Was It Worth It?

Jon and I spent many hours getting ready for our camping trip. We shopped for food, did laundry, packed our bags, loaded the coolers, prepared the boat, and threw in the tent. The work only continued once we arrived with all the set up, food preparation, and clean up. One morning Mason said "how come we aren't ready to go on the boat? The Young's are already out on the lake?" I reminded him that we had seven children to get ready(Paige and McKenna) and the Young's only had two!!! Each day when we came back to camp we were exhausted after a long day in the water and sun! This is a tired Jon! After a long day of driving the kids in the boat. When we arrived home late Saturday afternoon the work only continued. We unloaded all the camping gear/boat. Washed the boat and car, vacuumed them both, emptied and cleaned the coolers, and did endless loads of laundry (probably 10 loads and I only just finished it today!) So I say to myself and Jon Was it all Worth IT? And then we look at our pictures and say...YES
Maddie with her boyfriend Brody!


Caden and Mason showing off their Muscles!

Paige, Morgan, and McKenna lovin tubing, they also all got up on the wake board!

Brinley being our flag girl!

Brooklyn, Cassidy, Brinley, and Maddie playing at the park!

I went Wake Surfing for the first time and LOVED it!

Mason made a fire every morning while Jon and I were still in our sleeping bags!

The big kids loved to jump off this rock and swim around in this cove we found!

Creating many fun memories with all our dear friends at Billy Chinook!

Pinkalicious Party!

Two weeks ago my baby (Maddie) turned four! She has been so excited to wear that shirt and wore it the entire day! On her actual birthday August 1 we took advantage of a fabulous Saturday in the NW and went boating on the Columbia River. Maddie loved tubing, swimming, and eating!

She had so much fun that she crashed on the front seat of the boat in the late afternoon!
After a fun day on the river we barbecued pizza on the grill, ate ice cream Sundaes, swam in our pool, and danced the night away with her sisters and the Zundel girls! On August 3 she had her first "Friend" birthday party. She invited four little girls to her Pinkalicious Party.

We first had lunch that consisted of only pink foods!

They had Pink Jello, Pink Strawberry Applesauce, Pink Marsh mellows, Pretzels dipped in Pink Chocolate, Pink Cream Cheese & Bagels, Pink Candy, and Pink Lemonade!!! The girls loved all the pink foods but I must say the pretzels were a HIT!After lunch the girls made crowns, necklaces, colored, and of course read the book Pinkalicious!!

We finished with presents, ice cream and the famous Pinkalicious cupcakes!
I made this cute cupcake t-shirt for Madelyn to wear for the party.

After making it I thought, that wasn't that hard I think I will make all the girls their own t-shirt! (I should not have left it til the night before to finish that project though!!!) I'm so happy how they turned out!!! They all looked just perfectly Pinkalicious together! It was such a fun party to have with these little girls!!! (from L to R, Elise Kelley, Hannah Zundel, Madelyn the birthday girl, Kylie Cannon, and Shaylee Phelon.

Facts about Maddie at age Four!

She loves to be called Maddie and not Madelyn. Sometimes she won't answer me if I call her by Madelyn. Some of her other nicknames are Matt, Baby Dolla, Honey, and Sweetie. She is a fairly good eater and a great snacker! Her favorite dinner is Chicken & Broccoli and Sweet & Sour Chicken (Tamara Larkin's recipe!) She is notorious for eating little at Breakfast and Lunch then saying she's hungry like 10 minutes later! Loves Chocolate Milk, water with NO ICE, and sneaks drinks of mommy's pop frequently. She has to have purple fluffy pillow and blanket at bed time or there is a meltdown. She's a pack rat and has things stashed in purses, backpacks, and underneath her bed constantly. She has been known to change her clothes at least 5 times a day, and during preschool she would change the second she would come home from school into something SHE wanted to wear and not what I wanted her to wear that day!(Isn't she too young to be so opinionated about her wardrobe???) She loves to play pollies with her sisters and will play for hours in the Bonus Room. She also loves to dress up her Bitty Baby, color, play with play dough and would paint daily if I would let her! She's definitely the baby of the family and pretty much gets her way because of that. This past year she has been more talkative, friendly, and has grown up a ton! She weighs 35 pounds, wears size 4/5 clothes and now shares clothes with Brinley. She loves her "Buddy" Daddy and is still a mama's girl. She's constantly giving hugs, giggling and is a sweet little girl! What would we do without our Maddie???