Bryan Adventures

Hawaii Day 7-Our last day :-(

2010-11-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

For our last full day on the island we (enjoyed our Christmas present from mom and Karl and) went on a cruise aboard the Fairwind II at Keauhou Bay to Kealakekua Bay.

We started out early and they served us breakfast on the boat as we cruised out to the Bay.

We started chatting up the 2 older couples sitting beside us to find out one of the couples was from BEND!! Crazy!!

Captain Cook monument at Kealkekua Bay
We snorkeled for an hour or so, came back on the boat for our BBQ then went back out to snorkel for another hour.

Somehow a burger cooked on a boat out on the ocean after a snorkel dive can not be described. It just tastes better because well.... you're BBQing on a boat in the ocean!!

PERFECT!

The coral reef here was AMAZING. Awesome clear water, and beautiful fish.
Yes, I know he's snorkeling, not scuba diving ;-)

I had to try this slide off the boat

As we were leaving the bay we got to see this pod of spinner dolphins. It's too bad the couple times they actually jumped and spun out of the water were off camera.
Really neat to see this too!

Rugged coast line

It was a great trip and I would recommend the trip to anyone... very family friendly too.

Merry Christmas to us!

We had a couple hours to kill before our Manta Ray snorkel so we walked along some beaches and the shoreline in Kona and enjoyed a yummy shaved ice!!

Harbor before our Manta Ray snorkel

On our way out to see the Mantas with "Sunlight on Water" tour group

Our group headed out

While the video below is not of our group it is very much the same as what we saw. It was a very surreal experience. At first it is a little frightening as these large creatures come swimming belly to belly with you. Then you realize they aren't something to fear, but it is so strange that they are not afraid of you.

Divers shine their bright lights up from the bottom and the snorkelers float on top and shine lights down from the surface and attract the plankton the Manta rays love to eat. The manta rays have learned that people coming and attracting plankton has made for a good evening feeding site and typically show up every night.

The night we went there were 12 different manta rays!!

These rays are about 14 feet across and move gracefully through the water. While there were many groups out there that evening, I felt like every Manta Ray came to our group. For a full 30 min our group had ray after ray feeding below us. The time seemed to pass quickly.

Truly an unforgettable experience!!

Sadly our Hawaiian trip had to come to an end. Brad really wanted to take this fruit home for the kids to try, and although I warned him he wasn't supposed to take fruit back, he decided to try and stash it away. But, guess who got caught at the airport trying to smuggle fruit!!!

They let us have it back, but we had to eat it before we left Hawaii, so here is Brad savoring his fruit at the airport.

We had SUCH wonderful time! I've been trying to figure out a way to get back ever since we've been home!! Hopefully soon! We'd love to take the kids too.

I can't wait.

While cruising around the island we always listened to the "feel good island" radio station and found some fun songs we like, so I've been streaming the audio every few nights, just to reminisce.

Here are a couple of our favorites

Who wants to sponsor our next trip??

Hawaii- Day 6

2010-11-04T23:44:00.000-07:00

Double click to see flowers better Thursday Brad went to the first 2 hours of class, then decided to play hooky so we could go see the other side of the island.

This was one of my favorite stops on our trip: Laupahoehoe Point. The surf here was AMAZING! You hear the roar and feel the ocean's power and force. The water hits the rocks so violently it is mesmerizing.

We went back to our rockin' minivan we had rented to find it covered in a salty brine which impeded our view out the windows until we could stop at a gas station to clean them!

This sign was at the park next to the coast.
Ever seen one of these warning signs before?
We continued down the coast and saw a lot of waterfalls and beautiful flowers of which I shall only bore you with a few :-)

This is at Kelekole Park This tree wins the weird award (on our way to 'Akaka Falls)

The vegetation is sooo dense!

Here it is.... 'Akaka Falls
420 foot drop!

Here is Rainbow Falls

(sans rainbow)

Brad loved the Banyan trees... or at least he loved saying "Ban-yan" all the time.

They are HUGE!

(That is Brad in the white shirt) Above Raibow falls Brad and I scrambled along these rocks

Then we went on to Hilo to say "hi" to King Kemehameha
On our way home we stopped back in Wimea for supper and tried an Italian place called Solimene's... it was OK. This chocolate hazelnut calzone was pretty good though.
I LOVED being able to see all the beautiful green jungles and flowers on the other side of the island. It was such an amazing contrast from the dry lava side we were staying on.

Hawaii- Day 5

2010-11-04T00:09:00.001-07:00

Wednesday morning I decided that perhaps I should do something a little more productive than sitting on the beach all morning again and headed 5 min. north of our hotel to Puukohala Heiau national park.
This temple was started in 1790 by Kamehameha I, after the death of Captain Cook at Kealakekua Bay.

It was built entirely by hand with no mortar, in less than a year. The red stones were transported by a human chain about 14 miles long, from Pololū Valley to the East, involving thousands of people.

When the heiau was completed, it measured 100 by 224 feet (30 x 70 meters). Kapukahi's prophecy required that a high chief be sacrificed there, so Kamehameha invited his cousin Chief Keoua to the dedication. When Keoua arrived there was a fight, and Keoua and most of his men were killed. The body of Keoua was carried to the heiau and offered as sacrifice to the war god Kukailimoku.

Here is a picture of the bay just below the temple. It is an amazing contrast to the barren land the temple is built on. Many Hawaiian royalty lived here on this bay.

It was a very interesting stop. I'm glad I went.

But there was still the matter of the BANANA CREAM PIE
so...

I drove back up to Wimea and after checking out a few shops in town, got us some of that pie!!

It was totally worth it! Delicious!!

I was a bit late getting back to the hotel and Brad was waiting anxiously waiting for me to go do some more snorkeling. Again we just went down to the hotel beach and snorkeled off the other end of the beach and spent a good hour snorkeling until we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for our Luau!

We saw close to everything on this poster!

We decided to go to the Lu'au at Kona Village.I LOVED it. Here is a little sampling from our Lu'au:

The opening entertainment. Listen to all the birds in the background :-)

My kids LOVE this picture of this very animated bassist

Our dinner is "unearthed"

I tried the poi and the taro root and the taro leaf.

Hmm... not my favorite

Turn the other cheekLots of fun

Another beautiful Hawaii'an evening!

I kept taking my coat everywhere... just in case... NEVER needed it!

Hawaii 2010- Day 4

2010-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Day 4 began with more of THIS When Brad finished his course at 1pm we decided to check out the north end of the island.

While the area near our hotel was all lava rock, it soon changed into these rolling ranch lands as we headed north just 10 minutes.
We pulled off the side of the road to check out this cave
It was a pretty big lava tube with some cool rooms. Too bad our crappy flashlight from the hotel didn't allow us to see much, but it was fun to check out.

We also saw these turkey's wandering around on the road to Wimea
We stopped in Honoka'a to check out a few shops and bought some more macadamia nuts.

I loved this beautiful Waipi'o Valley.
This is where King Kamehamaha was hidden as a small child.

We decided to hike down to the black sand beach you see below along a steep road that can only be driven with a 4 wheel drive.

In the valley this horse was wandering around.
Apparently this valley is full of hippies and people who want to "get away from it all" as there is no power, phone, or cell service in this area. We met a resident of the area while we were walking back from the beach... and he didn't even have a watch and had to ask us the time!

My first time in a "jungle"
Awesome black sand beach!

More handsome hubby

Because we got a late start, and were losing day light we only stayed at the beach for about 20min. before we had to make our way back up "the hill"
"The road gains 800 vertical feet (243.84 m) in 0.6 miles (0.9 km) at a 25% average grade, with steeper grades in sections. This is a paved public road but it is open only to 4 wheel drive vehicles. If classified as a road, it would be the steepest road of its length in the United States and possibly the world."

Keep this in mind as you hear Brad breathing in the video.

(I, of course ROCKED the hill :D)

I was SOO parched! Water never tasted so good as when we stopped in Wimea on the way home at Huli Sue's for supper

We had some AWESOME pork @ Huli Sue's !! I loved it! I would go back there in a heart beat.

Check out Brad's onion rings!!

We had read in "the Bible" about their fabulous banana cream pie, and told the waiter when we came in that we for sure wanted some of that after our big hike out of the valley.

When it came time for dessert we found out they had given the last 2 pieces to another table :(

Great restaurant and lots of pretty sites this day.

Hawaii 2010- Day 3

2010-10-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

Brad was at conference from 7am-1pm, so I enjoyed sleeping in, taking my time and spent my morning sitting out in the sun with my book. When I got a little warm, took a little dip in the ocean.... REPEAT When Brad was done we went for a snorkel together right off the hotel beach. The fish here were great too, and some we hadn't seen before, and a couple more sea turtles that were bigger than the day before. You feel like you are swimming in a fish tank at the aquarium!

We then came back and warmed up and dried off in the perfect temp. Hawaiian sun! For supper we headed up to Hawi, a small town out of the way of tourists, and ended up at Luke's Place. It was kindof like "Cheers." It seemed everybody knew everybody and they were hugging each other... except us. I really liked the local feel, rather than the resort feel.

We enjoyed some entertainment there especially this Jazz flute.

I had to try out the virgin Pina Colada! Mmmmm! And so ended ANOTHER day in paradise.

Hawaii 2010- Day 2

2010-10-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

Day 2 I woke up to this (I took this picture laying on the bed)

I wish you could hear the birds and the ocean, and smell the flowers- no noisy elevator here!

Day two's first mission: Get snorkel gear!

We started at Miller's Surf and Sport where an awesome guy set us up with everything we needed and was kind enough to show us the best places to go, and the secrets of getting into the "private" beaches, and other suggestions. It was great.

We also picked up a new version of "The Bible", aka: "Big Island Revealed" while we were there and set out to a beach just down the road for some snorkelling.

I can't tell you how many hours I spent pouring over this book!! I read a good portion of it on our flight over to the island (an older version Brad's colleague lent him) Then once we got there I wanted to make the most of our time there and didn't want to miss anything. So I studied and studied it until by the end of the trip I had this interesting love/hate relationship with it... I loved all the places it sent us and all the great tips and suggestions, but by the end I was sooo tired of checking the book... I didn't care if we missed something. It is a MUST though, if you ever go!! Our first snorkelling experience was at Kahalu'u bay. It was a great fist stop. There was a LOT of coral and a LOT of fish. It was the strangest feeling to be swimming with the fish. I was surprised at how oblivious they are to you swimming around in their territory and that they aren't really afraid of you. One really fun thing about this bay is the plethora of sea turtles. I think Disney got "Crush" just perfect. They really do just kindof float around without much care. It was really cool to be able to swim with them and have them brush up against you as they floated by. Very cool! As you can see they came in to the really shallow areas We snorkelled a little, had lunch, then went out again. Once we'd had our fill for the day we decided to head back up to the market on Ali'i Drive. Lots of different fruits I had never seen before.

On the top shelf there you can see the bag of macadamian nuts... we ended up eating 3 bags of those while we were in Hawaii!! There was lots to see and shop around and look at. You can see the chalk writing on the road... that is left from the Iron Man triathalon race the week before we got there. We found the best spot for a sunset supper at Kona Inn Restaurant. It is right off the ocean.

My handsome hubby
A yummy strawberry daiquiri (virgin, of course)
As the sun went down the lit torches led to an awesome "ambiance"
The evenings there are so perfect!
A little more shopping at the board walk after supper.
And this WEIRD painting at a gallery.
A great first full day in paradise!!

Hawaii 2010- Day 1

2010-10-30T00:26:00.001-07:00

Mom and Karl arrived on Thursday Oct. 14th to help watch the kiddos, and without whom we would not have been able to make this trip. Thank you!!

Friday was spent running my mom around and showing her the lay of the land, then Friday night Brad and I headed up to Portland for the night so we could fly out of PDX in the morning.

We stayed at Aloft which is a "modern" hotel with a night club scene in the lobby.

I was happy to be greeted by this guy singing Hawaiian music :D

I thought the bar looked super cool!

Our "modern" bathroom

Too bad our "modern" hotel came with a lot of "modern" reminders of noise. Our room was right by the elevator and was the noisiest elevator shaft I have ever heard! I had trouble sleeping and woke up early from all the noise

(you'll notice I look... a little less than rested in the remainder of the days pictures)

We started with the crumbliest chocolate croissant for breakfast at the airport

The 6 hours later, we got off the plane in Honolulu and I saw this:

Hooray! We were really in Hawaii!! We had about a 2 hour layover before our flight to Kona, so we got to hang out in these beautiful gardens, right in the middle of the airport!!
We saw a couple birds in the airport there too!
We arrived safely in Kona, got our rental car and head out to where everyone wants to go first when they get to Hawaii.....

COSTCO!!!

Pathetic.. I know... but we wanted to stalk up our hotel fridge with cheap eats for breakfast and lunch while we were there.

When we got to our hotel, the Hapuna Prince, the sun was just starting to set.

This is the beautiful view from our balcony in our room.

We got set up in our room, went down and listened to the lounge singer in the open air lounge looking out over the ocean, with the smell of the sweet flowers air, then went for a walk along the beach with a beautiful, near full moon.

We made it! We were actually IN HAWAII!!

Solo/Ensemble Performances

2010-04-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

March 6, 2010

Elise had her first chance to perform her first solo with an accompanist. For her age and division she scored a -1 which is an equivalent to an A-! She is doing really well for having only played 6 months.

Here she is

This was Samantha's second performance at this event and also scored a -1 for her performance. This is an important event as those who score best get to go on to State. Unfortunately she didn't make it this year, but she is close. She is only a freshman so she has 3 more years to polish her skills and try and get into state. She did a great job though as you will see here

So proud of the girls and how well they are doing!

A dream come true!

2010-04-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

On March 19th I had a dream come true. Seriously!!

I know you probably think I am a loser for being thrilled by such a little thing, but seriously it was one of the most fun things I have done in my life!

I got to go to the radio station and co-host the morning show with Dave Clemens from 7-9am.

It was awesome!! Dave is so great on the radio. I listen to him every morning! He was so fun to be with in the studio and was super nice and really calmed my nerves and made me comfortable. One of the nicest guys!! I'm so lucky!

I got the opportunity to do the radio show because Dave, the DJ is in my bootcamp class and I was on the radio talking about our bootcamp program. So, I need to thank Elite Fitness for trusting me with representing their business as well.

It was awesome!

Dave was kind enough to give me the "back stage pass" of the radio station and showed me how he puts the show together etc., and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. I still get happy just thinking about it. It was SO FUN!! So awesome!

I thanked Dave again in class the other day for my great experience and he offered to have me on again some time!!! Seriously??? I would LOVE to do it again!! Who knows... maybe in another stage of life I will do radio.

Did I mention it was AWESOME???!!!!

Grin and Bear It

2010-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Some of my girlfriends in the ward have been training to run a 5K and on March 13th I joined them as most of them ran their FIRST 5k: "Grin and Bear It". I was so proud of them. They did a great job and I was glad they invited me to join them.

Here's a little video I put together of their run.

(Unfortunately my batteries in my camera died after the first mile so the later pics and video are with my phone... but you get the idea. My video editor kinda stinks too.)

What's next ladies??

Sportsmen's Show 2010

2010-04-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

March 12, 2010

The Sportsman's Expo was such a big hit last year we decided to head out again this year.

We went to a dog training class and I have been doing the training with Star with the check cord and it really seems to be working!! :D

I also got to go to a "Camp Cooking" workshop and learned how to make the yummiest biscuit desserts, and some super yummy pear compote to put on your oatmeal, and of course LOTS of butter!!! Mmmm! Also learned about this new flavored Vanilla. Pick it up if you can find it. Delice!

The kids had fun painting the decoys again

and of course the ever popular fishing pond!

I think this is Elise's catch.

Ethan's catch

We brought Weston with us, and he was able to make a catch too!

Who doesn't love fishin' when everyone gets to catch something?

Another great succesful trip to the Sportsmen's show.

I'm crossing my fingers this dog training continues to be successful.

Eagle watch

2010-04-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Feb 27, 2010

Saturday morning we headed out to Round Butte State park, @ Lake Billy Chinook for Eagle Watch 2010.

This golden eagle is injured and was part of a presentation about eagles and on display along with several other birds of prey. There were a lot of fun activities for the kids including making bags

(Belle, Elise's friend, joined us for the day)

and buttons

and a FREE hotdog cookout lunch put on by these nice gentlemen
We couldn't have ordered a more BEAUTIFUL February day.

I think it was close to 70 degrees!
Some more pics of the birds on display

We could see the eagles in the cliffs on the other side of the lake

Checkin' out the eagles

After the "Eagle Watch" we went down to the Lake to mess around since it was such a BEAUTIFUL DAY!

It all starts with some innocent rock throwing

Then it's "Can I just take my socks off?"

Next thing you know... "uh oh!" and they're soaking wet :D

How often do you get to do this in February??

Feeling like spring may soon be here!!

Going once, going twice... sold!

2010-04-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

You just won this MONSTROUS volcano cake at the Blue and Gold Banquet/ Cake auction!!

This is the cake the kids decided they wanted and Oh Boy! was it a load of sugar! Even the kids thought it was too much. I know it took 3 cake mixes and is covered in marshmallow!

This is one of the cakes we took to the event
This is the other... It isn't pretty, but we hid a bunch of $$ in it, so that make up for it!
Here were some other cute ideas
This one is cupcakes with piped frosting, ferroro rocher for meatballs and strawberry topping.
Cool!
I can't quite remember how the toppings were done on this one. Mostly colored frosting and licorice bits. You'll have to double click on the picture to get a better look.

They raised all the funds they needed for cub scout day camp and went home all sugared up (because we all know that, that is just what a group of boy scouts need!)

The big four-oh!

2010-03-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Feb 20, 2010

I had hoped to have a big party for Brad's 40th birthday, but with schedules being what they were and the church ski night falling the eve of his birthday I decided to combine the two.

I made some B.A. sandwiches and a couple crockpots of macaroni to share with everyone, some decorations,
and of course some cake

The best part was when everyone sang "Happy Birthday", I wish I would have got video. It sounded pretty impressive. Oh well. It was nice to have so many in our ward family celebrate with us.

This is Brad's 40th birthday present. A Canon 7D. I think he's still learning the ins and outs, but I know even the kids seem to be able to take good pictures with this camera!HAPPY 40TH BRAD!

Keeping everybody happy

2010-03-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

Feb 12 2010

I volunteered to decorate the school's lobby and set up for the annual school fair, only to find out the next weekend at church that there was going to be a ward 50's-60's party on the same night!! What to do?? I was so excited for the party, but couldn't get out of my responsibilies at the school. I decided to do both, so I put up my decorations and we let the kids play games and eat pizza at the school for a couple hours, then we were off to the party.

I am so happy with how the decorations turned out I have to show you all so you can all tell me how great it looks :D You see I am creatively challenged, so I was so happy to have this turn out so cute.

No, I did not free hand those cute little critters. Totally copied them on the overhead projector. My instructional technology teacher at BYU would be proud I put my skills to such great use. LOL! Who says I don't use my college education?? Here we are at the church party We did a little performance as Johnny Cash and June Carter.

June could use a little more practice (I'll chalk it up to stage fright) but Johnny did GREAT!

The party even had a soda fountain with anything you could ever want. It was AMAZING! Marilyn Larsen and the activities commitee did a great job! Couldn't resist a little smooch at the soda fountain So fun! and we managed to do it all! The kids were happy to go to their fair and I was happy to get to go to the party!

Playin' hooky!

2010-03-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

February 5th we pulled the little kids out of school (the big girls were off) and headed up to the mountains. As my mom would say "The mountains were calling."

We couldn't have ordered a more BEAUTIFUL day!! It was GORGEOUS!I skiied without gloves the whole day. The kids had their jackets opened and a few people on the slopes were skiing in short sleeve t-shirts!

Ethan has decided to stick with skiing for now. He told us he "likes the wind in his hair" when he skiis.
Brad's stickin' with the snowboard It was nice to have Brittany to ski with the big girls as well.
See what a beautiful day it was??

Days like this are the ones skiiers live for (at least this one!). GREAT day!!

Artist's debut

2010-03-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

Elise started taking saxophone lessons in September, and her school beginner band had their debut concert in February. While it is difficult to see Elise's face from my vantage point. She is the one in the pony tail with the blue elastic.
I have recorded a few pieces for you to enjoy.

Nice job Elise!!

Messing around with friends after the concert

Watch soon for her solo debut on March 6!!

January Wrap up

2010-03-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

We rang in 2010 in a more quiet fashion this year. My dad made it down here just in time.

Somehow I don't have many pictures of my dad's visit, but we had a good time.

Here we are out to supper one night.

Samantha was invited to participate in another honor band. This group included the best players in Central Oregon. It was probably my favorite concert of Samantha's I have ever been to. It was nice music, entertaining and not too stuffy.

Way to go Samantha... another honor band!

January also means "Pinewood Derby" time. Ethan did a great job of cutting the wood all himself, even sustaining an injury. When he sliced his hand and saw all the blood he turned white as a sheet and told me "I feel dizzy," so we quickly sat him down to help him recover. It was a pretty good gash. He didn't use any power tools at all. It was all done with a saw, chisel and sandpaper. I was very impressed that he kept with it.

So, here it is. The completed car It was not very fast however :-(

Here they are waiting for their turn on the track. Ethan was a really good sport about his losses, and Brad has vowed to help a bit more next year and look into the fine art of Pinewood Derby car creation.

We recieved sad news in January of the sudden passing of Brad's uncle, Gary from a heart attack. Sharon and Gary were able to come out and visit us a couple years ago, and the kids always described him as "the uncle with Peanut." Peanut is Gary's beloved dog, and it appropriate that they included this photo on the program for his memorial service.

Gary and Sharon lived in Boise, which is driveable from Bend, so Brad's mom flew in to Bend, and they were able to go to the funeral and spend some time with family, which was nice for them.

Here is a nice picture of a bunch of the cousins together at the funeral

Near the end of January, Samantha and Elise each brought a friend and I took them to the "Hairspray Sing-a-long" at the Tower Theatre down town.
What a fun night and a great idea!!

What's more fun that going to a musical an the theatre and getting to sing along?

I was SO FUN!

Well that about wraps up January. Now to catch up on February!

Stuck on you!

2010-01-31T23:22:00.000-08:00

January 8th 2010 would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday.

We were "all shook up" about it so I grabbed the kids and my "Big Hunk O' Love" and headed to a local diner for a special dinner to celebrate

Lyle the owner and his wife came up with this fun menu

They also had fun trivia cards on the table, but "A Fool Such As I" didn't do so well with the answers.
I had never had a signature GRILLED peanut butter and banana sandwich, so I figured
"It's now or never" and ordered one and it was really "Too Much"... no "Return to Sender" with this meal. It was delicious!!
Check it out!! (Mmmm... now I want another one!)

They had Elvis music playing over the speakers in the restaurant and were playing an Elvis movie on the TV and I "[Couldn't] Help Falling In Love" with Elvis and his music and charm.

Now "Don't be cruel" and judge me too harshly, but we couldn't resist getting a peanut butter and banana shake for dessert too. Mmmmm!

It was such a fun way to celebrate and educate the kiddos on "The King"

I love this video. He looks so great in that leather outfit

This is probably my favorite Elvis song. I SO wish I could have seen him perform in his prime!

This one's a classic!!

Elvis, it was fun to celebrate "The Wonder of You"

Christmas is finally here!

2010-01-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

Santa's elf helping prepare on Christmas eve

Samantha got the phone she's been asking for, for forever!! And used all 250 free texts in a matter of minutes!!
Ethan's swiss army knife from grandpa

Ethan had been bugging my mom about what was in a present she had for him under the tree. My mom jokingly told him it was a tutu, and so the running joke began. Ethan would joke about what he was going to do with his tutu and how excited he was to get it. So... my mom couldn't resist actually going out and buying him one. It was so funny Christmas morning when he opened it... :D

Thanks to the Markels for our awesome Tony Hawk game!

Abby got this pretty quilt from grandma Whiting, with lots of hours of love and care sewn into it.

Another big hit was Owl City tickets

It was fun to have Granma and Karl to share Christmas with us. We haven't ever had someone share Christmas with us at our place our entire marriage, so it was a nice treat.

Brad was super excited about "helping" put this toy dinosaur together for Ethan

Elise working on a new fashion design

Ethan wasn't too bad at it either!! :D

Santa brought Abby a desk. Here she is at 12:20pm

Here she is at 4:50pm

Here she is at 6:41pm!

She was busy, busy, busy in that desk ALL DAY!!

While we didn't recieve snow for Christmas morning, late Christmas day came a fog that produced this beautiful hoar frost for Boxing Day.

The hike up Pilot Butte was so pretty!

A great wrap up for our Christmas season.

More December fun!

2010-01-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

December brought more fun, like the ward Christmas party. Although we are not coordinated at all in this picture from the party, I think everyone looks pretty good. Thanks to Lora for taking the pictures- we haven't had a picture of us all together for a very long time! I went to help in Ethan's class to help them make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. All the children in class were carefully following the model the teacher had shown them and my son comes up with this....????

I also went with the YW to wrap presents for the needy seniors in the community. I thought it turned out to be a really nice event.
Some of the younger girls joined us as well.
We also went for a snow shoe trip up to Virginia-Meisner snow park. It was a little chilly to begin with or if you stopped moving. We did about 3 miles.

At "the top"

Very pretty day and pretty view.

Abby's tuckered out!

Brad took the little kiddos out sledding one day over the break.

And the kiddos and I joined the YM/YW for tubing at the tube park

Some deep snow!!

Check out the cool tow to take you up the hill!

Lots of good stuff this month!

Concerts galore

2010-01-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

Concerts, concerts, and more concerts.

This is "Come Unto Christmas" put on my our Stake

I don't know how our school music teacher "gets away with it", but all of our kids Christmas concerts were Christian songs!! Imagine that! At Christmas time! Nice being "off the radar" sometimes.

Silent Night in German (sorta), English, and Spanish (sorta) :-)

This was a sing along at the High School (forgive my "singing along") with again... Christmas songs!

Goal driven...

2010-01-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

Ethan decided one day that he really wanted to wear his socks for 4 days straight. He wouldn't even take them off at bed time. I really had to convince him that he HAD to take his socks off for his shower, but that was the only time!

He made a little chart in his room and everything where he checked off his "progress"On the night of day 3 even Ethan was a bit grossed out by the state of his socks and the grimeys between his toes, but he was determined to last the 4 whole days.

And he did it!!

Here he is with his "trophy socks"

....Boys!!!

Think they'll give him a boy scout badge for following through with his goal??

Let the festivities begin!!

2010-01-17T22:20:00.000-08:00

We started our December fun on the 5th with the Bend Christmas parade.

Samantha got to wear this super sexy band uniform. Can you tell how excited she is?

Here she is. The flutes are at the back

It was a chilly day so the parade moved pretty quickly. In fact Samantha's band was at the beginning of the parade, and Elite was the 3rd to last entry, and Samantha was back from the parade route before we left!!

Abby and Ethan had a great time riding their scooters down the parade route with the Elite Fitness group. They didn't complain a single time the whole route! They were too busy showing off their scooter tricks... check'em out!

After the parade we met up with the Lewandowski's again for the great Christmas tree hunt.

Brad found "the perfect tree", but had to take one for the team trying to get the tree back to the van through all the brush and ended up twisting his knee. But, we did have one fine tree!!

Brett and Abby were working really hard

Brittany and Sam having a good time.

Sunday we got a nice big dump of snow to start our Christmas holiday off right :D Ethan and his "snow pillow"

Novembers end

2010-01-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

We finished up November with a quiet, relaxing Thanksgiving

Christmas preparations

and "The Store"

Over Thanksgiving break Ethan and Abby (with a little help from Elise) opened their store, selling primarily things made out of duct tape, or things covered in duct tape. The milk jugs were "giant ornaments". They wanted to take their store outside, like a lemonade stand, but I told them it was too cold out and it was best to stay inside and we would buy their wares... which we did.

They had great fun for a few hours making their duct tape creations and then setting up their store and relocating their store a few times.

Lots of entertainment and it only cost me a couple bucks to buy their stuff in the end :D

Ethan Videography

2010-01-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

Ethan got hold of the camera and made some movies. I will share just a few with you.

ENJOY!

WIBC/Seattle Tour- Nov 20-23

2010-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend really started with the midnight showing of New Moon in the wee hours of November 20th, which was FAR better than Twilight!! I have not read the books, nor am I a huge fan, but my girls are, so I've got to keep in the loop. Samantha was with a friend in one theater and I was by my lonesome in another, but that is OK. The movie didn't start on time as there was trouble (again), so we didn't get home until close to 3am, and Samantha had to be at the school to leave for her band clinic in Seattle at 7:15am!

I wouldn't mind seeing New Moon again. What did you think of it?

(p.s. my grocery store clerk at Albertsons looks like "Jacob")

Since Samantha was going to be performing at WIBC in Seattle, the family decided to make a little vacation around it. However, the rest of us didn't leave town until 5pm and rolled into Seattle around 12:30am.

That left a full day the next day to see some sights so we headed to the Aquarium.

Here the diver has a rock fish of some sort on her that is like a pet.

He comes out to claim her as his territory everytime she comes in the tank. Isn't that funny?

Huge tank!

After the auarium was Pike Place Market.

It was super cool! Brad and I loved it. It was a cool mix of Montreal and Boston.

I wish we could have gone into each little eclectic shop, bought all the neat imports and sampled all the yummy looking food! (except all the fush- YUCK!)
We ate dinner at Lowell's at the market and had a nice view of the sound

This picture is too funny not to share. This is Ethan leaving the bathroom once the girls went in after him and informed him that he had walked into the girls bathroom!

:o)

Brad was SO thrilled to be pumping his own gas again!

The next day we went to the "Experience Music Project/ Science Fiction Museum"

Even the building was "artsy" Inside was one very cool music museum. We ended up spending 4.5 hours here.

It was definitely heavy into the electric guitar and by the time we were done I did not want to hear another electric guitar solo for a very long time.

Music sculpture

All that aside it was a really neat hands on place. The kids could practice on real instruments in real soundproof studio rooms. VERY COOL!

They also had a room where you could perform and create your own music video of sorts. You picked from their selection of tracks and then went in the room and basically played rock band on a real stage with a simulated audience while they taped you and took a picture.

Here's our picture of our band-we didn't buy the dvd.
After our "music experience" we headed across the street to the Space Needle. It was the most expensive elevator ride I have ever taken! It was fun though, and cool to see the city all lit up. Seattle is a very pretty city.

We went home and got up the next morning to go see what Samantha had been up to all weekend while we were touring around Seattle.

Samantha was accepted by audition into the WIBC band. WIBC stands for Western International Band Clinic and basically involves, as far as the students are concerned 3 full days of rehearsals with different conductors and a final performance.

We are very proud of Samantha for having been accepted into this band clinic as a freshman. These are the best band kids in all of Oregon and Washington and a smattering from other nearby states. Only a handful of students from her school were selected, so we are very proud of her.

Here is some video of the band performing. Unfortunately it is very hard to see Samantha, but you can still enjoy the music :D

CONGRATULATIONS SAMANTHA!

You did a great job!

November Highlights- Lots of flute performances

2009-11-27T20:07:00.000-08:00

One crisp fall afternoon we decided to go play in the leaves. However there are no leaf bearing trees near us (or big enough ones) so we had to head to the school to play in the leaves. Ethan wanted to take a rake, but I told him, if he wanted to take a rake over there, he would have to take it himself because I didn't want to carry it. Then he decided he wanted to ride his scooter over to the school, so this is how he managed it.

Looks pretty precarious doesn't it? (He DID make it to the school unscathed, surprisingly)

Fall leaves are so fun!
Star enjoyed it too!
Super heros!
An attempt at Charlie's Angels.
Considering the kids have never heard or seen of it... not bad :-)

Itchy, itchy, scratchy, scratchy leaves

Cool moon

November has been full of performances for Samantha on her flute.

First was the Veteran's parade

Then was the Ensemble concert in Sunriver.

Samantha's teacher, Pam Hughes, Sam and her ensemble flute trio
Samantha's Ensemble concert in Sunriver

We took the Elders out to eat at Pilot Butte Burger and Elder Yost polished off this 16oz. burger without any problem. Elder Simpson settled for the regular burger.

Our YW in Excellence night was really nice. These are our girls.

Samantha also performed on her flute at the YWIE.
Samantha, a beautiful "example of the believers"
Check out the WIBC/Seattle post for more of Samantha's flute performances this month.

October in a nutshell

2009-11-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

We got a VERY early first snowfall here on Oct 4th. The kids were so excited! Ethan came running in my room at 6am telling me to look outside it snowed! I expected to see a skiff on the ground, but to my surprise it was coming down pretty good and had already accumulated a nice amount.

Here they are out in their jammies at 7am

It was especially wonderful that it was on General Conference Sunday, which meant we had no where to go and nothing to do. A PERFECT snow day!

October also brought Youth Conference and a temple trip for Samantha and I, so Brad kept the others entertained at the Pumpkin Patch

Lots o'pumpkins

Ethan and Abby are in the first car. The driver had a "skill testing question" and guess who won?

Yes, of course Ethan, our lucky boy!

Here is Abby shooting the pumpkin cannon.

Pumpkins are loaded into the cannon, and you aim for vehicles out in the field Let Ethan demonstrate...

How testosterone loaded is that cannon??

Some cool looking gourds

Bruce came out to visit us for a couple days which was nice. He hadn't been out to Bend yet, so it was nice to be able to show him around and spend some time with the kids.

Ethan was in a play at school: "The Legend of Damon and Pythias". He was a soldier and had a few lines. Unfortunately my batteries ran out on my camera, so I didn't get any video of our star, but here are a few pictures. The production was REALLY well done!!

They had a civil war encampment at the High Desert Museum, so we headed out to see what that was all about. Here is Abby playing a game with one of the soldiers. I got to pick up and hold up one of those rifles with a bayonet on it and wow, are they ever heavy! Makes you appreciate their fortitude and dedication.

Here, Ethan is signing up to join the troops

Pumpkin carving
The final product
This year's "goblins"
Ethan could not get over this King Size candy bar someone gave him trick or treating. He was SO excited about it!! The only way to describe it is kindof like in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Ethan kept turning it over in his hands and admiring it, and couldn't wait to eat it the next day. So funny!!

Birthday Trip to hot springs, September happenings, and... MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!

2009-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've got some MAJOR catching up to do... so here we go...

In Sept. for my birthday, all I wanted to do was go to the Belnap Hot Springs... so to the hot springs we went. It was a PERFECT day to go, not too hot, not too cold.

Can you see us in the reflection? Beautiful gardens at the hot springs

On our little jaunt around the hot springs the kids found this and thought it was fun to climb on

Ahhh... so nice and warm...

I am now 36!

Look at that steam... it was WONDERFUL! So RELAXING!

We could only take it for an hour though... then it got to be a little too much.

Just behind us you can see/feel the springs coming out of the ground. Super HOT!

A couple times this summer we went to what they call "Munch and Movies" It is a family friendly movie in the park at dusk. It is so much fun. Here the kids are getting ready with their sleeping bags and blankets

I think we're watching "Kung Fu Panda"
Last, but certainly not least is the ring I got for my birthday/our anniversary from Brad.

I have been admiring my girlfriend, Shelagh's ring since I noticed it not long after we moved here. She is from Ireland and had got her ring there, so there really wasn't a chance of me finding one here. Brad, being the awesome hubby he is, when he found out Shelagh was going home to Ireland asked her to buy the ring for him so I could have it. Shelagh, being the super cool gal she is took some time out of her vacation to go pick the ring up for me. Isn't that so cool?

So here is my BEAUTIFUL IRISH ring- directly to me from across the pond!!

I LOVE IT!

Speaking of rings...

Ethan had a little mishap with his. He got his CTR ring for his birthday, but it was a little big, so one morning he decided that if he bit it and squeezed it a little tighter on his finger it wouldn't slide around. He kept biting it and trying to reshape it until it was on his finger so tight we couldn't get it off. So... before school we headed over to the fire department (across the street) and they were very nice and quickly cut his ring off for him, and we were out of there in time for him to head off to school. Quite an exciting morning!

Monster Mash

2009-10-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

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Adventures with the Lund boys

2009-10-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

August 30th- Sept 7th we had the great pleasure of having the Lund boys stay with us. You couldn't ask for better boys! They were so much fun to have around. While I didn't get to take pictures of all our fun, I did get a few.

One day we headed up to Todd Lake for a little picnic

BEAUTIFUL Central Oregon day!
The kids played in the lake
Ethan LOVED being able to tag along with the big boys
And what would a trip to Todd Lake be without some frog hunting??

On another trip we spent the day at Tumalo State Park with our friends the Adams and Jacksons.

What a good sister, helping her brother across the creek

Brighton having a great time teasing the girls

Floating down the creek proved to be a fun time for everyone

Samantha even took this little girl with her one time, as she had been longingly watching the fun, but had no tube of her own

We also had a lot of fun having backyard fires with the boys

and "The Weston" was born. As we were getting out the fixings for the s'mores Weston asked if we could peanut butter on the graham crackers with our s'mores. The result? Perfect deliciousness we now call "The Weston"

It was sad to let the boys go home. We had such a good time with them, and they really became part of the family. We are so happy that Weston now drops in a few times each week after school to hang out with us, 'cause he really is like a big brother for Ethan and a good friend to the girls.

Jacksonville & Oregon Caves & Butte Creek Mill Aug 27, 28 & 29

2009-10-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

After our trip to Harry and David we decided to head out to Jacksonville: a pretty historical town just outside of Medford where over 100 buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

There was a neat museum there with an original Coleman stove... not that much different from the Coleman stove today!The kids enjoyed playing the in the Children's museum So did I :-) The vineyards and fruit orchards around Jacksonville were so prettyThursday night and Friday we took some time to do some back to school shopping atTHE MALL! Wahoo!Ethan got fixated on buying this puppet with his birthday money

"Burt" has since provided many hours of entertainment.Friday morning we headed out for the Oregon Caves.

We plugged the address into our trusty GPS and headed out. It was a beautiful trip into the valleys and farmlands, then up a mountain.... on a dirt road??? We ended up getting lost up on some Forest Road with no satellite service and crazy narrow dirt roads. Luckily we had a travelling companion we met along the way who was just as lost as we were, but he had better maps, so we DID eventually find our way after an extra hour of travel and some frustration.

The van was FILTHY from all the dust on the roads

The cave tour was really cool

It was a 90 minute tour, so we got to spend a LOT of time meandering through the underworld

We took the "scenic route" hike down from the caves and got this cool view of the Siskiyou mountain range

Needless to say, we took the highway home!

Saturday we headed back home with a stop in Eagle Point to see the Butte Creek Mill.

This ended up being a fun stop. Here's a little info:

The mill began operation in 1872, built by the pioneers with double-bitted axes and hand saws felled trees that were already more than one hundred years old. Foundation pillars nearly two feet square, were hewn with broad axes; the beams were morticed together and secured to one another with hardwood pegs; boards for the walls were whipsawed from logs and nailed on with hand made square nails. The mill consists of a basement and three floors.

Water from the dam, a short walk upstream, flows in the millrace to the lower level of the mill where it turns a turbine that powers the wheels, pulleys, shafts, belts, and the millstones that power the whole milling process. Water returns to the creek through the tailrace.

The stones (1,400 pounds each) that do the work were quarried in France, assembled in Illinois, shipped around the horn to Crescent City and then carried over the mountains by horse and wagon and put into service more than 134 years ago.

Here's Ethan letting the water in to start everything turning to grind the grain

At the mill was a cute little store where you could buy their products

and this super cool old refrigerator

Next door was one of the coolest antique stores I have ever seen as well. Well worth the stop.

Great little Oregon vacation!

Crater Lake & Harry and David Aug 26 &27

2009-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

August 25 our family headed out for a little mini-vaca and checked out Crater Lake (about 90 min. from Bend).

The lake is SO BLUE, it is hard to describe.

At 2000 feet deep it is the deepest lake in the U.S.

It is a caldera filled only by precipitation, hence it's pure clarity.

I thought about packing a lunch, but read there were dining options available.

Um, not next time... we paid 4 BUCKS for a PB & J!!!
So pretty... you can drive all around the rim of the lake

Along our drive on the rim

These were called the pinnacles

Interesting volcanic fumaroles

After Crater Lake we headed into Medford.

Here is the princess travelling light.

She is carrying 4 bags in this pic, and I had to take her shoes for her for our 2 night stay!!

Medford is the home of Harry and David.

Their pear orchard is in Medford as is their production plant, so the next day we went on the free tour they offered. It was really interesting.

EVERYTHING is packaged by hand!!

I'd never seen anything like it... lots and lots and lots of food and candy!

Here is a woman tying bows by hand!

Now I have a better appreciation for and know why their products are rather pricey.

Making "Moose Munch" Yum!!

At the end of our tour we got a little treat. Mmmm!

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and recommend it to anyone heading out to Medford.

While in Medford we were also able to catch up with Brad's colleague, Po, from Boston, and his fiance, so that was a nice treat too.

Abby's 6th Birthday

2009-10-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

On August 24th we celebrated Abby's 6th birthday.

In attendance were Isaac, Ethan, Chole, McKenzie, Carson, Kennedy and Taylor Abby helped decorate her puppy cake.

I thought it turned out cute!

The party guests

Grandpa's first visit without snow: Aug 16-25

2009-10-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

As part of our backyard improvements we have finally bought a firepit and chairs for everyone to sit on. It only took us 2 years... I know... sad.

The kids were having a great time having rolling races in the backyard until they noticed they were getting tiny cuts from the grass. In an effort to protect themselves they donned the carrying totes for our chairs and continued to roll around in the grass... weirdos! Dad chillin' by our new fire pitGoofin' around in the yard

Ethan's first cub scout activity was the Space Derby. The boys and their siblings were invited to make rockets to later race with the other boys and their families.

This was a great activity and kept them engaged in sanding, glueing, shaping and painting for the better part of the afternoon. This was a great grandpa activity too since he spent a good 10 years as a cub scout leader in the 80's. Sadly I do not have a picture of Ethan with his finished product, and I was unable to attend the actual Space Derby which sounded fun. The real hit however was not the Space Derby itself but the awesome backyard it was hosted in. Check it out...
Aug 19 Space Derby

We took dad up to Sparks Lake
where it got a little toasty, and Abby and Ethan engaged in a little sibling rivalry

Abby lookin' for frogs

Caught one! (actually a bunch :D)

Saturday August 22nd we headed out to the Central Oregon Airshow.

It was a perfect day for an airshow. Not too hot at all (notice we ALL have chairs!! :D)

Grandpa's always up for an airshow.

It was a pretty small scale airshow. This was the only jet they had, but it was still a fun, entertaining afternoon.

We also went floating down the river, but it is a bit risky taking the camera down the river, so we don't have pictures of our float trip I'm afraid.

It was nice having dad visit with some nice weather. The only time he has visited us in the last 8 years was in the winter, so it was great to go out and have some summer fun!

First snow fall?? on Oct. 4th???

2009-10-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up at 6:45am to Ethan jumping on our heads telling us: "Get up! Get up! Come see I wrote my name in the snow... It's snowing outside!" I thought there was maybe a skiff of snow (it IS after all OCT. 4TH), and then Ethan threw up the blinds to show us the accumulation outside, and it was a pretty good snow!

The kids were so giddy with excitement to go out and play in the snow. I think there is nothing like the excitement of kids on the first day of snow. They are so thrilled, it's just like they've seen it again for the first time. It is so fun!!
The first snowfall is always so fun... especially so when it was so unexpected!

It continued to snow until early afternoon and we ended up with a couple inches of snow to play with in the afternoon.

It was especially nice that it was General Conference today, so we didn't have to go to church and could stay at home with the fire and hot chocolate :-D

100 Days of holiday cookies

2009-09-23T09:18:00.001-07:00

Celtic Festival and Scottish Highland Games 8/8

2009-09-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

August 8th we decided to head up to Madras for the "Celtic Festival and Scottish Highland Games", not really knowing what we would find.

There were feats of strength like this one: the caber toss

and the stone puttand drinks... but we stayed away from the ale and opted for the sodas.

Brad with our $3 cans of imported Scottish soda, recommended of course by the guy selling them :D

They WERE very flavorful actually. The one on the left is Ben Shaw's and it is DANDELION AND BURDOCK soda and the other is Blackcurrant. The dandelion one won for the most different taste, and was actually quite tasty although the kids didn't go for it at all. and food... well... Haggis in a can
fun for the kids
and dancing

and singing

and of course bagpipes

(which drove Ethan crazy- guess our Scot blood doesn't flow as thick through him :D)

On our way home we stopped by the Crooked River gorge. We drive over it all the time, but never stop to take a look. It was an amazing 300 foot straight drop down into the gorge. It was quite impressive.

It was very romantic that a train went over the gorge while we were there.

All in all another great Bryan adventure!

Water ski trip- Aug 5

2009-09-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Sunday after Ethan's baptism I was called to be in the YW Presidency. I was especially thrilled to learn that my first activity would be the youth water ski trip, and when mom and Karl offered to stay an extra day to watch the kids so I could go, I was thrilled.

Here are some girls who went swimming while waiting for their turn on a ski boat. The craziest thing happened while we were waiting... this huge branch of this tree next to where we were sitting just fell off the tree!! It smashed 2 of the 4 shade shelters the group next to us had set up. Going for a tube ride

Our fearless leader

More tubing fun

I know you can't tell, but that's me water skiing!! I was so proud of myself for getting up and staying up as long as I did. I hadn't water skiied since I was 17, so I was both nervous and excited to see if I could do it again. It was exhilarating!!

Now I NEED A BOAT!
Last crew of the day coming in

What an awesome day! I loved it!!

Thanks to everyone who brought boats, skis and various toys to play with. It was PERFECT!

Putting on a show for our visitors

2009-09-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this picture from Saturday night after the baptism party. Ethan was very proud of his cup tower. Sunday after church we decided to take the grandparents up to Todd lake for a picnic and walk around the lake.

Sandra enjoyed dipping her toes in the water
and the kids chased after and gathered tadpoles
lots of 'em
The meadow flowers were so pretty

...and then Brad and Ethan caught a snake... of course

It was a perfect day to be up at the lake

Star had a fun (and very dirty) time too and zonked out on the way home

Sunday night the kids put on a little talent/variety show which was fun.

Mother nature put on an amazing show as well

The sky was beautiful

Star didn't like the thunder though...

Monday Sandra had to fly home in the morning, and in the afternoon we took mom and Karl out to Paulina falls, the Obsidian flow and McKay campground.

Here are the falls, but I didn't take any other pictures since we already have plenty of other pics in these places.

Mom's camera has all the pictures from the obsidian flow and the McKay campground waterfall, and I didn't remember to take them off her camera before she left :(

I DID however get this clip of Karl taking a shower:

While our visitors were here we also played alot of hands of these two games. They are both so fun and we highly recommend them.

and tried to show them a good time by not beating them too badly.
I'm not sure what we did Tuesday (although I'm sure it involved a few hands of cards), then Wednesday was the youth waterski trip (later post) and when we got home we headed out to "Meadow Camp" (where we take everyone) for a cookout

Sadly our last visitors had to leave, but it was great to spend some time together while we could and hope they enjoyed our Central Oregon show.

Ethan's Baptism- August 1

2009-09-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 1st was Ethan's big day. The day he was baptized to become a member of the church. Even though it was to be a stake baptism, Ethan ended up being the only one, so we got to have our own little private baptism, just for our boy!

Again, I was a bit sad that so many friends were out of town, but it didn't diminsh the day for Ethan at all. Grandma Whiting joined us for his special day

and so did gramma and Karl

Here he is just before the service

Dad and his boy

It was nice to have both grandma's speak at his baptism since he was the only one. It was a very sweet meeting.

Afterwards we had planned to have friends over to the house, only to find the power out when we arrived! There had been a lot of lightning and thunder which had apparently knocked out the power. Luckily it had just happened, so the pasta was still warm and the rest we cooked out on the BBQ without any problem.

It was nice to have in addition to family, the Petzingers, the Wiaters, and the Birnels (who made the trip from Portland-thanks) to be with us on his special day.

Here is a picture of our candles lighting our dim kitchen for our supper. My favorite dessert was the chocolate triffle with gummy worms. So perfect for Ethan!

Yee-Haw! Let's go to the county fair- July 30

2009-09-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

On Friday July 30th Sandra flew in, and mom and Karl drove in for the weekend. The Deschutes County Fair was free Friday before 3pm so, we decided to head out to the fair before we had to pay. We hadn't counted on the crowds and as 2pm was quickly approaching we had to make a plan. I told the parking attendent that I just wanted to drop the bunch off, so he waved me through and Sandra quickly jumped out of the car with the kids at 2:57pm. We figured paying for one was better than paying for 6. Turns out I lucked out and got a parking spot real close and squeaked into the free entrance around 3:03. Phew!

It was a very toasty afternoon so we spent the first couple hours inside looking at exhibits which is where we happened across mom and Karl about 30min. after we had arrived. Lucky!

Karl snuck off with Ethan for some "male bonding" and came back with this HUGE jawbreaker!Ethan is still working on it, but it is more than half gone.

What's a fair without some greasy food and something sweet to swig it down?

Abby was less than impressed with the pony ride. She did NOT like being "babysat" by the boy who was there to make sure the kids were safe. We saw tonnes of goats, chickens, guinea pig, rabbits, and various other animals of course...
We hit the rodeo, which was a bit lacking in excitement and then it was on to the rides!

LOVE the county fair! It is always such a fun and exhausting day!

Ethan's 8th birthday

2009-09-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

July 28th was Ethan's 8th birthday.

He was born in Boston, MA while we were living in Dedham. His is my only "normal" birth experience. Saturday morning we went for a big walk (trying to get things moving), then had Thai for lunch (trying to get things moving), put the girls down for a nap and watched Grease on TV since it was the Saturday afternoon movie on TV. Then, finally in the late afternoon things got going :D We left the girls at the Cox's and went in to Boston to have the baby.

Only problem was that by the time we went to the hospital my mom was in the air flying to Mass. She didn't have a cell phone and we weren't sure how to get a hold of her to let her know we wouldn't be at the airport to pick her up and that we were at the hospital. My sister Christie won the award for level-headedness and suggested a call to the airline in Boston. She took care of that for us (thank you Christie) and they paged my mom when she landed to give her the message to just take a taxi to the hospital.... which she did.

So.. my mom was there when Ethan was born! Something I never expected to happen always living so far from family. It was very uneventful and after 5 min. of pushing he was born at 11:45pm - 2 weeks early at a whopping 7lb 2oz.

That was the last time life with Ethan was "uneventful"

Ethan at 3 mo.
Around 3 yrs old
7 years old
Ethan is always trying to get a laugh. Most of the time this is good, but it has got him in trouble a few times too. He spends most of his days after school building and riding on his bike jump out in "the field" or collecting critters.

I was a bit sad that I didn't have more of Ethan's school pals phone #s to invite them to his birthday party, and that the people I DID know were out of town. Ethan didn't seem to mind though. He just wanted some bodies there to celebrate his birthday. I'm SO glad he is easy going that way. He was rather determined to have his birthday party ON his actual birthday though. Don't know why, but it was pretty important to him.

Here's the motley crew

Ethan had a great time at his party!

My dad had bought these noisy balloons when he was here at Christmas time and saved them for Ethan's birthday. They were a big hit.

Happy Birthday to my best boy!

Ethan's baseball

2009-09-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ethan played Park and Rec baseball again this summer

In action
There were only 6 boys on Ethan's team so the boys got a lot of playing time both on the infield and hitting. By the end of the season the boys had really improved which made for some fun games

Ethan's RBI double

Ethan's RBI single

Coach Chip was again, an awesome coach.

I love the Park and Rec league. It is very low key... just some kids out having fun, hitting a baseball around. LOVE IT!

Cascade Cycling Classic- July 25

2009-09-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

We were SO lucky this year to have the best seat in Bend for the Cascade Cycling Classic downtown crit (Thank you Hansens!!).

The race is basically 140 cyclists biking around in circles in downtown Bend for 90 minutes going 40mph! It gets pretty intense

Abby was pretty focused as you can see...
Brad took the next few pictures. I thought they turned out pretty cool lookin'.

Ethan watching in style

The cool thing is that the race is so long it is hard to predict the winners.

Some of the victors (who lovingly shared their beer with us by spraying us... thanks!)
Very cool event!

Entrepreneurs

2009-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Isn't trying to sell something to your neighbours a right of passage for childhood?

Who as a kid didn't try to make a buck some how?

One Saturday the kids went in the back alley and gathered a bunch of pumice which they call "chalk rocks" since they will mark the pavement and set up shop.

Ethan and Abby even solicited the neighbour kids to help them
I think they ended up profiting about $2.

What did you sell to your neighbours as a child?

For me it was Kool Aid and rocks.

Abby's new found freedom!

2009-09-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

She FINALLY DID IT!

Yay for Brad teaching this child, since I had to teach the other 3.

Now she'll be ready to ride to school!

In the land of the giants- Day 4 & 5: July 16 & 17

2009-09-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Another thing I loved about the place we stayed was that Brad and I had our own bedroom and could sleep in. However you never quite know what goes on while you're sleeping... I found this clip on the camera when we got home...

Ethan loved the wood stove and wanted to make a fire every morning and evening and even did it himself one morning!!

The house also had no internet or TV, although it did have a dvd player so we let the kids watch a movie while we were there, but other than that we were pretty much "unplugged." While initially frustrating, it was also refreshing to be seperated and spend time playing games together and relaxing outside.

The flowers in the backyard were so pretty.

Thursday we went Trinidad State Beach to check out the tide pools. Again, it was pretty chilly.

Samantha's "Ariel" picture

Since Harry Potter opened the day earlier we decided to go into Eureka to check it out (and so Brad could get more salt water taffy :D).

Very good film, and I'm not really a Harry Potter fan. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you go (we've been to see it again since)
Friday it was time to say goodbye and head home. A MUST stop on the way home was "Paul Bunyon." As a child my parents took us through the redwoods and I have a very clear memory of stopping here, so we had to do the same. He is cooler now though since he now talks to you.

Redwoods vacation: Success!

In the land of the giants- Day 3- July 15

2009-09-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we decided to go to Fern Canyon, packed a lunch and ate on the chilly foggy beach near the canyon. The chilly air didn't stop the kids from playing around in the sand though.

It was a really cool canyon you could walk up with a little creek running through it.

It was very cool lookin'

Abby wanted me to take a video of her "taking a shower"

At the end of the canyon we went on a little hike and saw these HUGE leaves

After our trip to the Fern Canyon we stopped by "Big Tree"

This was the tallest redwood in the forest there until a few years ago some of the top broke off, but you can't see that high to know the difference anyway.

Then we went to the lookout the Park Ranger suggested to go see the eagles.

Check out the amazing view and all the eagles:

I was surprised by how cold it was the whole time we were there (with the exception of Tuesday afternoon). We wore jackets or long sleeved shirts and pants most of our time there. Brrr!

In the land of the Giants- Day 2: July 14

2009-09-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning we went to the Humbolt University Marine lab and checked out their "touch tank"

Then we took a walk out on the pier and on the beach of Trinidad Bay and found this guy snoozing
Trinidad used to be a big whaling town and was known for the horrible smell from the whale processing plant. These are remnants of the slip where they used to pull the whales up to shore.
This guy just came off a chartered boat fishing tour with his halibut.
We headed into Eureka for the afternoon and watched the pelicans dive for fish off the pier and checked out the cool old buildings downtown. Brad's favorite stop was the salt water taffy shop where he got a big bag of the stuff.
We went back to the house in Trinidad and spent some time just hanging out in the backyard and watching the waves come in with the sun shining on our faces, and a slight breeze. One of those days you wish you could put in a bottle and open whenever you wanted to.

After hanging out at the house for awhile we decided to go down to Agate Beach and well... search for agate. There were tonnes of cool rocks on the beach and Brad and the kids left with pockets full of "cool rocks." What we are going to do with them... I don't know, but it was fun hunting.

Abby enjoyed the beach and wrote this message in the sand for Samantha. It reads "S I A" which she said stands for Sam Is Awesome

I love this pic of the girls

A nice way to end our day

In the land of the Giants - Day 1: July 13

2009-09-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

On July 13th we headed out for our family vacation to the California Redwoods. When Ethan's primary teacher asked him where he was going he told her... "To go look at some trees" and just shrugged his shoulders. I think by the end of our trip though he had been impressed.
On our drive we pulled over at the Rogue River Gorge. It was a great stop we had no idea was there, but was definitely worth the stop and the short walk along the gorge.

We decided to stop for some lunch in Shady Cove @ Phil's Frosty.

We've decided we want to try and eat local wherever we go and stay away from big chains when we can... just for fun, plus it gives you a better flavor for the town and helps the local economy.

We stopped at the Prairie Creek visitors centre and they sent us to this nice drive and a hike through an "old growth" redwood forest.

The sheer size of these trees has to be experienced. It can not be captured in a picture.

When I look at this picture I can't believe how huge these trees are compared to Ethan. While you are in the grove they are all so big you kind of lose perspective because it takes a REALLY huge one to look big next to the other huge trees.
The base of this tree is massive!!
A little further down the road as we approached Elk Meadow we came across these

These were actually in the meadow

About 8 hours after our departure we arrived here
our home away from home in Trinidad for the next 4 nights.

Upon arriving Ethan quickly discovered something in the wood pile

and on the plants outside were a bunch of these

Who could ask for anything more?

Campfire USA- by Elise

2009-08-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

July 6-10th all the kids went to the Campfire USA camps. The little kids program was a program at a local school which I have no pictures for, but the big girls camp was much more exciting and we were able to get some pics from the counselors there.

Now I yield to my guest blogger: Elise

So this is our first day at camp. We went to Mt. Bachelor. In this pic our whole group is in front of a place to eat. We just rode the ski lift up to a place a little past the middle of the mountain. It was fun but it was lame because they said we were going to hike up to the summit and then when we were going to, they chickened out. They said it was too far (which it wasn't at all.) So we hiked DOWN the mountain. But then since some people wanted to ride down the ski lift we rode it back up, stayed for about 20 minutes, and then rode back down. Overall, it was fun.

The next day we went hiking, canoeing, and kayaking at Elk Lake. Only some of the people went swimming including me. It was really fun. We first split into two groups. Younger and older. I don't know why but somehow I got into the older group and we went hiking first. The hike was about 3 miles, maybe a little longer. But, I didn't say it was fun. There were a lot of mosquitoes. They were all over the place! It was like it was heaven for the mosquitoes. In the pic our group are swatting away mosquitoes. We couldn't even smile for the picture! They were biting us all over. We almost ran back after we hiked a good one and a half miles.

Now after the horrific hike Sam and I went canoeing and kayaking together. I think Sam and I both liked kayaking better probably because it's more fun and easier to control. In the middle, before we switched, I swam in the lake with a couple other people not including Sam. She wanted to go kayaking and gave me a lecture about how my mom spent money for us to go canoeing and kayaking and not swimming. But that day they said we were going to go swimming and I even put my bathing suit on so I went swimming. That day was really cool. On the third day, which was the best day, we went white water rafting all day down the McKenzie river. It was sooo fun! In the picture we are all geared up and myself personally, felt like a hippo in the coat, life jacket, and helmet. The life jacket was HUGE! Well it's just to keep us safe. So I went on a raft with two of my counselors, two of my friends that I met, Sam, and the river guide who was awesome. So on the river it was really fun! At first we took it slow and then we went into to some fun rapids. I had a great time!! After rafting we made tin foil dinners. They were so good! We put soup, corn, rice, pepper, and all kinds of things in them. They were sooo delicious! We camped that night at a place called Paradise. It was a good camping ground. Yeah that night was really hot so I didn't get much sleep but it was ok.

So we've come to the fourth day where everything changed. DO NOT LOOK AHEAD! It will spoil the story. So this is the story that the counselors were all worked up about. That day we were going to hike to a place called blue pool and they said we might hike to the waterfalls. So we drove to the place and had lunch and started hiking. There was these five people secluded from the rest of the group. Sam, Khaida, Megan, Stephenie, which was a counselor, and myself. We got to the pool way later than the rest of them and didn't see them. Blue pool was sooo beautiful. It was like it was dyed blue and sooo pretty. So back to the story. We thought that they went past the blue pool to the waterfalls. I'll get back to that later. So we kept going on. We kept stopping for 10 minute breaks and thought we weren't catching up with them for that reason. So we got to the first waterfall and it was really pretty. We spent about 5 to 8 minutes there. Then we started walking again. So after about 10 minutes we got to the second waterfall. That was really pretty, too. Plus, there was a mini rainbow made from the mist from the waterfall. We spent 10 minutes there. Finally we were doing the final stretch of the hike. We got across the bridge, hiked a little longer, and then got to the place where they were supposed to meet us. But instead of someone there, there was a note. The not said 'We went back to camp. Call me on my cell.' Then it said her cell number. First of all, there was no reception. Second, no cell. So we had no way to contact them and say that we weren't hurt or anything like that. So we were sorta upset with them for leaving us there. What if one of us were hurt? What if we had no way we could get back? What if one of us died? You never know. So then we waited and found someone who could give us a ride in the back of their truck. Then we hitch-hiked to Stephanie's car in this random but nice guys truck. When we got to her car we found a note on Stephanie's car saying 'We are leaving for the hot springs at 6:00' It was 6:15. Then after we found two of the counselors near the car. It turned out they went down to the blue pool and then hiked back the way our whole group came in. We explained that we didn't see them at all. So then we went back to camp and everyone was like "You survived." We also explained to them that we went to the waterfalls and didn't see them at the blue pool. We ate dinner and went to the hot springs. It was really relaxing after all that. It was a long day. We also had to camp that night. But it was better that night. Got about 7 hours of sleep.

Our little 'group' hiking
The First Waterfall Sam and I looking out to the second waterfall.

The Second Waterfall

Isn't it cool how there's a rainbow? Why? Why did they leave us here? This is a pic we took before we hitch-hiked.
Ahhhhh........ the nice feel of the hot springs. It was sooo relaxing after the hiking.
We stopped here on our way back from the camp. Here there were caves and in the background is my friend, Khaida. The caves were cool. Ok.

This week was so long! Thursday was the longest though. Overall I really liked this camp. The rafting was the best day during the week. It was good.

Ward Camp Out '09

2009-08-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

July 10th we headed up to Hoodoo ski resort for our ward campout.

We did some grillin'

and some chillin'

and a fun campfire
The YW had a tent to themselves. Thankfully the night was much warmer than last years ward camp out.
Ethan and Breanne made some fun finds
(can you say "dirty boy"?)
If there is a critter to be found... Ethan will find it!

Breanne and Ethan had some fun on the chairlift too

(Brad was terribly disappointed to see how small the ski hill looked without snow on it... "that's it?" It looks so much steeper when I'm going down it!")

Once we were all packed up John and Kim took us to the summit which was beautiful!

It was nice of them to take us in their vehicle, since the minivan would have never been able to make it up that steep and rough road.

(yes, I am in my pajamas... I couldn't bother to get dressed)

Fabulous Fourth

2009-08-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

This year we had a super fun, super busy Fourth of July.

We started with the pet parade

The "Star" of the show!
It blows me away how many people come out to this event!!

Star "working the crowd"

Some fish in the pet parade! LOL!

and some very important chickens too

"Best of Show" had to go to this pup though...

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's a flying dog??!!

Can you see his little goggles?

Then it was off to the festivities in the park

and the ever popular "fish fling." No winners this year, though :-(

The Hansen's joined us and the girls chilled in the park and listened to some music (not as thrilled about the fish fling as me and the little ones)

Then it was over to Hansen's for a BBQ and swim in the pool

Mmmm! Everything was great!

Good friends! Good times!

When we left Hansen's we saw these baby quail on the side of the road. They were SO CUTE! It was amazing watching them jump up that curb

This little guy was injured. We tried to help him along his way...

Then it was time to break out the fireworks!!

We were fortunate enough to have the West's join us this year which made it doubly fun with double the fireworks

Gabe and Rick had picked out some big ones...

We had enough fireworks to play with for an hour before the show started on the Butte.

What a great time, and an absolutely beautiful night!!
ANOTHER FABULOUS FOURTH!

A little fishy-July 3

2009-08-11T01:56:00.000-07:00

We headed out to the real "head of the Metolius river" It was actually quite un-spectacular, the tributary springs Brad and the kids saw a few months ago were more of a sight to see, however there WAS a very pretty view of Mount Adams from there.

Then it was off to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.

This was surprisingly a very fun trip. This is the BEST fish hatchery. We were there for about 2.5 hours!!

Here are some trout jumping

If you are in the area and decide to check it out be sure to take plenty of quarters to buy fish food to feed the fish
SO FUN!

These were the big guys
The location is beautiful to take a picnic lunch, and on a hot day in town it is about 10-15 degrees cooler up there!

Myles and Brenda Part 1-June 23,24,25

2009-08-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

We were SO EXCITED to have Brenda and Myles visit us this year!! They arrived on June 23rd and we got them on the run right away with a trip to the Bend Elks baseball game.

Myles was a real trooper staying up as long as he did especially since they had been up since 4:30am Eastern time!!
Wednesday was "Paulina Plunge" day.
We stopped at the first waterfall and had lunch

Here's the gang at the second waterfall

and taking a dip in the pool at the base of the 3rd waterfall

Myles was fearless on the rock slide.

He just couldn't get enough

The last set of waterfalls at McKay Crossing campground

We would have liked to have stayed longer, but had to get home and pick up Brad

Paulina Plunge hike: Success!!

Myles and Brenda Part 2- 26, 27,28, 29

2009-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday Brenda didn't feel so hot, so we just made a little trip up to Scout lake where this cute little guy camped out by us to see what he could get.

The lake was amazingly warm for June. As you waded around you could feel hot spots where springs were feeding in to it.

There were a bunch of floating logs for the kids to play on.
Very nice little quick get away.
Saturday we went out to the Metolius Preserve for their kids nature walk.
We saw a lot of interesting things
and got to try and get food out of bark like the birds do

and disect owl pellets

Check out those small rodent skeltons

There were a tonne of butterflies out as well

Sunday we took them out to Tumalo Falls

Here Ethan and Myles had thrown a bunch of stuff in Abby's hair, so they had to help her get it out. So much fun to have someone else to torture... er...play with!

We had to go out to Meadow Camp again for a cook out too

It was all over so quickly!! I think Monday we floated the river and then it was time for them to leave :-(

We are so glad they came out and had a super fun time with us!!

Thanks for coming guys! We miss you!!

Oh What do you do in the summer time?

2009-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool?

It was great to see the Victors and hang out with them a bit once school was out
Sun bathin' mommas

Do you make tents in the backyard?

Or roll your siblings around in the recycling cart??

The kids had a total BLAST doing this on a couple different days.

It cracks me up!

Or do you play mini golf?

Summer is SO fun!! I love it!

Wychus Creek/Alder Springs- June 15

2009-08-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

One of Brad's colleagues told us about this cool hike down to Wychus Creek (once called Squaw Creek, but that isn't allowed anymore) and Alder Springs.

It is a spring at the bottom of a very dry canyon, so it is like a little oasis in the desert.

There were some cool formations on our way down

Star was going nuts digging her nose in a bush and when we pulled her away this is what we found- Ethan and Abby at the head of Alder Springs.

Since Star is not a swimmer Brad carried her across the

creekEthan loved fording the creek, back and forth holding on to the rope, until one time he slipped...

It was pretty scary because he was caught by his neck on the rope while his body was being pulled down stream and he couldn't get his legs underneath him to stand up.

Luckily Brad was close by and with some quick thinking was able to rescue Ethan.

After the scary experience.... he only suffered a mild rope burn on his neck

His sisters were so relieved when it was all over

Beautiful day though and a very nice hike.

Alder Springs
Alder Springs is close to being an all-season hike, and it is one of the Sisters Country’s most rewarding. At about six miles round trip it’s rated “most difficult” due to a steep return trip out of the canyon and some rough, rock-strewn spots in the trail.
Wildflowers abound in the early- to midsummer months. Be prepared to cross Whychus Creek. Water shoes and a small towel are a good idea and many hikers use a walking stick or a pair of ski poles to retain balance in the swift-moving water.
To get there, take Highway 126 east from Sisters about 6 miles to Holmes Road. Turn left and stay on Holmes Road for about 7 miles, and turn left again onto Road 6360. Watch for cattle in the road after the cattle guard at the top of the hill. Stay on the gravel road for a little more than 3 miles to a right onto Road 6370. The road ends at the trailhead after another half mile.

Sister's Rodeo- June 12

2009-08-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

We headed out to the Sisters' Rodeo again this year. We weren't sure how it was going to go since it had been wet all day, but in the end it was a nice evening and warmer than last year.
Something exciting is going on here. Abby's favorite by far is the barrel racing.

YUM!

(fat free and sugar free ofcourse!)

WINNERS!!

Brad caught this Tshirt that was thrown out into the crowd.

Yahoo!! Pretty exciting!

The end of the school year!!

2009-07-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year brings many fun festivities. One of these was Samantha's final middle school band concert. Samantha did an excellent job- as always, and even has a solo in one of the pieces.

Enjoy!

Samantha also had an end of the school year/ end of middle school dance. Her FIRST real dance!! :D

The theme was Hollywood, so she really glammed it up with the diamonds and the up-do.She looked very pretty for her big night out! Abby's class again had a special year end event for the parents to enjoy.

I hope you can hear over all the background noise.

Here she is with her teacher Ms. Sanchez on the last day of school.

Also at the end of the school year the kids had crazy hair day.

So, Ethan of course had a great idea: (I think he looks a lot like me in these pictures)
Another year of school finished! It has gone by so quickly. Hard to believe the kids have complete 2 years of school here already!

Obsidian Flow/Paulina Falls: May 30

2009-07-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

While Benji, Shawna and the kids were here we also had the chance to go up to Paulina Falls.

The kids in all their personality!
The obsidian flow was really cool to see as well

Elise with a big chunk of obsidian

But I think the best time of all was had by Star :D

More cousin fun

2009-07-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Benji, Shawna and the kids stuck around a bit longer after our coast trip and we had some more fun. Brad took Abby out to Sunriver where they were staying for a fun dip in the pool.

Aren't they bathin' beauties?

We also had a fun cook-out at our favorite stop
so sweet

Tell me you're not jealous of that perfect roast!!

Good times!

Bryan's Coast Trip: Day 4- May 27th

2009-07-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Sadly, all good things must come to an end... and we had to head back home. But, not before another trip to hike up the sand dunes. Samantha was our photographer on Wednesday since SHE got the stomach virus Tuesday night :(

Here we are for a last trip up the dunes

On our way home we stopped for a little hike. It was very interesting as the area was very tropical. We even found some critters (of course)

That rock in the distance out in the water is "haystack rock" where we stayed.

We also stopped at the dam at Detroit Lake

It was a GREAT, FABULOUS, RELAXING vacation (except for the sickies)
Even though the kids were sick, they were real troopers and kept up and had a good time.
Thanks to Benji, Shawna and kids for coming out and making this happen. I know we wouldn't have done it without you, and can't wait to do it again!!

Bryan's Coast Trip Day 3-May 26

2009-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Abby came down with Ethan's stomach virus on Tuesday, so she missed the trip to the tidepools. They were just down the beach a ways, so everyone (but Abby and I) had a morning walk down the beach to investigate the tide pools.

Here is Ethan and his shadow

It was so cute to watch Theron idolizing Ethan and thinking he was the coolest thing

Ethan didn't seem to mind at all :D

Looking for critters
We decided to take it a little easy and just have a beach day.

Ok, so our sandcastle won't exactly win any sand castle competitions... maybe an "E" for effort?

It was a great beach day!

It was a beautiful night too!

MUCH better than Sunday's fire on the beach! It was a perfect evening!!
We had a fire on the beach every night we were there, but Tuesday night was THE BEST!

Bryan's Coast Trip: Day 2- May 25

2009-07-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Monday morning it was off to Cape Meares

Complete with tour of the lighthouse

(if you double click you can see that's actually us in the lighthouse)

A bit of a tight squeeze "The Octopus Tree"

Then it was on to the Tilamook Cheese Factory.

You knew you were in dairy country as soon as you stepped out of the car!

I was excited to see the working cheese factory, but sadly we forgot it was a holiday, so we didn't get to see people working there, but we did get some awesome cheese samples

AND yummy ice cream!!!

Then, it was back to Pacific City to hike the sand dunes a few times.

It was a tough trek up and an awesome out of control run down :D

Samantha's in the striped orange shirt on the left with Elise sitting down, then Ethan and Brad just above them.

Very FULL and very fun day!!

Bryan's Coast Trip Day 1- May 24

2009-07-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

Our coast trip did not start out so smoothly. On our way Ethan started to not feel good, but luckily we were by a gas station when the inevitable happened so that we could buy supplies to clean up Ethan's initiation of the new van. It is truly "ours" now.

We arrived around supper time and the kids set up in their new digs

Elise and Benji enjoyed a fun run down to the beach

The kids got to work immediately digging a pit for us to build a fire in
For me it was too cold. But, this crew was DETERMINED to get a fire going... and they did!!
The beach house was awesome.. it was right on the beach... as you can see.

3-2-1 Blast-off!! May 16

2009-06-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

After taking the "short cut" to Prineville, which ended up taking 2 hours instead of an hour, we finally arrived at the resevoir for the "Star Party." They had a few solar telescopes to look in that were pretty cool, but we had missed a couple of the presentations we had hoped to see, since we were so late :-( We had to wait around awhile for the rocket building event, so the kids played around in the resevoir for awhile.

Then came the rocket building! The program was put on by a guy from NASA, so that was pretty cool.

I love Abby's goofy face in this picture

Building the rocket and LOTS of tape

TADA!

Now it's time to test out the rockets...

This was seriously SO fun! I want to make one of these at home! We stayed for quite a while watching all the kids launch their rockets. So fun!

We didn't stay for the actual "Star Party" since it would have had us out really late. We opted instead to go to the "Tastee Treet". Everytime we have driven through Prineville I have wanted to stop here and grab a bite to eat. It was the cutest diner run by high school kids... just what I expected. So fun!

The food wasn't bad either :-)

Mother's Day Tea- May 9

2009-06-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Abby's kindergarten class put on a "Mother's Day Tea" and it was really cute! The kids had made little stories and art work for their moms. The children sang a few songs, had refreshments and were reallly all just in heaven having their mothers with them. It is so fun to see them so thrilled to have you there and show off just a little :D

For Mother's day I got some cards from the kids, a garden hat, a new outfit, didnt' have to worry about dinner and I got my one wish: to watch a Red Sox game from start to finish without interuption (for the most part). The Sox even put up a win for me against Tampa Bay. A very relaxing mother's day.