Busy!!!

We've had a busy week with school, water polo, work, church and life in general.  David has a busy social life, Evelyn has marching band and tutoring and friends.  Aaron and I have water polo.  Dan and I have work.  The kids are all getting excited about Halloween and costumes,  Eileen is making mouse costumes for the stuffed mice!  David is always asking to wear his costume, but I'm making him wait.  

We had two water polo games this week - Tuesday against Hillsboro and Thursday against Westview.  We were missing players at both games which made them rough.  

The kids were off school Friday, but I still had work, plus an extra shift up at Sunset.  But it was nice to sleep in a bit.  

Saturday was crazy.  Dan wanted to use the last nice day of the year to get some jumps in, so he went up to a new jump site and spent the day jumping out of planes!  I hosted a team breakfast where we had pancakes and fruit and fun.  Then David had 2 birthday parties to go to.  Aaron was given his first assignment to help drive David to his second party since I had a scrimmage at MAC.  The scrimmage was a lot of fun and lots of people.   Plus I got to see and chat with and play with some people I don't get to see all that often - and even better, there were actually quite a few women there!  It's always nice to not be the only female! :)  Then I met up with David at his second party to hang out with the parents and chat while the kids played.  Then we had some quick time for scriptures before bed and Open Polo.  Open polo was a lot of fun and had a great turn out!  

Sundays are always busy - with Church and choir, and stake choir and Encore and all sorts of fun stuff.  The choirs are sounding good and it's been awesome working with them!  We also got to chat with Anna for a bit.  She's doing well and keeping busy!  

General Conference... and yes, more water polo

We had an exciting week!  Aaron passed his drivers test this week.  We still have to take him to the DMV to get his actual license, but the test is done and soon he will be on the road!  

We had a busy week with school and friends and sports and band.  Evelyn is tutoring her friend again this year and it seems to be working well.  Plus she has marching band stuff most days.  She works so hard and they are so good!  It's also been fun getting to listen to her practice her Encore stuff!  

David loves to scramble eggs, so on Saturday for breakfast - he cooked up some eggs for us.  It was fun having a quiet little breakfast with him!  

This weekend was General Conference.  It was a fun weekend full of amazing messages and yummy food.  Anna got to enjoy Conference at Paul and Candace's home with lots of cousins! Thankfully Paul and Candace took and shared pictures!  

This weekend was also the boys BSD water polo tournament.  They had 4 games over the couse of 2 days.  They lost them all, but there was some good growth happening!  The games were also spread apart enough that we got to listen to some conference and I got to play some water polo too.  I got to go to Parkrose to play with masters and had a great time - then in the evening, I went to Open Polo which was also great - we had a great turn out and it was a really fun group!  

James decided that during General Conference, he wanted a project to work on - and he decided that he wanted to make a wooden sword.  He cut it out, sanded it down and painted it, then sewed a sheath for it.  Then he made another one... He is making them to look like specific swords of characters in manga that he likes.  Also to match the constume he wants to wear.  

This week I took Aaron, David and Eileen to get costumes.  We all had fun looking around the Halloween store and picking out costumes to wear for Halloween. 

And more Water Polo...

We've had a busy week.  Work, school and sports and band.  

David has been busy.  His friend Paxton had a birthday this week, on his birthday, his mom took him and David and another friend to a bowling alley/arcade and David had a blast and came home with lots of prizes.  Then the next day, they had a little birthday party at the park near their house with pizza and ice cream and electric scooters and all sorts of fun stuff.  

Friday was the school's Fun Run fundraiser.  David set a goal to do 14 laps which is two more than last year and he made it to 17!  He was amazing and we had fun watching him and cheering him on!  

Unfortunatly, Eileen didn't get the movie theater job, so we are on the look out for another job idea for her.  

Aaron and I are still busy with water polo.  We had a game on Tuesday - against Sunset and lost, but it was a good learning experience.  This weekend was the girls tournament - there were only 4 teams - including the one we played on Tuesday.  So the girls got lots of good experience and grew a lot and played hard this week - they did amazing in hard circumstances.   We had a little tent area set up outside with snacks and blankets and chairs and fun to hang out at between games and we had a fun time being together as a team.  

Our Friday practice time was different than usual, and the head coach needed help getting his lifeguarding shift covered to make it to practice, so I picked it up, then headed over after.  He guards up at Sunset though, so it was fun hanging out with Luke and Rachel for a bit!  

Evelyn had her first Marching Band competition this weekend.  Dan and I were able to go listen to it.  Their band really sounds amazing and their show is awesome!!  She is loving it and having a blast with friends!  

Today was crazy - between the tournament and church and choir practices, it feels like I've been running all day, but church was awesome and the choirs are really souding amazing!  

Lots of Water Polo....

 We've had a fun and busy week. 

Evelyn is busy with tutoring and marching band and school.  She is loving marching band and hanging out with her friends.  She also had the Encore retreat this weekend.  Monday was her 15th birthday.  We celebrated with ice cream cake and a birthday dinner of fettuccine alfredo.  She finished her first week of being 15 by passing the test for her driving permit.  Look out world - here she comes.... 

James has been busy with school.  He is frustrated with some of school, but is generally doing well.  He doesn't like it when other kids don't follow rules.  

David has also been busy with school.  He also has a busy social calendar.  Wednesday, when I had a water polo game in the early afternoon, he went on the bus after school to hang out with his friend Anna.  They had a blast building blanket forts and eating yummy food.  Friday after school he went to hang out with Paxton, then had a sleepover with him that night.  Then went to Paxton's football game the next day and to another friends birthday party.  

Aaron and I have had water polo all week.  Practices Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  Wednesday, we had a game out at Forest Grove.  The girls won and the boys won in double overtime by 1 point.  It was an exciting game.  Even better, we got done in time for me to get the kids all home and get to go play with Masters that night!  Friday and Saturday was the boys Tigard Tournament.  The boys had 4 games over 2 days and won all of them.  They ended up winning the tournament and are still undefeated.  It was a fun weekend.  A bunch of the girls game on Saturday to cheer them on and hang out with us and we all had a great time together!  Then that night, I went to play at Open Polo - but Aaron was tired.  :)  Then today, Aaron and I went to help out with the water polo car wash fundraiser for a bit today.  

Eileen is keeping busy at home, but this week Dan talked with her about getting a job.  She applied to the movie theater and had an interview yesterday.  We will find out if she get the job soon! 

Dan has been busy with work and family and exercise.  He is such a help during this crazy water polo season!  

Anna is still doing well at school.  She has started a job as a custodian and is liking it so far.  She is doing well in school and getting along with her roommates.  We get glimpses of her life on Be Real and she calls once in awhile.  We got to do scriptures with her the other day! 

Fun and Games

Monday was Labor Day, so the kids were off school, but we didn't really have any exciting plans.  Weather was kinda cold and rainy, so Dan took some of the kids to the pool to swim while I did the grocery shopping.  It was kinda nice to have a day off, but other than that, it was a nice easy day!

Dan and Eileen went out to pick blackberries late Sunday and made this yummy cheesecake that didn't last long....  

Tuesday was back to regularly scheduled school and band and water polo and friends.  David has been having fun getting together with Paxton after school whenever possible and Evelyn is keeping busy with band stuff in the evenings.  Aaron and I have water polo in the evenings.  

Thursday was the boys first game.  They didn't have a girls team, so just the boys played, but they did a great job and won 24 to 7.  We were able to get the new players some good game time and have some fun.  

Thursday, while I was at the game, David went over to play at his friend Paxton's house and they had a blast splashing around in the pool together in the heat.  

Friday was a typical day with the usual stuff.  Then Saturday was crazy...  I swam in the morning, then Dan and Aaron and I went to watch Evelyn in the Beaverton Parade, then Aaron and I went to Parkrose to play water polo.  David went with Paxton to watch his friend play flag football.  After water polo, I went to an inservice at Connestoga and had fun practicing and refreshing skills.  Then home to make dinner.  Evelyn had Band day after the parade and Dan picked her and David up in time to help get dinner ready  for when our friends the Balageers came over for dinner.  We made the Sundried Tomato Pasta - Evelyn wanted to help make it and she did great!  We had a fun dinner and dessert and scriptures with friends.  Then I went to open polo.  Then I crashed....  

Church today was wonderful!  We had a nice quiet morning, the Sacrament Meeting talks were wonderful and Primary was fun!  The kids loved getting to catch paper bugs!  Then ward choir - Dan made Evelyn go, so she brought her friends and it was wonderful!  

Tonight was also the beginning of the new Encore season.  We had the parents meeting and it's going to be an awesome season - Evelyn is so excited to have her friend Ashley with her this year!  

Starting School

The kids started back to school this week!  David started Monday morning, so we got him up and off to school.  Even though school starts 15 minutes earlier than last year, since there are free lunches and breakfast through the school, David is getting up about the same time as last year.    This week was mostly about finding and getting into our new routine.  Monday was a bit of a soft start since it was just David starting school.  I also had to check David out on his first day for a dentist appointment.  It felt a bit silly, but it was the only one we could get.  He's got a couple cavities and we are trying to work with him on remembering to brush more.  

So here is David starting 2nd grade.  He no longer wants to give me hugs and kisses when I drop him off and he is constantly trying to see how far I will let him go with out me...  

Tuesday, the rest of the kids started school and Aaron and Evelyn started Seminary.  It turns out that it works well for me to go swim, then take the kids to seminary, then get back and take David to school, then go work out.  Despite everything that has changed since last year things seem to have worked out well with what stayed the same.  

Aaron and Evelyn are starting their Junior and Sophmore years (respectively) and are both already busy with after school activites.   James is starting 7th grade and is not super excited about some changes in the school schedule this year, 

Tuesday morning was also when Anna left with Melissa and Seth for BYU.  She has been busy packing and trying to get everything ready.  She is amazing and I'm super excited for this new phase of life for her!  But we miss her already!

Tuesday, I also started back at my regular work schedule.  It was fun how many people noticed I was gone and welcomed me back!  One of the things I love about this job is the people!  Water Polo is back to it's usual 7:30 - 9 time slot at Aloha pool.  It's starting to feel like the regular season is beginning.  We've got a full 10 people on each team and it's an exciting beginning.  Our first game is next week and it's been exciting so far!  

Wednesday it was starting to feel like we were getting back into the regular swing of things.  Anna's road trip was going well and it's been fun to watch her Be Real posts.  James and Dan had their youth activity and Evelyn had band and Aaron and I had Water Polo.  There are other teams using Aloha before us for a couple weeks while their pools are being worked on, so it's been fun to see friends during transition.  

Thursday was regular routines now, and Friday also.  We are getting back into the fun of hanging out with friends after school.  David and Paxton are getting together as often as possible, and with the weather getting hot this week, they have ended up in the pool at Paxton's house a couple times.  I went over with them Friday to give Nicole a bit of rest and the kids had fun splashing around.  

Friday, Dan went out to get his final jumps in to get certified.  He can now go whenever he wants.  He's been having a fun time with this and it's been neat to see him get excited about doing somthing he enjoys!  

Saturday, became the day of the big(ish) move.  We switched the boys and girls bedrooms.  We worked in the morning moving the boys out and putting their stuff in the hall, then I took Aaron to water polo and we had fun.  He had some really great shots and I had some really great blocks.  While we were gone, the girls began moving their stuff into the old boys room.  I got home and Eileen was stressed and Dan was stressed out too, so I took over getting Eileen moved - we ended up getting her some organizational stuff at Walmart and got it all figured out, then we got the boys moved into their new space.  David is so excited to actually have a real bed now.  He is super excited about having his own space and it was nice to get everything cleaned up and tons of garbage thrown out!  Evelyn got moved then went swimming with friends.  Aaron and James watched Princess Bride and I went to open polo.  Numbers were low at everything this weekend because of the holiday, but we still had fun!  

Church today was great!  I woke up when I forgot to turn off my early swimming alarm and couldn't get back to sleep, so I was tired, but the fast and testimony meeting was wonderful and primary went great.  We had a great time chatting with Anna this afternoon and making way too much food, David has been having fun cutting up cardboard boxes and making a pretend computer for him to play games on.  He carefully copied my keyboard and made a mouse and everything.  It's super cute!  

Anna let David have her giant bear and he is SO excited about it.  He has been carrying it everywhere and playing with it and snuggling with is all over the house.  

And some fast Sunday silliness! 

Water Polo Begins!

Monday was nuts.  There was the usual laundry and groceries and swimming and work outs and such, then I also had to go to the school to pick up all our equipment for water polo.  The girls team is looking good - we already have 9 players and we have some strong new players coming in and some awesome old faces coming back!  We were still low on boys numbers at the beginning of the week - but it is getting better as the week progresses.  We have boys that have said they will play, but who have yet to sign up....  

Practices have been going well - I've really been enjoying getting to work with the newer players and helping them learn basic skills!  

Wednesday was out parents meeting after practice and then masters after that.  It was a lot of fun!!  The parents meeting went well

Thursday was a busy day getting things ready for our Team Dinner on Friday, and David helped me run errands - then fell asleep on the water polo balls in the back of the car!  It was so cute!  

Thursday, Dan headed up to Washington to run the Ragna Race with some old friends from high school.  It was cold and wet and crazy - but he had a great time!  

And he even remembered to take pictures for me!!  He was gone until Saturday evening - and he ran a lot and barely slept at all...

Friday was the team dinner.  It went well, we had a good turnout and lots of food was eaten and lots of fun was had!  

Saturday was crazy.  I got up in the morning to swim and got home and only had time to do a tiny bit of clean up from Friday night before getting the kids up and getting packed and ready to head down to Salem for little Evelyn's birthay party.  Then I took my Evelyn to band and then I grabbed the rest of the kids to head down.  We had a great time.  Eileen enjoyed showing off her mice to a sweet little girl at the party and James enjoyed making Evelyn jealous by having me send pics of him holding Harrison.  

After we got back from the party, I took Eileen to the Celtic and Fantasy Faire in Hillsboro, then took Aaron and Evelyn and James to the youth temple trip, then took David and met Eileen at the fair.  We had fun walking around and doing a bit of shopping and Eileen and I got dressed up!  Then we headed home just in time to grab some dinner and read some scriptures before taking Evelyn and her friends to a dance.  There was no open polo (boo) but after picking the girls back up and taking them all home, I was still very ready for bed!  

Church today was wonderful - the choir number went really well and the talks were awesome! 

 After church, we mostly took it easy and played some games.  Did a bit of napping.  Then dinner and the Seminary kick-off.  
  

Camping!

This week was our annual camping trip with our church friends!  Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent prepping for the camping trip, then Wednesday morning after swimming and working out we packied up and headed for the coast.  We also brough James' friend Caleb with us.  He had never been camping before and it made James much happier to have him (though admittedly, it made Eileen less happy)  

The weather had been threatening to rain the whole time, but then it ended up being clear the whole time.  It was a typical cool day at the Oregon Coast, but warm enough to enjoy being on the beach and for the kids to enjoy getting wet!  

One of the funnest parts about going with this group is that it means we all have friends to hang out with.  It was fun since Eileen mostly chose to hang out with adults (and around whatever fire she could find) so she hung out with me a lot!  

The other fun thing is getting to share food and games together.  There was a group of teenagers playing D&D and multiple s'mores nights and the Olsen's always had yummy food that they wanted to share.   

Eileen also had fun sharing her crochet creations with the kids.  She gave head scarfs to Kallie and Fiona and Rory and they all looked so cute in them!  She also brought out her mice and the kids had a blast playing with them.  Rory was making my little boy mouse break dance on the table!  

The weather out on the beach was especially beautiful on Friday.  The kids all had a blast playing in the sand and getting wet and building a huge sand fort.  

Anna and Evelyn stayed home with Dad since Evelyn had band camp that week and Anna had work.  We got back early-ish on Saturday morning.  Aaron and I wanted to go play water polo, then Dan and I went to a wedding reception, then we met up with Evelyn at the school for the marching band preview show.  It was a lot of fun and we had a great time with her learning how to march.  

That evening, Anna and I went to open polo and had fun since a bunch of friends showed up!  

I am in the process of gearing up for Water Polo season.  I spent a lot of time this week talking with the new head coach and asking questions and deciding how we want to proceed with stuff.  I am looking forward to the new season and I think it's going to be awesome!  

Band and Polo and Swimming and Friends

 This week was the beginning of band camp for Evelyn, so she has been gone from 10 in the morning until 9 at night every day this week except Sunday.  We've had to make sure to drop dinner off for her at 5 and get her dropped off and picked up.  She's having a blast, but it's long and tiring!!  

I took the boys swimming a couple times this week - we also brought Paxton and one of the times they ran into their friend Anna there.  They had a blast playing together and Aaron and James were great with the little kids.  

David had a sleepover at Paxton's house.  They just switched back and forth between houses periodically during the week.  But they had fun together and they love playing together even if they can't play video games.  :) 

Wednesday at masters polo we had 30 people come!  It was awesome to see so many people!  Anna and I had a blast and met a girl who used to play for Mountainside who was home for a couple weeks and stopped in to play with us.  It was fun to chat with her!  

Saturday was absolutly nuts.  I had 3 places I was supposed to be.  at once...  There was the coaches clinic all day - I only got to go to a little bit of it before I had to leave for the open water tournament.  The part I got to go to was amazing, but I wish they would give us the date more than a week in advance... 

The tournament was a lot of fun.  It was in Lake Oswego.  The group we played with was awesome and we won all our games.  I had to miss one of the games though so that I could go to Brother Steven's funeral.  The funeral was beautiful.  After, I hurried back just in time for the last game.  We won all our games by a pretty large margin and everyone had a great time!  

Finally in the evening, I went with Anna to open polo and we had a blast - it was a good group with some good polo happening!  We started out with a full game plus subs, but people filtered out as it got late and we ended up with 4 on 4 by the end.  

Church today was wonderful - the talks were amazing as was the music.  Primary went well and we had a fun time and practiced the music.  After, we played games and ate dinner and had fun together.  I caught this cute sisters snuggling during scriptures.  

FSY

Monday morning, I got up to swim early as usual, then worked out as usual, then I gathered kids up and we drove down to drop them off at FSY.  Anna, Aaron and Evelyn all went with friends and we had a fun drive down.   

The kids had an amazing week - and I got glimpses of it through BeReal which was fun.  

Wednesday, I took Eileen, James and David to George Rogers park to play in the water for a few hours with friends.  We had a great time and the weather was perfect.  We had a wonderful day!  

Thursday, Dan and I went out to Rockaway Beach for a night away to celebrate our anniversary.  22 years!  We had a fun evening watching the sunset on the beach and watching some olympics.  Then a relaxed evening eating a yummy breakfast and walking on the beach and browsing some of the shops.  

Friday, we got home and got right back into busy.  Eileen was glad to have relief from the boys again and we got back into regular routines.  

Saturday, I picked up kids from FSY bright and early, then since none of us had had any breakfast, I took them out for donuts.  Anna found a fun little bakery with donuts that was open in Salem and we stopped there for some of the best donuts I've ever had.  They were a big hit all around.  

Saturday was crazy - we had water polo, temple trip, birthday party and more water polo.  Anna was exhausted after FSY and slept most of the day.  Evelyn immediatly went to hang out with her friends for the rest of the day.  

Sunday was wonderful.  Sacrament Meeting was beautiful, and primary went well with our little Olympic themed activity.  We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and then I took the boys to the park to play for a bit before bed time.  We met up with Paxton and his dad and brother.  The boys had a fun time playing together and then planned a playdate for Monday.  

YW Camp

Monday morning, after swimming, Anna and I met up with the other YCL's at the church to head up to camp.  We mostly ate lunch on the drive and arrived in time to get uloaded and ready for all the prep work that needed to be done before Tuesday.  I had the easiest job - as the lifeguard I was in charge of the pool and keeping the kids safe there.  I spent a couple hours a day walking around the pool deck in perfect weather watching kids have fun.  The only stressfull part of the whole thing was that they were having some issues with the pool being cloudy, so I had to restrict what they could do in the pool, but they were awesome about it!   

The food was wonderful - the people were wonderful and it was a week of awesomeness and spiritual uplift and making friendships! I fired a rifle for the first time ever - didn't do great, but I hit the target.... 

The theme of the week was fruity - One in a Melon disciple of Christ - so we had fun with fruit clothing and other stuff!  

I got to enjoy off hours reading in a hammok and crocheting.  

Anna called everyone to flag and food with her trumpet which was awesome! 

Anna taught hair braiding and I offered my head as a practice head.  

And of course lots of time hanging out with friends!  

After a wonderful week - we headed home Friday evening, and I got back in time to put David to bed!  

While we were gone, Dan had fun with the kids at home.  They took a fun trip out to Tillamook and the beach.  And he and James got awesome hair cuts.

David and Eileen built a mousy fortress and had fun playing in the sand together!  

Saturday, Dan and I went out to Dan Moffat's pickle ball party.  We had a fun time playing games and chatting with friends.  After playing with us some, Dan actually knew people there this year which made him more comfortable.  It was a blast and the time flew by.  We finally left so we could get home and get David to bed.  

Evelyn went with friends to a dance out in Oregon City and I went to Open Polo - we had a good turn out this week and had lots of fun!  

Church today was a bit crazy.  James and I both gave talks today.  James did a great job!  Primary went well and was relatively busy!   After, we had a nice quiet afternoon of games and quiet time.