Happy Birthday Paige!

 

Paige turned 11 this year.  Wow!  Time has flown.

In our house turning 11 means a birthday party with friends.  Paige invited a really nice group of kids from school, church and the neighborhood.  It was a loud and happy crowd!

 

Paige wanted party games and we found some fun ones...

Don't Eat Pete

Lots of screaming and candy eating involved in this game.  Perfect for 11 yr. olds.

 

Complete My Story

One person writes a line in a story.  The paper gets passed onto someone else.  The next person illustrates that line.  It gets passed onto someone else.  The next person then writes a line in a story for the illustration (without seeing the original story line).  It continues that way until you fill up the paper.  Kind of like telephone, but on paper. 

Who knew pulling tissues out of the box as fast as you can could be so fun? 

 

And finally, opening gifts.  Paige had a great birthday and it was fun to have a house full of running, screaming, laughing, happy 11 year olds (for a few hours anyway).

Spring Break - part II

After a few days of sunshine in Sandpoint, we hit the road and made our way to the Oregon Coast for the rest of Spring Break.

 

 

We met up with the Johnson cousins at the Camp 18 Logging Museum. 
They brought us doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. 

 

 

Kirk was skeptical, but ended up loving the Bacon Maple bar.  We also tried other flavors like The Loop and Miami Vice Berry, plus more run of the mill varieties.  Yummy!

 

 

Parker started in with enthusiasm, but couldn't finish his monster creation called a Memphis Mafia (containing banana, peanut butter, peanuts, and several forms of chocolate). 
He did give a valiant effort.

 

The first thing we did when we arrived in Gearhart was hit the beach. It was gray and cloudy and drizzly but still beautiful.  The girls loved being with Natalie.

 

The next thing we did was hit the water.  It took a good deal of time and a lot of work to get everyone into a wetsuit, but we did it!

 

 

 

Decked out in wetsuits, we headed to the beach and found some fun waves to play in. 

 

I think Kirk, Dima and Bret had the most fun.

 

But the girls were pretty happy too!

All of the girls made it up on the surfboard.  Here's a little play by play of Paige's first ride...

 

We spent an afternoon at Westhaven State Part, where the Columbia river flows into the Pacific.

 

 

Since it was conference weekend, we also spent some time relaxing at the house listening to the great messages.  The girls loved playing with cousins - and especially teasing boy cousins.

We explored Short Sands beach (what we like to call Pirate's cove) where we surfed during our time in Portland.  Some of us got a little daring as the tide was coming in...

The weather was not ideal, but we had a great week exploring the beautiful coast, playing on the beach and in the water and making memories with great family.

 



Spring Break, part I

For once, we had a few days of sunshine in Sandpoint during Spring Break.  Usually, it is rainy and dreary and depressing and the reason we usually find somewhere to go during the break. 

The kids took full advantage of the sunshine and warm weather by playing outside with friends as much as possible.  I think they were all soaking up some vitamin D to make up for their winter deficiency.

 

 

Izzy and her gang (aka the little kids) - Nikki & Charlie

 

 

Ally, Kiley, Paige & Hannah (aka the big kids)

 

Maren, Ashlee & Ben (aka the middle kids)

 

My kids are so lucky to have good friends their age right next door.  It is one reason we love living where we do.  There is always someone to play with, always a house to go to where you know you are watched out for and taken care of.

I love the sounds of kids playing outside - swinging, playing all sorts of crazy make believe games, zooming down the zip-line in summer and sledding in winter.  They are sounds that makes my mother's heart happy.

Scary Things

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world.” — Mister Rogers

 

Spring Skiing

 

Spring has been unusually nice in Sandpoint.  Where we normally have rain and gray, we have had blue skies and warm temperatures.  We even had some true to life spring skiing!  Including sunshine, blue sky and corn snow.  The girls wanted to stay home and play, but we dragged them up to the mountain to experience one of the best spring ski days we have seen since living here.

 

We ate lunch off the T-bar... Johnson style (except there were no Rocks, just regular old sandwiches)

 

A great way to finish off the year.

Spring

Now that spring is coming quickly, we spent some time pruning the orchard at the farm.  Who knows, we might even get some fruit this year??

The best part?  The trailer ride...

Happy Birthday Izzy

Izzy turned the big 5 on April 1st.  She has been counting down to her birthday since Maren's in January.  Five is a great age because they are so excited and super easy to please.  Her favorite gift... Barbie movies and a Tiara and matching earrings.  How many more chances will there be to have a Barbie cake in our family?