Summer Hasn't Ended. No not yet.

We are still enjoying the sunny weather and heading outside to the beach and park as much as possible. Summer doesn't officially end until September 21st... right?

Can't get enough of the water

BYU Cougars vs. UW Huskys

After a close game of BYU football the Cougars pulled through and won the game 28-27. We've been looking forward to this game since it was announced on the schedule two years ago. It was an eventful game and we had fun proudly wearing our blue among the much more dominate royal purple in Seattle. Brandon even got water poured on him by an upset Husky fan while he was leading the BYU section in the Cougar fight song. Yes, he is a die hard Cougar fan.

The Clarke Clan

We watched the Clarke kids this weekend while my brother and his wife went to Chicago for five days. The twins, Cammie and Timmy, were great and Ellie loved the nonstop play date. Rachelle (10 years old) was a great helper with all of the kids and was constantly asking me if there was anything she could do to help out. I was grateful it was over the long weekend so Brandon was there to help me entertain the troops over the weekend.

On Labor Day we took them to the Seattle Center and they each got to choose a ride they wanted to go on. No pictures but I have never seen Cammie smile that BIG! Each child chose a different ride so the whole experience took a bit longer than had been anticipated. Then we headed out to get ice cream before their parents returned home.
Ellie loved having a four night sleepover with her cousins. The sleep deprivation was a bit much for her and the day we came back to our house she slept in until 9:30 am! (yes I was shocked as well)

Cannon Beach, OR

We took a long weekend and headed down to Cannon Beach for our annual family vacation. We loved spending the time just the three of us. The weather was fabulous. It is always a bit unpredictable but we got lucky.

Ellie loved having Daddy's help with her sand castle creations.

Cannon Beach has the cutest little downtown strip with little knickknack shops and candy stores. I love all the little cottages right along the water front.

The Clarke Family as Cowboys

The Gang

Ellie loved her time as a cowgirl at Red Horse Mountain Ranch last month. We loved spending time with family. Ellie is still talking about her horse Gray Mare. Ellie had requested a pink horse and was pretty devastated when her horse was a little shade off of pink. Well the kids counselors came through and put a pink cowgirl hat on the horse. That satisfied Ellie for the first day but later on in the week they picked up some pink paint and painted pink polka dots all over Gray Mare. Ellie was in heaven! It has been a month and the first thing she said when she woke up yesterday was, "Do I get to ride Gray Mare today?"

All the cousins with Grandma & Grandpa

When do we get to ride?
Oh they got their turn! We each had our own horse and rode every day for a week!

All Clarke Cousins in Hot Tub= Total Chaos & lots of fun :)

My favorite cowboy and our sassy little cowgirl

Didn't you know I am a cowgirl at heart?

Happy Fourth of July!

We headed to the Bellevue Downtown Park with my brother, Ben, and his family to celebrate. Ellie loved dancing to the live music.

Ellie loving life with her cousins!

Movies on the Pedestal

Last night we went to the opening night of Movies on the Pedestal.
"Movie viewing under the starry nights and in the heart of downtown Seattle.
Rainier Tower's unique pedestal doubles as a 50' movie screen."
Last night's showing was an all-time favorite The Princess Bride. It was so fun to be in the middle of downtown, watching a movie, in an open courtyard in the middle of the night!

The Sweetest Thing......

I am constantly amazed at the sweet things that come out of our litte Ellie's lips.
She truly is the sweetest little thing... I can't get enough of her!

The Cousins are Here!

A few of Ellie's cousins have moved to town and we are LOVING it!

The Perfect Saturday

Today was the perfect Saturday....hot, sunny and filled with endless summer fun.

Cleaning her room....

Ellie has become rather particular in her fashion. No matter what anyone says.. she wakes up the morning with a very specific outfit in mind that she is going to wear. If that outfit is dirty or is no where to be found.... watch out! In Ellie's search for the perfect outfit for the day she tosses the majority of her clothes from her dresser onto the floor. I have become rather frustrated with this little daily routine and have started requesting that Ellie put her clothes back into her dresser after she has found what she was searching for.

This is what happens when I ask my three year old to clean her room... at least the clothes are off the floor...right?

Sous-Chef

My little sous-chef exhausted from another day of helping in the kitchen.....

Sound to Narrows

The pre-race pep talk from her dad

Look at her go

Crossing the finish line with Grandma Rowley

We ran the Sound to Narrows 12k race with the Rowley family this month. It was a beautiful course. Brandon and I ran the race together. It was such a fun event. Ellie ran the 20 yard diaper dash. She wasn't done at the end of the race. She kept on running and even ran with Grandma Rowley when she finished her race.

Seattle

You know you live in Seattle when it is a high of 69 degrees on June 19th and your three year old complains that it is TOO hot!

The Birthday Girl!

To our complete amazement.. our little girl is growing up! Ellie turned 3 last week!

The new ride...

Fun with friends

Treats..... and lots of them!

What's a party without a pinata?

And the loot.....

We did it!....Ellie's First Haircut

I have gotten my haircut by my friend, Laura, since my days at BYU. She even did my hair for my wedding. Every time I go back to Utah I try to squeeze in an appointment with her so I can get a good cut until the next I'm back into town. So of course I only trusted Laura with Ellie's first haircut. WOW... it was FUN! Ellie did such a great job of listening to directions and holding still and being HAPPY during the whole experience. I was so impressed. And of course Laura did a fabulous job.
Walking through the whole process with my girl.
My little baby is all GROWN UP!
While I was getting my haircut, Ellie got her nails and toenails painted. She also enjoyed a lollipop for doing so well during her haircut.
Ellie and I got twin bobs. A fun cut for the summer months..

We're Back...

My Mom had to come back to the states for a couple of weeks to get shoulder surgery so Ellie and I headed to Utah to help her with her recovery. She did amazingly well with her physical therapy and we had TONS of fun while we were there.

The weather in Utah was crazy as usual..it was 95 degrees the first week and then snowed a couple of days the second week.
We took a trip down to Provo to get Ellie's haircut (more on that in a later post) and we stopped by the BYU bookstore to get some memorabilia for the kiddos. They LOVED their, as Ellie calls it, BIU shirts.
We took an adventure on Thomas the Train that was in town. What a fun little trip!

Ellie SO excited to see Thomas.

The trip... brrr it was chilly put Ellie HAD to wear her skirt as usual.
Ellie with my Mom, the trooper. Can you believe she had just had surgery?
Brandon came into town for Memorial Day weekend. We headed to Main Street Park City for our usual fun little adventure....we rode the trolley....
Stopped at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory....
Chose some goodies....
And then stopped for ice cream. What a treat! Thanks Grandma!

We had such a fun visit with my Mom. She worked so hard the whole time on her physical therapy but she was such a sport the entire time we were there. Thanks Mom! Glad you are doing better!