How 'bout them apples.

My mom & I snatched up 4 boxes of Gravensteins when we found them at a local fruit stand.  We then got busy making applesauce.

Sixty bucks & 6 hours later - BAM!  My freezer is now full of our cow & applesauce.

Kimmer & MJ reunion.

College girls: Kim (been living in China the last 6 years) & Merrell (now in Portland) stayed with us for the weekend.  Jason worked the entire time so, it was 3 moms with 5 kids.  Beautiful, special, exhausting & fun.  Kim requested lots of beach time, salmon & bonding.  Done, done & done.

K with 5 mos old Basil (rhymes with dazzle)

May I take this moment to explain to you how edible this little nugget is?
His smooshy cheeks connect under his chin to form one U-shape of yumminess.  I basically was fighting Kim for this little guy all wkend... We miss you Bazzy!!!

And, he poohs in the potty.  No joke.  

And then here's my other nugget of love who has quite a few U-shapes of smooshy of his own....
Axel is getting so big & finally WALKING! 

Golden Gardens 

Lai loved having so much play time with Grace & Isaiah.

Colorado, Texas, Washington, Scotland, England - we've traveled together a bit.
I'm so happy knowing this will continue for many years to come.  

Edmonds

My girls, now mama's & even more beautiful than ever!  

Thank you for this time to be real, love on each other, vent, shop, rub backs, eat & laugh.  You both are truly one of a kind.  Love doing this life with both of you!  Here's to Colorado summer 2012 - (& a 14er!!!)

Lake Chelan camping.

It's been 6 years since I've been to Chelan, SIX YEARS!  After going every year before that, it was fun heading east with my 3 year old & introducing her to the tent way of life.  Beautiful, warm, Lake Chelan.  Thank you parents & Bazan's for letting us crash on your site.

Our trip included camping, s'mores, water skiing, lots of much needed gram/papa/Bazan time, paddle boarding (with Lai!), enter-tubing (with Ellanor, Lai & a bee that stung me twice...!), visiting Melis & the kids, bumping into Maija while dining at Lakeview Drive In, Manson farmers market & lots of SUN!  There was also a slight "hick-up" involving an officer, me speeding, carrying no current proof of insurance & no current proof of registration... (I feel it would be appropriate to take a moment to give a shout-out to "Officer Chelan" for NOT ticketing me at all!!!*  Thank you kind sir & thank you Jason & Jeff if you know what I mean...)

Lai could have slept 24 hours straight after returning home.  It was great bonding time & so fab getting out of dodge!

S'mores!  

Riding around standing through the sun-roof of papa's truck...

Mornin' blueberry pancakes

"Mom & daughty"

To check-out more LC pics - stroll on over to A-K's site...

*Just incase you're still gasping at the list of illegalities above, we just switched insurance so, we forgot to throw the new card in the glove box... No excuse for the registration: how did I never know the paperwork that's sent to you with your tabs is meant to be signed & kept in the car!?!?!  And, I was speeding.  Carry on.

Mom of the year.

Please tell me I'm not the only parent who turns their back on their children only to have them fly down a steep embankment in a jogger, have a Trader Joe's grocery cart TIP OVER (!) slamming them to the floor & most recently unbuckles them from their car seat & seconds later is peeling them off the hot concrete - all by the age of 16 months.  This, my friends is why we pray for our kids - to protect them from ourselves.

Forehead, eye brow, nose, under nose, possible tooth chip & lip.
Family pictures post-poned.   

Thanks to a nearby Starbucks for contributing a clean rag & plenty of ice!

Community Property Agreement.

Are you married, own a home & a Washington State resident?

Have you completed & filed a 
'Community Property Agreement' form at your local court house?  

I recently learned of this very important form & thought I would help spread the word to make sure you complete it as well.  In the event that you or your spouse die, this simple form saves you months of headaches, money & time.  This lawyer's site explains the form pretty well.   You can download a free copy online (just Google it but, let me know if you can't find it), have a Notary stamp it, & then file it with your county courthouse... In our case, we had to go downtown & file it with the King Co. Superior Court for a fee of $64.

Wouldn't you think that if you're married & your spouse dies that you would be the rightful owner of your property?  Nope, not until the State determines that....  If you don't fill out one of these forms (EVEN if you have a will!!!) the process STILL has to go through a lengthy, costly probate for the state to determine that you get your property...  One lady I heard about had to wait 14 months!

So, look into it peeps!

Please note:  I think every state has this form so, if you don't live in Washington it would behoove you to research the laws of your state.  

Mission Beach.

padovan side of the family. fresh crab. beach. kayak. yummy potluck. cute kids. giggles. salt water. sun. done.

The old ladies & Tami.  :) 

Lai & Kadence

This is the very last clear picture that my blessed purple camera took.  EVER.
It is now completely broken.   After only 1.5 years of use & a ga-jillion pictures, it stopped working.  

This is Laila & I kayaking (& the last pic my camera took)...
I cannot tell you how much I LOVED sharing this with her.  

July so far...

We started the month off by taking L to her first Mariner's game.  She did great & we enjoyed a special date night with our girl that included garlic fries, changing seats 5 times, yelling "Go M's!" & playing at the playground at the stadium...

The rest of the month has gotten away from us & has included, gardening, library time, celebrating birthdays, lots of missing Jeff, outdoor time & trying to teach Ax how to walk...

Baseball:

Dolly:

Birthday cake #1 for L:

This was actually a party for the 4th but, L was sure the cake was for her.
Thank you Jeanne for scrounging up some candles!  

Local 27 picnic at the zoo:

Checking out the flamingos with gramps

Birthday cake #2:

We spent her b-day morning at the aquarium with K, L & R.  

 Just 2 hours is all I ask:

After walking into my kitchen and finding stickers placed all over my floor and turing the corner to find little nibbles taken out of the apples I called my mom in desperation, "Is there anyway you can take the kids during their naps so I can clean this house without ANYONE here?!?  She graciously agreed and even offered to take them for longer!  THANK YOU MOM!!!  Life is good when everyone's healthy & you have a clean house.  Can I get an 'AMEN' mama's?  I can probably count the number of times on my 2 hands when I've been home ALONE since having kids.  This needs to change.  

Birthday cake #3:

Martha's cookie cake out of the July Living (minus the raspberries and candles)
It was a hit!  Happy Birthday L & g-pa!  

L had been begging me for a "walk in the forest" for days ("A hike?" I would say - "No, a walk in the forest"...)  As soon as we had time I threw her in the car, drove 1 mile & we walked.  We soon found ourselves surrounded by beautiful old trees & listening to leaves blowing & birds chirping.  (Don't worry there were no bears or monsters in this forest. )  The highlights for her were peeing outside for the first time & hearing me tell stories of walking those trails with her when she was a baby getting caught in a huge rainstorm... 

Phew!  I'm pooped.  If you've managed to make it through this post... Bless you, good night & good luck.  

(yes, I'm realizing this post is really L heavy... I'll try & get some A pics in soon.  And, no he still is not walking...)  

Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Happy Birthday to our Laila Ingrid.  She's proven time & time again to be such a joy & brings so much laughter to this house.  She knows all her letters & most of their sounds, she loves singing, she can FINALLY pump when swinging, she'd rather be outside than inside, she'd rather read or swing than anything else in the world & she loves her "best friend", Axel.  Hip, hip for our big 3 year old!