Photo Tag

So Denise tagged me like a month ago, and I am finally getting around to it. At least I'm doing it, right?

So, it was a photo tag, and I was to go to the sixth folder in my photos and post the sixth photo.



Isn't she cute? This is a picture of Briona when she was 3. She fell asleep while reading a book. "Like mother, like daughter", as Daniel would say. He has taken very similar pictures of me (which I'm not going to post).

Okay, so I have to admit to a small falsehood. That really wasn't #6 of the sixth folder. It was actually #8. Here is #6:



If you can't guess, this is a picture of the rear end of an old time car (I'm pretty sure Christopher was the photographer). Our neighbor's have a pumpkin patch and every other year or so they have a group of customers come and visit in their vintage cars. It was actually pretty cool ( I just couldn't pass up the chance to post a picture of one of my kids.)

I tag Maralee, Chelsea, and Amy (again)!

Elections

Well here it is election night and I am anxiously awaiting the final results. I still have several more hours to wait however. The way things stand right now, according to Fox News, is McCain 13 electoral votes and Obama 3.

It has only been the last three elections that I have cared at all about voting. My interest has steadily grown over the past 8 years however. I had my mind made up about who I wanted to win in 2000 and in 2004. But I have to admit that I wasn't extremely passionate about it. Yes, I hoped Bush would win, but beyond that I really didn't think I would be upset if he didn't.

This year is different. Not only do I really want McCain to win, but I really want Obama to lose.

Church Music

Today Christopher and I were in the car together. I had put in a CD called "Not your Mother's LDS Music". As he was looking at the case he said to me, "Mom, I wish we had more church music around the house".

It made my heart happy.

Are Those All Yours?!!!

That was the question we got several times as we walked around Disneyland will both our kids and the Huhtala kids.

Summer Update

I know, I know, you all thought that I dropped off the face of the earth. Nope! I'm still here. The last few months have just been extremely crazy.

Here is a letter Daniel wrote to his sister a month or so ago. It gives a quick summary of our summer. I will make another post soon to catch you all up with us.

he kids are getting excited for our DisneyLand trip in October. We'll be on the road form the 7th to the 17th, visiting Marc (who lives in Northern Cali. right now; wasn't sure if you knew) for a few days, and staying at Disney for three days. We'll have to head home in time to be back for one of Christopher's rehearsals for the Singing Christmas Tree here in Portland.

The kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now, and they're liking it. Mostly. Getting up at 6:30 is not much fun for them, but they do pretty well as long as we get them to bed before 9:30. Robin and I are both teaching at the school this year: 5th grade Math for me, and 3rd grade science for her. It's fun, fits with our schedules, and also means that we don't have to pay anything for the kids to go to PHA.

Michael just started walking around last week. He's getting more and more steady on his feet, and he'll wander around in circles for minutes at a time just to practice. (At least, that's how it looks.) He's not saying a whole lot yet, but makes lots of noises that he expects us to understand. I imagine we'll get better at it soon.

Briona just barely turned 5, and just started pre-school. She loves her class and her teacher and, most of all, the snacks she gets at school. Not sure what she's learning yet, but that'll come.

Kira had a great time this summer. Just before her 10th birthday, she and Robin went to "Sisters' Camp", a three-day hang-out with lots of other girls her age and their moms (mostly), doing all the same kinds of things that Christopher has been doing at Scout camp: riding horses, shooting BB guns, cooking over a fire, tying knots, sleeping in a cabin and hiking all over the place. She loved it!

Christoper is nearly twelve, and will soon be ordained as a Deacon. He's pretty happy about it, but not quite as excited as he was, since I'm not working with the Deacons anymore, so he still won't be in the class I teach. He's doing great in school, and has a huge jump on his Math, since he tested through the first half (and then some) of the book.

Robin works at JoAnn Craft Store, staffing the cutting table and the framing counter. She loves the framing part, since she gets to work for long periods of time on one job, without being distracted by "Mom!" this and "Mom!" that every 2 minutes. Working the cutting counter, though, is no different from being at home, just with bigger and grumpier kids. We hope that with her working, and some of the other changes we've made. we'll be able to get completely out of debt (not counting the house) in a couple of years. It's a long road, but SO worth it.

I'm still working computer jobs, and loving what I do. Again, mostly. Office politics always make the job a little tougher, but it's a small price to pay for getting paid to do something I like so much.

Montana Memories

We spent our 4th of July holiday in Montana. It was WONDERFUL!

Daniel's Uncle Chris and Aunt Linda live in Yorc (right outside of Helena). After a 14 hour drive we pulled onto their beautiful property. Talk about picturesque! (Of course we had to wait until the morning to actually see it because it was 11:00 pm when we got there).



Chris and Linda had a place all set up and ready for us (even though we showed up a day before they were expecting us). They have a large fifth wheel that they completely turned over to us. It was like a little home away from home. We had hot running water, electricity, air conditioning, you name it. We were so comfortable. It was parked right next to the stream, so we went to sleep each night to that peaceful sound.

The kids had a blast while we were there. They got to tube down the creek, ride the four wheeler, collect rocks from the river, hike, and best of all, play with their relatives.







If you notice there is a rope tied to the tube. Mic (Daniel's dad) thought this would be a safer way to ride. Linda and I kept trying to convince him that they didn't need it because the bridge would stop them from going to far, but he informed us that it was his right to be protective over his grandchildren. Of course the kids only wanted to play on the cautious side for so long . . .



Here, Brian (Daniel's brother) and the 3 older kids decided to try riding down the river all together. It kind of reminded me of the nursery rhyme "Rub-a-Dub-Dub", except there were 4 in the tub.

It was so much fun until they hit the "waterfall". There was a large rock in the middle of the creek that created a small dip in the water flow. Small though it was, it caused just enough of a tip to capsize the vessel. From our vantage point on the porch it was quite the comical scene. All of the sudden where 4 happy children use to be was the bottom of the tube. Then in the next second , Brian climbed off of Christopher, and then pulled Kira (bottom side up) out of the water. At the same time, looking every bit as much like a drowned rat, Briona crawled up onto the bank sputtering and crying. Later as we talked about the incident, she informed us that nobody pulled her out and that she "didn't survive".


As you can see the trauma didn't last too long.



Linda had gone out of her way to make sure that the kids felt comfortable and at home. Over the past few months she has been stocking her house with toys and games she thought the kids would enjoy. The tinker toys were a huge hit! Every one from Michael to Grandpa, got in on the action.


Of course we couldn't leave all the fun to the kids. In fact, on the fun scale I might have topped the charts. I got to set aside some of my usual titles, like cook, housekeeper, and chauffeur and trade them in for farm girl and biker babe.

I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite activity. My Aunt Linda lent me some of her biking gear so that Chris could take me for a ride on his Goldwing. Kira and I got to man the tractor. We moved rocks, smoothed out dirt, and had fun trying to learn the controls (now which way is up?). I sped down the road at high speeds (shhhhhhh, don't tell Chris) on the four wheeler.

I think my Father-in-law and Uncle were trying to convert me to farm life. They seemed to get almost as much pleasure out of giving me these experiences as I had doing them. It was a real treat!

I think Daniel might have got the short end of the stick, but he didn't seem to mind to much.






In the evening of the 4th we drove down by the reservoir and parked by a large field. From here we could see the entire valley. It was amazing how many different places were letting off large fireworks. It was impossible to see them all because they we being launched from one side of the valley to the other. It was definitely a sight to see!

RE School on Hold

A couple of posts ago I said that I was starting Real Estate School. Well, actually that has been put on hold for awhile. It just isn't the right time for it. I really look forward to continuing my education, but with the way the economy is right now, Daniel and I just can't bring ourselves to sink a ton of money into it.

There is always tomorrow!