Porter Family Reunion

We had an amazing time together near the Grand Coulee Dam. 

The Porter clan is just amazing. I wish we did this more often!

A lot of time was spent at the reservoir. We took turns boat and relaxing while watching this crew!

I love Norah's sandy little toes!!!  Eeeee!

 Hams.

 Norah gets all of her style from Grandma!

Great Grandma and Grandma  

There is a laser light show ON the dam itself. It was fun! 

Brothers 

These two were both keyed up and exhausted by the time it was over. (It takes a long while to get dark this far north in the summer!)

Local wildlife 

One of the best parts was boating, we mostly tried wake surfing!

I felt confident going in!

 After a few tries I just felt like I was drowning.

Lots of this.

But with some good coaching from Uncle Kurt, I finally got up! It was awesome! 

But I looked significantly less cool than Uncle Jim. 

 Great Grandma's giant birthday card.

 Family history from Marcy and Dan (below)

 Andrew and I bonded!

The wonderful matriarch.

She shared her testimony and her love. I'm sure glad she started this great family.

Bicyclist

 A new parenting experience!
I've been putting off removing his training wheels for quite a few months now. There just wasn't any good biking space near our apartment. And moving and stress, yada yada yada!

One morning I finally just decided to do it. (And I knew where the toolbox was!)

 And first try, he was off!

He still likes help starting, but he has much better balance than I had anticipated! He rides in the cul-de-sac most days and should be an expert soon, by his estimation.

I can hardly believe he is old enough for this!

Homemade Zoo

Perhaps inspired by our trip last month, these two created a zoo one quiet afternoon.

The zookeepers!

I was flabbergasted by the level of detail they got here. Creating environments for each of the animals. And also being really into the name Steve.

These kids make me laugh everyday!

Norah is 1!

 I just can't stop thinking about where I was a year ago and how eventful the first year of this little girl's life has been. And she has been wonderful through it all!

 Happy Birthday, Norah!

(Newly weaned and onto cow's milk)

During her nap, Jared, Rosie and I made her rainbow cupcakes.

Norah was present for the frosting and climbed up on the oven drawer and got stuck in her attempt to get closer!!!

 Final product

For dinner we had tortellini and cherries; Very messy fare.

 Presents!

 She did pretty well with the wrapping paper.

What I love about Norah is that she is nearly fearless, a cuddler of all things soft, can hold her own with her siblings, loves splashing herself and others, and she loves to laugh!

The cupcakes made a beautiful mess!

Happy Birthday, Wonderful girl! We are so happy to have you in our lives!

Woodland Park Zoo

Instead of a birthday party with friends, Jared chose to have a birthday trip with the family. He wanted to see the zoo in Seattle. (He has been begging to see Seattle since we got here!)

These kids were pretty excited to see giraffes and zebras so close!

Norah was intense about petting these goats! Every time I tried to pull away, she would whine until she got her hands on goat fur again.

Thinking of Grandpa Kemper by these earthworms!

The best part of the trip was joining up with two of my cousins and their kids. It was so strange being this huge group of parents and children. Every once and a while I tried to count them to make sure they were all with us, but mostly just trusted the power of the herd to keep them together!

(Christian, Jared, Matthew, Rosie, Milly, Grace and a tired Robin)

My two beautiful cousins, Emily and Lauren, live here in the Northwest too. I feel so lucky that I get to see them more often!

Many more adventures to come!

Final Update: THE HOUSE IS FINISHED

 We've been radio silent lately because we moved! And it took a while for our internet service to be connected at a new location!

I took these pictures before we moved any of our things in. Our house will never be this clean again, so enjoy it.
And please don't expect any pictures in a couple of weeks detailing my fantastic decorating and organizing. Not a possibility. I'll be lucky if we are unpacked completely before summer is over.

 Chez Ross

Ken's office

The powder room. (Powder not included)

Laundry room

Living room

 Dining area

 My favorite space! I LOVE my mega sink and countertop and tall cabinets and backsplash and island!

Pantry is awesome, but I haven't figured out how to use the corners yet.

Our room

 What you can't see is that I am standing in a huge soaker tub. It is awesome!

Bonus room at the top of the stairs is now Toy Dome!

Kids bathroom

Jared's room

 (He asks me almost daily, "Isn't this the best room in the whole house?")

The girl's room

The guest room

(Come and stay, everybody! It's lonely out here!)

 The backyard is our dreary wilderness. 

Seriously though, with the heat we've been having, I have not spent more than three consecutive minutes out there!

Thanks, everyone who has read this far, for being patient with my excessive enthusiasm and obsession for the last few months. I'm sure the high will wear off soon, especially once I have to deal with something that breaks.

Until then, life is beautiful!