Family fun at the M's game!

The family, minus Sadie, enjoyed a fun-filled night at the Mariner's game. We went with a group from church, so there were a lot of friends to enjoy the game and visit with. The girls were especially excited because they haven't had the opportunity to attend as many games as Marshall. Ava hadn't been since she was a baby! She was mostly looking forward to all of the treats she had heard so much about!

Here are the kids patiently waiting for friends to arrive and for the game to start!


Ava thoroughly enjoyed her Dippin Dots....Mommy wasn't too thrilled about the mess!



Ella opted for the blue cotton candy....but she promised to brush her teeth twice before bed.

Marshall sat with Coby. The most exciting part of the game for him was when he was shown on the Jumbo-tron swinging his shirt in the air!

The girls had a blast dancing to the music and just being with each other! What a fun night!

A couple more baseball pictures!

Here are a couple more pictures from the tournament taken by another mom. The coach said the kids could dog-pile him if they won and I thought it was a really cute shot! I'm just glad Marshall was on the top of the pile!

Lynden Tourney

Last weekend Marshall had his first overnight baseball tournament with his all-star team in Lynden, WA. He played short-stop all weekend and made some great plays. He also had some great hits!



It was fun getting to know some of the kids and families from his team better. Ella and Ava stayed home with Nana and Papa, but Sharene and Coby came with us for some extra support. Sadie enjoyed playing with Coby during the games. Marshall got attacked by a tree retrieving a foul ball from the woods! He had to sit out for a couple of innings to recover. Nothing some yummy shaved ice couldn't cure!

Here's Sadie at dinner with the team. She loved all the extra attention she got!

We sure had a fun time, but we were definitely wiped out when we got home! Baseball season is over until next year!!!!

Watching Harley

We had a fun adventure the last few days. The kids got to dog-sit Tim and Dawn's dog Harley! They had so much fun with him that they are now obsessed with wanting a dog. They really bonded with him and are missing him now....but I'm sure they'll get to see him again soon!



Ava said that this is Harley's sad face. She was also worried that when we ran errands and left him at home, that he would have a sad face and nobody would be there to comfort him.

Sadie and Harley had an interesting relationship. We couldn't keep her away from his food and we couldn't keep him away from her food! Here she is getting caught trying to sneak some! Yuck!

The girls found a new place to play...they had lots of fun pretending that they were dogs.

Harley got to attend a practice, 3 baseball games, and a softball game. He got lots of attention from everyone!

The kids included Harley in the bedtime routine as they sang "Jesus Loves Me". Then....he found a nice place to cuddle.

So......in the words of the kids, "Daddy, PLEASE can we get a dog???" I still don't think Matt is very convinced! I'm sure they'll keep on trying!

Fun-Filled 4th!

We had our busiest 4th of July yet! Every year we think there's no more we can pack into one day....but we somehow seem to find ourselves in the middle of it wondering what happened! We started bright and early with the Bothell parade. Both Matt and Ella were in the parade (on different floats to add a little chaos to an already hectic situation).

Matt played his sax with a jazz combo for the church float. As always, he got lots of attention!

Ella walked with her gymnastics team. Here she is getting ready with her friend Averie.

While watching the parade, Sadie enjoyed her first lollypop....desparate times call for desparate measures!

Ava and Marshall were thrilled with the amount of candy being thrown at them..almost more than Halloween!


After the parade we went swimming with friends and Sadie tested out her new floatie toy. The water felt great!!!


We headed to the Hayfords for their annual 4th of July BBQ! I take a picture of the kids on this swing every year. After the BBQ we headed to another friend's house to watch fireworks over the lake from their deck....actually I watched from inside with Ava who thought they were too loud.


Sadie crashed on the couch during the fireworks. She couldn't hold on any longer! What a fun, exhausting day!

Our All-Star!

Here are some pictures from Marshall's first tournament of the All-Star season. His team didn't end up winning their games, but Marshall felt good about the way he played. The girls enjoyed the sun and their snacks as usual!