New blog address

For those of you that i don't have email for, i've started a new blog because i couldn't receive comments on this one, and it had some funky stuff going on with it. so you can now view at

steffam5.blogspot.com

thanks so much and sorry to be a pain, but i want to hear from you!

Scary raccoons!

For those of you who don't know, we have a very small poodle named Pepper. We recently moved out into a small town with lots of country around it, with lots of wildlife. Ok, not lots, but the worst kind. Raccoons. My first run in with them was when I was living in Oakland,CA with my aunt and uncle and my room was the basement. The only way to get to my room was outside, down some steps, past the decking. It was very spooky going down there and night and I did not like that it was the only way to get there. One night I'm heading down and I hear some awful hissing sound. I turn around and there are like 4 raccoons hiding under the deck staring and hissing at me. It scared the living daylights out of me because I thought I was going to get eaten by a bunch or rabid creatures, and sliced to bits with their claws. So ever since that time, I have not been fond of those beasts.
So we let Pepper out at night to go to the bathroom before she gets in her kennel and we have a lot of yard that is overgrown with blackberry bushes and other such things, and we know that lots of feral cats live in the bushes, and now we know raccoons do to. The first encounter happened when I was mad at her for pooping in the house. I put her outside with the light on and forgot to check on her. Adam comes along and turns the light on, not knowing she is out there. He gets in the shower and as he is getting out, he can hear through the bathroom window the dog screaming and comes out buck naked yelling "something is getting your dog!" I jump up and he followed me and we both go out back, and I see what looks to be a large cat chasing Pepper into the shadows. She is screaming the most horrific dog scream and as they come back towards my voice as I'm calling her, I see it is a large raccoon that is making grunting noises. I freaked and tried to jump up onto the deck and it's wet so I slip, and after that the raccoon runs for the bushes and Pepper goes in her kennel for safety. It was so scary. I thought she had been torn to shreds and luckily she was faster than that coon or she would have been a midnight snack. That was a month or so ago, and now we go out with her and watch her in the light.
Well, she's kinda a dork, and whenever we let her out, she always runs to the same corner barking her head off likes she's some pitbull or something. The other night I'm getting the girls ready for bed and i put Pepper out with the light on and my sliding door cracked so I can hear her. She goes straight for her spot, and suddenly her barking turns to terror and the coon is back at it again. This time I'm right there and run to the door to call for her, thinking she'll come and the beast will high tail it at the sound of my voice. But as Pepper is coming towards me to get into the house, the coon is right on her tail and I have to close the door or I'll have a raccoon in my house, which is not an option. I felt bad because it closed right when Pepper got to the door and so the raccoon was right there on her as she darts away. It made me sad. I opened it back up and called for her and the coon finally headed away for the bushes as I throw my hummingbird feeder at it to get it moving faster. Pepper comes in and goes into her kennel again to settle down. My heart's a beatin and the girls are in hysterics. They were both crying for Dad, and he wasn't there at the moment and so I had to try my best to settle them down, and they were crying in bed for a long time until Adam got home and I sent him in to settle his girls down. And now they are terrified of going out at night and when Pepper has to go out. Luckily she avoided being eaten or hurt once again. We put out a live animal trap to catch it, but dorky Pepper got caught in it because she wanted to eat the bait, so we are still waiting to catch that pest.

What can ya do?

So I prepared long and hard to choose the right outfits for the girls this year, do their hair really nice, go over smiling and smiling with them. Yes, I am slightly neurotic. I was even there at the time they were getting their pictures done because I was volunteering in the health screening area. I went over and smoothed their hair, went over smiling somemore, and this is what the pictures turned out like. Am I just being a mean mom?

Emma's head is so cockeyed it looks like it might fall off, and she doesn't seem to look happy about that.
Natalie looks like she is about ready to cry, or already was crying. And the way her arms are folded aren't helping the situation. I give up. Luckily Natalie's are just preschool pictures so she has next year to redeem herself. Maybe she will know what "smile" means then. Ok, now I am being just plain mean, but pictures cost a lot and I'm a little annoyed that this is what happens when you only get one shot to make a first impression. The picture people should take two shots at least. Ok, I'm done griping.

All about Garrett

I'm doing this post to see if my comment form comes up, because what is the point in posting if no one can comment?

Something funny, or not so funny, happened recently. The stove in our new house features the knobs on the front of it, not at the back. So they are at kid level unfortunately. And me, being not so bright, just scolded him everytime he would turn on the burners, instead of me thinking of taking off the knobs. And now I know what you are thinking and you would be right! Well, I was being especially lazy this one night, while Adam was in the garage doing homework, and I was laying on the couch watching the girls play the wii. Garrett had been in and out of the kitchen playing with various kitchen utensils so I wasn't keeping a close eye. BAD MOM! Next thing I know, Natalie looks into the kitchen and she says "Mom, fire". Now, those of you who don't know my girls, don't know that they are terrified of the stove. Especially Emma. So when they say it's on "fire" that normally means the burner is red hot, or something is boiling over. Not this time. I go into the kitchen and there is a straight-up fire on top of the stove and the counter top. I freaked and started getting water from the sink and pouring it all over. The fire alarm was going off about this time. Adam comes in and is like "What the H&#^!" The girls run outside because they "know what to do about fires"-says Natalie. I could hear them talking to each other outside and it cracked me up. It was pretty commical now that I look back on it. And luckily not a lot of damage was done. Just the girls terrified yet again and a little burn mark on the counter. Now the knobs are off.

Also, Garrett went in for a vcgu-a test to check for kidney reflux. He was born with it in both kidneys and so has been on an antibiotic everyday since he was about 6 mths old. I hadn't been giving him it because I thought all was good, since nobody ever contacts us about his tests and what to do or how things look. It is a very yucky test where they strap him in a papoose type thing and insert a catheter. Poor baby. Of course he screamed on that one. Turns out he still has it in the rt one, and the left looked healed. So I guess I continue the meds. Which makes me sad because I don't want him to build a resistance to antibiotics and they don't work on something more serious. But he is good, and no problems...but now we have to go in and go over the test results and they made it sound like it is kind of more serious.

He has turned into the spawn of satan! He was sick with a pretty high fever for 4 days and that was his only symptom. And he was still a happy boy, so I wasn't concerned. But working in a medical office, I know when it's time to be seen and so I finally took him in and it looked like he might have strep. It was negative, but maybe his throat still hurt. The next day, his fever was gone but he was the crabbiest little boy ever! He wouldn't sleep at night, and is constantly screaming at the top of his lungs if he gets mad. I am so frustrated! Welcome to the terrible twos, for the 3rd time!
I am happy to announce that he is now back to his happy, smiley self. I guess I just needed to have patience and realize he was still not feeling well.

Finally getting around to the first day of school post. We moved so Emma had to transfer to a new school. I was pretty upset about moving because I loved her old school and she had good friends there, but I don't worry about her because she doesn't struggle with making friends. So now she goes to Coburg Elementary. There is one class in each of the grades, I believe. Her class only has 15 kids in it too. This was the school Adam went to as a kid so that's kinda neat. It is out in the country with farm fields around it. And it is right next to the fire station. The coolest thing about it is that the offer a bus route, so she catches the bus everyday before and after school. She was so excited. That had been her dream, to ride the bus. And I gotta admit, it's pretty great to just watch her walk down and not have to get us all ready to go. She has been kind of struggling, but i'm sure with the move and whole new school, it might just take some time for her to find her niche.



Don't they look like twins? Natalie is in the pink shirt.
Natalie gets to attend a preschool at the Elementary school which is awesome. Before we moved I was stressing about where to get her into preschool because I felt like she needed to go, and every option was so expensive and inconvenient, especially with Adam as a full time student. When we knew we were moving out here, my mo-in-law had gotten my niece into the program and signed Natalie up for me which was great because I had no clue about it. So Natalie and Kyla get to go together and they love that. It is great for Marcia and I too, because we can help each other out. The school is 3 days a week, tues,thurs,and fridays from 8:30am to 11:50am and it is only 75 bucks a month. I was so happy! It is a co-op so you have to help out a lot, but I don't care. I like to do that anyway. I also watch Kyla two days a while Marcia is in school, and in return she watches Garrett for me when I need to volunteer and she is teaching Emma piano. I was worried about the cost for that because I really wanted to get her into lessons, and now I don't have to worry.
It truly was a blessing how we ended up out here. If we had sold our house sooner, this house wouldn't have been available. It is owned by a friend of ours who is willing to help us out on rent, if we help out around the house. Adam will be doing some remodeling and we will get reduced rent so it is a win win for everyone. Plus, having the preschool and we are back in Adam's home ward, which we weren't too excited about because we loved our old ward and were going to miss our friends very much, but we have been greatly blessed and I can't deny the Lord's hand in it. It teaches me to have faith and patience, because things really do work out how they are supposed to.

The incredible, globe-trotting Stefaneks

This is going to be a looonnnng post but I need to get caught up. We had a pretty great summer this year. We moved for the second time this summer into a more permanent place-like for a couple years (maybe). Good grief, will we ever be settled permanently? Anyhoo, we now live in Coburg which is a cute, quaint little town on the outskirts of Eugene and we love it out here. It's farming community, so it is small and quiet. I was so tired of living in the middle of Springfield. So nice to not be worried about the drunk walking down the street, and all the scary people around. I feel bad for the folks that bought our house. We are happy here so far and things are great. With the money from our house, we bought the kids a trampoline which rocks. Don't know why it took us so long. They love it and I love it cause they are getting exercise too. We are renting now, but we have a big back yard (overgrown with blackberries) and once we clear that out, we have a chicken coop that i might get chickens. Don't know much about that but we'd get eggs, so that's good, right? There is also a playhouse that was back here and a deck on the back. Down the street are some kids that my kids go to school with and we have befriended that family so that is really cool. So that is a little about our current situation.
We got to go on a family vacation this summer to San Fran California area. We stayed in a little town called Clayton and I loved it! Except for the brown and dry everywhere (no offense Rob or Lisa) It was a very cool place to stay. We stayed at my aunt's boyfriend Rob's house. He has a really cool house out in the country and a little ranch area where they keep their horses. I loved it there. It was so restful. Rob and Lisa kept asking what we wanted to do, like go into the city, and we were just content to stay at his house and relax and rejuvenate. They also had gotten some gifts for us that we opened the next morning after we got there. To my HUGE surprise, Rob bought us a Wii. I couldn't believe it. That was the coolest since I am such a video game nerd now.
Emma got up bright and early every morning to help with the horses. I knew that would be the highlight of her vacation. So Rob would go out with them and do stuff outside and keep the girls busy so Adam and I would get to sleep in. That rocked!
We stayed in Clayton for about 3 days and got to swim at the Horse club pool. It was a little scary because the kid's didn't have life vests and they wanted to just go. The next day Adam and I went to Kmart and got them vests and they used them in Rob's neighbors pool which was perfect. The neighbor is his best friend and they invited us over for swimming and bbq. It was so yummy. I think they loved us because they had a little girl our girls age and she never has friends to play with.
The best part of the vacation for me was when Lisa had a masseuse come out to the house and she let Adam and I get in home massages for an hour each. It was AWESOME! After mine, i went and laid down and took a nap. I said to Lisa "what kind of alternate universe have I stepped into?" She laughed and said "the Rob and Lisa one." No kidding. I used to live with her for awhile before I got married and it always felt like a fantasy life to me the things we got to do.
We also went into the little town of Clayton and they had a cool park in the middle and it is soooo cute! It looks like a little old western town, but newer. I was eating it up. I want to go back again soon!
After staying in Clayton, we traveled down to Santa Cruz to go to the boardwalk and so we stayed there a night. The weather was perfect so it wasn't too bad walking around there. The girls go to go on a lot of rides and I had to go with them. Adam wasn't feeling very well.

Their favorite part was the beach. It was so pretty. The played in the water and got all sandy. It was really cold so I don't know how they enjoyed it. Kids are warmer blooded or something.
Daddy buried Garrett in the sand cause the kid was everywhere. It was pretty annoying. And since he wasn't feeling good, I was the one to constantly be chasing him. It was great that we got to do that though. The drive was pretty long from Clayton to Santa Cruz, but I'm glad we did it.
This was us the next day on the pier before we got ready to head back home. We got dressed up and went to see my aunt at her client's property so she could do family pictures for us. She was already going to be there doing pictures for another girl. They turned out great and I can't wait to post them. It was fun to be outside in the country for pictures. The kids were having a hard time of course.
I love this picture of Garrett looking up at the Boardwalk. His little tiny body compared to the roller coaster. He looks like he is in awe of it.
This is my aunt Lisa and cousin Chelsea holding birthday cupcakes because we took the trip originally as a gift from Adam for my 30th birthday. We just did it a little late. So it was cute of them to celebrate it when we got there. Our trip was the middle of August.

The girl's favorite part of the trip were the horses. My aunt's horse Pete was out of commission because he was having some problems with pain and bucking her off, so we stayed away from him. Emma was scared at first because she thought she was going to get bucked off, but we talked to her about it (we had been to the rodeo so she was all spooked) and she finally got on. The girls got used to them by feeding them and petting them first, and Rob was really great about teaching them ways with the horse. Emma got much more confident and started riding. She went on a pretty long trail ride with Rob one morning, where they saw a couple coyotes. Pretty cool. The day we left, she got to ride again and actually rode by herself and gave the horse commands. Rob was very impressed and said she was a natural. I need to find her somewhere to take some lessons out here. Natalie let Rob lead her around on cowboy which is a HUGE deal for her. Considering she is deathly afraid of any large animal or mascot. Adam and I would love to go to Disney Land at some point but instead of being the happiest place on earth, it would be hell on earth for Natalie. So we are waiting on that one. I was very proud of her riding. It shows big strides.

So that was our vacation. The driving was long and a little tough with kids, but we would do it again. Those of you in Utah, look out cause we will probably be coming your way next summer. We haven't visited in awhile and it would make a fun trip. So that was the highlight of our summer and it's nice to be getting into fall, although we are tons busier now because of school, but life goes on.

Stay tuned...

We have just moved, yet again, and so i have no internet until next week. I am writing this post at work, which is where I do most of my web surfing anyway(shh, don't tell my boss.) so anyways, as soon as we are hooked up, i will hook everyone up with the latest on us! stay tuned!

Behold the Triathlete!

Bear with me because this is going to be long. I'm writing like I'm making a journal entry. Ok, so now I am going to boast a bit. I conquered my fear and did the triathlon! It was this last weekend, so we headed up to Portland for the whole weekend. It was originally going to be my friend and I coming up and my sister staying the night with me so I could get plenty of rest, but that fell through so my family ended up coming up. I was stressing big time that I wouldn't get the rest I needed, but Adam and the kids stepped up to the plate so I could rest and relax. It was amazing how good the kids were. After checking in, we went to the park that the race was to be at to just check it out. It was a Blue Lake Park in Fairview and was a really big, cool park. Tons of play areas for the kids and areas for bbqs. After that we headed to a Italian joint so that I could carboload. Got to bed at a decent time but didn't sleep so well and then I was up at 5:45am to get ready. We got the kids up early and headed over to the park and got there around 7am. My race started at 8. I got set up, and tried to prepare myself. My friend Abby did it too, so we got ready and walked over to the swim area. The first wave of swimmers went, and we were in the second wave 5 min after the first. We got in and i thought "There's no going back now!" And we were off. The swim was the most difficult for me. It was a half mile swim, but the farther I went, the more energy I got. After getting out, I went to the transition area and got ready for my bike ride. It was a 12 mile ride and my wonderful brother Chris let me borrow his racing bike, so that helped a ton. The bike was the best part. I had a perma smile thinking "this is so much fun!" the whole time I was riding. Got done with that, and got ready for the run. The run was a 5K, so 3.1 miles. My legs felt like jello at first, so I went pretty slow at first, but then after the 2nd mile, I dug out some more energy and was able to run the whole time. I really didn't think I would be able to.
I finished 7th in my division which was ladies 150 lbs and heavier and under 39. There were 18 of us. I did my swim in 22 min 30 sec, the bike in 43 min 55 sec, and the run in 31 min and 46 sec. My total time was 1:45:01, including my transition times. I was pretty dang proud of myself because I did way better than I thought I was going to and I'm pumped to do another one next year, maybe a harder one. It was hard but very fulfilling.
I was exhausted after we left and tried to take a nap back at the hotel, but of course your mind isn't as tired as your body, so that was a bust. After naps, we headed to the Troutdale outlet malls and shopped a little, and then met my friends Scott and Joanne for dinner. After Scott almost took out Emma(I forgive you Scott) and after dinner, they came back to our hotel, and we hung out so the girls could swim, then went back to our room and Scott and Adam got distracted by boxing, and I was like " I really love hanging out with you guys, but I gotta go to bed! So basically you need to leave now!" I was so freakin exhausted! Yeah me and thanks to my fans who came to support me. Thanks sista and my family. Love you guys. It helped to have the support.
The whale being beached. Oh wait, that is just me after my swim!
Coming in from the bike portion.
The gated transition area where we got changed and got ready for each event.
Heading out on my run. Don't look too tired just yet.
My friend Abby and I with our biggest fans after the race.

Zoo fun!

We finally went to the Portland Zoo this last weekend while we were up there. I lived up there for a year and never have been. I find that funny. Oh well.
It was pretty fun. The day started out cold and cloudy, and eventually burned off in the afternoon and warmed up. We saw lions, and tigers, and bears, Oh my! Actually, we didn't see any lions, but we saw a ton of cool animals from all over the world. The kid's favorite thing was an elephant that was painting. The handler would shoot paint into it's trunk, and then the elephant would spray it out on a canvas. The handler would then give it a brush and it would paint on the canvas. That was pretty neat. The zoo was featuring dinosaurs, so we bought the extra package to go on the Dinosaur path, a ride on a dinosaur thrill ride, and the train ride around the park. The thrill ride was a simulated 3D adventure, which was pretty jerky and the picture was blurry. I went on with Emma and she got freaked out with our seats jerking around, so we waved our hands and the operator turned off our seats. So that was pretty lame just sitting there still and watching a terrible 3D movie. Adam went on with Natalie and she started freaking out when T-Rex came on, but he made her experience it all. She seemed to handle it better than Emma. It was a lot of walking, with cranky, whiny kids but we do it for them, right?


The train ride around the park.
Us and T-Rex. He was moving and roaring so loud. Just as we went under him, there was a thunderous roar.
Garrett catching a thrilling ride on the snail? I don't really know what it was.
The petting zoo. You could only pet goats so that was lame. And they just stayed on these barrels for kids to pet them. That was a riot.
The girls loving the Dinos!

Down Memory Lane...

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!




2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.
Posted by Andrea at 9:00 AM

Pepper gets fixed!

I took Pepper in to finally get spayed. We've had her since Christmas, but have put it off. So, I take her in, talk to the vet, and he says "Is it ok if i cut her hair a little around her eyes? She can't really see." so I say sure. I get back and he says "You won't recognize her." She comes out and he has completely shaved her snout. It looks hideous. He said that he shaved one spot, and it looked funny, so shaved some more. You get the picture. Although you won't because I don't have one to post. But, poor thing. She is in pain, out of it, and her face looks ugly now. Luckily hair grows back or I would have to threaten the vet. Oh, and he says to me "You'll just be getting her hair cut soon anyway." I said, no. Do I really look like a person that would make my poodle look like a poodle? She is way cuter shaggy, so her hair better come in fast!

Summer fun

Emma hits the high jump.

Are you racing or modeling? Nattie doing the dash.

Pool fun

We've been busy, busy this summer. I got the girls in this free park play program. They go from 9-12 and play at a park, with workers that organize games, snacks, etc. I get to run errands, and do workouts which works out great. Then after that, there are free lunches for kids so i don't have to make lunch everyday. Gotta love that!
I also got Natalie into ballet for the summer for her birthday present. That is the only thing she has dreamed of doing. Emma has been going to a sports camp this week. It is from 8-5 but you can drop them off and pick them up whenever. She has been liking it a lot. The kids play with other kids in our new neighborhood and they play in our pool. It's nice for me because I can get a lot done with them not hounding me 24-7 and saying "I'm bored".
The Olympic trials came here and so we went down to the festival to check it out. The girls got to participate in a kids games. They had to do 4 events and get 4 stamps to get a prize. They did high jump, dash, standing long jump, and running long jump. It was pretty confusing and hot. All the festival was was businesses trying to get their names out, and you collecting a bunch of crap you don't need. We had to be there while it was going on, at least.
Our last adventures for the summer will be two weeks of swim lessons, and then hopefully a trip to San Francisco.
I love summer! I love it more when I have forced air in my home. Ahhh, the sweltering days of summer.

Natalie turns 4!

We celebrated Natalie's fourth birthday on the fifth of July. We were going to celebrate it at the lake, but the weather was not agreeing with us, so we decided to go to Armitage park. I had to work all day, but was able to get off an hour early so I could get things ready. We got there and were told that we were supposed to reserve the site, even though there was NO ONE else around, and we had a ton of people coming. Adam's mom wanted to celebrate his brother Anthony's birthday too, since it was on the same day. So, we had a lot of people and it stressed me out.
We bbqed and opened presents and had cake. We also played a rousing game of bocce ball. It was a good birthday, and she had fun. Which is what matters. Happy Birthday, big girl!

We miss you, Alicia.

We came upon the year mark of Alicia, Adam's baby sister's death. She died July 3rd,07. We still miss her so much, and our hearts ache everytime we see the children she left behind. On the date this year, we went out to her grave site to talk to her and remember her life. It made us sad to remember the day she was buried, but we think about her life and celebrate that every day.
We will miss you until we see you again!

Races, races, and hiking.

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Our before the Butte to Butte picture.


Brynne and I after the Steep Hill Chase.

The girls and their friends hiking Mt Pisga.

The girls and I on the Mountain.
Well, two down and 1 to go. I did the Steep Hill Chase on June 14 and kept up with Brynne (yeah me!). Because she kicked my butt, I did the race in 29:17. I was 3rd in my age group, but there were probably only 3 of us. The race consisted of bark trails, hard dirt, grass trails, and a steep, rooty hill to climb. It was fun!
Second was the Butte to Butte on July 4. I had to close at work the night before and didn't get home till 11pm, so I didn't get the rest I had hoped for. Started the run with two of my skinny, tiny friends, but they soon left me in the dust. I did mostly run up the hill. I walked towards the top,steepest part for a minute or so. I jogged the whole way, 6.2 miles, which was my only goal and I finished in 1hour and 7 min. Last year I finished in 1 hour and 15 min. so I was very happy with that. I felt like I was jogging so slow, and everyone kept passing me. I even had an older guy speed walking past me. That was tough. After I finished, i peed myself and wanted to puke. And I'm not embarrassed to admit to that, either. That is what hard core runners do (or mother's of three that have no control over their bowels). Next is the triathlon sprint. Pray for me...
Brynne was down during the week of the fourth, so we decided to hike Mt. Pisga. Adam luckily didn't have to be to work till noon, so he got Garrett, and I took the girls and Pepper and we attempted to hike to the top. It took us 40min. and we hadn't reached the top yet, so we just turned back around cause I had to get home so Adam could go to work. I think the girls were relieved because it was a pretty hard hike for them. On the way down there was a big snake laying across the path. That is pretty much my worst nightmare while hiking. The girls were worried for me and Emma kept saying "It's ok mom!" That cracked me up. It was fun!

The Big 3-0.

Now it was my turn to turn (gulp) the big 30. My birthday was Sunday, the 8th and so Adam did stuff for me on Saturday so we could go out. We spent time as a family, but I wasn't feeling great that day, so I took a big long nap while he and the kids went out. When he got back, I was getting out of the shower and he informed me that we had a dinner date at 5:45. it was 5:30. Needless to say, I was pretty ticked. It ain't no quick show for me to get ready. And then he told me it was a nice place. He took me to PF Changs and they led us to a table, telling us that we were the first to arrive. I had an idea he had somthing up his sleeve. The waiter led us to an empty table and asked "Is this alright?" and then I heard a familiar voice say " Or how about over here?" It was Eileen and they were sitting at a table across. I didn't even notice them. The waiter looked confused and then left. I was impressed that the whole thing had been choregraphed, but turned out they were wondering why the guy was seating us over there. I got a kick out of that. So we had dinner with our friends Eileen and Jamie Lowe and Jared and Stacie Brewer. After dinner we went to get ice cream, and then after that I kicked the guys of the club and the girls and I went to a movie. We saw Baby Mama. It was hilarious!!!
Then the next day, on my birthday, we went to church, and then came home and I played my present from my family "American Idol Karaoke Revolution." Yeah, I'm turning into a video game nerd. It was so fun! I took it over to my Mom's for another birthday party and we played it all day. We had so much fun. It was a good birthday weekend. And I am no longer in my 20s. Life is crazy!!

Play Ball!

My work has started a softball team. We aren't very good but it is fun. So far, I have only been able to make it to one practice and one game because I work the evenings that they happen, but it is fun and a fun idea. My Mom has been playing on it and really doing well. I should be able to make it to a few more practices and maybe two more late games. Fun, fun!

I'm Baaaaack!

Well, we finally sold our house!!! It closed on June 4th, and we were mostly moved by then. We moved into another house we own by our church. We are going to sell it as well. It is quite smaller than our old house, and the yard needs work. The house if cute and cozy, a lot had to go into storage. The girls love it because there are lots of neighbor kids to play with. Our back yard has snakes, EWWW, and so Adam has hired the little neighbor boys to catch them. I won't be going out back all summer. (shiver)
Now that we are settled, I am trying to get back on my training schedule for my triathlon, but Adam is working all summer so has to be gone earlier. We also moved away from the bike trails and so that makes it a lot harder for me to train. It is pretty depressing. I'll be lucky if I don't die during the race.
I stopped by our old house to see if they had any of our mail, and talked with the woman for a long time. They love the house and she is super grateful and sweet. She even wanted me to come by any time and visit, and even go walking with her. So it is a good thing and we are dealing just fine. Yeah for us!!!

Good times

We visited Grants Pass for our annual weekend getaway for the Memorial Boatnick celebration. It was really fun. The weather held up pretty well, which we were very worried about. It threatened rain the whole weekend and we actually had decent weather. My aunt and cousin came up from San Fran and it was really fun to see them. It can be a little hard to split time up between two families, but we all got to spend lots of time together. Chris and Kim came down and that was fun to spend lots of time with them. Kim and I got freaked out during one of the fireworks show because the barge almost went under water so they just let them fly and it was a little crazy. The girls had a blast swinging on Mimi's swings the whole time. They are pretty dang fun. Chris, Kim, and I took them over to the carnival and it was a bummer cause it kept raining and they had to keep shutting some of the rides down. They got their faces painted and that's all that mattered. We tried to get Chris to ride the mechanical bull but he kept complaining about the price. I think he was wussing out. We had a great stay and love all our family that we got to see.

You Are Mulan!

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Adam, my Hero!

This picture is from when it all started...
I've decided to be a copy cat and post a little about Adam, since our 8th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. Cinco de Mayo. People have recently blogged about their hubbies because of their anniversaries, so I guess I will be a sheep.
Married life has been crazy. Lot's of ups and downs, but what I saw is what I got with Adam and that is the beauty of our relationship. We are both very honest and open with each other, much to my mother's horror at times, but it works for us. He is and has always been a very motivated, driven guy, which, for those who know me well, is quite the opposite of me and so that is why I love that quality about him. He also puts up with my bi polar personality, which is a miracle in and of itself, and which I very much love him for as well.
I have decided as far as parenting goes, he is the one who teaches our kids hard work and sacrifice, while I teach the kids to have fun and let loose. Both very important lessons for everyone. I love that he teaches the kids about real life and what is required of them, because I am too lazy to do that. Our life would consist of fun, fun, fun if it weren't for him and I thank him for that. He is a wonderful Dad and loves his children very much, and I love him for that.
He is also quite the charmer, and has the girls at my work in like. And he has such a funny sense of humor. Because we have been married so long, it doesn't always show up, but when we are around friends or family, he has us in stitches and i LOVE that.
So, without going on and on, I am truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful and difficult guy and I am thankful that he feels lucky to be married to me as well. I know this isn't very sappy, but we aren't a very sappy, emotional couple, so this works. Even though, I want him to know that I love him with all my heart and look forward to the future and being together forever, through good times and bad. Love you, Adam.

A Bunch of Beach Bums

Just wanted to say a little about our recent getaway. We got to go to Florence for the last weekend in April and it was great! Adam had done some work for family friends who own a house over there and their pay back was letting us use their beach house. It was fairly close to Driftwood Shores so we could walk down. We got there Friday afternoon and got food for the weekend, then went to the beach for a little bit. Then went to the house and crashed for the night. On Saturday, we got up early and I tried to run on the beach but wasn't into it, so we just spent a couple hours hanging out and looking for shells. Then went back to the house and chilled for a little. We went to Old Town Florence and walked around, then ate lunch at Moe's. After that, we spent all afternoon at the beach. It was warm and not very windy, so it was perfect. The kids got soaked in the waves and even Garrett was playing in the water. He was relentless. And Emma would have started surfing if we had let her. She wanted to play in the water all day. The kids and dog of course were soaked, so back to the house for warm baths and bbq steak for dinner and then to bed. There was sand everywhere and I am not a fan at all!
On Sunday we hung out at the house for awhile while Ad did homework, and then we took a nature stroll to some dunes and just let the kids play in the sand. No water today. Then we packed up and left and came home to a nice sunny day. It was a nice, relaxing trip which was much needed with our crazy life. Wish we had more time and money to do it more often. I'm just thankful it worked out and especially that the weather was so nice. You and me both know that is a rarity.


The cute girls in the water having a blast!
Garrett being all shy and sandy.
He didn't like the water at first, but then went in no qualms.
This picture is from a birthday party we went to at Skateworld. It was shaping up to be a bad night as far as Emma was concerned, but she relaxed and let loose. Natalie was a pro and had a great time.

Spring Break Adventure

This next section I call "Turning lemons into lemonade". We didn't have a lot of free time during Spring Break, so we wanted to do something really fun. Aaron and Teanna were down staying with us, and we all decided it would be fun to go up to Portland to take the kids to OMSI and the Zoo. Well, the weather wasn't that great, so we decided to just go to OMSI. The morning that we were to head up, Adam had to go to school to get his books, and he had a job measure to do, so by the time we all got ready to go, it was about 11:30am. We had to stop in Salem to drop of Teanna's dog, and it was lunch time, so we had to have time for lunch. OMSI was only open till 5, and we still had to drive up to Portland. Anyways, Adam and I thought that would be a waste of money because we wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time, so I thought we should go to the Oregon Garden and hike Silver Falls. No one was real keen on that idea, but it was the best use of our time and money, and they weather wasn't too wet, so we ventured out.
Now the Lemonade part. It was chilly, but so beautiful!!! Plus, the kids could run around all over and we didn't have to worry much about them. They thought it was great, and they didn't know what they were missing. We got to see some really cool things, and get lots of fun pictures. It was a no stress kind of activity. So I was glad that we decided to do that, and we will get another chance to go to OMSI. Afterwards, we went up to Portland to get some clothes, go to Deseret bookstore (where I bought Twilight by the way, and am on the 3rd book now), and went to Chevy's for dinner. Afterwards, Natalie and Kyla went with Aaron and Teanna to stay the night, and when we went to Adam's folks to pick up Pepper, they invited Emma to stay the night with them. So we ended up with one kid for the night, and that was fun. Plus the girls were jazzed to be staying the night elsewhere. All in all, it turned out to be a great time. I'm glad we didn't just get discouraged.



Natalie in the bunny tunnel at the Oregon Garden. One of the fun activities in the kid's garden area.
Garrett digging up a dinosaur skeleton. This was so fun!
The kids in the spooky, dark woods. This was so cool. It reminded me of some fairytale movie with the dark,dense woods that they scaries live in.
The girls enjoying each other and burning energy at the same time.
Cute picture of Kyla and Natalie when the got to stay the night with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Teanna. We call these two the twins cause they look alike, and are alike.