Sam's trip to Washington DC

Papu, Kirsten, and Samantha in front of the capital. (note... most photos taken by Sam)

Not sure why this photo is sideways... I will try to fix it later, but this is the Washington Monument... Sam took this photo, you can see the 50 US flags surrounding the bottom.

A view from the Washington Monument... you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

Sam and Kirsten in the fields at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home.

The last night they were there they were able to get a private tour of the capital with congressman Greg Waldon from Eastern Oregon. I have some AWESOME pictures to come from this. (I am secretly jealous!!!) They were able to go into all the rooms and even where the President gives his State of the Union address. Very Cool! Thanks too my wonderful parents for taking the girls back there on this amazing trip... more pictures to come!

One of my most {FAvoRitE} places...

On the way to Benham Falls near Sunriver, Oregon
This is the Deschutes River

Absolute Beauty... How can one dismiss God while seeing this?

Grandma & Papu "duck" and 4 of their little ducks. (Sam was MIA to crater lake this weekend with Pathfinders) Brad & Alanna couldn't make it because they were coming out the next weekend.

My view... bringing up the rear for most of the weekend... Daddy towing McKenna & Jack, then Emma on the bike, and Sydney on the bike. Syd was a trooper... on one of the rides she rode just over 6 miles!!!! That is pretty good for a 5 year old... and some of it was on gravel!

My most handsome, sweet, wonderful, amazing, loving, caring, (am I getting carried away?) {HUBBY} and me! Can you see the lingering scab on his lip from the softball injury?

Can I just say I LOVE SUNRIVER! There I said it! It is one of my most favorite places ever! so many wonderful things to do there. Every fall we do something new and then something that has been a favorite from past years. This year it was lots of biking, hiking to Benham Falls, shopping in the Old Mill District (a personal fav) hot tubbing, swimming, Fort Rock Park... and more. Thanks to mom and dad for getting a place up there every year so we can come visit and enjoy our time as a family. Was awesome to get to spend more time with Dad this year as he didn't have all the meetings until after we left.

I have to mention though that this year was not the same without Samantha, and my brother and his family. All have been present in years past and the memories were still wonderful but not the same.

happy birthday {mckenna}

Happy Birthday to my baby girl McKenna Hope MacLachlan, who turned 7 years old today. I will have pictures soon... Josh took my camera up to Big Lake so that leaves me in a little bit of a lurch. I took McKenna out to Old Spaghetti Factory tonight as her party is postponed until all her lovely family (Sam and Josh) get back home together.

jack and the hose...

Here is a video clip of the little man letting loose with the hose... on what appears to be the last day of summer. We had temps in the high 50's today... with LOTS of rain... looks like fall is here. Good bye summer.

{Pray} for Ellen

Here is an update from my sister in law Alanna, Ellen is her mother. Please read and share with your prayer chains. THANK you in advance!
Suzanne

Hello All!

First I want to thank you all for your kind messages and offers to help. You are each so great and I appreciate each of your friendships dearly!

Anyway, I know that I said that I would update you on what was happening with my mom.

Today she visited the surgeon and they both came to the conclusion that a bi-lateral (double) mastectomy would be the best choice for her.

So..Monday (the 22nd) will be the surgery day.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

-Alanna

{Mrs. John Deere} and son

for fun the other day... I got to ride the John Deere with Jack and mow the two side fields... as well as some wonderful weeds (yes, we do have those!) My precious little man aka Jack rode along. I was covered with dust and dirt, but the fields are looking better AND I was able to help my hubby in the process!

What I do for {fun}

1. Look over homework.
2. Help with homework.
3. Visually correct homework.
4. Sort out homework.
5. Look over homework... again.
6. Line up homework folders (x4) and remind kids to place in backpacks.
7. Keep my favorite pieces of homework to file for their school scrapbooks (which only exist in my mind...)
8. Start over again tomorrow...

church in the wildwood

family worship is a nightly event in our house... and lately it seems like we are all gathered around the piano where Sam, Emma, & McKenna play for us. Right now we are stuck with
"Church in the Wildwood" The girls absolutely LOVE singing it and it gets us all pumped up for the worship!

{SO} blessed to have such a wonderful family

caught having {fun} during worship! I love it!
I must give credit to my {AMAZING} wonderful hubby who feels so strongly about family worship that we started having it on a nightly basis this summer. The girls are really enjoying the time where we can all be together to sing, worship, and pray for others. Unfortunately Jack is missing most of the worships because he is so tired he has already headed to bed for the night. And how [lucky] are we to have our own worship room? It is not yet painted or decorated... but it is our space to praise and worship God.

Samantha

We are SO blessed by all our kiddos... and just a few days ago I opened an email entitled "Samantha" this was from her teacher and can I just say... WE ARE SO PROUD!!

Your child was caught

giving HIM glory

by a fellow classmate. The details are below.

Samantha

was caught giving Him glory by being

ORGANIZED

according to a fellow student when

she kept all her stuff clean and tidy!

Ratatouille & Claire... aka Mouse Catchers!!

It was just a couple months ago that Ratatouille "ratti" and Claire joined our family from the pound. We got them so that they could mouse the property... and appease the girls! So you can imagine we were thrilled when the first mouse was caught.. .we are now on mouse #4 and one snake (which we caught in time to let go!!) Today I got lucky and had my camera nearby... We watched Ratti grab this one from the garden.. it was still alive... and Ratti was baiting it and using it as a toy until it met its untimely death.

Ratti and his first "official" catch.

garden harvest... part two

1.a {HUGE} thank you to my parents for planting our garden this year. Dad tilled up the ground and while I was dropping of Sam at camp... mom & dad planted us a wonderful garden... which we have been thoroughly enjoying. Of course I must add there are a ton of grass starts and weeds this year... but we are hopeful with tilling it this fall and again in the spring will help with that for next year. Even with the grass & weeds, we are harvesting a great amount of produce.

2.the property also has a number of fruit trees which we are just starting to enjoy... the girls have been picking apples the last few days, and I am looking forward to making some applesauce this next week!

bell peppers

corn on the cob

spaghetti squash

gourds... for fall decorations of course!

one of the 4 apple trees on the property

garden harvest... part one

the continual harvest...

grapes in the garden

pear tree... with {yummy} pears!

peppers

our very own... "jack be little" pumpkins... that is the REAL variety people! Of course you know that is why I had to get this plant for our garden!

Prayer Request

This is a copy of the email I received this morning from my sister in law Alanna. I post it so that you will be able to lift her and her family in your prayers during this time. I thank you in advance for your prayers, you are all so special to me! Her mother's name is Ellen.
s.

Hello All!
Many of you know that my parents moved here over the summer to be closer to us, mainly the girls : ). It has been a wonderful to have them close!
Anyway, I was hoping that you could all keep them, especially my AMAZING Mom, in your prayers over the next few weeks.
My Mom was just re-diagnosed with breast cancer. She battled it 7 years ago and has been very healthy until now. She is very strong but it takes its toll on her especially this second go-round.
We don't know her course of treatment yet but more info will be known in the next couple of days/weeks.
I will keep you all posted but your prayers are appreciated. -Alanna

Blackberry {Pickers}

Thank goodness for the Ridgefield property... it produces a TON of blackberries for us to eat... the girls were awesome helpers (at first) thank goodness for little McKinley (age 2) she kept picking all day! And Jack.... well you know jack... he continued to eat blackberries (you don't want to know what the next diaper smelled like!)

Sydney and her bestest of best friend... Delaney!

McKinley trying to cover the blackberries from Jack... who as you can tell has managed to smear them all over his face!

me and jen... and our clippers to try to get the "really BIG ones mom!" You know that we have no makeup... and were sweating like crazy, but PICK BERRIES WE MUST! (josh, the sweetest hubby, was busy mowing the yard and keeping things looking nice for the prospective buyers)

the {fruits} of our labours...

{little} froggie

After the softball games Lauri, Jenny, & I were outside... and while I was watering my roses, I found this little buddy hanging out! I had to grab my camera a shoot away before the girls found out our little froggie and swept him away to "kiddie play land for frogs!"

my {BlueBerry} boy

What could be better than picking blueberries? Picking blueberries with this cute little dude! Yesterday we went to the {patch} to pick more berries to add to our 46 lbs and counting... added 15 more lbs... but jack didn't really add to the buckets, but he left with a FULL tummy and a blueberry smile on his face!
all tuckered out

Softball Anyone?

Here are some shots from the annual softball tourney. Josh is still playing for OJA, he has known these guys for years and they have such a blast together. Of course the Larson's came down and stayed the long weekend! Unfortunately we didn't get to come away with the title and bragging rights this year (unlike last) but we did end up with a wonderful visit to the ER... stitches... and a big fat lip to remember the weekend! Good bye softball field... at least until next year... oh yeah... Jack was "diggin" the dirt!

what [little] boys are made of...

No one thought I should know... that little boys have this wonderful sense of {WoNDer} I am enjoying every moment with this little one... Here are a few shots from last week just around the house. fyi... Emma is the Big Sister with whom Jack directs most of his attention... and I find that funny because she is the one who ORIGINALLY (and I say that with love) did not want a little brother... another sister please she said (as if 3 weren't enough) and now... she spends a MAJORITY of her time lovin on this sweet little man... and teaches him about all kinds of wonderful things... [like]trying on the big sissys helmets...

touchdowns... (since it is football season and all)

grasshoppers... cool bugs!

with {emma's} help of course

bye for now... off to explore outside!
(come one em.. I am waiting for you!)

Washington vs. Oregon... GO DUCKS!

daddy & sydney... enjoying a little pregame

me and super!

jack enjoying his first football game! (he is a pro at basketball) Sucked on this licorice rope all night long! I love seeing the game from this perspective!

our cheerleader... mckenna

a blurry shot of the CUTEST couple ever!
(did I just say that out loud?)

Thanks dad & mom for the tickets to the game and for dinner before hand... and is there a way to have the AD start scheduling more night games so that we can go? Just curious!
Love you so!