I am so glad I captured this moment

After Emily turned 14, I realized that for a short period of time (one monthly really) we would have the best ages ever. Starting at the youngest we have 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16! That is pretty stinking awesome! Well, at least I thought so but Naomi was less than thrilled to have to do this when we got home from church. Just needed to save this forever!

I finally decided to celebrate Kevin's birthday at home! We were at the Payne Family Reunion for his real birthday. I bought an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and we celebrated his birthday a month later. Oh well. He knows we love him!

Not sure why I took this picture. I don't remember what was going on or why I thought I needed to take a picture of my son and husband, together in the school room. Significance is not locked in my brain. This is why I should be better about blogging at the time of rather than almost a year later.

silly fun people

I am still working out the kinks in my picture taking strategies. I have another lens that just stopped working on the automatic focus setting. So now I can take pictures but I have to manually focus them. It takes longer that way so sometimes my subjects don't cooperate very well. Oh well, at least I am able to take pictures. I am not sure how many I will take but I will try.

August 5, 2018

August 8, 2018

She grew cantaloupes in her garden!

Sweet home grown goodness!

Finally a birthday cake and partyish thing

He asked for an ice cream cake so I made one for him: banana split and vanilla ice cream flavors, with homemade fudge sauce and broken up cookies in the middle. I quickly whipped real cream and spread it on just before serving (much better than freezing it).

Some cares from the children.

A package from Jerry and his Dad.

Very funny socks that look similar to his dad!

We waited until Saturday evening to have the cake because Ben returned from Scout Camp earlier that day so the family was all together again. It was a nice treat to sing and eat the cake together. Happy last day of celebration my sweet Honey! We love you!

Finally enjoyed his Birthday dinner

Kevin was finally home for dinner so we could have his birthday dinner - sushi or California rolls. I prepared all the stuff: rice, tuna, cucumbers, and avocados. Each person could choose how to assemble their dinner: in e rice paper, mixed all together in a bowl, or like sushi. Most everyone really enjoyed it. I liked that I didn't have to roll all that into several (many) California rolls because the kids were so excited to roll their own. I just ate it all mixed together in a bowl (without the rice paper because I don't like it that much). Kevin enjoyed his very own sushi with wasabi!

Second Birthday

I didn't have the ice cream for the pancakes on Wednesday so we postponed the pancake breakfast until today. He opened his birthday card before he went to work and the kids and I enjoyed celebrating his birthday a day late with yummy pancakes and ice cream! We certainly enjoy this meal once a month! My favorite is always faces - all different kinds of faces. The kids will do all sorts of different things on their birthdays but I stick with faces! So funny!

Happy birthday to my Honey!

We were invited to have lunch at the office to celebrate Kevin's birthday! What a wonderful treat. Ben was at Scout Camp so it was just me and all the girls. We enjoyed pizza and ice cream cake and watched him open his cards/presents from the staff. It was a fun little party. Kemiah brought her presents that he hadn't opened at home so that was special, too. They all went back to work so the girls went down to the river and I cleaned up - and finished eating. It was a nice break in our day.

Kemiah's gifts

beef jerky from Helena

High Adventure at last!

The group has been planning this trip for a while and it was finally here. Both Kevin and Ben were very excited for this trip and it was fun to watch the preparations. They had to bring their own food this year. They met at the church, packed up and headed up north. We are all hoping for better weather than last year's high adventure trip. It will certainly be an adventure.

Had to make it weird.

Ready to go back-packing!

We bought a building!

Not quite the same as buying a zoo but pretty crazy in it's own right. Kevin decided to go out on his own and so we bought a building and everything in it. He signed the contract/agreement on the 4th and starts seeing his patients on the 28th! Helena and Debbie came with him from the other place - people he had hired because the other staff wasn't helping him enough. He will need to hire at least one more person and Ben will start working in the afternoons in January. A grand new adventure!

Note: He paid for it and closed on the purchase on the 16th of December.

40th birthday for my Honey!

We started his day out right - we had pancakes and ice cream but he wasn't here. Any excuse to have ice cream on our pancakes and his birthday is certainly worthy of such a treat!

For dinner he wanted Thai, so I looked up new recipes - one hot and one not so hot - and got everything I needed. It was fun to make new stuff but I got a little confused and tossed cut up carrots into the wrong pot. Fortunately, Emily was there and said, "They both have carrots in them?" Which made me think about what I was doing. I had to pick out all the carrots and put them in the right pot. Then we pressed forward and made yummy dishes for dinner. The hot turned out not as hot so we enjoyed both of them!

Red Curry

Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken

Sweet baby Naomi

I lit candles on the ice cream bucket...

he blew them out so quickly I didn't get a picture of them lit.

Silly Honey.

He had 9 presents so each of the kids took turns to bring him a present. That was fun and different.

Domonique bought him some candy with her own money.

The kids made lots of cards for him.

We put them all in a box. He sat and read them all.

Not sure what's up with all the goofy faces.

New hiking boots,

which he actually used already.

(For the trip to Porcupine Mountains with the scouts.)

Shin guards for playing soccer.

I need to get him soccer socks.

But they aren't playing in the mornings anymore.

Flare for the dramatic.

Ben gave him a set mouse trap.

(A joke from the scout trip.)

Camel pack that he also used for the scout trip.

Needed for when they go back to playing soccer in the mornings.

We always know when Marissa does the dishes.

Ice cream sundaes for dessert!

Vanilla ice cream with lots of toppings.

And then he got crazy with the can of whipped cream!

And the kids loved it!

Xiomara - I think you have a little something on your nose.

My finished sundae! Yum!

Happy birthday to my favorite husband and my wonderful honey!

Just in case you were wondering, we celebrated a day early! I signed the 5 middle girls up for a free soccer camp and it is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I made the connection a little late but figured we would all survive if we celebrated the day before. Sacrifices must be made and this wasn't really a big deal. Just thought I would explain.