Lovin' the Outdoors!

What a weekend! Yard saling with Marie - gotta love a bargain... and then a quiet, relaxing lunch on the deck of Michael's restaurant. I so enjoyed that.
Lots of family time spent outdoors. Vance BBQ'd some delicious food and it is so fun having dinner at the picnic table. Merit is having a blast riding the four wheeler. Willem is up for a hike any time of day... and both boys are enjoying cooling off with the slip and slide.
I took a walk yesterday morning without children or dogs -- but WITH my camera. This is something I don't do very often, but I enjoy it every now and then because I can "sneak up"" on wildlife and get some good shots... I also seem to really soak up the colors and beauty around me. There are so many wildflowers in bloom right now. So I had to get some shots of them.
I also forced myself to study just a little this weekend. When the weather is gorgeous and the kids just want to run and play it is soo hard! But I HAVE to stick with it! Next weekend, I will try to plan very little but will carve out half a day for writing and typing papers.

It's a B...

It's a BABY GIRL!
We had the "big" ultrasound today! What a blessing it was to see all of those little body parts and get a peak at the growth of our baby..... girl!
When I woke up this morning I knew I would be posting later in the day about the ultrasound and the baby's sex. I had decided the title to my post would be "my three sons" I really thought we would learn a boy is on the way, we were so surprised to hear "it looks like a GIRL!" I'll go back in 4 - 6 weeks for another check so I'm not painting the nursery or going on a huge shopping spree... but in little ways I will begin preparing for a daughter.
Merit has not been shy about telling people how badly he wants a sister, so his excitement is very evident~! We are so thankful that the baby looked healthy and the growth looked good on the ultrasound. Seeing her move and squirm was a JOY! She has adorable feet. And her profile was precious. God is so good.

Willem, loving the outdoors

What a beautiful weekend we have had. Vance and I worked out in the yard a little, everything is so green and beautiful. We enjoyed visiting with Grandma Kris and swimming in her pool! We went to the Ephrata Races Saturday night, Merit is SUCH a race car fan! We ended the weekend with a wonderful BBQ at Mitch and Marilyn's with awesome friends... it couldn't have been a better ending to a nice weekend.

Ducks and Geese at the Molitors

Slip and slide FUN!

Marilyn and Sammy

Vance and Will working outdoors.

Nephew and Niece photo shoot :)

Katie came over with Fischer and baby Kendal for a little photo shoot! Fischer's three year pics and Kendal at three weeks. Kendal was so sweet and for most shots, wide awake. Fischer was on the run~! It was fun to photograph these cuties!

ROOM TO RUN!

Loving Room to RUN!
Vance, the boys and I just got home after spending two and half days in Seattle. Vance had meetings while the boys and I played. I love Seattle. I am glad we don't live their because the traffic and "crowds" aren't really our thing... but what a fun city to visit! We swam in the hotel pool a ton! That was a treat. I took the boys to Chuck E Cheese's yesterday -- oh what fun we had there! And going on a weekday while most kids are in school was a bonus. I also tried to fit a little shopping in... Merit was cooperative. Willem was a wild, loud three year old boy!! Trying to do SouthCenter Mall with Willem was something I will probably never forget! Keeping him quiet at 7 or 8 am in our hotel room so we wouldn't wake our "neighbors" was also a bit challenging!
I quickly became very thankful that at home we all have a lot of room to run! From gardening to fishing to hiking to camping in our little cabin, these energetic boys get some good running time and outdoor exploring.

Bargain Town Junk, I mean treasures

Friday afternoon at Bargain Town left Merit, Willem and myself all smiling. The boys each got their free toy plus we found a Nascar still in the package for $1. I bought these fun glass pieces that will act as vases and the two aged, weathered terra cotta pots... herbs will be planted in those soon. For $3.23 we had all sorts of treasures!

I am playing around with Blogger, wanting my pictures to appear larger, but not wanting to get rid of the fun stuff on my sidebar... what I am ending up with is kind of weird. My sidebar stuff appears at the bottom of my blog... hmmm.

Friday Fun

Yesterday and today have been fun days. The weather is beautiful. We had our friends the Wests over this morning. Emma, Molly, Merit and Will played outside the whole time, wonderful time with friends. We have all sorts of wildflowers growing on our property. Lilacs are blooming... I have found some fun thriftin' goodies. Fun stuff. And as you can tell by the first picture, I am growing! And this is fun! I feel good. I am still comfortable, so I need to enjoy that!

I am plugging away at my classes s-l-o-w-l-y!

Our family is loving weekends together and the weather is supposed to be great this weekend.

Merit is enjoying the last 20 or so days of kindergarten! This has been SUCH a fun year for him.

Bargain Town is a place I love to stop once or twice a month. To call it a thrift store would be a compliment... it is a little more like a dump... oh I hope the owners of Bargain Town don't know I have a blog. Maybe it is just a junk store. ? Our lilacs are blooming and I seem to want a vase full in nearly every room of our house so I like to go to Bargain Town for old vases, pots, or in search for dishes that can be used as vases. The boys and I went there today after school and found several goodies!

Check out this cute basket with a fun liner. My friend Maria gave this to me. She MADE the liner for the basket. I love it. I bought the little bird painting at Goodwill for 99 cents, found the rug and large basket with hinged lid at Grocery Outlet. I bought the chair years ago at Goodwill and the chair pad at IKEA --- fun little additions to add some fun and flare to my dining room.

Willem -- Will is ALWAYS up for a hike. And imaginative exploration. :) He is not, however, always up for having his picture taken!

Have a wonderful Friday and a fun weekend! I'll be back soon...

Gardening... what do you love to grow? This tomatoe start picture (compliments of BHG) caught my eye. I want to go galvanized in my kitchen with some herbs. I love growing herbs. Last year I had Basil that went crazy and I loved using it for spaghetti and other sauces. {photoBHG}
Vance and Will... we went on a hike last weekend. Willem is a climber. He is adventurous and likes to climb the basalt. I had to take this sweet pic of the father and son conversing.

I have a Dr appt this afternoon. I am 18 weeks along. This pregnancy is a blessing and this baby is already so sweet to me! I'll try to post a pregnancy picture soon... I am growing!

The Kooima Family

A beautiful Saturday made for some fun pictures of the Kooima family! Thanks for coming out!