Week #17:The Black Bag Adventure

This week...

...we celebrated Easter! We had a great Family Home Evening last Monday where we showed a video and talked about the Resurrection. The kids really paid attention and I felt like we were in that zone of learning and internalizing, however short duration that zone may have been. Following are our attempts at an Easter picture before church...

We went to Mattawa for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. It was fun to be with my family and for my kids to play with their Mattawa cousins. We enjoyed lunch...even though we were two hours late. *See Black Bag Adventure.

*Black Bag Adventure: We had two cars at church because I stay late for our youth leader huddle. I accidentally put my phone with all of my stuff in the van with Jason. Thus I did not get his text asking me to check the chapel for his black bag. He forgot it. Once we both got home and realized that neither of us had it, we knew we were going to have to go back despite our pending departure for Mattawa for Easter dinner.

In an effort to save time, Jason called the church and talked with one of the counselors in the Bishopric. He asked if anyone had turned in a black bag and if this man would be willing to check the chapel. He reported that they had seen a black bag in the clerk's office and they would send it with the Bishop because he lives close to us. We got to the Bishop's, and he didn't have it. He didn't really know what we were talking about. We went to the next counselor's house, he's close too, and caught him as they were headed out to Moses Lake for Easter dinner. It turned out that the black bag that was in the clerk's office was his. So on the way back to the church, I called the other counselor that Jason talked too initially just to get some clarification. He had not checked the chapel and acted like he didn't know what we were talking about. Enter sick feeling. We needed to find that black bag because it not only had the tablet and jambox speaker but also Jason's wallet. Ugh!


At the church, the black bag was not under the pew at the back of the chapel where Jason had forgotten it. We searched everywhere for that bag. We checked with the Spanish Branch President and the Fourth Ward clerk's office to see if anyone had turned it in. After searching for a little while with Jason, I couldn't take the sick feeling anymore and I went and sat in the car. We knew that someone had taken it, but since it hadn't been turned in we couldn't fathom why. I sat in the car as the kids played on the lawn and prayed. There was nothing else to do because our frantic efforts of searching were turning up nothing. Twenty minutes or so later, Jason walked out with his black bag. I was so relieved. I was relieved that we had it and that I didn't have to embrace the possibility that we would never see it again.  

It turns out the sister missionaries that serve in the Spanish branch noticed the bag. They searched the bag for identification and then proceeded to drive to our house to return the bag. They rang the doorbell and left a message on our house phone with their handy cell phones that they carry now. But we were gone, obviously. They then returned to the church to turn it in there. I think they were a little nervous as they carried the bag down the hall to Jason. They had tried to do a good deed, even though it caused us much frustration and anxiety. Jason reassured them and thanked them for keeping it safe. What an ordeal! 

We made it to Mattawa where we ate a late dinner. It was fun watching the kids during the Easter egg hunt. They searched all over the garden and yard. Here's Paul and Emma on the ride out there. The Black Bag Adventure made us all tired.

Before

After 

Rylan and Lainey were making dinosaur sounds to go with their dinosaur eggs. It was so cute!

Benjamin and Keaton showing off their loaded Easter buckets. These two love playing together.

...we went to our first ever Blue and Gold Banquet. Paul is loving cub scouts! He has some great leaders, Brother and Sister Cress. Paul turned 8 in January and was able to earn his bobcat and wolf. He's been working hard. Paul loves that cub scouts is something just for him and that he can do "boy projects". They had these really cute campfire center pieces. They just made me smile the whole night.

Paul lost his tooth during dinner. He tried to bite into the Costco hot dog and left that poor tooth hanging barely attached. He was still not sure that he wanted Jason to get it out. Go figure! It was so ready. Luckily, it came out as he took a bite and he was able to get a hold of it. Two awards and a lost tooth! Yeesh! He was in heaven!

...we went to a backyard movie night. We were invited by some friends to watch Monsters University outside in the cool night air on the big screen. They have a projector and they set up a makeshift screen with a sheet.

...more soccer fun.

Lainey hard at work play on the toys.

Week #16:No Training Wheels

This week...

...we went to the Temple. It was a gorgeous day and a wonderful session inside. Then we went out to lunch. I remember my mom and dad going to the temple when I was younger. It was a pretty big deal because they traveled all the way to Seattle and were gone most of the day. My older sister was in charge and we were given instructions for dinner and how to get by without them. :) What a blessing that we no longer have to make that long drive. We have a temple right here in the Tri-Cities.

...Jason made himself a work bench for his tools out in the garage. I have to say it turned out really well. Lainey was playing on the frame before he put the shelves on it. Silly girl.

...Lainey learned to ride a bike without training wheels. I went to a stake young women meeting and Jason helped her while I was gone. He texted me a little video of her riding along as if she'd been doing it for ages.

...I found a lilac hedgerow. It was beautiful. I totally stopped in the middle of the road to get a better look. Then I pulled off so I could get a picture. It smelled so good when I hopped out of the van, camera in hand.

...we went to our traditional Easter breakfast. This year they had over 1,000 plastic eggs ready for the kids to find. I would say this year's egg hunt went off without a hitch. I caught Lainey being silly on stage before the breakfast started.

They always scatter so fast and collect so quickly that I don't have much time to get any good pictures.

Week #15: General Conference Recharge

This week...

...we had a great time watching General Conference. I'm glad that my kids get just as excited as I do for this time twice a year. We now have the BYU channel! It is so nice to access conference through our TV and not have to worry about jimmying a computer somehow. Here's a few shots of everyone from their conference spots. We have scaled way back on treats because it seemed like too much and they weren't really helping the kids be quiet. We now have a bingo bowl that they can choose out of when they get a bingo and blackout.

A little bit of Studio C in between made for excellent viewing.

...Jason grilled me some salmon. For those of you that know him, you know that this is a singular occasion. Jason. hates. fish. We have a couple really good fish stories involving him on the verge of gagging and taking extreme measures to get out of eating said fish. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Traeger. My husband actually bought some salmon and grilled it for me. It was delicious! And I got to eat it all by myself. I'll give him and the kids credit, they at least tried it.

...we had a picnic in the park. Today was definitely a yes day, as Lainey came up with the idea of a picnic and I said that we could do it. She was so excited and could barely contain herself as we gathered our supplies. We absolutely had to have a basket - we had to dig some out. Fortunately we had a piece of picnic appropriate fabric to spread on the grass. And most importantly, we had some delicious snacks and foods to pack in our basket. The other kids were sad when they found out we picnicked at the park without them.

...Ben found a cozy spot to listen to me read out loud before bed. We finished the Fable Haven series and are now starting on the Sisters Grimm series.

...we had a most successful Family Home Evening. We used the church website to play music videos of the songs the kids are learning in primary for our opening and closing songs. Claire conducted the meeting and we watched the Mormon Message on bullying (it's so good). Then I had another window open on the computer for the kids to play the games and puzzles from the friend after we said the prayer. They loved it. Emma had an idea for strawberries with carrots and ranch for the treat. She helped me prepare it and talked animatedly with me. I've never seen my kids eat an FHE treat so fast. The night was such a big hit. I could feel that the spirit was blessing us long after we closed our meeting with prayer.

...Lainey is a ham at Costco. This is fast becoming our favorite store to frequent, and I'm not just thinking about samples. What other store can so easily send you out the door with so many things you realize you can't live without?

...Uncle Kent was making the girls laugh their heads off. Allie and Lainey were trying to get Uncle Kent's shoes off and he was really making them laugh. It was funny to watch.

...we cleaned out the garage and moved some things around. And by cleaning, I mean cleaning. We gave away these two precious pieces. They've been with us since our Ellensburg college days and Jason crafted them both. This is the cradle Jason started for our third baby which turned out to be twins. We had a good laugh over needing two, but there wasn't time in the semester to start one. The "green' table, as we've dubbed it, was an unlikely project for his wood art class, but something highly functional for our small apartment, and even later in our rental houses. We know that it's time for them to move on. The cradle went to some friends of ours in our ward who just had a baby.