Marquez has been up in Tacoma visiting Grandpa and Grandma all week and we have missed him. It is fun to talk to him on the phone every night and see what he is up to.

Makaylee takes over one of Marquez's chores: emptying the dishwasher. Nyah insists she is old enough to help as well.

Ben is so proud of his peanut foam creations. What an artist!

went to a birthday party for the son of a fellow adoptive mom

Will taking a crack at the pinata

The pirate cake was awesome!

I went to check on Nyah during her nap yesterday and this is how I found her sound asleep. So funny! She falls asleep in the strangest positions.

a very healthy dinner of crackers in the Children's Museum at the Dove get together

center stage

Ben playing in the grocery store

Makaylee pretending she works at Safeway

loves to push buttons

my girls manning the cash registers

hi Mom

I see Daddy

water room fun

This is more fun than a bath!

More summer fun

Makaylee's creation

blackberry picking

We filled Orin's whole orange bucket in no time!

More went in Makaylee's mouth than her bowl, of course. For dinner we made belgium waffles topped with blackberries and whipped cream!

Nana's house

Nyah with her Ne-Ne

Sunday we went to our relative's Christmas tree farm. The kids had a ball playing hide-and-seek in the endless trees- and no one got lost!

Orin picking the "outdoors" out of Makaylee's braids :)

Auntie Jenae chatting

Grandma showed up for the last half hour before we had to leave- what a tease!

Bye!

Nyah decided her chair on the other side of Ben wasn't close enough to the action so she pulled this one up right in the middle of the big kids ;)

luvin' her apple

went to Blue Lake on Monday

Marquez and Nyah cover the sprayers

Makaylee is a load of fun! She has a riot wherever she goes! I love her zest for life :)

sweet baby Nyah

Nyah working on her sharing skills

Alec asked his mom to hold him and then dumped a bucket of water on her head when she picked him up! She didn't fall for that one again!

Marquez and Makaylee had a water fight

Watch out, Makaylee!

Auntie Leah, Uncle Jeff and Auntie Jenae came to visit that night

They took all the kids to Dairy Queen for us and Orin and I had a rare moment of peace and quiet.

Can't believe my little brother is turning 30 next month! Yep, we're officially old now.

They took Marquez camping yesterday at Beacon Rock. My brother and sister are so cool like that like. I hope I will be able to return the favor and be a cool aunt like that when they have kids someday.

Puget Sound

We went up to Tacoma to visit the grandparents since Orin had a three day weekend.

Mom took a family picture of us to laminate and send to Ethiopia to my new sister B who just turned 7. I still can't believe my children are technically going to be her neices and nephews!

Grandpa's the tickle monster



Nyah wants to ride bikes like the big kids

Marquez loves to get tickled!

silly

had a picnic at Sunnyside Beach on the Puget Sound with Grandma, Phaedra, Jeffrey and Jojo

Hi honey!

The kids couldn't wait to get down to the water while the adults were finishing up lunch. They were so adorable.

Are you guys done eating yet?

a good spot to dig

My dad has been out scuba diving in this spot last Fall and saw an octopus!

time to make seaweed soup

They had so much fun!

good morning sunshine

Point Defiance the next day to enjoy the gardens

Chinese gardens

Nyah kept asking "Pick it?" because she knows she isn't supposed to pick the flowers in our backyard.

They had so many varieties of interesting plants that I didn't know could survive the winters in the Pacific Northwest, like banana and palm trees.

Orin wants to make me a flowering arch in the backyard like this one. Maybe for our ten year anniversary next year.

Ben and Marquez watch the parasailing in the bay. "Kids fly free" the sign said and Marquez was trying to talk someone into going with him.

seafood restaurant on the waterfront

Yum! Thanks Dad:)