Birthday Party Time!

It has been a crazy busy and fun week!  Full of water polo and birthday fun and friends.  James had Activity Days this week and they did a temple and family history activity that included telling family stories and building temples out of sugar cubes.  They had a good time and ate way too many sugar cubes!!  

This week has been full of water polo.  Aaron and Anna and Evelyn have had club polo and I've been in the water with the high school girls during practice on Monday and Wednesday.  Tuesday and Thursday I played with the masters group.  Friday was the high school girls scrimmage.  Kari and I both got in as well as some other's masters women including Aukai's wife.  It was a lot of fun and exhausting!!   Then Saturday I went to Parkrose with Anna to scrimmage with the masters group and then with Evelyn and her friends to Open Polo in Tigard.  At least with the masters groups I get to play goalie - but I had to actually swim at open polo and Newberg!  lol  It was a lot of fun though and Evelyn scored twice at open polo - she was so excited!  It was neat because she also could already see a difference in her playing from the time spent at Newberg practices!   I could also tell watching Aaron's scrimmage that he's getting a lot faster and stronger too - he isn't getting beat down the pool on fast breaks any more!  It was also cute to watch Evelyn hanging out with her friend Ashley and teaching her some basic defense moves!  

On Thursday, Dan and Eileen went to another play for her class - this one was done by PCC theater and they did Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and it was the best play they have watched for this class - they had a good time and were impressed with the show - which is much better than their usual reviews of the shows they have seen.  

Friday was Dan's birthday.  He stayed home from work for the day and we went out to lunch together and went to Costco to get things for his birthday party.  Then in the evening we had cake and sang and he opened presents before Anna and I left for polo.  

Saturday was nuts.  Anna had a career fair in the morning that she went to, then met up with me at Parkrose for Masters.  I went to Nate and Katelynn's bridal shower in the morning before meeting her there.  The bridal shower was lovely!  It was fun seeing everyone and chatting with Nate a bit.  Unfortunately (at least for us) they are moving up to Seattle this summer so Nate won't be able to keep coaching at Mountainside.  So now I'm on the hunt for another coach.  After Masters, Anna and I headed home to get the house cleaned up and ready for the birthday party.  David helped change light bulbs since our hands were too big!  And he helped clean the bathroom!  

We had a good crowd and lots of yummy food.  We had a fun time with friends and enjoyed the perfect weather for being outside!  Anna had to leave early for her date.  It was the church's Spring Semi-Formal dance, so her date picked her up just as the party got started and they left and had a lot of fun.  After the party, Dan and I headed to the church building for a baptism.  It was wonderful!  Then we headed home to do scriptures and prayers with the kids before I picked up Evelyn (who had left the party with Ashley to go hang out at Natalie's house) and her friends to go to Open Polo.  

Church today was wonderful, primary was a little crazy, but overall it went well.  After church, James wanted me to sit and crochet with him, so I spent most of my afternoon (except while I was at choir) in the craft room with him.   He made all 5 of these cute little stuffies in one afternoon.  He's gotten so good and so creative and puts his own spin on stuff!  I think it's awesome!  

Dan checked out a new game from the library this week and we tried it out tonight.  He beat Aaron once, then he played with David and I, and David sabotaged his strategy, so I won, barely.  We also played some Lost Cities - once again, he won the first game, but I won the subsequent ones.  

Bright Sunshiny Days

The weather this week has been warm and sunny!  Its been fun playing and working outside in the beautiful weather!  

We are into our first week of the summer session for water polo - Evelyn started this week and was thrown into a scrimmage on her first day - but she had a friend there and she had a great time!  We also had some new girls join the high school team, so I spent some time with them working on basics.  Plus I was in the pool scrimmaging with them on Wednesday - so I've gotten a lot of pool time this week. 

Anna had the State Band competition this week.  She had her preview concert on Thursday and the competition most of the day on Saturday.  They got 4th place.  

Evelyn found out this week that she got into Symphonic Band!  There are 3 levels of band at the high school and most freshmen are put into Concert Band, but Evelyn auditioned and made it into Symphonic Band (which is the next level up) along with 2 of her good friends.  It will be great - it will be hard enough to push her and not so easy that she is bored.  She did so well and I'm so excited for her.  She was almost as worried about having her friends with her as she was about getting in herself, so this is the best!!  

Eileen is taking a class on Theater appreciation which includes going to plays and reviewing them.  Dan decided that since she would need rides to the plays, that he might as well go see them with her.  They went to their third play together this week and while they enjoy being together, they haven't been thrilled by any of the plays so far.  Which just makes is better that Dan is going with her to help her be more amused and less annoyed.  :) 

We got Eileen set up in housing for college in the fall - this whole leaving for college thing is starting to feel way too close.... 

Saturday evening, we had the sister Missionaries over for dinner and had a wonderful lesson from them.  Then Dan and I had a couple friends over to play games while Aaron and Evelyn went to a dance/party thing hosted by someone in the nearby stake.  Then at about midnight, Dan gave me my Mother's Day gift.  The new Zelda game "Tears of the Kingdom"  I stayed up playing for a bit, but didn't want to stay up too late.  I'm looking forward to playing more this coming week!  Also, Eileen is very excited too.  :)  

Today was Mother's Day and I had the best day ever!  I got heart shaped biscuits with honey butter for breakfast.  At church, the primary kids sang "Mother, I Love You" and it was the cutest thing ever.  James was cute and shy and David was hamming it up.  It made me so happy!!  After church, I crocheted with Eileen and chatted with my mom.  Then I took a little nap, then played a very silly version of Red Light, Green Light, with James and David.  It started out with "red light" and "green light" - then I added in "purple light" and "blue light" and before long it was "sloth light" and "Spiderman light"  and the boys had a blast being silly trying to walk like the thing I named.  

For dinner, we had pancakes and an omelet.  Evelyn (with help from David) made perfect beautiful pancakes and Dan made the yummy omelet!  Plus Eileen (once again with help from David) made yummy chocolate covered strawberries for me.  Then Eileen did my after-dinner chore with out even being asked.  

Then we had an evening of playing games with Dan and the kids.  Dan kept trying to lose - and failing.  He kept trying crazy strategies intending not to win and then still beating us all anyway....  After that happening 3 times, we all gave up.  

Water Polo, Music, and more

We've had a fun week.  David was so excited after school to come out to his scooter at the bike rack to find a ducky on his scooter and a note saying it was from the bike fairy.  James of course wanted one too and went and asked about it since he rides his bike to school and they gave him one also.  

Evelyn's play was this week. She was Scuttle in the production of The Little Mermaid.  She was the cutest Scuttle EVER!  She did such a great job and we had a fun time watching her!  A bunch of her friends came to watch too and it was a great experience for her! 

The kids had water polo practice all week and then Anna had a tournament on the weekend up in Washington.  The girls won every game, then she booked it back to get here in time for her Encore fireside.  They did an amazing job - the concert was wonderful and she did a great job both singing and playing the piano for the song she accompanied.  It's so neat to watch her grow!  

Saturday, I helped a friend in the ward set up for her son and his new wife's wedding open house.  Aaron and I went and set up tables and chairs and helped some with decorations, then after, I helped with food and taking pictures.  It was really nice and hopefully I was able to relieve some of her stress.  

The weather here is starting to really feel like spring with warm sunny days.  But we got a crazy hard thunderstorm this week - it almost felt like we were back in Texas and there was flooding in some areas because of how heavy the rain was.  Thankfully we didn't have any problems.  

Rock On!

We've had a busy week (as usual!) Between school and water polo and errands and play practices and work and family time and music, we've had plenty to do!  David was so excited about getting to make these tie-dye shirts last week - he talked about doing it all week, then he was so excited on Monday to get to bring his shirt home.  Then all the students were supposed to wear their shirts on Wednesday, which was also the last day of the week for the elementary school kids.  Thursday and Friday they had off for Parent/Teacher conferences.  I met with both of their teachers and they had nothing but good things to say about them.  David's teacher showed us a book David wrote in school called "Haoooto" By David (How To) and was all about how to behave during carpet time at school and he had sounded out and spelled it all himself, so it was adorable.  

Aaron and Anna have been playing Seminary Tag all week.  It has included Anna concocting crazy plots to keep her partner from tagging her and walking all over town to avoid him and driving Eileen batty.  It has also included Aaron and his partner hanging out at each other's houses to tag each other.  Aaron and Anna eventually both won.  Anna had me take this picture of her on the swing on the last night of tag, so she could send it to her partner to tease him.  This was on our 5 mile "avoid Byron" walk on Friday night.  

Saturday morning, Dan and I took James and David to see the Super Mario movie.  We had a fun time together and boys both had a blast.  David made melty bead Mario toys for each of us to bring with us during the movie.  

Friday and Saturday were the Peter the Rock concerts.  Our first was Friday night and then we had 2 Saturday.  Thankfully Don was feeling better and had a negative Covid test.  We still had to make some adjustments and I still had to direct some of the show, but they went well and the feedback was positive and it was a lot of fun.  Anna and I both had friends come and Dan brought some of the kids to hear us.  It was a great weekend!  After the last concert - Anna took off for the youth dance, and I hung around for the cast party, we had a fun time chatting and hanging out!  

On Friday, I took the boys to Walmart.  James needed some summer pj's and David needed some new underwear.  On Saturday, David decided that he REALLY wanted to wear his underwear, but I had told him that they had to be washed first - so he decided to wash them - and did it all by himself!  

We had a wonderful Sabbath day and as often happens, finished the night with games.  Dan trounced us all at Space Base - and that was even with Evie and Aaron holding guinea pigs for good luck.  

 

So, so busy.

It has been a busy, stressful and wonderful week.  Monday, we had friends over to read scriptures with us and have dessert.  We had 2 couples over from the ward and we had a wonderful discussion and a great time with them!  David has been getting so good this week at actually reading the scriptures instead of just repeating what we say - he is really starting to recognize words!  

One night while we were reading scriptures, Evelyn handed Dan her tiny scriptures to read from and he realized that he could see the tiny print better with the book further away and we all laughed about it together.  He's such a good sport! 

Tuesday, I met up with Emily and Sarah for lunch.  It is always so wonderful to get together with them!  It's always great conversation about our lives, our stresses and our joys.  Our families and our faith and I feel so blessed to count these amazing women among my friends!  

Wednesday morning, I picked up an older lady from the ward to give her a ride to get her hair cut, she was really sweet and I enjoyed a quiet half hour in my car crocheting.  Wednesday, after picking the boys up from school, we walked home since it was raining, then we drove back down to the church for Activity Days.  We talked about mission prep and had a missionary dress relay and sewed on buttons.  They had a great time!  

After the activity, I dropped the boys off at home and grabbed a baked potato to go and headed down to Salem for the Spring High School Water Polo Coaches meeting.  It was a good meeting with lots of talk about getting Water Polo classified as a OHSS sport.  It was a great meeting with healthy discussion and hopefully positive change!  

Thursday evenings are a bit crazy.  Between Aaron and Anna having water polo and Eileen having class at PCC and me having water polo and Evelyn having play practice, we are glad to have 3 cars and drivers because getting everyone everywhere is hard enough already.  Unfortunately, we found out just how hard it would be to do it all with out a 3rd car this week - we found out when Anna couldn't get her car to start in the afternoon, so we tried to work out getting everyone everywhere and realized that without all the cars, someone would have to be waiting for a bit for a ride home.  Thankfully I was able to get Anna's car to start and take it to water polo, so Dan could still pick Eileen up from her class on time and not worry about picking me up after.  

Dan and James have been working out in our yard - they worked hard to put in a border on our flower bed, and then put down mulch and trimmed bushes and planted some new plants.  It looks so nice and they have done such a great job!!  

Friday was kinda crazy, after morning workout, I had a presidency meeting with the primary presidency, followed by a stop at Scott's kitchen for meat pies, then meeting up with friends for lunch.  We had a small group this month, but we had a great time talking together, then I convinced one to come back to my house with me after to try one of Evie's chocolate peanut butter cup cupcakes.  After that, it was time to pick the boys up from school.  

Saturday morning was our Peter the Rock dress rehearsal.  It was a 4 hour rehearsal meant to tighten things up and get everything ready for the concerts next weekend.  Unfortunately, our director came down with Covid.  So he was gone for rehearsal.  Thankfully he had had the forethought to call an assistant director early on.  Unfortunately, that assistant director (me) had not received the email saying he wouldn't be there...  So Saturday morning, I found out that I would be running the whole rehearsal.  It was a little stressful, but some of the sweet gentlemen in the group offered to give me a blessing of comfort and we did our best.  I think it went well and I hope I did what was needed to help the choir feel confident and ready.  After that, I dropped Anna off at home, then went to watch Aaron play and bring him home, then we did scriptures and I took Aaron to his friends house to hang out before the dance, then I got home and grabbed Eileen and headed to Stake Conference Adult session.  The session was wonderful, them musical number was beautiful and the messages shared were beautiful.  Between the spirit and the stress, Saturday was a day full of tears - not bad tears, but still a lot of emotion!  After the adult session, we all went to Shari's with some friends from the ward for dessert.  I had only had some yogurt for dinner, so I had a baked potato and then just stole some of Dan and Eileen's desserts.  Eileen pulled out her cute little isopods and one of the couples ordered some from her for their grandchildren.  

Aaron had a water polo tournament this weekend - but he only played Saturday.  But they won both their games and he played well - It's neat to get to watch him grow as a player!  

Sunday was Stake Conference General Session.  Our ward choir was providing the music and I was playing the organ and Anna was leading.  So we were there early to warm up and rehearse and get ready.  David found the screens on the stage and was having fun playing with himself.  Then the person operating the cameras realized what he was doing and zoomed in on him and he had even more fun.  

The choir did a wonderful job!  Both songs went well - and it was such a joy to hear my arrangement performed!  Evelyn's friend Natalie bribed David to come up and sing with the primary children and Evelyn played the flute and Anna and Eileen sang with the choir - I love music!!!  

I got home from Stake Conference and didn't even bother finding lunch before crashing on the bed and sleeping for 3 hours.  After we had dinner and fun playing games and crocheting together.  

In which mom is bad at taking pictures...

...Fortunatly Dan isn't as bad.

We've had a busy week.  

The beginning of the week was pretty normal.  School and sports and play and work. 

The kids had Thursday and Friday off school.  ON Thursday, Evie had an ortho appointment and then she went to the school to help paint sets for the play.  After dropping her off, I went over to Sister Shum's house to help her out with a dress she's trying to make for her son's wedding.  In the evening we had water polo!

On Friday, Evelyn had her band play-a-thon which was a fundraiser for her band program.  David had a music camp with Sister Shum on Friday.  Friday evening, Aaron and Anna had scrimmages with the club team and I got in and scrimmaged with them.  We had enough goalies though, so I was in the field - and totally exhausted by the time it was over!  

Saturday was crazy busy.  Anna and I had our Peter, The Rock rehearsal in the morning, then we went home to pick up Aaron and headed back across town to the water polo tournament.  Anna left after her game to go home and eat dinner, then took Evie and her friends to open polo.  I stayed for Aaron's last game, then headed home to drop Aaron off and went to open polo.   We got home late and went to bed - very tired....  

Dan had a busy Saturday too - He took the boys to the library in the morning.  James goes through Manga like crazy and comes home with 30+ books each week which never last him the full week.  Dan and James and David also got a bunch of yard work done since the weather on Saturday was beautiful!  They boys were both super good helpers! 

Today was busy again - but also great!  Church was great and things are going well with the changes in the primary presidency.  After church was ward youth council and I had an activity days planning meeting.  Then ward choir.  We had primary children coming to help us out with one of the songs for Stake Conference next week - and they were amazing.  It was fun having them and they did an amazing job!  

Aaron and Anna had the second day of their tournament and Anna had her first Encore Spring concert tonight.  So I didn't see Anna all day and didn't see Aaron until I picked him up after his last game.  

Dan, Eileen, Aaron and I played 7 Wonders tonight after getting the younger boys to bed and Eileen trounced us all.  

Easter

 James and David both stayed home from school on Monday and Tuesday.  They had both been coughing a lot and so I kept them home to try to get better.  Since I was still feeling sick too, the three of us took it easy and rested and crocheted and rested some more.  I finally realized on Tuesday that I didn't just have a cold, it had turned into a sinus infection.  So after taking the boys to school on Wednesday, I drove to the doctors and sure enough, I had a sinus infection and they got me on antibiotics and I finally started to feel better.  

The rest of the week was pretty low key until Friday.  Friday was presidency meetings and grocery shopping and water polo for Aaron and taking care of pets for Dan and Eileen (taking care of Jon's cat and Sandi's dog while they were both out of town.)  

Saturday morning was cleaning time.  Dan's parents got in in the morning, Steve and Claire and their family arrived just in time for lunch - Eileen made sushi!  Then Jon and Melissa arrived just in time to leave for the temple session.  We met up with Dave at the temple, then we all headed back to our house to eat a LOT of yummy food.  Dan had smoked a brisket for 24 hours and it was so yummy!  Eileen made rolls, Melissa had brought her twice baked potatoes and there were salads and desserts too.  All in all, it was a great afternoon and evening full of family and fun!  

We did an Easter egg hunt with all the kids, then did our family scripture study/Easter lesson all together, then people started packing up and heading out.  Dan's parents were talking about heading to bed and Dan needed to get down to let Sandi's dog out for a bit, and Evelyn was asking to go to Open Polo, so I took the 3 kids and Evie's 2 friends and we headed down to take care of the dog, then over to the pool.  Eileen and Dan had some fun with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed to bed, then we all crashed after a long and wonderful day!  

Sunday morning, our morning prayers in the hallway usually look like a rock garden with the girls. Then we headed to church where Anna spoke and bore a sweet and beautiful testimony.  The youth sang a musical number and the ward choir sang with Evelyn accompanying on the flute.  It was a wonderful Easter service.  

We headed home for lunch and an afternoon of being together and resting.  Dan's parents began their drive back home after church and we took naps and decorated Easter eggs.  David kept wanting to hide eggs and then help us find them by telling us "hot or cold."  

After a game of wingspan (more eggs!) Eileen did her egg hunt photo shoot with her isopods.  She has a running site where she posts the mischievous adventures of her isopods.  It's cute to watch her and help her.  

Idaho, Conference and Colds....

 We had a great time in Idaho with Dan's parents.  We went to the YMCA with them on Monday to swim.  The kids had fun - I taught David a bit about swimming and he loved getting to play with his siblings.  We all had a fun afternoon together!  

Tuesday morning, we went to the temple with the older kids to do baptisms.  It was wonderful to get to watch them serving together!  

Tuesday evening there was an Easter presentation being put on by local stakes called The Living Christ.  It was amazing - art and music and video all about Easter week.  It was wonderful and the spirit was so strong!  

Wednesday morning after packing up, we headed back to Oregon.  We stopped at Multnomah Falls for a bathroom break and for a chance to get out of the car and walk around a bit.  We didn't go up all the way, but Dan took a few of the kids up to the bridge.   We got home in time for a lazy dinner.  

We have been recovering from our trip - but we seem to have come home with colds.  James, David, Eileen, Evelyn and I have all been feeling a bit under the weather.  

We also came home without Evelyn's phone - she managed to lose it on the second day and it hasn't been found yet.  

This weekend has been WONDERFUL - a full weekend of General Conference - listening to the talks and music and hanging out together.  Plus some yummy food :)  

In like a Lion

Weather this week has been nuts.  It's been rainy, and hailing and sunny and snowing and misty and cold and windy.  It really felt like spring has come in like a lion this week.  David and I walked to school one morning and thought it was raining, but when we looked at his black umbrella - it was clearly snow!  Then by the time we got to school it was just raining.   

This week has been full of water polo - playing and coaching, and both at once - It's been a lot of fun working with the girls and getting to know them a bit better.  Friday we had a scrimmage and all the goalies were gone (including Anna who had a date that night!) so I got to play in the cage, plus we had to rope one of the guys goalies into playing too.  

Weather in the afternoons was ok some days and rainy on others, but I had fun playing "monster" with the kids a couple day - monster just involves me always being "it" and always running around trying to tickle the kids.  I can't catch most of them, but it's fun anyway!  

Friday was mostly getting everything ready for our trip out to ID.  We were taking off Saturday afternoon, but I needed to get things ready since I had the Peter the Rock rehearsals in the morning.  

Saturday afternoon when Anna and I got home, we finished packing up and then took Koopa down to drop him off at Sandi's house, then headed out to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  We stopped on the way for dinner and made it in in time to go to bed.   

Church today was wonderful - it was really neat to get to go to Relief Society with Ann and Eileen.  Then in the afternoon we napped and played and had dinner and cookies with Rob and Sarah and Lucy and Riley. 

Feels Like Spring!!

This week has felt like Spring!  We have had sunny and warm days - days where I only wore a sweater to pick up the kids and even took it off after running around with them for a bit.  Days where I wore sandals instead of boots or tennis shoes.  Apparently we were so busy running around and playing outside that I forgot to take many pictures....  

Dan got me this Orchid a year ago and I DIDN'T KILL IT!!!  It kept growing and has bloomed again!  

Aaron seems to have strained a muscle in his arm so he took some time off water polo this week - hopefully it's now rested and back to ready to play.  Practices went well and on Wednesday, I got in with the goalies to work steals and lobs, but only 2 goalies were there and able to play.  :(  But they both did a great job!  

Masters water polo was a lot of fun, though numbers could have been better.  Dan had a temple trip with the guys from the ward on Tuesday and then we had a date night at the temple on Friday.  

The younger boys and I had activity days this week.  We had an activity about general conference and prepping for it.  They made activity books and played some fun games and watched a short talk.  It went amazingly well!  They all had a great time and seemed engaged the whole time.  

I spent most of the week sore from workouts - but it was worth it!  I took it a bit easier on Saturday though so I will be ready to jump back in next week!  

Thursday was the big 5th grade concert!  James actually told us about it and performed with the other 5th graders and did a great job!!  It was fun watching James and his friends!  

Friday was St. Patrick's Day and the schools really got into it.  David came home talking all about leprechauns.  He told us the other night that he knew there were leprechauns because his room got messier.  There were blankets that had been moved and so he was sure it was leprechauns that made his room messier!  

Saturday was nuts.  Dan, Anna, Aaron and Evelyn had a ward youth temple trip in the morning.  I had Peter the Rock practice, then Anna joined me there.  We are extending our practices a bit since we are getting close to the concert, so we weren't able to make it to water polo.  Then we got home and Anna had a high school scrimmage - but she forgot the $5 drop in fee - so I drove out to get it to her and stayed to watch.  She was playing really well - she had some great plays and shots in the field and some great blocks in the cage!  Then in the evening, our ward had Pi night party.  We ate yummy pies and chatted with old and new friends.  Then Anna took Aaron and Evelyn and Evie's friend to the dance.  I went home and walked the dog.  :)  

Church was wonderful.  The choir sang and they did such an amazing job!  It's such a blessing to have so much talent and so many willing to share it!  The talks were wonderful and primary went well.  After church, Anna and I spent awhile working on an arrangement of I Love to See the Temple for the choir to sing at Stake Conference.  We got quite a bit of it done and I'm excited about it - now I just have to get it finished and to the choir!  

In the evening, Sandi came over with her boyfriend James to play games with us.  We played Space Base and Dominion and had a great time together.  He seems like a really nice guy!  

Colorado and Snow - but not together....

On Monday morning, I headed to the airport with Sandi to fly to Colorado.  We were meeting up with mom and spending the week together with Grandpa.  I dropped Eileen off with Sandi so she could house/dog sit while we were gone.  Dan took care of the kids for me - the younger boys got spoiled with getting driven to and from school all week - now they are going to have to go back to walking, so hopefully they aren't too sad to have me back!  

Monday, we got in and Mom picked us up from the airport.  Then we headed to Grandpa's where we enjoyed an afternoon together before heading to Olive Garden for dinner.  

Tuesday, we met up with some distant cousins Donna and Judy for lunch across the street.  We had a nice lunch chatting with them!  Then we spent the afternoon walking and talking before making up some dinner at Grandpa's place and showing Grandpa how to use his tv to watch a show he wanted to watch.  :)  

Wednesday, my Dad got in to town, but he was only partly there to visit - he also had work to get done.  We had a nice day together chatting and walking.  

Grandpa has decided that as he nears the end of his life, he would like to give the kids blessing in the style of the Biblical patriarchs.  I am so grateful to have this man as my grandfather!  We are so blessed by his example of faith and devotion to God!  He wanted to get some info from me on the kids to get to know them a bit better first, so we spent some time talking about them, their likes and dislikes - their plans for the future and their personalities.  

Thursday evening, was a dinner that turned into a birthday party.  Doug was making his yummy spaghetti for dinner and most of us were able to be there for the dinner!  My mom spent all week looking at photos and putting them together in to a slide show - both to look at and also to get her brother's input on which ones to keep and which to get rid of.  It was fun to look at the old pictures of them when they were younger - young Frank looks a LOT like Taz!  Grandpa had asked Sandi and I to sing, so she and I spent some of the afternoon getting ready for that.  It went well - but we had an unintended intermission in the middle of the song when the accompaniment track accidentally stopped :) It was a fun evening together! 

Friday, we got together with Tina for a ladies lunch across the street.  We had a wonderful time chatting and eating yummy food.  Then we headed out and I went to take my stuff from Tina's car to Grandpa's place while my mom went to move her car.  Shortly after, I got a call from her - telling me she had fallen in the parking lot and needed help.  We all went running.  She had hit her head pretty hard and landed kinda hard on her arm.  So we got her into her car, and I drove her to the hospital and Dad followed in his car with Sandi.  Also - Tina, though she had left when it happened, had left to go to a doctor's appointment and was already at the same hospital we took my mom to, so she came down to meet me after her appointment.  They took x-rays and CT scans to make sure everything was alright.  Her wrist thankfully was not fractured and there was no internal bleeding.  She had broken her nose, but it was not crooked and didn't need to be re-aligned.  There were so many tender mercies in all of it.  There were kind people near by when it happened to help her and stay with her until we could get to her.  With so much family around, there was plenty of support and help and while it looked pretty bad and was scary at the time, she is doing well now and there was so much love and support.  Family is so important!  Sandi and I were still able to get on our flight home since we knew Dad was still there to be with her and she had no major problems and could be released that night.  Dad had to delay his flight one day, but then was still able to fly home.  She has two spectacular black eyes, but is otherwise doing well.  

I got home late Friday and headed out early on Saturday with Anna for our Peter the Rock practices.  They went well and it is really feeling like the music is coming together.  Just over a month left before the performances!  Saturday afternoon, Dan took me to the gym since I hadn't really gotten to work out all week, so that was really nice.  Then in the evening, I took Evie and Aaron to open polo.  Anna had a date so she couldn't come.  

Today was great, but a bit stressful and tiring.  Daylight savings kinda kicked my rear and we had lots of meetings and such after church.  But the talks and lessons were wonderful and the music was wonderful!  Choir practice went well and then I went home and crashed until dinner.  

Evelyn got the results back from her Flute Solo at the competition last weekend and she got super high scores - she is amazing!  I've asked her to look at the flute part for the ward choir Easter number and she tried it out today with the choir, and did an amazing job, especially considering that she jammed her finger at water polo last night.  :)  

David sneaking up on people....

Where did February Go?

This week the kids were back to school.  They did have one late start day because of icy road conditions, but it was actually kind of nice since that meant we got to sleep in a bit, but then still go to school.  My work out for that day was cancelled though, so after we took the kids to school, Dan took me to the gym to do some of the classes he does some times.  It was a lot of fun working out with him and it felt great to get a work out in!   

We are still getting snow here and there, but thankfully it's not really sticking long and the big snow from last week is finally mostly melted.  Weather was still mostly cold and often rainy, but the David and James still got to play after school a few days with their friends and after driving them Monday morning just to be safe, we got back to walking!  

I started coaching at Newberg this week.  I'm an assistant girls coach.  I came Monday and Aukai asked if I had brought my suit.  I hadn't, so I just helped them through shooting drills.  Then Wednesday when I came, I brought my suit and I got in with the girls and scrimmaged with them, then worked out with the goalies during conditioning.  Anna and Aaron both seem to be enjoying club polo!  I really like the way Newberg runs stuff and the way they approach coaching and building the water polo community here.  I'm so excited to be part of an awesome team of people!  

Between scrimmaging on Wednesday, playing Masters on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday, and then open polo Saturday night - I got to make up for all the water polo I missed out on last week - but I'm tired!!  

Saturday was the Solo and Ensemble competition at the High School.  Aaron was volunteering, Anna was volunteering and competing and Evelyn was competing with her friend Sophie.  The girls did a great job on their performances and I'm so proud of them for working hard to practice and prepare for this!  

Saturday afternoon, we went on a Food tour in Portland with some friends.  We stopped at 6 different places and tried a bit of something from each place.  The food was amazing, We had a blast with friends hanging out and chatting and trying new things.  We spent 4+ hours walking around Portland and eating!  Then I came home, got the younger kids to bed and took Anna, Aaron, Evelyn and some friends to open polo! 

Church was great!  Wonderful testimonies!  We spent the afternoon playing games and relaxing together.  Choir was great and then we had dinner and more games and family time.  

I can't believe it's already March.  I'm heading out of town tomorrow to go to Colorado to visit Grandpa and the rest of the family.  Mom and Sandi are going too, and I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the trip is tomorrow...  Speaking of which, I need to pack....  

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The younger kids had all of 1 day of school this week....  Monday was President's Day.  I worked out in the morning, then we mostly spent the rest of the day doing laundry and grocery shopping and hanging out around the house.  Tuesday was a teacher work day and Evelyn and David went to Sister Shum's music camp and had a great time learning about early presidents.  

Wednesday, all craziness broke loose.  Wednesday, I was officially brought on as a coach at Newberg Water Polo club.  I was going to start that night, but then it began to snow.  And snow...and snow.  Anna had her euphonium lessons and on her way back ended up stuck in horrible traffic on the freeways because of the snow - only to get back to the neighborhood and find that she couldn't get the car all the way up to our house.  She ended up having to park half way up and walk the rest of the way.  Thankfully she made it home safely and after that - none of us left the house for more than 24 hours.  (except to play in the snow of course!)  

It started out light, but quickly started piling up fast - enough that Evelyn was able to make this snow man before she and James had to head to bed.  James had an hour up because by Wednesday evening, they had cancelled school and seminary and everything else for the next day.  It was probably just as well - our hill gets treacherous when it's covered in 6 inches of snow...  

By the next morning, we were in a winter wonderland.  The kids had a blast playing outside and sledding and getting cold, then coming in and having some hot chocolate to warm up.  :)  Over and over again.  James and David would get wet and cold and then come in and change and drink hot cocoa and say they were done outside.  Then an hour later they would start all over again.  We had a massive pile of shoes and gloves and coats by each door along with big puddles of melted snow!  

Dan's parents had planned to come out this weekend to visit and to watch Isaac wrestle at state.  They ended up not being able to make it because of road conditions.  I was supposed to have a performance with the Peter The Rock group and that was cancelled.  Eileen and I were able to get down the hill and head up to Seattle to do a craft show with Claire.  The roads were MUCH clearer as we got further north.  We got in around 8, and had a fun evening chatting and hanging out with Steve and Claire and their family.  Then the next morning, we were up bright and early to go and set up the booth!  Eileen sold her wire wrapped necklaces and her isopods.  The show was pretty slow - not a whole lot of foot traffic - but she did really well.  She had some sales and lots of positive comments and she was so good and brave talking to people and putting herself out there!  She had a great time and wants to do another one sometime!  

After the show, we packed up and headed back down to Oregon with Eileen expressing her wish that we could get together with their family more often.  We got home just in time for me to do snuggles with David and get him to bed.  Then Dan was sweet and took me to his gym so I could get a work out in.  Between the road trip and my water polo and workouts getting cancelled, I was feeling a bit crazy and restless, so we went and worked out for an hour before heading home and to bed.  

Church today was wonderful - it was our ward conference and we had some great talks from local leaders.  After church, David went to a friends house for a birthday party for a bit, then I had ward choir and the Great To Be 8 meeting, then finally home and dinner and family time.  It was a wonderful day - but a bit long and tiring!  Now there is more snow predicted and seminary is already cancelled for tomorrow... We will see how it goes.  It's precipitating, but not necessarily snow yet...  

The Good, The Bad and the Furry

We've had some great weather this week - there was some really cold weather, but also mostly afternoons with weather good enough to play outside, so the boys have had fun playing after school on the playground.  

Tuesday was Valentine's Day.  We did things a bit different this year.  For starters, we kept it pretty small this year, and second, we did our heart shaped biscuits for dinner instead of for breakfast.  With 3 kids in early morning seminary, we didn't want to miss half the family, and we didn't want to wake up the younger kids that early and we didn't want to cook them twice, so we changed it to dinner - so only Anna missed it....  

Wednesday was Activity Days.  When we got to the church early to set up, James said he could see bunnies, so naturally when I went in to set up, he stayed outside to try to catch the bunnies.  Turned out there were 4 of them.  He caught one and was petting it until I convinced him to let it go and go inside.  Then another boy came who flat out refused to go inside when there were bunnies to be caught.  He managed to catch 3 of them and had me and the sister missionaries and his dad holding bunnies.  We didn't know where they belonged or how long they had been out or what to do with them, but we finally convinced the boy to let us release them and go inside for the last 15 min of the activity.  As you can see - they were not wild rabbits, but domesticated ones that had been pets at some point.  They were pretty sweet and relaxed when held, so they were used to being held.  

Friday morning, I had a doctor's appointment - just a normal visit - but the parking was awful and because it took me 15 minutes to find a parking space and another 10 minutes to walk back to the doctor's office, I was late.  :(  Then after, I headed out to meet up with some friends for our monthly ladies lunch.  I feel so blessed to have found some wonderful friends here!  

Friday, Dan and I went to the temple and met some friends there, then after went out for dinner.  It was a nice little date night!  

Saturday Anna and I had our Peter the Rock rehearsals and water polo.  Rehearsals are going well - the songs are really starting to come together.  It's been really neat to work with this group and with Don and Mike on this musical production!  After water polo, a bunch of us went out for drinks/food to celebrate the return of one of our regulars from Italy and his becoming a US citizen.  He's a really nice guy and a good player and it's nice to have him back.  It was also fun to just spend some time with the water polo people just socializing and chatting.

While we were gone, Dan took the kids to the library and they came home with the usual piles of books and a Theremin.  I couldn't believe that they had a Theremin to borrow at the library!  David has been having a blast with it.  He's been loving getting to experiment with it.  I think some of the older kids are getting a bit annoyed with it, but I think it's pretty cool...  

The talks in church today were wonderful and the choir sang and did a wonderful job.  Primary was, as usual, a mixed bag with some forward progress and some craziness.  Near the end of church, I found out that my old college roommate Libby had passed away.  I haven't keep in touch with her really, but she was an amazing human being.  She was such a good example to me and I am who I am today at least in part because of the example she and her sister set of living the gospel.  My heart aches for her family, but it's been a bit hard not being able to find out what happened.  As a result though, I was able to have a nice chat with a mutual friend of ours.  

Swimming and More

We had a fun and busy week full of school and swimming and seminary and friends and water polo and more!  

David is so funny - every once in awhile, he complains about not getting to do the dishes, so I let him do the non-breakable and non-sharp dishes and he loved it.  lol  He had a great time loading up the dishwasher.  

James decided he wanted to make home-made oreos, so he did most of the work, but then Dan had to finish them off when it was James' bed time.  He did a great job following the recipe and making the cookies though!  

Districts were this week for swimming.  Anna's events were all on Friday and she did a great job!  I volunteered as a timer and had fun watching and cheering and seeing my water polo kids!  

 Dan and I went to the temple Saturday evening.  All the Saturday water polo was cancelled because of districts, so we were able to go to a 5 o'clock session, then meet up with Sydney and Cody after for dinner.  It was a nice evening and wonderful to be in the temple.  

Church today was wonderful and choir was great, then we had a wonderful evening playing games together and chatting with family.