when we go to the grandparents house...

My little Adriana is growing so fast! I keep telling myself that I can't give up on this blog.  These are our memories and the days are flying by.  The summer is coming to a close and I want to post some more pictures of our trip to my grandparents in July...

When I visit my grandparents there are certain things we can always look forward to...(besides seeing their lovely faces of course!)

a nice, crisp hike in the mountains is always in store when we are with them...

 the evergreen-scented air, the bubbling brooks, the excitement of stumbling upon wildlife.  My grandparents have always lived near the mountains.  It is a part of them.  The older I get the more I understand that...

 I am 100% an outside, fresh air, nature girl.  It is exciting to be able to share that part of me with my own daughter.

 a trip to my grandparents always seems to involve a family picture on a log... so here is a classic to add to the collection... perhaps someday I can track down some older pictures...

only certain people will understand the hilarity of this picture...a rare sighting indeed...that was pretty good...and that includes you too, betty.

 My grandparents live in what many call "God's country".  I believe it.  So much of the Master Artist can be seen through the beauty of His creation.  Many times I am speechless.

We decided that they live "beyond the great valley" from The Land Before Time? anyone ever watch that as a kid? or one of the bajillion sequels?

Their back deck overlooks a mountain!?! It was wonderful waking up to such beauty every morning. (that includes my husband. isn't he cute?)

when we go to my grandparents we can expect AMAZING food. :) the greatest of these being...
the famous.....Huckleberry Pancakes.

little bird had her first taste of these deliciousnesses and responded correctly by stuffing her face like the rest of us.

this trip to my grandparents included many evenings around the campfire.

 what's a good campfire without smores?

 unfortunately we were unprepared for smores and resorted to being "creative" which actually turned out to be very good! roasted mallow+drizzled nutella+graham cracker crumbs=...........

 Pure Yumminess!!!

when we go to the grandparents house everything is attached to memories of when we were little...
like these toys... my brother and I spent hours with them. And now my daughter is playing with them. Crazy.

Homemade aggravation board. I remember playing this as a kid!

when we go to the grandparents house....


time is always too short...

the great-grandparents house

dear family and friends,


adriana here.  i am busy growing and can't believe that i am almost one year old! this has been the best first summer ever! i have traveled the country and at this point can't believe how big my world is getting...(now if only i could get around faster...)


after observing some strange creatures on the beach...(my mama called them crabs) i have decided that the easiest way to get around is by scooting. i mean forget this crawling stuff. who has time to do things the same as every other baby!?! not this girl.

So after visiting the beach it was time for a trip to the mountains. equally as beautiful as the ocean in my opinion...my mama's grandparents live in a place called "northern idaho"
So the whole family piled in a big van to drive there...

The mountains didn't have sand, but they did have pinecones...not quite as delicious...interesting texture... 

i was nervous for my uncle jo who climbed to the top of this mountain side. mama says that if i ever have brothers like she does that it is possible that they will like to do scary and dangerous things...

we stopped for a break at a place with a scary, dark cave that the rest of the family climbed down into...i stayed in the car with gramma. my parents returned claiming they were officially "splunkers". they are kinda silly sometimes.

the fam has told me that root beers floats make road trips even more fun. i didn't get one though, cuz my mama doesn't let me have soda....

 also...my dad is so cool. i wish i could be just like him.

speaking of my dad... the sunday we arrived at my great-grandparents house was father's day. i woke up my dad with my bright, adorable face and mama had a fun day planned for all the fathers...

mama had four areas in which our fathers are important to each of us... with each of those areas the fathers had a challenge, and points to win, and prizes to give...


1. our fathers are knowledgeable. (not sure what that word even means) but the dad's went head to head to try to stump us girls with words that no one could guess the meaning of.


2. our fathers are the providers. my dad works hard so i can be clean and fed and safe. in this challenge all the guys had an archery tournament.

 for never having shot a bow before my dad rocked it!

3. fathers are our strength. in this challenge the men had to see how many logs they could split in a minute.

4. fathers are servants. for the final challenge the fathers had a grill off.

hope my dad had a great first father's day! i love him very much!

more pictures from summer adventures.

The mama is slightly behind on posting pictures from all of our summer adventures.  Little bird has done great with all the travels this summer has found us apart of. She traveled wonderfully in her carseat for a total of just under 10,000 miles! add in to the fact that she has visited 18 states all before her nine month birthday! I perhaps am encouraging my little girl to become a world traveler ;) Unfortunately, she won't remember any of this so that is why these pictures are so valuable...

The last part of our Florida trip

We made our last trip to the beach a memorable one by getting up early to see the sunrise over the ocean.  There are certain moments in life that you realize how precious what you are experiencing really is and thinking back to this morning makes me emotional, for that experience has come and gone...

these are some pictures that lauren took that I love. they are not in any fancy order obviously...

Our trip home

Leaving Florida was tough for us.  We were excited to see the daddy but sad knowing that another trip to the beach would be an eternity away....(perhaps if we didn't live ten million miles from the beach on either side? Josh. (cough) )

To make things a little less hard we decided to treat ourselves to a little southern hospitality in the beautiful city of Savannah, GA.

After some research we found that the best southern cooking was at a little resaurant called Mrs. Wilkes House. Although the wait was close to an hour it was worth it! Overwhelming amount of delicious food all things "southern"...sweet tea, collard greens, fried chicken...and yes ALL that food on the table was served to us only....um....whoa!

Savannah is on my list of beautiful cities to visit again.  Honestly, not many make that list because I feel that my life is too short to visit places over again when there are too many new places to experience on this earth...