sandpoint

we just returned from our annual week in sandpoint. this year's trip was amazing! the evening we arrived, we went straight to work at picking raspberries in becky's unbelievable garden. my boys couldnt eat them fast enough!

the next day was sun sun sun. who knows what my brother is doing the background of this shot.

fun on the boat.

this year was tagg's first time tubing. he freaking loved it.

and sully loved being the official flag holder-upper.

on our way to bridge jumping.

25 feet up. active train tracks. its pretty intense. this is eli going for it.

i mean. you can baaaaaarely see me but this is my jump.

after bridge jumping we came back for more fun on the dock. the boys were ready for their ride on the jet ski.

a big obsession during the week was fishing. lets just put it this way: i actually had to go into a store and ask where they sold their live worms (in the walk-in cooler, next to the miller lite, btw). this is the huuuuge large mouth bass tagg caught all by himself. he was so proud!

sully, getting a push on max's bike.

it wouldnt be a night in sandpoint without a fantastic meal made by these two beauties. that night it was citrus chicken tacos with homemade salsa, mexican rice and guacamole. so good.

proof.

every night my dad would walk the boys over and put coins down on the train tracks. sully is giving my dad bunny ears in this shot.

running across to the train tracks to put their coins down. and then every morning we would rush over to find the boys' smashed treasures. it was so fun.

first s'mores session of the week.

it was very fun to have rachelle and taylor there with us this year. last year they were just barely beginning to date..... now theyre an old married couple! :)

the definition of one's eyes being bigger than one's stomach!

the next day sully caught HIS first fish.

more tubing for max and tagg.

navy blue and white striped twins.

the only tubing partners my mom could handle were tagg and max. and even then she had to get off because they wanted to go faster. :) 

that night my cousin was kind enough to babysit so we could go out to dinner. spuds never disappoints. 

however, we did opt out of ordering desserts from the restaurant so we could rush back home to do s'mores again.

i sure dont love the smell of campfire but i DO love my little campfire buddy.

never a dull moment (or meal!) at the rands' lakehouse. that morning it was chocolate chip pancakes with homemade vanilla syrup.

after breakfast it was more fun on the water. craig tried wake surfing for the first time and was a champ!

and grace's request for the day was a stop by the drive-thru gas station.

that night my mom and i watched the boys fish and had a little photo shoot.

when the kids were all in bed and we had finished our second dessert (and i dont mean second helping of the same dessert. i mean we made two different desserts every night) we had our dance party.

the next day we took the boys into town to get kettle corn (best i have ever had) at the farmers market and to play at the mini splash pad.

cute brothers.

then we went back to the house to squeeze in one more afternoon on the lake.

craig wake surfed a little more. 

and i admired my new friendship bracelets. no week at sandpoint would be complete without a new set of these puppies.

sully finally braved the tube! and loved it. i had such a fun time tubing with my two boys.

our last campfire.(my friend introduced us to the idea of switching graham crackers for slices of granny smith apples & normal hershey bars for almond ones..... trust me. its amazing)

my favorite hostess on the planet earth. how does she do it? i want to be just like her.

on our way out of town we stopped by the tracks to pick up the last of our smashed coins. i'll miss hearing the boys get excited when they heard a train pass...

every year i think "this was amazing. how will we top it?" but honestly, i think this was the best year yet. 

jocelyn came to seattle!

a couple weeks ago jocelyn came to visit. we had quite the itinerary for while she was here. first up..... a late night girls' run to target.

that night we also met up with my girlfriends. jocelyn met them in las vegas back in march so it was fun to have them meet up again.

the next morning we got pedicures. we were laughing because we had asked the nail lady to take our picture and she took it upon herself to have an impromptu photo shoot. there were like 15 pictures taken.

that afternoon we took the boys down to pike place. 

so jocelyn could get some of those mini donuts they make right there in the market. my boys were just sort of happy with the donut situation.

that night i got a babysitter so jocelyn and i could have pho in peace. she had never tried it before and i wanted to be able to concentrate and show her how to prepare the best pho possible. she felt so-so about pho. bummer. i love it!

the next day we shopped at u-village. it was such a beautiful day.

then craig and the boys met us down at UW to canoe around lake washington. we had never done it before and it was a BLAST.

our canoeing buddies.

after our boat ride (that makes it sound relaxing.... it was hard work!) jocelyn and i had cuban. i have decided a number 2 from paseo is what i would to choose for my last meal.

clearly.

we made ourselves throw away the last little bit of our sandwiches so we would have room for hot cakes. their peanut butter molten cake with ice cream and peanut butter fudge is seriously one of my favorite desserts. jocelyn loved her s'more milkshake. 

after shopping around ballard for a little bit, we drove back over to bellevue to check into our hotel. we rested for a while then got ready for the night and went over to bellevue square.

we shopped, ate and saw a late movie. it was the perfect night.

the next day we hung around my house for a while then i took her to the airport. its always bittersweet spending time with jocelyn. its sooooo fun. i just wish we could do it all the time.

tagg graduated from preschool       

tagg had a great year in preschool. he transitionedto going three days a week (to prepare for all day kindergarten) and did great. the picture on the left is of tagg on his first day of school in september. on the right is tagg on his very last day of preschool. his little feet grew! :)

tagg's preschool teachers wrote a special note in a book for each student. i got a little teary eyed when i read this message. i love hearing what other adults think about my children (as long as its nice, i guess. :) )

a few of my favorite pieces of art from the year. what is it about kids drawing people? its the best thing ever.

LOVE this fish. of couse, the more the sparkle the better.

when we got back from our trip to europe, tagg surprised me with this amazing drawing of big ben. 

tagg's last day of school with his friends and mr. john!

we told tagg he could pick a place for dessert and a friend to celebrate the first day summer. he picked baskin robbins and charlie. dang cute. 

tagg is my favorite oldest child. he is hilarious, super smart and very thoughtful. we were at the doctors a couple weeks ago and i was getting a shot. he decided he wanted to try and comfort me and said,  "mom, just think about me being nice to sully. think about shopping." it doesnt get any sweeter than that. we are so very lucky to have him in our family.

taylor and rachelle!

last week, my brother was sealed to rachelle for eternity in the seattle temple. it was a very sweet ceremony and craig and i were honored to be there. this is the happy couple greeting their family and friends for the first time as husband and wife.

my boys with uncle taylor and (new!) aunt rachelle. isnt her dress amazing? 

family pictures. it was a bittersweet day because we were so excited for taylor and rachelle but pretty sad tucker (who is serving a church mission) couldnt be there.

after the temple, we drove up to bonefish for a wedding luncheon.  the back of rachelle's little bug was so sweet with the flower garland and the "just married" sign.

personalized menu for their special day.

lame group shot. it was one of those times when the waiter tried about four different times to take the picture (each time saying 'oh yeah, thats a good one') that by the fourth time we just took what we could get.

brother and sister in-law situation.

after lunch we went back to my aunt megan's house to finish setting up for the open house. her house looked amazing.

the backyard.

they served a few of their favorite appetizers,  a great assortment of fruit and treats to dip in the chocolate fountain and of course, delicious cake.

rachelle decided to have megan's house filled with peonies. peonies are seriously the best.

loved their sweet little cake and the paper fans backdrop.

they also had a polaroid camera for all the guests to get their picture taken with and tape in the guest book. tagg was the photographer for a bit and did a great job. im for sure getting one of those cameras.

craig and me.

it was such a special day, only made more special because my aunts and grandma were there to share it with us. this is me, with my aunt brooke and my mom.

tagg with his momo.

we had a lot of fun with that camera, as you can tell...

when it was time for taylor and rachelle to leave we all lined the walk way and lit the sparklers. 

im so happy for these two. we wish them happiness and love.