Swimming at Firstenberg

On Saturday, September 27th, we went to our community center pool, Firstenberg and went swimming. This pool is really neat and it has a lazy river, a huge slide and a baby area that is really shallow. The kids love this pool and we had a coupon, so we decided to go and have a fun family activity. Jaron has only been in a pool once before when we went to Whidbey Island and swam in the hotel pool. He was really little and so he didn't really have much of a reaction to the pool. But on Saturday he went crazy at the Firstenberg pool. He LOVED it! He love the slide, the baby area and the lazy river. He wasn't scared at all. In fact he kept trying to get me to let him go. I'm thinking, ya wanna drown baby?

It was such a fun time and I'm so glad that we can do such fun things with our kids. We are going to the Great Wolf Lodge in November and this got me all excited about that trip.

Let me set the record straight!

So I was informed by my sister, Cindy, that when I was hit by the car when I was six that she never met me after school like I thought she did because she forgot she was supposed to meet me. She was very excited about her very first day of cheerleading and didn't remember that she was supposed to meet and wait with me. Our dad picked her up from cheerleading early and told her that I had been hit by a car and that is when she remembered she was supposed to meet me.

My memory of that day is very foggy! Most of what I remember is from what people have told me and I have obviously filled in the gaps.

Sorry Cind! I love you! You are such a great sister and friend!

Back to school party!

This last month, two of Brandon's friends who just happen to be girls decided that it was time to do the no boy birthday party. Brandon found out about them and says to me, "Mom, I didn't get invited to so & so's party. I don't care! It doesn't matter!" I told him that she was only inviting girls. It doesn't mean she's not your friend. Even though he said he didn't care, I knew he really did, so I came up with a plan. How about we have a back to school party, boys only! He thought that was a great idea and so another tradition is born!

I thought about having Kenyon invite his friend's as well, but thought that would be too many kids, so I decided that we would just make a back to school party a tradition for the year you are baptized. I know, I know, I'm brilliant! It's a no birthday party year and it will be the year Kenyon is baptized, too, so it will all work out beautifully!

We decided to have the party on September 19th. Brandon invited Kolton, Jensen, Ethan, Harrison and Noah. They came over right after school got out. We started the party by doing a crossword puzzle (reading), then we played bingo (math), then we played dodge ball outside (PE), for art they decorated their goody bags and then filled them with their prizes (school supplies), and we ended the party with pizza and root beer floats! YUM! They all seemed to have a good time. It was hard for me to think about what 7-8 year old boys would like to do. Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves!

Because I was alone with all the kids for most of the party, I completely forgot to take pictures! :( So here are the ones of Brandon and Kenyon after the party.





When I was looking through my pictures I stumbled on these pictures of Brandon's birthday party when he turned five! They all look so cute and little I had to post them!


Harrison


Ashlynn and Lauren


Ashlynn and Kenyon


Brandon


Brooklynn and Brandon

And then I was having fun and so I found these from his third birthday party! (These were the only two pictures, I guess I wasn't very good at taking pictures back then)


Harrison and Brandon


Brooklyn and Mason

Tagged by Ericka

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. (Ericka)
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1) I LOVE reality TV! Especially The Amazing Race and The Biggest Loser. I don't watch them all, but I do watch most of them. It's entertaining.

2) I was hit by a car when I was six years old! My older sisters were all staying late after school and my mom was picking me up. Cindy was supposed to stay with me, but she wanted to get to cheerleading and told me to stay put and wait for mom. My mom was a bit late and I was getting anxious, so I thought maybe I was supposed to meet her at the commissary. We did this sometimes, but only when the older girls where there. When I realized my mom wasn't there I headed back to the school in a panic and wasn't paying attention to the road. I was hit and thrown back onto the sidewalk. My mom meanwhile was frantically looking for me and saw my coat as I was being loaded into the ambulance. Now that I am a mom I can't imagine the horror she must have been feeling! She left the van in the middle of the road and ran to the ambulance screaming, "that's my baby!" I was lucky and only ended up with cuts, bruises and a very fat lip!

3) I was able to shake President George Herbert Walker Bush's hand when I was 19. He visited the CIA where I was working. It was very neat.

4) I am very close to my family and I miss them. I wish that I lived closer to my parents, sisters and brother. I am glad that Gina lives only an hour away.

5) I LOVE to shop! It makes me happy! (much to Pete's dismay) I especially love to shop at Gymboree for Shaylee. It's a bit of an obsession!

6) Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love the decorations, the happy feeling you get inside, the magic that it is to my kids and I especially love the story of the Savior's birth and thinking about all that he did for us so we can return to our Heavenly Father.

That took awhile to think of six random things. It's hard to know what to say sometimes. I tag anyone who would like to do this! :)

Shaylee's first day of preschool

Yesterday, Tuesday Sept 9th was Shaylee's first day of preschool. She was very excited to go and couldn't wait to put on her backpack. She goes to school early, so I had to wake her up, but she popped right out of bed and got dressed. Once we got to school she went with her teacher with no problems. She's been having some separation anxiety lately, so I was worried.

When I went to pick her up the teacher told me she had been pushing and fell apart when she had to go to timeout! :( AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Her first day and already she's in trouble! This little girl sometimes has a bit too much spirit! We had a little talk and she will now get a treat if she gets a good report from her teacher tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us that tomorrow is a good day and the rest of the year goes better than yesterday!

We have a walker!

Yep! It finally happened! Jaron has decided that walking is the way to travel! He started to walk about a month ago when he was fifteen months old. He would crawl, and then walk a couple steps, then crawl some more. He did this for about a month until a week and half ago, when he decided to start walking more. In the last week he has really taken off and he rarely crawls anymore. I think we can officially say we have a walker!


Look at me I can walk!

In mid step...




Oops! I fell, that's okay I love to grab my feet and roll around the floor!


This is my favorite way to walk, thumb in mouth, blanky in hand!



Right before I go kaboom!



Oooh! I love my blanky! Cuddle, cuddle!

Back to School

So, today I am feeling better about the whole school thing. The boys did finally come home yesterday and of course they had a wonderful day at school. Well, mostly! I asked Brandon if he had a good day and he said "Well, not really!" I thought uh oh! So I asked him why not and he said that he had to go through the lunch line even though he brought his lunch (I'm sure because they were practicing) and they had to line up three times at recess because some kids were being naughty! So then I asked how the rest of the day went and he said good. Phew! We can handle these minor issues! :)




Brandon and his buddy Ethan

Kenyon really enjoyed school he said he found a new buddy. So I was happy about that. Both boys have wonderful teachers and I am sure it will be a great year!





Kenyon and his buddy Alex

Shaylee went to her open house today and she was a little shy, but she really warmed up. Her first day is on Tuesday. So, twice a week for a few hours it will be just me and Jaron! How weird! It will be good to have time that is just me and Jaron. We will miss our Shaylee girl, but luckily she won't be gone for very long.

My kids are growing up and it is sad and happy all at the same time. I am so blessed to have four wonderful children with sweet and fun personalities.

What?! Summers over?!

I just needed to write a quick post and say I hate school starting! My boys are in school right now and I miss them! This is my first year of no one coming home at noon and the school day seems to go forever! When are my babies coming home? I cried today when I got home. I miss them! Before you know it they will be on missions. And then what will I do?



More to come on how their first day went later.

Friends from Utah

This past week our friends from Utah, The Kellis's came to visit. Spencer was interviewing for a job at Nike and so the whole family came. We are hoping that they accept the job offer. We would love to have them closer. We did our best to sell them on the Northwest. It is so beautiful up here, it's not a very hard sell.

We had so much fun with them. Most of our kids much up in age almost exactly. Brandon and Connor, Kenyon and Creighton, and Jaron and Clark are all within weeks of each other. Only our lone girls don't much up. Shaylee is three and Kasira is one month. I'm sure when Kasira gets older they will enjoying playing together as well.

They came on Tuesday night and the kids had a great time playing. We had a barbeque with hamburgers and hot dogs. Yum! Then after the kids were in bed we played Puerto Rico. That is such a fun game.

On Wednesday we went to the Oregon Zoo. We saw the Northwest exhibit and that was my first time seeing that one. It was really neat. We loved the black bears and the cougar. The kids went to the petting area. We had a picnic lunch and then saw some more animals. Along the way we convinced the kids we didn't need to ride the train. (it costs $4.50 for members and $5.00 for nonmembers! Yowch! When did the price get so high?) We lost and found Kenyon, had a few injuries, and really enjoyed being together as friends!









On Thursday Spencer had his interview, so Ralina dropped him off in Hillsboro and then came to visit us with the kiddos. We went to the park and had lunch and visited. They decided to forgo their hotel which was not kid friendly and stayed with us Thursday night. We had another fun filled evening of games. This time we played Make a Million. Another favorite of Pete and mine. Ralina and Spencer are gamers like us and so we had a blast playing with them.

On Friday we went to the Oregon coast. We went to Tillamook. This is our favorite place on the coast. We went to Cape Meares and saw the lighthouse and the Octopus tree, we went to beach at Oceanside which was so much fun. The kids loved every moment of the being at the beach. They played in the water, played in the sand, went through the tunnel over the other beach. It was such fun, we had some tears when we decided it was time to pack up. Then we finally visited the cheese factory and had an icecream cone. On our way home we stopped at Burgerville in Hillsboro for dinner. All I can say is Walla Walla onion rings, YUMMY! We got home late, but decided we needed to play one last game before they headed out in the morning. This time we played Ticket to Ride. I won! Yea! Finally!
























They headed home on Saturday morning, but we are hoping to see them soon when they move out here! :) (hint, hint, Spencer and Ralina!) :)