First Day of School

This post is a little out of order as I am not fully "caught up" on the blog.  But today was the first day of school, and I wanted to post about it sooner than later. Last night our friends the Frankes came over.  Lee gave each child a father's blessing for the start of school and then we had dessert.  (Lee himself has been ordained with the Priesthood-the power of God-and has the opportunity as the father in the home to give blessings to his family when sick, afflicted, or in need of help-like going back to school.  My dad gave me similar Priesthood blessings, while I was growing up.) It was fun visiting with the Frankes.  They don't have any kids and are new members in our church.  I felt like I should invite them to come over and join us for the evening and Andrew was really glad I did. Then Lee and the kids watched some of 20,000 Leagues  Under The Sea and finished the rest tonight.

For breakfast this morning Lee made German Pancakes.  Usually there aren't any left, but today three were. After school though three of the kids finished them off.


Almost ready to head out the door!  Clark's expression is great.


The line-up is starting of people ready to go! We just need to get Elden going on his bike!






The school is about 6 blocks away.  It makes for a fast bike ride.  (Mom you'll be proud...I wear my helmet!) Elden keeps up pretty well on his scooter.  You can see from the picture Lee took, he's not last.


Almost there!  The girls were really excited about school this morning.  Shanna acted like it was Christmas morning. 


Clark is in 5th--the only grade to have classes upstairs.


Shanna is in 1st.


Haley is in 1st.


Cal is in 3rd.  Cal did a fun little experiment in school and showed it to us tonight.


And this lone boy is in pre-school... I guess.  I will be doing some things with him at home to get him ready for the 2014-2015 school year.  So weird he'll be off to school soon!  And he already got treats from the office ladies the first day!


After we dropped off the kids, cleaned up and finished getting ready for the day, Elden and I headed to a Relief Society Activity.  It was potluck picnic in a park.  It was a lot of fun visiting with the other ladies there.  Later Elden and I went to Sharp Shopper and the Vally Pantry.  By the time I was done unloading the van, it was time to get the kids.  The had a great day at school and teachers were smiling too when I picked up the kids.  Maybe they were glad the first day was over?!

Swimming Lessons

We arrived home from our big trip to Oregon Sunday morning about 5am. The next day we were up and running, going into Harrisonburg everyday for the next two weeks for swimming lessons.  There is a park by the swimming pool so most mornings Elden and I would just go there while the kids did their lessons.  We had lessons during the best part of the summer I thought--when it was hot.  It has been unusually cool here for August.  Normally it's burning hot, but it's been in the 70s lately.  I like weather in the 70s, but in the summer it's more fun to go swimming when it's in the 90s.  The last two days of swimming lessons, it was quite cool out.  The kids were really cold.  Thankfully the other times, it was nice and warm.



Cal and Shanna were in the same class.  Haley didn't mind being by herself one bit.  Well, it didn't seem like it!






Haley....






Clark and Cal took one set of lessons a couple of years ago, and Shanna and Haley have never taken them until now.  We will be doing swimming lessons for a few more years though as all of my kids will be repeating the same classes again next year. 

One Sunday Shanna dressed up as a bride.  I am not sure if Elden was the groom or what.  It was pretty funny.  I love that Elden was playing with Shanna and I laughed when he asked something about if she was done yet.  A nice bridezilla face Shanna.

Between Trips

*This post is out of order chronologically, in case you were wondering.

After our big trip to Texas, we left Clark in Mississippi and headed home.  We did a couple of things during our week and a half home before we headed on another big trip out to Oregon.  It was weird not having Clark around.  He had a great time at Lena's though and being with his cousins.  I thought he would get sick of being there after a couple of days, but no.  He loved being there the whole time. He even got to earn some money!  Thanks Lena for letting him work there!  I planned on getting more done while we were home, but that didn't happen. Oh well.  Remodeling stuff takes A LOT longer than I was planning on.  And we still aren't done with kitchen.  We are getting closer, and the major projects are done.  Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll do the big reveal!       

Before we did the backsplash, one night we covered up the walls. We used joint compound (used in drywalling) as that is what the fix-it person used to cover up all of the wall paper in the kitchen.  The owners of the house just left the bucket behind of left over compound and I am glad they did.  We used it to cover up the grape cluster/fruit wall paper. 


And notice all the dishes and stuff??  Our kitchen was like that for a couple of weeks...

All covered up. The blending isn't perfect, but looks so much better!  And I am sure when people come, they won't even notice unless I point it out.


See the yucky yellowish wall behind the stove?  It was like that on the wall that we covered up using the joint compound.


Ahh....all better.


One night we did the backsplash.  I was really excited to do this project.  Once we started though, I was really glad that we had already done the floor.  Doing the backsplash was a little more tedious. We emptied the cabinets before our big trip in preparation for painting the cabinets. I sanded them down first, then primed them, then sanded them again. Can't remember when though....... Oh and the undercabinet lighting is one of my top favorite things about the kitchen!!!  They have three settings of brightness.  I love them!



So the tile came in one big sheet like this.  We wanted a staggered subway tile look, so Shanna and I cut them apart into rows of three tiles.  I must say, backsplash tile is expensive!!!  I found some that I liked that cost almost $30 a square foot!  This stuff was about $7.50 a square foot.  And our floor tile was about $3.50 a square foot.


The first tile is up!  It's looking good!  It was so nice covering up the old yellow glue.  There used to be a green formica backsplash that matched the counters.  (Love the lights!)






This is a fairly representative picture of the space in our kitchen.  It's very small.  The fridge is where the stove is, and the stove of course is normally pushed back against the wall. Actually the fridge sticks out to about where you see the stool and bucket below (we bought a little-bit-bigger-than-normal fridge.) And this time around we made sure to wipe off the grout!  The grout for the backsplash was a smoother texture than the floor grout, so that was kind of fun/different.  It was unsanded grout, so it wouldn't wreck the tiles.  It reminded me of brownie batter, in a way.  And actually had a faint chocolately smell, like cake batter or something.


We also took a trip up to the temple.  Lee and I swapped at the temple and then went and saw our newest nephew, baby Rhett.  Now my parents have 16 grandsons and 16 granddaughters.




Lee took some pictures while I was in the temple. And remember, Clark was in Mississippi still.












I love this photo of the girls!  Haley is getting noticeably taller than Shanna, which is kind of fun!


After we stopped at Lois' to see her new baby, I completely forgot to bring the camera with me.  Oh, and I had dropped our camera a little while before that.  It was even in the case and it busted.  We couldn't get it to work.  So we bought the same exact camera, again, for the third time.  Lois shipped it to Ely, NV where we would be by the end of the week.  So that is a little of what we did in between trips. 

47 States Down, 3 To Go (Virginia to Oregon)

Ahhh....the post I have been delaying forever because I knew it would take so long to do.  Well, here it is!

So, each year my family (my parents and siblings) has a family reunion, rotating among siblings.  This year it was my brother Roger's turn. He and his family lived in Lake Oswego at that time--right outside of Portland. (They have since moved to Utah.)  This trip we drove a little over 6400 miles in 11 days.  One very exciting aspect of this trip is that I have now been to 47 states!  We just have to get the rest of my kids caught up, along with Lee.  Can you believe I've never been to Florida?  Nope.  Never.  My parents even lived there with my four older siblings for a short time before I was born.  But I've never been.  Can you guess the other two?  It's not hard, I promise.  Although I've been to Canada and Mexico, I've never been to Hawaii or Alaska.  Someday we'll check them off our list! I actually would LOVE to do a cruise to Alaska. 

Back to the trip....I forgot my camera at Lois', as mentioned in my prior post.  So these are some of the first pictures we took after we were in DC.  On the way to Ely, Nevada, we stopped in Independence, Missouri for the day.  July 3rd we left Harrisonburg around 8:30pm, and drove all night arriving in Independence at about 11:30am.  Oh, on the way we stopped in Columbia, MO where Elden was born.  We used the restrooms there (oh so nice and clean compared to gas stations!) and took a couple of pictures of Elden in front of the hospital.  The pictures are on Lee's phone, so I need to get them off sometime.

Anyway, Lena met us at the Visitors' Center in Independence on the 4th, and we picked up Clark.  After going on a tour there and eating lunch, we headed up to Liberty, MO where Joseph Smith and others were illegally imprisoned for a few months in horrible circumstances. After our tour there, we stopped at a grocery store. Lena got a few snacks for her family as they were camping in Independence and I bought ice cream bars for everyone. We left around 5:00pm for Utah.  On the I-80 we saw some fireworks that night in Nebraska.  It was sad traveling on the 4th, but it was a good day to do so as Lee would have had the day off anyway. On Friday we stopped at Little America at 6:30am and got ice cream cones (as per tradition growing up and now with my own family...not the buying of ice cream at 6:30 in the morning, but just getting ice cream no matter what time we passed through Little America).  We stopped in Salt Lake City for the day, Lee and I went to the temple and hung out with Steph, Andy and Roger.  We also went to City Creek by Temple Square.  So fun!  We decided to stop using our stroller and it was great not lugging that around.  Everyone walked by themselves and didn't complain.  Loved it. Roger got this photo of all my kids at the Apple store.


The next morning we were off and headed to Ely, Nevada where Lee grew up.  We had a nice day visiting. One of Lee's sisters came to visit, Sue, along with one of his brother's, Carl.  On Sunday we got to see the another brother, Kent. The kids LOVED the dirt bike rides with Lee.  We hope to get a motorcycle someday soon!






Elden is riding in true Grandpa Robertson style.  I forgot to bring his sneakers and didn't want him wearing flipflops while riding the dirt bike. I then brilliantly thought of his church shoes and socks.  Better to get them dinged up than his toes. And Elden didn't fall off and Lee didn't crash, so the shoes were just fine.






We had a yummy barbeque that night in his parents' backyard.  It was fun visiting with family and nieces and nephews.  Shanna LOVES babies.  Loves, loves, loves.  Shanna had a fun time with her cousin's (Sara) baby.  Not sure what Addie thought about it though!  She is definitely a sweet, patient girl! Do you know what is funny?  Sara is also a twin, and has a twin sister Hanna.  Though I know that's not so abnormal, BUT Sara and Hanna come from a family that has the same birth order as us.  Is that weird or what?  So Lee and his brother Kent both have two boys, twins girls, and a boy.  What are the odds?!




The tire swing is always a hit!




My kids loved playing with the tinker toys too.  They had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Robertson's house.


Here is Lee's mom along with nephew Nathan.  Nathan is definitely a "cool" cousin.  My kids think he's awesome. Well Nathan's coolness increased even more after we all went down to a laundromat that he owns, and he opened up the vending machine and gave each kid their own roll of lifesavers.  From the vending machine! I even thought it was pretty fun. Thanks for humoring them Nathan.  I often call him their uncle and have to remind myself that Nathan and my kids are cousins! 


We went to church with them on Sunday and visited more.  We also stopped and visited some of Lee's friends. We left about 11pm Sunday night and headed to Oregon.  Thanks Mom and Dad R!  We had a great visit. On the way to Oregon I finally was able to drive "all" night.  I drove till about 5am and made it a little past Boise, Idaho before we switched.

Our first stop was Multnomah Falls outside of Portland for the start of the Bartholomew Reunion.  Deb and family, Stephanie, and Roger and Family attended...along with us of course.








The reunion group!




Mt. Hood.


Next stop, Mt. Saint Helens.  I was going to meet my good friend Ruth there, but I didn't check my email very much (which I should have) while traveling.  After I got home to Virginia I saw her message she sent to me the Sunday we left for Oregon (still in Nevada) saying she would meet me at Mt. Saint Helen's.  I should have done better contacting her.  I still feel bad that we didn't meet up. We went to Mt. Saint Helen's later than originally planned.  If we would have stayed with the initial plan, we would have met up with her.  Sorry Ruth!!!




So to get into one of the visitor centers, each adult has to pay $9.  Of course Lee and I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to pay or just leave.  We decided to go ahead and stay.  The movie about the explosion was very intense.  I wished they would have shown more about what the people had to deal with than the geology involved with the explosion and subsequent explosions.  It was fun seeing Mt. Saint Helen's though and now I can mark Washington off my list of states to visit.














A rainbow in a cloud: Chasing Fire Cloud.






We stayed in a yurt in Champoeg State Park in Oregon.  I LOVED the yurt.  It was great. The next day of the reunion we traveled to the coast.  We stopped in Tillamook and went to the cheese factory.  We had lots of yummy free cheese samples and a fun baby ice cream cone, plus bought some yummy ice cream cones.


I was planning on meeting up with another friend, Megan.  It didn't workout, but we had a nice chat on the phone--that is who I am talking to on the phone.








We then headed to Rockaway Beach.








It was cold and windy, but some kids have tough skin!








Brittany took our yearly family photos there.  Stay tuned...I'll reveal them in November/December, ha ha.






We all headed back to the yurts for dinner.  We had yummy "walking tacos".  I loved the pictures of Elden and Lexie.  So funny.




Shanna also loved being with Lexie.  Wish you guys lived closer!!!




I bought some glowsticks for the campground, and so glad I did. The kids loved them!




The next day we had a Portland day.  Seriously, you all need to go to Portland!  I loved it there.  It would be a great place to live too.  I actually just finished reading a culinary murder mystery book set in Portland--Josi Kilpack's Blackberry Crumble. (Check it out! She has a great series from Desert Book)  We went up the aerial tram and got a view of the whole city.


Paul photo bombing our picture.


Paul not photo bombing our picture, ha ha. Maybe we made him queasy.










We contributed our weirdness to Portland!


Next we went to the International Rose Test garden.  Very pretty!  This picture is for you Megan.  Just cross out the "e".














We found the place where my grandma Ruth and grandpa Anthon used to live when they were first married.  They lived in a house, and rented out a bedroom.  The house is no longer standing....but maybe I didn't have to point that out.


Later we stopped at Salt and Straw, a gourmet ice cream shop in Portland.  I got cilantro lime strawberry cheesecake ice cream.  So good!


We then did a driving tour in Portland and saw some points of interest, to us anyway. People doing yoga in the park....I should have been paying attention because we were driving by the smallest park in the world....and I missed it people watching.  I was disappointed.  Oh well, I'll have to go back to Portland someday!


The largest bookstore in the world.


And guess what?!  My mom's book is there! (The White Dove.) Roger had been there a few months back and snapped this photo:


Voo Doo Donuts


The pizza and Jaguar picture weren't points of interest, just places we drove by....




Oh, and by Portland day, our camera battery went dead and we completely forgot to bring the charger.  Probably because our camera was in transit to Nevada.  Brittany let me use her iPhone for the day.  It was SO FUN.  I tried to get a picture of how absolutely messy our van was, but this photo didn't do it any justice, ha ha.







So the above picture isn't one we took.  But while we were by Voo Doo donuts looking up how to get to the smallest park in the world, Lee saw an exotic dancers place.  He thought it read exotic fabric and happily pointed it out to me.  It was so funny.
 
\

After Portland day we spent the night at Roger's place swimming and enjoying the yummy pizza he made.


Riley LOVED Uncle Matt.  I thought it was so cute.


Thanks Roger and Brittany for an awesome reunion! We seriously have to all go back again.  I loved it.  The next two days Roger and his family loaded up and headed to Utah!


On our way back we stopped in Elko, Nevada.  Lee's sister Lynn let us spend the night.  We had a nice visit, albeit short, and Marv took care of our van for us.  Thanks Lynn and Marv! We headed over to Iowa to see my brother Sam and his wife Shawna and their boy Will.  Our visit with them was also brief--about a half hour.  (We stopped at both Little America's on the way home.)  It was great seeing them and keeping true to his status, Sam spoiled the kids with a fun treat.  After this trip we saw all but two siblings in Lee's family. And in the past couple of months I've seen all of my siblings, except one-though I did see his wife recently.  Come visit Sheldon! We got back home around 5:00am on a Sunday morning.  We slept for two hours then woke up and went to church.  It was a very fun trip, and as always, not long enough.