LEGOLAND!

We spent two days at Legoland. The kids were in heaven. Their two favorite things...legos and cousins!

The kids were able to attend Obama's inaguration into the white house. With the rest of the lego spectators.

Our family vacation...Full of fun with many moments of chaos and a touch of insanity, but most important- wonderful togetherness memories.

Cousins and the 4th of July

We loved being with the Teares to celebrate the 4th of July. All the kids were in the Tehachapi parade. We even convinced Nicole to ride in a stroller dressed as the statue of liberty and play the keyboard. She played the Star spangled banner, the entertainer (which I thought sounded like the popcycle truck coming down the street), the StarWars thoneroom song and some others that she has for memory. It was awesome and hillarious at the same time. The other kids were on scooters and roller blades. Ylfe and Shawn also had their guinea pigs in the wheel barrow. Sweet! What a memory.

From the Redwood forest...to the San Diego waters

My favorite site to see on our way down to California was the Redwood forest.

I loved it. It was so beautiful.

We visited the San Diego temple for the first time. Breathtaking! And had a blast at the beach with the Teares.

Oregon Caves and the Wildlife Safari

We recently returned from our family vacation to Legoland California. Let me start by saying that a roadtrip with 5 kids borders insanity at some points and at other times you look around and you can't help feeling totally overwhelmed with joy. There were many moments of chaos packed in a van with snacks, pillows, crumbs, diapers, carbage (car garbage), tv-dvd cords, and everything else. We stopped at a few sights along the way. The line from National Lampoons WalleyWorld vacation popped into my head a few times...

"Or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face
of the earth that happens to be only 4 short miles away."

All in all we saw some amazing things and created some amazing memories.

Our first stop was touring the Oregon caves. Dave and the three older kids went on the full 90 minute tour of the caves. Squeezing though tight crawl spaces and up and down steep stair cases. Even though it was 90 degrees outside, as soon as you got to the cave opening it was like an air conditioner blasting you. It felt so good. The temperature in the caves was about 40 degrees. Lauren, Kurt and I got to go into the first "room" of the cave and then we went back to the lodge and Lauren worked in this work book and certified to be a Jr. Ranger. When she finished her work book this little old lady tour guide said "I'd like to announce that Lauren has become our newest Jr. Ranger!" Then every one in the little gift shop clapped. It was hilarious. Then Lauren had to repeat a ranger pledge. Something like..."I promise to preserve and protect nature. And to obey the rules of the park and have a good time." It was great.

We also stopped at the Oregon Wildlife Safari. You drive through this park and there are giraffes, buffalo, zebra, ostriches, rhinos, elk and many other animals along the way roaming free. It was amazing. We got our van washed by two elephants that sprayed our car and then the cutest part was when they pick up sponges with their trunks and washed the window. It was adorable!

One Awesome Dad!

I can't imagine a better Dad for our kids than Dave. He is awesome. In everything he does he is always teaching them. Whether it's life lessons or interesting facts here and there he has a way of telling them something and getting them excited to do it and to learn more. He is such a great man. I am so grateful to him for taking time to play with them, teach them and love them.

Goodbye...dang it.

I've finally accepted the fact that my sister Jandi doesn't live within walking distance anymore. I have been in denial for a month now. Finally after walking by her empty apartment a few times and banging fiercely on the door with no answer I think it's for real. I'm so happy that Jandi and Kenny and baby Myles lived here in Molalla the last 2 years...but this really bites to have them gone. Miss you guys! Move back soon!!!

A new school...

I'm so thrilled that my kids will be going to the new charter school that is opening this fall in Molalla. Here are some pictures of them in their school uniforms...

I'm excited about it for so many reasons. Originally I looked into it to find an alternative to that crazy middle school which Nicole would have been attending next year. It was just really great timing for us. I'm impressed with the board that has organized the school and we are excited for this new adventure. For those that know Molalla the charter school will be located at the Dickey Prairie school (which is closing this year due to budget cuts). It'll be a little drive for us every day, but it will be worth it.

Molalla River Academy here we come!

A Barn in Spokane

This post is inspired by my good friend Quincy who understands the magic of a barn. Ever since we went to our family reunion in Spokane last summer I just love looking at barns. Old barns, new barns, red barns, white barns, barns that look as if it could cave any second, ugly barns, well-kept barns. It doesn't matter, barns are just amusing me lately. I'm not sure why. Love barns. Maybe someday we'll have a barn and I can learn how to take care of baby chicks and sheep. It sounds like a lot of hard work and a lot of fun at the same time.

Nicole has a blog...check it out!

Nicole wanted to design and update her very own blog.

Here's the link...

http://www.nicolelinda11.blogspot.com/

How to draw an Alien

Today I am going to show you how to draw an alien in six simple steps. The first step is to draw a curved line for the head and thorns on the back. Then you make a big mouth. Then make another curved line under the mouth and a reptillish eye. If you are a girl do the face shown on the bottom of step one and don't do details or muscles. Step two is the body. Make two lines. Then make a collar of a shirt. Then you make the start of the arm then make two more lines under the start of the arms. Step three is the arms. First you draw metal armpads. Above the arm you put the three fingers. Step four is the belt and the thighs. Step five is under the thighs you put cloth and three toes on the foot, two in front and one in back. The last step is the details like shading on the arms, the legs and the top of the head. The details are also the ribs. And that is how you draw an alien. By Nathan Pederson

Nathan did his "How to.." 3rd grade speech on Friday. I was so proud of him coming up with his own idea and making the poster and practicing again and again. When I asked him how he felt right before he did his speech he said he felt really nervous and was going through his speech in his head over and over. Then I asked him how he felt after his speech and he said "I felt like the most popular kid in school. Everyone was clapping and one girl asked for my autograph and bought one of my pictures for $1. (which by the way I am not totally sure if they are allowed to actually sell things at school, but he was really excited). Nate you are awesome! My favorite part is drawing the reptillish eye.

Family Trip to the Temple

Over spring break the kids and I met Dave at work to go out to lunch and walk around the temple grounds. He works just a couple minutes from the Portland temple and the Olive Garden. We had a great time.

LegoMania!

Nathan turned 9 on April 17th and Derek turned 7 April 18th. It was a CRAZY weekend, but so much fun! They are both lego-crazy right now so we did the same theme for both birthdays. These two sweet boys of mine are very different from each other in many ways, but one thing in common is their love for legos. They are best friends and have the best time together. Happy Birthday Boys!!!