Kennewick, Day 7

Our last day in Kennewick was packed full!  We spent the morning with the Cordons.  After lunch we went to walk around the temple with Grammy, Jenny, and the kids.  We went for ice cream, Grammy and I took Anna Elise and Madeline to do some school shopping and then Grammy and Pops took Mike and I to dinner while Aunt Jenny watched our kids (thank you).   That evening I finished packing and Mike was able to get a father's blessing.  It was a busy, but fun day.

We love to spend time with our family (& friends).  Anna Elise cries when we leave.  She begs to stay longer or find a way to live close to her Grandmas.   We actually talked about coming back for a whole month next summer.  We just love being able to spend time with our families!  Thank you so much for everything!

Here are some pictures from the temple grounds:

Kennewick, Day 6

Today we got to hang out with our friends, the Cordons.  They drove all the way down from Eugene, OR (5.5 hrs) to see us!  They came last night and we were able to visit and catch up.  Today we made ice cream (so yummy!) went to a squrity park and a regular park.  Rachel and I were able to go for our morning walk and out to lunch!  It was so much fun!  I hate to admit that we didn't take a single picture of them.
It's made me want to get back into walking in the mornings.  Once school starts I'll only have 2 kids - I will just need another walking partner!  (not a new partner, nobody can replace Rachel, just someone local).  Any takers?

Here is a really bad copy of a beautiful picture of their adorable family!

Kennewick, Day 5

Here are some random pictures from today:

 the girls playing dress up

 Celeste sharing with Aunt Jenny

An attempt to capture how amazing Celeste's eyelashes are.  I can't leave the house without someone commenting on her eyelashes!

Kennewick, Day 4

On Saturday we were able to go the temple with Matt & Sarah while Jenny, Grandma, and Grandpa watched all the kids.  It was nice to get away for awhile.  Later that evening we went to Matt & Sarah's for a Murder Mystery Party.  We had a good time!

Kennewick, Day 3

Today was picture day!  We got all dressed up in our matching clothes and drove over to the golf course for our family pictures!  It was windy and so everyone has hair in their face.  I thought the pictures went relatively well but honestly was a little bit disappointed in the results.  It's tough to get that many people looking good at the same time.  I really appreciate my in-laws getting a photographer and Jenny spending so much time and effort helping coordinate everything and everyone!

Some candids that Mike took during the shoot:

Professional shots:

 Matt, Sarah, Aubrey, and Kate-Kate

 Aunt Jenny

After pictures I was able to sneak away and go have a quick lunch with my mom and sister and get back just in time for Mike to go have some 'guy time' with his brother, Matt and Calvin shooting guns. 

Kennewick, Day 2

This morning part of us went for another (shorter) walk.  When we got back Celeste wouldn't walk in the door.  She is very particular about textures.  She wouldn't step on the door mat, I'm guessing she didn't like the texture of it - it was pokey!

 Celeste just stood there, yelling, talking, looking, trying to figure out how to get in without stepping on the rug.

She was so proud of herself when she figured out she could go around the pokey part and get inside!

Later that morning we went to Charboneau Park on the Snake River.  It was a little bit of a drive but worth it to avoid the crowds and the current on the Columbia River.  We practically had the park and the swimming area to ourselves.  The kids swam and played and we had a yummy lunch and relaxed for most of the day.  

 Aunt Jenny playing with the kids

Kennewick, Day 1

Next we drove to Kennewick to see the Russells!  We were sad that just last month Mike's brother and his family moved back to CA so we missed them!  We were glad to see Mike's youngest brother and thankful his sister flew in to visit while we were there. 

On our first full day in Kennewick we all went for a walk.  Aunt Jenny, Uncle Matt, cousin Aubrey and our whole family went for a long walk around the neighborhood.  It turned out to be too long for some of the kids and lucky for us Grammie came to the rescue with her mini-van and picked up a few of them.  We spent the day in and out and having fun, shopping, and going to the water park at the library.  We go every summer and the kids enjoy it.

 Aunt Sarah

 Mike playing with Madeline & Calvin

 Little Celesty

cute little cousins

Mattawa Day 6 & Day 7

Our last two days in Mattawa were just us and my parents.  I know the kids played and had fun but I didn't take any pictures :(.   I went for a walk with my mom, the kids played outside, went on 4-wheeler rides, rode the mattress down the stairs (again) and we cleaned up and packed and got ready for the last half of our trip!

Looking back at my posts, I'm remembering things I forgot to mention (man, were we busy!) the kids made marshmallow figures out of marshmallows and toothpicks, we all played the wii (Dance Revolution is good exercise and it's better that we don't have pictures of me doing that) played games - including Bunco, and ate a lot of good food! 

I love going to my parent's house and being with my family.  Sometimes it's hard.  Going back to the house and the town that I grew up in is so nostalgic.  I really miss my family and I wish I could see them more often and be a bigger part of their lives.  We always say maybe some day and  we mean it - maybe some day we will be closer!

Mattawa, Day 5

Today we went to church in Mattawa.  It's always so good to go and see old friends.  I was glad that a high school friend of mine was also visiting this week and we were able to do some catching up and see each others families.  I wish we'd had more time Lindsay!  Our baby girls are only 6 weeks apart and loved each other!  Celeste loves 'babies' real ones and dolls.  She feels the need to hug all of them!  This doesn't always go over very well, but Cali loves hugs and kisses - so it was perfect!  The girls hugged and kissed and played and ate each others snacks all through Relief Society. 

That afternoon we had peach shakes!  Grandma and Grandpa have an amazing garden - it's so beautiful and full of good food!  Their peaches are on and we have peach shakes every day.  Celeste learned real quick what a paper cup and straw meant!  She loved them (we all did). 

Mattawa, Day 4

Today everyone left except us.  Trina and Stephanie and their kids left this morning.  We managed to play with Betsy's kids for a little while before they had to go as well.  The kids pulled out the face painting kit and everyone participated in the fun! 

Betsy's painted Ella's butterfly face and I did Madeline's, it's hard to see because it's pink.  Mike did Anna Elise's blue disco diva, Lilah's crazy vampire, and Calvin's Spiderman.  Anna Elise did a good job on Mike's tiger face.

Mattawa, Day 3

Here are all the cousins in their new shirts  (we are missing my brother's 4 kids).  Tanner didn't feel like having his picture taken today.

We are on our way to a friends house to swim in their pool - we had a blast!

This afternoon we played a game with cheetos and cream (we used some whipping cream and some shaving cream and I think the shaving cream worked better -but didn't taste as good).

 Lilah throwing her cheeto balls onto Madeline's whipped creamed, shower capped head

 Anna Elise

 Talia started a shaving cream fight and smeared some on me

 I may have hosed her down in retaliation

Here I am just helping clean up the shaving cream ;)

We ended the afternoon with our annual water balloon fight.  They had more balloons then ever before.  We also had more wet adults then ever before!

 Ella gets Lilah while Anna Elise hits Ella

 Liam got a lot of water balloons popped on him - he stood still and let you do it because he loved it!

 Tanner ruined Lilah's plan and she ended up missing him, so she told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of that - poor kid was just trying to protect himself!

Celeste stole someone's balloon and had a good time playing with it.

This evening Celeste got a hold of a couple of swimsuits and decided to wear them as purses.  She carried them around like this all evening.