Girl's Camp and Priorities

What a busy week this has been with Girl's Camp. Molly went up to camp on Monday since she is an SYL (stake youth leader) this year. I followed up with the 1st - 3rd year girls on Tuesday. Camp is in Alpine, near Alsea Falls, just 15 miles north of Junction City. It was so beautiful there that I really wanted to stay. I know that the girls will have a terrific time, and I leave tomorrow morning to spend Friday and Saturday at camp.

The boys are enjoying their first week of summer. They really have liked that Mom is not around much this week due to camp. I hope that they are enjoying spending their days playing x-box, guitar hero, rock band, golfing, and going to the gym. Next week starts summer chores and book lists! The weather is beautiful here and it is finally starting to warm up; time for outdoor swimming.

Last week we sold the MDX. I am embarrassed to say it was traumatic for me. I love this car. Over the years I have always felt that it really didn't matter if you had a new car or a used car, an expensive car or not, because 6 months after driving it would lose its newness and be "just another car". Not so with the MDX. For almost four years I have loved everything about it - the comfortable seats, extra seats in back, cargo space, dvd player, great stereo, not to mention the way it drove. I loved everything except for the gas mileage. The gas mileage is terrible, especially in the city where I did all my driving. I was spending at least 200.00/month for gas and we all know that it will only get worse. We have decided to get a smaller more economical car. We also decided to share two cars this summer. It has been interesting to coordinate car schedules, but we can do it.

I guess that it comes down to priorities. This month we cancelled cable tv, stopped our newspaper (we read on-line), stopped having dairy delivered, and got rid of the MDX, but we did join The Courthouse Athletic Club. It has a new outdoor pool and tv's on their exercise machines. It is so close that the kids can walk (they haven't walked yet!), and all of our friends are members so there are a lot of friends to exercise with. It is our priority to lose weight, become heathier, live on a tighter budget, and to save more. I love cable tv, but I really have not missed it. We seldom watch tv now, and have enjoyed watching more dvd's. My next priority is to get my house and closets organized. I am starting with my bedroom and then organizing my scrapbook materials, and I do mean boxes and boxes of scrapbook stuff! But as Kenin always says, "Pick one thing and start there". Good advice! What is your "one thing" to start this summer?

Three in High School

It is now official. I have three kids in High School. Jeff graduated from 8th grade last night. It was a nice short ceremony and we loved seeing his baby and current picture flash on the big screen as he accepted his "diploma". They had a fun school dance afterward. He looked so nice. I can't believe how fast he has grown. Next year Alex will be a senior, Molly a junior, and Jeff a freshman. Molly gets her drivers license next month and so the "fight for the car" will begin. It is hard to believe that in one year Alex can submit his mission papers. Where has the time flown?

Summer Days

What a nice weekend we just had. The weather was perfect! I love Spring in Oregon, yes I know that it is really summer, but this weekend the temperature hit 70, the skies were blue, and a nice breeze made the weather perfect. We watched Jeff's last Lacrosse game. He was on the Ducks team. It was very difficult for us to yell, "Go Ducks", when you are Beaver fans. On Saturday they played the Beavers. Jeff scored a goal and really hustled on the field. I am so glad that he is doing so well with Lacrosse. Of course his first love is still Football and he can't wait for summer training to begin.

Molly had her end of the year piano recital. She played beautifully, The Train Robbery. She also received her 2nd Festival Award, a Superior. We are so proud of her.

School ends for all of the kids on Wednesday. Jeff has his 8th grade graduation ceremony on Tuesday night. Then it will be official; all three "little" kids will be in high school. I am feeling so old.

This summer we are planning on staying in Oregon and not traveling. It will be so nice to just hang out at home, swim at the Courthouse Athletic Club, visit Andriches, and go to the coast with Ken's parents and Jonne. Molly will fly to UT for EFY the day she returns from Girls Camp. The boys will attend EFY in Forest Grove, and then Jeff has scout camp in July. Ken is planning on two trips this summer to Switzerland and to China. My trips will be to the store and driving the kids around town. Oh how I enjoy summer days!

Page One

Today starts a new Page for our family. A family blog. I have played with a personal blog for a while, but this will be a blog featuring the entire clan. I have always hesitated at writing a blog for the following reasons: a) I really am not a great writer b) I always feel like I should have something witty or wise to say, instead of what is going on in my day to day life, and c) I worry about exposing my family to the web. But I want this to be a place where we record events of our daily lives, and then it will be so much easier to write the family history that my father-in-law has to beg us for each year. I have always been terrible about recording the cute things that my kids say, or the wonderful poem that I have read, not to mention a recipe that I would love to find years later. Maybe this is the venue to use. We will see. I just hope that everyone in the family will want to join in the fun of writing on the blog.