{August 2015: Family Visit, Anniversary, Brother's Wedding, School Starts}

We Love: Our Sweet Baby Girl H.

We Love: Our Sweet Kittens.

 Our Daughter R, LOVES to Read.  Big Brother E, is helping Baby D walk.  Baby D sleeping sweetly & practicing sitting up.

 Grandma feeding Baby D.  {Mark & Elizabeth} celebrating our 13th Wedding Anniversary.  Our Daughter H, with two of her brothers, swinging on the swing & snuggling with Auntie Angela.

We loved Celebrating the Wedding of my Brother Thomas & his new wife Maggie, at their beautiful wedding.  I will be posting more pictures of all of their celebration events, that I captured on my photog blog.

Our Sweet Kiddos, with their Daddy, all ready for their First Days' of School.

We love these cuties!  We adore them.

First Days' of School, in their Classrooms; and the kids with their teachers.  

On our trip up to Washington; our Kids LOVE playing with their Cousins. 

 

{Family Visits, 12th Anniversary, 1st Day of School, Owies: August 2014}

We began the month of August continuing our trip up to Washington and went to see my sister Angela and her daughter {our niece} A in the play "The Sound of Music".  They both did a fabulous job on their parts.  We loved watching them perform.  It was an amazing show.  Angela played one of the lead Nuns {Sister Sophia} and A was Gretel. 

 Our son E received his Bear Badge at his Scout Pack Meeting.  My brother Danny, his wife Jolie and their two kids came to visit us and we had a lovely time with them.  We went blueberry picking with them while we were still up in Washington.  We had two visits to the Emergency Room, to get our daughter K's head super glued and also because our son C had swallowed a penny.  I think we need to put some of our kids in a bubble!  It's so hard to not be able to protect them from everything.  But that's a difficult part about being a parent, I guess.

 Mark and I celebrated our 12th Anniversary in August.  Mark's parents {in Oregon} watched our 5 kids {I was 3 months pregnant with our #6 at the time}.  We went to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and saw and learned some amazing things about the history of the Oregon Trail.  It was a lot of fun!

 We tried new restaurants, viewed sites around the area, and had some much needed alone time together.  It is always nice and very important to spend some time alone, away from the kids.  And your relationship and the kids are all the better because of it.

 We also rode the train in Sumpter, Oregon.  It was really fun.  We enjoyed looking at the beautiful views from the historical train's windows.  We had a wonderful time on our anniversary together.  I'm so grateful to have had this incredible man in my life for the last 12 years.  I'm Lucky, I'm in Love with my Best Friend.  Here's to Eternity. 

   Here are our Kiddos playing at Grandpa and Grandma's {in Oregon} and the Park together.  

 Here are our Kids getting the mail with Grandma {Mark's mom} and having fun playing with their cousins in Oregon.

 We had a wonderful time visiting with our Friends and Family, in Oregon together.

 We sure do Love these Kids!

We love going to the Library for Story time.  Before we moved into our house, we lived in an apartment across the street from a library {pictured above} in a smaller town {outside of the bigger town that we now live in}.  My parents came to visit us and helped us pack our apartment up to move into our new house, that we were moving into at the beginning of September.  It was especially helpful with being pregnant with our #6, to have their help.  We loved having them in Idaho to visit us!  It was a joy visiting and spending time with them.

 One of the special things of being married to a teacher, is having them home during the same vacations that the kids get.  School started for the kids and Mark at the end of August this year.  Our son E, started 4th grade, our daughter R began 3rd grade, and our little K, started Kindergarten this year.  Mark also started teaching his 2nd grade class again.  They are all at the same school.  Which is so much fun for us!

{Soccer, Sleepovers and Anniversary: August 2013}

Little Man E and Princess R enjoyed playing soccer this summer, did very well and learned some new skills.  They both liked dribbling, passing, scoring and even playing goalie.

 Grandpa and Grandma Chandler {Mark's folks} came to watch their game.  It was wonderful to have them there.  The kids really enjoyed that.

 We took them out to McDonalds after their last game to celebrate their great season, and scoring.  We had a lot of fun eating and playing together.

Our children {Little Man E, Princess R and Princess K} loved having their first friend sleepovers at their friends houses and having their friends spend the night at our house, this summer.

 Mark and Elizabeth celebrated their {11th anniversary}, by putting the kids to bed early, ordering in Mexican food, watching a movie and spending some quality time together at home, this year.

 We sure love our little Baby H {and all of our kiddos}.  She is such a sweet little baby.

{Happy Eleventh Anniversary! M & E}

"It's Your Love" Tim McGraw (feat. Faith Hill)

Dancin' in the dark
Middle of the night
Takin' your heart
And holdin' it tight
Emotional touch
Touchin' my skin
And askin' you to do
What you've been doin' all over again
Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you know
What it is that won't let me go

 

It's your love
It just does somethin' to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
It's your love
Better than I was
More than I am
And all of this happened
By takin' your hand

And who I am now
Is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together
I'm stronger than ever
I'm happy and free
Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in, no
And if you asked me why I changed
All I gotta do is say your sweet name
It's your love
It just does somethin' to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
It's your love
Oh, baby

Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you know
What it is that won't let me go
It's your love
It just does somethin' to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
It's your love
It's your love
It's your love 

_________________________________

 Eleven Years ago I Married my Best Friend, 

The One I Laugh With, Live For, Dream With, LOVE.

 _________________________________

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.  I am married to the man of my dreams, who treats me like a Queen every day of our lives together.  He is an amazing husband, father to our 5 children and a wonderful man.  He respects, honors and cherishes our relationship and me.  Every day is an adventure: learning, sharing and growing together.  I love him more today; than on the day that we were married.  I adore him, miss him like crazy when we are apart, and love our lives together.  I am so blessed.        

10th Anniversary Leavenworth, Beach Resort, Cousins, Swimming, Fun

Mark and I {Elizabeth} celebrated our TENTH Wedding Anniversary this last August.  My mom came over and watched our kiddos for a few days while we went to Leavenworth, Washington {a little German tourist town} to celebrate.  We stayed at a Lovely Bed and Breakfast, ate Delicious German Food, Shopped in the Lovely shops, were serenaded by Accordion Musicians {playing German music}, ate yummy snacks and treats, hiked and walked around a lot, and had an Amazing time.  I am so Blessed to have been married for 10 years to this Amazing, Handsome, Wonderful Man.  I Love Him So much!  W have had the most Fun together for the last decade.  Love. xoxoxo

  After our Anniversary trip, we traveled up to visit my side of the family in Western Washington.  We stayed in a Hotel on the way up there.  It was my kiddos' first time staying in a hotel.  They Loved it and had such a blast!  They really liked the yummy breakfast, sleeping and staying in the room and swimming in the pool.

Lots of Kiddo Sleepovers and Swimming with Cousins.  Lots of Fun! :)  The kiddos love hanging out with their cousins.  They have a lot of cousins on both sides of our family.  We always have fun spending time with them, visiting and playing.  It was very hot, so we went swimming a lot.  The kiddos really love to swim and are learning so much.

We went to a Resort at the Beach with my parents and had fun going to the Beach, Swimming at the Pool, Playing in the Game Room, Camping in their RV, going to the Museum, Collecting Shells, going to the Souvenir Shop, making Smores, playing on the Playground, going on Walks, having a Blast.

 Icecream Truck fun for the Kiddos {I was SO Excited, as were the kiddos, that the Icecream Truck came to the swimming pool that we were at, {with our cousins} because I grew up having the fun experience of the Icecream man coming in my neighborhood and getting treats, and I had told my kids about it, but they had never experienced it before.  So it was a lot of fun for all of us that they had this fun new adventure!}, Going to the Beach with Cousins, Playing in the Water and the Sand, Camping in my Parents' RV.  So much fun.

Sand in the City Fun.  Playing in the Sand, Watching Cousins Dance, Looking at Awesome Sand Sculptures, Face Painting, Making Crafts, Eating Snow Cones, Playing in the Water at the new Children's Museum, Touching Sea Creatures, and Visiting and Playing with Cousins.  Afterwards, we ate dinner and treats at Dairy Queen with family.  Yum.

The rest of our summer, and start of fall!

This summer, we have been busy with many activities, we have enjoyed Hiking, Camping, Fishing, Visiting Family, going to the Beach, Swimming, Going to water parks, and spending time together.  Here are some pictures that we'd like to share with you all from our summer adventures:

We celebrated our 8th anniversary in August.  We did some lovely things to celebrate, including going to a Seafood Buffet which was delicious.  

Flowers that Mark gave to me. :)

We went to the Fair and saw animals, rode on rides and got elephant ears. Yum :)

We went up to Washington to visit my side of the family.

We went to Sand in the City and saw some awesome sand sculptures, and did fun activities: watched nieces perform dances, rock climbed (the kids), held sea creatures (the kids).

We went camping with some of my side of the family at the beach. It was awesome.

It was my kids' first trip to the beach and they thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

My sister Angela and I, both pregnant :).

Little Miss K with a dead crab. 

Daddy with Little Miss K's feet in the sand. :)

Our family having a blast at the beach. :)

We had so much fun with my side of the family at the beach.  We were glad it was sunny too :).

We had a birthday party at the beach, for Little Man E (6th) and Little Miss K (2nd).  It was great.

My brother Chris, my Dad and I :)

Before we left the beach, we got souvenirs, salt water taffy and went go-carting (not me of course).  It was fun.

After we got back from Washington, my sister Angela's family came to visit us.

Mark and Grant, and some other guys went on a hike to Ice Lake.

We did a lot of fun things, including going to the water park.  We really love that place.  So much fun.

The cousins having fun in our backyard pool. :)

When the guys got back from the hike, we had Mark's brother Glen (wife Summer) and family over for dinner too.

We all had so much fun together.

This month, Little Man E, had his first day of school (Kindergarten).  He was excited, but a little nervous.

He had nothing to worry about though, because he had a total BLAST.  He loved it!

He LOVES riding the bus now too, even though he wasn't sure about it at first.

We made cupcakes for Little Man E, to take to school to share with his class.

On {E's 6th birthday} we had a transformer party with friends and family.  It was a dress-up party too.

We had a Optimus Prime pinata for the kids.  That was a blast (they used a blind-fold for most of it).

Uncle Glen Clown came and did balloon animals for the kids.  It was fun.

We had a Treasure Hunt for the kids, which was great too.

Little Man E, with the treasure that they found (treat bags for each kid).

Little Man E, opening some of his presents.

On Little Miss K's 2nd birthday, we had a family birthday party for her.

Little Miss K loved it.  She was singing "Happy Birthday to K".  It was so cute.

Little Miss K opening some of her presents.

We celebrated my 29 3/4th ;) birthday with our little family.  It was lovely.  I felt spoiled & loved.

Mark and I took some pregnancy pictures of me and our family.  I love them.  

I always want to take these special pictures for my scrapbook and baby book.

It helps me remember this special time, and the child see when I was pregnant with them. :)

 

The kids are so excited for their new baby brother to come join our family.

I am due in a week and a few days (September)--10 days!!  I usually go right on time (within a day), but we'll see what this little guy decides to do.  We are very excited, and happy for this little guy to come to our family.  I am getting things done on my to-do list, and hopefully I will have all of my 'ducks in a row' before baby number four joins our little family.