Camping 2012

Last year we went camping with the Millerbergs and had such a fun time we decided to make it an annual event as long as we can. This year we rented a cabin at Ensign Ranch for all of us to sleep in ("cabin" may sound big and luxurious, but it was very, very basic and just big enough to sleep all of us). But it turned out great, because we were warmer at night, we had a quiet place to put the little ones to sleep for naps and at night, and we were very close to all of the activities that we wanted to do. All in all, it was a fabulous trip!

Here are a few pictures to highlight some of the fun things we did....

And that doesn't cover the yummy food, or the canoeing, or the group games, or the late nights chatting under the stars. Very much worth all of the hard work! We had a great time!

Baby Maner #5

Just wanted to post here that we went in to get a fetal ECHO for our little baby and I posted about the findings on Dylan's blog.

http://anewperspective-maner.blogspot.com/2012/08/yearly-cardiology-check-up.html

Summer Fun

When we returned from our trip to Utah, we got to spend some time with some good friends from our Kansas family, Ralph and Linnea. We had a great time with them, and here are some pictures of a great hike we took with them to the Grove of the Patriarchs. It is right by Mt. Rainier and some of these trees are over 1,000 years old. They were just huge!

Back in July we were able to host our annual MBA social for the 5th year and it was a great success. We had nearly 100 people turn out for it, and we had so much fun talking and playing on the beach with the kids I don't have any pictures to show for it!

Justin and I were able to go on a fun date the other day.....we took a long walk on Soos Creek Trail after a nice dinner. How romantic! :)

Giant slugs and all. Yuck!

Another day we took the kids on a fun, beautiful hike right by our house. It was a fun afternoon, and Charlie got to come with us. Please excuse the pink leash.....he doesn't get to be picky about the things Daddy brings home from work for him!

Here is a picture of Justin's Father's Day tie that he wore to church on that day. Yes, I know that was back in June. I just found this picture.

And here is Justin by the Great Wheel in Seattle. It's 17 stories high.....so if you want a ride, just let us know!

Brandon had a ball at Cub Scout day camp this summer. Justin was there with him for 2 of the days and got some pictures of his activities.

I'm sorry these pictures are sideways....I've tried to put them in straight 2 times now! We did our own face paining one night, and here are the creations...rainbow, dragon and heart flower done by me....

And unicorn, rubik's cube and butterfly done by Justin! I was very impressed with Justin's face painting talents. I think we could go into business!

And before we went to Utah, we had Aunt Cindy up here to play with us for a few days. We had a ball with her! We loved spending some time with her and doing some fun activities. Most of my pictures are on my camera still, which is MIA at the moment, but here is one of the ferry. I will post more when I find my camera!

Here is proof that I have a baby in my belly....can you tell??

 In preparation for baby boy to join our family, we got a bunk bed for the boys, since the baby boy will be in there with them. Here are Brandon and Dylan trying out the bottom of the bed before we put the top up. Dylan loves sleeping in a big bed, because he's a big boy!

And here are a couple of pictures from our Amazon family fun day. We had a great time playing together as a family.

There is more to update on.....more posts to come!

Smith Family Reunion

We had an awesome trip to Utah to visit family a couple of weeks ago. Here is a video I made to commemorate the occasion.....enjoy!!

There are a lot of other things to update about, and I'll get to that soon!

Let the good times roll!

 This month has been a busy one! We finished up another year of school, and the kids said goodbye to their teachers from this year. 

I was able to get a picture of Lindsey with Mrs. Raphael, but wasn't able to get a picture of Brandon with Mrs. Crain. They both had a fun year!

And we had fun with another year of preschool co-op for Katelyn. Here's a blurry picture of the proud graduates.

We have loved summer so far! It's so nice to just be home and not have a schedule every day. We've been getting into our summer routine which has been very nice. 

Here are some pics of my cute pirates:

(notice Dylan trying to do the "arrrrrr!")

And my silly girls

We've loved being outside and going to the park

And I've decided that these kid are all getting way too big!

Brandon had an accident on his bike involving a rope, so he got a really big rope burn on his face and neck. It looks so much better now!

And as an extra special trip, we took the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge. It was SO much fun! The kids just loved playing in the water and going on all of the slides.

Inside the cool kids' cabin part of our room...complete with 3 beds for the kids to sleep on

We had a very fun 4th of July! The Elder's Quorum put on the ward breakfast with the local firefighters, so Justin was in charge and it went great. Justin took the kids to see some neat old cars in the afternoon.....

We had a fun BBQ that afternoon with some great friends, and sadly I didn't pull out the camera until the Adams had already left. But here are some pictures of the fireworks and fire pit with the Millerbergs.

Dylan not too sure about this sparkler thing any more....

Brandon's inventive idea for keeping the fire's smoke out of your eyes.....goggles of course!

Charlie was very cute sporting his red handkerchief that day

Mmmmmm.....smores!

What a fun day!

We've loved playing with water out back this summer

The kids all huddling around for cartoons 

Dylan loves it when Charlie sits by him

And here is Lindsey helping Katelyn practice writing her letters. Can't believe that they're going to be in 2nd grade and kindergarten this year. Ahhhhhh!

So far, a busy fun summer!