The little things

After four years of living in Corvallis we finally made it to a Saturday Farmer's Market! Ha! 

 What finally motivated us? We had our friend Dave come to town and stay with us and we were looking for something to go do. ;) We love spending time with Dave. We have the best conversations with him about the deep things in life. And he's fun to learn from. He's our age and he's been retired for a while now! We've learned a lot from him. He's an awesome inspiration and we look forward to the next time he visits!

 We passed a booth at the market selling fresh bratwurst that they had freshly made, my favorite, and Dave said he had to buy me one. :) Thanks Dave!

 Oh this sweet smile just makes me happy! I love how often books and comics tickle Jude.

 We swam at the local pool many times this summer!

 My mom joined us one day and the kids loved showing off for her.

Our friends Isaac and Evan and Sheri joined us one day, too! 

 Dental cleanings! We love our dentist and office. I've had soooo much anxiety surrounding dental issues with our kids. Ben's had some crazy dental problems that have felt unfair :( but this office has just been amazing! 

Spontaneous stop at the train park for 20 mins before heading to pick blueberries. 

 We missed blueberry season where we normally pick, but we found a place near our house that had such tasty berries! It was a bit more rugged than we expected, but was fun to explore a new place.

 Snug as a bug in a rug. I love this girl!

 Selah got a book from the library teaching her how to knit and she was off and running! She knit a little scarf for a stuffed animal and did great!

 I love having tea with Ben. He's always the first to rise, and he loves when we light candles around the house. So I asked him if he'd like to read by a lit candle with me one morning. :) Sweet times.

He read lots of Nate the Great mysteries for a while and then moved on to Pokemon chapter books. 

Poor Ben got his first ear infection, a rare thing around here. We ended up needing to go to urgent care once it started to bleed, oh dear! Thankfully he recovered quickly.

 The software company where Josh works hosted a golf night with dinner. A pro golfer taught us one-on-one how to use the clubs and swing, and we had a blast! I haven't golfed since high school, and this caused me to remember just how much I really love it.

 My mom took the kids for a day and Josh took me shopping and out to dinner to sort of re-celebrate my birthday a month and a half after the fact. We had a great day together! And the drink I ordered surprised me and was blue??

 There's nothing better than family filling the house.

 We went over to Matt and Gina's for dinner one evening and had fun picking cherries from their huge tree in their backyard.

 It only took a few mins to pick all of these cherries and we didn't even make a tiny dent in the amount on the tree. I couldn't even quite use all of these cherries! I made a pie and some pastries and they were yummy.

 I always loved when Uncle Tim made home made ice cream when we kids were growing up. It's still my favorite ice cream. We made his recipe many times this summer. Yummy!!

 The kids made little figures out of clay and then created a little world out in the backyard for them. They invited me to play with them one day. I feel like kids grow up so fast these days and I know they'll outgrow this before I know it, but it's sweet to still see their joy in the little things, and their imaginations at play.

 Four years ago I would have never believed you if you told me we'd be chicken owners one day. :) They sure are sweet animals. We visited our friend's working farm and got to hold baby chicks.

 One day I found Selah and Ben reading to our chicks. They are certainly well loved. :)