Bambi and Buddies.

There are two more deer standing to the left that I couldn't get in the frame. The kids go wild when they see deer in the back yard. I love it.

booksmart!

Man! We knew we were probably doomed since both Naoki and I have worn glasses forever--but to have to start this early is truly a bummer! Hope you all recognize "the Booj" next time you see her!

Who am I?

Take the Quiz here!

Lookie, Lookie, the Jenny's are the same!

First time for everything...

"Uh... I'm singing! I'm posting a blog and I'm singing... I'm posting a blog and I'm SINGing!"

Dagumit, I don't have anything to say. I was just bored, you know... and I thought I'd try and figure this BLOG business out once and for all. And I did it. But now that it's done, I have... nothing. How 'bout an update? I'm 'bery busy with school--midterms were this week, and will creep a bit into the next. Work at Brick Oven's getting better-- I almost spilt a 14" pizza in front of my guests... but some how was able to balance it on my shoulder blade, while they grabbed it (and I still got a great tip). I got a number, which said something to the affect of, "Hi I'm Sonny, the built guy with a mohawk. You're cute. Give me a call @..." And I'm pretty sure that this high school aged bus-boy tried to ask me out for this weekend. Awkward... and I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

And that's 'bout it. I'm going home for the summer, working as a wilderness ranger. The coolest part about it is the 10-day kayaking stint we go out on where we'll monotor... aquatic wildlife of some-sort. It should be a REALLY great job. So.. Jeff's right, this is a little weird without children involved. Here's a cute little girl I GOOGLEd. Hope you guys have a great weekend!!

White House Easter Egg Roll

Justin and I waited in line all night long Friday night with 1600 other parents for tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll. It has been happening every year since 1878, I think. It was really fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. The White House lawn was covered with activites, animal shows, Mickey Mouse Club, coloring table, etc. It was great family fun. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

dressing up

Laura is admiring herself in the mirror after getting all dressed up. She loves the skirt because it's covered in cats. I wish this was video because she's singing a song to her reflection. Two of my favorite things about little toddler girls...1. dressing up and 2. making up songs.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

Today I had the pleasure of reminding myself why I loved teaching the Sunbeam class. I had three kids in my class and my lesson was on I am thankful for fish. I began the lesson by having them imagine we are at a park. We see a bridge way far away and start walking to it. As we get there we look over the edge to see a stream and do you know what we saw in that stream? Jeremiah: (very serious) "a crocodile?" No, fish. I begin to demonstrate what a fish looks like, complete with fins and fishy face. Kate: "That does not look like a fish". Cute. Our discussion turns to what else you find in the ocean besides fish. Ella: "Mermaids!" Later they discuss that sharks eat the poor fish. I explain that Heavenly Father's creations are here for us to eat. For example a hamburger. We all love hamburgers and where do they come from. Ella: McDonalds. "Close,... Cows". We later are coloring fishy pictures and Ella and Kate color theirs pink. They tell Jeremiah that he is silly to color his pink because he is a boy. I tell them that pink is like cotton candy MMMMmmm. Ella: "Yeah, pink is like totton tandy". The class was way too short and I enjoyed it so much

Simple Things

 

Today Brea and I went to the Stake Activity Day. We started off by trying to put together a few oragami shapes. It was a lot of fun. The theme for day was small things. They explained how a testimony is usually not built by a large event. It is strengthened by several small ones. We started off by learning to play I am a child of God on hand chimes. We discussed how beautiful one chime was, but how significate the sound can be coupled with several. Nice lesson.

 

Next we listened to Sis Clason talk about the Liahona and how through diligence Lehi and his family were able to steer their coarse. She then sent them out to follow a liahona to receive a reward. She is an amazing teacher.

 

You can see the beautifully decorated table by a manzanita bush covered with oragami art. I wish you could see the detail. It was beautifully simple.

 

What wonderful ladies we have to model our teaching after.

Worth waiting for

For weeks now we have anticipated Colton Bragg's mission call. I told him that he is going to Denver North and Shane said that because he is so picky with what he eats that he will go to Japan or somewhere they don't have cheese. Well today his call came and he found out that he is not going to Japan and he is not going to Denver North but he is going to Denver South. How crazy is that? You could feel the Spirit bear witness that this was exactly where he should be. It was awesome to be a part of that. We are so excited for him and we will miss that crazy kid! The people in the denver mission will be blessed.

Takin' the Plunge

 

Well after 15 years of Shane wanting me to try his obsession of scuba diving I finally caved. Shane set up an orientation in the Grants Pass YMCA for a few "interested" people. I was trying to help Shane convince some friends to try it when I was blind sighted by Tina saying that she would if I would. UUUMMM...

 

Let me tell you that the vest and tank weighed 1100 pounds. Oh, not to mention the stinkin' weight belt wrapped around my waist... EEEGads!!

 

You want me to do WHAT with WHAT? To defog our lenses we had to hauk a logee in our mask...EEWWW! Then my instructor said he would spit in mine for me...Never mind...

 

Trying it in 3 feet of water, weren't so bad. My NOT so favorite part was having to remove that life support from my mouth, underwater, on purpose. This was to teach me how to put it back in and clear the water out. I said "if I don't take it out in the first place I won't have to clear it". My instructor smiled and said "DO IT". My other Not so favorite part was having to put water in my mask and learn how to empty it, underwater. Guess what I said? "I'll just leave the water in it". He smiled and said "DO IT". The rest of the experience was fine. Equilizing my ears was okay because I took it slowly. I am quite fond of hearing things, so I was in no rush getting to the bottom of the pool. While I was down there we played with a floating torpedo. I was entertained watching the Pedersen boys act like it was a football game underwater. I felt very awkward with my fins on. Shane said I looked like I was riding a bycicle. Thanks Mr. Underwater Butt Pincher. My future in Scuba is uncertain but I must admit that my opinion of it is much different than it was two days ago. And for Shane that is a victory!

Eggsellent

Our hunt was a success. Alice was even kind enough to re-hide some of her eggs so the little kids who weren't as fast could find more. I love it when she extends herself like that. Many of the kids who came were in wheel chairs or used little walkers. She put her eggs on benches and other things that they could reach without trouble. It was very sweet. Love that kid!

Who I am.

Take the Quiz here!

I guess this is me. I don't know though. She has some serious patience with those around her. I, on the other hand, don't always have that going on.

Who wants to blog? ME!!

Good morning all! We're strapping on our pastel and going to our first Easter Egg hunt today. I'm hoping to do the White House Easter Egg Roll this year too. I'm just trying to convince Justin to wait in line over night for tickets. He thinks it's my turn, but I think I'm a woman and shouldn't have to wait in line over night in downtown DC. We'll see how this pans out, I suppose.

I'm MonCheeChee!

Ahhh that iron trap of a brain you have needs a little oil. The monkey wisher was me....still is me. I figure I'm on a roll with that one, and one of these days I might just come to visit with a real monkey on my shoulder.

Bubba This ones for you!!!

Be careful viewing. This video is bound to bring back a memory when all you used to wish for was a monkey.

Oh Halley...

 

We hear the door slam indicating that "Nirvana" I mean nap time is over. Halley is headed down the stairs and Shane mutters I wonder who that is. She responds "Your crazy haired girl" He said "Who is that?" "H-A-L-L-E-Y your Hunny buns" I won't go into detail of her lastest escapade but it involved Ward Conference...Me singing while holding sleeping Evan...And a lot of dancing on the stand. At least I will be safe from any stake calling...Remind me to thank her later.

I'm Emma Woodhouse..Eat your heart out!!

Take the Quiz here!

I thought this would be fun since we have been discussing this of late.

Narly Dude

 

 

Just thought I wouls share a few pics from last night's festivities. We had a ward 80's dance and we all got into it. I loved listening to all my favorite songs again and it totally felt like a Stake dance. Tina Pedersen did a great job with nastalgic decorations and everybody's outfits were so fun Halley was going for Cindy Lauper look. Lindsay is Miss Popular, Breanna is Valley Girl, and Spencer is Billy Idol. Leave it to Mom to come up with some fabulous outfits. When I was doing Lindsay's hair it all came back to me. The only thing I was missing was some Auqua Net. Shane wasn't sure about dressing up in the beging but got into it. Remember those "boat" shoes all the guys wore? I can't believe he still has them. Spencer won best dress up for a kid. You could tell he felt sweet! A girl came up to Shane and said Spencer has some great moves on the dance floor. What a stud. The only thing missing was the overwhelming smell of Polo in the air. What a fun night!

Cheer?

 

While doing laundry today I thought a lot about the detergent Cheer. Huh? What the crap were they thinking. I can't find much "Cheer" in it. I have a word for a detergent. Neverending...Um...Mindnumbing...PilesandPilesandPiles...HowthecrapdidfoldedclothesthatIwashedyesterdaygetbackhere? There are a few words. Shane keeps wanting the kids to clean their rooms. Are you kidding? That just means it goes from floor in bedroom to floor in laundry room. I saw a new washing machine the other day that said it could wash 17 pairs of jeans. Holy Cow. I can't sabotage mine fast enough. I want to get it just to test it. I went through two weeks where someone new kept peeing their bed. I was so sick of washing bedlinens that I was about to coin a new meaning to waterbed. I know Mom...Waa! I just needed to print my insanity.

On Board!

We're at 50% now...That wasn't so bad. It's my first time on a blog and I was a little nervous, but the way I figure, if Jennie can do it, I can definately do it :)
Not much new since my last email. Got a weekend ahead full of nothing but studying...maybe taxes, maybe applying for a summer camp job in Maine (still up in the air).
Congratulations Jac on getting this up and running...it's kind of fun knowing we have our own little corner of the internet, and great pics and videos too.
Dad I had forgot to say congratulations on your award. I would also like to know the date you're coming out if per chance I can make it down.
Have a good weekend everyone! -Uncle Jeff

Givin' it a shot

Testing....1...2...3...

So, not adept at this kind of thing. Will try and figure out how to add pictures later.

Together forever family !!!!!!!

LET'S SEE SOMEBODY TOP THIS FOR AN INCREDIBLY GREAT BUNCH OF PEOPLE.

August Reunion

Jenny mentioned that she wnated to share reunion pics. Here are a few pics from our last reunion. Good times!

Hello from the Eames

This is also a trial to see if this works

Posting a Picture

Yummy Grandma's seashells