22nd Anniversary

We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary over the weekend. It was pretty low key. Curtis ordered me some flowers and chocolate covered strawberries that were delivered while we were dropping off Porter to his parents on Friday. 

Saturday was our actual anniversary and we slept in but there were some things we needed to get taken care of, so instead of doing fun things, we worked on projects. The first one was fixing the lawn mower and then getting the lawn mowed. The blades were not cutting evenly but we got it figured out. Thank goodness for Youtube! After the lawn, we had 5 sprinkler heads we needed to change out for new ones. And dig one out in front that was new but filled with mud. After figuring out the sprinklers, we planted some grass seed in our front yard, FINALLY! You're supposed to do it in the early spring or fall but we just didn't have time until now. We also doubled our water schedule to go twice a day since we have the seed and a bunch of dry spots (from sprinkler heads not moving). It feels good to have that taken care of and hopefully the grass will grow. One year we're going to redo our front yard anyway.

I stayed with Curtis and helped him grab stuff he needed. He was smart to have the umbrella tied to the wheelbarrow.

I was raking in the seeds and Milo was napping. It was hot that day. He had already been swimming with the girls.

So sweet!

After finishing that and a few other smaller projects, we finally got cleaned up and went to Outback Stakehouse for dinner. When we came back, we rented "The Man from Snowy River" on Amazon and watched it together. I don't think I had ever seen the whole movie before. I think just parts of it. It was a good movie.

Twenty-two (two and two) years!

Normally we don't get dessert, but I saw this Tim Tam dessert and said we had to try it. It was good but definitely rich.

Like I said, we didn't do any big fun activities this year but it felt good to get some projects done and work on them together. Then to do dinner and a movie. Sometimes it's nice to keep it simple.

Summer has begun!

Last Monday, Jack and I drove to La Grande to pick up Jack's best friend from Nampa so they could hang out for the week. They had fun swimming, playing video games, watching The Hobbit extended edition and went to our youth's gun shooting activity. Curtis took Friday off and we met up with Porter's parents in Baker City this time. We ate lots of pizza and visited for a little while. There is also a hotel there called the Geiser Hotel that has some haunted rooms. They were giving a tour close to the time we were there. We really wanted to take the tour but they needed to get back for a family member to come home from the airport from their mission and we needed to go to the bank to close our Washington Federal bank account. They finally got a branch here in Kennewick but since we already opened another account elsewhere, this one wasn't getting used and they were charging us a monthly service fee. So, we finally cancelled it.

Porter hanging out while Jack was at his driver's ed class.

Charlotte spotted this volleyball set for the pool at the store so we bought it. We just need to get some anchors so it won't keep moving on us. It's fun though!

Waiting for our food at Paizano's in Baker City.

Curtis and Tracy 

Heather and me

That was a giant size pizza. It was good!

Porter got his own personal pepperoni pizza because that's all he likes.

During the week I also found, and we bought an electric piano on Facebook marketplace, so the kids, especially Garrett, could play again. He was happy and dug out some of our piano books from the boxes in the garage.

We put it in the basement.

The girls also invited friends over for swimming one day last Wednesday and Charlotte was able to coax Milo into the pool all the way for the first time. She used his new stick again. Now he loves going in the pool and jumps in on his own. I would have been happy if he hadn't ever liked the pool but it's also fun to watch him. He even stands on his hind legs in the shallow end. He's pretty cute. I just don't like all of the hair we have to skim out of the pool after he's swam. It also gives him good exercise. He's exhausted afterwards and conks out on the floor.

Holding his fetch stick that he loves.

Jumping in.

I also helped in a Relief Society activity Thursday night where we made decorations for the ARC for a dance they put on for the Special Olympics in the Fall. They are disco themed decorations. I worked on disco balls. 

This is one that Catalina and I worked on together. She's pictured on the right.

These are records that were also made.

A sparkly ball.

Sparkly microphone.

It's been a fun start to our summer and we have plenty more planned still. Seth and Monica will be coming to visit in July, so I'm excited about that. Jack finished up his driver's ed class and now just has to complete his drives with instructors and gets lots of driving practice in the next 5+ months. 

Father's Day 2024

This year for Father's Day, the girls made some cool cards at activity days. It was an idea I found online. They both happened to pick the same colors because they know that Curtis's favorite color is green. Jack also found a cool recipe book inspired by J.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit series. He also picked out three recipes for us to cook for Curtis on Father's Day from that book. They all turned out good!

Alice made him this bow tie.

The table is ready for Curtis to come see.

Traveler's All-in-One Breakfast in a Pan - Red potatoes, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, herbs, and eggs.

Reading his cards and eating his breakfast. He enjoyed having something different to eat for breakfast.

I also picked out the little docking station he's holding. It's for placing his phone, keys, wallet, and watch on. 

Making the Pork Pies for dinner.

Curtis wanted to help make dinner. It was a good thing he did too because it took a long time to make.

Jack made the Lembas Bread which is basically a spiced up corn bread. It has jalapenos and herbs in it.

Ready to go in the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.

We got to eat outside on our new patio table. It was a bit chilly out so we didn't stay long.

Ground pork, bacon, boiled egg, etc. It was delicious!

We bought this the day before Father's Day and set it up, just in time to use it the next day. We had tried to find used but decided it was time to buy something new and got this at Home Depot.

The three of us ended Father's Day by playing a Lord of the Rings board game that Jack got for his birthday.

I think it was a pretty good Father's Day and it was fun making those new recipes. The breakfast dish was quick to make but the pies took a long time. They were worth it though! It will be fun to try some more new recipes from that book.

End of School Year

We reached the end of another school year and here are some of the fun things we ended with. Jack had one final jazz concert and BBQ. He did great in his solos and is really getting better. The girls came along this time. This concert was supposed to be outdoors where we could eat while they play, but it was too windy so they moved it indoors. We just can't eat in the auditorium, so you had to choose when to walk out and get some food. They had hotdogs, sides, desserts, and drinks.

Waiting in line for some food at the concert (the food was in the cafeteria).

Jack during one of his solos.

The girls had an end of year carnival at their school and they invited their friends to come (who don't go to their school). Charlotte ran around with her friend so I didn't see her much. I stuck with Alice and her friend. They played lots of carnival games and ate goodies. They were hoping to win a prize in the raffle drawing but it didn't happen this year.

Just got their balloons. Alice had a snake hat. I don't remember what her friend had. I think it was a dog.

Making sand art necklaces.

Alice got her hair spray colored.

Enjoying a shaved ice on a hot day.

Charlotte and her friend.

The friends are the McShane girls. They all had a great time.

The school boundaries are changing next year and so that means this will be the last year the girls ride the bus. They enjoyed it the last couple of years and they had a good bus driver. I decided to get a picture of them with him and we also gave him some cookies and a card. Our girls are technically zoned to go to a new school next year, but they gave the 5th graders the option to stay their last year at the same school, so that's what Charlotte chose to do. And siblings could stay too. After next year, we'll switch Alice to her new school, Lincoln. It is closer to us anyway, and she already has a couple of friends from church that go there. We are only half a mile away from that school so I'm pretty sure we won't be in the bus riding range but we're close enough to walk, so that will be fun.

The girls said his name is Mr. Miller but I never asked to confirm. We'll assume it's right. He was a good bus driver and so nice.

Last day of school. Last day riding the bus. It was nice having the stop right in front of our house. I took this picture through our front window.

Two days after school ended, we were invited by the Wingert family to join in with them and some other friends for a day at the river over in Richland. It was on a Friday, so Curtis was at work and Garrett didn't want to go, but the rest of us went and had fun. We even took Milo with us. Charlotte finally coaxed him into the water and he got so excited afterwards and ran around everywhere. It was a little stressful taking him and making sure he didn't bother people or take off running with other dogs or people but I'm glad we took him. I did have his really long leash, so sometimes I would have him hooked to that, but not when he got wet and sandy.

Alice made a new friend. It is hard to tell who is who. She's the one on the right.

Having some fun in the sand.

Charlotte coaxed him in with his new fetching stick toy that he loves.

This is what Charlotte and some other kids built. They would dump water at the top and watch it flow down into the river.

It was a good school year and a great way to kick off summer vacation. Their last day was actually on Wednesday, June 12th. Garrett is now officially a senior, Jack a sophomore, Charlotte a 5th grader and Alice a 2nd grader. Time for some summer fun now!