The Graduate!

The best looking graduate! It was a beautiful day! We were so lucky.

It has been a great 2 years! Thanks Shumways! We will miss you.
Kev's parents so proud of their son!

Yea! We're Done!
Kev with brothers Jeff and Steven.

On Saturday June 14th Kevin graduated from the University of Washington with his masters of HealthCare Adminstration! He has been working so hard the last two years to earn this degree. I am so proud of him! Kevin is such a hard worker in general and I know he has enjoyed his last two years of school. He has made great friends within his program and has loved spending his days at the UW with them. I know he is going to miss school just a little bit. Now it is on to his administrative fellowship with the Fransican Health System based out of Tacoma. I know he will be so successful and will be a phenominal healthcare leader! Go Kev!

Kiss the school year goodbye!

It has been quite the week! I have lots to blog about, but first things first. Today was the last day of school! I love that summer is here, but so sad to see my 5th graders go. It is hard once you have the same kids over and over...you get attached at least I do. We had such a fun week though. We had a "Pirates" party because we were the Pittsburgh Pirates this year for our school reading program. Play day was the best...I am a bit competative as is my class and we kicked butt at tug o' war, which is my personal favorite. Our 5th grade celebration was on Thursday and that is where we graduate our 5th graders onto middle school. I have just loved my 9 5th graders. They all hold a special place in my heart. I will miss them dearly. It has been a delight working with such great kids. I also love my 3rd and 4th graders, but I will see them in the fall. It is always a surreal day on the last day of school, because it always feels like it was just the first day!

Oregon Coast

Riding the fun cycles at Manzanita.


We loved the cheese factory, their ice cream is so good.


Our first stop was Astoria.


Rick and Kevin being goofballs.


Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach...so pretty.


Trying to hike up to Haystack Rock.


I love the fun cycles!

We went to the Oregon Coast last weekend and had so much fun! It was great visiting all the places we would go when I was a child. The beach was beautiful and it didn't rain on us. Yea! Enjoy our pictures from our great weekend.

Just a little barbeque...

It is just the right size for us!

Jake couldn't resist looking at the bees.
The boys being boys!
Kevin showing off his perfect foot to Josh.

Rick, Sarah and Jake...we will miss them as they soon will go to Pittsburgh.

Kevin is great at grilling and has wanted to have his own grill for a while now. On Saturday he decided he would get himself a little graduation gift and congratulated himself with a grill. He definately didn't go too extreme. For all his hard work he definately deserves a bigger and better grill, but this one will do for now. It is a little charcoal grill and he has already used it twice. First he made us and our friends Josh, Rick and Sarah hamburgers and brats. They were fantastic and we had a great time sitting out on our porch enjoying the nice weather. Then Kev decided to grill some steaks for Memorial Day. Steak is my fave and they were excellent thanks to Kevin's superb grilling. So it has been quite the successful little grill so far...I look forward to having many more barbeques this summer. Yum!

America's Favorite Pasttime

So for those of you who know Kevin and I well, you know we are big sports fans. Football, Basketball, Baseball...we love it all. I never use to love watching baseball on TV but even now I enjoy it from time to time. (or whenever the Mariners are winning which is a rarity!) What I do love is going to baseball games. I remember spending many nights and weekends as a child watching and cheering for my brothers at their baseball games. It never gets old to me. This last weekend I decided it was time for me to go see some of my students games. I have had their schedules for the last month, but I kept telling them I would come when the sun came out. Since the sun finally decided to come out I thought I should make good on my promise to them. It was so fun to see them play. Two of my boys that play on the same team have had an undefeated season...that is until the game I watched them play. I was worried they wouldn't want me to come to another game. But I did and they redeemed themselves. Along with this, one of my student's gave me four Mariners tickets for teacher appreciation week. Kevin enjoyed this gift more than any other gift I've gotten from a student. He invited his buddies Josh and Rick to go with us. We had a great time, it was hot, I almost got hit by a foul ball, we ate lots of yummy snacks and the Mariners actually won! Theres nothing like watching a good game on a nice day.

The year of the Davids...

Who's it going to be? It all comes down to David A. and David C. I don't watch American Idol every season; last year I was not a fan. However, this year I became hooked. I have enjoyed watching the David's battle each week and now it is time for them to duel. I really like them both. They are so different from each other and sing completely different genres. I would be happy with either winning. Having said that, I just think how can you not love David Archuleta? So I guess I kinda do have a favorite. Go David A.!

Good...Day...Sunshine!

The sun has shone itself! I have been so excited all week because the forecast has shown sunny, warm days. It has been so cold, I feel like we have had winter for the last six months. So when I saw sunshine in the forecast for Thursday, Friday and Saturday I was estatic! In fact on Wednesday night I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about the sun that was suppose to come. Well much to my dismay the sun decided to still hide itself beneath clouds on Thursday, it didn't get nearly as warm as I would have liked. However, today was beautiful! Kevin woke me up this morning saying, "The sun is already out!" That was all I needed to get out of bed. We had our school walk-a-thon which was wonderful, then we ate lunch outside, and in the afternoon I took my kids out to play kickball. I just love the sun, it really is amazing how much it improves my attitude! Now if only we could get it to stay around for the next four months...well I can dream. So all you Pacific Northwesterners...have a great weekend in the sun!