Grace informed my that Weston caught many fish but she caught the biggest fish!
This is right before Grace caught her fish.
I think this photo is really sweet. It made me remember what it felt like to be a child and not be in a hurry for anything or worried about getting dirty.
Grace was nervous the fish would flop around and get her :) The look on my dad's face is great. He was so amazed at how quickly the kids were catching fish. Sadly, my dad didn't catch any :)
We thought it was so funny how this cougar was sitting on the limb. He was resting his bottom on the branch with his back paws and his tail hanging down. It was a real treat to see the cougar so close up. The other times we've been at the zoo he's been sleeping way at the back of the cage where we couldn't see him. 
Here's Grace petting a goat. 
I'm holding Elsie because she was a little nervous about being in the cage with the goats. Elsie's also afraid of dogs and cats. It's strange to have a child who's afraid of animals because Mike and I grew up with animals and Weston and Grace were used to having Moses for their first years. I'm hoping she grows out of it!
Noah looks like he's protesting having his photo taken.
We celebrated Mother's Day the same weekend as Weston's birthday. This year for Mother's Day the kids and I made flower pens for the grandmas' gifts. We also made a pen arrangement for our sweet neighbor, Claudia, and helped our neighbor girls, Veronica and Kayla, make some for their grandma and mom. The basic instructions for the pens is to remove the ends off Bic-type pens, wrap them in floral tape, and hot glue leaves and flowers to the end. You then stick the pens in light-roast coffee beans (less oily) in pots or jars. I used popsicle sticks to make little cards for each pot. The pens were easy and fun to make and turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself :)
It doesn't work to well to get a photo of the kids looking toward the sun. A bit squinty :)
I think it's cute how they're all looking at Noah. They take such good care of their little brother. He's already a spoiled baby.
While the men were working on the fence in May, the kids were working on a huge muddy hole where cement will eventually be. You can tell they had a fantastic time playing in their little "pool". We couldn't coax Tirien out of the hole to pose for a photo. 
Check out Weston's sock (the match was lost in the mud)! No amount of bleach would get those puppies white again!
Check out our barbecue in the background :)
How much mud can come out of one little hole?
This is a beautiful Dogwood tree in our backyard. These huge blooms were on the tree for at least 3 weeks!
Noah is now 9 months old and has the "army" crawl down. It's quite the feat to keep on top of him every minute he's awake :)
I told them to pretend they were asleep for the photo. Most of them were pretty good actors :)
Here are a few photos from a family trip to the Portland Rose Garden on the weekend of the 13th. Mike's parents, John and Shirley, were gracious enough to come down for the weekend and babysit so Mike and I could go to the OCEANetwork homeschool conference here in Portland. After the conference we all spent a little time taking in the beautiful roses God created for us to enjoy. 
Noah was also very impressed with the roses :)
You can see how many roses are in the background of this photo and this is probably not even one-third the roses at the garden. 
I think it's cute how Grace was cupping Elsie's chin for the photo.
Elsie is posing in a little outfit John and Shirley bought for her birthday this year.
Thanks, John and Shirley, for blessing us with babysitting for the weekend. You did a great job!
Weston got into the "smelling" action. These were some of the prettiest flowers at the garden.
Elsie and I made some chocolate chip cookie dough today. You can tell she made herself right at home on the counter licking the beater. I'm going to try to make homemade cookie dough icecream. We purchased the icecream maker attachment to go on my Kitchenaid mixer and it works great. So far we've made vanilla, mint, and strawberry and they've all tasted wonderful!
What a tough-looking t-ball player! 
Weston is #9.
Some of Weston's team.
His sisters also came to cheer him on.
His swing look just like Ichiro's, doesn't it?
This mug was Mike's when he was much younger. Apparently Mike used to be a 49ers fan :)
Memaw Mary made Weston's awesome shark cake! Weston originally said he wanted an eel cake, but I was able to talk him into a shark instead (the picture I had in my head of an eel cake was not too pretty :)
It looks like it'll bite your hand off. My mom made the teeth from gum.
He blew all the candles out on the first try!
Aunt Haley was here visiting from Georgia. My brother, Kyle, had to go to training in Texas for a couple of weeks and agreed to fly Haley back to Oregon during his trip. It was awesome to spend time with her and we found even more things to love about her! She truly is a sister to me!
The weather was so awesome that we were able to have the party outside! Mike's brother, Tim, came down from Seattle for the day and night and both sets of grandparents came for the weekend. Dave, Julie, Laelie and Tirien also came from next door for the festivities.
Tons of fun for a 6 year-old!
Friendship!
Here's Julie and I on our way to a girls' get together in Dundee a few months ago. We stopped into Coffee Cottage and then walked around campus at George Fox (where we and our husbands all went to college). It was a beautiful day to enjoy our coffee and our friendship! 
