Jack and I had a great day watching Mike run his first leg in Hood 2 Coast. Eric came too and was nice enough to drive. I really enjoyed having another adult to chat with as we waited to cheer Mike on. Here are some pictures from our fun day. One quick funny story- I remembered that Mike was wearing a green shirt so we kept our eyes peeled for a green shirt coming our way. We saw one coming and got ready with our sign and camera and sure enough it was another green shirt guy. Then we saw another one headed our direction..surely it was Mike...he was even waving at us, so we waved back, took pics, had Jack posed with the "My Dad Rocks" sign and then realized- not Mike. Feeling a little embarrassed, Eric and I struck up a conversation as the impostor runner went on by. Suddenly we hear a, "Hey guys!?!" -to our surprise- we were totally wrong. It was Mike, and we had completely ignored him- oops. Somehow he had fooled us both with his headband disguise. Thankfully, we were able to explain ourselves later and got to see him at three other stops. It was a lot of fun and I'm so proud of how well he's doing. He has another run late tonight and one more tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from today..in reverse order.

In front of Mike's team van

His "green shirt buddy" who Mike ended up passing. Yes- it does seem obvious that he isn't Mike, but from a distance- you can see how we might be fooled.

a quick high-five

pointing out Mike to Jack

Jack feeling quite proud of his sign

a pic from the car as we drove by

This past Monday was a great day! Mike and I celebrated 8 years of marriage together with a date night out-thanks mom and dad! We had dinner, went to a movie and watched a beautiful sunset together. It was so much fun and the best part is- we're celebrating more next month with a mini-trip to Portland made possible thanks to some Jack-sitting from the best in-laws ever! So we are certainly thankful, and as we reflected on our eight years together at dinner, we couldn't help but smile at how God has blessed us beyond what we ever imagined when we said I do. Now- I'm not just talking in each other...although we are pretty awesome :)...I mean at how He's provided for us with jobs, places to live, friends, family, a church we love....and the best part- our two amazing kids. Sure- I know we haven't officially met the girl coming, but we have a pretty good idea we won't be able to get enough of her. So as I wrap up this babbling I just have to say that if you're reading this, you are on the list of blessings we've been given so thank you and know that we love ya!

Now one of my favorite moments from this past week. Jack has been going nuts for guitars lately. Every time Mike gets his out, he want to play like Dada. So the other day, we busted out Mike's Ukulele....it doesn't get busted out very often people, but Jack was thrilled. Here is some video and a picture of his first lesson.

We had a great trip to the coast last week with the Jagger fam. Nina, Poppie, Eric, Sarah, Ethan, Abby, Mike, Becky, Jack, and baby sister spend the week lounging in warm (for the beach) temperatures and escaping the nasty heat of the Valley. Woot! great timing. We played on the beach, played golf (just me and Eric), watched movies, ate great food, canoe'd (do you like the rhyme?), shopped (mostly the girls), met up with my sis and her kids, ran from the waves, splashed in the waves, roasted hot-dogs and smores, talked, laughed and had a great relaxing trip.

On the way, Jack discovered Becky's sunglasses and wanted to rock them every chance he got. This is his "yeah, I know I'm cool" face.

Jack loved all the time he got with Nina and Poppie.

We spent several hours canoeing up the creek on the north end of the Siletz (by Moe's) with Eric and Ethan. The boys did great!

Once we got back into the bay we were approached by some sea lions in the water. It was pretty neat to see them swimming about 20 feet from the boat.

Jack was obviously happy to be outside, just like his daddy. He loved playing in the sand and the wabbie (water).

It is virtually impossible to get two toddlers and a 3 year old to sit still and smile at the camera...but that doesn't stop us from trying. Even though nobody's looking at the lens, this is still a good pic of the three cousins!

A sweet little baby girl strolling down the beach!

Jack looks really old in this picture to me! I'm loving his curls even more lately. They're going nuts!

Of course, we have to put in the walking down the beach family shot. We've got such a happy little boy!

Jack, rocking the sunglasses again!

The house we stayed at fits us just perfectly. Jack even got his own "room".

Story time!



Two burrito cousins...

Jack and Abby got to ride in the canoe together too...I think Abby had more fun that her face is showing. this was a serious picture.

The beach was just awesome, and we couldn't have timed it any better!

Today the girls went blueberry picking with Poppie and Nina and the kids. According to Becky, Jack ate about 3 pounds of berries while he was filling up his bucket. I'm glad that diaper happend BEFORE I got home from work!

Ethan is showing Jack that all the good berries are just at the tip of your reach!

Way to pay attention, Jack!

Cutest berry-picker I've ever seen!

Cooling off after a hard day in the fields! I'll give you 1 guess who brought the matching alligator water bottles.

And here is our baby girl! We sure love her!

Profile shot

Little feet

Being shy with her hand over her face. :)

I have some picture catch up to do so here are a few to start. We went swimming a few weeks ago to cool off from this hot weather....here are a few of my favorites. Too bad Abby is so camera shy. :)

...more to come from this weekend, but this is one of my favorite pictures. This is going to be a good picture to pull out when Jack and I summit Mt. Hood in 2025.

Jack sure loves his cousin Sydney and wanted to wish her a happy 1st birthday!

Just a quick post to share a few photos. Jack is looking sharp in an outfit from his Great Grandma Janice!

"Jack" wanted to play with shaving cream in the bathtub. Daddy did not say no.

At least he was concerned about decency.

One of these days, we'll do another content-rich post. That day is not today.

Have fun!

Things have been a little busy in the Bunch household lately. We finished up our Spring Cousins' Closet Sale last weekend with about 100 consignors this time. We're tired, but it's always a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone that helped- Sarah and I could never have done it without you! Roy and Jo had Jack for three days, Jen and Naomi came for both sale days, Mom watched Ethan and Abby...bundled hangers...sorted donated items..everything under the sun, Gabrielle came to watch Ethan and Abby on Saturday, Kris was our point person at BCC who helped us organize everything, Leslie and Bob came early and late Saturday to help, Katie came Saturday to help out, Penny used her fast fingers to help checkout and then even stayed to clean, Eric and Mike put up signs..made racks...checked people out...helped multiple moms carry heavy items out...and really made everything possible, and so many others! Thanks you all! Here is how it all looked before the shoppers came:

On another note- we were able to finally greet little Wyatt Paul Marr that same weekend. What a cutie pie! Can't wait to hold him again.

And finally- the Bunch family is growing! We have Bunch baby #2 due to come Dec. 17...just before Jack's second birthday on the 20th. It will be another busy Christmas season, and we can't wait! We had our first ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and brought Jack along. I'll never forget- watching Mike holding Jack pointing at the screen saying, "that's the baby" and thinking back on how we were watching Jack on that screen not long ago. We knew we loved him from the start, but we had no idea how much he would capture our hearts...what a miracle that we get to experience all of that again.

Jack has been pretty cute since then...every time he sees the ultrasound printed pics he points and says, "baby." Oh how his life will change come December and we predict a great big brother in him.

Okay...blog time for Mike! It seems like a lot's been happening around our house lately, so instead of lots of posts, I going to do one full of miscellany - thanks Brad for introducing me to the noun version. Becky covered Easter and the marathon (but I'm sure I'll have a few things to say about it), I'll fill in the gaps.

Okay, one more from Easter...this is my son. Sometimes we post pictures of him sitting still and smiling, but really...this is my son. Mouth full of food, squirming like crazy, and a mischevious little smile on his face. Man I love this kid.

A couple weeks ago, for Becky's birthday, her dear cousin Ana came for a surprise visit. I picked her up at the train station and we pulled into the driveway just as Becky was getting out of the car with Jack. She looked at us like "who is that woman with my husband?" But she quickly realized who it was and we had a great weekend together as an extended family. Ana is one of the most tender-hearted people I know and she and Beck have a special bond that is a joy to witness. Jack grew quite fond of her as well!

So I had a good-news, bad-news kind of day a while back. I found out that I got to golf with some guys from work on a Monday afternoon (good news). On the way to the golf course, I got pulled over in a school-zone (bad news)! I've been ticket-free and accident-free since I got my license - never even pulled over!!! I was pretty irritated at my lapse in focus. I planned my speech for the officer, and was ready to lay on the "I'm a good person" line (a la Stephanie), but he wasn't really interested in hearing it.

"License, please"

"Here you are, sir"

"Did you realize you went through a school zone"

"No sir, I didn't"

"Is this your first time here?"

"No sir, it's not."

"Okay, I'll be right with you."

5 minutes later (and one of my golf buddies driving by laughing), and the officer handed me the $335 ticket!! Luckily, I can go to traffic safety school and prevent the ticket from posting to my record. Guess how much traffic safety school costs...yup...$335. We almost go more bad news, because the class was scheduled for the weekend we're planning to visit Wenatchee. But the Judge was gracious and allowed me to reschedule...phew!

I told you about the foam bits from work that Jack has been enjoying...here's another fun picture to make you smile.

This picture is from a few months back when we visited the coast with my family. It's an old picture, but one of my favorites. I love my fam!!

We also got to spend some time at the coast with our dear friends a little more recently. There are other blogs floating around about it, so I'll just post this picture of Jim and me climbing a rock. That's all:

So, thanks to my sweet wife for the post about the marathon. It was indeed a great experience. I'm a little irritated that my old IT Band pain has come back and is stubbornly hanging on, but I'm praying its temporary and I can get back out on the road next week. We'll see. I think the most surprising thing is that even though the pain and exhaustion (especially in the last few miles) was very real during the run, when I think back, I get excited and remember the feeling of knowing that in spite of whatever I was feeling, I could get to the finish line. I wasn't thinking "oh this is terrible, get me to the end." I was thinking "this is fantastic...with each step, I'm getting closer and closer to my goal." It was a good feeling (although I made some funny noises when my quads would cramp or my knee would lock up). Crazy enough...it makes me want to do another one. But that doesn't surprise you, I'm sure. Becky posted some nice pictures of the race, but here's how my body really felt at the end:

Well, today, we got to experience Jack's second trip to the ER!! Praise God it was much less of an experience than the first round. Just as he does a hundred times a day, Jack got moving pretty quickly and tripped up on the carpet, his shoes, his long jeans, his own feet...something and took a tumble. unfortunately, his forehead collided with the corner of a wall and split it open a bit. Becky called me at work and very calmly told me what had happend (good composure, mom!). We called the doctor, and they advised we go to the emergency room first. We decided Becky should just drive to the ER and I'd meet them there.

I arrived a few minutes ahead, but when they pulled up, I was glad to see that Jack was acting like himself and calling a cheerful "Dada...dada" like normal. Nina did a great job with the steri-strip, and once we got inside, they confirmed it was a pretty minor injury. they said we did the right thing by bringing him in, and they put on some really expensive super-glue and a really expensive band-aid and sent us home. Of course, the worst part for Jack was being held still...but that's my kiddo. Here's his battle wound all patched up.