Filling Daddy's Shoes

Easton is in a stage where he is obsessed with shoes. I have found him in our closet countless times trying on either of our shoes. This day I heard a loud clomping on the tile floor and got up to see what the noise was. He was able to put on Dane's running shoes and was trying with all his might to walk down the hall with shoes almost as big as he is on his feet. He is a cutie and I love to see him grow and develop.

Eme's 1st day of Preschool

I can't believe Eme is old enough to start preschool! She started a one-day-a-week preschool out of a friend's home with boys and girls in our ward. I help with the lessons and each of the parents teaches something different each week. It has been fun to see how excited she is to go back to preschool each week and the way she loves to learn. I even think that it has helped with her changed perspective on nursery not being such a bad place to go on Sundays. (Excuse the stain on her shirt, I tried to keep her clean for a picture but she had just brushed her teeth).

Happy Birthday Col!!!

Happy Birthday to my fun-loving brother. I love your sense of humor, your love of life and family, the way you are with your kiddos, the way you honor your wife and the other women in your life (mom, sister, and sis-in-laws), your testimony, your unbending determination to do that which is right, your willingness to try new things. I hope you have a great birthday! Here's to my not-so-little-brother (6'3" to be exact) - have a great day!

Eme and Big Col Col's Birthday Celebration

Collins and Ashley invited the Jones and Hatch crew over for a little grub, cookies, and presents to celebrate Eme and Big Col Col's birthdays. Eme's birthday was earlier in the month while we were in Washington and Col's was a little later in the month, but we decided to just do an August birthday celebration. Ashley and Col provided the hamburgers and hotdogs. Ashley had also made really cute turquoise and orange cookies for Col's birthday and a huge cookie for Eme for her birthday. Eme received a huge Princess book and play-dough. It was fun to be together and celebrate the birthdays of Eme and Col.

Ross Lake

While we were in Washington a few weeks ago, Dad and I had the chance to sneak away for a day of fishing on Ross Lake, a couple of hour drive from Bellingham. We got up early and arrived at the lake around 7:45 am, hiked about a mile down to the edge of the lake, where you pick up a phone and a guy flys across the lake in his boat to pick you up and bring you to the other side where you can rent your boat and head out for the day. The weather was perfect and the scenery was unreal, as the lake is right there surrounded by the Cascade Mountains. We didn't have much luck the first half of the day. After some lunch and a re-evaluation of how we were going about business, we made a few changes and bingo - fish striking, jumping out of the water, and just having a kick in the pants landing 16-20 inch rainbows all afternoon. Within a few hours we had our limit and headed back home. The picture of the trout in the net is one of the 16 inchers I caught and Dad is holding the 20 incher he landed at the end of the day. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Larrabee State Park & Annual Auction - Bellingham

We all decided to go to Larrabee State Park on Sunday after church for the kiddos to have the opportunity to work out their wiggles and for them to explore. This park is cool because it backs onto the ocean and you can see the San Juan Islands across the body of water. It was fun for the kiddos to be close to the ocean, but it was a little murky so we just kept them away from the water's edge. We also had the rocket launcher from last summer and the kiddos were excited about trying it out again. Jaxyn was careful this year to not trip over a stroller! That night we had our annual auction. The kiddos get a certain amount of fake $ to use for bidding purposes and bid for each of the prizes that each family has brought. We do this in place of Christmas each summer and the kiddos couldn't be happier! Dane was the auctioneer and did an awesome job! After the auction we watched dance performances by Makenna and Charley and Jaxyn performed the solo she did for her end-of-year dance recital. Not to be left out, Eme showed her love of dance and did a dance she made up all on her own. The kids had a great day and it was a great way to end our last day together!

Cousin Fun - Bellingham

The cousins had so much fun playing together. Hatcher and East became good little buddies and Eme had a blast following Makenna and Jaxyn around. Charley and Em got to be good little buddies this trip also. It was fun to see Eme and East with their cousins. We love and miss you guys.