15 Blissful Years

July 31, 1993 - July 31, 2008

Summer Favorites

My friend Candace "tagged" us to do a list of favorite summer songs. I've given that challenge to Mark, since as I told Candace, the only new songs I've really gotten to listen to this summer are the songs on the kids' VBS CD :-)

Now ... a summer's favorite list that I can compile! Our summer's favorite food treats!

My two favorites of the summer have been Mrs. May's Almond Crunch (Val Brase turned me on to this stuff and I absolutely love it! And to make it even better, Costco carries it!) and Mango Salsa (fortunately, also carried by Costco!)

Mark and all four kids, however, are absolutely and completely addicted to Otter Pops this summer! Again, thankfully, we can get a nice, huge box from Costco! Mark calls them "liquid refreshment" because then I think he believes it doesn't count as sugar or dessert! I won't tell you exactly how many of these plastic tubes filled with flavored sugary liquid we've consumed this summer, but I will tell you that we are on our second Costco-size box!

a little rain... a little football...

as rain falls today and football starts friday... i cant help but think of the good times we are about to have...

last year gwen and i traveled to arizona to see the seahawks play the cardinals... we had a great time...







noah and i went to a game in seattle... his first we had an awesome day...

father and son at the BIG game...

i was able to attend two other games with friends from work... this also proved to be very enjoyable...



BUT... what i am looking forward to even more than SEAHAWK football... is HAWK football... noah and ethan start football on friday with the annual "hawk nation" gathering at river ridge high school in lacey, wa... this is the annual kickoff of the tcyfl season... practices start on monday and both boys are looking forward to this... i am gonna be coaching again and ethan is looking forward to his first season of football as a player... not a spectator...

so... as the rain falls and the energy grows... Hawk football cant come quickly enough...

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

Swimming Lessons!

It's that time of the year again ... time for swimming lessons! And this year Cole gets to go, too!

Last year Noah, Ethan and Abby all took lessons at a private athletic club in Tumwater. This year they are taking lessons through Lacey Parks & Rec at River Ridge High School. Noah asked today why we are taking lessons at a different place this year. I told him there are two very good reasons: 1. It's closer (10 minute drive from our house instead of 25) and 2. It's cheaper (I paid less for all four kids this year than I did for three last year!) We all agreed those were very good reasons!

Cole is loving lessons and is more than willing to do everything his teacher asks him to do!

Abby is a little bit more unsure of the whole thing. She's gotten a ton better at just getting her whole head in the water this year as compared to last year, but she's still not crazy about the jumping in part. With a week and a half of lessons still to go, though, I know she's going to get it down and is going to be so proud of herself once she does!

Ethan has improved sooooo much since last year! His confidence just keeps building and he's more and more willing to try new things.

Here's Noah and his good friend Colton. Noah is already swimming pretty well, but is learning some new strokes and breathing techniques that are going to help him really improve what he already knows.

Power Lab

Our church's VBS program this year was Power Lab, where the kids got to learn all about the power of Jesus and do tons of fun games and experiments. (try the mento and diet coke experiment) http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

Ethan, Cole, Noah & Abby are ready for another night of fun.


Cole, Zach and Evie have fun in the dirt!


The Miller fam. Mark was a crew leader for the Powerful Protons and had Noah, Ethan and Abby in his group. I was a crew leader for the Squeaky Beakers and had Cole in my group.

We all had an amazing (and exhausting!) week ...

This next week begins two weeks of swimming lessons and then football practice begins for Noah & Ethan. The summer is going by way too quickly!!

island living...

i just wanted to post a couple of pictures from this last weekend out at our family place on anderson island... we love going out there... maybe its the ferry ride, maybe its the walks on the beach, maybe its tenting in the back yard, maybe its the swimming hole, or maybe its a combination of all of these and more...

here the kids pose by our four man tent that barely sleeps six...

and by their sand castle creations...
walks on the beach always turn into rock throwing contests...


those are so much fun...

i know that i am blessed beyond measure and i truly thank God daily for my family...

great game... all 15 innings...

my good friend tom called me last night about 9:oo to ask if i could use tickets to today's mariner/tigers game at safeco field... without hesitation... i said yes... so my boys noah, ethan and my dad(papa) went with me to a 1:10 afternoon start on a perfect seattle day...

noah needed a new ballcap... so we found one... then we took this picture cause it had a seattle seahawks logo on it... he does look good in the new hat though... dont you agree...









here grandpa and ethan enjoy some yummy safeco food during the game... ethan set out to have all the food on his list... his "list" of food included: popcorn, cotton candy, dippin dots, and soda pop... we did a great job at filling his requests by the sixth inning... and he was very happy...

at that point we didnt realize that the game was only 2/5ths over... it went 15 innings... we even got to sing "take me out to the ballgame" twice (middle of the seventh and the middle of the fourteenth) something i had never done before...


unfortunately the m's came up a little short and they lost... 2 - 1... but we had a great time anyways...

thanks for going papa and we cant wait to do it again soon...

More Photos of Abby's (And Aunt Shirlee's) Special Day

One of the highlights of our vacation was, of course, my Aunt Shirlee's wedding in Minneapolis. Abby was the (most beautiful ever) flower girl. She was so sweet and had so much fun being a party of Aunt Shirlee's wedding day. Her second cousin, (my cousin Chad's son) Jack, was the ring bearer.

Bill & Shirlee with Abby and Jack


The whole wedding party - what a good-looking bunch!


Bill & Shirlee with US!


Jack and Abby making their trip down the aisle ... yes, they are pretty much running ... Abby says she was trying to keep up with Jack ... I have a feeling he may say the same thing about Abby :-)


Phew ... it's over! Walking briskly, but not quite running this time :-)

Thank you, Shirlee & Bill, for letting us share in your special day!

shrimp burger plain...

when we go to mott, gwens hometown in north dakota... there is one place we have to go without fail... thats the poolside drive-in... we love going there for so many reasons...

*they make great mister-misty freezes*

* the portions are huge*

* they do a crunch cone* (a soft serve cone rolled in crunched up captn crunch and sprinkles)

*garlic fries*

*the old time drive in feeling*

and...

* shrimp burgers... plain*

the last item spoken of there... the famous shrimp burger is gwens favorite item... and she has to get it PLAIN... it is by far the happiest i ever see her get about food... its like i see the simple joy of a burger (shrimp) done right... the menu has stayed the same for years... every once in a while adding something new... but rarely taking anything off... we have enjoyed it every trip since i first went out to mott in the summertime...

we love the drive in and we love the town... if anyone wants a great shrimp burger... give us a call and we can arrange the trip... its right next to the pool so bring your suit...

p.s.... if there are any entrepreneurs out there looking... the drive in is for sale... i can get you their number...