Long Time No Write...

I know, what's the point of starting a blog if you are never going to write anything...  Well, it was a busy summer.  The week after Hailey's graduation, we traveled back to Memphis for Pete's check up at St. Jude.  This was the first time Hailey had been back since we lived there.  I was surprised at how much she remembered.  We had a good trip and Pete had another good checkup!

After Memphis, we drive up to St. Louis and met our dear friends (the Schellhorn Family) at Six Flags to play a bit.  It was great to reunite Pete and Grant.  The bond between those two boys is really special.  Pete certainly doesn't have any other friends who have been through what he has - surgeries, chemo, radiation.  My dad said they should buy a lottery tick together when they turn 18!

At the end of June, Hailey and I traveled up to Portland for her MRI of her spine.  The results came back normal, thank God!  While we were there, we stayed the night at my dear friend Amy Ruth's house.  It was so nice to spend time with her and her family.  Addy Rae and Josiah are such cute kids!  We can't wait to meet baby #3 after it arrives in November!

I am having to look back at my pictures to see what else we did...  In July, we went to the 4th of July parade in Ashland.  This year we actually allowed the kids to stay up and we took them to see the fireworks in Ashland.  They were very tired, buy enjoyed it so much!  It was really cute how impressed they were, before the show started, with the little fireworks that people around us were putting off.  I just kept telling the, "Just you wait, just wait."  Well, they both thought it was well worth the wait (they didn't start until 10:00pm)!

Also in July we took the kids to the Jackson County Fair.  It was the same old fair...  But, I had to remind myself, how exciting the fair was to me, when I was a kid.  Hailey and Pete loved riding the rides, seeing the animals and they even got to pet an alligator.  Good times!

In August, we took a bit of a vacation to the coast.  We spent a couple days in Gold Beach with mom and dad, at their vacation house.  It is such a comfy and relaxing place to be.  From there, we headed up to North Bend for some camping, relaxing and play.  Pete finally decided that yes, he actually does like the sand rail.  Our friend Greg at camp kept asking him, "Who is your friend, Pete?" and Pete would reply, "SPEED!"  Daddy was so proud!

After our coastal excursion (also in August), Kim and the kids came up from California.  Ryan went to day camp at the Science Works Museum for a week with Hailey and Pete.  I think they had a good time, but hey were all very worn out every day after we picked them up.  The entire camp day was spent outside and it was rather hot...  Pete also got bitten by a bearded dragon (lizard) - OUCH.

That brings us to Septmeber again.  The summed whizzed by and now the Autumn winds are blowing, the leaves are starting to change, and we officially have a 1st grader!  Hailey has lost four theeth since the start of school last year.  The adult teeth change a kid's apperance so much!  She's not a baby anymore...  I think Haile is so cute with her two front top teeth missing.

The second Friday after school started, we picked Hailey and Pete up from school and went camping up at Howard Prairie Lake.  Jeff took the kids fishing for the first time.  They didn't catch anything, but had fun anyways.  We took the kid's new bikes with us and Hailey learned to ride without training wheels!  We stayed over two nights.  It was a quiet and relaxing last minute get-away.