Self Proclaimed Overload of Pixs! with good reason!

It's a bad, bad sign when I have to type in my blog address...instead of it pulling up as I begin to type it! It's also a bad sign when I have to think (and try) different passwords to get in. And another bad sign when I get gently scolded by a friend for leaving a picture of a dog up for 2 months...so granted it's been to long to try and back track and update my blog. But since this blog is the only thing that forces me to take pictures of my own kids...I am going to pick up with this past weekend. After all, it was the best day ever (repeatedly) by my kids.

We had not told the boys anything about a trip till the night before. We asked them what is the best thing ever and Drew said camping. So till we got to the airport that is what they thought they were doing. Drew packed the car with latex gloves, 2 flag football belts, a football, rubber boots, and a swifer duster. All things needed for a great campout according to Drew. We got to the airport announced we were not going camping but in fact going to DisneyWorld! And as we landed and walked out...another surprise...Lala was joining us on the trip! We surprised Lala with the trip a couple weeks out as an early birthday trip! Happy Birthday Lala! So now for an overload of pictures! Best decision ever...left the monster camera at home and went with the regular Rebel camera and got to enjoy being just a regular camera picture taker!! So nice!!!

So excited as we pulled up!!

Still excited...

Kinda getting tired of waiting to get in...

Really tired of waiting to go play in DisneyWorld! Ha! Have to stop for a pix opp!

Enough already! Let's go ride!

Ok! Off to Drew's favorite!

You have to do 'it's a small world after all'....

Hours of walking...
Lots of laughter!

The only characters they saw! The 3:00 parade. They did not want/care to wait in lines for 'someone dressed in costume'! Really already!?!

Get me out of here!!!

But wait one last ride of the day...the wet ride!! Splash Mtn! Gotta love it!

20 mintues in the hotel and off to Medieval Times! BEST THING EEEVVVEEERRR!!!!

You are assigned a knight to cheer for...and watch a Hollywood staged tournament! With all the fun!

Lala decked them out to cheer for their RED knight!

The banquet hall.

Seriously!! Front row! So exicted since it's a 15 min drive from our hotel and it took us an hour to find it!! Kid you not!!

Boys loved the horses! And are ready to be a knight for Halloween!

Lala really did get everything in sight! BOYS loved it! Flashing bracelets and swords! Ah...the love!

SO FUN!

A falcon soarded thru the place to get it started!

Staged 'real' fighting! Sparks came off their swords!

A 'real' Hollywood staged joust! Joust splitting into pieces!

The rest of the night looked like this! Gotta say...went to dinner here in college! It's nothing like going back with your kids! There is one in Dallas if anyone is curious!

Next day...Hit another park. Jumped into a show...

If anyone knows anything about Drew...he loves tools! Constantly working on his jeep and flipping it upside down and fixing it. SO when Handy Manny came on...

this is what he did!!

Headed to the Tower of Terror!

Lala is just the coolest thing ever!! We opted out of our arranged character dinners/lunches and hit ride after ride after ride!!

Dad enjoyed that it was ESPN weekend! Which brought the crowds...but some awesome faces everywhere! Here's Tim Tebow. We could walk right up and listen.

The Toy Story ride! Drew dresses as Buzz daily so this was a BIG deal!

That's all folks!

News

Haven't snapped a single pix of the boys in the last 3 months for obvious reasons to most. BUT, I did manage to capture a pix of our sweet, now 15 week old, puppy Asher. While I have never bought a thing off EBay (mainly because I just don't have the time to search)...this dog comes to us from EBay compliments of Lala and found by BJ. He's a good dog and will most likely be 60 lbs. A far cry from the last conversation I had with BJ...'yes honey, we can get another dog. Same size as the other ones.' The other ones, Conner and Kyser, were 22 lbs. Asher weighed in at 24 lbs at 13 weeks. A bigger than normal English Springer Spaniel...so I am told.
In other news, BJ is now bionic. He recently underwent ACL surgery to receive a donor ACL. He's hoping the donor was a stud soccer player and the ligament has retained memory. Ha! Let's just say, I think it's really cool that God gave man the knowledge to do such surgeries, grateful we have a surgeon that prays over him before entering the OR, and a donor out there that 'gave a life, save a life' by donating his/her ACL. Pretty neat that they gave us an address we can send a thank you card to so that it can be delivered to the family.
Oh, and if you thought it was other type of news...sorry to disappoint.

Life Lesson

...that ends in a sweet buzz cut! Drew with the 'new do!'

Drum Roll!

He's finally here! Our newest cousin! BJ's brother and wife adopted this cutie from China. He is learning English faster than I coud ever learn one sentence of Chinese! He's one smart cookie. The boys (and us) were super excited to meet him and were sad to see them go home! God is good!
Watched everything the boys did...hopefully not picking up bad habits. :)

Really! So cute!

A pumpkin stop

Smiling for a sec

but did mostly this!

1st introduction!

Meet the Teach

Tonight was 'meet the teach' night for our preschool. Tyler and Drew were both excited to go! They have the greatest teachers there and they really love on my boys. Tyler's Kindergarten class was awesome. They had a scavenger hunt that moved from place to place in the classroom. It was clever and allowed me to see where the different centers are in the class. But it's going to be a challenge for mom. If. You. Are. Late. (even one minute) You. Have. To. Get. A. Tardy. Slip. From. The. Office. Wow. Glad a mom told me this, since I already had to ask the teacher what days we go to school. Such a slacker mom. :)
Drew was excited to get the teacher that he and Tyler will now have twice! He particularly loves her because she lets them play with shaving cream alot.
We have lots of buddies in each class so both boys are excited to start next week.
I decided to leave the camera at home (since BJ was unable to attend) so I snapped a few pics of them beforehand. To the end of summer!

Off to Private Kindergarten! We will put this summer baby into public Kinder next year! Love it, because I feel like I am buying a year with my boys. I don't think you can ever regret that! :)

The summer of...
silly bandz!!!!

Little Pre-Ker!

Drew...

the sweet poser!

A hunderd of these...

BJ called him the smiling dog. And he was. He always was. It crushes me to say today we lost our constant companion, we lost the dog that always met us at the door, we lost the dog that never needed a leash, we lost the dog that followed me room to room-even in the middle of the night, we lost the dog we got together, we lost the dog we named together, we lost the dog that I would have a hundred of. We lost Kyser. My sweet Kyser. I only posted 4 post ago about the loss of our older dog Conner. Today we had to let go of our 6 year old pup and Conner's brother. I believe that God has a special place for His creation, wherever that may be... Kyser basically had unexplainable liver failure. His toxicology report is clear (living samples are needed to determine if he was poisoned-by a snake, sago palm, etc). After a week of fighting and holding on through a coma, a biopsy, seizures, he passed in my arms. An autopsy is needed as we are stumped about what is going on in or around this house!!! The main theory is a virus that comes from possum urine. 20 days ago a momma possum birthed 6 babies in our backyard...and now we have lost our second dog in 3 months. Has momma possum been here all a long??

I am grateful that we got pictures made with him...

More than a name...

You are Holy, You are Mighty, You are my Salvation, You are the Creator, You are the Artist... You are my God. The words running thru my mind as we marched silently through His creation to celebrate the life of my father's parents. Oregon is breath taking. It's our Tower heritage. It's memories. It's my grandparents home. The McKenzie Bridge. A son passes on it's name. Two grandchildren do the same. It has great meaning...it's more than a name. And so we return to it's cold, slippery banks, where I remember fishing as a child with my grandfather. Years ago...but it's beauty never changes. It brings back memories of him. A master at fly fishing, known for miles round. A carpenter by hobby. A decorated captain in the USAF. A tall, quiet, strong man...his personality is echoed in my father. My father shares his love for flight, his skill in the hand, and his quiet strong presence. Memories of her. My grandmother. Sophisticated, utterly strong, loyal, brilliant in music and poetry. She brought grace and style to a river house. She was giving, always giving. She loved photography. And she loved my father deeply. My father shares these traits. He has her eyes, her strength, her loyalty resonates in him, but most of all my grandmother taught my father how to love us deeply. Thank you grandfather and grandmother for the legacy you leave behind.

A legacy remains...

And so it begins...

I believe this is a lid to a big dumpster...in the middle of a National Forest.


Waiting for my sister...

The hike to their special place

It's beautiful

First sight of the McKenzie

It was an overcast day. No sun. As my father began to speak, the sun briefly peaked out and shone on us for a breath of a moment. We didn't see the sun again for another couple days. I love how God does that.


Brooke McKenzie's look when I said 'Brooke, this is YOUR river!'


Ice cold beauty.

As BJ said, 'together once more for a moment...' And a promise fulfilled.

Drew standing as I stood as a child.

From the moutain top to the coast of Cannon Beach, OR.

A parade on July 4th. A military drummer walked past Opa (my mom's father) stopped abruptly, stepped back. About turned. Stood straight. And saluted a veteran of WWII. A pilot shot down. A survivor of the war and of cancer. A SURVIVOR. A west Texas wildcat...an oilman. An intellect. Opa returned the salute. And the man turned and resumed his march in the parade. A dream and a prayer, Lord that my boys would appreciate their heritage of flight and respect the deep sacrifice of our military. As my Opa says often...'Rachel, remember me to your boys.'

Oregon has cliffs of crashing waves upon the rocks.

We participated in a sand sculpture contest...we won. It's the story of Abraham and Isaac.

A meaningful, beautiful, perfect Tower Family reunion.

Till 2012...