Adventures in Wonderland

Last year about this time, we took the family on a little road trip from Tacoma into the mountains of Rainier. On the way, was this beautiful area that had dead tree stump after dead tree stump. We decided to get out and stretch our legs. Our adventures usually begin in this very same way.
If you've kept up on Jeremy's wonderful blog site, you know that our boys enjoy throwing rocks. Any rocks, rocks of all sizes, shapes or colors. As long as there's water, it's a free for all rock throwing party! Rocks. Rocks. Oh, look more rocks. Well, as you can see from the picture, this area was full of rocks, water, and tree stumps. Jeremy is truthfully no different from the younger boys when it comes to the love affair with rock throwing.
He just uses bigger rocks, making bigger splashes. This particular day was a little slippery and muddy. "Hercules" was showing off his big muscles, throwing a 100 pound boulder, when he lost his footing, his foot settled in inches of mud. It lodged there, and when we finally retreived his shoe, it was caked with mud. Jeremy's shoe was a mess!


Unfortunately, we found out it is customary in "DeadTreeStumpville" to sacrifice the middle child in the family.

a tidbit of news

This week was a bonzer for our little Timo! He had an interview to see if he would need to get into preschool, and he passed with flying colors. And not just that, but he charmed the pants off the teachers! He is so sweet and silly, he smiles and it can make an icecube melt. We sure are proud of our Timo and excited to have a whole extra year before he starts school.


On the flip side, this week has been rough on Mikey (and, yes, us.) He has just begun teething and is a drooler, a screamer, a pooper, and has a slight fever. It's pretty spectacular that we don't remember our infancies. I wouldn't want to remember the uncomfortable diaper changes with cold, wet wipes, or bloated bellyaches, and especially not the teething!!! I know those teeth will pop out soon and we'll have a brand new smile to blog.

Monday is for Memories

In May of 2007, we took a daytrip from Tacoma out to the Pacific Ocean near Moclips, Washington. This picture always makes me think about how much Timo looks up to his big brother Eric. Whatever Eric is doing, usually it's common to see Timo following right behind. This particular day was very windy and cold on the coast, so we only stayed about an hour, but it was beautiful. On the top of my all time wish list is definitely having an ocean view home, the "whoosh" of the waves, aahh heaven. It's almost undescribable how ridiculously small we are compared to Heavenly Father's plan. Simply amazing!

River Floating

Boise is a city that can act like a small town. There are things I love most about Boise... the wonderfully warm weather, the Bronco Nation of fans, the easy access to hiking and biking trails. This past week, we discovered another gem hidden in the center of this modern city. Floating the Boise River has apparently been a popular outing for residents and visitors alike, but in the 3 or more years, Jeremy and I have lived here, we've never experienced it's thrills. Until this week that is...

We were lucky enough to have a neighbor babysit Noah and Mikey, and we took Eric and Timo out floating on the river. Everything combined to make it a great afternoon, perfect weather, not too crowded on the river, and rather inexpensive. There are even some small rapids to cross along the way. Timo was scared at first, but was enjoying it by the end, and Eric would have been fine going on his own (he's the adventurous one).


In some places along the banks, people have hung rope swings. I have never been brave enough to actually tarzan out over a river, but I decided I wanted to make my boys proud, so... yes, that's me. In this picture, I actually jumped off a huge stump (I'm sorry it's blurry, it's the best we have right now.)

8 Years Ago

A few days ago, Jeremy and I just celebrated our 8th Anniversary! How crazy is that! I've almost spent 1/3 of my life with him. I wouldn't have it any other way.
We have made a high school romance bloom into the most beautiful roses of love.
When I look back on our wedding, there are a ton of memories. My bridesmaids and me getting ready, all the friends and family that made the special trip on a Wednesday for us, walking down the aisle. My most favorite-est moment was our first dance. We danced to "Everything I do" by Brian Adams, but that's not what I remember most. I remember that he couldn't take his eyes off of me, I was the most important thing in the world to him. I remember that was our first private married moment. We talked about our day up until that point.
Stars in our eyes, woozy from the emotion filled day, and ready for the rest of our lives to begin.

Addicting...

I am uncontrollably addicted to watching the Beijing Olympics. I have recorded and watched most of the main events, such as men's and women's gymnastics, swimming, diving, and my personal favorite volleyball. It is very inspiring and while I am mostly sitting on my tush being a couch potato, I am ready to go outside and start training for a triathalon, play beach volleyball in the sand, or even high dive and try to twist and twirl like a professional. Okay, here I go... right after I watch the next event, oh and then the next one...

Beware!

After fixing my midnight snack I was coming back upstairs to do more school work, when all of a sudden (Jaws music playing in the background) I saw a HUGE shadow in the stairwell! Glancing nonchalantly over, I was immediately stopped in my tracks. A huge freakish spider was staring me down. It had my number and was taunting me. Hugging the opposite wall, I ran upstairs to grab the largest shoe available (a size 12 Reebok - thanks honey!) Kneeling mere inches away from the largest spider I've ever been near (without it being in captivity), I prepared to smoosh it against the wall. Between thinking about how long it's legs were and consequently how fast it could probably run, and the smoosh mark it would surely make, I panicked. I ran to the front door, leaving the yucky buggy between me and those precious little boys. Luckily I found my neighbor sitting on his porch and begged him to come kill my pint-sized foe. After the deed was done and the carcass was lugged outside, trying to catch my breath, I blog this incident to you all. My skin still crawls with my imaginations rendering of creepy crawlers. I need Jeremy to come home and save me from this Arachnaphobia!

College Girl Update!

As of today, I have officially completed 2 full weeks in my first year at college! Yah! I know, I know, I'm just beginning, but I thought I would blog a little about it.
I have been suprised at how hard it is to get back into the swing of things, reading articles and researching for an upcoming paper and discussing topics with my classmates. But I am getting more used to it as the days go by. My first two classes are English 101 and Learning in an Information Age 105. I take these 2 courses for 9 weeks and then I start on the next 2 courses. And, as long as everything stays manageable, in just 20 months I will be receiving my Associates Degree and then I will start on my Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education.
I am excited and proud to report that I am getting 100% in English and 97% in Info Age. I will try to keep you all posted on how my schooling is going along with everything else.

The boys are back!

Finally, after 10 days, I have all four of my boys back at home. It's definitely louder than when just Noah and Mike are around, but it makes my house a home. And the countdown is on to when Jeremy can be back here with us too! Only 5 more days to go! I am so excited and ready for him to be a permanent resident of Idaho. And the boys are too.

USS NY - "Never Forget"

Our nation is by far the best place I could ever ask for to live and raise my boys. Everyone knows the heartaches from 9/11, everyone has heard about the brave firefighters and policemen that helped rescue many people and in turn gave their own lives, everyone has heard about the selfless warriors on Flight 93. What image do we want our young children to grow up with about this tragedy? I know that as my boys grow older, I desire for them to have pride in the USA, I want them to hold their heads high as the flag flies above them, I pray that they will not back down against adversity. This IS the American Way.

This ship, the USS NY, was made with 24 tons of scrap steel from the ruins of that fateful day. It is specifically designed to fight against terrorism, carrying 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines. As the melted steel was poured into the molds on September 9, 2003 it was treated with total reverence. I hope that the souls of all those who lost their lives that day are watching us with pride as we continue to fight against terrorists world-wide.

This is America. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. This land is my land. I am proud to be an American.

Imperfections Among Us (Me)

I must admit that I am some-what a bit of a "book worm". I always knew that I was abnormally interested in school, especially anatomy and biology. What I just learned recently is that while burying my little head in big books, I neglected to learn those necessary people skills for everyday, real life living.
Sometimes I just don't say the right things, sometimes I can really offend people without knowing it. In an effort to better myself and learn those people skills I am admitting this fault outloud to you all. Now, you will probably go, "Ah - Ha! She is waking up!" And I apologize deeply that I may have offended you all without even knowing it, by giving a blank stare instead of a true response, or by saying things that are completely off topic and interrupting the conversation. I do it again and again. Who knows I'm probably even doing it right now. I appreciate your ability to overlook those faults and love me anyways.
I feel sad and over whelmed about myself. I am unsure of where to begin to better myself and I feel a huge need to express this regret that I am not a better person to all of you who deserve so much more. I know all the stuff about no one being perfect but you all have me beat by a really long shot. Sorry, maybe it's pity party time? ...

Breaking News

Jeremy has these little tiny skin tags in his armpits. His right arm has 4 or 5 and his left arm has only 1 ;-) Now, I don't know if this happens with everyone, but both of us have a stronger stench that forms underneath one arm. His right pit is surprisingly fresh smelling, even after a long day of hard labor, while his left can be deadly if you're too close! So, these skintags have a special job, they are his personal "odor eaters"!!!
I'm jealous, I wish I had some!


On the slightly less stinky side of the news, my big boys have been spending some much needed vacation time with their beautiful cousin, Jojo. She was sweet enough to send me a goofy-boy picture so I could blog them! I love you and miss you guys.

Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy!

Eric and Timo are away from home, leaving just Noah and Mikey with Mommy, and Daddy is back in Seattle working again. I really miss those crazy little creeps!
Is it insane to be homesick when I'm the one still at home?

A new view

I cannot even begin to describe how exciting it is to be living back in Bronco Nation. Even starting now, there is an excitement in the air. It just makes me want to run down the street waving the blue and orange flag, screaming "GO, BSU!" at the top of my lungs. Hooray! And now we have a brand new beautiful sky box with blue and orange themed suites for the media and new diggs for the fans too.



I say "Boise", you state "State!"