The Jolley Family

Cabin Addition and Summer Fun

2010-09-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

This past year we decided to add onto our cabin in Polaris, Montana. This is the most amazing place and it's so peaceful there. We love going there as a family and wanted to share it with our extended family. The problem was that it was too small for more than 6 people. We put a 20x20 living room and a new porch onto the front of it which allowed us to have friends and family join us. We got it done just in time for the Benson Family Reunion and my side of the family came for the bi-annual event. We drove our RV down there and stayed in that and my brother brought his trailer and that made enough room for everyone. It was a little crowded but we were outside most of the time anyway.

We had a wonderful time visiting with my family and enjoyed going to all the areas around the cabin. We then went down again in August and our good friends the Despain's came with us and we had a blast with them. Lance ended up breaking his wrist and getting some other injuries when he and Britton and Jordan rode the dirt bikes and quad up to the top of Comet Mountain. On the way back down, Lance almost crashed into Jordan and had to ditch the bike in order to not run into Jordan (at 30 MPH) so the bike and Lance got the brunt of the crash.

We went to Crystal Park, Bannock Days at Bannock State Park, Coolidge Ghost Town, Jackson Hot Springs, Elk Horn Hot Springs, hiked up to Sawtooth Lake. I taught the Despain girls and Maddy how to crochet and we just enjoyed each other's company.

The kids playing "Ninja" in the parking lot of Crystal Park. Britton and Jordan learned it at EFY.

Lance enjoying a tin foil dinner at Crystal Park. Finally smiling again after his crash on the quad.

Britton 18, Jordan 16, Cameron 11 at Crystal Park

Craig and Holly at Crystal Park

Maddy and Abby~Best Friends digging for crystals.

Lance teaching Britton how to shave with a real razor.

Swimming at Elk Horn Hotspings

Holly teaching the girls how to crochet.

Loren Despain with her crocheted scarf she made at the cabin. She caught on really fast!

Lance after the ride up to Comet Mountain.

Britton and Jordan before the crash in an old mine up on Comet Mountain.

Lance and the boys before the crash.

Bannock State Park

Maddy, Sydney, and Abby Despain. Maddy wishes she was a Despain so she'd have some sisters!

Cabin with new addition 2010

Cameron riding the quad.

Jen Despain filling up ice bags for Lance.

Abby Despain, the sweetest kid!

Holly hanging out with the kids.

Abby and Sydney Despain all geared up for a quad ride.

The "girls" hanging out at Bannock in the barber chair.

Jen and Holly at Bannock

Panning for gold and garnets at Bannock. Didn't find any gold but brought home lots of little garnets.

The girls posing at Bannock.

The Jolley and Despain kids at Bannock on the stairs up to the Mason Lodge.

NSCAA National Coaching School Course

2009-07-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

This past week, I went to Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg PA for the NSCAA National Coaching course. It was an intense and difficult experience but one of the best things I've ever done. These coaching course are difficult because you have to coach your peers and prove that you know what your doing in the technical as well as tactical aspects of the game. There were hardly any women there and we got split up into groups and I was the only woman in mine. It was very scary but as I got to know the guys in my group, I was so glad that I was paired up with them.

The course consists of a lot of lectures and field time. When you not in lecture, your on the field learning and then coaching while your team mates become your players and you coach them. You are then graded on your ability to coach while using the NSCAA methods of coaching. It's a very intimidating process as your coaching and correcting your peers. Some of these guys are incredible players and coaches and so I was anxiety ridden as you can imagine.

As my turn for my first coaching session came, I was pacing the sidelines and thought I was going to puke. Once I got going though, I did pretty well and felt good about it. It's just very intimidating to be judged on your knowledge of the game, your ability to coach and teach it while being watched by everyone, including the course evaluators from the coaching staff.

I know I passed and I'm pretty sure I got a good pass which means I can take the Advanced course next year. I should find out next week how well I did. I have the equivalent of a USSF National C license now. Pretty awesome to have it under my belt!

I loved the guys in my group. They treated me so great and we all grew close as the week went by. I loved playing with these guys. When it was not my turn to coach, I had to become a player while the others took their turns. I trained for quite a few months to be sure I'd be in shape and my body held up! They were gentlemen and genuine great guys and I can't wait to go back and see them all next summer at the Advanced.

Missing Jordan

2009-07-16T23:09:00.001-07:00

I know, it's been seven months since I've done a blog post. I only have one child at home tonight and found myself in the mood to do some blogging. Jordan is gone for a month, Britton is in Portland with his soccer team and Maddy is on a sleep over at her cousin's so it's just Cameron home tonight with us. It's strange to have the house so quiet.

Jordan is in Minnesota at the Jay Robb 28 day wrestling camp. I stopped in to see him on my way home from Pennsylvania and made my lay over two days long. It was great to see him as he'd been gone almost two weeks. I think he was pretty glad to see his mommy too. The camp is very intensive and he looked a little homesick, not that he would have admitted it but a mom knows these things. I cried when I left him to come home as I knew he still have 2+ weeks to go and the camp is so hard that many quit and come home. He's one tough kid and I know he wished I could have stayed longer but said he knew I needed to get home to see the other kids.

The one thing I know about this kid is that he's not a quitter. He's an incredibly determined kid and does not quit no matter how hard something is. He's doing great at the camp and has high hopes of going far in the next few years in wrestling. I'm so proud of him and how hard he works at everything he does. I miss him a lot though and so I posted some photos of him when he was little. I can't believe he's 15 now. Where has the time gone.

Age Two, Portland

Two days old, all 4 pounds 15 ounces of him.

One year old, Durango, Colorado

Age Four, Hawaii

Age Four, First day of Preschool, Portland

Age 3, Portland

Busy December!

2008-12-29T21:01:00.001-08:00

Britton snowboarding in our field on Christmas Day. Nut case.

We'd gotten 17 inches of snow by the time Christmas day rolled around. First white Christmas I can remember. It made the day even better.

Cameron said goodbye to his best friend Calvin. They moved to Utah and Cameron is still sad about it. We miss you Gappmayers!

Aunt Iva came to town and the boys talked her into giving them their wrestling season haircuts. Of course, I had to be in on the decision making of what could be done and Jordan ended up with some type of mohawk thing. They went from the mullets to the mohawks or fohawks or whatever they are called these days. I made Jordan shave it off this past week though as I couldn't let him go to church like that! He was not real pleased about it but oh well!

Cameron celebrated his 10th birthday with his friends. We had a football party, cake and opened presents.

Patriots game with Dad and Uncle Hans who just happened to come to town for the game as well and found out we had tickets. The boys are big Patriot fans and were excited they got to go see their first NFL game and their favorite team.

Maple Valley Rapids U10 Developmental Team Champs!

2008-12-29T20:34:00.000-08:00

This past year I decided to coach Cameron's select team. This was the first ever U10 Developmental team to be formed within the Rapids FC. This was one of the most fun coaching experiences I've ever had. These kids have some serious heart and are an absolute joy to coach. Cameron was on the team of course and I really enjoyed watching him play and develop under my watch. The kids were so coachable and at this age, it's like starting with a blank canvas. I'm extremely passionate about the game and my coaching. I spend hours learning more and more about the game, how I can be a better coach, analyzing the games and implementing training sessions to better the team.

I selected the team in March and we started training in May. We played in two tournaments over the summer and did pretty well considering these were our first games ever played together on a bigger field. We started our regular season in September and played 14 games. Cameron had a great season and even got a Hat Trick in the second to last game. He also scored the only goal in one of the last games that kept us in first place. Our team was playing up a year and we won our division. We only lost one game the entire season and managed to squeeze out the win by one point! Pretty exciting considering the kids we were playing were much bigger boys than my little guys.

It was so fun to watch these kids develop thru the season and to see the results of my hard work coaching them. I love the game and coaching but there are some days when I'd rather be just a normal soccer mom and be huddled up in a blanket with my hot cocoa like the rest of the moms. Most of the time though I'm happy to be out in the cold, rain, sleet, snow, sun, roughing it with the boys. Who would have ever known I was called a barbie doll in my past?? Seriously....those folks who called me that wouldn't know me now! HA!

Love these boys! Well done champs!

Britton wins Special Team's Player of the Year 2008

2008-11-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

Special Teams Player of the Year 2008 Tahoma High School Bears.

Britton Jolley #4

Britton was the kicker for the Tahoma High School varsity football team. At the banquet the other night he was awarded the Special Teams Player of the Year and was also honorable mention in the SPSL North for Special Teams. He lettered and now has two letters as a sophomore. He lettered last year as the only freshman to make the varsity soccer team. We are so proud of him! He works really hard and has a pretty tough schedule. He's even got good grades so far this year!

Longest FG was 38 Yrds. He was 10/12 on FG's and 9/9 on PAT's. He made 45 yarders in practice all the time but he never got to do those in the game. The coaches said next year they want to see a 50 yarder in a game! Can't wait to see what he does next year. He scored 39 total points for the team. His kicking helped the team to get into the playoffs.

WARNING: TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN BEFORE PLAYING THE VIDEO!

Here he is kicking off in the first playoff game against Jackson.

Here is a 21 Yrd FG. Look how far that ball goes!

My Little Irish Twins/Flashback Friday

2008-11-28T11:41:00.000-08:00

My Little Irish Twins. Cameron's 1st birthday and Maddy is 3 1/2 weeks old!

Right now, Cameron and Maddy are both nine! They are 11 months and 3 days apart. I remember crying the day I found out I was pregnant with Maddy. Cameron was 5 months old and I was already about 11 weeks along before I knew. I couldn't fathom having TWO babies! I called my Mom and cried my eyes out to her about how overwhelmed I was!

At the time, Craig was in his last year of dental school, we were living in Portland. We were managing 55 apartments (one of the worst jobs on earth!) and I was also managing the collections and A/R for the company I continue to work for now. We were crammed into a 3 bedroom apartment and one of the bedrooms was the office with an outer door.

I was so embarrassed to tell anyone I was pregnant again but I couldn't hide it for long with this pregnancy. I had to go to Craig's dental school graduation and see everyone's reaction to my pregnancy. "Didn't you just HAVE a BABY?" .............. What do you say when people say that. We left the apartments in the middle of June and Craig left for San Antonio for Officer Basic Training School with the Army. There was no way I was staying in Portland alone with the three boys (6, 5, 6mos), pregnant and managing the apartments with a pool that had to be cleaned 2 times a day. I didn't have anywhere to live so I ended up driving to Idaho and staying with Craig's mom for a month and then I came up to Washington and stayed with my parents for the rest of the summer. It was the longest summer of my life. I cried EVERY day! Cameron would wake up 10 times a night and Brit and Jordan were a handful.

When Craig came home finally after 11 weeks, I literally wept tears of relief when he came off the plane! I was so exhausted and pregnant! By that time we had found out that surprise baby #4 was going to be a girl. I call her my "reward"! We moved into a rental house in Lacey while Craig was stationed at Ft. Lewis for a year while he did his AEGD residency. Maddy decided to come about 3 weeks early and thus, the 11 month apart deal. I was sooooo happy to not be pregnant anymore!

These two have been inseparable from the day Maddy was born. They still sleep together in the same bed. They've moved to Cameron's room now but last year, they slept in Maddy's room. One under the covers on one end and the other on top of the covers at the other end. It's so funny. Cameron is sorta like Maddy's security blanket. She never wants to go anywhere unless Cameron comes along. He pretends that it annoys him now but I think he really likes it. They have their moments these days but I think they will always be close! If I get something for one of them, each one always asks "What about Maddy or what about Cameron"? They always look out for each other. Now that the baby day's are over, it's pretty fun! I still don't know how I survived!

Forgotten Carols Choir

2008-11-21T21:08:00.001-08:00

Tyler Castleton with me before the show.

This past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to perform with Michael McLain in the Forgotten Carols. I had waited for 3 years to get this chance to sing in the choir. It was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to do it again next year if they come back to Seattle.

We had three rehearsals in Bothell over a 3 week period and then one before the show. The show is produced by Deseret Book and Tyler Castleton. He was there and we got to work with him and meet him. His name is on just about every other piece of music I've ever sung over the years. His arrangements are amazing! It was so cool to meet this person who is so talented and has done so much for LDS music.

I also had a vignette part. It was a little scary as I didn't know what I was supposed to do on stage until a couple hours before the show. My part was to be a "person who was cold and in a serious hurry". I had to walk around the stage a few times and then give Uncle John (Michaell) some money as he was playing his flute. I was really scared I was going to slip and fall as the stage was a little slippery and so were my shoes! Luckily, I didn't fall and embarrass myself. You see, back in 1991, I had the main part in a musical at the college I was attending. Well, a week into the rehearsals, I ended up having to have an emergency tonsillectomy and so I was unable to sing. I had to take a chorus/dancing part and it was a serious disappointment but at least I still got to do the show. Then, on opening night, I was dancing on stage during one of the acts and fell during one of the dance moves and broke my foot. There were 500 or so people in the audience! What luck huh! I don't think I was meant to be in that musical! Luckily when I fell, I was towards the back and just slid off the stage behind the curtain. When the number was over, I was able to get backstage and get a look at it. I left for the ER and sure enough, sprained and broken and casted for 2 months! Soo.......when someone says, "Break a Leg" I say, noooooo, don't say that to me....or I just might!

Micheal McLain in the "green room" before the show, expressing his love and gratitude for us and the gifts he is able to share.

Michael was so warm and gracious. When we were in the green room, he came back before the show and spoke with us. When we were rehearsing earlier, he came and taught us a song he had written and asked us to learn it right then and sing it that night! No pressure or anything!! It was so fun to meet him and hang out with him. I've always loved his music and to have this opportunity was a dream come true!! He is truly a blessed, brilliant, inspired man. I sat 3 feet away from him during most of the show. It was so amazing to me how he plays the piano and sings, never missing a note, beat, or line. All that kept running thru my mind was how brilliant and special he is. There is no one else like him. What it must be like to have that talent and the ability to share it with the world.

Here I am with Christian Molnard and Kathy Gappmayer from Lake Wilderness along with Grant Erickson from Eunmclaw Second. When I found out that we needed another alto, I asked Kathy to join us and she was able to do so. When we got the first rehearsal, we discovered that Christian and Grant were involved too and didn't even know it. We had a wonderful time together and are working on some things to sing together at our home ward before Kathy moves to Utah next month!

Welcome to the Red Carpet Birthday Bash for Maddy!

2008-11-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

Maddy celebrated her 9th birthday last Friday, November 14th. It seems that in our family, birthdays turn out to be a week long celebration! On the Tuesday before her big day, we went to HS Musical with the Gillies cousins and then did Glow in Dark Put Put at the supermall. We then met up with Grandma and Grandpa Benson at the Country Buffet for dinner to celebrate with them. Grandma B made her a cupcake platter and got her a little purple christmas tree to match her room.

Then, on Friday, her actual birthday, we celebrated as a family. We went out to La Fogata with all her cousins and they sang to her with the sombrero on. They brought her deep fried ice cream with a candle in it and she almost caught the sombrero on fire when they were singing to her. It was really funny(sort of!) and lots of other patrons in the restaurant were freaking out as they could see the candle and the sombrero getting too close to each other.

Saturday, we held her actual party with her friends. This proved to be quite and undertaking! What to do with 16 8-9 year girls??

On Friday I still was at a loss as to what to do for 2 hours. I usually prepare ahead a little better but I've had a lot on my plate these past few months (Okay, I know, when do I not??) and I was stressed to figure something out. Maddy had said that she wanted to do a Hannah Montana Concert party. I rented the concert DVD and thought I would play it in the basement on the big screen and went to the party store to buy some supplies. I figured we could do popcorn and play some games. As I was in the store, I had a brilliant idea, at least I thought it was considering the timeline I'd left for myself.... (and the fact that before the party that started at four, I had to do a 3 hour rehearsal in Bothel and coach a soccer game in MV). I was pretty proud of myself and excited about my idea!

I came up with a "Movie Premier/Red Carpet" party. We have this huge (106") home theater screen so why not use it!! I found all these cute red decorations, stars, and shimmery stuff. Then I came up with using a long red tablecloth on the roll to use as the red carpet, got popcorn containers like at the movies, bought movie candy and a bunch of other red accessories to make a concession stand. I borrowed my neighbors movie popcorn popper and whala.....we had a "real" red carpet experience. We have a helium tank at Craig's office so I did a bunch of balloons as well which always adds to the fun!

The girls lined up outside and had to walk the red carpet and head down to the "theater". It was a total hit! I gave each girl $20 in monopoly money and they were able to buy their own popcorn, drinks, and candy at the "concession" stand. It was so funny! The girls really got into it. Cameron manned the concessions and took his job very seriously. The girls watched the movie and then then the screaming started! It was a serious ear plugging time! I apologized to the parents when they came to pick their kids up as I feared their kids might get sick from all the junk food! I've never seen girls pack that much candy, popcorn, pizza, cake and more down in one setting!

It was a really fun party and after it was all over (and I could hardly keep my eyes open) Maddy came up and hugged me and said it was the best party ever. Doesn't that make it worth all the effort when one of your kids says thank you!!

Maddy's family celebration and getting her first Ipod!

Watching the concert with some of her friends.

Her favorite thing...a DQ ice cream cake.

Watching the movie on the big screen.

Maddy's entrance on the Red Carpet! Each girl was greeted at the door with "Welcome to the Red Carpet" and was given a red necklace to wear.

Cameron manning the concession stand.

Happy 9th Birthday to the sweetest girl we've ever known!

The New Office - Completed!!!!

2008-11-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, after about 10 attempts to upload these photos with no success, I finally got them onto blogger! I don't know why but for some reason, it would not upload them until today.....so without further adeiu........Here is the new office all completed!

Our new office has been selected to appear in Sullivan Schein's national magazine. It's a quarterly magazine and each issue showcases new offices that have used their products and materials. They liked ours so much that we got nominated and were chosen! Someone came and took some photos and then we had to fill out a questionaire. We don't know when it will appear, could be a year out they say but it's pretty exciting for us to be recognized as one of the premier offices that they have helped create! We are very pleased with how it turned out. Our open house on October 16th was a huge success and we are very excited to see the new growth our practice has already seen since opening the doors. It's so great to be in a new office that reflects us, our taste and what we want to convey to our patients! It was a lot of hard work and stress to get it all done but it was well worth it. We were looking to create an atmosphere of warmth and I think we did it! All the artwork is my Dad's photography. It really completes the decor and I'm so glad we opted to use it. It brings a nice feeling to the office.

Part of Craig's office with Storm, our office manager.

Looking down one of the hallways.

One of the 8 operatories.

One of 3 waiting areas.

View of the front desk area.

Decorative element with my $6.97 spray of twigs from Wal Mart!!! Who'd of thought! I searched high and low for some kind of arrangement to go here and couldn't find anything but a cool vase. Then I came upon the sticks from WalMart! Looks expensive huh!

View of the chart room and Storms desk.

One of the waiting rooms.

Back side of the front desk where patients check out manned by Mandi, our sweet front desk girl.

View of part of the patient bathroom.

Here's the sign going up. That was the last thing to be completed. Whew!

Brothers

2008-11-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

Britton and Jordan were close when they were little. They are only 19 months apart. Jordan always had to do whatever it was that Britton did. I had to buy two of everything or Jordan would lay down and throw a serious tantrum if he didn't get to wear the same thing as Britton right down to the shoes and socks. It was cute that they were always the same until they got a little older, and then they didn't think it was so cute!

Then they went through about a 10 year phase where they didn't like each other as much so it's been nice as of late to see them becoming close again. Now, they are mostly inseparable again and like doing the same things. Jordan still likes to do whatever Brit does but now Brit is also interested in what Jordan is doing. Jordan started wrestling a couple of years ago and so Brit decided that he wants to try it to so they just started up the HS wrestling season together.

I never thought they'd be close again after all the years of not wanting to be in the same room as each other for the most part. It's kinda nice to see them like this. I hope it continues through out their lives. I used to tell them that they needed to be nice to each other because when all is said and done, all you really have is your family.

Britton and Jordan on the banks of the Willamette River, Portland 1997.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Cameron went as Indiana Jones this year! When we were at Disneyworld this past summer, he loved all the Indiana Jones stuff! He said he wanted to be IJ for Halloween so I bought him all the stuff there! He's been saving it to wear on Halloween, only the coat only came in one size fits all! Oh well! What can a busy mom do?

Maddy wanted to be Dorothy again! We took Toto along but he's gotten white over the years!

Flashback Friday (Sunday!!)

2008-11-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

I tried to do a post on Friday but Blogger was so slow to add the photos that I gave up and went to bed. I recently started taking my old negatives (before digital camera's) and have been having them put on disk at Costco. It's much faster than scanning them all in one by one!

I came across these photos of me and the boys when we were in Hawaii in the summer of 98. I was 7 months pregnant with Cameron here and still feeling pretty good. Craig had to do two internships while in dental school and we got to go to Hawaii each summer. We had a blast and still love going there whenever we can. We spent most of our time on Oahu but the last week there, we flew over to big island and spent a week there. We went to Volcanoes National Park but couldn't get to close to the lava flows so we didn't see too much as far as the active volcano went. We were not up to hiking 5 miles with the boys over the lava beds!

Hangin' Loose!

Here we are on the big Island before our miserable horseback ride! It was not a fun ride, especially since I was pregnant and it poured rain on us the entire time. I have no recollection of the turkeys being there?? Hmmn? Love the overalls!

Going on Sixteen Years!

2008-10-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sixteen years ago Craig and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. This was such a wonderful day. It is also a special day in that we had Britton sealed to us at the same time. I had waited so long to go to the temple and to be able to be sealed to both Craig and Britton the same day was really special. This day is always extra special to us.

Great Grandma Jolley bought a little white tuxedo for Britton to be sealed to us in. Craig's Great Uncle Joel Jolley was the sealer and then after we had been sealed they brought Britton in. He screamed the entire time, true to form. He was ten weeks old. Here he is with my mom, Grandma Benson, still screaming!

Britton and me outside the SLC Temple taking photos. I think he had finally cried himself to sleep!

We had our wedding dinner at "The Inn at Temple Square". Here I am looking thru the window and Craig's dad snapped this photo of me. It's one of my favorites as it reminds me of how happy I was that day!

Enjoying a moment together during the dinner. We then left to go to the Little America for our honeymoon and then headed down to Farmington NM for our reception there.

I'm so glad that we found each other! Our story of how we met is like no other. I'll save that for another post! Craig is like no other! Today, I woke up to roses and a funny (okay, inappropriate card!) then we went to dinner at Jak's and he had a gift certificate for a facial and then took me down to costco to pick out a piece of jewelry. I know, that is not terribly romantic (the costco part) but at least I picked out what I wanted. I avoided the $158,000.00 4 ct. emerald cut and went with a simple pearl ring. He jokingly told me that instead of a huge diamond, he bough a dental chair for me! Ha Ha!

Really, Craig is the real Diamond!!

Britton Jolley Headlines in the Seattle Times HS sports!!

2008-10-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

SPSL 4A Britton Jolley's three field goals lift Tahoma

MAPLE VALLEY -- For the third consecutive week, Tahoma (5-2, 5-2) did not score a touchdown, but it didn't matter as sophomore kicker Britton Jolley hit three field goals as Tahoma beat Kentlake for a 9-7 SPSL 4A North Division win.

Tahoma was shut out last week, and scored three points the week before. The last time the Bears scored a TD was in Week 4 in a 48-13 win against Kent-Meridian.

Jolley hit on field goals fo 21,23, and 27 yards. His 23 yarders in the thrid quarter proved to be the game-winner. Kentlake (3-4, 3-3) had the ball at midfield with 2 minutes left but a bad snap and a couple of sacks stopped the drive.

Benson Family Reunion 2008

2008-10-13T09:09:00.001-07:00

Benson Family Reunion 2008

Holly, Cheryl, and DeAun, two of my sister-in-laws.

Holly with sister Suzy

Me and my Mom!

In August, we went to Island Park, Idaho for my family reunion. This was the 3rd Benson Family Reunion. We rented a cabin and had a great time. We floated the Big Springs Outlet, hiked up to our family tree, celebrated Britton's 16th Birthday and my Mom's 60th Birthday. We decided to do a family reunion this summer so that we could honor our Mom on her big day (even though it was in February!) It's hard to get us all in one place at once so the fact that we were finally able to get a date that worked was a miracle in itself!

Floating the Big Springs Outlet

Brinlee, McKayla, and Maddy

No family adventure is complete without our Mom. She is the free entertainment and keeps us all laughing. This is before she fell into the water.

Here's Jack, the best little dog anyone could have. He enjoyed the raft trip too!

Grandma Benson with all 17 of her 19. I don't know where the other 2 kids went?

Almost There!

2008-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have gone back to my old ways lately of not posting much on the blog front. I do have photos of the last months events but I've been too busy to find the time to download them and get them on the blog!

We are just in the final stages of completing the build out and move to Craig's new dental office. It's been a long process but we are in the final stretch and are so ready for this part of the journey to end! The last 2 weeks have been unbelievably stressful but so far, we are hanging in there and the new office is incredible and worth the stress. I have to say, I'm very pleased how its all come together. The colors are warm and inviting and the layout is double the size of what he was working in before. He even got a couch and TV in his office and we got this cool video arcade game for the kids waiting area that has all the video games from our younger days on it....pac man, donkey kong, centipede...etc. on it! I think the adults might be in the kids waiting area as much as the kids are! We also put in a refreshment area for the patients where they can get a cup of coffee, tea, cocoa, juice, water, etc. and have snack. I think it's so cool!

We hired some really great people that know what they are doing and they have guided us all the way. They were even there on Friday with me helping to hang the artwork and seeing to all the details. They are as picky as I am about the details and it was so nice to have them there to assist us thru this process. I'm so excited for Craig to be in a new, state of the art facility that is representative of him, not the dentist we bought the practice from 6 years ago.

We were supposed to attend Craig's brothers wedding in Sun Valley this weekend and unfortunately things were so far behind schedule that we had to cancel our flights and not go. He got married today and we are really sad we were not able to go. We hope it went well and that they were able to find someone to sing....I was supposed to sing and I felt terrible that I had to bail on them at the last minute. I hate letting people down when I know they are counting on me.

It will be fun this week to see the new office up and running and I still have a lot more to do to finish the decorating side but I'm sure after a couple weeks, everything will be done and we can relax!

Happy 16th Birthday Britton!

2008-08-25T22:31:00.001-07:00

Sixteen years ago, Britton was born. He was due August 30th but was born 2 weeks early on August 15th, 1992. He was 5 lbs, 15 oz. Little did we know how hard the next year would be. He was a colicky baby and cried 24/7 for the first year. He had a lot of ear problems and had his first set of tubes put in at six months old. Can't believe how fast the years have gone and today, he drove out of the driveway alone for the first time in his life. It was a weird moment for me! I was happy, scared, sad, all at once!

Here is Britton the night he was born. We thought he was such a good baby when he first arrived. We didn't know what lay ahead two weeks down the road. The family still talks about the Britton baby days! It was a family effort to keep him happy for the first year of his life.....not that anything we did worked. It's a wonder we had any more kids after him. Most would have said that was all they could take!

Britton at our wedding reception. Since we had the entire family together, we decided to bless him that day so this was also his blessing day.

Britton at four months old. Guess we should have had him in a soccer outfit as he thinks baseball is boring!

Britton and Jordan in Hawaii during Craig's dental school and Army days in 1997. I dressed them the same head to toe for years. They finally put a stop to it when they got older.....it was easier to have two of everything. Jordan had to do everything the same as Brit.....saved me some major temper tantrums from Jordan.

Britton in Hawaii again in 1998, our second summer in Hawaii courtesy of the Army. We went on a horseback ride and had a miserable time! It rained on us the entire way and we were with a bunch of japanese tourists that did not know how to ride horses. This horse kept trying to buck Brit off. I was so glad when it was over and I think he was too!

First day of kindergarten in Portland. He had just turned 6 here!

Current photo with Jordan in Florida at the pool. Nice glasses!

With cousin Clara 2007. Clara LOVES Brit. She calls him her boyfriend. In fact, at his birthday party, she gave him his first kiss. Not to be outdone, Uncle Shawn gave him another one. It was a long and juicy one!

We celebrated Brit's special day in Island Park, Idaho at our family reunion. We didn't have a cake so we used the costco brownies and cut straws up and put tissue paper on the top end and lit them on fire. We had strawberry pie and hamburgers too. Brit got a new banjo and a letterman's jacket since he lettered in soccer last spring as a freshman. The entire family all took turns saying what they loved about Brit. It was a fun night.

Britton has been such a fun kid. Always keeps us hopping and going, going, going. He's accomplished a lot this year! He's been playing on the Eastside FC soccer team for two years now and they are one of the the top 4 teams in the state. He is playing football for the high school and has a good shot at being the Varsity kicker. He has mastered the guitar. He's learned to play the accoustical, classical, bass, electric and now is tackling the banjo. Wow! He also loves doing things with his hands, fishing and dirt biking! We are so proud of him and all he's accomplished. Happy Birthday Brit!

Flashback Friday

2008-08-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here is Britton and me in Moab, Utah three years ago. We took a family vacation to Farmington NM to visit Craig's Dad. We stopped along the way and went to Arches National Park. The kids had a great time. This is one of my favorite photos of me and Brit!

Rainier Valley Trail

2008-07-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday I decided it was finally time to take a break from the yard and the house and take the kids to do something fun. Last year I bought some books that tell where you can go to hike some good trails. One of them is called "Day Hikes for Kids". The book is great and it tells you what level the hikes are so you know if your kids can handle it depending on what their ages ares. I found one that was not too far away and we headed out.

We stopped and got some subway sandwiches along the way and then made our way up to the turn off. This trail is called the Rainier View Trail. You head past Enumclaw about 31 miles and then take forest service rd 7174 to the left. You have to drive up a dirt road about 6 miles and then you come out in a clearing where there is a parking lot. You can camp up there as well but we were just there for the day. The trail is about 1 1/2 miles up so a round trip of 3 miles. The view is amazing when you get to the top! It is well work the hike up. It was not too steep but Maddy, my 8 year old wasn't liking it towards the end. There were lots of wildflowers to pick, snow mounds that still had not melted that the kids could slide down. Who would think you'd find snow in July?

You could also see Mt. Adams off in the distance and the panoramic view of the Rainier Valley was amazing. Even the dogs had a good time, including Peppy, my parents dog. Jack was a looking more like a brown dog though by the time we got back to the car. It was a bit dusty and he's pure white, not a good combination!

My kids have asked every day this week what new hikes we can go on. I wish we had more free days to just take off and explore. There are so many beautiful places here in Washington to see. I've lived here a good chunk of my life and I'm still awed by how many places I've come upon that I didn't know existed!

My kids had a great time, got some exercise, and this was my first hike since my knee surgery in April! Funny thing was, my left knee hurt more than the knee I had surgery on? Weird huh! I recommend this to anyone who wants to get an awe inspiring view of Mount Rainier!

Cameron by a little stream at the bottom of the trail.

Maddy on top of a huge snow mound!

Jordan with Mt. Rainier in the background. I was terrified he was going to fall off the cliff!

Cameron, Jordan, and Maddy with Jack and Pep.

Craig's New Office!!

2008-07-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well, after 6 years of being in private practice, we are finally moving to our own building! We are set to move the office the first week of September. The build out inside has started and they are already sheet-rocking the place. It's going to be double the size with state of the art equipment. We have been negotiating on and off for the past three years to get into this building that we have the option to purchase, not just lease. We have been working with the design team over the last few months and I think we've come up with a great interior that will compliment the lovely exterior. We will be taking up half the building and the other side is being leased out by another doctor. Finally, we'll be in a new, modern, and attractive building. Stay tuned for a few more updates as thing progress!

Front View Sawyer Village. Craig is taking the end of the building on the right side since it's the bigger end. We wanted the other end but the shape of the interior was tough to work in and we had better options on the other end. The view of Mt. Rainier is pretty nice on a sunny day!

Interior Colors. This photo does not do them justice I think! I can't wait to see it all put together. The inspiration for me came from the granite tile. We revolved everything around that and it all came together nicely. My carpet floor in the background sorta distracts from it all!

Sawyers Village entrance.

Side View looking West.

Book Review's

2008-07-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write and recommend some good reading to those who like reading about important topics that affect our lives:

Glen Beck's book "An Inconvenient Book" is hilarious and to the point. It's worth reading for sure. He's a talk and radio show host. He has a show on CNN that is great. His book is an eye opener and I love how he tells it how it is. He's also LDS, my favorite chapter is about how women help keep their husbands groomed. Cracked me up.....so true.....you must read it.

"The Truth About the Fair Tax" is also worth reading. The author's are Boortz and Linder. It's an eye opening book about our tax system and in my opinion, a great idea for tax reform. It's not a "flat tax", it's a fair tax or consumption tax. Read it and see what you think!

"Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg is also a fascinating read. It is not an easy book to get through though and I suggest having a dictionary close by when reading it. It goes into the history of fascism and how America is a part of it. Very interesting book and an intense read. It will take me awhile to get thru this one. I'm 1/3 of the way thru and I wish I had more time to read so I could get thru it faster!

"Fleeced" by Dick Morris is also one I wouldn't miss reading. Dick Morris was Clinton's former aide and he's now on Fox New's as an analyst. He delves into the politics, lobbyist and special interests, what we can expect if Obama becomes president, and many other topics we should all become aware of. He is a non partisan insider that shed's light on all the ways our government is fleecing the the American people. Great book, very eye opening for sure. Made me so mad to read it.....lists thing we can do as citizens to stop the madness!

Last but not least...."The Aboke Girls" is the true story of the Ugandan school girls that were abducted by Joseph Kony and his LRA rebels that terrorized Uganda for the past 20 years. The girl that was the housekeeper where we stayed in Kampala, Uganda, was one of the Aboke Girls and her life was spared since she was not at the school the night the rebels came. I had the privilege of having her tell me and my family the story first hand. I then found this book and devoured it on my way home from Africa. It tells a lot about the war in Northern Uganda. Certainly worth reading if your interested in the plight of the African's who suffer so much!

Now if I just knew how to download the books covers off the internet so I can add them to the blog......sorry, google them I guess! Curious to see if anyone else has read these and if they have or do, what they think?

Kent Cornucopia Soccer Tournament

2008-07-14T22:52:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Jordan and Cameron played in the Kent Cornucopia Soccer Tournament. It was a game filled weekend. Cameron's team, which I coach is with the Maple Valley Rapids program. They are the first ever U10 Developmental team which is the select program for kids at this age. They placed 4th overall in their bracket which was pretty great since these were the the first real games they have played together. I didn't get a photo of them. I'm hoping I'll be able to add a photo of them later on if one of my parents sends one on. Cameron played great, especially the last game. He had a great time finally being able to play like his big brothers do on a real "select" team.

Jordan plays for the Federal Way Storm boys U15 team. This is the team I've coached for the past 2 years. This year though, I opted to step down as the head coach and just be the assistant. It's too hard coaching both teams and this was a better alternative for me. I'm still able to be involved in the training and development of the kids. We made it to the final but lost a tough game. We had no subs and had some injuries and it was pretty darn hot. Jordan scored a goal in the first game we played on Friday and had a great time playing.

Jordan's U15 Storm Black Team, 2nd place

Serious Bad Luck

2008-07-08T21:38:00.001-07:00

I just have to blog about this because I'm still so mad about it. About a month ago, I bought for the first time ever, a side of beef and a side of a pig. The animals were farmed raised by some 4H kids and it was a pretty good price, although the down side is you pay all at once for the meat instead of buying it as you need but it still is cheaper to do it this way (so the butcher told me). Well..........I picked it up about a month ago and we'd used a little of it but when we were on vacation, somehow my freezer in the garage stopped working. We can't figure out if it got left open a crack and melted or if something happened when the lightning storm came thru and the power was out? All I know is that I will be throwing $1500 of meat in the garbage on Thursday. Now the freezer if freezing again so I just left it all in there as I don't think anyone wants to smell the rotten stuff until Thursday when the garbage man comes! I'm just sick about it. There has been a bear hanging out around our house.....wonder if he could smell the meat? Scary thought huh!

Okay, so that's not all........today, I was working in the yard and I decided to dig up a rock that was in a weird place. We have tons of rocks in our yard. You might see the surface on a rock and think its a little one, so you start to dig it up to get rid of it and the next thing you know, it's a 3Man rock that is a serious boulder, moveable by only a tractor, unless your muscle woman, which I am not! So, I got Britton to help me and he said if we used the pick axe, it would be easier. He starts picking away at the thing and the next thing I know, there is water spurting out of the hole! He had hit one of the sprinkler lines! I had to run and turn off the water. I don't think Craig is too happy about that one since he'll be the one who has to fix it! About half hour after that, Jordan was digging up another huge boulder and there were actually two side by side. When he tried to move the smaller one, it slipped and smashed his fingers between the big one and the smaller one. His fingernail was instantly bruised on one finger and the other two fingers were smashed. I felt so bad for him!

Here's another one.....the day before we left for Florida, I got rear ended in my Yukon on 272nd. Now mind you, it wasn't that big of a deal with the exception that 2 months ago, I was on hwy 169 and got rear ended in the Yukon. I had just gotten it back from the repair shop not even a month ago. I also got rear ended last summer on hwy 18 but that was in my honda. I don't think I can take another rear ending!! All three times I was on my way to soccer practice or games. The last rear ending, the girl who hit me was on her way to soccer practice! Maybe I need to take a break from driving to soccer so much. Apparently, it's not safe! No one was hurt in any of them though and the damage is minor, it's just the pain of dealing with the repairs, insurance......

To top it off, Britton is having is second hernia surgery tomorrow! He had one on the right side last fall and had to have surgery. Then about a month ago, he said his other side was hurting and I just had a gut feeling that he had another one. Sure enough, we went back to the surgeon and he said, Yep, he's got another one on the left side. Apparently he was born with them and that if you have one on one side, you have a 50% chance of having one on the other side. I'm not a doctor of course, but if they knew that, why didn't they poke around and look at the other side while they were in there last fall? Now he has to miss a lot of important things he had planned for the summer plus, we get to pay all the medical deductibles again! Uuugh, I must be thinking negative thoughts or something (law of attraction) since I keep having these unfortunate things happen!!

Well, the good news is that Craig got a fortune cookie today that said "the investments you make today will pay off in the future". Well, since we are about to embark on buying a new building, equipment, office, etc for his dental practice (a serious investment!) that was at least a nice thing to read!

Okay, I know this is not that bad, I really truly am grateful for all my blessings. Glad that my child who does have medical issues can get treated safely, cars are replaceable, fingers, well, I guess they can be reattached had he lost them (I'm terrible!) and I can always buy another dang cow and pig. At least we have enough to eat right. I just think of Uganda when I'm feeling like I've got it so bad! That changes my perspective and sets me straight!

Thanks to blogging, I can vent to the keyboard (and those who dare to read this dorky post)and by the end of the post, I've counted my blessings and come full circle! Who needs a therapist? Blogging is free!

Orlando Florida Vacation 2008

2008-07-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

We took our family vacation to Orldando, Florida. We thought it was about time we did the Disney thing before our kids got too big! Disneyworld was a bit of a disappointment but Universal Studios was a hit and so were the great beaches. The first week we stayed at the Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee and then we spent the rest of our time at the Hilton Seaworld Resort. We did so many things while there that I'm having a hard time remembering it all! We went to Clearwater Beach, Daytona Beach, Disneyworld MGM, Universal Studios, golfing, swimming, putt putt golf, Disney Interactive, rented a boat on Orange Lake and relaxed at the pool and lazy river. The only complaint was that it was so HOT and humid! We are not conditioned for that kind of weather here in the northwest! We had a great time and enjoyed the break from our busy lives. Here are some photos of the trip.

Britton and Jordan being difficult about smiling for the camera (what's new)! They say most of the photos I take are of Maddy. Well, that is true because she is the only one that will actually let me take a photo of her and not be difficult. The next photo I took after this one (I didn't post it) is of Jordan doing the same thing with his mouth as Britton is in this one and Britton laughing! I can't win!

Maddy, Craig, and Cameron in the pool at the Hilton. Cool waterfall!

Miss Maddy swimming.

Britton and Jordan at Dayton Beach on the 4th of July. There were races going on at the Daytona Speedway and they wanted so badly to get tickets and go in. We weren't feeling that spontaneous though and all they got to do was hear the race cars from the outside!

Cameron and Maddy playing in the sand at Daytona Beach.

Maddy and her Daddy at the Hard Rock Cafe, Orlando. Biggest Hard Rock in the world! It was huge! We were so tired after our long day at Universal Studios.

Craig and Jordan having a father-son moment. I know Jordan loved getting a big kiss from Dad!

Maddy at the kids play area at Universal Studios.

Family photo outside Disneyworld MGM/Hollywood. It was so hot and humid. The lines were so long! I guess I should have taken an after photo because not long after this we were wondering why we had spent the money on Disneyworld! The stunt show was pretty cool so I guess that made up for some of it but poor Maddy was close to heat exhaustion. She doesn't do well in the heat! We had a great time as a family and are bummed we have to come home and go back to real life.

2008-06-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Maddy went to Grandma and Grandpa Benson's house to play with her little cousin Clara. Grandpa B got some cute photos of them together!

Rainbow House of Hope/Uganda

2008-06-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for this new post! One of the places we spent lots of time at in Uganda was the Rainbow House of Hope in Kampala. It helps orphaned and disadvantaged children. One of the kids we met was a ten year old girl named Angela. She was orphaned when her parents died of AIDS. Each day we went there, I was drawn to her. I didn't know at first that she was HIV positive but when I found out that she was, I knew that I could do something to help her. One of the directors was this young guy named Timothy. I loved him the minute I met him. You just knew that he was someone special as soon as he spoke. He takes care of all these abandoned, disadvantaged kids. He makes sure the kids have food, medicine, clothing and whatever they need. He runs the programs that they have in place and sleeps there with the kids that have no where else to go. He teaches the kids how to play the trumpet and has a brass band that played for us each time we came to visit.

I spent some special time with little Angela where I learned more about her. Each day we went there, she had the same dress on and it was pretty ragged. I asked Timothy what she needed and he said money for food and medicine would be much appreciated. I gave him $200 and told him to go and buy her some new clothes and shoes and get her whatever she needed. He also said that there were some others who needed clothes as well so I told him to use the money to get whatever he needed for these kids.

When he told Angela that I had given him some money for new clothes, she dropped to her knees and kissed my hands and said thank you over and over again. It was very heart wrenching and made me cry!

Here is a photo of my sweet Angela in her ragged yellow dress. I showed her and her cousin how to color and she made me a picture to bring home to my family.

I was so excited when I opened my email today and Timothy had sent me a photo of the kids he helped with the money I gave him dressed in their new clothes. I was so happy to see them with their big smiles and new, clean clothes on! The other kids are cousins of Angela's. Angela is the girl on the right standing in front of the RHH.

Jordan wins Wrestler of the Year

2008-06-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Jordan's 8th grade wrestling season turned out to be a successful one. He started wrestling last year in the 7th grade and showed great promise. He found something that he's really good at and has become quite passionate about it. He was 11-2 for wins/losses and won the district tournament for the 108 weight class. At the wrestling banquet, he won Wrestler of the Year as well as the Most Promising award. He also was chosen as by his coach for the Coaches Award but the coaches figured they better give that to someone else since he had won so many awards. He was pretty excited. He worked so hard and gives it his all so it's so great to see him rewarded for his hard work and commitment. Way to go Jordan!

Poor Maddy!

2008-06-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my sweet Mom called and asked if she could take Maddy and Cameron to Dumas Bay for the afternoon and then do a sleepover with her and grandpa. Of course, I was game for a little break from having all four kids out of school so I met her and handed off the kids to her. They headed down to Dumas Bay in Tacoma for the low tide and were having a great time until Maddy slipped on a big rock and cut her leg open. My Dad called and said they thought she needed stitches so I drove towards Covington and met them there so I could take her to the Dr. Well, sure enough, she needed stitches. I felt so bad for her! She SCREAMED so loud when they gave her four shots to get her numb. When they were putting the last stitch in, she screamed again as that part of her leg wasn't numb. I about passed out. I'm very squeamish and should not have looked down as they were pulling the needle hook thing thru her leg. Uugh. It was not fun. I'm not good at this kind of stuff. Craig is so much better in this department. He came to the urgent care but he had to leave to go coach my soccer practice for me since Maddy wanted her Mama!! She's doing better today and I hope she doesn't have too big of a scar. Poor baby!

Stephanie & Mike

2008-06-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

Here we are at the M's game with my good friend Stephanie and her new hubby Mike! She got married a few weeks ago in Hawaii. I'm so happy for her and Mike! She's been thru a lot in the past 4 years and so I'm glad as can be that she has found someone so great to share her life with! I told Mike that I love him almost as much as she does because he treats her so great!! Congrats to them and I wish them all the happiness in the world!!! Aren't they so cute??

Living Room Furniture VS. UFC Fighting

2008-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

If someone had told me 20 years ago that I would have three boys, I would have laughed at them. I always thought I'd end up with a herd of girls, not a herd of boys and only one precious girl! Then, if they had told me that my boys would be into UFC fighting (I still don't know what UFC stands for!) I would have really laughed! Then, if they then had said that instead of taking the money I had set aside for new living room furniture, that I would take it and allow it to be spent on plane tickets to Sacramento, a rental car, hotel rooms, and tickets to a UFC fight, I would have told them they were smoking something!

Well, that is exactly what happened and I'm not sure how I got blind sided by the boys. Must have knocked me out in the third round of discussions regarding this subject and then somehow talked their (dumb) father into it!

Jordan, my 14 year old and second boy started wrestling last year and did quite well. Being that I'm a "real" soccer mom (meaning I play and coach, not just drive my kids to soccer practice!) I didn't know anything about wrestling except that I thought it was a little on the gross side. The sight of a bunch of guys wrestling around in those retarded outfits (I guess they are called singlets?)was never something that I wanted to be into. Well, leave it to kids to get you into something you detested as a cheerleader.....(roll them over- lay them flat, pin their shoulders to the mat.....Jr. year HS cheerleader.....oooh the memories....YUK!). Okay, so on with the story.....Jordan's wrestling coach is the brother of a world famous UFC fighter Jens Pulver. Mr. Pulver, the coach told Jordan he ought to get his Dad to take him to the fight in Sacramento. Jordan lives and breathes Mr. Pulver (Mr. Pulver this, Mr. Pulver that.....)and his brother Jens. Just so you know how bad it is, my DVR is filled with endless UFC fights, the background on my blackberry has a picture of Jens Pulver on it (he got ahold of it during sacrament meeting and downloaded a photo of Jens and now it's on there.....didn't even know you could do that so how can I get it off!) He has t-shirts that he's ordered off the internet and now he not only thinks he's going to be the next world champion UFC fighter, but he also wants to take up Jujitsu and Boxing since they are part of the fighting along with wrestling.

So, off the boys went to Sacramento with my furniture money and they had the time of their life. It ended up to be a great weekend. Craig, who never imagined himself getting into this sort of thing actually had a great time. Because Mr. Pulver was there, the boys got to "hang" with Jens and his group. They had dinner with them at a Thai restaurant (oh yeah, Mr. Picky won't eat fruits or vegetables Jordan, ate thai food and now he pesters me everyday to go out for thai food since Jens and Mr. Pulver eat it??) They got to meet the other fighters and me and the little ones watched the fight at home "live" hoping to see them in the crowd on TV.

Craig said that he thought he'd go to the fight and be disappointed with the type of atmosphere it was but was pleasantly surprised. The Pulvers were very gracious to the boys and treated them like gold. They were part of the Pulver team. They even posted a photo of Jordan and the Pulvers on some UFC website! These Pulver guys grew up in an incredibly difficult situation and they are now role models to lots of people and bring class to a sport that is coming into it's own. I still don't want Jordan to be a UFC fighter as I don't think I could stand to see him get beat up (he said he would win every fight....so much confidence!) but I guess I'm glad he's got a great teacher and coach with Mr. Pulver and that he, Craig and Brit got to have a fun weekend together rooting Jens Pulver and his team on.......with my furniture money.........

Mothers Day In Seattle

2008-05-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

We decided to bail on church and spend Mother's Day with my parents in Seattle. We met up with my parents and then headed north for a trip to the Imax Theater. We saw the film "Grand Canyon" and it was really good. We then headed down to the waterfront where we went to the CrabPot for a late lunch. We feasted on crab and then headed up to the top of Queen Anne Hill to Kerry Park where my Dad took some photos of us with the Seattle skyline in the back. Had it been a clear day, we would have been able to see Mt. Rainier but the clouds won out so you'll have to imagine it there! We then headed over to Ballard and went to the Ballard Locks. I haven't been there since I was little so it was neat to take my kids there. On our way back, we were seeing a bunch of crab boats and since Deadliest Catch is one of our favorite shows, we decided to drive by the boats to see if we could see one of our favorites. Britton said he saw the Northwestern (our favorite boat) and I thought he was joking but he wasn't and there she was! We finished off the day with a drive thru Wallingord and stopped at Dicks, my Dad's favorite place and got some burgers and shakes. Dad doesn't like seafood much so Dicks was an inevitable stop!

It was such a fun day. Wish we could have more days like this more often. We used to have more time to do this kind of stuff when our kids were littler but now with them all doing so many things, it's getting harder and harder to find a down day where we can all be together and do something special.

It was great to have a day with my Mom and Dad and my Mom and I had a great mothers day together and neither one of us had to cook!

Who has the Best Mom in the World?

2008-05-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Who has the best Mom in the World? I Do!! As it's Mothers Day tomorrow, I wanted to do a post on my Mom since she deserves to be honored.

Some of the things I love about my Mom:

1. She never butts into my business or gives unwanted advice. She doesn't interfere in my marriage or criticize me about the way I'm raising my kids.

2. She is wonderful with my kids. She always plays fun games with them, does fun activities with them and treats them like gold. They love her to death.

3. She's so funny. She is always making us laugh with Mr. Bean like accidents. (sorry mom) She's great entertainment whether it's go cart riding, on safari in Africa, or at any family event.

4. She doesn't have a PHD in anything (inside family joke!).

5. She's always there for me every way. When I'm sick, hurt, or having a hard time, I just want my mom.

6. She always goes the extra mile to make everyone feel special and loved.

7. She is the hardest worker I know and is not a quitter at anything.

8. She's strong, enduring, loving, kind, thoughtful, patient, and supportive.

9. She's very creative and is a fantastic piano teacher

10. She always has a smile on he face and is friendly to everyone.

Thanks for all you do for me and my family! Your a great example and I'm so thankful you chose me in heaven to be your daughter. I am so blessed to have you as my Mom!

Happy Mothers Day!

Nsambya Babies Home, Kampala, Uganda, Africa

2008-05-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Nsambya Babies Home. We spent two days here with the orphaned babies. I'm not sure how to put into words the emotions I felt when we first walked in. The babies saw us and they flocked to us. It was as if they knew that we were there to love and cuddle them. They were literally fighting with each other to have us hold them. I had one in each arm and one on each leg as did my sister Suzy and my parents. They had a death grip on us. If you tried to put them down, they would not let you and it was as if they knew that if you put them down, that would be the end of their time to get love and attention. It was heartbreaking. When we first entered the babies area, it was so overwhelming. We didn't know what to expect or what to do and we had all these babies climbing up our legs. It was so dirty and such a different world from where we've all reared our children and you just can't imagine having your own child being left in a place where the conditions were so bad. My mom, sister and I locked eyes and we all started to well up with tears when we first got there because the emotions we were all feeling were so intense. I looked at Suzy and my Mom, and said "Come on, we have to BUCK UP!" I was saying that as much to myself as I was to them! Somehow we were able to tuck away many of our outward emotions and get thru it.

The kids were so starved for love and affection so we spent most of our time playing with them. There were no toys as we know them. There were some broken down bikes that looked like they were from the 1970's, rusted and broken. The kids were kept outside most of the day. Many were sick with fevers and runny noses. There was no soap or hot water to wash your hands and I was terrified I was going to get sick. I think we used a bottle of purell each day we were at the babies home! There were no structured activities or anything for them to do. They fought a lot and mostly wandered around or wanted us to hold them.

One of the "mothers" as they called the workers took an almost empty can of formula powder and dumped what was left of it on the ground and the babies started to lick it up off the ground. They don't have diapers there so the babies walk around all day and just go potty on the ground. We had seen them wipe up the pee off the ground with what we called the "Pee Mop". It was never rinsed or cleaned (there is not such thing as cleaner there that I saw) and they used it again and again. To see the babies get down on the ground and lick up the powder where one had just pee'd earlier was more than we could take. One of the 2 year olds who must have had some developmental problems pee'd on the floor and before I could get down the hall to her, she laid down on her belly and started to lick it up. I yelled "Noooooo, Sambyia....noooo" but she just looked up at me and smiled and then went back to licking it up until I was able to get to her and clean it up with the "pee mop". If you look closely at the top photo of the little girl in the hallway, you can see the puddle of pee on the floor. This was after she licked it up and I was getting the mop. My Dad was taking the photos.

I wish the whole world could see what we saw. It's just not right to see children being neglected, abused, abandoned, and mistreated. We spend billions on our dogs and cats in America and yet, we don't do much to help these children. What we saw here at the orphanage is just one grain of sand in a huge desert in relation to all the other suffering of children in Africa and around the world. Everywhere we went we saw suffering in every way imaginable. If you watched American Idol Gives Back, you also saw suffering in many parts of Africa and around the world. Most of the African countries have some sort of war, famine, genocide, or some type of suffering. I hope I can open a window for whoever reads this to see that there is tremendous need out there to do something, even if it's small!

When we left the babies home on the first day, we decided that one day in Africa is equal to 5 days at home because it was so strenuous in so many ways as well as well as being able to absorb all that we did and saw. It was so much that it seemed like it had been 5 days!

Laid up Blues

2008-05-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, obviously, I'm still having some boring down time since I'm still blogging away. I've been holed up in the house for 10 days now and I've reached the end of my rope. Like I said earlier, I had knee surgery on the 25th, and then this past friday I had a minor foot surgery. To top it off, my little Cameron, gave me his cold so now not only does my knee and my foot hurt, I'm feeling yucky from the cold. I'm so tired of laying around and being worthless to everyone in my house. I'm definitely feeling sorry for myself tonight! I get my stitches out of the knee tomorrow and the swelling has gone way down so at least that's good news!

I just talked Jordan into making a chocolate cake since sweets seem to be the only thing on my mind this week. I hate not being able to play soccer or exercise! For a person that is very impatient and always has an agenda of what they have to get done, this is pure torture! My mom would laugh since she knows how impatient I am! Sitting around is just not something I like to do! Craig is enjoying having me be a little bit on the calm side but the down side is that he has to pick up all the slack for me. He's a trooper is all I can say! How'd I get so lucky?? Okay, well, enough boohooing. Back to figuring out what else to blog!! Sorry, no pictures available!! Trust me, you wouldn't want to see me now (I can hardly stand to see myself in PJ's for another day!) LOL!!

Montana Skiing at Maverick Mountain

2008-05-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here we are skiing the incredible, mostly unheard of Maverick Mountain in Polaris, Montana. This ski hill is only about a mile from our cabin in the Pioneer Mountains. The best thing about skiing here is the powder of course but there are never any lift lines and the mountain is never crowded. When your done skiing you can head another mile up the road and go to the hot springs and sit in 104 degree water to soothe your cold and sore muscles! Did I mention that it's really inexpensive to ski here too? Lift tickets are $17, seriously!!!

Flashback Friday

2008-05-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

This is my first "Flashback Friday"! I think I like these the best since it reminds me of so many things. This is me with my older brother Jeff and my younger brother Buddy (Brad) in 1970. I think I was about 2 years old here. My mom had Jeff, then me 14 months later, and Buddy 17 months after me. She got married at 18, and had Jeff the following year at 19. My sister Suzy was born 3 1/2 years after Buddy and she was 25 with 4 kids! She waited until she was 32 to have the last one, Hans. I don't know how she did it. I feel so overwhelmed with the 4 I've got and I had my kids pretty close but I did it in sets of two's! I wanted to be done having my kids by the time I was 30 and I did it with about 6 weeks to spare as I turned 31 right after I had Maddy. No wonder my mom was so empathetic when I told her I was pregnant again right after having Cameron! He and Maddy are 11 months and 3 days apart. Britton and Jordan are 19 months apart and I thought that was so hard....little did I know I'd end up with Irish Twins!! I still don't know how I did it either?? I guess you just do what you have to do as it comes your way! I'm glad I'm out of the baby stage even though the age my kids are now has it's own challenges.

Love the tie! This outfit I'm wearing looks like it might be coming back in style!!

The Kids League and why I went to Africa

2008-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone has asked me what took me to Africa last month. I figured I'd start by telling you all how it came about and how it evolved into something much more.

Every year, my parents take soccer teams to Denmark and Sweden to participate in some international soccer tournaments. I've gone along several times to coach, chaperone, and to take my own kids. The tournament in Sweden is called "The Gothia Cup" and is the largest youth soccer tournament in the world. It draws teams from all over the world. They have an opening ceremonies that packs in over 40,000 people. About 5 years ago, some teams from Africa started coming. The Ugandan and Zambian teams drew a lot of attention at the tournament for many reasons. It was unusual to have teams coming from third world and war ravaged countries and the teams have a lot of personality that makes them fun to watch. The Ugandan teams are also really good and have won their age group at the tournament 4 times. It is not easy to win the Gothia Cup so they are like celebrities there. Benson Soccer (my families soccer organization) became acquainted with the Ugandan team and got to know the man that is responsible for them going abroad to play. There is something very special about these kids that come and the director, Trevor Dudley. Each year when we meet up at Gothia we trade items and give them gifts to take home.

Trevor Dudley is an incredible man who began the program that started this all. He is an englishman who has been living in Africa, mainly Uganda for the past 27 years. He retired from his profession and started a sports program called "The Kampala Kids League or KKL". It was mainly a soccer and sports organization that was formed to give the kids in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, an organized opportunity to play sports. Each team has disadvantaged kids on it. They use sports to bring education and help to disadvantaged kids. The KKL has been a big success in Kampala so in 2003, Trevor and the KKL expanded the program into the other districts of Uganda, mainly, the war torn northern region. They call that program "The Kids League or the TKL". They have expanded to 9 districts (districts are like counties, Uganda is the size of Oregon) including the Gulu district which is where many of the atrocities have happened over the last 20 years in the north.

Girls do not play soccer in Uganda and Trevor wanted us to come over, see his program and to show the girls (and boys) in Uganda that girls can play sports as well. Since my sister Suzy and I both play and coach soccer, we were the perfect candidates to go along and we both have always had a desire to go to Africa and do humanitarian work. My parents also decided to go and so the four of us embarked on this journey together. The TKL's main focus is to help the kids in the war torn districts and they use soccer/sports to promote health and education. I've attached some of the photos I took off the TKL bulletin board that shows where the districts have been established, their goals or mission, and the director Trevor Dudley. The other photo is of me and the boys team who will be going to Gothia this summer. These boys in the photo are chosen from the the TKL districts and the KKL to form this one team that will go abroad this summer to play. These boys are brought to Kampala, and are given a place to live, they get their school paid for (you have to pay for your kids to got to school in Uganda), and they feed them and try to get them healthy. The week we were there, Trevor was trying to find some funding to get them some "meat" for their diet at least once a week and they were "de-worming" the boys since having worms in your gut is a common thing amongst the villagers due to what they eat. (I know, this sounds gross, but it's the reality there!) They want to get the boys as healthy as they can before they go to Gothia. They have to raise about $20,000 US dollars for the boys to go.

It takes $100,000 US dollars to start a new district and so Trevor is always working hard to find funding and help. The work he does is amazing and we were able to participate in the work he does as well as learn about all the aspects of the organization. Trevor was honored by HRH Price Charles last fall when he paid a visit to Uganda. Trevor was given an award from Prince Charles and gave him the same tour of TKL and the KKL that we got.

We were also able to work in some baby orphanages, attend church, and work in another place for orphaned and disadvantaged kids called the Rainbow House of hope.

This was an incredible experience and I hope to document it all here after I've had a month to decompress from all that I saw. It's taken me this long to be able to take it all in. Never have I seen so many things that are so life changing. Bear with me as I tell my stories from Uganda.

2008-04-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, can anyone tell I've got way too much time on my hands? I was going to post a photo of my knee so I could explain my endless blogging after being "off-blogging-line" for 4 months but I can't find the dang charger to my camera that has gone dead. I hobbled around for an hour trying to find it but no luck so you'll have to visualize my ugly stitches. I had knee surgery last Friday to repair and fix my patellar tendon. I've not been able to get around too well so I'm making up for lost time and getting some blogging in. To be honest, I'm bored out of my mind. My good buddy Leslie came over today and got me set up again and now I can't stop. I'm out of control. I'm cracking myself up looking at old photos and I swear, Craig thinks I'm high on dilad (morphine) and I keep insisting I haven't had any pain pills today.

Sorry for so many posts! I'm sure I'll go back to my old ways again soon of no posts for weeks at a time!

Halloween Flashback

2008-04-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Did someone say "junk in the trunk?" Oh yeah, nice booty baby. Snap!! Halloween 2005. We went to my friend childhood friend Kerin's house for a good old costume party. I laughed the entire night. Notice I got to be the dr.!! Snap!!

Brownie Baby

2008-04-30T22:33:00.001-07:00

Maddy has all sorts of stories about brownies. She LOVE LOVE LOVES them. She loves chocolate (like her daddy) but she can't get enough brownies. Can you tell??? She's 3 in this photo and wanted me to help her make brownies. Did someone say raw eggs??

Cameron Flashback

2008-04-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd go back and do some favorite photos of my kiddos. I love this picture of Cameron. He was about 2 1/2 here. We were in Missouri at the Lake of the Ozarks on a family vacation. We were living in Kansas at the time and went down there for a week for a little vacation. Isnt' he so cute?

Mariners with the Munks

2008-04-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Craig and I invited the Munks to go to the Diamond Club with us. I think we were all hurting on the way home from eating too much. How many hotdogs can one person eat in a sitting? Chocolate milkshakes, cotton candy, pizza, the buffet, nachos, unlimited soda and whatever you want. Uuugh, can someone say "gut ache"! Oh, was there a baseball game? I was so distracted by the good company and food that I forgot we were at the game!

Montana Cabin

2008-04-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Won't you meet me in Montana.........I wanna see the mountains in your eyes.... As sung by Marie Osmond!!

I'd do anything right now to escape to Montana. This is our little cabin in Polaris. It's in the Pioneer Mountains not too far from the Idaho border. We love to go here to escape from the world. There is no cell service here and if your lucky, you can get dial up on the internet. No TV, I guess you could get radio but I haven't tried. On Star doesn't even work out here, that's how remote it is!! The skiing here is a mile up the road and is pure powder. In the summer, it's so nice to just listen to the sounds of nature. There were a lot of forest fires last year and you can see the smoke in the summer photo. Who wants to go to Montana??? Meeee!!!

2008-04-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Craig's Grandma, Louise Taylor Jolley passed away. She meant a lot to me and it's been hard knowing we won't be seeing her again, at least in this life. The funny thing is, when she first met me, she was not sure about me. She was a little bit old fashioned and never hesitated to speak her mind. When Craig told her that he had met a "divorced, pregnant girl" her response was "Well, why would he want someone that has already been someone else's?" She didn't know much about me so who can blame her for having that response. After all, Craig was the oldest grandson who had never gone off the straight and narrow so this was a big shock to say the least. No one ever thought that Craig would end up with a divorcee who was pregnant. I don't think that is what any mom or grandma wants for her "perfect" son!!

Well, we did get married and over time, she came to like me and then as time went on she came to adore me and it meant so much to me that she not only accepted me but that she grew to love me as much as I did her. She lived a long and prosperous life with so many grandchildren and great grandchildren that I've lost count. She and her husband, WC or Bill as some called him were the cutest couple. He was the more passive partner and she called the shots but it worked for them.

When I was leaving for Africa, I called her on the way to airport, knowing she wasn't doing to well and told her that she had to hang on for me for at least 2 weeks so I wouldn't be gone if she passed on. She had asked me to sing at her funeral and I told her if she wanted me to sing, she had to wait!! Well, she waited and gave me a few days to recover before we headed down to SLC to the funeral. I was able to sing for her along with my brother-in-law, the song that she chose and it was a wonderful funeral where we celebrated her life and all the good that she brought into our lives. Craig gave a talk and talked about her influence in his life. When she called him a few days before she passed and could still talk, she told Craig that he had brought so much joy to her life and he responded "right back at you, Grandma". She did bring a lot of joy to all our lives. She has been a big influence on us and our children. My kids know her as the Grandma that makes strawberry pie and the one that reads to them. How lucky we are to have had the privilege of having them come stay with us a few times in the past few years so Craig could work on their teeth. I will cherish those days forever as will my kids. What a blessing she has been to us.

Louise Taylor Jolley, you were quite a woman, mother, friend, and to me, a wonderful grandma and example of so many things that are good and admirable. Her family meant everything to her and she showed that with her actions. Her love for everyone in her family was always apparent and she always had time to talk or listen. We'll miss you Grandma Jolley!!!

Madalyn Goes to the Daddy Daughter Dance

2008-04-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

April 19th is Craig's birthday. He thought he was going to get a hot date with his wife. Not so fast says Maddy! It's the Daddy Daughter Dance and we are going!! No exceptions. So, while Craig was out buying his new golf clubs (he hasn't golfed in at least 2 years!!) me and the kids made him a pork chop dinner with potatoes and gravy. We set the table nice with all the pretty green dishes and candles too. They left for the dance and had a wonderful time. Craig hates to dance (big surprise) so he had to get out of his comfort zone and boogie the night away. Maddy was so happy to get to have that special time with her Daddy and even though Craig didn't get the hot date with me, he still had a great time!

Sister Suzy

2008-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

In 2006, I went to Chicago for a business trip and to visit my sister Suzy. Lucky for me, Suzy is the master of getting Oprah tickets and was able to get us in to the show. They taped two shows while we were there which was really cool. The guests were Ricky Martin (oolala!!) and the CNN Middle East correspondent Christian Amoumpour. The show was about stopping child sex slave abuse trade which Ricky Martin is an advocate for. He performed a couple songs and shook his bon bon for us. We then left Oprah and went downtown and had us some Garrett's carmel corn (my favorite) and then we went and saw "Wicked" where we had balcony, back row seats. Suzy again, scouted out two vacant seats towards the front and during intermission, we moved down after talking to all the people around the vacant seats and determining that they were empty. It's always and adventure with Suzy!