The tour

I asked Jarom to bring the camera to me.   This is what I found when looking at pictures.  He gives a great tour of the front yard on his way to give me the camera.  I love it.

Comfy spot

After I took a shower I found this little guy pretending to be sleep.  He said he was comfy and cozy underneath the wrapping paper.  As I was walking away he was talking to himself.  "you asleep Elijah"  "yeah I sleeping"  "okay good night"

Mariners Game

Sadie has been working on patrol at school this year.  Their job is to make sure the kids cross the streets safely.  Some of the teachers took all of the kids who have doing patrol to a Seattle Mariners baseball ball game this week.  She came home from school the night before and asked if she could go get a T-shirt or hat that would have the baseball team name on it.  We didn't have the time and I didn't really want her to spend her money on something she would probably only wear once.  Sadie came up with this shirt instead.  I like having creative kids.  She did a great job.  

Mothers Day

I can't help but think of my mom on Mother's Day.  Actually I usually think of her most every day.  I miss her.  I am so thankful that she left a great example to follow.  There are many times I think of how my mom would handle a situation and it helps me get back in gear.  She was a hard worker and lived the gospel.  I love both of those qualities about her.  I was looking at old photos and came across this one that was taken a few months before she passed away.  This was a family reunion we had on the Oregon coast.  Photos bring back so many memories and this is one of the main reasons I blog.  My mom wasn't feeling good at all on this trip and had very little energy but I remember she put all of that aside and made sure she played with the grandkids and spent what energy she had on listening and laughing with everyone.  She is an amazing lady.

Another lady I think of often is Nathan's mother.  She is an amazing women.  She works hard and lives the gospel.   I know she taught her children both of these qualities.  I happen to have the best of her kids as a spouse.  There are many qualities that Marjorie and my own mother share.  I love that I can have a great relationship with my mother-in-law.  Nathan's parents are serving a mission currently and I have missed not being able to talk with Marjorie.  

The third lady I look up to is Chris.  She has been such a blessing to my dad and our family.  She has always been kind and loving to each one of us and treated us like her own.  Her husband passed away about a year before my mom and I am glad she and my dad have each other.  Chris is also a hard worker and lives the gospel.  I am thankful for her example.  

There is another lady I need to mention and that is my sister-in-law who died in a car accident over a year ago.  There have been many times when I have visited in Oregon and have thought of her and how she is missed.  She is also a great example of service and love.   I admired the way she taught her children how to make their beds and clean their rooms each morning.  I asked her once what she did to get them to do that and she just said "love your kids and don't worry about all of the stuff".   Somehow I am still not getting what she did because I know she spent time with her kids and taught them to clean.  

Happy Birthday Jarom!

Jarom had another birthday. Our kids are growing way too fast.  We celebrated his a day early so he and I would get in a fight on who got the most attention on Mother's Day.  Nathan ended up having to work that Saturday morning so Jarom was dying to open presents.  "Mom can't I open them now and then you can rewrap them before dad gets home and I can act surprised when I open them again."  Nice try buddy but it didn't happen.  His favorite present was the bow and arrow set.  

Pinewood Derby

That's a lot of dough

Our cub scouts needed to do a fundraiser and it was decided that we would make cookie dough, freeze it and sell it.  We choose to sell my chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.  I really like the recipe I use mainly because it was the one my mom used and I loved her cookies.  It kind of put the pressure on me so hopefully everyone ended up liking it who bought.  I haven't ever seen that much cookie dough in one place.  It was tempting to taste it all but I refrained.  We made the process work pretty slick.  It was nice that I could have everyone at my house to do this.