Time is going way too fast... I need it to really slow down because I am having a great time and am not ready to leave yet! After nearly 3 years of being anxious to get off this island I now want to stay... life here is too easy... no decisions to make... I just live in the house they gave me, go to the school nearby, shop at the only store, drive the cheapest car we found on the lot that was big enough to fit the double stroller and we spend our free time exploring paradise! Who would want to leave? I think that all my family and friends that I miss so much just need to move here and then it would be perfect!
It’s just barely starting and I”m already stressed out thinking about which house to buy and in what school district, what kind of car to buy and where to get it....and that’s just the big stuff...I”ll need to furnish a house, get a cell phone, buy a washer/dryer, lawn mower, etc.... it’s just too much.... listen to what we’ve been doing here and you’ll agree we should just stay put and live on vacation!

Yesterday we got home from church and it was so beautiful out that we had to have a family adventure. So we set off toward Ikei island, a small island connected by a bridge that we’ve ridden our bikes to but never taken the kids or gone with time to explore. On the way we passed some castle ruins and suddenly stopped and got out to walk around and enjoy the view.
Then it was off to the islands where we looked at the fish, the gorgeous water and serene beach... it was heavenly and a great way to spend time together. We had the whole beach to ourselves!




Saturday we enjoyed the kids soccer games in the morning. Danica has come a long way since the last game where she cried the minute the game started and this time she actually touched the ball twice!! Hayden did well and is learning to be more aggressive. After that we dropped the kids at the once a month free day care and were prepping for nice bike ride when Tom got called into work. So I called my great friend here and talked her into riding with me. We set off on a 46 mile ride out to Ikei island. It was a beautiful, tough, long ride. I felt so lucky to have a friend to come with me and gorgeous place to ride...Tom picked up the kids and we watched Tangled and had Pizza Hut for dinner.

A few other fun things we've been up to:
On Wednesday we found a new park, called the Treehouse park. The girls had a blast running around and sliding down.

In other news... Alyssa got her new teeth on Tuesday. She didn’t want them and cried through the appointment but was still compliant. It took a few days before she got used to them but now she’s back to normal and they look great!!! We’re really excited that she was able to get them!
Before:
After:
Hayden has been running a mile every night with Tom. It’s been a great experience both physically and mentally. He literally cried through the entire first mile it was so hard and he was so angry. We decided he needed to work on running after watching him at his first soccer game where he was just so winded, gave up chasing the ball quickly, and had no form. After the first few nights of runs he began to improve and started to like it. Now he asks Tom when they are going to run and is working on getting faster. I hope this lesson can help in other areas in his life because is a chronic “quitter” who only does things that are easy. This is a clear example of sticking with something hard and the benefits that come from it!
He participated in the science fair again this year and was able to go to districts again. It’s a great experience for him and he enjoys the day of learning and fun activities. I was able to go with him and loved watching him in action!
Danica is loving her new gymnastics class!
That about sums up things here... we are looking at flying out of here on June 18th, just after the last day of school...we'll keep you posted as the details come together!!!

Next great family game. Plays up to 7 in about 30 minutes. Fantastic. First run sold out. Second run is in stock now. Thoughthammer.com or funagaingames.com are good online shops.



-- Post From My iPhone

http://jenniferbarnesphotography.com/

A large, fake spider in my bed. All of Dave's belts missing and hidden, along with his razor. An alarm clock stuck under Isaac's bed, going off at 3 am. Sugar in Morgan's shoes. Green soap on the door knobs. Soap on the toilet seat. Just a hint of yellow food coloring in the milk, so it looks spoiled (and really throws off taste perception). And all of this cleaned up before I head to, of all things, his Honor Roll Assembly. Because he's so stinkin' smart.

Adina

I had time to stop by my apartment this afternoon before heading to the airport so I snapped a few shots now that I can see the place without the previous tenants stuff. I think it's gonna be pretty sweet!!

Dining room




Dining room to kitchen













Bathroom - pretty standard




Yes that is my sweet red carpet




Bedroom




Bonus room - hard to get a sense of size here




Door at end of the hall to the shared laundry room

It'll probably look quite different once I get my stuff in there but so far I'm saying home sweet home. :)

I am trying to get our Apple TV's to communicate to our PC through home sharing. They are communicating to the Mac laptop, but not the PC. We recently updated our internet provider from comcast to Qwest. I think it might have something to do with the firewall or ports. Any help would be fantastic.

Thanks

This is Isaac, a pretty good kid by most standards. He gets excellent grades, he listens to atrocious music, he plays the guitar, his room is a nightmare, he goes to seminary all on his own, he runs like the wind, he treats his siblings deplorably, he has good friends, and his favorite place to be is home. One minute, I want to kill him, the next minute he has his arms around me and is telling me how much he loves me. Overall, a good kid.

No, not the Barenaked Ladies song...it is one week until I move into my new apartment! I'll be signing my contract and getting my keys next Thursday and then later that day flying to San Diego before I even get a chance to go see the place. Not sure if I mentioned it before but the only time I viewed the apartment there were people living in it so I had to use my imagination in combination with the photos of the apartment vacant to imagine what I could make it into so I am pretty excited to see it again!

But I will be flying to San Diego to retrieve the stuff I left down there in storage, put it all in a rental truck and drive it back up here in time to then move the stuff into the apartment and be able to see the place that Sunday. My best friend Matthew will be driving up with me and staying for a couple of days to help me get settled and unpacked so I am really excited to have another fun road trip up the coast - seems to be a common occurrence for me!

So by April 4th, I will be out of Mom & Dad's and living on my own once again. For those that were betting on it, it turned out to be just over five months and I'm still alive. But really, it has been a great situation living with Mom & Dad for this brief time - very helpful to me and fun to be close to family so much. There aren't a lot of 29 year olds that could move back home for a few months and stand it, so I consider myself very lucky.

I'm excited to explore Portland even more as I make it my newest home. And I am happy to have any of the many of you that are close by come explore along with me. I plan to be chock full of recommendations for places to eat, shop, listen to music, relax and have fun very soon.

In connection with my move, I have been doing lots of searching and probably too much finding of different decor to furnish my new place. I think I'm gonna end up being like Anne and phasing in the different ideas but I am definitely grateful to all of you up here that are lending me different items until I can find ones for myself - I think I'm actually borrowing at least one item from each family!

Other than the move, work continues to go well. I am fitting in nicely with the team and we are getting a lot of really great work done. Last week was a little slow due to lots of vacations in connection with Spring Break time but it picked right up again this week and I have a full plate once again. There are a lot of projects in the works so I feel a little like I am in the calm before the storm right now but I am really enjoying what I am doing and look forward to taking on more responsibility as the months go on. In other work news, I am still working on a very part-time basis for my old San Diego company. I am managing an online project for them so I can easily do that remotely and we've worked out a good system so I can do work for them on the off hours. So between those two jobs, my weekdays are pretty full - about 50 hours a week plus about a 2 hour commute every day. - something I am definitely not going to miss about living in Vancouver and working in Hillsboro!

I have also planned another trip to San Diego in May, this one for a bit longer than the few hours I will be there next week. I received an email last week from SDSU alerting me that I was eligible to walk in commencement this May. That triggered my memory that I never walked for my MBA because I graduated in the summer semester and if you are a graduate student at SDSU, you can't walk the semester prior if you graduate in the summer. So I am now up to walk if I want to. I thought about it for a while, talked to my friends, talked to Mom & Dad and decided that I really would like to do it. It helps that it is in San Diego, so an excuse to visit all of my friends but it will also be nice to have that culminating experience for the degree. My best friend from the program is also graduating this May so I will get to walk with her too so that will make it extra special. So that is the weekend before Memorial Day - in case anyone wants to join me, Mom and Dad in our quick trip to San Diego, you are welcome to come to my commencement ceremony. It's on May 21st bright and early at 8am. Just make sure to let me know if those pigs do fly so I can put aside tickets. ;)

It is kind of crazy that all of us will be up in the NW so soon - crazy and awesome. I am really excited to have everyone so close - especially so all the little cousins can know each other that much better. I'm anxious to hear the 100% from Mike & Brooke and that the move hold is taken off for Tom & Tracey so keep us updated!

Love you all!

http://runningforrisa.com/times-places.php

I guess it is about time that I sat down to blog. Life has been quite busy lately.
Here are a few things that have happened:

-At the beginning of this month, we moved into our new place. We are getting very close to being unpacked. So nice to get thru stuff and really figure out stuff we don't need.
-Ants have been a big issue at the house. They have been in almost every food cupboard in the kitchen, the pantry, and then they made their way upstairs thru the plumbing and into the hallway, kids' bathroom, and then our bathroom. We finally had enough and called the landlord who now has us set up on a quarterly visit schedule with an exterminator. It is so great to be taken care of like that.
-Peter and I ran the Santiam Scramble run. It was a bunch of craziness but it was such a awesome and fun time. It was five miles that included multiple straight up climbs, 6 creek crossings, and we spent the majority of the run not on trails, basically running thru branches and bushes. There was lots of snow and mud. Peter definitely feels like he has found a group he fits in with. I think we will be participating in these runs yearly now.
-Andrew is now signed up for kindergarten. Crazy to think that we are at that point but he is so excited.
-I met the other day with 5 other moms to talk about starting a preschool co-op for the kids that are Beck's age. We won't be officially starting until the fall but Beck keeps asking all the time about it. I am just excited at the fact we have so many young families in our ward to do this with.
-Camie is on the verge of officially walking. She will take steps here and there but then will realize she can do things faster by crawling. She is beginning to wave hi and bye and says "mama", "dada", "bye", and "night night". It is excited to know that she will be turning 1 next month. Speaking of which, local stinchfields/perrys: When are we doing the birthday celebrations for April? I was thinking the 23rd since we will be up that weekend for sure.
-I am continuing my marathon training. It is going well. I did 13.33 miles the week before last and felt so good. It was pouring rain the whole time but that made it so much better. I am busy trying to get the house settled and get things set up and make it feel like home. I have lots of plans for the decorating of the house but we gotta have the money to do it so I think it may have to wait until a little later.
-Peter is working hard at work and is busy with Portland Mormon Choir. They have their spring concert next month and he has been working hard at memorizing the songs.

We are looking forward to the many upcoming events of the summer and so excited to have everyone in the area in just a short while. We love you all and can't wait to see you guys soon.

-Anne

I was scooping their ice cream last night, based on their individual requests and just had to laugh as I realized how much it is a commentary on their personalities. Hayden and Danica could not be more opposite and Alyssa is somewhere in the middle. But just like Vanilla and Chocolate, they're all good!

The Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra would like to invite you to join us for the performance “My Redeemer Lives”

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Find us on Facebook for updates! www.facebook.com/PortlandMormon


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To celebrate this Easter season, come and enjoy a concert filled with music focused on the life and mission of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Bring family and friends to an inspiring concert that will help remind all of the role Jesus Christ plays in our lives. Special musical guest Dallyn Vail Bayles will leave your heart full of appreciation for the true reason for this upcoming holiday.


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West Linn High School

Thursday, April 7th 7:30PM
Friday, April 8th 7:30PM

Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra is featuring two of their three Spring performances on the Westside of the Portland Metropolitan area. This venue holds a maximum of 500 people so seating is extremely limited! Purchasing tickets early is encouraged.

Tickets are priced at $15 each. Groups of 10 or more are $12 per ticket.


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Willamette University, Smith Auditorium
Saturday, April 9th 7:30PM

It has been a few years since Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra has had a concert in Salem. This is a great opportunity for everyone in the Salem area to be able to enjoy and experience this great music live and close to home. Smith Auditorium only seats 1200 people. With only one Salem performance, this concert will probably sell out quickly so, again, you are encouraged to get your tickets early to avoid being disappointed.

Tickets are priced low at $10.


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Additional information regarding the concert is available at portlandmormon.org


Get tickets now at http://www.portlandmormon.org

Batwoman has join the crew!

We were about 2-3 away from him at this point. The guy I was with had a camera with a nice flash to get some pictures.




Da..Dum....Da....Dum.....

I had the chance to go diving with some friends of mine after work last friday. It turned out to be a beautiful day. I just kick myself every day that I did not get certified earlier but that is life. I want to take advantage of the last few months we have here to do as much as I can. Here are some pictures of the dive. The second dive we saw this cool cuddlefish and also a sea turtle. You can see how the cuddle fish changed its color as it back away. It was just a really cool experience.