seriously troubled

HELP!

Something is seriously wrong with me. (Ha, ha, don't think I didn't hear those comments from my beloved siblings). But I am serious! I close my eyes & all I can think about is getting away--somewhere like the Cook Islands, or St. John, or ...where ever, some place that I can get away from the crowds & enjoy another culture. As long as it is somewhere warm. With turquoise water. Were I can put my toes in the sand....sigh...Oh, great. There I go again.

So, I started looking back at old pictures. Daydreaming, because with today's economy I don't dare do anything else. But I can't snap out of it.

Atata Island, Tonga, 2006: Kaley F., Dixie, Kristi B.

I have a lot to be grateful for & really don't want any reminders. But I still wish I could just lay my head back & shout "Calgon take me away!"

...and the snow flies again

I just took this picture from my upstairs office window. It doesn't do the weather justice. Snow flakes are flying everywhere. Imagine the trees in the background swaying dangerously, and the wind is actually shaking my house! I was getting so excited because our grass has begun to emerge from hiding thanks to two 40 degree days & a little rainstorm. I had planned on going for a walk today to celebrate the warm weather...oh, never mind.

miracles DO happen!

Jake & Lander found a caterpillar last September & put it in this jar. A few days later it made a web-like cocoon, where it has stayed ever since, sitting on my counter because the boys were sure it would make a butterfly. I was sure that it was dead. This morning Lander noticed a hole in the cocoon & we found that our little moth wasn't dead after all. Crazy!

Trevor

Our first babysitter when we moved here was a 13 year old boy named Trevor. I had never, & still have never, met his equal; cute enough to make the girls faint away, hard working, athletic, and just solid goodness to the core.

My boys loved him. They watched him pass the sacrament & tried to imitate him. They begged us to go on dates so he could come babysit.

I loved him to come babysit because he somehow managed to play hours of games with the kids while leaving my house so much cleaner than I ever left it.

(October 2005: Lander, Tayla, Tori, Trevor, Jake)

Trevor grew up and his sister, Tayla, took his place as the "favorite" babysitter, so we didn't cross paths as often, but we still watched from the sidelines as he continued to grow into an even more amazing young man.

Yesterday, he slid off the icy road, hitting a telephone pole, effectively ending this life in a few short seconds. Trevor was only 18.

It seems silly that I am so upset about someone that I haven't really associated much with in the past few years, but I just can't crying since I stopped in to visit the family. I know he is in a better place. I have great faith about The Plan, but it is just so sad to watch his family suffer. This is the second tragic death of a child that his parents have had to endure, and it breaks my heart to think of what they must be going through right now.

my fAvoRIte worker

Josh has been busy in the garage lately, trying to get his tools & our space more organized. Love it. Can't wait 'till it's done! Here is his workbench that he built a few days ago:

yoo hoo??

In honor of our overseas visitor today... ...how the heck are ya?

Tooth Fairy in Fiji?

I thought I should probably elaborate a bit about the Tooth Fairy in Fiji thing.


Several years ago, after I had just returned from a trip to Fiji, Jake & Lander were looking at my photos. They found a picture of a Hindu temple & asked me if that was the Tooth Fairy's home.


My answer was instantaneous. "Of course it's her home!"


How could I resist?


Ever since, Fiji has been her home, and each of the boys' friends have been educated about that fact. So, just in case you haven't seen it, here is a picture of the Tooth Fairy's home:

8 in 8

Jake lost his 8th tooth last night.

I started thinking about how he has lost his teeth. It has been an adventure with each one!

He had the I'm too afraid to pull it out, until it got so loose that it fell into the toilet by accident tooth. Then, of course, he had the "Let me feel how loose your tooth is," before dad quickly pulled it out tooth. He had the "Hey, look what's in my apple!" tooth. Then he had the tooth that was so loose he couldn't eat breakfast because he wanted it to fall out at school tooth, but then he lost it later that day at his friends house, only to find it weeks later. And last night he ran into my room with the it's midnight and I decided to wiggle my tooth until it fell out surprise tooth.

The nice part about it all is that the Tooth Fairy has been very understanding. She has flown from Fiji each time he lost a tooth to leave him a gold dollar. She even accepted a few notes in lieu of the tooth when the tooth couldn't be found.

Thank you Tooth Fairy!

We Miss YOU!

Little Tillamook, we MISS you! When are you coming to visit us?

(Jake, Sydney, Lander, Baby Travis, Jenna in background)

a Valentines to remember

Sorry. No photos. But, I had to mention our memorable Valentine's day in Driggs with Grams. Things just kept going awry. I am not sure what was with that day!

First we found Gram's flowers, a gift from Shauna, frozen on the front porch.

Then, Gram's accidentally pushed the "Clean" cycle on her oven instead of "Bake". Our yummy dinner that she had slaved over was cooked at more than 500 degrees for an hour before we noticed the strange smell.

And, oh, the smell! The house was filled with that oven cleaning smell. Even yummier!

And last, but not least, we found out that Brad got married, but didn't tell any of his kids!

What a bizarre day!

he DID it!

Lander was very worried because he hadn't figured out how to tie his shoes (in other words, he refused to practice). He was convinced that he was going to have to repeat kindergarten. But, yesterday while I helped in his class, he just decided to try & passed off his last kindergarten requirement. Good job buddy!

silly girl

My niece, Jenna, is such a silly little thing. Whether it was waking me up at the crack of dawn, spouting out cute sentences, or coming up with new clothing creations, she kept us really entertained during her visit a week ago.

Here is Jenna (with her big sister, Sydney, restraining her so that she would stay still for the picture) wearing her newest "belt":