Lincoln City, Oregon 2014

We ended our summer break with a holiday to the beach with my family.
Here's what went down:

There was SO much joy. 

Sitting on the floor guaranteed your lap be instantly flooded with nieces and nephews.

The staircase was so wide that it made for an extra play space.

Someone was ALWAYS chasing Emily (the two year old). 

Sometimes we'd actually catch her.

There were moments. Good and bad.

We had no shortage of imagination.

While sitting around the fire, Bill told his annual spooky story. 

Little Emily heard his opening line and sensed his intent to scare. 

Emily smiled widely, leaned forward, and ROARED. 

I think that killed the chance of any good, scary pirate story as we all went into a fit of laughter.

Cousin Sunny came up from California to join in on the best days of our lives.

We chased Emily.

Bill and my brother in law, Jeff, went deep sea fishing. 

There was cod, barf, crabs, barf, sea bass, barf, rock fish, and barf.

Waves: 27

Bill: 0

Sorry for the hours of misery, honey.

We ate seafood for three days straight. It was delicious.

This guy was smiles the entire time.

Happiest kid alive.

We played at the beach every single day.

We watched cartoons every single morning.

The sugar high after we ate smores was pretty intense.

I lined everyone up before we left for the beach. I still left one behind. I came back and found him hanging out with Grandpa. Sorry, Noah!

We caught Emily.

Sometimes Emily would catch someone.

We threw sand.

And the joy therein was quite glorious.

We made sandcastles. 

I mean, Bill made sandcastles.

There was also quite a good amount of kitchen help.

What great chefs!

Well, I guess that's about it. Oh! wait!

How could I forget this:

Hahaha.

Salsa

4 tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 jalapeno

4 cloves garlic

1 bunch cilantro

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

Put in the blender.

Voila!

Embroidered Sunny

A Decade of Isaac

Happy 10th Birthday to our oldest son!

Height: 5' & 1/2"

Shoe size: men's 7

Clothing size: 14

Character: Extraordinary

Cottage Table and Little Details

Creating Wedding Gifts

Dining Table Progress

The Lowe's man scowled at me, brought out his crazy eyes, and scratched his head when I told him I needed paint for the table. He shouldn't have asked.  For some reason man deems it necessary to fake cardiac arrest at the very thought of painting wood. Why is that? My Dad was the same way (although not so dramatic). I love natural and stained woods too, but this table was suffering from holes . . . In. The. Surface. 

We corrected the holes with wood fill and slathered on some paint. I think it's going to be beautiful in the end. Maybe a little more cottage-like than we might have liked, but full of charm nonetheless.