Summer Fun in Washington!

I know my posts are all backwards and not even close to being in order but bare w/me, I'm lucky to even get them posted at this point :) So for a month in July & August I got the opportunity to go home to Yakima w/all the kids and spend time w/the cousins and my siblings and parents! My favorite part is that my kids built so many memories w/their cousins that they don't get to see very much, growing up I was around mine ALL the time so it makes me sad they don't get that much time w/my side of the cousins but spending a month w/them will definitely make up for a lot of lost time, I'm hoping maybe we can do it more often in the summer's - the kids LOVED it! Now having 11 kids and 8 adults in the house for that long does get stressful at times but soooo worth it! Thanks to my parents and siblings for letting us crash there and kinda make your life a little different for a bit and giving up your rooms for us - we are so grateful and love you tons :)

We did a number of things while there and just to name a few - swimming, playing in the sand, biking, bounce house, going to the park, church activities, BBQ's, Birthday's, day trip to Tacoma to see Great Grandma & Grandpa Penning (my grandparents), Library, playing outside, playing games, shopping, eating, cooking and the list can go on and on -- Thanks to dad and the fam that lives w/him for working long hours and really hard at doing all the Landscaping in his yard and getting the pool set and up and ready, he really wanted it done so his grand kids could enjoy it this summer and they got it done and it was GREAT!

Aunt Rachel and Silly Spencer

Horsing around w/cousin Danny!

They all had a blast in that pool!

Papa w/the grand kids!

Sisterly love...

Juan Pablo and Spencer

Our beautiful kids!

She loves this boy to death!

Brian was not there until the very end of our stay and we all missed him so much! But he had to keep the business going which he is so good at, we love him for being such a great dad, husband and provider! It was the longest time we've all been apart from each other, it was 3 wks apart then he came out for the last week of our stay and joined us in Oregon for the coast and then we went back to Yakima for a few days so Brian could visit there and see all the fun changes at my parents' house and help dad w/the deck! Thanks B for being so understanding and willing to be apart from us for so long so that our children could build such great memories to always remember :)

Sorry for the picture overload but there's so many fun pics I just have to share them :)

I got to be there for Lindsey's 26th Birthday!

We headed to Tacoma for the day to visit our grandparents and celebrate all the July Birthday's!

Mine, Grandma, Lindsey & Danny all had July Birthdays!

Our little tree climber...

Danny's been waiting for this bow for a LONG time so he was very excited to get it!

My special grandparents but we're missing our Brian in this pic :(

My bestest childhood friend - we had our babies just a week apart!

The hand holding was just the sweetest thing ever!!

Spencer was so stinkin cute w/his papa and wanted to be just like him!

What a memory they'll all remember :)

The kids used their imagination and were building forts out of the deck supply grandpa had...

Naturally Nicki was the cheerleader on the side, love that girl!

Poor Brooklynn stepped on a nail so that ended the fort making!

Spencer and Chase

We went to the Cemetery to visit my grandma and grandpa!

ALL the cousins together - so fun!

Found this shirt at the Yakima Walmart and just had to get it!

My dear friend from back in the day - Rest in peace Darren, I was so glad to of found you!

We caught dad slacking on the job ;) he works so hard, gotta love him!

James first time in a pool - daddy got to do the honors!

He was so relaxed in this thing - he loved it :)

Well that's it - I've probably lost most of you half way through this but that's okay! It's documented and that's all I wanted. Here's to many more summer memories in Washington and hoping I get to do it again sometime - it was the GREATEST!!!