Water Fight!

Paul turned eleven on Friday. He had a friend over for the day, and someone suggested a water-gun fight outside. It had been pouring down rain all day, but we figured since we would be getting wet anyway during the fight, it wouldn't matter much if it was raining. :) You can't really tell by the pictures, but it is raining pretty hard.

Our water-gun fight turned into more of a water-balloon fight (Definitely more exciting - especially when you have Carrie filling the water balloons. I think she got more wet filling them, than during the fight!) In this picture, John is running from a water balloon that just popped at his heels.

The teams: ...boys...

...against girls...

(somehow the boys look more threatening)

In the end we decided that everybody won.

Our water-balloon fight turned into a water-bucket fight. Here, Emma just got hit with a bucket of water. She was a good sport.

The highlight of the fight: When I got Mom with a water balloon while she was standing on the porch taking pictures. :) She was a good sport too.

Happy Birthday Paul!!!

Sam turns 2!

Wow! It has already been a year since I posted pictures of Sam's 1st b-day! He has grown up so much this last year! He is such a sweet brother!

opening presents...

here's Sam celebrating over a new shirt

(seriously, that's what he's doing here, he's saying, "yeah!"... who knew that a two-year-old boy could have so much enthusiasm for new clothes?!!) :)

Here's a video of Sam opening presents. The sound on my camera isn't so good, so you may have to turn the volume on the computer up quite a bit to hear. Sorry it's so fuzzy; need a good video camera!

Mom and Sam

in the evening we had a birthday dinner at our grandparent's house

Sam was very excited about the cake! He has a dairy intolerance (we are all hoping he outgrows it!!!) so hasn't been able to have treats like cake and icecream... for his birthday, though, I made him a dairy-free cake and he enjoyed eating it with the rest of us.

We love you, Sam!

Joanna's Birthday - 22 mile bike

For my 15th birthday, my friend, Carrie and I took a 22 mile bike ride from our house (out north), across town, to my friend's house (out south of town). It took us about 4 hours. We were going going at a normal/slow speed, and took lots of breaks along the way (for snacks, to look at the lovely view...etc.) We had a great time!!

Here we are... just getting ready to start (9:15 in the morning).

At this point in our bike ride, we could look down over the town...

This was taken on one of our stops. We stopped for a break and walked down to the beach. It was a beautiful day!!

the victory jump... "we did it!!!"

John's turns 5

For John's 5th birthday, my family went to the swimming pool for the family-swim. In the evening, we invited some relatives over for dinner.

Here he is... enjoying a scrumptious dinner of pork-chops, potatoes, applesauce and macaroni and cheese. Good choice, John!

opening presents...

Paul's B-day

Sam's liking this birthday thing!

We invited some family and friends over to celebrate Paul's 10th birthday! He was very excited to recieve a bow-and-arrow, throwing knives (and instructional video to go with it), candy, clothes, a flashlight, fishing pole, leggo set, and much more! We're so glad to have such a great brother!

Sam turns 1!

an upsidedown peach cake!

"I love my new birthday bear!"

just relaxin' with Daddy...

looking a bit wistful...

We are all amazed at how much Samuel has grown this last year! It seems like just last week he was born. He is now walking around the house, getting into lots of trouble, and making us all smile and his cute, funny ways. On March 15th, for Samuel's birthday, we had our grandparents and cousins over for dinner. These pictures are not all from that evening... I just couldn't resist to put a few other recent pics. of him in!

Father-Daughter Fishing Trip

early morning on Roosevelt Lagoon


the beauitful scenery as we hiked


Joanna with a fish


the birthday girl, fishing




Dad

night in the harbor

To celebrate Carrie's 13th birthday, Dad took Carrie and I and a friend of ours and her dad on his large boat, the Champion, to the Naha River for a two-day hiking, boating and fishing trip. We left on Sunday afternoon and got to the Naha at about 9:00 that night. After dinner on the boat we went for a late-night hike. When we got back we all went to bed and got up at 5:30 the next morning. It didn't get light until 7:30, so we did a lot of hiking and boating in the dark that morning. We hiked about 7 miles altogether that day over rough trail and packing all of our gear. It was exsausting, but a lot of fun! We fished at some of the good fishing spots along the trail. When we got to Jordan Lake, we stopped for a rest at the cabin before continuing on to the "Glory Hole". We caught about 10 fish there and had lunch. It was a beautiful day (but very cold... about freezing temperature). After spending a couple hours at the "Glory Hole" we hiked back to our skiff, took the boat across Rooselvelt Lagoon and then from there, we hiked back to the boat. Then it was a 4 hour boat ride back to town. During the boat ride back, us girls fixed dinner, played games and took pictures. We had a great time. Thanks, Dad!

Emma turns 8

Emma and her cake

John, balancing a book on his head for one of the party games

at the party...

opening presents on her "royal throne"

Emma decided that she wanted to have a tea party for her 8th birthday. Our grandparents were away, so we hosted the tea party at their house in town. Emma invited some friends and family members (yes, John and Paul did participate in the party) and we put up streamers and set the table with tea cups. Emma had a good time and is such a joy to the family!