Friday night we went to Art in the park.
We had the privileged of watching our nephew Nolan
and it was so much fun. He is so mellow and good.
One man looked at us all and said "wow, congratulations...
you have your hands full." I just smiled and said
"yep." We went with Uncle Ken and Aunt Amber
and got dinner while we walked around.

Isn't Nolan sweet? He just chilled in his stroller and
enjoyed the evening.

My Grandma Jane bought this outfit for Brooklan.
She is all about the sparkles and glitter and
thought it would look good on the only
girl in the family! I think she was right.
We got more compliments on this little lady
that day than ever! She wasn't too happy about
pictures that night so as I was taking pics
she cried and stomped. Oh no I say...here comes
the attitude. She was way cute anyway!

Here she is stompin around...

Just Playin around

So today Brooklan found the camera so I thought
I would take advantage of taking a few pics.
She actually let me do her hair today without the
miss "sass a frass" attitude she has developed lately.
It must be a girl thing or something, but man she is
a cantankerous one when she wants to be!

Rob got home and I asked him where he thought
she got her blue eyes from...he said him. I said "ya right."
Then he asked "well where does she get her attitude from?" I
said him naturally. Then he asked "where does she get her good looks
from?" and of course I said "me!" She gets all of her good
qualities from me and the ones in question Rob can take
ownership of! ;)

I know I am biased but I think she is
adorable!

When she doesn't have her sass a frass
present she is a sweet, happy, angel!
We just love her!

Pre-school is here!

So here is my sweet boy the night before school started.
He had to color a picture for his teacher miss Nicole
and carried that thing around all day. As you can see
he fell asleep with it in hand on the floor.
He was so excited to start his big day!

Koen is getting so big, I can hardly stand nor believe it!
He did pretty well. We got to sit with the kiddos during
opening circle. Once that was done Miss Laura said
"ok kids, say goodbye to your parents and school can begin."
There was silence, no cries or nothing. Most of the kids
were extremely shy, burying their faces in hopes that no one
would notice them. Despite the shyness the transition went great!

Here we headed out the door!

Koen walked into his classroom and found his name badge.
He knows how to spell his name so he found it right away!

We had said our goodbye's and in goes the thumb.
Well that's better than the melt down all of us
mommy's were expecting! Brooklan and I went for
an hour and a half walk on the Green Belt while he was
in school. It was a perfect day!

SOLD and looking for more!

Master Bath, walk in shower!

Here are a few pics of the house we just sold.
The condition of this house when we bought
it was pretty bad. But with a little
hard work and patience Rob turned
unlivable into a beautiful work of art!

Kitchen

I just love these hardwood floors!

Its amazing what a little paint will do!

Random Summer pics!

Rob threw me a fantastic birthday party! 33 Yikes!
We had a great time with wonderful friends and family.

Kenya, Kristi, Denise and I. I couldn't
ask for better friends!

Sisters! I loved her lashes!
Are these pics dark or is it just me?

Rob and the kiddos @ nana and papa's

Jack and Koen playin a little ball

Zoo adventure with nana and the clan

Charlie taking a break with his feet up!

Me with my niece, sweet baby Layla. Its nice
to have girl so close by now for Brooklan

Summer Days

So this summer has gone by in a blur! Auntie Ericka and the kiddos came for a week in June and the kids had so much fun! A week later I went to Salem, Oregon for my RET certification and it was an amazing, spiritual and educational experience. I can now practice as a technician and new doors are opening for me! In early July, we took the kids to the Oregon coast for a their first camping experience. It was also for Rob's family reunion in Silver Falls State Park which is luscious and green and COLD!!! I did not pack for cold weather at least for myself, thankfully I had enough sense to pack well for the kids. I will download the pics soon so I can post them. We had a great time and look forward to our next camping adventure in 2 weeks. We are headed to Riggins for white sandy beaches right on the river. We have a family raft trip planned and it should be fun!! Rob finished our flip about a month ago. We have had 2 offers but they were not ideal so we are patiently waiting more offers. In the meantime, Rob has been busy with referral work and we are so thankful for anything that comes our way. Koen and Isaiah have enjoyed swim lessons this summer! Isaiah is a pro swimmer now and Koen...well just likes to splash around. He will get the hang of it eventually, I hope. He is quite the little negotiator with his teachers. I wonder what that means for his future. :) Anyway, we are enjoying our summer and trying to get all the fun in that we can!

Progress

Prepare yourself, this gets deep!

Well it has been a few weeks since any posts. I have been busy holding down the fort while Rob works literally from 7 am until 9pm-midnight everyday, trying to get our flip done. I can't wait to post pictures of the final product. It is literally a brand new house! Picking paint colors took me about a week but after many him-ha's and I don't knows, I finally got the interior squared away and the exterior picked! Now I can relax. Except that I have done this enough times that driving up to a house that I picked paint colors for, is now done with my eyes closed. It is like the big reveal of: did I choose palatable, eye pleasing colors or is it hideousness beyond repair. I think I did alright this time...I hope. I will post pics as soon as it is finished.




I am also 3 weeks away from my RET certification. It is strange how life aligns itself in the proper timing because as I have been learning about the gift of healing, and the power we have as individuals to make our lives what we "think," I have been actually experiencing the words as I read them and attach their meanings to my life. There have been those "ah ha" moments where I just stop and think "WOW" and it just all makes sense. Then...in the process of learning and curiosity, I progress with new questions and start searching for more explanations to this blessing of life we have been given.

For instance, here are a few general paragraphs that could apply to everyone, that jumped off the page at me:


"Energy can change form but never be destroyed. Every relationship and experience in this world is divinely orchestrated with our spirits approval for our Earth School. Our job is to notice, learn and quickly move to a new perspective changing our perception about an event." Now, I don't know if this is as profound to you as it was to me, but it simply places the responsibility in every individual's hand. We choose to be where we are with the people and experiences that we have, in order to learn what we need to in order to be ready for the next lesson that awaits us. And...if we don't get the lesson that is meant for us to progress, then the same experience will continue to happen or repeat somewhere else until we finally understand the lesson that is meant for us to know. Pretty interesting eh???

This is what followed the paragraph I just listed... "Embrace the silence, listen to your higher self. Totally give up your past or personal history. By bonding to your past, you prevent your healing." This made me think a bit.

Another neat thought to ponder...
" We are always experiencing abundance. To have abundance in our lives requires a willingness to recognize that it is always available and we need only open ourselves to receive it. Regardless of our underlying beliefs, we are experiencing those beliefs abundantly in the manifestation of them." It went on to talk about that we always have abundance, even if it is a lack of. Meaning we have an abundance of the lack of abundance, if that is what we are thinking. "Abundance is merely the universe's response to our thoughts and emotions."

And one more that stood out...
"So long as we seek anything outside ourselves, we will never have complete peace. Life is constantly presenting to you a mirror of what you are feeling and
experiencing within yourself. All your answers, therefore, must come from within yourself." This makes so much sense. There are so many vices out there that people use to avoid or feel something other than what they are feeling that they forget to look within for the answer. Until we look within, complete peace will not be found.

Wow...that got deep. But I felt the need to share. This was just a spec of what I am learning and I absolutely love it!!!!! Know that there are no coincidences and that life is what we make it! :)

Random Pics

2 weeks ago today my brother in law Ryan
and his fiance Krista had their sweet baby
girl Layla.

She was 7 lbs, 1 oz and a little peanut.
She was so tiny, that I forgot how small
these little creatures are when they are first born.

Brooklan absolutely loves Layla and is always
trying to give her sweet little kisses.
Koen is such a sweet boy with her too.
They live just down the street so we
get to see her at a moments notice!

We took advantage of one of the rain free days
a few weeks ago. The kiddos love being
outside.

Gabie, Brookie and Koen on the tramp

Koen would just bounce them as they tried
to get up. Brooklan loved it and
wanted more, but Gabie
wanted down! As my dad says,
Brooklan will be our outdoorsy
partner for Rob to take hunting
among other manly things.
He thinks she will jump out from a tree
and slash the neck of an elk or something.
Come on dad, she is the only girl of 4 boy
cousins and 1 brother
but I will never allow that to happen!
She is pretty tough though, I must admit.

Although this picture doesn't speak tough.
Couldn't resist posting this one.
She is my sweet little angel!

This is the best Easter pic we could get.
If she wasn't moving he was and
well...I tried!

Our latest project

So this is our new house! Isn't it a beauty?
Well ok, not our new house, but our latest
project.
Rob is turning trash into treasure.
In just 5 days it looks completely transformed from
these photos.

I can't wait to see the end result.
We have gutted the entire thing.
New cabinets, new hardwood, carpet
paint, granite, and a little of my style :)
I love seeing things transform from
ugly to beautiful.

Stay tuned for updates.

Where does the time go?

So our camera is still on the fritz. We have a really old one that we are using and it actually works fine other than the fact that it takes 5 seconds to take a photo.

Life has been busy around here. I just got back from a women's retreat in Deer Lake Washington. WOW! That was quite the experience. It certainly took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to be aware of the things that I need to change about myself yet enhance the things that I like. One of the things that we participated in was a sweat lodge. 17 of us squished into a tent covered in blankets the size of a 3-4 man tent. Can you say sardine?! It was pitch black until the glow of red hot lava rocks were placed inside a hole that was inside the tent, Through out the process water was placed upon the rocks in order to create steam. It was exactly like a sauna only smaller, darker and incredibly spiritual. We all prayed for people in our lives and just let the moment be experienced. This experience lasted 4 whole, hot and challenging hours! We took 3 breaks of a few minutes each which was quite welcomed. The fresh air was a gift. We were soaking wet as if we had just stepped out of a pool. I could feel the toxins release and it felt great. Except for the fact the I neglected to drink water the entire 4 hours, resulting in serious dizziness and low blood sugar. Duh right? What was I thinking? Getting out actually felt like I just got out of the ocean from all of the salt left behind on my skin. The hardest thing about it was the constant feeling like I could not get any air. I could breath fine but because it was so hot in there it felt as though I was suffocating. It was a great test of patience of which I have little, and perserverance which I am proud to say I do have. I was proud of myself that I didn't freak out and actually remained calm the entire time. It was a great mental test! When we finished I downed about a gallon of water and quickly ate to feel normal again. I think I lost a couple of pounds that night...wooohoo :), and gained an experinence I shall never forget.

Thankfully, Rob has been busy with work and we are very thankful and grateful! We also bought a house that was bank owned and are flipping it if they ever let us close the darn thing. They keep pushing it out and we are so ready to remodel and sell it! There are so many deals out there right now that it is hard to pass them up as a great opportunity.

I am looking at preschools for my little Koen. I can't believe that he is already close to being in school! I have actually tried not to think about it but know that if I wait any longer he will not get a spot in the fall. They fill up fast around here! Seriously, where does the time go?

On April fools day we had to decide to put our
dog Nutka to sleep. His life was long and definitely
full of life!

We took him to our favorite park (Camel's Back)
and went on a hike. I felt so bad because other than
the tumor in his mouth he was perfectly fine.

He had arthritis and that was it. On our hike
he was pulling me! It was a hard decision to make
to let him go. But after looking at all of the options
sending him on was the best choice.

The stories we have about Nutka will last a lifetime
The thousands of dollars in fines and fix ups,
the sleepless nights I would have after he ran
away for days on end, the daily jaunts through our
neighborhood because we just couldn't keep him
in and the list goes on.

Everywhere we took Nutka there was always a
interested on looker. Kids would call out
snowdog! And we were always asked
if he was nice.

For almost 8 years Nutka lived with Rob & I
and it seems it went by in a blink.

His life was good and he added value to ours.

We buried him on my in laws farm, next to their
dog Star.

Roam the valleys of heaven and enjoy your new
found freedom!
Nutka you will be missed!

March Madness!

March was a mad dash to the end with family birthdays and dinners and just hanging out!

Here is miss Bella rooski (my nick name for her)