Luke's B-day PARTY!

For Luke's acutal birthday party we gathered some of his closest classmates and celebrated at Big Al's Bowling Alley. Fun times.

From left: Ajion, Josh, Luke, Nguyen, Gabe and Blake

Double Whammie!

Luke posing-First day of FIRST grade!

Luke with his chocolate cake-his request.


AJ loves a party!

Cheeeeeeeeese! Owen loves messes.

So this year the first day of school also happened to fall on Luke's 7th birthday! Luke began first grade at Salmon Creek Elementary with Mrs. Baylous as his teacher. He loves school, could not wait for it to start. Had to have the one strap backpack and sport his favorite Adidas sweatshirt with his new dark jeans. Later that evening we celebrated with cake, ice cream and presents. I think his favorite present might have been the alarm clock we gave him...you can see the excitement on his face in the picture above. He is all about a routine and knowing where he has to be at what time. He sets the alarm every night to wake the next morning at 6:50 a.m. He dresses himself, wakes up me, then proceeds downstairs where he makes his own waffle. I roll down about 7am to make his lunch and send him off with our neighbors-Cody, Kayla and Hailey to catch the bus. Happy Birthday Luke!

Chelan fun...

Yep, back to Chelan, WA for one last hurrah before school starts! Photos: AJ and Luke, Owen and Daddy, the whole family, me and the boys at Banjo Creek Farm, Owen's first boat ride, AJ and Papa swimming, view of the lake from one of the golf course holes, Kirsten, Nicole and I golfing at Lake Chelan Golf Course-ladies day out! We had a great vacation-swimming, golfing, relaxing by the pool, boat ride on the Dwinell's boat and meeting up with Hadley's, Bosworth's and Cullen's down at Wapato Point.

Sun River, Oregon!

Sun River is an amazing vacation spot in inland Oregon...just outside of Bend. We had so much fun with the Leitz Family biking, swimming, eating and playing in this great town! Guy and I have been friends with Steve and Steph since our college days...I guess that means we go back about 15+ years! In the pics...our fam, Owen at the pool, me and the boys on a bike ride, and the Leitz family...from left...Ellie, Parker, Steph, Jake, Steve and Megan.

Cousin Visit!

Ok so this is my cousin Kristie-only one year younger than me and lives in Canada with her hubby Rob and their two adorable boys Kyle and Carter! It had been years (10+) since Kristie and I have actually had a visit and caught up on life. We grew up together as little girls hanging out at Grammy and Pa's on Lake Washington and here we are all grown up with our boys! In this pic is Owen, Kyle, Luke, AJ and Carter.

A Visit from the City Slickers of San Francisco!

Meet Oliver and Vanna and their two handsome young men...Callum (4) and baby Finn (9 months). Every year they make a road trip up to the Pacific NW to visit family and friends on Whidbey Island. They managed to squeeze us in on their journey home and we are so grateful that they could spend some time at our house! These guys are the best house guests...they go with the flow, never complain...and they bring presents! Thanks for a wonderful visit guys and Luke is still asking "When can we go to Oliver and Vanna's condo?" and Shelley is wondering when can I go to the Jean Bar in San Fran??? One of these days we will get down there...promise!

The top pick is AJ, Callum, Luke and Owen-all settled in for a movie!

Luke rides the two wheeler...

Ok, so Luke is a very smart, determined, fun loving kid who won't do anything until he knows he has mastered it...like riding a bike. On this particular August day we were given a bike from our

generous neighbors...The Freitag's. Heather called and said they were leaving on vacation, they all had got new bikes and they would love to give Luke Josh's old bike. Josh and Luke are best little buddies, but Josh has been riding his bike for months while Luke chased him around the cul-de-sac on his scooter. So I graciously accepted the bike on one condition...that by the time they got back from their vacation, Luke would be able to ride. So the next day I showed Luke the bike (I was not allowed to make a big deal about it-he does not like the attention), so he said he was ready, hopped on and just started riding...as if he had been doing it for months. No falling down, no training wheels, no help, no advice....just alot of "don't get so excited mom". So proud of this little man! Way to go Luke!