going to my happy place

This last weekend, the stars aligned, Delta had a sale, Addi was being blessed in Sacrament meeting, my family was heading to Oregon, and Natalie and I flew there to be a part of it all.

It was heavenly. Brace yourself for a barrage of photos.

Natalie and Addi chilling in the backseat after we arrived in Oregon.

Addi, Natalie, and Ryker at our picnic at Silver Falls State Park.
The falls were breathtaking. Actually, the hike back up was breathtaking. There were people stopped, wheezing all the way back up. It wasn't me, if that's what you were thinking.

I had to snap a picture of this very Narnian lampost.

Then back to Shellie's house.
Cute cousins. Cute onesies.
Cutie patooties:

You know when people tell you imagine going to your happy place?

Here it is:No trip to Oregon would be complete without visiting the ocean.

Happy feet.

Our gracious hosts.

Dad taking some pictures. Um, Dad, did you notice the tide coming in?

Guess not.

Elizabeth snapped a picture of me with my camera to prove I was there. Say cheese, Elizabeth!

The cute Thornton family.

Next up, Oregon zoo. It seemed to be the place to be for most of Oregon that day. Natalie was hanging out with Uncle Tory.

Michelle got to chill in the wagon. I love how she sits with her legs crossed. Always the little lady.

Shellie is getting all set for twins. (How does that sound, Shellie?)

Then on to the rose gardens. Only one thing was missing: roses. The rhododendrons were gorgeous though. I couldn't believe how huge they get.

There goes Ella, running through the roses.

We found one in bloom!

Then we spent some time at the Woodburn factory stores. AH, PARADISE!

One more shot of my happy place.

while you were in. . .

In the shower that is. I just wonder what power the shower has over the forces of the universe. Usually I try to sneak into the shower while the kids are all busy and no one seems to care where I am or what I am doing. The shower seems to trigger something in the home that makes all the kids come and start banging on the bathroom door, cry, wake the baby who then also cries; bedlam in other words. Today they were calm but I missed a call and someone came to our door and was ringing the doorbell and knocking just as I stepped out of the shower. Its hard to pretend that you're not home when your kids run to the window and look out at them, but that's what I did. I just hope it wasn't the publisher's clearinghouse guy.

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with the post. I just think posts are better with pictures and this is one of my favorites from a few years ago.

kindergarten roundup

Cali is already nearly finished with kindergarten. It seems like only yesterday that she was Kimi's age, but Kimi informed me that was 250-thousand years ago. Time flies.

We just got to go and enjoy Cali's kindergarten program. What a show. Here is a video of one song we have heard a few times at out house in the days leading up to the program. I was zoomed way in so the quality is a little poor, but the video to me is priceless. And the chuckling you hear is me, of course. This ends up in a lot of our videos. I can't help it.

Great job, my little buckaroo.

mother i looove you, mother i doooo

That is the line of one of the dreariest sounding primary songs that I think there is, but it made my throat clench up and brought tears to my eyes to see my own two girls standing up in Sacrament meeting singing it to me today. At times like that I realize that I have all I ever really wanted out of life. I felt like I needed to also pay homage to my own sweet mother since I don't get to get up in Sacrament Meeting and sing that tribute to her anymore. A few weeks ago I got a hankering for one of my all time favorite treats, Jiffy brownies. One of the reasons I love them so much, besides their fudgy goodness, it that they are the first thing that I remember ever learning how to make. I remember every Sunday afternoon when I must have been in about the second grade (we were still living on Lincoln), mixing it up, chopping up the walnuts before I figured out what "optional" meant, and putting them in the oven so we would all have some to watch "Our House" with Wilford Brimley together. I remember feeling so proud that I got to know the recipe by heart. (Now I know that 1 egg and a tablespoon of water with the mix isn't all that tricky.) It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I was thinking about it that I realized that every Sunday all those ingredients were ready for me and that that hadn't magically happened. Something so little like that, that I never really thought about, helped to foster my love of cooking and in part, homemaking. Mom probably didn't think that was what she was doing either, she was just being a great mom.
So when I wasn't able to find the mixes anywhere for sale down here I asked her to bring me some when she came down for Natalie's blessing. She arrived with a whole case. (Which I secretly hoped would happen.) There she was, keeping me stocked with brownie mixes still, and still just being a great mom. Thank you for all the ways you loved me, Mom.
Happy Mother's Day.

kimi doesn't get mad. . .

I went out for round two of me vs. the bishop's weed yesterday. I decided to rip it all out because I don't really like it. It turned out to be a tough job; we may need a priest to get rid of it. Maybe thats where this stuff got its name. Anywho, Ian was my helper with his little garden trowel, eating dirt. I didn't know that until some neighbors walked by and pointed that out to me. One more vote for "mother of the year"goes to me. Kimi came out after a while and Ian started playing a little game of "dump-a-little-shovel-full-of-dirt-on-Kimi-and-say, 'ha, ha, Ki-mi.'" He did this multiple times with Kimi tell him to stop. I kind of just ignored it because I tend to get really focused when weeding. Kimi came and asked me if I had a little shovel she could use. I told her that Ian had the only one. She went to the storage room and came back with a kid's full sized shovel. You can probably all see where this is going, but I truly didn't. The next thing I knew, Ian was standing next to me sputtering dirt out of his mouth with a pile of dirt on his head, in his eyes, etc. He wasn't crying though, at least he can take it as well as dish it. I sent Kimi inside for a little time to reflect on what she had just done.

Here's a better idea of what Ian might look like with facial hair someday.

go to bed

I just laid Ian down for a nap for the second time. The first time he really wanted to sleep on the bed in his room instead of the crib. I thought that might be good because if he could sleep in that bed then we would actually have a crib for Natalie. After a while I heard him thumping around in there and went to go see. When I opened the door this is what I saw peeking back at me from behind the door:That is Ian with "Banks" as his blanket is called. It also doubles as a smashing headdress.

I put him in his crib for the second try. He chooses random things to sleep with. Besides Banks and "Meow" the cat who are the regulars, he took a diaper to bed because it had Elmo on it. I found that Barney snow boot you can see hiding under the bumper pad when he got up this morning.

Night-night, buddy.