Some photos from this evening.

Barb and I drove to the coast this weekend starting last Wednesday evening after work.
We elected to stay at the Inn at Cannon Beach which is a venue we have enjoyed before and will probably continue to visit on our trips out here. We set this up in response to no one being able to go to Sun Banks Resort during the same period of time. We cancelled the Sun Banks reservations and booked this long ago. We had no idea this would be the big bake in Portland. Temps there topping 100+. Temps here, oh, about 69-maybe 79. All I can say is that we picked the right weekend to get out of Dodge.

We've run the beach each morning about 0630, visited Lincoln City (too busy a place) to see the house we rented there for next July, and returned to our abode here for the night. Found a great eatery next door called the Warren Pub. The food was wonderful.

We're driving up to the Seaside area to buy Mom a fleece coat as neither of us brought them with us. The forecasts showed the coast to be hot, however, during part of the day yesterday and into the night, it was cold.

I hit a large object on the highway on the way North on 101. Two-lane so I could not get out of the way. My choice was hit the object, head-on into an oncoming mobile home or crash into a large Douglas Fir off to our right. I took the object under my right front tire (did not cut the tire) but found out after we got to the Inn that my gravel/mud flap on the right wheel well was split down the middle from the collision. Guess I'll be ordering online for a new set this week.

That's about it from the foggy coast. See you tomorrow. We'll be back for church. Dad

Once again I failed in my job to post this entry on the Sundry Seven... it's from August 6th:

Good-bye Harry! My amazing and brave husband went out last night and singlehandedly took on 4 banana spiders with a rake and his shoe... I was terrified for him but he held strong and was successful. They are officially dead and I am so happy! We tried to buy some sort of poison spray because I was sure that you couldn’t just knock them out of the tree and step on them. I envisioned them jumping off their web and attacking with amazing speed the way they attack the sticks we throw into their webs. Well luckily they were so stunned by being knocked to the ground Tom had time to step on the them. He’s my hero and I am so happy they are gone. It’s true more might come to take their place but at least I feel a little better for now! Oh, and by the way, we should have named her Harriet, the girls are the large ones with all the bright colors...

Not much else to report here. I’ve just been busy with “regular” life. Hayden has been spending every spare minute with our next door neighbor Mika. They set up a large inflatable pool in their yard yesterday and the boys were snorkeling in it! They play together well and always come up with interesting games. Today they were digging for dinosaur bones in the backyard and then reading about them in their science books. I got Hayden registered for Kindergarten and am looking forward to that at the end of the month. I ordered some curtains for the house, I’ve been cleaning and playing, cleaning and playing... Last Saturday Tom and I had a date night with Danica. The day care here offers free babysitting one Saturday night a month. We tried to sign the kids up but by the time we had all the paperwork done the 2 year old’s class was full. So we dropped off the other kids and went off on our date with Danica in tow. We went to the Japanese mall and walked around American village. It was fun just to take in the sights and get a feel for what time of things we could buy locally. I’ve been told I am so lucky because I can go shoe shopping here because my feet are so small. I’ll have to check it out. We thought about going out for Japanese food but we were in “American” village so they had restaurants that were trying to be like the U.S. So we decided to try the A&W, luckily the back of their menu had an english version so we could just point at the pictures to place our order. The food was okay but we won’t do it again. Tonight we are finally going out for some real local food. Our new friends have set up a babysitter and we are going to try a new place. They are big “food” people and will be good for us in forcing us out of our comfort zone when it comes to food.

Today my friend Melissa picked us up and we went down to Araha beach. That’s the one with the pirate’s ship and great swimming spot. It’s so close it’s actually practical to just go for an hour or two. We had a great time swimming and escaping the heat for a few minutes. When we were walking back to the car we ran into a group of japanese teenagers who are in Okinawa on vacation. The people around here are used to seeing American’s because of the military presence but these kids weren’t and they were just amazed. They wanted to get their pictures taken with the kids and just couldn’t get enough of the little blond girls. Hayden surprised me and was a good sport and actually smiled in a picture with one of them. Then they kept using their English and saying “bye,” “bye.” It was really funny.

Melissa had to pick us up because Tom’s car is in the shop this week getting a new air conditioner. We took a risk buying our cars off the “lemon lot” instead of from a dealership and now we’re taking the hit. We got the cars for a lot less than we would have paid at the dealership so even with the repairs we will come out about even... that is unless it’s really a lemon and this is just the first repair. I’m not sure we made the best decisions with out car buying but when you don’t have a car you eventually get desperate and just buy something! In case you missed the info, I sold my beloved beautiful navy blue 2007 Honda Odyssey after having it for only a year. She was my baby and I was annoyingly obsessed with keeping her clean and nice. Now I own, yes own because I certainly didn’t have to finance the $1,700 I paid for it, an ugly tan color 1995 Toyota Lucida. Why did I buy it you ask? Other than desperately wanting a way out of the hotel? Well, around here only the locals drive nice cars. The military members are not allowed to bring cars here and the car lots that sell to Americans are full of old vehicles that are just bought and sold again and again as the military members come and go for their 3 year periods. The way I see it, once the car gets so old that the Japanese don’t want to buy it they sell it to us! :) But I’m trying to make the most of it, I gave it a good deep cleaning the other day and I am feeling better already. Oh, just as an interesting side not, my Odyssey had a ridiculous amount of cup holders, 16 I think. I had to buy some nice old school drink holders, the kind that slide into the window and hang on the door, so that I would have at least one drink holder. Thank goodness they at least sold those here and it cost me less than a dollar. When put into perspective that means that if I bought the Odyssey simply for the nice drink holders, considering both cars get me from point A to point B, then I was paying something like $2000 a drink holder... how thirsty am I?

Lastly, I went running last night. Only the second time I’ve gone since moving here. They have a flag system on base and when it’s too hot they fly a black flag which means you aren’t allowed to run. Between the heat, jetlag and Tom’s schedule I just don’t get it done. But last night we ended up playing an impromptu game of kick ball on the baseball field behind our house. It was really fun and Danica especially liked running the bases. Anyway, after that I was already drenched with sweat so I decided to go running. It was dark but still crazy hot. None the less it felt good to be out. I felt really safe running on base and even got to wear this sexy reflective neon yellow belt required for running at night. Towards the end my lungs end up burning from breathing such think air but my muscles were happy to be out.

Well that is way too many boring details, maybe I’ll have something good to report in a few days. Tom has a dental banquet this weekend. I should go to it but I would need a formal dress and shoes which I don’t have. Plus, we would have to pay $45 for my dinner and it just doesn’t seem worth it for a stuffy social gathering I won’t enjoy. I’m feeling a little guilty for not going but their are other wives skipping out so it will be okay. I think I will happily stay home and do a little reading- I’ve got the new Twilight book and am dying to get started on it. I have to speak in church on Sunday so once I get my talk finished I can enjoy some vampire time!

One last thing, a funny Hayden quote. I made this chart to keep track of who’s turn it is to say the family prayer because Hayden always wants to get out of it. Well it was coming up on his turn and I was explaining that we were turning the spinner clockwise so he says “Why don’t we just do it clock foolish?”

I know you guys probably don't care but I just finally got this video off my friend's camera that I used. This was my perspective of the Hugh Jackman moment. :)

The opinions and commentary expressed in this blog entry belong only to the author and do not reflect upon any other female who has married into this family...although a few may agree.

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS WHEN YOUR HUSBAND SAYS THE FOLLOWING THINGS:

"What's your problem?": This is his oh-so-sensitive version of "Are you okay?" or "Is something wrong?". This questions often prompts a "nothing" response...for some reason.

"Hey, come and look at this (on the computer)": Don't look. If you do look, don't tell him you like it in any form. He will interpret interest as: "I love it. We need it. Buy it now."

"It costs about $.....": Add 50% to this figure and you are getting close.

"Let's go.": This means HE is ready to go and will be out in the car. Do not take this as any offer to help YOU or the kids be ready. It isn't. He'll just wait in the car.

"Hey - you married me.": Interpret this as: "Put your Sparkle book away; I'm not Edward". No kidding.

"I love you.": This means he loves you. Awesome. :)

Adina

I read this in a local paper in Cannon Beach today and Mom agreed with me that we should share it with the BLOG:

Some definitions all men should keep in mind:

"Learn What Words Mean When A Woman Says Them:

"FINE" A word that women use to end an argument when they feel they are right and want you to shut up. Never use "fine" to describe how a woman looks. This will cause one of those arguments.

"FIVE MINUTES" This is half an hour. Or the equivalent to the 5 minutes your football game is going to last before you take out the trash.

"NOTHING" Beware! This means "something". "Nothing" signifies that an argument will last "5 Minutes" and end with "Fine".

"GO AHEAD" (with raised eyebrows) This is a dare that will result in her getting upset over "nothing" and will end in the word, "Fine".

"LOUD SIGH" This is a nonverbal statement often misunderstood by men. It means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time arguing with you over, "nothing".

"THAT'S OK" This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make! It means she wants to think hard and long about how to pay you back for whatever it was that you did.

"GO AHEAD" At some time in the future, you are going to be in some mighty big trouble.

"PLEASE DO" This is not a statement but an offer. She is giving you the chance to come up with an excuse. You have a fair chance, so be careful that you don't get a, "That's ok".

"THANKS" A woman is thanking you. Don't clutch your chest and pass out, just say, "You're welcome"

"THANKS A LOT" Much different than "thanks". A woman will say "thanks a lot" when she's really ticked off at you. It signifies that you have offended her in some callous way, and will be followed by a "Loud Sigh". Be careful not to ask what is wrong, as she will only tell you, "Nothing".

Birthday to....

Brooke - You are amazing. You have such patience and dedication in everything that you do. I truly admire you.

Jane - Twelve years old. Crazy. You are so beautiful and, I gotta tell ya, I love your hair! I think I'll probably take a picture of you into my stylist and say, "Make it look like this." :) I love you and hope to see you soon now that you are a fellow Californian.

Isaac - An official teenager tomorrow. I really admire you for how much you love your family and how you are so kind to your brothers, sister and cousins. I'm glad I got to spend the week in Shasta with you so I could see how much you are growing up.

Alyssa - I know you can't read this but I love you so much and miss the heck outta ya! You are a total doll and I am so happy that I had the time I did to play with you while you lived in San Diego in your first year.

Anniversary to...

Mom & Dad - You guys are such a great example to me of love. It has been so fun to see you both, as everyone has left the house, grow even more attached to each other. I am so happy that I have parents that love each other so much.

David & Adina - I feel like you two have always been together since I was so young when you started dating. But you also are an awesome example of two people who work so well together and still have so much fun being together. I hope to have that too.

Bottom-line: I love you all and I hope that you all enjoy your special days!

We love you all and hope you have a good day on your birthdays! Love, Anne, Peter, Andrew, and Beck

We had McKenzie's two week appointment yesterday and she was 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. She is definitely growing well and it is a TALL baby!
Now it is less than a week until I start student teaching. I am getting a little nervous but I just want to get the 13 weeks over with, then I can have a little bit of a break from school...
The girls are doing great. Melia is definitely testing our limits... she is definitely almost two... but she is so cute while she does it. I think she is just trying to get our attention over McKenzie's. She is so cute that she says McKenzie's name all the time. If she wakes up and McKenzie is not up yet, she says "Come on Mom... Come on... McKenzie??" and then says "READY! GO!" and runs into our bedroom to get McKenzie. She also always says Night Night to McKenzie before she goes to bed.
Well we are loving watching the Olympics and are just relaxing before I have to go back to school.
I love you all! Here are some pictures!

I'll add my best wishes although we did celebrate it last Friday. I'm hoping that you can take a few minutes out today to pamper yourself in some way. I wish I could be there to take the kids so you could get totally away. Maybe we'll have to treat you to some time to yourself when I am there in September.

We love you and are SO glad that you are part of our family!

Love,
Barb

Happy Birthday to Brooke today! Hope you are enjoying it in California. We hope to see you soon... don't know when but hopefully soon!
I figure instead of posting everyday this week I will just post once for everyone... So! Happy Birthday Isaac, Jane, and Alyssa! Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad... you two are such a great example to me and I love you! Also Happy Anniversary to Dave and Adina even though it is a little bit later in the month.
Love you all and plan to post some pictures tonight!

Kimberly

Now that I have overloaded the blog with pictures, I figured I needed to post also.

Our trip to Rexburg was very fun. I am so glad that I decided to go even though I didn't get much sleep, but then again, when do you get sleep when visiting family. It was good to see Mckenzie and Melia...and I guess Kim and Treven;). Andrew had a blast getting to know Melia more and it was fun to watch them play and fight and made me think of Isaac and Jane.

I will say it was a fun summer visiting family, but it is nice to be home and have the boys back on a good sleep schedule. We are in the middle of getting Beck to sleep thru the night and so far so good and I will tell you (as long as I go to bed at a reasonable time) I am feeling much more well rested and am loving not having to get up multiple times during the night.

Beck is now scooting around and rolling all over the place. He moves pretty well and it is exciting to see him finally being able to reach things he was getting frustrated over before. He is definitely trying to keep up with Andrew and loves to play with him. He is sooo close to officially crawling, just not yet. We just now have to regulate Andrew from taking toys from Beck now that he can get to them on his own.

Some funny things Andrew has done lately:

I was chasing Andrew around the house like we do all the time but when I started getting tired, I laid down on my back to rest, but to also act like I was dead. Andrew came over and said "uh oh!" and he tried to pull on me to get me to play again. When I didn't move, he bent down and gave me a kiss. It was so funny I had to wake up and play with him some more. I don't know where he got that since the only disney princess movie we have is Little Mermaid and I don't remember that happening in it.

Beck has now become a toy for Andrew now that he knows he can roll him around. So everyonce in a while we will look over and Andrew is rolling Beck across the room and back, but Beck completely enjoys every minute of it.

It is fun to see the two boys interacting as much as they are. It will be fun to see as they continue to grow how good of friends they will be.

High school volleyball starts up this Friday and is over by the end of October. It should be fun, especially with the fact that I get paid :). This is just the beginning of my busy time and it will be nice to be busy again especially with volleyball. Club ball starts shortly after the hs season ends and I am looking forward to that also.

I am still in the midst of training for my half marathon. I had to run a 5K the other day because it was that week in the training, however I couldn't find any official ones to run so I ran my own personal 5K. I did it in 29:13 minutes and was pretty happy with that. Peter made sure to remind me before I headed out that I had to do it at a race pace and in doing that I got my personal best mile time of 9:00 minutes (according to my nike plus system). I still have about 10-11 weeks left before the race but I am so excited to be running (wow did I just say that?!?) and can't wait to do the race.

We are still trying to sell the house. We are lowering the asking price a little bit to see if it changes the amount of people coming out to see it. We aren't in a huge rush to get out of the house as it is working the way it is but it is always nice to have some more room to stretch out it. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

We are open to any visitors, whether they be long or short. We love you guys and are so glad to have family like we do.

So I don't know if you all can see the scratch/knot on Andrew's forehead in this picture but I felt I needed to put the story behind it on the blog so that I can remember it.

We went to visit Kim and Treven as most of you know and on Sunday we went to church with them as we would any normal Sunday. So I drop Andrew off in nursery and he does fine for the most part being left. But I left him there with a feeling like he would be getting hurt in some way while he was in there. I thought it was a stupid thought and I joined everyone in Sunday School. Mom and I went to Relief Society and part way into the lesson, I get a tap on my shoulder from a women asking if I had a son named Andrew. I replied "Yes I do" and she said "ummm...they need you in nursery". So I get up and walk out and run into the guy who works in the nursery. He begins by saying "Yeah...his head is bleeding. We don't exactly know what happened but we heard him crying and looked over and he was on the floor bleeding." So I just tried to be calm, I wasn't too worried as Andrew has fallen and hurt himself many times, we have had many bloody lips, etc so I tried to reassure the guy that it wasn't a big deal. So he directed me toward the bathroom and said they were cleaning him up in there. So I walked in and they were trying to wipe off his forehead of the blood. The girl said "We think another kid threw a toy at him." Andrew saw me and began wimpering. I noticed he had blood on his hands and let the girls go while I continued to clean him completely up. It really ended up being no big deal but that funny feeling I had I guess actually happened. I told Kim later that we were never going to come to church with them again...jokingly. Andrew has yet to come out of our nursery hurt, but those brutes in Rexburg just don't know how to handle themselves ;)

Well, that might describe Barb and I, however we haven't been out together on the water since we completed our Basic Kayak Skills course. I took mine on 1 August and Barb took one on 9 August. I was very proud of Barb going through with the whole course and at the end, rolling the kayak over and getting back onboard. We now have our certification to go out and rent a double cockpit kayak. We are searching the local clubs for rentals and tours that we can take out across the Columbia, Willamette and other water venues. I have no pictures but can tell you that is was a thrill to go through the course and now have a companion I can go out with anytime we have time available. Kenn and Barb