It's Affirmative.

Steve accepted a job with Intel Corp. in Portland, OR beginning July 09!

Conquering the Bells

Steve took me on my first backpacking expedition a couple of weeks ago to the Maroon Bells outside of Aspen. The hike we did is called the four pass loop, a 27 mile loop over 4 12,000 foot summits. He took his scouts on it last year and I was jealous so he made arrangements for us to go. It was worth every minute, well except the minutes we were attacked by huge mosquito's and horseflies, HUGE. And those few other minutes where you really wish there was a potty around, but every other minute I loved. I love to see such natural beauty, God created beauty.
I was amazed by all the flowers. If only I had one of those darn Nikon D40's I would have been able to give you a better sense of the glory of these flowers.

I must say I was also very impressed by Steve's skills. That Eagle scout badge or pin paid off, he was makin' dinner, making fires with a magnifying glass or maybe it was a match, filtering water from the stream, and carrying about 10 more pounds than me.


Speaking of carrying the weight, about 10 minutes into the trip my shoulders were killing me. I kept trekking along not wanting to complain, but I stopped and adjusted my pack. I was expecting Steve to say, "oh dear, if you are hurting now we are in trouble". But he just said, "you have to get used to it, you'll be fine." I wasn't convinced. I readjusting everything in my pack and continued on. About 10 minutes later the pain was gone. I think I went numb. Then my hip started hurting, but then it went numb? Every few hours I would get a new pain and then it would disappear.

The trip was over 3 days and 2 nights. Each day we would wake up around 5, make breakfast, break camp and head to the summit. We would typically summit before 2pm and head down the mountain the make camp. Then we would sleep, talk, read and play a card game or two. Oh and get eaten alive by mosquito's (note to self, that Cutter crap repellent does not work.) Steve said he did not remember this attack last year. This one guy had a hat with a net over his face, never have I coveted anything more. So anyway, any entertainment you want at camp you have to carry on your back, so we weren't about to bring Carcossonne or our laptop. It was just us. Lots of time to talk, be wierd, and enjoy the fresh Colorado mountain air.

I loved it. Thanks hon and HUGE thanks to Gma's and Gpa's and for watching the babes.

With Dreams to Fly

Hudson has recently become obsessed with flying and these are the questions I have been fielding as of late...

H: "Mom, why do birds fly?" M: "because they have wings." H: "Why do they have wings?" M: "Because that is how God made them." H: "Why didn't God make me with wings?" M: "I don't know, but we can fly in an airplane." H: "That is not the same, I want to fly by myself."

After that conversation he randomly will say...

H: "I wish God would change me into a bird."

then after we killed a moth in the house...

H: "Mom, why do bugs have wings?"

And we begin again.

So he took things into his own hands and came up with this contraption of balloons, grocery bags, and a blanket. He had me readjust the balloons probably 10 times to see if he could get it to work. After each adjustment he would jump of the stool to see if he could fly. To prevent any further adjustments I would say, "Hey you did it, you flew!" He would say, "that wasn't flying, fix the baloons."

Lessons in Parenting: Be Positive

Two months ago

H had never been one to run and jump into the pool. He liked the pool and the idea of swimming but if you happened to stop by and we were in the pool he would most likely be hugging the wall (in the shallow end) or with floaties, a life jacket, and a tube. We always tried to encourage him to swim with us and if he agreed our necks usually had red marks from him holding us so tightly. I decided to try out swim lessons and see if this would help ease his fear and improve his confidence.

He was actually excited and I thought, "this is going to be good." Well, for the first week I called Steve everyday after the lesson and would ask him if swim lessons were over yet. H hardly listened to the teacher, barely made any effort or had extreme fear. I would say things like, "Hudson it would help if you would listen to the teacher and do what she says" or something to that effect. I would usually get no response or "I hate swim lessons".

One night when I was trying to decide if I should just pull him out of the lessons I had a thought, "Look for the good and be positive." I then thought of something he did well during the lesson and went and sat by him and said, "I saw that you put your head under water and held your breath during your swim lesson this morning, that was awesome. I think someday you are going to be a really great swimmer." His face immediatly lit up and he looked at me with a smile and said, "really?" The next lesson was better and I continued with the positivity. Each lesson was better and I always pointed out the positive things to him. Something clicked.

Two months later.

He jumps in the pool and says, "Do you want to see my streamline?" Steve and I just stare in amazement as he swims across the pool. He moved up three levels in swimming and his teachers say he is one of the best swimmers (of course they probably say that to most, but we believe it). At some point I will get a video of it, it is a crack up.

So, I am learning to focus on the positive and hopefully my kids struggles can become strengths.

Bahama Rama Mama

If I were to stay in AZ this would be the reason. Bahama Bucks.

My favorite desert is the Bahama Rama Mama. Or BRM, now that I am a regular customer. Shaved ice whipped with cream and a scoop of ice cream on the bottom. 91 flavors. From Apple to watermelon with every blend in between. Please do not think ICEE. It is the furthest thing from those stale balls of ice drenched in syrup.

If we do not end up here I will open a franchise and run a family business.

First Steps

I better document Everett's first steps before he starts to run. He actually took his very first step when we were on our way to Disneyland. We stopped at the McDonalds in Quartsite CA and I was playing with him out on the front lawn. That was on May 13th.

Poor kid has had a fat lip or two, learning how to walk on the tile.

Little Pink Cast

Sadie went to the pediatric orthopedist yesterday. She has what they call a "Toddler's Fracture" (good call Adam). It is very difficult to diagnose because it is barely visable on an X-Ray. The urgent care doctor actually misdiagnosed the fracture and what he pointed out to me as a fracture was actually normal bone. I was thinking he was clueless but at the same time felt lucky that he thought there was a fracture. The pediatric doctor said the urgent care doctors have a hard job because they see so much. He said, "if you brought me a kid with a stomach ache I wouldn't have a clue what to do." Good point.

Sadie got to pick the color and before they even pulled out the options she said, "pink!". They were all laughing at how excited she was to have pink.

The good news is her cast is below the knee and in a few days will be able to walk on it as much as she can tolerate. I was relieved to hear that. Other good news, I asked the doctor how I could improve my kids bone health or if there was something genetically wrong. He said the kids are healthy and that these breaks are not uncommon from age 0 to 3 years old because they are top heavy, (this is not including Hudson's recent broken arm). He said there was nothing wrong with their bones.

The bad news...well, she has a broken leg, no swimming for 3 1/2 weeks, and dealing with a cast in the 110 + degree weather.