Memorial Weekend

Well, a fun Memorial weekend finally came to an end. We were able to squeeze in a little sun, a little fun, some memorable lines from the girls and some yardwork. Saturday started with the normal basketball for me and Julie has restarted at the gym. Kim 2 convinced Julie to join LA Fitness. Julie has really enjoyed getting back in the swing of it, especially the water arobics classes. We then attacked the yard, which included the annual clearing of the east side of the house. While Connor and I were tearing our way through knee high weeds, I heard the girls playing on their bikes. They had named their bikes and were playing "Princess Cops". Which, as Courtney explained to Mallory, is when they are princesses and also cops. You know, we've been told that Courtney is a good combination of Julie and myself, but I never thought of it in that way.

But, that wasn't the best nugget from the girls. Later, Julie caught the girls admiring some of her porcelin dolls. She asked them what they were doing and they told her that they were determining who would get which dolls after we were done and gone. I like to tease the girls to see what sort of reaction I can get from them, so after Julie told me what they were doing, I asked them which ones I would get. Mallory wasted no time in telling me, "You're not going to get any. You're going to get dead, Dad. You're going to die before Mommy. " So, write it down folks, I'm going to get dead.

We introduced Julie and the kids to ultimate frisbee Saturday afternoon before the rains came. A bunch of folks from the ward put together an impromptu game. Julie lasted longer than she thought she would. Connor and Court lasted the entire game and Mallory was in an out, switching between the game and riding her bike. Pete managed to not get hurt badly, so a very successful day.

On Monday, we picked out the tile for the upstairs bathrooms which will be going in over the next few days and caught Prince Caspian in the afternoon. We all liked it better than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We topped it off with barbequed beef for dinner to fulfill the requirement for bbq on Memorial Day, even though it was raining and in the low 60's. Thank you Julie.

Piano Recital

This last weekend we had a good time playing. We went to our ward picnic and had Costa Vida for our dinner. We took the kids to the tennis courts and Pete threw the balls to them to help them get used to it. I have to say, the kids are much better than I am. I want to be able to play, I just don't know if I can play!

We also had our family dinner on Sunday. Bob and Kim and their family and Mike and Kim and their family come over once a month (or at least try to). It's always a bit crazy in all of our lives and we don't see each other if we don't schedule it in. I think that it's good for all of us and I know my kids enjoy seeing their cousins.

Tonight Connor and Courtney had their piano recital. They did really good. Pete wasn't able to be here (he's in Arizona) so I caught it on camera. I'm very proud of them.

A Day in the Sun

Yesterday was a beautiful high 80's day that the kids were home all day because of student led conferences. We had a couple walk through's (for the house) so the kids and I went to Rood Bridge park to get out of the way. When we got home the kids opened our front door and a bird flew into the front room. I had to scare it out of the front window and the poor thing wouldn't fly low enough to get out. He did finally almost knock himself out and then found the open window. He was a nice enough bird not to leave any droppings behind. Thank you birdie!

Last night I got another glimps of what having a pre-teen is going to be like. Connor has taken to reacting to my "pet" names for him by making noises or other things. That's what the lovely picture of Connor is. I happened to call him a turkey and this is what I got. I guess I should be more careful of what I say from now on!

Today it was mid nineties and hot, hot, hot! I LOVED it!! We had the conferences in the morning with the kids. They had a fun time showing Pete and I their work. This afternoon the kids and I went to the Beaverton water fountains. We ran into some of Courtney's and Mallory's friends from school so that really made their day. Connor was tolerant of them and would play and then read. The water cooled us off and was alot of fun.

Back Home

So we made it back from our trip and as you can see it has taken awhile to get back to the blog. Friday Pete had to be back to work and I played catch up with the laundry.

Then we went to the Tobias auction. We only left with one thing but it is what we wanted. Connor's class quilt.His square is the second row the second from the left (orange and green). We are all happy to have it. Connor's teacher Mrs. Torgerson is great. I've enjoyed getting to know her this year.

Saturday Pete taught the primary kids about Italy. They had their primary activity day and went on "missions" to a few places. Pete taught them about Bocce, how to say ciao (hello & good-bye), and had them taste cheese tortellini and Nutella. No, Nutella isn't actually from Italy but that's where Pete was introduced to it.

Monday was a beautiful day and Mallory chose to play Bocce for family home evening. We had alot of fun. The rest of the week the kids have been on the computer. We got our new computer right before we left so it's still a novelty for us.

I can't really believe it's been a week since we got home. It goes by so fast. It's been hard to focus on life for me. I really enjoyed the hot weather. I hope we have more nice days soon. I'm looking forward to summer.