Fun in Utah

We had a great time in Utah. Check out our picture show HERE.

We are on our way to my parent's cabin near Yellowstone. We will go to see the waterfalls in Yellowstone, but probably skip the geysers. We have seen them too many times and Rachel thinks they stink anyway. We will celebrate the 4th with my family living near the Tetons. We will then travel to northern Idaho to go camping with another single adoptive parent. Primitive camping. Should be interesting. I have to find a 9 mile dirt road filled with potholes. I am prepared with a shovel and a bucket because it is required by the forest service. I'm excited! Primitive camping with two adults and four kids. I'll report next week about the remainder of our trip.

Fun in the Car

875 miles is a long way to travel by car. The girls were pretty well behaved considering it was very hot (we have no air conditioning) and a very long drive. Erin Joy's favorite thing about the drive was playing with a pinwheel in the wind and Rachel's favorite thing was washing the windows at each gas station. Speaking of gas....I can't believe the gas is only $3.95 in Idaho! I wish I could take some home with me. I paid $4.49 before leaving Western Washington. My parents paid over $6.00 in the Marshall Islands.

I just posted another video with some great pictures of cousins on our extended family blog...Chips and Salsa Forever. You can access it in the side bar or click on the word "here" in the previous post.

We are having a lot of fun. Today we will watch one of our cousins play baseball then go swimming. We will be going to Utah at the end of the week for a trip to the zoo and temple square. Next week will probably bring Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. I'll probably post more on Chips and Salsa so stayed tuned.

Hum....I'm not sure where the video is...I'll work on it later....

Fun With Cousins

This is a picture of my entire family. It has been fabulous to be together. The girls are having a blast with their cousins and grandparents. I'm having a blast with my brothers and sisters and parents. It is so wonderful to see my parents and hear about their experiences in the Marshall Islands. We also enjoyed a reunion on Saturday with my mother's brothers and sisters and families. I have just posted a few videos to my family's blog. You are welcome to see all the fun we have been having by clicking HERE.

In Idaho

After almost 900 miles, we finally made our way to Idaho. I am using my sister's computer and I can't get video to upload. I will post video later. I will also post some great pictures of the cousins having fun together. Tomorrow, all 18 cousins will be together. They will have a blast at the reunion and laster tomorrow night at a "Yokwe" Party welcoming my parents back from their 18 month mission to the Marshall Islands.

We're having fun!!!!

Baseball in Spokane

On our way to Idaho, we stopped in Spokane to visit our cousins there. We had a great time at a Spokane Indians baseball game. They were playing the Everett Aqua Sox, our home town team, so we quietly rooted for the Aqua Sox.

My cousin works for Allstate and has a nice big sign with his picture on it hanging over two of the tunnels. Glad I don't have my picture hanging from a big sign. Glad I don't have a cousin taking a picture of it and posting it to a blog....

The girls enjoyed Otto the Spokanasaurus. They got his "Otto-graph" on a nice baseball furnished by Allstate. They also enjoyed jumping in Otto's bouncy house.

A Good, Quick Read

I really enjoyed this book.  I read it this afternoon while I ignored my girls my girls played quietly.  It was a fast and easy read.  I thought it was very well written...it made me laugh and made me cry.  I hope to have time to read a few good books while I'm out of school.

I love summer!  We will be leaving for Idaho on Thursday.  I probably won't be posting much but I will be taking a lot of pictures and I'll make a slideshow or something when we come back in July.  I'll try to post once in awhile, but I might be distracted by family members that I haven't seen in a long time.  I'm especially excited to see my parents who have been serving a mission for the past 18 months.

The girls are very excited to play with their cousins and see their grandparents.  We don't have any family living close to us so we have to take advantage of the few weeks we get to spend together.  I love my family and I can't wait to see them!!!

Happy Flag Day!

In honor of Flag Day, Erin Joy will happily recite the Pledge of Allegiance for you. (I actually took this video a few weeks ago...a couple of days after laser surgery so her cheek is still a little red and bruised. The bruising is just about gone now.)

VACATION TIME!!!!!

SCHOOL IS OUT!!! YIPPEEE!!! Trust me...teachers are more excited about this than the students! Not only is school out, but it is supposed to warm up a little and the sun is supposed to shine. It has been 15 degrees colder than usual. Apparently, it is the coldest beginning of June since 1894. People have been calling it "Junuary." It has been snowing in the passes and it hailed here. I'm tired of wind, rain, and gray skies. Bring on the sunshine! (I'm grateful we aren't having tornadoes or flooding like some parts of the country or cleaning up from earthquakes or cyclones so I shouldn't complain.)

I'm ready for summer!!! The girls are excited too. Rachel is already talking about first grade. I don't know why. I certainly DON'T want to think about school. Definitely time for a break.

Here is a "story" she wrote yesterday:
In case you can't read her spelling, here is a translation:

"I love to be out of school. I hope I have a good first grade. I hope to be in on the bus."

I'm traveling to Idaho to see my family next week. I am so excited! I am especially excited to see my parents who have been serving a mission for our church on the Marshall Islands for the past 18 months. They are currently in Hawaii. They are taking a "mini vacation" before they are bombarded with grandchildren--some whom they have never met. They have a red convertible mustang for a rental car at the moment--my dad's dream car. I hope they are having a wonderful time.

Hawaii + sun + red convertible mustang = FUN!

This is my equation for fun...

Summer + my girls + time off work = FUN!

Chicken Dance

In case you missed the video of Rachel's kindergarten program, you may watch her performing in our school talent show.  Her kindergarten class danced the "Chicken Dance."  Watch the boys around her...they didn't quite get it.  It is really cute!

One More Thing

I came across this picture as I was reminiscing about my birthday three years ago. I didn't enjoy my cake as much as I would have liked to because Erin Joy was struggling. She wasn't very happy our first few weeks together. She sure is a different person today.

Not only did I celebrate with the same candles as I had three years ago...I'm wearing the same shirt...that's embarrassing.

40 Years Young

Happy Birthday to me, I'm as old as a tree.
My life is half over
I'm getting much slower.

I celebrated my birthday at a local Mexican restaurant with my girls. Rachel took a picture of Erin Joy and I. I put candles in my burrito...one candle for each decade. The candles are special candles from China. Three years ago I celebrated my birthday in China a day before leaving for the states and a day after Erin Joy had her consulate appointment. The candles are left over from a very memorable cake. We celebrated Rachel's first birthday in China, too. Birthdays remind me of China.

I uploaded a couple of funny birthday videos into my family's blog. You can access it by clicking HERE. My sister's birthday was two days before mine. She came home from the hospital on my fifth birthday. It took me many years to figure out how she could be younger than me if her birthday was before mine.

Check out this yummy dessert! I love Mexican fried ice cream. Rachel and Erin Joy didn't care for it so I ate most of it by myself.

PRESENTS FROM MY GIRLS

Rachel gave me a gazelle that she chose out of the prize box in her kindergarten class. I told her that was so nice of her to think of me instead of herself on my birthday. She told me, "There weren't any good prizes in the box so I decided I might as well get something for you." So thoughtful. She also gave me a nice card.

Erin Joy chose two special rocks and decorated them for me. I'll have to keep them forever.

On To First Grade!

Rachel Graduated from Kindergarten today!

We celebrated by going to her favorite restaurant which she calls "The Milkshake Place."

She was excited about her new Webkinz dog.

Pay It Forward...Do You Want to Play??

I found my friend Tammie playing a game, & I think it sounds really neat. I'm all about having fun & playing games, so I'm joining in. How about you? Wanna play?

Yes? Well, here's how you do it.

1. I will send a gift of my choosing to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join the Pay it Forward exchange.

2. You must make the same commitment on your own blog.

So if you want a goodie, please leave me a comment. I'll need your snail mail address so that I can get your gift out. We can take care of that offlist.

Infidel

I have been distracted by an excellent book. Ayaan's life story is unbelievable to me because I was raised by good parents in a Christian home in a very different country. I knew Muslim women were treated poorly, but I never realized the extent of the abuse. I learned many things about the Muslim religion that scared me. I highly recommend this book...especially if you want to scare yourself.

Flat Scott at a Mariner's Game

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Flat Scott had a BLAST at the Mariner's game last night. The rest of us had a great time too! I was so surprised that the girls liked it as much as they did. Rachel complained all the way to Seattle, but she really had a great time at the game. She didn't want to leave. I tried to leave a little early, but she made us stay to the bitter end. She actually wanted to watch the game and asked a lot of questions. Erin Joy kept calling it a "basketball show." "We go watch basketball show" she kept saying. She kept hugging all the people who work there. The man selling programs looked very shocked when she walked right up to him and gave him a hug. I wish she would stop doing that....

(Notice that Flat Scott wore his Mariner's shirt that Rachel made for him and his baseball cap that Erin Joy made for him.)

Rachel wanted the Angels to win because she likes angels. "I don't know what a mariner is," she told me. I told what a mariner was, but she continued to vote for the Angels because she has a stuffed cat named "Angel." Eventually, she started voting for the blue guys because I was voting for the blue guys. She should have stuck with the Angels. When the worst team in the majors plays one of the best, the worst team is bound to lose and lose we did. We saw some great hits, but unfortunately, they were mostly for the Angels. I missed the homerun by Jose Lopez because I was taking a picture of Flat Scott. Shucks.

Flat Scott had a great time. He kissed the Mariner's Moose. He also really enjoyed the children's playground. We played before the game and during innings 3-7. We then explored the stadium and shared an $8.50 ice cream in a Mariner's hat. We also ate $6.50 nachos and $4.25 bottled water. The girls each had a $5.00 "moose bucket" with crunchy hotdogs (I'm serious...the bread was so hard it crunched...the girls left the buns), Cracker Jacks, and warm drinks. Erin Joy had milk and it was disgustingly warm. Rachel had Sprite and it was warm too. They didn't put ice in it and they needed to change the syrup or something because it was flavorless. They ran out of lids so we had an interesting time trying to not spill the drinks. We were unsuccessful. Erin Joy spilled all over herself. It's a good thing we only paid $7.00 for tickets and $5.00 to park because we paid a lot for food.

We didn't get home until 11:00. The girls slept all the way home so hopefully they won't be too tired today.

Flat Scott is on his way to Arkansas to visit with Reese and Monica. I'm sure Monica will report about his continued adventures on her "Flat Vagabond" blog.

Beach Fun

We had a fun time with friends playing at Alki Beach yesterday. It was a bit cold, but the girls ran around so much they didn't seem to notice.

Rachel had fun jumping rope and doing cartwheels and somersaults in the sands.

Erin Joy had fun blowing bubbles.

(Notice the last picture in this slideshow of the cute baby in pigtails. She reminds me of Rachel when Rachel was a baby. Isn't she adorable! I just had to put that picture in the slideshow even though she isn't my child.)

Cute Dancers

The girls did a great job dancing at the Seattle Center yesterday. My favorite moments included Erin Joy and her handkerchief. Before getting on stage, she said, "I can't do it." She was right! It was really cute when her handkerchief kept sailing across the stage...especially when it landed on another dancer's head.

Another favorite moment was video taping Rachel doing the hat dance and showing obvious signs of needing to use the restroom. We ran to the restroom after that dance. When we came back, her class was dancing. Rachel rushed up to the stage and finished the last 10 seconds of a dance before I could stop her.

I also enjoyed watching Rachel and two other girls trying to figure out how to dance as a three-some when they were one person short.

I sure hope this video works. All of the videos I have uploaded with Google and Blogger work on my computer. I'm not sure why they aren't working on other people's computers. I uploaded this one with YouTube. I'll upload the same thing with Blogger too. If this doesn't work for you, then something must be wrong with my computer and I give up. If you want to leave me a comment and let me know which videos work and which ones don't, I would appreciate it. Then I'll know which way to upload videos in the future or if I should just give up.

In case this doesn't work, I'll upload a couple of my favorite pictures. Erin Joy looks like she is twirling her handkerchief, but it was just a lucky shot taken right before it flew across the stage.