Here's Peter and his pig team in one of their three newly constructed hog shade things:

They also built a mommy/baby pig birthing suite and I helped run electrical wire around all the pens. Al Hall helped to test the shock factor of the electric fence.

And here's our whole team at the finished windmill:

We were able to meet some of the great people of San Vicente, go to church, play with the kids at the Casa (a home for women and their children) and at a migrant camp, and even spend an afternoon at a water park.

I know God is doing many great things in this part of Mexico and it was wonderful to be able to be a small part of it and share this experience with my amazing hubby. I loved seeing him play with the kids, work hard, be a great leader, and encourage others. He bought me a "going steady" friendship bracelet from a vendor outside our hotel the first day and he took me to ice cream every night. It's wonderful to serve God with such a great man.