Summer Fun

This week flew by as we managed to stay busy. We picked raspberries...

19 lbs! Justin and I had a contest to see who could fill the bucket first. We finished at the same time so weighed it to find the winner. The stakes? Loser cleans the boys bedroom. Well, Justin's weighed in at 5.75lbs. Mine? 5.5 lbs. Yes, I lost...but did I really? Yes, his room will be clean--and have A LOT less stuff in it when I am done!


The kids participated in the craft fair at the library. Brit made some jewelry and sold some plays she had written. Justin made cookies, punch and bean bag balls. Amanda helped sell the punch and Alex tye-dyed shoelaces to sell. It was a success and they had a great time.

Since Brit is my main raspberry jam consumer, she got to learn to make it! We had fun making 5 batches of jam. That should hold us over for a bit. Next up is blueberries. I love this time of year!

Manda was stung by a wasp while swinging. Ouch! We have had 3 bee stings this month. JT, Amanda and a friend. glad no one is allergic.

And what would a post be without my happy boy? He definatly knows how to put a smile on your face. He has so many friends and loves to give hugs.

The weather has been incredibly nice lately and so we have spent so much time outside. We went to the park, lake and have played for hours in the sandbox.

Justin has been wanting to jump off the bridge for a few years. I finally let him.

$10 day ice cream trip. Brit got a super size. It was HUGE. I don't think she will order that size again.


We also got to spend a weekend in Portland visiting family and getting teeth fixed (thanks dr. greg). We got to be present for Julia's blessing and see my brother finish the Seattle to Portland bike ride in 1 day.


205 miles. AMAZING! Way to go Scott.

Day 2 - The Yellowstone Canyon

We couldn't drive all the way to Yellowstone and only visit the park once. So after conferring with my brother and sister after day 1, we decided to spend day 2 along the south rim of the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone. My brother, Carl, had found an internet article claiming that the south rim of the canyon had the best hike in all the park. Additionally our oldest son, Justin needed to complete a 5-mile hike using a map and compass. So why not knock off that requirement in the exact same location that his old man fulfilled the same requirement 24 years ago? It actually turned out to be pretty neat. Candace convinced me that we should stay as a family, so Darren went in the backpack and everybody headed out onto the trail.

The first stop was the Upper Yellowstone Falls. They were neat, but not a show stopper. We parked only near the overlook and where at the viewpoint minutes into our hike. Here is a shot of Alex and his hat at the Upper Falls.We continued east along the rim and soon we started to get peek-a-boo looks at the Lower Yellowstone Falls and we could tell that this was going to be the star of the hike. We were happy to catch up to my sister and her family along the hike at the first overlook for the lower falls. We enjoyed the walk with them all the way to Artist Point. When we arrived the view was breath taking. It was almost comical to watch and listen to everybody walk to the viewpoint, stop, and say, "Oh, wow!" You couldn't help yourself. The view was magnificent.
As we continued passed Artist Point, the views of the canyon continued to be drop dead gorgeous. At one point we stopped and listed the colors we could see: yellow, many shades of red, pink, orange, tan, brown, white, shades of green in the tree and water, and blue skies. It is hard to describe the beauty and the pictures of the canyon don't do the colors justice, but I'll try.We eventually had to turn away from the canyon and hike through he back country. We saw the aptly named Lily Pad Lake, swatted some mosquitoes, walked through another stinky geothermal area with mud pots (Amanda actually held her nose the entire time as shown in the picture below), passed Clear Lake and then out into an open meadow. We were rained on while hiking and saw some thunder, but nothing too serious. The rain actually kept the bugs at bay. It was a spectacular hike and everybody made it the 4.2 miles back to the car. Including Amanda who walked every step of the way! Justin and I went and walked a loop up above the upper falls to complete his 5 miles and then we all went for ice cream and souvineirs. It was another great day!

Yellowstone National Park

Over the Independence Day weekend we traveled to Island Park for a fantastic family reunion with the McCain Family. We rented a large five bedroom home about 20 minutes from the West Entrance into Yellowstone and we spent two fantastic days exploring the Park.

We spent the first day at Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin. That is a weird place with geysers and colorful pools scattered all around. It didn't take us long to remember the odor associated with all the geothermal activities. We hung around the main area with the family until Old Faithful put on a show and then we headed out onto the boardwalks. Aaron's brother and family joined us as we ended up going on a 3.5 mile hike with only one water bottle (oops). Most of the geysers were just steaming, but we did see a few spout. It was a neat day.







Day 2 in Yellowstone was in the canyon area of the park and I will save that for another post.

When I am an Adult

While going through Alex's end of school stacks of paper, I came across this story. Why the picture of his Dad has a beard I do not know--perhaps he wrote it when Aaron wasn't shaving due to scraped lips. I am keeping the spelling the same. And, let me just say that I am thrilled that his future plans include working now. Up until now, he has told me that he wants to stay at home and get money from his wife after he does things she wants.


by AJM

When I am an adult I want to be a Geo engineer. I want to be just like my dad and disighn houses. You don't usually disighn stuff but you usually sit down at the computer and answer emails all day. On saturdays my dad gets a day off and we get on the computer and disighn houses! Monday through Friday my dad gets to work on time, and I bet I will to!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Amanda spent all week last week giving me the countdown to her birthday (which she is now doing for me til mine). It was a great day and she was very patient to wait until 2:00 to open presents! We had to participate in a service project in the morning and then had to wait for the boys to get home from Fathers and Sons.

Alex was right there the whole time she opened presents. She has been waiting for her turn since his birthday last month, and had to wait through Brittany, Darren and Mother's Day! Whew.
I was angry to have to buy a new bike for her but Brit's old one needed new tires and training wheels. By the time I bought those, it was $3 more to buy a brand new one. She was very pleased.

Amanda had an ice cream cake this year. I told her she could even though she is allergic to milk. She has been so good and her skin looks great--the first time in a long time. I figured it was OK.

OTHER HAPPENINGS

Last weekend we had Brit's b-day party with her friends. We had a great time and Brit did a great job planning it. She had an aloha theme and they decorated each other and practiced the hula.

We played a few games, ate dinner, dessert and watched a movie.

I was so grateful for the nice weather so they could be outside. They were loud and crazy but had a great time.

I made some punch to go with dinner and apparently it was really good. Alex was my punch trier to make sure that we could serve it. After trying it, he gave me this.



It is hard to see but really, have any of you ever received a "Best Punch Award"? I thought it was noteworthy and it is hanging on my wall.

ONE LAST THING

Last Friday was bike to work day so my husband dusted his bike off and rode to work with his friend. He called after he arrived to tell me he crashed. His brakes didn't catch when he slowed down and he flew over his handle bars. We are very grateful that he wasn't hurt more seriously-aside from a bit of pride (he crashed in front of a table of people), a beat up face and a pretty sore hand and thumb.

He had to endure millions of questions at the Father's and Son's that night and at church but that is OK. He now sports a beard til his upper lip heals enough to shave comfortably. His lip is swollen in the picture too.

Happy Birthday to my baby!

Today is Darren's birthday and I can hardly believe it. I know I am way behind on my blog, as well as so many other things but I thought I would post a few pics of the day. He is growing so fast and makes us smile and laugh on a daily basis.

He really didn't need anything and so we got just a few gifts.

The kids were so funny and all wanted to play with his presents. I guess it doesn't matter how old you are...baby toys are cool.

Darren got his own cake. He started by taking the sprinkles off and eating them. Then he had a few good handfuls but I think he gets more messy when he eats tacos and feeds himself.

Happy birthday buddy. He is such a sweetheart. We just really like our kids! (now I am going to get grief from them because Alex and Brit have both had birthdays an no posts from them! In my defense, we were out of town and then have had some pretty significant computer problems while trying to get the kids bathroom put back together which is completely unusable right now. Maybe things will slow down after this week....)


Easter 2009

Better late than never, right? No, I promised my sister I would post a picture of my kids Easter dresses. They looked very cute and it was fun to sew again. It seems like so long since I have. We had fun having Easter at Grandpa and Grandma's. We colored eggs and had a pretty fun hunt.
For me though the best part of Easter wasn't the day but the week leading up to it. We spent every day doing a devotional where we focused on what was happening to Christ at that time. Aaron did a great job tying in the empty egg cartons to the empty tomb. It was the best Easter I can ever remember and I know that it is because the focus was where it should have been. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ!

What the?!?!?!?

One of my kids favorite comments to make when something unexpectedly happens is "what the?" and then they have a weird look on their face. For example, on April fools when I sneakily opened bags of chips and fruit roll ups and replaced them with carrots, celery and paper for the roll ups Amanda opened her bag of chips and said, "What the?! That's weird. Their are carrots in my chip bag!" Of course I was giggling and thinking I was so great, wondering how my kids were reacting to their lunches at school. I opened up my blog today to add a post and my comment was, "What the?!" Apparently someone has changed my background. I like it. But, it does surprise me as my husband who is most likely the perpetrator hasn't really taken to blogging. I guess it is nice to know he cares!

Do you know the way to San Jose?

This year we flew down to SJ for spring break. Gramps and Granny (as my kids kept referring to my parents) were very gracious to put up with us even though we were there during the hectic week before tax deadline (thanks Dad!) It was the first time our family has flown anywhere and the kids were oozing with excitement and anticipation.

Aaron helped me get everyone checked in and through security. He was staying-so I guess it wasn't the whole family- and flying down a few days later. We all had our suitcases, snacks and carry-ons.

The officer at security commented (as did the people behind us) at how well the kids were behaved. I really thought I would get some negative comments having all of them with me but I didn't. The plane ride was great and they loved it--except when it was time to descend. Alex and Amanda had a really hard time popping their ears and didn't think that was too fun. Otherwise it was great!

First stop, the temple. I was so glad we were able to go. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the temple grounds and toured the visitor center.

Amanda thought that palm trees were pretty cool and wanted a picture of herself by one. If you look closely, you will see her at the base. By the end of the week she would roll her eyes and say," Uhh, another plam tree!"

Justin really felt a difference being on temple grounds. He really took everything in and had a pretty special experience in the visitors center--the kind every mother wants their kid to have. It was awesome and one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Sat. and Sun we watched conference, played at the playground, swam in the hot tub, and enjoyed the warm 80 degree days.

Darren loved the trampoline and just being outside.

Monday was looking to be really nice and so we decided to head over the mountain to Santa Cruz and hit the beach. It was a gorgeous day. We couldn't have asked for better, really. Darren loved the sand and spent the whole time taking handfuls and letting it run through his fingers. All the kids tried the water but decided to too cold. Amanda was the die hard and played the longest.

Justin hit the water a few times and then would come wrap up and warm up. He fell asleep and we had to cover his ears so they wouldn't get sunburned! There was also a fire close by on a cliff just down the beach. We saw huge flames and watched as 3 fire engines came to put out the fire. It was very exciting.

Grandpa buried Amanda and Justin. They made Amanda a little longer then she normally is. She loved it and thought it so funny.

We had to leave before we were ready so I guess that means it was a success. I have more pics I have tried to upload 3 times and for some reason I can't. I guess this will just have to do.

I picked Aaron up on Wednesday while my mom took the kids over to Dad's office. They got to see where Gramps worked, look at the fish in the pond and then walk across the street to get lunch.

Thursday we headed to the Tech Museum and saw some pretty cool stuff.

The kids got to ride in a bobsled simulator. The video below is Aaron and Brittany with "drunk goggles" on. They put the goggles on and then had to walk on the line. Good stuff. That's it for now, more later.