Sleeping in the snow!

February always marks the month when the boys sleep in snow caves for the Boy Scout Klondike Derby. They look forward to it so much! It begins on Presidents day, spending the day at Anthony Lakes digging the snow caves and making camp. Then they go back that following Friday and stay over night! They cook dinner in the snow, try to avoid their clothing and food from freezing in the horrible cold weather. Spencer ended up getting horribly sick on the Thursday of the week and ended up not getting to go camping. But he had so much fun digging the caves. They built their camp so that all of the cave were built kind of in a bowl. Their 7 caves opened to the middle where they all spent their evening eating and visiting. This ended up working rreally well due to the face that the wind was super strong and being inside of the bowl, they were protected from the wind. Wyatt had a great time on the Saturday day activity. The boys got to cross country ski. Wyatt had a great time skiing. I think he is now hooked on cross country skiing, but then again, Wyatt loves anything outside!
As mom, I am always so relieved when they get home safe! But it is always a bonus when they had a great time as well. Not many people can have a WONDERFUL time in 10 degree weather:)

Surfin in the USA

Grace's dance team danced at the EOU game this month! They are all so cute! Her class is full of little 5 to 7 year olds. Her dance teacher is seriously my hero! That is a lot of work to keep them working hard and doing such a great job! They danced to the Beach Boys - Surfin in the USA, which is so funny, cuz they had never heard the song and don't LOVE this dance, but the audience so loves it! The outfits were not foofy enough for Miss Grace! But I think they were super cute and fit the dance so well!!! She has so many fun friends in this group of girls, makes it really fun for her to be involved in dance.

Valentines Day!

What a busy weekend we had for Valentines Day! Because it was on a Sunday, we spent our weekend celebrating! On Saturday we took a day trip to Boise!!! Shopping at the mall of course:) Then we got to eat lunch at our favorite restaurant, Tucanos! We had the most wonderful lunch of meat and salad bar, with chocolate covered strawberries and roses! It was such a fun lunch! At the end of the day we went to the theater and watched the new movie Percy Jackson.... It was a lot of fun spending the day together!


Valentines day was so incredible! We really had such a fun weekend! We woke up to a visit from cupid... for some reason he always visits in the night and leaves red, white and pink streamers in the our bedroom doorways! We LOVE waking up to them:) After our day at church, we hhad a formal dinner of salad, prime rib, lobster, veggies, and desert! I thought I would be so fun and serve everyone individually... My memories always work better in my mind then in reality! Everyone had me running, trying to keep up with them each as they ate. Finally at one point I turned to bring something to the table and the entire place setting where Dallin was sitting was on fire!!! Lol! It was the funniest thing, (after we got the fire out!). No one at the table had even noticed this HUGE fire in the middle of the table! Dallin had thrown his napkin up on the table, landing it into his individual candle at his spot, thus catching the napkin and candle holder on fire. Those napkins are EXTREMELY flamable! So, my lesson learned, candles + a 4 year old = chaos! It definately added some flare to dinner!!! what a weekend of love with our kiddos! So much fun!!

Dancing at EOU

Wow! I was going to get better at this blogging thing, and have really not done so hot! I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I blogged.
This weekend was wonderful! Andy and I were able to go for a bike ride with some friends on Saturday morning. I was so needing to get on my bike and remember how fun it is, spin class hasn't done that for me:) The weather wasn't wonderful, but the roads were dry, and that's all we needed! So the guys took on the head wind and I drafted as much as possible and got close to 40 miles in. It was further than I had planned, but was happy to know I could still do it... now to get strong enough to do it well:) We were so glad we got out when we did, because that night it started snowing! Of course, it hasn't stayed, but the ground is wet again! Back to running for a while! We are signed up to do a run in March, so I suppose that is appropriate anyways!

Kyndall danced Saturday night with her team and they did so well. This is a dance that they will be performing in Pendleton in a competition. They are dancing to the song "Fame" from the new movie, it moves a little faster than they have danced before, and they are doing a great job with it! I love watching them dance and love the team she is on. So many wonderful girls from wonderful families. I love when my kids are surrounded by people who are so positive and supportive! So here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night! (I really dislike shooting in the gym and the background is horrible, but the pics were fun!)






This picture made me laugh. No, she is not looking at some mans crotch, but of course he had to be in the background at that very moment... I seem to have many of those moments in photography!

I guess it's back to homework for me now! Maybe I would be a better blogger if I just posted my assignments:)

IN MEMORY OF HELEN LUCILLE PERRY

In an attempt to better record our year as a family, I am determined to post more often on this blog! Fortunately for me, I don’t think there is more than one reader, so it takes the fear out a little bit!!

The year 2010 has started out in a rush as usual. It seems life never slows down around here. In 3 weeks andy has built a new entertainment center and has started the finish work in our bonus room and finished the laundry room. Michelle has started a new term of school including 15 credits this term, and as a family we have taken an impromptu trip to Portland for shopping, eating, swimming and time with Aunt Shelly and Uncle Wayne. I love my time with my Beautiful big sister... it's just never enough!!




Andy’s dear Grandmother, Helen Lucille Bywater Perry, passed away on Sunday January 10, 2010. She was so dearly loved and adored. We have missed her so already, but have loved the time it has given us to spend with family and to reflect on her life and love. Helen was an incredible woman who truly was a caregiver. She loved her family more than anything, and loved spending time with all of the many members. She knew each member individually and for a very long time, could remember the names of each of the 37 Grandchildren, their spouses names, and even most of the great grandchildrens names. There were a total of 76 of them. Helen was a quiet presence in a room, but always so gracious and thoughtful of others. She had a talent of making others feel welcome and loved in her presence and truly enjoyed meeting new people. I always admired Helens ability to move to small town Eastern Oregon from her big city Salt Lake City upbringing. She made it look so easy, and I never once heard her complain about it or say she had wished they hadn’t made the move. In fact, as Andy and I have reflected on her life, I don’t ever remember a time when Helen was in a bad mood or grumpy about anything. I have fond memories of her in her later years. Helen was in the nursing home after she broke her hip at the same time that my Grandma Lester was there, where she passed away. I remember going to see Grandma Lester and feeling down about how quickly she was going, when I would then go see Helen and she just brought so much comfort to me. She LOVED her lemon meringue pie. She once told me that when she was a young girl and would get sick, her mother would make her lemon pie. She said it was always such a treat to her as she got older. I will always remember how Elmer had made good friends with the chef at the retirement home and he was always happy to make the food that would make Helen happy. He loved making her lemon meringue pie!
I feel so blessed that my children are all old enough to have met her. I feel especially blessed that my oldest 3 children are old enough to have memories of her. That they were old enough at her service to hear the words of love and admiration that her children shared of her so that they can hold the heritage of this dear woman in their hearts as they get older. I am ever grateful to have been blessed enough to be able to call her family. My life has been deeply enriched by the example and love of a dear, tiny woman who loved her family and most of all her Savior.
In trying to capture moments on Saturday, I unfortunately did not get a lot of pictures of my own family. But I am excited about the moments that I did catch.
Keep in mind that a photographer I am not, but I love catching moments!!

Andy was blessed with the ability to be a pallbearer as one the oldest son of his family. He was excited to be one of 2 that still had all of his hair… made me giggle!

We wanted the children to have a moment that would help them remember this special day. In the story of Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man is given his heart from the wizard. The wizard tells him that the measure of ones heart is not how much love one gives, but how much they are loved. I wanted my children to SEE how much this woman was loved. Out of 37 grand children, only 5 could not make it. So we 'sent' our love to Grandma by letting go of 70 balloons at the gravesite. It was an incredible sight. It was hard to photograph because of the white balloons in the grey ski, but the balloons went up fast, then just sat up high in the sky looking down at us. It was as if the angels in the heavens grabbed them and held on to them for a while. It was beautiful!






I love the picture where everyone is looking up to the sky. One of the little ones kept saying "We sent balloons to Grandma!"




This is not the final edit of the group picture, I still need to add Brent into it, but wanted to share the impact this woman had one peoples lives. This is the family picture at the dinner. Such a legacy for one little woman:)

ZEITGEIST HALF MARATHON!!

This weekend Andy and I got to get away for his 40th Birthday that is coming up on Tuesday! Part of the "getaway" was to participate in our first Half Marathon together! Wow! It was so much fun!!!
Those who know me know all too well how much anxiety I get over things that are unknown to me. So Friday was spent pretty much in knots. I was trying to decide what to expect, what I would need to wear, if I was prepared enough for this event. We had heard that the course was very hilly, and we hadn't ran too many hills here in La Grande, so I was concerned!
We did get to enjoy a nice quiet drive over to Boise together and that was so wonderful! It's nice to get to talk and not have to be interupted or not be able to hear each other! Then a wonderful pasta dinner at Olive Garden:) We had been looking forward to that part!
Saturday morning we woke to a BEAUTIFUL day!! The sun was shining and the colors of the trees were so incredible there! We got ready and went and ate and got to the event. Wow, the butterflies were amazing in my stomach. I have to learn how to get over that part. It isn't too helpful:) We found our friend who was running also and got ourselves ready and lined up. There were 1000 runners and the energy there was incredibly inspiring.


The music and the announcer was pumping everyone up and then he started the countdown... As I looked around I felt very unprepared. These other people were real runners... They knew what they were doing and I felt like such a fish out of water! Then we started off!! And guess what? I ran! I knew how to do it... One foot in front of the other, over and over and over again:) I kept on moving and a lot of people passed me, and we passed a lot of people, but we did it!!
Andy was so amazing! He stayed with me the whole time, even though it was an easy run for him at my pace, he kept me motivated and it was so fun to run together! The scenery was seriously the most inspiring thing! It was such a beautiful course! We ran the first 3 miles UPHILL... so yes, the course was hilly, but, it kept things interesting and my body got a chance to not get too bored doing the same thing over and over. It was such a relief when we finally got to the downhill after 3 miles of uphill. And then the flat seemed like a complete relief after the downhill:) Mile 6.5 to mile 8 were an intense uphill. I ran VERY slowly during part of it... in fact I think that a lady may have passed me walking her power walk, but, I RAN... In fact I was very happy with the fact that I was able to RUN the entire 13.1 miles! That was my goal. To not have to stop and walk, but run the entire time, and I did it!!! My speed was a slow speed overall, but considering the hills we climbed, I was actually surprised it was what it was!


The most inspiring part to me for the entire day was the amount of determination in one small space of the world. You figure there were 1000 people doing something that was out of their comfort zone. Even for those there who were marathoners who were there for a training run, 13.1 miles is no simple feat. I love these events, to see all of the different people in different places of life, completing a goal they set for themselves. There were people of all ages, and all sizes:) It was incredible how you end up with a group of people that you are all about the same speed and this is who you kind of "work" with to get to the end... I love organized events! I think everyone should experience an organized 'race' at some point in life. It's encouraging and uplifting!!!
So we finished:) And then got to EAT with some good friends!!!! We are all about consuming the calories after an event!!




I have to say, this was one of the best days of my life! It was so amazing to get to accomplish something that I set out to do. Something that for me, was not easy, but it was so worth all the training time and the pain from pushing "just a little harder". But most of all, it was so fun to accomplish this with Andy! He is a amazing to me! Always so patient and encouraging! He was so kind to remind me to eat my GOO!!! (ugh) and to stay hydrated and helped me to stay positive and not have any of my usual negative self talk!!! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who supports me and encourages me to try harder! I love him so much and love that we were able to spend this day together!!! Thanks Andy, for being so incredible:)

BRAINS

So my favorite moment today is this... As I am curling my hair Grace is looking in the mirror and holds her hands around her head and says, "Mom, is this how big my brains are?" I look and say, "Yep, You have a lot of brains don't you?!" She smiles and turns to look at me and says..."Wow! What does it mean that your head is so big?" I smiled and say "Because I am older so I have more brains..." :) She just looks back at herself and says... "YOU MUST KNOW A LOT OF THINGS!!"
Do you think this logic will work when she is 16??? Hope so:) I so love this girl!!