One Year Down....Many More To Go!

One year ago today, on the Island of Oahu Hawaii, I made a commitment to the one person in this world who knows me inside and out, who has been by my side through good times and bad, and who has shown me what it really means to love and be loved. It was the day that I married my best friend.

Aloha Au Iaoe!

High School - Already?

On Wednesday, June 9th, Katlynne officially graduated from 8th grade and we were able to make the trip over to Port Angeles to attend the ceremony! It is amazing to see how far Katlynne has come over the last four or five years - but now that she has graduated from middle school, this means - she is now in high school!!! She has grown up so fast and has become such an amazing young lady. We are so proud of her. In addition to getting her "diploma", Katlynne received a bunch of other awards that night including The Timothy Award (for acts of service), Friendliest Personality, and Honor Roll (the medal around her neck in the picture is for this award). She has been working so hard since starting middle school to achieve Straight A's on a semester report card, and we are happy to report that she finally reached her goal this last semester. STRAIGHT A's! She is so proud of herself and we are even more proud of all her hard work. She looked amazing and she was so excited that we were able to make it to see her graduate.

After the ceremony, we took the girls out to dinner and explored the pier. It was great to see them and spend some time with them in the middle of the week.

Our Beautiful Girls!

So Excited To Be In High School!

Sisters!

Jim Wanted A Paparazzi Type Shot Of The High Schooler....I Was Her Body Guard.

Kayla Walking The Pier

Love These Girls!

In addition to Wednesday being Katlynne's big graduation day, it was also Jim's 41st birthday! Since we had all of the girls the weekend before, we celebrated his birthday then with a small family party out at Dash Point State Park in Federal Way (thanks to my parents and the Hales for letting us spend the evening at their camp site). We spent the afternoon playing Bocce Ball, Ladder Toss, roasting hot dogs and Hobo dinners over the camp fire and eating homemade carrot cake (Jim's favorite) and ice cream. Afterwards, we stayed up late playing games in the Hale's camping trailer. It was a great time with lots of good laughs!

Since we don't have any kids this coming weekend, I have been planning on celebrating his birthday once again, just the two of us. It should be fun!

Jim And His Girls!

Jim and Me!

Mother's Day Weekend 2010

I love to go camping! The very first camping trip Jim and I took together was over Mother's Day weekend three years ago. Since then, we've kind of made it a tradition to go camping over Mother's Day weekend - because it's what I love to do. When we camp over Mother's day weekend, it's usually just Jim and I. But because it was our usual weekend to have all the girls, we decided to include them on our camping trip this year. However, we had to have Jim's girls back to Port Angeles by 9:00 am Sunday Morning (they have to be with their mom every mother's day - regardless of whose weekend it is). So - we found this AMAZING camping spot just outside of Port Angeles. It's Salt Creek Recreational Park and it is officially my favoritest (I know it's not a word - but it's how I feel) place to camp. The camp sites sit on a bluff overlooking the water, so you have an amazing view and get to fall asleep to the natural sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks below. Throughout the campground, you will find designated staircases that take you to the rocks below and when the tide is out, you would be amazed at the ocean critters left behind in the tide pools. The girls had a great time climbing the rocks - it was a great adventure for them.

We left Friday night and hit traffic in Tacoma which set us back a lot. We had to be to the park by 10:00 pm before they closed the gates, so the ride over was a little stressful. I kept telling Jim to pick up the pace - I know it annoyed him, but he remained patient with me. We picked up the girls at 9:43 pm and made it to the park at 9:58 pm. The park ranger was nice enough to follow us to our site and take our registration so we didn't have to wander around in the dark. However - we did have to set up camp in the dark - that was a chore in itself. I think we got to bed the first night (or morning I guess you should say) around 12:30 am.

Setting Up The Tent (In The Dark)

Venturing Out To Explore The Park (Saturday Morning)

One Of The Stairways Leading To The Rocks & Tide Pools

The View From The Bottom Of The Stairs

Walking The Rocks (The Rocks Were Covered With Mussel Beds)

Checking Out The Water

The girls LOVED being able to examine the sea life so close up and actually be able to touch what they saw. Kayla and Kelsey spent most of their time finding cool looking sea snails (they occasionally needed the long arms of Katlynne to pick up their awesome finds). But they spent hours finding these things and comparing the shells, in a secret attempt to find the coolest one.

Examining The Sea Life

Kelsey Loved The Empty Mussel Shells

This Mussel Shell Was The Biggest One!

While examining the tide pools, the girls found a couple of starfish hiding under the grass. They were so excited - this was the first time Kayla was able to actually hold a starfish.

Kayla With A Starfish

Picking Out Their Snails (Even The Dog Was Curious)

More Snail Hunting

Katlynne Helping Out

Katlynne With The Starfish

Katlynne and Miley Enjoying The View

Katlynne and Kayla With Kayla's Snail

Jim and the Dog

Cool Looking Cove We Found

Reading About The Sea Life They Just Saw (Can You Tell Kayla Was TOTALLY Into It)?

Katlynne Waiting To Go Down The Stairs

The Girls Looking Over The Rocks

The Ones I Love The MOST!

Our Girls

Taking A Snooze In The Sun (Fakers!)

Random Pictures Of The Views and Sea Life

The Tide Pools Were Lined With These Awesome Pink & Green Sea Anemones

We Had A GREAT Time!!

How We Felt Sunday Morning.....

We Made It!

Well - we made it! On May 22nd, Jim and I participated in the city of Auburn's annual Dog Trot 5K run as part of the city's Pet Palooza. This was Jim's first 5K run and he did great! The dog and I had to push a head at times, but Jim eventually caught up and we finished the run together in 44:36. My personal goal was to finish in under 45 minutes - so I'm happy that I reached my goal. Not bad considering the weather had been horrible in the weeks leading up to this run, so we weren't really able to do any serious running to get ready.

We woke up to the sound of rain and I really wasn't looking forward to running with the dog in the rain. But just as we got to the park, the rain let up and we actually experienced breaks of sun throughout the day.

After the run, we spent the afternoon walking around the park and visiting the different animal vendors, collecting free products and buying others that we just HAD to have. It was a great afternoon and the girls had a lot of fun.

My goal for next year: The Five Mile Lake Women's Triathlon (Sprint Distance).