The Wilkes' Week Blog

The Goodwill Outlet - Birthday Adventure

2012-01-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

When my friend Marsha asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday I knew right away! I had been looking for an excuse/opportunity to go to the Goodwill Outlet. I knew Marsha would be up for the adventure.

The Goodwill outlet is where everything goes after it leaves Goodwill. It's a little bit like dumpster diving!

We learned there was a certain etiquette you needed to follow not to get in trouble.

They bring everything out in these bins - they are movable tables. They switch the bins out all during the day.

When they switch out a row of bins everyone must stand along the line on the floor. They are not allowed to touch anything in the bins until the entire row of bins is in place.

You may look but you must not touch!

O.K. - once the row is in place it is a free for all. It was interesting to watch people and what they would pick out of the bins! There was something for everyone.

We managed to find quite a few treasures. I found a vintage quilt, tablecloth, a Banana Republic sweater, some cool old books and a few other treasures! I think I spent a total of $25.00 for all my treasures. You pay by the pound.

We wore gloves on our hands! Things were a bit dirty!! We are actually excited to go back and see what other treasures we can find.

Birthday Breakfast

2012-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

Lucky for me my birthday fell on a Saturday this year. That meant I could play all day!

We started out the day with breakfast. We love finding new places to have breakfast and one place I had been wanting to check out was Cafe Broder, a Scandinavian restaurant over in SE Portland. We headed over and got there early because I knew there was always a line. We were second in line.

Jim kept himself entertained while we waited with the camera.

When they asked how many were in our party I answered two and then Jim said FIVE! He surprised me and had invited our friends the Watts to join us for birthday breakfast! Everything is always a little more fun when the Watts are around so I was excited to have them join us!

Cute Lindsey was still home from college so she came too!

Love this picture Merrill took of Jim and I.

Merrill had fun playing with my camera.

What we had for breakfast. The presentation was so pretty and the food delicious. Jim had the eggs, all their eggs are baked in these cute little cast iron pans, along with potato salad and toast.

I went for the abelskivers with lemon curd and lignonberry jam!

The food was delicious and the company excellent. A great way to start off my birthday!!

Packing it Away

2012-01-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

I love decorating my house for the holidays. What I don't love is getting all 35-40 boxes of stuff out of the attic and then putting it back again. Especially now that there are no kids at home to help us get it down.

The last time I helped Jim do it I ended up in physical therapy for 6 months with tennis elbow in both arms so I am banned (darn!) from helping. This year we paid a neighbor boy to help get the boxes down - WAY cheaper than 6 months of physical therapy.

So before the girls went back to school we took all the decorations down so they could help us put it all back in the attic. They were good helpers despite a little complaining! (I think it may have only been Tessa that complained - but just a little bit)

She's really not running away in that photo!

Cali manned the ladder, Jim was up in the attic and Tessa handed them the boxes. What a team! I took pictures.

Why does it always go down so much faster than it goes up!

Happy New Year - Welcome 2012

2012-01-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

So we were pretty much party animals on New Year's Eve.

Logan was back in Provo, Cali and Tessa were off at parties and Jessica, Clark, Jim and I stayed home. We played a few games, ate some food and managed to stay awake until midnight when we joined our neighbor's the Quillins out in the cul de sac for some pan banging and watching some neighbor's shoot off fireworks.

I did manage to do a little last minute New Year's decorating for the ocassion.

New Year's Eve Day, Breakfast and a New Car

2012-01-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Jim took Logan to the airport early Saturday morning and dropped him off. We all drove over to the eastside to meet him at a new restaurant I had been wanting to try - Slappy Cakes. It is a cook your own pancake restaurant.

They have a selection of pancake batters to choose from - we got buttermilk, whole grain and gluten free!

You also can choose your toppings - we had blueberries, white chocolate chips, lemon curd, whip cream, peanut butter, pecans, bacon and dried apricots. Jim's favorite was pecans and apricots

The griddle is in the middle of the table and you just cook away! So fun.

My personal favorite was a buttermilk pancake with white chocolate chips inside topped with lemon curd, whip cream and more white chocolate chips!

We even practiced our penmanship!

We had to order a side of the chicken fried bacon just to try it - not too bad!

It was a fun adventure.

From there Clark and Jessica headed home and the rest of us headed over to Broadway Toyota to look at cars. Unfortunately the white volvo had died a few days before. We had just put 1,500 of repair work into it and two days later it died again. This time we decided not to resurrect - just too much money with no guarantee it would actually be fixed. Our mechanic has been encouraging us to buy a Toyota for several years now so we decided that was the route we would go.

We went to look at used Toyotas but ended up with a brand new one when we discovered it was only a couple of thousand dollars more than a used one thanks to a great sale.

So we got to take this cutie home with us! I love it. I get to drive it too!!!

It is a very pretty gray/green color. The girls informed us before we got to the car dealership that we were not allowed to buy a white car since we already owned 3 white cards - boring!!

Mom's Birthday Celebration

2012-01-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday before New Year's Clark and Jessica flew in from Arizona that evening.

We all went to pick the up from the airport and then headed over to Peacock Lane for our annual walk down the lane.

From there we headed down Belmont to a Middle Eastern restaurant that Merrill Watts had recommended to celebrate my birthday. My birthday wasn't for another week but Logan was headed back to Utah the next day and it was the only chance we had to all be together to celebrate.

The kids spoiled me with lots of fun presents - a yoga mat carrier and water bottle from Cali, Clark got me the Christmas songbook I wanted, and Tessa gave me a poster of drawings of all the Portland bridges. Logan's present will come later.

Dinner was yummy and we had fun trying some new dishes and spices including some yummy lamb, and zatar pizza.

The food was delicious and the company excellent. I love my family!!

Portland Food Adventures

2012-01-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

No trip home for the kids would be complete without some Portland Food Adventures. We love living in a city with so many fun and amazing places to eat! Clark was down in Arizona visiting and Jim was at work so they missed out.

It was a rainy winter day but that didn't stop us! I think food taste better when you eat it in the rain - especially Fried Chicken and Fish & Chips!

The girls opted to eat their lunch in the car.

After lunch we made a quick stop at Powell's Books and then went to check out a couple of bakeries. We had found a gluten free bakery for Cali the other day but we found some gluten free treats at the bakeries we checked out today too.

At The Pearl Bakery we found some delicious peppermint macaroons - gluten free!!

From there we went to St. Honore French Bakery for an eclair and a lemon tart. We also enjoyed a steamer to take the chill off the day.

It was fun to sit, relax, do a little people watching and Cali did some knitting!

More Christmas Day

2012-01-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

I have some serious blog catch up work to do!! Never did finish up Christmas!~

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday ( fortunately we had 11:00 church) we enjoyed breakfast and then got ready for church.

We enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner with Prime Rib for everyone except Cali who had a roasted turkey breast. Of course there was mash potatoes, gravy, jello, homemade rolls, asparagus and spinach salad too!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing - Clark in his new robe!

We had fun playing with the new Michael Jackson Dance game we got for the Wii. Mom even tried it out!

Of course, we had to get the traditional photos of everyone with their gifts too.

And yes, Clark spent the rest of the day in his robe!

Christmas Day

2012-01-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

A few images from our Christmas morning. The best part - we were all together.

It started as always in the upstairs hall with the opening of stockings:

Clark must have been a bad boy this year....

A new striped Eddie Bauer shirt for Jim - he doesn't have any of those :)!!

Cal got what she asked for - underwear!

Why did Clark give me toilet paper?!?!?

What Clark really gave her - cute new cupcake mittense!

Tickets to go see Jimmer play!!

Go Ducks!

Clark and his new robe from Tessa.

Cali found the pickle.

A new Vitamix for mom!!

Trying out his new golf club in his new robe.

Christmas Eve Quiet

2012-01-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is Christmas Eve.

After all the gifts have been placed under the tree.

After the kids are all in bed.

After the house is quiet.

I love the peace, the lights and the anticipation of what's to come. But most of all I love that it makes me stop and think and reflect on that very first star that shone over the manager that special night. The reason we celebrate and do all that we do.

It reminds me of the sense of quiet and peace that must have been felt that night in the manager, after the baby had been born, all the animals had settled down for the night and it was just Mary, her baby and that bright star. What a gift we were given that night.

Minute to Win It

2012-01-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

We added a few games to our Christmas Eve celebration with a few Minute to Win it games.

We were very entertained by the cookie game. You had to move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth with only our facial muscles - no hands allowed.

The boys did a good job but let's just say the girl's rocked it!

We then played the game where you put vaseline on your noses and a pom pom attached to a string in your mouth and try to get the pom pom to stick to your vaselined nose! This one was harder than it looked!!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Eve pretty traditional. Grandma and Grandpa Best joined us as did our friends the Jensens and the Osbornes.

Of course the evening began with fondue dinner.

Larry wore his finest Christmas attire.

Best friends for 19 years.

The moms....Marsha, Debbie and me.

After a few stressful moments of not being able to find the chime music it was located and the evening could continue.

Marsha and Larry were volunteered to play Mary and Joseph this year.

The shephards were sore afraid!

The angel brought tidings of great JOY!

Three Wise Men from afar....

Hannah and Tessa performed their traditional piano duet.

New jammies for everyone!

Time for bed and visions of sugar plums!

Visit to Santa - Year #28

2012-01-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Logan flew into town the Friday before Christmas. We all went to pick him up at the airport and then stopped at the Waffle Window for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed downtown to find Santa at his new house on the Bricks. Shame on Macy's!

We weren't the only ones who waited until the last minute to see Santa. We stood in line for almost two hours!

We brought the front page of The Oregonian along that had the article and our family pictures on it for Santa to autograph!

Santa autographing the paper!

The official family photo

Year Number 28!

The Winter Solstice

2011-12-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

On December 21 - the shortest day of the year - we celebrated the Winter Solstice with our friends the Watts. This is a long standing tradition of theirs but our first time to join in!

Originally I thought we were going to Mt. Tabor (just 30 minutes from our house) but it turns out I misunderstood and we were going to Mt. Hood - which ended up being almost 2 hours from our house! I was just a little off. Despite the long car ride we had a great time and are so glad we went.

We went to a "undisclosed location" up on Mt. Hood. There was a nice covered picnic area where we set up dinner. Clark got the fire going so we could roast hot dogs for dinner.

Hannah came along for our adventure!

The dinner buffet - everyone brought something to share.

Merrill prepares the sacrificial tree with some help from Clark.

Cali is the torch bearer.

Heading out for the tree burning.

Tradition has it that a tree must be burned on the winter solstice
The “mighty oak” was the most sacred tree of Europe, representing the waxing sun, symbolized endurance, strength, protection, and good luck to people in the coming year. On the winter solstice, on the longest night of the year, people would place and set afire a giant oak log in a community fire pit or families would place a smaller oak log in their fireplace.

Our mighty oak!

We each had a newspaper ornament we we placed in the tree (for fuel) and shared something we were grateful for from the past year.

2012 - the Year of the Dragon. Merrill shared a few words, a poem and his wooden dragon to symbolize the Year of the Drago.

Cali - ready to be sacrificed!

Cali, Tessa, Hannah, Kelsi and Lindsey - pretty girls!

The remains of the day!

Despite the long drive and the cold it was quite an adventure and so much fun! It is always an adventure with the Watts!

Annual Cookie/Candy Making Day

2011-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

We had a house full for our annual cookie and candy making day.

Grandma Best joined us as did Hannah and Debbie Osborne, Shari and Olivia Adams, Dyann and Calista Jellesed and Clark was our official taste tester!

We made lots of different kinds of cookies and candy.

And made a lot of messes!

I so wish we had more than one oven!!

Spending time with my girls and friends is the best part of all.

Calista and Calista!

We took a lunch break and had Yummy Bowls!

A game break - Ticket to Ride

And some knitting instruction.

All the goodies!~

Beach Babe Holiday Tea

2011-12-28T21:59:00.000-08:00

That afternoon, after our Breakfast with Santa I joined my Beach Babes for our annual holiday tea party and book exchange. Julie hosted it this year and Julie is always the hostess with the mostess!

Her house is decked out top to bottom!!

The food was scrumptious as always with everyone contributing something. I brought puff pastry cups stuffed with chicken salad with sugared almonds on top. I also brought cucumber sandwiches.

Patrice brought a yummy and beautiful Panzenella Salad

Shauna made her delicious roasted red pepper soup.

Julie, our hostess, prepared some delicious tea.

And there were these amazing peppermint meringues which I had to go right home and make!

We might be getting older but we're getting better!!

We each bring one of our favorite books from the year to exchange. I brought Cutting for Stone.
I love these women and feel so blessed to have them in my life!!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

Three of the four kids arrived home on the Friday the 16th!

Saturday morning, the next morning, was our annual neighborhood Breakfast with Santa. We missed having Logan there but he is a big boy now with a job!!

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of pancakes, little sausage, fruit, an egg casserole and of course hot chocolate.

There was also a hot chocolate bar and a hot apple cider bar this year!

Everyone just has a great time hanging out together and visiting.

After breakfast the kids all decorate gingerbread houses.

And then Santa paid a visit as usual!

Until next year Santa!

The Wall Street Journal and our Christmas Card

2011-12-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. She had found my blog and our family photos and she wondered if she could interview me about family Christmas cards. I said sure of course!

We talked about the process I go through with our card each year and then she asked if she could have a copy of our Christmas card. Since it wasn't done yet I hurried and enlisted the help of my friend Sarah and we got it done and a copy sent off to the reporter.

It was so fun last week to open a copy of the Wall Street Journal and see our family on the front page of the Personal Journal section smiling back at us!! Fortunately our neighbor gets the Wall Street Journal and I picked up a few more copies at the store!

Here is the card in person!

Tuba Christmas

2011-12-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we headed down to Pioneer Courthouse Square to hear the Tuba Christmas.

Tuba Christmas is when over 200 tuba players get together and play Christmas songs.

I loved the buildings reflected in the tuba!

There were tons of people there and it was festive.

But let's just say I really don't think the tuba was meant to be a solo instrument. And besides that it was freezing and bricks get really cold!!

It was fun to be with friends though and feel of the holiday spirit downtown! But I think I'll pass on the tubas next year. Maybe an Oboe Christmas!

15 Minutes of Fame and Santa

2011-12-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I got an email informing us that the "real" Santa would no longer be at Macy's Department store this year. We have been visiting this Santa for 27 years! Of course I was a little distressed by the news! I headed over to their Facebook page and let them know I was disappointed in Macy's for hiring non-naturally bearded Santas! Shame on them! How dare they mess with our family's tradition.

A reporter from The Oregonian saw my comment and contacted me and asked if she could interview me over the phone. She did and it was fun. I also sent h er some of our family's Santa photos. I knew it would be in the paper the next morning. I got my paper and started looking through the Living section, the Metro section and no article! Imagine my surprise when I turned the paper over and there we were on the front page!! It must have been a slow news day in Portland.

You can go here to read the article from the paper.

Later that day I got a call from my neighbor Debbie that she had just a picture of us on the noon news on Channel 8 - guess they picked up the story.

And then later in the afternoon I got an email from Shauna Parsons, an anchor on Channel 12 asking if they could send a reporter over to interview us. I said sure and then scrambled to get the house picked up. I was in the middle of Christmas decorating and that is always a huge mess. Fortunately one tree was up and decorated.
The cameraman and reporter arrived and we had a fun interview. You can see the interview here.

So I guess we were famous - for a little while at least!!

Thanksgiving - Park City

2011-12-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

We thought it would be fun for our family to get away by ourselves for a couple of days. Just hang out together. I am so glad we did. We had so much fun.

Friday night I took a really hard fall down Wynn and Emily's wooden stairs (note to self: do not walk down wooden stairs in tights (no shoes) It is very slippery!) I managed to land on my back and then my tailbone. Thanks to some ice, a Priesthood blessing and some muscle relaxers I could at least move the next morning but I was moving pretty slow all weekend.

Logan was able to get us a great deal on a hotel room up at Park City so Saturday morning we headed up there.

We did a little Christmas shopping at the outlet mall and then went and checked into our room. We got ready to have our family photo taken. I wanted a photo in the snow so Park City was the perfect spot. Our wonderful photographer (and Cali's voice teacher) met us up there. She found the perfect spot and I LOVED how they turned out - I will post some later.

After that we went up to the Montage, a beautiful resort in Deer Valley where Logan has held meetings. They have a fun s'more event each evening. Yum - they had homemade cinnamon and pumpkin spice marshmallows!!

It was the perfect to warm up after our photo shoot - hot chocolate and s'mores!

I love hanging out with these guys!!!!

After that we went to dinner and back to the hotel room where we played some games and enjoyed the hot tub. The kids really liked the spa robes!

Sunday morning Clark headed to the airport to pick up Jessica who had gone home for Thanksgiving and then we all went to church in Lindon to hear Ryan give his homecoming talk - he did amazing. Tricia then hosted a big family dinner afterwards. Yum!!

Monday we went down to BYU and met the girls for lunch at the MOA. Tessa had a ton of money on her meal card after not eating in the Cannon Center all week so she treated. Clark came over to join us and grab a sandwich too. Emily and Addi were with us and then they drove us up to Salt Lake to catch our plane home.

We had a great week and can't wait for them all to be home again soon for Christmas!!!

Black Friday

2011-12-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

On Black Friday we did do a little shopping but not until later in the afternoon. We found a few good deals and Christmas gifts. Clark stayed behind to study and get ready for finals.

The rest of us headed up to Salt Lake. We wanted to go to the Grand America to see their Christmas windows. It is a cute display and story of a penguin and a lost star.

If you find the star in each of the windows you can go to one of their darling little shops for a free shortbread star cookie. So yummy!

They were also in the process of building a full size gingerbread house. It smelled so yummy!
We then had dinner in Salt Lake and then headed back south so we could go to the temple with Cade as he took out his endowments for his mission to Argentina!

The Wishbone

2011-12-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

Cali claimed the wishbone.
Cecila and Cali battled for the wish.

The wishbone wasn't quite ready to be wished with!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

We have enjoyed many a Thanksgiving dinner in Utah thanks to my lovely sister in laws and niece Emily. I decided it was payback time so I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Emily graciously allowed us to use her house and she let me totally mess up her kitchen. Jim, Emily, the girls and I cooked and cooked on Wednesday and got a lot done.

Thursday morning I got the rolls all rolled out and ready to rise. There were a lot of them! I lost count!

We had plenty of appetizers to keep them busy when they got back from their basketball game while we finished up dinner.

And some pretty flowers for the table.

All the delicious food is wonderful but of course the best part of the holiday is getting to hang out with people we love and that love us!

The annual weigh in - who will put on the most weight??

The head turkey carver.

Patiently waiting for dinner to be ready...

Pilgrims and Indians

2011-11-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

Cali wanted everyone to dress up as an Indian or Pilgrim for Thanksgiving. So we did!

I found a cute pattern on line for some pilgrim hats so Cali and I put some together. Cali also made some fun Indian feather headbands. Along with some great items from Aunt Teresa's dress up box the kids - big and little - looked great!

Thanksgiving Eve

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tuesday evening Jim and I flew to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with the kids and Jim's family. Clark picked us up from the airport and we headed down to Highland where we were staying with Wynn and Emily. The girls drove out that evening and spent the night too.

We headed out first thing Wednesday morning to do the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner as we were hosting dinner. We got it done and then headed back to Emily's to start cooking. With all my helpers (Jim, Emily, Cali and Tessa) we got it done in no time but we did make a big mess!

Wednesday evening we went to dinner with all the "grown up" Wilkes - which was just about everyone 16 and above. David treated us all to a delicious dinner at LaJolla Groves at the Riverwoods. Thank you David!!

It was so fun to all be together - we are thankful for our family!!

After evenings like this we always wished we lived closer but are grateful we get to visit often!

After dinner we walked down to the Provo Beach Resort where Logan treated everyone to ice cream!

As we walked down to ice cream we saw Santa sitting all by himself in his little house so we stopped to say hi and have a picture!

Then it was back to Wynn and Emily's and time for bed because we had a lot more cooking to do the next day!

A Little More Halloween

2011-11-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Halloween we went a fun party at our neighbor The Balzar's.

Here are the host and hostess!

Fortunately Bill doesn't look like that when he is at work as a motorcycle cop for the Portland Police Department!

There were lots of fun costumes. Our neighbor's the Adams came as a football player and a football!

Neighbor Doug was pretty creative - he came as Occupied Portland.

Here are some of the neighborhood girls - Olivia, Shannon (Hannah's friend) Hannah, Lauren Sommers and Molly Quillin.

And some of the mom's (I don't know Glinda, she was a friend of the Balzer's)

But I have to say my favorite costume's was Debbie. She came dressed up as me. It was so hilarious!

She had the apron, camera, candy corn cookie, scrapbooking stickers and a bag of essential oils and even the hair!! All my favorite things Too funny!!!

Mary and Bert

2011-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Since there were no kids home to dress up Jim and I decided or rather I decided that someone needed to dress up so it would have to be us. Fortunately for me, Jim was a good sport!

We have decided, or rather I have decided, that this should be a yearly tradition and that we should dress up as some famous couple each year. I am taking suggestions for next year.

Here we are "Practically Perfect in every way!"

Halloween Costumes

2011-11-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have to say I especially miss my kids on holidays. I always loved making Halloween costumes for them!

Fortunately, I still got to help a bit this year. Tessa didn't need my help though - she figured hers out all by herself. She looked pretty darling as Pippi Longstocking!

Cali was invited to a party where everyone needed to come dressed as a comic book character - she chose Super Girl.

She found a cute little skirt at Target and I was able to find her a blue shirt, a Super Girl logo (really Super Man), and the best find of all was the red boots! They were perfect and only $5.00. I actually found them at Goodwill about an hour before I left to fly out to Utah. Talk about timing! The red cape was the one we had used when one of the girls dressed as Little Red Riding Hood.
She looked pretty Super to me!!

Clark asked for some ideas for something for he and Jessica to dress up. I had decided Jim and I were going to be Mary Poppins and Bert so I suggested it to them too. I made a few trips to Goodwill to find pieces for their costumes and for ours. I took most of it with me when I went to Utah for Cali's show. I looked pretty funny walking through the airport with a Mary Poppins hat and a chimney sweep (which was really a witches broom) I had someone ask me if I was "flying" home. I didn't get it at first and said, no I'm going to Utah but then I got it! Ha Ha

They looked pretty cute and I am sure they were pretty much the hit of the law school that day.

I guess Logan's too old to dress up for Halloween???

Pumpking Carving}Utah

2011-11-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

So the kids did some pumpkin carving of their own. Thank goodness for Facebook so I actually get to see pictures of it! Clark was a good boy and emailed his mom a picture!

Tessa didn't have her dad to clean out the guts of her pumpkin this year - she had to do it herself!

They showed some school spirit with their pumpkin.

Cali's Family Home Evening group did a little pumpkin carving too.

I guess Logan is too old for pumpkin carving....

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we invited our empty nester friends, the Jensens, over to join us for a little empty nester pumpkin carving.

We introduced them to a few new pumpkin carving techniques.

The first one is power tools...

Jim loves any excuse to use a power tool and pumpkin carving is one of them. Marsha wasn't too sure about the whole thing - but it works great!

Jim and Larry got the job of cleaning all the goo out of the pumpkins!

The second pumpkin carving tool we introduced them too were those cool pumpkin carving patterns you can buy. Just trace the pattern on and carve away.

I made a batch of yummy cinnamon sugar raised doughnuts and apple cider for treats.

Jim warned them that they would have to follow the Wilkes family tradition and sit on the floor in front of your freshly carved pumpkin. The best part of it all was watching Jim try to get down on the floor!

We are grateful for good friends.

Alpine Loop

2011-10-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

While I was in Utah the girls and I went for a Sunday drive on the Alpine Loop. It was past it's prime but it was still beautiful. We stopped lots along the way to take photos.

Saturday Night in Provo

2011-10-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

So what do you do for fun on a Saturday night in Provo?

Well, after we enjoyed a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant to celebrate Cali's birthday we went and hung out at the Halloween costume store!

We had fun trying on hats. Not sure the employees appreciated us but we had fun.

Who is Logan talking to? Was it a girl!?!?

Crack the Egg

2011-10-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

A fun game of Crack the Egg - Clark was the egg. He didn't crack!

One of the best parts about a trip to Utah is I get to see this cute face!

And this cute face too - he's a good egg.

The 100 Dresses

2011-10-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I made a trip to Utah (yes, another trip!)

One of the reasons for my visit was to see Cali in her production of The Hundred Dresses. This show was put on by BYU's Theater for Young Audiences. They have been performing since the beginning of October and will continue to travel to schools within the area and perform through the end of December. They were performing at BYU for 10 days too.

As part of the show they have been holding a dress drive. The dresses will be donated to various shelters. They have collected over 600 dresses so far.

They have used some of them in a display in the HFAC.

The show is based on a sweet children's book . Here is a brief description of the book:

With a funny last name and only one faded school dress, Wanda Petronski becomes an easy target to tease when she claims to have a hundred dresses at home. But when the school drawing contest arrives, her classmates begin to see the consequences of their choices and the worth of an individual.

It is a sweet and tender story that leaves you thinking. Thinking about times you may have been a bully or been bullied. When they perform for schools they do a workshop afterwards with the kids.

Outside the theater they had these fun cut outs hanging for a photo op. Of course we had to take advantage.

The set was simple but effective.

The best part though was watching all the kids come up after the show and talk with the actors and get autographs - they were all so cute!

The cast of The Hundred Dresses. Cali played two parts - the school teacher and Maddie's mother.

The proud family!

Fortunately, when Jim had been in town several weeks ago he was able to watch one of the rehearsals for the show.

We love you Cali and we are so proud of you!!!

The Beach Babes Take Las Vegas

2011-10-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

I think in the last two weeks I have only been home 4 or 5 days. I have a little catching up to do!!

Two weeks ago I headed to Las Vegas with the Beach Babes - amazing women I have known over 20 years!

We stayed at the World Mart Condos that Julie and Shauna are owners in. It was a ways from the strip but they had a free shuttle that took us back and forth.

The weather was amazing!

I tried to pretend I was back in Paris - didn't quite work!

Or maybe I should have pretended I was in Rome!

or New York City!

Regardless of where the Beach Babes go they have fun and we did!

We saw two shows while we were there. Friday night was Le Reve which was totally amazing!

And Saturday night we saw Donny and Marie and I was in love!

We also walked and walked and walked and walked - I think we almost made it up and down the entire strip! We checked out all the amazing, over the top hotels. My favorite was the Bellagio with the beautiful chihuly glass ceiling.

They had some pretty amazing holiday decor too.

We enjoyed an amazing buffet brunch at The Wicked Spoon - this was no Golden Corral!!

And we had to enjoy some frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity!

Ok - so I had to enjoy it twice! April and I had dinner there before one of the shows while the other gals were at the David Copperfield Show.

We had a glorious time and just enjoyed being together. Las Vegas is a little over stimulating after a few days but fun!

On the recommendation of several blog readers we had lunch at the Burger Bar. Not overly impressed.

The shows outside the hotels on the strip at night were fun to watch.

The water show at the Bellagio

and the Volcano show at the Mirage.

We ended our stay in Vegas with the Gospel Brunch at The House of Blues - so fun!

I did manage to lose one dollar in one of these! Yeah - I live on the edge!

Viva Las Vegas!

Welcome Baby Oliver!

2011-10-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I took the kids up to meet their new baby brother - Oliver. Addy and Owen were in love at first sight!

It was a little unnerving taking photos for a professional photographer but I was pretty pleased with the way they turned out. I don't know how to do the photoshop magic that Meg does so these are straight out of the camera but I love the expressions of the kids that I was able to catch!

And I made a special banner to welcome baby Oliver home. I snuck it into their house before they got home from the hospital so it was there to welcome them!

100 Dresses on TV

2011-10-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

The show, 100 Dresses, that Cali is in tours around the Provo/Salt Lake area to different schools and performs. Today KSL TV showed up at their show to do a story. As part of their show they are doing a dress drive - collecting dresses for a refuge shelter. Some of the schools and lots of Relief Societies are participating in the drive. The school they performed at today collected over 300 dresses and presented them to the cast of the show.

Here is a clip from KSL about it. Cali is the teacher in the show and is the one wearing glasses.

KSL News Clip

Aunt Leigh Anne

2011-10-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

The last two days I got to play Aunt Leigh Anne. Jim keeps calling me Grandma Leigh Anne but right now I prefer Aunt Leigh Anne.

My friend Meg went to the hospital on Monday to have her third baby. I got to play Aunt Leigh Anne to Owen and Addy for two days. We had lots of fun.

There was lots of Barbie playing going on.

And a lot of Lego playing too...

There was also a little movie watching going on - The Aristocats and Rio as well as a trip to the library for some books and the craft store for some wooden O's to paint for new baby brother Oliver!

There was pizza for dinner and a game of UNO and then bed time! After Addy and Owen went to bed I made this cute little banner to welcome baby Oliver home. Now I just need to sneak it into the house before mommy and baby get home!

Me and My Girls

2011-10-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have wanted to do for a while now was to do a mother/daughter photo shoot with the girls. I figured since Tessa was leaving for college I better get on it! The times I have both girls at home together now is at a premium. Fortunately we were able to squeeze it in the last week in August before they headed back to school.

My sweet friend and talented photographer Meg helped us out. Between the two of us I think we came up with a pretty fun photo shoot. It was all I had hoped it would be and the pictures made me cry the first time I saw them.

Some friends from church let us take the pictures on their farm. The lighting was wonderful!

Now it's the boy's turn!

Kemper Hall

2011-10-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I think the place I was most excited to see again was Kemper Hall. I attended middle school, grades 7 -9 there. Kemper Hall is where LuAnne and I met and became fast friends and pretty much inseparable.

At the time we didn't realize what a privilege it was to attend Kemper Hall. It was an experience that is not found many places any more.

Kemper began in 1861 and was the private home of Wisconsin’s first United States Senator, Charles Durkee. In 1865, Senator Durkee’s home became a boarding school for young women. The Episcopal girl’s school became Kemper Hall in 1871 In 1878 the Episcopal Sisters of St. Mary assumed the leadership of the school.

Kemper Hall consists of the Ambrose House which was the convent, St. Mary's Chapel, the Durke Mansion, Kemper Hal and the gymnasium. It was a school for 105 years and closed down in 1975. I was part of the last group of students to attend Kemper Hall. At the time I attended they had boarding students as well as day students and boys had recently been admitted as day students. I think there were about 20 students in my class.

I always compared the experience to the movie Dead Poets Society except with girls. The school was steeped in tradition and history and ghost stories too!

My dad was actually on the committee that formed after the school closed down to help save the school. It is now an event center and my dad's name is still on the plaque out in front of the school.

We started our tour in the chapel. It is the place we also started each school day. We were required to attend chapel each morning with Father Whithey. His photo stills hangs outside the chapel. He was a sweet, little man. An Episcopalian priest. The worst part of going to chapel was the days of special holidays when they would use incense and I would sneeze the whole time!

The chapel is now mainly used for weddings. In fact, LuAnne was married in the St. Mary's Chapel. It is a beautiful chapel.

Outside the chapel was a hallway lined with old pictures of the school. One of the rooms use to be a small chapel so they had a picture hanging outside of the room to show how it use to look.
This is the picture.

I realized as we looked at it that I was in the photo. The girl on the left is me! I had totally forgotten about this. It was a publicity shot for the school. Yes the nice Mormon girl kneeling in front of the alter. The girl on the right was Nancy Best (no relation) and Perry Jones ( I had a little crush on him) was on the left. We got a good laugh out of this!

We also toured part of the Durke Mansion. We didn't spend much time there when we were students and were really only allowed in the Mansion for special receptions or things.

The cool thing about the mansion is, each year the graduating class would put together a time capsule and they were put into the exterior wall of the mansion. The last graduating class was 1975, our last year there.

None of the time capsules have ever been opened.

Part of the Durke House was the senior stairs. Only the senior girls were allowed to go up them so we never did. But we got to this time!

The rest of the stairways looked like this...

I had forgotten about the cool, striped wooden floors. The striped wood designated the areas of the house that the servants were allowed to walk in.

We then went into the actual school. It has undergone heavy remodeling and really doesn't look much like it did when I was there. The dining room and the study hall looked very different and had been divided up into smaller rooms.

Here is the dining room. Lunch was served family style at the tables although LuAnne and I brought our own lunch and we had to sit in a room off to the side of the dining hall.

The Study Hall as been divided up into several rooms since the facility is used for meetings and events but they did have a small display set up to show the old desk etc. I remember sitting at a desk just like these with the study hall proctor at the front of the room making sure we did our homework!

Another display showed some of the old uniforms (I still have my old kilt) and memorabilia. Kemper was divided into two teams - The Sisi's and the Kuku's. I was a Kuku and I still have my KuKu pennant! Kind of alike the different houses in Harry Potter!

Our tour guide was a sweet older lady and when she found out we were alumni she took us to several places the general public doesn't see on their tours. We went up into the part of the school that is in bad shape, real disrepair. We went up to see where the old dorm rooms were. While there we saw some of the old desk. I wish I could have taken one home with me!

Some of the old classrooms did look the same though - especially the science room. I remember dissecting a frog in this room!

The Simmons Gymnasium was always so beautiful. Played many a game of indoor field hockey here - hated it!!
They were setting up for a wedding reception.

We also went into the convent which was Ambrose Hall. LuAnne and I both remember sneaking upstairs in the convent and finding a dark, attic room that had an enormous huge concrete cross in it - totally freaked us out! That's what we get for going places we shouldn't be!

This is the pretty passage way that connected the chapel to the convent.

The old mosaic mural was still there. They use to make the alter bread in this building and then it became the art classroom.

This was the door that we, as day students, would come in each day.

We headed down to our lockers. And then up these stairs to the study hall.

It was an amazing experience attending a school like this I wish I had appreciated it more when I was there and hadn't worried so much about how long I had to wear my skirt and spent so much time in the bathroom rolling it up!!

The Old Neighborhood

2011-10-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Of course one of our stops in Kenosha was our old neighborhood - The Allendale area of town. We lived between 7th and 5th Avenue. Once on 73rd street and then on 69th. Both of our addresses were 514.

The first house we lived in when we moved there we rented. Here it is today. Loved the way they had it painted.

Many of the houses in our neighborhood were brick. I have always loved brick houses as a result. LuAnne and I drove around just oohing and aahing over all the amazingly beautiful houses in the neighborhood. It reminded us both of our old neighborhood of Laurelhurst here in Portland. No wonder I miss that neighborhood so much, it reminds me of home!

Next we drove by the old Heidi house. The children's author Florence Perry Heidi lived here and each Halloween she and her family turned their house into an amazing haunted house and all the neighborhood went through it. I always loved this house. In fact it is now for sale - 7,000 square feet for about 600,000 dollars - unbelieveable. The economy has hit Kenosha pretty hard.

Then we drove by our second house. I could tell through the window that the wall between the dining room and kitchen had been taken out.

They were also bricking over the addition that we had put onto the house.

We then headed down to the 3rd Avenue where the really amazing houses are!

Of course our first stop was the old Harmony Hall. Harmony Hall use to be the the headquarters for the Barber Shop Quartet Society (SPEBSQSA) of which my father was the executive director. This was his office for 14 years!

It is now a private residence but is also for sale. The original sale price (LuAnne and I did some internet sleuthing to find out) was 1.6 million. They totally remodeled it and it is gorgeous inside (there were pictures on the internet) and it is now selling for 2.4 million. Still a deal for 18,000 square feet on lakefront property. The house is as gorgeous, just as I remember it!!

So wish we could have gone inside.

We drove up and down the street just drooling over all the homes. We also stopped at Eichelman Park which is just down a half a block from Harmony Hall. This is where we would come to swim in the summer. It is also where LuAnne and I would lie in the sun with Sun In in our hair - turning it orange!

Eichelman Park was close enough to the high school we would also walk down here on our lunch hours. In fact it was right here, in the park, behind this little building that Bill Glaser, my high school boyfriend, kissed me for the first time.

We then drove down along the lake and then up to see my old elementary school - Southport Elementary.

We drove by Baker Park where we use to play quite a bit and where my mom went to the Farmer's Market each Friday. Guess what! It was Friday and the Farmer's Market was going on!

Pretty small and low key compared to the ones we have here in Portland but it was fun to see!

We also went to Andrea's Gift Shop which has been there for 100 years! The Andreas were also our neighbors in our first house and put on a 4th of July parade each year up and down our street.

We were disappointed that the old Red's Roller Rink was gone. We had so much fun just driving around!

Next up - our tour of Kemper Hall!

Library Square

2011-10-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite spots in Kenosha is Library Square. Not only because it is surrounded by beautiful buildings but so many of them were a part of my life.

One of my favorite places to visit as a child was the Children's Library. Kenosha had a separate children's library that was housed in an old church. The old church is once again a church and the children's library is in the basement of the main Simmons library but here is the building. It was a pretty library.

The next building along Library Square is Armitage Academy. My dad was on the original board that founded the school after Kemper Hall closed down. Unfortunately the school closed down in April after 35 years.

During high school I worked as the secretary to the rabbi here at Temple Beth Hillel.

The beautiful Simmons Library is in the middle of Library Square. I spent a lot of time at Library Square during high school. We had an open lunch hour and I would often walk around the square during my lunch (usually with my boyfriend Bill!!) Sometimes I even went into the library and studied.

I had forgotten what a beautiful building it was.

The view from the front steps of the library out into the square.

The beautiful church across the street.

The beautiful KYF building across the street where I took my first yoga class was totally empty and deserted and was in bad shape.

The other building I love that lines the square is now a funeral home but at one time it was a private residence that was part of the underground railroad. (I learned that in my 3rd grade when we studied the history of Kenosha!)

Kenosha Good Eats

2011-10-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Of course part of our trip to Kenosha had to be about the food. We had a list of places we needed to eat while we were there.

The top of the list was Villa D'Carlo right on the waterfront. Lucky for us I booked a hotel room at the Best Western right on the marina so we were conveniently located directly across the street from Villa D'Carlo.

After we checked in we headed across the street. As soon as we crossed the street we both said - it still smells the same!!

The restaurant looked the same too. We ordered our usual - half cheese/ half cheese and sausage. The best part? It tasted the same too!!! We almost ate the whole thing between the two of us!!

Saturday morning we got up early and headed over to Frank's Diner. Actually, neither one of us had ever eaten here while we lived in Kenosha even though it was there the whole time. I guess kids just didn't eat at Frank's when we were growing up??? Both of us had seen it on an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives so wanted to check it out for sure. Frank's Diner was brought into town in 1926 pulled by six horses.

Our booth was right next to a very friendly man that had grown up in Kenosha so we had fun talking to him and about people and places we knew.

We both went for the Garbage Plate - only a half order though. I think I ate about 1/6 of mine! It was delicious.

I loved this place! Why have I never eaten there before???

We were a little windblown and wet from being attacked by one of those waves down on the pier that morning!

Hopefully we obeyed the rules!
What would breakfast be without the Kenosha News. We were sad to hear that the owner of the paper - Howard Brown had passed away this April at the age of 92!

For lunch we headed over to The Spot. The Red Star drivein was closed for the season. We use to go there on our lunch break from school for 25 cent hamburgers but I always liked The Spot better!
Their rootbeer is wonderful. I had to get a root beer Whirl though - so good! And of course a burger and fries.

The food tasted the same, just the prices were higher!

I also had some custard and kringle. The complete Kenosha experience!

Mary D. Bradford High School

2011-10-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

I graduated from high school in 1978 from Mary D. Bradford High School. The day after I graduated I left Kenosha. My parents had moved to California via Ohio at the beginning of my senior year so I was moving out west with them and then heading to BYU. I have only been back to Kenosha since then 2 or 3 times.

Our high school was in downtown Kenosha. A beautiful old building. I didn't appreciate it for the amazingly beautiful place it was when I went to school there. To a teenager it was just a school. Now, it is a beautiful old building. It is no longer Mary D. Bradford. A new Bradford was built and this building became an alternative high school.

LuAnne and I stopped by hoping they would let us wonder the halls. They graciously let us do that and they even had one of the staff members come give us a tour. It ended up that he also graduated in the class of 1978 and we had several friends in common including Mark Hoferitza and Bill Glaser (my high school boy friend) He took us to some places we normally wouldn't have been able to go which was great such as the pool, the auditorium and the tunnel under the school that use to go to the old annex. We had so much fun!!!

Here she is....

The thing I couldn't believe was how incredibly clean this school was for a high school! The halls were spotless.

Alumni Class of 1978.

The school looked pretty much the same as it did over 30 years ago when we were there.

I am sure I had never noticed the beautiful light fixtures when I was a student there.

And I had forgotten about the beautiful stain glass in the ceiling over the main stairwell.

And how incredible the old bathrooms were with their tile floors. The bathrooms were spotless too!

And then we went into the auditorium. I had forgotten how beautiful it was!

From there we went down into the basement below the stage. There is a room there where students have signed their names over the many years. Somehow we had never done it while students there so we did it now!

Fortunately I had a Sharpie in my purse. I had a hard time remembering my name and signed it as my married name so had to go back and write in Best. I also wrote the wrong date, forgetting the year we graduated. Guess it was too long ago so my date is rather messy and I'm not sure what that S is at the end!!

Then we went into the tunnel. The tunnel use to connect the main building to the annex. The annex was another building with classrooms but soon after we graduated it was condemned and torn down. The tunnel is still there and we walked through it. It comes out into a small utility shed now in the parking lot.

We were allowed to use the tunnel on really cold, snowy days.

We also got to see the pool. I use to hate PE when I had swimming. I had it the first hour of the day and I'd have to go around with bad hair all day!!

We had such a fun time exploring the old high school! She is a beauty!

Kenosha Landmarks

2011-10-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

This week I had the opportunity to go back and visit the town I grew up in - Kenosha, Wisconsin.

I was invited to a blogger event in Milwaukee and I jumped at the chance since it would allow me to spend a little time visiting Kenosha too. My best friend from childhood LuAnne Yenawine lives a few hours from Milwaukee so she drove over to pick me up and then we headed down to Kenosha. I was so excited and it was so fun to see LuAnne again and spend the two days with her.

I knew I was in Kenosha as soon as I saw this. Looks a little different now but the same sign!

Our first stop was our old church building. Looks the same except for the new phase they added on. The surrounding area looks totally different! The church is now surround by houses/apartments.

I really knew I was in Kenosha when I saw this!

We drove through the beautiful Petrifying Springs Park and the leaves were just beginning to change.

From there we headed into town to see some of the old sites!

We weren't looking for it but we found Woodhaven - our old Girl Scout Day Camp, right in the middle of the city!

Then there was Tenuta's - a landmark in Kenosha. I don't remember it that well but LuAnne did and she said it smelled exactly the same - the place has more inventory than any other store I have ever seen! It was unbelieveable!!

Pioneer Women had featured their Italian Seasoning in one of her recipes so I had to pick myself up a bag!

From there we headed down towards the lake. It was a cool, blustery day.
I always loved the huge, rocks that line the lake front. I remember many a fourth of July spent sitting on them watching the fireworks and throwing sparklers into the lake.

We even saw a rainbow.

We drove through Simmons Island on our way downtown. I had forgotten about all the old beautiful bath houses.

And then we hit the harbor and that was a huge change! The huge AMC plant is now gone and replaced with hundreds of apartments and condos! The harbor looked smaller than I remember.

Friday morning was another blustery day and the lake was really wavy and choppy. We went down by the lighthouse to watch the amazing waves crash against the rocks.

I got a little too close and turned my back on one and got a little wet!

Downtown Kenosha - pretty much a ghost town. More than half the stores were empty.

The old Penney's and Barden Department stores. I loved buying candy at the candy counter in Penney's on my lunch break from Bradford.

The old Eagles Club where we had our senior prom.

And the Lakeside Theater - where I saw Gone with the Wind for the first time!

The old Elks Club where I learned to swim in the pool in the basement and enjoyed many dinners in the dining room. It is totally empty and in horrible shape.

The old municipal building across from the harbor.

We also visited the old neighborhood, Bradford, Library Square and Kemper but they deserves posts of their own!

Dining Room Redo

2011-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jim flew to Utah to visit the kids and go to BYU's first home football game. This was his birthday present from me and the kids.

He had a great time despite the horrible, terrible, no good football game! He got into Provo later Friday night so Saturday morning he met all the kids for breakfast and then he and the boys and some of the David Wilkes' boys played golf. After that he went to watch Cali's play practice and then he went to a special pregame dinner/presentation with Logan and sat with Logan at the game.

Sunday Logan spoke in his Sacrament meeting so Jim and all the kids went to hear him and then Cali fixed them a yummy Sunday dinner after that and before Jim headed to the airport.

No one managed to take a single picture all weekend!

While Jim was in Utah I totally enjoyed my weekend home alone. I made a big fat mess too. I spent the weekend repainting a piece of furniture and painting all kinds of frames and other things getting ready for a guest blog post I was doing.

When I picked Jim up from the airport Sunday evening I did warn him not to have a heart attack when I opened the garage door.

I decided our dining room needed a little facelift. I decided to paint this piece of furniture.

It now looks like this and I love it!
I repainted a bunch of older gold frames too. And added a few pieces of art work and some wooden W's to the wall too.

I found this fun vintage tray at Goodwill for four dollars and it was the perfect thing to old some old family photos.

I have always disliked our ugly 90's gold light fixture so I painted it too - it is amazing what a little spray paint can do!

All in all it was a very productive weekend!

Tomatoes

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

They said this year was the "Year of the Green Tomato," due to the lack of sun we had this summer.

Well, the tomatoes did turn red they just didn't get very big but they are juicy! I have a counter full of them. I see some salsa making in my near future.

They were so pretty I thought they needed a photo shoot of their own!

So far we have enjoyed a yummy tomato tart and some BLT's. I see a lot more tomato dishes in my future.

Forget Not...

2011-09-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was the annual RS Broadcast. I listened from home as I had been fighting an "almost migraine" all day. As always it was a wonderful evening. Especially Elder Uchtdorf. May we "Forget Not"....

photo from A Feathered Nest

Skamania

2011-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Logan had given Jim and I a gift card to Skamania Lodge. Finding a weekend when nothing was going on was a bit of a challenge the first half of the year. Now that we are emtpy nesters it is not quite as difficult so we grabbed a weekend in September and headed over the river.

We enjoyed just hanging out around the hotel Friday night and taking in the beautiful scenery. We sat out on the back patio and read for quite a while.

We enjoyed a nice dinner out on the patio too.

They have a fun fire pit at night and there was a full moon.

The next morning there was an amazing sunrise thanks to all the smoke in the air from the fires.

We enjoyed breakfast first - Jim had some fresh squeeze OJ with huckleberries.

We then headed out to do some hiking along the Lewis River. There were lots of amazing waterfalls. It was hot but a bit cooler near the water.

Some people had hiked in with some pack goats! I've never seen a pack goat before.

It was a beautiful, hot fall day and we had a great time. It was fun to have a little escape! Thanks Logan.

Labor Day BBQ

2011-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Labor Day was a two party day. The Back to School Breakfast in the morning and a potluck BBQ with friends from church that evening. I love two party days!!

Everyone brought a dish to share and their own meat so it was pretty easy. I did put together an Italian Soda Bar which the kids LOVED!

I also set up a S'more Bar and then made an appetizer and a dessert.
The best part was just hanging out and visiting with friends.

After the sunset we lit the candles and just sat around and enjoyed them and some nice conversation with friends. Those of us who didn't have kids starting school the next day could just sit and enjoy.
Love it!

Jim Said I Could!

2011-09-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

When we walked around the corner into the back yard and saw this.....

The first thing Declan said was, "Jim said I could!" I loved it!

It is times like this that I really miss my little boys....

Back to School

2011-09-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Some of my children have informed me that I haven't posted on the family blog in several weeks. Oops. So here is some catch up!

Because I had no one living at home that was going Back to School this year I decided to have a Back to School breakfast for the neighbor kids. They are so sweet to indulge me!

We did it Labor Day morning and served a waffle bar.

I got to use my cute little milk bottles again!

We made overnight waffles and their were lots of toppings!

We sat out on the patio and just enjoyed each other.

I made a pennant for each of the kids with their school name and school colors. They indulged me in a little photo shoot!

Then we took individual shots of all the kids with their grade written on the chalk board!

And one last shot - the traditional first day of school shot in front of the very worn out school banner. I think it needs to be retired!

It was strange having no one to get up and out the door on the first day of school.....

Fair Food

2011-09-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Next to the cute little goats I think the best thing about the fair is the food. At least looking at it!

Everything is big and deep fried at the fair. Check out this 16 inch long corn dog. There was a 24 inch long one too. Don't know this guy but I asked if I could take a picture of his corndog!

Then there was the humongous elephant ear!

And the monster fry brick!!!

I opted for the delicious bloomin onion. I even got to watch them make it.

I shared!

Then there were the huge turkey legs and the roasted corn on the cob.

Only at the fair - if it is not deepfried it is dipped in chocolate.

A fun day with our friends.

The girls:

The boys - Larry was having a hard time keeping his eyes open for a photo!

The State Fair

2011-09-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday Jim and I and our friends the Jensens headed south to the Oregon State Fair. I think it has been about 20 year since we have been there!

It was hot and sunny.

We checked out the animals first - I must say I think the goats were my favorite.

They even decorate their pen areas - I love that!

I thought the cows were pretty and so clean!

The horses made me sneeze!

My favorite though was the building with all the food entries! A gal in our stake had entered a pie and won first place!

The food entries had been there for a couple of weeks and they were looking a little old and dried out.

The cake decorating contest...

Next year I decided I'm entering the lego contest.

I thought maybe Jim should enter some of his garden produce too.

Or maybe some flowers from our garden.

But my absolute favorite was the display of all the canned goods - it all looked so pretty and delicious!

Jacky

2011-09-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

While I was in Utah last week I was able to take some photos of my darling great niece Jacky. She was baptized on Saturday and I was so sad I couldn't be there but I hope she knows I was there in thought and spirit! The kids were able to attend the baptism and Logan and Cali sang.

We went over to the Mt. Timp temple on Sunday to take the photos. She is such a pretty little girl it was hard to pick just a few so I'm going to show you a lot!! Love you Jacky girl!!

The 100 Dresses

2011-09-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Cali is going to have a busy semester. In addition to being assistant stage manager for The Elephant Man she found out this week that she will also be performing in a show at BYU!!

She has the part of the teacher/mother in BYU's children's theater production of The 100 Dresses. It is a sweet and touching story and if you haven't read the book you should.

The show begins performing the end of this month and then tours throughout the area performing at elementary schools through December. The show will perform at BYU in the Nelke Theater from Oct. 12 - 22nd. I'll be there the last couple of nights and hopefully Jim too. Can't wait to see it and so proud of you Cali Girl!!