Matt Thomas

I've been meaning to put this post up for a while but was waiting to get a picture of Matt. This is our friend Matt Thomas who was in a mountain bike accident two weeks ago and injured his spinal cord. He is currently paralyzed from the nipple line down but is determined to walk again. He is at Providence Hospital and is undergoing intense physical therapy to help strengthen his body. Matt is a young fun loving guy who loves the outdoors and we need to get him back out there! Please pray for Matt and his family! Check out his blog which is listed on the right column of my blog www.mattnevergivesup.blogspot.com

Rowen's Singing Debut

I've been trying so hard to catch her singing but as soon as she sees the camera she usually stops. She cooperated for a short while on this video but this is just a taste of what she can do... ha! ha! Enjoy.

Lake Creek Hike

So I'm a dork and posted the pictures in backwards order so you are just going to have to rewind through time on this post!! This is Sawyer after our hike, she was pooped and I can't help but realize how much she looks like Rowen in this picture. Maybe it is because it looks like she has no hair:)

The family posing in the creek. It was a gorgeous area with crystal clear creek water.

Rowen playing in the creek. She kept asking to go in the bubbles (rapids).

Rowen hiked the whole way all by herself and actually took a big tumble down the side of the embankment. Thankfully Russ jumped and grabbed her before she fell too far.

Sawyer packed and ready for the beginning of the trip.

Random Shots

Sawyer in the jumperoo

Rowen lining up all of her toys outside.

Sawyer going down the slide.

Rowen in the tub

Sawyer and Rowen. They love taking a bath together although Rowen's scowl does not show it in this picture!!

Camping at Beverly Beach

Being from Idaho I never really got to spend very much time at the ocean so every summer I look forward to our trip to the beach. So we packed up the girls and talked Russ' brother and his family into coming to the beach with us. We camped at Beverly Beach which is near Newport. Above is Guster, Rowen and Russ enjoying the waves at the beach. Rowen of course ran straight into the water and was quickly shivering!

Sawyer loved the beach and especially eating the sand.

This is Sawyer's camo outfit that she wears at night and early in the morning. It was freezing at night!

We spent one morning at the Newport aquarium. Rowen LOVED it and Sawyer was actually pretty into it too. This is Rowen staring straight into the eyes of a fish.

This is one of the pools where you can touch starfish, sea urchins and sea anenomes. Rowen was timid at first but once she realized they wouldn't hurt her she was all about it. I had to keep my arms wrapped around her to keep her from joining the starfish in the water!

This is cousin Tali and Rowen in the aviary. It was pretty cool, a bird was taking a bath right in front of the girls.

This is Sawyer later that day at camp, I just wanted to show off her Carhartts.

Our young at heart dog... he loves the ocean!

This is Rowen an hour after playing in the sand. I'm not sure how she did this but we call in the Charlie Chaplin!

It was a beautiful day! And it did not rain once while we were there, truly amazing!

The day after the aquarium we had the opportunity to go tide pooling on a very low tide. It was gorgeous, I have never seen tide pools like this! Rowen was in heaven!

Here I am trying my best to hold her up because all she wanted to do was sit IN the tidepools and touch the starfish, etc. She kept saying, "more starfish please!"

Tali, Trevin, Ginny and Emily

This is the best family picture we could get. Two year olds :)

I love this picture! Rowen was just so excited she couldn't take her hands out of the sand and spent a lot of her time in this position. It was so much fun! Thank you Ginny, Trevin and girls for a great trip. We look forward to next year.

The Red Car

Sawyer decided it was time to take the car for a spin and she loved every minute of it!

Rowen, of course, thought she needed to help Sawyer. "Go faster sissy!" she said.

Then she decided it was her turn to drive. Poor Sawyer never gets to do anything on her own. We shouldn't have any problems teaching her how to share.

And there they are smooshed in the car! Sawyer eating the steering wheel.

This is the next day when Russ was on daddy day care. This is a strategically placed car, yep she is naked! And this was only the beginning she proceeded to STAND NAKED on the top of the car and of course her father stood there laughing while taking pictures. Such a proud pose!

Russ's little shadow

Russ was outside mowing the lawn with his shirt off (which I'm sure I am going to get in big trouble for having a pic of him with his shirt off:)) and Rowen was outside playing in her sandbox. Next thing I know she has her little bubble mower and her shirt is off. She was mimicking his every move!

This child has about 98% of her father's genes which includes the scowl you see above!