Our new kitty

Well Phillip has been gone for a year now. I am guessing he found a new home without a giant dog. Recently, Jasmine, I think past away. So I was feeling the need for a new baby kitty. I looked for awhile. I just couldn't find the right one. Then after weeks of searching there he was! The cutest black and white creature ever! We are still trying to agree on a name. All our cats have had Disney names. Princesses and 1 prince. So we are trying to stay in the theme. Weird I know...... So until we have a name here is kitty!

We have given him a new name. He is Prince Charming. The girls don't like it cuz he was bad on Shrek but he wasn't in the other stories. So Prince charming os fitting in quite nicely. He and Belle are getting along quite well. They play alot. He is starting to play with Chewie too. He is still wary of Corde though.

The Fair

After Brynn's party on Friday we hadn't tortured ourselves enough with fun so we decided to go to the County Fair. We had such a good time! We walked around to all the booths that businesses had up and then we walked around the outside stuff and saw all the rides, the end of the demolition derby, games to play and TONS of food. We went to the petting zoo. Ryan does not like goats we found out. Poor kid. Joe kept forcing him to feed the goats. Ry thought they were going to bite him. The goats kept following him cuz they thought he had a treat. It was too funny!

We had a light dinner there at the fair and then let the kids go pick out what stuff they wanted to buy or do. They each got $4. Then the fireworks began. They were fun to watch. If you go next year don't watch them from the gravel area near the food. All the fall out was landing all around us!

Brynn really wanted to go on the Strawberry ride and Ryan didn't use all his $4 so the 2 of them and 2 kids we don't know rode the Berry-Go-Round. At one point Ryan was on top of the disk in the middle that you pull on to make the car spin. I wish I had gotten a picture before he got down. It was so funny!

After the ride we got cotton candy and went home.

Brynn's 5th B-day!

What a celebration! Brynn ended up with 3 birthday parties! Spoiled little stink! It was alot of fun though! She had her first party with all her friends from our ward and neighborhood on Friday afternoon (8/17) at Wheeler Farm. She had wanted a farm birthday. Since it was free I just invited families to join us in the celebration. The Evans; our next door neighbors Lisa, Rich, their kids Packer, Hanna and Kimball. Jacksons; Mary, Kenny, their kids Sydney, Ruby and Charley. The Rasi-Koskeinens; Emily, Mark, their kids Kirsi, Kaylee, Zach and Annalee and Curtis' ; Melodee, Chad, their kids Ariana, Gavin and Dallin came. We had so much fun!

I had planned to make the cake and cupcakes myself but after collecting all I needed I added it up in my head and I was saving myself $3. So i had Walmart make it.





We had a barn cake and then cup- cakes that looked like pigs and baby chicks!!!! How super cute is that?! The kids had a great time and us parents enjoyed socializing. So it was a win win!

As a tradition the kids get to go in the hot tub for their birthday. Only Brynn's party was not at home. I had hoped she would forget but she didn't.... On the way home from school Friday she reminded Kirsi about the hot tub so we set a lunch date for her friends to come over to swim and eat. The had the BEST time ever! After swimming and eating they played dress up and played with her new gifts.

Sunday all the family came. I had stayed up ALL night (till 4:30 am) reading Eclipse. I woke at 9 to read more and at 11:30 thought I should prob- ably get the kids and myself ready for church

After church every one showed up. I was still in my room finishing. But then everyone started looking for me.... So I came back down and made the pizzas and we all watched Funniest Home Videos together. Then we did gifts and cake and ice cream. It was a fun day with family.

Oregon Here We Come!!!

What a wild trip!!!! We had SO much fun!! For those who don't know the story here it goes.....
Breezy is one of my 2 very best friends that I have had since age 11 or so (Breezy came at age 12) Breezy lives in Texas and per her divorce she can leave Texas for 30 days with her kids once a year. She went to see her mom and dad in Idaho. Her dad flies helicopters for a company that contracts with the forest service. So he was out fighting fires. Her mom drives his fuel truck so they were both gone. Breezy was beyond bored as were her kids. So they came down to my house. That night she got there Danita called (she knew she would be there) from Europe. She had a week left on her trip. Breezy and I had decided we couldn't afford to go to Oregon to see Danita. After our 2 hour long phone call we decided we HAD to go! We needed a car.... I called a lady in my ward to see if we could borrow her suburban. No answer. Then I realized my dad has a suburban! So I called him up he said yes a week later we left! She and I and 7 children!!!! Yes we are nuts! We then realized we should find places to sleep. We called her sister who is selling a house in Hillsboro(where we grew up together). She said we could stay but there is no furniture. So we packed air mattresses. Next we needed a place at the beach. SO EXPENSIVE! So we called Danita's mom (we didn't tell Danita I was coming)to see if she knew anyone. She had a house that she had just kicked out the tenants who weren't paying. Woo Hoo another free place to stay. Only she kind of let it slip that I was coming.... We tried to cover it up. She kind of ate it but not entirely.

Our first day we were on the road ALL DAY LONG. Neither of us like to get up. So we got out of bed an hour later then we wanted. It took longer to pack the suburban then we thought. Then we kept remembering things. The night before Joe had taken the older kids to see Transformers. Well then he went to take them to say bye to G-ma and G-pa Eames. He left them there! So we had to go get them too. Then my dad called to say he found the star wrench in the garage. So we had to go to his house too! FINALLY at 11:30 we were out of there! We stopped in Snowville and let the kids play at the park and we ate lunch. All was well until Boise....

Just as we came into Boise the AC stopped working and the car started making a funny sound. We called both our dads and they both said the AC compressor went out. Get to Oregon ASAP. No extra stops. So we opened the windows. Said a prayer. And we booked it all night til 2 am to Hillsboro. We crashed hard and then went to church the next day.

My mom had NO idea I was coming. We just showed up. She was so surprised! She fell to the groundhugging my kids that she didn't even notice I was there! We got to see so many people we knew as the adults we grew up with, our old bishop who cried when he saw us together, friends we grew up with that met in the same ward or building. It was awesome! We left church and just as we left the parking lot the car made a horrid sound and then we lost the power steering. We went back to Cindy and Earls. Changed the kids and went to my moms. Called my dad and said "get to moms now". The serpentine belt broke! Just our luck. So we were stranded in Hillsboro til it got fixed. Fortunately, Lindy's(my sister) boyfriend is a mechanic and he was going to fix it.

Monday I went out with Breezy to go shopping and to lunch. We decided to call her old Jr high flame Mike to see if he was still around. He answered! He invited us to lunch! It was way fun but it wasn't the same as we remember him.... Poor Breezy.... Hee hee. We then went to Ross and I found WAY too much. Then I left her to go out for a while my old boyfriend who is still one of my best friends. We came back to my moms and it was time to get ready to surprise Danita!!! We had told her all the moms and a few others are going to Red Robin. She was on her way back home from teh beach so she said she would stop in. Only it was me and Breezy who got out of my moms van!!! She was SOOOOOO surprised. On Saturday as we were driving she had called me to see when Breezy had left cuz she couldn't get a hold of her. I told her she had left around 11 and that she may not have a good signal and to try her soon. Then I yelled at Ryan to quit fighting and if he couldn't then he would have to go to his room. I got her with that one. She didn't know I was coming after all! Mom kept ALL the kids overnight and the 3 of us had a slumber party!

Tuesday the car was able to go to the shop. We spent the morning and lunch time at the park having a picnic with Debbie Fry, some of her kids, mom and my sisters and brothers, Mindy K (my other best friend from HS after B&D left Hillsboro)My kids got to play with her kids. Kaylee and Riley are Brynn and Ryan's age and both a girl and boy! She SOOOO needs to move by me so our families can hang out! It was a nice morning. We hung out at my moms again. We should have gone to my dads. He was there part of the time trying to fix Becky's car. Breez and I had enough of being stranded so when my mom got back home we took Chelsie to Young Womens and we went to Target. When we got back mom thought we had gone to Cheesecake Factory. Breezy was trying to go to dinner alone with Mike (from monday) Well he blew her off. So we went. We called Danita just as she was headed home. So she met us there and we had a blast! We went back to my moms at 11. The suburban was all done!! Mom kept all the kids AGAIN. So we had another slumber party.

Wednesday we all headed to the beach!!!!! What a perfect day. We went to Indian Beach. Just between Seaside and Can- non Beach. It's kind of hid- den. We took SO many pictures. It was Ryan's first time ever at a beach and sort of Brynn's. She was 8 months old. Katya and Tay hadn't been to the Oregon coast in 6 years! So it was WAY fun. The weather was gorgeous! We had to go put on our suits it was so warm! The kids found a dead jelly fish. Some guy caught a crab. Katya lost her sunglasses in the tide pools. A seagull ate Marina's sandwich. They dug huge holes and buried themselves. Climbed rocks. It was a very good day. We stayed til 7 that night. We went to the house and made spaghetti. The kids fell asleep right after they ate. They didn't wake up til 9!













Off to Tillamook and the cheese factory!!! What a great place. In all the years growing up there I had never been. The kids had a great time watching them make and package cheese. Then we ate the ice cream they make there. Next we went to the a GIANT blimp hangar. It was SO huge a full size passenger jet like Delta ect... could fly right through it!! After that we headed to Seaside to do some shopping, ride the carousel, and play at the beach again. Becky(my sister) and Jake(her husband) joined us there. I got the cutest shirts for my kids and a great sweatshirt for me and now Marina and I match! We stopped and got pizza on the way home. Ate and went to bed. We were all exhausted!

Friday....our last day at the beach....(stupid car...) We got up too late to see the tide pools in the morning so we headed to Astoria and Long Beach, Wa. In Long Beach we saw Jake the Alligator man. (Google him). We also saw the worlds largest frying pan. We bought a hermit crab too!

In Astoria we ate lunch at the Bow- picker. Its and old boat turned fish and chips place. It is quite popular and fabulous food! My kids scarfed it!

Then it was off to the Astoria Column. We climbed 164 stairs to the top. Then back down them. We all sprawled on the ground at the bottom and Danita stayed up top and took out pictures as though we had fallen. It was awesome. We met another Katia. All the kids wanter her picture with them. We then drove up to see Mikey's house from Goonies. After that we went to Cannon Beach to catch the tide pools and some more shopping. The tide pools are dumb now. You can't climb around them and actually see sea life. They have all these signs that say "don't go past here" really dumb. My mom and brothers and sister showed up. We headed to town to get last minute shopping done and then we went back to the house to get ready for dinner and we had a small b-day party for my brother Caleb. He turned 8 and will be getting baptized Labor Day weekend. Dinner was at Danita's families restaurant. Her dad is the chef and her mom the hostess. Her sisters are servers. I used to help there too. A long time ago... I hadn't seen Dad in 6 years so it was REALLY good to see him and eat his food. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!
We had dessert for our appetizer. YUM! We bought huge dessert sampler for our babysitters and headed back home.


We got up late again. Can you believe it?! We had to go home that day. No one wanted to. We packed really fast. And then we went back to Seaside to get last last minute things. By noon we were out of there.

We stopped at the Vista House near Multnomah Falls to stretch and use the toilet. The views were amazing! We drove past the falls and took the old highway and saw tons of really neat things.


















We met Breezy's mom in Boardman, Or. We visited for an hour or so and then decided we should get their stuff moved to the other car. It was gettin late and I wasn't sure I would make it home. So I called my sister to find me a place to stay in Boise. She just moved from there this June. Her old visiting teacher was more then happy to have us stay. Peg was amazing! We showed up at 12:30 am. She drove out to meet us so we could find her house easier. Then as I was unloading what we needed she was feeding my kids a snack and making them feel comfortable. She had beds all ready for us and everything! The next morning she fixed breakfast and sent us on our way. We got home around dinner time and boy was daddy happy to see us! We told daddy all about our trip and all the fun things we saw. We were happy to be home. We are excited for our next adventure. We are going to New Mexico in Oct.

If you read all this you deserve a prize!

Brynn's First Day of Kindergarten!

August 1st was a big day! Brynn is SO excited to be in school with her big sisters! She has a great teacher Mrs. Holt. She is AWESOME! I LOVE how they have the Kindergarten set up. It reminds me of when I was in Kindergarten. She had a great first day and is in the same class as her best friend Kirsi and also Harley who is in our ward. So that is fun. Her hair thing broke and so part way through the day she had a little melt down but her teacher was great and all was well when I got her.

Alan's Homecoming/Breezy's Visit

We had a crazy weekend. Saturday we all left the reunion. When I got home Breezy came down from Idaho (up from Texas) to spend the next week with me. We talked to Danita while she was still in Europe. After we got off the phone we decided we were going to go to Oregon to go see her. Sunday was Alan's Homecoming at church. We took Marina with us. Alan gave a wonderful talk. It was great to see how much he has grown in the last 2 years. Then it was off to my parents for lunch. I asked my dad and mom to borrow the suburban and got the go ahead! WOOHOO!!!



At Alan's lunch I got to see tons of family and Candice was there (my brothers GF when he left). It was so good to see her.






The kids had a picnic under the kitchen in their "fort".













As usual Joe fell asleep.....









After most everyone had left we did family pictures. They turned out SO nice! I can't wait for them to come!