The 4th of July

 We went out to Scott and Kelli's for a BBQ on the 4th. The weather was awesome! Washington is notorious for having a rainy 4th so we were glad to wake up to the sunshine. I love the 4th of July. I love the colors, I love the food, and I just love the feel of the day. It is one of my favorite holidays.

 Do you like Justin's military haircut? He has been keeping his hair pretty long for quite a while but he was leaving that night on a red eye flight to Alabama, so we had to cut it. I think it looks good on him.

 They have an amazing view of Mt. Rainier. Another part of Washington that I LOVE.

 Love those little teeth!

We left Scott and Kelli's house so we could come and put Anderson to bed. Jack stayed up and enjoyed the fireworks while I took Justin to the airport. That was not my favorite part of the evening. I was so sad to drop him off. I cried and cried and cried. I was not looking forward to being apart from him for 6 weeks. Plus we had spent all day, every day together since he graduated dental school and this made it that much harder. I was used to having him around all day and being there to help me out with the boys. I really enjoyed being together for that time. I loved it, and it was hard to realize that it had come to an end. After he left, I had a good cry every few days. Being away from him has been harder than I even thought it would be. It has just made me realize how much I rely on him every day. He is the best husband and I have missed him so much!! But now he is in his last week of Officer's Training and we have less than two weeks until we fly out to Mississippi to be with him. It will be a weird feeling to finally unpack my suitcase after 3 months of traveling!! But most of all, we can't wait to be with Justin. Jack will start crying all of a sudden and ask me how many more days until we get to be with Daddy. Anderson will say "Home...Daddy." in a sad voice. We have had so much fun with our cousins but we can't wait to be with Justin!!

Point Defiance Zoo

 We went to the Point Defiance Zoo with Angie and Stephanie and their kids.

 Our favorite part of the zoo is feeding the birds.

 Jack thought it was his favorite part too until the bird tried to walk up his arm. It scared him, so he didn't want to feed the birds anymore.

We finished up the day with a ride on the carousel!

If only everyone looked that happy when we told them it was time to leave...

Seattle

 Seattle is one of my most favorite places in the whole world. I love the feel of Seattle. I love the water and all the boats. I love the beautiful views and all of the cultural experiences that you can have here. We spent a day in Seattle when my cousins were still in town. We started out at the Lock's to see the boats and the fish ladder.

 What are you doing there Jack? :)

 Then we headed over to Pike's Place Market. Anderson was asleep in the stroller the whole time we were there. He didn't make it in to any of the pictures, but it made for a pleasant stroll through the market. 

 In the six years that Justin and I have been married, he has never been to Pike's Place! This was on the top of my priority list while Justin was still here with us. I love being able to show him the things that I remember growing up here and why I love Seattle so much.

 We ate at Ivar's (of course!) and fed our fries to the seagulls.

 Then we went and put our mark on the famous gum wall. Jack seemed really confused as to why there was so much disgusting gum on the wall. It has been expanding over the years and the amount of wall covered is way bigger than the last time I saw it.

 Anderson had to stay in the stroller. I was not about to let him out when I knew he would want to touch the gum on the wall. Sorry Anderson! Maybe next time.

Washington Fun

 Our time in Idaho came to an end, and we rented a car to drive to Washington. We made the 12 hour drive in one day, stopping in Ontario, OR to have lunch with our good friend Kara. The kids did really well until the last hour or so when they started going a little crazy. Luckily we made it and spent the next day with my cousins who were all in town for my Grandma's 80th birthday. (I never got a picture with my grandma!! I will have to do that still.) The highlight of the day was the pool party. Anderson was sleeping so we just got to sit and watch Jack have fun.

 Justin, Holly, Me, Kelli, and Scott

 We also had a BBQ at my grandma's house. All of the little kids were running around the back yard and getting dirty...every little kid's dream.

 Holly's cutie pie Preston. This little guy was cracking us up!

 Jack and Mckay went and helped sweep the neighbor's driveway after they had gotten a huge pile of dirt for their backyard. These boys were covered in dirt from head to toe! It was a good service project for them though. I hope Jack is always willing to help out other people like this.

We also celebrated Stephanie's 30th birthday!! She will probably kill me for letting everyone know she's 30, but hey...I hear 30 is the new 20! :)

Yellowstone National Park

 The last week we were in Idaho we spent a day in Yellowstone National Park. This was my favorite part of our trip. We used to go to Yellowstone when we were little and I love it. It brought back a lot of memories for me and it was really fun to take my kids there.

 We were stuck in a traffic jam going about 2 miles an hour for quite a long time. We finally made it to the front of the traffic and there were 3 buffalo just chillin down the road. The boys thought the buffalo were so awesome.

 We stopped at a field that was full of buffalo and let the boys out of their seats to see. Anderson's face was priceless. He was so excited.

 Of course we had to see Old Faithful!

 Jack really liked the paint pots.

 The weather was great and it was such a fun day. We tried to stop and feed some fish on our way home but as soon as we got out of the car, we were attacked by a million (not an exaggeration!) mosquitoes! So we stayed for about ten seconds and got back in the car to head home.

On our way back we had an amazing view of the Tetons.

Such a great day!

Idaho (continued)

 Anderson made Grandpa Diamond look at this book of pictures from Disneyland over and over and over. The boys were spoiled from their grandparents left and right. Anderson would always say, "Hi bampa! Hi!" (translation...hi grandpa!).

 The boys made these cute ties for their dads on Father's Day. I tried to get a picture with everyone looking but this is the best we got. Anderson isn't the best picture taker right now. You basically have to be doing a cartwheel for him to look at you. Here he was trying to put on Connor's shoes.

 The soon to be Delgado's

 The boys don't look very happy in this picture because I made them stop playing to take a picture with Gma and Gpa Diamond. We haven't seen them in a long time so it was great to be together again. Although it's hard to not be in our own house for such a long time, it was so great to be able to spend so much time with everyone. When you come for just a week, you try and squeeze everything in and it goes by so fast. This was a much more relaxing trip.

 Bob and Justin had been trying to get Jack on the motorcycle the whole time we were there. Jack wanted nothing to do with it. They finally tricked him to get on it just so we could take a picture but they ended up going for a ride. Jack was terrified but after they started riding for about 5 seconds, he decided that he loved it. When they got back he wanted to go again. Go figure! Even Anderson went for a ride. He wasn't scared at all and kept saying "Woo Hoo!!"

 The boys were all out playing frisbee and somehow Jack's eye ran into Ryan's wedding ring. This would be his first official black eye. Do you love that face?

Next time we see these guys it will almost be there wedding!!