Wyatt's 14th Birthday!

Wyatt's Birthday was on Monday, August 11th. We had a fun day celebrating just hanging around and eating a delicious pork tenderloin dinner. He got some soccer stuff, money, and a couple of guitar books. He recently picked a guitar up at Rosevears and likes it very much. For dessert, he requested strawberry rhubarb pie with a strusel topping and vanilla ice cream. Now that he is 14,he is looking forward to working for O'Brien's Catering once in a while and using the weight room at the YMCA. Happy Birthday Wyatt! Thanks for being such a great brother!

Sailing at Lake Quinault

We had such a fun time yesterday at Lake Quinault. Our good friends the Jones', the Gross' and the Ballous invited us to join them for an afternoon of sailing, swimming and good fellowship. We eagerly took them up on the offer and had a marvelous time. Mr. Jones is teaching me how to crew for him, it is absolutely a blast and I love every minute of it, especially when you trap out. The feeling of gliding across the water without a motor humming in your ear is wonderful.Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the day... I forgot the camera! Anyways, we ate a scrumptious dinner of teriyaki chicken shishkabobs and a four berry trifle for dessert. Some how we managed to get a flat tire on the way up but Mr. Ballou kindly offered to change it so papa wouldn't hurt his back. All in all the weather was gorgeous until about 7:30ish when some raging winds came up and we all about froze to death!

But It was so cute, almost all the way home Jia Tai sang a happy tune until he drifted to sleep in the last few minutes til reaching home. What a tremendous day!

Glorious Summer Time!

Our back porch The first few cherry tomatoes
The first ripe strawberries



The most scrumptious smelling roses and not to mention beautiful!

Back yard
Back door

Ahhh... I woke up today and after fixing breakfast and doing up the dishes, I went out to water the garden. While I was watering, I thought how marvelous and wonderful God is to design millions of different plants and how astounding His beauty is. I felt overwhelmed with joy as I gazed at the garden. So I thought I would share some pictures of our garden and back yard.

Independence Day Celebrations!

Wow! What a weekend! On the 4th we celebrated at the Wright's house with lots of fellowship, great food and some hilarious games! First up was the "Marshmallow Drive" the object of the game was to place a marshmallow on a tee and with a golf club send the marshmallow flying as far as you possibly could. This sounds like it wouldn't be too hard and I yes... even I... the most nonathletic person you have ever seen could maybe do this, so I gave it a shot. HA! Whatch the video below and see the results for yourself! Warning: You are about to see someone who should never hold a golf club again! We also played a water balloon toss and an egg toss. We had a marvelous time.

On the 5th we went to the Bradrick's Independence Day celebration at their farm. It did rain for a good portion of the day but we enjoyed ourselves and had a great time. It was so good to see Laurelle Michener and her family again and other people that we met at the Christian Heritage Conference in April. To start things off there were some short historical presentations and some very fun patriotic songs. Then we did a sack race, three legged race, tug of war and a water balloon toss. Yes... we were soaked and looked rather dishevled but we had so much fun! We dried off in the barn while we ate a delicious barbeque dinner. Afterwards came the pie contest. Melina and I each made a pie, Melina a pecan chocolate chip pie and I a lemon cream pie. When they announced the winners I could hardly believe my ears! I placed First in the non fruit catagory and Melina tied for Grand Prize! We were both so happy! The funny thing is, I made Melina's pie crust! She was in a hurry and saw that I had some extra pie dough in the freezer. So I will have to give her a bad time about it. :) Then we got to enjoy all the pies. Later we sang hymns around the camp fire and talked a little more. Most of the family went home but Melina and I stayed and went home with the O'Briens later. The day was so enjoyable! A huge thankyou to the Bradrick family and everyone else who helped make that day so memorable and fun. I am already looking forward to next year! I will post pics of this day soon our camera is having problems.

The Dapper Chap Bakery!

Saturday was the opening day at the Grays Harbor Street Market for my little french bakery called "The Dapper Chap Bakery." Laurel and I spent all day sellling Pain au Chocolate, Almond Croissants, Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Brioche, Raspberry Almond Frangipane Brioche , Mozzarella and Basil Brioche and Honey Madeleines. I ended up selling out of everything but six croissants. I was so shocked when people started buying up my product. For some odd reason I guess I thought I had to fail before I could succeed. But praise God for his goodness, I could not have done it with out him. I am sure he is the one that brought all the customers! So I am planning on being at the market through the summer and who knows what will happen in the next years...but God is in control!

Last Day at Suzie's Cakes

Friday was my last day of work at Suzie's Cakes. I was sad to leave and yet I felt it was time to move on and experience other things. I have learned so much working for Suzie and I could not be more thankful for all that she has taught me. She has been an amazing boss to me for the past 2 years and 10 months. I appreciate her giving me the opportunity to be one of her employees. Thankyou Suzie! Here are some pictures of my last day. Mom brought my two little brothers down to see me and get a treat.

What a trip!

I don't have time to write now... but I did make an online photo album you can look through...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Claire.Backholm/NewYorkNewYorkTrevorSGraduationFromWestPoint

Enjoy,
Claire