Planting the planter....finally!

We got some time to do a project that we've been wanting to do for a while. It was so fun to work outside as a family. The kids got nice and dirty as they helped us dig the holes and pull out the endless rocks we find in the dirt. Thanks to our "Washington Potatoes" or the big rocks we dug up, we were able to make some nice walls to deal with the slope of the dirt.

Before:

After:

It looks so different now.....I love looking out at our new plants!

All we are missing now is our little red lace-leaf japanese maple tree in the middle. Hopefully we'll find one for a good price before the winter.

I totally love these hydrangea bushes! They'll get to be about a 3 foot ball, filled with flowers from early summer into the fall.

Justin picked these beautiful purple flowers out. They'll be great to cut and bring inside!

These red beauties attract humming birds, so that'll be fun. They'll also tie in nicely when we get our red tree in the middle.

And there's just one word for these yellow guys - Happy! Couldn't pass them up!

And finally we really liked the neat leaves on this plant and its pretty flowers.

Our garden is very happy and growing like crazy.

We're especially excited for all of these big, beautiful tomatoes to ripen! (As long as we can keep Katelyn away.... she likes to pick green tomatoes. Luckily, the grape tomatoes have been her only victims so far.)

Ta da!

Zoo

This last week we were invited to go to the zoo with some friends in the ward here. They were able to get us all in for free, so it was a reat treat. The kids had a great time looking at all of the animals!

The spider monkeys were probably the favorite of the day. Very entertaining!

Lindsey and her friend Annika

Free carosel rides too??

Fun for everyone!

Happy 8 Years to Us!

Our 8 year Anniversary was this past Monday. We decided to celebrate it on the weekend because our weeks are very busy. It was probably better anyway since I didn't feel too good that day. We're expecting baby #4 (yes, this is our official announcement!) and are about 13 weeks now and yes, we're very excited! But Justin surprised me on Monday with a beautiful boquet from Pike Place Market. He works downtown and took off work a little bit early to get over there and pick up some beautiful flowers. Thanks Justin! That really made my day -- you know how much I love Pike Place flowers!!

On Saturday night we went to the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed an amazing dinner with cheesecake of course and reflected on the past eight years. So much has happened, and we have changed in many ways. I'm so glad that I have been lucky enough to spend it with my best friend! Thanks for the great evening Justin, I love you!!

We love company!

Another weekend here at the Maner house and another round of company! I tell ya, I'd be willing to bet that we have had more people come to stay with us or stop in to see us and the house this summer than we have had probably our whole marriage. Well, it's a close call! We've had many more visitors than I've had time to post about. It's been so fun to see so many people we love and care about!

This last weekend we had Lisa, Justin's sister and family come up from Oregon to play. We are so glad that we could see them and that they could stay with us. The visit was pretty short, but the kids played hard when they could and we got in some good talkin' time! They spent some time playing in Seattle and of course we had to take them to Justin's building to see the view and then down to the waterfront for dinner. Thankfully it was beautiful weather for being outside!

Nice Javan, very nice!

While their family went to play at the amusement park on Saturday, we went to the Amazon.com annual company picnic. And Justin and I were both very impressed! We have never been to an event that big with so many people that was so well organized. Needless to say, there was tons to do, tons of food and entertainment, and we all had a ball!

Concentrating....

The kids all got free kites, so we found a great spot and let them give it a try.

All three of the kids got their kites up into the air at the same time. The weather was perfect!

It was fun to watch the motorcycle show, you know the kind where they ride up ramps, get high in the air and do tricks? They're crazy!!

It really was a perfect day in a beautiful place!

Thanks Amazon, and thanks Gray family for coming up to play!

Camping

Well, the summer seems to be slipping away from us so quickly. We have intended to take the kids camping this summer but decided that we'd better hurry and get it done. We found a beautiful spot and set up our tent. The kids were so excited. The evening consisted of some treats, some stories and of course the kids staying up too late because they were just too excited to fall asleep.

The kids the next morning

The aftermath

Our beautiful camping spot

Fresh blackberries we found; they grow naturally like weeds here

YUM!

Luckily for me, we had all the comforts of home close by.

Camping in the back yard was a good idea. The kids were just as excited to camp here!

And I had food, water, extra blankets, working bathrooms (even my bed upstairs!) very close by. We stuck it out and slept outside with the kids though. Some of us slept pretty well, while others of us......didn't! :)

My kind of camping! And yes, those are our wild blackberry bushes. The blackberries are ripening and we're very excited! If you're in the neighborhood, come get some this month!