Alaska Lovin'

Last week I got to fly (all by myself!) to Alaska to see my beautiful sister and niece. My brother in law was out of town for a long weekend, so we got to have some lovely girl time!

We went on hikes, walked around the lake, ate fresh salmon, went out for brunch, had delicious coffee, went to an Asian fish market, searched for Beluga's, laughed, talked, loved, dreamed, planned, listened to bedtime stories in french and my little sister sing my niece to sleep and held that precious baby.

Karyn speaks in French to Ada about 99.9% of the time; so of course, my job as auntie is to translate. Ada heard the French version, then the English version, and then I taught her some Spanish. haha I wonder if she will come up with her own language combining them all. Hmm...

It was such a wonderful visit, my heart is still smiling.
I can't wait to see my little Alaska's again! xo

While the husbands are away...

the ladies will play.....with hops?
Our awesome home brewing husbands were given free organic hops from a friend in Washington. They worked hard at deflowering them to dry and store, but didn't quite finish this time consuming task. So, one day last week, the ladies and kiddos got together while the guys were working and secretly got to work. Though we still didn't finish them all, we made quite a dent in the pile of beautiful vines and our husbands were so excited! It's the little things that show so much love!

Happy brewing to them and happy (safe) drinking to you. Come sample some brew!

Slainte!

Cleats and Slippers

We have started some fun new activities around here!

CLEATS!
Tyler has started soccer again and is our little soccer super star! He is a ball of energy and can run for days. I love his smile- it is so contagious! Cutest superfans!

SLIPPERS!
Miss Anna Banana has started ballet and tap. It is absolutely precious to watch my little ballerina dance and twirl around.

Sweet big brothers supporting their sister, they are so encouraging to her and watch her every move.

Lots of fall fun!

Around the Sun

A little over a week ago we celebrated Ryan turning 7! What an amazing boy he is. So patient, kind, thoughtful, sweet and helpful. I love having him around and he always has an encouraging word or thoughtful thing to say. Our lives were changed forever the day he was born, and we can't imagine it any other way. xo
We started the morning off with our birthday tradition of a pancake per year. Ryan had a stack of 7 and ate them all! He wanted peanut butter and jelly pancakes (homemade pancakes, layered with peanut butter, and marionberry syrup) and banana blueberry salad with yogurt.Ryan planned our menu for the day:
Breakfast- Peanut butter and jelly pancakes and fruit salad
Lunch- Chicken Pesto Pasta (with homemade basil walnut pesto and tomatoes) and garlic bread
Dinner- Black bean, sweet potatoes, quinoa burritos with guacamole
and instead of cake he requested a strawberry tart with custard (a family recipe). That boy has good taste!Life is such a gift!

On the night before school...

...we celebrate; a new year of learning, laughing, working, loving, and exploring. And the best part? I get to keep all of these little lovies at home and we can do all of this together!

We have an exciting year ahead! I can't believe I have a 2nd grader, Kindergartner, Pre schooler, and a toddling little monkey. My how time flies!

Our back to school dinner party:Slainte! Oh the chocolate smiles!
On the menu:
White chili with chicken
Homemade cornbread, Irish butter, and honey
Fresh raw milk
Molten Lava cakes with ganache, strawberries, and peppermint whipped cream (not pictured...they gobbled it up before I could grab my camera)

My hope for this year is to learn right along with my kids,to savor each day, to see the world through their eyes (especially in those hard moments), to answer with love, to get dirty exploring, and to laugh laugh laugh. Cheers to that!

I am excited to blog more and share our journey with you.

Off to bed, tomorrow is almost here! xo

Boxes

Oh, what a month we have had. It has been full! We have been moving, just across town, but moving. We have had the most amazing help from friends who helped make it all possible, we will never be able to thank them enough. We LOVE our new home and are enjoying each day settling in. Finding the fun at our garage sale. :-)
Break/lunch time on moving day.

It feels like the 'box' stage is never ending, but we are getting there. In the mean time, we are finding lots of games to play in, around, inside of, and under boxes. Oh the boxes!

I will post more pictures soon and a video tour of our new place. :-)

Seattle's Best

A couple weeks ago we drove to Seattle to celebrate Chase's birthday. We brought homebrew as a gift (which was a hit) and enjoyed the time with our best friends.

The Guys (missing a few)- (left to right) Aaron, Tyler, Chase, Josh, and Edgar. These guys were all on the same floor freshman year of college, they have been best friends ever since. We've celebrated holidays, birthdays, marriages, births, birthdays, and everything in between together. Our kids call them their Uncles and that's just what they are. Together through it all- everyone should be blessed with friends like these. Simply amazing. (Some of) The Ladies- Rachel, Jessie, Me, and Kim. Rachel and Jessie also went to George Fox with the guys, Kim and I just married into the gang. :-)One of my dearest friends, Kim. Such a beauty!Rachel and Anna Banana

What a beautiful weekend celebrating with our family of friends. xo