Oregon Spring

Today in Oregon we had all kinds of weather...sun, rain, snow, hail, and a couple very loud claps of thunder. Trevor was outside trying to catch "some of those white balls falling from the sky" and then a huge clap of thunder rolled overhead and he didn't waste any time coming back inside. While most of the time I love living in Oregon, this spring I'm starting to feel like I've grown webbed feet. It has been raining and raining and raining and raining...you get the idea. It's not the gloomy winter rain with endless gray skies, but the rain that comes down in buckets for 15 minutes or so, then it stops and the sun comes out. Then an hour later it does the same thing, on and on and on. AND, it's been cold.
I'm waiting and waiting (I'm not a very patient person) for the nice weather to come because I have some beautiful flowers I bought that I can't wait to plant out in the yard. And I can't wait to plant our garden (this one might not happen but it's still our goal). So, go away rain...we've had enough!

On the bright side though, my lawn looks fantastic!

Basketball Star

I should have posted these pictures week ago, especially since his basketball team has been done playing for three weeks. However, late better than never, here are Trevor's basketball pictures (courtesy of my mom and her awesome camera that I envy)

Trevor's typical dribble...we're working on getting it a bit lower

Fun on the bench...usually they were upside down or backwards on their chairs

He worked hard on defense...especially when it was his team's turn to shoot the ball.

Isn't it great that as kids we have that rare and perfect time in our lives when we are the very best at every new thing we try? Every kid out on that court was sure that he/she was the best one on the team...I love that we can help our kids start life out with such a positive self-esteem. If only we could make it continue throughout all of life. How different society might be if everyone felt that they were the best, beyond doubt, at everything they did. If we could all encourage each other, without feeling our own value or worth decline, what a different place we would live in. :0)

A Whirlwind Week

The kids and I returned home last night from an exciting, quick trip to Utah. Rachael (my little sister at BYU) just got engaged and is going to be married on June 11th. My mom and I were so excited about the news that we decided that she needed some help with dress shopping. Last Tuesday morning at 6 am I packed the car with our bags, toys, and food, and with my mom started off for Utah (it was a long 15 hour drive because of all the stops). We left poor Tyler here to fend for himself and had the greatest time visiting our family down in Provo and Springville. There are so many in Utah I would have LOVED to have visited with but time was short and there was lots of shopping to do. After trying on dozens of beautiful dresses (I don't remember the selection being so great when I was shopping for a wedding dress) Rachael found 5 that she loved and since Saturday has narrowed the choices down to two dresses. She looked fabulous in everything she tried on and I totally enjoyed giving my two cents worth of advice. It was a wonderful trip for all of us but we are very glad to be home. Thanks to Toren and Cindy for watching the kids on Saturday so I could go with the girls!
Congratulations Rach! We are so excited for your big day.....

New Year; New experiences

This new year has brought to our family some new experiences that I wanted to tell you all about.

First: I had jury duty the end of January and since everyone kept telling me I would be sent home, I wasn't worried. Well, guess who got selected to be on the jury for a trial that lasted for 3 days?! At first I was nervous, then I was interested, and then (by day three and being stuck in the" jury jail" for almost six hours while we deliberated) I just wanted to go home. It was a civil trial and a very pointless one, if you ask me. However, the whole experience was very interesting and I wouldn't mind doing it again. The only hard thing was finding babysitters for the kids...

Second: Trevor is playing basketball on a team of five year-old kids. Honestly it is the cutest, funniest thing you've ever seen! They run into each other, bounce the ball higher than their heads, and can never remember which basket they are supposed to shoot at (half the time I think they score points for the other team because they make a basket in the wrong one). It's a good thing no one keeps score and they all think they are the very best, most brilliant players on the team. At Trevor's first game, Tyler and I came away having had a great laugh and he commented that he would rather pay money to watch Trevor's team play than to pay to see a professional basketball game.

Third: I had to tow a '52 Chevy pickup truck home after it broke down on Tyler on his way to work. I was driving the Durango and he was in the truck that refused to go more than 10 miles an hour during morning traffic. The transmission went out and it would make a horrible grinding noise if I tried to make it go more than about 12 miles an hour. Not only did I have to tow it home but I had to help Tyler turn it around on a street lined with cars (there wasn't much room to move either car around). That was experience I won't forget and one that I will probably have to repeat since Tyler is into fixing up old cars and then driving them to work. {sigh}

So far 2010 is shaping up to be a year full of possibilities and growth!

Alive

Yes we are all still alive and doing well. Haven't had time to blog but will make time soon! I love receiving all the Christmas cards with info and pictures. I am literally...
"dashing through the stores, searching for the deals
then rushing home to cook and clean and do it all again!"
(sung to the tune of jingle bells)

yes, this is cheesy but it's late and I'm tired. Why are holidays so stressful?

Better Late Then Never

These should have been posted eons ago but I was a negligent mother. Here are Trevor's first day of Kindergarten pictures (from 2 months ago)...

Excited

Distracted

Nervous

Impatient

He survived well and I survived with just a few tears.

A not-so-fun Halloween

I was so excited for Halloween this year. My kids are the in the perfect age group for a really fun Halloween and they had the cutest costumes (I will post pictures when I get them from my mom). My excitement for Halloween day ended quickly when I woke up very early and very sick. I got to be in bed all day passing a kidney stone (I know I'm so lucky). Not so much fun and don't want to do it again for awhile...no scratch that. I don't want to do it again ever. However, I am unfortunately prone to them and this one was not the first nor will it be last. Hope you all had a great Halloween...I've loved looking at all the fun costumes and the cute kids in them!