Family night outside the temple

We took advantage of the last, warm, sunny evenings of Fall by going to the temple last Monday. I brought my camera in case we wanted to take a few pictures...but that ended up being the theme of our trip...photos at the temple. Some are a little crazy, some are a little cheezy, but all show how much fun we had!
The Seattle Temple has some beautiful bronze statues. We decided to see how close we could replicate them in real life!"...I love to see the Temple...I'm going there some day..."I can't take credit for any of these pictures...Tim did a great job behind the lens!

Go Green Geckos

Sophia tried soccer for the first time this Fall and is loving it. The season is almost over as quickly as it came. But, we have been enjoying her Tuesday the Thursday games. Go Green Geckos!

"Once in a lifetime"

Last Saturday night was incredible! Tim bought 2 tickets for us to celebrate our anniversary early and go to the Keith Urban concert at the Tacoma Dome. Keith Urban is probably my favorate musician. Tim ended up coming down with a stomach bug and couldn't go. So, Becky took his ticket and we enjoyed a girls night out! He gave a great concert...very cool, down to earth guy with an incredible voice that sounds even better in person! He played all over the Tacoma Dome...on stage, in the middle of the floor, and even in the crowd. He walked all through the ground floor. We were close enough that Becky actually reached out and touched him! (she called it "Keith Sweat!")

The opening act was Little Big Town and they also gave a rockin' performance to get things warmed up. They came back out on stage to sing with Keith half way through the concert.

Last Summer Hurrah!

Our last camping trip of the summer was over to Spokane, WA. We enjoyed camping with nightly outdoor movie nights at the campground, back to school shopping and lake fun. Tim and and the kids made it a great birthday for me! Here a few highlights from the trip.Becky and Audrey tubing! Dad game them a good ride!

Grammy and Audrey during family dinner where we celebrated 3 birthdays (Aunt Dana, Lauren's friend,Colin and me)
Bella loved being near the lake, but not in the lake. We found out she can swim if she really had to!

Aunt Sandrine kayaking with Celeste. Here are some random car pictures...things get a little crazy after traveling too long!Becky trying to sleepNatty has no trouble sleeping!Sophia sleeping?...no way! Time to pose for the camera!Crossing the Gorge

distracted

I've been a way for a bit...getting comfortable with my birthday present...my new camera, which I have been LOVING! Thank you, Tim! It inspired me to bet back into my hobby, take some more artistic shots, and start another blog just with my photography that I think is somewhat worthy of having a blog of it's own. http://jolierodriguezphotography.blogspot.com/

I'm even going to forgo the school pictures this year and do it myself. We'll see how that turns out! But, Becky has been asking where the end of the summer lake pictures are...so I better get back to blogging so she can snag them and put them on her MySpace and Facebook. Here a couple first shots with my new camera...

Natty is a sport for letting me use her as my photo guinea pig

Bella's grown a bit, she is now 7 mos. old

Camp Newman

The middle of July, Audrey, Celeste, and Sophia joined their cousins, Elise and Margot for "Camp Newman" hosted by their Aunt Dana and Uncle Steven at the lake house near Spokane. Each day of the week was something new...cooking day, knitting day (where Gran came over to teach the girls how to knit), tubing day, etc. etc. They had so much fun, they can't wait for next year! Here are Elise and Audrey fishing with their matching bandanas.

Beading was a favorite activity. Here is Celeste showing off her handiwork.

At the end of the week, Oliver, Natty and I drove over to pick up the girls and bring them back to Seattle. We got to spend a few days and enjoyed the lake too! How did that kid in the middle get so big..poor Oliver, always surrounded by girls...it's his lot in life!

Sophia and Margot...this is one of the only times they weren't in the water!

Oliver and Natty hangin' out on the water.

Alisha's visit

I couldn't help but start with this sweet picture of Sydnee, our grandaughter, Alisha's daughter. She is such a sweetie! Alisha is so good at getting pictures taken of her kids, much better than I ever was or still am. Doesn't Sydnee look like her mom?! Alisha, Sydnee, and Kip (our newest grandchild) came to Seattle for a visit a few weeks ago from Idaho. They were in town to visit Alisha's grandmother and also spent a few days with us. I wish I had taken more pictures, but at least I got a few. We had a fun time hanging out, going to the Seattle Aquarium, and shopping at Ikea.

Aunt Natty with baby Kip...4 weeks old!

Natty, Sydnee and Kip. They played nonstop and everybody wanted to hold Kip. He must have felt like a football being handed off to everyone all day! We missed seeing Zeb, Katie, and Alisha's niece, Kayla. But, hopefully next time!