4th of July fun

here are a few pictures from yesterday's BBQ at my parent's house.

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carousel ride

i guess i took too long making lunch. . .

hurray for the beach!

last saturday we took the kids to the coast. it was sunny & 85 degrees here in the valley, but once we crossed over the mountains it got cold and windy! thankfully the day warmed up because some irresponsible parent didn't bring sweaters. i guess i'm still used to how sunny and warm the beach is in north carolina! but no one froze and we all had a really fun time. here's a picture of where we spotted a whale ... yeah, you can't really see the whale in this picture, but it's there!

here's raylee! although she didn't actually go down on the beach, we got a picture of her in front of it. ;) just kidding. we all went out on the sand for a little while.

here's the family (minus me ... i always seem to be the one taking the picture):

yay for candy!! there's the best little candy shop here that we always go to with the kids. and i can say "always" since we've been to the beach twice and have gone both times. :)

oh yeah, did you notice damian's iron man shirt in that last pic?? pretty cool, eh? here's noel and his huge lollipop. he was SO happy.

the end. :)

what, no pictures?!

i'm finally in my second trimester --"and there was much rejoicing." ;) i do believe the nausea is behind me now for the most part. of course, i really should lay off the doritos since i'm sure that hasn't been much of a help. they're so good, but when i finish off the bag i feel so bad... :)
last week i got to hear the heart beat for the first time. so sweet. and fast. baby #3 has quite the little ticker.
i'm starting to show a bit. maddie likes to remind me that "the baby is making your tummy really fat." yes, madeline, and it's just getting started. wait until you see how fat mommy is going to get. haha. dame keeps asking me if i'm remembering to put on my cocoa butter lotion. do you think he's pretty much saying the same thing?? hm...
in other news... damian is flying out tomorrow evening to go get raylee for the summer. we're so excited to have her with us again and by the sound of things, so is she. shelby won't be with us this time. she doesn't want to leave family, friends, and softball back in north carolina. right now that's everything to her. she'll be greatly missed.
july is our last month here in the apartment (Lord willing). i'm doing my best not to get my hopes up, but i'm looking forward to moving on. we're praying for a place that will be a place of rest. a retreat from the world. somewhere we can call home. okay, i know we won't get that this side of heaven, but maybe something close?? :)
anyway, that's all i can think to report right now. sorry i don't have any pictures to put up. i haven't taken any in quite a while. don't ask me why. guess we're not doing much. i'm sure when raylee gets here there will be some good ones to share. in the meantime, you get to read read read. but at least i made it colorful, eh?

beacon rock park

these pictures are a little more recent. we went for a drive up the gorge (on the washington side) and stopped at beacon rock state park for a snack and to let the kids run around a bit. it was beautiful there.maddie & samson:

"take my picture, mom!" but then doesn't look at the camera. oh well. :)

noel, making a break for oregon:

our first warm day of spring...yay!

here are some pics from last month when we had our first warm, sunny day. it was in the 70s! imagine that! haha. anyway, we had a wonderful time in nana's backyard. noel got his first driving lesson:

maddie didn't keep her clothes on very long. here she is in the hammock:

auntie amy joined her:

noel's clothes came off shortly after maddie. he kept his shoes and socks on though. here he is sitting with nana, enjoying a strawberry:

turns out, he didn't enjoy the strawberry. but he still got it all over the place.here's "pappy keith" with the dogs watching his every move, hoping he'll drop something their way (he usually does).

noel, when he still had his pants on, drawing with sidewalk chalk:

uncle dan & auntie amy:

amy's tan lines should be interesting:

one more pic of noel running around, enjoying the sunny day:

pregnant again

well, the title sums it up nicely. . . i'm pregnant again! and as you see from the ticker on our page, i have a LONG way to go. ;) this baby will be a wonderful christmas present. it's early, but so far they're guessing december 14th for my due date. i'll keep you updated as things progress, but all i have to report right now is my constant nausea.

Waaaater

here's our noel. he loves eating chocolate ice cream. it makes him sooo happy. haha.

here's noel saying "water." and damian too.

mount st. helens (in the off season)

on our way up to the mountain we stopped to check out the view and waterfall.

this bridge freaks me out.

next thing we knew, we hit snow! maddie was very excited. so was samson.family pic! (maddie didn't want to participate, it was not our choice to exclude her.)
maddie still wasn't into standing still long enough to pose for a picture. despite this pic, we really are having fun!

time to go home. the kids can only take so much. but it was beautiful to drive up there and see everything covered in snow.

sorry i couldn't get a pic of mt. st. helens, but it was too bright with all the snow and my digital camera wasn't up for the task of capturing it properly. :( but take my word, it was absolutely breathtaking to see!