First Dip!

Well, it's the end of August and it's hard to believe Summer is winding down. It went way to fast! Our summer in Seattle has been cooler than normal, but we did get the opprotunity to squeeze in some summer activites. Jacob went swimming for the first time a few weeks ago, here are some pictures of his first dip!

All ready to go in his new suit!

Back floating

With Lydia

Hanging out with the Finlay cousins in the water!

Jacob loved the water!

Beach+Family= Good Times!

It's has been the McKinney's favorite vacation spot for years, and last week we got to spend a few days there together.

CANNON BEACH, OREGON

Building sand castles




Finding Star Fish!


Flying kites was Lydia's favorite part of the trip!







Just walking along the beach! A favorite of mine!


On Sunday after church the weather was a little cooler. We went and climb this Lewis and Clark Column. I didn't think I was scared of heights until I tried climbing 350 stairs to the top.

The view from the top was amazing. The kids loved sending off little wooden airplanes that Uncle Josh got for them.





Our family at the bottom, with the Astoria Bridge in the background.

Jacob and Mom



This was the old house we stayed in. It was a kids heaven, 4 stories of fun! Over a hundred years old, we were all suspicious it could be haunted. My one regret is that I never did spook Chris at night.

Jacob enjoyed spending time with Quinn and Amelia.

All the cousins (except Jacob- he slept a lot of the weekend)
On the first day Amelia turned one! We were happy we got to spend her birthday with her.

Thanks for the fun times everyone!

Happy Birthday Zeke!

Zeke turns 32 today!!!

10 things about Zeke that I love…

1. He is a handy man! Give him a project and some time and he can fix or build whatever!

2. He’s a complete sports nut! Thought I understood this about him when we got married, but I only understood about 10 percent of his passion. And now, I have even grown to like the Broncos.

3. He is a kid at heart. For example. he spent a day at Cub Day Camp this summer in the rain and completely enjoyed himself, especially during this fun activity! He really rallied theses boys.

4. He is a smarty pants! However, he will never admit it.

5. He never stops running. Figuratively speaking of course, but he is hard to keep up with sometimes.

6. He’s my favorite person in the world to tease, and I think I am likewise the same for him.

7. He loves his family(extended and immediate)

8. He is an awesome Dad!!

9. He is faithful!

10.He is loving, sweet, patient, understanding, helpful, kind, gentle, etc to me, and I love him a ton!

Happy Birthday Zeke!

(Just as an added note: He's going to wish I didn't do this post, so hopefully he doesn't delete it.)

Girls Camp 2007 "Anchor in Christ"

Girls camp came off without a hitch last week, and now I can take a breath and wait a month until I think about next year. Overall the week was a success! The weather perfect, no one got seriously hurt, the food was yummy, all the classes and activities were a hit and all 85 girls seem to enjoy themselves.

Our theme for camp this year was "Anchor in Christ" to go along with the value Faith. We took the nautical side of the theme and had a lot of fun with it. Each level was a cruise line (Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, etc.) There was so much to do with it that it will be hard to come up with one for next year.

For our craft we made these "Anchor in Christ" boards and also decorated bottles and put our testimonies in them for "Testimony in a Bottle".

One night for our Spirit Walk we had a slide show of pictures of the Savior. To go with the words from "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" It was very powerful.

Tired Girls after a scavenger hunt.

The lake up at camp is really cold. But it didn't stop many of the girls from jumping in on those warm afternoons. They usually jumped in screamed and then climbed right out. Big reason why we required them to wear life jackets.

Chipmunks were EVERYWHERE! I mean EVERYWHERE!!! They get very spoiled at girls camp, because the girls leave treats everywhere. I started to wonder what they ate on the weekends.

Jacob was well loved at camp! He was fought over several times by these girls. It will be a fun story to tell him someday of how he spent a week at girls camp and the girls all loved him. Not many boys will be able to say that!

Gangster Steph with her Gangster Jake!

(Jacob was part of our act)

Hawaiian night! Me with some of the leaders.
I had awesome leaders!!! Couldn't have done it without them.

Every cruise ship has a spa, so we had a spa day during free time just for leaders. The women came and enjoyed a foot bath, a massage, a drink, a treat, and even got to wear my fan hat! It was fun to pamper them.

Camp Zarahemla is so beautiful. Our driving time changed from 2 hours to 3 hours due to a road closure and many people complained about it, until they got there. They all said "Well worth the drive". It is now my favorite place to camp.


On the last night we had a cruise dinner. It was a lot of fun. The girls all dress up and they looked so good. Here are a few of them before the dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the dinner, I was too busy with Jacob, and helping out that I never got a chance.
Here is myself with my Assistant Diane. We worked so well together and she kept me laughing through all the stresses.