August: "Lunch & Swim Dates"

How could you not love a summer where you get to go to your friend's pool and go swimming, then follow that swim with a scoop of gourmet ice cream!


Yeah, we are pretty lucky. Thank goodness patients pay our friends with monthly gourmet ice cream supplies sometimes instead of cash!


This is the kids getting their exercise "walking" on the water.


This is me enjoying a lunch from my friend Debbie while the kids swim.


Toodie even happened to be in town for this visit and got to sample the good food.


There are two of my favorite people, Sharon and Debbie.


Debbie I will sit down to a meal with you anytime!

August: Sophie's 7th Birthday

Sophie turned 7 this year. I get a phone call from one of my good friends husbands who happens to be a cake boss and he asks what day Sophie's birthday party is so that he can have the cake done in time. One of Sophie's best little friends is his daughter, Paige.


I am shocked and can barely reply. This guy is a very busy Oral Surgeon who didn't have to worry about my daughter. He then explained that Sophie had asked him to do it one day while the girls were playing and he was more than willing. She wanted a dolphin cake just like he had made for his daughters birthday. Since it wasn't a new cake attempt he felt it wouldn't take that much time.


Sophie invited a few of her favorite friends to go to the waterslides. Little did we know a major cold front would move in that very day and make the slides ice cold.




Andrew had a few buddies along too.


This was Ethan's first year on the slides without assistance. He figured it out quite quickly and then wanted his turn over and over, till his lips were blue.


Most of the time the boys were huddled like this on their towels.


So were the girls.


At last, it came time for cake and presents.


The girls loved to look at the gifts.


Sophie was a happy camper.




Then, in a matter of minutes, all of Raj's efforts with Sophie's cake dissappeared into some hungry tummies! Happy Birthday Sophie!

August: Ranch Photo Shoot

Steven and Brianne came into town for a summer visit. While here, Brianne offered to take some pictures of my children for fun. She dressed them in eclectic outfits that were colorful and then added balloons. Then, she placed them in the middle of my father-in-laws fields at the ranch. The cows were even curious what was going on. Here are just the few pics I snapped with my I-phone.


I am sure my kids were saying, "Whatever mom!" in this photo!


In this one they are showing you how well behaved they all are.


Brianne did a fantastic job. The kids loved it too!


Then the sun set and the show was over!

August: Stay-cation Day at LOTW

Day #3 of our stay-cation found us for an overnighter at Lake of the Woods. Grandpa and Nana joined us and we had a wonderful evening. Brian and Andrew joined us the next morning because Andrew ended up needing some dental work.


Ethan loved looking with the binoculars across the lake.


Sophie and Lizzy lived on the inflatable floaties down at the dock.


Everyone wanted a ride on grandpa's boat.


Lots of inner tube rides!





Such a fun time!

August: Stay-cation Day at the Family Fun Center

Day #2 of our stay-cation found us at the family fun center. Ethan was thrilled to be old enough to ride the miniature go-carts. He raced with all his other siblings and had a blast!





Then we went on the bumper boats where all of the children ganged up on me and soaked me to the bone! Rozanne just giggled from the sideline! After bumper boats we headed to the miniature golf course and Andrew put on a clinic. He loves to golf. Our goal was to make sure we always new where Ethan's ball was as he launched them. He loves golfing! It was a wonderful and fun event. Afterwards, Nana kept the girls at her house for a little R&R time.

August: Stay-cation Bowling Day

Brian had a week off in August and we discussed going on a road trip to Seattle with the kids. We thought it would be fun to go as far as Vancouver, BC and so we even spent a large sum of money on passports for the kids so we could go that far if we wanted. We invited Roger and Rozanne and they were excited to go on the trip.

Well, as things go, I ended up being quite sick with morning sickness from a pregnancy we were not expecting. The last thing I wanted to do was sit in a car day after day. Brian was also not in the mood as he had worked really hard for several days and he wanted to just relax and not spend each day driving.

So, as a compromise we had a "stay-cation" with activities for the kids planned each day. Today's highlight was bowling.



This was the first year Ethan was able to bowl with just the bumper lanes and not a ramp.


The event became a competition between Brian and Andrew as Andrew was dominating the field of Hall's.


But Brian pulled through in the final rounds to go ahead of Andrew.




Nana just came along to watch and laugh at all of us!


Then, out of the blue, Sophie took the lead and beat all of the Hall family members!


Mom just looked ridiculous bowling. Definitely not her sport.

August: Ethan's Hero Summer Camp

I went out of town for the day and we left Ethan with my friend Debbie. Needless to say, he was ready to be adopted by the Anderson family.


Check out his schedule! So fun!




New battle gear to go with his Buzz uniform.



Even a new plush Buzz to sleep with! Thumbs up!


Trampoline time with Nate.




Mr. and Mrs. Hall,

Thank you for supporting the Anderson Hero summer camp. We enjoyed having your son, Ethan Hall, attend our first annual Hero training. We hope that his time with us was well spent and that his Hero skills were sharpened. We take pride in our Hero training and delight in watching our participants thrive. We believe that your son, Ethan, is a gifted and talented Hero. We are happy to recommend that he be advanced to the ELITE training level. We see promise in his abilities and expect great things from him in the future.

We value your input and strive to improve our services. Any questions, concerns, or comments may be brought to the attention of our social director
Ms. Andria Anderson @ (541) 499-9996.

Thank you for becoming part of our Hero alliance. Working together, we will make the world a better place.


Regards,


Debbie Anderson
Anderson family CEO