Visitors

We have had a fun summer so far. There have been a lot of visitors and a lot of fun things during the summer. I have really grown fond of our little town of Hillsboro. There is a great sense of community around here. I never thought we would love it as much as we do here!

We started our summer off with the traditional Banks to Vernonia bike ride. We ride the last 10 miles of the trail with the kids. They did great! It was fun to ride with friends and get outside for a change. It even managed to stop raining for the day. Amazing!

Here's the clan. Every year it has gotten a little bigger with new additions.

 My not so little Jake graduated from preschool. Here is a picture of him with his teacher. Sam was totally mad that only jake was in the picture, so since Jake's teacher will be Sam's next year...the picture turned out perfect!

Near the beginning of the month....Mike turned __. I will leave that up to your own invention. Mike's Mom came down for the festivities. Mike's aunt also came up along with her boy's Big Ike and big Jake for a shelf reliance party. I had no idea that freeze dried food that lasts 25 years could actually taste really good. I now have a 6 month supply in our garage! I finally feel prepared in an emergency! That's a good feeling. Oh and the macaroons I hear are amazing...I would have tried them if I could.

My brother got married on June 18th. That would be exactly two years after my Dad died. My grandparents and my sister came up for the wedding and stayed with us. It was a good visit and I was glad to get to know my brother's new wife Lizzie.

 We had a surprise visit from Mike's cousin Bryan. He has married a really sweet gal who has 5 kids. Here they are ready to set out for some more adventures.

Mike's friend Walt also came with his 5 kids. We forgot to get a picture of them. So picture a van full of 5 kids, a moving van (since they were moving to Utah), and a suburban pulling a camper. They have now settled into Utah and are doing well.

 And...one of my favorite things in June. Stawberries!!!! They have always been my favorite and I just love everything about them. We picked a bunch from the farm up the street and made three batches of jam and stored a bunch more in the freezer.

The rest of our day's have been filled with swimming lessons, free lunches and fun at the park, wednesday hillsboro free track meets, farmer's market and hopefully more visitors.

Happy Summer everyone!!!