"Camping at the River"

Oxbow Park... Dwight and Kristi were up from Mexico and hangin' out so everyone came out. What a blast! The day was SO hot, but the river was wonderfully cold. These are some pictures from the swimming...

August is the BEST!

After meetings and more meetings and even more meetings (and conference calls and emails and another meeting) the MAACO build-to-suit site saw some action! "The boys" are checking out the footings. Underneath this slab, we buried the Bible verses that have gotten us this far, plus some promises for success on a stake. We have a lot of hope for what could come of this!

We love the Clark County Fair! We have made it a yearly event to see the Crash-Up Derby on Friday night. Our boys just get so excited over the loud motors and munched-up cars. Trinity thought they were crazy! She'll probably drive one when she grows up, right?

Yes! This is the FOUNDATION for our Maaco! WOW!!!!!! It's really BIG!!!

Summer happens fast - already it's August and the cloudy day makes me feel like summer shouldn't have started, yet, and here it is more than half through. Or maybe I'm just getting older, so time flies faster. Who to blame?!

I didn't get even one picture at our "Day in Damascus", which was an absolute blast. For about $20 our kids got t-shirts and jumped in a bounce-house, raced goldfish and wooden cars, ate pizza from Papa Murphy's, got finger-printed and a police sticker, a fire-safety slap bracelet and dug thru hay for candy. We could have even taken a ride on the Monster Truck if our time hadn't already run out and Shad was off to a birthday party! It's hard to pack in all the fun sometimes!

We've had other fun, tho, too! Diamond went into heat and we had to move Dollar down to the patio for his own sanity temporarily. He hates being on a chain, of course, after living in his doggy-suite, but he found out he could squeeze into my planter box this morning, apparently. It's at least 10 years old, so it won't survive our 70 lb dog, but I didn't kick him out. Before we move him back "home", we'll be cleaning out the storage. A rat family moved in and made themselves at home. Since we live out here with coyotes and wild rabbits and the occasional cougar, I suppose it makes sense, but we've had the eebie-jeebies as we've tried to convince them to move on (or pass on!) It was time to re-arrange things, anyway, and get rid of stuff we're storing for no reason besides not wanting to throw it away, yet.

Sometimes it's nice to hold on... hold on to summer or stuff or youth. I mean, I can't believe our boys are old enough to go to birthday parties and bowling parties on their own! At least, I still drive them to and from! I felt like I was prying my hands deliberately back from holding onto Aidan too tightly yesterday as I dropped him off at the bowling alley with some friends. Growing up is Ok, I guess! I'm not done with summer, tho... we've got some campground hangin' out to do with Aunt Kristi and Uncle Dwight up from Mexico, the snake man at the library, the Burn's Feed store pony painting day... day trips to the lake and the beach... ?! "Sieze the day!"

Armstrongs Love Cars

The only thing we know for sure is that we're having a blast! It was a lot of work, too, loading up the Camaro and bringing it out of seclusion to show off so early in the build. The Abundant Life Car Show is close and we know everyone, so we did it!

Our car buddies were all there... the Corvette and Mustang right next to our awesome truck as well as the two-time '70s class winner Nick and his blue Nova. His wife, Katie, brought out her gorgeous '64 Nova wagon with the two kids and the mini-poodle.

Even Nana showed up just as I was losing my cool (it does happen, if unfrequently) over Cam and Trin fighting over the umbrella stroller that no one rides in anymore. She was a life-saver, as usual, and we enjoyed a relaxing lunch and stroll through the show with her.

Another Car Show

We have had so much fun going to car shows this summer!!!!!! Trinity found a purple car she thought was soooo cute and Camten found a green one with a blower (it was even for sale!)

Dad and Ted have had a blast buying a bunch of raffle tickets and gatherings their winnings all day. They each report to all of us the latest prize... a hat, more car wash, a t-shirt, a set of screw-drivers ("I totally needed that!") and tons of other great and useful stuff. I love it, 'cause there's always something for me... a bag of lotions, a free coffee, a gift card to a grocery store!

The goal, of course, is to win a trophy, and everyone hangs out all day in hope! Ted won with his yellow Corvette at least once and his wife, Robin, won with her teal Mustang, too. We were up against tough competition with our truck. At this show we got beat out by a Jeep... a JEEP!! Obviously the judges don't know what a "truck" is. So far we have found judging everywhere to be unsettling. Either the chosen judges didn't realize this was a "classic" car show and awarded someone's newer purchase that should not even have been entered in a show, or a local car club came with all their friends and voted for each other!!! Either way, we have found a way to explain every situation we haven't come home with a trophy this year. I don't think anyone could fault us for trying hard, tho! And we have lots of car wash!

SOMEONE...

...GOT AHOLD OF MOM'S CAMERA!

What totally gets me is how Camten will pose for his brother when he won't for me! What's up with that?!

Super Summer Spectacular! Aaah-HA!

So... how many kids are there?! I only have FIVE. :-) We're part of a group of 25 - the B-2's. The Blue Group is about 100. We're the little group - Green and Yellow are about 150 each and Pink is 200 large! Then there's the Preschool depts! But I only have FIVE. That'll do me!

Aidan, Ainsley, Caleb, Davis and Kaden... what an awesome group of kids! My favorite time is the worship and singing. The kids Pastor is leading live with a little kids' band called the Splats.

My kids love the Games, of course. The funnest part is running away from leaders (huff, huff, gasp) and getting soaked with the water guns!

But we've done all kinds of things this week! The unscheduled event was the cricket catching at snack time. I don't know anything about who went home saying they were eating crickets at SSS! (Not mine! My boys brought bug catchers so they could keep them, "and sell them" added Aidan.)

Celebrating Life

The "Father -Son" breakfast followed by a trip to the Flight Museum was a hit! Jim and Jeremy had a great time hanging out with some great guys at a great place. This picture was taken in the cockpit of the Spruce Goose! Our kids were totally jealous. Only, we had a super day, too, 'cause...

It was Angie's Birthday!!!!! Yay! The day was pretty hot, so after ice cream cake (what a great idea!) we checked out Scaponia Park with swimming gear!

My kids loved hanging out with Uncle Jon and Aunt Angie and their cousins. The water was sooooo cold! It was refreshing! We could have stayed all day except for the bugs that seemed to be gathering from miles around in growing numbers!

Friends

Great blessings start young sometimes.

Camten is that wonderful age where he's determining who his "very best friend" is. Almost every day it's someone new, and Mom is only on the list if he's not in trouble.

Austin is on the list, and Jessa would be on Trinity's list if we could discuss it. She tried crawling some and decided it's nice being a big girl... phew!

1st Annual VBS at the Scappoose GAP

The Armour of God...
Great theme, Great program, Great leadership!
Great crafts, Great "mad scientist"!
Totally FUN people in a totally fun place!



My kids thought we'd found one of the best events of the whole year and asked me to clear next year's schedual so we wouldn't miss a single day! This year we had to pause in our pursuit of fun to attend a Birthday Party... which turned out to be a BLAST, too! Amazing how that works!

"The Best 4th, Yet!"

Papa Jim started the Truck Fort tradition for the 4th. Usually he empties out his own truck and lays out rugs or blankets... this year we provided a parts truck and he brought the tent top and blankey "rug". Daryl and Becca also came with little Hannah and Dad, or Pastor Mike, or "just Mike". What a Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th!!!!!!

Ted and Robin invited us to join them in the Classic Rides parade in Corbett! We won 2nd place for our totally awesome truck and had a GREAT time! Nana (and Papa Jim) made it just in time despite closed roads and detours.

We taped squirly Bible verses on our candy and passed out Gospels of John, running out of everything about a third of the way along the parade route! Then we just smiled and waved, "HAPPY 4TH!" Everyone smiled and waved all over town all day... right through the car show and fair, where the big boys each won goldfish. We headed home loaded with treasures and candy for a short rest before our fireworks display on our hill. "The Best 4th, yet!"