Day 411- signs of summer!

I like all the Seasons of the year... Fall because its so pretty, Winter for Snowboarding, Spring because its my Birthday, and Summer time because uhh its Summer time!! (duh)

I love Summer because there is so much going on and so much to do, but it always goes so fast. 

The last few years i felt like i totally missed it... 

I feel like it's easy to recognize when Summer ends... but when does it start? 

When school gets out, right? 

If we were going by that this year, it still wouldn't be Summer at our house...

Does it start June 20th? 

Technically yes, but that's not always the case either....

In my opinion, Summer starts when you have all (or some of) the Signs of Summer... 

-Warm weather! 

It's been in the 90s here for the last week(ish)!! Yay!

-Motorcycle rides!

this is our favorite pic of the summer (so far!)

-Moving the sprinkler every 40 minutes (that's kyle) 

- Forgetting to move it every 40 minutes (that's me).

-BBQ (like every other night) 

 btw, this is the best BBQ sauce, Sweet Baby Ray's [Raspberry Chipotle] - try it, i dare you! 

We are charcoal BBQers, I am still trying to perfect my charcoal cooking.... give me a stove and i am good to go! give me charcoal and your chicken might be a little chewy. 

 

-Pasta salad!

-Sitting or laying or napping on the grass- in the sun of course!!

-Cute sandals-- Chacos!!

-Painted toenails.

-Listening to the wind chime in the evening!

-Having the windows open! In the car and house.

-Wakeboarding

-Playing at the lake (I miss boating so much!!)

courtesy of my dad for sending this wakeboard/ boat pic. I wish I was home! 

Luckily we found a lake only a half hour away from our house! Yay!

-Camping! (Yuck Mosquitoes...!)

- Smelling like camp fire

-Eating dinner at 9pm because its still as light out as 6pm and time snuck by.

-Tan lines!

-Road Trips.

a little french fry fun-- we are entertained very easily

-Drinking lots and lots of Lemonade!!

-Pulling weeds.

so not my favorite chore, but on the happy side our flower beds look great

-Roasting marshmallows!

-Car/ motorcycle washes at home!

it's free at home!!!

-No make-up because my face is sun kissed!

-Popsicle for dinner? I think yes!! 

(The cherry mango ones from Smiths are my favorite- ten pack for a dollar!!)

-Sunglasses!

-Bicycle / Longboard  rides!

-Pretty sunsets!

oh, and i almost forgot.... 

-A cute husband riding a motorcycle

and getting a farmers tan :) 

Yay for Summer Time!! I hope you all enjoy it while it lasts! 

I can't wait until Kyle is out of school (3 more weeks) so we can enjoy our Summer a little more! 

What are your favorite signs of Summer ?

HAPPY SUMMER Y'ALL!!

And lets not talk about the signs of Fall until atleast September please and thanks!

*I can't believe I just said y'all...I must be hanging out with Montana folks a lot  ;)

Day 408- let's go fly a kite!

And when I say kite I mean KITE!! It was ginormous!! When I first got it into the air it started it come down and it pulled me belly down and across the grass! I was laughing so hard (and everyone else!)! After quite a few tries I finally got the hang of it (it was a lot harder than it looked) but it was tons of fun! Our good friends James and Sarah own the kite so I'm sure we will get to have more fun with it again... And maybe with Kyle next time! I totally left him at home to work in school work (I'm so bad, I know).

Day 405- Dads Day!

Kyle and I have two of the best Dads!! They would drop anything to help any of their children!
I remember once when my brothers and I all had sporting events on the same day, one was up by the Canadian/ Washington boarder and the other two were at our high school. My dad made it to all 3 events!! He made it so he would do his weekly work up north that day so be could see the beginning of Trevor's track meet then he booked it (2 1/2 ish hours) home to watch Spencer in a Tennis match and me in a volleyball match! He is amazing! More than once when I lived in Yakima he would just call me and say "I'm in town want to go to dinner?" Then at dinner I'd ask if work brought him to town and only sometimes that was the case most of the time it was "I was just in the mood for a drive and seeing you" I love my dad so much!
Kyle's dad is just as wonderful!! Kyle was sick a few weeks ago and while he was laying on the couch he told me a story about when he was young and home sick from school...he said he was laying on the top bunk feeling the same way he did that day and his dad got home from work and came in to see him and he gave him a little toy jeep to help him feel better! Kyle loves jeeps, so I'm sure it helped. Kyle often talks about going on trips with him in his dads truck, where they would listen to old music and just talk. His dad has a love for cars, Kyle and Steve can repair a car over the phone (and the do often). This year we had the chance of being in Great Falls with him!
I am so great full for the wonderful Dads we have!! I know Kyle will as good as a dad as them because of the great example they are!
This is a little something I whipped up for Steve while Kyle was doing homework on Saturday evening! **it is cream soda**

Day 402- 404 Rock N Rowley Reunion!!

This last weekend was my first Rowley Reunion! It is every 2 years in Lincoln, Montana (yes, where the uni bomber was from) They rent a big lodge and three little cabins and everyone takes a bunk. We were in a small cabin with Kyles siblings and nieces and nephews.

The theme this year was "Rock N Rowley"
We got there late Thursday night, so we visited with the few people that were still awake we set up our bunks and crashed.

The day before we left we realized i didn't have a sleeping bag here, it is still packed away at my Dads house... so naturally i start dreaming big and I jump on REI.com and found the perfect double sleeping bag! we still had REI gift cards from our wedding so we called and ordered them over the phone and Kyle's cousin picked them up for us and they were waiting on our bunks when we got to the cabin...SCORE!! Happy Wedding present to us 7 months later :)  They are so perfect, and very nice and warm!

THE FUN WE HAD....
-We had amazing Apple French toast! yumm yumm!

-We played Ultimate Frisbee! - one of my favorite games! 

-We went for a walk along the river-- I was so pretty up there!!

-Ate snow cones!

-Went paint balling--can i just say OUCH! but way fun!

< Cat and i all ready for paintball!! Kyle and his brother Todd had to go into town to find Internet so they could do some homework so we represented for a few rounds, until they got back!



 Family Picture!

 < minutes after Kyle cut his hair for the rockin roll part of the evening. haha! the sides are super short, the back and top are long and his side burns are long. Can you tell?? it looked awesome for a rock star thats for sure!

 see kyle's dad in the back row...button up shirt and nicely combed hair....just wait for the tshirt and fohawk!!

                                         

We had so much fun getting all dressed up! 

(sorry  the group one is blurry, its from my phone and the person taking them didn't know how to focus it)
The girls had big hair!

The boys put on eyeliner ( yuck! i was not a fan of that)

The Kids loved the fun hair colors!

here are some others that dressed up...

ABBA!  

                                                       Sonny and Cher  and their rock star kids

A little Bieber anyone?!?

Mr. AC DC and Mrs. Katy Perry

 It was a fun evening! 

Kyle and I had to bailed as soon as they brought out Rock Band and dessert... back into town we went for Kyle to finish up the last of his homework before midnight!

WE ALSO...

made rockets out of paper and one of Kyle's cousins had a rocket launcher concoction, so we watched all kinds of fun looking rockets launch into the air

I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family! They are so fun, loving, and inviting I felt like i had been in the family for years! I was so impressed with myself that i learned all the adults and a couple of handfuls of kids names! I think his grandma said there was roughly 80 people there.

It was definitely a rockin weekend!

Day 390- furniture face lift!

Kyle's grandmother passes away a few months ago and we got some of her furniture, His mom brought us a dresser and night stand (and washer and drier!! Yay for no more laundromat) a few weeks ago. When we got the dresser we decided it would not go in our room, where it was much needed, until we gave it a little face lift. There is no better motivation to get a project done then having it in the middle of your living! Deciding what we wanted to do was the hardest part, but it was a piece of cake after that.
We decided to go with a "rusic/ old" looking finish because that is what our room already has in it (barn wood head board that Kyle made, old windows are under construction for night stands) so The crackle look is would be! Kyle sanded for me, I painted and crackled and painted again! It turned out so much better then we anticipated!! It was definitely a learning experience, but it was so fun!
The dresser is now in our room and the night stand is in our little entry way. It's amazing how a little face lifting can really complete a little house...All week at least once a day Kyle has said to me I love our place now! Or I love having a clean cute house (meaning not having a dresser in the middle of the living room) I love it too!
Now for the before and after pics...

Day 385- 387 s'm'oreos!!

For Memorial Day weekend we went to McCall, Idaho! My family has a timeshare up there, so we met my Mom and Fritz for the long weekend. It's a cute little tourist town, it reminded me a lot of back home and going to Lake Chelan.
We walked around town, looked at the cute shops, yummy bakeries, and dream houses. We asked a local what he would suggest for us to do, and he said we should drive around the lake (20miles) so we did just that! About half way around the lake we stopped at a day use park and we built a little fire in a fire pit and roasted marshmallows. I never have been much of a s'mores person, but I am always up for a new idea (like York patties or Reeses peanut butter cups, those two are my favorite s'more variations) so whenI saw "s'm'oreos" on pinterest the week before, use a Oreo cookie instead of graham crackers, and I was determined to try this oh so wonderful looking idea! And I am pleased to say it was not bad!!
We did many more fun things like: hot tub, play pool and pingpong, work on my quilt, eat very good food, and enjoy time with family. It was nice to get away and enjoy the weekend!