The weeks and months just go so fast! Here we are at the end of August! It's been a wonderful summer!
Here we are with some good friends at a park!
Every summer needs lots of outdoor play dates!!!
Sweet friends!
Sweet Grace's two month photo!
Just capturing precious moments with my baby girl!
Crazy haired Sam! He looks so big here!
Grace's first swimsuit!
The boys wake up some days and almost immediately put things on!
This was a day we got out the hose and just HAD to play in the mud! I had quite the fun hosing them down!
Goofy boy!
Just being sweet!
Trying to capture more beautiful baby moments so I can always remember!
Silly boys love their tub time!
Grace is such a happy, content, peaceful little girl!
My Sammy turned TWO on August 6th!
He received a helmet for his birthday and the boys wore them everywhere! Ha! We Bjurstroms know car safety!! Haha
I love her!!!!!
The boys at a park!
And here it is.....our family vacation to Seattle (Renton), Washington!!
We drove 3 hours to Kansas city airport, then flew 3 hours to WA!
It all went pretty smoothly!
Ethan and Grace did amazing on the plane and Sam did ok too...with a few restless 2 year old breakdown moments!
I just kept thinking... I will likely never see these people again, it's OK!
Ethan's first set of wings!
He even got to sit in the captains chair after the flight!....AWESOME!
A few plane shots!
On the way to WA there was an open seat next to me so I was able to lay Grace down so she could stretch out! She really likes that!
GRACE 3 MONTHS OLD!
Oh my! Beautiful beautiful mount Rainier from the airplane! Even more beautiful from the ground, but somehow I missed a picture of that!
I read these in one of my quiet times there:
"You are glorious and more majestic than the everlasting mountains." Psalm 76:4 NLT
And
"How great is the LORD, how deserving of praise, in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain! It is high and magnificent; the whole earth rejoices to see it! Mount Zion, the holy mountain, is the city of the great King!" Psalm 48:1-2
Our God is great and glorious, even more so than the amazing mountains he created!
And this is the early morning view for my daily quiet times (bible reading and prayer).
Not absent of delicious WA coffee either!
This is the sweet man Jack we went to visit, and stayed at his home. Jack is officially Steve's uncle once removed (Steve's aunt's husbands sisters husband....ha!) But is really like a Grandpa to Steve!
We played lots of crib with Jack while visiting!!! I even won a few times!
The boys in the morning!
Pike's place market!
The famous gum wall!
So precious! Jack had never met our kids!
Sweet Jack!
Jack turned 76 years old while we were visiting, and strawberry rhubarb pie is his favorite.... So I made him one!
The view of the lake they live on, from their dock! Such a peaceful afternoon while the children slept.
The house Jack built, literally. This is where we stayed for 6 short days!
The plane ride home! Way to go dad of the year!
I just thought this was funny, Steve with all the kids, me with none! Ha! This was before everyone was boarded.
And this is how we felt when we arrived home. We arrived home at 4:30am on a Friday!
My amazing mother came the night before to be there to help all day Friday. Steve and I slept until 2. Ethan slept until noon and the other two kids had abnormal sleeping too. We were all sorts of messed up that Friday! But, my mom made dinner and cleaned my house and we were able to spring back on our feet because of her graciousness and servants heart!
Thanks soooo much mom!
Steve returned to work that night also!
Back home, in the swing of things...
Playing....
Bonding...
Laughing....
Being cute....
And admiring our daddy!
- I am just so thankful for that trip to see our family in WA! So thankful for: seeing Jack, Jack meeting our kiddos, seeing several family members, the mountains, the lake, our hike, our convertible ride twice (I drove!!!!), ladies day manicure and pedicures, delicious crab and salmon, the morning sunrises and evening sunsets, my morning runs and walks, our evening fire by the lake, our family swim in the lake, our canoe ride, our trip to the first Starbucks, our trip to the pike's market, our safe travel, our luggage being OK, the kids' ears not hurting on the plane, breaking out of our routine here the kids sleeping great there, the weather there, playing cards, the strength to do that vacation which initially seemed overwhelming when planning it months ago, and having all 5 of us together!
It was a wonderful trip and yet another precious memory of Seattle (my third time there with Steve).
Thank you Lord for the opportunity!
