Car repair

We have been having trouble with coolant leaking from somewhere in our suburban.  So today, being pay-day, I thought to call around to auto shops.  Being in a new city I thought, where do I begin.  So I decided to call our trusty home teacher for his opinion, since he is from here. Home teachers are men in our congregation at church that are assigned to come to our home once a month and kind of watch over us.  All members of the congregation have some.  It helps everyone to care and watch out for others.  Anyway, I called one of ours this morning and he happened to have a son-in-law that worked for a Saturn dealership for 17 years but was laid off and was now going to school(aviation mechanic).  So our home teacher called his son-in-law, his son-in-law called me and by 10pm tonight the car was fixed and he probably saved us about $250.  The Suburban had a bad thermostat, water pump, and serpentine belt. 

It was a good day. 

14 Years ago, in a country far away...

...David and I were married.

This was us over 5 years ago. I just like this picture of us. It was at a church Valentine's Day dance in Lincoln, NE.

This is David and I on New Year's Eve of 2009/2010

I love you David! Happy Anniversary!

First Day of School

School started yesterday!

I was just as nervous as all the kids. This year we have 5 in school. Little Lucy started kindergarten and Carson started junior high. They grow up so fast. Our schedule is broken up quite a bit but I am so grateful for buses this year. I would be living out of the car if we didn't have them. Carson catches the bus a little before 7. Callie, George, and Ginger catch theirs at around 8:30. And Lucy has afternoon kindergarten so she catches her bus after lunch. Then Carson comes home around 2:30 and all the other kids at around 3:30.

It was fun to hear about every one's day yesterday.

Carson(7th) was so happy when he got home. He has always adjusted well to new situations. He was probably a little happy because the other kids were still gone. Carson was also glad to tell me that "I" had homework and he didn't. Paperwork, BLAH!

Callie(6th) was excited to tell me about her wonderful teacher. She is excited to have a little more order in her life now.

George(4th) was quiet coming home but he went right to his little bit of homework he had. I have heard a lot of good things about his teacher this year. He always does so well.

Ginger(2nd) greeted me with a big hug as usual. She then walked home talking with the boy that lives next door, who happens to be in her class. Yeah, a boy! Our little social butterfly.

Running for the bus on the first day. We did much better this morning.

Liza gets to watch all the fun. We were working on the word "bus" yesterday. She got it out a couple times.

Our little kindergartner. She takes after her Aunt Gina by eating at a mellower pace, hence she is carrying her lunch with her while walking to the bus stop. She was so so so excited to start school.

A day at the beach

Arriving here in Washington, David was trying to find ways to busy himself without his family here, so he went to craigslist and found a Korean man that wanted lessons in English. They met and decided that David would learn and practice his Korean while Jason(the Korean man's English name) would learn and practice his English. Well they meet once a week and last Saturday we went on a picnic to SunnySide Beach, in the quaint town of Steilacoom, Washington. I met Jason's wife Susie and their 2 year old daughter Emma(their English names). They go home to Korea in December.

I never thought I was so short. Look at how tall Carson is. He still knows who the boss is though. This was taken at the end of the picnic. It was raining and the kids were wet and cold.


We had potato salad, coleslaw, hot dogs, chips, grilled chicken, cantaloupe and strawberries. It was all delicious.

I guess a lot of Korean children, and probably a lot of adults, make the peace sign in pictures.

Now Ginger has NEVER refused a photo moment. Odd! She was covered in sand and wet from walking in the water.

Now the coats were in a box still, so I quickly scrambled around right before we left and found 3 that we took. George being chilled puts one on and wades in the water. Losing his balance he falls in the water getting soaked and cold. We were down to 2 coats now. The pink one is Susie's jacket that she let George use. He survived.

This is Callie's treasure of seaweed. There was a lot there. We were told there are some little crabs there but we found only a few. I think it was the weather. It was fun to search for them though.

See what I mean! Ginger is always ready for the camera. Crazy girl!

Watch out Liza will soak you. I just have to mention that Liza started saying Mama this week. I have tried and tried to get her to say it. She uses it to get things though. She has gotten the words HI, HELLO, and ICE down too. She is growing up too fast. They all are!

Lucy Mae

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Five years ago little Lucy came into our family. We call her Lou Lou at times, which fits her so nicely. She is our little ray of sunshine. Lucy is smart and so ready for kindergarten this fall. Lucy has a way of drawing conclusions when given facts. Just a minute ago she said "Mom I am 5 now. I am. That's because when I was 3 at Grammy's house you said I was 4. So now I am 5." I love to hear her conclusions. In a movie, one of the characters say, "If you were smart, you would stay away from me." Lucy then said, "Mom, I am smart so I will stay away from him."

Her best friend is her big sister Ginger. They play so well together.

We are so blessed to have her in our home.

We love her very much!

New Adventures

We are now in Washington state. To make a long story short.
*December David lost his job. Ho Ho Ho
*January David got a temporary job in Montana with the possibility of a permanent one in Reno, NV or Longview, WA. That company paid for him to come home every 10 days. Still looking for other options David found one working for the state of WA .
*March David started his job in WA working for the state. We didn't have the privelege of him coming home every 10 days. We saw him about once a month.
*April the kids and I drove out to WA for spring break. We did a whirlwind tour of the state of WA then down to the southern part of Oregon and back to WA then back to Utah. We put our house on the market with a realtor.
*May David drove through the night to surprise us for Mother's day.
*June Liza and I flew out for a long weekend. David's boss had us over to his house with other employees and spouses for a dinner party.
*July Our realtor let us out of our contract because our house wasn't getting much action. And we signed on with a property management company. July 24th we moved out of our house and 3 hours later our renters showed up to move in. What a blessing! We are now all a family again in Washington state.


Today we went to take David some lunch at his work. It is a VA facility called the Washington Soldiers Home. It was established in 1891 so there is a lot of stories that have been told there. The campus is large and beautiful. It reminds me of the military posts that I grew up on. I didn't get any pictures of the buildings but I will another time.

This is the tank that greets you as you come onto the campus. Carson says its an M60 A3. How he knows that I don't know.

The kids are looking at an original fountain that has been on the campus from the beginning.

I thought this was cool.

On the campus there is a pond that is supplied with trout. The veterans can go and fish. The kids heard about it a while ago and have been dying to go see it.

Can you see the fish?

Here is Liza, after all that walking, passed out in the grocery cart. She stayed that way all the way through Winco.

This old dress...

The dress that Lucy is wearing is well over 30 years old. It is a Peaches 'n Cream hand-me-down from my cousin DeAnn who is a few years over 30 ;).

Lucy loves it. She says she looks like Mary Poppins. I'm guessing its because of the neck of the dress.