Happy 31st Birthday Jeanie!

After our wonderful day at Northstar and an amazing dinner at a delicious pizza place, we went back to the rental house for cake and presents! YAY!

I love this picture of Oldpa & Oldma! "Happy Dirthday!"

After Jeanie opened her presents...

We all went into the hot tub!

It was a great day, an even better evening and it was time to pass out... Well, the kids already did, cute huh?

Tahoe wears you out. :)

-The Howards

North Lake Tahoe!

For Jeanie's birthday (11th) Dale took her riding at Northstar-At-Lake Tahoe for the day. You can check it out here-www.northstarattahoe.com. Oldma rode up with them so she could watch the boys while Dale and Jeanie were riding. Makenna, Howie and I drove up as well and met up with Oldma, Gage & Ashton. We had a great time! When we got there the boys were roller skating.. Gage really wanted me to put on some skates so I could, "Show him my skills." HAHA! He's so funny.

Gage did really well on his rollerskates!

Ashton had a mini-meltdown and didn't want to rollerskate anymore. Which was perfectly fine with Makenna!

After Gage was done rollerskating we took the gondola up the mountain to go hiking! The gondola was a little nerve racking for me but not for everyone else. I think I just figured out that I am not a fan of heights!

We made it up to the tippity top and it was time to explore and enjoy the scenery! The kids were prepared with their "much needed" walking sticks. :)

It was really dry out and the rocks and dirt were pretty unstable... poor Ashton slipped and fell on his toosh, hurting his leg. He had to show Aunt Kristine the damage. Should we amputate? The gang... minus Oldma & I.

We stopped for a little snack and Gageman had Makenna cracking up. She sure loves, loves, loves her cousins!

Our hike went fairly quick.. It was such a nice day! Time to go back down the gondola to meet with Dale & Jeanie, head back to the house and celebrate Jeanie's birthday!

-The Howards

Our trip to Lake Tahoe- Part 1!

We had a family trip planned to South Lake Tahoe for months and the time finally came! We packed the car and headed down on August 8th for 5 days! Since we have never been to Tahoe before, we were pleasantly surprised by its beauty. We decided that we could live there. :) I just don't know if I could handle all the snow! The first day we were there (my birthday) we just relaxed around the house, had a wonderful dinner and then Howie, Dale, Jeanie and I headed to the casino to try our luck... No winnings but we still had a great time! The next day (the 10th) Dale, Jeanie, Oldma, Gage & Ashton went for a mountain bike ride while Howie, Makenna, Oldpa and I headed to the beach! We absolutely couldn't have asked for better weather or a better place to hang out for the day!

It was just the right temperature to hang out under a tree! Look how comfortable Oldpa looks!

A few pictures before we put her swimsuit on and she couldn't even look at the camera! She was way too excited to get in the water. :)

Ready to go!

After playing in the water with Daddy for an hour or so, everyone else met us at the park!

It was a beautiful day! More Tahoe posts coming soon!

-Kristine

29 months!

Not too many pictures to share that aren't associated with our Summer trips but enjoy anyway!

Sleepy little girl!

So, Makenna was being extremely quiet in her playroom one day. I peeked to see why she was being so quiet and...

Stinker.

Just amazing to think that these photos were taken 3 months ago! I'm so behind!

-Kristine

Always apologizing...

I just wanted to apologize for not updating the blog as often as I should. Howie's computer died a couple of months ago and we've been sharing my mine. I will try to get on here in the next week or so and update! Keep checking back!

-Kristine

Echo's wedding

Howie's cousin Echo got married on July 17th in Bellingham. It was a fun wedding! Just how I like it... quick ceremony, followed by a big party. Congratulations to Echo and her new hubby!

Aunt Cindy & Sparky are next to get hitched! :)

Myself, Cathy & Tia

Cake time! After this photo was taken they smashed cake in each others faces. Good times.

Grandma Howard & Makenna

Tonya and Echo!

Tonya and I.. I love this picture!

Love,

US

Detroit lake!

The first week of July we went camping with Eric, Rachelle, Alex, Arianna and my Jo Jo that I have missed soooo much! We couldn't have asked for better weather or for better company. All of the girls walked to the park a couple of times and we spent hours on Eric's boat. We definitely didn't want to come home!

Cuddly bugs! Arianna, Makenna & Jo Jo

Fun on the boat!

Look! A picture of Mommy and Makenna! Mommy is ALWAYS behind the camera! :)

We lucked out and found this perfect cove to swim in.. and a perfect place to park the boat too. Rachelle and I hanging out on the back of the boat.. soaking in the sun!

Splashing water on the shore.. Big fun!

"Eric! Turn the music down!"

Me and my girls. HAHA... check out Makenna's fro! :)

I'll leave you with a picture of 3 beautiful girls.

This trip was our main camping trip of the summer. It's sad to think that it was in July and we haven't been camping since. Oh well, clam digging season is coming up! Cape Disappointment, here we come!

-The Howards