here's what we've been up to this summer....

Gen's first year at Girls Camp


Went to Puyallup Fair (Sim's "tatoo" is on his arm)

made headbands to (hopefully) sell

built loftbeds

Glory's baptism (where the kids crashed Matt's car into another parked car....very traumatic, but everybody's ok)

Matt got a motorcycle for free. It's an ongoing project for him, but we've been able to ride it.

My sister and her husband took us to the Seattle Science Center. Simeon fell asleep during the laser show.

Went to the Space Needle for the first time. Forgot my camera when we went up, but we got some great pictures by the weird sculptures outside.

Played with cousins at the Palmer family reunion

Brooklyn played in the ashes from our 4th of July hot dog/marshmallow roast

took advantage of one of the non-rainy summer days and walked to the river to go swimming



Genesis exhausted from the walking!

Genesis practiced her motorboat face....she's gettin' pretty good!!

Phew!! No wonder I was so tired all the time!

birthday time again!

Brooklyn's birthday was last week and she is now 11. Man, how the time flies. Next year it will be young womens, middle school and, knowing Brooklyn, probably boys. (hopefully not that last one quite yet.) I remember when she was on her way to us and Michael Trammel drove me crazy with his incessant timing of the contractions. She has grown into a sweet and helpful young lady. I can usually count on Brooklyn to help me when nobody else will. Her favorite color is yellow and she likes pandas. She loves to go shopping with me and we have a notebook that we write notes to each other with. She has a hard time talking about her feelings and that was an idea I got from a workshop we went to. She has made a few friends this year and I'm proud of her for making the effort. Homework is going much better this year. It's not quite the struggle it was last year. (Hallelujah!!) I can see her making strides to becoming a responsible young lady and her confidence in who she is has grown. She's starting to do/like things because she wants to instead of because her older sister likes it. Happy Birthday, Brooklyn! We love you!