So you WERE paying attention!

OK OK OK, I promise that I did not intend to leave you hanging for quite so long. But the truth is...

I AM pregnant...

and frankly, I haven't felt very much like blogging (or anything else) lately. It was all I could do to get the basics done--feed, clothe, chauffer my children etc.

We are pretty excited but I have never enjoyed actually being pregnant.

Jeff and I sort of made a deal with H.F. We gave him one more year to get things done--if at the end of the year we were still not pregnant, then we were accepting the fact that this was our complete family. --Well, our year was a matter of days to being UP. I was just getting used to the idea of 3 amazing kids and finally being able to get rid of all our baby stuff. But, I guess H.F. was allowing us to work on the principles of patience and trust because he distracted the goaly just as time was expiring.

It is still pretty early so I hadn't anticipated telling everyone yet--but once we told the parents and kids--it became increasingly harder to keep the secret.
By my calculations we are looking at mid-September.
So, there you have it...

...You can all go laugh now and say a little prayer thanking H.F. that it's us and not you.

:) :) :)

New Years Interviews

I wanted to interview the family at the beginning of the year so that I could document some of the things that we love. I know that our interests change so rapidly that I decided the only way to get a real snapshot of us growing up was to be real organized and regular about it. So every new year (or new February--as the case might be) I'll give a new interview to see where we are "at", what has changed, and what has stayed the same. On a recent trip up to Spokane was my chance. They were all cornered and couldn't get away. (It also turned out to be the perfect anti-quarrelling-in-the-backseat remedy.)
ANDREW

Favorites

*Cereal---Honey Nut Cheerios

*Vegetable---Eggs n Toast :)

*Drink---Chocolate Milk

*Toy---Spiderman Toy

*TV Show---JoJo's Circus (although, I have no idea why he said this because he NEVER watches it--go figure)

*Game---Marbles

*Book---"Katie and the Big Snow" (This is VERY true--I have literally read it to him hundreds of times and it has fallen to pieces.)

*Restaurant---McDonalds

*Holiday---Easter

*Animal---"Maya"

*Movie---"Peter Pan"

*Clothes---My spiderman shirt

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Prince Caspian or Raja

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Bike rides and picnics and go on walks and find treasures.

What are some of your wishes for this year? Candy!! and that I'm Prince Derek--A handsome prince.

What do you love about each person in our family? Dad gives me high fives. Mom cuddles and kisses and hugs me all the time. Kaylee kisses me and hugs me. She gives me "Sossy" (His "Softy"). I like to play toys with Addy and princes and princesses with her.

ADDISON

Favorites

*Cereal---Cookie Crisp

*Vegetable---Broccoli and candied carrots

*Drink---Orange Soda

*Toy---My dolls and doll clothes

*TV show---Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

*Game---Whoonoo

*Book---Chronicles of Narnia

*Restaurant---San Miguels

*Holiday---Christmas

*Animal---Maya

*Movie---Enchanted

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Kendra

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Disneyland/Orlando (Universal)

What are some of your wishes for this year? To see the mountains and learn to drive and have a car of my own all the time. (Beautiful Dreamer!) and also to live in that BIG house.

What do you love about each person in our family? Dad tickles us--He makes me laugh all the time. Mom cuddles me. Drew acts silly and makes me laugh. I love that Kaylee likes the scriptures and we like the same stories and stuff--like Lilly's Big Day.

KAYLEE

Favorites

*Cereal---Cookie Crisp (I think we've only had that once--when we went camping--it must have made a really good impression)

*Vegetable---Carrots

*Drink---Henry Weinhardts Root Beer (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree)

*Toy---the Boat

*TV show---The Brady Bunch

*Game---Disney's Scene-It

*Book---"Little Women"

*Restaurant---Fazios in Bozeman, MT (Evidently that is where she and Jeff ate on their way home from picking up the truck in Kansas. I knew it would be a bonding experience!)

*Holiday---Christmas

*Animal---Maya (what can we say, we all love that darn dog)

*Movie---Princess Diaries

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Zoe

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Orlando

What are some of your wishes for this year? I want to see Mt. Rushmore as a family and see the White House. I also want to see the Rome, Italy temple dedicated.

What do you love about each person in our family? Dad always gives me a hug when he walks in the door after work. Mom cuddles me when I'm sad (what is it with the cuddling--Is that ALL I do???) Drew loves on me when I'm sad. I love that Addy likes to play soccer and is athletic.

JEFF

Favorites

*Cereal---Cookie Crisp (which might explain why it's the girls favorite too.)

*Vegetable---Mimi's Green Beans

*Drink---Ice cold Henry Weinhardts root beer (Like I said--the apple...)

*Toy---Quad

*TV show---Burn Notice

*Game---Spin the Bottle (To which Kaylee replied, "I never knew you knew how to play that!")

*Book---The Saturdays

*Restaurant---Cajuns Warf in L.R.

*Holiday---Christmas

*Animal---Maya-dog

If you could change your name, what would you choose? "Dave"

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Europe

What are some of your wishes for this year? Recoup some losses. Happy/Obedient/Grateful children and to make it down to 240#.

What do you love about each person in our family? Mom is my best friend (notice: He didn't mention cuddling. :) ). Kaylee is Daddies little travel buddy. Addy likes to eat adventurous things like artichoke hearts and olives with me. Andrew always wants to, "smell like a man" just like his daddy.

JULIANA

Favorites

*Cereal---Granola (I know, how lame is that?)

*Vegetable---Does a potato count as a vegetable? No--well then I guess candied carrots

*Drink---Dr. Pepper (caffeine-free)

*Toy---the Boat

*TV show---"24"

*Game---Cranium

*Book---after all these years, I still love the Belgariad series by David Eddings

*Restaurant---Hacienda Del Sol in Tucson

*Holiday---Christmas

*Animal---I'm going with good 'ol Maya-dog

*Movie---My current favorite is Pride and Prejudice

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Mackenzie (I have no idea why!)

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Why...to China and Switzerland of course.

What are some of your wishes for this year? (We'll see who's paying attention) I would love to have a HEALTHY baby. And I'd love to sell this house and find a different one that would fit our family a little better--for half the price (we are wishing after all).

What do you love about each person in our family? Daddy is patient and good and kind to us. He always knows when and how to bolster the rest of us up. Kaylee is very forgiving. She accepts my shortcomings and doesn't hold them against me. Addy is such a wonderful entertainer. She is always amusing us with a new story or song. Andrew is simply my joy! He keeps me young--amusing me with the funny things he says and the games that he likes to play.

I Love my family--there couldn't possibly be anything better than this!

Kids say the darndest things

Here are some recent funnies that the kiddos have come up with.

Addy: "Kaylee, do we have to obey Barack Obama now that he is our President?"

Kaylee: "Yeah, he could put you in jail if you don't."

Addy: "Well, then mom would shoot him."

The other night I had just said goodnight to Andrew and tucked him in bed. A siren was going off somewhere in town. Kaylee gave him a kiss goodnight as well and asked him, "Andrew, do you hear that fire engine?" Andrew replied, "No, I hear the Holy Ghost."

Andrew loves pretending to be a puppy right now. So the other night as we were getting ready to say a prayer before bed the following conversation took place.

Mom: "Andrew, do you want to say the prayer?"

Drew: "No, I'm Buster"

Mom: "Buster, do you want to say the prayer?"

Drew: "Woof--Woof" (then in a little voice) "That means 'no tanks'."

Robert Burns Night

We had the opportunity to go to a Robert Burns Night Dinner on Saturday. As you might or might not know, Robert Burns is a very famous Scotch poet. He coined the poem, "My love is like a red, red, rose" and wrote the song "Auld Lang Syne" and so many other famous writings. Evidently, to commemorate Robbie, each year on or near the anniversary of his birth, people all over the world hold "Burns Nights". It just so happens that we have some friends who decided to get married at one of these events held here in Moscow. Which is how Jeff and I were invited to attend this years festivities.




They do a Grand Processional complete with Marching bagpipes and everything to bring in the Haggis.


...and yes, I did try the Haggis!



We always make sure that the kids take three bites of new foods that we serve them. One to try it. Two to double check. and three just to make sure. So...I took three bites of the Haggis. One to try it. Two to double check my gag reflex. And three to make sure that I really could make it on Fear Factor.


The rest of the dinner was pretty good although I did have a little issue with the "potatos." Now I happen to love potatos and so as I passed through the line I gave myself a nice-sized portion of them. I was actually excited to taste them. A little further down the line I came upon some more "potatos"--this time with the skin on. (I thought to myself, OK, we are talking about Scotland/Ireland--home of the potato. So I guess they can have as many potato dishes as they want.) These also looked delicious. So I helped myself with just a few of these--after all, I didn't want to be a pig. Much to my surprise, when I got back to my seat and started to dig in, I found that the first dish of "potatos" was none other than cooked turnips! Not exactly what I had been expecting. The second dish really was potatoes but I was so sad because I had piled on the turnips and only gotten a few of the real potatos.

This little guy was a member of the pipe band, "The Border Highlanders". He was SO darn cute. I got a bit of a kick out of him though--I mean really, how many Asian guys do you expect to find playing the bagpipes at a Scottish event?





I LOVE bagpipes! I have always loved them. When played well, they are just so inspiring. Here is a little sampling of the initial procession to start the evening off.

I totally want to be the chick playing the drums with her twirly pompom drumsticks!

Sam gave the "Toast to the Lassies" and Marsha gave the "Reply Toast to the Laddies" They are the ones who were getting married. Most of the guests had no idea that a real wedding was going to be performed there. It was a surprise. After the toasts and the proposal, the pastor came up and they were escorted down the isle by the pipers. They recited their vows and were pronounced husband and wife. They were dressed in full Scottish costumes--Kilt and all. It was very fun and easy. This was a second marriage for both. They had known each other way back in first grade. Just goes to show--you never know who you might marry and fall in love with. It could be the one pulling your pigtails.

After the wedding, there was dancing and some songs performed by the Lewiston Firefighter Pipe Band. They have only been doing it for about a year but they still sounded pretty good. They taught everyone a Scottish country dance and everyone had fun with that.

All in all, it was a really fun night. I love having opportunities to do interesting things like this every once in a while. I even got to wear one of my Tartan skirts that my Scotch/Irish grandmother left me.

Flashback Friday--Rochester "kids"

After Jeff and I graduated from college we took our first job up in Rochester, NY. We were a little nervous--never having lived up there before. We kept hearing all about NY city and all of the chaos that is the big city. I think we expected to see people flipping us off and swearing at us all the time. We were pleasantly surprised to find some of the most wonderfully friendly and fun people we've ever met. We instantly fell in love with the area and our church ward was fabulous. I worked with the 16-17 year old girls and there were 16 of them. It seemed that one or two or ten would tag along with us wherever we went. We loved them!!! We'd hop in the car and go to Niagra Falls or we'd go out to Palmyra and visit the Sacred grove or the hill Cumorah. That was one of the cool things about that area. There were so many fun places to visit. We swam in lake Ontario. We'd take them bowling or watch movies at our house. We even had our very own special swimming hole in Letchworth State Park. You had to walk down the creek and climb (or slide) down the waterfalls to get to the little swimming hole. Our jobs were fairly flexible and so we were always able to work out cool little excursions. Unfortunately, Jeff and I had to transfer to Chicago only a year later. We were so sad to leave that place and especially those friends. It has however, been fun to see those "kids" grow up into amazing adults. Even now as we have come into contact with some of them again via technology and such, we celebrate silently with them as good things happen and commiserate with them, sending out electronic happy vibes when we hear that things are not going so well. Both Jeff and I are so incredibly glad that we accepted that first scary job way up north in Rochester, NY.

Here is a flashback picture for all of our "Rochester-kids".

(I know the picture is a little grainy--Sorry!)

Triple Play/Rafter's Reef

Friday afternoon we drove up to Spokane, had dinner with Dan and Amanda and spent the night. The next morning we drove over to Hayden and went to the Triple Play/Rafters Reef indoor water park. We played ALL day. Andrew was busy as a beaver the entire time. He couldn't move fast enough. It took him a little while before he was willing to go down the slides but when he finally got brave enough to go down once--there was no stopping him after that. He would slide a few times, run to the sprayers and spray everyone in sight, jump in the wave pool, take a dip in the hot tub, take a rest on the dinosaur and then do it all over again. The girls were both tall enough to go down the big slides. Addy was a little hesitant to go down the Vortex (we called it the toilet bowl) at first. But once we went down with her a few times you could hear her laughing and squealing all the way down. We ate lunch there--don't do it--The pizza was quite possibly the worst we've ever had but it was a nice break amongst all of the water play. We got a kick out of the lifeguard who shaved his whole chest area except for one diamond shaped patch right in the middle of his chest. I wonder which girls he was trying to impress. I am still trying to figure out why we all felt a little funky. After being there for a while we all began to notice that we were coughing a lot and had a hard time breathing. I'm not sure if it was too much chlorine in the air or what. I might have written it off if it was just me but we all noticed it individually. It seemed to be the worse every time we went into the wave pool. ---don't know what to make of it. We all had a really great time though. The kids didn't fight. The adults didn't fight. (At least not until the very end) No one got hurt. I'll chalk this memory up to one GOOD day!

You can click on the collage to blow up the pictures. Some of them turned out pretty cute. :)

I Love Faces-Anything Goes Week 2

I have always loved this picture that I took of K. I'm not a professional but every once in awhile even a blind squirrel finds a nut. Hope you enjoy it too.

You can check out all of the other entries for this week by clicking on the above button.