Happy Birthday Trevor

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR

Sorry I don't have a good picture to go with this post. Trevor has been serving a mission in Russia for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for almost 2 years now. He comes home in a month. The current pictures I do have of him were e-mailed to me and the pictures quality are not allowing me to post a clear photo.

Easter Savenger Hunt & Camping Close to Home

Clayton & Mekenna were not with us for Easter so we did a little celebration with them the following weekend. They are getting to the age where they are to old for an Easter egg hunt so we put together a scavenger hunt with a little gift at the end. They both had seven clues stuffed in plastic eggs all around the house. We decided to keep it indoors since it had still been snowing off and on and I cannot predict the weather. I was surprised how excited they were to do the scavenger hunt. It looked like they really enjoyed it. The last clue led them to the camper, where in there bunk beds they found a big plastic egg filled with candy and a new (used) Nintendo DS game.

Ever since we got the camper Mekenna had been begging us to sleep in it. So Shawn pulled it out on to the driveway and pulled out the awning. We could barely get them out of it. They wanted to eat, sleep, watch movies, and just hang out in the camper. So we let them eat a few meals in the camper and we all slept in it Saturday night. Then early Sunday morning Shawn & I went back into the house, where I crawled back into our comfortable bed. A few hours later Shawn went out to the camper to check on the kids and they were up watching Grease 2, waiting to be served there breakfast. Overall it was a fun weekend!

The start of the scavenger hunt. . .

Sitting in their bunks in the camper playing their new Nintendo DS games.

The camper all set-up in the drive way. . . camping close to home.

TEA Party Anyone

Shawn & I decided to take part in a TEA Party in our area. For anyone who doesn't follow the news (or follows the new that refused to take the time to report on this big event) there were thousands of TEA Parties across the country on April 15th. The TEA Parties were an opportunity for proud Americans to express their opposing feelings about the government, politicians and the direction this great country is heading. Since I had to work and Shawn is currently waiting for construction to start on another house we decided it would be more beneficial for us to join our fellow Americans in Jackson, Wyoming during my lunch hour.

Jackson, Wyoming happened to have their TEA Party during a spring blizzard. 775 Supporters held American flags, TEA Party signs and honked their car horns. 500+ thumbs up from cars driving by the event. That’s a conservative count of 1275 supporter in a town of 8,500 during freezing rain and snow. Anyone can hold a rally during nice weather, but we did it during a spring snow storm.

It felt really good to do something and to know that we are not the only ones that are fed up with the government and there doings. We were cold and wet and wanted to stay longer, but we really felt good about participating for the amount of time we could. We also won a gift certificate for the best signs their. This picture was taken at the TEA Party and posted on a website of the gentlemen who put together Jackson's TEA Party.

HaPPy BirTHdaY CHaSe

Happy 5th Birthday Chase!

HaPPy BirTHDay Sandy & Sheila

Best wishes on a very Happy Birthday!

Sandy on April 3rd

Sheila on April 4th

OREGON - snow, family, and the camper

This last weekend we went to Oregon to pick up the camper we purchased a few months back. Who would have guessed the weather would be horrendous, by the end of March we figured we would be rather safe and not have bad roads. But it just happened to be the weekend all sorts of weather warnings were popping up, and not just back home in Wyoming but in Oregon as well. We already had the time off of work so we had to go, we figured we would just have to work it out as we go.

We left Wednesday, March 25th after work and made it as far as Ontario, Oregon before we decide to get a cheap hotel and crash for a few hours. Shawn being excited we were up bright and early the next morning. Given we still had at least a good nine hour drive ahead of us it was a good idea to get going. The drive to Oregon was somewhat uneventful. The wind was horrible through almost all of Idaho, plus the section of the Blue Mountains in Oregon between Le Grande and Pendleton were really icy and slick. Somewhere in this section I remember seeing a turn off for Deadman Pass. The Deadman Pass being the point were most Emigrants on the Oregon Trail recognized that the major difficulties were behind them.

We arrived in Salem, Oregon mid afternoon. We met up with Jason (brother-in-law) to see the huge construction project he has been working on. We had to wear hard hats, safety glasses, and neon orange vests while on the job site. It would have been a ideal picture moment, if I would have wanted to dig out the camera. The project Jason is working on is impressive and it would be fun to see the finished product.

Then we went to Jason & Christianna's (sister-in-law) house, we finally got to see our new camper. After seeing it in person we still feel like it was a great find. It has been well taken care of.

That evening my in-laws (Chris & Dan) arrived. They drove over from Eugene. Jason brought pizza home for dinner. We enjoyed a good dinner and each others company before turning in for the night. We stayed in the camper and all went well, but I did decide that the bed did need an egg crate foam to soften it up a bit.

Friday morning we had an appointment to go to the place we bought the camper to get a run down of how it all works. And also to make sure everything on the camper works like the salesman promised. He went through it all so fast and seemed irritated when we asked questions or brought up concerns. One of our concerns being not all of the running lights were working. By the time we left all the lights were working. Since the camper is a fifth wheel we had to add an attachment to the camper so that we are able to pull it with the truck. We had installed the attachment but there was an area that needed welded. So our next stop was this really nice guy who welded the part for us. Then we were told we would need to go to the DMV for a temporary registration. We were told wrong! We showed up at the DMV and waited in line only to be told we did not need temporary registration.

Next stop was WalMart to get the egg crate foam for our mattress and a few other necessities. After that we went back to Jason & Christianna's house. That evening we sat out by the fire pit and visited. Dan, Shawn, and Jason are die-hards they stayed up until almost 4 a.m., and because the conversation was interesting I stayed up with them, though I don't know how. The camper bed felt 10 times better with the foam added.

To say the least we slept in the next morning and once we did get up we were rather lazy for many hours after that. Shawn continued to dicker with the camper. We decided to go out to dinner that evening before Dan & Chris headed back to Eugene. After dinner we attempted to watch Iron Man, which I hadn't seen yet and still haven't. My eyes just could not stay open, and neither could Shawn's. So we gave in and went to bed.

We headed home Sunday morning. Besides being tired everything was going well, until Pendelton. We came upon the bottom of that Blue Mountain pass and there was chain law in effect and since we were towing the camper it effected us. Well we didn't have any chains and only one place in town had chains, but we would have to buy 3 sets at the approximate cost of $600. That or we could take the chance of getting pulled over and receiving a ticket of $1,500, $500 for each axle. While waiting at the truck stop we were visiting with a truck driver who said if we wait for about 2 hours the chain law should lift. After weighing out our options we decided not to spend the extra money we didn't have and wait it out. The driver was right about 2 hours later it was lifted we got on the road right away. The funny thing about it all was the roads weren't even bad, just wet. They were worse when we came over then on the way home. Plus we see way worse roads in Wyoming for months on end.

We made it as far as Mountain Home, Idaho before we decide to call it good for the night. That put us about 5 hours from home. Plus, we received numerous calls from loving family members letting us know that it was snowing bad and our roads ahead would be snowy and slick. We pulled into an RV Park after visiting WalMart to grab some dinner and a $5 movie. We got on the road at 8 the next morning and all the snow was melting off the roads by the time we were passing through. We arrived home mid-afternoon with our driveway blocked from drifting snow. However, it was nice to be home with no tickets or accidents.

Doctor Visit

A few weeks back I went to the doctor. For those who are not up to date . . . Shawn & I would love to add a baby to our family. However, for some people it is not as easy as others. We have been trying for over a year now to get pregnant without much success. I decided to set a deadline and once that deadline rolled around and if I wasn't pregnant I would finally give in an see a doctor about it. Well the deadline came and went so I set-up an appointment for the first 3 tests the doctor suggested. The tests were an ultrasound, thyroid levels, and also a progesterone level test. A few long days later the test results came back. According to the doctor everything appears normal except that my progesterone level was low. So the doctor wants to put me on a fertility drug Clomid. After that I will have to go back in again to test my progesterone level to make sure it is enough but not too much. Then we try this for 6 months and see what happens. If I am not pregnant after those 6 months we will discuss with the doctor what the next steps are. It will be nice if it all works out with this drug. We will cross our fingers and hope to be blessed.

Random Things

A couple weekends back when we had the kids we went to Jackson to see the movie "Race to Witch Mountain". I think I was more excited to see it then Clayton & Mekenna were. I remotely remembered the old Witch Mountain movies and wanted to see the modern take on the idea. The movie was good we will probably buy it when it comes out. Just so you know what that means to us is we don't buy many movies unless we really like them. After seeing the new movie I wanted to see the old ones again, so I bought the 2 movie special from the Disney Movie Club. We are trying to finish our membership with them anyway. Of course the old ones do not have the special effects and action of the new one but were fun to watch. If you are looking for a good family movie I recommend "Race to Witch Mountain". Just a side note I also bought "Watcher in Woods", I remember watching and liking it as a kid so curiosity got the best of me. Does any one else remember this oldies but goodies?

TWILIGHT -- what more can I say then I was a little behind on jumping on the bandwagon of excitement for it. However, I am like the majority of people out there and I am hooked. Since I spend so much time driving it is easier for me to listen to the books on CD then it is for me to find time to read the books. Plus I have enjoyed how the reader puts so much character into the story while reading it. I have listened to Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I am very impatiently waiting for Breaking Dawn to be available at the library. I want it so bad that I have been tempted the last few days to buy it. If it just weren't so darn expensive. I didn't get a chance to watch Twilight in the theater, but was also impatiently waiting for it to come to dvd, and it finally did. But living where we live I was unable to get to a store (without wasting a lot of gas) to rent it. I wanted to rent it to make sure I liked it before I bought it, and I did like it so now I want to buy it (of course). Anyway that Monday I drove all over Jackson looking for a copy to rent. Finally at my last stop I asked at the counter if any had been returned and luck was on my side one copy had. So I convinced my loving husband to watch it with me that evening. I was surprised to hear him say for the most part he liked it, the only thing he didn't like was he felt there were a couple slow spots. I love him very much for watching it with me instead of wrestling. I'll let you know if I give in to the temptation and buy it, anyone who has read/listened to the series would not fault me.

Nintendo DS Lite--
Well my loving step-children turned me on to this fun little technological toy called the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS Lite is a hand held device for video games, for those out there who are like me and didn't really know what they were. Any way they both have one and brought them to our house the last two weekends the were with us. I had so much fun playing with them I did something I would rarely do and bought one. Then of course you need games to play. Well I am a sucker for the old Mario Bros games. Our current game collection consists of New Mario Bros, Dr. Mario, and Yoshi's Island. I would like to get the game Professor Layton and the Curious Village it looks like something I might enjoy and I keep seeing advertisements for it. Not sure where I was going with this, but it is a fun way to pass some free time.