Deputy Time

"Wait a minute," you may be thinking, "Aren't those Ropers in the picture below?" You know my family so well! Yes, those are our dear Ropers. But I thought this would be a great post to include our "fare-thee-well Ropers" picture. (Plus, in the hubbub of getting ready for our trip I forgot to post it and wanted to make sure to get it in). Our one bit of family in the Colorado Springs area has now moved on to Ohio for work with the Air Force. Just before we left for Washington, we had our last outing with these cousins who the kids love so much to see Cars 2. We will miss them incredibly but know new and exciting adventures await them. We hope to get out their Ohio-way in the next couple of years when we do a Church History road trip with the kids. Love you, Ropers!
And now you may be wondering why I thought this was a good post to include the Roper picture in. It's because one of our MUSTS on the checklist of Washington trip to-do's is to visit with our beloved Deputy cousins. And here's the relation, Mike, the man of the Roper family, is the brother of Mandi, the woman of the Deputy family! See how seamless this is? :)

Because we MUST see them (it is quite imperative for us!), Sunday afternoon we made our way down to Bonney Lake for our annual visit. We love them! Their family is amazing. They have a confidence and belief in themselves that you can sense just being with them. I love watching their family interactions, the humor, the discipline, the caring, the love, the frustrations. It is fantastic. And we come into their home and feel we are a part of the family right away, sensing the ease of family love. Plus, they always treat us like kings and lay a feast not to be forgotten!

This year Alea, Cami and Parker joined us for the trip down (Zach was traveling for work). Tommy loved Colleen (the oldest Deputy kid)...as long as mom was still in sight. His favorite game, totally encouraged by Colleen, was slowly peeling the labels off of the myriad salad dressing bottles. So now it's a guessing game at the Deputy home when it comes to topping your salad.

Zac and Cameron (the 2nd oldest Deputy kid) played a short game of soccer. I thought it was cool that Cameron jumped out there to play with Zac.

Dinner satisfaction. Smoked turkey. Gravy to die for. Homemade rolls. Mashed sweet potatoes. Salad (with guessing-game dressing!). Cameron's cole slaw. Atalie's (Deputy #4--just a bit older than Zac) marshmallow-fudge topped brownies. Mmmmm....

Mandi and Greg were lovin' lovin' on baby RichardParker!

The youngest Deputy, Griffin, is Josh's age. The boys all LOVE playing together. And Cami had no problem joining in the boy fun!

The Colleens! I am lucky to share a name with such a beautiful girl.

Boys being boys...playing the X-Box.

The Conlin-Deputy-Franklin 2nd Cousins: Ben, Keegan (like our Josh, the middle Deputy), Cameron, Griffin, Colleen, Tommy, Josh, Zac, Cami, Atalie and RichardParker

The Conlin-Deputy-Franklin 1st Cousins (and cousins-in-law): Adam, Me, Al, Mandi and Greg

Lovely night! Lovely family! LOVE!