Swim banquet

The kids had their end of year swim banquet this week.  It's been a ton of fun and the kids were amazing.  The head coach worked this year on getting a Mountainside records board - and it's was fun seeing how many of the names I recognized on there!  The kids all did amazing and Evelyn was super excited to be chosen as one of the captains for next year!  

Other than that, it's been a normal busy sort of week with school and work and kids stuff.  Dan is still on the hunt for a new job and Anna is still getting ready for her mission.  Eileen is finishing up her Associates degree at PCC - but the teachers went on strike, so she may not even have to take a final.  

David and I found a newt on the way home from school one day which was fun!

Ummm... Where did February Go????

This has been a crazy busy month!  The kids finished up swim season.  Aaron had his senior night at our last meet against Jesuit.  It has been a great season for him and for the team as a whole.  It's been a lot of fun helping out with them and a lot of fun seeing the kids grow and improve!  

Districts went well for both of them - Both Aaron and Evelyn made it to the finals in their events as well as Aaron being in one of the relays.  The kids all did an amazing job!  We had a few kids go to state - Evelyn and Aaron were alternates again, but they didn't swim at State.  Evelyn loved going and supporting her friends who were swimming though!  

The weekend of State was crazy busy.  It was also the weekend of the Portland Regional Music Workshop and Performers Concert.  Anna and I performed "O Divine Redeemer" together.  She did an amazing job on the piano and my solo went pretty well too.  Everyone was so kind and all the performers did an amazing job!   

David's 3rd Grade class had their big music concert.  David was SO excited about it.  He has been talking about it for over a month and invited everyone he knew to it.  He did an amazing job and had a part in a small group part.  We got him some balloons and candy and a card as a "congrats" type of gift.  He was super excited about it.  :)  

I got to scrimmage with the masters group at the MAC this month - it was such a fun day, and we had a great time.  Our team did well and I played alright.  It was fun to see friends and then after, we went out to a nearby bar and grill to hang out for a bit.  

The beginning of March signals Grandpa's birthday.  He turned 99 this year!  Sandi and I flew out and we met our parents out in Colorado.  My parents got an airbnb for us to all share.  It was great.  I found a place to swim and went to do laps most mornings.  And I even got to go play water polo one night with the masters group in Denver.  It was a lot of fun and I met some great people!  During the day, we spent our time hanging out with Grandpa and trying to help him out and get some things done for him.  Sandi is so amazing - she was SO MUCH help with Grandpa and helping figure out some financial things and finding some tax deductible stuff for him.  Wednesday evening, we had a little party for Grandpa with the family - We brought in Olive Garden and held it in the activity room at his place.  Grandpa asked us to all share a favorite memory of the cabin and we had a great night spent reminicing together and laughing and talking!  

Thursday night, my mom decided to make steaks for Grandpa, so we had another smaller dinner with Grandpa of steak and mashed potatoes and peas.  The food was all super yummy!  The steak was amazing - my mom is a great cook!  

In addition to the big get together meals, we had lots of little one on one and 2 or 3 on one meals with Grandpa.  Sandi or I had breakfast with him every morning.  I got In-N-Out burger for us for dinner one night.  I had lunch with him one day and Stuart brought Freddy's for lunch one day.  It was so nice to have these more personal interactions and also to get to meet some of the people he usually eats with and talks to.  

The weather most of the time we were there was sunny and warm and beautiful - but Friday, it started snowing and snowed all day.  It was fun, but also a little worrisome since Sandi, Dan and I were all flying out that evening.  Sandi got out just a little late - Dad and I were over an hour later each, but we all got home safely.  And we enjoyed getting to see the snow! 

Saturday morning was back to the usual.  David and I had a tournament this weekend.  He had a couple games on Saturday and one on Sunday (there were actually 2 on Saturday, but we went to church during the first one) They won 2 and lost 2.  But they all played SUPER well.  It was a lot of fun to be there with them and working with them.  David was super excited and talking about doing more tournaments!  

Sunday also included a wonderful church service and choir practice and the Messiah Choir practice.  It's been so much fun having these practices and getting this amazing music ready to perform!   

Anna's leave date on her mission was pushed back a couple weeks because of some mix-ups about her MTC time and beacause the mission she was called to was getting split into two missions.  She is spending most of her time working or at the temple.  And because of the change in start time, she is now able to do the Messiah with us!  

Wow... I've been really bad at keeping up with this....

I hadn't realized it had been a whole month.  It's been busy and yet pretty normal stuff.  Aaron and Evelyn are doing well in swim - it's been fun helping with their practices and going to their meets.  I'm glad that I get to be a part of it!  

I'm also coaching the 12 and under and the 10 and under teams with THills water polo.  David has been loving it and they are great kids!  David and I went up to Tacoma this weeked for a tournament with the team.  The kids did great - they struggled with a cold pool (especially David) but they played hard and did a great job!  

James has been getting more social - hanging out with friends and going to movies with them.  He's got a couple good friends that he really likes to hang out with.  

Evelyn is doing well with school and friends and her boyfriend.  David loves him and he's a great kid, so we like having him around.  :)  

Anna has been keeping busy with work and temple and church and music.  She and I auditioned for the Portland Music Workshop performers concert and got in.  

Eileen is doing well with her schooling at PCC and enjoying drawing and writing. 

Dan is looking for a new job and and hunt continues.  

I can't believe January is over and we are already into the second month of the year - time just seems to go so fast..... Aaron is 18 and an adult now.  James is 14 and getting taller every day.  

Birthday Boy -1

This week was mostly getting back to regular schedules.  Monday was a kind of soft start, where some things had started back up, but not school.  

Tuesday we were back to the full thing.  Unfortunatly, I was sleeping terribly - having lots of back pain, neck pain and hip pain and just tossing and turning all night, so I set up a virtual appointment for Thursday and talked to a doctor about some muscle relaxers and maybe seeing a PT.  

Swim team this week was mostly focused on getting back to work after the better part of 2 weeks off.  I had a great time working with the kids and helping out.  At one point - I gave them a set and as they complained, I told them "If I can do it, you can!  I'm old and slow - you are young and healthy!"  Those sweet kids told me - "you aren't old" and "but you have big muscles and can pull more water"  I laughed, told them they were awesome and made them do it anyway.  :)  

Water polo with the young kids has been fun - they are a fun group to work with and I feel like I'm learning how to be a better coach too.  Wednesday, I got to get in the with High School kids - it's great getting to do the work outs with them!  

Thursday was the swim meet against Sunset - it was fun to see some of the water polo kids there and the kids did a great job - they both pushed themselves outside their comfort zone!  Aaron swam a 200 IM and Evelyn did the 100 back.  

Saturday was Aaron's 18th birthday.  We went to Parkrose for water polo - had a HUGE turn out and a TON of fun!  Then came home for a Sushi dinner and Angel Food Cake.  I can't believe I have 3 adult children...  He's super excited to be an adult.

Anna and I went to Open polo in the evening - there was a decent turn out and it was fun.  

Sunday was busy and great!  We had church, choir, family time with games and dinner, then a fireside to get people ready for Trek.  I kinda went into feeling a bit underwhelmed by it, but left feeling like it was exactly what the Lord wants these kids doing!  

New Years!

We had a quiet week.  There was no high school swim practice, no water polo practices to coach.  Mostly just enjoying time together, playing games, making food and SLOWLY taking down Christmas Decorations.  Mom and Dad headed home Monday morning and got back to Texas safely.  David had fun playing with his friend Paxton.  

Wednesday night for New Years Eve, we went to the Thornton's new house for a New Year's party, then around 9, we headed out to go back home and hang out.  Dan decided to get us a new puzzle for New Year's (even though he doesn't usually do them) and so he ordered one on Amazon.  I usually do 1000 piece puzzles because we can finish it in one night.  He got a 1500 piece puzzle of Hogwarts.  It's beautiful, and its all dark blues and browns....  I enjoyed it, but Eileen has decreed that he can NO LONGER CHOOSE THE PUZZLES.  She was very frustrated by it.  Though since it took us the better part of 4 days, my back wasn't very happy with it either.... :)  

Thrusday we took it easy and slept late and hardly did anything all day.  Then Friday, it was time to start thinking about getting back to routines....  Kinda - the kids were gonna have Monday off too, so really we have until Tuesday to get back to normal.  

Saturday I got to go to Parkrose for water polo with Anna, which was a lot of fun and then Open Polo in the evening which was pretty quiet.  It's nice to have her back and get to play with her again!  

Christmas

Monday was crazy busy - I spent the whole day getting everything ready for our Bagna Cauda Party.  It went well - lots of friends and fun and music and of course, yummy food.  I'd invited friends with dietary restrictions - so when we had vegan and gluten free options for food, people were so grateful, it's nice to be able to make people feel welcome and comfortable!  

Tuesday, we passed out cookie plates as a family and sang carols.  It was so much fun as always!  

Tuesday evening, Dan went to hang out with friends, and I had Nicole and Kristin over to do a puzzle with Eileen and I.  I picked this neon one which proved a difficult one, but we had a great time! 

Wednesday, I spent the whole day trying to finish off Christmas stuff for everyone.  I was SO exhausted by the end....  So I went home and was just totally ready to crash.  After getting David to bed, We finished getting Christmas stuff set up and ready for Christmas morning!  

Thursday morning, we woke up to Dan and David running around the house yelling "He's been here!  He's been here! Santa Clause been here!"  in the style of Your's Mine and Ours!  It was so fun!  Then we wore our matching pj's for a picture on the stairs.  Then we finally got down to the business of stockings and breakfast and presents.
 

Grandma and Grandpa got in the afternoon and came over, but they spent a lot of the time wrapping presents.  Then we spent a nice evening dinner with Sandi and my parents and our family!  

Friday we got up and mostly had a lazy morning, then we got together with Sandi and Dad and Mom to open presents.  It was a fun time!  Then we hung out and played games until the evening.  Sandi had something else going on that evening, and Dan and I went with Mom and Dad to Fogo de Chao for dinner.  It was super yummy and fun! 

Saturday, my mom took Eileen and Evelyn out for their Christmas shopping trips, then we met up with all the girls for Pedicures.  Finally we had a nice quiet evening with dinner and chatting, before my everyone headed home, and I headed for open polo with Aaron.  It was a great turn out and we had a blast!  It was much more capable players and actually playing, so it was a lot of fun! 

Sunday was fun and busy.  We had church in the morning, then had fun as a family trying out some of our new games.  Then we went to Sandi's house in the evening for dinner and a final round of opening presents with Taz and Kai.  By that point, a lot of us were pretty exhausted, so we headed home and to bed!  

School's Out!

David was glad to be back at school after nearly a week out.  I had coaching water polo and swimming.  THills is offering to start paying me for my time coaching now.  Aaron and Evelyn had a swim meet against Beaverton - so we got to see Chris and Luke.  They both swam well - Aaron even managed to get a 24.7 split on his leg of the 200 free relay.  They also swam the exact same events.  It was also fun to see my water polo players who are on Beaverton's swim team! 

The kids had school, mostly, the week was surviving until Dan got back home, but we made it and he got back on Friday with Anna!  We are so glad to have them back! 

On Saturday, Anna and I went to Evelyn's Encore concert with PCO in downtown Portland.  It was awesome!  She did an amazing job - she was playing the flute on one of the numbers in front of a huge audience alongside a professional violinist.  She was amazing!  

Icky-Sickies and Travel

This week has been crazy.  Monday morning, Evelyn's throat was still really hurting, so I took her into the doctor's to get her checked out.  She tested positive for Strep.  We got her medication and took her home to get her rested and feeling better.  Thankfully, she was feeling better quickly with the medicine!  (Especially since she was already stressing out about missing school and rehearsals and such.  

Then, I went to the high school to put the water polo stuff back in the sports locker there, then grocery shopping and finally picking up David from school.  That evening, he went to water polo - it was a older kids practice, but the younger kids were allowed to join them since their weeked practices had been cancelled for a swim meet.  Blake and Cameron were out of town, so Mark was glad to have an extra coach there helping out.  David was doing great and having some fun diving in to the pool from the side.  Then he saw one of the divers practicing and doing something where they jumped high, went spread eagle, then pulled into a pike position as they entered the water.  He thought it looked awesome and later decided to try it.  He face-planted/belly-flopped/really ouchie hurt.  At first he was just a bit freaked out, then he started crying and I held him while the pain slowly subsided.  Poor kiddo!!  I had thought he was just going to dive in like he had been all evening, but he landed flat out on the water!  

Tuesday morning, David was complaining of a sore throat, so I took the day off work and took him in to the doctor's office to get him tested for Strep too.  The rapid test came back negative, but they said he should stay home from school until the longer test came back.  So David spent most of the week home  from school - and rather bored and missing friends too.  Thursday the test came back positive and so I picked up his medicine after work.  Now at least he's feeling better and ready to go back to school next week!  

Tuesday evening, I went with Aaron and Evelyn for swim practice - they were getting ready for their first meet.  I had a great time helping out with some of the kids strokes and helping the new kids on their dives off the blocks.  

Wednesday was busy with work and workouts and kids stuff.  In the evening was the swim team dinner.  The team provided the main dishes - they got tons of pasta from Olive Garden and of course, the kids brought side dishes and desserts and while a TON of food was eaten, there was (of course) a ton of leftover stuff too.  We sent home a lot of it with Conner and the rest was left here.  To add to our stock of leftover food.  It was kinda nice not having to worry about cooking all of it though!  

Thursday was busy again - we had work and school and such, then after, Aaron and Evelyn had their swim meet.  The meet went well - smoothly for a first meet and the kids did well!  Also, some of my polo players were there on the other team too since we were playing Southridge.  It was fun to see them and cheer them all on!  After, Dan and I went out for dinner at Shake Shack and then to Mountainside for the Winter Fest celebration concert.  It was fun and some of the acts were very good!  Evelyn did an amazing job of course!!  Thankfully she was fully back to feeling better after being sick!  

Friday Dan packed up and headed for the airport to fly to Texas, where as far as I can tell, he and my parents have just been cooking for eachother the whole time....  I think they are all going to put on 10 pounds this weekend, but they are having a blast together!  

Friday night, I took David to water polo - which was good since I was the only coach there.  :)  He had fun and did a great job!  Evelyn had her second Winter Fest concert and it also went well!  

Saturday was NUTS.  I went to swim in the morning, then to the Christmas team party after.  It was a lot of fun and we had a fun little white elephant exchange and great food and fun chatting!  Then I went home and got the kids up to go to the Ward Christmas Breakfast.  We ate (more) and chatted and sang and the kids got to do a Christmas Pinata.  They couldn't get the blindfold to stay on David though!!  

It was fun and yummy!  Then back home for a bit before I headed to Parkrose for water polo.  It was a ton of fun with full court 6x6!  Then after that, I got home in time to do scriptures with the kids and then headed to the church to play the piano for a baptism.  It was beautiful!  Then I headed home, grabbed my stuff and headed to the annual Ugly Sweater party and White Elephant Gift Exhange.  It was a lot of fun - I got to chat with Truman's parents for a bit and hang out with lots of friends!  After the party, I hit Open Polo for the last hour - numbers were SUPER low though, so it was more messing around than real play.  It was fun though.  

Today was wonderful!  Church was great - lots of getting ready for the Christmas Program!  Primary kids are doing great!  Choir sounds amazing and I'm so looking forward to next week!  Then dinner and finally after scriptures, I went with Eileen and David to Evelyns' Encore concert.  It was amazing!!!!  I kept crying at the beautiful music and beautiful message - and apparently David is a sympathetic crier..... I've been a bit emotional today.  

Holiday Craziness Begins

Kids are back to school and the Christmas Season has officially begun!  Monday was nuts,  Swimming in the morning, then getting David to school and working out, then I had to sneak in the grocery shopping before meeting up for a Ladies Lunch at Pastini.  Then time to get David and in the evening, Dan had his game night, and I went to swim practice with Aaron and Evelyn.  

Nicole gave David an extra Elf on the Shelf that they had, so David brought it home and would wake up in the morning looking to see if it moved during the night.  So the first night, I moved it, but that was all.  The next night, before I could do anything, I found the elf like this.

James has been moving him the last few nights and has been so clever and sweet with it!!!!  

Tuesday, David had a primary activity - they had a great time making cute Christmas Tree decorations and then Eileen and I went to a Relief Society Activity.  We had fun and it was a yummy dinner! 

Wednesday was the usual, swim, workout, work, school youth activities, swim practice.  

Thursday after school, we went to the Bingo Night at David's school.  We had fun, didn't really win much, but had a good time together!  

Thursday the swim team did a mock meet - it was a lot of fun and gave the kids the chance to see what it was going to be like and get a feel for how they are run!  

Friday was a massive swim meet at work, guarding swimmeets is always a bit more stressful.  There were some really obnoxious coaches that kept whistling for their swimmers at REALLY LOUD volume and REALLY HIGH pitched and REALLY OFTEN.  But it was also exciting and fun!  In the evening, Dan and I watched A Knight's Tale with Evelyn.  

Saturday was the usual NUTS.  I took Evelyn to the Winter Market at Mountainside in the morning, then Aaron and I went to Parkrose, then in the evening Eileen and I went to a Craft night and made a cute little nativity scene with a bunch of friends, then I went to Open Polo.  

Today was a great Sabbath.  We had Fast and Testimony Meeting and then Primary.  After, I took a nap until choir.  Choir went well - we've had people coming from Aloha 1st ward for the Christmas program!  It was wonderful! 

Evelyn had her first Encore show tonight - but she has been sick all day, so she didn't sing tonight, she just played the flute.  Hopefully she will start feeling better soon!  

Thanksgiving

We've had a busy week.  The kids were off school this week, so we've had a busy week of fun with friends and family.  On Monday, I swam and worked out.  David had one of Sister Shum's music camps and had a fun time with friends making crafts and singing songs.  

I met up with Sara and Emily for lunch.  We had a wonderful time together.  These ladies are so amazing and I'm so grateful to know them and get to spend time with them!  We get together a couple times a year and catch up and support and love!  

In the evening, I went with Aaron and Evelyn to swim practice and worked with the kids on their breast stroke.  

Tuesday, I had work in the morning, then I ran a couple errands.  Anna flew in and arrived early afternoon.  Dan picked her up, and when I got home, it was to her playing the piano and singing!  In the evening, Aaron and Evie had swim practice again, but I stayed home to work on food and clean up for Wednesday's Friendsgiving.  

On Wednesday, we had some friends over for food and fun.  We had Nicole and her kids and Liza and her kids, the missionaries came and Aaron's friend Luke, and Evie's friend Natalie.  Dan tried something new with one of the chickens he smoked.  He mariniated it and stuck it on top of a pineapple.... It looked funny, but tasted super good!  

Thursday morning, Grandma and Grandpa Cox arrived and we all gathered at our house to eat and and play.  Sandi came with the kids and Lisa came down her Steve and her kids.  It was super fun!  James and Lisa's son Ronin ended up getting along really well and her daughter Winter is so sweet!  

Friday morning, we met up with Sandi and the kids at a Christmas tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  We picked a fatty!  It's super round around the bottom with lots of room for ornaments!  The kids had fun meeting Santa and roasting marshmallows. 

Then we headed home to begin the decorating!  We started by getting out the decorations for the house (inside, not outside yet) and getting those set up, then we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to get back from Sandi's house to decorate the tree.  

Saturday, David had water polo.  Aaron and I went to Parkrose - and dropped Anna off at the airport on our way.  We had a great time playing.  Anna had a safe flight back to Utah.  In the evening, we went to Olive Garden for dinner with Sandi and the kids.  We had a fun time together chatting and eating.  Then we headed home.  I went to open polo in the evening, but just me - Evelyn has spent most of her evenings this week watching Stranger Things with Truman.  

Sunday, we went to church.  Sacrament meeting was our musical testimony meeting - as always, it was WONDERFUL!  I was on the organ today though, so it was a bit of an adventure!  After church, we had lunch and naps and fun.  Then ward choir!  We finally have some people from the other ward showing up to join us for the Christmas program.  Then a quiet evening with dinner and games and family time! 

Swim Starts!

We've had a busy week!  Swim team started this week and Aaron and Evelyn are swimming hard and having fun.  There is a new head coach this year, she seems really nice and the team is looking great so far!  

Tuesday was a usual Tuesday, plus David had activity days - he had fun making friendship bracelets and eating snacks with friends.  

Wednesday after school, David's friend Landon came over to play.  They boys had fun together and it was great!  In the evening, there was swim practice for Evie and Aaron, Water Polo for me, and youth activities for Dan and James.  

Thursday after school I went home to get some things ready for the banquet that night.  Then in the evening, we had the end of season Water Polo team banquet.  It was a lot of fun and great to have one last chance to hang out with the kids and their parents!  

Friday night, Dan and I went to dinner with the Blanchards and Ballageers, then we went to see Bryce Bristow in his play Harvey.  It was so good and a lot of fun!  

Saturday morning, I had a fun time at Barracudas practice doing our 2 Mile Relay!  I had a great group of women to swim with!  My times were not the fastest, but I was consistent - all of my times were within a second of eachother.  Then we had a mostly chill day.  In the evening, Dan had his leadership meeting and then we had the adult session of Stake Conference.  It was a great meeting.  I drove Evelyn out to a dance before the meeting and met Eileen and Dan there, then after, I went to Open Polo.  It was fun, but numbers were low.  

Stake Conference today was great - the talks were great and the music was great!  Evie even managed to secure us soft seats.  :)  

After, we went home and played and chatted with Anna on the phone, then we had the Christensen's and Bagoyo's over for dinner and games.  James stopped by too, and we all had a fun night!  

Anna had a concert tonight and Grandma and Grandpa Jones were able to be there to watch it!

Dan's been having some fun with baking and made a Pavlova this week - it was pretty impressive and super yummy!!  

Championships and Friends and Movies

 The kids had Monday and Tuesday off school.  Monday morning, after my swim, I came home and started getting everything ready for the Team Pancake Breakfast.  We had a good turn out and a lot of fun making and eating pancakes.  The kids were awesome and we had a great time!  

After, I took David to get his hair cut - he's been getting tired of it in his eyes during water polo.  Then he grabbed his stuff before heading over to Paxton's house to play for the afternoon.  

We had water polo practice on Monday and Wednesday and Thursday, but not Tuesday because of the holiday.  We spent Monday and Wednesay working hard and practicing.  Thursday, after working on a few specific skills, we spent the last bit playing games.  It's been a crazy season and these kids are awesome!  

Dan and Evie and James had youth activities on Wednesday - they had a fun "Friendsgiving" activity with lots of yummy food.  

Friday was the beginning of the State Championships.  Both the boys and girls had thier quarter final games.  I went to swim in the morning, then just stayed to help with set up and to watch the games.  The boys game was rough and the refs calling was pretty bad.  Joey was so frustrated that he got yellow carded, but it was awful for the boys game and not great for ours either.  The boys lost their game to Lakeridge, but it was a super frustrating loss for them.  

I was lifeguarding between the boys game and the girls game, and watching water polo is always fun.  Then before the girls game - the girls called me over, saying they had a surprise for me.  They had gotten matching custom made temporary tattoos to wear during the game.  The tattoos were of my face.  It was simultaneously the funniest and sweetest thing ever.  They called themselves Team Deanna and had me getting teary.  They played so well during their game - even the JV girls were out there kicking butt!!  Unfortunatly since it was a game with the top seeded team in the state, we didn't win, but I'm super proud of them and their hard work and how they played!!  

I got home later than usual, Dan picked up David from school so I could run home and grab some "lunch"  Then around 4:30, Dan and I went to Costco so he could get a calzone and then we wandered around  the store for a bit tasting samples and chatting.  

Then we headed to the Silito's house for a movie night.  Joe and his girlfriend Katie came and Luke came and we all watched "So I Married and Axe Murderer."  We had a fun time watching a great movie!  It was fun to meet Katie and hang out with friends! 

Saturday was fun and busy.  There was no swim practice because of water polo, so I got to sleep in.  We went to go see the High School Musical - Evie's friend Natalie was in it and they were doing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" It was so much fun and we had a great time.  The kids did a great job! 

In the evening, Aaron and I went to Parkrose for polo - we ended up with enough for 5x5 - but best of all, there were lots of other women there!  Then I took him home and went to Open Polo.  :)  Now my shoulders are tired... :) 

Today was the primary program.  I was also playing the organ.  The primary program was awesome!  then after, they had a little primary party for the kids.  They did such an amazing job!  David and I are having fun reading through Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.  I haven't read it before and had no idea what it was about going into it, but it's been fun so far!  Plus I love that he loves having me read to him and that he's enjoying the Roald Dahl books!

Play-Offs and such

It's been a busy week.  We had water polo practices, school, work and friends.  James had Thursday and Friday off school and mostly just chilled at home.  

Evelyn has been busy - mostly spending time with Truman.  But she also wanted to spend some time swimming this week, so I let her come to water polo.  She did great and had fun and her friends on the team were happy to see her too! 

Thursday were our big play off games.  The girls played at 5 at David Douglas.  We knew it would be a tough game.  They play mean and we had lost to them already 3 times this season.  The girls really pulled it together though - they worked hard and were ahead the whole game, finally winning 16-12, even though one of our best players got rolled in the last quarter.  They did an amazing job and they were SO HAPPY to win this game and beat this team!  Now we get to prepare for playoffs this next weekend!  After leaving the girls game, I managed to hit a curb and get a flat tire on the grey car....  It happened right in front of a mechanic's house right as he was getting home - he helped me change my tire and got me moving agian.  Then I had a LONG, SLOW ride across town to get to the boys game.  The boys won easily and we are all excited about going to the quarter finals next weekend!  

Friday night, Dan and I went to the temple.  It was ward temple night and we got to see a bunch of friends there! 

Saturday was a relativly quiet day.  In the morning, David and Dan and I went to a primary service project.  We drove out to Jackson Bottom Wetlands in Hillsboro area to help plant trees with a group called "Friends of Trees"  It was a lot of fun and we had a great time.  The kids had a youth temple trip in the afternoon - then after, we all met up at the Olsen's for Paige's open house.  Then I went to open polo.  :)  Evelyn went to watch her friend Natalie in the school musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" 

Animals! Seniors!

This week was Senior Night.  The girls played Lincoln and since Lincoln's boys backed out, the boys scrimmaged with eachother and their coaches played with them.  It was fun for all.  With a big team like this, there were a lot of seniors, and it was wonderful to celebrate them!!  

Our Ward Halloween Party was on Friday - at the same time as the school's trunk or treat.  We went to the ward party - David's friend Paxton and his family came - then David went with them to hit up the school's trunk or treat too.  Eileen was having a round night, so I took her home after about 20 minutes.  At least I got to eat some chili and soup.  

Cannon was in town for a bit this weekend!  It was so fun to get to see him.  He was checking out George Fox University as an option for his next step in school.  

Saturday was insanely busy.  I got up to swim in the morning, then with to the free coffee social after for a bit.  I headed home to make some waffle batter for Eileen.  Then we had the kids water polo, then I took Eileen to the Reptile and Exotic Pets show.  We enjoyed walking around and talking and looking at stuff.  We even ran into some friends.  Then we headed out for some dinner at Sushi Hana.  After, I got home and Dan and I went to the Blanchard's Halloween party which was a TON of fun!  We played games and ate food and had a blast chatting.  Then I headed down to a late entrance at Open Polo.  

Halloween and Birthday Girl

 They wanted us to dress up at work this week, but we could only wear things we could still perform a rescue in, so I got a few little headbands and accessories to wear.  It was fun to see everyone get excited about the costumes!  :) 

Friday, we went trick or treating with Paxton and his family.  James had his friend Will over and they canvassed the neighborhood having fun together and Evelyn got to sit with the band in the rain at the football game....  Aaron went to a friends house for a halloween party.  

Eileen turned 21 on Sunday.  She had Angel Food Cake and the Cream Cheese Breakfast Bake for dinner.  She got a puzzle, a t-shirt a card game about axolotols and a jurassic park tamagochi.  We had a fun Sunday together.