Brody 10th Birthday - Great Wolf Lodge

Brody invited his best buddy Connor to join us at Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate his 10th birthday.  It is hard to believe that our baby is now into double digits!   We are so proud of you Brody - here are just a few of our favorite things:

• Doing great in school - have made huge strides this year!  Excelling in all subjects and are even above grade level with math.  Your teacher adores you and is impressed with the progress you have made.
• You are a great athlete!  We love your drive and determination, always wanting to be out shooting hoops, throwing the ball, batting, swinging a golf club or anything related to sports.  You are also a great team player, always happy to pass and assist in making others look good.  Dad enjoys that you like to watch sports with him as well.  
• You have wonderful friendships!  It is neat that you and Connor have remained BFF's since 2nd great even though you have been in different classes the last few years.  
• Your love of the outdoors is awesome!  You are always wanting to fish, play sports, build something outside, go on adventures looking for animals, play in the water.... really anything that involves being outside makes you happy.  

Our youngest dare devil is finally tall enough to participate in ALL the rides.  He had no fear and was super exited to go on all the rides a million times.  

Brody 10th Birthday - Water Slides

The boys had a BLAST on the water slides!!!  They are finally are at an age where we do not have to worry as much.  They went non-stop on these rides both days.  

Brody 10th Birthday - Waterpark

Brody 10th Birthday - GWL Night Time Fun

Friendship Bracelets

Wesley has been all about wanting friendship bracelets with me.... love my little buddy!!!   We got special matching bracelets that he picked out and at Great Wolf Lodge he wanted to spend his tokens that he earned on matching bracelets for us.  

Brody 10th Birthday - Gift From Connor

Wesley Snuggles

One of my friends snapped this picture of Wesley sleeping on me at their house.   Feeling very blessed that my almost 8 year old still loves to snuggle his mama even with friends around.  

Baseball Opening Day

It is officially baseball season!  We love our small town Ridgefield opening day ceremonies.   Such a special day at the new sports complex.  It is going to be a great season - GO Nationals & Mud Hens!!!

Brody 10th Birthday - Family Celebration

Happy double digits Brody!!!  So much fun celebrating with family at Big Al's bowling.   Everyone had a blast celebrating our favorite 10 year old.  Last picture is the cute card made by Mimi.

Silcox Hut - 2019 Friend Mountain Vacation

We had the most amazing mountain vacation with great friends!!!  Haley & Jeff rented out Silcox Hut that is on Mount Hood above Timberline Lodge and invited all of us to join them.  Everything about the trip was absolutely perfect!   The snowcat takes you to the lodge and you have a personal chef that cooks all your meals and cleans during your entire stay.   We are beyond thankful for this incredible experience!

Silcox Hut:

The Silcox Hut is a small rustic mid-mountain lodge located at 6,950 feet (2,120 m) elevation on Mount Hood, Oregon, United States. It is approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) vertical above Timberline Lodge and roughly one mile distance directly up the mountain.

Silcox Hut was built by the WPA and finished in 1939. It was named after Ferdinand Silcox, the fifth Chief of the Forest Service, 1933–1939.^[2][3] The hut was the upper terminal of the original Magic Mile chairlift and housed the lift's upper bullwheel in what is now the guest sleeping quarters. It was also intended as a warming hut and starting point for climbers. After the chairlift was relocated in 1962, it was abandoned and became derelict due to vandalism and fierce mountain weather.

Silcox Hut was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In the same year, the Friends of Silcox Hut was created as a non-profit organization. The initial restoration proposal was made by climbing enthusiasts and guides, and it was their intention to operate the facility.

Over the course of the late 1980s and early 1990s, The Friends of Silcox Hut renovated and reopened Silcox to the public in 1993. Although they intended it partially as an overnight hostel and restaurant for climbers, it is now rented out to groups of up to 24 for overnight lodging and hearty meals by RLK, the operators of Timberline Lodge. It is available for group day use such as weddings and anniversaries.

The Friends of Silcox received several awards for its restoration, including the People's Choice Award and the Craftsmanship Award from the Portland AIA Awards Program in 1993.

The Friends of Silcox Hut carries on as a non-profit maintenance and special projects group to protect the integrity of the restoration. Its board is entirely made up of architects and craftsmen and others deeply involved in the original restoration. Lifetime and annual memberships are available with all proceeds supporting restoration efforts.

Recent special projects included a snow tunnel for the south entrance engineered to withstand 25 feet of compacted snow.

Silcox Hut - Snow Shoeing

First time snow shoeing was so much fun!!!  We started out with 4 couples hiking from Timberline up to Silcox Hut to check it out before the ski cat picked us up.   It was a steep and long hike up... Gita, Karis and I continued all the way up to the top.