The many "poses" of Jack

I love this dude.... a LOT.
His shirt says "My Mom Rocks" I bought it for him! :0) Don't tell anyone!
He is a total poser...

His dad bought him this shirt...

This particular face makes me laugh... He thinks this will get him his way... and he is probably right (after I lol of course!)

then there is the "you can't see me if I lift my shirt over my head" pose...
yeah... this one gets me every time!

how about this one? The "I love rocks & I am so stinkin cute" pose?


the "I am a boy & can climb stumps" pose

the "eating" pose...

the "Oops I fell in the water & don't like it" pose

the "chillin on the bench" pose

the "riding on dad's shoulder's" pose

and my favorite pose...

the "I love my mom & picked her some wildflowers"
notice the "future heartbreaker" t-shirt... yep I am thinking with 4 sisters this boy is going to be well trained...

Life is great with a 3 yr old... you just never know what kinds of things they are going to do! Since we have been through this stage 4 other times we know how fleeting this time is and are trying to enjoy every moment.

Part 3: Upper Falls

This is what the view from our campsite looked like... trees trees and more trees. It was beautiful.

This was at the beginning of our hike... there was a fallen tree that was huge so of course the kids had to get up on it for a photo. Josh measured the length (about half of the tree... the top was missing) it was 58 yards long without the top.... crazy big!

Our rock towers that Austin & I were building!

the trails were steep & the younger kids got pretty nervous that they were going to fall right over the edge...

the upper falls... oh my goodness, these were some impressive falls. I had to hike out to the point to get this shot. The water below the falls was a total whirlpool... definitely not a good place to take a swim...

nature's beauty


the cove below the upper falls

hiking out

okay... this tree was HUGE, there is really no way to describe it so we lined up all the kids + Melissa and posed them in front of it.... I have no idea how old this bad boy was, but it towered above all the other trees.


I know I have already said it... but the peace that you feel when out in God's nature and beauty is something else. To be reminded that we can live "without" is wonderful. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life I tend to forget that we were intended to live without all the distractions... it is so easy to get caught up in the current and be drug down.

It reminds me of the song by Casting Crowns... " If We've Ever Needed You"
"Hear our cry we pray, Our faces down, our hands are raised, Your called us out, we've turned away. With shipwrecked faith, idols rise, We do what is right, in our own eyes, Our children now, will pay the price, We need Your light Lord, shine Your light.

If we've ever needed You, Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now. We are desperate for Your hand, we're reachin' out. All our hearts, all our strength, With all our minds, we're at Your fate, May Your kingdom come, in our hearts and lives, Let Your church arise, let Your church arise."

and it goes on... I love the lyrics & music because we all need to be desperate for God, waiting for His second coming and telling others of Him instead of leaning on our own faith.
This camping trip reminded me (and I need reminding) to take more pleasure in Him & let the earthly things fall away.

Part Two: God's Beauty

So we spent 3 nights and 4 days living outside, and every day we took a hike along the river.
It was beautiful. I wish I knew how to photoshop some of these photos... the colors were to die for and everything was just perfect, unfortunately I am an amateur photographer so bare with me.

This one is my fav...

Samantha found this rock... and these are her nails. I just LOVE it.

inside the campgrounds... walking down the road

middle falls (a 1.5 mile hike out from camp)

a stream off the beaten path

ewww...

another shot of middle falls

a small corner of lower falls

lower falls... some kids jumped off the green point... not smart, scared the you know what out of me!

from the top of lower falls.. you could walk right to the edge.


wild flowers... okay and OMGoodness... I just realized that I captured a bee flying into the little daisy! Sorry I just think that is so cool! :)

lower falls again... some kids climbed up that huge log... this photo does not do justice to the height of these falls.



Our campsite. The trees were something else... huge old trees that point straight to the sky. The sound of the water rushing all night and day was so relaxing and peaceful!

Speaking of nature after we set up camp we took a walk to the falls... when we came back we had been attacked by blue jays... they ate almost an entire bag of trail mix from Costco...

and later that night (and every night after) we were visited by mice.... teeny, tiny, little field mice. They came and cleaned up under our picnic table. One night they even ran right over Melissa's flip-flopped feet and scared her half to death! :) Yes, I did LOL!

Anyway, there are still some more photos from the upper falls so I guess that means that there will be a Part 3 to this post! I hope that you are all enjoying your families this summer!

Tent Camping with 11 people - 101

So this summer the Oregon Conference canceled campmeeting. For the last couple of years we have camped next door to the Dietrichs... so when we found out we weren't going to be camping at Gladstone we decided it was time to make alternate plans.

So after weeks of picking a date, Brad picked the location, we loaded up the cars (I mean large vehicles & trailer for bikes/wood/etc) and drove North towards Mt. St. Helen's to Lower Falls Campground (people trust me on this... we were in nowhere land... and it was perfect!)
On the way there we lost cell service (oh my) and believe it or not Josh & I got the meanest parents of the year award for not letting the kids watch a movie on the car ride (can you believe it?) we told the kids that the experience started when we left our driveway.

Finally (after a brief side of the road potty stop...tmi) we made it to camp and started setting up. BTW, we scored an awesome Double campsite so that we could all be at the same location... which was perfect.



first is is important to have good tents for sleeping... the girls tent
you also need a good group of kids... because HELLO??? kids make everything more fun!

proper cooking gear is a necessity... cooking corner, hey what is that little man getting into now?
Most importantly (besides my fam of course) is traveling with another family you enjoy & get along with... it is also helpful if they are professional campers, just saying... and going on a trip with Brad & Melissa is camping with pros.... and fun to boot! (I believe they were questioning their choice of camping partners when they had not only set up tents & the whole rest of camp while we were still getting tent #2 up...)

The Dietrich Crew... camping professionals... btw, Brad is AKA McGyver - which is very helpful.

camp life



a lined up and ready for our first outing... we hiked those kids everyday! The scenery up on the north fork of the Lewis was just breath taking... and the falls, we saw 4 different sets of incredible falls. (more photos of that to come later)

Did I mention the shoes??? We were hiking to the lower falls on Day one when Melissa realized all the kids had Keens on :) so of course we had to do a total poser photo of all the shoes.

Anyway, next post... the BEAUTY of the 4 days.... God is so wonderful to give us all that beauty.
This campground was incredible because... no running water, no electricity, BUT we did have composting toilets... it really made you enjoy the quiet beauty of life. You truly could not be thinking of anything but what you were doing from moment to moment... no distractions really makes you look at your life, your priorities, and how to connect with your family.

Part Two - Nature hikes with the Macs...