Civil War

Yesterday was the Civil War.

Oregon vs. Oregon State.

Ducks vs. Beavers.

It was also the last game of the season for Jason.  He and Bob took the trek to Eugene and checked something else off their bucket lists: A Civil War game.

I am really glad they got to go and I'm glad that it was such a good game for them to watch.

Oregon came out victorious, winning the game  36-35.  *Whew* Just barely...but those are the fun games to be at, right?

It's been a fun season for Jason to have season tickets for and even though the Ducks didn't go all the way, it was a good season.

 Until next season Oregon.

Thanksgiving

 We went out for Thanksgiving this year and it was delish. I loved it because we didn't have to cook. Jason loved it because there was no cleaning up. The kids loved it because Grandma and Grandpa came along. And we even had tons of left overs. Score!

 After properly gorging ourselves we went to see Dinsey's newest animated movie Frozen.  It was great and the message was wonderful. As a huge bonus Idina Menzel voiced one of the main characters, Elsa, and that just made my entire family giddy.

We try and be thankful everyday but we do enjoy a day to be extra mindful of all of our many blessings.

Middle school zumba

2 days.

 12 classes.

Few hundred students.

Same 10 songs over and over and over and over.

2 daughters who weren't embarrassed to have me there.

2 thankful P.E. teachers.

2 tired legs and feet.

About 10,000,000 calories burned.

Thanksgiving is Thursday, let's eat.

Locks of Love

This girl has been growing out her hair for quite a while.  While it was pretty and long and sassy, it was sooooo long and sooooo hard to get up and out of her way.  She has been growing it out for a purpose though.  She has been getting ready t donate to Locks of Love.

Before the big cut:

 

The minimum you can donate is 10 inches. 

That  would have meant cutting it to right here:

 But she decided it wasn't enough.  She wanted to donate more so she went up another 4 1/2 inches.  

First we needed to divide Kahau's hair into 2 sections because there was so much of it. Next, we braided it to keep it a little more in check and not all over the place. Finally...snip, snip.

A little mid-haircut fun...

 Her hair is adorable and it makes her look so big and tall.

Before and after:

She is donating her hair to Jason's aunt who is currently undergoing a very aggressive chemo regimen to shrink her terminal lung cancer. Pretty great thing to do if you ask me.

Yep, she's cute.

Jason and Joel

Joel is from our BYU-Hawaii days and we are so lucky we got to see him this week here in Portland.  He and Jason were in concert choir together (along with Joel's wife Meilani).  Jason and Joel also ran for  ASBYU back in the day. They lost by a very slim margin....not bad for a new transfer student and a recently returned missionary.

I love seeing friends from different pats of our life. I am always reminded of the happiness they bring into our lives.

Sunday Morning

The missionaries asked us to join them at the temple with a family who is investigating our church.  We went to the visitors center, walked the temple grounds and got to know the family better.  I am thankful we were able to go and spend time there before church on Sunday.  The day couldn't have started any better.

Oregon vs. Utah

While the girls were having a great time, so were the boys.  It was Ansen's turn to take daddy to a Duck's game and oh they had fun!

 At the start of each game the Oregon Duck (the mascot) gets a ride into the stadium on the back of a Harely that is specially painted in fancy Ducks colors.  Jason's friends and good friends with the guy who owns/drives the Duck in (following me?). As my boys were tailgating he drove up and Ansen got to hop on!

How cool is that?

 The Ducks beat Utah and it didn't pour on them.  Sound as though it was a pretty successful game if you ask me.  Ansen let me know it was the best football game ever and that he is going to play for the Ducks someday.

What a fun memory for Ansen and Jason. I'm so glad they got to go!

Wedding

 Saturday night after Time Out for Women/Girls, the girlies and I attended the wedding of Jason's cousin on the Portland Spirit.  The Portland Spirit is a dinner boat that takes you up and down the Willamette River and lets you enjoy the river and the ridiculously huge houses along the river.

 The ladies enjoyed seeing some cousins....

and Dad and Uncle Bill (sitting and father of the groom) and Uncle Bob (standing-left) enjoyed keeping an eye on Standford loosing to USC.

They were quite funny yelling at each other from across the ship the plays and scores.  Unfortunately, Stanford's loss came right at cake cutting time and the groom was a little preoccupied with the score as well. Boys and their football.....

 The girls and I had been super busy all day with TOFW/G and poor Kahau, being just little her mama, could not handle anymore excitement. After dinner she knocked out for the remainder of the dinner cruise. I couldn't get mad.  She was warn out from a full school week and a full weekend.

 This one, on the other hand, was a party animal.  She was socializing with everyone and taking in all the amazing scenery the ship was passing by. She could have stayed on board all night if I let her!

Congrats to the happy couple.  Thanks for the awesome trip!

Time Out!

Things didn't stay slow around here for long around here that's for sure!

On Friday the girls and I and began our mini weekend at Time Out for Women & Time Out for Girls in Portland. Kahau and I went last year and, this year, I cheated and brought Braley along. (It's supposed to be only for 12+ but I just knew she would love it and it would be great for the girls to be together in this environment.)

We all seriously enjoyed ourselves, the speakers, their messages, and the music. It's just like a mini personal boost for me and I'll take all the "boost" I can get.  As for the ladies, they were just so excited about being (and staying) good girls, doing good things and surrounding themselves with good people.

 One of the best parts of attending is that you run into LOTS of friends.  Really, friends make everything more fun.  (missing: Brayden, Jess, Lisa, Ruby and April)

 Us ladies with Jericho Road.  I gotta say, they do a pretty mean boy band medley for a bunch of 30 something dad's.

 My girls.  I sure do think they are pretty great!

I am thankful we decided to go this year.  It was kinda iffy on whether I wanted to spend the money or not but in the end it was worth every penny.  I appreciate people willing to share their personal experiences and life lessons.

Pretty slow around here

Yea, I said it.

It's already Thurday and I really don't have much to report.

It feels weird, but nice.

Jason is home this week because I didn't let him go on a solo backpacking trip on Mt. Hood. I'm a mean wife and I am okay with that.  It didn't feel right so I asked (and, maybe told him) to stay and he said he would.

I know he's bummed about not being out in the wilderness but the kids and I are really he is home.

The big girls got their report cards and they killed it.  Brays got a 4.0 and Kahau a 3.5.  They are happy, we are happy, everyone is in scholarly bliss.

Ansen is constantly saying things like "When I am a professional baseball player..." or "One day when you come watch me play football for the Eagles..." or "Do I have to move to South-ish America to play futbol? You know what that is right Mom?  It's soccer."  I'm so glad he cleared that up for me.  I would have been wondering where Southish America was for a long time.

I have a stake meeting tonight that (I'm going to get struck by lightening) I don't want to go to. I'm sure it will be a good meeting and yada, yada, yada. I'd rather just hang out in my jammies and help the kids with homework tonight.  Jason's been on homework duty this week and I feel very out of the loop.

ttfn.  I'll let you know when something interesting happens around here.

Game on

Basketball games started this week.  She's gonna kill it, I just know it.

Ansen's season

He did such an awesome job during his soccer season.  I wish you all could see it.

 He gets the game and he is quick.  Very quick.  He loves running up and down the field all morning this season he even became a awesome goalie!

 Great season little man! Way to go!

Hmmmmmm.....

Look who found her Halloween spirit at the ward trunk-or-treat.
Maybe she's not so big after all.

Sisters, Oregon

We need to streach our legs and go to the bathroom.  This is what we found at our pit stop. It's not everyday you come across Cinderella's carriage and a chariot.

Halloween

 As we were poking around Redmond on Halloween we had several people invite us to the town Trick or Treat on 6th Street (it's like Main Street).  We just had to go and boy did we have fun.  The kids had a great time and the town was super friendly.

This year we had a hula maiden:

 A World Series Champion:

 And a "I'm too old for this teenager."

 

 Thanks Redmond for a wicked fun night.  You have a great lil' town.