Christmas Past

This photo is from our first Christmas Eve in Oregon, 1992. Mom and Dad are wearing their super cute matching jammies.

Here are the 6 of us in our cool pj's. I like the matching hats. Laurie did you come down on Christmas Day? Bottom row left to right Wendy, Erin, me. Top row left to right Anna, Mary, Sarah.

A Brithday and a Craft

Please, everybody, look at me!
Today I'm five years old you see!
And after this, I won't be four,
Not ever, ever, anymore!
I won't be three- or two- or one,
For that was when I first begun.
Now I'll be five a while and then,
I'll soon be something else again!
(Marie Louise Allen)

Can you believe it? How is it possible that time can go so quickly? Cristine had a fun day, or as she told me the best day ever. We had a small party at McDonald's with a couple of friends. Then home to more cupcakes and presents.

Last year I saw a similar pillow on a fun blog. A while ago I bought some very ugly pillows with the plan to recover them for my future new couch. I have yet to get my new couch, but decided to go ahead with recovering the pillows. I wanted to be able to quickly remove the cover and put a new one on next month, so I used a button down shirt as the backing of the pillow. I should have taken a picture, maybe I'll remember tomorrow. The kids really like that the pillow has pockets.

The other pillow was made out of a sweater I thought Peter would wear. He wore it once last year for our Christmas card. The pillow cover turned out lumpy and the train is sitting too high. But we like it. I have two more pillow covers to make, I'd like to make one more snowflake and I may copy the quilting blog again and make the felt circle pillow. I just need to track down 2 more red button down shirts.

Pictures from October

We went to Seattle for Halloween. Something happened to my kids and I ended up with a purple haired spider girl, a tiger, a funky witch and a little rock star. We went Trunk or Treating with Marianne and her family, wowie some of the cars/trailers/tents were decorated nicely.

A visit to Seattle dictates that one must visit the huge Cabela's store. We had fun feeding the fish, watching fish swim in the large tanks and stared at the huge number of stuffed animals. We were done shopping long before Rick, good thing they sell ice cream bars.

The park around the Space Needle has some really neat sculptures.

Look how pretty the blue sky is! Sunshine seemed to follow us in our traveling!

More fun sculptures.

At the Pike Street Market. This photo was taken right before we lost Peter. What a scary thing that was, I din't think I'd see him again.

Cristine's preschool went to the pumpkin patch. Yes that is a spider on her head, we had fun making those.

A Happy Harvest

Last night we picked most of our pumpkins and winter squash. Isn't this fun. Now we need to get them cleaned up and put in our house.

This year we taught Abby how to drive a tractor. Isn't she cute concentrating while she backs up.

This is me on the forklift. I am much more comfortable on the tractor than the forklift, but I manage. Just don't expect me to be quick.

What I've bottled up so far this year: Peaches, Pears, Green Beans (woo hoo for using a pressure canner!), Tomatoes, Zucchini Relish and Salsa. The salsa is truly amazing, crossing my fingers that the next batch tastes as good!

I have learned a lot while canning this year. Here's a few things I've picked up. I miss my mother in law. Last year was so much easier having someone else to help peel and slice. Her years of experience know how were really helpful. While canning peaches I think she was nearby prompting me. Have a network of friends you can call to ask questions. I have called several ladies from church, each one has patiently walked me through whatever I ask. Yea for friends! Start with a mostly clean house. That way just one room is trashed when you finish. And finally: when your husband suggests buying the big container of cottage cheese at Costc0, do it. Pears taste so good with cottage cheese and when you have 50 jars....

Watch Out World

Cristine started her 3 year of preschool. She was so excited to see her friends. While taking pictures she got a little impatient with me! Here's a look back at how much she has grown up in three years.

Cristine in 2008, not quite 3 years old.

Here she is last year, almost 4.

Same sign, this year. She has really grown up this year. As you can tell pink is still her favorite color and she still lets me put flowers in her hair.

1st Day of School 2010

Can you believe it is a whole new school year? I feel like we were just taking last years pictures about a week ago.

Michelle could not wait for school to start. She said she had butterflies in her tummy this morning. She was so cute posing for her picture.

Peter was given some super cool N1ke shoes. He proudly wore them today.

Peter is now in 4th grade. When he came downstairs this morning I was surprised he wasn't wearing one of his new shirts, but he loves his Mario shirt.

Cristine will start preschool tomorrow. This will be her last year at home with me. We had so much fun spending the day together. We did a few art projects, gluing pom poms on paper. We did a science experiment, put some queen Ann's lace flowers in yellow dyed water. We also started a sewing project, which hopefully I'll finish tomorrow.

Abby started Middle School today. I really hope she has a good experience. We've been watching "The D1ary of a Wimpy Kid" all summer, ahhh middle school memories. She missed the bus this afternoon. This evening we had to figure out which bus will take her to the High School, where she'll then catch the right bus to take her home. We're both a little nervous about her riding the bus with HS students.

Everyone came home happy and were excited to go back tomorrow.

Last week we went to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. We left 95 degrees and drove into the clouds, wind and cooler temperatures.

I could not believe the kids went out into the water. I barely got my toes wet and that was enough.

What a fun day. The cool weather followed us eastward as we drove home, where we were welcomed my a much cooler house.

We made personal pizzas the other day. This crust recipe came from a friend and is so easy, I love it! The kids were so excited to make their own. In the past when we make pizza, I make 2 using a box mix. This was so much easier. While eating Michelle exclaimed, "I make the best pizza ever!"

Pizza Crust Recipe

2 c hot water

2 T yeast

Let sit for a few minutes. Add:

2 t sugar

2 t salt

4 t olive oil

5 c flour (I substituted 1 cup with whole wheat flour!)

Mix it together. Get out your rolling pin and pizza toppings. Pull off tennis ball size lumps and let your kids go to town. (See easy, you don't have to let it raise!) Bake 450 for 10min.

It's not gourmet, it's not authentic, but we enjoyed it.

Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books

Ah, the smell of fresh pencils. Aren't these neat?

The kids have been wanting to buy school supplies ever since they saw workers unpacking them at the local W-mart. Today was the day and our bill was HUGE! We bought $10 worth of homework supplies (glue, markers, pencils) the rest was class supplies- yikes!

Some of our purchases: 12 dozen pencils, 13 glue sticks, 14 folders, tissues, paper plates, napkins, zip-lock bags, 2 reams copy paper.

At the end of the school year I try to box up things that are still usable like scissors and rulers. But this year I wasn't as organized. I think we bought enough supplies to outfit several small countries.

I still have some shopping left, a small simple calculator for Abby, lunchboxes and jeans. For some reason we keep outgrowing them.

Are your class lists as huge? Next year we will have 4 in school. Any bets on what we'll spend then?

A Fishing Story

We went fishing several times to a nearby reservoir. This little reservoir is only about 20 minutes away, but in all the years I have been here, I have never actually seen it. We have driven by, but never stopped. Back in May my husband and sister-in-law bought fishing licenses and not wanting to waste them, we have been fishing several times. The lake is stocked with fish each spring, so they aren't very big trout, but they are very tasty. The kids seem to enjoy it for a while, and then their attention wavers and they go exploring. When it is not raining, or too windy, it can be really fun. These photos are from the first time I was able to go.

Mt. Hood in the far background.

Peter seems to be the only one afraid of worms.

Cristine caught a ladybug.

Rick has had a great time. There were several evenings where we were huddling in the car, trying to warm up while Rick was trying to catch one more fish. I didn't get any photos of the fish, but you wouldn't have believed how big they were. They were 'this' big, and we caught lots. Actually, they were only about 6-8 inches long and my photo of them wasn't that great.

Rick's mom, Hana, passed away June 21. The photos from my nephew's wedding have become very special. We have really missed Grammy, what a sweet, fun lady!

April and May

We got to go to Seattle to Rick's nephews wedding. It was cold and rainy as the couple walked out of the temple. Then the sun broke through the clouds and made picture taking more enjoyable.

When I was young, on a family vacation, my parents took us to the Seattle Temple. We spent an afternoon walking around it, enjoying the feeling of peace, the beautiful landscaping and the fun statues. While we were inside for the sealing, our kids walked around outside. They made movies with their i-pods of the beautiful grounds. The movies are funny, I think they were trying to see how long of a movie they could make. At times I think they forgot they were filming, the picture is sideways, upside down etc.

I am grateful that our children were able to be there with us. I am also proud and excited for Cody and Amy, thank you for setting such a great example for our kids!

Abby is now 11! Can you believe it? I can't believe how grown up she is, she is just beautiful. She is very excited for Middle School. Choosing which electives she wanted was really hard. I cannot believe how many different choices she had. Mountain Biking, Asian Art, Sign Language, Climbing Wall, Wind Sports, Newspaper, Oceanography, Band, French, Spanish, plus many many more. I think we had all of 5 choices.

Peter is now 9. He is very excited about the upcoming Cub Scout camp.

He asked for a Pikachu cake. Pikachu, Dinosaurs and Dragons are his favorite things.

A Month in Photos

We started April with Easter and Michelle's 7th birthday. Both on the same day-How exciting is that?


Forest was so excited to help Michelle celebrate! When he saw the presents he came running in saying he was ready to unwrap his gifts.

We had our egg hunt in the back yard The kids were so fun to watch as they ran around looking for eggs.

Peter showing off his loot.

Forest was so cute. When most of the eggs were found, the kids walked in front of Forest hiding (really more like dropping) eggs quickly so he could find more.

Hey Crissy, I spy a blue egg just to your right!

Being the oldest and fastest has it's perks, Abby found the golden egg, loaded with spare change.

Peter's class went on a fun field trip to OMSI. Cristine and I met up with them there. This is Sampson, the super cool dinosaur. Peter was in heaven looking at the cool fossils. We need to take a family trip here!

These next photos were taken Sunday. The orchard is almost in full bloom. It is just beautiful right now!

I tried to get the kids to pose for me. Instead of a nice group of photos, the kids were having way too much fun joking around.

Michelle finally lost one of her top teeth. She didn't want anyone to pull it. It was so loose I thought she might swallow it.

I didn't get any photos from Saturday. But we got to spend the day with Rick's nephew Michael his wife Christina and their fun 11 year old son, Jacob. We haven't seen Mike is so long it was really fun to catch up. The kids weren't too excited about their visit until I mentioned they had a son. I wasn't sure how old he was, the kids decided that as long as he was able to walk and talk they would have fun. I think they were especially pleased when they realized he was old enough to play with. We are looking forward to many more fun visits!

With April not quite over, we are looking forward to many more fun activities.