The Keyes!: Family pictures and summer fun

Back in May when Kevin and Amanda visited one of Kim's friends took family photos for us. She did a great job especially with three uncooperative subjects. We love getting family photos done!

Lyza had the cheesiest smile! We have lots of pictures with this cheesy smile.

I love this one. It's like they are completely disgusted!

This is one of my favorites

"A rock! I love rocks!"

When it is hot outside you might as well play with ice

These two are pretty exciting performers

Lyza loves to take pictures and every once in a while I will transfer pictures from the camera to the computer and uncover some hidden gems

Sometimes Lyza has to pretend she has friends to invite over and watch TV

Peek...

...a-Boo!

We attended the Post Falls annual parade and had lots of fun. Last year it was unbearably hot, but this year it was a little bit rainy and cool so it was much more enjoyable

We told Lyza the more she waved the more candy people would throw her. We thought her arm was going to fall off

She was so enthusiastic that she caught the attention of the Coeur d'Alene Press's photographer and made it to the front page of the next day's newspaper!

Her favorite color is green, so she liked this car quite a bit

These was free lunch and a bouncy house at a local insurance brokerage afterward

Sometimes when Lyza plays outside her face gets really dirty, no big deal

This boys loves to swing

We bought a window AC unit recently and Mr. Nixon was a good helper with the installation.

I love having someone go behind and mow the spots of the yard that I miss

and I have a cheering section

At one of this summer's library activities they brought alpacas for the kids to learn about

They love shopping at this store because it has this free ride

Lyza found this bed in a furniture store and told her mom that her dad was going to make her one that day. She sure has an imagination!

Kim found a local raspberry u-pick. She is my favorite!

Turns out Nixon loves fresh raspberries

Lyza likes them too

One of the few moments this guy is still

I did a little bit of work in our front shrub bed and removed some ugly bushes, replaced them with Alberta Spruce, fabriced, and mulched

Looks a bit better now

We got these Alberta spruce for $1 each at Home Depot. They are in pretty rough shape, but we will see if we can bring them back to life

What a cute boy

Nixon thinks he has graduated from his high chair and is always climbing up into Lyza's booster seat. Soon enough little guy

When Kim gives Lyza full choice over her outfit for the day we get some interesting combinations. Like these super colorful socks with her black Sunday shoes

What a face!

Sometimes she is a good big sister

We love the library activities here in Post Falls

Wow, just wow!

Exhausted in the car

No wonder Kim likes to go shopping. She has the cutest companion

I'll buy whatever they are selling

We finally gathered up the courage to do some painting in our new house. We decided to start with something easy and tackled our 12' wall

Good thing Kim was helping because she is amazing at painting all of the edges and taping off the tricky parts, like the archway with a textured finish

We love the finished product!

It boggles my mind when I hear parents talking about all of the expensive activities they pay for to keep their kids entertained. Maybe we are just spoiled, but our kids love going to the park and playing in the sand. We love the price of those activities ;)

We made roast beef dinner last week and the yorkshire pudding actually turned out. That is probably because this was the first time we have made it with a decent oven. It was great!