A Red, WHITE, and Blue 4th

Thanks to the White family for introducing us to the wonders of Washington fireworks! The afternoon started with a little friendly Dads & Uncles v. Kids baseball (nobody here is competitive, right?). And we had lots of great food and lots and lots and lots of long-overdue conversation (yes, Tara, I'm talking about you!!). Then Alec and the boys got to play with their fireworks toys. No major injuries to report. What a great time!!

Tiny Dancers

lHere are some pics from the girls' dance recitals. Caroline was in her first recital ever, and was super excited to be on stage! Both girls did a great job, and they're quite the little hams, as you can see --

Caroline the Ballerina:
Katie the Ballerina:Katie's tap/jazz costume, along with her friends Kylie and Ruby:

Preschool & Kindergarten Graduation

It's officially summer! Caroline successfully finished her first year of preschool. She can write her numbers 1 through 6, and knows all her letters and numbers through 20. We've noticed tremendous improvement in her speech clarity and vocabulary. The end of the year also marked the end of Katelyn's kindergarten year. Her newest accomplishment is beginning to read chapter books on her own! I can't believe these kids have grown so fast!

The musical presentation:

Mrs. Kilstrom, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Skloss - what a fantastic group of teachers! Thank you for all your work with our girls!Daddy and the kids

Helvetia Half Marathon

I ran the Helvetia Half this year as part of my training for the Portland Marathon. It was a tough 13.1 miles, but I didn't walk at all, and was able to finish strong!

Coming around the corner... finish line is only a few steps away:
My cheerleaders:
Our Family - Helevetia 2010
Our Family - Helvetia 2008:

Kid Shenanigans

We made a mini-trip up to Seattle for more Laidlaw visiting. Tamu bought special hats for the kids, and after about 10 different attempts, here is the picture we were finally able to capture... it took serious work to get these three to sit still all at once!



We spent Father's Day at the Portland Saturday/Sunday market. One of the performers was a group of belly dancers. Here's a picture of Joey watching them... totally enthralled, almost to the point of oogling. Isn't it a bit early for this??

Our underfed linebacker:

Here's Katie, our T-Ball Star - batting and running like a champ!