Jaco is a wolf!

On Thursday June 26 Jaco was awarded his Wolf Badge in Cub Scouts. The Monday before we had a marathon "fulfill his wolf requirements" day. It was a family effort and his leaders were wonderful to help out too.

Daddy had to work that night but Grandpa Ted was in town so he was able to come watch Jaco earn his award.

Grandpa Ted was showing Jaco some knots and decided to try one out!

La-La was getting bored so she tried on Grandpa's hat and glasses. Talk about a complete makeover!

Hot dog or Cattail?

For the last four nights we have gone for a family bike ride after dinner. We have enjoyed beautiful summer evenings from two wheels. Tonight we came upon a bunch of cattails. I wanted to stop and pick some so the kids could feel how soft they are. From behind me in her bike seat, I heard Care Bear say "Look at all the hot dogs!" Then when we got home she was being super silly and pretended to eat her hot dog. La-La asked me to post about this and wanted me to include a photo of the Sweet Peas we picked. I call her "sweet pea" so she thought it was pretty cool.

We won a Wii!!!!

Have any of you looked at a Coke lid and seen the code written on it then just thrown that lid away? I am here to tell you to save that code until you have entered it on the mycokerewards website! I saved some of those codes and we won a Wii! I entered a sweepstakes using my points saved up from entering the codes and it payed off. Now thanks to Coke we are enjoying our new toy!

Jaco is 9!

Jaco's birthday was July 22nd. I can't believe I am a mother to a nine year old! He will start 4th grade this fall which makes me feel even older. Jaco is a pretty fun kid to have around. He keeps us guessing everyday with his constant questions about what everything means. He wants to know everything about anything and isn't satisfied until he is confident we have answered completely. He has an amazing vocabulary and has an incredible ability to retain knowledge. He will be tutoring me before long!
We got home past midnight on the 21st but the Birthday Fairy still came and decorated the kitchen and his bedroom door. She was pretty tired! Jaco was so excited for his b-day that he woke up at 6:am even though he didn't get to bed until atleast 12:30. Lets just say that this did not make for the best start for a birthday. He was extra emotional and grumpy until it came time for dinner and the family party. Jaco is really into Pokemon so I made him a cake that resembled a Pokeball. He thought it was great especially when he discovered the Pokemon inside his cake. I got candles that relight after they are blown out and he wasn't too sure about them!

Jaco wanted a Wii game and I was thrilled to find the one he wanted at a used game store for a fraction of the cost of a new one!

The next picture was when he was still excited about the candles. Then when they kept relighting he wasn't very thrilled. The last photo is of him finding the pokemon. Happy Birthday Jaco!

Port Townsend

On May 31 we took a short road trip to Port Townsend. We played at a beautiful park, we ran through old military tunnels and flew kites on the beach. It was a beautiful day. We went with our friends Spencer, Debbie, Stewart, Josh, Krystin, and Aiden.

Jaco, Care Bear, Spencer, La-La, & Josh on the ferry to Port Townsend.

Care Bear and Aiden hanging out in the sand. Spencer & La-La exploring the beach.

Spencer and La-La; best buds!

Jaco was picked to ride up front with the driver on the way back from the tunnels. It made his day!
Justin entering a military tunnel.

La-La, Spencer, & Jaco in a tunnel.

La-La in the military tunnels.

Care Bear & Aiden

Krystin, Me, & Debbie

Spencer, Jaco, La-La, & Care Bear at the park.

Finally connected!

We finally got the Internet today! I have so much to post but it will take awhile so be patient. Here is a brief update. We finally arrived at our house on July 3. Then one week later we took a LONG drive to Idaho to spend 10 days with family and friends. We returned this last Monday the 21st and now I am busy unpacking from vacation AND moving all in one. I don't recommend it. Stay tuned for pics and more details about graduation, moving, playing etc...!

WHOOO-HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I am done with my paper route! I don't ever want to lug 2000 papers up three flights of stairs, fold them in thirds, slide them in bags, stuff the tops of the bags in the papers, put the papers in a box and lug box after box of papers back down 3 flights of stairs. Then drive around for hours on end throwing papers to people who are probably just as happy as I am to never see my weighed down green van in their neighborhoods again! Check out that awesome paper placement! HEE-HEE! Just picture me holding the steering wheel with my left hand and throwing papers just like a frisbee out the passenger window while constantly watching for dogs, kids, moving and non-moving vehicles.

Mom's Group

Mom's Group Farewell Party

When Care Bear was six weeks old I took the girls to a local community center for an indoor playground. I didn't know anyone there. A lady by the name of Maria approached me and asked if I would like to join a local "mom's group" that was just being put together. I told her yes and gave her my contact info not knowing if I would ever hear back from her. She introduced me to some of her friends one being Michelle who became the group moderator. Michelle set up a yahoo groups account and I was officially invited to join. This group was an answer to my prayers! We had lived in the area for about 4 months but I really didn't know anyone and with Justin so busy with work I felt quite alone. I fianally felt like I belonged in my new town. This group of women that started out as a small handful of moms and is now at 74 mom's and dads is AMAZING! If you have a sick child they are there to give advice or just a shoulder to sleep on. If you have great news they are there to cheer with you. If you have bad news they are there to comfort you. There are playdates planned,Mom's Nights Out where deep dark and usually amusing stories are shared and lots of advice is given from potty training tips to how to tend to a sick baby. But most important it is a group of accepting people who care for you no matter what.
Today they threw me a little going away party. We met at a park with fun sprinklers and ate yummy food and just hung out. It was a great day spent with incredible moms! I will miss everyone so much but plan to stay in touch by being a long distance member. Thank you BMG for everything! You guys are the best!

Dr Johnson

Justin performed a surgery to place an external fixator on a child with a tibial deformity. Here is the Dr at work! It even looks like he knows what he is doing! :-)

New house!

Everything looks good for the house we wanted so here it is! Isn't it cute?!!

All Done!

Jaco finished 3rd grade today. He had to say final goodbyes to a lot of people since he won't be back next fall. He is sad to leave but excited to start fresh at our new home. Unfortunantly he was known as the small, smart boy which wasn't the cool thing to be in school. So we are praying that things will be better in 4th grade with new peers! Jaco loved school and did very well; he just wanted to do things like algebra and read in the library rather than play outside for recess. Thank goodness he had great teachers who accomodated his needs and let him hang out with them. His second grade teacher was especially kind and understanding. Mrs R will forever be loved by us and we hope and pray he can have more teachers like her!

First day of third grade with the lunchbox that never made it home again.

Last day of third grade! Jaco holding a picture of his favorite teacher Mrs R.

Happy Father's Day!

To all you fabulous fathers out there I hope you had a great day! Thank you to my own dad who is an amazing example of faith and love. And thank you to my hubby who works harder than anyone I know, is smarter than anyone I know and who makes beautiful children! And to all the men who have been "fatherly" to me or my family, thank you for everything! And of course thank you to my Father in Heaven for his eternal love and patience with me!!

Justin helping Jaco hold Care Bear for the first time. Daddy's strong hands helping as they always do!

Road Trip

We decided on Friday afternoon to make a quick trip to our future town to try to find a house! Since we are moving in two weeks (YIKES!) it sounded like a good idea. We have decided to rent for the first bit since we are not from there and really don't know where we want to be. The same realtor who took us on our speedy tour of the community when we were there in May was very kind and agreed to help us find a nice rental home. We left first thing Saturday morning leaving Care Bear with a great friend so we didn't have to worry about her and headed south. La-La was so excited to come mainly because she couldn't wait to sleep in a hotel. She asked questions all the way down about what the hotel would be like. It was pretty cute. When we got into town, our friendly realtor took us around and showed us several houses she had researched for us. We saw some great homes and are hoping to rent the first one we toured. I have always wanted hard wood floors, a jetted tub and to live on a street that the kids could ride bikes and play safely. The house we are hoping to get has all three! It is near the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and has a decent sized yard. The kids loved it plus we would be able to get a dog as it has a built in dog run with a doggy door! It is a beautiful house that will be easy to turn into our HOME! We will fill out and send in the rental application tomorrow so pray everything goes well.

Our drive home today was quite entertaining. When we stopped for lunch Jaco said the quote of the trip! He was trying to balance playing his DS while eating a large rootbeer float and in frustration said "My underwear is on backwards and that makes everything worse!" I laughed so hard! La-La's qoute was said when she saw an airforce fighter jet doing tricks over the freeway including flying upside down.She said "I bet they are screaming in fear up there!" Then as we were driving we noticed a guy driving along on his Harley. All of a sudden he rode with no hands! For about five minutes he rode going 70 mph with both arms outstreched like he was flying. La-La even said that she thought he was flying. Then as he passed a Harley shop on the side of the freeway he bowed to it still with no hands! Pretty stupid if you ask me but entertaining to watch! I wanted to get a picture but we never got close enough.

So now it is back to packing and cleaning and praying that we get the house!

Jaco getting out some major wiggles before heading home.

La-La in front of the much anticipated hotel.

The high school's mascot is a caveman so we had to get a picture next to one of the locals.

Bug Love! (look with caution!)

La-La loves anything alive and tonight she took that love to a whole new level! Watch this short clip and you will see what I mean. This was all La-La's doing and I don't think any bugs were harmed in the filming of this show. : )

Here are a couple of photos too! If my sisters Miranda and Maria thought starfish were gross they will LOVE this!

La-La is all girl when it comes to dressing up and playing princess but she is also a pretty capable tom boy!

Starfish Galore! (New pics added to slideshow!)

We spent a chilly day at the beach On Thursday June 5th. This week was the lowest tide of the year so we went to explore the tide pools. We saw a ton of starfish. There were even purple ones! We were cold and wet but it was still worth it! Jaco and Daddy weren't able to come but the girls and I had fun with lots of our friends.

I will miss....

...All the beautiful colors! Everywhere you look there are vibrant colored flowering bushes surrounded by every shade of green imaginable. Our new hometown will be beautiful too just different and not so colorful. Here is a small sample of what I saw yesterday while delivering papers. I guess that is one good thing about my route! : )

Preschool Graduation

La-La is an official preschool graduate. She went to a class that high school students helped teach and she LOVED it! She also loved to go because she went with her best friend Ly. They are together all the time and have a ball. La-La and Ly performed a very serious duck song. I don't think either of them smiled once!

3rd grade concert

Jaco had his yearly concert the other day. His music teacher does a great job and the kids have a lot of fun. Here are some pictures but they are not very clear because we were at the back of the gym.