Baby Walking Baby

Squirrel, Squirrel Shake Your Bushy Tail!

On the way home from Oregon this last trip we stopped at a rest area somewhere...I have no idea where...I tend to fall asleep on road trips. :)

So far this is promising to be a really interesting story, right? ;)

Anyways, at this particular rest area there were tons of squirrels. And they were being fed by people.

Okay, that's not really that exciting either, both of those things can easily be associated with a rest area.

BUT these particular squirrels were being HAND FED!!! Crazy right?

I've never seen such tame squirrels and even though it was only going to be a quick stop, I couldn't help but get the kids out of the car and show them these cool squirrels!


No worries, Jared wasn't afraid of the squirrels. He had a hurt toe.

Pretty cool, right?

It's Official!!!

Wesley is no longer a student!

Here's proof. :)

Pretty awesome right!?! We are all very proud of him!

It wouldn't have been a truly great Oregon graduation without rain. :)

Of course they requested no umbrellas.

Here we are waiting for the exciting moment.

Wesley's parents flew in for the graduation.

The kids were pretty good considering they were asked to sit for over two hours listening to what probably seemed like gibberish to them. :)

Luckily they had all their grandparents around to help entertain them.

Or should I say lucky for me? :)

Wesley actually getting his hood. I kind of love him!

I couldn't resist putting this picture in. She is all Sass!

The "Mormon" guys.

Hopefully they will all keep in touch through the years.

Wesley and I are both very excited about turning to a new chapter in our lives. I'm sure Wesley is thrilled to know that he never has to attend another 8am class, study late into the night or have another doctor sign off on his work. I'm thrilled about finishing his rotations which means that we won't have to move every three to six months. Wesley will be working in Oregon and we are both looking forward to settling down there and seeing where things take us.

Congrats to all the graduates of 2011!

Any Questions? And We All Know the Difference Between a Question and a Story, Right?

Last Wednesday, Jared's school did a walking field trip to the fire station.

It was over a mile to walk there. I was surprise that one, none of the children became roadkill and two, that very few complained about how far it was.

Besides the basic fire safety stuff, "Any Questions? And We All Know the Difference Between a Question and a Story, Right?" was the most repeated saying. :) Sometimes even without the "Any Questions?" part. I guess they get a lot of field trips and are pretty familiar with school aged children.

Jared had a really good question. "Can fire melt a metal door?"

The fireman replied that, "No but it would make it really hot."

Jared quickly cut him off and said, "But in movies..."

To which the fireman cut him off and said, "That's a movie, anymore questions?" :)

That's exactly was we tell him too! :)

Anyways, here a couple pictures of the adventure.


Novalee was so excited to be hanging out with big kids! :) Can you tell?



It was pretty fun, next week Jared goes to the Texas Roadhouse Grill and the Zoo for a field trip! We will see how that goes. :)

8 Months

Sadie's 8 Months Old. She has three teeth, another one on the way. She likes to blow raspberries. She STILL loves to be held. She laughs so hard when you rub your nose up against her side. She walks along furniture. And yesterday daddy taught her how to clap. She has slept through the night once! (Yay!)

She hates the feel of grass. She doesn't like vegetable soup made for babies. She doesn't put up with people putting clothes on her. She still doesn't like being tossed in the air, though mommy likes to test that out about once a week. :) And through experience, she really doesn't like her older siblings picking her up and carrying her around.

Here are some photos of her that I took on Saturday. Some are with her cute big brother and sister!






Happy 8-Monthday Sadie, you're proving to be a lovely little handful. And we like it! :)

Mommy Knows Best Just Listen to Your Mum Zi

I've been blessed to have two wonderful mothers to care for me and teach me so much.

My mother Lynne is my hero in so many ways.

She loves without any strings attached and serves her family tirelessly.

I'd like to believe that she taught me her ability to work hard and to enjoy it. I feel like I also gained a strong sense of integrity and honesty from her example and am so grateful that those were things she felt were important to teach her children.

I also learned that even though I'm a women, I can do just about anything a man can do and even more. Growing up, I watched her almost single handedly remodel most of our first home. Which included tearing down walls, laying carpet, painting, and wallpapering. Because of watching her read books about how to repair or remodel cars, washing machines, kitchens, and bathrooms I feel that I too fear very little when it comes to those things. I will feel forever grateful that I feel like a capable woman because of her.

My friends would always comment after meeting her that she was so nice and never without a smile. :) I loved hearing that growing up.

She is strong and brave and true. And I love her so much!



And my dear step-mother Christine. How I am so grateful that she has been part of my life.

I was so grateful to have her around during my awkward years. She taught me a lot about being confident in oneself during a time when I was questioning just about everything.

I love remembering the many hours she stood outside and pitched softballs to me, walked our old road together with me, and taught me how to play tennis.

She always seemed to me to be the epitome of an accomplished women. She went to college, she worked hard as a leader at two different jobs and she always looks put together.

Growing up I was grateful to see her represent women in such a light.

I will forever be grateful for the times she and my dad would show up and cheer me on at my sporting events and how hard they encouraged getting a good education.

I love her spunky personality and how smart she is.


Happy Mothers Day to my dear Mothers and to all the wonderful mothers out there!

Hiking

Yesterday, something amazing happened! Wesley got out of school early! :)

So we decided to enjoy the beautiful sunny week we've been having and go hiking. We decided to hike an old trail we have hiked before but take a different route.


Last time we went, it looked something like this.


But after climbing up a new trail for a short time we had to stop and turn around because I guess it was private property...too bad. So we just hiked the same trail as before.

I even found a prickly pear catcus on the hike! Totally reminded me of Arizona and wouldn't you know, I didn't learn my lesson while living in Arizona and picked it up. Gheez...

Here are some more photos.



Here is a picture taken in February on the same bridge.


I think it would be kind of fun to hike the same trail every season of the year and take pictures each time, just to see the changes of the seasons.

But I guess that would require us to live in one place for a full year.

Gee, that sounds nice.

Soon.