Alex's 7th Birthday

For Alex's 7th birthday party, Steve had the brilliant idea of having it at the pavilion at our church. Lots of room for the kids to run around, which was a good thing because Steve and Alex handed out invitations while I was at work, and a lot of kids were invited!

We had pizza, cupcakes and ice cream, and played a few games but really the kids seemed to have the most fun just running around going crazy. All the neighbors were probably wondering what all the racket was about!

This game involved some of the kids covering their face with shaving cream, and the rest of the kids throwing cheese puffs at them to see how many would stick. It was slightly messy as you can imagine. We also let the kids take turns with this water balloon launcher, which they loved. I felt like I filled a million water balloons but we still could have used more!

  

     

The whole crazy crew!

Alex has developed a liking for Michael Jackson. Not sure where it came from, but he is quite the fan. I wasn't too sure I'd be able to pull off a Michael Jackson cake, but I gave it my best shot. I think this looks a lot more like an hombre doing a Mexican Hat Dance than it does M.J. doing the moonwalk, but Alex was happy with it, so it's all good. Can't believe my baby is seven!

Summer Vacation

As we've done the past two years, we went to our family camping trip in California over the 4th of July, then spent some time in Napa. We missed not having Steph with us this year.

Adam and Grandma

 

 

 

Paul and Steve. Can I just say how devastated (not) I was when Steve's beautiful sun bonnet accidentally was ruined at a football practice later this summer? tee hee...

 

Mark, our master camping chef. He does some amazing cooking when he's camping. But hey, I can really roast a mean hot dog!

Some of the cousins playing cards.

Nate, Cessiley and Jessilyn

Little Aila. That face... there are no words.

Alex and his little buddy, Abram. Love those dirty faces.

Lorna and Lesley, sunbathing sisters.

Writing letters to our missionaries.

Not much water in the creek this year, but perfect for the little kids.

Aila loved sitting in the cold creek water and would get pretty testy with her mother if Kristin tried to move her!

The Kujanpaa Family, minus Erik and Jake (working summer jobs), but plus the newest family member, who most of us didn't know about yet. He/She is kind of hard to spot, they are hiding in Satu's belly. Can't wait to meet him/her in a few months!

Our beloved meadow. I don't have any pictures this year of our usual hike to the waterfall because, well, Steve, Alex and I didn't make it due to some intimidating circumstances. The three of us got a head start on the hike because it usually takes us longer to get up there. About a third of the way into the hike, Steve stopped dead in his tracks, told me and Alex to turn around and start walking "now!", he said calmly but quite emphatically. He didn't say why, but I was pretty sure I knew the reason, so I was trying my best to make up reasons for Alex as to why we were turning around so as not to scare him. We had probably briskly walked about a quarter mile before Steve was comfortable to slow down long enough to explain what happened. As we had been walking, all of a sudden he saw a bear. And the bear saw him as well, they apparently made eye contact and the bear stood up. Nothing further needed to be communicated to Steve from Mama Bear, he got the message loud and clear and we high tailed it outta there. When we met up with the rest of the family, most of them continued on the hike but us Lillys (except for Alex) thought we'd had enough excitement for the day. Nobody else saw the bear, so Steve (like it or not) currently wears the badge for "Closest Bear Encounter at Grovers".

A few months before we went to California, Alex and I were driving past a cemetery one day. Alex was asking me questions about my grandparents and where they were buried. He thought that it would be a good idea if we "paid our respects" sometime when we were visiting. So that's what we did. We first went to Grandpa and Grandma Jacobson's cemetery, then to where Grandma and Grandpa Eide and Judy are, and left fresh flowers. We also drove past Federal Terrace where my mom lived as a girl, then over to Del Mar Avenue where some of my best childhood memories are, to see both sets of grandparents homes.

Of course, one of the highlights of any trip to Napa is seeing this little blue eyed beauty.

Alex and Alexis. She really loved to follow Alex around and see what he was doing.

Our usual trip to Pier 39 in San Francisco.

We took Alex to the Napa River to go fishing. Not a single bite, but Alex still had fun.

Last summer we never tried going to the beach because the weather was really mild in Napa and we figured it'd be cold at the beach. This year it was still really mild in Napa, but I didn't want to skip the beach again, so we took our chances and went anyways. It ended up being a beautiful day! No wind, slightly overcast but the sun was peeking out just enough to be warm.

Sandy kisses are the best!