Update

What have we been up to? Just playing outside when it is not raining. We took the kids bowling on Sunday night - that was a lot of fun.

I have a TS party tonight my first since June really. I kind of took a vacation after 5 parties in June. It has been nice but I am looking forward to getting back into it.

Nothing really exciting has been happening here - will post some new pics.

Love,
Jess

Dirt Ball Camping 2007

9 Hrs later we arrived in Bend, OR to camp on the Deschutes River just up from Pringle Falls. This is a Hulings family tradition. I have camped with my family since I was a little girl and we have always camped in the same place. This year we had a new spot...because well it is 2007 and we had 1 motorhome, 1 camper, 1 trailer, and 1 5th Wheel (my grandma would be proud that I even know the difference). Then we had 3 tents. There were a total of 20 of us camping. We had such a blast!

There are no bathrooms, no hookups and it is just a BIG dust ball. We fish, read "smut" magazines, swim at S. Twin Lakes, eat and eat some more, drink, fish some more, and just hang out and play games. My favorite game this year was Mexican Train. I did not even play nerts which has always been my favorite. It is so fun to introduce the kids to camping in the great outdoors. They had so much fun. Liam and Reilly caught fish and Reilly loved catching them in the net. Liam loved driving the boat and reeling in. He is not so big on touching the fish. Jason spent a lot of time fishing and loved it! I of course caught the biggest fish (hee hee) a rainbow trout atleast 12 in. We catch and release now.

After day 4 we were all dirty and out of clothes and well ready to come home. The boys were so dirty. I finally had to wash my hair in the river I could not take it anymore. Natalie loved camping. She loved exploring all over and running in the dirt. She took a couple face plants and was covered in a cloud of dust. She even road in the paddle boats out on Twin Lakes. It was a lot of fun for me because I had a lot of help with the kids so I actually got to read a good book and take a nap.

Well we are back home...the trip home was going really well and we made it to Yakima in 5 hours. We were excited that this time we would be home in 7 hrs and then we hit traffic just as we got to Cle Elum. Needless to say we stopped for dinner thinking we would rather have full bellies sitting in traffic then a bunch of crappy pants. We hit the road and drove into the drive way at about 7:30pm. We left the campsite at 9:52am. We stopped only twice. WOW! Thank God for Jason's laptop because the kids got to watch a lot of movies. They were troopers.

I have cleaned out our friends trailer and reloaded it with their stuff. Now I am doing oh...10 loads of laundry just from 6 days. Sad! Just to make sure you understand the pile you see in the picture goes up to the door knob. So sad!

It is beautiful out here today so that makes it nice. Have a great week.

Love,

Jess

Whats New?

Well it has finally been nice again this week. We went to the Zoo last Saturday with cousin Morgan. Mema and Papka Goobs drove the "bego" over on Saturday and we had a camp out in it. The boys love the "bego". They even tried to drive it this weekend. Scared Pakpa Goobs to death - but everyone was alright.

This week I have had the James kids here and the kids have all been going to VBS at Lake Sawyer Christian Church up the road. I have weeded and done a ton of yard work. Jason had his first day at the church

today for his new job as Creative person for Childrens ministry. Liam has his second soccer game tonight. It is hot! Natalie has a double ear infection but is on medication now and doing better. Her two year molars are coming in along with about 5 other teeth on the top and bottom so thank the Lord for MOTRIN!

Off to make tacos for dinner tonight and get ready for the game. Natalie LOVES the camera - check out her "cheese". I finished her one year album finally! Now on to 2007 family album. I have never been so far behind, but well I am still ahead according to most people.

Love to all,

Jess

Well it has been a good week so far. The sun is shining and we are enjoying the outdoors. We took a trip to Lk. Wilderness yesterday with Jacob, Amanda and Hannah. We had a blast swimming and playing. Liam swam out to the bouys all by himself with the water wings on.

Reilly got his new saw in the mail today. This is what he bought with his money from the Picket family for his birthday. He is so happy. He said in his best and cutest Reilly voice "now I'd can chop wood with my dad". He even had protective googles. It is hilarious! First thing he did was head to the wood pile - only if it really worked - Jason could use the help.

Natalie is busy and into everything. She is fast too! At the lake yesterday I realized why people have those leashes for their kids. She was gone in 1 sec. Nevermind, that anyone she saw with food she went over and begged for some. She can spot food from across the beach!

Liam had his first soccer game yesterday. Now that was funny! I have never seen so many preschoolers chasing each other around with out a clue what they are doing. The team they played had one player who knew what he was doing so the kids all pretty much chased him around the field until he scored a goal and then they would do it all over again. Liam loved it!

No big plans for the weekend - just a few visitors. Cousin Morgan is coming down tomorrow to hang out for the night and then Mema will be here on Saturday. Sunday is church and then just some rest.

PlayDough Fun

We are finally all feeling better from the cold and crud we had for a over a week. Natalie is still a bit under the weather. We had some friends over today which was really fun and the boys were so happy to have buds to play with. The yucky part has been the rain. Ms. Olivia came over too and we made homeade playdough. The kids had a blast and I thought it was rather easy.

Liam made blue of course

Shane made purple

Reilly made yellow

Olivia made Watermelon Red

Ben just wanted to play with the spoons

Natalie just wanted to eat it and spit it out - yuck!

Just a fun day!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Reilly Roo!

what a fun day. we celebrated Reilly's birthday today with a few of his friends. It was so much fun watching him. He loved every minute of it! His favorite part was his rocket cake. Now him and Liam are playing with all the new toys.

Here are some pictures.

Dog Days of Summer...

It is a hot sunny day here in Black Diamond we are at 94 degrees today. Liam is in vacation bible school this week and loving it! We spent the day by the pool just trying to beat the heat. The kids love playing in the water.

This past weekend we went to Orcas Island for a friends wedding which was so much fun and relaxing. Mom and Goobs came over and watch all the kids here at the house. It was really great - they celebrated Reilly's birthday with a spiderman party and purple cupcakes. Reilly got a rocket bike. He loves it! He is so excited for his upcoming Rocket party this Friday with a few of his friends (more like Liams friends and mine as it is hard to find friends at 3).

Just thought I would update the blog. My washer is still broke and Sears is suppost to come over tomorrow to fix which will be the 4 r/s and a month since my washer has not worked. I have been doing laundry at various friends houses - thank goodness they let me or I would be in trouble.

Well I am out of here for now.

Love,

Jess

Summer Days...

I would like to say that I have pictures of this past week, but I do not. The kids and I went to Yakima last Monday to attend VBS at First Pres. with their cousins. I brought everything we owned except the camera. I can not beleive it! I guess you will have to just take my word for it that we had fun.

VBS was awesome. They had 367 kids and 208 volunteers it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen and brought me to tears. Once again I cried at the thought of wanting to move to Yakima again and be close to family. It is so hard to go there and then come home. I love it here but there is something to be said about being close to family. It is probably because I grew up around my extended family and we were all very close that I desire this for my kids.

Besides VBS...which Liam and Reilly loved. We had a sleep over 2 nights in a row with our cousing Jack, Grant and Maddie. Then we went swimming and played outside. We rode bikes and just hung out. The kids had so much fun together. This trip we stayed at Nana's condo since she was gone which worked out nicely for Natalie and sleeping arrangements with the kids. We got to visit Mema and Papka Goobs on Wednesday. The kids and I made dinner for them and we just hung out. Then Friday we jetted back home so that I could do a TS party.

I closed out June with the biggest month so far...I had $2338.00 in retail sales for the month. Crazy! July is no where near that, but I am amazed at how well I did in June. Saturday daddy hung out with the boys and they went to sportsmans warehouse and then to see Ratatouille. I had some girlfriends over for a Southern Living party. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday it was church and then home to be together. We went to a friends for a BBQ last night and that was it.

I am still out a washer due to Sears not showing up last week and then getting here today and telling me they had to order a part and because of the holiday it will not be here till Thursday and they can not install till Friday. Ugh....my good neighbor Jenni has been letting me use her washer and dryer today to wash clothes. Bless her!!!!!!! Ten fold...the laundry was piling to a astronomical amount.

Alright, I must go to bed. Love to all,
Jess

A Day at Lake Nolte

Well summer is finally here. We had beautiful weather today - finally! It marks the beginning of summer for us. I am watching my good friend Kileen's kids Jacob (13), Amanda (10) and Hannah (7) for the summer on Tue & Wed. Tuesday we spent the day at Lk. Wilderness and had a picnic lunch and then yesterday I picked the kids up and we headed to Nolte State Park. It was a lot of fun. I bet Amanda $5 she could not swim to the buoy and back - she tried but it was too cold. We got to watch a bald Eagle swoop down and take a baby duck that was swimming across the lake with its Mommy and brothers and sisters. It was very sad and we tried to get it to fly away by yelling at it, but it was determined. Even a flock of Crows tried to detour it. It was amazing to watch as I have never seen anything like it and it was up close, but sad at the same time.

We spent the rest of the day napping and reading then playing outside at there house. It was a fun day and my kids were worn out.

This brings us to Mid June...

Then the following weekend we went to Yakima on the 14th for my cousin's wedding. It was a whirlwind trip. We arrived Thursday afternoon and left Sunday morning. Thursday night Natalie decided she should be up most of the night. She was not happy and I think it was because I feed her pork chops and we do not normally eat that. She was really mad and the only ones that got to sleep that night were Liam and Reilly we even woke Papka Goobs up. No sleep for the weary...

The next day we got a chance to go to our nephew Gran't 6th birthday party. It was supposed to be a pool party can you beleive we brought the rain with us to Yakima. Plan B was put into motion and we at lunch at Grannie Ruth's with all Grant's friends. Can I say bologna sandwhiches are the bomb! Then we headed off to the arcade by my moms house. We had mud pie - yummy thanks to my SIL friend Shannon whose son Jaden was having a double party with Grant. What fun we had with 13 little rugrats. I of course was playing freeze tag, red-rover red rover, and other games with the kids while the moms watch - ha! You know me the crazy one. My SIL friends always ask her to invite me to entertain the kids (j/k). It was fun and Liam and Reilly loved hanging with all the kids.

After the party we headed back to Mema's for naps. Then up for dinner and rehearsal. Jason arrived that night and we went out to Morgan's SIL to the rehearsal dinner. It was fun and we watched a movie Morgan made for Tony. Then home to sleep!

Saturday started early. I went to the Cascade Gardens to help set up the wedding and then mom took care of the kids. We were back by 11:30 to feed everyone, nap and get ready for pictures. The wedding was at 5:30pm. It went well and Morgan and Tony looked great. The kids did awesome. I took my camera but was running around so much I never snapped a single photo at the wedding. I will get some of the ones Morgan's friend from school took. My kids were stinking cute!

After the wedding we headed home to Mema's around 9:30pm and we all crashed. We were up and out of the house by 8:30am to head home to hear Jason sing at church. We got there around 10:45am. By the time we got home everyone was hungry and tired. Reilly, Natalie and I napped for about 3 hrs while Jason and Liam watched the US Open golf tournament. Then Jason napped. We enjoyed a yummy dinner at Mam's dinner house here in BD and a movie rental.

There you have it we are all caught up.

June...where has it gone?

In early June Natalie and I went to my cousin Morgan's bachelorette party at my Aunt Angie's house in Government Camp, OR. The boys got to stay home with dad and Nana. We missed out on the Maple Valley Days, but I guess it rained a lot that weekend here.

It was rainy and wet in Government Camp too, but we still had fun. We hiked a 2mi hike around Trillium (not sure if that is how you spell it) lake and my Aunt Angie and mom got lost - now that was not funny but the story of how they got lost is...It all started with a ring of a cell phone which was my cousin Ryan calling my Aunt. So us girls kept hiking figuring that they would catch up. We walked around and then sat by the cars talking. Finally, when the conversation turned quiet and we realized no Angie and Liz were in sight we decided to go look for them. After a few of us ran around the lake to find them and some of us drove around they finally surfaced. Come to find out Angie got them lost. You may ask how someone who runs that trail and lives up there would get lost and that is a good question. All we can say it that we think altitude had something to do with her disorientation. The story goes that they were walking and Angie decided that it did not look right so they walked in a different direction and after a while they got lost. Mom started setting out things so they could keep track of where they were. Mom had to go potty so bad by the time she went well us women know what happened. When we found them they were cold, tired, disorientated and hungry oh and laughing hysterically. It was not long that they were lost, but long enough.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. We played games, watched Morgan open gifts and dressed up in our tacky prom dresses. It was a lot of fun!

Finally an update...

So here is the deal...I ruined my camera over Memorial Day weekend. I left it outside by the campfire and it rained. It has been a very tramatic week and half without a camera. I have missed so much on film. But today I got a new camera in the mail...you might ask who sent it but those of you that know her will know...my mama. She misses my blogs so much that she bought me a new camera and it is awesome. Some diff. features from the other one, but great pictures.

Okay enough about all that. Here is what is new...

Liam is done with his first year of preschool and we will be homeschooling in the fall (kindergarten). He wants to learn to swim this summer and loves to ride his bike and play with his good friend Shane.

Reilly turns 3 next month and is growing up so fast. He is enjoying the summer and being outside with all the worms and bugs.

Natalie is walking or should I say running and into just about everything. She is trying so hard to keep up with her brothers. She is finally sleeping from 8pm to 5am - again after the ear infections.

Jason is busy with work as always. He is getting more involved with church as part of the production team and now getting into worship team again. He is going to sing a song on Father's Day by Rodney Adkins (country singer). He has been taking the boys golfing which they love and spending a lot of time with the kids while I work (Tastefully Simple).

I as always am ending out the year with MOPs and MOMs Club. Glad preschool is done and looking forward to the fall and homeschooling. Busy with daily life at home, but finding the time to do things that I love like scrapbooking, hanging with friends, and well talking - ha! ha!

We have a lot on our schedule for this summer. Up next...Morgans Bachelorette party on the 8-11 and then the wedding on the 16th and then some TS Parties. I have 5 parties booked for this month my best month yet. We will be doing some camping hopefully when our camper gets fixed. Jason is golfing when he can. We hope to visit family in OR sometime this summer and as always head to Yakima a few times.

Well I will now be able to post pics with my new camera. Oh yeah and here is my new kitchen table - thanks Jodi for the great FREE find.

Hope you all have a blessed day,

Love,

Jess

Gone Fishin

This is the cutest thing ever! Seriously, I was in stitches. Liam and Jason went .

fishing last night at a friends house. He lives on a local lake here in Black Diamond.

They fished at dusk until it was dark out.

When Liam got home he had this fish in a bag and told me that dad's friend told him he could not sleep

with the fish. Liam wanted to take the fish to bed with him.

I laughed so hard...he was so excited and could hardly stand it.

He was very concerned because he did not catch a fish and what was I going to do with the fish.

We had to put him in the fridge and Liam was not sure that would be okay with the fish.

Just the pure innocents is adorable!

Seaside, OR

We had such a great time this past weekend in Seaside. Our trip with our friends was so much fun. We stayed at this little place called Columbia Cottage owned by Red Door Properties (Pete in our groups mom). It was perfect for the kids and only two blocks away from the beach.

We had great weather the day we arrived and tehn pretty much rain. We had some breaks and tried to get to the beach when we could. It was really windy but the kids had plenty of time to play. We also took them to the Carosel and they loved that! It was challenging with all the kids and nap and bedtime, but we made it and the kids had so much fun together. Before we left Olivia was saying she wanted to go to our house to play. The boys were saying the same thing.

Minus the rainy drive home we had a ton of fun. Scott & Olivia stayed in a house behind us and Pete stayed in the condo next to us. Shaun & Anne shared a house with us. Hope you enjoy the pictures - I have so much more.

Jess