Busy Summer

I've been very neglectful of my blog lately and I'm going to try and do better...I promise.
We've been pretty busy the last few months, so here is a quick catch-up:

The last days of kindergarten were filled with all kinds of events for both mom and Trevor...

We had a watermelon celebration, a field day, and of course, the graduation ceremony (didn't get any pictures but it was so cute).

Next came Rachael's wedding. That filled up most of May and part of June. She was married on the 11th of June in the Portland Temple to Chad Kingston.

Rachael was a beautiful bride and Cambria was never far away, always watching and admiring.

We only had one major trauma, which was her dress, but luckily Mary (my sister in law) came to the rescue. The weather was pretty good for Oregon and the reception was lots of fun.

The day after the wedding was Trevor's birthday and Charlie's (my brother) graduation from OSU. Congratulations Charlie!!!!

We had a big water party for Trevor and all the cousins and aunts and uncles who were here with a Transformer cake (my first attempt at cake creative-ness. Thanks Melissa)


After the wedding and party craziness we decided to have some family time and the following weekend, went camping. It was Ethan's first time and we were all in the tent together so sleep was hard to come by. After going to bed at 11pm everyone went to sleep in about an hour, except me and Ethan. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep that night but hey, we all had fun.

The next weekend we went crabbing down in Newport and stayed in a hotel. That was new and exciting for the kids, and we even caught some big crabs. Yum!

The Fourth of July was pretty low key with a few sparklers and a BBQ at the Doman's with lots of cousins. Trevor especially loved the pop-its (the ones you throw on the ground and they pop).


So now we are staying HOME so I can water my garden (yes we actually got a garden planted with lots of veggies. I'm so excited!) and Tyler can paint the house. Yippee!
And maybe I'll have a nap...just writing this is making me tired.

Fun on the Farm

Last night for family home evening we went fishing at the Doman pond, out at the farm. (Grandpa Doman and Uncle Tim stock the pond with trout every year so the grandkids can go fishing). We were pretty lucky to get some great weather (it's been raining and raining and raining...) Cambria caught the first two fish and just stood there watching the first one flop around in the net and kept saying "it's so cute!" Then Tyler told her we were going to eat it for dinner and she looked at him with a furrowed brow and asked, "why? I don't want to." Then all night long she kept saying, mostly to herself, "I like to catch fish but not eat them." We'll see how she does when given a bite or two to eat.


Ethan caught a fish with dad's help and giggled and screamed something none of us could understand the whole time Tyler was reeling it in. He mostly liked feeding the ducks (Grandpa Doman also buys ducks for the pond every year) with mom and grandma and riding the 4 wheeler.

Ethan's favorite place to be.

Trevor caught three fish, one of which he caught entirely by himself. He cast the line, hooked it when the fish bit, and then reeled it in. The only thing Tyler did was help with the net. He was very proud of himself and didn't stop grinning the entire night. He says he doesn't want to eat it but we told him that's the point...you catch it and then eat it.

Trevor watching Grandpa Doman bait a hook.

We feel so fortunate to live in Oregon with Grandmas and Grandpas close by...and we especially love the benefits of going to the farm and riding 4-wheelers, camping, fishing, baby animals and playing with cousins.

Growing Up

Today I went to go pick up Trevor from school and as he got in the car he handed me a calendar with end of the year events listed. At the bottom of the June calendar (his last day is the 14th of June) his teacher wrote, "Happy summer vacation! Good luck in first grade!" Out of nowhere, I got a huge lump in my throat and tears came to my eyes as a realization hit me: my baby is almost done with kindergarten! I just want to know how in the world that happened! I'll admit, having taught kindergarten, that I have a soft place in my heart for the world of 5 year old kids. I've been on that journey and know most of the stages they go through that first year of school. It's been great to watch Trevor as he is learning to read and write and gain the confidence that comes with that. He is very ready for first grade...I'm just not sure his mom is!
With every milestone my kids hit, I'm reminded over and over that they are, and will continue to grow up. Mother's day reminded me how blessed I am to have three beautiful, unique, amazing children that are the sunshine of my life. Some days I wish I could just freeze time and have my kids this age always--maybe because I'm a little worried about what's coming: Teenagers! (I'm sure it will happen sooner than I think!)

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!