Happy Birthday Justin!

Today Justin turned 6 years old! Wow! Where does the time go? He is growing up so quickly. We love having Justin in our family! He is such a happy and fun boy!

He had a birthday party this afternoon at Out of this World Pizza & Play. He invited all his best friends and they had a blast!


I think they raced non-stop for two hours. They would come gasping into the party room asking for a drink and then would race back out to play.



My favorite part was when they were all excited to help Justin open presents and it was completely crazy for 5 minutes. Justin had been hoping for a Hot Wheels track. After he had opened three of them, he yelled out, "I'm the luckiest boy in the world!" We just had to laugh! Then after the last gift had been opened, one boy asked if they could go play again and I said "Yes!" They all cheered and raced out to the arena in one big clump. They would have left a cloud of dust behind them if we had been outside. Hilarious!


Tyler had so much fun running around with the big kids. He was so cute all day and would dance whenever anyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Justin.



After the party ended, Justin wanted to stay and keep playing. So, we stayed until he climbed under our cart to try to fall asleep because he couldn't run another step. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Trader Joe

We had a visitor with us for 5 days last week...Uncle Joe.

Joe with daughter Elana on Thanksgiving Day 2007

He was staying with us until his apartment in Portland was ready for him to move into. He is in the process of writing a book while my sister, Heidi, and their kids live it up in Hawaii. It just happened to work out that Joe was here to keep my boys company while I was gallivanting in California. I'm sure he got a lot of writing done with all the commotion I'm sure echoed through our house all weekend.

Many of you know of our love for a grocery store called Trader Joe's. Well, Tyler started calling Uncle Joe "Trader Joe". At first, I thought he just got mixed up, but then it really stuck. He'd ask me, "Where Trader Joe go?" "Trader Joe go on a walk?" "Bless Trader Joe" It drove Justin crazy and they started having "Joe wars". Justin would yell, "Uncle Joe!" and Tyler would say, "No, Trader Joe!". Over and over and over. I hope he feels loved. Oh, and Joe, you left your shoes....

Disneyland

Wow! We have had a busy week and I have lots of catching up to do. Let's start with the most exciting thing: I went to Disneyland over the weekend! Just me...and two of my good friends! It was a jam-packed, giggle-filled girls' trip weekend! I still can hardly believe it really happened! Who goes to Disneyland without their kids or husband? Oh, I guess we do! And we had a blast!

My good friends from high school, Lisa and Holli, drove from Las Vegas and picked me up at the airport in Orange County on Friday night.



We went to both parks at Disneyland that night and I just had to take a picture of the castle all lit up. A glimpse of the fireworks show was fun to watch from the Nemo line. But, no more Nemo would be allowed for Saturday after Holli fell asleep during the submarine ride. I don't think she is going to live that one down! The rides at night were awesome and the park wasn't too crowded so we were able to catch a bunch of rides. We stayed late at Disneyland and then stayed up late at our hotel talking. I loved it.

We woke up Saturday morning ready for a big day at Disneyland. We raced from ride to ride and tried to master the whole "fast pass" thing. Here we are looking "bug-eyed" at the "Bug's Life" 4-D show.


The roller coasters were so much fun! My favorite ride hands-down was the Indiana Jones one. We sat on the front row of our jeep and Holli was our driver. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. It was hilarious! I was trying to take a picture of Holli and the jeep was jerking around like crazy, so I kept getting a good shot of her knees. That only made us laugh harder! Here is a great picture of Holli laughing her head off. We really wanted to go on that ride again, but then decided that it would be hard to top that first time. Just looking at this picture brings it all back to me. I can't stop laughing...


I was all gung ho to go on all the rides. We came upon a really adventurous one in Bear Country. It looked like an obstacle course with zip lines and rickety bridges and tire swings. I talked both Holli and Lisa into going on it with me. After I assured them that "Yes, we can be that agile" we tromped up in line until we passed this sign.

We had to take a picture of me trying to get on a 12 and under ride. That was the only time at Disneyland I wished I was teeny-tiny again. That would have been a fun one!



More pictures of all the fun...this is us before we went on a turbo roller coaster with loops and all the good stuff. This one was better than colossus and the white roller coaster combined! Sorry, Lagoon!


I was brilliant and wore new shoes. Holli offered to let me ride on her back on our way to the car. I declined, so Holli dubbed me a mule and I kept walking. Though I have to say that on our hike to the car, we were sure someone must have moved our car miles away in the parking garage because it definitely wasn't parked so far away when we arrived that morning!

We were so tired Saturday night but still talked until we were just about falling asleep. Our hotel was so nice. Thanks, Holli! It was so nice to sleep without our kids waking us up during the night. We stayed up so late and woke up early enough, but I felt like I got more sleep than I have had in a while. Very nice!


My flight was supposed to leave at 10:30 Sunday morning so, we just ate breakfast at the hotel and drove to the airport. It ends up that my flight was delayed and I had to do a song and a dance to fly out of that airport at all. It was a little bit crazy, but I ended up scoring a better flight than on my original itinerary. I joke about it, but I really felt like I was inspired to talk to those I did in order to re-arrange my flight. Another reminder that it pays to listen to those quiet impressions. I arrived in Portland two hours later than planned, but we still had time to go visit Travis' sister, Nicki, her husband, Lance, and her cute one-year-old, Brynlee, in Vancouver, Washington. It was fun to see Brynlee walking and the boys thought she was so cute.

Thanks for making this trip happen, Holli and Lisa! I'm so glad we did it! It was so much fun to have non-stop girl-talk all weekend! I loved it and I think I could really get used to this whole girls' trip thing! Does anyone want to come to Oregon?

Slugger

Time Machine

A while back, an old friend of Travis' came out of the woodwork. He and Travis were friends when they were 12 years old. Guy was a Air Force brat and moved often through the years. His longest block of time living in one place was the 4 or 5 years his family lived a few blocks away from Travis in Montana. About 6 months ago we got a phone message from him. Travis was floored and called him back. They exchanged emails and sent Christmas cards. They live in Oregon, too. About two hours away from us.

A few weeks ago, Guy's wife, Lauren, called to say they were planning to drive into Portland for a concert and wanted to meet up for dinner as a birthday surprise for Guy. We worked our schedules out and finally met up tonight for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Wow! What a trip back in time! After 20 years, there is a lot to catch up on! Guy said he didn't think Travis realizes how much their friendship meant to him over the years. Since he moved around so often it was difficult to make and keep friends. He thought so highly of Travis that they named their youngest son (Justin's age) after him. I think Travis blushed when Guy said that! :) What they don't realize is that Travis' middle name is John and their oldest son is named Johnny. Travis didn't say anything about that. It would have weirded us all out.

We had a nice dinner and conversation and left with hugs. It was so nice to meet these "new" friends and I hope we can keep in touch.

What's in your Backpack?

This morning we had an "Emergency Preparedness" ward party. Our activity leader went above and beyond on this ward party. We played a big group 72-hour kit "What's in your backpack?" game. There was a kid's fishing pond where they won items for their own 72-hour kit backpack. Then they played another ring toss game where they won a water bottle with a kid 72-hour items list (very good) and a little activity book with crayons for their backpacks. It really got us thinking that we probably still have newborn diapers in our backpack. I'm afraid to think of what is probably in our backpacks!

While the kids were busy, the parents got a hands-on lesson on how to use an emergency generator or basics on changing a tire and jump-starting a car engine. That was a bonus for Travis because we just bought one and didn't know how to use it. Then there was a little store where we could buy things to add to our kits and don't forget lunch with balloons. But the big draw was a visit from the local fire station for the kids.



The boys LOVED the fire engine! Justin was so funny. During our "tour" he was on his own little tour. He'd pretend to listen while he was doing his own inspection of that awesome engine.

Tyler was so proud to be wearing a fire truck shirt.


If you ever wonder what's the way to my boys' hearts, it's a real fire engine!

Oh there you are Peter!

To all of our fabulous blogging friends and family who have been sailing incognito (meaning you have never left a comment):

We like you. That's why we want to keep in touch with you. You know what's going on with us, so please leave a comment and let us know what's going on with you. You'd make our day!

What's the one thing you love?

My friend, Holli, just posted about this and it got me thinking about my favorite things. I have many, but what is the one thing I love today? Hmmm...besides the obvious...my family...here's what I came up with for our gang:

Here is mine: Man cannot live on blogging alone.


I love to keep in touch with everyone. It's my version of our scrapbook and journal to share with our family and friends. I'm always excited to find another friend who has a blog. Google Reader saves me. I'd want to be online all night! Justin says, "Mom, don't leave a comment, just get off!"

Here's Travis': Man cannot live on the New York Yankee's alone.

Although he'd like too! We watched the Yankee's play in the World Series in our honeymoon suite...I loved that. I realized later on that Travis must REALLY love me to have even planned a wedding that would fall during the World Series. I feel so special.

Justin's: Man cannot live on milk alone.

He'd drink it all day if I'd let him. I love that he is independent and can fend for himself when he is hungry. But come on, didn't we just open that 1/2 gallon this morning?

Tyler's: Man cannot live on Thomas the Tank Engine alone...and Lightening McQueen, too. He even has to line up his trains, cars, whatever next to his plate at the table. Or we don't eat. He had a whole story going this afternoon and was driving his train up and down the wall.

What is the one thing you love?

Dandelions, Sticks and Bald Eagles

We have been having a good time watching Justin practice with his t-ball team. Tyler is so happy to go "watch" Justin because he can play on the big playground at the elementary school. He wears his own mitt and cheers for Justin for the 5 minutes that he actually does watch the team.

(Justin is the "cool" one in blue with his hat backwards and to the side)

These kindergartners are trying so hard to listen to their coaches and learn to play ball. Justin works so hard on the drills until he catches me watching him. The other day, he stopped what he was doing (they were catching fly balls and I was just praying one wouldn't come his way) and looked around on the grass. He spotted the perfect dandelion and ran across the field to give it to me. I have trained him well, huh? During the last practice he did the same thing...with a stick. Nice stick there, Justin. He was hard up seeing as how there were no more flowers in the grass.

We live near a nature preserve and see raccoons on our street, frogs in our backyard, and even had a couple of hawks land in our backyard recently. Well, during the "dandelion" t-ball practice, Justin was out on the playing field with his team when a big hawk slowly flew over their heads and then on across the field. Justin lost all concentration at that point and started yelling, "Look, Look, Look Mom! I just saw a bald eagle!" He was so far away and everyone looked over to see where "Mom" was! I just had to laugh and give him a thumbs up!

Team pictures were on Saturday morning. It was cute to see all those kids in their uniforms and hats. Justin smiled so big I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures.

Good times at these t-ball practices! And to think that the actual games haven't even started yet. The first game for tonight was rained out. So, we'll hope for clear skies on Thursday!

Tips

I just watched a discussion on internet safety and learned about Google Alerts. The suggestion was given to add your name, etc., to an alert because it will let you know when your information comes up online and you can have a chance to manage any questionable stuff. I'll have to do a little more research, but it sounds like it might be a good idea. Do any of you know more about this service?