
Father and son working on their first project together...before we know it, they will be working under the hood of a car together. Time flies by too fast!
As is our tradition, we spend the 4th of July weekend at the Lake. It was a beautiful weekend, in the 80s, and Dom enjoyed some time away from the projects at the house, so he could fish and read and relax. The morning of the 4th Dominic, mom, grandma and I attended a picnic that started with my great great grandparents, the Edwards, who first came over from Norway in the early 1900's. My great grandparents started meeting on the 4th of July back in 1910 on Vashon Island, and they would meet every year. This tradition of the Edwards descendants meeting has continued now for almost 100 years! It is so neat to talk to cousins that I don't see very often and meet new ones. My mom is very good a researching family history and has written one book (soon to be two!) on our Norwegian ancestry and other family stories and I love it!!
Four generations of Norwegians!
After the picnic, we drove back up to the lake for another barbecue with more family! I love family time!! My cousin Allison and her husband Chas and 3 kids (soon 4, she is due any day) came up, along with her parents, Dennis and Nancy, and cousin Nil and Helen. We really enjoy spending time with them when we are at the lake. We built a campfire on the beach and roasted marshmallows and later made smores while we watched the fireworks over the lake. The lake doesn't have anything organized in terms of fireworks, but in the bay where our cabin is situated, the lots on either side of us spend over $5000 (at least!) on fireworks every year. The show is really spectacular!






Not only am I married to the sweetest, handsome husband, but the most loving, attentive, and funny father Dominic could ever ask for. God has blessed me so much more than I could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20...loosely paraphrased)!!! Dom is soo good with our presious baby and I love watching the two of them together. Dominic lights up whenever he sees his daddy and it is the sweetest thing to see the laugh and play.
After brunch, we headed back to our condo for more work on the house, while I began dinner preparations for an Italian dinner of Bruschetta (appetizers), and Shrimp Scampi. 
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20-21 


The biggest new is that we found a new home for Ramsey. This was a hard decision that Dom and I have been talking about for awhile. A few months ago we were really close to putting an add on craiglist and then decided the timing just wasn't right. We started to talk about it again in the month of June and on a whim, I put a notice on facebook. That night we got three inquiries! After talking with my second cousin Cheryl, she was the one! It is such an answer to prayer because we wanted him to go to someone we knew and Cheryl was looking for a dog and has been praying that she would know when the right dog came along!! And she lives 45 minutes from Lake Cavanaugh so we get to see him whenever we are up there!!! She also has a yard with a doghouse and lives in walking distance from an off leash dog park near a river where Ramsey can swim. Her parents also have a lab (that Ramsey played with last summer) and they live on a lake and have kyaks, so she can take Ramsey Kyaking too (one of MANY things Dom taught him to do!). So on Father's Day we drove up to Centralia, Washington to give Ramsey to Cheryl. Dom spent an hour and a half with Cheryl and Ramsey, going over many details, etc. and then we drove off. It was the best decision, and he went to the best person, but it was so hard. I cried for two days. I was surprised at how attached I was to him. But it is very peaceful in our house again, Dom's stress level has significantly lowered, and the place is almost hairless!!