Sibling dinner

On the payroll!

Mason had his first refereeing job. They had a scheduling mishap so instead of 3 refs they had 6. All the other five were senior and experienced, clearly had seniority to take the game instead of Mason. Instead they let him do it, and two of them mentored him. And he made $40!

Mason and the girls

Mason went to Sydney's 14th birthday party. He was the first boy to arrive. Somehow I think he survived just fine.

Weekend with the Sands

Our friends from Chicago, the Sands, came out to the beach with us. We met them in Thailand last Christmas, so it was fun to have a reunion in the Northwest.

Basketball

Ermias got to play basketball again with his buddies that he's been with for years. They dominated every game, often 40+ to less than half of that.

Issaquah chillaxing

Lake Oswego Cup

Skagit Valley

These two . Cece and Ermias

Deep thoughts

Mason was quiet for a half hour listening to his headphones. He finally emerged with a profound question. “Mom, if I punch myself in the face and it hurts does that make me strong or weak?”

I told him it makes him dumb. 

Van-cation

With Kenzie driving now, Cindy has been able to come with me to Vancouver. It's been great for me because she drives me, and great for her because she gets a little break!

Summer in Issaquah

I have been traveling so much, and our yard has been so unkempt, that we have not really used it much for the last year! Today the boys were both out of their soccer tournaments early, so we had an impromptu gathering with the G-G family and Sarah, her brothers and a couple of exchange students.

ATVs and open dessert