40 is good stuff.

This happy girl turned 40!!

Despite all the negative hype this particular birthday gets...

I must say...

I HAD A SUPER FANTASTIC DAY!!

40 isn't so bad!

To start it off...

My dear, amazing friend, Elece brought over a huge box.

And in it?? 

 40 gifts for me to unwrap!

My smile muscles started hurting after 2 seconds.

You should have seen us both jumping up and down

like little kids with anticipation and excitement.

It was awesome.

She was so thoughtful

and filled it with all my favorite things...

including DIRT!

Check out what she wrote on it.

"Ya...I totally got you a bag of dirt for your birthday :)"

Hee.

Here it is all unwrapped.

I think my smile muscles still hurt.

But I want to tell Elece...

Thank you with all my heart.

That was a SUPER FUN gift!!!

And I loved it more than you know.

I didn't get any other pictures of my birthday.
But it was all so good.
I got to play USTA team tennis tournament.
Our team did great and we are moving on.
Trev surprised me with new tennis clothes!
My friends & family surprised me with gifts and
happy birthday messages.

I just had such a good day.
Thank you to all!!!

And then on to my darling daughter.

Prom.

Isn't she pretty in green?

Cute...

Love this picture of daddy's girl.

17 years ago, we only could have imagined times like these.

And now they are happening.

And they are so so fun.

And more good stuff around the corner...

1.  summer!

2.  my tennis team is going to Portland in August!

3.  my mixed tennis team gets to start practicing

4. Oregon Coast vacation

5.  A getaway with a friend

6.  My niece Chels is getting married

7.  I get to host her reception in my garden!

Keep it coming good stuff!!!

Last camp out.

I think you know we are an outdoorsy family.

We wanted one more camping getaway before it got too cold.

So we packed everybody up and went to Hepner, Oregon for the weekend.

Good campground, beautiful trails and trees, & not too far from home.

And of course we took our quads & bikes.

Good Morning me! 

And dogs!

Yes, my camper is wonderful.  LOVE it.

Started the day off with a good breakfast!

Oatmeal, raspberries & toast!

Say yummy!

We hit the trails.

Why do I love all the blond hair coming out from my daughters' helmets?

Because they are all cute tomboys?

Don't know why, but I do.

How many times have we posed on these rocks?

Pyramid Rocks.

We all still love to stop here on this trail and climb.

And pose.

And their true natures...

Our turn.  

Hee.

Is that a dirt biker totem pole?

Or my son?

The girls on our hike.

It was a beautiful day.

Not too cold, not too hot.

So fun to see the fall colors.

Collecting roasting sticks in the forest.

Had such a great time with Trev and the kids.

My favorite parts were just hanging out with the family,

the hike with the girls, roasting marshmallows with the sticks

the girls carved, and watching Raising Hope together before bed.

Have you seen Raising Hope?

Love it.  It's a laugh and a half.

Well, I think that's it for our camping this year.

Good bye lovely camper!

See you next year!

Good Noise.

We like good noise at our house.

Sorry these tiny videos are not great quality.

I used our underwater camera, and didn't know how to take longer shots.

Oh well, hope you enjoy these little morsels anyway!

Rock on!

Cake date.

We had a girls only cake date!

My friend Wendi is a fabulous cake decorator.

We spent a fun filled night last week learning & laughing.

My mom joined us to make some memories.

Here are the cakes before we turned them 

into beauties.

What 7 year old girl doesn't want a purple cake?

Skoogs rolling out the sweet pink fondant.

She's smoothing out those edges.

Grandpma A & Googles working hard on

those fondant flowers!

What a creative bunch of girls!

And what a fun project to share together!

Three finished cakes...

three happy girls.

Thanks so much Wendi!!!!

A favorite thing.

Why I like my ATV

by Shelli

It's bright red.

It goes fast.

It takes me through rocks, mud and sand.

It lets me feel and smell the air.

It's noisy.

It's powerful.

It's even comfy for napping...you heard me...

Oh, and I do like dirt for lunch.

And that is why I like my ATV.

 

Daddio, Cherries & Heaven on Earth.

We just returned from our first summer vacation!

That's Googles holding onto me.

I won't mention the rain, hail, wind, dark clouds, and COLD temps.
I won't tell you about how we were there for a whole week
and I only rode my quad on TWO of those days because of icky weather.

Because I am so positive, I will tell you about the TWO wonderful days.
Sunshine, sand dunes, jumping hills, tearing it up...

There's Trev. Nice jump. Notice the Tetons in the back?
Just beautiful.

Wish there had been more days like that one.

My daddio.
My sis just happened to be in town (QUICK trip) so
we got to celebrate Dad together.
Isn't he handome? He's sweet too.
Oh, you have the best Dad?
BUT SO DO I!!


Feels like summer. FINALLY.
Oh my heart...aren't we blessed to have the beauty of flowers?
Thank you Heavenly Father.
From the bottom of my heart and my whole being.

The comfort & beauty of home.
I love home.

If you came to visit me,
you would be greeted by my welcome frog,
lilies and lavender.


Oh this just keeps getting better.
You can bet I pulled over in a heartbeat today when I saw the sign.
CHERRIES.
Fresh off the trees.
Truly, is there anything better?
Probably. But not today.


We are so lucky to live in orchard country!

I'm so loving summer so far.
How about you?

Quad time.

There she is, our littlest all ready for the trails.

Gear...check. Bike...check. Muddy trails...check.

My boy is ready and rearing to go.


You got a little something on your face...


I seriously can't think of an activity with friends that is more fun than this.


All the kids on the pyramid rocks.



The bigger kids. They had a blast together.


Check out Monkey C's helmet.


She's ready to go again. That's my girl!



At camp in between trail rides.


The muddy group after the "man" ride. Way to go daughter!!


Muddy and exhausted.



How many marshmallows can YOU stick in your mouth at once?