The Murphy's

We had LOTS of photo opportunities while we were visiting the Murphys! Three adorable children are hard to beat - there was always a picture waiting to be snapped!

We had long, lazy, warm days during our visit there. The girls spent hours playing outside - they have a pool and a trampoline, in addition to a swing set, sand box, bikes and scooters. I'd say that they are having a pretty ideal summer! Nick enjoys being outside, too, although he is no longer content to sit on a blanket on the grass, so he bears constant watching! We were able to eat outside almost every night, which was wonderful.

We had a wonderful, relaxing visit! Here's some pictures from the week, in no particular order:


Rub-a-dub, 3 kids in the tub! Although Nick looks a bit worried.....



But not these two! Bubble girls!

Here's a very contented, relaxed Nick - fresh from the bath. He loved the swing, and one evening he fell asleep in it.

Happy baby!

Patience and Jordyn, in their Hawaiian dresses. Aren't they adorable?

Miss Patience

And Miss Jordyn

Nicky at breakfast - or, maybe it was lunch! Happy baby!

Jordyn LOVES melon!

And so does Patience!

Here's Patience and Jordyn, doing activities on PBS kids. They each have a laptop available, and enjoy the learning games on PBS kids.

Nick and his walking toy. He's getting the hang of this walking thing. When he gets it down, the walking toy converts to a ride-on.

Nicky Nick!

Jordyn. I went into the tv room, and saw a pillow, sans pillow case, on the floor. There on the couch was Jordyn, in the pillow case, watching tv.

Nick, trying to escape! He hates the gate, especially when his Mom goes out and shuts it behind her. He's looking up at the latch, while he attempts to scale the gate! You can see that this gate has survived many children - I hope it's up to Nicholas!

Cathi and a tired Nick.

Patience at swim club, ready to hit the water. Patience is a Little Flipper, so Cathi and Don are back in the swim club!

Floating on her back.

Waiting her turn to jump in and swim across the pool. Patience is able to swim the length of the pool!

Miss Patience in her pretty dress.

And Miss Jordyn, too.

And here's their "silly" picture! : ) No more of this angelic stuff!!

We had a great time with the kids, we took walks, went to Krauses, and just hung out. Good stuff!

Minter Gardens

After leaving Val and Dave's, we headed up to Aldergrove to spend the week with Cathi, Don and the littles - Patience, Jordyn and Nicky. All of the big kids are gone - Nathan is in Virginia at A School for the Coast Guard, Dylan is in Paris, France, with Lucille and her family, and Sean is at the Cadets summer camp on Vancouver island. It was very strange to have ALL of the boys gone!


The girls have grown a lot since we saw them last, and of course, the biggest change was in Nick. He turned 10 months while we were there. They are all adorable, and we really enjoyed our visit with them. It took me about 30 minutes to convince Nick that I was an acceptable adult, but we were great friends after that.



We arrived on Sunday, and Cathi and Don fixed a wonderful bar-b-que dinner in honor of Lee's birthday, along with a super-yummy pumpkin dessert! Lee was in heaven. We ate outside, as Aldergrove was enjoying the same wonderful, warm weather as the Richey's in Everson. And of course, we LOVE that!



On Monday afternoon, Cathi and Don took us to Minter Gardens for Lee's birthday. It was a wonderful garden, and we both felt that it rivaled Buchart Gardens. It was quite hot on Monday, so we all enjoyed the shady spots in the gardens. Patience and Jordyn stayed home with a sitter, but Nick came with us and strolled through the gardens.



Following are some pictures of the gardens, and of course, Nicky!


Here's the entrance to the gardens - all beautiful and blooming!


Here's another picture, and you can see the words Minter Garden spelled out in shrubs.

The hostas were just amazing! Minter Gardens has lots of water features, which really added to the feeling of the gardens.

This was quite amazing, too! It's a peacock, and his tail is spread out down a gentle slope, and is planted with flowers. We loved it!

The rose garden, along with shrub sculptures.

We loved the colors in this garden. It reminded us of the Indian garden in New Zealand, at Hamilton Gardens.

The Canadian maple leaf, in greenery!

Don, Cathi and Nick. They had on lots of sun screen!

A gentle waterfall - very peaceful.

Another water feature, and lots of water lillies.

If you make this picture bigger, you will see the water wall behind the plants. It made a wonderful sound, and created a cool, shady spot.

The water wall from another angle.

A photo opportunity.

A gentle waterfall, framed by hostas.

This pavillion was near the wedding spot. We loved all of the hanging baskets, which were blooming profusely!

Cute little church framed by trees.

Another photo opportunity!

Mother and daughter - I think I'm shrinking! : )

This little cottage is tucked away in the trees. It looked like Hansel and Gretel could have lived there.

Nick started getting fussy, so Don took him over to the lawn to play. When he heard us coming, he hoisted Nick up above the shrubs. Nick is enjoying Daddy's sunglasses!

Nick in his Hawaiian outfit.

Grandma and Nick, who is really interested in walking, and loves it when you hold his hands and walk with him.

Another beautiful picture!

Doesn't this look wonderfully restful? We LOVED our time at Minter Gardens.

Cathi and Don, enjoying a quiet moment.

A little closer up.

Don, Pat and Lee. This little table was in the pavillion with the hanging baskets.

And here's the Canadian flag, in flowers!

We had such a wonderful time at the gardens. We stopped half-way through for a picnic lunch, then continued to stroll around.

http://www.mintergardens.com/ go to their website for more information and many other wonderful pictures. We are both looking forward to visiting the gardens again, next year.

Thank you, Cathi and Don, for such a wonderful experience!