Jack's First Haircut

While we were in Utah, we took advantage of Uncle Doug's haircutting patience. Jack did pretty well. Doug did great!! Jack loved the sound of the clippers, but the itchy hair got to him after awhile. He looks so big now, but it is nice to see his ears again. Thank you Uncle Doug!

Another Unwanted Guest

We were out of town this weekend and left the cats a large bowl of food and some water. The great thing about cats is they take care of themselves. My neighbor, who must of thought I was the worst pet owner, called to say that Malcolm had been at their house for a couple days, crying. She sent her daughter over to check things out and Madison found the garage cracked and empty bowls. Darn raccoons!!! Our neighbor fed my cats some tuna fish and all was good. (I had run out of food.)

So I return from the trip. Curse the coons. Make a Costco run for food first thing Monday morning. Feed the "starving" cats (I thought they knew how to hunt.) Alls wells . . .

Last night, Ben went down to the garage late to turn off the sprinkler system (it was going to rain) and heard the cats eating. He leaned over to take a look and Whoa. . . . it was a skunk. He was sitting there eating the cats food . . . the WHOLE bowl!! Ben took off, quick as lightening, in his underwear. What is Ben's main concern? Not the thought of a smelly garage, the van, the house, the cat door to the house, the cats, no--his truck. His precious Cecil (the diesel). He opened my garage door, threw a boot at it, scared it under his truck (I would of paid the skunk at this point to let a bomb off.) and gave up. I was laughing hysterically upstairs. What are the chances??

So we have had bats, snakes, deer, raccoons, salamanders, birds, Uncle Dan and now . . . a skunk welcome themselves into our home. I hate to ask what's next.

A Good Book!

A few loves:

HP #7
Fabelhaven (thank you Morty's)
The Orchard (thank you Jackie)
Mob to Mormon (thank you Linda)
The Five Love Languages (I read it again)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boyleyn Inheritance, The Constant Princess
Number the Stars (thank you Mikayla)
Jane Austen anything
Good Night Mr. Tom
The Red Tent
Memoirs of a Geisha
Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type (duck was a neutral party)
Snow Falling on Cedars
Farewell to Manzanar
Hoot
Cheaper By the Dozen (laugh out loud!!)
Elemenopee
The Princess Academy
Tuesday with Morrie (read this once a year)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
Olivia (and all her adventures)

I could go on and on and on. These are just a small portion of books I love that my brain can remember at 1:00 in the morning.

Thank You Aunt Cyd!!

What a great surprise from Aunt Cyd and fam! We had a fun package in the mail that contained the kids two favorite things: Jeff=$ and Hannah=clothes. How did you know??? Jeff put it towards his bike fund which he finally earned enough to buy. Hannah's love of clothes and flip flops are stated clearly in this picture. She was so impressed Cyd made it and wondered if she could make one too. I told her Cyd would help her next time we get together.

Thanks Cyd, you pegged them dead on. Thank You Aunt Cyd!! Love, Jeff and Hannah

Jack is 10 month old today!!

Yea!!! Aunt Jackie and Uncle Doug

We were pleasantly suprised this summer to have Aunt Jackie come visit for a day. We did a quick, beautiful trip to Cannon Beach. We hit all the highlights; delicious lunch, sunny beach, and Tillamook ice cream. What more could a couple of girls and three crazy kids want??

Uncle Doug came down to pick her up, so we toured the motorcycle trails on our property. Jeff schooled them on driving a quad, showed them around the track, and off he went to show off his stunts. He loves an audience. We had lunch with Ben, a bit of wrestling and a little Guitar Hero. Jack had no hestitation going to either of them, so of course they loved him. Hannah loves anyone who will throw her around. It was a lot of fun. The kids were sad to see them drive off, but so glad they could come. Jeff said, "that's to bad they had to go". They love their Aunt and Uncle.

2007 Summer Track Meets

A highlight of our summer is 6 track meets on Tuesday nights at the Hillsboro Hare Field. We have done it for 4 years now. It has been so fun to watch the kids improve and find their niche. Jeff is our super long jumper at his personal best of 10'4''. Hannah is a good jumper as well with her personal best being 6'8''. They both take 2nd or 3rd in their age division every week. Jeff is a great distance runner. He has a long stride and endurance. Ben ran cross country so it must be in the genes. Hannah is our sprinter and she loves hurdles. The first 3 weeks, she was the top of her division 4-6 girls, but then the dreaded birthday came and she was the youngest in the next division 7-8 girls. The first 3 weeks she got a ribbon of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in every event she competed in, boosting her confidence and head immensely. The last 3 weeks were a bit different. She received "participation" ribbons for the rest of the year.

A proud moment for me (yes I even cried) was the last event of the year. She decided to run in a relay, 4x400 (one time around the track for each runner). They grouped all age groups together and her team was by far the youngest (4, 5, 6, and 7 years old). Off they went with Hannah being the anchor (the last runner). She got half way around the track, looked around and panicked. She was the only runner left on the track. I ran across the field and encouraged her to finish, running the rest of the race with her. The stands full of people and the track field full of participants cheered her on and clapped her last 100 yards. What a girl!! An example of enduring to the end.

Baby Jack at Nine Months

Baby Jack is an active, smilin', gigglin', crawlin', and go with the flowin' kid. He is a joy to have in our family. He is smothered in love all the time. He has learned the "stiff arm" to let people know enough is enough. He loves to get down and crawl. He is attracted to any door or wheel. He is crawling, in his own style. Part traditional crawl, part crab leg. Very unique, but he can get where he wants to go . . . fast! He loves bath time and mom loves cleaning up all the water from his splashing. He figured out how to clap and waved his first "bye, bye" yesterday and then followed it with saying "bye, bye". Adorable!!!

I Don't Know What I'm doing!!!

Here goes nothin'! You would never know by my current intimidation of this whole blog world that I was once a web master at Novell. How times change!

Let me try a few pics and then I'll get to the good stuff.