VACATION!!!!

We were in our house here in Wenatchee for about a month when we left for vacation.  Now that we are back home and settled in I wanted to share some pictures.  This vacation we took was so much fun!!!

First we drove (yikes!) to Gothenburg, NE for Josh's cousin's daughter's wedding.  ;)  We had a blast with family there.  To see those pictures, go here: NE Trip 7/14.  The girls had been swimming in Richland with the Bonus kids the weekend before we left, so when we were in Gothenburg they wanted to swim at the hotel pool.  Swimming with the Bonus kids was the first time the girls let go of the wall and actually swam around the pool, with a floaty around their waist.  Let me just say...we were so very excited!!!  Some good, positive peer/cousin pressure was all they needed.  So, at the pool in Gothenburg they did it again!  Woohoo!  The wedding (Erin and Jason Gaare) was beautiful and we had so much fun seeing family.  The girls danced ALL night at the wedding reception.  We loved staying with Joe & Diane (THANK YOU!!!) and the girls loved being with all the "big" girls and petting Comet, their dog.

Then we went to Colorado to see my family and to share a vacation with some great friends, the Baethge family!  My, oh my, lots of kids and lots of fun!  12 adults and 18 kids when we were all together.  It was crazy fun!  To see those pictures, go here: CO trip with Baethge Family.  First we went camping; the girls for one night and two days, the guys for four nights and five days.  Pretty sure everyone's favorite part was 4-wheeling.  Woohoo!!!  While the guys were up camping the ladies hung out together, enjoying playing at Kelly's house and at Zoey's house.  And it never failed, every night the kids wanted to eat dinner.  Gesh.  Hehe - although we started dinner late most nights, we did feed the kids and we all survived!  We enjoyed girls' nights with movies and chatting.  Once the guys got back we unpacked from camping, then did some shopping and hanging out together.  We spent one day in Rocky Mountain National Park which included a cloudy, rainy drive up Trail Ridge Road, shops in Estes and some hand holding between our sweet kiddos.  More movie nights and chatting.  It was great to catch up with the Baethges after not seeing them for two years.  Many fun memories made.  Love that family!  We had an awesome time!  Everything is awesome!!!  :)

In addition to fun with the Baethge family, my whole family was there!  We took family pictures one of the evenings and we are looking forward to sharing them with you...hopefully soon.  Had a wonderful time with everyone together.  Praise the Lord!

Fun in our new place

We are enjoying our new house and living in town!  Grocery shopping is a breeze (as much as it can be with 3 littles) and we can hit up Target, Pennys, Old Navy, and Macy's all within 10 miles. It's been fun!

Josh is enjoying his new position!  New things to learn and a different aspect of law enforcement.  Hard to believe it will be 5 years in August since we started on this journey!

Here are some pictures of us lately.

 The girls with their "veils" on. Shelby (below)was Maria from "The Sound of Music" marrying Captain von Trapp and Vivian was the nun.

Jared is doing well lifting his head. 

Here he is sacked out after nursing.  Love that!  He is such a sweet, smiley baby.

He finds his thumb every once in a while.  So cute!

And Shelby, with her crown (mommy's necklace).  

Happy Independence Day!!!

Our house

We are enjoying our new house!  Here are a few pictures:

view of the back

view of the front

looking northwest from our front door

looking southwest from our front door

cherry trees across the road (to the south of our house)

Hope you enjoyed our Vanna (Shelby)!  ;)
(And check out Zillow for inside pics.)

Moving

We were able to go to David & Lindy's before our move.  The girls rode Bailey this time and both girls rode by themselves!

While we packed up the house for our move, the girls had a blast packing each other in this suitcase.  Shelby pulled Vivian around the house with the flap closed and all.  

Josh did a great job packing up the house and packing the Uhaul.  We were blessed with lots of help from people in our church packing all the big stuff from our house.  WOW!  Brought tears to my eyes.

First night in Wenatchee!  Sooooo super glad to have the Bonus family to help us unload.  And they totally set up my kitchen, hung pictures and were all around a HUGE help.  Love that family!

And "Aunt" Amanda came to visit.  Ahhh, what a breath of fresh air.  We have had so much fun hanging out, unpacking and catching up.  Love this friend!!!  

She leaves to go back home today and we sure will miss her!!!

The plaque she made (~17) years ago!  Fun memories!

Jared's 2 months old!

Here's Jared's birth announcement for your viewing pleasure ~

And he is now two months old!  We are enjoying him talking to us and watching him smile.

He is a big boy!  Here are his stats from his 6-week check-up:
Height: 22.5" (61%)
Weight: 13lb 8oz (94%)
Head: 39.8cm (91%)

He continues to be a joyful baby and we all enjoy him so much!!!

Shelby's 5 years old!

Thanks to everyone who made Shelby's 5th birthday so very special!!!  

Shelby is very excited about her new rifle she got from Daddy and Mommy for her birthday.  She did a great job shooting it and is excited to keep practicing!

 Love the excitement on her face after she shot!

Birthday breakfast: homemade buttermilk pancakes, strawberries and chocolate milk!

Pretty girl!

Sunday we had a birthday party with lots of friends!  There were around 25 people there and we had a blast!  Hamburgers, brats, pasta salad, chips, blueberries, lemonade, iced tea...

...and a bunny birthday cake!  Shelby has been wanting a bunny cake for over a year now and a friend had the perfect pan for it!  

Wish we would have taken a picture with EVERYONE as it was quite the site.  :)  Tons of fun!  

Here we are with Lindy after the party subsided.  She made Shelby a necklace and bracelet, and a necklace for Vivian, too.  Beautiful!  

Lindy is such a sweet friend!  We are planning another time to go ride horses again before we move.  :)

Shelby, you are a very sweet, helpful, loving girl.  We are proud of the young lady you are becoming.  We are completely thrilled that you asked Jesus into your heart this past year.  We look forward to many years ahead of loving on you.  Happy 5th Birthday Shelby Lou!!!  We love you!!!

Painting

The girls had fun painting an old pallet!