Week #13 - Dinner @ Twigs

This week we...

...celebrated my oldest sister's birthday. I won't tell you how many years she has under her belt, but she is the oldest of six so that will give you some indication. We went to dinner at her favorite restaurant, Twigs. It's located next to JC Penny's in the mall, access outside. If you have not gone, you need to. It's delicious! I had the Five Cheese Chicken Cannelloni...and I think it's time to eat the leftovers. Yum!


...worked on setting the poles and pouring the mow strip for the fence. Paul loves to work on the fence with Jason, and he's actually a good little helper. He runs and gets things, he helps put the water in the hole, and scoops cement along with the big guys. He doesn't complain and stays out the the whole time that Jason works. We've had some good help - Jason's dad and brother, Travis; neighbor Steven; and neighbor Steven. Lainey tried her hand at helping too but she mostly liked dancing around the posts.

Left :: Back :: Right

They let Paul scoop right along with them ::He loved it!

Emma even did a couple scoops here and there :: When Paul would let her.

Steven once again was our excellent finisher
(he helped us when we added cement in the front)

{Our friend Danika}

the girls played while their dads worked

...made our bi-annual conference tent, sort of. This year, we had to watch conference off the lap top in the office. We didn't have the right cords to stream it through the TV. So instead of a tent, we set up little stations facing the Prophet. This year I did the snacks differently. At each new talk, usually just those from the Quorum of the Twelve, they got a new snack to eat. They lasted longer and the kids paid attention a little better, wanting to notice the new speaker. They colored from their conference packs and other coloring pages during the session.

The Cheetos Puffs were a MESSY favorite

...got a pretty good look at Hanford. This was actually on our way back from Othello last Saturday. I was surprised that you could see Hanford so well. I remember it always being so mysterious when I was growing up. It seemed hard to define and explain somehow. I know it has grown out there and changed so much since then, but I was excited to get a photo of the illusive Hanford site.

focus on the buildings and steam out in the distance

Week #12: Desitin Chapstick

This week we...

...watched lots of trees go in at the park. Hooray! We weren't sure we would get any, but there are tons. We'll have plenty of shade as they grow bigger.



...made cake-in-a-cup. Yummy! I found the idea on pinterest (from The Hidden Pantry via my friend Kristy Southwick). You take an angel food cake mix and any other type of cake mix, and combine them in a large zip lock bag. Then you spoon 3 Tbl of the mix and 2 Tbl of water into a microwaveable mug and heat for one minute. Then, ta-da! A little bit of cake for one! We did this as a Family Home Evening treat.


...used desitin for chapstick. When we realized what Lainey was playing with, it was too late. She had already succeeded in creating this cute, white, clown mouth. It was so funny to note that, upon realization of the potential mess hazard, Jason and I both ran for...the camera! This was one we definitely didn't want to miss.

Mom and Dad: "Lainey! What are you doing?"

Lainey: "I dunknow."

Mom and Dad: "Oh duh, just putting on chapstick."

Lainey: "I need just a little bit more."

Lainey: "Oh no! They found me!"

...played at the park. No biggie that it snowed overnight and we woke up to a little white covering over lawn and roadway this morning. The sun was out not long after the day got started and warmed everything up. We went over to the park in the afternoon and loved being out without coats.

This is a favorite of mine
I love to see these two sisters with their arms around each other and laughing
It made me flash forward 10-15 years and see them as friends, still laughing

...met Underwear Heroes Ben and Claire. Yes, their underoos were clean.




...played a game that Ben made up. Paul dubbed it "Stack it to Back it" and of course Benjamin liked it. He had Emma and Grandma Z trapped in a game where only he knew the rules...and there definitely were rules. He made sure they did things his way.

handing out the cards

making sure Emma plays the right card

watching the game in progress with his hands leisurely stuck in his pockets
(what's funny is that his pants are on backwards)

...participated in the Pam-a-thon. My wonderful friend Molly coordinated a 5k, 10k, 1/2 Marathon in honor of her mom, Pam, who died last August due to cancer. Doing a half marathon was something Molly's mom always wanted to do. They were preparing for one the Spring before she passed away, but never actually got to do it. Pam was so amazing, and I only knew her for a short time. She inspired me in so many ways. Everything I learned about her I wanted to write down and incorporate in raising my kids and living life.

I was so excited to go to Othello to be part of this event to remember Pam and to support Molly and her family. They had so many people come out for the event; it was awesome to see all the orange shirts (we got there late and so didn't have ours for the race). They served birthday cake afterwards for all of the participants since Pam's birthday is March 27th. She always said, "If people forget your birthday, it's your own fault."



We also got to see our good friends, the Berrys. We walked the route together. They brought their spiffy wagon and Shela and I took turns pulling Sommer and Lainey. The other kids walked the whole way without a lot of complaint. We saw so many wonderful friends, both of our old houses, and Emma's old school. (wipe a tear)

Kurt and Shela had us over for lunch, which was so thoughtful and nice with traveling. Then we got to talk and the kids got to play. We miss them so much!

Lainey, Paul, Emma, Kiersten, Sommer, Claire
The chips were bribery tools - it worked for all but Ben

...surprised Emma's friend, Sydney Anderson, with a visit. Sydney was one of Emma's good friends in Othello. While we were in town for the Pam-a-thon, we stopped by to say hello.



...had a visit from a former babysitter. One of our wonderful Othello babysitters, Amy Clay, came by to see us here in Pasco. She is now a sophomore in College at BYU-I. The kids didn't really remember her that well (she watched Ben and Claire when they were between one and two years old), but I enjoyed getting caught up with the wonderful things happening for her now. She was one of my little angels that helped me with the kids when Jason was in the academy.

Amy was as beautiful as ever, but the kids were not all that cooperative for the picture, as you can see. Lainey was enthralled with Amy's phone, Claire with her wallet, and the boys with some bouncy balls from her bag. Look at that! The mark of great babysitter; always have tricks in the bag.

...started work on our fence. Whoo-hoo! We got the supplies on Thursday.

We can build high, we can build it low!

We started cutting out the grass along the edges for the mow strip and setting the corner poles on Friday. We're trading help with our neighbor (in the red-he lives in the blue house-kitty corner behind us).

Week #11: Together Forever

This week...

...some friends from our days in Ellensburg suffered a great loss, in the death of their beautiful 7 year old daughter. We were so shocked by what happened and wanted to draw our family so close. We've offered so many prayers for this family during this unexpected difficult time. We had a family home evening lesson about eternal families, as a reminder and reassurance, of the great blessing that we enjoy as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I brought out a jar of pears that we canned last summer to help me in my discussion. (Claire is my willing model.)

We use the term sealed to represent the bond that forms between a man and woman, and their children, when they are married in the Temple by the proper priesthood authority. So I used the jar with a sealed lid to demonstrate that concept. Emma caught on right away, putting it together in her mind. We are stuck together and nothing will break that bond, not even death, if we live according to the commandments and Heavenly Father's plan.

...Lainey wanted a haircut. I gave Jason a haircut and after I was done Lainey said, "My turn!" She ran over and jumped on the chair all ready to go. Of course, she didn't do too well sitting still for it, but at least she was willing. Then she made all these silly faces that were quite funny.

...Emma learned the cat's cradle game. I remember doing this when I was younger. So when the book showed up in the scholastic book order last month, I got it as a surprise for Emma. The book came with two strings, , and they glow in the dark. Emma took the string to school and played with her teacher and taught her friends. She even got to go in front of the class with a friend to demonstrate and then the teacher gave all the students string and let them try it. Emma loves this game. She would play it all the time forever if she could. She asks me to play at bedtime, when I'm making dinner, in the morning before she goes to school, when she gets home from school...ALL THE TIME. Grandma Z boasted about her mad skills and wanted to show what she knew. Emma was excited to find a willing partner. (Grandma's wearing some makeshift green because she forgot all together on St. Patrick's Day...we all did.)

The cat's eye formation
(Grandma came on St. Patrick's Day and didn't have any green,
so Emma gave her some.)

...Emma found the craft book section at the library. She brought one home with paper folding ideas. She made a really cool woven star. Then she brought home one with painting ideas. She came across an idea to paint a vase for flowers and wanted to try that. Emma loves to collect flowers from Grandpa E's garden so we actually had a vase for her to paint. Now she'll have a cool vase already for this year.


...Lainey was impatient at dinner time. What a better way to dish up your own plate than to crawl right up on the table.


...we had our Relief Society birthday dinner. It turned out really well. I was taking pictures of each table and they thought I needed to be included. How nice!

The cute table decs that Ashley put together for the dinner.

me, Shannon Greenhalgh, Lucy Lowe, Melanie Cook,
Ashley Wright, Amy Storrs, Paulette Stinson