Day 193: Derpy Alpaca

July 12

We're off to Utah!  We made a pit stop at "The Middle of Nowhere" in Idaho, where the bathrooms were, unfortunately, out of order, but the resident alpaca was happy to pose for goofy pictures.

Day 192: Level Pro

July 11

Lexi passed level 10 in swimming lessons today, meaning she has now learned all the have to offer at our local pool and they proclaimed her officially in "level pro".  She's pretty proud of herself, especially since she started the summer in level 7 and only had two and a half weeks of lessons this time around!

Day 184: Queen of the Sunroof

July 3

We were waiting for Vicki's youth group to end.

Day 175: YoCream Date

June 24

Lexi had a gift card, and today seemed like the perfect day to use it.

Day 174: Beauty All Around

June 23

We spent the day at Three Pools.  If the weather had been better, it would have been a great swimming hole, but it rained pretty much the whole day.  We still had a great time bonding under the sunshade while it rained and skipping stones when the rain stopped.

Day 169: Swimmer

June 18

This will probably be Lexi's last year of swimming lessons.  I've been so impressed with her hard work this summer!  She's basically been swimming laps for a half hour straight each morning.

Day 162: I Gotta Feelin'

June 11

Dress rehearsal for Lexi's jazz class.  She's the one on the far right.

Day 159: Mermaids

June 8

These girls swam all day long.

Day 158: Creekside

June 7

Chris's office designed this amazing camp, and they opened it up again for his office to have a family weekend there.

Day 157: Graduation Girl

June 6

Lexi has been blessed with an amazing teacher for her last two years of elementary school.  We're sad to say goodbye to Ms. Reneé, but hopeful that Ellie will be able to be in her class in a few years.  And now Lexi is excited to be moving on to middle school.

Day 151: Fun Run!

May 31

Lexi and her friends, getting ready to take off on the school's annual fun run.

Day 149: Crosswalk, Jr.

May 29

Lexi has been begging to help me with crosswalk duty for a while now, so when we got to school and the good corner was free I decided to let her try her hand at it.  She did a great job, and it definitely makes the job easier to have two people at the same intersection.

Day 148: My Motivator

May 28

I wanted to take a better picture of her, but she said, "Mom, we have to keep moving or our heart rates will go back down."  She's the trainer, so I guess I should listen.

Day 147: OMSI Again

May 27

We took a family trip to OMSI today, and right before we left for home we enjoyed watching this kinetic sculpture, called the Gravitram.

Day 144: Zoo Field Trip

May 24

Lexi and classmates enjoying the mountain goat statue at the zoo entrance.

Day 143: Book and Breakfast

May 23

Lexi borrowed this book from her friend and hasn't been able to put it down.  I love it when they find a book that speaks to them.

Day 140: Running Partners

May 20

In the interest of taking care of this body I was blessed with, I have embarked upon an adventure known as the Couch to 5K.  I am in no way, shape, or form a runner, nor do I have even the slightest desire to be one, but my body is not getting any younger and I'd like it to serve me well for a long time to come.  Lexi wholeheartedly supports me in this endeavor, and has become my personal trainer.  We had our first run tonight, and I'm pleasantly surprised to say that I didn't feel like I wanted to die.

Day 139: Sisters With a Cause

May 19

Today was the annual NAMI Walk here in Portland.  We wore these great t-shirts made by my awesome sister-in-law (the rest of the family participates in the Utah Walk in the fall) and walked a 5K in support of those who fight mental illnesses.

Day 137: Made Her Day

May 17

Each year every single staff member at the girls' school, from the principal down to the janitor, gives out a "golden ticket".  This year Lexi was chosen by our wonderful secretary Miss Terri.  It was truly a blessing, as Lexi had been feeling a little down recently.  She's a good student, a hard worker, and a great kid, but it's a sad truth that sometimes kids like her get overlooked when teachers want to encourage the strugglers to do better.  Add to that the fact that she's a middle child in the shadow of an academically outstanding big sister, and you have a girl who often feels unimportant and unnoticed.  I will admit that I have been praying for months that she wouldn't be overlooked this time, and I fully believe that the Lord gives us gifts through the hands of others.  And Miss Terri gave Lexi a wonderful gift today.  She felt so special - what a great way to end her elementary school career!

Day 136: Sneaky Shot

May 16

They were supposed to be listening to Dad reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, but I think they find it a little boring.  Games on Vicki's tablet are much more interesting.  Sorry, Chris.