Sofy's lost a tooth!!

Just as I was typing my last post, Sofy came to me to ask for a drink and when I looked in her mouth, I noticed a hole in it! She's lost her bottom left front tooth!!! I've been wondering if she would react to a lost tooth, or if she would even let us know, and apparently it hasn't bothered her.
I don't know when it came it, but I just happened to notice it. So, I may be finding a tooth somewhere when I clean the house tomorrow!!! Haha

Christian's Mission Homecoming!

So, today for church, Christian gave his mission report talk. It was nice, Jason took the day off, his last one for the year, so that he can be able to attend since Sunday is normally a work day for him. We actually did well this morning getting ready and got into the chapel just when the opening hymn was being sung, so that was great!

It was so nice that he was able to give a real mission report. Maybe it's just Milwaukie stake or maybe my parents ward, but I've noticed that the missionary homecoming talk isn't about his or her mission, but is given a topic. And as much as it is nice to hear them speak, I really like to hear about their experiences and how much they've grown and done the past 2 years!
He spoke very very well and the kids were pretty good during the entire sacrament meeting! Except for Alex who had to leave a couple of times to get tissues for the cold he's had, I didn' have to leave once!
After the meeting was over, Alex said he wasn't feeling well, and I wasn't quite sure how Sofy would do in a different ward primary, so Jason took those two kids home, and Bella and I stayed for the rest of the meetings.
It was nice to visit the ward we'd been in for a couple of years, and to catch up with some of the members that I'd not seen for a while. There's quite a few that I have friends on Facebook, but it's always nice to be able to talk in person to them!
After church was over, Mom took Bella and I home, and I spent the rest of our Sunday relaxing and was able to take a short nap too! For dinner, I made chicken lasagna that was pretty good!
So, we had a great Sunday and so glad that Christian made it home safely from Portugal and that he had an incredible mission!! He's going to have memories and experiences that will last a lifetime and will take him to other various times when he can recall them and us them!!

Merry Christmas!!

Sorry, no pictures from this year for now, until I get some from my sisters. Our camera broke a couple of months ago.

We had a great Christmas this year. I had all my shopping done the 1st week of December, so I've been ready for it to come!!

Last night for Christmas Eve, we went over to the Shultz house for a nice get together. Paul and Stacie couldn't make it, Paul had to work, and so did Shawn. We had a yummy dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, chips and dip, and of course Boni's lovely chocolates she makes every year for us to snack on. I brought some Mini-Quiches, and the banana cake for dessert and my dad brought Pumpkin Pie bars!
After dinner, we just relaxed and hung out. Boni, my Dad, and Skyler left to go get Shawn's morning gift, so we visited for about an hour or so. When they came back, we started the birthday gifts for Bella and my Mom. From the kids, we got a beautiful photo done last Monday on Boni's stairs that she loved! Annie redid a photo of my mom and her Dad on he wedding day and got it sized for 8X10 that we all cried over! After that, the kids opened their gifts. We adults chose not to do any gifts for each other since money was tight for everyone, and really Christmas is really for the kids and the magic for them. But, my Mom still did something for Boni and I and she made us a book where they have all of our photos and each person my Mom wrote a poem for. It was lovely! Annie made Mom, Boni, and I a 2010 photo calendar of our kids that was awesome!! One of the gifts we got was Glenn Beck's Christmas Sweater children's book, and I read that to the kids and it was nice moment to remember the reason for the holiday!
After the gifts we played Disney Scene It game for about 30 minutes and then our family decided we should get home. It was getting late. We got home about 10:30 or so and the kids went to bed around 11:30.

We woke up about 8:30 this morning and I heard Sofy up in her room, so I thought I would get everyone else up to start our Christmas Morning! Jason got a Mp3 Player, I got a the Perfect Brownie pan that Alex said I just had to have every time the commercial came on tv (But I got it cheaper in the store!), Bella got her Cinderella Baby doll, Sofy got a bunch of Mickey Mouse toys, and Alex got a Wii!!!!
A quick story of the Wii...A few days after Thanksgiving, Boni called me and asked if we would want Alex to have one. I told her I had thought about it, but didn't want to spend almost all of my shopping money on just his gift, so she offered that if everyone in the family contributed, then he could get one! He was so excited. I think he is one of only a few kids in his class that doesn't have a game system and I'm sure he felt left out when kids would talk about them, so hopefully this will help him to feel involved with the other kids' interests.
We opened several more gifts from under tree and the kids dispersed to play with their new things.

I made some Gingerbread waffles for breakfast I'd seen Rachael Ray make a while back and they were so good. Just like gingerbread cookies, only in a soft waffle!! The rest of the day, we just relaxed, the kids played, Alex tried out his Wii and has been loving it so far. He got a a couple of games to go with it, along with the sports one and it's been fun. I've been playing with him too, and I like how interactive and engaging it is. I tried out the the boxing one, and let me tell ya, that one is a work out! I'd like to try the Fit one, but that one alone would be my daily workout!LOL

For dinner, I made a yummy ham that I glazed with my special sauce, and I also made Potet Klub. Grandma always pronounced it Pudy Crue. It's a potato dish that my Great-Great Grandma would make (On my Mom's dad's side), so I guess I was feeling my Norwegian ancestors today. I was told that they would make that for Christmas dinner, so it was fitting for me to make it, and it was so good!!

So, we've had another Christmas come and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and it's crazy to think that there is just one more week of 2009 and we'll be in 2010!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Back to the Blogging World!

Hi all!

I know it's been quite a while since my last posting. The computer that I use got a virus on it and finally quit working all together about 3 weeks ago. But, I've gotten a new computer and it's so nice to have one that works so well!! Here's the little story of how I got it.

Back in October, just a week or so after the other one got the virus on it, I got an email from a gal and my ward's relief society email list. She said that they had a FREE computer they were giving away and if anyone wanted it, otherwise they were going to donate it to D.I. So, I quickly emailed her back and said that I would love to have as, as mine wasn't working anymore. She said that a guy had said he was going to get it, but if he didn't call back the next day or pick it up, that it would be mine. He never called her, so it was mine! She said that they barely had it for a year when she and her hubby decided they wanted to both have laptops and didn't need a desktop one. It's very nice, and HP one that is a boxed shape that to me resembles a DVD/VCR combo thing. It's been working nicely. It was suppose to have come from Santa and to be brought to the tree, but I couldn't wait that long!! LOL

So, I'm back and hopefully back to posting regularly again!!

The one thing that I wanted to post before was Sofy's Disneyland trip she took on her Birthday with my Mom, Boni, Shawn Ryan, and Lexi, but if you want that info, you can look up the pics on my facebook page. She had a blast and loved it!!!

Sofy's Birthday @ Disneyland

Ah, here's the other posting I was going show of Sofy's Disneyland trip!! She LOVED seeiing Mickey, Minnie, and she also loved Tigger!!






So, a few weeks ago I posted that my Mom and sister took Bella and Lexi to Disneyland for the day and they had a blast, and they rememebered that on your birthday, you get to go for free!!! So, for Sofy's 7th birthday, she was at Disneyland and had a blast!! She is really into Mickey Mouse and the other Disney characters now (The Care Bear phase has officially ended!), and so it was so fun to know that she was going to be seeing the "real" Mickey!
Sofy didn't have school on Friday, so I brought her over on Thursday night so that they can already have her for their 6AM flight to LAX. They got a rental car, and found their hotel to get checked in. My Mom said that when they reached the hotel Sofy said, "This isn't Disneyland!!! I want to go to Disneyland now!" So, after a quick check-in, they went to Disneyland. My Mom, Shawn Ryan, Lexi, and my Brother, Skyler and his friend Stacy all went. Here's just some of the pictures that Sofy did! She loved the parades and was upset to find that they no longer have the Light parada at night anymore!! When it got dark and they didn't have it, she was pretty upset!! They were able to go back on Saturday, where she wore her Halloween costume, Minnie Mouse, and she loved it!!! I am so glad that she got to have an amazing and hopefully unforgetable birthday. I can't believe my beautiful girl is 7 years old. She has grown so much in this past year and I am amazed at her development and growth!

Halloween party @ Intel

About an hour or two before Jason was to be home from work, he called to say that he forgot to mention to me that Ronler Acres was having a Halloween party for the employees and their families! The kids were pretty excited to be able to wear their costumes another day!
We got there around 7:00 and came upon the room where the party was being held at. They had a "Haunted House" set up of basically of those Halloween blow-up lawn decorations. At first, Jason and the girls went in it because Alex didn't want to go in, and I stayed behind with him. But when he realized it wouldn't be very scary, he tried it, and actually liked it! That was good for him!
We then went into a big room where the main party was being held they had several games set up for the kids to play and when they finished the game they would be given a small bag of treats! Sofy didn't do well there at all and had a small anxiety attack!! I finally took her out after seeing her so upset!
Sofy and I went to the little cafe area where they were giving out cookies and punch. She and I found a table and enjoyed about 10 or so minutes of peace. She also opened up her one treat bag and had a piece of candy too.
Jason and the other kids joined us and we knew it was time to go. we got home about 8:15 or so. It was fun, for the most part, and for most of us, and it was nice to get out as a family!! Saturday will be much better for Sofy, because she knows all about Trick-or-Treating and she won't be stuck in a big room full of about 150 or so people in kind of scary costumes!!

Sofy's Disneyland Weekend!!

When my Mom and BoniJean too Bella and Lexi to Disneyland a few weeks ago, they remembered that until the end of the year, when you to the park on your birthday you get in free! So, for Sofy's 7th birthday, she was at Disneyland!! She had a blast and she loved every part of the park! She loves the rides, parades, and even gave Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and the Pooh characters a big hug!! It's awesome to see how much she's opened herself up to more people and is getting out of her comfort zone she's been kept in! It's so great to see her improving to much to truly enjoy the joy of being in that magical place!!
My mom was also able to get the info that Sofy has a disability and it allowed them to go through the handicapped entrance for most of the rides, which helped them do so much more had they went through the normal long lines!!
I brought her over to my folks Thursday night, and she had Friday off from school, so that was nice! My Grandma just couldn't resist herself and got Sofy a Minnie Mouse Halloween costume, complete with the dress, the sparkly red shoes, and the ears with the Minnie Bow! We didn't know if she would take to the outfit, since she was so set on being Mickey, but She LOVED it and she wore the outfit at the park and even today on the way home on the plane!!!!

I am so grateful that I have such wonderful people in my family who love to take my kids to so many great places that otherwise probably couldn't be able to go!! Thanks to my Sister who flew with them and was able to get a free plane ride for Sofy, Who did awesome according to Grammi, and to my Brother who gave her another pass to come on the another plane home!!

I'll post some pictures when I can. Right now they're on my Sister's camera and she's not yet sent them to me!!

Poor Sick Alexander

The past two weeks have been pretty rough for my poor boy! Last week he started a cold and was kept home for two days in hopes that it would get better. He was alright over the weekend and then yesterday morning he said that he wasn't feeling well and his tummy ached. I kept him home and thought for most of the morning that he was just faking it to stay home! But, around noon or so threw up and kept at it for most of the afternoon and evening. He would sleep in between, waking up a couple of times to keep doing that, and I put him in his bed when I went to bed about 10:00 or so.
He threw up a couple of more times during the night, but when he woke up this morning about 9:30, he was looking and feeling better! It was very nice because Jason went to the store last night and he got him some Gatorade, saltine crackers, and a few cans of chicken noodle soup! He asked for some soup and ate that up very well and ate it all!! Then about an hour later, he asked for some more and ate another can's worth!!!
I'm glad to know that he can go back to school tomorrow! With him missing two days last week for that cold, and then this week for his tummy issues, it'll be nice to get back to our routine. It's nice to know that Friday is a day off for the kids, so he'll have an extra long weekend to really get back to normal too!!

One thing about our kids is that for the most part they are very healthy! They never get ear infections, but do get occasional colds or allergies. Bella is almost 5 and has had a flu bug twice! Sofy's only been sick a couple of times too and she's almost 7! Alex on the other hand gets sick almost every October, a few weeks after school starts up again!
I think it comes from the fact that I nursed them well past their first year, and only gave them my milk until they were ready for Whole milk after their first birthay. But almost every year after school starts, Alex always gets sick with some stomach bug! Just this year did I even know that you can get the flu shot earlier than before! I've known people who got it early September! I wish I had known that, but Alex is not one to cooperate when having to get shots, and he refused last year to even put it up his nose! I don't think I would call this the real flu, but it was quite a doosie for the boy this time, and yet I thought he was faking it at first. I guess this was a reminder to always trust my kids when they say they are not feeling well!!!!

Bella's Day @ Disneyland!

On Saturday when my Mom, Boni, and I were in Seattle to see Glenn Beck's event, my Mom met up with some people she met that were selling their Disneyland tickets that had one day left, and then were going to go the next to turn those passes into Annual passes! They asked if they can take Bella with them and of course I said yes!! For at least 6 months or even longer, practically every day Bella has asked me if we can go to Disneyland, and I always answer "Ok, maybe another day." She was so excited to know that she was getting that chance to go.

She was up at 4:30 AM to get ready to go to the airport for their 6:30 flight and she loved the airplane. Last month, Jason took Her and Alex to see the jets at the air show in Hillsboro, and ever since then she's really gotten into jets! After getting a rental car and dealing with the tickets at the gates, they went into the park around 12:30 or so and Bella had a blast!!
My Mom said that the first moment they entered the park, Bella saw Pluto and said, "Grammi, I'm so happy!!" She was elated and on cloud 9 for the rest of the day!!!

One of her favorite moments was meeting Cinderella! a couple of weeks ago she told me she wanted to be Cinderella for halloween and ever since then She's been her favorite princess! You can tell by the photos how happy she was to meet her!

The photo of Grammi and Bella happened when Bella literally fell asleep while standing in line for the Peter Pan ride! She was standing and sleeping, and the next one shows Lexi and Bella all tuckered out from their exciting and long day! That was at 12:30 AM when they left after the park closed!!

Thanks to Grammi and Aunt Boni for thinking of Bella and having her go with you! You've let her go to that magical place for a day!! You brought her so much joy that day! Thank you!!!

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Our Day @ Safeco Field with Glenn Beck!!!

Last week, My mom and I heard that Glenn Beck was coming to Seattle to speak and we were figuring out how to work it to be able to go, so I went onto the website, found the pricing for tickets, and planned to go. We thought was an amazing opportunity to see him in person when he was so close from Portland! We Asked Boni if she wanted to go, who surprisingly had Saturday off, which is a normal working day for her and had a rare Saturday off. She said sure, so we were going to fly in the morning, take th bus to Safeco field for the event, and fly home in the evening. It turned out that by Friday, all the flights in morning from PDX to SEA was booked, so we decided to just drive to Seattle.
We left on Saturday morning around 7AM, got a good breakfast @ IHOP to fill us up for the road trip. The drive was nice and we had a good time chatting and singing. We got to Safeco Field around noon, and waited until about 12:30 or so to finally get into the park.
The program started with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation founder speaking about what they do, the programs they have, and she spoke for about 15 or so minutes. A Korean War veteran spoke, a video from actor Joe Mantagna, and then finally Glenn did his talk! He was, of course, fantastic!! He's very funny, quite animated with his voice and body at times, and he's not afraid of speaking about his past and how much his life has changed and the blessings he and his family have recieved because of the choice he made to join the church. He is a good, righteous man and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see him in person!!!

After the show, it took us almost an hour to finally get out of the parking garage (Not a good system the parking structure had by the way), and actually made good time and got home around 7:30 or so.

Oh, When we bought our tickets, some were sold with purchasing a lunch, and the ones be bought were without the lunch (For only $15 for me, and Mom and Boni were $10 for their husbands' military service), but after about half way through Glenn's speach, they gave everyone a lunch. I guess they made alot extra and so we got a good lunch out of it too! A big ham sandwich, a bag of chips, a big cookie, and macaroni salad, and a soda or water. It was good, and saved us money when we first thought we were going to need to get a lunch afterwards!! We we came home, my Mom and I had some of her yummy Chicken Noodle soup from the night before!

So, I had an amazing Saturday sharing the day with my Mom and sister and got to visit Seattle, too! Glenn is an inspired man and I truly feel that he's doing a great work and is being blessed for it. I wish that he wasn't called such horrible, and false accusations that are all over the news and such. He has a good heart, loves his family and friends, has seen the Atonement, Redemption, and Forgiveness given to him.

Last week, My mom and I heard that Glenn Beck was coming to Seattle to speak and we were figuring out how to work it to be able to go, so I went onto the website, found the pricing for tickets, and planned to go. We thought was an amazing opportunity to see him in person when he was so close from Portland! We Asked Boni if she wanted to go, who surprisingly had Saturday off, which is a normal working day for her and had a rare Saturday off. She said sure, so we were going to fly in the morning, take th bus to Safeco field for the event, and fly home in the evening. It turned out that by Friday, all the flights in morning from PDX to SEA was booked, so we decided to just drive to Seattle.
We left on Saturday morning around 7AM, got a good breakfast @ IHOP to fill us up for the road trip. The drive was nice and we had a good time chatting and singing. We got to Safeco Field around noon, and waited until about 12:30 or so to finally get into the park.
The program started with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation founder speaking about what they do, the programs they have, and she spoke for about 15 or so minutes. A Korean War veteran spoke, a video from actor Joe Mantagna, and then finally Glenn did his talk! He was, of course, fantastic!! He's very funny, quite animated with his voice and body at times, and he's not afraid of speaking about his past and how much his life has changed and the blessings he and his family have recieved because of the choice he made to join the church. He is a good, righteous man and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see him in person!!!

After the show, it took us almost an hour to finally get out of the parking garage (Not a good system the parking structure had by the way), and actually made good time and got home around 7:30 or so.

Oh, When we bought our tickets, some were sold with purchasing a lunch, and the ones be bought were without the lunch (For only $15 for me, and Mom and Boni were $10 for their husbands' military service), but after about half way through Glenn's speach, they gave everyone a lunch. I guess they made alot extra and so we got a good lunch out of it too! A big ham sandwich, a bag of chips, a big cookie, and macaroni salad, and a soda or water. It was good, and saved us money when we first thought we were going to need to get a lunch afterwards!! We we came home, my Mom and I had some of her yummy Chicken Noodle soup from the night before!

So, I had an amazing Saturday sharing the day with my Mom and sister and got to visit Seattle, too! Glenn is an inspired man and I truly feel that he's doing a great work and is being blessed for it. I wish that he wasn't called such horrible, and false accusations that are all over the news and such. He has a good heart, loves his family and friends, has seen the Atonement, Redemption, and Forgiveness given to him.

Fun Weekend!

We all had a fun weekend! On Friday morning, Jason decided that he wanted to take Bella to the Oregon Zoo, since she is the only child of ours that is home with us during the day again, and it was also beautiful outside, so a perfect day for it!! He took her out around 1:00 and said that they had a good time! Bella always loves her "Daddy/Daugher" Fridays, and it's great for them to spend that one-on-one time together! I know that all growing up, us girls would have special Daddy/Daughter days and they are some of the best times I had with my Dad!
That left me for about an hour or so to myself until I needed to get Alex from school. It was so nice. I went out to lunch and treated myself to a quiet time at a fast food place without having kids to worry about, or ro buy for too!! hahaha

After I picked up Alex, he and I came back home and waited for Sofy to be brought home from the bus. When she came home, the 3 of us drove my Sister's theater that she works at and went to the movies with Mom, Annie, BoniJean, and Shawn and Lexi. We saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and it was very, very cute! It had some good humor, which I think I laughed out loud than most of the kids!. It also had a good story, and the animated was well done.
we then spent the night at my parents house for a fun sleepover, having Pizza, and catching up on my Fox News evening shows together with my Mom, and Uncle Chris, who's in town fixing my cousins' floor that had a kitchen disaster on their hardwood.

Today, we decided to go to OMSI, after seeing it rain from all night and thought it would be a nice place to go that's inside. After we had our fill of OMSI, we went to Burger King that's up the hill from it and had yummy hamburgers! They have these cute little Slider Hamburgers that are the smallest I've ever seen, but are perfect for kids! It's just the right amount to fill them up, and without having any left overs that are too much! We also got to finish with Dessert of their dutch apple and Hershey's chocolate pie from their value menu that we all shared. We came home after that.

Jason took Bella with him to Astoria today, and Bella said that they saw ships, let Rocky run in the River (The ocean), and Daddy got her popcorn shrimp for dinner (She's part shark, I swear! LOL) They had a blast and had another fun day together!

So, It was a nice, fun, relaxing weekend and had a good break for a couple days! Tomorrow is Church and then Monday stars our week all over again!

Back to School Week!!!!

Sorry, no pictures this time. I did take pictures of both kids, but Jason can't find that plug thing that you use to upload them! If we find it, I'll add them later!

The kids started a new school year on Tuesday! Alexander is now in 4th grade, Sofy is in 1st, and Bella goes back to her 2nd year of preschool next week, I think.
It's so nice for Sofy because she now goes all day to school, and not just for 2 1/2 hours like she's been doing the past 3 years, (I'm including the 2 preschool years, too.) So this is now my morning routine that will continue now through June!! I have never been a morning person ever, so I am now starting my day REALLY early!! I have my alarm set at 5:45AM, but probably get up and to get her ready from 6AM-6:10. The first day Sofy got up wonderful without too much effort to wake her up, she's usually my early riser anyway. But yesterday she did NOT want to get out of bed. It was actually cute, she looked to the window and said, "It's dark outside!". SHE even knew how early it was. But, today, she got up a little easier and only took a minute to get her up. I get her breakfast of Eggo Waffles, which is much quicker and easier to make, and strawberry milk. She has been eating pretty well, too. I was kind of nervous that she wouldn't eat her breakfast that early, but she's had it all gone every morning! I get her dressed, brush her hair, get her shoes and jacket on, and wait for her bus to come in front of our house that arrives anywhere from 6:50-7:00.

After I see her off on the bus, I get Alex up and he usually gets up pretty well for me. He also eats a good breakfast of the same waffles and Orange Juice. While he is eating, I get Bella up to bring her with us to take him school. She's one that I don't mind if she goes back to sleep! She doesn't have to stay awake and do school work yet!
We've actually been out the door and had him at the school with about 7 or so minutes to spare, which is nice because his classroom both years so far has been at the far end of the school, and up the stairs, so this gives him time to be in his classroom about 5 minutes early!
Then it's just Bella and me to do what I need to around the house until we need pick Alex up at the end of the school day in the afternoon!

So, far it's been a great start to a new school year! I think Bella goes to preschool next week, she's the one missing out and says that she wants to go to school too!! I hope that it keeps going great!!!!

Terrible/Awesome Meatloaf

So, the past few days I've been doing quite a bit of cooking and baking, and having a fun time with my kids helping me out. Alex loves to help me, sometimes reading out the recipe, cracking the eggs, stirring and sifting. Bella is really getting good at helping out too! Sofy, not so much! LOL. Although, she's becoming quite a helper in cleanup time! She helps me unload the dishwasher and puts the silverware away in the drawer! She's getting so big!!

On Saturday night, I was in the mood for perogies, and decided to make them from scratch I found a good recipe and decided to try to make them. I had only instant mashed potatoes to use for the filling, which turned out to be not only easier, but also quicker! They turned out actually being alot easier to make than I would have thought, and Bella did an awesome job helping me fill them with the potatoes!! I made extra and had them for Sunday's dinner too.

On Monday, I thought I would try to make homemade ravioli and that ended up being a much longer job than the perogies!!! I started making them at 3:00 and we had dinner about 6:45, but they were pretty good!! I made extra of those too and that's what Alex really wanted for lunch yesterday!

Yesterday, I made a meatloaf for dinner and just after having it all gone in one sitting, Alex said, "Alot of people say that meatloaf is terrible!!!!". I said, "Well, was the one you just ate terrible?". He said, "No, yours was Awesome!!" I said, "well your Mom knows how to make a good meatloaf!" He then asked me how I make it so good, and I said it's probably the sauce I put on top. I told him that most people just use ketchup for the topping, but I add other ingredients to make a sauce.

We've also made a couple batches of cookies, made cupcakes (From a box mix), and doing things to do together while cooped up in the house!
So, It's been fun trying out these new culinary creations and having so much fun having my kids help me!

I remember my Dad telling me once that his favorite times and best memories he has of his Mom were when he would be in the kitchen helping her cook and bake. She was an awesome cook and spent practically all day, every day there. Practically every meal, they had a whole meal, including a dessert. She also made fun treats for holidays and such. Like, for Halloween (When you could make homemade treats for the kids), she would give out caramel apples, popcorn balls, and homemade candy! I wish that she was still here to teach me her favorite recipes and that I could have had those memories with her, too!
It's also a big reason why my Dad loves to cook and bake! All growing up, he was mostly the cook for the family, and my Mom loved it! Really, she's had to do the turn around and cook more since he started working out of state the past 6 years. She knows how to cook, but he always wanted to and that's how it was. It's quite funny, if I have ever needed a cooking or baking question, I knew I could always ask Dad, and he'd know!!

My New Necklace

I have to add this today. I never want to forget it!!!!!

We've been having a fun weekend, and now on Monday, at my Mom and Dad's house and the kids are having so much fun here! They love to come to Grammi and Papa's house, be able to play outside in their backyard (We have a nice backyard, but not any toys for them to play with, so they don't go outside much), and hanging out with Annie and Skyler. Bella ended her Summer session of preschool on Thursday, so it's been nice to just stay as long we want and not have a time limit to be home!
Anyways, today Annie got out a jewelry making kit she has and Alex and Bella have had such a ball making some! Bella made a bracelet and necklace that are so cute, and it's great for her fine motor skills to keep developing. She's actually have had pretty good fine motor skills, but this is a nice activity to enhance that!
Alex made me a necklace for me that I will treasure always! It has a few beads, then the letters for "Alex", a heart bead, then Letters for "Mom" then a heart again, and then the letters "BFF"!! He said that I'm his very best friend!!! That just melted my heart! I love it when my kids show such loving affection for me. Some of these affectionate moments can be few and far between for ny kids, and Alex for the most part is a big Mama's Boy and can be loving to me, but like I said, they don't happen often!!

Also today, Alex and I picked some blackberries that grow wild behind my parents' house and alot of them that poke through the fence! He wants me to make a blackberry pie, so we'll see how that goes. I've never made one before, so it will be a fun culinary adventure!!!!!

Our Day @ Cannon Beach

My Dad wanted to have a nice family day yesterday before he leaves go to work overseas. He could be in Iraq or Afghanistan, but either way he's going to be going far away to work. He won't be home again until he has a leave at Christmas time. So, he wanted to have all his family together before he leaves on Sunday. Except for Skyler who went to Utah to spend time with my Grandma, everyone in our family got to come!
We went to Cannon Beach, since it was closest to our house and that's where everyone was meeting.
We of course went to Mo's for lunch and the Clam Chowder tasted so good, as always. After having lunch, we went to the beach there behind Mo's and the kids had a blast playing some in the ocean and also digging and playing in the sand. Alex made a sand castle and Moat thing. He kept adding water to the sand to create the moat, but it would just absorb into the sand, but after a while, it worked and it looked pretty neat. The picture doesn't really show as nice as a it was.
Sofy and Bell had so much fun. Sofy would do Sand Angels and she just did it on her own. It was so cute to see, and to see her really doing more normal things. Bella played a lot with Lexi and had fun playing in the sand.
about 3:00, Boni, her kids, and Annie left so that Boni could take Shawn to meet his Aunt to go to a movie. She's taken him to see Harry Potter every time it comes out, and they already had it planned to meet for the movie. Paul and Stacie left to go visit her family.
Then, Mom, Dad, and the 5 of our family went with them to Seaside and was ready for a snack! We got a yummy ice cream cone at one of the shops on the boardwalk. We had a nice time eating our treat (And the kids having ice cream all over their faces!!) and walking together in the town. We then drove home where we went back to our house (We took our van to all drive together) and then my parents drove their car back home.
So, we had a wonderful day spending time with each other. We are going to miss our Dad, knowing that he's working so far away, but also relieved to know that he will be having a good job for at least a year! The last 5 or so years, he could always rely on other states to look for work if Oregon was having a slow time, or vise versa, but this year, every state that he's looked into has the same thing, no jobs available and too many people wanting those jobs!! So, even though he's going into a somewhat dangerous place (He'll be on a military base, so he should be safe!), he feels that everything will be fine and he's actually getting excited to work in a new place and knowing that he has a job to provide for his family! He hates being out of work and gets quite restless when he doesn't work for a while. Plus, he's used to being in new places. He was in the National Guard for over 20 years and they would send him all over the world for week and weeks at a time, and he loved being in new places. Of the places that I can remember him going to, he's been to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Columbia, Mexico, and others that I can't think of.

Anyways, here's some pictures of our Day!!!

BTW...Don't mind the pic of Bella and I! The sun was right in front of me, so I am doing all I can to open my eyes for the picture and it looks like I have no eyes!!!! But, Bella looks cute!

"Huge Microwave"

I wanted to add this so that I don't forget about it, it was just too darn cute!

Yesterday, we went to BoniJean's house for a Sunday BBQ. We had a good time. It will be a long time until we have a nice meal with my Dad. He's leaving to work overseas, possibly somewhere in the Middle East, but not sure yet, it's still tentative. My Grandma, Uncle Chris, Mom and Dad, Boni and her kids, and of course me and my kids, got together. My Dad did wonderful Sirloin steaks and chicken on the grill and it tasted so good.

We ate and visited on the shaded backyard deck and us adults were having a nice time visiting and having a fun time together. My Mom went back inside to the kitchen and Sofy said to her "Aunt Boni has a HUGE Microwave!!" Boni's oven is the kind that sits in the wall of her kitchen and in our new house we've moved into we have our microwave that sits above the stove in the wall.>

It was a wonderful comment for her to say, and to hear her connect our two kitchens in a way that wouldn't have ever occurred to me that we both happen to have appliances that sit in the wall!!

She is really doing so well. Her vocabulary is truly improving each day and it's been so fun to hear her be able to make comments that is said in the correct context, but also have the true meaning to. For a long time, she would make just random "scripted" speech and her comments were often said that to us made no sense and really had no meaning to the words. She's also been finding humor and can laugh when everyone else is laughing and start to understand the humor behind a joke or funny moment.

I'm so proud of how much she's improving each day and she just keeps growing up so well and much better than I could have dreamed she could be 3 years ago!

GoodBye Pull-Ups!!!

Bella is officially out of pull-ups! She's been potty trained for daytime about 7 months now, but she still needed a pull-up on during the night. She always woke up wet and I didn't want to clean her bed every night, so they were more for me than her, actually!! :)
Earlier this week, we had ran out of our bag of them and when I realized that we were out, I didn't want to go to the store that late, so I thought I'd take a gamble and see if she would be dry all night. I took her to the bathroom right before she went to sleep, I kept waking up several times during the night to check and see if she was, and she woke up dry!! She's now been dry the last 3 days and I am so glad that she is now officially (and finally) a BIG GIRL!!!!
She might still have accidents during the night here and there, but I no longer need to buy pull-ups anymore!!!!!

Good Job, Bella!!!!!

Jason's Cavalla Adventure

Here's some pictures of Jason while on his trip to Houston, Texas and aboard the USS Cavalla. He has gone every Summer the past 4 years and he loves to go and feel like a Navy Sailor!! He has always had a dream of being in the Navy, but being diabetic shattered that dream, unfortunately. I've thought of how it would have been like being a navy wife, so I guess a few times a year I can feel like one!! I'm glad that he has a fun time and he is truly living a dream for a few days out of the year!!

Awesome Pictures

I saw these in my Glenn Beck daily email and this first picture is his "Picture of the Day". I clicked on the link he got it from and it showed 4 more pictures, in stunning detail, of exactly what happens when you pop a bubble! It's so cool so I thought I'd share them!!! Here's a link to the website if you want to see the pictures bigger than these are:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1199149/Super-slow-motion-pictures-soap-bubble-bursting-stunning-detail.html


Richard Heeks spent weeks capturing his images of the bursting
of a bubble: This is how it begins



A tiny prod with a fingertip and the delicate surface
of the bubble is broken

After being poked the surface of the breaks up, from
one side to another, turning its surface into a multitude
of droplets which appear to hang in the air



As the droplets begin to fall away only a small
part of the bubble's surface is left intact

Within the blink of an eye, what was once a splendid
bubble is now nothing but a fine mist falling to the floor