Tanner's airplane trip home from Jared & Heidi's

OK, Heidi. Here come the posts. (Heidi has to remind me to post or I forget.) Tanner got to spend several weeks at Jared & Heidi's this summer. He flew home all by himself. Here we are picking him up at the airport.

Camping-Memories & Relationships

Dad says life is all about memories and relationships. We had such a fun camping trip creating memories and relationships.

Who can set up the tent first, the girls or the guys?

Bringing in another picnic table.

The kids knew what to do while everyone set up camp.

Birthday party for the 5 July birthdays: Grandpa, Tanner, Kathleen, Logan & Cody

Horshoes

Cooking hotdogs
Tanner's 5 mile hike for scouts.

Memories & relationships:

Dad locked the keys in the van. Look how many men it took to break in. Then he lost the keys at camp. Bradley found them in the dirt. Memories??

Dad & Tanner's birthdays

Tanner was at Scout Camp for his birthday so Dad went up to Scout camp so they could celebrate together. Here's Tanner and the boys having birthday cupcakes.
Alyssa bought Dad this ice cream cake for his birthday.

Tanner's party after scout camp:

Alyssa's and Spokane Thunder

Alyssa joined the Spokane Thunder Drum and Bugle Core. She left this week for 3 weeks. We miss her, but we are very proud of her.

Here is her schedule:

July 26 Drums Along the Columbia Pasco WA;

July 27 Summer Thunder Show Spokane WA;

July 28 Seattle Summer Music Games Seattle WA;

July 30 Drums of Fire Salem OR;

July 31 Music in Motion Grants Pass OR;

August 2 DCI Northern California Sacramento CA;

August 3 Sizzlin' Sounds of Summer Modesto CA;

August 4 DCI Championship Preview Bakersfield CA;

August 7 DCI Div II/III Prelims Pasadena CA;

August 8 Individual & Ensemble Competition Pasadena CA;

August 10 DCI World Championship Semi-Finals Pasadena CA;
August 11 DCI World Championship Finals Pasadena CA

Moving into Greenacres Middle School for a few days of practices first:

July 27th, her show in Spokane:

She plays the Mirimba and Vibraphone.

The bus they ride in and the trailer that holds the equipment.

Tanner received the Priesthood

We are so proud of Tanner.

Grandma Ruth & Kaylee playing their recorders.

Grandpa & Grandma Ruth came to visit

Grandpa & Grandma Ruth came to visit for Tanner's priesthood. We went to Riverfront Park and had a wonderful day.

Ashley and the babies in the back of the van.

Grandma Ruth climbed right up the Big Red Wagon with Kaylee.

Feeding the ducks.

Grandpa and Dad.

Riding the Gondola.

We walked through the skywalks then on the sidewalks. Very fun.

Logan's 2nd Birthday

We went to Rancho Viejo for Logan's 2nd Birthday. He was so cute!

Alyssa is driving

Yes, this is Alyssa driving.

If you ever thought you might want to go shopping with Alyssa--you may want to think again.

She really is a cute girl.

Jonathan heads back to Iraq

It was so fun to have Jonathan home for a few days.
We made him make us all burritos.
I loved hearing him play the piano.
Jonathan, Bradley & Ashley played a computer game. I even heard Jared's voice playing with them one night.
Jonathan thought it was really funny to teach Logan and Faith to say, "Grandma's coo coo."
Logan seemed to know it was his Daddy's last day home. He was glued to Jonathan's lap.
Jonathan's really cool Oakley sunglasses.
They let us all go to the gate at the airport.
When we got to the counter, we found they didn't have a seat for Jonathan. We were so excited. We told them he would wait a month or two if they needed, but then they found him a seat in first class.

It is so hard for a mother to let her son go back to war. We all miss you so much, Jonathan. Come home safe.
We were all so sad, we had to go to Olive Garden on the way home. Look how sad we all look.