A final post...

No, not here. :) Please, though, join me for my final post over on the Good Grief Blog. It was time...and it's all good, so please don't worry. Thanks!

A quick shout out...

Just wanted to wish my fabulous husband a truly happy birthday today. Given this, that and the other thing, we don't have any big exciting plans like last year. :) But, we're hoping to do a little something tomorrow. (Plus, he got to treat himself to the iPhone 4 earlier this summer, which technically covered both Father's Day and his birthday in the gift department, lol.)

In the meantime, let me take this opportunity to also wish the happiest of birthdays to all those other August birthdays in our families and say "Happy Friday the 13th" to all! :)

The drive home...

After the reception, we drove back to Yakima for the night and fell into bed just before midnight. The next morning (JULY 18), we woke up and packed all of our stuff and loaded the van again. We then drove to Lake Easton for Nathan's mom's family's annual summer get-together and hung out there for a few hours. Here are all of the next generation (the great-grandkids sitting with Nathan's grandma):

Does it seem like perhaps my boys are a little too used to having their picture taken? LOL!

And here are the grandkids with Grandma Christine:

Note. By my count, we're missing six of the grandkids here. Further note, of the six missing, five are girls. Yup, a bit heavy on the granddaughters. No worries, though, I did my part to make up for it by providing three great grandsons, LOL!

Anyhow. After departing from there, we drove on to Missoula, MT that Sunday night. The next day, JULY 19, we made it to Yellowstone in the early afternoon. We picked up our Junior Ranger program materials and then proceeded to make it partially around the park loop. Along the way, we got to see a couple brown bears, two wolves, many bison and plenty of other wildlife. All three boys also got it into their heads that they each want a camera:

Given that we didn't go out and buy additional cameras and that Noah had left his own camera at home, we made do with taking turns using both my purse camera (above) and my "real" camera. ;) This means we ended up with a LOT of photos. ;) Here's one of my favorites:

This is at Sulphur Cauldron and, well, it really did stink. ;) 

That night found us wandering through Jackson, WY trying to find lodging just before midnight. We hadn't been sure about our plans so didn't make reservations. Big mistake. Oy. We FINALLY found a hotel with one room available and snagged that before just falling into bed. (Note, the time, itself, wasn't so much the problem since we generally are night owls anyhow, but we simply hadn't planned well and so hadn't found any place to eat dinner either...had been going on just snacks we had in the van with us.) 

Anyhow. JULY 20: We woke up the next morning earlier than we'd have liked and headed back to Yellowstone, stopping along the drive to take this picture at the Grand Tetons:

We also, of course, had to stop at Old Faithful:

(Sorry, I have better pictures of the geyser, itself, but didn't remember to get this one with the boys also in the frame until toward the end of this event. Note that Asher has the purse camera at this point...they took turns throughout the several minutes of the eruption, and I ended up with 40 pictures of this same thing, lol.)

After seeing Old Faithful a couple of times, eating lunch, and finishing the boys' Junior Ranger programs, we headed out to a nearby geyser basin:

Yes, it was windy and smelly. ;) We left this spot and started the journey home, stopping once more to see a few more natural wonders (and observe the forest fire in the distance that the rangers informed us they were battling). I just love all the colors of Yellowstone. Here's a little sample of the other photos we have:

On the way out of the park, we were privileged to see a grizzly bear (from the van) and then proceeded with the long drive home. :)

Whew. 

The wedding...

...continuing on...

So, on the morning of JULY 17, Nathan and I headed out bright and early to help set up the centerpieces at the reception site (also in the Tri-Cities). We then drove back to Prosser to finish getting ready ourselves and met everyone at the church (including our boys, who came with their grandparents who had graciously gotten them all ready for us that morning). With me in the wedding party (eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen altogether), Micah as one of the three ring bearers and Nathan video-taping the ceremony, we experienced the beautiful wedding Mass. My baby sister and her new husband were so happy and gorgeous! 

After the ceremony, we took some family photographs and then headed to the reception site. (I must interject here to recommend that people not have outdoor receptions in the heat of the day in the middle of July, lol. Don't get me wrong. It was absolutely beautiful! But people in formal attire shouldn't be made to sit in the sun in 95 degree temperatures if it can be helped. Just my two cents, LOL!) Anyhow. :) Cassy & Charlie finally arrived at the reception site (they'd detoured to take some "couple" photos at the family farm) and we did the "official" wedding party photos (though without the flower girls and ring bearers who couldn't all be convinced to stay in their wedding attire that long, lol). I haven't seen the wedding photographer's pics yet, but here's one of my favorites that Nathan caught from the sidelines:

After we all lifted the bride and groom, we pushed them together to make them kiss. It was awesome. :) Here's another favorite:

Gotta say that I was pretty impressed that all the guys really got into this and jumped...even in their tuxes and given the fact that we were all melting, lol. 

After the pictures, things got rolling and proceeded nicely...toasts, cake cutting, yummy food, plenty of visiting, and lots of dancing. Here's one of the pictures Nathan captured of Cassy & Charlie during their first dance...so incredibly sweet and completely indicative of how happy they were all day:

Can we get a collective "awwwww"? ;)

Moving on from Ken & Barbie there...(seriously, they're so dang attractive and could both easily be models for toothpaste companies, LOL)...

We also managed to get this fun little series toward the end of the night of all of us taking turns on my mom's lap:

Unfortunately, our middle sister had to leave the reception early because one of her kiddos got sick, so I don't have a complete group. Poo. (No worries, my godson is all better now, though it turns out he had strep. Ick.)

So. That was the wedding. :)

More pictures to come from the trip home...which included a family reunion and a stop in Yellowstone...

One month ago...

Oy. I just realized (like just this moment while I was trying to think up a title for this post) that it's been a month since our trip to Washington state. Sorry. In my defense, in the three weeks since we returned home, the boys have had soccer camp, swim lessons, karate, a few playdates and normal homeschool stuff (which included adding cursive to our routine). (Remember, we're homeschooling year-round here...three weeks on, one week off, roughly.)

Plus, we've painted a few walls, changed out a couple large light fixtures, cleaned out gutters, continued the never-ending task of weeding the borders of our yard where things keep sneaking through from our four neighbors who share a fence with us, lol, sorted the house for yet another yard sale, got Nathan's car serviced, celebrated Micah turning five, saw "Despicable Me" in the theater, and a bunch of other stuff. Whew. 

And. I managed to finally finish sorting and editing the 2000+ photos we took on the trip. Woohoo! Thanks for your patience. :) So. Without further ado, let me walk you through our July trip...

JULY 9-10: We drove. We loaded up and headed out around 5 pm on Friday and made it to Yakima, WA about noon the next day, having stopped only for bathroom stops and meals. Fortunately, the boys are awesome travelers now. :) Once we arrived at Nathan's parents', we turned over boy duties and Nathan and I took a nap. ;)

JULY 11: We went to church then over to a friend's for a little barbecue/World Cup Soccer finals party. The kiddos present had a grand time with the little inflatable pool:

(That's my Asher leading the charge, lol.) After water play, the end of the soccer game and some good eats...we all headed back over to the church for the baptism of TJ & Kim's new little girl...such a sweetie!

Following that, Nathan, the boys and I drove to Prosser (about 45 minutes from Yakima) to visit with my mom and grandma for a bit. We enjoyed a yummy dinner in town then headed back to Yakima for the night.  

JULY 12: Nathan, his parents and the boys packed up and headed off to camp at Ohanapecosh (near Mt. Rainier). After they'd headed out, I drove down to Prosser to spend the rest of the day running wedding errands with my mom and baby sister. 

JULY 13: I took a break from the wedding prep to drive up to Seattle with a childhood/college friend (who lives in Prosser) to meet up with a fellow college friend (who was in town from Houston, TX) and just hang out for the afternoon. Here's us on the Seattle wharf:

It was awesome to catch up and just wander together! 

Meanwhile, the boys were having a blast camping. That same day, Noah tells me, they hiked around the Grove of the Patriarchs:

 
See the little specs in the bottom left corner? ;) Those are my guys.

JULY 14-15: While I spent the next couple days continuing to help with wedding stuff, the boys did plenty more hiking and some fishing with their grandpa. I don't know all the stories behind these pictures, but here are a handful of my favorites:  

JULY 16: Pictures first:

TJ and his boys had joined up with my gang by this time and the guys all went on a little hike before packing it up and heading back to Yakima, where I promptly threw boys in the tub and got everyone ready to head to the wedding rehearsal at the church in Prosser. Micah did an excellent job with his ring bearer role. ;) 

John & Nancy (Nathan's parents) picked the boys up from the rehearsal and took them back to Yakima for the night whilst Nathan and I drove to the Tri-Cities (about 40 minutes in the opposite direction) for the rehearsal dinner (which was lovely!) before crashing for the night. :)

The next day brought the wedding...stay tuned for the next post... ;)