Summer of Awesome .. in bullet points

*The Early November: I went to this awesome show back in February- Anthony Raneri (lead singer of Bayside) and other various leads from different bands. Enter appreciation of one, Ace Enders & The Early November. They had an album coming out which is called In Currents- which is kind of spectacular, btw. I love the title track. It's just an excellent album. Yes, you should check it out. I also got introduced to another band called The Swellers- punk rock awesome. They were awesome live. I am happy to say I have 2 of their albums.

*Bekki & fam of COURSE coming. On the weekends I would jump on bus-train-ferry-car to get to Whidbey to hang out and spend every spare moment up there. We went on hikes, went to Fort Casey. (Which was way better this time around. It's amazing what one more year and adding Adam can do to calm the nerves while kids are playing around a place that shouldnt be for children.) I bonded with the kids. Kaylie especially. We went to the Lavender Wind Farm- and got a triple berry lavender ice cream. Umm. Surprisingly spectacular and lovely. I highly recommend it.. Hmm what else..

*Derek and Teana came out- had a HUGE layover in Seattle and we all got together, went to the temple, and met up with our aunt/cousins later to play catch-up.

there's a serious one.. but whats the fun in that? 

Come on, Cassidy.. just stick your finger up his nose. it's funny... 

The moment of truth! Derek and Teana are here!! 

Cassidy adores Teana.. this is the perfect face to capture that moment. 

And Quan.. Oh Senior Quan, he thinks Derek is the coolest. 

 And D&T got to announce that they're going to have a baby! All Hail! Congrats!

We went on this hike on Whidbey one day. Bek, me, kids. To amuse the kids and ourselves, come to find, we had a leader and we had to follow exactly what the leader did. Every sound, every move. The quiet woods echoed with our exclamations about sludge, breaking into songs, and whatever random noises kids just choose to spirt out. 

One of the things we found was this BIG tree knocked over. Kaylie, being Kaylie, decided she wanted to climb the roots. It made bekki kinda nervous, I think. 

*What was ALSO pretty stellar about spending my weekends up on Whidbey was getting to be taught by an AWESOME Sunday School teacher. I cant spell his name. But know, he's great. He's big and loud and loves the gospel. And loves to tease the fellow ward members. You can see this emanate from his person and his powerpoint presentation that he can never seem to get through.
Bekki and I are his biggest fans. We'll make t-shirts next time around.

*Cold 4th of July. Whidbey celebrates the 4th on the 3rd. Not sure exactly why, unless they want to;
1. Extend the celebrations
2. Not compete with Seattle
Whichever reason, or whatever the cause, I came up for the 4th- since I had it off. It was cold and mingling with islanders is always a.. treat.

More later. Work in AM.