Jared's Day

 Jared's days are pretty much a set routine and I just realized how much he depended on this routine when he started telling me what came next...

In the morning, he eats breakfast with his brothers and tries to finish before Benjamin leaves.  After prayers, he insists on being lifted up on the counter so he can look out the kitchen window and wave goodbye.

The next one to leave is Adam.  Jared follows Adam through the garage door, puts on his boots, grabs his bike and waits for Adam at the back gate.  Then Jared and Andrew race Adam down the sidewalk, all the while yelling "bye bye Adam",  "bye Jared" back and forth until Adam is out of sight.

Andrew and Jared then spend a couple of hours playing before it is time for lunch and we walk Andrew to the bus stop.  Jared is always ready with shoes in hand for this adventure.  He waves at Andrew until the bus is out of sight then he turns to me and says, "daddy!"

So we call dad on the cell phone, (it's lunch time for Steven in WY by now) and he has a quick chat with dad while we walk back to the house.  After his conversation is over, he grabs his blankie and pacifier and reminds me it's time for his nap.  By the time his nap is over, his brothers are getting home from school and all is right with the world again.

Thank You

Taken July 2007 at a traveling memorial in Burns, Oregon 

Earlier this week I attended a Veteran's Day assembly at the middle school.  The program was so well prepared with music from the middle school choirs, middle school band, and the high school symphonic choir, as well as two videos, a moment of silence, and a time to honor the veterans.  There were, in attendance that day, 15 veterans from various branches of military.  Some had been lucky enough never to have fought in a war, others were currently serving or had served in the Irag war, the Vietnam War, Korean War, and one who had served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Veitnam War. 

I became so emotional as I stood to applaud their service. 

I am so grateful for my freedoms and thank them for their service. 

Thank You.

A Birthday Party

Brother 3 turned 6 a couple of weeks ago and we had a small celebration.  We were able to Skype Steven so he was able to participate in the fun.  B3 KNEW he would be getting this headlight because his dad and two older brothers had each received one for their birthdays. 



There were plenty of unexpected surprises to open up and then of course, he had to try out each present for a few minutes before going on. 

He is so easy to please-I could have given him a pack of gum and he would have smiled for days.  Oh wait-I did give him a pack of gum.  He loves gum and I knew the Trident Strawberry Twist would be a favorite.

Andrew requested a "fish cake" so I spent a few hours working on what I hoped would be a cake to him liking.  (those little yellow and black dots were individual frosting circles that took WAY TOO LONG)  From the looks of it, he was pretty pleased.   Glad we were able to celebrate another year with this cute kid.