Monday, February 25, 2008

The Temple

Last Wednesday Chad and I took the afternoon and went to the Temple. Even though we only live 15 minutes away, it is still an afternoon outing with traffic. A couple in our ward here in Beaverton arranged a "switch" with us and now we have somebody to swap babysitting with so that we can at least go together. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place to be.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

A Night in the Hood

Saturday we headed to Hood River for a quick 24 hours with friends and family. We had to cancel some dinner plans with good friends a couple of weeks ago during the snowy winter, but we were all able to reschedule for Saturday night. Afterwards we went to "game night" with a group of friends from our old ward and we loved that the once a month gathering coincided with our little trip. Maisey got to spend her second night away (I won't keep counting), with Aunt Jill, Uncle Tod, and Cousin Ruby. She has been asking to stay again since the last time we visited (hopefully she doesn't expect to stay every time we take a trip up), and she was thrilled at the invite. We, or I actually slept this time (instead of worrying) and I only hope that Aunt Jill sleeps well tonight as we thank her for her willingness to wake from her sleep several times a night in order to give us some alone time... I think Maisey likes it more than us- it still feels weird when she's not in the middle. We spent Sunday with family and Oma even took the day off work:) We felt very special and we enjoyed spending the day with our old neighbors (family). Maisey has missed Ruby a ton and told her numerous times that she misses living in Hood River. But, on the way home she remembered her cousins Peyton, Colby, Miranda, and Michelle here in Beaverton and she said she was glad to live close to them. As long as we have family nearby (which we do- Eugene, Hood River, and Beaverton) we will always be happy.

Wonder Woman


Maisey is sporting her new Wonder Woman costume that she will be wearing as she escorts my brother (who is a high school senior) in a school fashion show/talent contest which will be held on St. Patty's Day. We are very excited to see him dance, act, and compete against the other twelve seniors at Willamette High School in Eugene as we are sure he will win!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Presidents Day at the Zoo


Today was a beautiful day and we decided to make a trip to the Zoo. Our pass hadn't been used since Zoo lights and the sunshine was calling our name. However, because of the holiday it was crazy busy. The actual zoo wasn't too bad, but as we exited the freeway we were asked to turn back around, head West, and find the park and ride shuttle which was a mile or so away. When we arrived after waiting in line to exit and re-exit the freeway, there were about 100 other patrons waiting for the school bus. At that time we decided to head for a transit center and Max it. The Max is very exciting to Maisey but as far as convenience goes, it usually isn't any easier than driving- or cheaper. As always, there are exceptions and we were grateful we didn't have to wait for the yellow bus for who knows how long!

By the time we arrived home Chad was up and ready to take on what was left of the afternoon. It is nice having him home (awake) everyday by 3pm!

My Valentine

We never do much around here for Valentines Day but Maisey let us know that wasn't acceptable. So, next year we will probably exchange more than just a kiss... Here is Maisey sporting her new Valentines dress.

Maisey and I decorated this cute box with my very neglected scrapbooking materials for all of her school Valentines. It did get the most attention and it was just her style.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Dinosaurs

Omsi also had a great dinosaur exhibit and some of them were mechanical.

Maisey had so much fun seeing the life-size dinosaurs and even more fun digging up fossils.

Omsi

Saturday we went to Omsi because we hadn't been in a couple of months. We wanted to show Maisey the developmental stages that a baby must go through in order to come out healthy and she was pretty interested this time around, now that Ryley is coming into the world within a short time.

In the past I thought there were signs posted that you could not use photography in this certain area, but after looking everywhere and seeing numerous other postings, we snapped a couple... However, it was after we exited that we discovered a tiny little sign and by then it was too late.
If you haven't been to this exhibit it is really amazing and the stages cover 28 days to 32 weeks. The baby above is where I am at, 32 weeks and 18 or so inches long.

If the real babies are too sad to look at you can enjoy other models. We walked Maisey through a C-section and that was kind of fun.


Sunday, February 10, 2008

I'm it...I've been tagged by Melanie!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 other people and posts their names. Next, they leave a message on their blog telling them they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog for directions.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was almost 16 and I was loving team sports in High School. I played soccer, swam free style on my schools swim team and club, and was a thrower in track and field.

5 Things on my "To-do" List Today

1. Take Masiey to and from a 1/2 day of school.
2. Have family home evening... Though we aren't sure what.
3. Update my blog.
4. Write an awfully dreadful paper for my social change class on the fact we are running low on oil in our highly industrialized country and take a test for the same class.
5. Cook dinner.
*As always, the list continues on...

3 Bad Habits I Have

1. I'm a loud mom, I often raise my voice or shout during extreme chaos rather than talk softly.
2. I am a cleaning machine (I have to clean my bathroom at least 2-3 times a week and we aren't messy people and above all, I clean before studying or I can't focus!)
3. I worry if anyone is late. I almost ALWAYS arrive places too early (like 20 minutes or so), and I get woozy and worried if people are more than 15 minutes late.
* Summed up- I am a busy, high-strung woman, who in my adult years has developed a Type A personality across the board.

Places I have lived

Eugene, OR
Seattle, WA (Summer time)
Troutdale, OR
Hood River, OR
Beaverton, OR

Things most people don't know about me

-I would like to have several careers (RN, Midwife, Social Work- at the least).
-I really do not like animals- EXCEPT, I am obsessed with horses (Chad loves ALL animals so I am in a tough spot... Little dogs are ok if raised and bonded with from birth).
-I don't have much of a desire to travel (Of course I want to take some regular family trips Hawaii and Disneyland).
-I consider friends to be family.
-Activity Day Girls was my favorite calling and I miss it.
-I am 'shy' and quiet when I am the new person.
-I'm a wanna-be seamstress who only learned a year or so ago how to thread her own bobbin.
-I don't laugh easily (However, I can hardly breathe from laughing so hard when tha stupid show candid camera is on).
-I have an entrapeneural spirit but I'm too broke to do anything about it right now!
-I've always wanted to adopt
-I HATE chain letters and stuff like this but I will comply because people had to use names when tagging and it will be obvious if I screw it up!

I tag, Jamie, Kristy, and Ali. All of my other bloggers have been tagged so I have to think on it.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Our Prophet

After hearing many people's testimonials on Sunday about the fact that we know Gordon B. Hinckley as Our Prophet and others see him just as the President of the LDS Church, it made me want to steer away from the word 'president' at this time because he was so much more.

As joyous as it is that he has returned to Heaven, I can't help but be sad still about his passing. I joined the Church in March of 1996 and he is the only prophet I have known. I have always enjoyed watching specials on the BYU channel about his life over the years and now with his passing more might be produced spanning through his last days... Chad and I hope anyway.

On Sunday night I enjoyed a 20 or so minute interview that he gave 11 years back on 60 minutes. I was so impressed with his concrete answers and I was thankful that the station played the broadcast again for all of the world to see. I am also glad I went with the prompting I felt to turn on the t.v. as it motivated me. The interview made me reflect on my missionary efforts or lack of at this time, and inspires me to be more vulnerable around the people I love and interact with regularly so that I might share with them ways in which the gospel has played a hand in my life.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Rug Burn

I know you are thinking what is up with the hidious feet on this blog but pictures really allow us to share...

This is a rug burn Chad obtained while bowling with his Wii! I have always been completely turned off by video games but this system is pretty engaging. As this picture shows, some people get a little to into it. He use to bowl on a league and he said he would drag his foot the same way.

Chad just started a graveyard shift and as a way of keeping the schedule on his nights off, and as a means of keeping me company physically while I study until 1 or 2 am (yeah I'm back to those hours!), he has been killing time with his Wii. He got this rug burn from bowling several days ago... He made the comment to me that he needed to wear shoes and/or socks because it kind of hurt!

I just noticed it today after several nights and I had to share because it is ridiculously comical.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Excercising The Body


Maisey was finally well enough to go to indoor soccer practice this week... However, she was WAY too sore to go to basketball the next day. I seriously thought something was wrong yesterday as she walked around all day like a child with braces on her legs, or as Chad put it, "Forest Gump". Since she was 2 she's taken gymnastics, tap, ballet, and swimming. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought these other muscles would complain so much. So, later today Chad is taking her to the gym to play some more soccer in hopes of working those weaker muscles out!

Excercising The Mind

As Maisey was recovering from the flu I stumbled (literally) onto one of her latest pastimes. Ok, so she doesn't really sit around spelling with colored pencils everyday, but I sure thought it was creative and interesting.




She was pretty dissatisfied with the 'S' and the 'O', but I thought they were legible.