Fourth of July Weekend

Spencer got over his "yuckies" just in time for the holiday weekend. He was still tired and weak on Saturday, but survived a trip to Portland to see his Tutu and Grandpa (Kyle's parents), Grandma and Grandpa (my parents), and to go to Uncle Scott's brother's, Mike's, wedding reception (did you follow that?). It was a nice, relaxing day.

Sunday was also relaxing. Church and family time; no meetings!

Monday, July 5th, Kylene started swimming lessons, so we went to that in the morning. After lunch, Uncle Logan & Aunt Shayla came over and we went to Silver Falls for some hiking. We did a hike we hadn't done before and got to see two different water falls and play in the swim area. It was perfect weather and the kids loved the time outside. Skyler did really well in the hiking backpack. We came back to our house afterward and cooked up some of the Ling Cod & Sea Bass the guys had caught at our family reunion; yummy! Then we played a game of "42", a McCune family favorite. Mine & Shayla's best excuse is that these brothers have played it since they were about five years old! And the scores were evidence of that fact.:) It was a wonderful holiday.

Happy birthday, America!

A few snapshots from Silver Falls:


I couldn't resist this one of Skyler walking back to the car after swimming. :) What a chubster!

Gotta love beautiful Oregon.

Memorial Day Reunion

The amazing couples! Michael & Memory, Kyle & Amyanne, Beth & Randy
I love you, too, babe!

Nicole (7-months older) and Kylene always have so much fun together. Here they are devouring blueberries.

Our darling baby boys! Ethan, Skyler, Parker, born four months apart.

May 31st was Memorial Day. My two best friends from high school, Beth and Memory, and I get together a few times a year and go out to eat and reconnect, but we rarely get all of our families together. So we decided we would make it an annual Memorial Day tradition. We met in Cornelius at Beth's home and had a houseful with Randy and Beth and five kids, Beth's parents, Michael and Memory and three kids, her mom, and Kyle, myself and three kids. We had a yummy barbecue lunch then relaxed and talked while the kids played. Everyone had a great time. Thanks so much for hosting, Beth! I look forward to next year.

On the way there, we also took the time to stop at Michael & Memory's first son, Dallin's, gravesite. It has been several years since I had been there and it was special to be able to take my children, tell them about Dallin, and talked to them about eternal families. The cemetaries are so beautiful on Memorial Day with the flags and flowers everywhere you look. A wonderful tribute to those who have given everything for our country and our freedom. I hope we are able to preserve it in the face of so many things threatening it. But I won't digress for now. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful chance to visit, no matter how brief.

A Merry Christmas Day

Christmas morning, with the traditional junk cereal and little cuties in the stockings.

Every year Kyle buys a family ornament to add to our collection.

"Da boys", Christmas afternoon.

Skyler ready to bite into his little cutie:).

Skyler taste testing his new drum!Spencer's new pony from Santa. It's just about the cutest thing on earth to watch him try to gallop across the room on this.

I love Christmas morning with kids! I love the excitement and joy over Santa coming. I love that my husband doesn't have to go to work. I love staying in my pajamas all day. I love having a huge mess of wrapping paper and gifts all over the house. I love opening four new boxes of junk cereal all in one day. I love talking on the phone to family members. I love taking a nap. I love doing nothing but being together as a family, enjoying one another. Aaaah, Christmas. Do I really have to wait another year?

Halloween

With a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 5 year old, Kyle & I realized the job of carving is still mostly ours. They chose the design and we did the work while they played around us in the garage. Joy.
Our sweet little giraffe, Snow White, and bumblebee.

Kylene as Snow White. One thing I did manage to accomplish this week was make her costume. Poor girl had to wait until Friday for it to be finished; so patient!

Our Spencer giraffe.

Don't you just love productive weekends? I do! And Memorial Day weekend ended up being just that. Actually, I have to admit that Kyle was really the super productive one, but since it was getting things done on the "honey do" list, I was thrilled!
On Saturday Kyle moved two sprinkler heads that were in totally the wrong location and fixed our broken fence section that got knocked over during the ice storm last winter (we lost most of the neighbor's big tree behind our house into our yard). Two very large projects! We also went to ToysRUs and got Spencer a new tricycle, and me and the kids assembled that while daddy worked in the yard.

Monday we got up and went to a nature preserve/park near our home to enjoy the beautiful weather and have a picnic. Here are some shots of us our on walk/ride.

Then we went home and Kyle again went to work. He edged and mowed our entire yard and spread barkdust. Way to go, babe! The kids & I played outside and made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies (my weakness).

It always feels so good to get so much done and have some fun, family time at the same time.