More pictures...

cutest kids ever!


Harry and Lila

cuties!

little weirdos...

baby fawn in the backyard

Ga-ga and his monkeys

sailboat on Rainy Lake

Harry out cruising!

Wedding fun

Bike Rides, Farm Time, and a Jump-o-Lene!

Emma's been yelling "I BIKE" at Gaga for a few days now, so he finally packed her up and took her out. Harry used to LOVE this, but conk out as soon as they got down the driveway. Emma apparently yaps the entire time, "I see puppy, I see speedboat, I see bike, I ride, I slide, I swing, I see car, Moo-cow!" So much for a nice relaxing ride!!

Bald Eagle- its immature, hence the non-white head

Feed bin that says "Butterfield!"

Harry and Woody

Emma playing in the hay bales

Harry pouting on the bridge

Deer watching the kids play in the backyard!

I got a Jump-o-lene for $10 at a garage sale yesterday! Totally awesome purchase!! The kids love it and it completely wears them out :)

Sha-Sha Pix

Chickamucka

Working together!

Harry making a super weird face!!

on the dock in their matching sweatshirts

Emma on the chickamucka

Travels...

We are here. (Here being in MN) It was a loooong journey. I spent about 4 days packing everybody's everythings- I still can't fathom how much I needed for a month's trip, but I guess it'll be worth it when I don't have to hit the big K twice a day.... Anyways, while loading the van, Emma starting screeching like a banshee and when I picked her up to see what was wrong, she vomited all over the driveway. Yup, this was like 2o minutes before we're leaving for the airport. AWESOME. I was all set to call the airlines and reschedule and Jay convinced me to at least attempt it and come home if she got sick again at the airport since she was already starting to act like her bouncy little girl self again. She turned out to be perfectly fine and was full of energy and happiness for the rest of the day.
Harry, on the other hand, was NOT okay. Actually, that's the understatement of the century. Between diarrhea and vomiting, he went through both outfits I had packed for him, one from the gift shop at MSP, and a Northwest blanket-toga that I fashioned. He got off the plane naked except for his speed racer undies. Poor kid was so happy to get to my dad's and to a warm bed. All this was topped off by the fact that our flight attendant didn't show up for our flight to I. Falls, so our plane was 2 hours delayed. Our nice little 11 pm (9pm west coast time) flight didn't show up until after 1:30am!! ARgh... my poor kids: they were sick, tired, and in the company of the crabbies mom EVER. If anybody has ever ridden on these wonderful little puddle jumpers that fly up north, you'll understand how much fun I had with one energetic 21 month old on my lap and one vomiting 3 year old sitting next to me while the plane vibrates its way up north. I don't even want to talk about it anymore, except to say that I'm not flying alone again for a LONG time.
I also managed to catch their "flu" yesterday, but I think THINK that its finally worked its way through us....
More pictures later, we've already hit up Sha-Sha and the chickamungas!!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a fabulous 4th of July! We hung around the house and a lazy morning and some quality time. After naps, we headed over to our friends, the Remle's, house and had a great bbq. Marty cooked up some burgers and hot dogs for everybody and the kids got to play in the THREE pools Rhenda had set up! It was over 90 degrees and baking hot, but we all had a blast. We also had tickets to the Spokane Indians game tonight, so we headed over a little late and caught the second half of the game. The Indians lost, despite a nice 3 runs in the 8th inning, but we were there for the fireworks afterwards, anyways. :) They were wonderful and all the kids had a great time. On our way home, the whole town of Airway Heights had banded together and was lighting off more fireworks across town. We stopped at the grocery store in the middle of town and parked to watch for a little while. The kids (and us!) were in awe of how cool it was to see fireworks literally going off from every direction. It was amazing- Emma kept yelling WOW and OOOOOHHHH!! Even now, she's lying in bed cooing in her sleep, she's definitely my girl, I LOVE fireworks! Harry doesn't like the booms, but loves how they light up the sky.

Happy Independence Day to all our family and friends!!

Kiddos ready to go!! I LOVE the matching t-shirts!

All the kiddos ready to head to the baseball game!

James, Jordyn, Anna, Harry; lower- Bree and Emma

Jay and Lumpy heading to the game

watching the game

getting ready for the fireworks!

Hiking at Riverside State Park

Jay had yesterday off of work, so we decided to take advantage and do something we've wanted to do for awhile. We headed up to Riverside State Park to the Bowl and Pitcher. We've had friends rave about this place and wanted to check it out for ourselves. The hike was perfect length for the kids, they were burned out by the time we got down to the river and again when we got back to the car. I think the fact that it was 90 freakin degrees helped too, it got pretty sweaty towards the end. :( They both did great, and now I'm motivated to take Harry out a few times up by Voyageurs when we're back in MN. :)

The little punk ready to go- she will ONLY wear her hat like this. Its cute, but a little embarassing... :)

The "Bowl and Pitcher"

Harry and Jay walking across the swing bridge

Emma got grumpy because nobody would carry her, so Harry held her hand up the hill. SO cute!

Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here!

Throwing rocks in the river

Harry being a "big hikin' boy!"

Dress-up Fun!

A few weeks ago, I found a HUGE clearance sale online for dress-up/costumes. I found a bunch for the kids, and figured they would get a huge kick out of them... Emma was more than thrilled to model them for me!

Princess Do-Re-Mi

Ladybug

Cowgirl

and, my favorite, Gretel :)

I also have a cowboy, Hansel, and Batman costume for Harry, but he refused to wear anything, let alone take pictures. He did put the Hansel costume on later, but still refused the pictures. It's SO stinkin cute though, I'm fairly certain they're going to wear them for Halloween this year, plus they're long-sleeved so I can bundle them up underneath!