The Family Circus

Christmas 2011

2011-12-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this Christmas Season finds you all happy and enjoying the magic of the Holidays.

This year has just flown by at the Wagstaff house and we can’t believe it’s almost over.

Dave is still working at HD Fowler. His position has changed and he is now an Estimator. He is still serving as a Scout Leader and took the Scouts (including Trevor and Logan) on a 100 mile bike ride on the Coeur d’Alene trail in Northern Idaho this summer for their High Adventure. They had a great time and they even got to go to The Silverwood Amusement Park on the last day.

Ginger has been working part time for a company that does school based Medicaid billing. She’s still working with the 10 and 11 year old Activity Day girls and loves the excuse to find fun craft projects for the girls.

Trevor got to experience College life for one semester. He attended the College of Western Idaho. It’s a local Community College in Nampa. He did great. Right now we’re getting things in order to submit his paperwork to find out where he will serve as an LDS Missionary this next year.

Megan is a Junior and has been busy keeping a 4.0 grade point average. She worked over Halloween at the local Pumpkin Patch and her Employers can’t wait to have her back. She’s still excelling in art and just recently was chosen to have a piece of her art displayed in a gallery.

Logan is a Freshman and discovered he really likes the FFA program at his school. It’s a great program and we look forward to seeing what he does in it. He got to experience a bit of farm life this summer while he worked for a neighbor. He learned that goats are very gassy and that Goat head weeds are very annoying.

Emma is in Sixth grade and doing great! She is turning 12 on the 19th. We’re trying really hard to accept that fact. She’s taking a Hip Hop dance class and likes it a lot. She still likes to draw but lately her subject matter has changed from Dragon’s to Wolves.

We want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring you much joy and happiness.

The Wagstaff Family

Christmas Letter

2010-12-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

This year has been an interesting and exciting one for us. And it started like this . . . .

Last year our family went to Utah to have New Years with my parents and celebrate Ginger’s Birthday. We had a wonderful time. When we got back home the New Year started with me finding out that my company had gone up for sale and that we could be purchased as early as month end. The future at this company became uncertain. As things turned out, a competitive company wanted to move into Southern Idaho, so all my co-workers and I left our old company and moved to the new one. We moved to a new building and had to build our branch back from scratch. It made the first part of the year very unsettling. However, on the upside, I am still employed, we didn’t have to move, and all the kids are doing great.

Trevor turned 18 this year and is just about ready to graduate High School. (I think I just got more grey hair writing that) We think he will be going to a local college until his mission, and then off to a bigger university after that. He wants to be an engineer. This year he buckled down and completed his requirements (at the stroke of midnight on his birthday) for Eagle Scout. We will probably do his Court of Honor the first part of next year, after the Holidays.

Megan has been busy doing Art and French in school and getting the best grades of the family. It seems like she is always off doing an art project or heading to a school club activity. She has finished her drivers training and is excited about turning 16 soon and getting her license. (more hairs turning grey and hair-line just receded another inch)

Logan has been the Deacon’s Quorum President this year and has done a great job. He loves scouting and is way ahead of his brother at this age. He will be a Life Scout in January. He is taller than his Mom is now and has almost caught up to his brother. At this rate will be the tallest person in the family. His favorite phrase is, “What’s there to eat”.

Emma is doing dance and really enjoys it. She did here first recital the other day and it was a solo. She did very well and we are proud of her courage to get up alone and dance in front of everyone for her first time. She also has just begun choir in school. Emma is taking after her sister with the grades. The teachers really have to dig to find anything to talk about during parent teacher conferences. Emma is also into art and draws pictures all the time.

This year we took a vacation at the Oregon Coast. We met up with my sister Ann and her family. Where we stayed, we could walk right onto the beach each day. We all had a great time discovering starfish, mussels, sand shrimp, and sand fleas (which bite) we built sand castles and flew kites. We also went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and had seafood in Newport.

Trevor and I went on High Adventure camping trip up in the White Cloud Wilderness. Where we saw some of the most beautiful wilderness in the country and hiked to Lonesome Lake that is over 10,000 feet in elevation. The trip was a big adventure to some because camp was 7 miles from the cars, all up hill. We had to pack in all our food and tents for the four days we were there. On the final day, we went White Water Rafting down the Payette River.

Ginger has a full time job keeping all us on track and on schedule. She’s enjoying being the Activity Day Leader of the 10, 11 year old girls. Her 40th Birthday was a surprise trip to Utah where she got to spend 4 days in Salt Lake City with Dave. We spent an entire day at IKEA and spent time at Temple Square. We had dinner on New Years Eve at The Roof Restaurant. We also drove up to Park City and spent lots of time shopping of course. It was a great surprise.

We have so much to be thankful for especially for all of our friends and family. We wish you a Very Merry Christmas and may the New Year be full of Joy.

Love,

Dave, Ginger, Trevor, Megan, Logan and Emma Wagstaff

Back to School

2010-09-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

We're back in school this week. These are the annual first day of school pictures. I can't believe Trevor is already a Senior. Megan is a Sophomore this year and has already started picking on the Freshman. Logan is in 8th grade and Emma is in 5th grade. It's been one week and they all seem pretty happy with their Teachers and classes.

Trevor's been working hard on his Eagle Scout Project. He's hopefully going to be organizing a Blood Drive in October. That is really cutting it close to his Birthday but he'll get it done.

Emma just started Lyrical Dance classes today. She never seemed interested in Dance until she found some friends who were big time dancers and that got her thinking that she wanted to try. I think she'll do great.

We are just starting to harvest some of the veggies from our garden. We obviously live in Idaho because we sure can grow the spuds. I've been busy canning Mustard Pickles, Bread and Butter Pickles and the Sweet Pickles are curing in the Crock. Hopefully I'll be canning peaches this weekend and if my tomatoes ever ripen, I'll be canning Salsa. Busy, busy times ahead.

Lazy Blogger

2010-07-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our first real harvest from our Cherry Tree

Multnomah Falls

Tumalo Falls in Bend, OR

The Daines and the Wagstaff Kids

The Wilcock's and The Wagstaff's at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

The whole gang at Rockaway Beach

Playing in Rockaway Beach at the Twin Rocks

Rachel and Emma not getting wet

Kendra and Megan exfoliating their feet.

Logan's discoveries at low tide

Trevor and Megan checking out the sea life at low tide

The awesome view from our Hotel room in Lincoln City

Marshmallow Fields!

It's been a few months since I updated our Blog so hopefully I can remember all the things that have happened. The school year finished up (much too soon if you ask me) and we discovered that Trevor had 100% attendance. I didn't even realize it. Megan started Driver's Education and finished up right before we left on vacation. Megan then went to Girl's Camp and had a great time. As soon as she got home, we packed up and headed to the Oregon Coast.

We drove all day and stopped off at Multnomah Falls and were surprised to see that it didn't have much water coming over the edge. Then we took the Family to the Portland IKEA for lunch and with much restraint didn't shop for too long before we got back on the road and headed to the coast. The traffic through Portland made me happy to live where we do and not miss that mess at all. We showed the kids various spots in Portland where Dave and I worked or went to school. We pointed to Beaverton as we drove by and told the kids that's where we had our first apartment after we got married. When we got to McMinnville we saw the Museum where they have the Spruce Goose. It was closing for the day and cost too much so we just did a drive by.

We finally made it to the coast, just in time for the fog to roll in. We had a mix-up with our Hotel so we ended up at another Hotel and I think it was a good thing because our room was really nice. It's balcony was right on the ocean! It had a Master bedroom, a fireplace, a kitchenette with cook top and did I mention the view? We just stepped out our front door went down some stairs and we were on the beach. There were also Fire pits right outside our door that they would lend you sticks to roast marshmallows.

The next day we met up with Ann and Mike's Family and drove to Newport and went through the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was fun to walk through the tunnels of fish and sharks. After that I wanted to get some famous Mo's clam chowder so we had to wait a while but finally got in. While we were waiting Dave found us some fresh shrimp and crab cocktail to snack on. Once we finally got into the restaurant we were frozen by the AC and the chowder was not as good as I remember but not bad. Not sure it was worth waiting an hour. After that we toured a little Light House and then headed back up to our Hotel in Lincoln City. We roasted hot dogs and had S'mores at the fire pits outside our room with Ann and Mike's crew. We popped some popcorn and watched a show after that. It was a good day.

The next day we drove the hour and a half drive up to the Beach house Ann and Mike's family were staying at in Rockaway Beach. We ate lunch with them and then spent the afternoon playing at the beach. It was a nice day for flying kites an we had three up at one time. There are cool rocks that are really flat so we collected some of them and then we went in to town for Waffle Cones. We then drove to Tillamook and took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We got to sample lots of different cheese and see how it's made. We headed back to our Hotel after that. I had to take a picture of the Hay bales because they look just like marshmallows. I guess they wrap them in plastic to keep them from getting to wet.

It was raining the next day so we decided to drive even further north and walk around Seaside. It was just a lot of shops and touristy stuff but interesting enough. After that we went back to Rockaway Beach for a little bit and got one more waffle cone on our way back to the hotel (yes, they were that good!).

We reluctantly left the coast and headed to Bend. We stopped in Keizer and showed the kids the house we lived in before we moved to Idaho and then tried to find my favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. We couldn't find it and I was pretty bummed. We had a nice drive to Bend where my good friend Heather and her family lives and we spent the night with them. She took us to a really pretty waterfall near their house the next day and then showed us all the fun things there is to do in Bend. We will definitely have to stay longer next time. As we were driving home it felt like the whole trip was just a blur. It was fun but went by way to fast.

As soon as we got home we had to hurry up and scrub the house to get ready for Dave's parents and Grandma to visit. They stayed and even got to hear Megan give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. As soon as they left, we sent Logan off to Scout camp and Emma started swimming lessons. Whew, I think I need another vacation.

March and April Happenings

2010-04-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Megan's 15th Birthday!

She requested Apple Crisp instead of cake (smart girl).

Coloring Easter Eggs

Easter Morning Breakfast

Megan turned 15 and has already started counting the days until she is 16. I'm pretty sure she's not the only one counting the days ;). She is going to be taking digital photography in school next year so she got a camera for her birthday. She also got the latest Twilight Movie.

Dave and I snuck away to the Anniversary Inn and had a much needed break. Dave's been really busy setting up the new branch. He's been working 10 or more hours a day so it was nice to escape reality for a night. We stayed in the Hollywood themed room. It had a soda fountain and big screen TV and a jacuzzi tub. It was fun.

It was really nice having Easter fall on Conference Weekend. It was nice to stay home and relax all day. We watched Conference and had a yummy Easter Dinner of my favorite Honeybaked Ham, creamed peas with new potatoes and strawberry spinach salad. Banana Cream and Chocolate Pies were for dessert. We ate way too much and then watched movies as a family for the rest of the day. It was great.

Catch Up

2010-03-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Logan is officially a Teenager! He's quite excited about that.

Blowin' out the candles on his Boston Creme Cake. It's his Dad's favorite cake and I like it a lot too because there's no decorating necessary. Just pour on the Ganache.

Dave gave the Family this Chocolate Fountain for Christmas so we brought it out for Superbowl Sunday. It was awesome!

Right after the earthquake in Haiti, my Achievement Day Girls were talking about it and so we decided to have an activity assembling Hygiene Kits to send to the Humanitarian Center. We asked for donations from the ward and were able to assemble 30 kits. I think the Girls really felt like they contributed to the relief efforts .
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I have been lazy with the Blogging lately so here's a quick update on what's been going on.

January was an interesting month as far as Dave's work was concerned. His Company was in negotiations to be sold but it fell through. The uncertainty of the future for this company caused him to take a job with another company, doing the same work. It was a sad time because Dave has worked for 15 years with United Pipe. We have high hopes for this new company. Now comes the hard work of setting up a new Branch in Meridian.

Dave lost his company vehicle with the job change so we bought a little Ford Ranger. It's not a pretty sight but it runs. It's a stick shift so Trevor will have to learn how to drive a stick. Hopefully once Dave's work is up and running, he will get another company vehicle. Trevor officially got his drivers license so I'm still trying to get used to the fact that he is legal to drive on his own now. The really scary thing for me is, Megan just signed up for Drivers Ed this summer. I'm just barely getting used to one driver and now this? Oh well. Dave's Aunt and Uncle from Texas sold us their Toyota Camry last week. They were even nice enough to drive it here. Dave will be using that car for work so as soon as Trevor learns to drive the stick shift, he'll get to take the truck to school and Young Men's and hopefully a job.

We've been keeping busy with Church activities. Dave was in charge of a combined YM and YW etiquette dinner. That meant LOTS of cooking for me. He did have someone bring the appetizer and the soup so it wasn't too bad. It was a four course meal. They tried to give instructions on proper etiquette between each course. The Menu was Stuffed Mushrooms for the appetizer, Wild Rice Soup, Baked Ham with Scalloped Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus for the main course and Creme Brulee for dessert. I put the hams in a Roaster oven and the potatoes in Crock Pots and cooked the Asparagus at the church so it wasn't too much stress. I made the 30 Creme Brulees the day before the dinner and then torched the sugar on the tops just before we served them. We had some adults doing the waiting on the tables. I think it all went pretty well. We should've collected all the cell phones before the dinner though because there was some texting going on.

Now we're just trying to get through the end of the school year. I've been busy registering Trevor for SAT's and ACT tests. It really shocked me when I found out he needed them done this year and not his Senior Year. I'm kinda frustrated with all the things I don't know. It's hard to get it done the right way with the oldest because I don't know anything yet.

Hopefully that's got you up to date with what's been going on for the past couple months.

Birthday Surprise!

2010-01-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

Whoa!! I didn't believe it would take all day to get through IKEA but it did and it was awesome!

This is the Ice Sculpture at The Roof Restaurant in the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building.

We ate here New Years Eve and it was really good.

This is the view from our table. It looks right over Temple Square. You can see our Hotel, The Plaza at the top of the picture.

This tree was so pretty with thousands of red lights. It just glowed! The snowstorm made it a perfect night to look at the lights.

Midnight on New Years Eve from our Hotel room.

Wow, what a blur the past couple weeks have been. We celebrated Christmas and immediately packed up the family and drove to Utah. We dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's in Logan and drove to Salt Lake City. Dave had planned a 4 night getaway to celebrate my 40Th birthday. We stayed at the Plaza Hotel, which is right across the street from Temple Square.

The first day we spent at the IKEA store. It was amazing. We tried the Swedish foods from the cafeteria and liked them so much we brought some back to feed the family in Logan. We bought so much stuff from there that we were a little concerned about where the kids would sit on the drive home.

The other days were filled with shopping around Salt Lake and driving up to see how much Park City has changed since the Olympics.

The last night we went to The Roof restaurant for dinner. It had an amazing view of Temple Square. They put party hats and noise makers on our table since it was New Years Eve. It was the most money we've ever spent on a dinner but it was worth it. I had an incredible time.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

Megan 14

Trevor 17

Logan 12

Emma 10

We can't believe it's Christmas already. The kids are counting the days, hours and minutes until the Big Day.

Right now I'm working on goodies to fill up plates for the neighbors. It just doesn't seem like Christmas without days of making cookies and candies. Last night we delivered Cinnamon Rolls to some of our closer friends.

Here's a short summary of what we've been up to this past year.

Trevor is still waiting to get his drivers license. He's ready to take the driving test, we're just stalling. He got a job this Fall at a Pumpkin Patch. He weighed the pumpkins. It was a good first job experience. He's been taking welding classes and is really enjoying it. He decided to quit band so he could try other things.

Megan is doing awesome in school. She's a straight A student! She spent the summer volunteering for the Boys and Girls Club. She's in Art Club and has helped with painting a Mural and building parade floats. She's getting quite proficient in the art of texting as well.

Logan got to go hunting for the first time this year. He got to go with his Dad and Grandpa. They spotted a bear during their hunt so that was exciting. His Grandpa scared a deer out of the bushes and Logan shot it. He also got to go to Scout Camp and once again had a Bear scare.

Emma has been busy with school and playing with her Best Friend Allison. She still loves dragons and draws the most amazing pictures of them. She is stiff competition for her brothers at most video games. She just turned 10 and had a great day of getting her ears pierced, Build a Bear Workshop, painting pottery and eating chocolate cake.

Dave has been busy with work. We feel fortunate that he has a job. He's also been busy with Scouts. He had a great time helping both Trevor and Logan get a Deer this year.

We are very grateful for our friends and families and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Halloween

2009-11-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

Beetlejuice (Red Velvet) Cake

Cheesenstein

Our $1.00 witch we got at a yard sale and the pumpkin masterpieces

Emma the Cat and Logan the Barbarian
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Our Halloween Decorations
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We held a Halloween party on Thursday this week. There were too many other things going on later in the week and since the kids had no school Thursday and Friday we held it then. It was mostly Megan's friends and a couple other friends and neighbors. We served Pleasy's Punch which I had a face and hands of ice floating in it. I made the Cheesenstein cheese spread and meringue cookies shaped like bones, witches (chicken) fingers, bloody (BBQ) meatballs, deviled eyeballs (eggs), some apple and veggie dips and the cupcakes shaped like a pumpkin. We played a couple games and then Megan and her friends watched a scary movie. I think they had a good time.

On Halloween Megan went to a party and Trevor stayed home and handed out the treats. Dave and I walked around with Emma and Logan for a while to check out the decorations in the neighborhood. It was pretty uneventful. Halloween is sadly changing into just a party night for the older kids. I'm going to miss the costume searching and changing their minds five times before the big night ;)

October Activities

2009-10-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

As you can see from this picture, Logan got his braces off. It was about a year sooner than expected but we're not complaining. He has clear retainers for daytime and wire ones for night. Logan also got to go Deer hunting with his Dad and Grandpa Wagstaff. His Grandpa scared a Deer his direction and Logan shot it. Dave shot it once more to help finish it off. His first Deer on opening day of Hunting Season is pretty exciting.

We went to Linder Farms, which is the Pumpkin Patch / Corn Maze where Trevor is working. They had a baby animal petting zoo. They had a baby Camel, Alpaca and lots of other miniature sized animals to pet.
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Our fat cat Larry has finally recovered from his leg wound. Here's a picture of him with his leg all bandaged. Still trying to figure out if it was worth all that money. As soon as he was better, our other cat Bob decided he needed to get in another cat fight. He came inside with the exact same wound as Larry. We were sure it was going to start all over again, but thankfully we kept it from getting infected and he recovered on his own. Whew!

Dave and Trevor went out hunting this weekend. They didn't see anything all day until about 6:00 that evening when they came across a couple Doe's. Trevor shot one, so they had to hike around and find it to finish the job. On their search to find it, Dave came across a Rattle Snake. It was not too happy to see him. He shot it and came home with it's Rattle as a souvenir. Trevor's Deer was a fatty. The Butcher's even commented on how Doe's rarely weigh that much. It was 105 pounds. It's a good thing we cleaned out our freezer last weekend, because it is being filled up with Deer meat. I'm glad I bottled a batch of Chili Sauce this year. It will go good with the meat.

Back to school

2009-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

The traditional first day of school photo.

We finally got grapes on our vines

10 pounds of grapes = 13 pints of grape jelly

The kids are all back in to the school routines now. Megan is handling High School like a pro. Her favorite class is cemetery (that's what she calls seminary). Trevor is excited about all the new classes he's trying out this year such as, electronics, welding and building construction. He decided not to continue with band so he can try new things. Logan is doing well in Middle School. He seems to have figured out his schedule and classes pretty quickly. He really likes Industrial Arts. He just started Hunter's Ed this week and will be ready for hunting season in Oct. Emma is doing great in 4Th grade. Her best friend is in her class and she got a great teacher so she is happy.

I've been busy with an injured cat and trying to keep up with the garden. We made the mistake of leaving our cats outside one night and I guess they got into some big fights because the next morning, Bob's eye was scratched. We took both cats to the vet figuring they could both use some immunizations anyway. When we got home Larry was limping so we thought maybe the vet hit a nerve or something. It got worse, so we took him back in and they found a cat bite on his leg. They gave us antibiotics but they didn't work. He had to have surgery to put in a drain and it is not healing and the infection seems to be moving around his leg. I've about had it with this whole ordeal. We're on our 3rd antibiotic and hopefully this one is the good stuff.

As you can see from the pictures, we got some grapes this year. Next is bottling the tomatoes. I think I'll make some Chili Sauce, Salsa, Sweet and Sour sauce and plain bottled tomatoes. I still have some chokecherries to make into syrup and maybe jelly. I'll be glad when the weather cools down because bottling in the heat is no fun.
Dave went fishing last weekend and is going again this weekend. Unfortunately he goes with people who don't believe in keeping the fish. I don't see why you would fish if you weren't going to eat them. But that's just my opinion.

August Events

2009-08-24T15:26:00.001-07:00

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This was a sign we found next to the little puddle we were fishing in.

Logan caught the only fish that day.

After many, many days of this. I proclaimed no technology week.

Wow, this summer has flown by. I can't believe school starts tomorrow for some of my kids and Wednesday for all of them.

To recap August events: Earlier in the month we thought we would escape the heat and head up to a little lake in the Mountains to go fishing. The Lake wasn't there but a large puddle was. It wasn't any cooler there either. Logan caught the only fish that day.

The Computers and Video Games were getting a serious workout this summer so I decided that to avoid any withdrawal symptoms, we cut off technology for a week. The kids did really good. We got out the Shrinky Dinks and we did a big puzzle and went to the library. I think I will definitely do it again.

My Sister and her Family stopped by on their way to drop off their oldest son Cameron at the Missionary Training Center. It was a nice visit.

We've been busy with wounded cats for the last couple days. We left them out for one night and have been paying a heavy price for it. One cat had it's eye scratched and the other has an infected leg from a bite. What a pain!

The kids are mostly ready for school to start. I know I am.

High Adventure and Girl's Camp

2009-07-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

On their way to Loon Lake

Inside the Airplane Wreckage at Loon Lake

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Having fun with the Young Men

Megan at Girl's Camp

Well it's been a while since I last posted. It feels like all I've done this past month is pack one kid after another for their various camps.

Trevor and David had a great time at the High Adventure. They said it was practically a perfect time except for the mosquitoes. They got to go boating on Cascade Lake and go Whitewater rafting besides the fun experience of hiking with a really heavy pack. I'm not too jealous though, I like my indoor plumbing just a bit too much for all the backwoods stuff.

Megan had a great time at Girl's camp. This years theme was ER (Eternal Rewards). Each girl got scrubs with their names embroidered on them. They got to go to the Twilight Mountain Theatre and watch a play of Footloose. We need to take the family up there to watch one of their productions. They look like a lot of fun.

Now it's Back to School mode for the next few weeks.

Summer Stuff

2009-07-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Trevor's allergy testing

Super Volunteer Megan

Preparing for the High Adventure

I've been slacking in my blog lately, so here's a quick update about what we've been up to this summer.

Trevor had his turn at the Allergy Dr. and his skin reacted a lot worse than Logan's did to the skin pokes. They only did a few because someone was kind enough to inform me how much the testing costs (after Logan's were already done). I about had a heart attack but thanked the nice lady for warning me in advance. Trevor and Logan are allergic to basically the same things. Grasses (they will still be mowing), cats and dogs, sagebrush, dust, and a bunch more. The medications seem to be working though.

Megan has been volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club here in Kuna. They have theme days on Fridays so Megan's picture is from Superhero day. She turned the Boys and Girls club Logo into a Super Volunteer Logo. She is getting ready to go to Girls Camp next week.

We had a nice visit from my friend Heather from Oregon. Her family stopped by on their way to a reunion in Utah. It was great to see her and her kids. I wish we were still neighbors.

Logan was at Scout Camp last week. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show because no leaders brought cameras but he had a great time. They even had to spend one night in a leaders camper because there was a bear roaming through camp. The mosquito's had a feast by the looks of Logan's arms and legs.

Dave and Trevor left this morning for the High Adventure. The picture is of 6 tents being aired out. We had a blustery storm roll in so it was pretty funny seeing us trying to get them down quickly. They are going around the McCall area. They will be hiking to Lakes and a wreckage of a B-23 Bomber. Then they will get to water ski and whitewater raft as well. It should be lots of fun. I did send a camera along, so we'll see if they actually take some pictures. It is strange to just have 4 people in the house.

Expensive Bad Breath

2009-06-02T20:07:00.001-07:00

I took Logan to the Allergy Doctor this week, to see if he could figure out what was giving Logan such Dragon Breath. I figured he had an allergy to dust or something that was irritating his sinuses and causing them to drain constantly.

The picture above is what the Dr. thinks Logan will need to take to fix this. He looked in his ears and saw they were both infected, he did some breathing tests and said he has Asthma, he did the allergy testing and he is allergic to multiple things, mainly grasses, cats, dogs, dust, sagebrush and a lot more.

So for just going in to fix Bad Breath, I walked out of the Pharmacy $150.00 poorer. If it weren't for insurance, it would have been $500.00.

Dave has been home from work this week because of a fever and bad cough. I took him to the Dr. today and they said he has Bronchitis. We certainly are doing a good job of keeping the Pharmacy people employed.

Eventful Week

2009-05-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Since "Gateway to the Birds of Prey" is Kuna's town motto, the BLM holds a yearly Art Contest for the schools in Kuna. The picture above is Emma's entry.

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This is Logan's entry. Next to his elbow.

This is Megan's entry. She won 3rd place for her age group. All the winning entries will be assembled into a calendar.

Last night was the National Junior Honor Society recognition ceremony. Megan has been a member for two years now and we are so proud of her.

Cooking School and Whistle Pig Hunts

2009-05-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to attend a mini cooking school offered by Taste of Home Magazine for years. I finally got to do that this year and it was really fun. Megan and I showed up a couple hours early to look at some Booths and we were surprised to see people already lined up to get good seats for the cooking school. It's a good thing we got there early because the place was packed and was sold out. They demonstrated about 10 recipes and had a ton of door prizes. We didn't win any but we were excited about the cool gift bag everyone was given.

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Wednesday was opening day for the annual Wagstaff Whistle Pig Hunt. Dave's Dad, Uncle Mark, Uncle Dean, Dean's son Mike and Ann's Husband Mike all showed up ready to decrease the population of this poor little creature. They got a little rained on yesterday but today is supposed to be nice. They'll be shooting until they run out of bullets or Saturday night, whichever comes first.

Easter

2009-04-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Coloring Easter Eggs

Not much went on this past week. The kids are getting enrolled for the next school year and figuring out which classes to take. I can't believe we'll have two kids in High School. Logan will start Middle School and Emma will be in Elementary School .

We had a really beautiful Easter Day. We had our traditional Ham Dinner. I tried out some new side dishes to go along with it. We had Strawberry Spinach Salad with a Honey Lemon dressing, herb roasted red potatoes and baby carrots with a dill sauce. For dessert, we had strawberries on angel food cake. It was a yummy dinner. The weather was sunny and warm so we set up our Badminton net and got out the Bubble blower and spent a lot of time outside. It was really nice.

Spring Break, Megan's Birthday and Read-a-thon

2009-03-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Megan's Birthday in Logan

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Hungry?

The End of 24 hours reading the Book of Mormon

Spring Break has come and gone in a flash. We drove to Utah Friday night and left the kids in Logan to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Wagstaff, while Dave and I drove to Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday. We went to help my mom and dad clear out some rooms and pack some things so they can eventually move back to Idaho Falls.

Monday was Megan's 14Th birthday. Her Grandma and Grandpa Wagstaff had other plans out of town that day, so we took Megan to lunch at The Olive Garden. She even turned red when the waiter's sang to her. We were pretty surprised when we woke up that morning to see it had snowed and we were even more surprised when it didn't stop snowing for the entire day. It was really pretty and we didn't mind it a bit. We stopped at the Aggie Ice Cream store on our way home from lunch and Megan opened her gifts and had some yummy Aggie Ice Cream. We spent the day watching movies and enjoying the Spring Snowstorm.

We came home on Tuesday afternoon and spent the next couple days recovering and getting ready for the big 24 hour Book of Mormon Read a Thon. I decided last minute to make a big batch of Cinnamon Twists for a treat. We took Trevor , Megan and Logan to the church at 6 pm on Friday. The Gym was full of couches and Futons and chairs to lounge on.

Emma kinda liked the extra attention she got being the only one home. We even tried out a new Ice Cream shop here in Kuna since there were only the three of us. It was pretty quiet that night and the next day.

We went to the church at 6 pm on Saturday and saw quite a few red eyes and walking zombies. They read the entire Book of Mormon in 24 hours. Logan went to bed as soon as we got home but Megan and Trevor claimed they weren't too tired. Megan's eyelids kept mysteriously closing on their own by 8:00. She was so tired that when Emma went to bed, Megan was talking about needing a box and mumbling in her sleep about who knows what else. Pretty Funny

Logan's Birthday

2009-03-02T11:24:00.001-08:00

Logan's 12Th Birthday was on Friday. He got to celebrate it a little early this year because of events happening on his Birthday. He decided instead of a big party at home, he would rather take a friend to the local arcade / racetrack. Dave, Trevor, Logan and His friend Jared played at Wahooz for the afternoon last Saturday.

We had to have Cake and Presents a day early because Logan and Trevor had to attend a Klondike Derby on his actual Birthday. Luckily one of Logan's presents was a sleeping bag. It was in the single digits the night they camped so I'm glad he got the sleeping bag. I didn't hear too much about the things they did at the Klondike Derby. They just said it was really cold.

Yesterday Logan received the Priesthood and he is really looking forward to passing the Sacrament. He's also excited about Scout Camp and all the other things involved with being a 12 year old. I got all tearful in Sacrament meeting because they brought Logan up to the pulpit with the Bishop to talk about him becoming a Deacon and then right after that, Trevor blessed the Sacrament(like a pro). The combination of those two things occuring back to back made me realize that they are growing up waaaay too fast.

First Date Anniversary

2009-02-17T08:05:00.001-08:00

Dave and I celebrated our First Date Anniversary last night. Most people probably find it odd to celebrate that date, but for us it's a way to avoid the Valentines Day crowds and go out for a nice night. It's been 19 years since our first date so we thought we ought to try something new.

We went to a Fondue restaurant. It was really fun and the food was great. It was a four course meal that started with a cheese fondue. There were about 8 different ones to choose from. Then came the salad and I didn't think you could make salad exciting but even that was really good. Then came the meat and vegies. You cook the meat and vegies in a simmering broth and they had a variety of dipping sauces. And last but not least was the chocolate fondue. We chose a caramel and chocolate mixture and they even served it Flambe'. It was cool.

Our Ward had a formal dinner and dance on the 13th for the adults to celebrate Valentines Day. Luckily I had some clothes from when we went on a Cruise. There were actually a few men who wore tuxedos and a few women in actual formal attire. The Dinner was o.k. but the dancing was pretty fun. It's just too bad Dave and I can't remember the moves we learned in the Ballroom Dance class we took while we were dating. It was a nice night.

Let There be Light

2009-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

After almost two weeks of grey skies and fog, the Sun is finally shining today! I am soooo happy. I almost bought one of those special lights that imitate sunlight because I was getting so blue. The weather is the reason I posted this picture. It's pretty much all the kids could do and they did a lot of it. At least they're getting a small amount of exercise, so I don't feel too guilty.

Almost everyone came down with a cold this past week so we haven't had much exciting stuff to Blog about. Megan is going to be participating in the opening ceremonies for The Special Olympics Winter Games here in Boise. Hopefully we'll have some cool stuff to report back to you about what she saw and experienced at the Winter Games.

Birthday and Christmas

2008-12-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

Emma's 9th birthday

Making Cookies for Santa

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Megan's cool MP3 player
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Emma and Logan playing their DS games
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Trevor's Paintball gun
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A week ago today was Emma's 9th birthday. She lucked out and only had a half day of school and then we went to Pojo's (similar to Chuck E Cheese) and ate pizza, rode bumper cars, played games etc..

Christmas came and went in a blur. We did our kinda new tradition of Cheese, Apples, Sausage, Chicken spread and crackers for Christmas Eve. Then we hid the pickle ornament in the tree and Emma found it so she got to be first to open her one gift of pajamas on Christmas Eve. After everyone was all changed into their new P.J.'s we read The Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Story from the scriptures. Then we set out the cookies for Santa and checked to see where Santa was one last time on the NORAD Santa Tracker website and then headed to bed.

Christmas morning was loads of fun! Everyone played and played for hours. My favorite gift was from Megan. She was pretty sneaky this year. My Grandma had a cookie jar that everyone loves and I happened to find one very similar to it at a local gift shop. It was way too expensive though so I just hoped someday it might go on sale. I stopped in a couple weeks later to pick up a gift and was so disappointed to see it was gone. The saleslady was so sweet and took down my name and said she would look for another one. Well Christmas morning when I opened my gift from Megan, It was the cookie jar. She'd saved her babysitting money and got it for me. I think we'll keep her.

We had our traditional Prime Rib roast for Dinner and then collapsed, stuffed to the brim and watched movies for the rest of the night. What a day!

Christmas Letter

2008-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for taking the time to see what we've been up to. We were kinda lazy with our Christmas letter, but we've pretty much got all the info from the past year here in our blog. But just to recap .

Trevor is still playing the Trombone and has his learners permit. We are in no rush to get him his license, especially since at this moment the roads are sheets of ice. He has grown so much this past year. He's pretty much taller than his Mom and still growing.

Megan is our hard working, highly motivated, obsessed with The Twilight books and Movie teenager. She is on the Junior National Honor Society and gets straight A's and A+'s. She is always booked for babysitting jobs on the weekends. She does a great job at it.

Logan is enjoying Scouts and has done a lot of fun things in it this year. He likes to play outside with friends and tries to stay out of trouble. He's excited to turn 12 because he'll finally get to go to Scout camp. He got braces this year and is sporting a very colorful smile.

Emma is our little artist. She also LOVES dragons. So between the two, she is always drawing dragon pictures. She won 2nd place in the local essay contest about The True meaning of Christmas. She got to read her essay and ride in the local Night Light parade.

Dave is still with United Pipe and Supply. He's back at the Boise branch and staying busy. He's busy with church, activities committee, Elder's Quorum instructor and Scouts.

Ginger is still the Taxi driver, Accountant, Waste Management, Cook, Repair person, Personal Assistant and waaaaay too many other job titles to list.

We feel fortunate to have you as friends and family and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Events

2008-12-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

Trevor's Holiday Concert

Emma riding a float in the Kuna Night Light Parade

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Emma reading her Essay
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The Awesome Firepit at the Christmas Tree Nursery

We've been pretty busy since Thanksgiving , so here's a recap on what we've been up to. We got our Christmas tree at a really nice Nursery, but it took us a few days to get it decorated.

Emma entered a local essay contest about The True Meaning of Christmas. She won 3rd place for her entry. She got to read her essay at the awards ceremony and part of her prize was getting to ride on a float in the Night Light parade, here in Kuna.

Trevor's Holiday Band Concert was a couple nights ago. He did a great job. My computer is not letting me upload a short clip of Trevor playing so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

We are still working on getting all the lights up on the house. I'll post a picture when we get it done. Or maybe you should just Google Earth and you can see it from space!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Trying to catch a Tennis Ball
The tennis ball launcher
Making suckers with Grandma

We took advantage of the gas prices and made a quick trip to Utah for Thanksgiving. We got to Logan Wednesday evening. We had a nice Thanksgiving with Dave's Grandma Tippetts, His Sister Ann and Mike and their family of 6. His Nephew, Naveed and Kian and His Mom and Dad.

That night the grandkids helped Grandma make suckers. They thought that was pretty cool.

We did the crazy 4:00 in the morning shopping the next day. We even got home early enough that everyone was still asleep so we took a quick nap. The Menfolk and the Boys went rabbit huntin' that afternoon, so Ann and I took everyone else to see Bolt. It was a cute show.

Saturday as we were packing up, a neighbor brought over his Tennis Ball launcher (it's kinda like a potato gun) and everyone had fun trying to catch the balls as they re-entered the atmosphere.

On our way out of town, we stopped at Maddox to have lunch with my Mom. I've lived in Utah for a long time but had never eaten in the restaurant. It was worth the wait. It was a blur of a trip but we're glad we got to visit and have fun with Family.

Trevor's Sixteen!!

2008-11-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

Trevor 2008
1st year playing Trombone 2004

Soccer and T-Ball 2000

Trevor and his cousin Braden 1993

Trevor 1993

Can you believe it? I know I can't. Trevor is sixteen today. It's been an exciting journey these past sixteen years.

We've all been so amazed at what a Great and Awesome young man Trevor has grown into. I'm always in awe at the things he's doing and accomplishing on his own (without my nagging) in school and church duties.

His childhood was full of a lot of questions about what he would be like at this age. He's struggled through a lot of trials and learned things the hard way a lot of times. Yet he managed to keep on trying no matter how frustrating things got for him and just look at him now.

Those of you who may not know what I'm talking about as far as struggling is concerned, Trevor was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was in 1st grade. He had been in Speech Therapy since he was three and it wasn't until 1st grade that they figured out what was causing his speech and social problems. We've had a lot of ups and downs in learning what to do to help him learn and make friends and function as normally as possible but I can honestly say that I know he is completely capable of anything he wants to do and be when he decides what that is.

Trevor you are an incredible son and we can't wait to see what's in store for the next few years. Happy Birthday!

Halloween

2008-11-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

Our House on Halloween
The Graveyard

Logan's the Grim Reaper and Emma's a Werewolf

Trevor's the scariest of all, The Candy Distributor

Megan is supposed to be a Sleepwalker, but everyone thought she was a Housewife.

The Masterpieces

Yesterday was a big blur of a day. The kids didn't have school so it was nice because we had all day to figure out costumes and get ready.

Megan went with a friend so Dave just had Emma, Logan and Logan's friend to take around the neighborhood. They filled their buckets and came home and emptied them and went back out and filled them once more. Trevor is much too old and mature to trick or treat ;) so he stayed and did the grown up thing of handing out the candy.

Trevor is having his 16Th Birthday party today at Boondock's. It's an arcade with Laser Tag and Racetracks and Miniature Golf and Virtual Rollercoaster Rides, etc. Dave is enduring the task of Chaperone. I'm sure he's miserable (Ha Ha). Trevor doesn't officially turn 16 until Monday so I'll have to write more about him then.

Last Band Competition

2008-10-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

Trevor performed in the last Field Show Competition of this year. I thought they did a great job but the judges thought otherwise. We had never been to the BSU stadium so it was fun to see the Boise Blue Field. We couldn't stay for the whole 7 hours of bands because Megan had a party to go to but what we did get to see was pretty fun to watch.

Keep watching to see what cool pumpkins and costumes we come up with in the next couple days.

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

We made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. It was a really nice day for Pumpkin Huntin. They have a corn maze as well but we went a little bit too late in the day and I didn't feel like getting stuck in there in the dark. I guess I've seen too many scary movies.

Dave and the kids are all so creative with their pumpkin carving, so keep watching for the pictures of their masterpieces.

Bambi's Safe

2008-10-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks, getting ready for deer hunting season. Dave's Mom and Dad came up on Wednesday and Trevor, Dave and his Dad left early, early Thursday morning for what they thought was opening day. Luckily a friend called and told Dave not to shoot anything because opening day wasn't until Friday. While They were fixing their lunch, a Bear thought their Pastrami smelled pretty good and came to get a closer look. It's hard to see it in the picture because it was walking away. They camped overnight and had to endure a noisy windy night in the tent. They saw some Deer and even shot at some but I guess the wind was making it too hard for them to aim straight because they didn't bring home a Deer. Trevor and David will probably go hunting again this weekend. Bambi, you've been warned.

The Drive-In

2008-09-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Driving In
Waiting for the Sun to set
Snug as Bugs

We are fortunate enough to have a couple Drive-In movie theaters in our area. So it has become a yearly tradition to pile everyone into the truck and go to the Drive-In. We finally found a night where we liked both (It's a double feature) of the movies that were playing. Wall-E and Journey to the center of the Earth were the movies. I am in charge of making the Homemade Fudge, (the good kind not the marshmallow kind) gathering all of the pillows and blankets and having everything ready to dash out the door when Dave gets home from work. This year we took a little Butane stove and popped Jiffy Pop Popcorn on the tailgate of the truck. It worked out great. It's a fun tradition that we look forward to every summer.

Honey Do List

2008-09-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

We had a really stormy day on Saturday so unfortunately we couldn't work outside in the yard. I was terribly upset about that, NOT. Anyway over breakfast I got the brilliant idea that my list of Honey Do's was not getting any shorter. I remembered that we had purchased under cabinet lighting three years ago when we built this house and they were patiently waiting to be installed.
I did all the emptying of the cabinet work and Dave did the actual installation of the lights. They are pretty cool looking and only took three years to get done. It's a good thing I am such a patient person. ;)

20 Year Reunion

2008-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Wow do I feel old! I just got news of my 20 year class reunion. I've moved so many times (11) since High School that I've never gotten any of the invitations for the 5, 10 and 15 year reunions. They found me through the Classmates.com website. I love the Internet. It's been fun reading the comments posted on the website for the reunion. Another bonus is that if you comment, it links to your Blog and so I've been able to hear from long lost friends via comments on my Blog (Hi Amy). It's also been cool looking at the map that keeps track of where people are logging in from. There are people everywhere, Germany, Alaska and all over the U.S. The reunion is during Mountain Crest's Homecoming. I was expecting something in August so I was surprised to find out it was just a couple weeks away. It'll be interesting to see what everyone is doing now that they're Grown Ups. Me, I'll never grow up!

Peaches

2008-09-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent most all day Saturday bottling peaches. I know it's not cheaper than buying the cans,(since I don't have my own peach trees)but I really don't like the crunchy green peaches that taste like metal when you buy them canned. The kids helped a little but besides the sticky mess, I really don't mind pretending to be Martha Stewart(minus the staff)sometimes. There's just nothing prettier than a countertop full of things you've bottled. The garden has been very neglected lately. Things just didn't take off and grow well this year. We got barely two meals worth of corn and the beans are not producing much. We do have a lot of Tomatoes and if the frost hold off, I might even have enough to bottle. We have millions of Cherry tomatoes. I think after this year we will only plant one Cherry Tomato and one Zucchini because of course the Zucchini is growing great. The squash bugs are killing it though and I'm letting them. I've had my fill of it and so have the neighbors.

Back to School and Braces

2008-08-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the first day of school for the youngest three Wagstaff's and today was Trevor's first day of school. Every year on the first day of school, I take their picture as they are leaving for the big day ahead. It's a fun way to see how much they've grown from year to year. They were somewhat excited to get back to school. It's been painful to see what clothes no longer fit after just three months off.

As you can see from the first picture, Logan got braces today. He just got the upper teeth today and as soon as they move enough, they will put on the bottom braces. He lucked out and didn't need to have any teeth pulled. He's pretty sad that he can't have corn on the cob or caramel apples or gum for a while. But I'm sure two years will fly by fast. Kinda like this summer did.

Last Minute Trip

2008-08-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

We decided, (very last minute) to drive down and catch the last day of the Twin Falls Temple open house. We left Friday night and drove to my Sister's Husband's Family Cabin in the back country near Burley, ID. On Saturday we drove up to Twin Falls in the morning and got to see the inside of this beautiful Temple. The kids were really excited, since this is a rare opportunity for most young people. It was really nice and we even bumped into 3 groups of friends and ward members while we were on the tour. Such a small world.
After we got back from the Open House we drove down the road a short distance from the Cabin and swam at Durfee Hot Springs. There are actually 3 pools, One 100+ degree pool and one 90+ degree pool and a kiddie pool. It's not very impressive at first sight when you drive up, but once you get in and soak for a minute it's really nice. Those aches and pains just disappear. The kids of course only care about who wins at a game of Marco Pollo. It was nice water with no smell of Sulfur and your eyes don't burn with Chlorine. It's just a natural Hot Spring that they pump into the pools. We will definitely go back if we get the opportunity to.

Today is Dave's Birthday and we are about to leave for the yearly Chinese Food Buffet. That's become a family tradition for Dave's Birthday meal. The kids can't stop talking about trying Sushi this year. We will be rolling through the door in a couple of hours.

Short but Sweet

2008-08-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

We got the rare opportunity to get a visit (longer than a bathroom break) from my Sister Terri and her family. They arrived on Monday and left on Tuesday. The kids had a lot of fun visiting and playing together and I enjoyed the time with my Sister very much. Just before their arrival, we had just finished up a very busy weekend of volunteering at the Kuna Fire Department Barbecue. Last year I volunteered to make homemade Hot Fudge Sauce to go with the vanilla ice cream they usually serve. I guess they liked it well enough to ask me to make it again. I spent Friday and Saturday making 20 batches of it. The whole family stayed and helped serve at the barbecue, Dave is still a Volunteer Fireman when he has the time so we have helped out at the event for the last couple years. Dave's nickname is Pipeguy at the Firestation and the other Fireman call the kids MicroPipes, it's pretty funny. They are great helpers and I think they enjoy it.

We have spent the rest of this week getting school supplies and registering Megan and Trevor for Middle and High Schools. We've squeezed in Dentist appointments and haircuts as well. It's been pretty crazy. We're headed to Twin Falls to see the Temple this weekend. We could all use the break.

They survived!

2008-07-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Trevor and Megan returned home safely from their Handcart Trek. They arrived a lot earlier than everyone expected on Thursday evening. There were only two cars in the parking lot when they got here. Luckily we were one of the two. They were happy to be home. They had lots of fun stories to tell. In Sacrament meeting they had the Youth come up and talk about their experiences.

We had high hopes of doing some room makeovers for both the Boys and the Girls rooms, but it took a lot more work than we expected so we just barely got the boys room done. They chose the colors of our local BSU football team. We still have some finish work to do but it's mostly done. After we spread the ten yards of bark sitting in our yard, we will start on the Girls room.

Chokecherry Picking

2008-07-22T08:20:00.001-07:00

In the past few years chokecherry picking involved, packing a lunch, gathering buckets, water bottles, bug spray, sunscreen and long pants to keep ticks off. Then we would drive an hour up the canyons nearby and hope we could find some Chokecherries still left on the bushes. This year however, we only have to walk out the front door. We didn't even know what kind of tree the builders had planted when we moved in but luckily they left the tag on it with the species name. I looked it up on the computer because it was in Latin and to our surprise, it was a Chokecherry tree.

Our tree is just loaded. I've already picked 3 gallons worth and there is still more to pick. We also have a couple of smaller Chokecherry trees in the back yard that are a couple weeks behind in the ripening process as the tree you see in the picture. I think we'll get at least five gallons or more before we're done picking. I'm going to freeze them all for now and then when the weather is cooler, I hope to make some Jelly and probably more syrup.

Trek Has Finally Arrived

2008-07-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last night at about 11:30 we brought Megan and Trevor to the church for their 14 hour bus ride to Martin's Cove, Wyoming. They left shortly after midnight and hopefully they will get a little sleep on the bus. They looked so cute in their Pioneer outfits. Except for the tennis shoes, they looked pretty authentic to me. I bet the Pioneers wished they had tennis shoes.

They will complete the Trek on Wednesday and then drive to a campground near Salt Lake City where they will shower and get to swim and play miniature golf. Then on Thursday they will celebrate the 24th of July in Salt Lake City. After doing the Handcart Trek, I think Pioneer Day will have a whole new perspective for them. They'll get back to Kuna sometime late Thursday.

We can't wait to hear how it went.

4th of July Fun

2008-07-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Emma and Logan Finished up their swim lessons on Thursday. They both improved a lot. It's nice to know that if they are out with friends, that they can at least tread water and float if they ever fell out of a boat.

We went to the nearby town of Melba to watch Fireworks this year. It was a nice show. Since I'm not a photographer, and since taking pictures of Fireworks is tricky, I took these pictures of the flowers in our yard. They look like Fireworks to me.

Saturday we decide to take the kids to visit with their relatives at the Zoo. It was a nice day, not too hot so we were able to see most of the animals. We had a picnic in the park and walked through a Rose garden. It was a fun day.

Stay off the streets

2008-06-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

Trevor had his first official driving lesson today. He got to drive around Kuna with an instructor and two other classmates for three hours this afternoon. He did a great job. Now if only he can figure out the way home from somewhere other than school or church.

The boys are off to the Father/Son camp out tomorrow. They are going to a Hot Spring that is not too far away.

Megan is busy with babysitting and boating with friends, so it'll be just Emma and I for most of the time. Maybe we'll go check out Horton Hears a Who at the dollar show.

Summer Fun and Butterflies

2008-06-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Emma is nearing the end of the Kuna Summer Fun Days. Here is a picture of her with one of her projects. She has been having a great time. She has made Maracas and pencil holders and Chinese yo yos and leis and origami and bookmarks and this cute octopus. Tomorrow they will probably end the week with a big water fun day.

Megan has been a volunteer for the Summer Fun Days. She's been having lots of fun helping all the kids with their activities. She has lots of kids that she has been a babysitter to that love to hang on to her. She's there for both the a.m. and the p.m. sessions so we don't see her all day.

This is a picture I took on our back patio yesterday. I thought this butterfly was way too pretty to fly away without it's picture taken. It really loved our flowers.

Trevor officially starts drivers training tomorrow. We thought he might have to wait until school started again but the class for the summer had some openings so he'll get to finish up right before he leaves for the Handcart Trek in July.

Logan is too old for the Summer Fun Days so he's been keeping himself busy with the Summer Reading program at our library and playing on the computer. He spent yesterday planning the Father/Son camp out with his scout leader. Next week Emma and Logan will have swim lessons right up to the 4th of July.

Camp Survivor

2008-06-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

(above: hike survivors)

This is Megan speaking here, to tell you about her experiences at Girl's Camp. I bet you are wondering what the hike survivors picture is all about. Well it starts off on the 5 mile hike we do every year. It was brutal and tiring. Once we got to the top, a couple of my friends and I decided we would get a head start. Some of the leaders followed us too. After a little while of hiking, we realized we didn't recognize the trail we were going down. We kept moving forward. We then got to a fork in the trail. By then we knew we were lost. We said a prayer and figured out as a group, which way to go. We ended up back where the hike began. We were so relieved.

The rest of the camp was spiritual and pure fun. We went swimming in the icey water (big mistake,) did tons of crafts, and played pranks on the leaders. It was so much fun. The food was delicious and we played around a lot. It was very cold in the mornings and nights, but I survived. I have loved the past two years of girl's camp, and am looking forward to next year!

Feeling Old

2008-06-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Watching my sister Terri's son graduating from High School is making me feel very old. At least I've got 3 more years until Trevor graduates. Right now we're waiting to see if he will be taking Driver's Ed over the summer. Dave has taken it upon himself to teach him because He knows I would never survive the anxiety attacks that would occur if I tried to teach Trevor. I was giving him instructions on the riding lawn mower yesterday and was about to flip out, so I will gladly leave the driving lessons to Dave.

Megan leaves for YW camp tomorrow. She has been counting the days and has been packed for a couple days now. She's excited. It's going to be a little cold but at least it won't be a forest full of fire like last year.

Emma's been counting the days until Kuna Summer Fun Days starts. It's put on by our schools for the Kindergarten through 3rd grades. It's a week full of arts, crafts and science activities. It's three hours a day so it's a nice activity for kids who are starting the, "I'm bored" mantra. They use Middle School and High School kids to run the classes. Megan will be a volunteer this year.

Logan and Emma will have swim lessons the last two weeks of June and that pretty much fills up June. July is already filling up. We hope to find some time to go camping this summer. It needs to be close by though, since gas is so expensive. Luckily we have some nice areas all within an hours drive. The kids all really love camping. Me personally, I'll take a nice hotel room please.

Memorial Day Flowers and Rooster Tails

2008-05-26T19:53:00.001-07:00

We had a fun Memorial Day today. The Lucky Peak Reservoir had a rare occasion over this past weekend. They released the water from one of the overflow chutes which causes what they call a Rooster Tail. They only do it when they have a surplus of water and this year we had lots of snow so they were able to do it. It's only happened twice in the eight years we've lived here so it was pretty cool to see. We brought a picnic to the park there at the Reservoir and then we got to watch as they opened the gates for the water to flow through. I think Dave and I were more impressed than the kids.

This is a picture of our rescued Irises. When we moved into our last house, we were given Iris plants from both sets of Dave's Grandparents gardens. We tried to bring some with us when we moved but they didn't make it. We found out that the people who had bought our old house were tearing everything out, so we swapped them a batch of Rice Krispy Treats for a bucket full of Irises. They were just going to throw them all away so we're glad we asked them if we could scavenge through their dirt piles and save what we could. Irises always remind me of Memorial Day.

Three more days of school!! The Kids can hardly wait!!

Trekies

2008-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last night at Mutual, Megan and Trevor painted their "suitcases" in preparation for Trek in July. They've been slowly gathering the supplies they'll need and hopefully we'll be ready to go.

I finally got my new computer up and mostly running. There are still a few bugs to work out but I'm having fun exploring all the new gadgets. Yesterday I got to talk to my Sister with my webcam. It was cool!

We had a death in the family this past weekend, Megan's Hamster Oreo lived to a ripe old age of two. She was a really nice Hamster and we will miss her. Megan was pretty sad but luckily she had a Slumber party to go to that day which kept her from dwelling on things.

The calendar just keeps filling up for the summer months. The kids are counting the days, hours and minutes for school to be out. They get out on the 29th. We'll have about one week of nothing and then the summer activities begin after that. I hope I survive.

Busy, Busy , BUSY

2008-05-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

This week isn't even half over and we've been busy, busy, busy. Monday Trevor had his final Band concert of the school year. He did great! He wasn't sure he wanted to continue on with it next year but we talked about it and he decided to stay in Band.

On Tuesday Megan had an awards ceremony for The National Junior Honor Society. We are very proud of her for keeping her grades up and for her community service that allows her to be a member of the NJHS.

Our next door neighbor was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer, so three ladies from church decided to donate our hair to an organization that makes wigs for women. A local salon gave us half price haircuts and they even gave us some extra hair they had collected from other people who had really long hair.

Flat Larry

2008-05-08T08:56:00.001-07:00

Our local Television station has a segment every morning called, Where's Flat Larry. Larry is the Weatherman and the station wanted people to print out Flat Larry and take him along on their adventures. We printed him out and made some Mickey Mouse ears for him too. We took him with us to Disneyland and then uploaded our picture to the News Station. This morning while I was watching the news, our picture was featured. I was surprised to see it because I thought they might contact us first to let us know it was going to be aired. The video is of them showing our Flat Larry. Sorry the quality is so bad but it is not a Satellite station so it's pretty fuzzy. I hope you can actually see it.

Head Hugs

2008-05-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Megan holding all the hats she made. She made them as a service project for the National Junior Honor Society. We took them to a Women's Shelter. We're lucky to have such good kids.

We've got a house full of company right now. Dave's Family are doing the annual Whistle Pig hunt. Trevor and Logan will get to go out with everyone on Saturday so they're pretty excited. If there's any left by the time they're done, I'll be surprised.

The kids are already counting the days for school to be out. I'm not so sure but I won't mind not getting up so early.

Arrow of Light

2008-04-23T11:56:00.001-07:00

Logan received his Arrow of Light award this past week. He was given quite a ceremony. They brought in The Arrow of Light Dancers and he received the cool arrow you see in the picture. It was pretty awesome.

Here is a short video clip of the Dancers. They are a group of Lifetime Scouts that travel around and do performances and competitions. It was fun to watch them.

April?

2008-04-13T18:54:00.001-07:00

Can you believe this was what it looked like at our house on Wednesday? Today it is 80 degrees! I think Mother Nature is having a good laugh right about now.

Dave and the Boys are out scouting for Whistle Pigs (ground squirrels) right now. They're getting ready for the annual Whistle Pig Hunt that we've held for the past 3 years. He keeps getting more and more people wanting to go with him.

Megan has been busy getting her clothes made for the Pioneer Trek this summer. She sewed two skirts and her bonnet this weekend. We'll post a picture later. Trevor and Megan will be leaving for the Trek in Wyoming at the end of July and they will end the event in Salt Lake at the Pioneer Day festivities on the 24Th.

We're busy getting the garden ready for planting. I might be on my own to get it done since Dave will probably be shooting Whistle Pigs until there are none left.

Conference Weekend

2008-04-08T11:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of the condition of our house after a three day weekend. I think I need some professional help! Just kidding.

We had a nice Conference Weekend. Megan is doing a service project as part of Her National Honor Society requirements. She is making baby hats to donate to Women's Shelters or Hospitals around the valley. She made about 6 while she watched conference.

Between sessions we set up our Lasso Golf Game(ladder ball) and had fun playing that. Emma kept trying to hit me instead of the bar she was supposed to be aiming for. But it was lots of fun anyway.

We had a nice time together as a family this weekend. It's amazing that 18 years ago, Dave and I sat on the grass outside of the Tabernacle and had a picnic and listened to conference. It was fun to remember that time long ago and the funny sunburn I got on 1/2 of my shin (where my dress didn't cover). Things sure have changed since then.

No April Fool?

2008-04-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

I'm usually pretty good at thinking up a good April Fools joke or two. For some reason I just wasn't in the mood this year. I guess I still pulled off an April Fools trick by not doing anything. Megan was just so sure something was going to happen. Her anticipation of a trick was funnier to watch than an actual trick.
Their favorite April Fools was when I said I messed up dinner and so we would have to eat cake instead. I had made the meatloaf in cake pans and had frosted it with mashed potatoes. It looked really convincing. I had also put jello in their cups so when they tried to take a drink, nothing came out. They still request meatloaf cake to this day.

Spring Break was last week for us. We didn't do too much since we did the Disneyland trip earlier this month. We went to the movies and to the Science Museum. The kids mostly just played video games and watched movies. Megan is obsessed with Phantom of the Opera now (Thanks a lot Terri). She has downloaded all the music and just checked out the book. She watches the movie every day. I guess there's worse things she could be obsessed with (boys).

The picture I posted here is from a couple years ago when we went to visit Ann's Family in Washington. We went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry while we were there. I forgot my camera when we went to the Science Museum here over Spring Break, so this is a good substitute picture.

Happy Easter Birthday!!

2008-03-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Emma was the only one young enough to participate in the town Easter Egg Hunt. It was way too crowded, so I think we'll stick to the Family Egg Hunt at home from now on.

Logan had his last Pinewood Derby this past week. He also earned his Webelo's badge that night. He has blue fingers because he decided to smash his fingers into a wall at school. Thankfully nothing broke.

We were actually all home and able to color eggs together.

Today Megan turned 13. She had a bunny birthday cake since this is the only time she will ever share her Birthday with Easter. She was even lucky enough to get to be the Youth Speaker today as well.

O.k. Terri, Here is the recipe I talked to you about. It's a good way to use up leftover ham.

Scalloped Ham and Cabbage

2 cups cubed fully cooked ham

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 cups chopped cabbage

In a large skillet, saute the ham, rice and onion in butter until rice is golden brown and onion is tender. Stir in the milk, soup, horseradish and salt. Add cabbage; cover and cook over low heat for 35 - 45 minutes or until the cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally.

I usually double this.

What a trip.

2008-03-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

We took this picture just as we walked into Disneyland. You had to wait in line just to take pictures. We had fun between Disneyland and California Adventures for three days.
We spent one day at Universal Studios and one day at Sea World. The shows were really fun.
It went by way too fast and before you know it, it was back to same old, same old. At least the kids get spring break this coming week. We don't have any big plans since we already had our big vacation.
Megan turns 13 on Easter Sunday. I can't believe I now have two teenagers. I hope I survive.

Snow Day

2008-01-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Today is a snow day! It's the second one this winter. The kids are actually using the sleds and snow pants that they own. Trevor has been busy building an igloo or fort for most of the day and Logan is off sledding. I'm hoping for school to be back in session tomorrow so I can go shopping.