Camping '08

We had a great time this year camping with friends near the beach. Bridget was in her element just being able to play all day long. Avery loved sampling all the junk food that is not normally available to her at home. It was so nice to spend time together as a family and enjoy our time with friends.


Dune buggy ride!

Sisters

I was thrilled on the day Avery was born to see we had a girl because I wanted so badly for Bridget to experience having a sister. I loved growing up with sisters and having built-in playmates. Bridget is 4 1/2 and Avery is 18 months so my dream of "sister friends" is probably a few years away from becoming a reality. But occasionally I catch them playing together and loving each other up, and when I do it really melts my heart! I just love my girls....

Bethany's here...yippee!

My great friend Bethany is here visiting from L.A. for 2 months while her husband studies for and then takes the Oregon Bar Exam. She and I met our Freshman year of high school and literally became instant friends. Here we are at her parent's house as they let us crash their family 4th of July party. Her little girl Lexie is so adorable (although you can't tell here since her head is turned watching Avery throw a tantrum), and Bethany is an amazing Mom!

Sneaky little "Sucker"

I was home alone this day eating a sucker (ok, I admit I have a serious sweet tooth). Patrick and Avery came home and right when they walked in I set the sucker down on the counter to help get Avery ready for bed. We dressed her and brushed her teeth and then all went upstairs. Patrick and I started chatting about a few things and a few minutes later I asked "Where is Avery? We looked all over and finally found her back downstairs, where she had gone because, in that millisecond that she saw me, I think she had already been planning her escape from us to get a hold of that sucker! There she was happily and quietly eating this after dragging the kitchen chair to the counter! I couldn't even be mad....she is so clever!

Helvetia Half-Marathon

My friend Gena convinced me to try to train for a half-marathon. Here we are after the race and it grew to add 3 more of our friends from church! I definitely caught the running bug and will run in another 1/2 this weekend and one more in October.

Here's our "Look! We're all mom's and we ran a half-marathon!" picture. (Missing in the picture are Gena's little boy and Kristin's 3 kids). The thing that cracks me up about this picture is when you look at the little girls....notice how most of them have either messy or, in the case of my 2, unbrushed hair?? That's cause it was the dad's that got the kids ready in the morning! No mom's available to fix their hair!

Gena, my running buddy and tomato-faced me!