A weekend with the girls.

This last weekend we took Emi and her friend Adri out to Lopez Island for the weekend. We stayed at a Marina that had a swimming pool and hot tub (and boys :-)!

The weather was beautiful and it was hard to leave to come home. Here are some snapshots.

Max loves kayaking!

The pool - it was awesome!
Captain Randy is always happy in his captains chair! His new favorite phrase (which he stole off of "Deadliest Catch" is "Don't make me go Captain on you"!!
Saying Goodbye!
We were out there when the storm hit - it was awesome! Pouring down rain and thunder and lighting across the ocean! Such a reminder of God's power!

Enjoy your weekend!

A boating/crabfeast day , minus the boat.....

On Saturday the PLAN was to spend the day hosting guests on Sucia Island crabbing and serving them a fabulous meal on china!!

The problem is - the wind didn't care about out plans!! At 5:30AM Captain Randy and I made the difficult decision to cancel the boating part of the trip and just host the dinner at our home at 5pm ( which means, instead of being on the island for the day, I was at home weeding and cleaning :-{

This was a dinner/crabbing day that we had donated to the LC auction. The same 3 couples (very fun couples, I might add :-), won it again this year. We were so looking forward to taking them out to the island, but the plan is to take them crabbing later yet this summer, so we can get the boating/crabbing part of the day in!!

They started with appetizers outside.................

Our fabulous, faithful, friends (that's FFF's and BFF's), Jeff and Kathi, and Dan and Marla, ran the kitchen and Chef Jeff was the "boss" for the night. Kathi came up with the table setting and it turned out gorgeous, of course! We got so busy I didn't get pictures of any food but salad and I only got a couple pics of the kitchen crew, and they were dark.

You know Kathi, we even had fabulous, theme appropriate menus!!

Here are the couples seated at the dinner table.......

Marla made a tasty and beautiful chop salad.........................

After dinner, the group moved out to patio for creme' brulee and coffee and then to the firepit to sit and relax (and digest!!). They asked us to join them, so of course, we did!


Such a fun night, and such a great group of friends!!

I want to be MAX!!

I know why they call these "the dog days of summer"......................
.......and sometimes he even changes positions!!
He gets his nails done.........
And speaking of going to the dogs, my sister in law made these for our nephew's first birthday! Pretty impressive huh? I use to make fancy cakes for my kid's birthdays, those days are long gone!!!

Hope you're enjoying the heat! I know Max is - he has air conditioning!!

Midnight movie anyone?

Tonight I came home from work to this on my counter.......................

Now, I know it's not Emily's, because she's at work (have I mentioned she has her first job? She's working on a berry picker :-)!........

And, since I only have one other child living here, it has to be.....Brandon's ??????

Yes - "it is mine" Brandon confirms!

Tonight AT MIDNIGHT, he and 4 friends are going to see the premiere of the new Harry Potter movie. A few of them dyed their hair red (Brandon's wasn't very red - but it was the fun of it), and they dressed up.

A couple of them came to the house and then rode together to meet the rest of the group. Of course, I had to have a picture!! Brandon all but threw up on me at the idea - but his friends were all for it so he had to comply.

Brandon had spent HOURS making these wands, I should've gotten a close up of them - they're holding them in the picture.

Here is Brandon "not getting into it"..................................

And here is Brandon when I said,"fine then, cast a spell on me" - his friends were "into it".


Oh to be young again...........................midnight movie anyone?

I have to share.......................

I just thought that since Grandiflora is having a sale like they've NEVER had before, I would let you, my faithful readers/lurkers :-) in on the news.

If we have your email address at Grandiflora, then you received the following email. If you didn't receive it, we need your email address to add you to the list!!

Here's the email:

WE'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE!!

A sale where even new merchandise is 20% off? A big tent in the garden area? A $5 voucher for every $25 you spend? HMMMMM.............................

You might think we're crazy, but here at Grandiflora we have been receiving lots of great new merchandise.................the problem with that you ask? ........................where do we put it all?

In order to clear out some space for the new items, we have decided to have a blowout summer clearance sale!

Here are the details (listen closely)

1. Every regular priced item is 20% off - even brand new merchandise!! (Items are limited to stock on hand, so don't let someone else go home with what you wanted)

2. Orange tagged items are an additional 20% off!! (all orange tags are already marked 30-50% off...are you still listening?.....)

3. Yellow tagged items have been marked down a minimum of 75% - (here's where the tent comes in and it's bursting at the seams!)

AND.................LAST BUT NOT LEAST.....................................

4. You will receive a $5 voucher for every $25 you spend, this voucher will be valid Aug 1-15,09 and using it will enter you into a drawing for a $50 Gift Certificate!!

Sale begins Friday, July 10th, and goes through Saturday, July 18th. (we are closed on Sundays and our hours are M-F, 10-5:30, and Sat. 10-5)

If you have received this email directly from us, than we thank you for your email address and appreciate the ability to communicate with you this way. Please forward this blowout sale info to your friends!!

If you have received this email as a forward from a friend (obviously someone who loves you very much -OR, wants you to come buy them a present) , than first of all, thank them, and secondly SHOOT US AN EMAIL SO WE CAN ADD YOU TO OUR LIST!

We look forward to seeing you! Don't forget to check out our blog, and let us know when you come in that you got our email!

Think ahead to Christmas, birthday presents, etc.

Just had to pre-empt the regular blogging to fill you in!!

Okay, Okay - here's the link

Ok, I admit it - I'm a loser! I didn't take any pictures at Kaitlin's wedding. Now, before you go passing judgement on this poor blogger, keep in mind, I was sitting at the keyboard 30 min. before the wedding started, and sat and played until everyone had left the area where the wedding ceremony was and went to the reception. I know it's pitiful - but it's the truth - no pics!

The Herald was at the wedding , and they took plenty of pictures - they took literally 100's but I don't know where they are - there are a few in their gallery, so go the Bellingham Herald Website and click on Photos and it's under the "lifestyle" heading, go to this link to see all of them. For now, here are a few I copied.

The bride was gorgeous, and the groom handsome - kind of like Ken and Barbie!! Isn't it a precious picture of Rob and Bev (Kaitlin's parents) in the background?

I had to put this one in, cuz' it's a great ad for Woods :-)!

The mother of the bride was breathtaking and had a beautiful glow about her all day - definitely didn't look like someone dying of cancer - just a beautiful lady enjoying the wedding of her baby girl! And - does Rob look like Steve Martin in "Father Of The Bride" - or what?!?!?

Hopefully this will keep you all happy!

Enjoying the islands

This weekend for the 4th my mom had her annual picnic. Mom and Dad started this tradition years ago and the whole family looks forward to eating and blowing up things together!! The guys kind of have an unspoken tradition for having the coolest thing to light off!

My brother Dave and his wife and daughter came up from Oregon and stayed with us, so we took them out to Friday Harbor on Friday evening and met up with Alan and Claudia for dinner at Downriggers - our favorite restaurant. If you ever make it out to Friday harbor you have to go have the "Chicken Gorgonzola Salad" and the Onion Rings. The salad, has chicken (obviously!) honey roasted pecans, tomatoes, lettuce, pasta, onions, gorgonzola cheese, and the best balsamic/barbeque dressing you've ever had. I've tried to replicate it to no avail :-(!

I don't have many pictures from the 4th as my camera was acting up! I can't afford to replace it right now - especially since it's time to upgrade next time!!

Here are Dave and Sue enjoying the ride out, with Mt. Baker in the background...............

Here are Randy, Dave, Sue, Claudia and Alan as we wait for our dinner reservation........

As we were waiting the ferry came in...................beautiful evening..............

We had a great weekend - and was that weather gorgeous or what?!?! Hope you enjoyed yours. Now - back to normal - whatever that looks like!

The wedding is over

Last weekend was Kaitlin's wedding (remember the scrapbook I've been working on with my friend Bev for her daughter - her daughter is Kaitlin).

On Thursday, we took Bev, Kaitlin, Ann and Arlene (the grooms mom and sister) out in the boat to Rosario Resort for lunch. The day was questionable weather wise, and at one point it poured rain, but once we got 1/2 way there, the clouds broke up and we actually sat outside the grill by the marina and had lunch - it was so much fun!

Then, Friday night, I had a bridal shower for Kaitlin here, and there were about 40 women!! Marla Raske came and worked her tail off in my kitchen for about 8 hours to help make food and then serve and cleanup! What a faithful friend - and I didn't get a picture of her with her apron on - bad blogger! If you wonder what it's sounds like to have 40 women in your house? Let's just say, I had to use my "mommy" voice to get them all to stop chatting! :-) What fun!!

This is me with Kaitlin and Bev - such special people to me!


My niece Marla made this beautiful masterpiece with a bouquet I picked up at Costco - now why can't I make it look like that!


Sunday was wedding day and the weather turned our perfectly! It was at Evergreen Gardens on the Pole road (same place we had my dad's memorial) and it was beautiful!

Now this week was just back to work for 4 days and last night my brother and his family came to stay with us for the weekend. Today we're going to Friday Harbor for dinner and then tomorrow is the annual Brim July 4th picnic at my mom's. My whole family, even my brother from Florida is here - it will be so fun!!