The Good and the Bad

Over the last few months we have added a new item to our bedtime routine. It is something I learned when I was in college. I forgot about it and recently read from my friend's blog about it. It is called "The good and the bad". Before the boys go to bed, I asked them, "okay tell me the good and the bad." So, Jason and Matthew tell me one good thing and one bad thing that has happened during the day. (sometimes they tell me more than just one, which is fine I usually only cut them off when we get to more than five or the other one is crying that they want to share too) Recently Gavin has joined the fun. He noticed it the whole two days he was sleeping with the older boys. Unfortunately he was sent packing back to the office. He is such a trouble maker, as long as he is by himself he will sleep otherwise it is playtime forever. So, the other day I put him in his crib and was getting ready to walk out when he started to scream. This is unusual for him unless he has a dirty diaper. So, I went back and kissed him goodnight after making sure he was clean. I started to walk out and he screamed again so I asked him, "tell me the good and the bad" he said something I am not sure what it was. I let him know I understood even if I didn't. Then he laid down and got his blanket and feel asleep. It was pretty cool . I love sharing these last moments with the boys checking up on their day. And they love it too, Jason and Matthew, (mainly Matthew) always fight over who is going to go first. And they will never go to sleep unless they get to say one good thing, we don't always have a bad thing. Which is okay, this has taught me that I should do the same thing with my Father in Heaven before I go to bed. He wants to know what has gone right and wasn't during my day.

oaksberry

The last few days have gone by so fast. We have been a busy family. On tuesday I took the boys to Oaks Park. We had a ton of fun, up until we went on the balloon ride. Now I know why I always had Ellie take my boys on that ride. I tried with all my might to get the darn Balloon to stop going in circles it work some what but the damage was done. We stayed for the rest of our time, but I was never so happy to come home and take a nap. I had the worst headache ever. Thank goodness for some Tylenol.
After our nap Jason helped me make some edible play dough. It was a lot fun. We came up with some pretty neat colors. Even though we only played with it for like 20 minutes it was fun to make anyway. Jason let me know that he prefers the real stuff. Go figure!
On Thursday I took the boys to pick berries at our favorite Blueberry picking place in Canby. I forgot that it was way out there. The last time we went we were living in Oregon City. Oh, well thank goodness for a DVD player. (Ellie don't get mad we will still go picking with you guys when you get back we will need more). Picking blueberries with Gavin was very intersting. I knew it would be the easiest of all our the berries. He loves them. He went from bush to bush grabbing a ton of berries and shoving them all in his mouth at once. I am going to need more diapers. I gave all the boys a bucket to fill up. They really liked it. Jason surprised me and actually put more in his bowl than he ate. Well, I think. Matthew and Gavin just ate their little hearts out. I always feel bad and want to offer money to the farmers, but they never take it. We picked 8 pounds of berries, they will be gone before summer is over I know it.
After we went berry picking it was time for lunch. I wasn't sure if they would be hungry or not with all they had ate. They were of course. So, we stopped by Subway and had lunch. Gavin fell asleep in the car after like two minutes after we left the farm. So, he woke up in time for us to get ready to leave Subway and demanded he have some too. So, our lunch date that would have take like 20 minutes took over an hour. Just a side note lunch time is a bad time to eat at subway with three children. Then, we went to the Oregon City library and play at the water park. It was a long day, but very fun.

catching up!

This has been a crazy summer so far. My goal starting out this summer was to update our family blog weekly. Well, that all went out the window the first week.We have been extremely busy the last few weeks. So now it is time to play catch up with our events so far this year. It all started out when Brian had to study and take the comlex board exam in mid-june. This was a very hard and stressful time for our family. Even though only Brian was the one taking the test we were all worried and stressed out.
After the exam my mom came out to help me with Jason's baptism. I am so thankful that she came out. I would not have been able to get everything done in time without her. Jason had a wonderful baptism. It was a little stressful, but it was worth waiting for my Dad to arrive so that he could see one of his grandchildren get baptized. Ellie sang a wonderful song, "I am trying to be like Jesus". (i love this song) And Jennifer gave a great talk about baptism. I am so thankful also to Heather who played the piano on such short notice and for so long. It is so wonderful to have family members that are willing to help out. I was also glad that Sister Budge moved their ward party outside. It made things less complicated than they were.
Between the baptism and Brian's boards I was able to take the boys strawberry picking. I took the two older boys separate making it a whole lot easier. I also was able to spend some alone time with each of them. I took Matthew on a Saturday that had really bad weather. He like it anyway. We went for a half hour.
I think that is all he could take. Then, a couple of days later Jason and I went with Ellie and Kaylee, it was so much fun. We found a great place to pick our strawberries and the berries were so cheap. I think we will go back there again next year. The boys always eat more than they pick. Oh well, it is a lot of fun. Gavin will have to wait until next year or the year after that. He is too crazy for me to take Strawberry picking right now.
After the baptism we went to Corvallis Oregon. There is a residency program there that Brian wanted to check out. So we went along with him to check out Corvallis. It was pretty nice there. The program seemed very nice. I think we can add Corvallis to our list of possibilities of residency programs. The boys like the little park they had there. It was kinda cool it reminded me of parks you can find in Iowa. The park had a castle theme and all the boys had so much fun!
So after Corvallis we took the boys to Tillamook and to the Oceanside to see the coast of Oregon. The weather was cold and wet for most of they trip. We all had fun in Tillamook seeing the Cheese factory. The kids liked seeing where we get all the cheese they eat. At the cheese factory they have this big cow. Gavin was so afraid of this it was funny. It is tough when your the youngest because your older brothers can tease you and that is exactly what Jason did. We also enjoy our trip to the Ocean even if it was rainy. We went through this cave which was really cool. It went through a mountain. The boys enjoyed seeing and playing in the water. Jason especially loved it. The beach was so pretty the only thing that bugged me was all the rocks. We were hoping to take some shells home. We found a few, but after Gavin was done with they looked like the others at the beach broken. Oh, well we will just have to wait until next year. Here are some pictures of the beach and our family. Please excuse Matthew he fell at the end of our journey and was not a happy camper.




Into the cave





You know you live in Oregon when you wear
rain boots to the beach.












Before he fell off a tree trunk and hit his head









This has been our summer so far, we still have lots more planned. Thank goodness we purchased a new car. Oh I forgot to mention we bought a second car. I love it!!

Last Day of School

Today was Jason's last day of the Second grade. I am so proud of him and all he has learned and grown so much this year. He had a great teacher this year which helped a ton.
We are looking forward to a wonderful summer with some fun activities. Some of our activities will be yearly traditions that we do every year like, picking berries, going to different parks, and going to oaks park. However, I am very excited for some of the new things we have planned this year like going to the beach, taking a hike to mt. Hood, going to the children s museum and signing Jason and Matthew up for the summer reading program at the library (we have done this before but have forgotten about it). Jason will also be attending Cub Scout camp this summer. I am so happy and excited to start working with him on his scouting. I just hope summer will actually arrive here in Oregon so we can do theses fun things.
Another new thing that we are going to start today is our new summer chores. I will write about them tonight or tomorrow. I got a great idea from another mom on a blog and I am so excited to get started with it.




At the starting of this year

Last day of this year

The Young Women of Walters Hill

Today was my last Sunday as Secretary in the Walters Hill Young Women. Next Sunday they are changing the ward boundaries and the Stake President has that the bishops do kinda blanket releasing of all callings. I am kinda sad, I just love the Young Women they are so awesome. I think serving in the Young Women's is the best calling. You get to know the girls so well and grow with them. This is my second time in YW's and I hope that I get to be in many more times. Each girl is so unique and special. They each bring with them different talents, needs and problems. But they have all one goal and that is to feel loved.
I learned so much from each of them. I got to know the Beehives due to the fact that I got to work with them in their class on Sunday. I also got to know the Laurels well, they were always wanting to talk to the adults. You know how it is when you are 16-18 those little Beehives and Mia Maids too sometime get on your last nerves. Especially when some of them are you sisters.
Well, I just want to write about a few of them and what they have taught me this year. All of the stories come from the Laurels and one Beehive.
Gabby is such a wonderful girl. She had a hard time coming to church all the time. Three years ago this month her Dad took her Mom's life then took his own. Dear Gabby found the bodies. Her mothers sister volunteered to take Gabby and her two brothers into her home. The Aunt is the awesome example of Christ like love. She is a single woman raising a teenager, a 11 year old that has severe ADHD and a 6 year old. It has been hard, but I never see her complain even today when the 11 year old was going crazy she seemed to keep her cool and he got to visit us today in Relief Society.(we were joined) One day I would love to see Gabby be baptized. I know she will her aunt is an awesome example for her, even if she can't see it right now.
Emily our over achiever. She has done the YW Personal Progress two times. She has the date circled on the calendar when she can go to Relief Society. She has had enough of the little girls.
Kelly is such a wonderful mom. She made mistake, but it has not kept her from being at church with her little Lucas every Sunday. She is an example to me of never giving up even when life gets hard. She will graduate in soon. She is planning on attending Nursing school in the fall while she raises her son and works at Dr. Allen's dentist office. She is also an awesome Nursery teacher to my two sons.
Last we have little Luet. I am so proud of her. Two weeks ago she said a prayer in public for the first time. We have been trying to get her to say a prayer in Beehives for a year. She did it and she is working hard despite the fact that her Mom had a brain aneurysm and was diagnosed with MS. Luet is currently living with a member of the ward while her mom recovers from surgery. I personally think it is the best thing for this little girl.
These are just a few of the wonderful examples of these brave, christ like young women in the Walters Hill Ward. I will never forget them. I hope that some of these girls will be in the new ward. If not I will always remember them along with the great leaders. I will talk about them later, because I love these sister so much too.

Eight Years

Eight years ago today, our lives changed forever as we became "dad" and "mom". Today our dear sweet Jason turned 8. It is hard for us to believe how fast time has gone. We had a little family party for him this year. Instead of having a big party we decided that we would take him to the movie theater to watch Toy Story 3.
As the week has gone by I have thought about the many things Jason has done and learned over this last year. Here are a few of them.

• At the starting of this year we were happy to have the return of our Dad. It was hard, having Dad gone, but we did it and Jason stayed strong.
• In August we moved out of the Guest house into our own place, which means that you (Jason) got to have your own room again. Then, just a few months ago we got you and Matthew bunk beds and you totally love them.
• Starting a new school was hard for you, leaving all your old friends in OC, but you have quickly made new ones and enjoyed your new school.
• We are learning that playing Xbox is a privilege and not a right. Some days we forget and receive little reminders as we see our Jedi Dots diminishing and that we might not have earned enough to play on Friday.
  
• You have realized that being "grounded" stinks.
• After many trips to the Orthodontist and a retainer your overbite is getting so much better. I am glad we did not have to do braces yet.
• We are thankful to the many opticians at Costco that have fixed our glasses. You are learning that you are not one of them. And we need to leave it to the professionals to fix our glasses when our little brother grabs them and rearranges them.
• You are currently reading a 4th grade book, "Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing" and loving it.
• Two weeks ago we finished our first indoor soccer experience. On your last game in the last second you scored your first goal.
• Finally, you have gained your first testimony of the scriptures. Today while I was making your breakfast you told me, "Mom I have prayed and read (we have the kids version) The Book of Mormon and New Testament to know if these books are true. And God told me yes." I never want you to forget how you felt as you prayed this morning.

This has been a wonderful year and I am so excited for Jason to be baptized. can't wait to see what I will be writing about next year as you turns 9.