Mere and Nate.com

Presentation made by Tyler

2012-01-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Tyler was looking for something to do and this is what he made. What a great kid!

My Baking Crew

2011-12-08T14:23:00.001-08:00

I have lots of time on my hands now on Sundays. What's fun is hanging out with my family. Here you can see my baking crew! I always have plenty of help whenever I need it.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

Tradition is dinner at our house with Papa Murphy’s pizza courtesy of Papa.

Can you tell that Tyler doesn’t like the smell of pumpkins?

Tyler is a ceiling fan this year. Get it? A fan of ceilings?

Lauren is a bat this year. Costume courtesy of Jeana Dahle.

Gotta have homemade root beer. I think there is a lot of kid spit in the root beer as all they wanted to do was blow on the dry ice “smoke”.

Did you sort your candy when you were a kid? We did.

Ava was a Hershey’s Kiss. She didn’t really want to wear the hat. Here she is enjoying some chocolate.

Tyler on a sugar high.

Lauren on a homemade root beet diet.

Here are the pumpkins we carved this year.

Ava Jane's First Birthday

2011-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

So we are way behind on our blogging, but we will try to catch up just a little bit. One huge event that happened in August was Ava's first birthday. How grateful we are for such a wonderful addition to our family. We truly are blessed.

Happy Birthday Ava!

Photo taken by my sister Rachelle Butterfield.

Thoughts on another birthday

2011-09-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I turned 36 yesterday and people have asked if I feel older. The honest answer is no. I feel like all the birthdays so far in my 30's are pretty much the same. The numbers don't mean too much. I think it will start to hit my radar when I reach 40. I still think I am young and try to convince myself that I just graduated from high school just a few years ago. Then I attend a function with high school kids present and realize that I am getting older. I have lots of gray hair which is something I get from my Dad. If you have seen my older brothers or my Dad, you will see that I will be either 100% gray or 100% white. Both are fine with me.

I do want to thank my family for a wonderful day. I was spoiled on Sunday as you can see below. Linda made one of my favorite dinners. She made short ribs with mashed potatoes and all the trimmings. Then they spoiled me with my favorite cake. I don't know what to call it, but it is good. As you can see from the picture, they piled Meredith's homemade ice cream on top! Not a bad way to finish the day!

Just as a side note: the extended family is getting better at singing happy birthday without my assistance. They still have room for improvement, but they are getting there. Luckily they only have to do this unassisted once a year.

Happy Birthday Meredith

2011-09-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

July 18, 2011

So I am a little behind in my blogging……

Happy Birthday Mere! We love you!

Just a casual game of ping pong

2011-09-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2011

We stopped by Steve and Liz’s house to hang out with family and a “casual” game of ping pong started. We then turned it into a game that rotated people in as someone made a mistake. This happens a lot in our family. We just make up games that try to involve a lot of people.

Well, somewhere between casual and fun, Martin thought we were in the Olympics and treated his opponent like the Gold Medal team from North Korea. He will say he was relaxed and what not, but there are plenty of photos of him completely flexed. He was out for blood. I do have to admit that he is really good. He stayed in longer than anyone else. It quickly became everyone’s goal to get him out of the game. We played for a while and everyone had a great time. Check Whitney’s blog for better pictures.

Martin and Lindsay

Keith and Lauren

Lindsay and Tyler

The self proclaimed “dream team” – Bob and Keith

Ava

Ava reacting to a bubble!

Summer fun with cousins

2011-09-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for cousins! These kids can play together for hours. They have such a great relationship with each other. We are so thankful for family.

Ava Loves Shoes!

2011-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

All of our kids have loved shoes from an early age. Especially Lauren and now Ava. To be clear, they don't get that from me. They have a Mother who has great taste when it comes to shoes.

Here Ava is wearing some cute Robeez shoes that you can't see because she is also wearing Lauren's slippers. Once she put on the slippers she just wanted to walk around everywhere. She thought it was pretty funny......and it was.

Another thing Ava does that it unique is when she walks she sometimes puts both arms behind her like shown below. Not sure why, but it is cute. It's like she is an airplane or something. Maybe she is imitating Jason "The Jet" Terry from the Dallas Mavericks? Who knows?

Does any of this apply to you?

2011-09-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

I fall into many of these categories. Meredith says I fall into almost all of these categories. I try to convince myself that I keep a good balance. How about you?

Created by: Online Schools

13 lucky years!

2011-08-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

How did I get so lucky? Seriously! I ask myself that often. I remember walking out of the temple after getting sealed (married) and I was so darn happy! I knew that I had just made to best choice in my whole life! Nathan Karl Anderson I love you!

Boating with Papa

2011-08-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

I am trying to post this from the boat. Papa is this very nice to take us all out today. The weather is perfect.

4th of July–Independence Day

2011-08-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

We feel so blessed to live in this country. We are thankful to those who helped establish a country where we are free. We are thankful to those who have fought and are fighting to defend freedom. We truly are blessed! Happy Independence Day!

We love to spend time with family on the 4th. Usually the weather doesn’t cooperate on the 4th in Oregon, but this year was an exception. The weather was perfect. So, it was time to play in the water.

Lauren is our little dare devil. You can see her giving the the thumbs up sign which means speed up!

It wouldn’t be an outing with Papa if something didn’t go wrong. Here we are being towed in because we ran out of gas.

Ava fell asleep on the boat. This is a tradition for all of our kids. They all slept on the boat when they were little.

Celebrating the 4th involves good food. Here we have homemade root beer brewing.

Can’t go wrong with Mere manning the grill.

Linda always prepares a spread to rival any other celebration.

I think Mere is asking me if anything is in her teeth!?!

Steph is the family photographer. Her great pics are found on her Town Hall Blog.

Alice is pretending to hold a “boom box”. Not sure where she learned that, but that is what we love about Alice…..she is funny!

Spencer’s Baptism

2011-08-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

We wanted to congratulate Spencer on his decision to be baptized. This post is a little late as he was baptized on July 2, 2011.

He is a great young man and we just love having him in our family.

More details on his baptism here.

Ava keeps us laughing

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have put up a gate to keep Ava from climbing up the stairs. Leave it to her to try and climb over the gate. You can see that Tyler is the one that probably trained her.

We have since removed the gate as she is a pro and getting up and down the stairs now.

Sunriver 2011-More FUN!

2011-07-13T12:47:00.001-07:00

I took a lot of photos while at Sunriver. However, a few days into the trip my battery finally died and I went looking for my charger and I couldn’t find it. I was so disappointed because I carefully pack EVERYTHING before I go on a trip. I bring extra cables, wires, etc. just in case. I can’t believe I forgot my camera charger! Well, luckily Steph takes lot’s of great photos. Add to my list of things not to forget: camera charger.

Another thing that I pack is baking supplies. I bring everything I would need to bake all sorts of goodies. My goal is to help everyone put on a few pounds by the end of the trip. Goodies include cookies, brownies, cup cakes, bread, and cinnamon rolls. I bake because it’s fun and it keeps me busy. Another reason is our favorite Sunriver bakery is no longer making good donuts. Now we have to make our own unhealthy goodies.

Ziza posing for the camera.

We did a little bit of geocaching. Not as much as last year.

Meredith holding baby Cora!

The grand kids attacked Papa with silly string.

The kids had a great time rock climbing at Mavericks.

Lauren can do the splits easily. Not sure why. Just one day she showed us that she could do it.

We had plenty of lounge time. Here Steph is enjoying the iPad while Kira does her hair.

Tyler showing off his mad skills.

Sunriver 2011–Lots of FUN!

2011-07-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

A lot of people will ask us what we do at Sunriver. Well, there are lot’s of things that we do, but the best part is spending time with family.

Meredith and Lauren chillin on the couch.

Ziza is ready for the pool.

Ava loved playing in the pool. She learned how to climb up and down steps as she was constantly in and out of the kid pool.

Spencer turned 8 years old. He had a great day which ended in a family party filled with lots of games.

Steph and Wes hanging out.

Time to go to the park. Let’s just say we had a full car.

Ava loved the swing. It was hard to get her to leave the park.

The old tire swing….bound to make anyone dizzy or sick.

Uncle Greg playing on the not so large toys. Someone needs to let him know that he might have outgrown this one.

Sunriver here we come!

2011-07-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Each summer we head off to Sunriver, Oregon for a family vacation. We left the same say school was out. We packed the van and headed for our favorite place.

This year we have a new bike rack that holds the bikes on top. It worked so well, I highly recommend it.

We packed everything including Lauren. Now we can hit the road.

Are we there yet?

Of course we have to stop by Costco in Bend on the way to Sunriver. There we load up on food to last us the week. Let’s just say that we eat like kings in Sunriver.

School is Out!

2011-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

School is out and the kids are excited for summer. How thankful we are as parents for great teachers. Mrs. Evonuk and Mrs. DeGregorio have a passion for teaching. They made a difference in our kids lives. We are very lucky to have such great and caring teachers.

Lauren and Mrs. Anousone Evonuk – Last day of Kindergarten (June 2011)

Tyler and Mrs. Kindra DeGregorio – Last day of 5th Grade (June 2011)

Cruisin’ Sherwood Car Show

2011-07-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Every year Sherwood holds a classic and custom car show. It is a big deal for Sherwood. This was our first year attending the car show and we had a great time. There were a ton of cars to look at. It is amazing how much time, effort and $$$ people put into their cars.

Lauren had a great time.

This van had a mini version of it self and the owner seemed to be the perfect match for the car.

Portland Timbers Field Trip

2011-06-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Tyler’s class had a field trip at JeldWen Field to watch the Portland Timbers play. Portland now has a MLS team and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Timbers. Since this was close to my office downtown, I met Tyler there and we enjoyed a beautiful day and a great game. The Timbers lost, but it was still a good game to watch.

This is a picture of Timber Joey, the mascot for the Portland Timbers. Each time the Timbers score a goal, he pulls out the chainsaw and cuts off a slab from a large tree log. (Only in Portland)

Tyler and his best friend Casey!

Warm-ups!

After the game Tyler and I wandered around Portland for a while. The picture below is located at Pioneer Courthouse Square. They used living plants to create a map of the world. They did a really good job.

A Secret About Ice Cream at Our House

2011-06-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

It’s time to let you all in on a big secret. Meredith is addicted to ice cream. It’s true! Most of you may not know that because she eats a very healthy diet all day long. She even works out every day except Sunday (Jillian is her trainer…..I don’t know how she does it.). She takes care of herself better than anyone I know. However, she has a weakness for good ice cream!! She has to have it. For some it is Diet Coke. For Mere, it is ice cream.

At times she would try and buy ice cream that only the kids and I liked…….but give it a day or two and the chocolate ice cream would end up appearing in our freezer again.

This is her guilty pleasure and I love to give her a hard time about it. However, I love scooping up her ice cream for her so she can go to her happy place and enjoy it.

Well, the other day as I was scooping up ice cream for Mere, Ava was letting me know that she wanted some too. So, I decided to put some in a cone and give it to her. As you can see below, she’s a fan of ice cream too. Oh, and if you were wondering, yes, we are good parents! Who doesn’t give their 9 month old an ice cream cone?

Romeo and Juliet

2011-06-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Tyler’s 5th grade class put on a fun version of Romeo and Juliet. Each class member had a role in the play. Tyler was a member of the Capulet family. The picture is a little blurry, but you can see Tyler in the white shirt. Tyler did a great job as well as all of his classmates. It was a lot of fun to watch them perform.

We are so thankful for Tyler’s teach Mrs. DeGregorio. She is a fantastic teacher. She has been the perfect teacher for Tyler! It is so nice to have a teacher that really cares about the kids. She is one of a kind.

Somebody is learning to walk

2011-06-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

Ava is standing a lot and learning to hold her balance while standing. It is so fun to watch her learn how to walk. Tyler and Lauren love watching her figure it out too. They are always trying to get her to stand. She should be walking on her own soon.

So long Cub Scouts

2011-06-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2011

Today at pack meeting Tyler earned his Webelos award, Arrow of Light and his religious knot. He is now done with cub scouts and will be moving on to the boy scout program.

Meredith is collecting more mother’s pins. By the end of Tyler’s scout career, Mere will have a lot of hardware on that jacket. (Side note: that is Mere’s scout jacket. She has worn it to all the pack meetings that Tyler has earned pins. Where is the Dad pin?)

Tyler crossed over the bridge which represents the move from cubs to boy scouts. After they “cross over” he gets to sign his name on the bridge. Our pack does a great job!

I can’t believe that we are done with cubs! This is probably a good thing as our pinewood derby cars have not performed too well!

5th Grade Fun Night

2011-06-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

The parents and teachers of the 5th graders put together a “fun night” for the 5th graders. This is in celebration of their hard work and completion of elementary school. Next year they are off to middle school.

I went as a chaperone from 8 until 11 PM. When I got there Tyler had just completed his trip to the “barber shop”. He had hair that resembled Dennis Rodman and a painted on mustache. There was pizza and soda and a ton of candy and a lot of other fun things to do. The highlight of the night was the basketball shooting competition which he and his buddy Jordan both won. The prize was a new basketball for each of them.

We also have a great time playing dodge ball in the gym. Each team had about 40 or so people. It was crowded, but a lot of fun.

I can’t believe he will be off to Middle School next year. The years are flying by too fast.

Cora Helena Matthews

2011-06-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Greg and Sarah on the birth of their baby girl. She was born on May 24 and was 9 pounds 3 ounces and 20 1/2 inches.

Lauren is showing Aunt Sarah that she is a pro at holding babies now that she has had so much experience holding Ava.

More pictures can be found here.

Father’s and Son’s Outing 2011

2011-06-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I went camping with our Ward on the Oregon Coast at Camp Merriwether. This scout camp provides nice camp sites with easy access to the beach. Tyler and I arrived early and setup our tent and made our beds. We then ate dinner and went to the beach. It was your typical Oregon coast weather…..a little cold and a lot of wind. However, it was dry and we can certainly appreciate that!

We watched the sun go down and then we headed back to camp to participate in the camp fire activities.

In the morning, the kids tried to get the fire started.

Bishop was on pancake duty because he is the best at it. His Mickey Mouse pancakes were perfect as usual.

Kyle spent a lot of time making scrambled eggs for everyone. Thanks for your help Kyle. Dahlin was on sausage duty. I am not sure if he was 100% awake yet, but he did a great job.

I think a good time was had by all!

Peony Flowers

2011-06-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about living in the Northwest is the plants you can grow in your backyard. We have a number flowers that we grow and one of them is a peony. The one pictured below is a tree peony. They have amazing flowers and come in late spring or early summer and they don’t last too long. Meredith took a few pictures when this one was at its best.

Afternoon of Achievers

2011-06-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

Each student in Tyler’s class were given the name of a person who was an achiever in one way or another. The students then had to research these individuals so they could understand their life story and how they overcame challenges in their life. They put a lot of work into this project which culminated in an event at the school called Afternoon of Achievers. Each student dressed up as their achiever and then the parents were given the chance to ask questions of the students to try and figure out who they were. See if you can figure out who Tyler is based on his video below:

Here is Tyler next to Michael Jordan and George Washington.

I was able to figure out all but two of the kids. One was a dead comic and the other was a female astronaut and I couldn’t remember her name.

Mother’s Day 2011

2011-05-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

This year we had dinner at our house and we decided to cook some roast and do mashed potatoes etc. I was a little nervous as I haven’t really cooked too many roasts. My brothers are professional cooks and could do it in their sleep. So, I used a recipe from The Pioneer Woman website and it was amazing. Attention all guys who don’t cook: this is where you should start. This recipe is a home run and it isn’t that hard to follow. Give it a try.

So we made dinner for the ladies and then had the them sit in the most comfortable chairs in the house while their children gave them massages or anything else they needed like a cold beverage etc.
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and to Meredith, the mother of my children. I truly have been blessed with great women in my life.

Lauren’s Zoo Trip

2011-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Lauren’s class had a field trip to the Oregon Zoo yesterday. I took the day off from work so I could go spend time with her. I did this with Tyler when he was in Kindergarten as well.

Lauren had a great time! We were a little worried about the weather, but it didn’t start raining until we were ready to leave.

Lauren is such a sweet girl and I absolutely loved spending the day with her. I love you Lauren!

Ava Jane–8 months old

2011-05-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ava is now 8 months old (As of April 16). She is crawling and trying to pull herself up into a standing position. Of course her only words are “Da Da”! She continues to bring so much happiness and joy to our home!

Ever build a blanket fort?

2011-05-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

I came home from meetings on Sunday and this is what the family room looked like! Awesome! I used to build these all the time when I was a kid. Tyler and Lauren worked hard to have it fill the entire room. Did you ever build forts when you were a kid?

Note: most of the blankets are quilts hand made by my mother-in-law. Those are our favorite blankets.

We love the NBA

2011-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I love to watch sports. Our two favorite sports to watch are college football and NBA Basketball. We are big Trailblazer fans and we were lucky enough to go to a game before the season was over. We went to a game vs. the Cavs. We had great seats with all you can eat food (Club Level). If you have a chance to go watch a game in the club level, you will love it!

We had to load up at dinner time. Tyler was in heaven!

This game was a blow out and Tyler loved every minute of it!

Final score: Portland 111 Cleveland 70

Amazing story from an amazing family

2011-04-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

This video clip was run on our local news last week. We just love to watch it as it reminds us of how blessed we are. It reminds us that miracles can happen. The video talks about Liam Jaussi and his battle with brain cancer. After multiple surgeries and radiation treatments, Liam is cancer free. Liam and his family are amazing. When we grow up, we want to be just like them.

Liam is in Lauren’s class and you will see her in a few of the clips.

http://www.kptv.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4644194

Here is an excerpt from their family blog that describes how the Liam $6 club began in detail:

Liam showed his caring heart when he learned he would be attending The Heart of Doernbecher Auction where lots of people would be donating money to help children at “his hospital”. He immediately brought his piggy bank down from his room and emptied it out on the table. That night, amid donations of thousands, and tens of thousands of dollars, Liam approached the auctioneer and gave her a little baggie with one dollar bills and told her that he was giving $6 because he is now 6-years old. That small act of charity from Liam brought shouts and cheers and spurred donations of more than $600,000 in the next 15 minutes, an unprecedented amount for the event. Because of the impact Liam had on everyone in that room, the Doernbecher Foundation has created Liam’s $6 Club. As the Foundation stated, “Liam gave as much as he could to help Doernbecher and is prepared to give all he can to beat cancer.

We invite you to join Liam’s $6 Club and match Liam’s gift to children at “his hospital”.

Day 5-Hanging Out

2011-04-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

It’s Day 5 already. Time flies when you are having fun.

Today Tyler and I went to help move some furniture for my Uncle Marc and Aunt Jeanette. They just moved from Weiser, Idaho to Mesa, Arizona. Some of their furniture was still in storage so we went to help out so we could see them and their new home. I do have to say that their home is beautiful! We are so happy for them and this new chapter in their life. It was so good to see them. They are two people that when I am around them I always leave feeling better than when I came.

While we were waiting for the UD and Uncle Marc to show up, us Anderson boys had to make up some kind of game. This one was Maeser’s idea. Let’s see if you can hug the cactus without getting pricked!

I told Tyler this is about as close as he should get when hugging girls!

Oh yes, Tyler is feeling much better now….as you can tell.

Guess what else we did today. Yep, swimming. This time Bailee came with us. She is pretty confident with those floaties on. She can pretty much do what she wants in the pool when she has those on. Lauren loved having Bailee come with us. It’s nice to have great cousins.

Ever since we were born, us Anderson boys love to play games. However, most of the games that we play are made up. If we ever had a few minutes to spare, we could make up some game in a few seconds and then 2 minutes later we are in the middle of a serious competition.

Well, Maeser is training Tyler in that art. A few minutes after they were in the pool they created a game, complete with rules and a scoring system. I love to see this passed on from generation to generation.

Tyler is a great brother. I love to see him enjoy having a new little sister. He is very good with Ava and really has been a huge help. He is a great kid!

I feel like I am doing some marketing for Nielsen’s Frozen Custard, but what can I say, we love their “concrete.” Yes, that is what they call their frozen custard. It is like a Blizzard, but better.

I think the name “concrete” comes from this device. It looks like the back of a cement truck. Out comes the delicious frozen custard!

Yum, yum and yum. Oh, if you go, you have to order french fries too!

Somebody needed a quick bath. I am sure she will love this picture when she is a teenager.

Ava is trying to figure out the crawling thing. She hasn’t quite figured it out yet. However, I love this picture because it shows her beautiful big eyes.

Day 4-Baseball

2011-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

We woke up and had breakfast and then hit the pool. I just can’t keep my kids out of the pool. Tyler and Lauren would probably swim no matter the weather.

Then we had a chance to talk to Martin. He was hard at work and looking good in his suit and cool sun glasses. His hotel is a beautiful one. Thanks for letting us stay there Martin!!

Along the freeways in Arizona, they place artwork into the cement structures. Some of them are quite interesting. Tyler was interested in all the different designs and he tried to capture some of them with our camera. This one is in Scottsdale I believe.

Well, it was finally time to go watch a baseball game. We decided to watch the Cubs play the Mariners. We went to the Cubs spring training facility in Mesa. It was a great facility. We got tickets on the grass this year so we could hang out. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. I do have to say that Cub fans are pretty serious. They love their team more than the average fan. During the game they announced the temperature in Chicago….a cold 31 degrees. Everyone cheered. Temperature in Mesa was 73. Perfect!

Meredith was enjoying the game and the sun.

This is the rental car we had for the week. It’s a Ford Flex and it is a cool car. At first we thought we wouldn’t like it, but we love it! Great car. As we arrived at the Cubs game, they thought we were die-hard Cub fans because our car had similar Cub colors. We just went along with it. Not many people have seen a Ford Flex before so we had a lot of people asking us questions about “our” car.

Cubs 6, Mariners 3.

Day 3-Stomach Bug

2011-04-01T11:05:00.001-07:00

The day before we left for Phoenix, I came down with a stomach bug. 24 hours later I was feeling pretty good. It seems that each year when we decide to go to Arizona, one of us gets sick and then we end up giving it to our family members in Arizona. I was hoping that it was just something I ate.

However, on Tuesday Tyler started complaining about his stomach hurting. Then by Thursday afternoon he didn’t feel good at all. He was able to enjoy swimming earlier in the day which is pictured below. Tyler is seen here on the couch taking full control of the remotes as he waiting for his stomach to feel better.

I just love this picture. Lauren and Ava look so cute. When we would wake up in the morning, Lauren would immediately ask if we could go swimming. In the mornings it was around 55 to 60 degrees. A little chilly if you ask someone who lives there. But all Lauren would see if blue skies and she figures that means its time to go swimming.

It was nice to have Mom and Ava come with us this time.

Lauren must have jumped in about 1000 times each day. She really played hard. When night time came, she would just crash.

Tyler is quite the swimmer now. It is fun to watch him play and take on the pool without having me be in there the whole time.

When I think of swimming, this is what I think of. When I get in the pool, the kids just want to climb on me.

After my Mom got off work, we all headed to Scottsdale to stay at the Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains. My cousin Martin works there and we wanted to check out his hotel. We also wanted to watch a baseball game on Friday and his hotel was closer to the ball park.

As we were driving to the hotel, Tyler was not feeling well at all. He was as white as a ghost. We checked in at the front desk and got the keys to our room. We then entered the elevator and headed down two levels. Right as we exited the elevator, Tyler pukes all over this beautiful marble floor! I quickly called the front desk and asked them to come clean it up. I asked Tyler if he was OK and he said he felt great now! This was not the way we wanted to start off our stay at the Marriott.

Lauren immediately wanted to go swimming which she did. Tyler and I stayed in the room and watched BYU lose to Florida. That was a frustrating ending. Jimmer just couldn’t hit anything.

We ordered room service and then called it the night.

Day 2 - Hello Phoenix

2011-03-23T16:29:00.001-07:00

Here we are enjoying the sunshine. All the kids wanted to do was swim. I told them it had to get about 70 degrees outside before I took them swimming. So, in the morning we just played at the park and hung out. Lauren went to her cousin’s house and watched the new Barbie movie and did art projects. Perfect day for Lauren.

Meredith on the other hand was free to go and shop without kids. She has been anxious to go to Down East and spend a lot of money! Actually, I plan each year and set aside money so she can buy things at this store. It’s her favorite clothing store I think. They don’t have a store in Oregon, so she waits for our yearly trip to Arizona to stock up. Sometimes she wants me to come along and I quickly pull out the “I’ll be a good husband and take care of the kids so you can shop alone” excuse. She could easily spend an hour or two there. Not sure my knees could handle that.

After Meredith finished her shopping, I took the kids swimming. I don’t think my kids could be any happier. They just love to swim. Seems like such a simple thing. It’s fun to see them so happy.

What is wrong with this picture? There isn’t a cloud in the sky. That is what’s wrong. I am from Oregon and there is always a cloud in the sky. I couldn’t find one all day today.

These are two hummingbirds in my Mom’s back yard. They are so small. If I held two quarters up they would almost cover the nest. They should be leaving the nest soon. We will try and keep an eye on them.

I am not sure any food made it in Ava’s mouth today.

Maeser and Tyler sporting the same hair cuts. Nothing like a little pac man competition.

Dinner was great as usual. Thanks to Maeser for the awesome recipe.

Day 1 - Travelling to Phoenix

2011-03-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

For Spring break we are heading to Arizona to visit my Mom. We are very excited to escape the weather in the Northwest for a while. We are in need of some serious sunshine. We don’t even care how hot or cold it gets in Arizona, we just want to see the sun.

We were wondering how Ava would do on the airplane. Well, she handled it like a pro. Tyler and Lauren always had ear problems during landing when they were infants, but Ava didn’t seem to be bothered.

Once we landed, we got in the rental car and headed straight for In-n-Out Burger. Meredith had this on her list of things to do, and of course it was the first thing we had to do. Great food as usual. Tyler wasn’t feeling too great after the flight, so he only ate fries and ice cream. I was just getting over a stomach bug too, but I managed to eat plenty of food. We told Tyler we will try to get back before we leave and when he is feeling better.

When we arrived at MaSan’s house, Lauren didn’t waste any time showing MaSan how to play Just Dance.

We are excited to be here and spend time with family. Hopefully we have time to visit with everyone.

Let it Snow

2011-03-09T22:00:00.001-08:00

In the Northwest, we do get snow once or twice a year on the valley floors. When it comes, it’s a HUGE deal. It snowed about 2 inches overnight and as a result, our great state almost shuts down. School was cancelled, so we decided to play in the snow. By the evening, the snow had almost melted away. So, the Blizzard of 2011 was a fun one. (See previous posts about snow in Oregon here and here.)

At least I bought toothbrushes with this stuff…..

2011-03-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Free candy and toothbrushes this week if you are a “couponer”……..My dentist would be proud.

Meredith and I coupon a lot now. We find lots of great deals on many things. This week was candy. Tyler and Lauren were hoping they could eat it, but I told them we were going to use it to give to Spencer for his birthday. Spencer said he just wants candy for his birthday, so I have been stocking up for him. I think he will be pleasantly surprised when he sees what we have for him.

Family Time

2011-02-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to Sky High Sports in Tigard for a little trampoline fun. Of course I had to jump with them to make sure they were “safe”. I had to try it out. I couldn’t just sit there and watch.

If you haven’t been before, the place is made of many trampolines connected together. Even the walls have trampolines. It was a lot of fun to bounce around and try some tricks. Tyler and Lauren had a great time. After the first 15 minutes their faces were bright red and they were all sweaty. After an hour of jumping, we were ready to relax.

Ava Jane – 4.5 Months Old

2011-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Timeout spot

2011-02-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

When the kids were younger, I used to joke that I would put them in timeout up on the mantle. One day I put them up there so they could see what it was like. They loved being up there. They would beg me to put them up there so they could be in “timeout”.

Well after we took down the Christmas decorations, I let them play up there. Lauren even asked if she could sleep up there. I love how kids think.

One day they were bored and I told them that they should decorate the mantle. This is what we got:

Ava Jane at Four Months

2011-01-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, she is a cutie. Her new skills at age 4 months: laughing. Only Tyler and Lauren can get her to do it really well. She also has rolled over from her back to her stomach. She is still not walking or potty trained and now we are starting to get concerned.

Photos by my sister, Rachelle “Rose” Butterfield.

My First Mistake Ever!

2011-01-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

In an effort to save some money, I was in the attic patching some small leaks in my roof. It’s a rather simple job. As I was finishing up, I started to head back to get out of the attic and I decided to pick up a board that was out of place. So, I have a 5 foot board in one hand and a flash light and caulk gun in the other. I was navigating every so gently when all of the sudden I lost my balance and I started to fall. In an effort to save myself and NOT fall through the ceiling, I grabbed the nearest 2 x 4 with my left arm. As I did that, the caulk gun hit me in that face, spreading roof cement all over my face. Although I caught myself with my left arm, it wasn’t enough as placed the heal of my right foot down to try and regain my balance. Just as soon as I did that, I knew I made a big mistake. My right foot created the hole you see below.

ARGH!! I was so upset with myself for letting this happen. I should have been more careful. I think I just stood there in the attic for what seemed like ten minutes having a pitty party. It’s one of those moments when you realize that the only thing to do is laugh and move on. I wasn’t ready to laugh about it just yet.

When I got down from the attic, I looked in the mirror and then realized that I had roofing cement on my face and in my hair. Not good. Let’s just say that soap and water is not going to get that stuff off. We tried a few other things, but the only thing that worked was goof off. Yes, goof off on the skin. I am sure there is some king of HUGE warning about that. Please do not try this at home.

Anyway, I can laugh about the experience now. I still need to have the ceiling patched so if you know of someone that does good dry wall work, let me know.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

The kids didn’t wake up until 7:30 AM. Not bad for Christmas Morning. Ava slept in until 8:30 AM.

We all had fun opening our stockings.

Tyler and I received combs in our stockings. Right now neither one of us even uses a comb. Maybe Santa wants us to grow our hair out?

Lauren gave Tyler some Hot Wheels for Christmas.

Ava received some gifts as well.

Grannie gave us a special Bennington Flags for Christmas.

Tyler enjoying some time with Grannie and Papa.

Dinner was the best! Steak and potatoes. Can’t go wrong there!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

We had family over at our house on Christmas Eve. We had our usual Chinese food from Wu’s. The favorite dish is still sesame chicken. I think we had to order 4 of those. Thanks to Gannie and Papa for bringing the food. Thanks to Meredith for ordering it. She is the one in the family that coordinates things. Without her we would be lost.

After dinner we watched “Joy to the World” which is a DVD telling the story of Christ’s birth. After that we had to get out the pipe chimes and show how musical we are. I am the conductor. I have created PowerPoint slides that show when each chime needs to be played. I then hand out the 20 different pipe chimes and somehow we make music. This year I found some songs that require 4 pipes to be played at the same time. I was surprised how well everyone did. The musicians were between the ages 3 to 63. Ziza just played her pipe chime constantly. Give her another year or two and she will be and expert. (Want to make your own pipe chimes? Click here.)

If family gets together, I feel like I need to make ice cream. Yummy as always. Need the simple recipe? Let me know.

Meredith and Lauren having a great time!

Kyra watching Elf from the coveted red chair.

Ava Jane was working on rolling over and showing off her cute legs!

I told Wes there was room for him on the couch between Ron and Greg, but he politely declined.

The Sharing Tree

2010-12-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

Each year Grannie takes the kids to go do some work at Papa’s stores and then they use the money to buy gifts for those in need. Read Stephanie’s blog post below to see the details about their experience. I am including it on our blog so we have a record of it. Thanks Stephanie!

Town Hall Blog – The Sharing Tree
by Stephanie Hall

Every year at Christmas time my mom takes the older grandchildren out for a day of service and giving back. They start with a solid couple hours of manual labor at one of my Dad's Papa Murphy's Pizza stores. They have the privilege of scraping cheese off the walls, cleaning dishes and scrubbing the floors. They each earn some money doing their work that will be contributed to the giving that comes later in the day.

Here is Grannie with Travis- our fearless Papa Murphy's leader!

Let me just say that as a mother of children who all possess differing levels of desire and work ethic, it deeply warms my heart to see my Emma doing this work.

Once the work was done, Grannie and the kids spent plenty of time choosing several hearts from the sharing tree at the mall to purchase gifts for with the money they'd earned.

Aren't those little worker bees a cute bunch?

Alice and Tyler choose some Legos for a little boy on the list.

Cate selected a shirt for a dad on the list.

After the shopping extravaganza was over a stop a The Cheesecake Factory was in order for those hungry little elves.

Alice and Grannie couldn't eat another bite!

I want to make sure I give a shout out to my parents (especially my mom) who makes this service opportunity happen each year. She and my dad are wonderful examples to their grandchildren. We are all so grateful to have the both of them in our lives.

**I keep re-reading this post trying to make it funnier (I know, bad english), but it is hard to make service funny, especially when I didn't even participate in the service! So, I guess I'll leave it at heartwarming and sweet, because that is really what it's all about, right?**

Great work Stephanie on the blog post!

Emma and her self portraits

2010-12-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

So I downloaded the photos from my camera yesterday and I have about 30 photos that Emma took of herself. She is so funny! Thanks for keeping things interesting Emma.

Emma

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iPad or Hot Dogs?

2010-12-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

During our Sunriver trip this past summer, Meredith was pregnant and not feeling too well. She was especially sensitive to food smells. One smell that almost made her puke was hot dogs. Each time someone would cook one up in the microwave, Meredith would get nauseous.

So, as we were coming home from church in Bend, Oregon, Meredith asked me to hurry and get rid of the hot dogs before everyone else came home. So, being the good husband that I am, I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the hot dogs and ran out back and threw them in the trash. Everyone else was arriving as I was coming back into the house.

It was lunch time and the first thing Emma did was go to the fridge and look for the hot dogs. She looked everywhere. She then started asking everyone where they were. Then the suggestion was made that maybe the hot dogs were all eaten, but Wes and Emma begged to differ. Anyway, Meredith and I kept our little secret, a secret.

Months later, Meredith finally confessed to Emma and the family. Since that time Emma has given us a hard time. So, we decided that we would give her a Costco-sized package of hot dogs and buns for Christmas. However, I wrapped the hot dogs in my iPad box just to throw her off. (She likes to ask for gifts that tend to cost lots of money!)

So, on Christmas Eve, we presented Emma with our gift. As she was opening it, Cate noticed that it was an iPad box and Cate was freaking out. I think the thought of Emma getting one was a little too much. Emma says that she never even thought it was an iPad. I think there was at least a thought.

What is it?

Could it be an iPad?

No, just some hot dogs!

Needless to say, Emma had a hot dog for breakfast on Christmas morning.

Thanks for being such a good sport Emma!

Decorating for Christmas

2010-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

We love decorating for Christmas. It’s my job to get all the decorations out of storage just after Thanksgiving. Then, for the next day or so the house is a big mess as we start to pull out all the decorations. The end result is great and the kids have a great time helping.

Here are some of our favorite decorations:

Stockings and Christmas Cards. We love all the cards we received from everyone!

The calendar that my mother-in-law made. Tyler and Lauren did a great job alternating days up until Christmas.

Nativity set. This is from Jerusalem. Meredith bought it when she went there as a student at BYU. Funny thing about our nativity set is that it gets played with almost everyday. This picture below is not where we normally put the pieces, but the kids love to re-create the nativity scene on their own. Each year we hope to find all of the pieces.

This was made by Tyler in kindergarten. Another one of our favorites!

Christmas Tree!!

2010-12-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

It wasn’t raining, so it was the perfect Saturday to go and get our Christmas tree. Living in Sherwood, Oregon has some major benefits. One of those benefits is having Christmas Tree farms close by. The closest one is about 100 yards away from my front door. Our favorite place is about 500 yards away. So, we all jumped in the van and took the 60 second drive to Leach Farms and picked out our tree.

Usually we walk around forever until we get tired and then we make a decision. This year it was a pretty quick process and everyone agreed on the tree. So, we took it home and then got to work decorating. Tradition is that Dad puts on the lights and then everyone helps decorate the tree.

Christmas with the Family

2010-12-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of the main reasons I love Christmas is because I get to spend a lot of time with my family. I am a very lucky husband and father!

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

2010-12-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I was able to go with Tyler and the other Webelos to the Wildlife Refuge right here in Sherwood. I hate to admit that I have never been to the Refuge yet. We had a great time walking around and trying to spot different types of birds.

The Refuge is now home to nearly 200 species of birds, over 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a wide variety of insects, fish and plants.

One of the volunteers told us to look for a screech owl. We were lucky enough to spot that owl….he is pictured in one of the pictures below. Can you spot him?

Jeff is our fearless leader teaching us about tracks.

Just a little moss on these trees.

Just a cool looking tree.

This little guy was found all over the place. Tyler wanted to bring him home, but I told him he needed to stay on the refuge.

The screech owl is in picture number 5. He is sitting on a branch close to the middle of the picture and he is close to the trunk. The picture isn’t the clearest, but you can see him.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

The kids built a gingerbread house last week and had a great time doing it. They then asked if I ever built one when I was a kid. I started to think back and I couldn’t remember making one. That doesn’t mean we didn’t, because my memory isn’t the greatest. Maybe my siblings can help me out here. If I didn’t, I will have to talk to my parents and ask when they were depriving me of a great holiday tradition.

UPDATE:
My parents sent me messages to "refresh" my memory. Apparently we did do some when we were kids:

Message from Mom:

I want you to know that we did some gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. They didn't have the "kits" they have now. We decorated with choc chips, marshmellows, and some gum drops. I don't know how many we made nor when we stopped. But, hopefully, you got in on one of them. This was not a yearly tradition. They didn't hold up very well and it was hard getting it to stay together. But, we usually have fun finally just frosting the graham crackers and eating them!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much for the making of the house!!

Love you,
MOM

Message from Dad:

I don't know how old you were but we and your mother built some.

The year Jan and I were married we had a Christmas party with both families and we all made them from scratch and it was great for all. We had some candy corn and when Karson's roof was done he stood them upright along the top. We asked why and he said to keep the pigeons from landing.

I really like yours!!!

Playing with fire

2010-11-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

If my kids could have their way, we would have a fire in the fire pit every night.

Here I turned my back for one second and they all had a stick in the fire. I think it is just a natural thing that we as humans do….gotta have a stick in the fire.

After years in the scouting program, I watched the effect of fire on young people and they just can’t stay away from it. Some are more careful than others, but there is always one or two that you just have to watch like a hawk so they don’t hurt themselves.

We enjoy the fire pit. Now if it didn’t rain so much, we might be able to use it just a little bit more!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving? You get to spend the day making great food, watch a little football, hang out with family and then pig out like you haven’t eaten a meal in a week. I love it.

Our family has much to be thankful for. It is always great to spend a little extra time to realize the many blessing that you have. There are many things that we could list that we are thankful for, but today we wanted to say how thankful we are for our three little miracles….Tyler, Lauren and Ava.

This year Grannie had Tyler and Alice sleep over the day before Thanksgiving and they helped Grannie get everything ready. You can see how great the table looked. Linda always has a beautiful table set.

When I think of this years Thanksgiving, I think I will remember how helpful Alice and Tyler were. You can see here that they peeled all of the potatoes! I am loving that!

Alice and Tyler named the turkeys. I am not sure if I have the names right. Stephanie will have to correct me on the names.

George

“Bob”-jolina

Ava Jane was a good sport. She loves being held by her cousins!

This picture is for Maeser! I hope you are reading this! Rachelle took it.

Just a few people at the table. The family is growing!

What? Doesn’t your family play Twister right after Thanksgiving dinner?

We were then treated to a play that Alice and Tyler wrote. It was fun to see them work on it and make costumes:

You can check our Steph’s blog here to see her Thanksgiving post.

Thanks to everyone that made it a great day. Thanks to Bob and Rachelle for coming and hanging with us. We love you guys!

School is cancelled

2010-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

In Oregon, everything stops when there is a hint of a winter storm. The media outlets love it when there is the threat of a storm. They provide “award winning” continuous coverage. They do crazy things like name the storms. They haven’t named this one yet, but I am sure it will be the “Big Chill of 2010!” It pretty crazy.

The kids were hoping for lots of snow. They even wore their pajamas wrong side out because that is supposed to make it snow. It didn’t snow much.

We barely received about a 1/2 inch of snow over night and then the temperatures dropped. As a result, the roads were a bit icy, so Sherwood cancelled school for the day. Just makes for a longer Thanksgiving vacation for the kids. No complaints here.

I started to drive to work and when I was just outside of Sherwood, this Chevy Blazer in front of me started to spin out of control. It did nearly two 360 degree spins and then it ended up on the curb. Amazingly, the driver had one hand on the wheel and a cup of coffee in the other hand. She didn’t even drop the coffee cup. I then returned to Sherwood and took the bus to work today. I just don’t trust the other drivers out there.

Bishop’s Favorite Tie

2010-11-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

The children in our ward (congregation) put on an annual program this past Sunday. Each child has a part in the program. They sing songs and share messages about Jesus. It was a great event. Tyler and Lauren had quick parts in the program and their Grannie and Papa came to support them. It was fun to have so many visiting family members there to support these little ones.

Well, the music chorister made a deal with the kids that if they sang one of the songs just right, they would get the chance to cut off Bishop’s tie. Of course Bishop was loving the idea. He is so supportive of all these young kids.

Of course the kids sang the song perfectly, hence the picture below. Bishop says this is now his favorite tie! He wore it the rest of the day like that.

Happy Birthday Lauren

2010-11-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

Lauren just turned 6 years old! She was very excited to hit this mark. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she chose a trip to Chuck E. Cheeses. Not my favorite place, but the kids love it!

Lauren is really into drawing right now. She creates art project after art project. Our kitchen table is usually covered with scraps of paper, colored pencils, markers and other art related items. So, for her birthday, most of her gifts were related to art.

She is such a great daughter and we love her so much!

Lauren and Amelia having a good time.

Going Paperless

2010-11-17T12:30:00.000-08:00

As a IT Professional, I spend my time helping organizations implement technology to help drive the overall success of the company. I research many different technologies and try out lots of different products. Every once in a while, I will find something that works well for me as an individual. I am going to share one of those with you today.

We have a lot of paper at our house. We have bills, paystubs, insurance statements, certificates, letters, invoices, receipts, cards, health records, mortgage documents, warranty information, tax information and more. Because Meredith is super organized, we created a nice file system with hanging folders and printed tabs. Beautiful system, but we want to get some space back in our office. We have lots of room used up by these files. As I looked at all of the files, I realized that we really don’t need a paper copy of all these files. So, I decided I wanted to scan everything.

I then had to find a place to store all of these scanned files. I thought about storing them as files in folders on my computer, but that is risky. What if my hard drive fails? Then I wanted an easy way to search these files and gain access to them on a moments notice.

I then came across a website called Evernote. Evernote is a site that lets you capture and store anything. It is an electronic version of my brain. The great thing is that you can access Evernote from any computer and from almost any mobile device. Evernote also has an easy way to find things. The search is powerful.

Examples of how I use Evernote:

We were at Tyler’s first soccer practice earlier this year. The Team Mom hands out the medical forms and wants us to fill out some information on Tyler and our health insurance. It also asked about immunization records. Rather than waiting to go home and dig those records out, I pulled out my phone, opened Evernote and did a search for immunizations. Up came Tyler and Lauren’s records that I had scanned into Evernote previously.
Our mortgage company needed verification of my income. I logged onto to Evernote and sent them scanned copies of my paystubs. I didn’t have to go home and dig them out.
Storing of recipes. That way I can access them anytime I need, especially if I am at a store and wonder what ingredients I need.
I keep my journal on here as well. I have also scanned in my older journals as a backup. That way I have a safe, electronic version of all my journals. (I am not 100% complete with this project, but I am getting close)
Scan a copy of a bill from any company or service that I use. For example, I have a copy of my electric bill or gas bill. That way if I ever need to call them, I have a copy of a bill and my account number handy.
I use this a lot for Church. I store all the talks that I have given. I store quotes that I want to remember. I store all the documents I receive from leadership training. All accessible at anytime.
Scouting. We were attending an Eagle Court of Honor and one of the participants in the program didn’t know that he would be doing the Eagle Charge. He asked me if I had done one before and I told him to not worry. I have a copy on Evernote that I would give him. I printed it out and everything went smooth.

There are a lot of other examples, but these are just a few that came to mind.

Back to the paper. After we scan these documents, we determine if we need to keep a paper copy. If we don’t, we shred them. You will have to decide what you need to keep. Read this article on the IRS.gov website for information on keeping records. If you are a pack rat, then you need to call Meredith up and have her help you get organized. She is a pro at organizing.

Am I a salesman for Evernote? No, and there are probably many products just like Evernote that do the same thing. I just know that it works well for me. Meredith doesn’t really care either way, just as long as we can get to things when we need to. She knows how to get into Evernote if needed.

Since I started scanning and getting rid of paper, I created a pile about two feet high of paper that needed to be shredded. How about you? Are you keeping stuff you don’t need? Scan it, store it and get rid of it.

Ava Jane–3 Months Old

2010-11-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, she is 3 months old now. She is such a great baby and we love her so much! So far she is not a fan of restaurants. She just cries. So, I guess we will be eating at home until this phase is over.

She also just started to recognize when Mom is not around. She is even giving me, the best Dad in the world, a hard time when Mom leaves the room. She just cries. As soon as Mom is back, life is good. I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to hang out with dear old Dad?

Lauren’s First Trophy

2010-11-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

There is something to say about getting your first trophy. For many years Lauren has looked in Tyler’s room and seen his shelves full of trophies he has collected over the years of playing sports. Well, wait no longer, Lauren has received her first trophy after playing soccer this season.

Lauren did such a great job this year. We are glad that she was on such a great team. The girls had so much fun playing. Her coaches were awesome. I think Lauren will continue to play soccer and probably some other sports as well. She is pretty coordinated and must get that from her Mom. No really, Meredith is seriously coordinated. When we were first married, Meredith and I would play in a co-ed softball league. We would also play tennis all the time. Many times she would beat me. (Note to Meredith: we need to play tennis!!) She also has a golf swing to die for. Anyway…….

Congratulations Lauren on a great season!

Pictures from the season:

Halloween 2010

2010-11-04T17:30:00.001-07:00

This year we decided to have a family Halloween party. Linda put me in charge of the games. I pulled out some old classics and found a few others we haven’t tried before:

All in all it was a lot of fun. The kids loved the games. I will have to come up with some new ones next year.

I also made my first attempt at making homemade root beer. It was actually really good. I used dry ice and the kids loved the look of that.

Papa was a good sport as he let all the grandkids wrap him up like a mummy.

Lauren dressed up as Super Girl. Tyler was a Jedi. Ava was just Ava. Meredith was a hippy. I was Bob from the Biggest Loser.

Pictures from the games:

Lo Lo!

Spencer all wrapped up!

Kyra was loving the game!

Cate and Kaitie giving it their best!

Landon and the Elder making quick work of the donuts.

Ron eating his donut and pushing the Elder at the same time. He is multi-tasking!

Wes is playing the M&M game, but looks like his is playing an instrument instead.

Greg and Kyra playing the apple game. Kyra quickly learned that if she held her Dad’s neck, the apple wouldn’t fall.

Happy Halloween from Ava

2010-10-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ava is 10 weeks old now. She is such a great baby. She is healthy and happy. We couldn’t ask for more. We thoroughly love having her in our home. We know that we have been blessed to have Tyler, Lauren and Ava.

The picture below shows Ava sporting her new knitted pumpkin cap that Aunt Steph made for her.

We love it when our kids were old enough to try and communicate with us. Ava is funny as she tries to “talk” to us. Below is a video clip of Tyler talking to Ava.

Cousins!

2010-10-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Can’t they see that Tyler just wants to eat his chips? Cate and Emma are blanketing Tyler with love and affection. I think he would rather be watching the Blazers play. (I am thankful that he has such great cousins!)

Mashed Potatoes anyone?

2010-10-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

So when it comes to the kitchen, I know how to make about 5 things.

Ice Cream
Bread
Mashed Potatoes
Cinamon rolls
Cookies

Lucky for me that covers all 5 food groups…..at least in my book.

I was tagged with making mashed potatoes for our family dinner on Sunday. This time I had a lot of help!

Spencer was a busy man peeling potatoes for me. I think he peeled about 6 or more large potatoes. I was totally impressed.

Tyler helped out as well. I finally had to tell both of them to stop as I couldn’t fit any more potatoes in the pot.

Alice got in on the action and helped me cut the potatoes up.

Tyler and Spencer helped me finish the job. The result was perfect mashed potatoes. Pretty soon these young ones will be able to make all of this stuff on their own. It is fun to see them learn and enjoy the process.

Grannie made some amazing Boneless Beef Short Ribs that went perfectly with the mashed potatoes. We ate like Kings last night.

I might have to do a mashed potatoes throwdown with Dave, Doug and Maeser!!! They are the true masters. I think Doug can’t be touched when it comes to potatoes. I think Dave is the master at roast. Maeser is right on their tails in both departments. I just like to talk smack with them and get them all worked up. Who wants to be a judge?

Fall 2010

2010-10-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

The rain is coming soon so we are trying to enjoy our dry fall season while we can. The leaves are so much more enjoyable when it is dry outside. These are the trees at Greg and Sarah’s home.

Near Perfection

2010-10-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

I enjoy making bread. It all started a few years ago when my brother Maeser showed me how he made his delicious bread and rolls. He can make rolls that melt in your mouth. He is also a fantastic cook. If you haven’t had his special Navajo tacos then you haven’t had a perfect meal yet.

I have always enjoyed baking, but I never did bread because I thought it was too hard. I was wrong. My challenge now is to make healthier bread. Meredith is big on getting our family to eat better food. She watches everything we eat like a hawk. Our kitchen pantry and fridge has slowly transformed. For example, all of our pasta is now 100% whole wheat pasta. I could provide a thousand other examples, but I don’t have that much time. If you have questions on what she has done, you will have to ask her. She is an expert!

The challenge she has given me is to try and not bake with white flour. She would like me to use 100% whole wheat flour for every recipe, but sometimes when you do that it just doesn’t taste good.

So, we received a bread recipe from some friends that is half white flour and half whole wheat. It is great bread. Over the past year I have tweaked it just a little and man is it delicious. It still isn’t 100% whole wheat, but we are getting there. Let me know if you want to try it. I make an extra loaf each time I make bread.

I am interested in your 100% whole wheat recipes. If you have a favorite and you wouldn’t mind sharing, please let me know.

Also, my new loaf pans are amazing. These were a gift from my mother-in-law. They definitely bake my bread in a more consistent manner. I highly recommend them!

Happy 40th Greg

2010-10-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

It was Greg’s 40th birthday this week. He is a big Star Wars fan so the party was everything Star Wars. You will see the cake is themed after the final fight on Episode III. Sarah made it. And following family tradition, we had to add some homemade ice cream.

Happy Birthday Greg!

Kindergarten Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Lauren and her Kindergarten class went on a field trip to one of the local farms. Lauren was excited to go and pick out a pumpkin. She was ready for the occasion with her pink “farm” boots on.

Ava and I went with her class and had a great time. I wish Ava liked the baby bjorn a little more.

She’s a cutie!

Either those potatoes stink or someone has a tummy problem.

Ava is Two Months Old

2010-10-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today Ava went in for her two month checkup. Everything looks great. She is 11 pound 6 ounces and 22 inches long. She had to get three shots today, which she wasn’t too excited about.

She is a growing, happy baby. Here she is wearing an outfit from her Aunt Rachelle! Did we mention that we love being parents!

How to Tie a Tie (Half-Windsor Knot)

2010-10-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Tyler asked me to show him how to tie his tie. So, we stood in front of a mirror and started the lesson. It was a hard for him at first, but he has it figured out now. Later that night, I was putting him to bed and he gave me his standard good night hug and whispered, “Thanks for teaching me how to tie a tie today Dad!” What a great kid!

Tyler’s Soccer Game vs. Lake Oswego

2010-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tyler had a game on Saturday vs. Lake Oswego. His games are so fun to watch. The boys have really improved and the games are very competitive. Tyler is becoming quite the soccer player. Coach plays him up front the entire game. He has a lot of opportunities to score and has become quite valuable to his team. He did score a goal during this game. He kicked it hard at the goalie and the goalie tried to deflect it, but it went past him and into the goal. Whenever Tyler scores he has this cool little jump that he does. I will have to try and get a picture of that move.

The kid in blue looks a little worried!

During this play Tyler was trying to get to the ball first, but realized he wasn’t going to make it so he jumped to avoid getting nailed!

Lauren keeps herself busy during the games. As long as the sun is out, she is good to go.

Meredith was able to keep Ava sleeping the whole game. Ava was a trooper on Saturday.

This little structure was at the soccer park where Tyler played his game. I just thought the roof was a classic example of what the weather in the Northwest can create.

After the game we stopped at Papa’s Jamba Juice for some smoothies. Always a favorite of ours.

Spencer and Lauren were in heaven. Lolo gets the Orange Dream Machine and Spencer had the Raz Matazz.

Ava watching TV?

2010-10-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

This one has Alice and Tyler written all over it! We can’t turn our back for one second.

Fall is here!

2010-10-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

We have been having some great DRY weather this fall so far. All the trees are starting to change colors and it is quite the site to see. Here are some pictures we took around Sherwood on Saturday.

Lauren’s Soccer Game

2010-10-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Another great game for Lauren. I am sure that it had nothing to do with the incentive of $$ for goals. She scored three goals and let me know that I owed her $3. She played really well, especially on defense. She really chased down the other team and stopped them from scoring. It is fun to watch her play.

She also had the Dahle’s there watching, so she had to play a great game!

Jeana and Lauren after the game.

Kaitie and Lauren after the game!

Edy Ridge Ambassador

2010-10-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of the school year last year, Tyler mentioned that he wanted to be an Edy Ridge Ambassador. I didn’t even know what an Ambassador does, so I had to ask him some questions.

Apparently, the school has a leadership and service program where a handful of 5th graders provide service and leadership under the direction of the principal. Tyler wanted to be a part of this and we were excited that he had the desire. He had to receive recommendations from some teachers at the school and then he had to write and essay on why he wanted to be an Edy Ridge Ambassador.

It was fun to listen to his reasons why he wanted to be an Ambassador. He wanted to help and serve, and he also wanted the cool “vests” that come with the opportunity.

During the summer break, he received a letter letting him know that he was going to be an Ambassador. He was so excited. Then the day came where he received his vest and he was so happy. He looks very official.

So far he has had many opportunities to serve. His duties range from helping the Kindergarten kids get on the right bus, hold the door open during back school night, take care of the American Flag, startup all the computers in the morning, help at the Fun Run, and many other neat things. It is fun to see him and the other Ambassadors trying to help out. They are having so much fun.

Perfect Fall Day in Portland

2010-10-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Feeding Ava

2010-10-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to be a good husband and I offered to get up when Ava wakes up and feed her a bottle so that Meredith could sleep through the night. Yes, I am always looking for brownie points. Meredith was excited about the idea and quickly went to sleep.

Well, Ava woke up around 2:15 AM and I quickly got up and put a pacifier in her mouth to see if she would continue to sleep. That wasn’t working too well, so I decided to feed her a bottle. In an effort to not wake Ava up too much, I kept the lights off. So, I am doing this all in the dark.

Meredith had the bottle all prepared and so I grabbed it and tried to get Ava to take it. I tried a number of times, but Ava wanted nothing to do with it. I thought that was strange as she normally would take the bottle. After a while Ava was getting frustrated, so I just gave her the pacifier and she went to sleep. I promptly went back to bed. Then she woke up again at 5:45 AM and I could tell she was ready for her bottle. Again, she wouldn’t take the bottle. As it was closer to sunrise, there was a little more light in the room and I noticed that the bottle has a small cap on!!! Here I am trying to put this in Ava’s mouth!

Once I took the cap off, she drained that bottle and went right back to bed! My first mistake ever.

So much for trying to be super Dad!

Conversation with Lauren

2010-10-13T15:37:00.001-07:00

I was driving with Lauren to the Church to go pick up Tyler from scouts and this was our conversation:

Lauren: Dad, when I am 16 I will get a car. Probably a Mustang or a Mini Cooper.

Dad: Really? You better save up some money?

Lauren: You need money to get cars?

Dad: Yes, lots of money.

Lauren: I will go to the bank then.

Dad: You will just walk in and ask them for money?

Lauren: No, I will walk in and I will say PLEASE can I have money.

Dad: And you think they will just give it to you?

Lauren: Yep!

Dad: Will you have to pay them back?

Lauren: Nope!

Dad: Well, yes, you will have to pay them back.

Lauren: All of it?

Dad: All of it and then some more.

Lauren: Dad, Mom wants a cute convertible Volkswagen Bug.

Dad: Ok, now I see where this is coming from!

Cousins Rock!

2010-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

We wish we lived closer to the Butterfields!!

Lauren (5 1/2) and Ashlyn (6)

Zach (8) and Tyler (10)

Brayden (12) and Ava (8 weeks)

Ava Jane’s Blessing

2010-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we blessed our little Ava Jane at church. We are so grateful for this little girl. Children have not come easy to our home, but we have been blessed with three of the most wonderful children.

Ava is now 8 weeks old and she is such a great baby. We can definitely feel of her sweet spirit and it has blessed our home. It is hard to imagine our family without her.

It was great to have family and friends gather on Sunday to show their support. My Mom flew in from Arizona to spend some time with us. The kids just love MaSan.

Ava is just starting to smile. It is so cute. Isn’t it great how parents make such a big deal out of the smallest things? Ava is also trying to talk to us. She will make all sorts of cooing sounds. We love it!

Grandmother and Ron also came to show their support. Grandmother wanted some time holding Ava and Ava just loved it. She sat there and just looked at Grandmother. Ava hasn’t met Grandmother yet, but it was almost as if Ava knew who she was.

She just loves to smile now!

All good things must come to an end. MaSan is heading to Vancouver with Bob and Rachelle and then will fly back to Arizona on Monday evening. It was great having her here for a few days!.

Thanks to Aunt Rachie for all the wonderful pictures. More pictures can be found on Stephanie’s blog.

I just wanted to record who came so Ava would know that she is loved by so many:

Ron (Papa) and Linda (Grannie)
Wes, Stephanie, Cate, Emma, Alice and Spencer
Greg, Sarah, Kyra and Ziza
Sandra (MaSan)
Bob, Rachelle, Brayden, Zach and Ashlyn
Kaitie Dahle (we like to call her our oldest daughter)
Grandmother McAllister
Ron McAllister
Steve and Liz
Todd, Julie, Liam and Matthew
Jeremy, Amber, Carly, Griffin and Bridger
Greg and Amy

There were many others who called and sent messages showing their support. We have such a great family!

High School Football

2010-10-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sherwood High School has a great football program. They are undefeated this season and looks like they are going to end up that way. The game we went to was against our rival Wilsonville. We beat them badly!

So far Ava isn’t a big fan of football, but I am sure that will change soon enough! She made it through to half time and then Meredith took her home.

Tyler and Lauren had a great time playing with their friends. Once I had my bag of fresh kettle corn, I was good to go!

Two of the young men in our ward are on the team. Jordan Bowers and Tanner Balderree (out with injury for two games). They are great athletes, but above that, they are great young men! It’s great to see their leadership qualities on and off the field. I know Tyler really looks up to them. They will be great missionaries!

Playing in the mud

2010-10-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

The canal was being worked on (see previous post) and Grannie encouraged the kids to come over and play in the mud. The kids took turns sharing the oversized boots to play in the mud.

In some spots, the mud was a little sticky and the kids would get stuck:

The Sherwood Saturday Market

2010-10-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

We love going as a family to the Sherwood Saturday Market. We try to squeeze in a visit between soccer games and other Saturday events. Now we have to wait until May for it to return.

We always end up getting popcorn from our favorite place. We usually get the kettle corn. It doesn’t last too long and usually is gone before we get home.

Meredith likes to buy gifts from The Tea Towel Kitchen or the Hannah Jane Creations booth.

Plenty of fresh produce:

Edy Ridge Fun Run 2010

2010-09-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Each year the elementary schools in Sherwood hold a fun run to help raise money for the school. This was Lauren’s first year and she was so excited to participate. All she could talk about the night before was that she was getting a free t-shirt and a water bottle.

Lauren ended up running 7 laps (almost 2 miles) and Tyler ran 17 laps (over 4 miles). It was so much fun to see all of the kids giving it their all.

Ava at six weeks

2010-09-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is now six weeks old. How thankful we are to have her in our home!

Thanks to Aunt Rachie for taking the picture!

First Day of Kindergarten for Lauren

2010-09-24T10:47:00.001-07:00

Lauren was so excited to start school. She has been in preschool for a few years, but she knew it was big time when she finally got to go to Tyler’s school. Here she is on her first day. Luckily the Jaussi’s brought their camera so we could have these pictures. Lauren has a great class. Many of the kids are her friends. We are excited to see her enjoy this new adventure in her life.

After the first day I asked her how things went and all she could talk about was the “long” walk home. It’s not really that long, but it is uphill the whole way.

Watching my kids grow up is so rewarding, but at the same time I am a little sad to see how FAST they do grow up!

Draining Lake Oswego

2010-09-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

My in-laws live off of a canal that leads into Lake Oswego. The city is doing some maintenance and had to drain the lake by 24 feet. As a result, the canal is basically empty.

Tyler and Alice saw this as an opportunity to go exploring. Little did they know the mud was going to be that soft and that deep!

I told Tyler that people pay a lot of money for a mud bath.

Instead of gently stepping into the mud, Alice basically ran and jumped right in. Wish I had a video of that.

Kyra even tested the mud out, but was unhappy that I wouldn’t let her go in all the way. I thought that wouldn’t be a good idea with her dress and leggings on.

Ava’s First Day at Church

2010-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Ava’s first time attending church. The kids were very excited that Ava was coming. They wanted to sit by her.

Ava made it half way through the meetings and then she had a major blowout in her car seat. So much for that cute dress she had on. I believe the science behind a blowout needs to be studied. How can it miss the diaper, but get on everything else?

Charity Golf Event in Newberg

2010-09-10T14:49:00.001-07:00

I was invited to play in a charity golf event in Newberg, Oregon at the Chehalem Glenn Golf Course. The weather was perfect! I didn’t play as well as I would have liked, but I still had a lot of fun. We shot 4 under which isn’t that great for a 4 man scramble. We hit great off the tee, but our short irons were not as accurate as we needed them to be.

To our surprise, the group in front of us included Amy Roloff. I was pretty excited because Meredith (and Rachelle and Stephanie and a lot of other people I know) is a huge fan of the Roloff’s. She watches their show “Little People, Big World” religiously. My goal was to talk to Amy today and to get a picture with her. That opportunity came on the back nine when we were getting some refreshments at the drink cart. I told Amy that we were big fans and enjoyed the show. She was so nice and took some time to talk with us. She thanked us for watching the show. I then told her that my wife is a HUGE fan! She told us that this is their last season of doing the show. Too bad for Meredith! Anyway, Bob and I had huge smiles on our faces because we knew our wives were going to be disappointed that we got to meet her and they didn’t. (Oh, right after meeting her I sank a 30 foot put.)

At the end of the event they fed us lunch and then handed out some prizes. Most of the prizes were golf items. But mine was a little different. It was in this large box. I thought I hit the jackpot. However, it was a box full of toilet paper. 96 rolls! Exciting stuff!

The tournament was called the Mid-Valley Open – A Charity Scramble. The charity was for the Ron Edwards Memorial Scholarship Fund. This scholarship fund provides funds for support services to individuals with developmental or other severe disabilities. They are either ineligible for, or on a waitlist, for state funded services.

Ava at Three Weeks

2010-09-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

Ava is three weeks old now. We just love having her in our home.

Water Balloons

2010-09-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I came home from work and Tyler is excited to show me what they have been doing all afternoon. He and the other kids in the neighborhood were launching water balloons in the street. As you can see from the pictures below, they are not shy about launching these balloons. The balloons travelled a lot further than I thought they would.

It was fun to watch Lauren totally get into it!

Bike ride to end the summer

2010-09-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do something fun with the kids on their last day of summer vacation. We decided to go on a bike ride through Sherwood. We went about 6 miles. We stopped at Target to load up on some sugar and then we made our way back home. The kids did a great job and we already have more bike rides planned. It’s fun to have them at an age where they can keep up and do fun things like this.

Heading into Old Town Sherwood

Alice was bringing up the rear!