Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Every year we celebrate Jeff's birthday...although he is not here with us in person, we honor the Man he would have been!

Grammy with the cake :) 

Bennett worked hard on his balloon 

My niece Makenna Riley lives in California, we were skyping with her, and she drew the face she wanted Grammy to draw on the balloon to her Daddy...she also let her own go earlier with her Mom in CA!

Powell was out of town, so we sent one up for him! 

Happy Birthday Jeff!

We love you and miss you EVERYDAY!

xoxo

Homemade Granola Bars {In My Kitchen}

I found the recipe for these Granola Bars from here

They were SO delicious, moist and SO easy...here are the couple of changes I made or will make in the future...

~I didn't have quick oats so I used Old Fashioned which made them not hold together as well..but still delicious :)

~Next time I will omit the 1/2 cup of brown sugar...with the honey and applesauce, the extra sweetness is just not needed

~I made mine with chocolate chips, cranberries and coconut...mmmmm!

~I also threw in a tablespoon or so of ground flax seeds and wheat germ :)

Give these a try...I think you'll love them!

A new {Favorite Thing}

I had seen these in several magazines awhile back, and had been on the lookout for them...

well, I finally tracked some down :)

EOS Lip Balms

ok...first, are they not the cutest little things??

The flavors are (pink) Summer Fruit - smells like peaches

(citron) Honeysuckle Honeydew - yum!

(light blue) Sweet Mint - can't seem to find this one :(

They have lots of great qualities..

Organic

Paraben free

Gluten free

Petrolatum free

Phthalate free

Shea butter and Vit E

I had been looking for them in the cosmetic sections of Walgreens and Rite Aid (the only two stores I know of that carry them in my area), but found out they are in the aisle with Chapstick, Carmex, etc...just FYI

Just a new summer favorite!

Bennett's 8th Grade Graduation (sort of )

Bennett's school does an assembly for the 8th graders...they give out lots of awards, but I always leave feeling frustrated, as not every child walks away with something. 

 I truly agree that good grades and participation in sports and clubs should be rewarded, but there are so many kids who sit there and receive nothing, not even a "diploma" to acknowledge their success of just "making it" through middle school...in my opinion that deserves a grand trophy :)

Bennett is so excited to head to high school..how can that be??

Congrats Bennett!!

We Love You!

Congratulations Powell!!! Class of 2011!

Graduation Day 

June 18th, 2011

Powell and Kahlen before they headed to the school!  These two met in 5th grade and have been the best of friends ever since.  They will be heading to WSU together!!

Toby and Powell

My first baby...I was trying to keep it together :)

Kahlen, Powell and Austin

Austin came by to pick up the boys and take them up to the high school, so they could board the bus to head to the ceremony

The weather was typical for early summer in Seattle :(...grey rainy and cool...so we made sure to take some of our family pics before we left!

Pop and the Kids :)

Grammy and Lucy

Papa and Lucy

Me and my Girl!

Aunt Deanna

It is tradition in our city for the grads to arrive at their ceremony in school buses.  They are given a police escort :) and it is the only time they are ever allowed to hang out the windows.  As they headed down the hill, cars pull over to the side of the road, and honk and wave as the buses go by...

The minute the buses arrived the crowd erupted in cheers and the kids were waving their caps out the windows...that is when the tears started for most of us!

There he is!!

Looks like he found us :)

Congratulations AMHS Class of 2011!!!

What a wonderful day...Powell was so genuinely happy, it just showed in his smile!!

Three generations!

This pretty much sums up how Lucy feels about this Guy!

Aunt Deanna wouldn't have missed this day for anything!

Grandma and Dennis with their first graduating Grandchild

The moment Powell and I saw each other, the tears flowed!!

I am so proud of you Powell!!

Blake and Bennett were so excited for Powell...they cheered for him and couldn't wait to see him after the ceremony!

WOW...these are some cute kids!!!

The beaming Parents!!

Powell's principal Mrs. Herren, hugged every.single.student. after they received their diploma...it was so obvious how much she loved this class...and they loved her!!

Heading off to do some celebrating!

I really wanted to be "in the moment" at our Grad Party, that I put my camera away...so I have ZERO pics of the party...and all the decorating I did...but that's ok, I enjoyed every minute!!