Family Photo Shoot - photos by Captured Moments by Christi

Several weeks ago my mom, my siblings and our families gathered together for a family photo shoot. My mother wanted pictures of everyone together and requested that we all wear white shirts and blue jeans. The photos were taken by a high school friend of ours Christi who had taken pictures of Kyla and Lilly last October. It was a bit of a challenge getting all of the kiddos to cooperate simultaneously. I absolutely love this picture of all of the cousins!

Isaac, Ethan, Owen, Kyla, Lilly, Addisyn, Johnathen, Cole and Austin

Father's Day Weekend

Tony and his Dad went to Westport on a charter fishing the Saturday before Father's day. Tony left the house in the wee hour of 2:30 am and returned home about 8pm that evening. He had a great time with his dad and they both brought home king salmon for the freezer! The girls and I missed him while he was gone on Saturday but we were able to decorate the house with a Super Dad themed banner and balloons for his return. We spent Sunday relaxing at home since the weather was crummy and Tony had such a long day fishing the day before. The girls helped make coffee and a great breakfast for Tony that morning.

Tony and his dad

It has been nearly five years this next month since my dad passed. I miss him dearly, I think of him often and wish I could wrap my arms around him just once more. I can hardly believe that in the past five years Kyla has grown so much and Lilly has entered our family. How I wish he could have seen and experienced this with us. I look at my brother and I see so much of a resemblance of my dad. It is heart piercing, comforting and wonderful! Happy Father's Day to you! I miss you... I love you!

10 Year Wedding Anniversary

June 3rd marked our 10 year wedding anniversary! That day I told my hubby that I've loved him for more than half of my life. This is true! I've known him since elementary school and began dating him as a freshman in high school, continuing to date through college and beyond. We have two beautiful daughters and a blessed life! We have many years even beyond the 10 wedded years to celebrate full of amazing memories!

After leaving the girls with my mom for the night we left the afternoon of our anniversary and made our way south stopping in Olympia at the farmer's market where we walked around and ate lunch. We then headed to our destination, Alderbrook Resort and Spa. We stayed in the resort hotel and had a beautiful top floor, water view room. After checking in we walked around the beautiful grounds and out onto the dock. We had an incredible dinner that evening at the resort restaurant, shrimp appetizer in a orange cream sauce, lobster bisque, king crab, angel hair pasta with shrimp and scallops in a lobster cream sauce. Then they brought us a huge creme brulee for dessert. We had a nice relaxing evening, slept in the next morning and ordered breakfast to our room before going on a hike above the resort.

That next afternoon my mom arrived to the resort with Kyla and Lilly. We were also joined for the weekend by my older sister Ellen, her husband Jesse and their boys Austin and Cole as well as our good friends Hal and Lori (celebrating their 8th anniversary) and their two daughters Haley and Emily. My brother and his wife Amy and their three boys Ethan, Owen and Isaac came and played for the day on Saturday. The weekend was spent relaxing in the sun and on the beach as the kids played, swimming in the saltwater pool and hot tub, roasting marshmallows and making smores. Saturday night we did a big dinner together boiled crab and clams, bbq'd oysters with lots of sides and Champagne Cupcakes for dessert.

The weekend was truly amazing. I picked a few pictures of the many great ones to share. A huge appreciation to my sister Ellen for planning and using her contacts as the great wedding planner she is to arrange such an incredible weekend!

Standing at the end of the dock

Courtyard of the resort

Dock view of the resort

Dock view of the cottages

View of the resort from the hiking trail

Afternoon hike

Kyla and Cole on the beach

Lilly and Emily

the kids on the playground

Lilly was having a blast at the pool and hot tub

At the cottage getting ready to head to the pool