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P.P.S. Does anyone know of a good site that will print out blogs into a book??????

Girls' Trip Coeur d'Alene

Cody was excited to spend time with 'Eva' and 'Wiley'-Ava and Lilly. We attempted swimming and failed miserably, but at least the kids got some time in the pool. Erin, Erica and I had time to actually catch up and hang out when the kids went to bed.
There's nothing like staying up late with good friends. We miss having you here Erica and can't WAIT until your little one comes!

Summer Rundown

This is a catch up of some of our summer adventures, which are all too quickly coming to an end. We went camping sometime in July to Kelly Creek in Idaho. Ben wanted to fish the whole time and mentioned that he wouldn't mind a job where he could go fish all the good fishing rivers in the U.S. and write about them. Wouldn't that be nice;) Cody was able to help catch a fish too!

The last week in July we made the long drive down to Utah to spend some time there before school starts. We spent time at the farm and hanging out. This trip really was for Ben so he could have some time at the farm with the horses and with his family before his intense year starts. We went to surf n' swim and to Taggart (my favorite restaurant ever)! Some of Cody's favorite parts of going to Utah are riding the four wheelers, riding in papa's truck, riding papa's tractor, jumping on the tramp and always getting to be outside.

Here's the little man with his hat that he put on himself, sideways.

Unfortunately I was horrible at remembering my camera anywhere...

The next week we headed to Coeur d'Alene with my family. It was nice to have some extra baby sitters! Macey's caught some z's with Aunt Becky at Coeur d'Alene city beach. Here's little Vanessa, three months old, in her little swimsuit. All the kids lined up for a picture. Five grandkids and one on the way! Macey and Vanessa had just woken up and were a little overwhelmed, but normally very happy.

We stayed in the roundhouse, which was (obviously) round. Cody, Micah and Clayton ran around and around all day and wore themselves out. The next few days were spent kayaking, boating, at Wild Waters water park and repelling.

This sign was posted on the tree pictured above on our deck. We all went out there to see the view at the same time when we read this:Cody and Ben went tubing. I think Cody could have done it all day long - he loved it! I had a hard time getting a picture with his little head in it, but he was ALWAYS smiling!

Ryan, Steph's husband, was our repelling and climbing guide. He's a pro! I had to get home to Macey so I didn't climb, but Ben said it was pretty dang hard.

Macey at 7 Months

Time does somehow fly, even when the days seem to go slow...Macey is getting so big and is so much fun. She will be 7 months in a couple days!

At 6 Months she was 25 3/4 in. (50%), 16 lb. 2 oz. (50%), and 45% head.

She is still a SMILEY, wiggly baby. She is constant motion, a great sleeper, an early riser, and a little drama queen. She never wants me to leave her.

The head shaving theory conclusion: I don't know. She has hair now and it's growing fairly well. It took about a month for it to start growing again, so once again I don't know if I can attribute it to buzzing or inevitable growth. Oh well. It didn't hurt to try and she has hair now (it's short and she still looks bald, but it counts).

Lake Powell and Family Reunions

Family pictures: Cody jumping in the water:

Ben, Cody and Luke went tubing:

Ben wakeboarding:

Go Jessi!

All the guys at Lake Powell:

All the girls at Lake Powell:

We were sitting separately because we had a Zambian night. Lisa went to Zambia for 2 years with the Peace Corp and took a night to teach us some of their cooking and customs. The women and men eat separately and the women do all the cooking, cleaning, taking care of children...and everything else. I don't know what the men do:) Here we are cooking:

The women carry their children on their backs all the time until they're two years old. My neck got sore after ten minutes.

Luke built Cody a little ride down the dirt in his truck. Him and Blake got a couple of rides!

A bunch of pictures of the little girls, Macey, Lucy and Blake:

The island:

I thought this picture was hilarious. Lizzi and Jessi are so tall and skinny!

The skinny girls about to get crushed:)! This is 'royal rumble'

Our theme this year (if you noticed the shirts) was i.gov. Gratitude Ownership Virtue. I loved the concept of ownership: you are in charge of your own happiness, emotions, future, etc. Entitlement was a big part of that.

I LOVE going and getting away from everything and just spending time relaxing and hanging out and trying to get a tan. It's different with kids, not as relaxing, but still just as fun. Now I get to watch them have fun too! Cody went tubing, kayaking, swam, and mostly just loved spending time looking for lizards and throwing rocks in the water.

The second week I spent with my family. Ben had to go back to Pullman to work, and we MISSED him. Our family reunion was the next Saturday and Vanessa was blessed on Sunday! She had a beautiful blessing. Part of the Brady tradition is for the babies to put their hand in the cake!

These are the pics I got of our family reunion at my parent's house. It was the Bassett family. It's been years since we've all gotten together. There were tons of little kids! My mom did an awesome job; it was a huge event to plan and prepare but I thought it turned out great.

My high school reunion was also on Saturday. Anyone that wasn't there that is wondering how it was...picture everyone in high school and that is basically how they looked. Everyone is in school or has jobs...and life goes on! I'm glad I went though it was interesting. The funnest part - a bird pooped on my head. Ironically, I saw the birds and thought to myself, I bet I get pooped on! Awesome:)
I thought it would be fun for Cody to see Ben on the webcam while we were in Utah. He started bawling the minute he saw him and kept saying daddy hold me. He loves his dad! We were sad to leave all the fun, but so excited to see DAD!!!!!