Milestone Birthdays

In October...I was blessed to spend the weekend with  my good friend Sarah to celebrate her 40th birthday.  She invited several of her friends to spend the weekend with her in Sandpoint, ID, where she rented a cute little house.  What a fun weekend we had!

One of the gals, Erica, asked us to model these hats. 

(Her dad makes and sells them at this shop in Sandpoint.)

Favorites of L.A.

In October, I visited Juli, Justin, and little miss Kelsey in L.A.

And at my request, of course we went to the beach...a couple of times!!!

Don't be fooled...she's actually crying in this picture. She wasn't so sure she liked the ocean.

But here, in her mommy's arms, on a different day, she decided the ocean was alright. 

What a great grin she has!

My Cutie Niece

In October, I helped move my sister and family to a new house in Wyoming.  This is the first thing my niece did when we got her room set up...

Falling for Spokane

I know this is late...but better late than never!

In late August (or maybe early September), I got to go to Spokane for the weekend.  My uncle Dave flew me there in his airplane, picked up his brother Jim (also my uncle) and took him to Billings for the weekend.  Then, on Sunday, we did it in reverse.  This was my first trip in the plane...which he built himself, by the way... and it was awesome!  So much faster than driving or a commercial flight. 

Here's a view out the window of the plane on our way to Spokane...

While in the air, I asked Dave what was the highest he'd ever flown in his plane....he told me "this is the highest, right now."  Wow!  So I took a picture of the altimeter...20,220 ft.

When I was there I visited Manito Park to soak in the flowers.  It's so beautiful at the height of the season.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Eventually, we had to head home.  Here I'm taking a picture from the airplane, and you can see the reflection in the terminal.  If you look closely, on the left, you can see my uncle Jim watching us leave.

looking out the window...you can see the yellow tail of the plane, and lots of mountains below...

almost home...can you see the runway in the distance?

and we're home...Yes, we landed safely.

What a fun weekend!  Thanks Dave!

Rosa's Wedding Weekend

Here are a few more pictures from Rosa's wedding weekend....

This is my nephew Alex.  Tell me he isn't the cutest thing!

This is my sister, Kristen; nephew, Alex; and grandpa, Vernon.

My sisters and Miss Rosa...

Miss Rosa Got Married

My cousin Rosa got married this past weekend to Ken. Her mom, Julia, made her wedding dress and did an amazing job. She's like a little sister to me, and I was glad to be there to celebrate on such a special day. Anyway, I thought I'd post a few pictures.

I took their engagement photos, so here are a few favorites.

Here are a couple of photos my aunt Tina took on the wedding day.

Fun in the Mountains

I've had a lot of fun this summer in the mountains and thought I'd post a few photos.

A friend and I intentionally got lost on some back roads one Saturday and took some really fun photos of an old silo, an old truck, and the mountains.

This silo was so cool. It's twisting and looks like it will fall. I climbed inside and the wood and light were amazing! This truck was so interesting...just sitting out in a field in the middle of nowhere. I wonder how it got so many colors.

Last weekend, my parents and I enjoyed the weekend at the cabin with the Dykstra family...