Idaho Trip and Joe turns 32!

Well, this is sort of an ongoing vacation that started with the Severson Reunion and ended with this trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. There were no breaks in between, just one fun thing after the next. This was a climatic ending for our vacation, however! It was Joe's birthday, and we went river rafting, . . . .even ANSEL!! You can see him sitting next to me. He never cracked a smile the whole time, or talked for that matter. It was so funny! He had such a serious look on his face, trying to figure out WHY we were doing this thing that kept drenching us with freezing water. HE would just look at everyone, screaming and laughing, and just stare, brow furrowed, like he was trying to figure out a very complex puzzle. We kept trying to engage him in the fun, but he wouldn't move. He just sat there staring, holding on to his little strap ( that made him feel a little bit more secure) and would just look at us. He wasn't scared, or excited, just studied. At the end of the rapids (it was 4 hours long) we asked him if he liked it and he said "Yes" Then we asked him if he wanted to go again and he said "No thank you". As you can see Levi was a great help with the oars, and he LOVED, I mean LOVED this rafting trip. He was laughing the whole time.

We also went to another river and the boys had a really great time play with sticks, throwing rocks and wading in the water. I had fun snapping pictures of them, as they played! This did end in tragedy though. SCARY! Calder, while trying to sail a rock far into the river, over Ansel's head, aimed too low and hit ANSEL point blank in the back of the head! I have never seen so much blood! His whole head was bright red. (mom was on the other side and didn't see this whole thing played out, just got the facts from Levi after) My mom and I went running with him to find a bathroom and ice. We found the bathroom, but not the ice. It took forever to get it to stop bleeding, but when it finally, did the cut wasn't too bad, so stitches weren't necessary (thank goodness).

And that was the end of the trip! We went back and spent the night at BJ and Lani's, went to church with them the next day and drove home! What a couple of weeks!!

The McGarry's and Rain

Soon after Matt and JoAnn left, the McGarry's came to visit. They stayed with us for a couple of days, it was really special to have them here. We loved it! The boys loved having their cousins here, especially "big cousins" who play with them! I loved having MY cousins stay with me! It has been such a long time since I have seen them, and when I did in the past it was always with a million other people. It was really nice just to have them all to myself!

What I really love about Uncle Brad is that nothing gets him down. It was raining and pouring at the beach and we went anyway! There was no complaining or whining from anyone, they didn't let a little bit of rain (mixed with ALOT of wind) get in the way of their fun. What a great experience! It did NOt feel like July on that particular day at the beach, in fact, it was warmer in February when we went (and sunny!) than it was that day. But it didn't matter, we still had fun! The boys still played in the sand, jumped down the dunes, and played in the water - even in "horizontal mist" wind! Well, with the exception of Ansel, he could not figure out why we would want to be in such a place, in this kind of weather! He snuggled into, first me, then Aunt Laree as we walked along Cannon Beach. He whimpered the whole way, but he was a good sport about it all! (Or maybe he was just too busy keeping himself warm to voice his complaint!) After that we went to a little cafe and enjoyed some really great clam chowder!

It was really fun to have them with us, Joe was out of town, but Remi flew in while they were here and they got to visit with her for a while before taking off. A couple of weeks after they left, Julia (in blue) got her mission call to Poland! Then a little bit after that I got an e-mail saying Donna (the oldest and married, who didn't come) was expecting their first baby!! Lots of stuff happening in the McGarry household!!

Matt and JoAnn Stay a little Longer

After everyone went home from the reunion, Matt and JoAnn and Kids stayed a couple of days longer. We went up the Columbia Gorge and saw Multnomah Falls, the Bonneville Dam and the fish hatchery.

Multnumah Falls is one of my favorite Falls up here. It is unbelievable how tall and impressive it is. It reminds me of Rivendale in Lord of the Rings. It has an arched bridge that goes across the top of the lower half of the falls. It is so green there, even the ROCKS are green. They seem florescent green to me. I feel like it is a tropical paradise in the Northwest.
After the Falls we went further up the Gorge and saw the Bonneville Dam. It was amazing! So much water. It is really hard to imagine. They had a visitor's center there at the dam that took you down under the water so that you could see the fish swimming upstream. There were TONS of Lamprey stuck to the glass by their mouths. Their mouths are bigger than their bodies, a perfect circle with sharp teeth all around the inside of the circle. The sign next to them talked about how they attach onto the backs of their prey, chew a hole through skin and suck out the insides. YUCK!! There was also a room down there with a woman "fish counter" in it, she sits there all day and counts the different types of fish that come up through the ladders (the only way for the fish to get past the dam).

After that we went to the fish hatchery near the dam. It was amazing! I have never seen a fish hatchery like this one. They had a underwater viewing area, in one part of the fish hatchery, which the kids just LOVED. The fish there were huge! They even had STURGEON, and a couple of them were 9ft long!! (You've got to click on this picture to really see this fish!)

They also had beautiful fish ponds where they kept the big spawning fish. The kids were able to feed these fish and loved every minute of it. Ansel tried to feed the fish rocks a couple of times, but soon gave up on that because the fish were smarter than he thought!!

The 2006 Severson Family Reunion

The Severson Family reunion was, as always, held up on Mt. Hood in Oregon at Camp Arawannah. But there was a big difference this year. . . . We live in OREGON!!! Mt. Hood is only 40 minutes away from us, an iconic volcanic mountain that dominates over the surrounding terrain. It is just beautiful.

Because we live up here we got the opportunity to host our immediate family before and after the reunion. It was so much fun. There were 14 adult and 12 kids -26 total- all under one roof! All the little cousins had so much fun! We went to Silver Falls, the pool, the park, and totally dominated our ward primary on sunday! The cousins even got to spend one night together, in a tent in the back yard! They watched movies, and in general jabbered the night away.

When we got to the Reunion we (Larry and Cheryl's Family) all got to stay together in the Judson lodge. (Except Ben, Sarah, Danielle and Jon- who all got to stay in the fancy bluff units) Because the Judson Lodge was the evening snack and game center we were always where the action was. Every night all of the adult cousins played Mafia until 3am, yes, even I did. It was fun just being able to socialize and get to know everyone better.

The highlights of the reunion were: the Fourth of July Parade- in which all the kids got to make hats and decorate their bikes and Ansel got to play the drums and Levi and Calder rode their bikes (Ansel was a little perturbed that he didn't have a bike to ride), the fireworks that night- we bought a lot of sparklers and shared them with everyone- you wouldn't believe how much smoke was in the air with so many fireworks going off everywhich way and all of the kids (big and little) running around sparklers in hand (they loved drawing on the asphalt with the sparklers) , and of course our boys "Jedi duel" entry in the talent show- in which Levi and Calder where Jedi knights and Ansel was Darth Vader. It was really great, I laughed so hard. Levi and Calder really know some great light saber moves! Unfortunately it was cut short because Darth Vader accidentally got hit with a light saber and ran, crying, to mommy!

On the last day of the Reunion all of the Larry/Cheryl Family went to Frog Lake. It is called that for a very specific reason!! There are thousands of frogs! This time of year, however, they were all tadpoles -thousands and thousands of tadpoles! We had cups and all the kids used them to catch tadpoles with. In some places in the water the tadpoles were so thick they were black swarms in the water. They are so docile and cute that the kids didn't have any qualms with touching them or picking them up. It was really neat. They didn't want to leave.

In short the reunion was really great, and we can't wait until the next one in 2008!!

A Peacock?!

We had a very interesting experience this summer. A peacock decided to be our pet (for a day and a night). We were in the middle of a nice family home evening lesson, when, we got a knock on the door. It was a grandchild of our next door neighbor asking us if we had a pet peacock. I think, that by the look on our faces, she knew that the answer was no. "well" she said. "I didn't think so, but there is a peacock on your playstructure in your backyard"

Needless to say, FHE was over at that point as we all went out to see what in the world she was talking about. Sure enough, there was a peacock on the very top of our playstructure- 12 ft up in the air! All of our neighbors extended family were out on their upper floor deck checking it out too. I mean, of all things. . . . A peacock? How in the world did it get up there? I didn't think peacocks, or peahens (this one was a girl) could fly. It did not want to move at all, anyway. Apparently our neighbors had been throwing tennis balls at it, because there were tennis balls all over our lawn. The boys even climbed up their playstructure and stood directly under the peacock jumping and yelling, and she didn't even do so much as bat an eye.

I wasn't going to miss this opportunity for a great photo, so I ran inside and grabbed our camera. Here are the resulting photos.

By the way, the next morning she was gone, just as mysteriously as she came.

I got to squeeze Adele!!!

Right before Memorial Day weekend Aaron and Emily came up to visit. They caught Lani on the tail end of her visit. It was fun to have them all here at one time. Lots of fun!!! I had so much fun playing with Adele. She is so adorable! The boys all ADORED her. They all vied for her attention constantly, smothering her with kisses and hugs until she had to protest in self defense. Poor girl, its hard to be so loved. Ansel loved getting toys for her. He wasn't picky, he thought Adele would love everything (which she probably would, its us parents that have problems!) He would give her baby toys, legos, balls, random pieces of debris, food. He really kept us on our toes.

He loved having them in HIS house. He would run around constantly saying "unca aaron" or "where unca Aaron" poor Aaron had many little boys wanting his attention the whole time. Calder kept him on his toes by his "drive by wrestling moves" just when aaron was getting comfortable. Calder loved it when Uncle Aaron would say "Okay, rules of the game" he thought it was great. It has become a permanent saying in our house now. All I have to say is "okay, rules of the game." and the boys start smiling in anticipation. It great. "okay, rules of the game, we sit quietly in the doctors office and eat our snacks" It turns those mundane directives into such fun. I don't really understand why, but hey, if they think sitting quietly in the doctors office is fun because I said "rules of the game" before it, then I am not going to question it! Thanks Aaron!!

While Aaron and Emily were here we did many outdoor activities, even though it rained quite a bit. The boys still talk about going to the park with Adele. I tell them, maybe in July. I am sure what they really want is uncle Aaron to push them in the tire swing again. But, Emily and I had fun on the teeter totter. Kids? What kids? Its nice to have kids so you can have an excuse to play on the playground without any funny looks! I mean, really, do you ever out grow swinging? It's way too much fun!

Lani comes to Oregon

Lani came to visit us, the boys could hardly wait. After all, since Christmas the guest bedroom has been dubbed "Lani's room" or more correctly "Yani's room" by the littlest boy and the name has spread through the rest of the family. I even find myself at times, calling it Lani's room too. Boy, the influence of a two year old! She and BJ really made an impression. He had to be where ever Lani was. I was completely taken out of the picture. Whenever I tried to help him with something it was an emphatic "No, Yani do it!" She had an extra appendage her entire visit. I think that trip to Nebraska when he was 5 months old must have cemented the bond. Lani was IT.

We had a great time while she was here. We went to several water falls, on hikes, to the beach, etc. It was so much fun. One of the most memorable was our second trip to Multnomah Falls with Lani and Aaron and Emily. We hiked to the top of the falls. It rained on and off the entire hike. When we got to the bridge overlooking the lower falls, the boys discovered that falling debris was more interesting than beautiful waterfalls. There were little drain holes that they would stuff pine needles down and watch them come out into the water below. Hours of fun... Really.

On the way up the trail to the upper falls, Levi and Calder discovered some earth worms wriggling across the trail. They each scooped up one and made plans to feed them to the fish we'd seen in the river below. But, as time went on, attachment grew. They were no longer food, in their minds, but their beloved pets! It soon turned into a rescue mission to save the worms. Levi's desperate plea was "Wormy is my friend, we have to save him!!" So, it began. Lani helped them find a flat, pitted rock that had small puddles of water on it from the rain and the resusitated their worms in this make-shift worm hospital. Soon they set them free in a place they deemed worthy of their worms. Ansel was upset when he realized they planned to let them go. He had really wanted to feed the worms to the fishes. No affection wasted there.

At the top of the falls, Ansel unloaded all of his pockets. Apparently he had been collecting rocks along the way because he knew there would be water ahead. The boys busied themselves sailing rocks over the falls. They were soon gone, and they had to resort to tiny pebbles that Aunt Lani excavated out of the high walled overlook spot for them. It was a frenzy. As the saying goes - water, rocks and worms -- thats what little boys are made of. Well, something like that!

Springtime means baseball!

Levi is on his third Little League team this year. They chose the name "Seahawks" (don't tell them that's a name of a football team) He, of course, loves hitting. . . but he also loves playing: catcher (cool outfit!), 1st base, pitcher, 2nd base, third base. . . . well, essentially anything but outfield! So far he has gone through two hats, torn his shirt, and did a good job staining his white pants. Why do they make WHITE baseball pants anyway?!?!? That has to be every baseball mom's question, as she scrubs grass and mud stains from white pants for the umpteenth time. Our baseball photos will be very realistic this year. They played a game BEFORE the pictures. . .groan, sigh, mutter. Does anyone know a first grader who does not LOVE to slide to any base reguardless of need?!?!



Calder and Ansel have also caught the baseball fever. They are constantly playing baseball together. Ansel has taken to carrying around a ball and bat everywhere he goes- Just in case! He can be heard frequently saying "pitch it mommy?!" and "run the bases!" And if no one is around, he just pitches it to himself. I have to admit, he does a better job pitching it to himself, than I do.

Calder's Chalk Art

Calder is our budding sidewalk chalk artist. At 4 1/2 his happiness is easily comeby. Just give him an apple and some chalk and his imagination runs wild. Here he has depicted one of his greatest loves. . . . . . A Jedi battle!! Obiwan is fighting a robot (that is the little TV antenna-like drawing in the right hand corner). You can see by Obiwan's great big smile that he must be winning the battle!