"Mormons Suck"

WEST LINN -- Police and school officials are investigating what they believe started as a student prank but later degenerated into a hate crime.

Intruders apparently broke into West Linn High School early today, using marking pens to leave graffiti on the walls, including a Nazi swastika.

In the school library, the intruders placed the Book of Mormon on a desk, circled its title with a marking pen, then wrote "Mormons suck" on the desk.

The school librarian is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Meanwhile, the intruders glued more than a dozen locks shut, threw an estimated 800 library books on the floor of the hallway and tied together the "crash bars" of several exit doors.

An estimate of the damage was not available.

Authorities suspect high school seniors may be responsible. If caught, they will be disciplined up to and including expulsion, said Roger Woehl, West Linn-Wilsonville school superintendent.

"We may not catch them all," Woehl said.

However, he expects other students to leak information to staff members as they hear it. Because the incident affects all students, they're likely to be annoyed with the vandalism, Woehl said.

"In any good group, there's always a knot head," Woehl said.

Sgt. Neil Hennelly, West Linn police spokesman, said the intruders apparently staged some kind of diversion to keep a security guard occupied, then slipped into the school through another entrance.

Hennelly said intimidating someone on the basis of their religion is a hate crime. If more than one person is involved, it would be a felony.

-- Rick Bella;


This happened this morning, in our very own West Linn. I wonder why these kids were feeling this way. Considering the Librarian was Mormon, they probably had it out for her. She probably told them to be quiet or something horrific like that! My favorite quote was "In any good group, there is always a knot head!!" Too true. West Linn is one of the most accepting, community driven, cities I have ever seen, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a knot head or two out there!! They said the vandals were seniors. What a way to end school, go to prison for essentially saying "Mormons Suck". If they had left that statement out, and just vandalized the school, it wouldn't have been a hate crime, or a felony. Teenagers.....some need more help than others.

The irony of it all is this: Just last Thursday our Ward honored the great teachers of West Linn High School. The high schoolers in our Ward served the teachers dinner and presented awards to them, it was really neat. It was sort of a visible way to show that our church supports the teachers of West Linn and appreciates the hard work they put out for our kids. Funny how things go!!

On Tuesday......What a day.

Tuesday was one of those days for the books. The good thing about it was that I got to spend all day with just Levi. It was really fun. There were three things going on that day, for Levi, so Joe worked from home so I could be with Levi. The first of the activities, was the best! I got to go on a field trip with Levi, as a chaperone. It was an all day trip, we left at 8am and got back at 2pm. I got to be Levi and his two best buddy's (River and Zach) chaperone. It was a tour of the Bridges of Portland and ODOT, VERY cool.

What a blast I had. I really got to know his teacher better. She is so awesome. She looks just like my sister Brindi, and is probably her same age. She is really outdoorsy and really has a calm/cool demeanor. I am really going to miss Levi having her. He has had her for two years now, and she has only taught at the school two years. (he is in a blend class) A funny thing, his teacher told me, about Levi and his friends. She said that is was really interesting that she only has three "gifted" kids in her class and they all three became best friends (Levi, River and Zack). It just must be they understand each other better than the rest, because they don't know that they are identified as gifted, the school keeps it pretty hush hush (thankfully) so they don't have any other activities that would bond them to one another. They just really get along in class. They do everything together. Here they are:

Left to right: River, Zack and Levi (the book he is reading, he finished before we even reached our Destination)

Levi messing around on the bus.

Portland's Chinatown - See the beautiful gate?



A sign showing Portland's new Green Bike boxes.

The first thing we got to do was go to ODOT's headquarters and mess around with their traffic cameras. The head guy showed us how they can even zoom in on a car's license plate and turn the camera 360 degrees. Now everywhere we go Levi points out the traffic cameras along the roads.

Next we got to go to the VA hospital and walk across the longest sky bridge in America (she might have said world actually) and then ride the tram down to the bottom of the hill.


The busy sky bridge connects the VA hospital to OHSU (this is where you'll be Aaron! can't wait)


Levi by the entrance to the VA




The tram we rode down the hill, it felt like a roller coaster. Very cool.

VA Hospital, pretty huh?!

This is where my camera gave out :( I was so sad that I couldn't take any more pictures, but we saw a ton of fun things. At the bottom of the hill was the world's first fully "green" neighborhood. They are 4 high rise building complex's (people live there) 25 stories high that is supposed to do some amazing things. One of the things they have, that I thought was unique, was they filter the runoff water through "gutters" that look like natural streams, before it reaches the Willamette. This complex sits RIGHT on the bank of the Willamette. We got to walk around in it, it felt so futuristic. A very COOL idea.

Then we rode a street car (which was quite exciting for the kids) where all the kids were hanging from the straps because they thought it was so much fun. It was so funny to see all these empty seats and the aisles filled with hanging children, banging into each other as we went around corners, and laughing gleefully.

We ate lunch in the Union Train Station, a beautiful building, surrounded by more "green" housing. I was lucky enough to have the teacher (Ms. Gates) come sit my me and talk with me for all of lunch. She is so fun.

When we finally got to the bridge part it started to rain, so it wasn't as much fun. But we did get to walk across the Steel Bridge that goes up to let boats go under. It is almost 100 yrs old. The tour guide was amazing. I can't believe that just one person could know SO much about bridges. She was very funny.

The bus ride back was long. The kids were tired and cranky. Two of the girls in Levi's class had latched on to me, early on, and always wanted to sit by me instead of with their chaperone. JQ and Halle were supposedly best friends. But, I have never seen two people bicker more than they did. It was like watching a little old couple nit pick at each other. They were quite the dynamic duo. I would have been rolling in the aisles if it hadn't also been so annoying, they would constantly try to pull me in to their fights. "Cami, these aren't my snacks...she got me the wrong snacks" "No I didn't!!" "Yes you did" " I don't like these snacks! I won't eat them!" "You're not nice to me" "Well, I am going to tell my mom that you're mean" "No-ho-ho-ho!!" *sob* "I don't like you anymore" (But they still did everything together, still sat by one another constantly) It was like they liked torturing themselves. Quite a marvel.

There was also another soap opera going on as well. Apparently these two girls were notorious for picking on other girls in class. One of the other mothers (when there was a quiet moment on the way back home) came back and sat near us to "talk" to these girls. From what I gathered this mom was not happy at all with how these two were treating her daughter in class. It looked like they were picking on her constantly and making fun of her. (probably because they were jealous. The other little girl was really cute and fun) The mom layed into them really good and then told them that they better not take it out on her daughter. Wow. At times like these I am so glad I only have sons. I don't think I could take the drama.

When we got home it was off to Piano and then straight to a baseball game from Hell. Levi's game that night was just right after piano so we were coming straight from Piano to his game, arriving after the "before" game practice, but just as the game started. I found out after the game that the coaches yelled at Levi for missing the before game practice. ( he was in piano lessons at the time) It really ticked me off. But that was probably because I was already fed up with his coaches. Levi has the most wound up coaches you could possibly have. The kids are always stressed, and not enjoying the game. I almost wish we skipped baseball this year, because of his coaches. This game was proof of their uptightness. About 1 inning into the game it started to pour and it was windy and very cold. They played for another 10 minutes before deciding to wait for a while to see if it would pass. The kids were soaking and freezing. It rained for 1/2 hour and they still didn't call it off. Us parents were miserable out in the weather, the kids at least were in the dugout. The car parking lot is a real hike to get to, so most people just stayed, waiting (hoping) that they would call the game. But no such luck. When it slowed to a misting they started it back up again. The kids were out there, blue in the lips. They were missing balls and dropping bats because their hands were so cold, and their coaches were yelling at them, and punching the fences in anger. I got so mad I went over and stood right next to the opening of the dug out, watching the game from there, to maybe deter the coaches from riding into the kids so hard. They kept giving me looks, but it did stop them from yelling at Levi, but not the other kids. It was funny to see them get all tensed, ready to yell, and the look at me, and say sweetly "Levi, it is time for you to bat come on up" instead of the usual "Levi, get up here right now! It's your turn. MOVE" At one point one of the coaches said to me "Why don't you come in the dug out" I declined and he said "What,... are you afraid that we might yell at you (too)?" I looked at him and said "Oh, I can hold my own, don't you worry about me" He kind of laughed nervously, and backed off. I don't know if he thought he could intimidate me or what, but he obviously has never seen me angry. Anyway the game lasted forever, and it never stopped raining, with one inning left to go Levi started complaining of a stomach ache, and getting a little teary (Levi is not a complainer, so you know it must of hurt) and the coaches were unsympathetic. He stuck it out, but was miserable. When we got him warm at home, after the game, it stopped hurting. We realized that the reason it was hurting so bad was because he was all tensed up and shivering so hard that his stomach muscles were sore! Kind of funny, but not. All he wanted to do when we got home was soak in a hot bath, he stayed there for an hour, not even wanting food. Poor guy. Later I asked him if he liked baseball, and he paused, but then said yes. So I guess he isn't ruined for life.

The next day was Calder's game. What a difference. I actually enjoyed it, the kids were happy, and the coaches were patient. What a difference a good coach makes.

Hmmmmm...........

Sometimes, even Lego Star Wars can't make you happy.......

Horse Tail, Pony Tail and hiking boots

The past couple of weeks have been a little too full for me. I have been going nonstop, even in the tireless rain. Just picture this, and you will get a feeling for how these last two weeks went: Going to Costco with four little boys in tow. It has been raining on and off the whole day. We spend an hour and a half buying groceries, which include two 50 lb bags of rice, 4 gallons of milk, giant sized laundry detergent, double bleach box, and a case of water (those were the heavy weight items) not to mention a couple dozen other items in their relative "Costco" size. The boys love Costco and love helping me try to figure out how to fit it all in one cart. Then of course we go up to the checkout, and take it all out again. They ask if we want any in boxes, and I say (with all the wisdom of experience) "yes, but ONLY the light stuff" (I am sure many of you have experienced the box that can't be taken out of the cart because it weighs 200 lbs. So you spend15 minutes unloading that box and stuffing all the small items around your car where they'll fit). Out of Costco we go, the kids fighting over who gets to hand the receipt to the door guard, who of course, draws a smiley face on the receipt for their efforts.

We get to the car and I notice that the clouds are threatening rain any minute. Unfortunately for me, loading groceries into my old lady of a minivan is no easy task. First, the hydraulic lifts are busted on the back door so I have to have Levi and Calder stand on the bumper, on either side, holding up the door for me. Second there is really no space back there ( 12 inches deep at the bottom and it gets smaller as you go up) so I have to be really good at tangrams.

So it goes like this: I hurry and get in a couple of the heavy items while Levi and Calder shout "Hurry MOM, HURRY, its too heavy, I can't hold it up anymore!" We take a break and I hold the door for a minute. Then we repeat the move, until they are exhausted (about 3 minutes). Next I prop the door on the cart handle and do the limbo under the door and out again. This step was reached must faster than usual, this time, because just as Levi and Calder got up into position it started to POUR and blow hard. I had them get inside where it was warm, and I did the limbo, by myself, for 15 minutes in the pouring rain. SO fun. By the time I got into the car I was drenched head to toe. Levi laughs and says "You look like you just got out of the shower mom!!" haha. very funny. But really, that was nothing compared to watching Levi's game in the freezing rain this week, but that story has to wait for a bit.

First I want to show you some pretty pictures of our hike to Ponytail falls (and a few other falls) that we did a week ago Saturday. It was a bright sunny Saturday (for a wonder) so we took advantage of it and went hiking with the boys. This trail was amazing. It starts out at Horsetail Falls and winds up the Gorge, under Ponytail falls and past another one that cut a deep Gorge in sheer cliffs. These cliffs were covered in moss and ferns, so beautiful. Joe and I wore our new hiking boots, still trying to break them in for the big backpacking trip this summer through Yosemite Wilderness.

Horsetail Falls (the beginning of the hike)

Ponytail Falls

Underneath Ponytail falls



The Weeping wall (there were 2 professional photographers taking photos of this)

I am standing on a bridge here. This photo is one side of the bridge. Fantastic "mini" gorge carved by the stream. In the summer time they say the best way to see these falls is by hiking/wading up through the gorge stream. Joe and I can't wait to try.

This photo is the other side of the bridge. Beautiful falls.

Joe looking down the steep cliff face. It is hard to tell how high we are from the picture, but we are probably at least 700 ft. straight up the cliff face.

My tree climber

My tree hugger

This is the flourescent green "paint like" moss that grows on many of the rock faces. This picture doesn't do the color justice. It is just amazing.

The Gorge Highway used to go through this tunnel

The pint-sized explorers