Better Start Building...

... an ark, that is. It has been raining for the past 2 weeks -- very unusual for around these parts. I feel like we live in Seattle. The sun peaks out for a bit, now and then, and then the rain just keeps on pouring, and the thunder keeps on rumbling. It has been kind of nice -- as far as temperature goes. It has been staying nice and cool, and very, very, moist! Hail

It was the last day of school when it started raining. The day after we used our broken tree limb and made a tent for the kids to play in -- they stayed outside ALL day. I helped them with ideas of things to play. They were Indians, and they had to stay away from the Pirates (Peter Pan). They had to gather food, go fishing, make fires, go to war, etc. etc. They loved it. After that, it has poured almost everyday since! Maybe it was the Indian rain dance that we did?!

William thought it was awesome. :-) He even would pretend to eat pretend food (like rocks).

Charles had to go and chop-up their home and take it to the dump -- sad. :-)

Nasty Nature

We have had some pretty awesome storms blowing through our area. The kids were in the backyard (the weather was fine) and suddenly a HUGE gust of wind ripped through our yard and SNAP! A pretty good-sized branch fell from our tree. Luckily, no one was near it. You can see all the debris on the grass -- all the helicopter pods were flying like crazy. It was pretty neat, until one hit me in the face, and it hurt! It was a great storm that hung around all night. I thought I would pull out my camera to try and catch some of the action. If you watch (closely) you can see a bolt. The kids were loving it! William calls thunder, "Oh no!" :-) It should be more of the same today! Yes!

Field Day

I was dropping the kids off for school, and a parent was kind enough to tell me that a helicopter was going to be landing at the school at 9:00. I decided to go home really quickly, grab my camera, and I went back to check it out. I thought William would enjoy it, and me too! :-) It was pretty awesome. I saw it last year . . . I was walking to the school and suddenly I see a helicopter hovering above the homes -- it freaked me out! Anyhow, it was an awesome thing. We never had anything like that when I was in school!

The kids are going to have a super day! Bouncy houses, cotton candy, and helicoptors -- that is my kind of school day!

Kary . . . are you ready for this???? :-)

Ready or not . . . here we come!

Sorry Samson

We did it. The moment you have all been waiting for . . . (or maybe not -- but it was something to us!) William got his first (boy) haircut!!

BEFORE...

(He could not see behind his bangs -- it was so funny, he would thrust his head back to try and see.)

Look how pretty . . .

The big cut, performed by Charles ...

(who was crying the whole time!) ;-)

The new William . . .
"Look mom . . . I'm a REAL boy!!" :-)

A few house pics . . .

Before picture (no path & grass)

Now (added path, grass, and stone)

We got a new Lawn Mower! It is super exciting for us -- we have brand new grass! It was so exciting to see that first mow! It is amazing how many issues a lawn can have. We got a bit of red thread (too much rain), and some patches are not growing as fast as the rest of the grass, also we had to level out the yard a little better, and replant new seed. Anyway, it is a process, and it will probably be next summer when it is completely filled-in and beautiful. It is 100% better now, then it was!! That is for sure!

Sammi had a little class production last week. She got to read poetry and she told jokes. It was pretty cute. :-) Fun to watch Sammi.

Here we are as dorky bunny-owners. :-) She loves to go for hops around the yard. :-)

Also, see all those seed pods on the grass? They are the cool helicopter kind, but not so cool -- we have raked up 3 black garbage bags full of them!! Yikes! It is pretty amazing when the wind blows them down, and they all helicopter-spin to the ground. Ahhhh . . . the joys of nature in your own backyard! It can be messy!

Sorry the blog entries have been so random. I normally take a bunch of pictures, and then I only feel like posting them once a week! I try to be faithful -- this is my journal/family history, after all!

Spokane Weekend

We spent the weekend traveling to Spokane. We were really looking forward to the trip, and returning to the place where we spent three of the most exciting years of our lives. It was great to see familiar places, and faces -- and to see that what was magical then, is still magical now.

However, after spending the weekend revisiting old memories, we realized . . . "Home" is where your home is. There is just something about having your house somewhere that makes it feel like it is your place, your home.

I tried to take a bunch of pictures, but they are not in order. To save time I will just caption them in the order they are in (much laundry to do today!)

Here we go . . .

This was actually on the way home, there are some beautiful areas along the journey.
We stopped and ate at this restaurant for some warm food. Nothing is better then warm food after sandwiches and crackers. :-)

This was where we stayed in Spokane. The Madison Inn, right on the South Hill -- where we wanted to be. :-) It was a nice place. They even had popcorn for the kids. :-)

We took a long walk after church on Sunday. This was one of our favorite roads to walk down, we call it the "Double-tree road". It is so pretty and shaded, with amazing old homes.

We kept grabbing home brochures along the way. This one was way cute, located on the double tree road. :-)

Japanese Garden at Manito Park

The Lilac Garden in Manito Park -- it smelled SO good!

Here was another house for sale. I think you would need a few maids and a butler for this one! :-)

A view of the city

One of the cool thing about the South hill is the cobblestone streets that are still scattered around. The hills are also awesome. Some of the hills go straight down, like Splash Mountain. We freaked out the kids on one of the hills. You are just driving along, and then you shoot straight down -- without warning! Lots of screaming! :)

The Big Red Wagon in Riverfront Park

More Riverfront

We took a walk from Gonzaga to Riverfront on Saturday night, it was a lovely evening, and a great walk.

Charles stood on the bridge and pondered the meaning of life . . .

This was the bridge that we saw in the Gonzaga catalog that was sent to us when we were deciding where to go. There was something about the bridge for us . . . It is symbolic of crossing over to a new life. Though Law school has left us with a student debt equal to our home value, we are grateful for the education and the things that we have learned from our experience. We went to school because that is what the prophet instructed us to do. The things that we learned while there are priceless, really. The lessons learned go far beyond the law, and have provided a greater depth and sweetness to life.

We went to Olive Garden for all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks. It was REALLY good. We ate outside across from Riverfront. It was so pleasant. The kids loved it.

Daniel cheesing it at Olive Garden

Just strolling around downtown. There were lots of people out and about. It was a great day.

The traditional Riverfront Park picture

Riding the carousel. William was not thrilled the first time, but the second time, he enjoyed it a little more.

Sam and Dan loved the carousel

William was crying the first time around, poor thing.

Ready to go out on the town

The twisty park, otherwise known as Comstock park -- one of our favorites.

Our old apartment. Someone was moving out of it with a big Penske -- just like we did 2 years ago.

Our first little house in Spokane. It was up for rent . . . tempting. :-) It was SO small! Good times though!

Rocket Market, a gas station where they sell gas, pastries, and they have live music concerts on the weekends . . . so cool. A favorite place to fill up. :-)

Manito Park entrance

The view traveling up Grand Blvd.

The bottom of a hill downtown, ready to go up to the South hill

The descent into the city.

Sleepy-head kiddos.

Pelicans just outside of Walla Walla. I thought it was so weird to see them flying over farm land, and then after some time we got to the River, where they came from.

Our campsite in Walla Walla. We found one at an RV park -- so funny! It was a crack-up night. We all slept in our 2 man tent. Yup, all 5 of us -- until William woke up crying, and I had to go into the back of the car, so we did not disturb the neighboring campers. I slept most of the night in the back of our car. It was up there in the top ten worst nights of sleep for me. William was sleeping on top of the cooler with a blanket, and I was curled up on the backseat. Not so fun!

Everyone was awake by 4:30 in the morning, and they joined me in the car. I was fine with that. I was not sleeping at all, and I was just hoping for morning to come. We went out to breakfast at 5:30. Tired, very tired! My eyes felt totally swollen, and I was exhausted!

I took this picture before we left. I had William like this when Charles got home. It was my attempt to show Charles that William needs a haircut, and soon. I think it worked. :-)

Fun times. I will write more about the trip in detail later -- it has already taken so long just to get the pictures on! It is such a beautiful day I do not want to waste time in front of the computer! :0) I'm outta here! :-)