Adeline

I just love this picture! Such cute little cousins!!

SUMMER

So we finished up school and celebrated with a shindig at the house. 70 kids, 20 moms and lots of silly string! We had a blast!

Then we camped at Fort Stevens for Jeff's 13th Birthday!! Wow! I have a teenager. SCARY! I honestly am more afraid of teenagers than I am of turning 40 this year. Terrifying! But so far he is an awesome kid. Super helpful and patient with the kids. He got a GPS for his b-day and we geocached all over Fort Stevens. We rode 8 miles one day going to one or the other. It was also Daisy's first camping trip and she loved it.

Jack learned to ride his bike without training wheels. It went like this.

Ben "Jack do you want to take off your training wheels?"
Jack "Yes"
Take off training wheels.
Helmet on!!
Ben "Ok Jack, ride."
He did and never turned back. No coaching, no hanging on to steady, no wobbles, just off he went. CLASSIC! He was very proud!

Molly learned to ride a bike the same weekend, just with training wheels.

Ben & I spent a night at an adorable inn in Nehalem for our 15 1/2 anniversary. We never got around to celebrating it in December. It was a nice, quick, fun 24 hour getaway. It's like a marriage reset button. Really does wonders. We highly recommend dinner and room at Nehalem River Inn and Wanda's for breakfast, walk on the beach in Manzanita. Ahhhh . . .

Well we came home from the getaway to a warm rare 80 degree day, so we took the boat out for the first time this season. Water was cold, but not cold enough to deter the kids from tubing. Jack got bounced off (while I drove unfortunately) and broke his collar bone. Fun times in the ER. We took it out again on Monday and Jeff broke his thumb. So far, so good with the boating adventures this year. Everyone is healing fine and off drugs.

We had a great 4th of July! We all ran the 5K before the Hillsboro parade. Enjoyed the parade! Love our frisbees! Went boating with little success (way too busy). Then headed to the Merritt's for rockin' BBQ and firework show. Thank you Merritt's and Rhobocks! and to Rebecca Reynolds for those delicious cookies. Wow!

I don't know how many times Ben and I have said this year, "I LOVE SUMMER". We don't get much of it, so we enjoy every drop of sun we can get. SUMMER!!!!

Helvetia Half and Drop Top 10K

Ben and I walked the Helvetia Half Marathon today. We felt so much better than last year, but we were 45 seconds slower. We walked 13.1 miles in 2 hours 58 minutes. I didn't need a medic and oxygen for 20 minutes this year. We improved.

Jeff ran his first 10K. He blew it out of the water! He finished 33 out of 946 overall. He had an average of 7 minutes 20 seconds per mile. He finished in 46 minutes. He did awesome!! We are very proud. He tasted blood and wants to do another, but train this time. I guess playing lacrosse five days a week isn't training enough. :)

When the Cats Away . . .

the mice will play! Ben went on a guys motorcycle/shooting/scratching weekend, so Jess & Rylee came to play with us. It was so much fun! We chilled Dunlop style . . .
PLAY+EATING OUT=HAPPY MOMMAS!
We went to Ikea, Out of This World, Rylee's Birthday, Sky High, Portland Temple, Deseret Book, Spaghetti Factory, Craft Warehouse, church, Seaside, Rock Creek Tavern, dentist, Fred Meyer multiple times, pedicures and the airport. That's it. Laid back and chillin', Dunlop style. :)

It was Rylee's 9th Birthday on Saturday and we did it up!! We love ya R.Y.L.E.E.!

We missed the rest of the Mortensen's a lot, especially Jeff!

Daisy (yes, official name) loved the beach and the surf. It was her first time out and it was fun to play with her.

Happy Birthday Lukers!

Today is one of my adorable nephew's birthday, Luke!! He's 7 today. I have a picture of him that makes me laugh every time it pops up on my computer screen saver. I had to share on his big day! Happy Birthday LUKE and I hope you are happier today then you were on this day.

Meet ???, Our Little Puppy!

We have yet to agree on a name; Zoe, Samantha (aka Sammy), or maybe one we haven't even considered yet. But one thing we all agree on, she's cute! We all want to hold her! We all fight over her. She is loved!

The Big Island

Oh yea baby!! Paradise with my sweet heart. Life is GOOD!

Chillin' on the beach. I read 4 books, he read 2. My kinda pleasure!

Pina Colada by the hour. Delicious!

Manta Ray Night Dive was amazing. A highlight of my life for sure!!

Someones catch of the day. 6 yellow fin tuna each weighing hundreds of pounds. Ben was salivating. Oh the sushi he could make . . .

A fun walk through a farmer's market in Kona. The avacados were enormous, but there was so much delicious food. You almost wanted a kitchen to make something in. Almost. Mangos, papyas, bananas, flowers, shirts, necklaces, all things Hawaiian. Fun times!

Mauna Kea beach-divine!!

North coast, Waimanu Valley. Black sand beaches and beautiful cliffs. Best Sunday drive I've ever been on.

Kona Hawaii Temple

It was a fabulous trip and I'm so grateful I over came my mother's guilt to go. We needed it and it was worth it! Thanks to all the gals and guy that helped out with the kiddos. They had a nice break from us as well. Thank you!