Happy Birthday, Rylan!

I want to post pictures! But I am having the same problem Alyssa seems to be having with her blog. Won't upload photos.

You'll just have to trust me on this one. Rylan is quite good looking. Downright handsome some would say. We have more holiday and airport shots of him than any other kind since he has been able to come home for Christmas the past couple of years.

All that aside.
IT'S RYLAN's BIRTHDAY! Happy happy birthday Ry! Hope you do something special today to celebrate. It is hard for us to have you so far away. We'd love to put 26 candles in the traditional birthday watermelon. You start out the birthday season around here, you know. I even have leftover fireworks that we could have blown off.

We are very proud of the man you have become and the direction God has led you. Korea, though far away, seems to be the place you are supposed to be for this season of your life. We have often heard that young people do the most growing and changing in the years from 18 to 25. Congratulations! You are officially grown up, having just surpassed that mark. So make the most of the year ahead. I'm excited to see what it holds.
Love you! Mom & Dad

Slow down Summer

SLOW DOWN SUMMER, you are going way too fast! Just over one week left in July. Though July is one of my favorite months. It is when we have our wedding anniversary. Twenty-seven years last Friday! We had a super duper day. Biking, shopping and seeing a movie. Then of course it was pizza night. We ended it up eating eclairs on the porch with Lys and Logan. Fun stuff.

August is our busy birthday month. August 1st, Rylan's 26th birthday ; August 7th, Cameron's 8th birthday; August 17th, Hayden's 12th birthday. Of course with Har having such a large family and me having a substantial number of siblings and their offspring, there isn't a month that goes by that we don't have a bunch of birthdays to acknowledge.

Between our 8 and the sons-in-law and grandkids the months of Jan-June are taken as well as Aug-Dec. I'm sure glad July is still just Har's and mine. By the way Har, thank you for being everything to me for all these years. You are a "keeper".

Yo ho ho and a bottle of pop

Pirates everywhere! A couple of our kids got to see the movie this weekend. One saw the midnight showing Thursday night. The other saw a late night show on Friday.

I heard that Cherise might have gone to see the movie too but haven't verified it. Lys and Logan did you see it?

We had another fun weekend with Wyatt and Genevieve here. Cam finally decided he was going to learn to ride his bike once and for all. We let him coast up and down the sidewalk without pedals at all. Hoping to undo the crazy angle his body got used to riding in with the training wheels by getting him to balance as he pushed along with his feet. Friday and Saturday were spent doing that. Today the pedals were put back on and he rode up and down the sidewalk several times independently. A couple of the first times with Dad running along side. It's going to be a few weeks before he is ready for a family bike trip but he is doing very well. Should be joining us out there on the trails before too long. Yay hay hay for biking!!!

Gotta love 'em

Wyatt spent two nights with us this weekend and Genevieve was here for just one. We had a great time. Friday aka Pizza Night, we had Bob, Lita, Zarah, Alex, Wyatt, Cherise, Micah, Alyssa, and for a brief time Derek, in addition to our 6 resident Hilmans here. A bunch of us went to the Oregon Zoo Saturday morning too. Vehicles started departing from here mid afternoon heading for Walla Walla and Sisters. We were left with just the 6 of us and the Grandbabies. Another fun day was had by all today but it was very busy. But was capped off by a rousing game of "beh-boo" with Grandpa and Wyatt.

Kids Camp was fun. The facility was really nice. I had the pleasure of sitting on the back porch of the staff room during the outdoor worship time. The praise music echoed off of the hills on either side of the river valley that the camp is nestled in. I haven't heard anything like before. Absolutely awesome!