This may be the longest break I've taken from updating our blog. Yikes!! Which must mean we've been extra busy I guess. I can't believe February was my last update. It's going to really take a miracle to remember the highlights since then.
Jordan was awarded Firefighter of the Year from the Junction City Fire Department that he volunteers at. He was very very surprised and extremely honored by the award.
Jordan participated in the Seattle Stairclimb again this year. He crushed his time last year, with a time of 14:01. He placed 23rd out of 2000 climbers. He worked so hard preparing for it. And his results showed.
The kids and I had fun for St. Patricks Day. I LOVE this fun little holiday. Dressing the kids up and eating green pancakes and eggs for breakfast.
My little Leprechauns
We went camping at Honeyman in Florence for Spring Break this year. It was a fantastic way to start off our camping season. The weather was amazing too, given it was March and at the coast.
We went up the road a ways to the Hobbit Trail (just North of Florence) and hiked down to the beach. It was a fun little trail with mystical looking trees along the way and it opened up to a really cool private beach. Side Note: apparently it's very true if a dog drinks sea water they get diarrhea.
Cousins!! Our favorite camping partners
It cracks me up when we go on rides. The kids follow the person in front of them so well it's like a line of little ducklings.
Easter-It wouldn't be an Oregon Easter without rubber boots!
Santa brought Quade a drone for Christmas and it got caught up in the tree in front of our house. So Jordan went to the fire station and got the ladder truck to get it out. The perks of his job.
Quade still amazes me with his boyness. He was hunting in our living room.
The kids entered in the talent show at their school. Austyn did an adorable group dance and Quade played the harmonica.
Baseball season. I coached Austyn in Coach Pitch this year and Quade was our official Bat Boy. They both did amazing.
We went to the Zoo for Mother's Day this year. It was so fun. The kids got to climb a rock wall for the first time and they did great.
Another perk we got to take advantage of with Jordan's job was exploring the Coast Guard helicopter. It was really neat to be able to sit in it and look around.
Our Memorial Group shot for the year. Another memorable trip! I love watching the kids play and now they are all old enough to ride their quads. The kids rode, and rode, and rode. It's a great tradition that they will remember forever.
This is how Uncle Brice does Hay Season. Napping in the bailer.
Quade taking raking lessons from the pro.
We got to sneak away to go see the Sisters Rodeo. We went early enough to watch the parade and then caught the afternoon rodeo performance. I absolutely love when these two handsome men match each other. It's sooooo cute.
It was so cold during the rodeo we had two blankets wrapped around all of us and we were bundled up as much as we could.
Jordan decided to grow his mustache out until he promoted to captain. It was a painful wait, but he finally promoted at the beginning of July. I am so proud of him and his hard work and determination. He is truly one of a kind and we are so blessed he's ours. His grooming decisions are so irritating. First he shaves his head, then he grows his hair out until he looks like a bum, then he grows a nasty mustache. And worse yet, he talks Quade into doing it too.
My Grandma called one evening and said a baby owl had fallen out of her barn. So we all went to see the excitement. Jordan placed it back in the nest. I love that the kids get to experience the little joys of country living.
Quade always blesses us with a naked first swim of the summer.
I loved these first and last day of school pictures. Look how much Andi grew in 9 months. Amazing! Oh and the kids are cute too:)
My mom bought the kids a kayak for the river. They are so good at it. And look how cute they are.
This is how the Petersen's go to the river. Reminds me of the Clampets.
A super duper exciting thing happened in May. My brother got engaged to his wonderful fiance Jasmin. We all love her so much. They compliment each other perfectly. I'm so very excited for them.
And lets not forget the backyard camping!!!!!!!!!! Here we are, even the dog gets to camp out. Jordan is nice and comfy in the house. Our poor tent didn't make it very long this summer. The wind ripped it apart a couple weeks ago and my duct tape job is failing. It's going to be a short camping season for backyard camping this summer.
Check out this water slide. One of Jordan's coworkers was having a BBQ and they built this for the kids that were coming. It was so much fun for the kids and Jordan.
The moment we've all been waiting for, for the last 5 years. CONCRETE!!!!!!!!!!!!
We finally bite the bullet and started our concrete project. We are going to pour 100 yards, which is 10 concrete trucks. The concrete will be an apron in front of the garage, sidewalks all the way around the house and a back patio with a built in fire pit. I'm am so excited and the kids are be able to ride their bikes and scooter around.
Kids playing on the gravel piles.
It wouldn't be a project without any hiccups. One gutter drain and a smashed septic lid. The best thing about these accidents are the fact that everyone can laugh about them and just move on. Oh, and none of them we me!!
Just rollin along. And along, and along, and along, and along. Probably over 10 hours on that sucker not counting the walk behind compactor.
Brothers who've been doing concrete together their whole lives. My Dad and my Uncle Bob.
Just look at that crew. We are so fortunate for the great help.
I couldn't get over how Quade jumped right in and helped out like a big boy. As soon as he saw everyone putting their boots and gloves on he went and did the same.
Looks like he's been doing concrete for years.
My Dad took the left over concrete and made us steps down to the river so it would be easier to get down their. He is so amazing!!
The kids stripping forms the next day.
And the finished product from the front view.
Jordan and his buddies entered into a "race" called the Gambler 500. You have to have a rig that is less that $500 and you follow and off road course for 500 miles. They had a blast and it was the epitome of a boys trip.
While they were on their trip, we we're blessed to go on another Mimication. We went to our favorite spot, Driftwood shores. The wind was very cold the first day, but the second day it was the best day I've ever seen on the Oregon coast. People were actually swimming in the ocean and sun bathing on the beach.
I think this is going to be the highlight of my summer. My Dad turned 60 and we all went camping at Wickiup. I haven't been camping with my Aunts and Uncles since I was a kid. It was the best camping trip yet. I feel like I always say that about our camping trips, but this one really was!
The group shot.
Captain Bob. Uncle Bob brought his pontoon boat and they fished and pulled the kids on a tube. It was so relaxing.
Cousins for life
Birthday Boy
So Jordan and Danny Kayaked across the water to an island to drive their RC cars around. It was like an invitation to mess with them. So we stole one of their Kayaks. Well that wasn't good enough. So we decided to trade their adult kayak for a kids kayak (so when they got in it would sink or tip over). Did I mention the water was so cold you couldn't stay in it for very long. This picture is of Jordan paddling after a beer can we threw over to them. All in good fun!!!
Look at this picture closely. Besides it being a really cool shot. Who do you see twice. The smirk on their face might give it away.
I had to include the stocked fridge for the concrete crew. If you can imagine every pour we do the fridge is almost empty by the end. It doesn't help that its 95+ degrees out. But we sure are thankful for the continued help we get on this huge project.
That's it for us since February. I seriously thought that this summer was going to be a slow relaxing one after last year of Jordan studying the whole time. But we are playing catch up now from his year off of house projects. There's no slowing down in sight for us that I can see. After we finish up the concrete and all the back filling that goes along with it, it's time to do wood for the winter. You'd think I'd be use to our busy lifestyle by now. But I stay hopeful that one day we will slow down just a teensy bit.
Austyn will be getting her braces off soon and she's hopeful that it's still corn on the cob season. She has done so well with them. She has keeps them really clean and only has complained one time after an adjustment. She is really enjoying summer break. We have been in the river almost everyday if were home. She's a little nervous that second grade will be really hard, but excited to be a bigger kid next year. She plans on playing soccer in the fall and then volleyball after that.
Quade is almost counting down the days until Kindergarten. He was ready last year, so the wait has gotten him so excited. He was in there so much when I would sub that he knows the routine and rules perfectly. Lets just see if he decides to follow them;) I'm not sure if he will want to play soccer or not. Last year he played and that's when he had the really bad flare up with his legs. So I don't know if he will correlate soccer with his leg pain or not. He has become an amazing little swimmer. He doesn't need a life jacket anymore! He has begun to complain of his teeth pain like Austyn use to before her braces. He also has a cross bite that will need corrected shortly.
Jordan got his promotion to captain at the beginning of July. What an amazing accomplishment that was. I think he is enjoying the new position, but he has had almost the whole month of July off. So he's only worked a few shifts since then. He still continues to volunteer at Junction City Fire as often as he can as well. He loves being involved with things! I don't know of any upcoming events he's working towards, but he always seems to have something up his sleeve.
KODA is still going strong. She lives at Grandmas full time now and she rarely wonders home. But would you leave if someone fed you buttered pancakes for breakfast and a snack every time the door opened. I am so thankful for my Grandma, because if it weren't for her adopting KODA I'm sure she wouldn't be here with us today.
Andi is 140 pounds and just turned a year old on July 4th. She had her first heat cycle. I have never experienced that before so it was a learning experience for all of us. Not at all as messy as I had expected. So far she continues to be a really good puppy. It's hard for me to think that she's still a puppy with her size.
And as for me, I'm just trying to keep up with it all. Man, I catch myself getting a little sad sometimes at how fast life goes. I try to enjoy the little things and live in the moment, but sometimes it's easy to just take it all for granted and get caught up in the day in and day outs of life. I plan to continue subbing at the school again this year and probably coaching some or all of the kids sports. I'd really like to start exercising again and eating half way decent.
Hope everyone is doing great. Thank you for all the support and love that you give our family. We couldn't do it without you all. Have a great rest of your summer and I'll try to work on more updates.
