Girls just wanna have fun!

Olivia is so blessed to have sweet little friends close by. Her friends Ava & Emme brought over a darling birthday gift. Girls, you are very kind! Olivia's Gam has made a tradition of taking her up to Green Bluff each summer/fall for berry, peach, or apple picking. This year she got to go with two of her cousins, Clara and Charlotte--who just moved down here from Alaska. She had a wonderful day hanging out with the girls and her Gam. She said she especially loved the suckers and gum they got from Gam :)
The Girls playing dress up, and putting on all their bling, bling
Olivia wants to say "thank you Ava & Emme for the charm bracelet you got me for my birthday"!
Cherry picking with cousins Charlotte, Clara, and Gammy
This is fun!
Clara climbing the cherry tree
Yummy!
Thanks for a fun day out Gam, I love you!

What Summer Brings

Here's a few more of my favorite pictures of the summer. I especially love the one's with family I don't get to see very often. First and foremost I want to tell my Auntie Mary and Uncle Pat that I miss them a lot already. We are so glad that we were able to spend a week with you. It is always such a breath of fresh air to hang out, and visit with you. You're always so encouraging, inspiring, unconditionally loving, and truly two of the happiest people we know. Thanks for adding such a light to our lives. Second, April, it was so great to see you! I had a great time with you and Jen at Clinks. How random was it that we ran into each other on the main strip of Cannon Beach? Thanks for keeping in touch and remaining one of the best pen pals & friends ever :-) We've kept it up since 6th grade. Wish we lived closer! You will always be one of my dearest friends, love you lots. Some of the other pictures are from the 4th of July (with the Sander, Walker, and Hennessy Clans,) and a few more from the Oregon coast. Summer is going by so fast, I've got two special birthdays to plan, August and September will be here before I know it. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying summer!

Our annual trip to the Oregon Coast

We've taken a vacation for the last 3 summers with two special families who have been in our lives for many years. We seem to keep adding another baby to the group each year :) So far we've gone down to the Oregon Coast each time. Every year has been quite different, and you never know what the weather will bring. This year was the first time it did not rain, and we were there 5 days. Yahoo!!! Sunny skies the entire time. Can't deny that it was still pretty chilly on the beach. Wells and Ruff's, thank you for a wonderful, very memorable summer vacation. Here's to many more together!
Some of my favorite moments while on our holiday~
*Walkie Talkies while driving
*Walking around barefoot in the sand
*Nolan discovering the sand(and yes, he ate it, YUCK!)
*Eating, eating, and more eating
*Watching all our kids play together
*Reminiscing about some of the good ole' days
*Playing apples to apples and laughing until our sides hurt
*Guitar Hero!
*Staying up with friends until midnight :) Thanks to the condo that could fit us all!
*Shane and the stairs, LOL
*Shopping with the girls in Cannon Beach
*Surviving our dinners out with 6 kids
*Walking along the boardwalk in seaside(especially the people watchin')
*Olivia and Ella's first time flying a kite
*Waves of Grain Bakery

More pictures, and stories to come. Couldn't resist just adding a couple tonight. Love you guys! Thank The Lord we all made it home safe. That felt like the LONGEST car ride ever on the way back. ps-i think the kids are going through withdrawals and are bored without all their buddies. They had so much fun together!

Attatchments(and my momma's boy)

Should it stay or should it go? I have been contemplating cutting my hair(short) for months now. I have to change it every couple years, I get bored with it. It's gotten really long, and I like it, BUT I don't want it to start looking like the long, boring, high school hair I used to have. Ladies, I'm counting on you to tell me the truth if it starts looking that way.

It's actually Nolan that is now preventing me from cutting it. He's become super attached to my hair, especially when he's nursing. It's really sweet, he grabs an end piece of my hair, and then he rubs it across his face. It obviously comforts and sooths him because he often falls asleep while doing this. Sometimes he's a little stinker and just likes to hold on to a piece and then keeps pulling it. He can get a little wild with it too. Tonight you'd of thought he was holding on to the reigns of a horse instead of my braids. If I try and move it away from him, he growls at me. Or if I wear it up, he starts grabbing at my hair and tries to free a piece from my ponytail. Funny little guy! I really would feel terrible if I took it away from him right now. So my sweet prince, for the time being, you win, and my long hair stays.