It's beginning to feel like fall... kinda.... maybe not....

It's starting to look like fall a bit - leaves are beginning to change colors, but while it's cool in the evenings and morning, it's still getting pretty warm during the day, so we've been enjoying the weather while it lasts.  Playing at the playground after school each day and playing outside at home.  

The water polo team only have one game this week, so it was a bit of a break.  It was an easy game for the girls and a good game for the boys.  We also had a team pasta dinner on Friday.  We had a great time lots of games and food and fun!  What an amazing group of kids and what a joy to get to work with them!  

Dan told the kids that he would pull out the Halloween costumes this weekend, so they could look at what is there and what they want to wear, and so of course, James and David have been dressing up in them all weekend and getting creative with crazy combinations.  :)  

Saturday morning, Anna and I headed into Portland for an audition for  musical program.  It was a kind of funny audition - the director seemed more interested in giving voice lessons than listening to what we had prepared - we only got one page into the songs we had prepared.  lol  He seemed really nice though and said he wanted us both.  He also wants to hear Anna on the trumpet.  After, we headed home.  Sandi came over with the kids to visit for a bit and brought Popcorn over to meet our kids and Koopa.  They did well together, and Popcorn is adorable!  Koopa growled a couple times, but otherwise, did a good job being nice to her.  

 After, Aaron and Anna and I headed over to play water polo with the masters group.  We had a great time and Anna had some great shots, and I had a couple great blocks too.  In the evening, Anna and Aaron went to a youth dance and had a great time.  

David had a busy social calendar this weekend, he had a birthday party in the morning and another one in the afternoon.  He had a great time and loved to tell me all about it!  

This morning though, David woke up saying that his "neck was hurting inside"  So I looked inside and it looked like there might be white spots, so we kept him home from church and got an appointment at a pediatric urgent care to get him checked out.  They tested him for strep and it was positive, so he's now on antibiotics.  :(  The doctor said that he can go back to school on Tuesday though, so at least this should get better quickly.  

And yes... more water polo :)

We've had a fun and busy week!  Monday I volunteered to help out at the high school, there were some biology classes in need of help monitoring on a field trip just outside the school, so I went and mostly just helped carry stuff and helped keep an eye on everyone.  Then as we were heading back, there was  a girl lagging behind who was really struggling with the heat all the walking and standing and other sensory issues, so I walked with her and tried to distract her - turns out that she is also a big Legend of Zelda fan and so we talked about that and she writes fan fiction, so I told her about Eileen and the stuff she writes and pointed her to Eileen's stuff and we had a nice walk and talk back to the class.  I feel like she was the reason I was there that day - and even if I did nothing else helpful, I hope I made her day a bit better.  

Tuesday, I met up with Sara and Emily for brunch and chatting.  We had a great time together and I love getting to live near these amazing women and getting to have these times together!   

My afternoons are mostly pretty laid back.  After I walk down to get the boys from school, we usually stay at the playground after for an hour and the boys play and I read or chat with other parents or just watch the boys play, and it's a nice way to spend the afternoon together.  David mostly plays with the other kids, but he still wants to show me the new things he's trying every day.  

Eileen had her first Relief Society Activity.  They had a fun Halloween themed activity and she said she had a really good time.  I wish I could have been there with her, but I'm so glad to see her finding a place!  

On Wednesday, I spent the afternoon at a friends house crocheting and chatting.  The weather started out a bit cool, but before too long, I was needing to take my sweater off and it was a really nice day to sit outside on her patio and chat.  

Thursday, the boys had a water polo game, the girls were supposed to also, but the other team had to forfeit because they had too many sick girls.  While sad, it was probably for the best since we had an early morning the next day!

Friday we loaded up the van and headed out to Portland area for the Dan Berry Tournament.  We spent all day Friday playing and eating and hanging out.  There were some awesome moments - Anna had some awesome blocks and Aaron some awesome play time - plus the team coming together as a team.  We played monkey in the middle, went for Jamba and were a bit goofy together.  I gave my camera to some of the kids on the team and it was passed around and the picture ranged from fun shots of the kids playing to even funnier shots of the kids being goofballs!  What a privilege it is to get to work with these kids!  Our girls actually took first at our pool for the first day, but they decided to forfeit the second day because of homecoming.  After the day was over, we all went out to a nearby pizza place for food, then headed home to bed!

While I was sad that we wouldn't be playing on Saturday, it also meant that I was able to go play with the Masters group which was a lot of fun - I was playing well and had some really good blocks and it was a fun group - plus I have missed it these last couple weeks! 

Anna was asked to homecoming and went with a group of friends.. She said she had a great time.  She wore Grandma Penny's dress again this year and she looks so cute in it!  The girls had fun getting together to get ready before.  Then they met up to take pictures and then after the dance they hung out at one of their houses around the fire pit.  

Dan and I went to the water polo Wall of Wine fundraiser.  It's a fun adults only event with yummy food and great people.  It was a great evening that just seemed to fly by.  We got some auction tickets and actually won something - we won a little art class to learn how to make a really cool painting!  

Church today was wonderful.  I got to play the organ and play the piano for primary.  I love just getting to spend the better part of 2 hours playing music!  Then ward choir in the afternoon and fun time together as a family after.  

More Water Polo and School

We've had a busy week.  Eileen and Anna finally started back to school this week.  Anna got asked to homecoming by a guy in her seminary class.  We had water polo games on Tuesday and Thursday, plus the girls tournament on the weekend.  

Here's Eileen and Anna on their (kinda) first day of school, or at least first real day of college classes.... 

David loves to climb up the poles on the play ground - this and his working on being able to do the monkey bars is what he spends most of his after school play time doing and likely most of his recesses doing too.... He is loving school and making lots of friends!   James also has a group of friends that he plays with after school, and weather has been so nice that we usually spend an hour there after school letting the boys play.  

Thursday and Friday were both both game against Lincoln High School.  Thursday was a regular season game and then we played them as our first game in the tournament on Friday.  The girls beat them easily both times, but not with out some pain and suffering.  Including this bleeding scratch on Anna.  

 Saturday and Sunday were 4 more games total and we won the first one on Saturday, but lost the other 3 games.  Plus, with few subs, my girls were just exhausted and battered, but they played hard and they played well and they finally look like they are coming together as a team.  I lost my voice - it was going on Friday and now it's well and truly gone...  

Saturday and Sunday were also General Conference!  Anna and I only got to watch 2 and a half sessions, but thankfully we can go back and watch them!  We also made up our usual set of snacks, plus rolls from Eileen.  Yum!!

We also got to go to a baptism this evening and I took Evie and David to the park for a bit to hang out with friends.  Then dinner with the sister Missionaries and bed time!  Now onto another busy week!  

Lots of Water Polo...

We've had a busy week, with some of us being a bit under the weather.  James and David are becoming social butterflies.  They have both had birthday party invitations and David had a play date this week with some friends from school.  Both boys just want to hang out with friends on the play ground after school, so we spend most afternoons just hanging out at the play ground.  

Tuesday was our first league water polo game.  It went well and the girls won.  But best of all - it was really well refed and so the kids were able to have fun!  

James had Activity Days on Wednesday - but was in a bit of a grumpy mood for it, but David had a blast.   

Friday, I met up with a bunch of friends for lunch and we had a great time chatting and eating.  It's amazing how fast the week went though.  It felt like it had barely started and it was almost over.  

We had a busy weekend.  Evelyn and Aaron had a youth temple trip on Saturday morning.  Anna was gone Friday and Saturday at the Encore retreat.  She had a great time, but came home tired!  

Dad and the younger boys kept busy - David had fun painting his fingers and my toes and Evie's toes

This weekend was also the big boys tournament at THills.  It was rough since we were down our strongest player and two of our other experienced players were getting over colds, we also struggled with people getting there on time, so we ended up forfeiting two of our games and just playing half games to get some play time, but still not kill the boys.  They did well - but it was a rough weekend.  

I also got to watch a lot of water polo - including some of the best teams in the state, which was a lot of fun.  I had fun chatting with the other coaches and parents and refs and I'm already looking forward to next weekend.  

Aaron and I were able to go to some of church before we had to leave for the game, and I got to direct the ward choir - and they did amazing.  Anna accompanied us and did an amazing job!  She is so talented and brave!  

School and Birthdays

It's been a busy week.  David is loving school and loves to talk about it after too.  We usually stop and play for a bit after school before heading home.  James generally dumps his backpack with me and David thinks it fun to carry it on top of his.  

 Monday evening, we had a water polo game, and it was a rough one - and one that has led me to communicating with the people in charge of water polo refs in the state.  Which has be seriously stressed out, but hopefully we can get it all resolved with no hard feelings and some changes made.  

Tuesday morning, Dan headed out to CA for a conference with Jon and Sandi.  The conference was good and they got home safe and sound Friday evening.  

Wednesday was my birthday.  Dan had got a bunch of things ready for me before he left, so he cooked my birthday cake and had left a card with my gift in it for me to open on my birthday.  Otherwise, I spent the day doing most of the normal things.  Dan and Sandi called to sing happy birthday to me, but Dan dropped out half way through when he decided that Sandi sounded better alone.  lol

Friday we celebrated Evelyn's birthday.  She is officially a teenager now.  She had a few friends over for a sleepover.  They had a blast listening to music and painting nails and watching movies and eating snacks.  

Saturday, I took Anna and went to play water polo - should have brought Aaron too.  We had fun though and then after, we headed home and I showered and Dan and I went to the temple and met up with John and Melissa, then went to dinner with them after.  I love living near family!  

Today, Eileen and David have been feeling a bit under the weather.  I don't know that David will be able to go to school tomorrow, he was coughing a lot today.  :(  Otherwise, it was a great day.  We had a nice day playing games and doing crafts and chatting with family.  

Back to School...kinda

Dan and I packed up Monday morning and walked on the beach to get breakfast at our new favorite bakery, then we checked out and headed out.  We stopped at Rockaway one last time to get Dan a sweatshirt, then we headed towards Tillamook for a bit, we went to the Blue Heron cheese place and walked through some of the cute downtown shops, then we headed back to Beaverton for lunch and a stop at the game store before heading home.  

The kids did great, Grandma said they were good and the older ones were a big help - but they made her do all the dishes....  Grandma headed out early Tuesday morning - even before the kids were getting up for school.  James and Aaron started on Tuesday.  David and I got to get in our walks walking James to school!  

On Tuesday, David and I went down to the school for a meet the families day.  David got to meet the Kinder teachers and see the class rooms and I got to talk to the teachers and tell them about David! 

Evelyn started school on Wednesday.  The high school age kids started Seminary on Wednesday, and if Anna had realized that Band was first period and not second, she would have started her one class at the high school on Wednesday.  

 

On Thursday, David got to go to school with half of his class for the first day.  They spent their time learning about how things work and getting to know their teacher.  David loved it.  When I came to pick him up, he was sad because he wanted more time to play, so I let him stay and play on the playground for a bit before we met up with James and his friends at the park.    I spent my day cleaning and running some errands with Eileen and Anna 

David's second day of school isn't until Monday - Friday the other half of the class went, but he starts full time every day on Monday.  He loves being in Kindergarten and loves meeting new people and making new friends. 

Saturday morning, Evelyn wanted to go to a little Beaverton Parade.  She had friends from school and church in the parade.  So she and David and I went and had a great time.  Everyone was tossing candy, so David was happy as a clam.  

He was so loaded up with candy that his pants were falling down.  

After, we went home, then I headed out to water polo.  It was great getting to play, I've missed it this week!  When I got home David saw me and ran to me saying "what were you doing?"  I told him I was playing water polo and asked him what he had been doing and he gave me a huge hug and said "loving you!"  It was so cute!  In the evening, we had a ward BBQ that we went to and had fun hanging out with friends and neighbors!  

Church today was wonderful!  I went to Relief Society with Eileen today since it was her first day moving up to Relief Society.  She seemed to enjoy it, though she mostly sat quietly and listened.  It was a great discussion and a great lesson!  After, we had ward choir and they are sounding so good!  Finally, in the evening after dinner, I took Anna to her first Encore rehearsal and the parents meeting before.  It was such a neat experience!  

Eileen and Anna don't start their college classes for awhile yet, but they are all ready for the new school year too! 

Home and Away

It's been a crazy and wonderful week!  It started out with lots of water polo as usual.  Anna and Aaron and I had practice every day and they are amazing.  They work so hard and learn so quickly!  I also had my last week of masters until after the season is over :(  But at least I got a couple good days of play in.  

At home David and I have been having fun together.  The older 3 usually sleep in, so David and I go to my work outs together and play together and have fun together.  He saw on my computer a picture I took of him playing with his Duplo blocks and wanted to get them out and play with them again, so he had fun playing with his blocks and making me take silly pictures of him.   

On Thursday, our family was finally back together!  Eileen, Evelyn and Grandma and Grandpa arrived and I picked them up and drove them home.  It is so good to have everyone back home again and so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa here!  My dad came to the kids water polo practice to watch and help him stay awake since he was still a bit jet lagged.  

On Friday morning, my Dad went home to Texas and my Mom stayed here so Dan and I could have a weekend anniversary trip.  So Friday late morning, Dan and I took off and headed for the coast.  We stopped for lunch, then headed out to go Zip Lining.  We loved it, but when they offered the option to just dip a hand or a food in or get soaked, Dan chose "get soaked" and he did.  So he was very wet and rather cold by the end!  But we had a great time!  After, we headed to our hotel room and got checked in so he could take a hot shower, then we walked down to Rockaway Beach for dinner.  I found some Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken and he got clam chowder.  

Saturday we started off walking into town for breakfast, then drove to where our adventure for the day was while looking for places to stop and look around.  We ended up walking on the beach before getting back in plenty of time for our horse back riding!  The weather was perfect, though rather foggy at points, it was also warm and not rainy.  We had a great ride though!  

After, we headed back to Rockaway for dinner and some shopping.  We got a couple souvenirs and found an Indian food truck for dinner.  It was really yummy!  

Today, Dan and I walked to church in the morning and then home after.  The weather was beautiful!  After, we played some games and then decided to find a nature trail to go walk around.  We spent the whole afternoon at Cape Meares Scenic Viewpoint.  We checked out every trail we could find and got to see a lighthouse, lots of nesting bird sights, the Octopus tree, a really big tree and a longer hike down to the beach.  It was just beautiful and though the weather was overcast, it wasn't rainy, so we had good weather too!  

After tiring ourselves out, we headed back to our hotel for leftovers and a gorgeous view from our balcony!  We have really loved having this one on one time together!!  It's been a wonderful few days!

Busy Week

It's been a busy week.  David had a music Camp with Sister Shum and had a great time.  He has been wearing these plastic glasses that he got from her ever since and pretending that everything is blurry when he isn't wearing them.  Or that he's wearing contacts, but sometimes those contacts run out and everything gets blurry again.  lol 

Anna and I spent the better part of 2 days recruiting for Water Polo at the high schools, we handed out flyers and candy.  David would run up to people and hand them candy wrapped up in the flyer and was probably our best recruiter.  We also had some of David's favorite water polo friends come and so he had a great time playing with them and hanging out with his friends.  Anna made these trifold boards and did an amazing job on them.  We had fun, but is a bit tiring to spend all day doing that and then go to water polo practice, but hopefully it will help our numbers some.  

David just loves doing silly things and then having me take a picture of him.  

We have gotten to chat with Eileen and Evelyn a bit while they have been gone.  Eileen is having a great time with Grandma and Dan and I are more worried that she won't want to come back than we are worried about if she is doing ok there.  Their habits seem to suit each other and they are both enjoying this one on one time.  Eileen is already planning on how to go back again another time.  She has also gotten to see Sonora Tilton and had a great time. 

Evelyn seems to be having a great time and she and Grandpa are getting along great!  We have got to talk to her a bit and she is always happy and excited!  

Dan and I got to go to the temple and ended up doing Sealings which was wonderful since it's our anniversary month.  There are such beautiful promises and blessings!   

Saturday evening, Anna and Aaron had a Stake Youth Dance, so Dan and I took David and James to the Super Play for a bit.  James wasted all of both of their cards on a claw machine that he got nothing out of, so Dan and I took pity on them and played with them using our cards.  After that, we had fun and used the few tickets we had to get some candy for the drive home.  

On Sunday after church and choir, We all packed up and headed down to John and Melissa's for dinner.  We had a great time hanging out with them and playing games with them.  It's so great to live close enough to be able to do stuff like this sometimes,  We are already planning our next temple trip to include them!  

Water Polo Begins!

It has been very strange having two of our kids gone...  I know that to a lot of people 6 is still a big family, but to us, it feels small.  There are empty spots at the table and places I expect the girls to be, but they aren't.  I texted Eileen to ask her how things were going in Texas and she said "really well"  She has been happily cooking for Grandma and enjoying the quiet and one on one time with Grandma.  I texted my mom to ask her how things were going and she was worried about leaving Eileen alone too much and worried that Eileen didn't like the nearby grocery store and just worried that she was bored.  Eileen has never had a problem entertaining herself.  

We got a call from Evelyn who had fun telling us about the things she had been seeing and doing!  She's also having a blast!  

We had a busy week at home too.  We've been trying to get in as much summer fun as possible before summer is over and Water Polo started up this week.  I had workouts in the morning with David coming to play with friends and Anna (and once Aaron) coming to work out with me.  We had errands to run and things to get ready.  

In the evenings, Anna and Aaron and I have water polo practice.  We're still smaller in numbers than I would like, but we are getting better and the kids that are signed up and there are learning and growing so quickly - they are amazing! Aaron is so funny - anytime he shoots and makes it past Anna in the cage, he gets the biggest grin on his face!  It's also amazing to see how much Anna has grown as a player in her time playing club.  And it's been fun to coach her as a goalie too - she's doing really well!  

Wednesday after practice, I headed down to Salem for a coaches meeting.  It was a good meeting and I feel like I'm getting to know the water polo community here better!  

Thursday, the kids and I packed lunches and headed out to Cannon beach to meet up with friends for a day in the sun.  The weather started out looking cool and cloudy, but pretty quickly it cleared up and we had a great time hanging out with friends and playing in the sand and the water.  

On Friday, walking to the workout at the church building, David was walking next to Anna and chatting with her and told her that he didn't like to talk to people very much.  Then he said that he likes talking to her and mommy and daddy because he loves us, then Anna started asking about friends that he talks to all the time, and teasing him a bit.  Then we got there and he immediately started talking to everyone there.  Then walking home, he found a map of a nearby nature trail in his back pack and started looking at it and pretending to need it to navigate our way home.  It was especially funny because he kept saying things like "the map says we need to go that way" and "there are 5 turns until we get home" but he could walk this route home in his sleep we walk it so often and his sense of direction is so good.  lol  But it was cute! 

Friday evening, The Guinn's got in.  They were in town for Nate's grandpa's funeral and stayed with us for a couple days.  It was wonderful getting to visit with them and having them around, even if they had a lot of family stuff they needed to be at.  

Saturday morning, Anna had a YCL meeting, so the rest of us packed lunches and headed for Naked Falls just across the border into Washington. Once again, it was a bit cloudy and cool when we got there, but soon the clouds cleared and the day was warm and sunny.  The kids all had a great time swimming and jumping off the little cliffs and water falls.  Dan even went off the big one.  We met up with friends there and Nate and Ally were even able to come for a bit after the funeral.  It was a beautiful day and beautiful area! 

 

After, we headed home and Anna and I went to a Celtic Fantasy Faire happening nearby.  We had a great time walking around and looking at everything and listening to the music.  Everyone we talked to was really nice and we found a couple fun souvenirs.  Then we went to the food trucks for dinner and Dan got pizza for the boys.  We had a fun evening chatting with Nate and Ally.  Then they had to take off early in the morning to get on their way home.  Hopefully they can come out again with a little more time!  

Church today was wonderful - we got to hear from the sister missionaries during Sacrament meeting.  Primary went well and it's just wonderful getting to hear the children sing the beautiful and simple songs of faith!  We had a fun afternoon with choir and games and some naps too.