Beach Volleyball

Matt played in a doubles beach league this summer.

This past weekend he and Phil played in their final tournament.

Now onto indoor...

Endless Days of Summer!

I have had to work the last few weekends and have missed out on some of the fun Matt has had. Matt's friend Kevin Z got married on Vancouver Island two weeks ago.

Matt made the trip over with friends - here he is with the volleyball crew.

The following weekend I was working again and Matt went on a fishing trip with Chad up to Lindamen Lake.

You have to hike up to the lake.

The boats are ready.

Beautiful BC!

We have had some VERY hot summer days! We love to be outside in the heat, but sometimes need something to cool us down and what better way then...

an ice cold SLURPEE!!!

ahhhh summer!

African Haircuts!

God blessed me with VERY thick hair. Not only is it thick as in I have a lot of it, but it is thick as in every single strand of hair is course! So you can image what happened to my hair in humid, hot Uganda. I lasted five long months without a cut, but eventually I got to the point where I just could not take it anymore - it was so hot and my hair was sooo thick - things got nasty! So I got a hair cut and as you can see below I got it "thinned/layered." Needless to say at the time I did not really care what it looked like as much as I cared that there was less hair on my head and I was cooler!

Since my African haircut I have been trying to grow out my hair in order to grow out my much loved African cut and after four months my wonderful stylist was finally able to cut it all out! YAAAA for smooth, thinned hair!

Operation Make a House a Home 2010

I had the privedelge of heading to Oregon to see Becca twice this summer. The first time was just the two of us and the second time with Matt and Mom and Dad. Becca bought a house last fall and has oh so kindly waited for me to come home from Africa to help her decorate! I lived vicariously through Becca's house:) We worked hard - but the result is amazing! Becca's home is BEAUTIFUL! Here are some pictures that show some of the changes - I'm missing so much of what we did though - you will all just have to stop in the next time you are in Oregon to see the final results of everything.

Here is the master bedroom BEFORE.

AFTER

New bedding, side tables, lamps, pillows and my 'headboard' creation. I brought out the Martha Stewart crafting and the result was awesome much thanks to my husbands help on this little project!

Isn't it just beautiful!?

Here is the living room BEFORE

AFTER (I didn't get an after of the above the fireplace - there is now a praire scene picture painted espeically for Becca from a friend of mom and dad's in Didsbury).

The Office AFTER - don't have a before...there is still come work to do in here...next summer:)

More crafting with some left over supplies...

The front room BEFORE

The front room AFTER - we divided the room with an epic bookshelf/room divider. We were able to make a good size dining room and library! (sorry I don't have one picture of the entire room)

Like I said - you will all have to come visit to see all of the other little things that we did (I didn't get any pictures of the main bathroom before and after - the transformation was amazing!) Becca thanks for letting me come decorate with you - we had such fun and you were so willing to let me try my crazy ideas! Love to you!

some girly things!

Girly thing #1 ... a multifunctional purse

I have been looking for an oh so beautiful camera bag to store my oh so beautiful camera in - I have found what I was looking for!

My new bag came in its own protective bag.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Girly thing #2...nail polish.

While waiting for hours in the line up to get on the ferry we did a little window shopping and look what I found...color changing nail polish!!! The color change is activated by UV rays - and it works! When you are inside you have a very subtle color and then outside in the sun the polish changes to a deep rich color.

The below pics are not the best expamle of what this polish does, but it gives you a little bit of an idea.

FUN FUN!

60th Birthday in Oregon

Last weekend we took a trip down to Oregon to see Becca and

Mom and Dad!

We all met up to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday! We took a dinner cruise on the river in Portland. It was a great time - fantastic food, live music and beautiful scenery!

Here I am with the birthday boy! He doesn't look a day over 40:)

Matt and I on the top deck of the ship.

Becca

Mom

City Lights

Our Vessel

So we may have accidently thought that it was mom's 60th birthday this year...yup it's not, but we didn't realize that until after the cake was ordered:)

So great to see family (missed seeing Nathan though)! We wish we lived closer - love these guys!