The newest Mr. & Mrs.

So much has happened!! Bryce and Chelsey were married August 10th. It was simply beautiful. We are helping them move this weekend and it is sad for us.

My parent’s rented a house up in Kelowna, where the wedding was held, and we all stayed there together. Brent and his wife, Jess (of one year) got a room, Lesha and Peter and their kids got a room, my parents had a room and Jeff and I and the kids had a room. It was perfect! It’s been a while since my whole family was all together under one roof and it was so happy. We spent the day before the wedding just playing. There was lots of wrestling, lots of laughing and goofing off. I love how much fun we have just being together.

The beach was close by the house so Friday was spent at the beach. Jeff and I decided this is going to be our new vacation spot. It was so hot and sunny and the beach was so clean and refreshing. Even Gage got in on the water action. I am kindof turning into a beach snob. The water can’t be too warm or too murky but I don’t like it so cold that the kids won’t get in. This beach was perfection!!

I love this shot of Bryce and Gage the night before the big day. Sorry ladies, one is taken and one is too young ;)

Friday night there was a rehearsal and after that my parent’s hosted a big delicious dinner at the house we were staying at. My dad did his yummy ribs and we had salmon and potato salad and ceasar salad and baked beans… and ice cream cake, Bryce and Chelsey’s favorite. Gage stuck his finger in it when everyone was saying, “cheese” for the camera.

 

The next morning was the wedding day. The men left early to go to the park and set up and us gals got ourselves and the kiddos all dolled up. The wedding wasn’t until 11 so we had lots of time to primp.

Braxton and Carson were asked to be junior groomsmen and they took their job very seriously. Emmett was the sweet little ring bear, who did a perfect job and Adelle and Kate were the flower girls. The kids all looked super cute. Gage was a total trooper and slept here and there and everywhere.

 

 

The wedding ceremony was very sweet and simple. It was very elegant and everything went really well. Chelsey was so beautiful and they both looked so happy. It was so fun to be a part of. It’s funny because even though these two had dated for so long it seems so much cooler now that they are married. There is definitely something special about fully committing yourself to someone and I love it. They seem totally different now and it’s really cute.

After the ceremony the guests were commenting on the kids and how perfectly they did their jobs. I was so proud of them all!! Aren’t those pictures of them just priceless!! Adelle was a stone face. Not sure why. Braxton was very proper and professional and Emmett stole the show, unknowingly.

We thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. We stayed through Sunday so we could see the new couple open their gifts and then came home Sunday evening. And if I don’t say so myself, I am a huge fan of Canada. Just sayin.

Oh, and did you notice the paparazzi shot of me and Gage? Ha! I saw that picture that my sister took and it made me honestly laugh out loud. I was spotted!!

this one time

See the bald eagle sitting on the rock

See the bald eagle sitting on the branch

Back in July Jeff and I had the most wonderful, relaxing afternoon.... dare I say...ever! At least since we have had four kids ;) 

We drove out to my parent's house on the beach and dropped our kids there. Then we boarded the 2 person kayak with a water bottle, some Kettle brand potato chips (you know those are my weakness), and our book we are still reading.

Together we paddled our way out and around Pt. Whitehorn until we found a nice little beach to lay and rest. It was a really beautiful day and the water was super shallow around the point and clear. We saw lots of starfish and two bald eagles that were squaking all each other.

We didn't have a cell phone or a watch which made it that much more relaxing. I think I may have even fallen asleep while I was sunbathing on the beach.

Jeff read out oud and we crunched our potato chips.

When I said we should head back, we headed back. Maybe it's a woman thing, or a mom thing, but I am always the one who has to be the party crasher. We may still be there if I didn't remind Jeff that our reality was back at shore. ;)

It felt like a mini vacation though, really.

4th of July week

 

One of the fun things we did this summer was go down to Vancouver, Wa to visit my sister and her family and then onto Oregon to visit our good friends.

We had three things we wanted to do and we ended up planning it so that we could do them all in one week.

First, my sister had been begging (ha) to have my kids come down and visit her and her kids. Like, just my kids, not me ;) But then, what would I do, I don’t know, so we worked it out so that we all visited for 3 days and then Jeff and I left to go down to Oregon for 2 days and Lesha and Peter kept our kids, minus Gage.

So this worked out awesome. We all drove down on the 4th of July which was Thursday. We took our time driving, as usual. Picnicked along the way. We hung out with them, swimming and going to the neighboring parks. That night the dads did fireworks with the kids and we all watched and awed.

The next day we went to a fun beach and it was really warm and beautiful. Then on another day we went to a pretty waterfall and some of us hiked to the top of the falls (Jeff, Braxton, Carson) while the rest of us waded in the stream below.

My sister and I went into Portland one night shopping, got ourselves lost, then came home with ice cream for our husbands.

We got to go to church with her family and meet lots of her new friends.

So second, on Sunday Jeff, Gage, and I left to drive 2 more hours down to Oregon to stay with our friends, Jeff and Shelby. They are getting married in October, Yay!, and Adelle and I are in the wedding so I wanted to be able to help her with wedding things. We had a great visit with them, eating Jeff’s famous bar-b-q’d meat and playing with their dog, Gunner.

On Monday they both had to work so Jeff and Gage and I had a date day. We had so much fun pretending Gage was our only child. We went to Salem and visited a used book store where we each found a book. We visited the farmer’s market and bought some homemade pita chips that were amazing. We walked around an old museum which had a beautiful landscape and lots of flowers. Then we went to a local favorite spot and had a wonderful breakfast/lunch. We went and walked along the river, did some window shopping in downtown Corvallis, went to Afton farm and walked all around and explored the farm… Had just a glorious day. Then when Shelby got off of work we all went and watched Jeff’s softball game (where he hit a homerun!) and hung out in the shade. That night we went to Thai food and then back to their place to visit.

Finally, third, on Tuesday Jeff got to go back to Afton Farm and help them process their chickens. Like chickens  said goodbye to their lives and he got to be right in the dirty of it all. Pretty awesome! This is something that we eventually want to do and Jeff has been learning all about it so it was really great for him to be able to get some hands on experience with it. I would have loved to help but Gage and I instead spent the morning on a long walk, and addressing wedding invites. I am not experienced enough to take my little babe with me to the slaughter. But, we did show up in time to get some pictures and to be graciously given some fresh (that seems like such an understatement in this context) whole chickens. We picked up Jeff and then hit the road back to Vancouver to grab our other children and make the drive home.

We had a really great week. Lots of fun things and lots of memories made.

old news

This is all of us on our 10 year anniversary

I have so much to catch up on and so much other stuff to do. Jeff just asked me to come sit with him on the couch so we could read together so my blog catch up will wait, again.

Here is a post I started a couple weeks ago and never finished. It's old new but exciting none the less!

Jeff and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!

It's such a big number and a big deal and then not that long when you think about it. We were talking about how long it seems but how fast it's gone and how in ten more years our oldest child will be graduating highschool. Time is such an interesting thing.

Something that I often wonder about marriage and if everyone thinks theirs is the best? I really love being married to Jeff. We are very best friends. We are far from perfect and we do argue and I will even admit that we yell at each other once in a while but we are so on the same page and I honestly can say that I love him more every single day.I can't imagine my life without my husband. He is such a great, kind gentleman and I am so blessed to be his sweetheart.

I think we have a groovy kind of love. 

This week has led to many musings. We got back from a super fun camping trip with good friends and I am left exhausted and grateful. We had the most kids out of the whole bunch and we had the smallest tent. Ha. It was a blast and once I get more pictures from the fellow campers I will post about all our adventures. 

Adelle managed to get headlice, from where I have no clue. It's a royal pain in my bum none the less but I find that I really love a good challange and defeating those little eggs has been satisfying. The boys are totally clear as are Jeff and I so the only thing that I can think is that she got it from the movie theater last week when Auntie took her to a movie. I made her wear this for two whole days until I was sure the problem was resolved.  She called herself the "sample lady" because she thought she looked like the sample lady from Costco. She is happy as ever and just doing her thing. 

Braxton, "Adelle, why do you look like the sample lady?

Adelle, "Because I have eggs in my hair!"

Braxton, "Why do you have eggs in your hair."

Adelle, "because bugs think I am a nest!"

Ha. Yuck, but funny. I only found one live bug and a handful of eggs. It was way easier to deal with than I anticipated and now I am taking precautionary measures to make sure we don't have to deal with it again, like ever would be nice ;) For the first time ever I am actually grateful at Adelle's lack of hair. It's pretty easy to search!

Gage is the best baby on the block and the best eater ever. This is him eating his baby kraut that I have been making all my kids all summer. Lacto-fermented vegetables are my new hobby and my neighbor Michelle and I have been coming up with all sorts of yummy ferments. The health benefits are unreal!! I love having good neighbors.
Gage is clapping like crazy and waving bye bye. He says "momma" which marks the first of our kids to say momma before dadda. He's been crawling for a month now and stands up on his own now too. I am just waiting for him to run he is such a little busy body!!

Braxton caught a fish while we were camping. He was pretty stoked and proud of himself. He kissed that little guy, literally, and then sent him back to his happy home in the lake.

Here are some of the first veggies I fermented. All that foggy stuff is the good bacteria that you want in your gut. We drink this stuff around here, no joke. (no, there is no alcohol in it if you are wondering). 

The Froberg ladies threw a shower for the soon to be newest member of the family. I love that my brother and Chelsey are getting married this coming weekend. Can't wait!! Love her so much... and him of course. 

After months of ignored intuition and sincere prayers and fasting I bit the bullet and took my little Emmett to the eye doctor.  I don't think I will ever forget the feeling I had when the doctor covered up his good eye and asked him what letters he saw with his bad. He couldn't tell them. He sat there and struggled to see and it was so, so, hard for him and all I could do from across the room was watch. As a mother this experience has been heart wrenching. Emmett is getting glasses and a patch and it is my job now to make sure that he wears them even though they are going to impair his vision in his good eye in order to strengthen the bad. I want to lay on the ground and throw myself around and scream and cry and yell, " I don't want to do it!!" Because it's true, I don't want to. The thought of him being uncomfortable and having to work so hard to see has been difficult for me to accept. I love this tender hearted boy so, so, much and I know without a doubt that he is stronger than I am in this situation. More of this to come.

A couple weeks ago Jeff had a job to do over on Friday Harbor so the kids and I tagged along. The ferry ride was beautiful and the kids loved the experience. Braxton helped his dad for a while. We played kick ball and picnicked and hung out while Jeff worked and then when he was done we all explored the island together. Jeff didn't bring his ladder because we remembered that it costs a whole lot more to bring it on the ferry so can you guess how he got on the roof?? Yep, I hoisted his booty on up there!! lol

We went to a tourist spot that is known for seeing Orca Whales but we didn't see a one. I guess this year they aren't coming around like they usually do. Something about a salmon shortage. We did see a seal though and had fun on the rocks.

Braxton represented in the local Old Settler's Parade. He walked with the float for his school which has closed now after years of service in the community. He was pretty stoked to be in the parade.

Ha. This picture just makes me laugh. Isn't it so gross!! My kids really don't swim in there, really. They used to when it wasn't green and now we have just been using it for our garden. But yes, Gage did fall in, head first. He wasn't sure what to do about getting out either. It was pretty funny I had to get a picture.