Carnival Day with Papa.

The girls have been up at my parents for the week.  Today my Dad took Kendall, Sidney and Hallie to the carnival.  Last night my Dad called to tell me about his big plan.  The girls have never been to a carnival.  I reminded him to take the remainder of the girls spending money (which was not much).  He was so excited and said, "Oh Yeah, they are going to be able to do a ton of stuff!"  My reply?  "Dad, clearly you have not been to a carnival in years, because that will only last about 2 seconds."

As expected, they had a blast and zipped through their money fast sending my Dad running to the ATM.  Hallie took a few pictures on her phone, then texted to tell me she does not have picture messaging.  Bummer!  Apparently there was a camel at the carnival.  Kendall was the only one brave enough to ride it.  Hallie was not too crazy about the idea, but she put on a brave face and talked Sid into riding it with her.  The minute the lady tried to lift Sid onto the camel, she started to yell, "Put me down now!"  Such a demanding child, but who can blame her?  After all, it was a camel.  They are pretty tall.  Lucky Hallie!

However, Sidney was brave enough to ride the ponies.  In fact, she did not want to get off and sweet talked the lady into giving her a few extra rides on the house.

My Dad sent a few pictures from his phone.  Thank goodness for picture editing since they all seemed to have a finger in them.  His answer when I asked him about the finger, "I'm old."  This picture could not be saved from the fat finger.

Here a a few rides that the girls rode on.  Why are they not pictured?  I imagine the camera was just not fast enough.  I was going to ask my Dad about this also, but figured the answer would be the same.  Love you Dad!!!

So what have Kevin and I been up to with all of this free time?  It is incredible how much time we have on our hands.  Last Sunday we went to the driving range, went for coffee, went bowling, bought groceries, and went out to lunch - all before noon! 

We watched an incredible movie last night, titled The Impossible.  It is based on a true story about a family that was caught in the 2004 Tsunami that hit Thailand.  It reminded me of how grateful I should be each and every day and how quickly things can change.  It is difficult to understand the devastation caused by these catastophic events.  The movie did a good job of depicting it.  There were cars, trees and building swept away.  People were repeatedly pummeled by the large waves and slammed into by huge inanimate objects.  In the aftermath, the survivors were separated from their loved ones not knowing whether they had made it or not. 

A Walk Down Memory Lane.

Last week I found our wedding negatives.  Yes, we were married before digital cameras were commonplace.  It will be 16 years next month.  I took the negatives in to Costco to be put on DVD.  Our friend Shelley photographed the wedding.  It was her very first event.  She has since graduated and now works at the Brooks Institute of Photography.

Our friend John officiated the wedding.  I am quite certain that it was his first wedding.

 

Our friend Big Stu sang at the wedding and then DJ'ed the rehearsal.  I remember that he sang the song "I Hear God Singing to Me" a capello.  It was the most amazing and powerful song.  It had given me goosebumps.  

We got married on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon just on Point Mugu just south of Ventura, California.

So young...And, yes, that is Kevin with a mustache.  I thought that I had married that mustache.  Lo and behold it disappeared about one year into our marriage. 

Husband and wife.

Kevin with the ladies.

Me with the gents.

Our ring bearer and flower girl, AJ and Alyssia.

My beautiful sister and Matron of Honor.

My mother-in-law made this amazing cake and brought it down with her from Montana.  I imagine she may have set a record for transporting a wedding cake the longest distance.

No special reason for this picture than merely because I love it.  We had daisies for our wedding flower.  Kevin had picked me a wild bouquet in New Zealand while we were dating and I have loved them ever since.

Yours Till Niagra Falls, Abby...

In my case it is "Lorain".  She is my BFF in every way.  Many of you have probably heard the story about how we met.  It was third grade, Mrs. Berry's class.  I was new to the school.  The first week, we had to start learning our multiplication tables.  There were only two people in the class that could go all the way to the 3's on that first day (at least that is how I remember it).  Myself and the tall girl, Lorain.  It was an instant bond that has never been broken.  It is now 33 years later (no one do the math please) and she is still my best friend.  Trust me, it has not always been roses.  There was the "gagga magga" club, fights over boys, fights over girls, awkward phases where we were trying to find our own identities, first loves, first heartbreaks, etc. 

Then there were the good times:  The Gorge at George.  Walking to town from Dalene's (in the middle of night).  Sleeping on the beach at Priest Lake (not sure if that classifies as a good time...we froze our fannies off).  "Trying" to get stuck in the snowbank so we did not have to go back to school.  Skipping school to lay on the docks (sorry mom).  Softball tournaments.  The "gagga magga" club (this was also a good time).  Boys!  Getting my car stolen on Halloween only to see Bobby and his friends driving it around with egg all over the place (have you ever seen me angry?), etc.

Then we grew up.  We have lived both thousands of miles apart and only minutes apart.  We have seen each other through the birth of our children and the death of loved ones.  We have went years without keeping in touch only to pick up right where we left off.  She truly is my best friend.  Now she lives 5 houses down from my mom and 10 house down from my sister.  She has four kids.  I have two.  My kids truly believe they are all cousins.  In a sense, they are.  They lived here for a few short years up until recently, so they come back to visit periodically.  Last night we enjoyed their company during one of their return visits!

Lorain is still tall (and I am still short).  Some things never change.

The boys wrestling with Cooper.

 Goofing around.

 

Don't you wish you knew what they were talking about?

 

The whole gang!

Another New First.

While we were miniature golfing yesterday, we saw a sign in the adjacent bowling alley that said kids bowl free (this link will take you to the registration site).  We registered the girls and bought the family pass which registers four more adults.  Essentially we can all bowl 2 games free each day from now until the end of October.  We only pay for shoe rental.  Today Kevin was in a golf tournament, so the girls and I headed to the bowling alley after church.  They were having cosmic bowling - regular lights out, strobe lights on, loud music blaring and music videos flashing.  It was a perfect day for teaching the girls.  I should mention that I have NO BUSINESS teaching the girls anything about bowling.  I am almost always the worst adult bowler in the bunch.  I have even won the "bowling shoes" at our annual work outing for the low score (only one year).  The other years I have barely squeaked by. 

The girls and I had a lot of fun.  The pictures are not terrific due to the crazy lighting.  Kendall lining the ball up.  The girls used the bumpers and had the ramp to roll the bowl.

Kendall trying to steer the ball at the end of the alley with her body.  Believe me, I wish that worked!

Sidney with her green ball.  Oh how they wished they could use the pink ball.  It was just a little too heavy.

Sid being Sid!

Game One (Sid and I tied).  To my credit, I did not use the bumpers or the ramp.

Game Two (Notice the strike in the ninth frame).  Thank goodness or my six year old would have beat me!

Good times!

Bitten By the Golf Bug.

Golf.  This is not a sport that I ever thought I would enjoy.  It always looked crazy boring.  However a year or so before Kendall was born, I was bitten by the golf bug.  I bought a cheap set of clubs and would hit the driving range.  It was a kick.  I did a few rounds with Kevin and even played in a tournament at work (I am certain I did not keep score). 

Life has been busy the past few years, raising babies and now little girls.  The itch to play golf has been back with a vengeance.  So much so, that I told Kevin our next date night must be to the driving range.  Today I could not take it anymore.  I talked Kevin into taking us to play miniature golf.  Not quite the same, but very fun!  It was the first time the girls had ever played.  Kendall is the perfect age.  She loved it and caught on quickly.  Sid also did very well, but decided that she was done at hole 10.  She was quite a trooper though and hung in there while we finished.  She had more fun checking out all of the cool structures.  She did play hole 18 (with the promise of dipping dots after that).  She put it in the hole with two strokes and just about freaked out when she could not find her ball.  The hole had swallowed it.  I got great amusement out of watching her try to figure that one out.

A natural...

A quick little lesson from Mom and she was off...

A Beautiful Wedding!

Last weekend we went to Big Sky for the wedding of our niece AshLee.  Of course, I forgot my camera.  The notion to pack it went through my head at least five times that morning.  It somehow never made it into the van.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun.  Here are just a few pictures that I have gleaned from others.

The girls were honored to be flower girls.  Sidney did not quite make it onto the stage, but she had a blast nonetheless.

 Patrick and AshLee with her parents, Roy and Sherry.

AshLee's grandparents:  Terrell, Sue and Fred.  That Fred is quite the ladies man!

The beautiful little flower girls.  They danced the night away showing off their break dancing moves and more (the more none of us could quite figure out, but it was super fun to watch).

The photographer has posted some of her pictures from the wedding at the following link:  Ashlee & Patrick tied the knot!

Alas, Sherry came through with a few more wedding pics.

The Newleyweds.

 The flower girls with the beautiful bride.

 Gold sandals and pretty painted toenails.

 Sweet girls:

The bride heading for the main event.

Holy Spearmint Batman!

I dedicate the title of this post to The Dark Knight Rises.  I am easily amused when it comes to film watching.  Last weekend while Kevin and I were getting ready for AshLee and Patrick's wedding, we caught a few minutes of this movie on the hotel TV.  We reserved it on our drive home and watched it that evening.  So, I am in a Batman and Robin mode now.  Seriously though, check out my spearmint plant.  I am so glad that I heeded the many warnings of family and friends and put this in a pot.  It is beautiful (and has already received several haircuts)!

We are plant sitting for Terrell while she is enjoying one of the benefits of her job as a "granny".  She is taking July to relax and visit with family.  We brought her pots to our house to care for them during the July heat.  Kendall and I deadheaded these pots a few nights ago and filled a grocery bag.  They are ready for more blooms!

I have never been much of a tomato fan.  In fact, we were shocked a few years ago to learn that Kendall loved cherry tomatoes as we never have them around the house.  Then we started our fruit and veggie co-op.  I was receiving tomatoes nearly every week.  I finally said to Terrell, "What in the world can I do with these nasty things?"  She told me to throw them in my spaghetti sauce (a dish we have nearly once every week) with jarred sauce of course.  They were amazing!  I have concluded that I just do not like raw tomatoes.  The other day I actually went to the store and purchased tomatoes.  Unbelievable!  We decided to pick up a Roma tomato plant for our patio.  We were a little late in the game, but we are already seeing some tiny tomatoes. 

And how is the rest of our garden doing?  I must start by saying that we were a little overzealous and planted our garden a bit early.  The late frost zapped it.  I was almost too cheap to replant.  With a little coaxing from Kevin (and a sale on starters at Fred Meyer), we replanted.  Things are starting to grow.  It is exciting to watch.

A sweet pepper.

Zucchini (thank goodness we only planted one of these).

Our cauliflower, cantaloupe and spaghetti squash plants are also coming right along.  The flowers that Kendall and I planted outside our bedroom window are really taking off.

On the way home from the wedding last weekend, we stopped in West Yellowstone and let the girls run around for awhile.  They love picking the wildflowers.  I love watching them pick the wildflowers.  It reminds me of when my sister and I were little.  My Aunt Nena would always take us on walks to pick wildflowers.

 

There has been some big spending in the Strong household.  Namely by the Strong little girls.  We have been helping them save their money since they were babies.  Each time they would get birthday money or do extra chores, we would give them a little bit for spending.  The bulk of it would go into a savings for them.  At this point, they each had about $200.  Six months or so ago, Kendall kept asking for a Kindle Fire.  We assumed the phase would pass.  However, I did tell her that if she REALLY wanted one, I would help her find a very good deal.  Every few weeks she would bring the topic up.  I would remind her that it would take nearly all of her life savings if she wanted one (so dramatic).  About a month ago, she came to me and said, "Mom - I am ready for a Kindle Fire.  Will you help me find a good deal?"  We found a brand new one on Craigslist with a case and a charger for $100.  She was so excited.  The lady had gotten it for a gift, but really liked her Ipad instead.  It had only been turned on a handful of times and nothing had even been downloaded to it. 

Of course a few weeks later, Sidney was asking for one too.  After a week or so of searching, we found her a similar deal.  They are pretty stoked.  They have only "mysteriously" walked away from the kitchen counter a few times.  They are limited on the amount of time they get to use them.  I guess one cannot blame them for trying. 

On a similar note, they each had earned $8 from random chores given to them by us and other family members.  Yesterday I took them shopping (coupons in hand).  Sidney picked up this fabulous Barbie Pool.  The girls had their friend Jordyn over for the day.  They had a blast playing with it outside.  Word of warning to other parents...this toy should ONLY be used outside (with actual water in it).  There was water everywhere.

The Barbie puppy even had to take a turn down the slide.  How many dolls can you fit into one pool?  Do you love the burgundy pantsuit?  My grandma hand crocheted that for my sister and I when we were little girls.