Hiking the Falls of the Gorge

Just two days before I was scheduled to go in for an induction we decided to go up the gorge hiking the falls. (hopefully it will help the baby come?) Cheryl was here and so it was even more fun because she alway adds a lot of fun to anything the kids do. We hiked, explored and saw so many amazingly beautiful things. It is fun to live in a place that gives you the desire to set out in nature and explore the beauty of it. We saw many waterfalls, some were so tall that we couldn't get them in the picture all the way, others were seasonal and fleeting. The boys loved looking at the vegetation and climbing the rocks.

Calder's 1st t-ball game!

Calder's first game was a big hit! He did a great job and worked really hard. He had a lot of fun. He is really happy because many of his friends are on his team. There is Ruby and Chaz from preschool and Taylor and Spencer from church. They have a really patient, nice coach and he makes them really love the game. When other batters are hitting the rest of the team sits on buckets, not only does it keep them from getting muddy (this is Oregon after all) but it also keeps them in one place! Calder is a lefty and his coach makes sure that he is taught to hit left handed. He does a good job too! He hit the ball and ran to 1st! Way to go Calder!!

Levi's Rythmn Program

Every year Levi's school has a Rythmn program where every class in the school learns a dance. Last year Levi did the Mexican Hat Dance, big hats and all.

This year his class learned a 50's dance to rockin' around the clock. It was so fun to watch all the kids perform their dances in costume and all. There were so many different types of dances and the teachers even performed a 40's swing dance. They work on their dances for a long time and then perform them for the parents. It is SO much fun.

I am really glad they remember the arts in this school.

Klamath Falls Trip

We went down to Klamath Falls just a couple of weeks before my due date. Crazy, I know. But it would have been really fun if Ansel hadn't developed a fever of 104. He had huge tonsils with white spots and was really lethargic. In fact, he got so bad at one point that he started to hallucinate. So, needless to say we spent much of our time in the beautiful 3 bdrm condo my dad had rented for the weekend. Hey it could have been worse, we could have been camping. Instead we had a full kitchen and living room with fireplace and TV with DVD player so Ansel could be warm and watch movies. There was a pool on the resort and so the bigger boys got to go swimming and play on playgrounds. One time on the way back from the lodge and pool we spotted this little ground squirrel is sat there watching us pass and I decided to take his picture, he let me get as close as three feet and then decided that was close enough and disappeared down his hole. The one thing that we did do was go see Crater Lake, it was springtime and nice down at the resort, but when we got up to the Lake there was at least 10 or more feet of snow. What a difference a couple thousand feet make! The boys loved jumping off the bathroom roof and sliding down, Calder got his foot stuck once and was pretty scared! But all in all , it was a fun time. Ansel, however, stayed in the car asleep. The next day we drove home and took Ansel straight to the doctors. His fever had never gone down the whole weekend. The doctor gave him some antibiotics and it was gone the next day. What a relief!

Easter Sunday 2007

Easter this year was rainy, so the Easter Bunny didn't do too much outside The boys had fun searching inside and out for easter eggs and goodies.




Levi and Calder were really good about leaving the easy ones for Ansel to get. After they had found all of the eggs inside they got umbrellas and went outside to search.






Then when all of the eggs were found the boys decided to divide up everything equally so they opened up their eggs and sorted into like piles. This is one of Levi's favorite things to do so he did most of it, in the end we had three little boys and a whole lot of candy.




That darn Easter Bunny, I just know some of it will end up in my tummy!!

The boys and Addi

Addi and Lani came to visit us this past weekend. The boys were so happy to have a dog to play with. And she enjoyed having kids who had as much energy as she did. They all ran around the backyard chasing each other for a good while, really tiring one another out. Ansel was having fun, but half in terror. Addi liked to nip heals and that was a little much for Ansel, but he was brave. Calder loved getting Addi to jump and Addi loved jumping, so it was a perfect partnership. When Lani left Addi was whining the whole way out of West Linn. She did NOT want to leave her new friends. It was really cute.

Ansel turns 3!!!

Ansel turned 3 on Feb. 5th, 2007. His daddy made up a pirate obstacle/treasure hunt for the boys to do. They had so much fun listening to dad talk in a pirate voice leading them with clue after clue. When they finally found the treasure they were so excited! It was in the dryer. You can see on Levi's face, what he thought of that!! Then of course there was cake and icecream and presents. Ansel did a good job remembering to thank his brothers for the gifts they gave him. Happy Birthday Ansel!!!!

Levi's Chess Tournament

Levi participated in his school districts chess tournament on Jan. 27 '07. There were 43 entrants with trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places within each grade. It lasted all day and consisted of 5 rounds. He played 5th graders and 4th graders and only 1 2nd grader. How is that fair?!? But it didn't matter, at the end of it all, Levi came home with the trophy for 2nd place in his grade (second). He beat just enough to do better than all 12 other 2nd graders!! His friend Kyle won 3rd! Willamette Primary School (levi's school) took home 12 of the 21 trophies!!! There were 8 schools participating!!! Smart kids!! Way to go Levi!!!

Skibowl tubing

We went Skibowl tubing over the weekend. Well, I didn't, being pregnant and all, but Joe and the boys did! Levi and Calder loved it and Ansel had a love/h

ate relationship with it. He loved it when he was going down, hated it when he was standing on top of the hill l

ooking down - scared him to death. It was really

funny.
The boys would wait in line to go down, it would be a 15 second ride down and a 5 minute climb back up (tow rope wasn't working) I got tired just watching them.



But it was so beautiful there, what a spectacular place Mt. Hood is, I have never seen anything like it. I really enjoyed just taking pictures, watching the kids, and looking over the view. This, however is a once a year sort of thing, not really worth it to go more than that, as far as the money goes.

January Snow Day!!

It snowed quite a few times here in January. We accrued 5 snow days! The boys ABSOLUTELY loved it!

No school and getting to play all day in the snow (which they rarely see) what could be better?! They had snowball fights, built forts, made snowmen and used colored water to paint the backyard. Nathaniel came over and the fun got even better. They got out their Hoth world star wars guys and had battles in the snow.

By the end of the day all were freezing, but it was nothing that a little hot chocolate and popcorn can't cure!!

Utah Trip, Christmas Break

As I mentioned in the previous post, we left for Utah on Christmas Day. This vacation was a whirlwind. We went everywhere, trying to catch as many people as possible while we were there. Yikes. What ended up happening was that we spread ourselves way to thin, but, had a great time doing it. We got to spend time with my dad, the boys played in the snow, got to be pulled behind the 4 wheeler on a sled, ride the horses, and in general just mess around.

After that we got to go to Heather's house and visit with them, Danielle and Jon came over too. We had fun just hanging out and eating and talking, it was really enjoyable.

Then next day we went down to Manti and did some temple work for my Grandpa McGarry and his ancestors. After this experience we decided that the baby's middle name would be Patrick after Patrick McGarry who immigrated from Ireland to the US. We think the baby's first name is going to be Kaelan. We shall see.

The day after that, everyone went snowboarding - and Levi got to go too. He was so excited. Calder, Ansel and I went to visit my friend Kathy and see her new baby. Her kids are growing up so fast, and are so adorable. It was really great just hanging out with her and talking.

Sunday we just hung around mom's house and played games and relaxed. The boys played with Lia constantly. Ansel is in love with her. Mom wasn't too happy with Lia though, she chewed up one of the wooden pieces to my new game I got for Christmas. Puppies. . . .oh well. We left monday and drove home. After that I needed a vacation from my vacation!!

Christmas 2006

For our ward Christmas Party this year we had "A Night in Bethlehem". All the families in the ward dressed up as shepherds or Bethlehem citizens and we ate on the floor on blankets.




We had to "buy" our food with jems from the money changers and we got to go from one food stand to the next.

As we sat eating what we purchased, a tax collector came by and taxed us. Then we had a program including the Nativity scene. The boys REALLY loved this activity, it really got to their imaginations. It was difficult for them to eat on the blanket however, and I quickly regretted having them wear white outfits!





Christmas morning it was pretty obvious Santa had come to town. The boys were so excited, waking us up WAY too early.



Santa brought them all slippers, set out neatly by their filled stockings.







Christmas day was filled with many hustlings and bustlings. We opened presents, had a Christmas breakfast, made a gingerbread choo choo train, had the missionaries over for Christmas dinner, gave them stockings that Santa had left for them, cleaned up, packed and left for Utah! PHEW!! What a day!