Sunriver

Our good friends the Reynolds kind of decided in a short amount of time that they wanted to go to Sunriver, Oregon. They have been there several times and love it. They have talked to us about it and it sounded like a lot of fun. So, they invited us to go. We ended up being able to work it out to go. We weren't able to spend the whole time with them that they were staying but we were able to get out there for a few days.

Ty and I had never been to Sunriver and we love going to new places so this seemed fun. We haven't really taken Issy on long road trips because she tends to get car sick but she did great on our 6 hour trip there and back. We only had one minor mishap and that was almost running out of gas in the middle of Oregon in a small town. We were lucky to find a owner of the General store there who sold us a couple gallons of his own gas to get us to the next town.

When we finally got to Sunriver which is about 20 minutes outside of Bend we were impressed. It is like camping but staying in houses. There are large trees everywhere, bike paths all over the place, and the Dischutes River that is all around the area. There were golf courses, swimming pools, a little mall and a nice park as well. It helped that we were with people who knew all about Sunriver and they were able to take us around and show us all the great places to go. We stayed in a house that Sommer grew up going to as a kid when her family would vacation there. It was so great to see the excitment in her that she got from showing us around Sunriver.

For the few days we were there, the kids bike rided outside our house and played in the hot tub that was there. We went on long bike rides with the hubbies pulling the young ones in their trailers on the back of their bikes. We went to the little mall and got yummy pastries one morning and some good ice cream at another time. We went swimming in one of the large pools they had there. We were able to bike up to the Stables so the kids could go on little pony rides. I was able as well as Ben and Sommer to get in a couple great runs in there as well. We also went to these Lava Caves and got to go through them and we went up to the Lava Butte in Lava Lands that had 360 degree views of the area. You had great views of Mt Bachelor as well. Some other friends of ours from home, the Gustofsons were there as well in Sunriver and so they came over to eat one night and also went to explore the Lava places with us. We all took turns cooking some yummy meals and the kids had a great time playing as well. Issy really enjoyed having other kids around to play with on a constant basis. Once we could finally calm the kids down and get them to bed, us adults enjoyed playing games each night. Ty and Ben were even able to get away to golf one morning in Bend. We also took the kids to the great park they had there a couple of times. Overall it was just a nice trip with some great people.:) Thank you Reynolds for a wonderful time. You are such amazing friends to us. Ty and I for sure want to go back there again!:) The house that we stayed at The view out the front door of our houseThe kids riding their bikes in front of the housePony RidingPlaying GamesInside the Lava CavesOutside the Lava CavesLava ButteGolfingSwimmingBy the RiverUs and the Reynolds

4 Year Old Pictures

Yesterday Issy and I headed to JCPennys with my neighbor Jen and her daughter Taylor to get the girls pictures done. Issy turned 4 in May and I have been meaning to get there to get her pictures done since her birthday. Jen was heading there because Taylor is turning 5 in a few weeks and so she invited us to come along. This year I let Issy pick what she wanted to wear and she wanted to wear her new dress that she picked out last week at the store. I was nervous that she wouldn't do well but she ended up doing pretty good. We got some interesting smiles from her but out of 12 or pictures, we got a few good ones. Here are the ones I love!:)

I love you my sweet Issy!:)

A Fun Prank and a Great Soccer Game

Last Tuesday night was Enrichment for our ward. We had a great time there and we had a full car on the way home. All of us ladies decided it would be fun to toilet paper someone's house and we thought we would do it some other time. Then we realized it was still pretty early and why not just do it now. We tried to figure out someone who wouldn't get upset and we realized it was Mara's birthday the day before and knew she would get a good kick out of it. So we stopped at good old IGA up here on the Ridge and got some forks. We figured why not fork her lawn with her age. We headed to her house and tried to be sneaky with the forks. Mara's daughter Katelyn saw us from a window so we had her throw us down a toilet paper roll so we could add that to our spontaneous creation. We hid behind a bush and surprised Mara when she got home. It was silly but fun at the same time. As we get older we realize that sometimes it is great to just let loose for a bit. What a fun time we had!The next night my dad took me with him to see the Seattle Sounders play a friendly game against Barcelona. What is so cool about seeing Barcelona is that they won 3 trophies last year including the Champions League which is the biggest yearly trophy for soccer in the world. They also have one of the best players on their team, Lionel Messi. This guy is amazing! Watching him on TV, he seems fast but then seeing him in person is just unbelievable. He is so talented. My dad and I had a great time together talking soccer, watching soccer and having a nice daddy daughter date. Thanks dad for a great game. I feel so blessed to have seen not only the Sounders but LA Galaxy, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Barcelona in one summer. I am one happy soccer loving girl!:)Thierry HenryLionel Messi
Dani AlvesFreddie Ljungberg

HOT SUMMER DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago we had some majorly hot days here in the Seattle area. I believe we even had the hottest day ever. Although it was so unbearable in our home with the heat it was fun during the day to get outside and do some fun things with our friends to keep cool.

Our first stop was on Tuesday, July 28th at Pine Lake. We had been there once before this summer and decided to head there again. They had nice shade over the beach area until after lunch. I think we were there from 11 to after 4 in the afternoon. It was fun to get together with a few other ladies and their kiddos as well. Issy stayed in the water swimming back and forth for hours. It was a lot of fun!I got this cute picture of my friend Sommer's little guy Talmage. I love how the lighting in the picture!
The next day(the hottest day), we headed down to the Snoqualmie River with our friends Laurie and Amanda and their kids. It was so hot but the river was nice and cold. The kids had fun playing in the river, throwing rocks and sticks at the dogs who were there and with each other. Us moms had a nice time sitting in our chairs in the river and keeping cool!:)That weekend we headed to Rattlesnake Lake with our friends the Reynolds. We had never been there before and they had been so they took us along with them. They have this huge raft and so they pumped it up and we all took turns riding out on the lake in the raft. All the kids loved jumping to the adults in the water off of the raft. I thought Issy would be scared but she loved it. She went out with Sommer and Ben and their kids while Ty and I stayed on shore with their little guy Talmage. She had a blast with them!:) It was nice to just hang out and have a fun time as a family and with some great friends! Thanks Reynolds!:)There was this rock out there and a couple of kids would stand on it and jump to Ben. Issy then got on it and she finally got brave enough to jump to Ben as well. I love how this summer her fears of the water have gone away.It was a fun week of hot sun and great company. What a great summer we are having so far!:)