Round Mountain Lookout

On June 28th, I took several of the kids to the site of the former fire lookout on Round Mountain, just south of White Pass. Although the lookout is no longer there, you can get views of both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams from the top, as well as several peaks in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. It was a simple out and back, but lots of fun. We hit patches of snow a little above 5,000′ and the kids had a blast with that. Snow in the summer, who knew?!? Another fun plus for Washington!

On the way home, we did a little exploring on Summit Creek, scouting out our next adventure.

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Fall Sports 2012

Ezzy and Danny had a great time in sports this fall. Danny played in the Henderson United soccer league on the Rebels, and Ezzy played with the Transformers in the National Youth Sports league. They both made great improvements and had a lot of fun.

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Chain Lakes Loop

During our trip to Washington, I took the 3 oldest kids on a short backpacking trip I’ve been looking at for a couple years. Papa Penning, Uncle Brian, and Brooklynn came with us too. Much of the Chain Lakes Loop is in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. We spent two days camped between Hayes Lake and Arbuthnot Lake. Weather was great, and the area is beautiful, with views of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan along the trail.

More photos in the gallery.

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Geocaching – Mountain Springs Peak

After trying out a couple geocaches here in the city, we decided to try our luck on a little longer adventure. Mountain Springs Peak is a less-traveled peak in the southern part of Red Rock National Conservation Area. It does not have a maintained trail, but there are several use paths. Altogether it was about 5 miles and 1,100 feet of elevation gained to reach the peak at ~6,600 feet.

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We found two caches and lots of cool logs from previous hikers. The earliest note was from 1970. A fun outing for all!

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All of the photos are in the Mountain Springs Peak photo album.

Rappelling at Red Rock

Being in this family means getting ready for canyoneering! Required skill #1 – rappelling. So, we took the kids out to Sandstone Quarry at Red Rock; first time for the littles. It was a bit cold and windy, but fun was had by all!
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welcome home

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We finally did it. The vagabonds have turned domestic, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. There has been no buyer’s remorse, no regrets, no second-guessing. We know we bought the right house at the right time in the right place. Now if we could just move in already!!!

Before and During side-by-sides:
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Progress is being made, as you can tell from the photos. The flooring should be finished in the next few days. Then comes new counters and stained cupboards. So excited for that. :) Finally, they will lay the carpet. We are still shooting for a move date of Memorial Day Weekend, but it looks like we could actually be officially done with the remodel a few days before that.

Here’s our beautiful pool, and outdoor kitchen. We LOVE this feature.
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We’ll keep pictures coming, as the updates happen.

bags o’ fun

Great-grandma Chapman sent home some handmade beanbags with Adam a couple of months ago. They have become the center of attention during recent Family Home Evenings. All we do is line up some bowls, assign each a value, and try and hit the bowl with the beanbag. The kids go nuts over this very simple game.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBjBV17JwI

We have also started going through scripture stories one by one for our FHE lessons. The kids all speak good enough English now, and they have had enough exposure over the past few years, that they are loving it.

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ones you have yet to meet

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Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Harvey
Terrace Heights Cemetary (July 2010)

I know how much Grandma Harvey would have adored the ninos (and does from afar now). She would have called them her precious little angels. She passed away in 2003, nine months before Adam and I got married. Grandpa Harvey passed away Christmas 2007, just eight months before we traveled to Bogota. He was the gruff, WWII type. You know, the guy who was tough on the outside, but a teddy bear on the inside. The guy who would give you the shirt off his back and the shoes off his feet. He and Nikki would have been best buddies. I can see her sneaking her way onto his lap and into his heart.

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Can’t wait for the ninos to meet them in person one day. For now, pictures and stories will have to suffice.
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“fort”itude

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My favorite memory from Nana and Papa’s this summer was catching imaginations at play in the back yard. It so reminded me of my own childhood in that very same yard.

All of the cousins were whining one day that it was too hot, and that there was nothing to do. Excuse me…bounce house, pool, gigantic lawn, awesome sand pit, 11 children, and I could go on. Anyway, all the moms chimed in at once, “go use your imaginations and don’t come in until lunch.”

When we went out to check on the crew, they were taking old building supplies from around the property and making forts. They had divided into two teams and were having a contest to see which fort would be the best built. It was hilarious to see what they came up with for building materials.

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(notice Nikki sitting on a chair with her legs crossed letting everyone else do the work…)

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Well, they never finished their projects because Brooklynn stepped on a nail, which quickly put the kibosh on using papa’s old building materials. But they had a great time trying.

JULY 2010