One of my favorite places to go to is to our family "property." We have never come up with an official name for the place where we go and camp, it's just always been "the Property." Located 15 miles outside of a small Podunk town, this has been a place where all of the Summerhays clan come to get away. Our little piece of land is tucked back into a small corner hidden from view to those passing by. It is a perfect getaway. My grandfather purchased the two lots when my mom was a young girl, and since then has been loved and used by his kids, and the next generation. 

Located half a mile down the road from our piece of property is the clubhouse for members of the Lake Arrowhead community, which we are apart of. Since we are camping, and only have a portable toilet, we usually go down to the clubhouse to shower, or use the restroom. The lake and dock is right there, so one morning I had gotten up early and needed to drive down that half mile. I am glad I had brought my camera with me, because I walked out onto the dock to enjoy the stillness of the morning. The morning fog created an eerie calmness to the water, which sent a good chill up my spine. I was able to capture the quiet, still sleeping lake. It was perfect.

I woke up this morning knowing it was going to be a good day. I knew it was going to be a good day, because for one: I got my 6.5 mile run in, only stopping briefly to snap some photos of the amazing scenery around me. The weather has been really nice and warm, but the mornings are overcast and foggy, providing some great photo ops. Two: I didn't have to work, which I'm always happy about. And three: mom suggested we go and pick blueberries. There is a local blueberry park filled with tons and tons of blueberry bushes. It's a little overwhelming when you try to figure out where to start, and then which way to continue on. The deeper you got into the thickness of the bushes, the better your selection of blueberries where. So now we have an abundance of blueberries, that were free. Anyone know of any good blueberry recipes?

Someone's ready to be a grandpa. 

This is what I like to call a three generation photo shoot. And what day would be more perfect to have it on than Mother's Day. Going through my photos to find one that I could use to join with the rest of the social media crowd, I realized that I did not have any recent photos of my mother and I, let alone one with my grandmother. That was a problem that needed to be fixed. So we fixed it; in the backyard, with a camera and a brother so willing to take the photos. We had a grand time. 

Happy Mother's Day!!

We love weddings! What a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding! Tim and I were able to be a part of my cousin and her new husbands wedding day. There is so much love between those two and it shows. I enjoyed being around all of my family, and having the opportunity to share this day with them. I also enjoyed watching my brother push my grandmother in her walker down the hill to where we were taking the photos. She had fun. 

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself at the moment. The master piece above? That's mine. Well not so much the words. Those came from a pretty awesome man who's words always touch my heart, but I mean the design. That's mine. I created that, along with the help of my Illustrator pro husband. That man of mine is a genius when it comes to creating things. He knows all the tricks and shortcuts. I got this quote from President Uchtdorf's talk this past weekend during General Conference. The words spoken were very much inspired, and were definitely what I needed to hear. This was the first time that I actually took notes all four sessions and really listened. In the past I have listened, but not put full attention in to what was being said. I am so grateful that I chose to really listen. Afterwords I decided to create a poster of one of my favorite quotes to help me remember what was shared. Like I said, I'm pretty proud of myself for how it turned out. Especially since I don't have very much knowledge using Illustrator. 

We loved having Tim's parents come spend time with us. This was such a special and emotional visit for all of us. It's hard having family spread across the country, only seeing them a few times out of the year, but the time that is spent together is so wonderful. We took this time to share our piece of the country with them. We shared the PNW with them. The last day was spent just soaking in the rare winter sun, and taking in the beauty that the Sound has to offer. There was even a friendly pup who only demanded that a stick was thrown to help us enjoy this precious time left together. It's fun to be behind the lens capturing the sacred moments amongst family. Watching my niece interact with her grandparents. My husband sharing a moment with his father, while looking taking in the Seattle landscape. My mother-in-law throwing a stick to an overly anxious puppy who we still don't know who it belongs to. These are moments that I was able to capture and observe. Moments that will be forever remembered and loved. 

Until the next visit these are what we will hold on to. 

Here's to 2014. 

You are bringing in so many new possibilities, new beginnings, new changes to our lives. You are the now and the what is to come. May you be kind to us and understanding as we continue to move forward towards our hopes and our dreams. May you be patient with us as we are young and are still learning. We are as young birds learning to leave the nest with our young wings spread ready to take flight. The challenges that we are bringing over with us from the past year are meant for us and you. You are the hope that those challenges will be conquered. You are the hope that we will succeed through our toughest obstacles. We welcome you with our arms wide open. We are laying our cards out on the table for you. We are an open book. Our gift to you so that you may understand who we are in hopes that you will be generous to us. 

We are few but you bring new beginnings for our family of two. So many adventures are planned for you, that are exciting and scary all in one. To you we are not beginning any new resolutions, but continuing on with the now. We are refining the current to be what it should. You will help us in succeeding in our goals and desires. You will help keep us in check and pressing forward. May you love us for who we are. For what we stand for. Understand what you are bringing to us and what you mean to us. 

This is my ode to you 2014. Be good.

In the two years that Tim and I have been married each Christmas we have rotated between his and mine parents.  First year Maryland, then second Washington. This year was Tim's parents turn. In May his parents moved to St. Louis and we had every intention on flying out there. Tim and I were excited to see the new home and to spend time with his folks. But due to still being poor newlyweds and not affording the cost of flights, plus lack of time off from jobs on our part his parents came to us. We are sad and disappointed that we weren't able to go to them, but at the same time happy that they could come party with us in the best city on earth (in my opinion). Also Tim's sister and her family live in Port Orchard so it worked out that we were able to spend and celebrate Christmas with them. 

This has been much needed family time with them. Seattle was on the top of the list of places to visit, but even though they had been there before, Seattle is just big enough that we were able to take them to places they had never been before. The tour of Seattle manly consisted of driving around trying to remember how to actually get there such as the Freemont Troll, and Queen Anne Park. Thank goodness for modern day technology and luckily there is always something new to see so it didn't matter too much that we got lost a couple of times. This particular visit was memorable for me in that I actually fed a seagull at Ivars on the pier. It required some hesitation, squealing, squawking, flapping of wings and running away at one point, but it was a success. The bird was fed and I fed it. We also went up the Smith Tower, and in my opinion the view was better then the Columbia Tower. 

It's been great having Tim's parents here with us, and we've been having fun. 

Dinosaur tails are very entertaining especially when it comes to a two and four year old, and even the adults present. There were plenty of stomps and rawrs with even a few light saber swings here and there to keep the children's imagination alive. Operation dinosaur tails a success. Once the tails were velcroed on around their little waists it was obvious this was a fun way for them to use their imagination. For Christmas I wanted to give them something that would not just get lost in their room among their other toys. Thank you Pinterest and for your creative ways, that allow someone such as myself who has a very teeny tiny hard to see creative bone in them. I was so happy when I saw how easy they were to make, and didn't take to much time. My sewing skills have been limited to middle school home ec. so I needed something that fit in that experience range. Now that I have mastered that art of dinosaur tails, I might need to make some for the adults. 

Here is the link to the genius of a lady who was kind enough to pin her creation.