It's worth washing the windows...

...for this sort of entertainment! I think there's nothing funnier than pressed kid faces on screen door windows.

"Joshy, wanna lick?"

This overheard question brought me out of my focus at the kitchen sink.

I turned to the fridge to see this.

Yes, she's holding a stick of butter.

Definitely my girl.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Sarabeth succeeded in planning a surprise birthday party for Joel at our house!

She said the key to pulling off the surprise was having it a month after his actual birthday--he had no clue! :)

How fun to celebrate this good friend of ours. Anna and Spice brought cherry pie...

...and their son, Ezra. The three of these kids had a LOT of fun together.

Robert represented his newly grown family--Megan and baby Josh stayed home, having successfully survived the first week of life together. Robert's sister and brother-in-law came also with their lovely English accents and across-the-sea perspectives. I seriously could've talked to Helen all day. :)

The pie was delectable. Frisbee was played. Kids were pushed in swings. Root beer was flowing. The sun shone down on us...

...a great day. And then, some diehards stayed for dinner and games! SO FUN to be part of their lives. Happy BirthMonth, Joel! We love you!

BIG BOY HAIR CUT

Who is this big kid with the buzz cut? Sheeesh. I put him on the stool in G'ma Colleen's garage as a 16-month-old and he jumped off a two-year-old. I knew that would happen, yet I asked Jeff and Drew to do it anyway. And isn't he cute?!?

It only took three of us to accomplish the task. There are no pictures. This is because I was reading Toy Story 3 to distract, Jeff was holding Josh's head still, and Drew was sheering the fine baby hair as quickly as he could. There were a few tears...but I'm okay now. Ha!

We had a great week having Drew, Annie, and Swedo-Speedo visit Spokane! We spent many hours at Scott and Colleen's...going in the pool, playing in the yard, eating...we just soaked them up. [Did I mention Annie worked on her rhyming skills?] It was such a great, relaxing time to spend with them. We miss them already!

YARD SALE!

So, August normally comes and we're at the farm, helping with harvest. This year, the crops are late. Really late. So we're not sure what we're supposed to do in the month of August when we're not at the farm. It was this stir-crazy mental state that I blame for the following decision that was made on a Monday: Let's have a GARAGE SALE on Friday! I had just asked Jeff if he could sweep out the garage--the next thing I know he's placing everything OUTSIDE on our driveway so he can sweep properly. One thing led to another--and BAM!--our August stagnation became productivity!

After three days of, "Do we REALLY need this?" conversations and decisions, we had a good collection of things to purge--all over our driveway.

The day of our sale the Van Sickles came over to shop and then they took Gracie with them to Greenbluff so she wouldn't try to reclaim the stuffed animals that were on the sale table. :) [Actually, she did really well and found some toys that she didn't mind passing along to "kids who didn't have many toys."] She thoroughly enjoyed her day of being spoiled by Matt, Heidi, Kai, and "the girls."

Kai-Guy riding the tricycle. (not for sale) :)

Gracie with the girls.

The men, hard at work.

A few lessons learned from yard-saling:

1. Purging stuff is good. We need to do it more often. We really cling FAR too tightly to THINGS.

2. It's actually nice to get up with the sun. I'd like to say that we've continued this practice after two days of setting up sale tables, but, alas, the mind is willing but the body is SLEEPY!

3. It was so great having bigger items to sell that friends brought over. Big items bring in the shoppers. And if we can help our friends out, then it's worth the effort. :)

4. Homemade cookies only sell if a cute little girl is sitting behind the kid table. Otherwise, Jeff and Ellie eat them all.

Silly Nilly

Gracie is starting to be quite the goof. ("Goof, moof!") Her sense of humor is starting to shine. ("Shine, mine!")

She's also into rhyming. ("Rhyme, mime!")

"What other words rhyme, Aunt Annie?" Poor Aunt Annie couldn't get a moment to herself during their last visit.

Our other favorite is that she has started a new car game: counting "Grand Ol' Flags." She's getting quite good at knowing what number comes next...and she can count on her own up to thirteen...and then we get all sorts of interesting "teens." I must capture it on video.

She told us the other day that she had a haircut a long time ago, but now "it was all gone."

She's also very much into knowing "the plan." Since we've been having fun summer days, the plan is always different. We are all excited for a little routine to come back to our days so that the question, "What's the plan, Mommy?" can be asked a little less frequently.

Last, but not least, we are constantly impressed with her memory. Today we pulled up to Joann Fabrics and she said, "Oh, this is where Uncle Ryan had his birthday party." She was actually referring to the pizza place next door, but she remembered going there back in MAY. She'll also remember sequences of outings that we had months earlier: "Remember when we went to the hospital [to see baby Lauren] and then we went to Asher and Mia's [for Bible study] and we saw the trains?" Sheeesh. I'd forgotten that was all in one day. We hear that Jeff had quite the memory as a young kid, so apparently she got it from him.

Oh, wait. The other funny was when she pulled out the measuring tape today and we heard her quote Mary Poppins beside our shopping cart: "Extremely stubborn and suspicious!"

She is cracking us up!

Swimming Party on the Butte

G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy bid on a pool party and dinner at the Catholic School auction and THEY WON! How excited were WE when they asked us to join them for an afternoon of swimming and family fun!

First of all, you need to know that the following pool pictures were ROUND TWO swimmers. I was in the pool for the first part of this party, without a camera, so the pictures are missing the following:

1. Brady/Jeff/Ben splash contest from the diving board--all in attempt to get Papa Greg wet, as he was sitting on the side.

2. G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy joining us in the pool--and Papa diving off the diving board! Holy moley!

3. Kids being passed between me, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Ben, Jeff, Brady...and Morrow girls doing lemon drops off the board.

4. Uncle Ben getting Aunt Katie wet--in her dry clothes.

So these were the die-hards, the last to get out of the pool. Jeff had Megan and Abby diving off of his shoulders by the end of the day. These three are FISH!

This picture is classic--lots of laughter during the afternoon, and do you see Abby squeezing Joshy? Lots of cousin loves. :)

Mary Druffel hosted the party. Her husband, Mike, passed away after battling cancer for years. Though he's not with us anymore, he can be seen all around their place--in his tool art. His pieces are amazing! This pic shows the chairs and tables that were by the pool.

Josh was SO TIRED due to lack of nap--good thing that Mary is a grandma WITH A CRIB! He slept soundly after all that swimming!

Cousins.

This girl loved the stairs in the pool! She bounced on them for hours!

Good clean fun. :)

A tool shed. Literally.

It was the 7th of August--and this year harvest was still WEEKS away. We had a really wet spring this year, causing crops to be almost a month late. They still aren't harvesting as I post this--the 18th--it's so crazy!

Here's Mary talking with Ben and Dad. Ben and Kelly now live just over the hill from her. The Butte could be the loveliest place on earth. (I may be slightly biased...)

We are so blessed to have such sweet grandparents. Papa and G'ma are always interested in what we are all up to...

Can you name all these tools?

Another tool shed/gazebo. My dad said that the scrap metal yard knew Mike by name. :)

Rachel Becker joined us--her family cooked the food! She fit right in with the other three fish. :)

G'pa made amazing birdhouses for Katie, Ben and I. He's always looking for a good shop project! What a treasure!

And hugs at the end of the day... It was so great! We just soak up this memorable family time. How blessed we are! :)

[I'd like to say that my waterlogged kids slept all the way back to Spokane that night, but alas, it was my waterlogged HUSBAND who was snoring before Colfax. Apparently the kids thought they'd miss out on more fun... ] :)

Cousins

Cousins really are the best.

They're like siblings, but better...

...you don't have to share with them 24/7.

And they understand you--they've seen your family.

We were lucky enough to have Katie and the girls stay with us a couple of nights before San Diego. Brooke had a soccer tournament and Brady had to work, so he missed out on the fun. We had pizza and pajama style shows and ate pancakes and Abby slept in the top bunk while Grace was in the bottom bunk...such great memories! We love these girls!

San Diego Getaway

Jeff and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to San Diego over the 1st of August WITHOUT CHILDREN! :) Jeff had an AVID training in the mornings and we used our frequent flyer miles to let me go along. It was the first time we'd left our kids for more than one night--FOUR NIGHTS, get out of town!--and everyone did well. Grace and Josh were spoiled by both sets of grandparents--G'ma Joan and Papa Greg for the first two days and G'ma Colleen and Papa Scott for the last two days. Grace got on the phone only once to tell me that they "Went swimming. Bye." And Josh could hardly take his eyes off of Mary Poppins when we arrived to pick him up. Good to know our kids are "confident in our love." :)

We had a great few days. We dug through tide pools at Coronado, ate our way around the Gaslamp Quarter, boogie-boarded at La Jolla Beach, observed families fishing off of the pier at Ocean Beach, and soaked up all the sun we could in every adventure. On the mornings that Jeff was in class I got to sleep in, read, and go for walks. Dreamy. :) Jeff's good friend, Brooks, and his wife, Katie, were also on the trip, and we really enjoyed spending time with them.

Such a refreshing getaway! How great to be just Jeff & Ellie for a few days--to find ourselves walking into stores and grabbing a basket instead of a cart...not having to reach for the wet wipes to start cleaning faces while waiting for the bill at a restaurant...being able to converse without an "excuse-me-mommy-excuse-me-mommy-excuse-me-mommy" skipping record...sigh. :) We still miss the sun, the pelicans, and the ocean waves--and of course the break from responsibility!--but nothing compares to the sweet chubby arms that are wrapped around our necks each bedtime and the drooley kisses that are generously planted on our lips upon request.

Sweet kids.

Sweet GRANDPARENTS! You guys ROCK!!! Thanks for spoiling our little darlings. I keep hearing stories... :)

Playdate with "Janers"

When we got back from the coast, we had a fun morning playing with cousin Janie at her house.

This is her new room that is in the basement--nice work, Kevin! Gracie and Josh had so much fun exploring her toy collection. There's just something about someone else's toys...

This was exactly one week before little Henry made his big debut! Currently, Janie is busy being a great big sister.

Oregon Coast Trip with Auntie Julz

We love our vacation time with Julie! Last year we went to Glacier and camped, but this year the thought of beds, pillows, and separate rooms for sleeping children sounded more appealing...not to mention THE OCEAN! We were so excited to pick Julie up on the way through the Tri Cities...

This was Gracie's expression when we finally saw:

THE BLUE BRIDGE! Here we come, Auntie!

Julz took the first shift in the backseat with the kids. After McD's in Troutdale, someone snuck in kid contraband...

"Do you just love spoilin' us, Auntie?" -Gracie

Chocolate chip cookie behind the backwards bink.

DAY 1--Portland

Here we are on the bus to the Portland Zoo. The kids were excited to be on their first ever SCHOOL BUS. Gracie still talks about the speed bumps.

The first stop--the Elephants! Grace and I had been doing research on the zoo's most wrinkled creatures and had watched many videos of Baby Sam, who was born the same year as Grace. Here we got to see him in real life--3 years old.

They didn't want to turn around from their dinner...but even their wrinkled keisters were pretty cute! :)

The rest of the elephant clan was outside, waiting their turn to feast.

Josh soon started wiggling and grunting in his stroller, not content with the view. He preferred walking and being held up high.

Grace got to pet the goats! She and her dad got in there--they weren't kidding around! :) Har.

Naked mole rat babies.

We were amazed that Josh could spot the animals and get so excited. We got some funny pictures that show how "into it" he was...

How do you measure up?

"Extremely stubborn and suspicious..."

We had a great afternoon! The kids were enthralled and fell right to sleep in our hotel room that night--Josh in his pack-and-play by the bathroom and Gracie sharing a bed with Auntie. We all had to lay still in the dark for 15 minutes at 8:00 and after they were out we turned on our reading lamps. A wild and crazy night in Portland, folks! :)

Day 2--Portland to Seaside

The next morning we had to experience the amazing...

...in downtown Portland. Julie, Jeff, and Grace waited in line to get donuts while I stayed in the van with a sleeping boy--but by the time they got through, Josh was awake and ready for a snack.

Beautiful, delicious calories...

The name for this donut is not allowed on our blog. I'll give you a hint: Old Dirty ____ (boy without a father) MAN, was it delicious--daddy or not.

So, so delicious. We finished off our morning in Portland with a visit to Powell's where Jeff scored a couple of great books and the kids walked away with a new favorite, "Kiss, Kiss." Gracie had it memorized by the end of our trip.

Next stop: Seaside!
We ran out to the beach as soon as we checked in--and it was an instant hit because of the set of swings.

Josh could've sat here all day! He loves to swing and SING. "More sing, more sing," he signs with his hands.

We had a great first experience with the ocean. The kids got a bit wet unexpectedly, so they were a bit gun-shy, but the next day they had time to experience the SAND.

Day 3--Seaside Beach

Unfortunately Jeff woke to a migraine this day. Apparently the migraine didn't get the memo that they aren't invited on vacations... So Julz and I took the kids to get Gracie some shoes and go to the Aquarium. We saw seals and fish--but Gracie was most excited to color at the color table. :)

But after naps Jeff rallied for an afternoon on the beach. He was the great kite flyer.

Usually this was Gracie, running back to the towels as the surf would get closer: "Is it coming for me?" she kept asking Julz as they worked in the sand.

Julie asked Grace what she wanted her to make in the sand. A little surprised to hear, "Dora!" but she created it without a blink!

But the kiddie pool at the resort took the cake! Both Grace and Josh loved the shallow pool and Grace kept jumping in and jumping in!

Day 3--Going home...

We started the day with one last swim

...and then we hit the road. When we got to the turn-off to head inland, we decided to extend our coastal time by another 1/2 hour and go see Cannon Beach and Julie's family's favorite stop: Hug Point.

Hug Point was beautiful!

Hugging Auntie at Hug Point. :)

And the beauty of the beach got the better of us at that moment. As we were leaving, we got the idea to extend our stay one more night--Julie called down to Depoe Bay and found an extra night available for us at the time-share! So the spontaneous teachers drove down the coast instead of toward home. :)

And for dinner...Mo's!

Clam chowder.

Our view from the deck.

BONUS Day 4--Good-bye Ocean at Depoe Bay

We had a great, great time. Our trip back was long--but we worked in a lunch at In-n-Out and de-stinkin-licious dinner at Julie's in Kennewick with Trina, Michael, Melinda, and a wee little dog that missed his owner: Ollie! (and their pool is the best refresher for the road!) Thanks, Auntie Julz for a super four days! We love you!