4th of July

Ours was an all-day event. It started with a delicious pancake breakfast at our church. (That's not a joke - seriously, it was good :) )

Then we all (hundreds of ward members and friends) did a trek to the temple. We followed a back-way route and walked, ran or biked to the Temple. It was just under 7 miles. Here some of us are at a water stop.

It was a ton of fun and a great way to celebrate our religious freedoms and great opportunities in this country and honor those who worked so hard to provide it for us - like our old and modern-day pioneers. We all agreed that the temple trek will be a yearly tradition for the 4th.

Off our bikes and at the Portland Temple.

Then over to Grammy and Papas house for lots of yummy and festive food...

and hours of swimming...

Burrito Babies

Then at dark it was firework time...we got quite a eyefull between seeing several displays out over the valley from my parents view at their house and all the illegals that my brother-in-law and his brothers brought down from Washington State. It was a first class show.

A very happy Independence Day!

Keepin' it Rollin'

Down the river that is. We enjoyed one of our favorite date nights this summer in a kayak on the Tualatin River.

We saw all kinds of wildlife including this amazing blue herron

It was so calm and serene - not another soul in sight. And my husband even did most of the rowing! Good deal for me! Good summer night having a great time together.

Kicking off Summer

We kicked off the first week of summer with a trip to the zoo with the cousins- the summer weather just forgot to show up! Even though the cold weather had us in hooddies, the cool temperatures made it so all the animals were out and easy to see!

3 crazy animals for sure!!

Paino Playing Pair

They still might not say it's their "favorite" extra-curricular activity (or even one they like at all), but my two oldest boys are becoming quite the piano players. Every time a recital comes around, like this one on June 12, they amaze me with their improvement and talent. Speaking of talent - Caden actually signed himself up for the 4th grade talent show at school (without my prodding) to play his recital piece. It helps when your cool piano teacher has you play hip songs like the "Pink Panther" and all the kids get to snap along as you play and think your awesome! Tyler has a real gift for music and always picks up on pieces so quickly. They both do well - and even though liking it was never a requirement anyways - they just might be getting closer to it!





two piano playing peas in a pod



Ty prepares his music book

Caden concentrating so hard...

Thanks Sister Card for being such a wonderful teacher!

I finished!

My first solo race was a success. The Helvetia Half Marathon on June 11th.

We finished in just over 2 hours - which I was pretty happy with considering how hilly the course was. My friend and "trainer" (she loves when I call her that :) ) helped show me the ways of preparing. Even with our spotty training schedule - so goes it when we each have lots of young kids and busy hubbys - we felt pretty strong all the way through the race, even picking up our pace for the last mile. Of course we earned ourselves some nice green medals, but the best thing about finishing the Helvetia Half are the free beer and helvetia burgers! I actually DID have a burger (even though it sounds nasty after running 13.1 miles) and it was pretty good!

I ran a half-marathon and acutally enjoyed it! Maybe it will be an annual tradition...maybe :)

Take Me Somewhere Fun

It's what his shirt says! And what every little kid wants EVERYDAY. Yesterday, this mom and dad decided to go along with it...

How does going to a brand-new building with a 747 on top with water slides coming out of it, known as the Evergreen Wings and Waves Indoor Water park, the day before it opens to the public sound? LIKE FUN FUN FUN!

And even better, it was FREE. Bart's company built this water park in McMinnville that opens this week! So as a thank-you to the company, Evergreen held a special event for Hoffman families to come "test" it out before opening to the public. Employees and their families had the entire park to ourselves along with unlimited food from the cafe from 2-8pm yesterday.

The airplane in the picture was literally flown to Evergreen's landing strip before 3 cranes hoisted atop a structure that would be built into a one-of-a-kind water park where 4 giant slides start from inside the airplane! You have to see it to believe it and slide down yourself to enjoy the thrill!

The littles enjoyed the kiddie section that was all done up "air-style"

A shot of Cade flying out of the Mach1 slide...

grabbing a tube and getting ready to go back up for more

This giant helicopter rested way up above the "wooded" play area and filled a huge pail of water...which dumped ferociously on all the unexpecting children below ...or on those, like Ty who discovered its timing and waited below for it to fill and feel the downpour

And Luke loved to sit in the nearby lounge chair and laugh at kids getting dumped on!

Everyone was water-logged and exhausted and all smiles as we left - well, except Bo in this picture who was unhappy that he couldn't have another hot dog before leaving - it was definitely SOMEWHERE FUN! You'll have to go try it out if you live close. Or come visit and we'll take you. And it's indoors, so it's open year round! A fabulous family day. Thanks Evergreen. I'm sure we'll be back!

Birthdays

Tyler loves sharing a party with his mom :)
Good thing he got his own too. He partied in the "fast lane" with some bowling and pizza for his 9th birthday. Scheduling his party around Memorial Day weekend is always tricky, but he has some great friends who were sure to be there and made it a fun celebration.

The Birthday Boy

One of Tyler's best gifts is being a good friend. He is such a kind and thoughtful kid. This year he had a speech to write and give for school on "How to Make and Keep a Friend" and he confidently told me - "I don't need much help on this one mom, I know this well."

They came, they bowled, they ate pizza and brownie sundaes, they made a mess, they got hyper and they were picked up by their parents - the mess was left behind! My kind of birthday party. Like I always say, this is my way of saying "Happy Birthday to ME"!