the white house at the right time

We've been away the last couple weeks. I need to pull up the pics and write down some thoughts. I need to do the laundry too. But here at this house , we had a chance to re-evaluate what really needs to be done. A house of holiness and peace.

Baltimore Orioles versus Seattle Mariners. Kenzie Koo's first Mariners Game, mine too! Randy has come with the kids a couple times before. Sitting in the cold or rain, even if there is a partial roof with an infant has held little appeal for me. But oh, this game was perfect baseball weather. After finding Cayleb at the guest service booth, who went missing for about 20 crazy minutes, he went out the portal we went up to our seats, we settled down and had famous Safeco Field garlic fries, great for game conversations, peanuts, slushies, and lots of other muchies. However, no matter how many munchies, Kenzie wasn't too interested in watching. So we walked the facilites, I walk the facilities a lot - fyi, the escalator changes directions from up to down after the 7th inning. Makayla and friend Maddie, who made this oh, so cute poster! We came for a couple of reasons, LDS family night, free t-shirts, and to see Ken Griffey Jr. #24, yeah, their marketing works. Randy's fri...

The locals say that summer up here doesn't really start until July 5. In other words, 4th of July is usually wet and damp which puts a bit of a damper of a bbq and fireworks. However, we just keep breaking records up here. The most snow days, the coldest weather, the most rain, and now one of the hottest, driest weeks for the 4th of July in almost 30 years. I love records that break tradition. That is exactly why the boys decided to kick off the 4th by sleeping outside on our bedroom deck the night before. Then it was up, up, up. Randy headed off earlier to start flipping the pancakes for the 8:30 a.m. annual 4th of July breakfast at the church. Rand, Rand, the cooking man! While we waited in line, Cayden showed off his bike decorated with roman candles. Last year, we went all out on decorating the bikes. But this year, the kids wanted the basics, and Makayla who is bordering the kid/tween years decided she would just help with Kenzie-Koo rather than bring her bike. Loyal and tr...

This is pictoral proof, I don't think we look too large, too many, too unrelated. But I invariably get asked and told on a regular basis, "Are all this kids yours?" or "Wow, I can't believe you have that many kids", or "Big group coming through." Large families here aren't the norm, but it isn't like there are rare either. My favorite is the grocery store one-liner, "What are you buying all this ____________(insert cereal, fruit roll ups, milk etc.) for? Are you having a party?" Yeah, I am. It is called motherhood and not everyone is invited and sometimes the party rocks more than at other times, but nonetheless, I decided how many I wanted on my guest list. It's 5. I even forewarned my mom when she came to watch the kids for us in April, that if she went anywhere with the kids, including kid friendly places like Chuck-E-Cheese, she would most likely get posed the same question I frequently d...

It was a fun, quirky, odd treasure hunt. After a 2 day drive to our new home, we didn't happen upon an empty, ready to move in house. Our realtor was right. He left a lot behind. Legally, he said it was all ours, the good and the bad. There was wine in the cupboards, bum bum medicine in the cabinets, ssn card, old drivers license, family cards and letters, pictures, gift cards, a t.v., a couch, end tables, workout equipment, clothes, shoes, bedding, a lawn mower, fish tank, ladder, an old tray of C ostco food, cleaning supplies, underwear in his dryer. and. and. and. Within a week of moving in, we held "Some Other Guy's Yard Sale." We sold most of it. Kept a few things. Donated the rest. It was a success. On to the Sequel.... On our quest to get organized the kids and I held our 3rd ever yard sale, our first solo yard sale. We were part of a neighborhood one in Utah, "Some Other Guy's Yard Sale", and now our first real deal one. Prior to starting ...