Updates...

Friday we had some awesome extreme weather again (P.S. I'm lovin' it.) and after there was this beautiful (but faint) double rainbow.

Saturday we were back at it with house projects. Nothing sexier than watching your husband do fix-it work on the rain gutters. Go Honey!! Work dat tool belt.

Caitlin and Will "helping out"
And... (my Dad)Papa came to visit!! YIPPEE! all the way from PA!


and Great Auntie Clink. We went and had lunch and then drove them up to the Cracroft Family Cabin... it was a fun day!

This is the latest "baby-must-have". This wrap was a gift from Justin's cousin Chris (and Trisha.) It's called 'Swaddle Me'... It helps the little one stay wrapped and it helped my little one sleep 6 hours one night! YES! She loves being a little Eskimo...

Sunday we made the most fabulous Tin Foil Dinner in the history of outdoor cooking...

Super YUM!

Cut the following into bite sized pieces:

Chicken

Red Potatoes

Fresh Green Beans

Red Bell Pepper

Toss veggies with 1-2 Tbs oilve oil, salt and pepper (in Ziploc bag.) On heavy tin foil, layer potatoes first, then chicken then beans and peppers , double wrap. Place on hot coals. Rotate 90 degrees every 5 minutes and flip ever 15 minutes for an hour.

Drizzle with fresh lemon juice. Mmm.

Ahh. I love summer for this reason... above
Monday night we worked in our garden. The kids loved playing in the dirt. Justin and I picked weeds, planted tomatoes and transplanted some beautiful yellow daises into our flower garden. Then we picked these gorgeous blackberries. Perfect breakfast with grapenuts cereal and milk!

Tonight
Caitlin helped make the most perfect chocolate chip cookies ever... for recipe go HERE.

Good times. Having fun. Love Summer.

Funny

Married Ladies Survey

This is kind of like the 25 things - except they are pre-decided questions and it's about you and your spouse, not just you. Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know! ;-) (note: i got this from my Sister-in-law SHELLY on facebook... but could not find my 'notes' yeah... i'm not very computer savvy... so i decided to post it on my blog. this i CAN do. ha.)

♥ What are your middle names? Kathleen and David

[heart] Pet names for each other? He calls me 'Spunky Love Muffin', I call him 'Hunk-a-Hunk of Burning Love'...

♥ How long have you been together? love at first sight on October 8, 2000.... known each other 9 years, married for 7 years on Aug. 16

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? few weeks maybe...

♥ Who asked who out? well, our first 'date' was a double date... and my friend put the idea in his head... but technically... I asked him out... or rather told him I was VERY interested.

♥ How old are each of you? A-27, J-32

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most? his

♥ Do you have any children together? yes, 3 beautiful children. Caitlin 4, Will 3, Brinley 2 months

♥ What about pets? Names? yes. Black Yorkie-Poo named Pepper, gold fish named Nemo/Chloe (depends on the day.)

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? ha. going to church. Justin's in the bishop brick and watches me from the stand while I wrestle three kids. :) it's really not so bad. (I'm just glad the dog doesn't go to church.)

♥ Did you go to the same school? same college. yup

♥ Are you from the same home town? Nope. Justin grew up in Salt Lake City, I grew up in Lititz, PA

♥ Who is the smartest? Justin

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Haha. we both are.

♥Where do you eat out most as a couple? we love Mexican food. Cafe Rio, Chipotle, homemade tacos... Mmm.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Well, i guess that depends on where you start out... in college we drove from Buena Vista, VA to Georgia... that took forever, because we were in the school vans... we've been to New York, Washington, So. CA... Ohh. i almost forgot... Rocky Point, MEXICO... yeah that's the furthest we've traveled. :)

♥ Who has the craziest exes? What? what a weird question.

♥ Who has the worst temper? probably me.

♥ Who does the cooking? me, but Thursday's Justin's night!! he's a great cook!

♥ Who is more social? Justin's not afraid to go out and talk to anyone... even a perfect stranger. I tend to get tongue tied when i talk to people... or I'll have conversations in my head after we talk... like. duh... i should have asked them this... or that... i try to involve my self in different groups to get 'out' and work on my 'social skills' but I'm happy just smiling and nodding... Justin usually takes the steering wheel in conversations. hum. that was a long answer. sorry.

♥ Who is the neat-freak? We both are... but we have out moments.

♥ Who is the more stubborn? ha... we both have our moments there too, Justin's more a red personality and usually has things set in his mind... I'm a yellow... or white or was it blue...? haha. not sure... but i can be pretty firm in my ideas too.

♥ Who hogs the bed? ha. prob me! Justin's always right on the edge of the bed... I'm surprised he's never fallen off.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? JUSTIN! I'd sleep till noon if i didn't have kids. well, maybe not noon... but 9 or 10

[heart] Where was your first date? first double date: Dairy Queen... First ALONE date... WAL-MART! and then to the parkway... hehe.

♥ Who has the bigger family? equal, 2 parents 4 sibs...but if you count brother and sister in-laws... i have the bigger family. (yes i win!)

♥ Do you get flowers often? not as often as I'd like. but I'd prefer 'permanent' flowers... to plant in my yard... rather than cut ones. the kids that keep giving :)

♥ How do you spend the holidays? one plus to having your husband work at a bank... BANK HOLIDAYS!!! yes. we love those unexpected Mondays off... :) we enjoy each others company with children... usually we do 'home improvements' or go to the cabin... or fly to PA to be with my family.

♥ Who is more jealous? ME! I get jealous so easy... (it's gotten better over time...)

♥ How long did it take to get serious? um.... 2 weeks. Justin might say different... but that's when we said 'I love you'... i was ready to get married then!

♥ Who eats more? we are both pretty good about managing our portions...

[heart]Who does/did the laundry? we both do... but mostly me. (and Nana! love you!)

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Justin's a computer Wiz. i know how to turn it on... and email.

♥ Who drives when you are together? I like it when he drives.

... And if you've actually read all this... TAG YOUR IT!

Flashback Photo Friday!

It was 5 years ago today that Justin and I set out to explore and experience a part of the country that neither of us had ever been to before... We received a tent for a wedding gift 2 years earlier... and only used it once before this trip; while house sitting for Justin's uncle's in Heber. We hated the thought of the tent collecting dust. So, we decided to test it out in the great Northwest, baby! In particular- THE OREGON COAST...

We loved- LOVED this trip to OR. Probably because it was our last big hurrah before our next big adventure- Kids. Yup. 9 months later Caitlin joined our family! :) We do find ourselves wishing that we would have taken more trips like this one, before the chillen's came along, but we were so happy that we have the fun memories and now a deep love for this part of the country. We look forward to when our kids are a bit older and we can go again! Hopefully this post will inspire you to take your own trip to OR!

June 12-

Cascade Locks, KOA

Our first night camping!! We were really excited for this week to start! Mostly to get away and enjoy the peace and serenity of birds and "cute little squirlies" (Shreck 2) ... Ahhh. and the fresh air! We got pretty lucky, this was the only night that it rained (umm... poured) on us... But a little rain never hurt anyone... plus, we slept like babies as the rain softly put us to sleep... UNTIL the massive and very loud train passed by blowing it's horn at all hours of the night... "Honestly! Who throws a shoe?"

So, we really don't recommend this camp site... and for future reference...ask if there's a train close by before booking your spot. Gotta love the KOA's...

Mm. hot dogs!

June 13-

Multnoma Falls

Oooo... so pretty!

Portland Temple

Lunch: Egg salad sandwiches in temple parking lot! Mm.

Ft. Stevens:

Aww. Looks like a shot right out of an L.L. Bean catalog... fleece jackets and matching Chaco's...

June 14-

Haystack Rock-

Making our way south on Highway 101, we finally run into some SUN! Yippee! This little beach was SO beautiful and the homes in this little town were charming, made us want to live here!

The sand and sun made Justin a little giddy. P.S. nice glasses J!
Seaside-

More sun and sand...

Tillamook Cheese Factory-

Justin was a good sport about visiting the cheese factory... even though he doesn't like cheese! I had a good time with the free samples, he missed out big time! Tillamook is quality, Yo! Lucky for him they make ice cream too! Mmm.

Devil's Bowl-
Beverly Beach State Park:

June 15-
This is Beverly Beach...

Heceta Head Lighthouse:

OR Botanical Gardens:

Sunset Bay-

HA! This picture reminds me of those 'older couples' who drive around in RVs camping their lives away... (which sounds strangely exciting!) I'd have to say this was our favorite camp site... we'll mostly likely come and stay here again and for a few more nights. I mean... just look at this place... beautiful camp spot tucked away in the trees...
Ironically, this was one of the nights we didn't have reservations for and happened to find this place... (I think we received a tip from Papa Williams...) It was our favorite! I said that already, but it was! Notice the wet suits hanging on our laundry line? We went swimming in Sunset Bay! Fun!

June 16-
Lunch, somewhere--a rest stop along the highway. Beautiful view!

Jedediah Smith Redwoods

We stayed the night in Crescent City where we rented ourselves a little Kampin' Kabin. We were sourrounded by HUGE redwood trees. the plus side to this we didn't have to set up our tent... or a fire. So we went in town and had Burger King for dinner :)We went to check out the beach found the SMALLEST sanddollars we have ever seen. Then we hit the theater and saw Harry Potter #3- it was a fun night!

June 17-

Redwood National Park

Left coast at Arcata, CA entered Dry and Hot CA (and enjoyed the curvy, roller-coaster road--Highway 299). Stayed at Wiskytown Lake. Set up camp and then swam in lake.

June 18-
Made our way to Tahoe, which would be our last stop on our trip. I don't know why we stopped taking pictures... maybe we were just having too much fun and forgot about the camera! So the next few are googled. Emerald bay...

Stayed at Camp Richardson. We were the only ones there, almost, maybe 2 other campers. Swam in the lake with gease. Went back to our camp, built a fire and made the most amazing tin foil dinner- chicken, potatoes, green beans and red peppers with lemon and a little S and P! Stars were amazing here!

June 19-
Packed up and drove through NV. Home sweet home!