chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

I *typically* try to do something to remember the reason for Veteran's day.  I'm grateful our schools do a relatively nice job in honoring local veterans at their school assemblies, but it's always nice to do something at home as well. I decided to hop over with the girls to Yakima to pay Great-Grandma Apken a visit! I had just finished scanning another one of her photo books that I wanted to deliver and I asked if she would help us find some special family grave sites to pay tribute. It was a bitter cold day in Yakima...and it was funny (although not unexpected) that Finley didn't even bring a jacket. Thank goodness Great-Grandma had a hoodie sweatshirt she let Finley wear. Grandma Apken was able to join us for a bit as well, which was fun! We enjoyed lunch at Mod Pizza, a quick stop at Janet and Dennis' house where we hopped through the backyard and had a lovely visit with Great-Grandpa Hendricks and Grandma Ann. I also realized while I w...

Our traditional weekend in Vantage/Yakima to celebrate the end of the summer, have our last days on the water, and enjoy time with family. We ended up staying at Uncle Karl and Aunt Jana's house for the weekend and it felt like old times!! We sure enjoyed our extra time with them and Kelly/Jenna/Beau!  With Brynn's recent success on the Hoerman's boat, she was anxious to wakeboard, and it was evident she caught the bug. Uncle Karl pulled her all over the water back and forth, back and forth...so proud of her! Of course, cousin fun! Always! Finley got up a few times, but had a hard time staying up. Good practice and I'm sure she will improve more next summer.  Saturday night we were back at the Ellensburg Rodeo fairgrounds for the Bulls. Our traditional BBQ beef booth was nowhere to be found, so we improvised with something new - corn dipped in butter, mayo and cheese (I didn't say fair food was healthy). All fair food is good food, so we...

Chris' 40th birthday fell on the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend. I convinced him to take Friday off under the guise of extending our traditional Memorial Day plans in Yakima, but really I sent the kids away to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thursday and Friday nights so we could have a kid-free celebration for 36 hours. Here is a recap of those fun few days...  Wednesday night I sneaked post-it notes into his laptop with messages of love and admiration from all of the girls...they were a fun surprise for him on Thursday morning in his meetings.  Thursday afternoon I met my MIL over the pass and passed off the girls. Then came home and prepped for a fun 40th celebration that evening with good friends sans kids! He came home from work and I promptly got him back in the car and headed to South Center. We met some of our great friends at the Flying Circus where we had the place mostly to ourselves and we sweated it up nicely in defiance of our aging.  ...