The Halcyon Days of Summer...

So I am trying to work in some back blogging in an effort to get caught up before the craziness of the holidays. It may become a bit jumbled going back and forth-sorry! Here are the happenings in our lives over the last couple of months...

When school got out I knew that there were long summer days with kids running crazy through my house and realized that I needed to come up with ways to entertain them which would take them out side as much as possible.  We are so lucky to live in Silverdale because we are surrounded by parks and play grounds, rivers, lakes and even an ocean,  so I figured we should utilized our resources. On this particular day some friends met up with us for lunch at a local park and lake. After eating and chatting we took the kids on a scavenger hunt. We made a list of random things you can find along a typical Washington trail, things like "find a pine cone larger than your hand and one smaller than your hand". We also put things on the list like "find a tree larger than your house". The kids did great and had a really good time completing all the tasks on the list.   

 The end of the scavenger hunt led us to the beach where my kids thought it was warm enough to put their feet in the water, you know, because the sun was out and the thermometer read over 65 degrees. Let me tell you something about my little ones, they LOVE water in NEARLY any form. They will run head long into a lake without looking back, a river provides fresh moving water which they think is boss, and don't even get them close to the ocean because they don't believe in hypothermia.

Pools are another story...Lets just say that their love of all things liquid most certainly does NOT apply to pools. Swim lessons this summer involved lots of tear, but that is another post...

By the end of this summer day - of nearly 67 degrees - the kids were soaked and sleepy and I was looking forward to planning out the days that followed. Boy do I LOVE summer break!

On a side note, this is one of Ella's favorite people, a girl who knows how to play dress up, who values the beauty of red shoes, and who has a spirit of adventure that takes her into a lake on a mildly warm day in her dress. 

Mess maker, mess maker, make me a mess...

MIss Danali has turned one and somewhere along the way she has become like this little tornado tearing through the house. I can't even be annoyed because she is so stinkin cute! She likes to be my big "helper".  She unloads the dishes to floor if giventhe opportunity, she loves opening the art drawers and dumping the colored pencils, crayons, and construction paper all over, her delight is finding the DVD cabinet open so that she can re-organize all the shiny boxes so neatly lined there, and finally her greatest ambition is to see the pantry door open just a crack so that she can snake her little finger into the opening and make it wide enough to squeeze her body onto the bottom shelf where she is a champion of dumping out pasta, flour, rice and her personal favorite...sugar. It is so reminiscent of my Ella that really I'm not much phased by it.  You would think that I would have gotten smarter and purchase more advanced baby proofing supplies but then how would she spend her days???

I haven't forgotten about you my little blog...

So I have been neglectful of my little family blog. Honestly, I can't believe how long its been since my last post, but here we go. I am going to do a bunch of back posting so that it will all be here at the end of the year when I make a book.
I am starting working backwards...
August 15th marked mine and Jon's 12 year anniversary. We have known each other since I was 14 and have been best buddies for almost 14 years. He has been and still is the best friend I've ever had. He is my light. I find my greatest peace and strength in the circle of our marriage. As our marriage matures year after year, I realize that he and I, our relationship, is the thing that matters most in life and after. Everything and everyone comes and goes over the course of a life time, but your spouse is your partner, your companion. We help one another progress through this life. We grow together in the face of great challenges and delight in life's great joys. I love this man, scratch that, I cherish this man and the amazing husband and friend he has been to me for so many years.
 I flew down to Texas to be with him for the weekend of our anniversary. I was only there a couple of days, but it was wonderful and so needed. We have never been a part for any length of time so not being together for two months was really hard and we knew that if we didn't break up the 12 weeks it would be nearly unbearable.
So we went shopping, explored the city, stayed in, and ate out ... a lot. Jon has been watching what he eats to make sure that he meets the height /weight requirement and I have been cooking for children for the last two months so we decided to really give our palates a treat. You can get some great Mexican food in Texas folks. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Westin in the picturesque River Walk area. This was our first night out...after we finally made it out of our hotel room ;) and we were so lucky to stumble into this great Mexican restaurant. The virgin Pina Colota I had still makes my mouth water. The restaurant was complete with a mariache band.

 After dinner we walked around down town and just enjoyed the warm night and the activity of people and river boats, live music on the streets, the little shops selling all sorts of touristy goods, and there was even a big fountain that squirted water up in random intervals where kidswere playing even though it was past 10pm.  The next day we went to brunch  at a Brazilian place and it too was just sooo yummy. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves so I took out the lap top and showed Jon pictures and videos from all of our summer adventures up to that point. He got a little teary seeing pictures from Danali's first birthday and Caden's 7th. It was hard on him knowing how much he was missing with his family. 

Jon was getting ready to go out into the field for three weeks and he had to get all his stuff ready to be loaded on the transport truck. When we went back to visit his barracks I found all his stuff laid out on his bed so I helped myself to the items that interested me. Can I tell you that the Kevlar helmet weighs a TON. I can't believe that they don't give soldiers headaches. 

I did however find the many pockets and water canteen quite useful. 

On the night of our anniversary we had dinner a beautiful restaurant that looks something like the Space Needle (which is where Jon purposed to me) only taller.

 ooo...and I had the most amazing crab dish and a lobster bisque that was to die for.

We got there in time to watch an amazing sunset. It was so romantic to just snuggle up to my love and watch the horizon as it lit up with reds and oranges then fade into the beautiful deep blue of night. 

It definitely was an anniversary dinner we will remember.

He also took me a movie at the most unique movie theater I have ever been to. You sit down and have a menu where you can order not only popcorn and nachos, but all kinds of diner type things. The waiter comes around during the movie to refill your drink or take orders. We stuck to popcorn and lemonade but knowing that I could have a Caesar Salad if my heart desired was kind of cool.

One of the things I have missed most about Jon is the little moments we share while we are getting ready for bed at night. I wash off my makeup, we take out our contacts, and brush our teeth, throw on a comfy pair of jammies, and snuggle in bed together all the while talking over our day, sharing the funny things the kids did or said, we talk about plans for the day ahead and basically just connect with one another.When I am aching for my Jon, this is what my heart longs for. Him, all tousled and simple and ready for bed.  So I will say, good night my sweet. Only 3 1/2 weeks until we will be snuggled up together laughing about Danali following the dog around saying, "no no no no no doggie" and talking about needing to go to the bank and the post office. I can't wait.