Happy Memorial Day, Y'all!

Yesterday we celebrated Memorial day with my Aunt Linda and Cousin Karis from Texas! We don't get to see them very often so it was an extra special treat for us to get to spend a day with them. Thankfully, the weather was nice, so we spent most of our time outside BBQ-ing, swimming and roasting marshmallows...Here are some photos of our time together:Andrea, Chucky, Dan, John, baby Brandon and Dad relaxing on the back patio.

Dan was the first to jump in, then the kids wanted in, so they swam around with him for quite a while before they got cold. Natalie, Becca, Alexis and Zander.

Hayden, who fell and bit all the way through his lip Sunday night, enjoyed feasting on some juicy watermelon. Due to his owie, he has to be careful not to eat things that will irritate his mouth...watermelon was a hit with Hayden.

Yummy watermelon!





















Aaron built the fire, then the roasting began...Later, aftern it got dark, we all bet Chucky a dollar to dive in...and he did!

The kids had fun roasting and eating their weight in marshmallows.

Karis, me and Linda

Hayden's Baby Dedication

Well, we finally did it! We dedicated our last baby...Although technically it was more like a toddler dedication, but who's keeping track? Natalie and Zander were both dedicated right before their first birthday...Hayden on the other hand was dedicated a few months before his second birthday. It feels so great to have him dedicated as it was really weighing on my mind. Maybe I'll order his one year birthday photo enlargements and send out his baby announcements while I'm at it!! That's right, I still have those on my list of things to do. (The announcement has been done for over a year, we just haven't had it printed)...life just gets busy ya know!

Anyway, the dedication went great. For each baby dedication, I have spoken about my prayers and wishes for our children and chosen a special verse to read about each one. God laid it on my heart to ask for wisdom for Hayden. The verse I read was James 3:17:

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Here I am reading the scripture.

Now it's Dan's turn to share.

Now Pastor Jason prays over Hayden.

...and Hayden is not sure what to think of it all, but doesn't he look cute in his little suit?

Ya want to know the best part? The verse I read correlated perfectly with the sermon which was also on wisdom. It was a great sermon and it was also great that my dad and mom felt well enough to be a part of our day. Dan's parent's and sister Katy were also there to support us.

Afterward we went out for lunch at Heidi's restaurant. As a little girl, I still remember requesting to go there (Sandy location) for birthdays.

I felt like I traveled back in time when I sat down at the table and saw the very same place mat and napkins that I remember seeing as a little girl. It was pure nostalgia...They also still serve kid's drinks with those little plastic monkeys. I used to have a little collection of those plastic colored monkeys.

ENDORPHINS: Gotta Love em'

Dan has been bugging me to get the the gym. I haven't had much time to work out lately, so when he brought it up again today, I decided just to get it over with. On my way there I decided to just do 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and call it good. Start simple, don't kill yourself. This was my intent.

So I hopped on the last available elliptical machine and start moving at a pretty decent clip. Before I knew it 5 minutes had gone by. Thanks to a little help from my friends (Will Smith, Gwen Stefani, Smashmouth, Gloria Estefan, George Thorogood, Alanis Morrisette, Shenia Twain and Journey with a little Billy Joel thrown in for good measure) the minutes were flying by and I was rounding the bend at 30 minutes. That's when the endorphins kicked in. I was starting to feel good. I was thinking crazy thoughts like...let's keep going. I set a goal for myself to burn 400 calories. A nice even number, I thought. Once I got t0 400, those crazy thoughts kept telling me not to stop.

By the time I finished my workout I had burned 560 calories and "ran" over 5 miles...in 60 minutes...ONE HOUR, twice what I planned, but it just felt good to keep going. I used to love running. In high school I lettered 7 times in track/cross country. Then I got burnt out. Mainly due to shin splints that required my legs to be taped up in order to reduce the stress on my shins. It became hard to "run through the pain." I had taken several years off from running in college, then a few years after I was married I started conditioning again to run the Hood to Coast. It didn't take long before my legs started screaming at me. I haven't run outside since.

Now, instead of hitting the pavement, the elliptical is the next best thing. In fact, it was so good, I may have to go back again tomorrow.

Zander's preschool program

Just thought I would post some photos from Zander's Creation program last night. This is the first time none of the grandparents were able to come and I didn't think he would notice, but after it was all over he asked me "are any grandparents here yet?" Oh, it made me kind of sad, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it and just explained that grandma was in school and the other grandparents are at the coast and we can show them the video when they get back. He seemed to be okay with that. (BTW thanks Anne and Chris for letting us borrow your camcorder!)

I don't know why, but before we left Zander was busy drawing and cutting out a ghost (out of paper). He kept showing us..."look what I made." Then right in the middle of the songs, out of no where comes the ghost. He kept holding it up as seen in the photo. It was kind of funny...what was he thinking? I guess he figured the creation story needed some ghosts too! Then after each song he would bow (keep in mind, he is the only one doing this) and say quietly to himself "thank you, thank you..." He was a total ham!

Here he is singing "If I were a butterfly, I'd thank you Lord for giving me wings..." I remember that song from summer camp when I was a kid. It was a cute program. Afterwards we had ice cream then went home and Dan and I watched LOST. (amazing season finale)

Today was his last day of school. Click HERE to see today's photos.

What's gotten into my husband?

I'm sure a few of you out there can relate to me when I say my husband is a little distracted lately. He's been calling up all his friends and chatting about the good news...For those of you who haven't heard, the Portland Trail Blazers just won the number one draft pick! It's been a long time coming, but I think this may be what gets me back on the Blazer's bandwagon.

For about 5 or 6 years the Blazers have really not been worth watching, in my opinion. I used to love watching the games back in the day (in the early to mid 90's). They were always in the playoffs and Blazermania was everywhere. But something happened (bad trades etc.) and we ended up with a team of losers, both on the court and off the court. Dan would turn the games on and I wouldn't recognise any of the players. I knew nothing about them, nor did I care to. Eventually I began recognizing some of the players by name as they were in the news a lot. Unfortunately, none of the news stories they were featured in were sports segments.

Back when Clyde, Terry, Jerome, Danny, Buck, Kevin and Cliff were part of our team, they were great. Great players and for the most part, great people. They were fun to get behind and route for. I just hope that having the number one draft pick will get us back to where we were, when watching basketball was fun. One thing is for sure, tickets are already selling like hotcakes. Dan tried to score some season tickets and all the good seats are all but gone.

On another note, did you guys catch Clyde on Dancing with the Stars? Let's just hope he doesn't trade in his basketball shoes in for dancing shoes. The guy was bad. And I mean bad in the original translation...not a good dancer at all. I have never seen such "white" dance moves from a black guy...especially one who's nicknamed Clyde the Glide! I am a HUGE fan of his, but he totally was not into this show. Most of the time he looked like he was thinking "get me out of here...I don't want to be doing this."

I was actually rooting for Joey to win, cause he made me laugh. He seems to have such a good sense of humor, but Apollo was just as good a dancer. It was exciting to watch both of them. Now that all my favorite reality shows have ended, there is only one more cliff-hanger left...tonight will be the 2-hour season finally of LOST (only the best show on tv right now!). I can't believe how good the show has gotten over the past 3 months. So many questions have been answered, yet so many mysteries remain. I have never anticipated a show like I do this one. The character development, the story line and the writing are brilliant. I could go on and on. There were a lot of "spoilers" on 2 Peas (scrapbooking message board) today and I just had to get off the computer before I was tempted to look. If you are as crazy about this show as I am you will be glad to know that their contracts were renewed through 2010!!!

Well, I have Zander's preschool program tonight, but you can bet Dan and I will be racing home to put the kid's in bed so we can watch our show!

By the way, my dad had a doctor's appointment today and his PSA levels are still going down slightly. Not to where they should be, but the doctor was pleased that they are going in the right direction. Thanks for all who continue to pray. His next appointment with his surgeon will be in July.

My Favorite Things Brunch

This afternoon I hosted a "Favorite Things" brunch. Due to the cooler weather today I set up inside...but I would have loved to have everything set up outside...maybe next time.

We started off with chilled Raspberry Soup...

...and fruit with dip.

Then we shared puff pancakes topped with strawberries and a garden frittata.

Next we had cheesy artichoke triangles and spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette served in parmesan cups.

We shared funny stories and had a good old time.

For dessert we had raspberry cheesecake/coffee cake.

My sister-in-law Tami showed us all how to make fondant roses and we all got to try it out ourselves. It was tricky at first, but I think I got the hang of it...very fun!

Everyone brought their favorite things to share and we all went home with some great gifts. It was so much fun...now I'm stuffed!

A little bit of everthing

1. Yesterday Dan and I began to work in the basement again. Here I am (with a mask) scraping all the dust and water staining off the walls with a wire brush. After we are done with this we will apply the concrete sealer and begin framing up some walls.

2. Pasta night is always bath night at out house. Hayden demonstrated why this rule is needed.

3. Today was butterfly day at Zander's preschool. After watching the caterpillars build a chrysalis and hatch into butterflies, they got to release them into the wild. All the kids got to celebrate by making butterfly costumes. Natalie's class made their costumes last week at the beginning of their butterfly unit. I don't think their caterpillars have turned into butterflies yet.

4. Tonight we went to our friends Chris and Anne's for dinner and to watch the "Office" finale with a group of 4 other friends. Here are Hayden and Isaac entertaining themselves by making the dog (on the other side of the door) bark.

A Great Day to be a Kid

Today was Natalie's turn to bring her pet for show and tell. Harley was pretty mellow, but I could tell by all the hair she shed on my shirt, she was pretty nervous as well. Natalie just loved showing her classmates her cat Harley...and they all went crazy (in a good way) when they saw me come in with a cat.
Then after we picked up Zander from school we went back to Natalie's school to buy some books from the book fair. Natalie bought a book about the Little Mermaid with some money she had been saving. It was buy one, get one free, so we also got a book about penguins for Zander.

After lunch I put Hayden down for a nap, then I finished getting the pool ready to play in (aka dumping $135 worth of powdered chemicals into the pool). Half and hour later, the kids were ready to dip their feet in and splash around. The water isn't warm enough for me to get in, so I layed out next to the pool while they played.

After a while I was ready to go in the house and clean up a bit, but the kids didn't want to come in. It was such a beautiful day, I didn't have the heart to insist...so we changed gears and I taught them how to fly a kite. They were frustrated at first, but once they got the hang of it, they had a great time...especially Zander. He got so excited whenever his kite would soar, he started singing encouraging songs to his kite. "I have the best kite...it flies up so high...I love my kite...it's the best kite in the world..." I'm sure his kite appreciated the songs and in turn, it flew up higher and higher. Zander kept running all over the yard, until he ran out of umph. His cheeks were all rosy and he was tuckered out. Flying a kite can be good exercise!

Now Dan is home from advising at the college, so I guess it's time for me to make dinner.

The Best Mother's Day so Far!

My Mother's Day really started at the end of last week as the kids were bringing home the gifts they made in school. Natalie and Zander were both excited to show me what they had been working on and wanted me to open their gifts right away. Zander made a colorful vase and flowers (made from egg cartons) and Natalie painted a little flower pot with a heart and flowers all around. Then on Saturday Dan bought me a dozen roses!!! I have never been given a dozen roses before, so I was pretty excited.
Dan had been hinting that we had big plans to celebrate Mother's Day, but everything was top secret. Even the kids were in on it. I was so curious. Then we headed out on Hwy 26 and I thought we could be going to one of 2 places...a restaurant in Sandy or Mt. Hood. As it turns out, our neighbors behind us told Dan all about the Mother's day brunch at Timberline Lodge they go to every year and invited all of us to come along.
It had been about 10 years since we had been up there. For the most part the drive up was cloudy and overcast, but when we got to Timberline, (3000+ feet above sea level), we were above all the clouds and it was actually a nice day!

The buffet was huge and took up most of the area with the fireplace. They set it up really nice with beautiful flowers and vintage dresses on display... then there was all the food. Unbelievable... it was on par with the food you see on cruise ships.

Our neighbors come here a lot. I could tell as everyone seemed to know them, the greeters, the waitresses...even the chef. They all came over to our table to say hello. They were even able to order something that wasn't on the menu...Timber Toast, which is a very fancy version of French toast. Actually, I don't think they really ordered it, when the chef saw them come in, he made up a batch just for all of us because he remembered they always request it. Now that's service! We were all very impressed...and after tasting it, I can see why they always request it...very yummy. (possible future Fabulous Food Friday).
I passed up dessert and went back for a few more bites of my favorites...baked brie, salmon, baked risotto, eggs and fruit.
Zander on the other hand, went for the chocolate fountain where he dipped a big marshmallow and ate it in one big gooey chocolate bite.
After brunch, we all went out side to play in the snow for awhile before heading back down the mountain.

On our way home, we stopped off to see Dan's mom, give her her gifts and wish her a happy Mother's day. We couldn't stay long because we had to hurry back and meet my family back at our house to celebrate my mom's birthday which fell on Mother's day this year. We had a salad/sandwich buffet and dessert later on...but we all got so carried away, we forgot to sing happy birthday. It was a busy day packed full of good memories.

Fabulous Food Friday

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I have tasted my share of yummy party food. One of my hostesses from about 6 years ago served this delicious lemon bread and I had to ask for the recipe. I have made it for Mother's Day and it is also great to serve with tea. (Katie...knowing how much you enjoy tea parties...you will love this recipe!)


Lemon Bread
1/2 c. softened butter
1 c . sugar
3 T lemon extract (you use almost the whole bottle of extract)
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 T lemon peel
Grease and flour a loaf pan. Prepare glaze (1/2 c. lemon juice and 1/2 c. sugar) Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together butter and lemon extract until fluffy. Add eggs, stir until blended. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add 1/3 c. dry ingredients, 1/3 c. milk until blended. Add rest of ingredients including lemon peel. Pour into pan. Bake 1 hour. Pour glaze on after removed from oven. Cool 15 minutes.

Picture of the Day 05-10

Last fall I transplanted some iris tubers my dad gave me from his garden. Since they were still establishing themselves I wasn't expecting to see any flowers this year...but just today when I was out doing yard work I was surprised by this beauty!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

About three weeks ago, Zander lost his glasses. This is an on going problem. He has worn glasses since he was about 20 months old and in that time we have gone through no less than 6 pairs of glasses. Sometimes we've had to replace them for a new prescription or because the hinge gets bent out of shape, but rarely do they get lost long enough to warrant a new pair. Well we were just at that crossroad and were about to fork our another $99. I had cleaned both the boys' and Natalie's bedrooms, searched in the play room, under and inside the couch, in the game closet and everywhere else I thought he would put them. I couldn't find them anywhere. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about where they could be and not be able to get back to sleep...so I guess you could say I have "lost sleep over it."

Well, on Tuesday night I went in the playroom to look for a pair of shorts I thought may be in there and while I was looking around in the midst of all the toys I asked God "where could those glasses be?" I immediately got an overwhelming feeling that I should look behind a pair of mattresses we are storing in the playroom. I would probably not have looked there otherwise, but for some reason I was compelled to look and sure enough they were right behind the mattresses. It was so cool...it was like God actually told me where to find them.