Funny faces :)

What you can see is what Bennett could see, I have a "reverse" function on my cell-phone camera.  Captures some pretty adorable footage :)

Bennett sharing his animals with Sawyer

Again... I apologize for the nudity... 

Anyone noticing a theme here with Bennett and his preference for being buck naked?!!!  :)

Random pics

Sawyer is 6 months old now!  

He weighed 19 lbs 5 oz at his check-up yesterday, and is yet again bigger than his big bro was at that age :)

He is starting to swallow more of the food he puts in his mouth, this yummy meal was oatmeal, green beans, and pears... all pureed of course.  I found with Bennett that if I put a cereal and some pears together with any vegetable, he would always eat it!  Pear was his favorite mixer and so far it's looking to be the same with Sawyer :)

I am one lucky lady that's all I can say...

Bennett thinks he's the baby again ;)

Not such a good fit anymore, huh Bennett?!!

And Sawyer goes in for the take-down!!!

Bennett the Entertainer

Bennett has always been very sensitive to Sawyer's cries... but lately he has figured out that if Sawyer starts crying he doesn't have to cry too... he can do something to make him laugh and then it's better for everyone involved!  :)

This is a very short clip of one thing he did last night to help when Sawyer was crying, I wish I could've gotten more footage but I was too late.  

(P.S. Sorry for the nudity!)

Not sure where he learned Japanese...

He just cracks us up :)

Camping trip to Lake Roosevelt

On the road, Daddy heading us north!

Mommy providing back-seat entertainment as usual :)

Sawyer Dean lookin all serious & grown-up! 5 1/2 months old.

We went to a place called Marcus Island Campground which is on beautiful Lake Roosevelt, a little over an hour's drive from our home in Chewelah.

We saw a sign for a "walk-in" campground so we went to check it out, it was AWESOME!  So we chose that site to set up our camp. 

Bennett grabbed a stick, first thing... anyone surprised?!!  :)

Daddy was the first one to jump in!

It was pretty chilly water but not too cold to go for a swim.

Bennett liked it when he was in Daddy's arms, but didn't want his whole body in!

Bennett got to go skinny-dipping if you didn't notice :)

Sawyer got to put his feet in the water too!

We put our chairs down in the water and it was so incredibly relaxing to hang out there in that beautiful place with our two little boys :)

Sawyer sure seemed to enjoy his outdoor naps!

Mommy & Bennett enjoying some yummy BBQ chips... the BBQ chips are becoming a tradition already for our picnics and camping trips!

Mommy enjoying a cold refreshing Bud Light Lime as well :) :) :)

Doesn't get much better than this!

Laurel bought a little air mattress to float on for her relaxation session :)

Bennett so badly wanted to join her on the raft...

...but he quickly changed his mind after he started floating away from mommy & the safety of the shore!

It dropped off SUPER quick on this shoreline, Laurel could probably barely touch the ground where she was at in this picture!

Daddy getting wood chopped for the dinner fire, with his brand new axe from the cool store "Big R" in Colville!

We had brats, corn on the cob, and brown beans for dinner.

And of course for dessert was *s'mores!! 

(*fermenschnatten)

(Members of my immediate family will understand that!)

Sawyer just hanging out, loving life!

Many of you saw this picture on facebook already, but this is the unedited version of it.

As my observant sister Emily already pointed out, you can see Bennett napping in the tent and Sawyer sitting over by us at the campfire :)  Erik & Laurel are playing a game of cards in this pic.  It was a very peaceful moment... I soak those up because they don't happen all that often!!!!

We left the fly off the tent for the first time overnight... and boy did we like that!!!  As you can see, the whole top part of the tent is a screen like it is on the sides, so we had an amazing view of the stars all night long... so unbelievably beautiful :) :) :)  And it was a full moon too so we had a perfect night light for the boys!  

Laurel out for an evening swim.

I love how this picture turned out of Laurel swimming!

A wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

Laurel stayed in Erik's little 2-person tent on the other side of the campsite (you can see it below), she had to leave when the sun came up to go to work, what a trooper!

Erik getting the morning fire ready, we had scrambled eggs, bacon, and camp toast for breakfast!  Bacon is probably Bennett's #1 favorite food, and eggs are a close second :)

Time for Sawyer's "Nap #1" as we call it!  (Out of his daily 4 naps! He's such a great little sleeper!)

This is Erik's morning creation... "woo hoo bars" (Hershey's chocolate bar) melted on some camp toast... Interesting flavor, but he loved it!!!  And that's me down there enjoying my morning coffee by the water's edge :)

We could only spend one night there since I only had Monday & Tuesday off, but it was so great to be able to head out and do this little family camping trip.  It's unusual for Erik and I to have 2 days off in a row together so when it happens we always take advantage of it to the fullest!

While we were setting up camp to head home, both the boys both just conked out, it was pretty darn cute :)

 Hot, dirty, and exhausted!

Here are a couple cool Panorama shots of the campsite that Erik got with an app on my cell phone:

 I had to hold perfectly still!!!

Awesome memories of an awesome family camping trip :) :) :)

Sawyer rolling over!

This video was taken August 15th so he was about 5 1/2 months old, he started rolling over around 5 months but didn't catch it on camera for a while :)

Loved it so much we had to go back!

We have a new favorite picnic spot, on a ski run at the ski resort just 9 miles up the road from our home, 49 Degrees North!  (Or as my Dad calls it, "The Country Club"!!!)

Gotta LOVE the brotherly love :) :) :)

Daddy relaxing with a cold one while the grill warms up!

Putting warmer clothes on the baby...

 It gets chillier up there, it's usually at least 20 degrees cooler on the mountain than in Chewelah!

 Mr. Bennett doing some good exploring :)

 Sawyer wants to EAT OUR FOOD!!!

All in good time little one :)

 A cool thunderhead in the distance.

 This is a pretty spectacular photo of our picnic spot!

We even found a marionberry bush there.... YYYYUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures from my phone

I am having lots of fun editing pictures that I take on my new smart phone, here are some of my recent favorites!  

(*Some of you may have already seen some of these on your phones or on facebook, but i'm putting them up anyway!)

"Nap buds"

"Johnny Jump Up"

LOVE the rolls!

I like to call this one, "These are a few of my favorite things" :)

A picture from a dinner date with my incredibly handsome husband in Spokane a couple weeks ago. It was our belated 3rd wedding anniversary celebration, sponsored (in part) by my parents!  (We racked up a good tab! lol)

"Bennett (the nudist) knows how to stay cool!"

It's been in the 90's here A LOT the past couple months!

(I'm not complaining!)

"Me and my babe"

Waking up from a lovely nap together!

GO PACK GO!!!!

I can't believe football season is already upon us! WOO HOO!!!  It makes Erik excited because it means that ski season is that much closer too :)  

We are getting excited for the big Wisconshington (family league) Fantasy Football draft coming up in a couple weeks!!!  My Aunt Mary (aka "The Butcher") is the reigning champion from last season... it'll be fun to see who will take the traveling trophy this time!!!

(*P.S., photo credit for the beautiful picture of the packer flag flying over Grindstone Lake in Wisconsin goes to my mama!  I only did a little editing on it!)

Erik took this picture the other day, Sawyer looks SO BIG!!

I had fun taking pictures of Sawyer in this cute outfit that one of the nice ladies from our church got him:

Hindsight being 20/20... I should've moved that chair in the background, and got the tree scraps off that blanket... but at the time I didn't realize how good the pictures would turn out!!!

Another cute outfit from another nice lady at church!!!