Summer fun!

Ellensburg has several annual traditions and festivals, but none are like "Dachshunds on Parade" weekend.

Each year, hundreds of people from around the States bring their dachshund dogs to Ellensburg for the dachshund parade, costume contest and dog races. We had heard quite a bit about it, but we had to go check it out for ourselves.


Gideon wasn't too hip on petting the dogs (he's deathly afraid of dogs, and we have no idea why), but he enjoyed the wiener races and the costumes.


Hannah enjoyed the dogs and even made friends with one named "Toby."

I'll let the photos tell the rest. (Click to enlarge.)



This summer also marks Gideon's first summer job. He joined in with the neighbor kids next door to sell lemonade and golf balls.

He thought it was the greatest thing, and did a great job yelling "LEMONADE - 25 CENTS!" every time a car drove by. After a full day's work, the girls gave him $3.72 as his pay. He decided to buy himself some gummy cherries, give 25 cents to the church and save the rest. So cute!

More visitors!

We are so thankful that our friends and family continue to visit us from so far away. Tim and Summer Gilstrap (who now live in Spokane, WA) visited us back in May as part of their "5th Anniversary Western Washington Tour." We had a great time watching their wedding video, hanging out and playing our now new favorite game "Ticket to Ride - Europe."

Then about a month ago, my Dad and Ann visited us from Bakersfield, CA. The surprise wasn't so much that Dad came, but HOW he came. Due to his claustrophobia and slight fear of heights, my father had not flown in an airplane since 1969! But thanks to the "parents passes" my step-brother got through Alaska Airlines, they were able to sit in first class which made the flight here very comfortable for him.

During their visit, we showed them around Ellensburg, and spent a day in Leavenworth, the little German town we visited back in December. This time, though, the weather was very pleasant and we were able to see a lot more of the town, including the beautiful park that goes along the river. It was gorgeous!


Our next visitors will be coming in August. Several of the Moeses are planning to come (although we're still not sure how many), and then my Mom will be coming again with my Grandparents who are natives of Ellensburg, so we're looking forward to them giving us a tour of Ellensburg as they used to know it.

Oh those crazy kids

We had so many cute pictures on this last roll, we thought we'd share. As always, click to expand!



Bad hair day? What bad hair day?



Hangin' in the cubbie. (Gideon often naps here.)



The G-man's "smile for the camera!" smile.



Chocolate pudding is serious business.



Home, Jeeves.



Fourth of July indoor picnic. Smile for the camera, Gideon!



Crazy Bag Head.


Crazy Bag Head dies for no apparent reason.


As does Crazy Bag Head, so does sister.



World-class cheese.



Faker.



Cute.



Cute in the chute (at McDonald's).



Summertime... Shade... Cool grass in the front yard... Life is good.