Wacky Washburns

pumpkin patch

2010-11-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

We tried out a new pumpkin patch this year thanks to livingsocial deals. We were able to enjoy an afternoon at the Kruger farm for a mear 32 dollars. We got to go through the corn maze, take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch,, pick just the right pumpkins, enjoy freshly roasted corn on the cob and dipped right in front of you caramel apples. It was well worth the wait we had to endure as we sat to get onto Sauve Island. We followed all the other cars, unloaded, when we finally got there only to realize we were definitely at the wrong farm!! So, back into the car, and a 5 minute drive down the road(which took us an hour to get down going the other direction) we were at the right place. It was fun to be able to spend some quality time together as a family!!

addictions!

2010-09-12T04:33:00.000-07:00

Now, I know most of us have some addiction to something or other...I will admit that my addiction is reading blogs. I'm not so saavy about keeping my own blog updated but am definitely an addict when it comes to reading blogs. I love to keep up with old friends and family with what's going on in their lives and i'm always loooking for new recipe blogs and craft blogs...in fact my list is long and I can spend a couple of hours getting updated on all the new postings. I have found so many cute things I want to make, we'll see if it ever happens. I have learned thrifty ways to do home make-overs, some of which I have used in my own home. I have learned some very yummy recipes that I have shared with friends and family. My name is Lori and I am a blogaholic and am willing to admit it!!

Now, Shule on the other hand has found his addiction to be...dun dun dun(insert music), none other than the fabulous, can you sense my sarcasm, game of World of War Craft. This man can spend countless hours glued to his computer playing this game!! I think I've clocked 6 hours at one time!! I don't know how he does it. He was so nice to introduce it to his brother while we were in Utah, sorry Deb and now they can both be glued to the computer for hours at a time. It's great. :) Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he has found something that he likes to do, but for the last week he has been complaining of arm pain. Sharp pains shooting down his arm, his thumb and forefinger numb. He went to the doc this past week and doc says he has a pinched nerve. I honestly think it's because he sits in one position for so long playing his darned computer game..now I have no phd or formal training but I think that if he stayed off the game for a week he might see some sort of improvement. Anyway...we are waiting to hear from the MRI specialist to get an appt to see what's going on..in the meantime he will continue to IBprofin and vicadin up so he can continue to play his beloved game!!

School's back in session!

2010-09-12T04:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that school's already back in session. The summer went by too fast!! What's even weirder, is that a word, weirder?? is that we now have a high schooler. I was too lazy to take pictures the first day of school but I will get some pics up soon. Sariah is in the 9th grade...a freshman already...CRAZY...Caylie started 7th grade this year and the boys are in 3rd grade. Spencer was spoiled all summer being home with the kids that he's back to an only child during the week again. I had wanted to get him into a preschool but that didn't happen...if any one in my neck of the woods knows of anything please let me know!! I am going to try and be better about posting as I know that's how some of you stay updated with our family happenings!!

our summer in review!

2010-09-12T03:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe another summer has passed. This year was such a weird summer weatherwise it doesn't seem like we had much of a summer. We spent the first part of the summer getting ready for our family vacation. We don't always get to take a vacation every year, but this year we were doing it and we were excited to go to Yellowstone with Shule's side of the family.

our family by a geiser

We rented a cabin about an hour outside of Yellowstone in what is called Island Park, Id. We got up early on a Monday morning and drove 12 hours to get to our destination. The kids did an awesome job in the car. There was minimal fighting and Spencer did well at entertaining himself and watching movies (thank goodness for portable dvd players). The kids were super excited to see all their cousins that they don't get to see very often. We spent the first night settling into the cabin and then Tuesday we all got up early and headed to Yellowstone. We got to see Old Faithful blow 2 times and explored some of the paint pots. There was so much more that I would have like to have seen but the kids were oober bored and were complaining so we decided too call it a day and head back to the cabin.We didn't see much wildlife while we were there. We saw a quick glance at a buffalo who was frolicking in the grass and this herd of elk. The kids wanted to see more animals but didn't want to drive the long distances in the park to go find them...go figure!Old Faithful, which erupts about every 74 minutes

Wednesday we rented rafts and most of us went floating the river. It wasn't the warmest day for this event to happen but it was fun nonetheless. The water was a balmy 52 degrees I believ and it was only 70 outside. It was a workout for sure...the wind was blowing just enough that if you stopped rowing you ended up going back upstream. I didn't bring the camera on this trip and I so wish I would have!!!

Friday we packed up and made our way to Utah but not before stopping at Bear World. The kids enj0y that place the most. You start off by driving through an open zoo of sorts. The animals are uncaged and can come right up to your car. We saw buffalo, elk, mountain goats, deer, moose, and of course bears!! it's basically most of the animals that you can see in Yellowstone all in one convenient location
This place was pretty cool, in fact we spent 3 hours there, and the kids could have stayed longer. Once done going through the park you can get out and they have a petting zoo with all kinds of animals...and carnival rides. You can feed all the aninals including ducks, fish, etc. I would highly recommend you go if you are headed that direction. You can drive through the park as many times as you please also!!

Saturday we went and enjoyed the Tripp family reunion. We figured that it had been about 8 years that we had been there as a family. Shule went a couple years ago without Sariah and I.
So, it was fun seeing everybody and playing at the waterpark. It's at the same place every year and it's sometime that we look forward to when we can go. The kids had a great time going on the waterslides and hanging out with their cousins that also made the trip down from Oregon!!

Sunday, we took the kids to a pretty cool, but extremely overpriced mexican restraunt for lunch. They have cliff divers that put on a show for you. The kids enjoyed the show and $125 later, lunch was done!!

It just so happens that that happened to be mine and Shule's 15th wedding anniversary that day also!! After lunch we were able to go visit with Shule's grandma and aunt, which was nice seeing them!! We had a great vacation!!

Seaside

2010-07-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

We deicded to take the kids down to the beach for the day !! We chose to go to Seaside since it's only a 2 hour drive!!

The kids rode the carousel, it was Spencer's first time on one and he wasn't so sure about it. I had to end up getting on with him so he would feel more comfortable! We played on the beach, went shopping, ate ice cream and had a good time!!

More pics from our beach getaway!!!

2010-07-27T22:03:00.001-07:00

An Early Anniversary

2010-07-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Shule and I were able to get away for a weekend in May...we decided that it was gonna be our pre anniversary celebration since we are gonna be in Utah on our Anniversary. We drove to Rockaway and stayed in a hotel there...This is the view from our hotel bed!!
We walked along the beach and then up to the old railroad track running through the town...Shule pulled out on the the nails as a souvenier!!
The next day we drove up to seaside but I forgot the camera so we didn't get any pics! We did get our pic taken at the old tyme photo shop...that was fun!! We spent the next day driving home but before goign home stopped at Tillamook, got some ice cream and some cheese curds!! This trip all made possible by my mom and dad who came to the house and stayed with the kids!

Jaren

2010-04-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Took Jaren to the doc today,...nothing serious,hopefully the cough medicine will work that they prescribed, but thought he looked soo cute in his gown and mask!!

EASTER!

2010-04-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

We had a good easter this year!! It was a little different than normal as we dyed eggs the day before, without Sariah. When I got home from work Spencer woke up and he helped put the easter baskets together and hide the eggs. I told him that the easter bunny had dropped it off and I had to put it all together!!! It seemed to pass!! I didn't get a pic of the baskets, but the kids loot consisted of : Sariah-a shirt and 2 pairs of flipflops, Caylie-a pair of converse look a like high tops, Joseph and Jaren-new swimming suits, Spencer-a Lightning McQueen backpack and some books, along with all the candy they got!! They all loved thier stuff. We then went and had a candy hunt at Grammy and Papa's and ate yummy food!! We had a great Easter!!

My Birthday

2010-04-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

I had a good birthday this year. It falling on a Friday I worked and still had a grand time..they threw a great birthday celebration for me!! I had customers bring me stuff, by me some drinks, give me flowers and my co-worker Amy made me a very yummy CHOCOLATE cake!! I'm still receiving birthday spankins from people... It was a great time and I felt very loved!! :O)

Snow in March??

2010-04-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

We've had some weird weather patterns this year!! It will be sunny, then cloudy, then windy, then rainy, then hailing, and then snowing all within a 20 minute period. This was the last day of March, a big hail storm and then ending in snow!! Crazy, the kids thought it was cool!!

March 23rd Zoo trip

2010-04-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the zoo again!! We love it there and the weather was beautiful!! It was the Tuesday of spring break, so the place was packed we had a great time!! I had way more pics, these ones are off my cell phone, Joseph got ahold of the camera and deleted all my pics so this is what you get!! I love how this arangatang was just hanging out!!

After the zoo we headed over to Voodoo donuts since we were in the area! We went to the Original one but there was a line outside so we drove just down the road to Voodoo 2 no waiting and the same donuts. It was our first time there...fun atmosphere, good donuts!! Most of us chose the maple bar with bacon, but we also got a chocolate cocoa puff one, a fruitloop one and a peanut butter chocolate chip one!! Yummy it was a long and fun day to spend as a family

A new me!!

2010-03-03T15:36:00.001-08:00

it had been a year since my last haircut and coloring, it was way overdue...so I had a little extra money and went to my favorite hairdresser and let her work her magic!! I love it!! Shule's not so sure about all the colors in it, but I think it's growing on him and I get lots of compliments on it!! It's amazing how getting a fresh new look can make you feel sooooo much better!!

So far behind

2010-03-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm so far behind in my blogging and haven't really taken any pictures lately so this will be a catch up post!!

Joseph and Jaren turned 8 on January 22nd. They chose to go to Olive Garden for dinner, Grammy and Papa came along and split the bill with us...that place is expensive!! We had a good time though. It has been a weird year for birthdays this year...We haven't been ready for them and they have just kind of snuck up on us. We have had to get used to new schedules at work, for both of us and new schedules for the kids. Joseph and Jaren got airsoft guns for their birthdays(their dad's choice) I thought we were getting them new bikes but they wanted the guns instead. As a result we have little plastic pellets all over the house!! We got them some clothes and then about a month after their birthday bought them a ps3 as a late birthday present. The xbox died and left them with nothing to play with(what a shame) We didn't do birthday cakes or anything of the sort this year(xcept the one that we got them at olive garden) They don't seem to care though as no one in our house is a huge cake fan away!! (except me!!!)

With turning 8 the boys had the decision to be baptized into the church and they chose not to. Not too surprising as they hated going in the first place. So, maybe later on in life they will decide that that is something that they would like to do! They did decide however to be a part of the scouting program at the church and they are enjoying that. The participated in their first pinewood derby and had a good time. Joseph's car failed miserably but he still had fun and found out at the end of the race that it worked better if he turned it around backwards. Oh well hopefully next year they can build a winner.

Spencer turned 3 on Feb 18th. We celebrated by going rollerskating with Grammy and Papa and Kari and Aaron and kids. We went on presidents day...all the kids were out of school and skating was cheap. We all had a good time and everyone skated, Even Grammy and Papa. Spencer had a blast and asks almost everyday if we can go again!! A Natural skater..NICE!! Joseph got the record for most falls I think, but he kept getting up and going!! I got some pics with my cell phone, they aren't the best but I didn't want to skate around with my good camera, fall and break it

! After skating we all went to a yummy mexican restaurant for dinner!! Once again no birthday cake, but the restaurant did give us some ice cream and sopapillas!! Sounds good to me!! For his presents we took him to the store and let hime pick what he wanted..of course he went to the toy aisle and we spent 100 dollars on Disney Cars stuff! The kid is obsessed!!

Super PAPA Mario?

2010-01-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

My sister Kari and I made these Mario hats for her daughters birthday party, aren't they cute?? Anyway dad decided to try it out!! Isn't it just GREAT!!!

Creamy tomato basil soup with italian sausage

2010-01-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

We had family dinner tonight, we had a soup bar and this is what I made...I stole the recipe from a friends blog!! It was absolutely delicious!! My family asked for the recipe!

This recipe from Picky Palate is SUPER delicious, quick and easy.

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lb Italian Sausage(I doubled the recipe and used 1 lb of mild italian sausage and 1 lb of hot italian sausage)

10 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (stacked, rolled and thinly sliced)

1 26 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce or homemade sauce

1 Cup water

1 1/2 Cups half and half

Pinch of salt and pepper

Place olive oil into a medium sized dutch oven over medium heat. Cook sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil leaves, pasta sauce, water, half and half, salt and pepper. Cook until warm then reduce heat to low. Simmer until ready to serve. It’s that easy!

4+ servings

Lincoln City

2010-01-20T00:05:00.001-08:00

We decided to start the year off with a trip to Lincoln City with the kids and some friends. We rented a beach house for 2 nights and had a lot of fun. The original plan was stay at the friends beach house but it ended up not being able to be used so we found a house, luckily, the night before that wasn't a bad price. We stopped at their house and picked the keys up on the way out of town and then we were off!! We stopped at the house first but the renters were still there so we decided to go down to the beach for awhile while we waited for them to evacuate!!

The kids had a fun time being chased by the waves and skipping rocks in the little "river" that was coming down the beach! It was windy and raining a little but that didn't stop anyone!I was telling Spencer to freeze and strike a pose this is what he came up with!

The first night we were there we played apples to apples with the kids..it was a close game but Caylie took 1st place. Shule couldn't get a card to save his life.. He ended the game with the 3 cards in his hand and we decided that all the cards we had were describing us...it was rather humurous. For some reason all we took pics of was Shule's... Joseph had the word "HOT" Shule's throwdown card was "FIRE" Joseph on the other hand though "GIRLS" was more fitting for "HOT" We all got a kick out of that!

We decided that since it wasn't raining and wasn't windy we would go down to the beach at 3am..Spencer decided to wake up and join us!

I honestly can't remember the name of this place..I know it's Oregon History, but it's escaped my mind!This is in Depot Bay...it was SUPER windy...we got a few pictures and thanks to a very kind lady that drove up took a pic of all of us! The only one we got all week!

We drove to Yaquina Head Lighthouse and they were having gale-force winds and so the lighthouse was closed, but we drove down to see the tidepools, which were completely covered with sand...you couldn't even go down on the beach. It was covered with massive amounts of sea foam, as we were videoing the seafoam and looking around we saw harbor seals, lots of them, and had a fun time watching them swim and play in the water...Ian makes the perfect sound and they came swimmin his direction..so that was cool!!

After that we went to Newport to see and hear the Sea Lions. pretty Cool!!
Spencer once again decided to join us on another late night. That kid's sleeping pattern sucks...lol! Anyway...he slept through dinner and when he woke up at 1am he decided he was hungry...what did he want...Cereal, smores, and Code Red Mt. Dew...so that's what he got! It was a vacation afterall!! We got some alone family time after we were done at Newport and drove back to Lincoln City. We spent about an hour roaming around the beach before it started POURING rain!! We headed back to the house after that. Becca and I decided to go outside while we were waiting for Ian to finish up dinner, who by the way cooked ALL the meals that we ate!! YEAH Ian!! It took a few time of us pressing our faces up against the glas before anyone noticed...then of course they had to take pictures. It rained all night!! Heavy winds and rain and at one point we got woken up by a loud clack of thunder that actually shook the house! Pretty cool...we were all too lazy too get out of bed though to go look outside!!

On the way out of Lincoln City we stopped at Pacific City...the best day at the beach. It was windy but the sun was actually trying to shine. We got to go explore some rocks and the kids and Ian and Becca, go you, hiked up to th top of the big sand dune!! We got to see little sand crabs, or hermit crabs, some sea anenome, and even some little shrimp! Spencer had a blast running through the seafoam!!

And on the way home we HAD to stop at Tillamook and get some cheese curds and ice cream!

We're looking foward to hopefully going back over spring break.

*hopefully the pics will enlarge if you click them...some of them are hard to see!

UPDATES GALORE

2009-12-27T18:25:00.001-08:00

just did some major updating....so scroll on down!! it goes onto page 2

For Sale!

2009-12-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

I'm putting my original Miche bag up for sale, Santa Clause brought me the big Miche for Christmas!! I'm asking for $100 dollars. It's not that old and still in good condition!! Pass it along!! It comes with 6 shells and 2 sets of handles!!

Magnetic Cheese???

2009-12-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

A couple of the younger grandkids decided that they were going to create some art when they realized that the cheese stuck to the oven....this is their masterpiece!!

a little slumber

2009-12-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas night we found Shule and Spencer asleep like this on the couch!! I was amazed at home much Spencer looks like Joseph!!

Christmas Morn

2009-12-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

The stockings were hung by the Chimney with care

and we found out St. Nicholas had been there. Santa always drops his sack by the tree! This year he left us quite a bit!

I didn't get many pics this year. The camera wasn't taking great pictures...as you can tell. Well a little tweaking now it's great! Go figure!! Here's some of what we got though!

Coming downstairs to see the loot!

After finishing up at home we travelled to Grammy and Papas to finish our festivities. We at a yummy dinner, snacked on junk and just relaxed! 14 kids running around for most of the night, but it's great to be around family!!! We ended up staying the night there cause we didn't feel like driving home!!

Thanks to everyone who made our holiday a great one this year!! Thanks for your time spent with us and for the gifts that we so graciously received!!!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

We had a nice relaxing Christmas Eve this year. We made soup and cheese bread, Dad and mom came over and stayed the night since it was our year with them!! We also invited our friends Ian and Becca to come over and hang out with us. We ate yummy food, played a game, the kids opened their presents that they bought for each other( they draw names and buy for one of thier siblings) After that we did pajamas and spencer was the only one that would pose for a pic.
Sariah got collars for her kittens, a webkins, and some eyeliner from Joseph

\
Caylie got a new hoodie and a rose from
Spencer that he picked out himself.

Joseph got a big Star Wars coloring book some colored

pencils, and a color wonder book from Jaren

Jaren got a barrell of monkeys and a webkins

from Caylie

Spencer got Mac(from CARS) from Sariah

Spencer's whole Christmas consisted of CARS!

Spencer was so excited to get his truck that he wanted

Papa to see it right away also!!!

This is the table setting for Christmas Eve...All the lights in the house go off, except for the Christmas tree and we eat by candlelight...every year its soup and bread!!!

We had a great time...thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us!

Pretty Sure~

2009-12-27T17:44:00.000-08:00

Spencer took this picture of me!!
Not a bad job!

2009-12-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Spencer likes wearing everyone elses socks but his own. As we were decorating for Christmas he took two of the stockings and thought it was so cool that he put them on his feet!! He's such a silly boy and definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps us smiling, most of the time!

Trimming the tree!!

2009-12-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

I decided this year since we were going to be home for the holidays that we should decorate the house up more than we did last year. Sariah was in charge of getting all the Christmas stuff out and she even took it upon herself to set up the Santa tree downstairs. We set up multiple trees for the holiday season. I have my own tree upstairs that has snowflakes and snowmen on it. All of the upstairs decor consists of that. The downstairs on the other hand consists of Santa. The kids have their own tree which has been filled up over the years with ornaments that we buy them every year along with the ornaments that Grammy and Papa get them every year! The tree looks cute! The downstairs looks cute, The only part of the whole Christmas decorating that I don't enjoy is taking it all down when it's over. Which is happening tomorrow hopefully! Here's the kids trimming their tree!!

A little bit of Summer in Winter

2009-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

We went and checked out the aquatic park a few weeks ago...the kids (and Shule and I) had a blast. We went down waterslides, rode the waves in the wave pool and had a fun time!!! We made Spencer wear his built in life jacket swim suit and he wasn't having much fun. So about half way through we switched his suit and the true Spencer came out. He was swimmin away, going under the water!! He had a great time, none of the kids wanted to leave, unfortunatley Dad and Mom were tired. Shule ended up with a sinus infection afterwards, connection or not???

Tis the Season

2009-12-02T00:46:00.004-08:00

Tonight we went to Caylie's school for her first choir concert of the year. This year they have a new teacher and he did an awesome job. It was such a nice change from the last choir teacher. Caylie had a solo with some other classmates and they did an awesome job. It sucks that my cellphone doesn't have a video option or a zoom so they aren't the closest that it could be so I opted for just taking some still shots of the girl!!

Thanksgiving!

2009-12-02T00:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was great this year. All of the family was able to get together and hangout for the afternoon and evening. We at dinner around 2 and then pulloed evreything out again at 6. We spent lots of time just relaxing and hanging out an all the cousins had a fun time playing together! After we brough out the food the 2nd time it took Spencer less than 5 minutes to fall asleep. Kari went to go get her a plate of food and she found Spencer asleep standing up leaning over the chair . We left him there for 5 or so minutes while we finished our food and then went and moved him from th chair! He didn't even realize that we had moved him! He played soo hard that night that he just crashed! We had a fun fun night and ate some delicious grub and delicious pies! Can't wait till next year!!

A Little...

2009-11-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

Packed up the kids and surprised them with a Staycation this week. We didn't tell them where we were going, just what they needed to pack, and headed southwest. We didn't go far, we made it to Grammy and Papa's house in Clackamas, a mere 20 minutes away! But we have been having fun!! Shule and I have got to spend some time with Mom and Dad for dinner and drinks! It's been fun! We've gone out to dinner, gone shopping, gone to lunch. All fun stuff. We've traded beds, made the house a mess, cleaned up, watched movies, ate junk, and tomorrow we get to enjoy Thanksgiving as a family all together. We've had a great time. Thanks Grammy and Papa for inviting us over for a fun week!!

A bit of pampering!

2009-11-25T00:54:00.000-08:00

I decided to do something I haven't done in YEARS! I have always been a picker and a biter, and my nails never look nice. Well I decided to go and be pampered a little and have my nails done! I love them I do!! I will be keeping them on for awhile at least!! It's not very often that I go and do something for myself and it felt good to do it. My next day of pampering will include
haircut!!

2009-11-19T02:41:00.000-08:00

Got home from work this morning at 1:30am...on my bed sprawled out across the whole thing lay 5 little letters written to Santa Claus. Each one delicately written out and stamped beautifully by the child it was from. The kid aren't asking for much this year. Surprising I know. The girls both said that they wanted their own bedrooms for Christmas, knowing that there's no way that's going to happen, but a kid can dream right? Their wish may come true at the start of the year when we are thinking of adding on a room to the basement. There was a common thread in all of the letters, a webkinz, which Santa always pulls through and gets them one. This year they may be disappointed in what they get, because Costco didn't have the ones they asked for and heck they were much cheaper there than getting them somewhere else. Both boys asked for deoderant and cologne...REALLY? I don't think they need it but hey I'm happy to obligue, it's a cheap want!! We'll see how Santa comes through this year!! The Christmas music came out the day after Halloween. We've been listening to Pandora every chance we get...I have it playing on my phone constantly and have even figured out how to listen to it in the car over all the speakers...commercial free radio..gotta love it!! I'm counting down the days when I can put the fall away and get out the Christmas decorations. Last year we didn't do much in the house cause we were spending the holidays in Utah, this year we're going all out...that is if I can get to the Christmas stuff in the back of the garage, where a tornado, the children, seemed to hit!

Family Dinner, Halloween Party

2009-10-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is the oh 8th year I believe that we've done a halloween party. Most years it consists of just our family or our family and some close friends. This year it was just our immediate family and we had a fun time. We were sad that mom couldn't make it, long story short, bartender called in sick, no one to replace. Dad came because we were celebrating his birthday! The kids played a game as soon as everyone got there. They get a paper put on their backs stating a halloween reference. They have to guess who they are by asking yes or no questions and then they get a prize. I think I made them tooo easy this year. Greg and Melinda made Kaluah pork for dinner and it was delicious!! We had Pumpkin pie for dessert! Dad opened his gifts which consisted on cologne and cologne and cologne...lol!! I was going to get him cologne but opted out and got him a gift certificate to applebees, which he and mom frequent often. We played the Mother Hen game, it's a given every year. This year team 2 won by a fair amount!! Everyone had a good time and of course we couldn't end the evening without our annual trick-or-treating around the house. The kids ended up with an awesome amount of candy. Mom and Dad always bring the most and the kids all flock around them to get every last bit of candy!! It was a fun year!! Thanks everyone for making it a great yearly experience!!

Stealin Christmas!

2009-10-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

Spencer found a little Christmas stash and emerged wearing these!!! His pajamas for Christmas eve...guess I'l have to find another pair of pajamas to fill in!!! He thought he was the coolest thing ever!!

2009-10-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the zoo!!! It was a beautiful day to go. We packed lunch and ate it in the car on the way out. A lot of the animals weren't in their pens, but we had fun nonetheless. It was the first time we've gone to the zoo as a whole family in years!! The new lion exhibit was cool! The kids spent the most time there! After the zoo we took the kids to see their new cousin and then went and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Chili's!!! Spencer is at the perfect age where all the animals he just loved and couldn't stop talking about them!!

Struggles

2009-10-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of years our family has struggled. Struggled with finances, struggled with life, struggled with daily activities. Our most recent struggle has been with our feelings regarding church attendance . We have struggled with getting up, getting out the door, and actually staying there when we did make it. We would go for a few weeks, take 2 or 3 weeks off, go for a week or two, then not go. After a lot of talk we've decided that for our family right now, we are not going to be attending church. I know this is probably going to come as a shock to most of you. Believe me, it is kind of shocking to us too. We never thought that we would be in this situation, but here we are. It isn't just one thing that has effected our decision to not go. We haven't been offended by anyone, we have a great ward! At this time we just feel it's the right move for our family. It feels like a big weight was lifted off our shoulders once we decided to do what WE needed to do. Please do not take offense to our decision. We still like everyone in the ward, and have told the kids that they are more than welcome to go to their activities and even go to church if they would like. So far, I don't think they are interested. It is going to be a change in our family and for right now it feels like a better one! This may be a permanent change and it may not, we'll just see how it plays out! We love each and every one of you that is a part of our family. We love our families and understand that for most of them this is going to be something that is difficult for them to understand! Please just don't harp on us and look down on us! It's what we've decided and it isn't just some rash decision that we've made. We've talked and talked and feel that this is what we need to do at this time in our lives. Thanks and know that we love you all!!

Cute little pumpkins!

2009-09-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

My Sister Kari and I have been getting together and crafting as of late. We found this blog which had these very very cute fabric pumpkins that we thought would be perfect for fall decorating. They were super easy to make and not that expensive. We used home decorator fabric that was on sale and on clearance. They whipped together pretty fast and you really can't sew them wrong! We stopped at the dollar tree and bought the flowers and little decorations for them. This picture is of Kari's, once again I'm too lazy to take a pic and upload it to the computer. Mine look so cute nustled up on my shelf in the living room. Thanks for the fun craft days we have been having and will continue to have!! For directions click on the link! I don't know how to make it not all show up so here it is!! http://bloggingwithholly.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-requests-for-pumpkins.html

Girl's Beach Trip

2009-09-18T04:06:00.000-07:00

This year a group of us girls decided to rent a beach house in Lincoln City for the weekend. We had a fun time being together and hanging out. The house itself wasn't all that grand, the beds were rock hard and old! But we made due with what we had and had a great time there!! We started the weekend off with a drive to Tillamook Cheese Factory. We went through the little tour because Marie nor Kari had ever been there? What? I know, we go there almost everytime that we make a stop at the beach! Fresh Tillamook cheese and ice cream is the best! I bought lots of cheese curds and enjoyed a tillamint and peppermint candy waffle cone! YUMMY! We got to Lincoln City right when it was time to check in to the house! Great timing!! We got all settled into our rooms and did some talking and then all decided to go to Mazatlan for dinner. It wasn't how I remembered it at all. I wasn't impressed with the food at all. The enchilada sauce tasted like tomato sauce. So, needlesstosay, I ate a lot of chips and salsa. After dinner we went back to the house and just sat around and talked. We were all very tired and turned in relatively early that night knowing that Saturday was going to be a busy day. We started Saturday off with Chorizo and egg burritos cooked by yours truly. YUMMY!! Then Marie, Shaye, Kari and I headed over to the outlets. We found some smokin' deals there!! We found so many good deals in fact, that we ended up going back a 2nd time later in the day for some more! We cut our day trip a little short because we were all getting hungry and wanted to eat lunch. We headed down to Mo's for lunch. The wait wasn't bad and we enjoyed some yummy food and good company. As we were sitting there I was staring out the window and saw something moving on the beach, taking a 2nd gander I noticed there were camels on the beach. We didn't go for a ride because we got distracted by the gay pride rally that was going on next door. We had a good time there...We all got air brush tattoos of stars. Different places, different colors. We watched them do their impersinations on stage and had a good time. After were done there we decided to walk main street Lincoln City into the little shops. It was the first time that I had walked that stretch and we had a good time. Bought some fudge and some sugar rock suckers for the kids!
Saturday night we had spa night after we went to dinner at Gallucci's which was nasty btw and stopped for Cold Stone on the way home! Nothing better than Peanut Butter Perfection in a waffle bowl! And they actually had pb ice cream which was awesome! I gave Kari and Sarah hair cuts and Shaye brought stuff to do facials for those who wanted it. Don't we look HOT!! It really is an awesome facial and leaves your skin feeling silky and soft! Sarah gave us all foot massages, which felt fantastic. We stayed up WAY to late!!! After we decided to go to bed around 2ish we sat and talked in the room(Kari, Shaye, Marie and I) until 5:30 in the morning. We had a great time. It wasn't so awesome when we had to wake up at 8:30 to get the house ready to go!! We got to spend about a 1/2 hour on the beach that day and it was delightful. The weather was perfect which doesn't happen very often at the coast. We all wished we had one more day to just relax and hang out on the beach! Next year!!

Thanks for a wonderful time ladies and friends!!!

Thanks Kari for putting the mosaics together, I'm too lazy to download mine and make them!!

Most amazing site!

2009-09-16T14:07:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday as a group of employees were standing outside getting ready to leave we witnessed the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I just happened to turn around and saw the exact same thing as the above pic screaming through the sky. I was amazed. It gave us all the chills. It's the first time that I had ever seen anything like this!! AMAZING!!

Busy Sewing!

2009-09-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

I've been buy sewing the last two days coming up with sample aprons for our Super Saturday in October! I was sooo excited to make one that I bought fabric to make 3. I could have made lots more, but what do I need them for?? And I wanted to make sure that I could make them before I spent tooo much money buying fabric! It's been fun and the aprons are VERY easy to make. Here's my samples! I messed up on the red one, but decided to make the best of it and make it a child size apron!! And it looks SO cute...so I guess I didn't mess up I just improvised on what I had!!

(Remember to click the pics to make them bigger)

This is another one that I made me for work!! Can't wait to wear it!! You can't see it from the pics but it has a cute little ruffle at the bottom!!

And last but not least....making his modeling debut...Spencer wanted to model an apron as well...Caylie concocted it to a dress and I think it's absolutely adorable. I might have to figure out how to make a dress like it!!

BLACKMAIL???

2009-09-02T15:20:00.001-07:00

This is how I found Caylie and Jaren one night last week when I got home from work!

BBQ's and Water

2009-09-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

This last Monday we went to the splash park and had bbq'd hot dogs and fresh picked corn on the cob. Mom, Dad, Kari, Aaron and girls came along with us! We ate a lot later than we had planned so the kids didn't have much time to play in the water before it turned off, but they had a good time. The girls said it was too cold outside so they didn't venture out there and get soked like the boys did!!Spencer playin in the waterJaren

Family Dinner and August Birthdays!

2009-09-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Family Dinner was at mom and dad's this month and we had a pizza party. YUMMY!! The girls made cupcakes for the kids to decorate for dessert. We celebrated Eli's birthday and had a great time. We got a pic of all the kids except IVY who refused to get int he picture!!

Out with the old...

2009-09-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

In with the New!!

After being a dog owner for over a year now we decided that we were NOT a dog family. We sadly put her up on craigslist and found her a great home. She's going back to her previous environment with no kids...I'm sure she'll love it there!! We were sad to see her go but feel like she went to a great home! Part of getting rid of the dog Shule said that Sariah could get a kitten of her own. Our friends down in Eugene just happened to have a litter of 5 kittens that she volunteered to bring up for us, so she could choose one to have as her own. Well instead of one kitten we ended up with two. Shule couldn't resist leaving one of them behind. And she is the sweetest little kitten ever!! So introducing McQueen(Queenie, the gray one) and Mater.

Mcqueen has become Spencer's cat and Mater is Sariah's. Sariah doesn't like that they get up twice a night and wake them up, they have decided that the cats are staying in their room. She's getting a little taste of motherhood. :)

Sore Ankles!

2009-08-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

But well worth it. We went skating tonight to celebrate a friends birthday!! I really hadn't planned on skating, but since everyone else was getting in on the action I thought I'd give it a try, (it had afterall been 14+ years since I've been in a skating rink) But it was a success. I didn't fall once and we had a good time. Sorry for the pic quality...But you get the idea!! Spencer even sported little tiny skates, which he loved. He was a natural. Joseph and Jaren had their first time out on the rink too. They weren't sure about going, but had fun and eventually got the hang of it. Thanks Dan and Shaye for a fun time and Happy Birthday Brooklinn!! We love you!

Campin' Time

2009-08-16T20:38:00.001-07:00

We did a spur of the moment camping trip this week. We left Monday and stayed until Wednesday. Shule had to work so I talked Dad and Mom into coming with us also. We had a fun time. Dad of course had to work during the day too so it was mom and I with the kids during the day. We took walks in the woods, picked blackberries, went and swam in the river. We spent the evenings playing bocce ball, star gazing and making smores!! Swimming in the river...the area we were at the water was shallow enough that the kids were able to walk to the other side of the river with no problem!!! Spencer had fun swimming across the rocks and trying to catch the little fish that were swimming around!

Yummy smores!!

Checking out the tent the first night there, and Spencer and I enjoying a little nap while we were waiting for Kari and her girls to come and hang out for awhile!! Spencer fell asleep during dinner on the first night, I moved him to the chair and he slept for a good hour! The last night there the zipper on the tent broke and I remembered we had clothes pins. Instead of packing up and going home we made due with clothes pinning it shut. the con, the tent had a water in it when we woke up Wed morning. A nice rainstorm decided to greet us Tuesday evening so we all piled in the tent and watched Paul Blart Mall Cop...cute film btw. The tent and one of our airbeds stayed behind in the garbage cans, one less thing to carry home!!

I already miss camping. I want to go again!!!

Officially a teenager!

2009-07-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? I can't believe that Sariah is 13 years old already. She is blossoming into a beautiful young woman. We celebrated Tuesday night at Tapatio with Grammy, Papa, Rylie and May, since I had to work Wednesday. It was yummy food! Our favorite mexican restaraunt! Birthday celebrations aren't quite what they used to be in our house. I used to go all out with cakes, ice cream etc. Now my kids really don't care, and we just sing happy birthday at family dinner and call it good. It's nice but I do miss all the excitment of the birthday. Sariah wasn't even home on her birthday this year. She has been staying the night at Kari's house, it was kinda weird calling to tell her happy birthday. Anywho, we're very proud of the young woman that you have become! You're a great help around the house and with the other kids. You don't always enjoy having to be the oldest, but most of the time take it with great stride. Thanks for everything that you do. With me at work you've had to step in and be the 2nd mom and I really appreciate all you do for me and the family. You're a wonderful daughter. We love you!!

Oh the joys!!

2009-07-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last night was a late night. When I got home from work at 1:30am Spencer decided to wake up and party!! We came downstairs and partied with dad who was still awake!! Finally at 2:30, Shule was snoring and I told Spencer it was time for lights out! We were lying in the dark and Spencer started singing songs. He loves to make up songs and seems to be singing all the time. When he started singing, "I Love you Momma, I love you mommy!" it made my heart melt. Although I would have rather been sleeping, I was spending some cuddle moments with my baby who is growing up into a toddler!! We got to bed at 3 oclock and were awake at 9:00am. I was able to sleep a little longer once the girls were up! YIPEE!!

Scentsy Order going in!!

2009-07-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

A week from today...let me know if you want to order!

So much to do....

2009-07-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

to hot to move! Our air conditioner is on the capoots...It's freezing...our house is hot, laundry needs to be done and here I sit in my bedroom with the fan blowing on me! I'm not moving till I absolutely have to which is soon since I have to leave for work! Fun stuff!!

Get it to the register!

2009-07-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

We went to Walmart with the boys last Saturday to buy a fan for our bedroom...we went in the backdoor where there's stacks of trampolines by the registers. Growing up my dad always told us if you can lift it you can get it. Of course, none of us kids were buff enough to pick up a trampoline box by ourselves so we never got one! Well on a whim we told the boys if they could get it to the register they could get it. And after about 15-20 minutes of pushing, pulling and lifting they managed to make it to the register and now we are proud owners of a 14' trampoline! The kids live on it it seems these days. It was pouring rain yesterday and they were out there jumping! Looks like we have a new babysitter...lol oh and by the way...we didn't get a fan...lol

Another new look....

2009-07-09T14:35:00.001-07:00

And I LOVE it. I actually got it cut a few weeks ago but now just getting around to sharing... it takes sometime to get the fine tuning down!! And I got some much needed new glasses which I also Love!!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

We went and visited our friend in Bend over 4th of July weekend. We stayed the first night at their house and then drove to Burns to go stay on the family ranch. We took the kids crawdad catching...

then settled in at the ranch! We camped out on the property, the kids stayed in a tent and us in a camper. All was well until about midnight on the 4th...we had a thunder, lightening and wind storm and it blew the tent over...we had to wake up all the kids and move them into the house! We built campfires and roasted marshmellow, and made smores of course!

The morning of the 4th we went and ate a yummy breakfast at the park with the Burns ward! Spencer made friends with some cows, the kids hiked and explored the hills that are all around!

The kids and the adults had a fun time riding horses for the first time!! Well not for the adults but for our kids anyway...and no I didn't get on a horse!! While watching everyone ride the horses we all got sunburnt pretty good!! OUCH!!!

Shule went and shot 22s with Dan and her brother...one of those marks on the boards are his! I can't remember which one!

We went to a family bbq and ate some yummy food and the kids did a gynormous slip'n slide...but I forgot the camera!! When it got dark we went to the family reservoir and did fireworks and watched everyone elses!!

Because we were on dirt roads and it's all family owned I thought it was fun for Spencer to drive home...he thought so too!!

Most of us came home with plenty of these...that's good old mosquito bites my friends...Shule counted 20 on 1 leg!!

Sunday we drove back to Bend and had a relaxing evening. Monday we went and explored the underground lava caves. It was cool. Spencer sure didn't like all the darkness down there. It's pitch black except for the light of your flashlight. Him and Emma didn't make it to the end so Shaye and I turned around and started heading back. Spencer refused to walk so I carried him the whole way back. What a workout!! He fell asleep half way through and made it that much harder to carry him over the rocky bottom of the caves! All in all it was good!

We had a fun weekend and can't wait to go back and visit again!!

Caylie's 11th Birthday

2009-07-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Caylie celebrated her birthday with friends on June22nd. We went and ate Tapatio and got stuff for Smores. We came home and built a fire in the pit and set up camp in the backyard. We ate lots of smores and the kids had a great time sleeping out back in the tents!

Memorial Day

2009-07-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Memorial day we took the kids to Bonneville Dam and Cascade Locks. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!! Those Stergeons are huge!!!

Still in a cast!

2009-06-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Joseph is in a cast for 3 more weeks still! We went to the doctor on Tuesday and Joseph was hoping that he would be able to have his cast off. He was able to get a nice clean fresh cast. He chose red and blue and is ready for the 4th of July holiday now! Hopefully in 3 weeks he will be healed and ready to roll!!!

Putting in a Scentsy order~~

2009-06-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let all my readers know that I am putting in a Scentsy order. If anyone wants to order let me know!

Thanks

here's my website if you wanna browse around. www.scentsy.com/ldscents

COOKIES!!

2009-05-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun video of little S. He's such a ham!! He loves having his picture taken. You will notice how he always says cheese when he sees the camera facing his direction!!

Broken Elbow!!

2009-05-19T13:42:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday I got a call from the school that Jh had fallen on the playground and was in some major pain. I called the doctor and they got him in later that afternoon. They took some x-rays but still couldn't tell if it was actually broken. After a days wait and a read by the radiologist we found out that he indeed did break his elbow...but they weren't too concerned about getting him in too fast. They sent him home with a sling and that's it. Luckily DH works in the hospital and asked them some questions about it and I was able to take him in today to be casted. The doc showed me his pic and it's hard to tell, but his elbow is broken from side to side. OUCH!! A pretty severe break to be having it without a cast for as long as he did. OH well...it didn't ever shift out of place so that is good. He will live in a cast for 6-8 weeks as long as everything is healing properly!! So here he is sportin his new cast!!Spencer got to have some fun too!!

Another Zoo Trip

2009-04-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Little S and I went on a zoo trip with my sister K and her kids, friend S and her 2 kids and my friend from work M. We had a great time. Little S walked all 5 hours that we were there!! What a trooper. We already want to go back!! Here's some pic to enjoy!!

EASTER!

2009-04-14T22:26:00.001-07:00

end of the day to beginning!! Note to self put pictures in order from last to first!!

Heck of a rainstorm at mom and dad's little S and sister K had to go test it out!!

DD S

DD C Little S

The only pic we got with all the kids...Jn was being a punk DS Jh

Easter Morn

Dying eggs. Little S was so cute...he loved when he dropped the eggs in and realized that they were colored when he took it out!! DD S was at my sister K's house and missed dying the eggs!

Twinkies and ME!

2009-04-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

April 2nd was my birthday. Since I had to work on it we went out with our friends the B's the Tuesday before. We went to Applebees for dinner and then went bowling. We all sucked! But we had great time. I had fun doing my little victory dances. It kept everyone entertained.

Thursday we celebrated at work. I got a phone call from the kids after I got there and they all sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone. IT was precious. I cried and couldn't stop. Emotional me. I made my dad cry also just by me crying. I love that even though they can be punks at time that they all took the time to remember me on my special day. After my crying episode my bf from work got all the patrons that were there and they all surrounded me and sang to me. Dad started crying again and that made me teary again. I love feeling loved. There's nothing better than your family and friends making you feel loved. DH brought me a DQ m&m blizzard and a dozen long stemmed roses! They were beautiful. He ate a taco and since he wasn't feeling well he turned in for an early night. Mom brought twinkies and peanut butter cookies to celebrate the occasion. Yummy 2 twinkies and a cookie later I was in heaven!! Thanks for making my birthday special everyone!!

Busy Sewing!

2009-04-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I found a fabric at Joann's that I just had to have. So, I decided to make an apron for work. I like it and it turned out really cute. I've had requests for more, but the fabric was kinda spendy!! I think I will start making aprons! I also made a handbag, but little S spilled orange juice all over it and I haven't washed it yet!! I took the pictures from my cell phone so it's not as crisp as it could be!! The colors are much more vibrant!

No Movie MOM!!

2009-04-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

We signed up for the movies at Mt. Hood theater this time around. Little S unfortunately doesn't want to sit through the movies. So with it being beautiful weather outside I decided to walk him down to the park. We had a grea time! He played on the slide the whole time!!

Spur of the Moment

2009-03-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

La Push
Sea Lions at Depot Bay

We surprised the kids with a spur of the moment trip to the coast! They loved it and surprisingly we had a great time. We were only there for not even 24 hours but we had such a great time! We stayed in a hotel, which we didn't get to until 8pm because we decided so late that we were going to go. We all slept like crap but were wide awake the next morning at 7:30. We went and ate the free continental breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and then began our adventure. We played on the beach at Lincoln city for an hour or two. Then we drove to Depot Bay and saw the whales! It was pretty awesome! The kids begged to go on a boat out into the ocean, but me being me, doesn't like the ocean out there and so we casually side stepped that part of the trip. But there's an observatory that has a camera wayyyy telephoted out and you could see all the spouts shooting. It was great! We saw sea lions, pigeons and all sorts of stuff. The kids each got to pick out a shirt and then we were on our way after a 2 hour or so stay in Depot Bay. We headed back to Lincoln City and ate the best Chinese food I've ever eaten I think. YUMMY!! We decided we weren't ready to head home so we went up to Tillamook and ate cheese and Ice Cream! Spencer slept through most of that, but woke up just in time to steal my ice cream cone from me! That's ok though! After an hour or so there we decided we would go and search for "La Push" beach where "Twilight" was filmed. We found it in Cannon Beach at Ecola State Park. It was awesome up there. Absolutely breathtaking views and lots of cool things running around. We got out of the car I looked over and there are 7 elk standing there. Amazing! We saw a bald eagle flying around also. We went and did all of our looking and when we came back there were 15 elk just hanging out by the parking lot. The kids all thought tha was awesome. Well we all did. We haven't been that close to that stuff before! It was a great trip. Little S loved the ocean and wanted to throw rocks into the water. We did pretty well at keeping everyone dry until our last stop! We had a great time and hope to do it again soon!!

An Early Birthday!

2009-03-15T23:07:00.001-07:00

S couldn't save it for a couple weeks and give it to me for my birthday. But hey so far I love it and I don't mind not waiting!!! Thanks Hunny I love you!!!!

Chicken Little

2009-03-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

J and J had thier 1st grade musical program this last Thursday. Jn auditioned for the part of Chicken Little and made it. We were creative with his costume because I didn't want to spend a bunch on it. I found him a shirt that looked like feathers for his arms...that's a shower scrubbie on his head and his chicken comb is a wad of pipe cleaners that we twisted and formed. He looked so cute. We got his glasses and "feet" orange gloves from the dollar tree. He was a hit. He did great at his part!!! Love ya buddy. Unfortunately Jh had to miss out on his program because he threw up that morning!

A blog update

2009-03-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

I have been so bad about updating the blog. Our family has been sick for the past month. All my photos that I wanted to upload got lost somewhere. My hubby downloaded them onto a cd for me and now the cd's disappeared thanks to some lovely children of mine. So, I think I will just do a little recap!!

December~

We spent Christmas in Utah, a hairy ride down, and a LONG one coming back. We thought we'd missed all the crappy weather till we hit Idaho and the traffic on the freeway hit 25 mph. It was solid ice. Thanks to the ice there were many rollovers and slideoffs, but we managed to stay on the road. Outside of Idaho we quickly found out the freeway was shut and we'd be taking the backroads home. A 2 lane highway that was snowy and icy. Fun stuff. Needless to say it took us about 17 hours to get home instead of 11. But we made it safely home!!

January~

We celebrated S's 35th birthday on the 12th.
On the 22nd we celebrated the Twins birthdays at Chuck E Cheeses where Papa and Grammy surprised them. They loved that. Little S wouldn't eat he just wanted to run around and see everything. It took some convincing!!

February~

The 6th was mom and dad's 35th wedding anniversary. We celebrated it at work with a surprise cake and goodies. They had no clue and it was great!!!

We celebrated Little S's 2nd birthday. I can't believe he's 2 already. Boy how the time flies. He was a pro at opening his presents and loved them all. He especially loved the clothes. He also has found a love for Mater and Lightening McQueen from the Cars movie. So his birthday consisted of all Cars stuff. Fun for him! He loved blowing out the candles too and did a marvelous job at it. I didn't make a cake this year cause I had to work and I was sick and being lazy so we had cinnamon rolls that works just as well!

I rescued a cat that was hanging around the bar one evening. He is such a sweetheart. I brought him home and the other cat hates him, but that was to be expected. The only problem now is we can't find him. He's always gone outside and come right back in but now we don't know where he went, maybe someone else took him. The kids are sad. He was a lap cat!! Oh well I guess.

And who would have guessed that at the end of February we would get a snow storm. Normally by now we are heating up into the 50's. It wasn't a bad one and did cover the roads, but it was kind of nice to see.

And here we are to March. Still trying to get over being sick! Everyone in the family has been sick for a month. The kids all missed probably a week and a half of school. It's been crazy! We have been trying to get everyone feeling better and get back into the routine of the day ( which was thrown out almost everyday we weren't feeling well). I will try and keep up the blogging better. If I can find my cd I will download some pics!

A to Z

2009-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have never done this, It's FUN! Give it a try, Replace my answers with Your Own!
.A- Available: nope-
Age: 31 almost 32
Annoyance: When people chew with their mouth open
Animal: 1 dog 2 cats and a hamster-
Beer: YUCK-
Birthday: April 2nd-
Best Friend: Shule/ Marie Shae Kari
Body Part on opposite sex: eyes-
Best feeling in the world: love-
Blind or Deaf: deaf-
Best weather: sunny & 75-
Been in Love: still am-
Been on stage?: yes against my liking
Believe in Magic: no-
Believe in Santa: no
C- Candy: chocolates-
Color: pink-
Chocolate/Vanilla: vanilla-
Chinese/Mexican Food: mexican-
Cake or pie: cake-
Cheese: tillamook Mmmmmm
D- Day or Night: depends on what I'm doing...but but I guess night-
Dancing in the rain: done it before
E- Eyes: hazel-
Everyone's got: a flaw-
Ever failed a class?: yep
F- First thoughts waking up: Ugg I have to get up again-
Food: is yummy!!
G- Greatest Fear: losing someone I love-
Gum: orbits- any flavor will do
Get along with your parents?: YEP, they're the best
H- Hair Color: Really dark brown almost black-
Height: 5'5"-
Happy: most the time-
Holiday: Christmas-
How do you want to die: sleeping
I- Ice Cream: Chocolate chip mint-
Instrument: I am not musical at all
J- Jewelry: My wedding ring - and normally a necklace and earrings
Job: Day-full time mom, night- cook/bartender
Kids: yep 5 2 girls and a 3 boys
Kickboxing or karate: kickboxing-
Keep a journal?: sometimes
L-
Love: My family, my church, my friends-
Laughed so hard you cried: uh..yes
!M-
Milk flavor: chocolate or strawberry
Movies: comedy, I love to laugh-
Motion sickness: not till I had kids-
McD’s or BK: BK
N- Number: 7
O- One wish: to have a maid... haha
P- Perfect Pizza: pietros I love thier crust
Pepsi/Coke: Coke as long as it's diet
aQ- Quail: Cute little suckers
R- Reason to cry: a sad movie-
Reality T.V.: don't watch it much anymore
Radio Station: charlie 97.1-
Roll your tongue in a circle: Yes-
Ring size: 8
S- Song: Me and you by Cassie
Sheo size: 9.5-
Salad Dressing: Ranch or poppyseed
Sushi: gag!-
Skinny dipped?:many a time-
In the shower?: Aaaa.... I wash my hair....-
Strawberries/Blueberries: strawberries
T- Tattoos?: no thanks-
Time for bed: 1, 2, 3, etc-
Thunderstorms: awesome
U- Unpredictable: Spencer
V- Vacation spot(s): anywhere away from my everyday cleaning and laundry!!
W- Weakness: I'm shy I take awhile to open up....-
Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Marie-
Who makes you laugh the most: Spencer-
Worst feeling: failure-
Wanted to be a model: Heck no-
Worst Weather?: RAIN I hate it!!
X- X-Rays: ....a long long time ago
Y-Year it is now: 2009-
Yellow: spring time
Z- Zoo animal: Elephants

LAST PERSON WHO....
1. Slept in a bed beside you? Shule
2. You went to the mall with?Shule
3. You went to dinner with? Shule
4. You talked to on the phone? Shaye
5. Made you laugh? Spencer
6. Hugged you? Spencer
7. Said they loved you? Shule
8. Held your hand? Shule
9. You spoke with? Sariah
10. You cried over? I don't know

Our Girlfriend's Dinner

2009-02-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

My sister K and I decided to host a friendship dinner this year. It was great fun! We're gonna do it again next year!!!

With wind.....

2009-01-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

Comes No power and a dead computer when it turns back on!! That's right we have had horrible winds here lately. Lots of downed trees and 4 powerless episodes. Our last one killed my computer. Lost all my pics, doc., everything. It saddens me! I guess I should start backing stuff up!!! Bummer!

My Scentsy

2009-01-14T16:39:00.001-08:00

Hey all...I am doing a scentsy party on the 20th. If you would like to place an order let me know. You can go to my website by pressing the cute pink burner on the side of my page!! And if you decide you would like to host a party you get double 1/2 off items with your party amount!! It's a GREAT deal!!!! Thanks

Slackin'!!

2009-01-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry that I have been a slacker. I am hoping the next couple of days to update since Christmas!! Thanks for being patient with me!

Gone for the Holidays!

2008-12-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

We made it safely to Utah. We luckily were able to leave earlier than we had thought due to nasty weather and a fellow employee who decided to work for me so we could leave. 2 hours after we got on the road they closed i-84 and we were well past the storm coming in. It was white knuckles for some of the trip as we went through Hood River, white out blizzard conditions. Water freezing to the windshield wipers and plows blowing snow everywhere. We were almost side swiped by a plow who saw a little car at the last minute and was able to swerve and miss him, barely. We luckily were paying well enough attention to make it safely out of that one. We only had one other scary moment when a suburban suddenly came up on a semi blowing snow all over, she slammed on her brakes and in turn made us slam on ours and skid all over the road. My heart just about jumped out of my skin. After we got around the plows though it was smooth sailing for the most part. Spencer got car sick so we enjoyed the aroma of well you know what the rest of the trip! We made great time considering the slow down through the gorge! Thank you Heavenly Father for making sure that we made it safely to Utah for Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

2008-12-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the kids's school and did thier annual Christmas Crafts day!! This is the 2nd year that we have gone to it. The kids get to make 10 things each and most are for them to give away as gifts to other people. It costs us $10 for the family to get in and for everyone to make something!! This year they had some way cute things for the kiddos to do! We started off making scarfs and decorating wooden picture frames then moved onto making a hotchocolate cone. We then went and made some way cute vinyl placemats. The kids used ink on thier hands and stamped them on the placemats. Then they had a lady writing their names and the year. Then they got to weave ribbon through it and tie a bow!! So cute!!! After that the each got to make chocolate chip cookie jar!! And decorate the lid and a tag for giving. They were able to make a snowman magnet notebook, and a snowman lapel pin. They dipped plastic spoons in chocolate and sprinkles to make a special stir stick!! The do this really cute advent calendar thing where they have candies for the days left in december and a cool board that is cut out to help with putting together. Anyway you take a piece of saran wrap...a good length and you lie it down. then you put 15 different candies down in line. Then you wrap the saran wrap around the candy and tie each section with curling ribbon! Then each night you cut off a section and have your candy!! This year they also made Christmas Swags. That was the most popular spot so I just took the stuff and we will make them at home! We had good time!! K$A and family came with us and then we went and enjoyed Arby's afterwards!!!

Family pics 2008

2008-12-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

My DS, K and her family came over and took pics of our family for Christmas this year!! WE had some good ones!!! It was a hectic event as her kids wanted their pics taken too and were screaming the whole time that we were doing it. Shule treated us to Coldstone after we were done! Thanks hunny and thanks A&K for saving us $$ and a headache at the portrait studio!!

Shule thought that the shirt I picked out for him was a 70's pornstar shirt. He was cooperative in wearing it but it took a few shots of this....before he buttoned up and let us get some decent shots. Gotta Love it!!

Black Friday Craziness!!

2008-12-06T15:13:00.000-08:00

Like always K and I and some friends got our butts out of bed at 3am to start hitting the black Friday sales. WE had a fun time!! Our friend S's husband even joined us this year. He thought we were all nuts, but still hung out with us throughout it all. We went to 4 different stores and got some good deals on things. I was grateful that the weather has been nice and it wasn't freezing cold and snow flurring this year!! We didn't have to wait too long out front of Kohls so we stayed relatively warm. We had a fun experience going through the Jack-in-the-box drive thru. They were out of a majority of the stuff that we wanted to order and it was only 8:30 in the morning. Can you say unprepared? They only had 1 person working the restraunt on the biggest shopping day of the year!! DUh!!! Anyway we had fun and will probably do it again next year!!!

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! It was a well needed day off from work for everyone!!! I forgot the camera and so I don't have any pics. WE all pitched in with food this year and it was all delicious. Mom and dad bought a sprial sliced ham from costco(yummmmy the best) and the twins I think ate pretty much the whole thing. They were picking on it from the time it came out of the oven till we left to come home! WE all ate way more than we should have and of course had to finish off our night with pumpkin pie!!! We played games, went through the black Friday ads and just hung out as a family. We missed having M&T and thier family this year! We will be in Utah for Christmas, so we won't see them until next year! :(

Thanks for a yummy and enjoyable thanksgiving!!

New email address

2008-11-29T16:53:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have private blogs, will you please add my new email address so I can still read your posts!!

Thanks
mamacows@yahoo.com

scroll down

2008-11-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

Scroll down there's lots of posts! I don't know about the look a like meters! They all were the same...what's your take???

Washburn Look-alike Meter

2008-11-25T17:58:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free genealogy - Roots

Washburn Look-alike Meter

2008-11-25T17:54:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Blank family tree - Geneology software

Washburn Look-alike Meter

2008-11-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Washburn Look-alike Meter

2008-11-25T17:48:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Washburn Look-alike Meter

2008-11-25T17:45:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family research - Ancestors

Scentsy Party

2008-11-25T17:26:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder that my scentsy show will be closing this Friday!!! If you want to order just click on my website www.scentsy.com/ldscents, his place an order and hit on my name. It's that easy!!! I promise you wont be disappointed in the products or the smells! They are delicious!!!

Thanks

Twilight!!!

2008-11-25T17:20:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed the movie, I found myself smiling the whole time!! We had a great time waiting in line with all the teenyboppers, and had yummy dinner at La Bamba afterwards!!!! A great girls night out. My hubby suggested we go see it together, so I'm off tonight to watch again!!! YIPEE!!!

Waiting in line for the flick!!
Yep we arrived a whole hour early to ensure our seat!!! We missed standing in line with E and S but glad they joined us for the movie!!!

Dinner at La Bamba and the after movie critique!

"SCENTSATIONAL SCENTSY"

2008-11-13T16:33:00.001-08:00

I've just signed up to be a Scentsy Consultant. If you don't know much about Scentsy check out my website www.Scentsy.com/LdScents.

If you would like to book a show or have a "basket" party let me know. I would be happy to ship my testers to you!!

Thanks

Twilight Night OUT!!

2008-11-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post this on the blog for those interested that I didn't get an evite to!

Host:
LW

Location:
Stark Street Cinema by Jack in the box, Gresham, OR 97080 USView Map
When:
Friday, November 21, 5:30PM
Phone:
leave comment if you wanna get ahold of me!

I've just looked for the Twilight showtimes and they are FINALLY posted!! Yipee! I can hardly stand it. We are shooting for the 7:45 showing, (but we need to arrive early to get good seats) but if we want to preorder tickets, so that we know we can get in, we need to purchase them at the box office next Friday, or you can preorder them online through fandango. If you want to preorder at the box office you can get me $9.50 per ticket and I will go purchase them. If you want to order them through Fandango it will be $10.50 a ticket and you can do that on your own! We thought about meeting at 5:30 at Genos for dinner...let me know if you would like to join us. We figured we need to get to the theater around 7:15 for good seats. Thanks everyone!!!

ps if there's anyone else you want to invite or i missed someone that you know of please forward to them or let me know!!!!

A New Calling

2008-11-04T16:28:00.001-08:00

DH was called into the stake presidents office this last Sunday and was called as the new Elders Quorum 1st Counselor. He will no longer be teaching Sunday school, which I'm sure he will miss. He enjoyed that calling so much, but it will hopefully mean that we will be able to be ontime to church now!! DH was always doing his last minute lesson touch ups before church and it never failed that we were always late!!! Congrats on your new calling hunny!!!

The Candy Man Can!!!

2008-11-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sp found some candy left out after trick-or-treating!!! Check out his reactions!!!

It's time to CARVE!!

2008-10-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Family Dinner and Halloween Party

2008-10-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

This month we celebrated our 10th annual Halloween Costume Party. Everyone dresses up and we play games, eat yummy food and have lots of fun!! This year G&M were in charge of dinner and they made yummy enchiladas! We also had rice, homemade rootbeer, beans and salad! It was delicious. After dinner we celebrated Papa's birthday and then we went into our halloween festivities. We played the Chicken game, it's always a big hit and a hoot to watch!! Here's how you play:

Before your guests arrive you hide candy corn all over the house...in obvious and some harder places.

You divide all your guests into groups. Each group picks a mother hen...everyone left then becomes the baby chicks. When the timer begins, we normally do it for 2-3 minutes your baby chicks search the house for candy corns with thier hands behind thier backs. Then they have to cluck as loud as they can so the mother hen can come and collect the corn for them. The team with the most candy corns in there buckets wins!!! It's quite hilarious!! Here's a video that shows the wildness!!!

Everyone's costumes were adorable!! Thanks for another fun Halloween party!!

A trip to the pumpkin patch!!

2008-10-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

Our friends and us decided we were gonna take a trip to the pumpkin patch this year instead of just going to Winco and picking them out of a barrell. Holy cow, I now know why I don't go to the pumpkin patch every year....it's expensive!!! We went in a black hay maze, and then went and picked out pumpkins. I about had a heart attack when they weighed them and told me how much they were....$28.00 for stinkin pumpkins!!! People all around me were laughing at my reaction. If we decide to do go to the pumpkin patch again, they will be getting SMALLER pumpkins!!! But
we had a good time nonetheless. We all had a good laugh when our friend D ran face-first into a different level of the hay maze. Luckily the weather held out for us and the patch wasn't muddy!! Thanks for a fun trip to the pumpkin patch, and I think next year we'll take a trip to Winco or find a cheaper pumpkin patch!!

FHE Activity

2008-10-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

The girls coordinated FHE this week and we painted toilet paper rolls in the spirit of Halloween!!

What a kid!!

2008-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

From this

to THIS!!

A candid interview with 3 of the kids!

2008-10-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

1. What is something that Mom always says to you? " C: Clean the house." Jn: "Clean" Jh: "clean"

2. What makes Mom happy? C:"When the house is clean", Jn: "cleaning", jh:"When we do something that I don't ask, like clean-up."

3. What makes Mom sad? C: "When the house is not clean". Jn: "not listening" Jh:"when she yells at us a lot"

4. How does your Mom make you laugh? C: "When she tells me funny stuff, like jokes, I don't know", Jn: "I don't know." Jh: "ummm I don't know"

5. What was you Mom like as a child? Ce:"A person that skipped highschool cause she wrote herself notes to excuse herself" Jn:"She was like a little child" Jh,"she was short"

6. How old is your Mom? Ce "um 31" Jn: "31" Jh:"31"

7. How tall is your Mom? C: "5.5" Jn: "5 something something" Jh,: "about 5 7 or something"

8. What is her favorite thing to do with you? C probably go out and like go to dinner and have fun" Jn: "her favorite thing to do with me is go grocery shopping." Jh,"go to the store"

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around?C: "Cleans the house." Jn:"talk, that's what I practically do and she lays around" jh"I don't know"

10. If your Mom becomes famous what would it be for? C: "Being the best cook in Oregon. Jn:"money"Jh: "Umm, getting money"

11. What is your Mom really good at? Ce:"cooking", Jn:"cooking" Jh: "crafts"

12. What is your Mom not very good at? C:"ummmm what's it called...wait..skip this one." Jn:"let's see, petting dogs cause you whack them to death..lol" jh "laugh...playing the xbox"

13. What does your Mom do for her job? "C "cook" Jn: "the bar" Jh "She cooks at a bar, or a pub or at Timber, whichever one

14. What is Mom's favorite food? C:"ummmm enchiladas", Jn:"salad" Jh: "umm I'd have to say ummm fettucini alfredo

15. What makes you proud of Mom? C: "She takes care of 5 kids and still works at night and comes home at 4-5 in the morning and take care of us." Jn:"she gets us toys and clothes" Jh: "she works at the pub"

16. If your Mom was a cartoon character who would she be? C: "Minnie" Jn:"Velma" Jh: " um I'd have to say Patrick"

17. What do you and your Mom do together? C: "we do crafts" Jn:"nothing" whatever!! Jh: "um practically go to the store"

18. How are you and your Mom the same? C: "we both like to do crafts." Jn:"we both have brown eyes(mine are actually hazel) Jh" We both have like brown eyes"

19. How are you and your Mom different? C:"She would rather have the house clean and I would rather have it part way clean" Jn: "you're taller than me." Jh: you are bigger than me"

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? C:"Because she comes home everyday and takes care of us" Jn: "she buys us toys" Jh" because um...because ummm...she comes on field trips with us"

This was fun to do. Do you think they hear me telling them to clean OFTEN!! I hate having a cluttered house!! LOL I tag anybody who would love to sit down and interview their child. Let me know on my comments if you plan on joining in the fun. I would love to read them.

Game Night!!

2008-10-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

For FHE we went over to our friends the Bs. We made nachos for dinner, caramel popcorn for dessert and played a game. We played Settlers of Catan with them. It was the first time that they had played it and they seemed to enjoy it. Next time it's Ticket to Ride!! Thanks for a fun evening!!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

2008-10-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Monday I was able to attend a fieldtrip with both boys to the pumpkin patch. We had a great time. This is Jh, and Jn with one of thier classmates. they were the kids in my group. Here they are posing by the hay maze. Luckily the weather held out for us and it wasn't a muddy trip to the pumpkin patch!!
This is the boys on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch!
picking out the right pumpkin!!
Playin with the pigs, Daisy and May
Looking at the sheep!

The cake I made

2008-10-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

I know I posted back in August about a cake I made for someone that comes into the pub. Now if you have kids in the room you may not want them to see...so I will leave some space for you to scroll down!! It's worth seeing though!! I promise!!!