Life with our little family of 3...

We took and afternoon off to shoot some clay pigeons and targets. After several attempts and broken clays, Emma finally got the hang of throwing them for Robert!   Emma's first time shooting Robert's 22 rifle that he got when he was her age. She loved it!  Her shows are the two to the right of the middle red bulls-eye! That is great for her first time!  Here is my target with a 9mm pistol. Not bad after a few years! 

We participated in our annual 4th of July parade. We figured it was our 10th year of riding with the fire department. The first year, Emma fell asleep in my arms even with all the music and sirens. This year she was the one making the noise!  Emma with her friends before the parade  After the parade we headed home to get ready for some friends to come over. We had a great time hanging out, eating, and blowing things up! 

We are loving the new travel trailer and are trying to use it as much as we can! A few weeks ago we went to Coho National Forest for a weekend camping trip.  All packed up and ready to go!   Robert and Emma kayaking on Wynoochee Lake  Their attempt at posing for the camera while trying to tip each other

Emma completed another year of ballet which included a spring showcase. I called it a recital but apparently it is not a recital...its a showcase . This year she not only danced with her class but was able to be a teachers assistant for a couple of Discover Dance classes. She loved it!   Emma's costume for her class's piece  One of her Discover Dance classes If that wasn't enough, she wanted to help with the Princess Ballet Camp at the studio a few weeks later. It was 4 days of 4-6 year olds! She got to dress up in different costumes each day to fit the themes. Of course one of the days was Nutcracker so here she is with her friend as the soldier doll.  In just a few short months she'll be getting ready for the real Nutcracker! 

We braved the Northwest Memorial Day weather this year and took our new travel trailer out for it's first camping trip! However, it did feel a little like cheating especially when it did rain one night and the people next to us were in their tent! But only briefly!  Our setup with the Slemmer Family  What a baby...he insisted on sleeping with us in the bed the first night. By the second night he was so exhausted from lack of naps that he passed out on the floor!   The older girls went for a trail ride. Emma got to ride Tango, one of her favorite horses from last year's summer camp.   Camp wouldn't be complete without the Tiki Torch Waterslide! Brrr! But the kids...  And Dads... And even the Grandpa had fun!   The girls went on a huge zipline and loved it!  They did it! We had so much fun...we're thinking of doing it again next year! 

We recently took a whirlwind vacation to visit both Robert's family and mine. Since they live in the same area of the country we decided to try to visit all of them. So we got up early on a Sunday and flew into St. Louis, Missouri. We spent a couple of days in St. Louis visiting Robert's grandma, aunt, uncle and aunt and of course the sites. Needless to say we had a great time! One of the highlights besides visiting with family was the St Louis Arch. It was pretty amazing to see it up close and even more amazing to go to the top! Our next stop was a drive-by in Arkansas to pick up my dad. We pretty much drove up, loaded his stuff and continued on our journey to Texas. On the way to Austin, we stopped a a big Bass Pro Shop for lunch and some shooting! The palm trees kind of threw us off since it looked like we should have been in Florida or something! We stopped first at my brother's house near Killeen where we had dinner and visited before we continue...

I thought I would share some of our family's Christmas traditions... We'll begin with the Christmas tree. Growing up we had a big fluffy tree like a Douglas fir. When I moved to Washington and got married, that changed. Robert always had a Noble fir. He couldn't comprehend how anyone would want a fluffy tree! :-) Growing up we would drive to a lot, pick one out, pay for it and take it home. But that won't do when you have a family with not one, but TWO tree snobs. (Note that I am NOT one of them!) Now we drive to a tree farm, spend an hour walking around and around trying to find the "perfect" tree that will adorn our window! Growing up we had big multi-colored lights. For the first few years of our marriage, we did too. But then I discovered clear lights and how you can see all the ornaments without the distraction of the colored lights! This has been a topic of disagreement in our marriage however. This year Robert and Emma found LED lights that could sw...