Our Missionary

This has been a crazy busy couple of months for us. On September 28th In October Kenin accepted a job in Tucson, AZ with a compny called Sunquest Information Systems as their Director of Software Systems. He was offered a job on a Wednesday and started the next Monday, ten days before Alex entered the MTC.


Kenin flew home for Alex's farewell weekend. Ron, Sandy and Jonne drove up; Sarah, Bob, Joe, Amy & Glenn plus kids and my dear friend Jean Zemba all came for Alex's goodbye celebration. It was a full house but we had so much fun. On Saturday night we had an open house at the Murray home to celebrate Alex's high school graduation, Eagle Scout Award, Graduation, and Mission. So many friends were there, along with good food and conversation.


On Sunday Alex did a great job speaking in church and immediately afterward Kenin left to drive to Tucson. We loaded his car with apartment furnishings, and it was totally full. Kenin's family left on Monday and they took Alex's packed MTC suitcases with them. On Monday night we went to President Petersen's home and he set Alex apart as a Missionary. We were grateful to have good friends there to stand in for Kenin and family. It is hard to be away from family, but it makes you so grateful to have dear friends to support you.



Alex and I flew to SLC on Tuesday to meet Cooper, visit Utah family and to get him to the MTC on Wednesday. We had a nice Page family get together on Tuesday night, and continued the family tradition of having lunch at Cafe Rio before going to the MTC. Matt, Jolynn, Sydney, Cooper, Chris, Lisa all drove with us to Provo where we met Erica in the parking lot to say good bye. After taking the customary photo's at the "Welcome to the MTC" sign we said good bye to Alex and off he went. Of course I fell apart in the car; it is so hard to say good bye for two years!

After spending a few days with my Utah kids and the cutest Grandchildren ever, I flew home to Molly and Jeff. It is so weird going from having five family members at home to having only three in just a few days.

Where has the time gone?

Today is my Mom's Birthday. It is hard to believe that she has been gone for almost ten years. She would have been 79 today. My dad turns 80 next week. I guess that means that I am 50 years old. Time sure flies by quickly.

I can't believe what a pathetic blogger that I am. My family keeps asking why my page is stuck on "Wicked" from last February. So much and so little have happened since last February that I keep putting off posting. I started doing this so I could document what takes place in the Pagehousehold and I have definitely been slacking. So here is an update:

March - Molly flew to Boston with her highschool orchestra group. They competed in a festival and took home several awards. They toured all over and Molly flew from Boston straight to Hawaii. We went to Hawaii as a family. We stayed at the Marriott in Kauai and had the most wonderful vacation ever. We did not do much more than sit by the pool, swim in the pool and ocean, and tour the island. We cooked all of our own food, except for our big "eat out meal" at Costco! It was so fun to have all of the kids there and to spend time with them and our dear Sydney. I can't believe how fast she has grown. She is such a good toddler and really doesn't get into things like her Dad used to do.

This is all of us on the deck of our room.

I love this shot of the boys with Jeff hanging upsidedown!

Our sweet Sydney

A ward friend, Dale Keeps, from Salem moved to Kauai 2 years ago. He took the kids to a fun cliff jumping spot. Here is Molly jumping - but it doesn't show the ten minutes it took her standing on the edge before she finally did jump. They all had a blast.

We stopped at a roadside booth for shaved ice.

We had a wonderful time and hated to come back home. The week after returning home Ken's company closed the division here in Salem and his new job is looking for a new job. His office is now at home and he spends his days online searching and applying. I spent a month getting all of my teaching items in order so I could apply to substitute teach in Salem. It is a long process to complete, which includes a training seminar that is only offered once a month. I received my id number and clearance just one week before the school year ended. So no sub jobs yet! But I am all signed up for this year.

On June 4th Alex graduate from West Salem High School. Ron, Sandy & Jonne drove up and Matt surprised us by accompanying them! There was a huge storm, almost tornado like, and it poured for an hour in the afternoon. The gutters overflowed and streets were flooded. We left early for the ceremony to get good seats (surprise surprise) and were glad we did as the flooding caused lots of traffic back ups. The ceremony was in the pavilion at the Fairgrounds and someone had left one of the big doors open and the floor flooded. They swept and vacuumed it until the ceremony but there was still standing water on the floor. After the ceremony we had cake at the house and then Alex left for his all night grad party. They bussed the kids to the South Courthouse Athletic Club. He had a great time. We are sure proud of him.

More to follow.....

Chris and Lisa's Wedding

Saturday, November 22nd, Chris and Lisa were married in the Sacramento Temple. It was a perfect day. All of our family was there and it was so neat to see how nice everyone looked. It is not often that all of us are dressed up or all together. The ceremony was performed by a family friend, Glenn Haas; which made it extra special. Nana, Papa, Jonne, Jana, Connie & Dennis, Nanci & Peter, Kierra and Kenneth were all there to help celebrate the day.

Sydney is so cute and she looked darling in her wedding outfit. She is walking now and it was so fun to see her toddling around.

The reception was beautiful. Everything was in black, red and white. They had lights strung above and the food was wonderful. Lisa and her dad danced a father/daughter dance and it was so sweet when Chris cut in and they danced their first dance. The boys had fun decorating their car. Lisa and Chris left for a Mexican Cruise and had a wonderful time. We left for Utah on Monday for Thanksgiving with Kenin's family and then we held our Utah Reception on Saturday the 29th. A tiring but wonderful week.

My Week with Sami

Sami and I are having a relaxing week without family. Yes, it is awfully quiet here, and I actually have to resist telling Sami to turn off the x-box and to clean her room. Words that I say every other day of the year. The only words I have even spoken today are: go outside, hurry up, sit, and eat. My vocabulary is regressing. She is very undemanding and so easy to cook for. She is always by my side, either sitting right next to me, laying on my legs, or stretched out at my feet when I am on the computer. It is amazing how attached I have become to her, and she to me. To have someone who loves to be with you and who never speaks back to you, but then the joke could be on me as I have not mastered the gift of translating "dog talk".

Ken arrives home from LA tomorrow, the boys and Molly return on Saturday. Then I will be back to my native tongue speaking x-box and clean rooms language (that obviously no one understands but me)!

July 4th Weekend

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We drove to Lincoln City on Thursday and showed Lisa the Oregon coast. After lunch at Mo's, we relaxed on the beach. The weather was perfect. When we returned home the kids went to see "Get Smart", and everyone enjoyed the laughs.

On the 4th we had a BBQ at Misty & Bart Carters house. It was fun to visit with neighbors, eat great food, and watch the kids do fireworks. Alex provided the most colorful displays! It was fun introducing Chris and Lisa to everyone. We sure missed Matt, Jo & Sydney. Molly brought some darling pictures back from Utah with her; Sydney has the cutest chubby legs and cheeks. We can't wait until August to see them.
On Saturday Uncle Joe, Amy, Glenn & kids came to visit. We all cooked a great meal that Chris chose - lots of mushrooms to go with the BBQ'd steaks. I made Kenin's favorite cake with raspberry topping for his 46th birthday, which we celebrated Saturday night.

Every night we played "Nickel Nickel", a card game that the Walches taught us. The kids love to play it, and Chris was such a good sport as I think he lost every game. My parents played cards all of the time while I was growing up. All of the Andriches were taught "Mojo card etiquette" and Jeff loves to correct us when we don't follow the rules. I love that my kids enjoy playing cards. We had so many laughs. Saturday night 11 of us crammed around the table and played the game. I could play this every day.

On Sunday morning all of our company left. It was hard to say good-bye to Chris and Lisa. It was such a quick trip.

Today Jeff and Alex left for their week stay at EFY. Molly and Zoe Smith made a cake for Jeff Tolley who is going to Samoa on his mission. They were so cute decorating it. Tomorrow Molly is going to Hoquiam to stay with Tessa, and Kenin leaves for LA. It will be a quiet week for me and Sami.

Kenin’s Favorite White Cake w/Raspberries

Bake a white cake in a 9x13” pan. Cool.

Soften an 8 oz package of cream cheese. Whip with mixer, slowly add 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

In a separate bowl, whip 1 small carton of whipping cream. Sweeten with powdered sugar and mix in 1 tsp vanilla. Fold whip cream into cream cheese and stir until blended. Spread over white cake and chill.

Cook Danish dessert as directed for pie filling. Add berries and let stand for a few minutes. Carefully spoon over whipped cream layer of cake. If it is too runny it will spill over the edge. That is why I let it sit and thicken for a bit. Chill cake.

Utah Visitors

We are awaiting the arrival of Chris and Lisa. They are driving from Utah to spend the 4th of July with us. We are so excited to meet Lisa and to show her our Oregon. Tomorrow we are going to Lincoln City, and then relax in Salem and BBQ with friends. Hopefully Amy & Glenn, their kids, and Uncle Joe will be able to come and see them this weekend. The kids are leaving early on Sunday morning (Kenin's birthday), and so it will be a quick trip. Too quick for me. It is frustrating that it takes two days of vacation just driving. I am sure that spending 28 hours in a car together will not be torture for them!

Molly loves being in Utah. She has been staying with Papa, Jonne, Chris & Lisa at Snowbird, Katelyn McBeth in West Jordan, cousins Kelsey & Shelby, and tonight she will be with Matt, Jolynn & Sydney. She does not want to come home on Friday. We appreciate everyone for having her. She is trying to get a ride home next week instead of flying home Friday. She loved EFY with Kylie Drew at the U of U last week. EFY is such a great experience for the kids. Alex and Jeff are attending EFY at Forest Grove next week.

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?

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.