Grace Elizabeth

Two years ago today I was a week overdue with our 4th kiddo.
That's not a big surprise as my midwife tells me I am a 41 weeker.
This kiddo did however come quickly.
My shortest labor, 8 hours.
Born in the wee hours of the morning on August 20!

Grace you are such a blessing.
A feisty little red head.
Independent.
The one your brothers protect and would do anything for.
You love to sing and dance.
You like to do what the boys are doing.
But you also LOVE to play with your babies.
You love animals.
You love when you get to see Baby Westyn.

Happy 2nd Birthday little girl.

Weekend Getaway

I have been asking Brian to take me out on the boat, without kids, to Friday Harbor for awhile now. But, we can't go on the boat without fishing.
We found places for all the kids, reserved a slip for the boat at Rosario Resort.
It helps that we can sleep on the boat, so we didn't have to find a hotel and it saved a lot of money.
Headed out Saturday morning.
Fished for a few hours and then headed to Friday Harbor to play tourist. We had fun walking around and then we headed to the resort.
Rosario was great. They have three pools, a hot tub and deer.
That's right, three deer that are so use to people you can walk up and pet them.
I will have to post those photos later as they are on Brian's phone.
We enjoyed exploring the resort. Then we headed off to dinner. We had reservations at the mansion restaurant and had a spectacular food.
We spent all of Sunday fishing.
Ended up with three fish (2 kings and 1 pink) and only 3 crab.

My 14 lb king

My pink

My 8 lb king

beautiful sunrise Sunday morning.

Point lawn at Rosario

Stained glass windows in the organ room at the mansion

rod in the water waiting for a nibble

I loved being out in the islands

Our view at dinner. It was spectacular.

I had a wonderful time and the kids did too! So thankful for my sister and her family for taking Michael. Our friends Kevin and Alice for taking Casey. The Edmonds for staying at the house with Peyton and Grace. All the kids had great stories to tell and seemed to be trying to outdo each other with what they got to do while we were gone.

Fishing

This last Saturday marked Mr. Brandon's first trip out since the accident on July 4th.
I have to tell you that everytime my husband sent me a picture of Brandon doing something on the boat I got a big grin and proudly showed everyone around me!
He adapted and helped the guys out.
He reeled in rods to help clear the water.
Not easy to do left handed when all the reels are right handed.
He even gave some of the crabs some pay back!

Brian with the blood on the deck. Had to blur out the background for his post on bloodydecks, so not give the location away.

Casey even told me that Mr. Brandon let him play with his hook!
The boys were thrilled to go out with Brian's favorite crew again.
Thanks Mr. Calvin and Mr. Brandon.

Instagram

I LOVE the Instagram app on my phone
Makes taking the pics a little more fun

Daddy and Casey cracking open some crab, fresh out of the pot

Brian took the two older boys out a couple of weeks ago and they came back with
15 HUGE CRAB

One of the local pizza places offers an outdoor theater in the summer.
We took the boys last night to watch Ramona and Beezus

Visit with a Friend

Brian and I had the pleasure of going to visit The Mulders last night.
A friend from church was kind enough to come and watch the kiddos for us.
It was great to sit and catch up and see how they are moving forward with their
"new normal"
Such a positive attitude and determination to make the best of this situation.
Brandon is looking forward to getting back out on the boat and is already on the lookout for a left handed gun for duck hunting.
I look forward to seeing them walk this journey together.
If you want to keep up on Brandon's progress and see their sweet little boy as well
check out
bkmulder.blogspot.com

Can't wait till we get to post photos of a day on the bay with
Brian, Mr. Brandon and the kiddos with their catches.

Grace and her fish

Grace sure does love it when Daddy brings home a fish.
She likes to pet them.
She also likes to find and touch their eyes.
Which I find disgusting.

Sunny Day

My college roommate from my freshman year was in Seattle. Michael, Casey, Grace and I loaded up the truck today and headed down to pick her up and then off to find a park. We started at Kirkland Marina. It had a great little beach/water part. We then wandered off through Kirkland to see what else we could find. We found a great play are for the kids and then it was off to find lunch. It was a grand day overall. Until my phone rang that is. It was Brian.

conversation follow

where are you?
Kirkland?
Good, Calvin just called and asked if I had heard about Brandon yet?
What happened to Brandon (a friend and coworker)?
There was an accident last night, he lost some fingers, they are talking amputation. They transferred him to Harborview. Try to get a hold of his wife and see if they need anything since you are down there and available.

I got off the phone with my husband and called Brandon's cell hoping someone had it on them. No luck. Left a message at the hospital for his wife to call me. I then called his house (thank goodness for internet on my phone) His sister was kind enough to give me a cell number. I got a hold of them and was able to talk with them for a few minutes. Please be in prayer for the family. From what I know they are taking his hand. I don't know anything about the accident itself and am not going to assume to know what happened. It was unfortunate event.

We drove home and are now relaxing at home.