Halloween at the Smith's

Above is the pumpkin with Smith's lit up. All the kids in their costumes with their pumpkins also. We missed our oldest girl Kenzie. She had fun in AZ with her cousin though. Amanda met Ursula on the street. The lady came across the street to say high. She asked Amanda if she could sing any of the songs for her and Amanda said "No, you will take my voice!" She definately knows the story....the lady just laughed and laughed. She really did do a great job on her costume. It looked really neat in person. Amanda thought she was great but she was not going to sing for her....

Halloween 09 evening...

Every year the front street shuts down for two hours and the kids get to go to the stores and trick or treat down main street. They loved it....Jake took a while adjusting to so many people. He wasn't wanting candy bad enought to venture into the crowds but we got him adjusted by the time it was over. I think Amanda had the best time. Mike and Kaylin got to go in a haunted house. I think they had fun but it was definately perfect for Jake to Amanda's age.

Halloween 09 morning...

The kids enjoyed carving the pumpkins this year. Kaylin made a puppy. Mike made a scary face and Kaylin thought of use carving Smith's into the big one. Finally, Amanda did her pumpkin and we cut it out. Next it is Dress up time!

New grease monkey in the family...

Kaylin loves going outside with Darrel and working on the vehicles. He enjoys it because some one to help him and set out there and talk to... This last week Darrel had to change out the brakes and so she went out to help him. She did have on gloves but forgot to take them off when she scratched her face. So far she has learned how to change brakes, change out lifters, and fill all the fluids. She should be set by the time she learns to drive.

Mike's room...

Well, since Jake is with Amanda, Mike gets his own room. he is excited and enjoying it. We hung up some of his models that him and Darrel have put together. He can't wait to decorate his new room.

New home

Well, hopefully all is going to go through with the house. Every one seems to think it will not be a problem and we should be in the house November 20th. I wanted to make it through Halloween and then we will start packing this next week for the move. Everyone is excited and it is a really nice house. It is on an acre lot and very nicely developed.

Christmas early....

Granny and papa sent their christmas gift early this year. the kids are liking this getting christmas in the summer. this year they got a computer for all of them to use for school. The older ones love this. We set up screens for everyone and all. Amanda is still learning to use it but she is all excited that she was included. Jake thinks he can use it but is not quite old enough yet. They will get great use out of it though and it even has a perfect place for it at the new house.

Summer at grannies....

This summer we went to see ganny and Mackenzie made a blanket for granny for her to use at her doctor appointments. She made it all on her own and then they enjoyed tacking it together. The younger ones enjoyed the cupcakes and all the candles.

New room...

Amanda and Jake are now sharing a room since Jake is out of the crib finally! They are enjoying it because she likes Dora and he likes Diego. I think in the new house we will decorate with dora and diego and they will love it. We also weeded through the toys and got rid of the last of the baby toys so they are enjoying sharing pretend and other items.

Amanda has gotten so big and she says the funniest things some times. Here she is wearing her crown and says this is a picture of her with her crown on and she is standing next to her daddy. The horse is at granny's park over the summer.

My little one...

Jake is getting big. I don't have a little baby any more. Now is favorite this to say is "I do it..." It is hard for me to remember that he needs to learn these things now that he is old enough. This week on Tuesday he even sat the table for everyone. I think that is what made me realize he is getting so big.

Forgot the picture...

Extras...

Well, school is back in and so are the extra curricular items. Kenzie and Kaylin are in Girl Scouts this year again and Mackenzie decided to do Maramba again. We had a discussion as usual about why she couldn't do it all. She wanted that plus chorus. I reminded her of the two extra curricular limit (I only let them to two because since there are three of them I am helping with 6 extra activities total) She still didn't get it I don't think, but she decided on Maramba again. Kaylin is doing Choir and loving it. She has a beautiful voice. Mike is doing Cub scouts again and enjoying it. I am the Committe Chair person for Cub Scouts. I find that I like it better and they do to when I am involved in the things they do. Mike decided a week ago he wants to play football but I think it is too late this year. We will have to see about next year or maybe he will want to do soccer again. They do that sport pretty much year round here. The Girls/Boy and the Scouts take up a lot of our time because their troops are so involved. Here are pictures of the girls at the beach where they volunteered to clean up the beach. It was very windy and cold. Mike even went because he had service hours to do for the community. It was fun and they had coco afterwards. I think they are looking forward to the corn maze the most. Luckily they do it the day before Mackenzie leaves.

School is back in...

Well, it has been busy since we got back from AZ. We debated homeschooling Kaylin and having her watch the little ones this year part time while I worked part time and made some money. We decided that this was not such a good idea and Kaylin needed to be in school with her friends but that since I was not working for one more year that we needed to find a house to buy (instead of renting) and to buy on the other side of the sound (right now Darrel is paying $600 in ferry fees) in addition to gas and the travel time (almost 2 hours). This means that this year we will be moving (which I really don't want to do to the kids either). I don't remember it being this hard to find a home in AZ when we bought ours but I guess since we had it built that may be why.

The kids all loved their new cloths from Aunt Missy and Granny. They all got more than necessary and Kaylin I think appreciated hers the most! I hope mom and Melissa realized this. She loves her new cloths. I think this is the first time she has had more than two new full outfits ever. She has always had hamidowns or a new top or two or jeans or two but never them all. Here is a picture of her in a Jacket that mom got her. She loves it as you can tell from the pictures.

Mackenzie's rain coat this year....

Mackenzie got a raincoat this year. She didn't have one last year and it was hard making do. We found one with velvet on the inside so she is so excited (even though she doesn't look it - she is still dealing with Amanda getting all the clothes) because she still loves to wear things that feel good.

Finally....The Coat!

and more...

and more...

And more...

And more...

More...

New clothes

Actually these are Mackenzies old clothes but it feels like new ones because we only kept the good ones. Amanda has been making it this summer with two pairs of shorts and 4 pair of knit light weight pants. For our family this is not very many clothes. Well, I found the bucket this morning with Mackenzie's old clothes. She was not dealing very well with us pulling things out for Amanda because everything she saw she said, "no, she can't wear that 'cause she will ruin it!" Mackenzie was aways very careful with her clothing *UNLIKE Amanda*. I am so excited though because I just kept thinking "we need to go get Amanda some clothes..."

Amanda and Darrel

Amanda and Darrel were being silly after dinner. She started brushing her hair and then everyone started laughing. Fun night all around.

Lori's quilt

Lori wanted to make a quilt because when she got here I was working on a quilt top. She has never sewn and wanted to try it. She did a great job and after she finished decided she will NEVER do it again.

To Arizona we go...

Well, Amanda found out we are going to Az and it has been "I really want to go see grandma" a hundred times a day for the last 5 days (we still have 9 to go).She decided that she had packed her toys so she could do with out clothes. Jake wanted to know exactly what toys were going.

Island Lake Last week....

The kids loved going to the lake on the hot day.

Lori and Kaylin

Well, Kaylin hurt her ankle, (sprained it) when Lori first got here (her mom). Lori then a week later kicked the air mattress motor and sprained her ankle also! It is still black and blue.

Cub Scout Camp -

Mike had a blast at camp as you can see... He learned a lot and he is half way to his bear badge this year already and the school year has not even started.

Jake in a corky mood...

find those grapes!!!

I can't wait for all the grapes. There are so many. They are hiding everywhere!

Apples

To the right are the hazel nuts.

Fruit galore this year...

Last year I was so excited because we had all these different fruit trees that were NOT lemon or orange trees. The landlord ending up cutting them back so much last year about all I got were apples though. That trim helped this year though because there is a bunch... grapes, peaches, pears, plums, and even hazel nuts, and of course the old faithful apples. Luckly the landlord planted different kind that produce at different times so some are almost ready and some will be in September.

Amanda freezing Skate Creek at Mt. Rainier in July

Amanda wanted in but she was cold...

Go west... part 8

Go West... part 9

last part.

More Fourth of July...

Well, we finally found the good 4th pictures so I will get them on soon.

Skate Creek Fun...

Everyone thought the water was cold but they sure had fun after they first got wet. They all had different reactions the first time they got wet though...

End of a LONG day...

We left the house at 7:30 am and we got home at 10:00 pm. It made for a very long day but the kids did great on the way home because after all that, we stopped at the Skate creek and the kids played and then climbed back in the car and crashed!

Mt. Rainier National forest

Then we went to the forest at Ohanapecosh. They had a trail hike called Grove of the Patriarchs that we did. The trees where huge. The kids enjoyed this alot. It wore them out. We were so glad.

Mt. Rainer

We went on a trip while Kaylin's mom was here this last week. The kids had a lot of fun. There is just nothing like seeing snow in July. We went and saw a waterfall too.

July 11 - My birthday

33 and what a great day it was! First, I got to go take one of my tests for teaching. I had been dreading for months how it was on my birthday and ended up being a blessing in disguise. I got to take a 2 hour drive with no kids, set in a school and take a five hour test about schooling which I love, drive back 2 hours alone, make a pit stop for ice cream to reward me for how good I felt I did on the test and a birthday gift, stop at a scrapbook store to browse, bead store to browse, Joann's to browse then come home to the kids where Kaylin was fixing the frozen pizza's that were bought so I would not have to cook (a reward since I usually make things from scratch up here). Next, I took a shower and no one walked in and asked any questions (first time in probably eight years). Finally, I come back in and I have a birthday cake and the house was picked up. I am not sure I could have had a better day at all. Amazing how the older you get the cheaper the nicest gifts get!

4th weekend

We went with Gloria and Lee to set and see fireworks. It was fun. Then we went on the boat the next morning and to Kingston for the kiddy rides. The kids liked the horse rides and cars the best. Jake was my little helper. When the wind picked up our wrappers Jake took after them to get the trash and throw it away. Remember when Amanda was my neat freak! Boy, have times changed!

Jake sleeping

Jake sleeps like Darrel. It is so cute!

More fishing with the kids at Wild Cat lake

Jake has the fishing pole here and everyone had to watch out. He has the drop and tip and pull rythem but he kept hitting Amanda in the head when he would drop the end of the pole and he thought it was funny which made him want to do it more.

Fishing with the kids...

Darrel loves taking the kids to the parks/lakes here and just letting them cast out.

Wildcat lake was fun for fishing but everyone's favorite is the playground at Island lake where they get to play! It also has the big field they can run and play sports in. It is close and we almost always pack up dinner and eat there because of the park tables to eat at!

2nd day of Viking Fest AM

Mackenzie had Miramba concert also the next day. It was such a busy weekend and it was the first time we all got burned in Washington.

2nd Day of Viking Fest

After Mackenzie's concert we got to go on the rides. The kids had a blast!

Viking Fest

Well, in May was Viking Fest here. It is similar to Gilbert Days. The kids had lots of fun and Kaylin was in the Parade. Amanda and Jake's favorite ride was the carousel. It was well worth them being happy all day. This was the same weekend Darrel was on his fishing trip so everyone got to have fun this weekend!

Wolf to Bear

Michael is now a Bear! He did so much work and he received his patch and 1 gold arrow and four silver arrows (which is extra work). We gave him a cubscouts wallet that we got him for promoting. he was excited because he lost his last wallet so he has not had one for a while.

TSC - Tuberous Sclerosis

Gloria, (our friend up here) has a daughter with TSC. We did a 5K walk with them in Seattle in May. It was lots of fun. The kids loved getting out and going somewhere new.

Darrel's fishing trip

In May, Darrel got to go with a friend fishing in Neaha Bay. They came home with a lot of fish. here they are before they were filleted and then they were able to pay a guy and his son $20 and they filleted it all for them. Darrel was so excited because that is the crap job@! He got to see a walrus sunning on the dock when they tried to pull back in. It was a great trip and our freezer is still full of black cod and reg. cod. In fact, he needs to get to eating it because I went grocery shopping yesterday and almost couldn't get the corn dogs to fit for the kids!

Mother-Daughter Tea for Girl Scouts

Kenzie's girl scouts had a tea party in April. It was lots of fun. The girls made everything and then the mothers got to come and enjoy. It was lots of fun.

Teacher gifts

Well, I have the gifts for the teachers done. Mikes teacher has the lap quilt up top that I crocheted. Mackenzie's teacher is a little older and I thought she might enjoy this shaw I made. It is actually very warm unlike Mike's teacher's lap quilt

Amanda's chick

Jake sure loves Amanda's chick. We were trying after dinner yesterday to get them to share because they were fighting grabbing it from each other. They finally got pretty good about sending it back and forth to each other. Jake still every once in a while would grab it even though it was Amanda's turn but he was so funny Amanda didn't mind. Mike kept trying to get Jake's attention so that Amanda could take it and run but she wanted to share. She loves playing with Jake! (I am so glad and hope it lasts)

Forks for Duane

We found this in someone's yard and immediately thought that Duane would love to have a tree in his yard like this. It took us a minute to see the bear in the yard. Hope you enjoy it Duane!

Easter

Easter here was a very relaxed and lazy day. It was raining hard when we got up and didn't lighten up until about 5 pm so we hunted eggs late. We didn't do a lot for Easter as we are trying to watch money like everyone else and save some so we can start deciding what we might do for getting a house rather than renting forever. They enjoyed hunting the eggs and found them all (yea@!) I don't think raccoons here finding eggs would be a good thing. They would probably come back thinking there was more.

We had a silver and gold egg. Amanda found the silver $5 was in it. Kenzie found the gold $10 was in it. They had fun.

3rd beach hike

3rd beach ended up being a 1 1/2 mile hike. We got about 1/2 way and then we turned around. Darrel was nervous because of the bears and the time of the year. They would be coming out of hibernation and they are known to be seen around here. He had no weapon and 5 noisy kids that kept running ahead aways out of view so we walked a ways and then went back. The kids enjoyed the walk and it wore out Jake and Mandy. I loved walking through the forest! I thought it was so beautiful! There was a huge whole in the ground under an uprooted tree where Kaylin and I wondered if there was a bear that had slept in it. It was pleanty big enough. When Darrel found a walking stick Jake had to have one two. He is starting to watch Darrel very closely and do what he does. Darrel has noticed and is very proud of it. He is doing good at watching what he does and says because of this. Jake is crazy about him@!

FORKS

Well, the household here has been crazy over TWILIGHT - a movie and book series. Forks, WA is where the ficitional story takes place. Because of being so close the kids (girls) really wanted to go there. Darrel and I decided to take them Easter weekend. Good Friday we drove 2 hours to Forks where there is a little town of 3000 people. Actually smaller than where we live now. The drive was long but once we got there the girls liked seeing the places were things were filmed in the movie. We got to go to a couple of stores with TWILIGHT things and the girls loved looking at those items. We got to see some pretty waterfalls but unfortunately not the one in the movie cause it required a hike and the little ones were not up to that. We then went to LaPush and got to see the beach. I picked up some rocks from there and they really are flat with different colors. Not as bright as I was expecting but definately different colors. The ocean was beautiful and the kids loved the beach including the little ones. We got some great pictures from that. The sand was black almost and the drift wood I thought was beautiful. The kids liked climbing on it all. Darrel thought it looked trashy and needed to be cleared out but I liked it. They have three beached named "1st beach, 2nd beach, and 3rd beach". The first is the only one like this. 2nd and 3rd are just flat where they filmed the movie at. The pictures at the bottom are of lake crecent on the way to forks. It is huge and beautiful because of the mountain backdrop and the clouds are always so low here. We even saw deer right here and they must be used to campers because the care was only 15 feet way when we took these.