July Part I Independence and Reunion

July was warm, many dinners were grilled and eaten outside. The kids spent their morning watching Ninjago, Chuggington, eating ice cream, being lazy and they loved it. The girls got really into the ninjago so much that that is the topic of their conversion almost every time they played together. It was sensei this and that a lot and nunchucks were created. Funny kids!

 

We took care of our neighbor's yard for seriously a day while they went to Mexico for a vacation and they brought flowers to us as a thank you. Our yard isn't doing too bad either.

 Dan bought a little bike trailer and now Ronin can join in on all the bike rides

As part of the July 4^th celebration, my friend Indonesia and I went to a patriotic concert where we got to hear soloist Dallyn Vail Bayles and his amazing voice as well as the Ensign Chorus and Orchestra.

 

On July 4^th we participated in the Issaquah Community Independence Day event and joined in on various activities and free food.

 

At night Indonesia took her boys and I took my girls to stay up and we watched the firework at the Bellevue firework show. There were so many people it took us over an hour and a half to get home and Bellevue is only 15 minutes from our house. We only do this once every two years and thank goodness for the rear entertainment system for the kids to watch movies while we sat in the parking lot trying to get out.

 

The highlight for this month was probably finding out the gender of our baby. We thought about maybe trying for a surprise again but concluded, why? The only benefit is the anticipation which could help with the pushes on the day the baby is born for the mama. But my babies come so fast that there isn't even time for an epidural so there is no benefit there. Maybe I can change that. I talked to my doctor and he said maybe we'll induce me at 39 weeks, that would put us around Novemeber 23^rd. But I'm not sure about putting more drugs inside my body and bringing that baby out all drugged up. We'll see.

 

We found out. My mom called me 5 times that day. I looked, Dan didn't. I wanted to guess so we did have the ultrasound specialist put it inside an envelope. We weren't very good secret keepers. It was so very clear to me what the gender was so I just kept on smiling. The kids looked at the envelope first and again with the excitement. They wanted another brother so we can be even Stevens. Their expressions gave it away so Dan didn't get to guess after all. He was too happy though to be disappointed in the girls for showing their excitement.

With that news and all the smiles on our faces we headed for Idaho. We decided to take 2 days to drive, took some time and chose a different route for a nicer view. I spent some time and did crafts to make the time fly by.  11 hours didn't seem so bad this time.  Maybe it was the new route which was much greener and more mountainous.  I made these for my in laws when I noticed they were low on their guest bed and breakfast supplies while I was in Vegas visiting them.

 

 For our halfway stop we stayed at a hotel in Kellogg, ID and had a big breakfast at a restaurant nearby in the morning.
 A HUGE breakfast burrito!! 

 Pancakes the size of her face!

 French toasts and sausage on a plate the size of her body

 

 We headed to the reunion and got some items at the dollar store to help us with our Big Announcement. It was so great to see cousins and aunts and uncles and a few others we haven't met. After greeting everyone we opened up the box of surprise. Yay! It is a BOY!!! Another man child for Dan.

 

The first night at the reunion I thought was the funnest night. Lauren got everyone a piece of paper and we all had to share something about ourselves that people don't know about. Charlene and Mike read them out loud and we tried guessing who they belong to. Dan wrote on his “I've had an epidural and an ultrasound but I will never give birth”. I wrote “A bull hit me and I went into a coma for 8 hours”. People took a while guessing ours and it was a very fun game. It was a great way to learn so many things about each family member.

 

The next morning many of us took off on a hike. It was rainy, I wore shorts, not the best option since it was a bit chilly and muddy. What a work out!

 

After a nice shower and rest we went out to eat, then met up at Grandma and Grandpa Evans home and helped them go through some stuff. The guys did most of the stuff while the kids and the ladies sat and chatted and played.

 

Next event was canoeing. Dan took Reena on the kayak. Debrie went with Scott's kids and in laws. They played music, danced, and tipped over their canoe and unfortunately lost Katie's iPhone in the water. What a bummer. Brie did well even with her first experience of a canoe tipping over. She's gone many times with us but never tipped over. We don't dance in the canoe. :)

 

Dan and Reena were the first to arrive even though they were last to leave. True Washingtonians!

 

Ronin is just a cutie that every girl there just wanted him to warm up to them.

 

On the last night...baseball game

 

We were in charge of the breakfast on the last day. I made 4 different breakfast casseroles. I made a bacon one (which went real fast), a spinach one, a turkey sausage and a pork sausage one.

 

 

On our way out of Soda Springs we got the reminder from the kids that we have to hit the Lava Hot Springs before we could go home. So we did. Ronin fell asleep on the way over so Dan just stayed in the car with him. I took the girls. The springs were so hot, most of them we could not even dip our feet in longer than a few seconds. Yet we saw many people doing challenges of swimming across them. One kid stayed in the hottest spring for about 15 minutes and I couldn't even bare keeping my feet in for longer than 5 seconds. We took pictures where we could soak ourselves, which is really one spring. The others were more challenges to see how long we could keep our feet in. Brie was the best at tolerance. Reena and I were weak sauce. We hung out mostly on the edges of the spring.

 

On our way home we also took the pretty route. We were trying to decide if we should camp but instead opted to stay in a place with beds, air conditioning, refrigerator, microwave and shower. We ate at this restaurant that offered such huge portions that our dinners became breakfast the next day. The city we stayed in is called Moses Lake, about 2 hours from home.

  When we woke up we went through Yakima to pick nectarines. We were hoping to pick some cherries but because summer started early cherries just finished up. But luckily, nectarines were ready that day. They were $.70/ lb. Such a great deal.

 Then we drove up a long winded dirt road and on to Red Top Lookout in the Cascades. That was a short hike with stunning views, but it was a bit steep and windy, so there was some consternation on the part of some participants, like myself. I feared for my life and the baby's life as well as the kids lives. Dan is a pro climber so no fear there but for the rest of us, that was a scary brutal climatic experience.