And.....................

it's a girl!!!!

I took the kids shopping after the ultrasound today.

They each got to pick out an outfit for the baby. 

It was quite enjoyable to watch them all on the hunt for the outfit they liked best.

Fun Days of Summer

 Just a quick post of some things we've been up to.
We went raspberry picking on the 4th of the July. This reminded me of our raspberry bushes that we had in Spokane. I was telling the kids about our huge gardens there, and how it seemed that half of one was all raspberry bushes. I remember people from church coming to come help pick because we couldn't pick or use all of raspberries that were produced.
Elsa had fun telling us which ones she thought looked ripe, and Myles I think ate everyone that he picked. We didn't come away with a huge picking, but enough to put over ice cream and on cereal.

  Myles celebrated his 7th birthday last week.
He wanted donuts for breakfast, so I let him put his seven candles on, and we sang to him then.
For lunch we went over and had pizza and ice cream with my best friend's children, and then Chris and Myles went out for their free birthday burgers at Red Robin for dinner. This was topped off by a phone call from Cullen, Cash, and Tuppence and Skyping with Oma and opening presents.

 I took these photos of Rhaevyn before the dance the other night. This was her new outfit that she purchased. She was all dolled up!

 

 

 Our swing set has been showing that it has had a rough life. It has been well used over the past 12 years.
It was starting to bend at the top, especially when all four kids would want to swing at the the same time on the two swings and rocket rider. Yesterday Chris took it apart, got out his welder, and put in some reinforcements (it kind of looks like a suspension bridge on the top now). Plus he got rid of one of the swings and put in two more. Myles even helped with some of the welding. So, now all four of them can swing on regular swings at the same time...........no bending and no fighting over swings.
Yay, for Chris!!

 And we got Myles a new bed. We had seen two bunkbeds at Ikea that we liked, but since I found this one on craigslist  for such a great deal we went with it.............saved me 100 buckaroos.
Just had to get one new mattress, and then we moved Elsa's in from the girls's room. They are happy for now to have her in Myles's room. Myles is being very nice to share his room with as little complaint as possible. So far it is working out fairly well. It has made so much more room in there for him to play.

 Plus Rhaevyn's violin teacher was getting rid of this desk, and we decided to see if it would fit in the room..
And it does! So, now he can do his schoolwork in his room, and I was able to put all his school books in the desk. More room on my bookshelves..........it's a win win!
We just put up his new blinds because his other ones bit the dust. These are black out shades, which are very nice for the summer :)

 Here are my two little monkeys hanging out.

And last but not least I will leave you with a little song and dance from my little pioneer girl.

Seattle To Portland

Just got some pictures from the Seattle to Portland bike ride that Chris did with a group of about 10 guys from our Stake/Ward. They have all been training together for the past several months.
I must say, that while I am glad it is over, I'm so proud of Chris for doing it. He made the 200 mile ride in one day.
He and his group left Friday afternoon for the Seattle area. A guy from our ward made a huge lasagna for them to fill them up on the night before. Ben and Stacey were gracious enough to let them camp out at their house, and then they were off early Saturday morning..............leaving the starting line around 5 am.
Chris called me from Centralia at 12:30, which is about an hour an half drive by car from our home.
At 5:30 pm he called to tell me he was 30 miles from Portland, and at 7 pm, as I was dropping Rhaevyn off at a church dance, he called to tell me he had crossed the finish line.
As I pulled these pictures from our bishop's email to all the riders in their group, it was really neat to read all the responses.............how they all were so supportive of each other and happy for the support that they got from one another and couldn't believe that the ride was over.
Only one of their team did not make it. He had gotten two flat tires and then at mile 80 had gone down. He ended up with a broken clavicle and his helmet was toast. Scary..............and I am so glad Chris made it home safe and sound.

 Chris is the 5th one back in this picture..........almost the last one.

 That is not Chris at the finish line, but I wanted to put it up anyway. It was neat to see all the people that line the whole street leading to the finish line. Chris said they all stick their hands out to give the riders a high five. Pretty neat!