Silly Katie

Daddy and Katie had way too much fun the other night getting Katie undressed!

Abby

Here is Abby modeling her impressive goose egg! She tumbled down the concrete stairs of our apartment building on Saturday. We had it checked out at the hospital, since it looked like a big, purple ping-pong ball the first day, and everything looked fine on her CT scan. We're glad she's OK!

Abby was being kind of a little pest in the car today, but I couldn't help chuckling when I heard her say this in a very patronizing tone: "Somebody stinks. She's little and small, she likes her fuzzy lovey [blanket], and her name starts with 'K.' Who do you think it is?"

Balboa Vacation

We recently took a really fun trip to Balboa Island, California, (near Newport Beach) with the Boyers (Carrie's family). This vacation is a 59-year tradition with my dad's family, so there is a huge group of aunts, uncles, and cousins that makes the trek each August! It's a great chance to catch up with everyone . . . and to enjoy the beautiful beach. Luke made it down for the first two days, but unfortunately, he's not in any of the pictures!

This is kind of a blurry picture, but it gives an idea of how many of us were partying together at the beach house! This is minus Luke, Sammie, Ben, Liza, and Spencer, who all made brief appearances on the trip, then returned home to their responsible lives.

Grannie and Abby built some beautiful "temples" (according to Abby) in the sand!

Katie had so much fun playing with her cousin Marian, who is just one week older than she is.

Here I am on the Balboa Island ferry with Katie, Melba (Melissa--my sister), and Lara (Luke's sister). Melba came all the way from Pennsylvania to join us! Lara lives close by in Huntington Beach, so she was able to spend time with us too, which was great.

Katie was really excited about the waves! Here she is with Aunt Anna.

Abby enjoyed a special outing to the Balboa Fun Zone with Pops and Aunt Jennie. Here they are on the ferris wheel!

Here are "The Girls" enjoying the beach while Luke was home alone in Spokane, slaving away. What a great guy!

Camping Trip

Well, this weekend we "took the plunge" . . . that is, we took our two very young girls camping. It actually turned out great! We found a nice spot along the St. Joe River in the Idaho Panhandle, and despite rumors of a hailstorm coming, had quite a good night squeezed into our little tent. Here are some photos!

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

Last weekend, Luke's parents, Scott and Nora, came to visit for a few days from Utah. We had a great time with them and enjoyed showing them some of our favorite places here in Spokane!

Here are the girls with Grandma and Grandpa at the beautiful rose garden in Manito Park. Katie and Abby also loved playing on Grandpa and Grandma's "bed" set up on the living-room floor.

Here we are at two pretty parks along the Spokane River, Riverfront and Mirabeau.