The Kern's

my Cable B ridge Run - 5K results My fastest time yet! :-)

They did our fireworks from a new location this year in Hermiston.  It was wonderful, they shot them off the top of the butte here and town, which made them way above our heads. So I had to by a new camera this spring, so I took a bunch of pictures of the fireworks to try out the "fireworks" selection.  Below are a few of the best. Then of course we had to go home and William (8 years old) had some of his own to light.  It was a fun night and I made it to bed at midnight.  William asked if he could stay up until midnight 30, so after hearing that cute request I had to say yes. :)

Dakota, my 16 year old, wanted to go to Yellowstone with us.  The only way that I knew I would be able to get him was on Sunday the 3rd of July.  His Dad was out of town and my older son, Patrick, had to work; so I had to drive all the way to pick him up.  The drive is about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour drive.  Luckly for me the pass that makes the trip a little shorter had just opened up on 6/23.  The drive over to pick him up was a little crazy at the top of Chinook Pass because the fog was very thick and the amount of snow was amazing. Once I got to Buckley I was able to spend a little time with Patrick before he went to work and then Dakota and I started back towards home. Here are some pictures of the snow on top of the pass on the way home!

There is no great place to go bike riding here in Hermiston, so we headed up to Kennewick, WA about 30 minutes away.  The have an amazing bike/walking path along the river, it makes a loop and is 39.5 miles long.  We only when about 3 miles down and back but had a great time.  We stopped by the marina where there is a light house and took a few pictures. After this we headed back to the park where we had left the car and just rode our bikes around the park for awhile.  We can't wait to go back again to head out in the other direction and see what we can see.

Ernie and I had a great trip to Florida in June.  The visit was to see Ernie's Grandma, enjoy the beach and to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I love to take pictures of all the wildlife and flowers so there is a lot of those.  :) This was the smallest, cutest lizard that I have seen. Ernie and his Grammie At the beach! Ernie with his sister, Kate.  Plus Paul, her husband. We had a great dinner at a resturant named Mulligan's the night before we left to get my Ahi Tuna fix and celebrate our anniversary.  It was great food and we had a wonderful time, other than I got eaten alive by bugs!  We just loved the sign there. On the plane in Orlando heading home. On the plane coming into Portland.  The three mountains are Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainer.  On the other side of the plane we went by Mt. Hood, it was so close that it looked like you could reach out and touch it.  Next time I fly this route I will know what sid...

We all had a great time on our trip to Patrick's graduation!  Here we all are at dinner before the ceremony Patrick right before he put on his gown! Patrick during the ceremony Pictures of the family from afterwards.  Ernie and Vance aren't in any of these because they had to drive all the way back home so that Ernie could work the next day, therefor they left as soon as the graduation was over. We stayed the night at a wonderful bed and breakfast called, Carbon Country's Shady Rest Bed & Breakfast. http://carboncountrysshadyrestbandb.net/ The room's were very nice and the breakfast was great!  There was a huge garden tub in the room we stayed in that I wish that I was able to use, but alas there was no time. :( Here is a picture of the outside of the bed & breakfast with my youngest William on the steps. Last but not least, the next day when I dropped my Mom back off at home, the little bunny that lives at her house was out, so I clicked ...

I decided to get my haircut before Patrick's graduation and our trip to Florida, it was very windy that day so I asked my hairdresser to take a picture for me before I left the shop.  Here you go! I really love the new cut, the bad thing about a shorter cut is that it doesn't take long before it is "too long"  It has been about 5 weeks and it already is starting to not do what I want it to.  :) 

We didn't have big plans for the weekend.  My 16 year old, Dakota and his best friend, Carl, came down for the long weekend. We had a great visit with them.  One of the things we did while they were here was to go out shooting.  Dakota had not taken his new shootgun out yet, so that was one of the things he wanted to do when he was down. My camera battery was very low, so I only got to take a few pictures.

This is William with his best friend, Grace.  They get along well and enjoy hanging out.  Grace moved here last summer from Bakersfield, CA.  They are supposed to be in the same class again next year.  This picture was taken at the last roller skating night of the school year.

We wash the cats once or twice a year to keep them clean.  My Mom took a couple of pictures during the processes so I thought I would share them.                                Here's Smokey Here's Pretty Girl                                                                    And after she was all done!                                  ...