The State of Utah

The Utah state "cookie" is finally done! It's part of the extra-credit for Chad's state report. But of course we had to make our "cookie" out of Jell-o, because after all, Jell-o is the official state snack of Utah - did you know that? See, learn something new everyday!

We really had to talk Chad into using Jell-o and not making a cookie, which would've been easier, but once he saw how cool his was compared to everyone else's cookies, he was convinced! Not that their cookies were bad or anything, but he was the only one with a cool wiggly, jiggly state! Gotta love the Jell-o!

FYI though, icing starts to melt on Jell-o as it warms up. Just thought you should know!

A new baby in the house...

Not ours! The Kolbe's! Congratulations to Pam, Steve and Megan on their new little baby girl, Isabel Shae! Hugs and kisses to all!

Sunday afternoon in our house...

After church meetings, Boy Scouts meetings, finishing up the 5th grade state report, this is what happens next...

The (Not Pasadena) Rose Parade

Macy, Haley and our friends, Julie, Brian, Greta, Anna & Ian Brown
Luke playing his washboard drum

So, in Portland every year they have their own "Rose Parade". It is always in June, supposedly, rain or shine (go figure!) and it is in honor of the roses. Gee, I think I could make up my own parade at that rate. Anyways, today was the "Junior Rose Parade" - the "real" one is on Saturday - and it's a big deal around here. Chad and Luke were both in it with their school and really, for being on a much smaller scale, it was a lot of fun. The streets were closed off beforehand (and it's on a very main street in Portland), and people were in the middle playing ball, drawing with chalk, blowing bubbles, etc. Then the parade starts and it's all about the kids. Scout troops, Shriners Hospital, lots of schools, karate clubs. It was fun. So Luke walked the whole parade route playing a drum and singing with his school group, Musiking, which is like a choir, and Chad did round-off backhandsprings and cartwheels with the tumbling team. I don't think they enjoyed being in it as much as I enjoyed watching it, but the rain didn't come, so all in all, a good time was had by all!

Summer is upon us...

So, in honor of summer almost starting, I have joined Weight Watchers - yet again - and have started my own walking club (me and Cooper!). I just got back from walking about 3 miles with Cooper. Although I hate getting out of bed at 6:30 - even though I'm awake - I have started to realize that I like being out, walking around the somewhat quiet neighborhood so early in the morning (although the junior high and high school buses start picking up around 7:15). And, I really enjoyed feeling like I accomplished something when I get home, an hour later. So, here's to getting in shape! Totally down to my pre-pregnancy weight without trying, but now that I am done having babies, it's time to get back to my totally pre-pregnancy weight, or at least a lot closer, and looking and feeling a lot better about myself. So, first WW meeting tonight with Susie and a bunch of other people from church who have been going for a while, and just gotta keep up with the walking. We walked all over the neighborhood on Saturday - it was garage sale day after all! And it's really nice where we live 'cuz there are all these amazing trails behind our house.

Dream Dinners

Ok, for those of you that know me, you know how much I love to cook - NOT! So, today I was very excited to try this new thing called "Dream Dinners". It's not new in general, just new to me. A lot of people up here use it, so I wanted to try. The way it works is, you go to this place and pick out whatever different meals you want to make - they have a different calendar of menus every month. Then you go to all these mini-kitchens and follow their recipes and pre-make the meals. The great part is, all the ingredients, tools, measuring things, whatever you need, is already right in front of you (and you don't even have to clean up after yourself!). Then you just put it all into Ziploc bags, take them home and freeze them, and then you've got meals ready to cook, that actually have been prepared by you (for an extra $1 they will even put the meal together for you!). Crazy! This is definately my kind of cooking. I got a Sunday Roast, some Saucy Beef Tips and Honey & Orange Glaze Chicken - all on recommendations from friends who have tried them. Will report back once we've tried them. Works out to be about $20 a meal for 6 people... not too bad and super easy! I could like this!

Also discovered Schwan's. I was at a Stamp Camp this morning (go figure!) and the "Schwan's" man came by. Schwan's is like a giant refridgerator on wheels. They come to people's homes and have all sorts of good stuff - meat, veggies, ice cream, etc. Super cool! I have decided that I don't like the grocery stores up here, so at this rate I could never go grocery shopping again - other than Costco of course!

It's been a food-filled day! That could be June-y!

Happy June!

Can you believe it... it's June 1st!!! Crazy! Where has the year gone? For us, only 14 more days of school - yeehaw! Not that I love the kids being around all the time, saying they're bored and there's nothing to do, but I do so love not having EVERYTHING scheduled! I love the "relax-ness" (is that a word?) of summer! For us, the remainder of June and all of August are pretty "relaxed", but July is a bit crazed. A week of Girl Scout camp, a week of Cub Scout/11-year-old Scout Camp, and two weeks in Los Angeles right in the middle! We are excited though to see our friends from Cali and hopefully get a trip to Disneyland out of the deal - if it isn't too hot!

Have a super June 1st! Go out and do something "June-y" to celebrate!

Chad's run for the gold...

David, Chad and Justin

All the 5th graders in our district had a track meet yesterday. Chad didn't win any of his events (track isn't his thing), but he had fun anyway, and that's what it's all about. Just wanted to post some cute pics of him and his friends.

And the best part...

of our weekend was definately blessing Baby Reed! Since a lot of the women were going to be here anyway, we decided it was a good time to bless little Reed, so Grandpa Fred flew in for the weekend as well. We were joined by Uncle Bob and Uncle Dwayne, who live nearby, and our Bishop, for a great blessing done by D in our living room. It was really nice... and isn't he the cutest?

More Sista pics...

Christine being so brave!
Happy Birthday Heidi!

Sista before Mista...

While the boys were away, the women played! D and the boys left on Wednesday night and came home Saturday morning. In the meantime, 2 of the sister-in-laws, and Grandma Helen came up for Women's Weekend with me and two of my sister-in-laws, Susie and Heidi, who live nearby. We had a great time! Hit a comedy show, visited a bunch of fruit orchards, did crafts, shopped, got pedicures (Christine's first ever real pedicure - you were so brave!!!) , and just hung out, being silly. Always fun to have some girl time, but really appreciated sleeping in my own bed when they all left! Love you guys!

P.S. Happy Birthday Heidi!

More L.A. photos...

The Force is With Us...

Well, the older boys of the family at least!

Derrick, Chad and Luke flew to LA last weekend for the Star Wars Convention. They were so excited! Chad had a countdown going on. It was the 4th Star Wars Celebration and the 1st time that it's been in Los Angeles - of course, right after we move out of Los Angeles. They had a super time! Ate at In-n-Out, bought lots of Star Wars toys, swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's house and even caught a Dodger game - a clincher one - Dodgers against Chicago Cubs. Dodgers were winning like 7-1 and in the 7th inning the Cubbies got like 8 runs. Dodgers still won! Pretty impressive.

Hi Chris!

That's all! Now you're famous!

Hi Debbie!

Ok, so as previously mentioned, I used to work at The WB (now The CW), which I loved, and that is in part how I became such a fan of the Gilmore Girls. So, the other day I was surprised and delighted to find a small package delivered by UPS which had a copy of the season finale of Gilmore Girls on DVD sent by my friend, Debbie, who still works at The WB. She saw my blog, and figured that if she sent me a copy I could watch it over and over and over again. Not quite the same, the story will never change, but still love it! Can still get my Gilmore fix. Thanks for thinking of me Debbie! Love you!

The End of an Era..

So, call me crazy (you know that you already do!), but I was very sad to see the end of Gilmore Girls last night. I was even a bit teary-eyed! D laughs at me because he knows exactly when I am watching things on tv I will become emotional. Consider it the mom in me. Anyways, I saw Lauren Graham on Ellen last week and she was talking about the show ending. Saying that they just found out the night before that it was going to end, and that they had already filmed their season ending. I tell you, watching that show last night, someone knew it was going to end. The writers' probably. They did a very good job of wrapping things up, but I was still sad to see it end. Ok, Lorelei kisses Luke, but then what? And what happens to Rory? Do her and Logan get back together? And what about everyone else? Lane and Zack... Sukie and Jackson... Ms. Patty and Babette? Now what am I going to watch on Tuesday nights? I kept waiting for the "next week... on the Gilmore Girls"... but alas, it wasn't too happen. The WB (dumb CW) has really gone down hill since I left. See, it really is all about me! :O) Have a super day... Gilmore-less. Thanks for seven years Gilmore Girls!

And the rest...

Luke turned 9 in March, but due to the fact I was really pregnant (can we say REALLY pregnant!), and uncomfortable... Lukie didn't get a party until last week. He wanted another bowling party, so we had a party at Big Al's (just love the name!). He had 5 friends - mainly girls, of course - and us, which makes quite a party, and had a great time.

Then, later that night, we celebrated Haley's 3rd birthday with an outing to Build-a-Bear, with just our family, again a party in and of itself. And then Monday night found us at Outback for D's birthday - thanks Bob and Susie for D's birthday dinner! And then on to Red Robin for Haley's actual birthday on Tuesday Night. There were 5 other people there celebrating their birthdays that night as well! Crazy!

The littlest Huckvale...

turned one month old yesterday! Can you believe it??? He's getting so big... and we just love him tons! So far, he sleeps a lot, toots a lot (definately a Huckvale), and is such a joy! He's also battling acne right now! Better now than as a teenager!

Today...

Today started out great! I got to go to a "Mommies, Muffins and Manicures" party in Macy's 1st grade class - in honor of Mother's Day! We got muffins - obviously! - the kids gave us manicures - let me tell you, my nails are very sparkly and pretty! - and there were lots of mommies! It was lots of fun!

Then, got the car washed (always good!), and came home with about 1/2 an hour to pick up the kids, to find out that the dog had been sick while I was gone. Spent the time giving the dog a bath in the front yard, cleaning his crate, cleaning the floor, and trying to get the smell out of the house. I leave him in the backyard in a fenced-in thing so his crate and him can dry out. The kids get home and we have to leave to drop Macy and Haley off at a friends' house, and take the Scouts to the Zoo. Zoo is fun, except we have about 25 Scouts, with 5 leaders and we keep losing them - a lot of the time on purpose. Not us losing them, but them leaving just to bug. So anyways, on the way home, in crazy traffic, one of the kids decides to throw up in the car. Lovely! Talk about a bodily-function day! (His mom cleaned it up... and she did an excellent job, I must say!) And then when I talk to D, he asks me where I left Cooper (the dog). I told him that I left him in the thing in the backyard, and he tells me that when he got home the dog was tied up on our front porch with a note to return the rope to the neighbor. Apparently, he got thru (let me say, "chewed thru"!) the crate in the backyard and spent most of the day at the neighbor's house, but then they had to go to baseball and didn't want us freaking out because we couldn't find him. I tell you, want to meet your neighbors?... get a dog whose an escape artist!

So, tomorrow has to be better... right?

Good and Bad...

I have been so bad at blogging! Blame it on the new baby - he keeps me pretty busy! That, and trying to remember that there are now 5 kids in the house! I keep trying to forget one of them - no one in particular, just one of them - but people are always reminding me that I've left someone behind. I would figure it out sooner or later!

So anyways, the good and bad of yesterday include...

Good - my friend, Caleb, called! I met Caleb in the 8th grade, when he was the new kid at school. We hit it off right away and became very good friends, but haven't talked in at least 10 years. I've tried to look him up a bunch of times and finally just took a chance and mailed a birth announcement to an address I found on the internet, and it ended up being right! Lucky me! And, the amazing thing is, him and his family are moving within the next few months, so I got really lucky. He sounded great - for everyone that knows Caleb, he's married and has a 2-year-old son named Jackson! - and we are going to get together to chat. He lives in Portland, where he's been for a very long time, and was amazed that we've moved up to the Northwest, so I am excited to see him.

Bad - Hello!!! They cancelled Gilmore Girls! Ever since I left The WB, it's totally gone downhill! First, joining with UPN to form The CW (Can I just say, that's a dumb name!), and now, cancelling Gilmore Girls! I just love that show! OK, so I think Luke and Lorelei are going to get together - they showed something on the trailer for next week - but what about Rory? What's going to happen to her? She turned down Logan's proposal and doesn't have a job... so now what? D told me that I wouldn't like Gilmore Girls anymore once it was cancelled, but I don't think he expected it to be cancelled now, when I still do like it.

So, those are my things for yesterday... now I'll do a post for today, a whole other story unto itself!