Flower picking

Alison came with me to a Chaplain's wives meet up at the flower field.  They said kids were welcome...so I brought my kid :)

It was a perfect day for flower picking and fun to find this farm.  It's only 10 minutes from our house but I had no idea it was here.

One of the ladies in our group just had her first baby and she brought her for us all to meet.  It's pretty great day when you get to sit and hold a baby in a flower field!

 

Eli's first job!

This is my only documentation...I caught him on his way out the door for work.

Mr. LaRusso, from our church, has hired Eli to help him with construction on their house.  He's been going over several days a week to help tear down walls, move concrete, remove flooring and dig a trench.  Basically Eli is his secondhand man to help in some heavy duty work.  It's a great job for a teen boy and I'm so proud of him for jumping in and learning new skills.

 

Yuma visit

The White's left a few things at our house when they came to visit, so the boys and I took up the excuse to make a little trip over.  First stop, Chili Peppers!  We stocked up on burritos to take back home.

          

I got a hotel room with some points we had and the boys spent the afternoon in the pool.

It was "only" 100, but the boys still spent the rest of the day playing inside.  Only in Yuma do you play corn hole inside.

Laurel and I went out to dinner, while the boys partied with some pizza and Apples to Apples.

 

Life lately

Ben had surgery on his ankle and has been resting at home for the last few weeks.  Recovery is going well and we're looking forward to his full recovery.

Eli has started to join Alison and I on our thrifting adventures.  He's been flipping Legos and made a pretty good little business out of it.  This day Alison also enlightened him to dirty soda. 

Evening jam sessions have been a thing and I absolutely love it.

Summer is for Minecraft and the boys have been playing a lot virtually with their friends.  Also, the story of Colin's life continues and we are constantly trying to get more meat on his bones.

 

Colin's Birthday, pt 2

Happy 14th Birthday!!!

It's not so fun having a birthday on Sunday and you have to spend the morning at church, but James came home with us and we had a fun afternoon!  Ben had smoked pork ready to go for lunch.

Then, we went to play mini golf.

For dinner, Colin requested chicken piccata and then we opened presents.

Sour Patch kids have become a household favorite :)

Ben got Colin a box full of new clothes and he got the biggest hug.

Then we had the rest of the cake.

And that face he's making...I see that face a lot.  Perhaps some day I'll understand why.

 

Colin's Birthday! pt 1.

The White's came to visit for Colin's birthday!  We met at the beach for a few hours of fun.  One of Colin's gifts was Spikeball which was quickly a hit.

Boogie Boarding: 

I don't even know how they caught any waves.  Most of the boards are broken because they sled down our backyard hill on them, but they still insisted on using them.  

I love how these boys are still the best of friends.

Building a sandcastle:

It's funny how quickly you can forget a former life...Laurel was bundled up under the tent all day, in a fleece and blanket.  I forgot how cold we used to get coming to San Diego, when this was a beautiful 80+ day.

Then we went back to our house for cake.

Jon grew just a little ;)

We had such a great day together!  But it was also slightly weird to be missing 3 of our kids.  Alison did stop by the beach for a little bit, but college age kids is a whole new adjustment.