Waltons

Our little garden is actually producing! I must admit, I was skeptical. We have tomatoes, cilantro, onions, strawberries, sugar snap peas, peppers, a carrot, and the weed on the left is a man-eating squash plant.

Some of the fruits of our labors. We should have some peppers and tomatoes soon.

This is what we picked the other day after being out of town for the weekend. Does anybody know what to do with the gourd things on the right (I'm pretty sure they are just Thanksgiving decorations, but Elisha says people actually eat them)? Anybody want some squash????...we have extra. We'd be happy to share...seriously, we'll send you some...please?

After the parade, on the 4th, we had a quick BBQ at my sister and brother-in-laws house, then out to Bully Creek for some boat time. It was beautiful weather to get in the water.

I think this is Molly's first real boat ride. She quite enjoyed herself.

Just me and the girls

Less than a month behind.....The 4th of July was a fun filled day. Got up early (3 of us) to run the 10K. My brother, Tim, sister, Becky and I all ran it together. We rounded the corner and went in the shoots oldest to youngest. We made it in 48:33. Becky got first in the women's and I got second. My other sister, Rachel and mom did the 5K, and many of the nieces and nephews did the mile fun run. After the exercise, we had breakfast in the park, then home to get ready for the parade.

Nieces 12 and younger, decorated the Ranger for the parade. Scott drove it into town for them.

Molly and cousin Bella

Scrounging for candy. I LOVE parades that throw candy!

Thursday we woke up early, picked cherries, ate lunch, then headed to Golden Ears Falls for a nice hike. It was a gorgeous day to be hiking. So glad the weather cooperated for us to have a nice week there. On our way back from the hike, we took a short-cut and drove onto the ferry to go across the river.

We were so lucky to be there when the cherries were ripe and ready to eat. This was only a few of them.

What a guy!

Wednesday we went to a ward Canada Day breakfast, then loaded the canoe and headed to David and Mary's favorite canoeing river. It was a nice quiet place to be. After canoeing, we had a picnic then played some bocci ball. On our way home, we stopped at a Nursery that had train sets displayed all over, hot sauce section, Thomas the Train sets, animals, and a $2 train ride. It was quite the nursery. Our battery died so we didn't get any pictures of after the canoe part. Check out David and Mary's blog for those pictures.

Docking

Just a warning, there are going to be a few pictures here. Monday was fun, we drove to the Meritime Museum in Vancouver. It's all about ships and they even had a real live one inside the building. It was interesting to walk through. Unfortunately, Molly wasn't well that day and we were running to the bathroom every 20 mins or so.

They had a kid area to dress up and do hands on things. Molly makes a pretty cute pirate!

Ey Matee.....look yonder!

Not a bad looking pirate himself

We had great weather while in Vancouver. It is such a beautiful place and we are so glad to have that connection.

Cute shot of Fos and Dad

After the museum, we walked outside to find perfect kite flying weather. After eating our picnic in the car, Scott's dad got out all the kites and string. We think Molly enjoyed it inspite of not feeling very well. This was Foster's first time flying kites. We didn't get any great shots of it, but Scott's dad tied the string to Fos's shoe and when the kite flew up, so did his foot. Good thing the wind wasn't too strong, otherwise he might have gone up too!

Scott and Molly flying "Canada"

Just look at those skills!

And....what's a trip without a "Sasha" pose?

Sunday, Scott's brother Brian gave a talk in church, and yay for us, we got to be there. He did a great job. We came home and had a wonderful Sunday dinner of ham, potatoes, veggies, and salad. It was a nice relaxing day!

Four generations. Great Grandpa Walton, Grandpa Walton, Dad, and son.

O.K., so after my first marathon, I swore I'd never run again. Well, I think it took about a day to realize I wanted to do another to learn how to run better. Good friend Cassidy, said she wanted to do the Seattle marathon. When she mentioned it was on a Saturday, I was in. We figured it'd be a good way to make a trip to Vancouver as well. The training was tough. I battled a bad back and achilles tendon problems a few different times throughout. But, with much prayer and dedication, I made it through all those trials and ran my second marathon. I bettered my time by 7 mins and felt really good about the whole experience. The course was beautiful and hilly. No steep inclines, but long slow gradual uphills and when the last hill was set at mile 24.2 lasting to the flat top at around 25.4, it was like climbing Mt. Everest. Cassidy and my sister Becky ran it too. I am so proud of both of them for their accomplishments. It was so nice being at the finish area together. Congrats to both of them! I qualified for Boston, so that is my next goal......hopefully! It was hard deciding which pictures to post, so here are a few

Just a few single shots of the marathon. We had great weather for the day.

It was fun running a race with people you know. There were a few turn arounds so I could see Becky and Cassidy two different times. It was fun to wave and give high fives.

Here is my #2 fan. My friend Staci, and I would swap kids for exercising. Molly was always encouraging me to go back out and run some more. She knew the routine of getting my shoes on and heading out the door. Some mornings (if I went before Scott left for work) she'd be sitting by our glass weather door waiting for my return. Hopefully she'll be a runner like her mamma!