Summer is officially here...

Exhibit A: The temperature read 92 degrees in our car, while the AC was on full blast!

Exhibit B: Lori, Amy, Greg and I went to the Cactus in downtown Kirkland for lunch after church (and is now my new favorite spot)! I love the huge sliding glass doors that open up the restaurant to the sidewalk! We were able to munch on chips and salsa while we experienced the warm summer breeze!

Exhibit C: Greg and I spotted Santa himself gettin' some sunshine today! What a nice golden tan he has achieved since last December! :)

Exhibit D: Levi in his flip flops, which apparently he put on all by himself...

Exhibit E: Popsicles! 

Exhibit F: Getting to play with no shirt on, and for Greyson, just a diaper!

Exhibit G: Swinging high in your swimsuit and flip flops!

We are all SO glad summer has finally arrived!

Photo Shoot with Karis...

Last Saturday Greg and I got to spend with my whole family! Mom, Dad, Ryan, Amanda, Vance, Alicia and of course...KARIS!

I have been looking forward to getting to do a "Photo Shoot" with Karis ever since I got my new camera. Boy did I have a blast! I will apologize in advance for being very indecisive on which pictures to post. There are a ton, but I just loved them all...

Here is a little taste of her silly personality...

Playing with Grandpa...

I love you so much little Karis-girl! I can't wait till our next "shoot"!

...this is all just way too much fun!

Uncle Ed's is now...RETIRED!

Last Friday was Greg's Uncle Ed's last day of work...ever! He is now Retired! 

Greg and I were invited to celebrate with Uncle Ed's family, friends and small group from church. We took off a little early from work and headed down to 

Vancouver to PARTY!

Those of you that know Uncle Ed well know that he will never stop working. Uncle Ed is one of those people that just loves to serve others in anyway he can. He can fix just about anything, is always willing to lend a helping hand, is incredibly patient and is a wonderful example of a true servant of God!

It was really great to hear some letters that family wrote to him. Above you see Greg's cousin, Tony (Uncle Ed's son). He wrote and read a beautiful letter to his dad.

Below you see Zachary, one of Uncle Ed's grandsons. He also wrote a wonderful letter to his grandpa on the day of his retirement.

Here is Lori-girl being silly with a few of Uncle Ed's beautiful granddaughters...

My hubby...

It was a good time! The party went well into the night, which left some of us a little hungry. Greg and his cousin Todd went to a place called Juliano's Pizzeria in Vancouver and picked up two of the biggest pizzas I have ever seen! I wish this picture did it justice, but it just does not exemplify the mammoth-ness of it! A great way to close out our night-o-fun...

A Smokin' Father's Day...

This year we spent Father's Day with the Hicks'. As always, we had a blast! We got Mark a new grill since Greg's old Weber Grill just was not cutting it. 

Here is the "Before" picture...

And the "After" shot...

I will have you know that the grill came in a box. Guess who put it together? Yes, it was me! My hubby is not the best at following direction, so I am the one that puts stuff together. It was actually kind of fun...and a great end result! Great steaks! Yummy! 

Here are a few shots I snapped in the car of my 

wonderful hubby and our adorable dog, Red...

Snohomish County

A few weeks ago I headed North to Snohomish County for a friends outdoor wedding reception. It was a gorgeous day! Greg was gone the whole day for one of his friends bachelor party so I decided to take my time on the drive home and enjoy the sunny weather. I stopped in Downtown Snohomish and then along the side of the road when I spotted some farmin' goin' on. 

Here is a sign I saw in Downtown Snohomish that couldn't pass up. I thought is was pretty funny considering the current state of gas prices...

It was quite refreshing to just take my time, as well as soak in some of the beautiful country that is just North of us. I need to do this more often...

As I drove by this particular patch of farming land I couldn't help but think of my Grandpa Kellmer. He has been a hard workin' farmer his whole life, and I have him to thank for passing down to my dad and then to me the value and importance of hard work. I am so thankful for him and his health. He has beat his cancer and is still going strong! He is such a beautiful picture to me of a man of God that puts all of his hope and trust in the Heavenly Father. Theses are for you, Grandpa...

"I life my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth."

Psalms 121:1-2

You have to check out "Totally Tabletops"...the blog!

If you do not already do so, I HIGHLY recommend frequenting the Totally Tabletops Blog created by my good friend Sheena, owner and founder of Totally Tabletops and The Invisible Hostess. You will most likely be inspired in one way or another when you visit her fabulous blog!
(Can you tell I just learned how to do links?? I am super excited about it!)

Sheena always has posts about smashing party ideas, great center piece ideas, introduces you to fun products you have never heard of before, and inspires you to throw the best parties!

If you check out today’s post by Sheena, "Virtually Perfect", you will find a little "shout-out" to Greg and I.

Enjoy, and Happy Friday!

2008 Young Family Girls Weekend

Last weekend was our 5th Annual Girls Weekend. This year we all congregated in Poulsbo Washington at the Green Cat Bed & Breakfast...

Some of you know, and some of you do not know that we have a fun little tradition that we partake in every year...Huge...colorful...sunglasses! We take a group picture in them every year.


Here are some past years group pictures:

2007 in Downtown Portland

2006 at Hearthstone in McCall Idaho

2005 at "The Woods" in Camas Washington

2004 in Sun River Oregon

Another one of our traditions is to play Bunko!
Here, Aunt Debby just got the "Bunko Bear"

And with Bunko, there comes wonderful prizes...


On Saturday, we did some shopping in Downtown Poulsbo. We started out at the Farmers Market. On our walk back to downtown, we spotted a lot of fun homes with beautiful flowers...

Here is Grandma, Aunt Phyllis and Mom figuring out their next Antique Shop to attack as Aunt Debby had already found her next plan of attack, the Poulsbo Bakery!

We found a wonderful passer-byer to take a few group shots of us by the water...

While we were there on the water, we spotted a bald eagle! This is the closest I have ever been to one...


After Shopping, we decided to treat our little tootsies with Pedicures...



We had a little "photo shoot" on Sunday before we left. I had a blast using my new camera!








Grandpa is going to love these. I told Grandma to "work it" and here she is...

Then I told her to "pucker those lips"...

Then I said, "No, like a kiss!"

She is such a doll!

As usual, it was a blast! The weekend goes by so fast, but we always seem to create wonderful memories in that short amount of time!

Love you guys! We missed all of you that were not able to make it, but you were in our thoughts!

Oh! I forgot to post a few pictures of my ferry ride home (this is a late addition to the post)...