Newsflash...Tanner is officially a teenager!

When, when, when did time decide to fly so quickly?  As cliche as it seems, people warned me time would just slip through my fingers, and it definitely has.  On September 14, 2011 Tanner turned 13!!!  Thirteen people!  I'm talking- three years away from driving and dating, and just a short five until high school comes to its close.  I am not ok with this.  S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y!  The only thing that redeems this warp speed, is that it is spent with the most delightful of company.  Tanner is sincerely a joy to parent.  He is compassionate, kind, hilarious, curious, self controlled, thoughtful, loyal, the best big brother that was ever born, and really and truly one of our best buds to hang out with.  We absolutely, ardently adore him and feel so blessed that he is our son.  Thank you SO much sweet "little" Tanner for allowing us the best thirteen years and we can't wait to see the man you'll become.  The prospect is looking good!

 Tanner invited his WHOLE school class...that's 30 kids...to a backyard movie/night games evening.  It was a blast, but it required a LOT of cake! 

 Grandma Shele got him a vintage Peter Pan, for the boy who played the role in his school play and practically lived in his "Petey" costume! 

 Tanner requested cake "pops" for his bday night dessert.

Back to School

 Ben's new trick he learned today.

First day of school for all three! 

Camp Harlow and the Harry Potter Party...

Grace finished the first Harry Potter and loved it. As a reward we had a Harry Potter night and watched the first movie after Eva and Ben went to bed. She is on to the next one and loving it.

 Candlelighters, a group that supports children with cancer and their families hosts a camp once a year by Eugene. This was our second time and we had a blast. It is always amazing to see what people due out of the goodness of their hearts. We had a great time and it was great for one last hurrah before school started.

Raspberrry and Peach picking, Camping, and duck, duck, goose...

Peach and Raspberry picking on Sauvie Island

 
Ben is obsessed with wearing Eva's bicycle helmet. He also loves playing duck, duck , goose. Although the sound is a little warped due to uploading the video, you can tell that there are a lot more goose than ducks.
 

 

 Camping in Mt. Hood National Forest

SLC and Driggs Vacay...

We had a wonderful 2 weeks enjoying our family and friends. Thank you to you all for an amazing time. We had so much fun and will have so many amazing memories of our time. (sorry I know this is a lot of photos, but there are tons more and we tried to pick out a good sample)

 The cabin at Driggs...

The cousins had a blast riding bikes on the deck and playing store. Ben was usually a freeloader, finding anyone who would take him for a ride. It seemed like he was flexible enough to fit anywhere.

 We visited the horses almost every day feeding them grass and petting them.

 Grandpa Gill shares his love of fly tying with a new enthusiast

 Kim and Tanner learned how to control the mower and made sure the yard was pristine

 The fun tradition of chasing down and waving goodbye to the cousins

The dinner bell

 Another cabin tradition of going to the playmill , Zak pretended it was his birthday to make sure he got a kiss

 Waiting for our world famous guide to take us on the river

 Loving the water

 Driving crazy

 A pretty amazing place

 Friends

 Other Friends

 The winner of the yearly fish contest two years running (what a monster!)

 One great guide

 Talent show

 "Who likes fishing?"

 Mower rides

 One special treat for Grace's baptism from Grandma and Grandpa. Personalized M & M's- Grace loved them

 Fishing with the Barbie rod like only Gracie can

 Ben's beautiful smile

 Too bad the canoe has a leak... guess we will use it any way.

 Grace's special day- before going in the water she noticed a spider floating in the font. I told her if she wanted we could baptize it as well...no dice! 

 Trying to catch a gopher snake in the middle of Grace's baptism dinner. It probably heard about the amazing food spread and the great company. Grandpa Glen finally caught it. 

 Guess where the snake is?

 Max's baseball Legion tournament. He is a great ball player and we loved watching him

 Fun at the ball park...

 Amazing how much attention and love our kids got from these guys

 Discussing world politics while enjoying the Utah sun

 Celebrating Max's 19th birthday. What a special guy.

 Celebrating Grace's 8th birthday. She was so excited opening her gifts

 Grace's special birthday dinner complete with steak, salmon, asparagus, mashed potatoes and of course raspberry chocolate cake! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa

Ben and Omi