Family Vacation on the Columbia

We did some fishing this year on Lake Roosevelt which is part of the Columbia River. Totally misleading to say that its a Lake when it clearly is not. Too me, a lake is a body of water that is cut off from the direct river. A rivers, a river, a lakes, a lake. DOH! We did however find some actual lakes such as Lake Ellen which was much much warmer than the Columbia so we were all able to swim and lay out on the dock. Two thumbs up for Lake Ellen. We never caught any fish that you could count. The measly little baby fish that Kevin caught certainly didnt count. It was almost as big as the worm he used to catch it. We saw tons of wildlife. Turkeys, deer, eagles, and bear!
We did alot of hiking to Lily Lake, Trout Lake, and Emerald Lake. These three are basically a chain of lakes that you can hike to from two different sides. You can drive up to Trout Lake then hike around to the middle lake which is Emerald. The trail really doesnt skirt the lake like you would think but instead takes you up on a very high ridge around all the lakes. Good exercises but rough on the legs muscles. Kettle Falls is almost a six hour car ride from where we live but certainly worth the drive. Beautiful Ponderosa Pine trees and lots of great things to do outside. We had perfect weather for our trip and lots of great sunshine. I cant wait for out trip to Arkansas in August. I hope theres lots of the same. Sunshine and lazy days. :)

Fathers Day

Fathers Day. Oh Bubba you most definetly got those ears from your Grandpa John. Just look at the size of those babies. Thanks for the curse dad! And if you'll notice that all four of us in the family photo attached have them too! Well...as grandpa always says, "It is what it is" and you know what? Surgery will fix what DNA has given :) I had a great time going through all the old photos looking for these pictures. Found some super funny ones and posted them on FaceBook. I would say about 90 percent of the pictures I ran across were fishing pictures, go figure! Found some great ones of Dad and Grandpa Banks fishing and boating. Funny how those pictures bring back both good memories and bad memories.

Oh Bubba your so funny!

Roll those eyes. Your so funny Baby Boy! Bubba, "I not baby! I big boy!"

Mia's Birthday

Happy 10th Birthday Mia! Yea, We had a really nice birthday. Maka brought cupcakes for Mia's entire class which was a big hit then we celebrated with Mint icecream and Maple bar doughnuts at Mia's request. So much sugar. I dont think any one of us actually finished their doughnut. Mia got a painting of herself blowing bubbles, a Zu Zu puppy, and most importantly she got the cash register she was asking for. Now she can play restaurant and grocery store and "movie phueter". Mia's running in the Fremont 5k on Friday and then Saturdays the Big BBQ and Birthday party. Grandpa Dick and Mutti will both be there along with all our friends and their children. I hope you have a super great day Mia because you deserve it. I love you my little lovely girl :)

It was a beautiful day!

What a beautiful day today was. Super sunny and super warm. The whole family spent the day outside enjoying the warmth. We mowed the lawn and trimmed up the yard. I love our yard and i love the smell of the dirt when your weeding. Fresh cut grass and earth. Nice. Mia made a nice little picnic for us out in the lawn in the shade. Shuggie took a moment today to roll in some neighbor dog's poop. Great, Shuggie. That's just nasty. Bath time.
We had running races in the yard between Mia, Bubba, and Shuggies. Wonder who won? I gotta say that Mia was a close second to Shuggie. Mark, Set, GO!
Scraps caught a mole today and left it in the grass for me of course I didn't see it until I durn near ran it over with the lawn mower. Nasty.
It was such a great day that even Bubba commented and said, "I like today". Well, you know what Bubba? I like today too! I'm glad your my boy and I enjoyed our day together. I hope tomorrow is just as great. Thank you Mia, Bubba, and Chellsea. Cant wait to lay out in the sun tomorrow and do another BBQ. Yeah for Sunshine!

Graduation Day

They called his name to come up on stage, "Mercer Downs" and he jumped right up on the stage and took the microphone. Miss Mary asked him to say his name and he says, "Bubba"! Does he like to fish? "yeth" does he like to play with playdough? "yeth". Oh little boy you were so lovely tonight. You made me smile the entire night :)

Surgery

Getting everything ready for surgery on Friday. Had my pre-op appointment today and met with the doctor who was very interesting. I guess he was in Iraq for a couple years preforming facial surgeries on soldiers and then when he came back to the United States he continued to work on soldiers until he decided to open his own practice. Turned in all my prescriptions, started taking my antibiotics, and purchased the other "necessities". Chellsea's gonna drive and drop me off in the morning and my bosses wife is going to pick me up afterwards and take me to her house for the first 24hours. I've got my travel home outfit laid out and I'm ready to go. I'm crossing my fingers that this goes the way I planned.
Bubba and Chellsea went to Mukilteo beach today and checked out the sea anemones, crabs, and Seagulls. Funny, little Boy called seagulls "Monster Birds". I think Miss Chellsea had a good time also. She came home with her Beach Finds. I love you Chell's. I love you because even when you do wrong you do it with the biggest and best intentions.