Babies, Babies Everywhere!

Yesterday we were able to visit Chris' brother and his family and attend their new daughter's blessing. Welcome to the 4-kid club, you guys! Brooklyn Paige is one of several babies born on the Bake side of the family this year. I thought I'd post a few pictures from the day, so those of you who couldn't be there, or just don't get to see enough of their cute family, could sneak a peek. (Posted on our blog, because they don't have a blog or web page - yet...hint!)
Stacy with Brooklyn.Allie on the back patio.MaKenzie and Sophie.Nicolas, Sam and MaKenzie.Stacy with Nicolas in their backyard.

Happy Birthday, America!

We started the day's celebration with what has become known as "The Candy Parade". I'm not exactly sure what candy has to do with acknowledging and celebrating our nation's freedom, but it's all in the name of fun, I guess. I remember when I was a kid and the 4th of July parade was all about cool and festive floats, and people in uniform - Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Military, Veterans, law enforcement, fire and rescue workers, and other civil servants. Flags abounded and the sound of a marching or military band filled the street. We were lucky to be thrown a Tootsie Roll or two, but my kids fare just a bit better in the candy department...
I'm so grateful to be living in America, a land of complete and total freedom. I'm married to my best friend, we have four beautiful kids, and great extended family and beyond. We live in a home that we own, in a town that we chose, in a great part of the country. I can drive, walk, run or skip down the road and be relatively free from fear, for my safety or that of my children, no roadside bombs or armed militia patrolling our streets. We attend a church of our choosing, we travel where our hard-earned money takes us, we vote for leaders that we choose to represent us. It's hard for me to fathom living anywhere that all these things aren't a free and personal choice. There may be some complaints about the state of our union - the economy, gas prices, corrupt and immoral politicians, lack of adequate health care, poor schools and education, all of which may be legitimate issues important to most Americans. But today I just wanted to send out our family's personal "THANK YOU!", to all those who've sacrificed, and greatly, for this country to exist. My dad, who served in the NAVY, Chris' dad, who served in the AIR National Guard, my cousins who have fought and served in the current war, all our other extended family members who serve diligently to preserve our liberty. God Bless America!

July 1st and it feels like summer!

Isn't summer the best? Chris and I are always searching for new and exciting ways to entertain and amuse our kids. Most of the time it seems like he and I are the ones most entertained, while at least one of the kids inevitably ends up crying or fighting with the others. Still, it usually ends up being worth enduring those momentary lapses to be able to enjoy these little experiences with our children. Not surprisingly, it tends to be the simplest activities that are the most fun. Here's some pictures from a few hours at the park today.

Nicolas has a friend...

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When we were visiting family in Michigan, Nicolas was given a music CD by his Grandpa Doug and Grandma Susan. It's a compilation of less well-known children's songs, with a designated child's name cleverly mixed into the lyrics of each song, in this case, Nicolas. This song, "I'm a monkey who counts to 20", instantly became the family's favorite. Chris and I found this song especially amusing, for some reason (listen for yourself)! We put the CD in on our trip, during our 4 hour drive up north, by the time we arrived at our destination, we all had the lyrics memorized. Nicolas, though, just sits quietly while the music's playing, as he hears his name being repeated over and over by some mysterious voice, as if coming from out of nowhere, he seems confused and a little annoyed, adding to it's ultimate entertainment value for the rest of us! I've had this tune stuck in my head for days.

For the Beauty of the Earth...

Of all the gorgeous places we've gone camping, this one has to be one of the most breathtaking. We had planned to camp this week on Chris' days off at one of our favorite places, Palisades Reservoir. After spending two nights in an established campground, we decided to venture off into a more rustic, undeveloped camping area. Basically the only amenity was the fire ring, which looked like someone had just dug it the previous weekend. As remote as this place was, I was a little surprised that the only wildlife we saw was a deer that made it's way through our campsite a couple of times.See the deer in the background!
That's the kids playing in the creek in the distance.
See how remote the area is - almost a little spooky!

No picnic tables here!
Ahh, this is the life.
This was a late night for Nicolas; we let him stay up by the campfire way past his normal bedtime.
This is a picture of some waterfalls on the Snakeriver.
This moose was one of four we saw on this trip, she was hiding out on a little "island" in the river near the campground.
Noah and Sam playing in Bear Creek.

Nick was pretty muddy after digging and building in the dirt.
The kids playing at Palisades Reservoir.

Isn't it lovely?

Some of you may know that we've had issues with our fence, well, basically from the day we bought this house. We're pretty sure it was installed by amateurs, as evidenced by the fact that the front section was put up with the ugly (back) side facing out toward the road, and the posts were in 5 gallon buckets with cement placed on a seriously eroding wall of dirt. Well, after a series of strong wind storms completely blew over one section and part of another, exposing the horror that lies on the other side, we knew it was time to break down and get a new fence professionally installed.
Here are some pictures of our fence, before and after, and the new fire pit that Chris laboriously put in earlier this week. The staining of the fence in still in-process, but a run to Home Depot tonight for one last gallon of stain should do the trick. I will be glad to have that done, as Chris and I have also been doing the work on that ourselves and I've gone to bed the past couple of nights with a fume-induced headache and very sore shoulders! Anyway, the kids love it, and it looks so much better, we're hoping it will inspire our family to spend more time out in the yard this summer!

A little zoo fun.

The other day we decided to take the kids to our local zoo for a little outing. The animals were surprisingly active, considering the warmer temperature. This small zoo is more like a north american wildlife viewing area with a treehouse playground in the middle, but the kids love it, and it's a good diversion on a hot summer day. Nicolas was especially intrigued by the grizzly bear, since it was sticking it's nose and paws through the cage for a good, close look.