Riding Star

Hanging out in the arena watching Hannah ride her horse, Star.
Getting ready to ride, cowgirl hat and all! ;)

Letting down the stirrups just a tad for a little more comfort

It has been way too long since I have had the opportunity to ride a horse and I loved every minute of it!

Hannah and her baby

Thank you, Hannah, for being so generous with your horse. I had a blast riding with you and Star.

I'M BACK!

...with some time to blog...

The Lovely Atilano Family

Bryce: glad you were able to make it into the group photo, I was worried we wouldn't get one before I left.

I just returned home from a week and half spent on the Atilano Farm where kids run freely with; dogs, cats, goats, chickens and horses. I had a lovely time with Tanya and her 5 kids helping them with their normal day to day chores, errands and rearranging of their home. I miss you all already and look forward to another visit up there in the future.

A day at the park...

Enjoying the sunshine

Matthew is becoming quite the photographer

Hannah and I getting ready to rollerblade
Picture by, Matthew

Stopping for a photo shoot.
Trading rollerblades...
"So, how do these work?"
Picture by, Matthew
"Oh, I get it...just roll and they will do the work for me!"

A day at the park continued...

Ron taking in the beauty of God's creation.
It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon...
Picture taken by, Matthew

Bryce
Picture taken by, Matthew

Skipping rocks...
I admit, I steered clear of the rock throwing for a little bit ;)
but, only for a little bit. Thankfully, this time, no one was hurt in the name of rock skipping.

Bryce with his friend Jacob:
anxious to get up and walk again

Matthew, jumping rocks. The goal was to see who could jump their rock the farthest, a new twist to skipping rocks.

Life on the farm

Hannah, showing me how it is done and, Lucy being cute.

A first for me

Oops!
The goat got a little antsy with the newbie and decided to step into the bucket of milk.
A good example of why Frodo, the cat, sticks around during all milking.

Lucy, Me and Hannah
after an eventful time of milking the goats

Goats for sale...anyone want them?
(There you go Tanya, just doing my part! ;) )

July has come and gone but, the memories made will last for a life time...okay, okay, I think I have read one too many Hallmark cards. It has been a busy month with a visit from my Aunt Kathleen and her grand-daughter, Emma, joining us for a week at the beach, our annual church Bike Trip and a week of rest and packing, packing, packing . Now, as the month of August begins the farewells must follow with Steven and I flying to Japan on the 1st and Aunt Kathy and Emma flying home on the 2ND, yes, for those that have caught on, my parents will be hit with an empty nest all at once. So, feel free to drop them a line or give them a call to make sure all is well down here in the small town of Salem. ;)

There are 5 waves of pictures below, I had a hard time narrowing it down from the 300+ pictures taken between the 4 different cameras, so enjoy and don't get too overwhelmed! More pictures to come of the bike trip...maybe tomorrow but, if not then, it will be after Family Camp, which happens to be 2 days after we get back from Japan. Steven will more than likely keep his blog up to date while we're in Japan so feel free to check it out here.

The First Wave!

(Cassie, Ali, Mom, Emma, Aunt Kathy & Brent)

Day 1 at the beach...we unloaded a few things from the car then walked straight to the back porch and played on the beach the rest of the afternoon. The sun was shinning, skies were blue, the sand was hot and the fellowship was sweet, what more can you ask for (the absolute perfect condition for my Mom!)

Brent's treasure

Beautiful Emma Rose, she loved the beach.

Hiding Grandma's toes

One tough cookie, the freezing cold water didn't stop Ali from having a good time, she LOVED it!

I finally was able to get both of them to smile together, and what do you know, Haystack rock was in the perfect spot.

Aunt Pretty, Emma and Brent enjoying the hot sand

The Second Wave
Visitors

(Addie, Aunt Linda, Gage, Heather and Jacque)

Day 2 we enjoyed the company of my Grandparents, Aunt Linda and her family and my Dad

Heather with her Uncle Randy, comparing camera's. The camera's were constantly being snapped (so be ready for an over-load of pictures on here)

Papa & Grandmama with their 7th great-grand baby

Gage doing his best to keep warm. I believe this is the only picture we have of him sitting still, he ran up and down the sand dune, jumped of the deck and chased the birds all day long.

My cousin Jacque surprised us with a visit all the way from North Carolina where she is completing her Master's in Ocean Archeology.

Cassie, Aunt Linda, Ali and Mom soaking up the sun

It wasn't uncommon for this section of the dune to have many people on it throughout the day...it was a good 10 degrees warmer in that one spot.

Papa with his 2nd grandchild

Cousin bonding time

Third Wave

My all time favorite of all the beach pics.

Brent and Addie

(2nd cousins once removed?)

Flight of the Birds! The culprit, 4 kids and a bag of Doritos

Brent even tried to fly away on one of them...

Gage opted to fly away all on his own...

And Ali wasn't too sure what to do with the gi-normous birds walking around her

Taking in the beauty of it all!

Fourth Wave

Jumping off the deck

Addie full of grace

Emma showed everyone how it was done

Ali prays for a safe landing

A little Hallelujah dance before take off

Having second thoughts

Diving in!
"That was too fun, watch out Auntie, there is no stopping me now!"

Papa helping Ali up for her 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th jump, and so it went!