Another Baby Update

So we had our weekly doctors appt and all is well. She is still content to be in there where it is snug and warm. I am now at a 2 and 50% effaced and she has dropped some so we are at least progressing. We are trying to stay busy so that the house stays clean (what can I say;) We have been loving the berry picking season here. We have picked bluberries, rasberries, and katota berries. We eat to our hearts content, make jam, milk shakes, and freeze some for future enjoyment. I love the Oregon Berries. We also are loving the free family movies once a week. My girls love the movie theater! The library has a fun summer reading program and of course the park. The weather has been ideal. It is in the mid 70's and I am loving that! We also had fun at some friends birthday party. The girls got to go on pony rides and tractor rides and feed the chickens and torment some kittens. They were in heaven. I will post some pictures later when I get them on the computer. That is all for now! Nothing too exciting!

Baby update

Nothing too exciting! She is still in there. I am only dilated to a 1 and am holding out for that due date! What a miracle it would be to have 3 kids all right on their due dates. What would be even more amazing is if she weighed 7lbs 3oz just like her sisters! We will see. In light of baby stuff we have been going crazy at our house. We made like 8 batches of apricot fruit leather (which many of you know is my all time favorite) I have had to excercise much restraint to keep from eating like 10 rolls a day! I keep reminding myself that I have to ration! We also canned 8 batches of kidney and black beans. That was a first. Not nearly as intimidating as I thought using a pressure cooker would be. We went to the cannery and filled a big order for us and we got the nursery all set up! Now just to fill it with the necessities of life - diapers and wipes, diapers and wipes! That is something I am totally out of the habit of buying as Addie has been potty trained for like 7 months! Anyways, that is the excitement at our house! We are always looking for something to do to keep us busy and make the time go a little faster!

Home again Home again

Yes we are officially home and have no plans to leave again until Christmas. We need some time to vacation from vacation! We are excited to be home and get ready for our new arrival. I start my weekly visits on Wednesday so we will keep you posted on what is going on. We are very excited that we now have grass in our yard. I will post a picture as soon as we get it mowed and the swing set back on it. The girls are loving that they can walk around with bare feet! That is all for now. We are excited to catch up with all of our friends! It seems like we have been gone forever.

After our hike we came back for our own little fireworks display and a bonfire. The kids especially loved the smoke bombs or as Miley calls them from last year the stink balls! The kids had a blast and then smores were enjoyed by all. We had a great time at the lake. It is fun to watch my kids make memories there because I have so many wonderful memories from when I was a kid. I am grateful to my grandparents for providing such a wonderful place for our families to gather and create memories!

Our last day at the lake we enjoyed the water and a nice little hike that Ben had taken the girls on. They wanted to show us a fort they had built earlier that day! It was a fun little adventure and it will be fun to see if it will be there in the years to come. They named it the "friendly hardcore fort". What great memories!

We never go into town to watch the fireworks because there is always such a great show at the lake. There are a lot of well off Canadians who stay at the resort and get a lot of the good illegal fireworks so we headed out in my Aunt Vickis boat and watche fireworks for about an hour and a half. The kids had a ball being in the boat. I especially love the chubby face close up pictures of Ben and I with Addison.

After the parade we went over to my grandpa Ellersicks grave to put some flowers and flags on it. It was kind of a special moment for a few reasons. It is always good to remind my kids of who grandpa ellersick was since they never had a chance to meet him but also because my new nephew Gavin is the first Ellersick boy to be born in 25 years (it is up to my two brothers to carry on the Ellersick name). Even though Grandpa was not their we took a 4 generation picture. It was quite touching and we were all a little teary that Grandpa was not there to share it with us!

After the parade we got a picture of grandma and grandpa with all the kids. It is quite difficult to take a picture or maybe I should say cute picture of 6 kids ages 6 and under.

These are the Red Hot Mamas. They have been in the parade for as long as I can remember. They are always dressed to the hilt with their shopping carts and a nice little dance to go along. Something new that I do not remember were the "Usetabe Hot Mamas" and the "Mamasboys". The whole act was quite entertaining and the parade would not be the same without them!

Miley had a great time fishing with daddy! She caught a lot of sunfish - nothing we could eat - but the effort and experience were great. We also had a great time at the parade in Coeur d alene. They have a great parade. Addison especially loved the horses and was obsessed with them the entire time.

We went on our annual walk up to the resort to let the kids get an ice cream. It is a cute little ice cream shoppe and the kids get a huge cone for only a dollar. They were so excited. Granny had given them each a dollar and life was good. We had tried to go a day earlier and take granny on a little walk with us but the shoppe was closed. It was nice to have her out and about with us!

We had some nice down time. Gracie practiced her reading and singing to grandpa playing the piano. Miley brushed up on her "big sister" skills with her new cousin Gavin. He is 6 weeks old and so precious! It was fun to be around a little baby again. It made us all excited for the upcoming arrival of ours. He really is adorable and such a good baby. It was fun to meet him and sad to say good bye because they change so fast!

After bowling and dancing we headed back to the lake for aa bbq, presents, cake, and of course swimming! I love the backgroung of the lake in these shots! Gracie got some great presents. Hannah made a yummy ice cream sandwich ice cream cake! Addie loved the whipping cream she sat and licked the pan clean! Who cares about presents when ther is whipping cream around.

We of course had to take advantage of the arcade that was in the bowling alley! Anyone up for a little dance dance revolution! I tried really hard to get a shot of my mom and sister but they were not such willing subjects!

Vacation!

The day after we got to the lake was Gracies 6th birthday! We were so excited that we could be there to celebrate with her. She is getting so big and is starting to look like a young lady! WE had a fun time at the party. We all went bowling! The kids had fun. Jackson and Addie were very patient while waiting for their turn as you can see!