Wood

Here is one source of heat for us, our wood burning stove. We also have a kerosene space heater and electric base board heaters. Since we have been here we have learned the term "cord of wood", at least it was new to me.
We had one delivered the other day and the kids had fun climbing on it. David was out of town when we got the wood so the kids and I had fun stacking it. It was starting to get dark and colder so it turned into just me after awhile.

There was an old lady

One day in the store Lucy saw one of those little old ladies with the really white hair. The lady also had real nice big curls in her hair. Lucy said "She has bubbles in her hair."

Today in Sacrament meeting David whispered to Lucy, "Lucy, where is Jesus?" She responded, "In the nursery."

Christmas Eve!

Christmas excitement!

Before...

These are a bunch of wild turkeys I found wandering into the road a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.







After...



After the our ward Christmas party there was one whole turkey left and they gave it to us. George couldn't wait to get such a large drumstick. Its a little different than those tiny chicken ones. At the party the primary did a skit about Samuel the Lamanite and the birth of Christ. The sunbeams were the unbelievers. Ginger's line was "I can't believe this." another line was "This man is crazy." It was really cute. Carson was Samuel the Lamanite, Callie a Nephite, and George a shepherd.

For dinner they had family style dining which was nice. I signed up for yams and stuffing, so I was asked to bring two dishes of yams and two dishes of stuffing that were placed on the two different tables. Although on the way to the church, a foot of one of the children made a nice impression into one of the yam dishes. That one didn't make it to a table. They also had people sign up to set a table with their own dishes and a center piece. What a way to delegate!!! In the middle of the cultural hall was a children's table low to the ground. It was covered with paper and had crayons to color with. It was nice but tight to get around in our very small cultural hall. We have a very talented Activities committee. I learned to appreciate all the hard work the committee does after having that calling in Montana.

We are all excited for Christmas. Yesturday the three older kids sat in the car and listed some things they wanted. Their own personal limosine(don't they already have one of those), their own place to live that they will use their allowance to pay for food and things(am I really that hard to live with), George wanted new dishes(he broke a couple plates the other day trying to get them out of the cupboard). Santa must be LOADED.

Merry Christmas! 1 day and a wake up (according to Carson, Callie, and George)

Children notice everything

Last week I came down stairs and Callie left this on the counter. When I asked her about it she asked me if I took a picture of the one that said "Grandpa & Grandma". I said no but I would have loved to. Children even notice the love that their grandparents have for each other.

Carson's lego creations

Back online

Our new address is PO Box 96, Weed, CA 96094

If anyone needs any other information just email me from our profile page.

Here is our new view of Mount Shasta from the kitchen window of our new place. At a little different angle it is framed in the trees perfectly. The owner trader his neighbor a half an acre to cut down the trees that blocked the view. We went to Reno a week and a half ago to visit some friends from Montana that were down from Idaho for a pig show. Ginger was ready to jump in with the pig but she was a little weirded out by petting it. She loves animals.
Here is Callie with some friends after their choir concert. Carson was in the concert as well, but I missed getting a good picture of him. I got some during the concert but the lighting was bad. I also recorded it on video.

Moved again!

We moved this week to a different house. Its closer to David's work and a better fit for us. More to come later.

Funnies

**The other day I was getting after Ginger in the car. Probably for unbuckling her seat belt. As I was talking, from Ginger's direction, I hear, "Here it goes again!"

**George- We have a lot of questions for mom because we love her.

**Standing next to the heater, Lucy is pooping in her diaper. She says, "I poop fire mommy."

**Another poop story. I went to get Lucy because the children informed me that she needed to be changed. When I get there Carson tells me that "the skunks have given Lucy a standing ovation", referring to her stink.

**Here is a funny picture of Carson and Callie I found. It was while we were living in Baker City, OR. It was a very hot summer that year. Carson was four and Callie was two. George was 8months.

Korea bound!

Last week my parents left the states to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My sister shared a little about them leaving and their stay in the Missionary Training Center. Gina works at the MTC in the language development department.

Small town advantage

Living in a small town your chances of being in the newspaper are greater.
Our paper comes out weekly on Wednesdays.


Here is Ginger, Callie(blindfolded), and George joining in on all the festivities. When we got to David's work the kids were so excited to see a photographer. If you look close in the picture above you can see me sitting next to the piano. Lucy(not pictured) is asleep in the stroller in front of me.

Trip to San Fransisco #2

Here is a trip to San Fransisco that we took in September. I guess I had never published it.

The blond gentleman is the owner of David's company. The gentleman next to him is over David. His wife next to him is also an administrator for a nursing home facility.

Chinese food, yum!

The Oakland, California temple


You can see the bay from the temple. What an amazing view!

What beautiful grounds. This is the view looking down from the temple. On the left, looking from this direction there is the visitors center. On the right is a multi Stake center. How would that be!


Traffic going into San Fransisco.

Spelling Bee!

Last week Carson was picked from his class to be in the 4th,5th, and 6th grade spelling bee. Today was the spelling bee. Carson came out of it as the top speller in the 4th grade. He was not one of the last spellers so he won't be going on to the county spelling bee. Better luck next year. The word that stumped him was "allegiance". David was also a judge for the spelling bee.

Halloween 2007

As a family we didn't make it to the pumpkin patch. George on the other hand did with his class. It happened to be the same day that I was going to Medford(an hour and a half away) and was late picking them up from the bus. So Carson, Callie, and George trekked a mile with a pumpkin. George said he put it in his backpack.

Sunday, we carved the pumpkin.
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Tuesday, the 30th
Our ward Trunk or Treat

A tuckered out little witch!

On Tuesday, we had our ward trunk or treat. It consisted of a potluck meal, pumpkin carving contest, decorating cookies, and having the trick or treating inside the building. They thought the weather would be to cold to be outside. I had signed up for a main dish and a door to decorate. The door I didn't know I signed up for till the Sunday before. The YW also had a door to do and it was the Mia Maids month for activities so it feel on me . I brought the stuff and the YW decorated it. It started at 6pm and Callie had piano at 6 so I packed all the kids up from decorating at the church and went off to piano. Lucy was asleep by the time we got there. We got back to the church around 6:40 and they had already eaten and were moving onto the candy portion of the evening. I never saw them decorate cookies so they must have done that while eating. So we handed out all the candy and then went to judge the pumpkins that people had carved at home. The winner was Anna, the girl that won a car on the 4th of July. After that we cleaned up and went home. It was fun but a little crammed.

The Incredible Hulk!

A Happy Witch (nice wart)
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Halloween Day!

Sweet Cinderella!
Costume change. The little girls had fun trying on all the old costumes from years past. This morning Ginger stuffed Lucy into her clown costume from last year.

No cavities for this little witch!
It was actually Gingers visit to the dentist but Lucy wanted a ride on the chair. No cavities for Ginger either. Although she does have a wicked cross bite. Thanks Grammy! While we were at the dentist, the schools did a Halloween parade downtown. I thought we would catch a little of it but we missed it completely. Oh well, next year.

The Hulk, Mad Scientist, Aurora, the big witch,
and the little witch at Shasta View Nursing Center, where David works. They had so much food and played pin the broom on the witch and bobbed for apples. The kids really liked bobbing for apples.

Some prince must have kissed the big witch
because she turned into a princess.
Time to go trick or treating. There were so many teenagers out it kind of took the fun out of seeing all the little ones dressed up.

Did this mad scientist create this hulk? Sometimes he does bring out the beast in George.

These are our local police officers and firefighters dressed up as Star Wars characters. They stood on the corner by the fire station and police station and passed out candy. There were other officers patrolling the neighborhoods.

I got my shoes!

Today the girls and I went up to Yreka(30 minutes north) with David to do some shopping for work. When we came home I was distracted by getting Carson and Callie to piano and getting homework out of the way. David was expecting a package today or tomorrow so when I saw a package up against the door I assumed it was David's. I brought it in and tossed it on the table. I told David that his package had come so he started opening it. After a minute or two of dealing with the buzz of children talking David said, "Did your mother send you these?" I said, "What" and went over to see what he was talking about. When I saw the shoes I said "I got the shoes, I got the shoes." with my voice growing louder and a little higher in pitch.
In the beginning of September, while reading Christy's blog I was so generously reminded to check out the Ryka offer. Since entering I have received a weekly email telling me I hadn't won anything. And today I find shoes on my door step. What a surprise!!After a minute or two, I was still stunned, David told me to try them on. They fit perfectly and were so comfortable. You know what this means now? I have to start running!

A blustery day

On the 9th of October it was overcast and very windy. I picked George up at 3:30 and came home. While in the living room I heard some wood cracking. I was waiting for the roof to fall in. When that didn't happen I checked the deck and everything looked fine. I went around the house and saw the neighbors shed had been hit with a tree. The grey tarp to the left is part of our property. Our neighbor comes up every once and while so they weren't around. That is their little log cabin and the shed was right next to it.

I called David and he called the volunteer fire department to check for any gas lines or electrical lines. They came out and checked for any immediate dangers. There were none. They put a tarp over it till they contacted the owners. The realtor that is trying to sell the house we are in came out after hearing it was our place. I informed him it wasn't and he told me the owners live in Redding, an hour away.

The firefighters told me it was a dead tree that fell. It was right in the middle of the cabin and the shed. Cracking wood is one of the worst sounds. I'm just glad it wasn't our house. I later hurried to go pick up Carson and Callie from choir.

Some of our daily views

Here is a map of where we live. Yes I drew it. The mailbox is about a mile from our house. Along the way we pass a private lake that is fenced with a tall fence and barb-wire. We have seen turtles, ducks, jumping fish, swans(2), and a crane.

This is us driving next to the private lake. It is off to the left of the van.
<------ that direction.

This the view from the road of Mount Shasta. I stuck the lens through the chain link fence.

This is Mount Shasta on the 3rd of October. Three days earlier it was bare of snow. This is also the view from our deck. I zoomed in some with the camera.

Here is Mount Shasta on the 14th of October. Shasta is usually covered with clouds so I seized the opportunity of a nice clear day to take a picture.

Here is Shasta on Sunday the 21st of October. All week it was under clouds getting a nice thick blanket of snow.

This is another spot that we pass daily.

An accomplishment

Lucy said her first prayer all by herself at lunch today. For a long time we couldn't get her to repeat what we had said for a prayer. I asked Ginger to help her and she insisted doing it on her own. She said, "Heavenly Father, (pause) day, (pause) please bless food, (pause) please bless food, (pause) thankful hotdog, (pause) Jesus Christ, Amen." I love those little prayers.

Our annual pictures

We finally did it. I totally missed Lucy's 18months picture and barely got her 2 year picture done. Ginger was over due as well. I decided I would take the money for school pictures and get them all done at once. It was about even in price. And now I have a picture of all of them together. We are hoping to get a family picture in November.

I decided to take them to JC Penney's in Medford,OR. Its about an hour and a half away. Upon getting there we made a stop at Fred Meyers to find something that matched for Ginger to wear. They were actually having a really good sale. (75% off the lowest clearance price) I found that shirt and sweater that totaled $6. Then Carson kept whining about what I made him wear. He said, "Why do I have to look nice? Why can't I look cool?" I told him he could look for something on the sale rack. He found a the green jacket. It was $8. He was so excited. I told him that he had to wear the shirt I picked out for most of the pictures but he could change for a few of his individual shots. We finally got to the studio and things went pretty well through the shoot. Lucy was tired so it took a lot to get her to smile. By the time we were all done and had order our pictures Lucy was crying and everyone needed to get some energy out. It was about 4pm and Lucy had not had a nap yet. So we got in the car and drove another 30min. to visit David's parents. David's mom had pizza waiting for us which was really nice. All day we had eaten cookies or snacks that wouldn't mess up our clothes. After awhile we headed for home to see Daddy. It felt so good to crossed a huge thing like pictures off my to do list.

Callie told me I needed to get a picture taken.
I was not planning on it but thought I would try it.

Lucy is becoming so independent. The other night at dinner, referring to the meatloaf, Lucy said, "I don't like it mommy. I don't want it." Everyone laughed at the table. She then said, "I don't like it. It's not funny." She speaks really well and says some really funny things. She loves to say hello and does it with so much energy. And she loves to help me stir everything.

We all love it when the missionaries come over but Ginger seems to really like it. The other day they came over for dinner. We ate, had dessert, and had our message from the elders. Afterwards we all knelt for prayer like we do for family prayer. Ginger slides right in the middle of the two elders and kneels down. After our family prayers it is a tradition to have a family hug. Ginger was thinking ahead! As soon as the prayer was over she stands up and yells "Big hug". We all start laughing and tell her no. She's pretty smart.


George has really developed a love for reading. He does so well at getting his homework done as soon as he gets home. He is looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch with his class at school. George has also developed a desire to eat healthy. Sometimes he will turn down treats or snacks. Or when he comes home from school and I check his lunch he will have eaten everything but his cookies or gogurt. If I could be so disciplined.

A few weeks ago David was laying down with George before going to sleep. They were talking pretty deep. George was asking questions about the end of the world and when all the spirits would be born. Really deep. Anyway as they were talking about Heavenly Father, George tells David I feel like I am going to cry. David tells him that that feeling is the Holy Ghost telling him things are true. George really enjoyed that experience and tries really hard in his prayers to make them special. A couple of times after a prayer he would ask me if I was crying.

The other day the phone rang and David answered it. David said it was for Callie so I called to her. She talks to her friends from church so I thought nothing of it. I was getting dinner ready so I left the room but could hear. "Hello, okay. Bye." I stopped her and asked who was on the phone. She quickly said, "I don't know." I said, "What did they say?" She said, "They said, you dared me to call you and I did." I asked her if she dared someone to call her and she said no. For some reason I didn't push it anymore. Usually I would pound them with questions till the truth came out. That night I was putting the girls to bed and I had just gotten Lucy and Ginger in their beds and hoping they would stay there without getting out. As I'm getting ready to leave the room Callie says, "Mom, can you and I go and talk in the bathroom. I was a little frustrated because doing that would stir Ginger and Lucy again so I ask her if it was important. She said yes so I told her that I would come to her bed and we could talk about it there. She said okay. So beside her bed she told me that she had lied about the phone call. She did know the person on the phone and it was a boy that she had dared him to call her. I asked her if he was a nice boy. She said yes and that he was really funny. She was really nervous telling me all of it but when she was done she said, "I feel much better now." I told her I was glad she was honest and it always feels better to tell the truth.


Sunday after church Carson informed us that he put his arm around a girl in his primary class 6 times. I asked him if she said anything to him. He said "she just looked at me". Around the 5th time I guess she said stop it. He said he only did it one other time after that. We had a long talk.

Doesn't he look COOL in his new jacket!