First Snowfall

Could it be? Yes, it really is so!

And so exciting!!

The snowflakes started falling and my kids were the first to enjoy the beautiful white flakes. They gathered snow from the sidewalks to form snowballs. The boys, their friends Chase, Micah and Cameron all gathered down the street for a snowball fight.

Rebekah squealed with delight as the snowflakes fell and she gathered snow in her tiny hands. So fun to walk in this stuff! Her bright eyes matched the glistening snow.

Later in the evening, Joshua and his neighbor Christian played in the snow together while the dads hung Christmas lights.


The following morning when all their friends went off to school my kids got to sled for a few hours before the snow melted.

Christmas Piano Recital

Rachel and Levi have been practicing hard for their piano lessons. They have been taking lessons from Brother Robertson since September. They enjoy playing, learning and memorizing new songs. I love to hear piano music playing throughout our home, especially all this beautiful Christmas music. They just had their first Christmas recital and did very well, remembering the piano pieces they memorized. All the children did such a great job and it was inspiring to hear their pieces. What a wondeful thing to have such lovely music playing in each of our homes during this holiday season.

Levi plays with expression and great care. He strives to make his songs sound beautiful, using the pedal and everything. Rachel memorizes her pieces quickly also and learns as much as she can. She played 3 songs for the recital but had memorized others that she didn't play. Such fun to see the fruits of their hard work!

Rachel's Beautiful Baptism Day

Rachel's baptism day was so special. She is such a sweet girl and was so excited for every aspect of it. We planned out what songs we would sing, who she wanted to give the talks, prayer, play the piano, etc. She made a list of all the friends and family she wanted to invite and I made a bunch of phone calls. We prepared by getting her a new white dress to wear after her baptism and talked together about the symbolism behind it all--being pure and holy before the Lord, following Christ's example and taking upon His name, doing our best to keep the commandments but allowing the Atonement to take away the stains of the sins we commit throughout our lives, the purpose of taking the sacrament each week, and so forth. She wrote in her journal her testimony. Adam talked to her about his day previously at his uncle's baptism, how he so enjoys being in the temple or at family baptisms, where he knows he can feel the spirit and can be that much closer to the veil. He knows that his mother is close by at these special occasions and rejoices on the other side. I spoke of my and her grandmother Betty's day at the temple performing the temple work for my grandmother Augusta and Oma. That each of them was baptized and could continue to progress on the other side if they chose to accept the ordinances. What a special experience that was to bring so many into the gospel fold this weekend!
Rachel has become a really great reader and is very diligent in reading her scriptures during family scripture study. She got a hymn book for her baptism and was so excited to use it. She was so excited to bring her baptism towel she got from the Ft. Lewis Primary Presidency and had all of her clothes laid out and prepared. This was a day she had really looked forward to.



Throughout Rachel's baptism, I was deeply touched. So many of our family and friends attended the baptism which was so kind and supportive. I felt so grateful for those who have impacted our lives for good and who have helped us get to this magnificent point in our lives. As my prior college roommate led the opening primary song, tears filled my eyes and gratitude filled my heart for her direct influence on my life, who I married and the life I have now. I was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for my Heavenly Father, for His love for me and my little family. I thought of struggling family members and how the gospel can fill us, make us whole, and help us overcome our struggles and weaknesses. I really wished that every member of my family could have joined us for those sweet moments. The primary songs we sang brought the spirit so strongly into the room; the talks, the music, the atmosphere of love, warmth and joy fit all together so perfectly. It was such a beautiful baptism. I am so grateful for our kind bishop, for a wonderful husband, for such wonderful family and friends, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is such a blessing to have my children walking in light and truth; to have them know that they are treasured and have a divine purpose to fulfill on earth.

Trip to Todd's

We headed down to Vancouver again for our bi-yearly dental cleanings. What a blast visiting Todd, Julie and their two adorable boys! We played games, had a wonderful dinner and pumpkin pancake breakfast, talked about life and work, watched the kids play, and went out for yummy frozen yogurt.




The kids love him and don't even mind getting their teeth worked on! But how could they not love the friendly staff, watching movies and playing video games, and getting lots of attention at Todd's Pediatric Dental office? Plus, we always get an added bonus of playing at Todd's house, visiting his awesome family, eating scrumptuous food, and petting his two dogs Sumo and Muchi! All for free!
(It's funny: in college Adam was trying to decide what he should go into for his career. All his friends were going to be dentists, doctors, professors..maybe even the next President of the United States. Adam decided it's not what you do in life, but who you know that will make the biggest difference. It continues to prove true. So, even though the Conservation Biology career path never worked out and he became a doctor anyway, it sure is nice to have wonderful friends and great connections!Thanks Todd!!)

Finger Lick'in Good

"Ha Ha Ha! I got my coveted stash! Mmmmm. Good! Finger-licking good!" Another "Berry Monster" among us!

Girl Scout Charlie Safari Activity

The Crew--Rachel, Donasia, Rachel, Kristin, Tenli and Zoe--is back for another fun year of Girl Scouts! We had a really fun afternoon seeing and playing with old friends as the summer comes to an end and another school year begins.

Tak Lakh Lake Camping Trip and Mt. St. Helens

We just finished up a fabulous trip to a remote campground out near Mt. Adams. 6 beautiful days away from it all. Adam would take the dogs for a run to explore trails every morning. The glassy lake in the early mornings had such a beautiful view of Mt. Adams--so peaceful and calming. What a wonderful way to greet the day!

Every morning we would wake up to a toasty fire, hot chocolate and a scrumptuous breakfast made by Adam.

The days were warm and sunny. We kayaked, canoed, fished, swam, played at the water's edge, picked blue and huckleberries, and hiked throughout our carefree days with picnic lunches in between.

The boys each caught rainbow trout and Rachel and Joshua caught lots of great bugs in their nets. At the campsite Rachel and Joshua would play doggies or whatever else they could think of being and Rebekah just loved to be held.

Levi and Hunter were often reading their books or sleeping to get over their colds

Evening was a time for a warm meal, sitting by the campfire and snuggling in warm fleece blankets. It was a time for hugs and kisses, talking about the day, little ones getting tucked in and older children falling asleep in camp chairs after a very long and busy day.

Late, after the kids were all tucked into their sleeping bags, Adam and I loved walking down to the lake to see the stars reflecting in the water. The stars were so bright in the sky and just surrounded us, cradling us as they stretched from the horizon out into eternity. We've never seen so many and it was quite amazing. We could only imagine a time when there was neither electricity nor TV and all you had to do at night is watch the stars.

The campground was so quiet in the evenings--just the sounds of crickets and an occasional howl of a coyote in the far distance.

On Wednesday Jennifer, Priscilla and Judy came with their gear and kids to join in on the fun. It was such a blast to have friends to hang out with and share this beautiful place with. We had fun playing all day at the water's edge, hiking, and exploring beautiful places together. We also had fun evening campfires of roasting marshmallows, eating yummy cobbler, playing games and telling stories. Shh! was a very familiar and worn out word among the parents. We were always way too loud but with 14 kiddos, it was just part of the package I suppose. I think the very highlight of our evening get-to-gethers were the lightshow pictures designed by Jennifer. The girls had such a blast tracing each other with glowsticks in the dark and seeing their creations afterwards. These pictures were out of this world!

On one of our hikes from the campground our family saw and climbed over the huge boulders that were the result of the Mt. Adams lava flow and enjoyed beautiful views of the Goat Rocks, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Our last two days we hiked through the lava tubes at Ape Caves, caught lizards and climbed through tree molds, enjoyed a beautiful waterfall at Lower Falls, saw the huge volcanic crater of Mt. St. Helens at Windy Ridge, and drove through the destruction to lake and mountain forests because of the blast. Adam and his two friends, Miles and Troy, hiked Mt. St. Helens that last day and took some incredible pictures. What an amazing place this all was!

We arrived home Saturday evening around 8:30 pm. After a really long drive home my patient children scarfed down their promised Panda Express dinner, took baths that transformed these extremely dirty but very happy campers into sweet, squeaky clean angels, and each fell asleep on their bean bags in the playroom. I unpacked the car, got things ready for my dad's visit and picked him up at the shuttle a little after 11 pm. Adam got home from his hike about 11:45 pm and we finally went to bed after unloading his truck, taking off the kayak and canoe, talking about the spectacular hike, etc. around 1 am.

Whoosh! What a week!