Happy Birthday Jon!

This was last year...great friends and lots of fun...

But now, I've got this problem...

...he went to college and I can't make him his birthday breakfast on the "You are special today" plate...

You see, October is Jon's month. He turned 19, oh my, on the 21st. The girls and Daniel got to go to Corvallis to help him celebrate...I had a very sick puppy to care for.

The first birthday I got to help him celebrate, his dad and I with some dear friends took him to Disneyland for the first time. He was turning 5. I didn't get to be with him for his day as I still lived in L.A., but I sent some gifts including a wonderful soccer, football, basketball set just the right size for a 5-year-old guy. By the time he was 6, I was there and making breakfast, hosting parties and creating fun birthday cakes. I think the Zorro birthday and maybe the Boot Camp birthday were my favorites...so fun.

He got his new, red Schwinn when he turned 10...joy!

By the time he was in his teens, the cakes turned into brownies

or cobblers like this one below for his 17th.

Happy Birthday Jon. You have my heart and I love you.

ballet buddies

then...

and now...I have begged them to stop growing...

Girlfriends and answered prayer...

Hope and E...

I remember very specifically praying for Hope to have wonderful girlfriends...

friends that will be there perhaps for a lifetime to share, laugh and encourage...friends that will share their faith in Christ and go shoulder to shoulder into their generation as sisters in Christ. We pray this for all our kids... (I'll have to show you my life-time girlfriends sometime...)

Katrina & Linnea... friends of the heart.

We miss our daily girlfriend times with Linnea... but the love is there.

New church friends! ...middle school, aaa...adventure!

Sydney & Hope...ready for adventure...

girlfriends can be cousins too! Elise and Hope...Livie hugging...

a night of 5th grade graduation craziness... These are the girls you want to celebrate with. Thanks for a great celebration...Kat, Melody, Julia...we love you.

Below are their prayer journals made for the new middle school adventure.

sisters can be the best of friends...

Friends and time...

Do you have those friends? You know the ones...the people you just love and just love to be with but you live miles and miles away? We are blessed with many of these...

We got a call to join our Rubys in Black Butte.

It always feels like the conversation never ended, yet we realize how much life of our friends we've missed. It was good, really good to be together again.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for sharing with us.

...a bonus! We got to go to the Sisters' Quilt Show!

Our place, this year!

We found our way back to the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center's family camp this year. What a treat! We got to share the week with our Tumas. Even Grandma came along. Wait until you see!

The "Coach House" ...ice cream after the kids' programs and adult speaker...yum!

Grandma and the ladies...

Tuesday rained... Another opportunity for fun! We drove over the beautiful Astoria

bridge (3 1/2 miles long over the Columbia River as it flows into the Pacific...oh my...)

and found our way up the coast of Washington to several fun stops with a perfect lunch at the Tumas' special place, the historic Shelburne Inn...

and then...Jack's Country Store...thank you, thank you Cathy, what else can I say?

Later in the week the sun shone and we got our special day at the beach.

This is the perfect picture of our day...

Isn't she beautiful?

Daddy on the shore watching out for his little birds... Pavel in the water...

Like mother, like daughter. She's taken up the "swimming in the ocean torch..."

Thanks, Pavel.

This is called "Hug Point" because settlers drove their wagons during very

low tides around/on that rock you see...the wagon wheel ruts are still there.

Amazing...is it okay if I count this as a homeschool field trip?

(Remember, there was no 101 in those days...just forests and blackberries..mmm)

And Grandma kept watch over all with her pretty, pink umbrella.

She graciously greeted every family, every dog that went by making

each one's day just a little better.

There's a tradition at the conference center...one not to miss...

the Carnival. This year loads of fun, caramel apples, games and prizes, face painting

and '60s music blaring loud enough for me to sing along and not embarrass my family.

Do you see the ballet point? Miss June would be proud.

By the way, she did make it to the top.

This little one played every game on site and her daddy patiently held her

precious prizes and gave her more tickets.

There was a new addition to Cannon Beach this year...wild? bunnies...all around.

Hope named them...this is "Sandy."

Hope and I got to have morning walks with our coffee before breakfast.

That was one of the best parts of the week for me.

the last night...

a wonderful time was had by all...and, we're signed up for next year!

Wahoo! Thanks, Babe. You're such a great dad.

Iron sharpens Iron

We are blessed in our friendships...

At the outside edge of this photo are two very wet, very sandy, very happy girls...

I don't think the men even realized how wonderful they were...

The Hawaiian Islands

It does this momma's heart good to look out and see

lots and lots of kids of all ages working and playing together...

getting lost in the "work..."

(and I, by the way, get to enjoy a nice chat with my friends)

perfect summer day...and Buttercup is sentinel

Do you see them??? The Hawaiian islands, volcano and all?

girlfriends...I've always believed we need more sand and water

for all ages.

yummy!