Welcome Milo!

We are so excited to have a new little nephew! Congratulations Becky & Mike!!

Ensign Ranch

We took a four day trip to central Washington with my family. This is our second year going to Ensign Ranch, and it really is a perfect place for young kids.



Jayne, Josh & Sheldon

Kitt and Taylor on the water slide


Sheldon, Jayne & Josh

Mom & Dad

We took a side trip to Leavenworth to check out the Bavarian village & to see a play.

We went to The Sound of Music at an outdoor amphitheater. The kids really enjoyed the play and it was the highlight of my trip. When we got home Sheldon even asked to watch the Sound of Music on DVD. But the best part is when I hear my kids spontaneously break out singing, 'How do you Solve a Problem Like Maria'...or 'So long Farewell'.

Reading Program

Taylor on lesson 100!


Sheldon at his 100 day party!



This is a reading program that I have used with both of my kids, and I absolutely love it. I try and tell everyone about it, so I thought I would include it in my blog. Taylor just finished and it took about 9 months to complete. The book is only about $20.00 at your local bookstore. After 100 lessons they will be reading at a first grade reading level.

Our 4th of July

Port Townsend



Sol duc hot springs.




We spent a great four day weekend with Kathy's family. It was a really relaxing vacation and we can't wait to go back next year. If you want to see more pictures from our trip you can checkout Kathy's blog.

A Summer Slow Down

Sheldon was playing at a friends house and hurt is ankle. Nothing broken, just torn ligaments. He will have to hit the sideline for 3 weeks.

The Redwood Forest

Our first family vacation of the summer! We drove 7 hours south to California.

This is a picture of the kids playing around at Crescent Beach on the way to our campsite.

This is Big Tree.

We went to see the tallest tree in the world located in Tall Tree Grove it stands 379.5 feet tall. It took quite an effort to get there, they make you get a special permit, combination pass, and a nice little drive and hike to get down there. We descended 800 feet to get down to the grove, and hiked 4 miles total.


One bag of marshmallows wasn't enough.

After doing some research I wanted to go on another hike through the old growth redwoods from our campsite out to the ocean. We thought if the kids could handle a 4 mile hike...why not a 10 mile hike? (In retrospect I could give you several reasons why this was not a good idea...so could my family, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.) We started the hike and realized that it took 1 & 1/2 miles to get to the trail head, then we read that the trail had been rerouted through another trail and this added 1/2 mile each way. So at the end of the day we ended up going on a 14 mile hike. We ended up hiking ALL DAY, poor kids. Kitt was so tired and hungry he skipped out on our dinner of hot dogs and mac and cheese and drove into town for a burger.We didn't spot any whales, but this is part of their migration route.

Of course we had to drive through a tree!

Belknap Springs

Swimming before breakfast.



The kids spent most of the time in and out of the hot water.

On the McKenzie river, Koosah Falls (above) and Sahalie Falls (below)

We went to Belknap Hot Springs for a couple of days with my sister Becky. Kitt had to work so instead of canceling the trip I decided to keep our reservations and vacation without my husband...sorry honey!