Summer 2011

I guess I'm not much of a blogger, but here are a few pictures of our Summer fun for 2011:

 Savannah and Anna relaxing during our 4th of July party.

 We went to Willamette Mission Mill for the Civil War Reenactment again this year on July 4th.

 Alena started playing Cello, but switched to violin after about a month, and joined the school orchestra.  Here she is at her first official concert.

 Alena's 10th birthday party consisted of a picnic and swim with friends.

 We recently did a service project with our ward and there was a tractor on the property, so the kids investigated, as all good home schooled kids must.

 The girls have had lots of fun with our neighbors down the street.

 We went to Bella Beach with Shonee's folks.  Beautiful weather!

 This is my favorite memento of the Bella Beach trip.  It helps me remember the fun times, rather than the loud music, loud swearing in the middle-of-the-night time. (Not me, the neighbor.)

 Montana got to go to Scout Camp for the first time this year.  He had a great time.

 He earned 4 merit badges, including Canoeing.

 Shonee went on a five day backpack with some friends in the Three Sisters wilderness.  He took some absolutely beautiful shots, including the ones above and below.

 "Our State Fair is a great State Fair, don't miss it, don't even be late!"

 Climbing on the giant rock walls is always a highlight of the state fair.

 Wilcox Family Reunion at Pacific City.  Savannah made such a pretty mermaid.

 Everyone got along so well, and it was such a fun weekend!

 Look at that beautiful progeny.

It was so easy to keep track of everyone on the beach with their matching white shirts and jeans.

 Emma got her ears pierced on her 8th birthday.  She didn't shed a single tear over it!

Emma getting ready for her baptism.

 She was so happy to be baptized on Sept. 17th.

 Shonee and I took a four day trip to hike the Herman Creek Trail in the Gorge.

 It was a stunning view from the top!  But what a climb.

 We also hiked with Shonee's folk on the Henline Falls trail.  It was kinda wet that day, but still lots of fun.

 I honestly don't know where Shonee was on this hike, because he's hiked more than 100 trail miles this year.

And this one, wow!  This was Henline Mountain.  We snowshoed up this trail in January, but lost our way before reaching the top.  Shonee wanted to conquer it with me, so we made another effort this summer.  It was really strenuous, but oh-so-pretty at the top.  We could see the smoke from the Sisters area fires that burned in late August.  In fact, we watched a helicopter trek across the horizon a few times while we sat up there eating our lunch.  There was a little box with paper and pencil to record our names and how long it took us to hike up.  We were one of only a few in August, and one of the fastest too! 

 The girls did a two week music camp our stake music leader put on.  She toured nationwide as Christine in Phantom of the Opera.  Wow!  What a unique opportunity!

 Here's the rest of the kids getting in on the tractor action.

 Montana is really enjoying being a boy scout.  He just completed all his requirements for First Class, just needs the board of review.

Monte and Rebecca took Alena and Emma on a Jet boat tour.  They are in the fourth row back. 

One of many delicious bar-b-que dinners we enjoyed this summer.  Yumm! 

 Savannah has been learning to swim in our pool.  The other kids are all water babies.  I could hardly get them out sometimes.

Savannah posing as one of Marion County's 10 Most Wanted food donation items.  Our ward hauled and dropped off tons of garlic to the Marion County Food Bank for a service project. The kids weren't too thrilled when I told them that was our field trip, but they admit that it was fun.  Donut holes helped.

 Our awesome new tent that withstands all kinds of weather.  And our awesome dog that didn't withstand my perfectionism.  He's so happy at his new home!

 This is Shellburg Falls, a hidden gem near Silvercreek Falls that is absolutely gorgeous, and not too hard of a hike, either.

At the Shellburg Falls campground, the only water comes from this well.  It tastes terrible, so we brought our own water in jugs.  It's awfully fun to pump the well, though.

I can't tell you how much fun we've had this summer.  It felt really busy, and looking back, I guess it really was.  We made lots of memories and spent most of our time doing things we love with people we love.  Doing home school with four kids was kind of a relief after all that busy fun!

Onward and Upward for Scout

Soon after purchasing our sweet, adorable puppy 'Scout', I realized I'm not cut out to be a dog owner.  I am too persnickity about my world to allow for such a random creature's habits.  We owned him for 5 months and now we don't own him anymore.  He went to some friends of ours who have acreage, and three boys eager to have a big, strong dog to play with.  I really wasn't very sad to see him go.  I will get to see him now and then when we visit our friends, so maybe that helped.  Honestly, he was exasperating for me.  I think my personal outlook will be more peaceful now that he's gone on to a more fitting family.  I think he'll be happier too, as the new family intends to feed him some table scraps.

So long 'Scout', you taught me so much about myself and my limits.  I couldn't have asked for a better dog, you were so good and patient with all of us.  You'll be missed, but I'm sure you're in a better place.

The Bathroom Saga

Last October, our toilet tank exploded, flooding the bathroom and causing mayhem. We sopped up all the water and thought that was the end of it. Two months ago, we started noticing our tiles were lifting up and cracking over by the toilet and shower. After a few weeks, Shonee decided to do a little exploratory surgery on the floor:

It wasn't pretty. We had old vinyl under the tiles, instead of backer board. The particle board the vinyl was on had swollen and that was cracking the tiles. We made a claim for homeowners insurance and they came out and tore up the whole bathroom floor to dry out the still wet subfloor. They also cut out a chunk of drywall, to check for leaks behind the shower and make sure all the damp drywall was removed. We got to live in a hotel for three days while the fans and dehumdifiers did their thing.

We got a settlement check from Farmers, and had an estimate written from Service Master. They did a great job on the subfloor replacement (just a few boards that were rotted). They put down a new plywood underlayment and replaced the missing drywall. That's where the good work ended. They did a slap-dash job on the drywall seam and texture. We decided not to have them do any more of the work. Instead, we did it ourselves. I laid cement backerboard.

Shonee cut and mortared the tile.

I grouted it all. It took us almost a month! Today we get our toilet reinstalled. Woohoo! I love the look of the new tile, it was more expensive, but it's very nice. We also went ahead and installed tile base, instead of wood. It made it a lot more challenging to grout, but I think it looks fantastic! We're just excited to get back to normal functioning life after this unexpected detour.

By doing most of the work ourselves, we saved enough to cover the subfloor work (which was not part of the claim), and the materials for the rest of it, using the money we got from Farmers.

Braces for Alena

Alena before braces...

Alena's first day of braces last summer...

Alena yesterday...

Alena without braces!!!

Thank you

To my wonderful family:

Thank you for your prayers.  I have felt the strength to carry one when things were dark.  Now our home has a bright new spirit.  God has lifted me when I felt I could not go on another day.  Miracles are happening.  It is so humbling to realize that God does hear me.  He knows what I can handle, He knows when I need help.  He knows each one of us and He keeps reaching out to us, no matter how many times we turn away from Him.  In His infinite patience, He knows we will eventually relinquish our self-imposed exile and turn to Him.  And He's there, waiting with open arms and gracious mercy to welcome us back.  I have hope that my family will be together forever.

Meet Scout

This is our new puppy, Scout. He is about eight weeks old. He chews everything and is very clumsy.
When he's quiet, he's the sweetest little thing.


Scout likes to sit on this little shelf in our kitchen. He also likes to chew on it, but not too much. He's learning to sleep through the night.

We love this little puppy so much already, and it's amazing how fast he learns the basics we're trying to teach him.

Montana's lego video

Montana made a Lego video for Christmas. It's about 12 minutes long.


Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3mlq5xTcw to view the video.