HE WALKS!!!

Finally our little man has decided he CAN walk! He's been cruising furniture for the past couple months and just holding onto one hand for the past several weeks, but just hasn't let go! - until today!!! He just decided he could do it and literally, I set him down and he took off walking all by himself! It was crazy! As soon as he did that, I grabbed the camera and this video of him walking is just a few minutes after his first walk! Look'n good for being brand new!!! This is what he did when I first set him down...just took off towards daddy! :) :)
Raquelle took a little step here and there and finally started walking, but he just boom, walked! It's SO cool...I can't wait for him to be chas'n her around the house!! Ahhhh, the giggles and laughter to come!

And yes...we're still house shopping!

Despite all the fun we've been having this summer we have been house shopping like crazy! We actually had an offer accepted on one we thought "was it" and had it inspected this past Friday. There were numerous internal issues with the house that we just really didn't want to mess with and so after thinking we were done and closing on Aug. 13th, we past it up and decided to keep looking!! :( We're sad, but thankful because that house is obviously not the one and we know the Lord has a great place for us!! So, the search continues! We'll be back up in Portland on Tuesday shopping again. We have a lead on a house we've actually been waiting for since April - it's gone through foreclosure and was auctioned and is now bank owned. It just came on the market the day before we had this other house inspected (a strange coincidence yes)...and it's in the same neighborhood as Ben's brother's family...which would be sweet! But, again, we're not getting our hopes up because we're looking at a few on Tuesday. We just pray one of these will be "it" and we can be closing and moving within 30 days. We appreciate your prayers as we all are ready to be "home" and settled before daddy starts back to school the end of August. We miss you all and look forward to being back in P-town again soon!! :)

Back from Kay's Camp

...and recovering! :)

Another fun weekend in Florence/Reedsport! Thanks Aunt Kay for a wonderful kids camp!! She thought of everything! The food, the games, the treats, the treasure hunts, the box of oats - it was such a fun experience for the kids!!! Here's a few pics from the last weekend. The recovering part is that the day after we got home, I got really sick, went to the doctor and found out I have strep throat! - from where I picked that up, I have NO idea, but so far it's just me and the kids and Ben are doing fine!! Today was my third day on anti-biotics, so hopefully we'll all skate through this one without any other issues!! CRAZY!

Kay had this great little treasure hunt all set up with clues and fun treats along the way. It was out in their back yard and orchard area! What a great idea!!

One of the treats along the way!

Easton was loving the bin full of oats! Had to watch him like a hawk or they were in his mouth by the hand full!! :)

The drive home...passing time being silly! - fortunately we got to stop in Corvallis for a little Woodstocks pizza pick-up on the way home! YUUUUUMMY! :)

July 4th vacation

It has been soo fun having daddy off all summer and not having "chores" to do around the house...because we don't have one! haha! It's been great because we just keep going and going and having a chance to visit family and not feel like we have to rush home! We went down to Reedsport to visit Ben's family and had such a great time! In fact, we're going back again this weekend for another 5 days or so!! :) I LOVE it down there!! It's soo laid back, casual, and has this ability to re-focus us because we're not in the "rat race" down there...it's very peaceful!

Raquelle had a few firsts while we were there! Pops, Nana, Ben, me and the kids piled into their fish'n boat and went fishing on Eel Lake! We put a couple poles in and Raquelle was able to catch (with a little help from Pops) about 5 trout!! She was having a BLAST! Easton couldn't have cared less...he was more interested in walk'n or crawl'n around the boat looking for lures to put in his mouth!!! He is CRAZY!! :) It was soo fun, and AMAZING weather!

Yes, he has "wings"...but he's just SO cute...I can't cut them yet or he'll grow up too fast! :)

This looks like a pretty big bath! - When can I jump in??
I think Easton seriously thought it was a big bath (he LOVES his bath more than life) and I had to keep my eyes on him because he wanted to climb up the side and head dive into the lake!

"Good job sis...pull 'er up!" - Brother cheering on Raquelle (and Pops)

Her prize (the fish is hiding in front of her life jacket...kinda hard to spot. Again, notice Easton...he's onto the next lure! :)

This was at the 4th of July picnic. After a little "warming up", Raquelle hooked up with this little girl and they did everything together! It was pretty cute! She even won first place in the running relay race and got second in the gunny-sack relay!! She's quick!! - Maybe she'll be like her daddy and run track or cross country!! :)

Balloon toss with Nana and a little baby she picked up along the way :) The first balloon popped as she was holding it (before the game even began) - she almost started crying and then the nice pastor's wife ran over and gave her another one! She was soo hot that I think she ended up liking having a wet shirt!! I think this shot was the last throw! :)

Nana took this pic of Raquelle bobb'n for apples! This is the pastor's wife with the HILARIOUS face!! :)
Another first for Raquelle was getting to shoot a gun at the turkey shoot! Yes, my little three year old liked it so much, she asked to do it again with nana and almost started throwing a fit when we told her that was it! :) My little sharp shooter! - well, not yet, but maybe! Nana won first prize (a turkey) for the women's division!! Nice work Nana!! :)

Yes, that's her in there with Pops...I couldn't get close enough to get a good shot!

This is her innocent face! - she found this chicken pen 50 yards or so from the turkey shoot. She decided it would be fun to grab handfulls of dirt and throw them into the pen like it was food! Here she is below doing that...and then the last shot of the day with a face full of dirt...and a seriously naughty spirit!! Wow, we had some stories of "training her up in the way she should go" that day!!

Yes, my sweet princess at the end of the day without a nap, tired, a little sunburned and in desperate need of a bath! :)

All in all, it was SUCH a great great week!! LOTS of memories and stories to share! And, hopefully we'll be making more at Kay's camp (Ben's aunt's kids camp) this next weekend!!