Best Summer Gift!

The event we were looking to the most this summer came to use a few weeks ago.  My parents returned home from their two year mission to Mississippi.  Most of my family had been able to see them while they were gone but we had gone two whole years without seeing them!  When they left, Emma was nine, Sam was seven, and Clara wasn't even one.  This picture was taken before they left.

This is Mom and Dad at the end of their mission - at their last transfers.  They worked very hard while they were gone.  Dad was in charge of the fleet of cars and Mom was in charge of Media and Referrals.  It kept them soooo busy!

They had a nice couple that they served with - the Deans.

We are so proud of them and the example they set for our family of missionary service and we are even happier that they are back home with us!

Goodbye Mississippi - Hello Oregon!!!!

Emma's 4-H Camp

Emma had the opportunity to attend 4-H Camp last week for four days.  She had been looking forward to it for weeks and couldn't wait to be on her own!!  It was hard for me to let her go since the rules didn't allow for me to contact her while she was gone.  I missed my little girl!!!

Here she is getting her belongings out of the van.  Even though she was super excited, I knew she was nervous because she was very quiet once we got there and stood in line to check in.

It was such a hot day - even at the 4-H Center hidden in the mountains.  We had to wait in line in the sun for about 30 minutes to check in.

We came back on Friday to pick her up and we were all very anxious to see her.  Each day, Samantha and I would look at Emma's schedule and wonder what she was doing at that moment and if she was having a good time.  She ended up having a blast!  I wanted to get a picture of her in the cabin she stayed in.  The theme for her cabin was "Tangled" since it was a Hollywood Camp.  The girls were nice and she had a great counselor.  She even slept on the top bunk!

Clara and Samantha were anxious to give hugs and say hi.  They sure missed their big sister!

Overall it was a great experience.  And better yet.....Samantha will be old enough to go next year so they can go together!!!  Hooray for 4-H!

Fourth of July Hike

Another item on our bucket list this summer was to do a family hike.  I love to hike....my family isn't as crazy about it..... but there is a beautiful and easy hike up Owsley Canyon that we decided to do on the 4th of July.  It was a beautiful morning and it wasn't too hot up in the mountain.  We looked for animal tracks and springs and dad found walking sticks for everyone.

Surprisingly, Clara did an excellent job of keeping up with everyone.  She was a little slower sometimes and by the end of the hike I was carrying her on my back, but we were proud of her energy!

My three little firecrackers.....

It was a fun family activity.  Getting out into nature is always refreshing and I am certainly grateful for the blessings of living in the mountains!

Summer Bucket List

This summer we didn't have any major vacation plans so I decided to come up with a Summer Bucket List that we could work on the entire summer.  The girls have had a fun time checking their list to see what activities they can plan for the week.  Some examples are: Go Swimming, Make Homemade Cookies, Have a BBQ, Go our for Ice Cream, Play at a Park, Put the tent up in the Yard, Star Gaze, Make Homemade Pizza, and Make a Sidewalk Mural.  This is a picture of the girls decorating Flip Flops - the picture turned our blurry but their flip flops were super cute.

Another activity was playing in the sprinklers.  I made a sprinkler run with six different sprinklers that covered the whole yard and they had lots of fun running through the water and even doing cartwheels and somersaults in the grass.

An activity that I really liked was making their own "Book Nooks."  It could be inside or outside and they just created a space that they could go to regularly when they want to read in quiet.  Emma chose to take her bean bag, lamp, and pillow and create an area behind the love seat in the corner of the living room.  Sometimes I can't find her anywhere in the house but when I check her book nook she is curled up and engrossed in a book.

Sam was pretty creative and found a place outside.  We have a nice bench in one corner of the yard under a tree that is covered in shade.  She takes her pillows and blanket out and gets comfy on the bench and will read for hours.

She even made a sign that she takes outside with her each time and hangs on the shed next to the bench.  DO NOT BARGE IN.......PLEASE OBEY THE RULES!  She takes her book nooks very seriously!

Even Clara made a little spot for herself on her bean bag behind the recliner.  She is more of a "wanderer" and makes different spots for reading, depending on her mood.

It is the middle of summer and we have lots more to do on our bucket list.  We've only done about half of the 70 activities we came up with.  I think tonight we are going to go eat Snow Cones!  Happy Summer!

Yard Makeover

Have you ever read a blog that included soooo many pictures of a yard?  We must hold a record but the past year we have put so much time and effort into transforming our yard and giving it a complete makeover.  Mark has worked so hard and we finally feel that we have done all we can on it for this year - and it looks wonderful!  He has really created a little paradise for us here in La Grande.  Our last project was creating an outdoor patio off of our deck with a firepit and sitting area.  Mark had a lot of fun creating it.

He spent so much time on his knees spreading gravel and setting rock that we had to break down and get him some outdoor knee pads since his knees were killing him. :)

This is the finished product!  My mother's day gift was this rocking bench and I absolutely love it.  Mark and I come outside at night and just rock on the bench after the kiddos are in bed.  It's very peaceful and quiet and it's our "decompress from our day" time.  Even Clara has her own chair.....

 Bordering the patio is lots of grass that we put in.  It used to be gravel and a giant flower bed that was just in the way and took up so much space.  Now the kids have lots of room to run around.

The garden has really taken off in the summer heat - even more so than when I took this picture two weeks ago.  The corn is up to my chest now.

The herbs are hanging in there, too.....

The raspberries have been plentiful this summer!  I have made three batches of jam and I have two gallon bags frozen in our freezer.  We have raspberries everywhere!

Our strawberries haven't been as plentiful as we had hoped but it's their first year so we are staying optimistic for next year!

This is a picture from when we first bought this house.  You can see the giant flower bed filled with rocks, rocks, and more rocks.  It is now all grass - I don't know how Mark was able to do all that he did but he's pretty much my hero!

Next year we will have more projects but in the meantime.....come visit us at the Perry Ranch any time!