Brother Not Forgotten

Today the city was having a free shredding day where you could take all of your stuff to be shredded to City Hall and they would take care of it for you.  Hooray!  I've had some stored up for probably literally four years because I never get around to shredding and I don't want the kids to see the shredder because I don't want them to try to work it on their own fingers!  Anyway, we pull up and a lady stops us to give us a little comment card to fill out about how we like the service.  The first thing she says, when seeing the kids in the car, was, "Wow.  You brought the whole group, huh?"  I was wondering if she was actually in awe of a small family of four.  What would she think about the family of 12 in our ward pulling up?  Anyway, she was just about to explain the card to Michael when Evan rolled down his window and said, "Um, but, excuse me, this isn't all of our family.  I have a brother.  His name is Dallin.  But he died."  Well, the poor lady didn't know what to say, of course, and then my eyes start filling up with tears.  I know I've shared a lot of these things lately, but I want to remember them forever.  Evan is just so tender, thoughtful and aware of his brother who isn't here with us.  And he always remembers that our family isn't complete without him.  I think I cried in the car for about 10 minutes after that, just over the sweetness of a small child and looking forward to the reunion we will all have with Dallin.  Thank you, Evan, for giving me the permission to tell even perfect strangers about my THREE wonderful children.

We Really Do Have Cute Kids!

BEFORE

Maren had what I can't stand with little girls...hair in her eyes!  I was constantly trying to push it out of the way or put a clip in it, which would last about five minutes.  Evan had hair so long on the sides, it was going into his ears.  Ick.  And it was just a real mess every day.  Then...

AFTER

Aah...so much better!  Every time we cut Evan's hair, I wonder what took us so long because he is such a handsome fellow with clean cut hair.  And no more brushing wispy hair out of Maren's eyes.  Yea!  Normally Michael takes care of the hair but I couldn't stand it another minute today and took matters into my own hands (no, not the scissors, though!).  Oh, yes, Maren refused to give up the sucker for the sake of the picture.  Silly girl.

Our Family

Okay, this is ticking me off. Anyone know how I can get my pictures bigger? It seemed to have changed when I put on the cute background, which doesn't seem worth it when you can't even read what this says! (Click on it for bigger version.) Anyway, this was very fun. Wordle. It may be back to the boring blog for me soon if I can't figure out how to get bigger pictures. :-(

Famous Ears

Last Saturday we went to the zoo.  Not necessarily to see the baby elephant that had been born the Saturday before.  But because the dinosaur exhibit that we'd been meaning to go to for months was leaving on Labor Day and it was our last chance to take it in.  Of course, the bonus was that there was a cuter-than-cute baby elephant born in our zoo the week before and it was the first day they were going to let people see him.  We stood in line for only about 20 minutes for our chance to walk by him.  What a sweet thing.  I just wanted to go over and nuzzle up with him.  Anyway, Michael put Evan on his shoulders so he could get a better look and take some pictures (which were all completely blurry, I might add).  I got separated from them because I had the stroller and kept getting cut in front of.  When I got out of there, Michael told me that a reporter had gotten some information from them.  That's all I knew.  The next day, on the front page of Section B of the Sunday Oregonian was this picture:

 

If I haven't mentioned it yet, I don't know why this new background stuff is making my pictures so tiny.  It's bugging me.  But, anyway, you can click on it to see it larger.  There's cute little Evan in his Disneyland hat taking a picture of the baby elephant.  And there's Michael's ears.  The parents get no love...and rightfully so.  We're not 10% as cute as our kids, are we?

Michael Bybee, CMA

We are so proud of Michael over here!  Back in June, while I was at Girl's Camp, Michael took the board exam to become a certified medical assistant.  It was a four-hour test with 300 questions.  No small task.  I've been dying to know his results ever since.  It's been a long wait.  Just this week we got his score in the mail and found out that he had, indeed, passed.  And, he really messed up the curve for everyone else.  He did great on all three categories of the test (general, administrative and clinical), but his clinical score really takes the cake.  He was in the 98th percentile!!!  That's quite an accomplishment (especially after only maybe two hours of studying!).  So, he's been excited about signing his name with "CMA" at the end.  And it's time to get a little name plaque to go on his stethoscope that includes that.  Ha!  It's about the little things, isn't it?  Hooray, Michael.  Way to go!

Seriously!

You know those emails I send out every time there's a great concert coming to our area?  You know...the ones you always delete?!?!  Well, if you're in the area THURSDAY, 8/14, you would big a dingaling, ie. dork, geek, twerp, goofball, weirdo, goober, etc. if you didn't show up at Shute Park in Hillsboro at or before 7:00 p.m. for a FREE concert from Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband!!  Seriously.  Their music is contagious, they are funny, you'll dance, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish you had come the last time I told you they were in town.  ;-)  And you'll wish you told all your friends.  So come on by.  Bring a chair or a blanket to sit on and prepare for a delightfully entertaining evening!!

If you require more coercing, you can check out their website:  www.shupe.net.  Don't make me have to come after you!

"Smile, Maren!"

That's what I said, and this is what I got.  Ha!  She's so funny.  She does this silly lips and closes her eyes almost all the way but not quite.  Who knows where they get these funny ideas?!?!

Fun Summer Times

We've been doing a lot of fun stuff lately.  I am really loving this summer, spending lots of fun family time enjoying each other's company.  Of course, other things are suffering...like pulling weeds, putting in a garden (oh, what?!?!  We're a little late for that?), and cleaning the toilets.  But we're creating fun family traditions and I'm thrilled about that.  Here's some stuff from the last couple of weeks.

We went to the Washington County Fair a couple Saturdays ago.  Boy, was it fun.  We saw a cool bird show, checked out all the animals (we saw a calf that was just born 18 hours before, with his mother, who still had placenta or something hanging out of her back side.  Cool!), and rode a couple of rides.  My favorite pictures:

(as a side note, I don't know why these pictures are coming up so small now.  I can't even hardly see the bird in the picture.  Ugh.)  So, here is part of the pirate/bird show.  The bird owner was showing how much trust the bird had in him, that he could hold the bird on his back and throw him up in the air.  It was really pretty amazing.

I just liked the elation on Evan's face as he watched the show.  Yes, Michael has an owie on his cheek...shaving accident.  And excuse the bald head on the right.

If you held out a dollar, one of the parrots would come get it.  Evan liked that and did it twice, although he looks a bit apprehensive about it in this picture.

Michael was pretending they were in a horse race and it was cracking Evan up.  I just love the looks on both of their faces.

So, Michael and Evan went on one of those really big, tall, bumpy slides together.  The first picture I took was of them towards the top and Evan looked a bit concerned.  Then he started having fun.  I didn't want to take this picture because I wanted to see it in person instead of through the view screen.  That's why they're way off to the side.  Oh well.  You can still see how much fun they had and I love the picture anyway.

Evan wanted to go on this dragon roller coaster.  The last time he went on a roller coaster was last year and  I went with him.  Well, no adults on this one.  It was just so crazy to see my little boy doing something like that by himself.  He is growing up so fast and every time I blink, it seems like something crazy and new is happening like this.

White Trash

I must say, this may be one of my more funny stories.  So, we have these neighbors across the street.  They are older, retired.  They only had one child and he's now probably 35 or so.  So it's been a while since they had a toddler running around.  They live here in the Spring and Summer, in Arizona in Fall and Winter.  Their house is pristine.  Their lawn is beautifully manicured.  Well, we've lived in our house 6 years now and the wife has always been friendly with us.  But a couple of years ago, the husband completely stopped talking to us and when I try to wave when passing by, he won't acknowledge my existence anymore.  And the reason, I believe...he thinks we're white trash.  :-) 

See, I don't have one second to go outside and pull those weeds that are getting as tall as I am.  I don't have one second to go outside and water the brown lawn.  I don't have the energy to go plant any flowers because my two children, one paid job and my volunteer position take up all the time and energy I have.  I'm thinking it's been too long since this nice man has had to worry about young kids, jobs, and the like.  So, today's happenings could've done nothing less than fuel his disdain for us and our trashy wash.  Ha!

It all started last night when I was trying to be a good little wife and load the dishwasher.  I was running the garbage disposal and it stopped working and water was backing up.  Michael tried to fix it but couldn't, stating it would have to wait until today.  So, when I got up this morning, I was WAY bummed out to have two counters FULL of dishes that were now really starting to stink and no way to even rinse them off, much less get them washed.  Then my unsuspecting niece, Melissa, called wondering if she could come over for the day.  This only happens about once a month.  Little could she realize what kind of a catastrophe she would be stepping into. 

When she got here, I apologized for the messy kitchen (she's totally used to that...I only have time to get the dishes done on Leap Day) and told her the story.  She said she could take them outside and wash them.  WHAT?!?!  And she wasn't kidding.  I checked with her about seven times to make sure she had her head on straight and she insisted that she wanted to do that to help out.  So, she packed up a Costco diaper box with the dirty dishes, we got a couple of buckets for water, sponges, soap, and drying racks and she headed out to the front yard with Evan for the BIG JOB.  It had to be in the front because we had to make sure the disgusting food had somewhere to drain to.  Where was it going to go in the back yard? 

Those two worked for at least an hour.  Evan liked his hose duties.  He's looking extra fine here in his uber-trendy inside-out and backwards shirt.  (It's going to be all the rage...you'll see!)  I'm sure we reached a new level of white trashiness today, as far as our neighbor is concerned.  But every time I look at these pictures, I can't help but get a big, huge laugh.  I mean...who washes their dishes out in the front yard?!?!  My life is full of ridiculous stories.  And Melissa feels proud to know that she could live like a pioneer!  Thanks for the clean dishes, you two!

Tender Heart

I remember feeling, before Evan was born, that I was going to have to work really hard to "include" Dallin in our family as far as our other kids were concerned.  That it might be awkward and they would never feel love for him the way Michael and I love him.  The past month or so have been so eye-opening and wonderful for me because of some things going on with Evan.  I wanted to share those things, mostly so I don't forget and I can have a record of it.  If only I could see what he sees, hear what he hears, and know what he knows...

Of course, Dallin has always been a big part of our lives.  But it's not like we talk about him on a daily basis or anything.  We go to the cemetery on his birthday.  Sometimes we look through "his" scrapbook.  Evan has asked a lot of questions about him over the last year or so and we've done our best to answer those.  And the woman who started the infant loss support group here in Portland, called Brief Encounters, even wrote a book called Someone Came Before You, for children who are born after the child who dies.  It is such a great book!  So sometimes we read him that book and we talk about Dallin.

Anyway, in the last month or so, it has really been Evan starting up conversations about Dallin.  And there has been so much said that I don't remember.  I wish, now, that I had kept a log of all of the things he's said.  At least every other day, he wakes up from his nap, looking kind of sad.  When I ask him what's wrong, he says, "I just miss Dallin."  The first few times after hearing this, I started to get a little bit concerned.  In the back of the book mentioned above, it says, to the parents, "It is important to remember that this is your grief, not theirs.  Your younger children will receive the story about a brother or sister who died only as a part of the family story, not as a reason for them to experience sorrow or grief."  I wondered if I say things or do things that put pressure on Evan to "feel" this grief.  I quickly realized that I definitely don't.  So I felt better.  But I still wondered what was going on.

He has also said, many times, "I'm disappointed that Dallin isn't here with us."  One day we were all sitting around the table, eating, and really enjoying each other's company.  I commented that it was so nice to have everyone there and that we were having so much fun together.  And Evan said, "But somebody is missing.  Dallin is missing."  He's the one that brings it up.  We were at a park on Saturday and Evan was climbing around a tree.  He called me over because he wanted to say a prayer.  I told him to go ahead.  He thanked Heavenly Father that he was able to be strong and we could have a fun time.  A couple of minutes later he called me back over for another prayer (not normal behavior, by the way).  This time he said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I wish that Dallin was here to play with us and do lots of things with us.  Please bless him until he comes back to us..."  Well, if that don't turn on the emotional faucet...

One night he was just really upset about Dallin not being with us.  He absolutely insisted that he have a picture of Dallin before he could go to sleep.  I found him one that had been on my desk at Unum.  It was very, very special to him and I think he ended up sleeping with it half the night until Michael took it and put it on his dresser because of very sharp corners. 

So, I've been trying to ask him, without putting my ideas into his head, why he's so sad about Dallin...why he's thinking about him so much...just what's going on.  As far as I can tell, he's having dreams about him.  A couple of times after his naps, he has walked right past me working at the computer, gotten Dallin's scrapbook down and looked through the whole thing, all by himself.  He says he sees him when he's dreaming and then misses him when he wakes up.  Again, oh how I wish I could see what he, in his innocence, gets to see.  But then it gets me to thinking about all the people who do not believe that they will see their loved ones again who have passed on.  That they are gone forever.  I'm so grateful to know that that is not the case, and that we will see them again.  Evan understands so much about the plan of salvation and resurrection because of Dallin.  That's really neat to see.  He wants to know when and how he will get to see his brother again.

So, it appears that I will not have to force the issue with the kids that they have an older brother.  They already know and he is just as much a part of our family, to them, as they are.  I think that's wonderful.  Today Maren was holding Dallin's picture and she said, "Baby.  Dallin.  Sleep."   But only till we meet again, son.

Family Visitors!

Earlier this month we had the GREAT privilege of having my cousin, his wife and two girls come visit the Oregon family members.  I hadn't seen my cousin Nathan in about ten years, since Michael and I hooked up with him at his hotel with my aunt  and uncle the day before he went into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo.  Nathan is the son of my Uncle David who, as you can read about in my CA trip post, I love very much.  Goes for the whole family.  I was really excited to meet his little family of girls, too.  Their visit didn't disappoint.  I think they got a big overdose of family activity and not a lot of rest, but we sure enjoyed having them in Oregon.  Here are just a few highlights with a lot of pictures...

Day Two...trip to downtown Portland.  It was a hot day but we had fun.  Their girls are so cute and photogenic.

The kids eating lunch in the park.

          After Nathan got out of  the fountains, he showed us that diapers serve many purposes.

Day Four...the women and the kids took a trip to the berry farm while my brother and Nathan spent some time together catching up and enjoying each other's company.  Here the kids are checking out the chickens.  The picture on the right is of Nathan's daughter, Lucy, showing me what she thought of the chickens.

Lucy really loved Maren and Maren loved her right back.  Maren rarely lets kids hold her hand, but she and Lucy made great buddies.  It was so fun to see!

 

The kids LOVED picking the berries.  Well, I should say that they LOVED eating the berries, really.  I tried telling Evan he shouldn't eat so many and he said, "Mom, I just can't stop myself!"  Maren would've said the same thing if she could've.  She was chowing them down.  I ended up giving the berry farm about $5 extra to cover all the berries our six kids ate.

 

And here's what a little berry picking will do...make for very sleepy kids.  By the way, never give up your water bottle to Maren.  She will not let it go!!

Last day...so sad.  We met at a park to play and talk.  Here are four of my favorite guys...from left:  my brother-in-law, Matt, my cousin, Nathan, my brother, Brandon, and my dad.  Fun group of men.

Lucy on the left and my cousin, Nicole on the right.  Nicole had gotten baptized the day before.  I have some pictures of that day, but none that are any good, sadly.  Nicole holds a special place in my heart.  She was due a week after Dallin's due date.  Well, my Aunt Sherryl went into labor with her on Dallin's due date.  They went to the hospital, it was confirmed she was in active labor, and they told my Aunt Sherryl to walk around for a while to help things progress.  She refused.  She said she was absolutely not having her baby on that day because of what had happened to us.  She laid in bed and didn't move.  Labor slowed down and Nicole was born in the early hours the next day.  I look at her and can't believe that's how big Dallin would be (well, maybe not quite so tall, but still...). 

 

Wonderful women...my grandma, Nathan's amazing and beautiful wife, Anna, and my sister, Danica.

We tried to get a picture of all of the kids together (this would be my four youngest cousins and then my kids, Danica's kids and Nathan's kids).  The first picture is my favorite mess up.  I love how Devin, the oldest in the picture, has his hand over his eyes.  Ha!  The second one is the best I could find on my camera.  I don't know how anyone gets a decent picture with more than, uh, ONE child in it.

Me with Anna and Nathan and then me with Lucy.  I really miss all of them and wish they were closer.  It's so wonderful to see family.  Nathan is as wonderful as he's always been...and just as handsome, too.  He's a police officer in Phoenix and had lots of fun stories to share.  He's also an amazing pianist.  Anna is wonderfully loving, always prepared with snacks, fun, beautiful, and talented.  She and Nathan played a gorgeous rendition of "We'll Bring the World His Truth" at the baptism, with him on the piano and her on the cello.  I loved it!  Evan had wonderful things to say about both of them after they left...even going as far as to name his "pet" caterpillar Nathan.  I wish I had more pictures of their younger daughter, Mary.  She must've been hiding out somewhere every time I whipped the camera out.  Anyway, thanks, guys, for coming and bringing lots of smiles to your Oregon family!  We love you!

These Sweet Kids!

I've been dying to do a post about the kids the past month or more.  There is so much fun stuff going on in their lives and every day that passes, I'm afraid I will miss something, forget to mention it, and it will be forgotten forever.  Time has been my enemy, however...along with all the other things I need to get done on a daily basis.  Today I decided that I don't care what falls through the cracks, I'm getting this post done. 

First, about the kids together...I just love the stage they're at.  They really, really love each other and they show it all the time with spontaneous hugs and lots of kisses.  Is there anything better for a mother to witness?  I'm not sure!  The kids enjoy spending time together, playing, taking baths, or just cuddling up for a picture.  I love it!

Okay, now I'll do Evan.  He has been growing up so much the last few months.  He has quite the imagination.  He loves to play pretend about monsters, aliens and superheros the most.  He is newly intrigued by Star Wars because Michael showed him all of about 5 minutes of Yoda on YouTube.  Now he can pretty much tell you the whole Star Wars story and people assume he's seen the actual movies.  Silly guy.  Here are Michael and Evan playing "Inspector Clueso (sp?)".  I don't know how this got started, but one day they were on the hunt for the stolen gem.  Michael had put on this marker mustache.  Well, in the middle of the hunt, Evan disappeared for a few minutes.  I heard something going on in the bathroom and just as I was about to get up and check on him, he came out of the bathroom...with his own mustache.  I just loved it!  What a cutie.

 

I also love how he is getting to have new experiences lately.  Last term I signed him up for a tumbling class and a swimming class.  He was pretty much terrified of both but he came such a long way.  His teachers for both classes were wonderful and helped him along.  By the end of his tumbling class, he was doing headstands all over the house, working on his backwards rolls and he wasn't throwing near the fit that he had at the beginning (he's still in swimming and still says he doesn't want to go each time.  But once his feet touch the water, he's got a big smile on his face and has a great time.)  Tumbling was a lot more terrifying for him than swimming and I would have to talk him through his anxieties all the way there. 

One day I thought we just weren't going to be able to go.  In fact, I was telling him that if he absolutely hated it this time, I wouldn't make him go anymore.  He was just beside himself with fear.  I finally wizened up and suggested that we say a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help him have fun.  I went ahead and said it at a stop light.  A few seconds after I was done, he said, "I'm still scared, Mom."  I assured him that it would go away and he would have fun because we asked for Heavenly Father's help.  In a matter of about two minutes, he was telling me, excitedly, about what he was going to work on in class that day.  And he ended up having the best time ever in class.  What a great lesson that was for him...that Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers.  A week later, on a swimming day, we were just about to eat lunch and I was telling him that swimming was that evening.  He asked if he could say the prayer for lunch and he proceeded to ask Heavenly Father to help him not be afraid of his swimming class that day.  I was so proud of him to be able to apply what he learned earlier to a current situation.  So, lots of character building activities lately.

The last thing I want to say about Evan is that he's just plain sweetness.  He says the most wonderfully loving things I've ever heard.  His prayers are incredible and are so humbling to listen to.  Sometimes he's asking that the Holy Ghost can "be around us".  Or thanking Heaven for Jesus.  All your normal things, just worded so eloquently and sweetly.  They are heartfelt and sincere.  We love you, Evan!

(with his cousin, Jaren, hugging "Grammy")

(really getting into his guitar jam session with Uncle Matt) 

Now for the Maren girl.  So much changes when you're only a year and a half old (officially, a week from today!).  The biggest, coolest thing about Maren is her talking.  I was counting all the words she says the other day and I stopped at 50 because I didn't want to count anymore.  All kids have their strengths, and talking is definitely hers.  Which makes it so fun around here.  My current favorites (subject to change at any time, of course!), are "all wiiii" (all right).  What's funny about her saying this is when she says it.  She'll climb up on the table and I want her to get down so she says "all wiiii".  Or she'll be yelling or screaming about something, usually happily, but she's being too loud so I'll tell her she doesn't have to scream.  So she says "all wiiii".  Ha!  The second one is "all wet".  I didn't even know she could say the word wet and we were at my mom's house about 2 weeks ago.  She and Evan were running through the sprinklers and, after a few times through, she came up to me and said, "all wet" just clear as can be.  Yep!  And she's been "all wet" quite a few times since then and just loves it.  My third favorite is "look, Mom!"  She uses "look, Mom!" to let me know she put her shoes on funny or to point out the dog in the park or so I watch her make a mess of her milk on the table.  So much to look at around here.  So, to say that the rest of us are in love with her talking would be an understatement.  She's just so cute!

Maren's current loves are:  me, Michael, Evan, Anton, babies, hats, swings, food, dogs, cats, baths, and copying anything that Evan does.  She has spent the last two Sundays in Nursery since both Michael and I have to teach and it's impossible with her.  She seems to really like it and is doing well.  Maren is really funny and is chalk full of personality.  She gives the most wonderful kisses (still...I think I've mentioned this in previous posts) and loves to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, and I Love You, You Love Me.  We love her big blue eyes and the love she brings into our family.

(We were all outside one day after church and she just hopped on Evan's scooter and was trying to get the helmet ("hat") on.  That's one happy girl!)

Bring the Kids!

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

After seeing Jen's blog rating (ha! You must check it out!), I decided I'd see how I was faring. I was surprised and thrilled to be keeping it safe for the kids (heehee) with only one reference to the word "drugs". Considering how sick I was a while back and all the "drugs" I was taking, I'm pretty shocked. Anyway, that was fun. Back to work.

A Real Vacation!

So, finally I'm getting to blogging about my first vacation since having kids! At the end of May/beginning of June I went to California, thanks to my bless-ed friend, Lisa! I don't want to embarrass her or test her humility, but I must say that I would've never made it to California in the first place, gotten to eat a thing, enjoy anything I did, or fly back home without her funding it. I'm still working on her thank you card...this is not something you can just whip up on the fly for such a spectacular five days. Anyway, here's some of our fun.

Oh, first let me say that Michael started his job on Wednesday, 5/28 and I left on Thursday, 5/29. THANK YOU, MIKEY! He was amazing to start a new job and take care of the kids while I was gone. And thank you, too, to Danica, Rachel and Chris who took our kids during the day. I didn't worry about them for a second and I just focused on having fun! Yea!

So, our first day we went out to Santa Monica. The one and only reason for that trip was for me to get a haircut. Actually, needing to get a haircut is what starting this whole trip to California thing in the first place. I found out about this lady, Ouidad, who is the so-called expert on curly hair. She has a salon in New York where she charges $250 for a haircut. She developed a technique for cutting curly hair that you have to be certified in by spending two weeks with her (I think I'm getting these details right!). She has written books and has many high-profile clients. Anyway, there are only about 20 stylists in the whole United States who do her "carve & slice" technique, and one of them happens to be in Santa Monica. I made an appointment about a month before my trip and it was hard to get in even then. The lady who cut my hair was not too warm and fuzzy and probably used to pretty rich clients. The technique was super interesting...I had never seen hair cut that way before. I tried to memorize everything about it so I could show my sister (who cuts my hair, though she's not licensed), but it was very complex and I botched up my presentation to her. Anyway, when she was done with me, I couldn't stop staring at myself. My hair looked amazing! I was pretty sure when I walked out of there that I was going to be followed by paparazzi (only half kidding here, people!) and have people wanting to take my picture. I stared at myself in every store window we passed. Ha! It was worth the *#&)*@ amount of money I paid for a haircut. For those of you wondering why someone so very poor would pay *#^)* for a haircut, remember that this is pretty much the only thing I paid for the whole time and I decided that was something I wanted to do for myself with a little bit of tax refund money. Relax! :-)

The rest of the day we spent shopping The Third Street Promenade just down the street. We at yummy food (of course!) at PF Chang's and took a quick trip to the beach.

Just consider this my "before" picture. No, not before the haircut. Before the weight loss! :-)

For those who don't know, Lisa is my longest-running friend. :-) She moved around the corner from me just before 2nd grade started and we have been friends ever since. She moved from New York so she said a lot of words funny. I still tease her to this day. She is always, always laughing. Seriously. However, when we were teenagers, at the height of our hormone crisis, we would order pizza in the wee hours of the night, play sappy love songs on the tape player and cry over the boys we just loved so much and didn't get love back from. Ha!

On day number two, we started the day off just right...with a massage! With all the massages I've had (many of these thanks to Lisa, again!), I've never had one with a heated massage table. Now, that was nice and cozy! Afterwards, we drove to the Redlands temple, which was beautiful. I really enjoyed walking around it and taking in all the gorgeous flowers and Palm Trees! Yes, the palm trees. The only things I really miss about California are my family members who are still there, my friend Lisa, and the palm trees. As gorgeous and green as Oregon is, we will never have palm trees here and that is just a sad state of affairs. Some lovely pictures for you...

After the temple, we went to visit with my Uncle David, who lives in Yucaipa. What a wonderful time we had with this handsome guy! He is one of the most amazing men I know. He is loving and tender and I was brought to tears a few times while I was with him. One of the reasons was just because I love him so much and I miss seeing him more often. They used to live two houses down from Lisa and right around the corner from us growing up. It was great being so close then. Anyway, we talked for a long time, cried a bit, and then he took us out for lunch and frozen yogurt. Yum! After that, we stopped at his chiropractic office and he gave me an adjustment. Aaahhh... I was reminded about how important regular chiropractic adjustments are and have vowed to get the whole family in to the chiropractor more often. Thank you, my handsome, wonderful Uncle David, for the wonderful visit we had with you! I love you!

After a yummy dinner with Lisa's parents at their house, we set out for our hotel across the street from Disneyland. No, I could not go to California without going to The Happiest Place on Earth. It always was when I was growing up, and it still is. Though DisneyWorld also fits in that category. :-) We got to spend two days there, though it wasn't enough. One more day and I could've done all that I wanted to...although my feet would've never held out that long. As it was, I was limping through the airport the day I left. Ha! I loved getting to finally see California Adventure, which was under construction the last time I was there. I loved the California Screamin' roller coaster! We got to go on all of our favorites plenty of times, so that was nice. And we got to see Fantasmic!, which I just love. Here are a few pics from Disneyland.

Every time we're at Disneyland together, either I get a picture of her in her Autopia car or she gets a picture of me. Here I am.



Our first day of junior high (back in the day before they started making them "middle schools"!), we wore the same outfit that we had gotten from Miller's Outpost. A striped shirt with a zipper (red and white for me, blue and white for her) with coordinating shorts. We end up getting the same things a lot of times when we're together. Here we are in our twinner visors, courtesy of Lisa, of course!

Just a beautiful sight!

With our bug eyes after the 3D It's Tough To Be a Bug! show. Love that one. The bees stinging you in the back get me every time!

Gotta love Minnie! She's always so stylin'. It was a great trip. Great to relax after a year of lots and lots and lots of work, almost no breaks, and mothering, mothering, mothering. I got home and the kids were great. We all appreciated each other much more...for the first two days at least!