The Perry Family

Six Months Old!

2012-02-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem possible, but Clara turned six months old a few days ago. Our sweet baby girl gets bigger by the day! She is learning lots of new things and it is so much fun to see her develop. She loves to grab onto toys and roll around on the floor. She loves to play with her crazy big sisters and her daddy. She loves Baby Einstein.

She is so sweet and lovable. I love watching how curious she is and new things are a wonder to her. She can sit really good in her Bumbo chair now, although she can pretty much fly out of her bouncer if she wasn't buckled in.

Today we put her in the high chair to have her first bowl of rice cereal.

While we didn't get a whole lot of cereal in the tummy, overall it was a positive experience. She was all smiles and is learning a new taste! She is learning to hold her bottle by herself so that's a big step, too. Pretty soon she will be feeding herself.

I think at this point she was more interested in the spoon that I was using.

What a joy Clara is to our family - we love her so very much!

Mini Mounties!

2012-01-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the girls participated in the "Mini Mounties" cheer and dance camp. It was through Eastern Oregon University here in town. The university dance team and cheerleading squad put on this camp every year. They started out with the camp which was all morning long and they learned some routines.

Then they were able to perform their routines at the Womens' Basketball game that night. Here are Emma and Sam sitting with their group getting ready to go onto the court for halftime.

The theme was 80's night so they danced to some songs from the 80's and did a couple of cheers.

They had a really wonderful time participating and it was fun for Mark and I to watch them enjoy themselves. This was a perfect activity for Samantha and she has already asked me for some pom-poms!

What sweet girls I have!!!

Christmas Morning!

2012-01-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas finally arrived in the Perry home! With a couple of very anxious little girls, it couldn't have come soon enough! Of course they both had a hard time going to bed the night before and were early risers come morning. They are awfully cute after just waking up, aren't they?

Samantha was ecstatic because all she really wanted from Santa Claus was a pair of boots! She told everybody that she just knew Santa would bring her the boots because the year before all she wanted was a Pillow Pet and that's what she got. It's a good thing that Santa came through!

Hooray! We finally broke down and got a Wii - we are probably the only family left who didn't already have a gaming system so the girls were super excited! They didn't waste much time before puting their "Just Dance Kids" game to work!

It was Clara's first Christmas! Of course she didn't understand what was going on but she did receive a few gifts herself.

Samantha also received the Crayola Crayon Maker. She was really happy about this but the next week we ended up taking it back and getting something different. It sure wasn't "user-friendly." It's the thought that counts, right?

Santa also brought both girls a new bike! Even though it's the middle of winter, they still enjoy going outside in the cold to ride their bikes.

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year so we still had to make it to Church. What sweet daughters we have.

It was a special day for us. We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas season with your families!

Christmas Activities

2012-01-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to make our own Christmas Advent Calendar for the girls. I came up with an activity for each day of December leading up to Christmas. Every morning the girls would wake up and tear off a tag to see what activity was in store for them that day. We colored pictures, read Christmas books, cut out snow flakes, and went to the Live Nativity to name just a few. Not every activity was over-the-top fun but we had a good time keeping the Spirit of Christmas in our home.

One of the first things we did was to attend our Ward Christmas Party. Emma and Samantha were asked to play shepherds in the Nativity play. They were adorable in their robes standing up on the stage.

Of course we had to take the opportunity to have a visit with Santa as well. I wonder what Samantha asked him for.....

Here is Clara's first time with Santa. I thought she would have issues with sitting on his lap, but she did just fine and didn't shed a tear. Of course we only left her there long enough to take her picture.

One night we made popcorn garlands to hang on our tree. I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. It was actually pretty messy and time consuming. I think we'll have to rethink that activity next year.

Another evening we got together with some friends and had pizza and made candy houses. Emma, Samantha, and myself each made one. Can you guess which one belongs to each of us?

One thing we always look forward to seeing is the Elementary School Christmas Program. Emma and Samantha did so great singing with their respective classes. You could actually here them singing from our seats. They practiced for several weeks for their program and we were very impressed.

I also tried to include Church related activities on our calendar. We watched the First Presidency devotional, we did Secret Service, and we made sure to watch the Christmas classics - "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and "Joy to the World." Our calendar was completed on December 24th with Daddy reading us the Christmas story from Luke. It was the perfect ending and hopefully our 24 days of Christmas created some special memories!

Happy Birthday Emma!

2012-01-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

On December 3rd, Emma turned 9 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. She is such a good kid and we are lucky to have her in our family!!! We started out our day of celebrating by riding the "Santa Train" in Elgin. It wasn't the most interactive train ride out there but we had a great time being together as a family and enjoying Emma's special day. Plus the girls got to see Santa Claus and come home with a yummy candy cane.

We capped the evening off with an "Almost Slumber Party" at our house with a few of Emma's friends. They laughed and danced, painted nails and played games, and had lots of pizza and birthday cake. We did all the things that would happen at a normal slumber party but instead of staying over night the girls went home before bed time. Overall everyone had a great time but boy was I absolutely EXHAUSTED by the time the girls left.

Hope you had a great day Emma! We love you very much!

Cute pictures

2011-11-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show off a few random pictures that I've taken recently of the kiddos. It amazes me how much Clara grows and changes on a daily basis. It's like she learns something new or adds a little bit more to her personality each day. We are still working on the BUMBO chair. She sits in it for a few minutes at a time but has yet to fully appreciate it's value.

Emma and Samantha are such wonderful helpers! They love to sit and rock with Clara and play with her and make her happy.

I can tell how much Clara loves her big sisters. When they leave for school in the morning, she almost looks sad to see them walk out the door. When they come home in the afternoon, she brightens right up and knows that she is going to get some play time with her sissies.

This past weekend we had our first real snow storm of the season. We didn't get a lot, just enough to cover the ground and make some snow angels. Emma and Samantha loved throwing snowballs at their Dad!

Emma has been helping with Clara's feedings for a couple of weeks now and just yesterday Samantha started. They show lots of responsibility when they are helping to take care of their little sister and Samantha was quite proud of herself!

I sure am grateful for my happy family!

First Shooting Experience!

2011-11-22T19:38:00.000-08:00

One of the hobbies Mark has is heading to the local shooting range to fire off his guns. He also has to certify every few months for his work with law enforcement so he has enjoyed his gun club membership. We have a very nice range outside of town and he decided he wanted to take the girls with him to start learning how to shoot and about gun safety.

Both girls shot Mark's .22 rifle since it is quiet and doesn't have very much kick.

After a few tries, they each hit the target all by themselves!

Emma and Samantha were very proud of themselves...and so was Daddy! I'm sure they will be heading out again soon!

Happy Girl!

2011-11-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was kind of a long day with Miss Clara. Although we could tell she was very tired, she was unwilling to nap throughout the day. This made her pretty fussy and hard to please! Thankfully - around bedtime, she suddenly became a very happy little girl and was full of smiles and laughter. I quick grabbed the camera and took a few shots. Too cute! The good news is....she slept peacefully through the night!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Halloween has arrived once again! Emma and Samantha have been not-so-patiently waiting for it to arrive and they have had their costumes planned out for several weeks now. Of course, you can't celebrate Halloween without carving the pumpkin. Thanks to Daddy for doing such a good job on the carving!

At first it was decided that we were going to have a "scary" face on the jack-o-lantern. I guess we'll just settle for the girls posing with scary faces.

As you can see, Samantha went as a cheerleader this year. Here she is posing in her classroom before the school costume parade.

Emma was a sneaky cat. I wasn't able to make it to her classroom before the parade started so I caught this picture of her in the school gym.

We headed to the church for the annual "Trunk-or-Treat." Samantha was dancing around in her costume all day. I'm sure that she now has a new goal in life and that is to become a cheerleader for reals!!!

A friend of mine let us borrow a costume for Clara - it is a little pink monster and it was adorable on her and she seemed to like it when we first put it on her but after about five minutes she wanted out of it! At least we got a picture of her wearing a costume for her first Halloween.

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with Halloween, but she was taking a little nap in her swing this afternoon and she was really snuggling with her blanket. It was too precious not to share.

This year I made a deal with the girls that I would buy their candy from them for $5 so we could donate it somewhere. We don't need the extra sugar! They accepted my deal (I still can't believe it) so now we are left with a VERY large bag of candy. Hopefully I'll find a nice place to donate it to before Daddy finds the stash!

Cold and Flu Season

2011-10-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have seen our family catch the dreaded cold and flu bug that has been going around. Samantha had it first, then Emma, then me. Unfortunately, Clara picked it up and since she is only three months old it hit her the hardest. She had horrible congestion, a terrible cough, fever, and she lost her voice. Our little sweetie has been so miserable! Knowing that because of her premature arrival she is at a higher risk for RSV, we quickly made an appointment with the pediatrician. Dr. Lim gave us a nebulizer and a prescription for albuterol but unfortunately there isn't much else you can for an infant this young. This is a picture of Clara receiving her first breathing treatment. You can see in her eyes just how sick she feels. :(

She finally fell asleep after her treatment.

We also got out the humidifier to help moisten up her nasal passages but the moist air didn't seem to reach her very well. So....

....we made a little fort to keep the steam near her where it would be more beneficial. It was her own personal spa!

She is breathing and sleeping so much better after several days of the breathing treatments and the humidifier.

Of course, Emma had been so anxious to hold her sister since we didn't allow the girls near Clara because of extra germs. We finally let them play together a little bit this weekend. Two happy girls!

Clara still has a raspy voice and a bad cough, but we're working through it and she is on the road to recovery. Hopefully this isn't a sign of a very long cold and flu season for our family!

More of Clara

2011-10-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly two months since my last blog post and I feel terrible about it! I thought I would have lots and lots of time during my days to take care of things like this but of course, the days get filled up with all of the other things that I have to do. So.... I wanted to take a few minutes and post some recent pictures of little Clara. She is growing so fast and I wish that I could "pause" time to keep her little. About a month ago we switched her over to soy formula and she is a much more pleasant baby. She sleeps really well at night - six to seven hour stretches a few days a week. We feel very blessed!

Here she is in her swing. At first she was a big fan of it but now she would much rather just be in her bouncer. We still keep it around though for the rare moments where she enjoys herself in it.

We took this picture for Grampa since we know he is so good at napping!

Here she is looking over Daddy's shoulder while he is on the computer.

Of course her big sisters love holding her and playing with her. They are such good helpers!

We have been trying out the Bumbo seat - her neck still isn't quite strong enough to sit more than a couple of minutes but we're getting there. She usually just curls herself down to a comfy position.

Clara really enjoys stretching out under her little gym. I play with her legs and do tummy time with her. She's starting to grab at the toys that hang down.

This is such a precious picture - she was sleeping so soundly.

As you can see Clara has grown a lot in the past while. She's starting to smile more and coo at us. Sometimes I feel as if we are having actual conversations. :) Emma and Samantha feel like she is finally starting to recognize them and that makes them very happy! We are loving every minute of our baby girl!

Clara's Blessing Day!

2011-09-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we were able to bless Clara in Sacrament Meeting. It was certainly a special day for us and we were so thankful that lots of family were able to participate with us. Clara was blessed by her daddy and he was joined by Grampa Edwards, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Silila. Of course the cousins were all happy to see each other again. This picture shows Miss Lillian who is almost two and gets cuter and cuter each day. Emma adores her little cousin so much!

Here is Clara with her Uncle Jonathan. This was his first time meeting her!

Aunt Natalie wanted a turn holding her and Eliza was very intrigued by the new baby.

Jon and Natalie welcomed their special little guy - Hinkley back in June. He is so big! We decided to match up Hinkley and Clara to compare their sizes. You can't really tell from the picture, but Clara was so teeny in comparison. :)

Aunt Stephanie spent lots of time holding her and Clara was very content with her. Aunt Steph has the magic touch - maybe it's because she has five kids of her own!

Here she is in her blessing dress and pretty bow. She sure didn't want to cooperate with the camera very well - at least she cooperated during her blessing and slept right through.

Emma and Sam were super excited for their sister!

We missed having Luke and Kate here with us but we are excited to see them next month when they come for a visit! Karlie and Lillie had to leave for home before we took the cousin picture but they were there with us, too.

We had a really wonderful day with everyone and had so much fun visiting with friends and family! We were sad to see them all leave and look forward to when we can all be together again!

First Day of School!

2011-09-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

This week marked the beginning of the new school year! Hooray! I have really enjoyed having my girls home with me this summer and we had lots of fun......but it was definitely time to go back to school and get in a good routine again. This year Emma is in third grade! I can't believe how the time has flown by with her. She is more grown up each day. Her teacher is Mrs. Boyd and Emma was anxious to be in her class.

Samantha is in first grade now! I don't know how I feel about having her in school all day - it is going to be very strange for me to not have her here during the day. But she has been so excited! It's all we heard about all summer. First graders in our district begin on a staggard start. They only go once the first week and for just two and a half hours so they can get used to the classroom and the rules of the school, as well as go through some testing to see what levels the children are at. Samantha started on Wednesday afternoon and her teacher is Mrs. Cadwell.

Both girls have enjoyed their first week and really like their teachers! We're keeping our fingers crossed that the excitement continues throughout the next nine months - Hopefully this will be another successful year

Happy Anniversary!

2011-08-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Today Mark and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary! I love this man so much and lately I have been looking back over the past ten years and feeling amazed at how our lives have changed. Back when we were dating I had a hard time picturing myself even being married. And the thought of having children was terrifying! We used to have discussions before our wedding about what kind of family we wanted and what our goals were. How blessed we have been to have three beautiful daughters to add to the mix! Having a new baby is always a bit challenging - both of us are sleep deprived and maybe not as patient as we could be. We haven't had very much time lately to visit with each other because we're too tired to have a conversation. :) We have had some good times and some not-so-good times over the years and things haven't quite turned out the way we had planned, but overall......I couldn't imagine spending my life and eternity with anybody else!

Home at Last!

2011-08-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to come home from Boise with Clara......and also to see Emma and Samantha! We hadn't seen them for twelve days and we were missing them desperately! They had a wonderful time being with Gramma and Grampa as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins - but not being together as a family was hard on us! Not to mention that Emma and Sam were so anxious to meet their new little sister!

We are adjusting to life and having a newborn in the house again. It has been a long time since we have had a new baby and although we are exhausted from many sleepless nights, it is a blessing to have a new addition. Emma and Sam absolutely adore Clara. They constantly ask if they can hold her, they make sure that mom feeds and changes her on time, and they are full of "Smotherly" love. Samantha is especially happy to finally be a BIG sister!

Of course the camera is always ready to pick up any sweet shot of the baby. Emma and I thought that this particular pose from Clara was a definite camera-ready opportunity.

All of these moments are too precious and I don't want to miss any of them! Being a mommy is the joy of my life and I am so blessed to have these beautiful children!

Welcome Clara Elizabeth!

2011-08-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

She has FINALLY arrived to our family! On August 3rd Clara was delivered by emergency C-Section here in La Grande. Unfortunately, it was a rocky time and a rocky delivery. After being in the hospital the week before and having the horrible allergic reaction, I came back the next day for labwork and then on Monday for an ultrasound on my liver. My Doctor had taken a look at my lab results and my liver enzymes were pretty high. So I went in for an extensive ultrasound and though that all was well. On Tuesday morning I had an appointment with my doctor and she was concerned because my liver and spleen were quite enlarged. She decided to send me back up to labor and delivery to get on the baby monitor and have a TON more labs done. I figured that I would be able to go home that afternoon but the afternoon turned into evening and the evening turned into overnight. I was getting pretty frustrated at this point because I was uncomfortable and missing my family and tired of being there. My doctor told me on Wednesday morning that she figured I would be able to go home around lunch time. About 2:00 she came into my room and said, "Bad news. Your labs aren't good and we need to deliver this baby." I was shocked and very unprepared for all of this to be happening but I called Mark who came straight to the hospital. The doctors thought that I had something called HELLP Syndrome which was making me pretty sick. We had the option of being flown to Boise to be delivered there or stay in La Grande and hope that Clara was well enough to stay there with us. We decided to stay here in town - I was familiar and comfortable with my doctor and my family and support system were all here. So...... all of the arrangements were made and at 5:18pm Clara was here!

I was so nervous laying there on the operating table. All I wanted to hear was a good healthy cry. It seemed to take forever but eventually there was a sweet little baby crying. The only problem was that it wasn't very strong and deep down I knew that this wasn't a good sign. The pediatrician on call determined that her lungs weren't healthy enough and made the call to have Clara flown to Boise to St. Alphonsus Medical Center where there is a NICU. The lungs were missing a natural lubricant that enables them to expand and contract.

The Life Flight crew arrived about 8pm and gave Clara the necessary medicine (Surfactant). They brought her in the incubator to my room so I could say good-bye and then they were off. Mark immediately drove to Boise and I was left here in town in recovery. Fortunately, my parents came and picked up Emma and Samantha and took them back to their home.

When Clara received her medicine she started perking up right away and breathing became much easier for her. This was our first miracle!

Mark stayed at the NICU in Boise for the next few days and he would call me with regular updates. She seemed to be doing really well except that she started having trouble eating and required a feeding tube. She also struggled keeping her temperature up.

On Saturday afternoon I was finally released from the hospital. Mark drove back from Boise and we spent the next day making arrangements to be back in Boise on Monday. I was so anxious to see my sweet girl - I couldn't wait to get there and to finally hold her!

Clara was in a heated incubator but we could take her out every few hours to help change her diaper and give her a bottle. Gradually the doctors were able to increase her formula intake because she was digesting well. She had initially lost about a pound and was slowly gaining her weight back - one ounce at a time.

By Friday (August 12th) Clara was able to "graduate" to her own crib at room temperature. Each feeding we would check her temperature to make sure she staying warm. Luckily, she was doing wonderfully and had a consistent 98 degree temperature. Now it was just a matter of having her be without her feeding tube for at least 24 hours.

Aunt Tracie made the trip up from Salt Lake City to be with us and meet her niece. It was great having her with us and she provided a good shoulder to cry on. :)

On Saturday morning the doctors told us that she was doing well enough to be discharged! We couldn't believe it! In a matter of just a couple of days she had completely changed course and we knew she was ready to come home with us.

We said a grateful goodbye to the Ronald McDonald House. They took great care of us and we feel so blessed to have been able to stay there in our time of need.

Clara passed her car seat test - they monitored her breathing in her car seat for a couple of hours to make sure that the air was circulating as it should in her lungs while sitting up. She passed her hearing test as well. This was all great news! We changed her clothes, said good-bye to the doctors and nurses, and we were headed home!

This was the most stressful time for our little family but we constantly felt the love of our Heavenly Father and we knew that we all were in good hands. We were blessed so much with great friends and family who really came to our rescue and offered so much help. We are so grateful to be home with our sweet girl!

Pregnancy Update

2011-07-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't made many pregnancy updates on my blog but figured I would give everyone the rundown of the latest happenings with this baby girl. Up until this weekend everything has been pretty smooth - my doctor has been pleased with her growth and my health and we have our C-Section scheduled for August 23rd which we are greatly looking forward to. My tummy is so big at this point that I can barely move and sleeping is quite difficult. This makes for very tired days and lots of aches and pains.

Last night I started having contractions. Now because I have delivered my other children by C-Section my body has never been in labor before so I wasn't quite sure what I was experiencing. I knew I was having very regular contractions, although they were not painful. Eventually we called up to the Labor and Delivery Department at the hospital and they told us to come up for some monitoring. So, we got the girls out of bed and hopped in the van around midnight.

Well, the nurse determined that I was not having labor contractions (meaning my contractions weren't strong enough to put me into labor) but that I was definitely contracting and they needed to be stopped. The doctor wanted the drug Terbutaline adminstered to me which would relax the muscles and keep them from contracting. The nurse warned me that it would elevate my heartbeat a bit and I might feel a little anxiety with it but everything is normal and it would go away. Well, after a couple of minutes I was feeling VERY strange and knew that something was wrong. My pulse was extremely quick and I couldn't get air. The nurse quickly laid me back in bed and gave me oxygen but by then my blood pressure had dropped to about 60/30 which is not good at all. They called for more nurses who got me going with IV's and Mark did his best to help me relax and breathe in the oxygen deeply. Everything started to go black but I wanted to stay aware and make sure that everything was OK with the baby. Eventually I began coming out of it and my blood pressure raised and the heartbeat slowed down. However, a second wave of sickness soon hit and everything started all over again - this time with extreme heat. The blood pressure dropped suddenly and the nurses and Mark once again did their best to keep me calm and comfortable, bringing in ice packs and upping the oxygen. Thankfully after some time this wave passed, too and the doctor came in to check on me. She determined that I needed to stay longer through the night and get some much needed sleep since it was almost 3am by this time. So Mark took the girls home (who were so well behaved out in the waiting room) and I did my best to sleep. Unfortunately hospital beds are not the most comfortable and I only managed about an hour and a half. It was a miserable night but I was able to come home about 10:00 this morning to my own bed and my sweet husband to care for me. I have to go back tomorrow morning for more labwork and another stress test but I am so grateful for the care I received and the technology available today that allows for a speedy recovery. We aren't sure how much longer baby girl will stay with me - we might need to deliver early, but I am confidant that all will be well - especially now that I know I am allergic to that medicine and they will never give it to me again! :)

Wallowa Lake Adventure

2011-07-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take a drive and head up farther into the mountains to visit Wallowa Lake. We love it there but hadn't been for quite a while. It was a beautiful drive and a cool day to be on the lake.

We didn't do any of the really fun activities that you can do on the lake like boating or swimming (due to my pregnancy) but the girls played in the sand and Mark tried to teach them how to skip rocks on the water. Emma and Samantha love being with their daddy so much - I love this picture!

They didn't quite get the skipping technique down but they sure gave it a good try.

Baby Shower for Shellie!

2011-07-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Back in February we learned the wonderful news that my sister Shellie who lives in Wyoming was expecting her first child! What a blessing! I have loved being pregnant along with her and we have made it a priority to talk weekly with each other over the phone to discuss our pregnancy woes and latest accomlishments. Fortunately she and Joshua were able to come to visit the family for a week and since she was in town, we had a baby shower for her. We had a wonderful time eating, playing games, looking at the sweet baby items, and catching up with old friends. It was a girls day out for all the sisters and granddaughters! Here is a picture of Shellie with all of her nieces who were available to come. (Unfortunately Eliza was too shy for the camera and little Katie is in Arizona).

And here are all the sisters and mom, too. Aunt Tracie was able to make the trip from Utah so we were happy to have a visit with her, too!

I miss Shellie and I am sad that I won't be close by when she welcomes her first son in November. I wish she would be close when I deliver in the new few weeks but hopefully we'll see each other soon!

STAYcation Day #4

2011-07-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! Mark had the day off so we headed down to Pendleton to spend some time together as a family at the Eastern Oregon Children's Museum and then the Family Aquatic Center. Having been given a lead by a friend, I found out that the public library here in La Grande has free passes to museums in our area that you can check out. How great is that? Earlier this week when we hit the library, the pass to the Children's Museum was available and we checked it out! The girls absolutely loved it there! Here they are in the construction house.

This was the Lewis and Clark area. There was a covered wagon that the girls could try out.

Emma found a rainmaker which was something that was in her classroom this past school year.

Here they are at the pretend firehouse......

.....where Emma attempted to slide down the fire pole!

Emma loves science and experiments so she really enjoyed the science lab.

Unfortunately there was only room for one in this teepee.

Samantha loves crafts and was able to draw a pretty picture in the craft room.

There was lots to do at the museum and we would have stayed longer but the water and warm weather were calling our name! We grabbed a quick bite to eat at "The Cookie Tree" and headed to the Aquatic Center. The first thing they wanted to do was go down the water slides! Emma had a great run!

Samantha was extremely proud of herself and she was especially giddy that Daddy was there waiting for her when she flew out!

Both girls couldn't get enough of the water and they played very well together. It was a busy day so they stuck together and made sure that we could see them so they could pose for the camera.

After a few hours, we knew it was time to head on home. The only negative about the day are my poor sunburned feet. Of all the sunblock we used, I didn't think to put any on my feet and now I am suffering the consequences!

It was wonderful to conclude our STAYcation week together as a family. I love watching how happy my children are and it is a true testament to me of the importance of family relationships and the joy that comes from spending time together. There really is nothing better!

STAYcation Day #3

2011-07-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today was our Spa Day! We stayed at home and "glammed" ourselves up. We started out by straightening the girls' hair and then giving Samantha a much needed trim. We cut off quite a bit of hair and she was very happy. Then we moved on to our nails. Earlier we went to the store and both girls were able to pick out a color of nail polish since they loving wearing nail polish. Then Mommy put pretty smelling lotion on their hands and painted their nails for them.

Of course, in the summer time you have to have pretty toenails, too! Mom did their toenails with an extra added design that they can show off when they wear their sandles. The toes turned out pretty good in my opinion!

At lunch time we spoiled ourselves with a treat of homemade chocolate milkshakes! Who doesn't love milkshakes?

Later on we worked on putting some jewelry together. Emma made a beautiful necklace but Samantha got a little tuckered out of trying to put the string through the beads and eventually gave up altogether. I think I have a budding jewelry maker on my hands! Unfortunately, our camera gave out and I was unable to get a picture of the finished product. So tonight we broke down and made a trip to Walmart to purchase a new camera! We don't want to miss out on any more fun pictures! Even though it was a lazy day at home, I am still grateful to be spending this time with my daughters. We are surely looking forward to our day at the waterpark tomorrow!

STAYcation Day #2

2011-07-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

Day Two of our STAYcation started off with a surprise for Emma and Samantha. Uncle Matt and Aunt Julie came for a visit from California. It's been a couple of years since we have seen them so we were excited to have them join us for a few days. Today was our "Catherine Creek Day." We loaded up the van and drove to Catherine Creek State Park about 20 minutes away and enjoyed the outdoors. The weather was gorgeous and for the most part, we had the park to ourselves. Mark cooked a nice BBQ for us and Uncle Matt took the girls on a little hike and also played with them along the creek which was very high and running very fast!

This picture shows just how pretty it was. Normally at this time of year we can do a little swimming or wading in the creek but there was just too much water. We'll try again later in the summer.

Uncle Matt attempted to teach Emma how to skip rocks on the creek. It's pretty hard to do. On a side note - Samantha lost her flip flops in the water while she was wading on the edge. Mark ended up jumping in the creek to save the flip flops and got soaked! Hooray for Daddy!

The girls have had a great time with their aunt and uncle and we wish that they could stay longer with us.

STAYcation Day #1

2011-07-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Because Mom is in her third trimester of pregnancy this summer, we thought it best to stay close to home with our activities instead of going on a long vacation like we normally do. This year, the girls and I decided to plan a "STAYcation" which would enable us to have fun activities to do closer to home. Today was Day #1 and we called it Getting to Know Your City Day. We have lived in La Grande for five years but we have never really taken advantage of some of the local shops or restaurants. Our first stop this morning was "The Potter's House." (Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture there). The Potter's House is a gift shop where local artists can sell their crafts. Plus, the owner does his own pottery which is beautiful. We came out with some Wild Huckleberry muffin mix and a couple of new cookie cutters that the girls picked out. Our second stop was to a local book store called "Sunflower Books." Emma and Sam both love reading and couldn't get enough of the children's area. If they had their way, we would have bought out the whole store. They really enjoyed sitting and reading some lovely books. Unfortunately for them, Mom is a big believer in utilizing the local library instead of buying brand new books.

Next we walked downtown a bit and we decided it was time for a mid-morning snack. We stopped at a cafe called "Joe & Sugar's." It was a cute place to sit and relax and fill up on some yummy goodies - a cinnamon roll for Emma, a muffin for Mom, and a giant cookie for Samantha.

Well, it just so happened that right across the street from the cafe was another local bookstore - "Looking Glass Books." This was a very large bookstore that also sells used books and the children's area was great fun. Here is a picture of Emma playing with a train set.

After we left the second bookstore we headed on over to the library. Now we are frequent patrons of our local library and this summer the girls are participating in the summer reading program. This week is week #2 so we needed to go and exchange our books for new ones. Sam read 13 books last week and Emma read five. They filled up their book bags and we even picked up a free pass to the Children's Museum in Pendleton that we can use later in the week! After the library we knew it was time for a good lunch so we walked across the street to "Mamacitas." This is actually a personal favorite of ours and since it wasn't very busy, they let us pick where we wanted to sit. The girls decided they wanted to sit downstairs where all the art work is and it is much quieter. We really enjoyed ourselves and lunch was delicious! (Samantha is always hamming it up for the camera.....)

After lunch we headed home for a short break. We were very tired and needed to check the time for when the trolly was going to be running. We stayed home for about 45 minutes and then headed out again. Here are the girls waiting at the trolly stop. Unfortunately the trolly was about 15 minutes late and ended up ignoring us at the stop. We were too hot to keep waiting so we packed it in for our next stop.

Our final destination was "Faerie Beads." It is a bead shop where you can go and pick from thousands of different beads or charms to make your own jewelry. The girls had such a hard time deciding between all of the beautiful beads that were there. We finally came up with a simple plan, thanks to the owner of the shop, and came on home. We haven't had a chance to make our necklaces yet, but we will definitely do it later in the week.

It was a great day and I especially just loved spending time with my girls. Hopefully they enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Tomorrow for Day #2 we are heading to Catherine Creek and Daddy is even taking the day off of work to join us - WOOHOOOO!

New Van!

2011-07-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, with the arrival of a third child coming up we knew it was time to be on the lookout for a new vehicle. We have had our trusty Saturn for nearly eight years and it was a great car for us. Unfortunately it just wasn't big enough for our family of five. A couple of months ago we started scouring the internet for a new van. We found a few that ended up not working out but we took a chance on a van that we saw this week at a dealership a couple of hours away. So yesterday we piled into the car and took off, hoping and praying that we would come home with something new.

As you can see, we found a van that is perfect for us and we were most grateful to drive it off the lot! It was a bit tragic for Samantha who broke down in tears trying to say good-bye to the Saturn. So, we talked about our favorite memories of the car and had a moment of reflection. :) It was too cute! Thankfully, within about five minutes of leaving town, she had completely forgotten about our old car and was grateful to be in a comfy new van. (Of course, the DVD player that came with it helped out with that!)

Here's to many more road trips to come! Well....maybe not too many....at least until after the baby is born!

Water Fun!

2011-07-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

So far we haven't had that many warm days yet this summer but when it's warm, the girls have enjoyed taking advantage of it and spending time playing in the water. They made up this little game a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be great fun to spray each other with the sprinkler while playing on the swingset. Such creativity!

We have also kept really busy doing swimming lessons each morning. They did so good in their lessons! Both girls really love the water and would spend all day in the pool if we had time. Emma is struggling a little bit with being in the deep water but I'm sure she will conquer her fears in the near future! Samantha loves swimming so much that it was a little difficult for her to pay attention to her teacher and not play around. Fortunately, she tried very hard and was a good student. They have completed their first session and we'll try to do one more session before the summer is through. It's just a bit uncomfortable for mom to sit in the hot pool on the bleachers at this point in the pregnancy. We'll see how it goes!

Summer Vacation Begins!

2011-06-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last week school officially let out for the summer.....FINALLY! Our district had a late start this past year so we went longer into June. I'm glad to have my girls home with me but it's been quite the challenge to worry each day about how to keep them entertained. I had very high hopes that we would find ways to not be bored, but I am proven wrong each day. So far they have spent lots of time outside on their bikes and scooters.....

Made a trip to the library......

And worked on some arts and crafts. This is a little basket that Emma made out of some scrapbook paper.

The exciting news is that Samantha has removed the training wheels off of her bike and is learning to ride with just two wheels. She is doing so great and picked it up immediately.

The only struggle she has had has been with making turns. So we decided that taking her to the track at the elementary school would be beneficial because of the natural turns. The first time we went she rode a mile and a half! We went last night for Family Home Evening and she did another mile. Hooray!

The girls were pretty dramatic in this picture....they were a bit overheated from lots of riding.

Here are a couple of videos that we took of Samantha:

Only about nine more weeks of summer to go!

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-05-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Now that Emma is eight years old she is able to attend Activity Days at church every other week. It's something she looks forward to doing and all the girls get to help plan which activities they would like to do. There are 13 little girls in her group and the one thing they all really wanted to do was hold a Daddy Daughter dance. Officially it was called the Daddy Daughter Dessert Date Dance! This dance was something that Emma was highly anticipating for weeks! The only glitch was that Daddy had to be out of town all week for work at the Police Academy. This was very disappointing for Emma and Mark. We thought about having Emma's Grampa or one of her uncles come and take her as an "adopted" daddy, but that really didn't feel the same. So, on a whim, Mark called ahead of time to the Director of the Academy and explained our predicament. Fortunately, the Director is a family man himself and had no problem with allowing Mark to leave a day early in order to be back in time to accompany his daughter to the dance. Hooray! The day before all the girls got together and made banana cream and chocolate cream pies to serve and also helped out getting the decorations organized. Emma got all dressed up the night of and looked absolutely adorable!

Daddy made it home in time to go with Emma. There was no way he was going to miss his first Daddy Daughter dance. They had a wonderful time together dancing and being with friends. Hooray for all the daddys who brought their daughters. It was a very special night for everyone.

Easter and Birthday Weekend!

2011-05-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

This year Samantha's birthday fell on Easter Sunday! What a double treat for her. So, we decided to get together with all the family in Hermiston for an Easter egg hunt and birthday celebrations. We really had a wonderful time with everyone and thankfully it was spectacular weather! We started off our day with a hike at the butte in town. Even the little kids came along. This was our group before starting off!

We all made it to the top and the cousins were VERY proud of themselves! It was a really neat view overlooking the city. Even Jordan and Eliza made it to the top, even though they aren't pictured here. Jordan is three and his mama is extremely pregnant so it took them a little longer than the rest.

Here is Daddy with his best girls feeling very confidant on their accomplishment!

I love this picture - we found a spot for all the kiddos to sit and they all saw Gramma and Grampa at the bottom waving to them. The kids yelled and hollered lots of "YAHOOS!" since it is a favorite saying of Gramma's.

Even Miss Lillie enjoyed herself and was very well behaved on Mommy's back!

Here is aunt Hollie posing with the kids. We had so much fun making it to the top that nobody wanted to go back down.

However, the good part about making it back down the mountain was that we could all go back to Uncle Jon's house for a fabulous Easter egg hunt! There were so many eggs to find - Emma was quick to get going!

Lillian took her time. She found one egg and was quite content to play with that one egg - especially because it was in the dirt and rocks. Who doesn't love playing in the dirt?

Here is all the kids filled up on sugar and fun and having a great time! We are only missing Luke and Katie in Arizona. Wish that they could have been there with us to join in on the festivities.

Of course, it was also Sam's birthday but the week before also included Kennidy's 9th birthday and Aunt Hollie's birthday. (We won't share with everyone how old she is). There was TONS of yummy desserts and all the birthday girls blew out their candles perfectly.

Happy 6th Birthday Sammy! We can't believe how much you have grown!

We came home that night and colored Easter eggs for the Easter bunny to come and hide for us the next morning. The girls were very creative.

Unfortunately, Mom forgot to take pictures on Easter. I suppose I was too caught up in the festivities. The Easter Bunny brought them new scooters which they absolutely adore! They have spent so much time outside getting exercise and enjoying themselves. We also had a birthday dinner for Samantha and opened presents. Of course she was spoiled rotten from everybody. It really was a perfect weekend and we loved being with our family!

Weekend Update

2011-04-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

It was a really nice weekend for our family and we have lots to share with you! We were super busy but we also had some wonderful time together and we are grateful. Our weekend started off with our big ultrasound that we have waited and waited for. The news came back that we are expecting our third daughter! Everything looked really good and we just couldn't be happier. I thought the girls were going to be disappointed to not be getting a little brother, but they are just as tickled to have a little sister. We got some really fantastic pictures so kudos to the nice ultrasound tech who help us.

Isn't this little hand just the most perfect hand you have ever seen? I feel like she was waving to us. :)

We were fortune to have Gramma and Grampa come to La Grande for the day. They accompanied us to the hospital for the ultrasound and kept the girls company while we were busy in Radiology. They spent the entire day with us and we had so much fun visiting, doing Easter crafts, and making cookies. My mom even brought lunch and dinner for us so what a relief to not have to worry about cooking for a day!!!!

On Saturday we started off by heading to the local "Arts for All" in town. Each year the Arts Commission has a day where you can come and do all kinds of arts and crafts for free. We missed it last spring so the girls have been waiting and waiting for it to come around again. They were able to get their faces painted which were super cute. Sam had a shooting star and Emma had a butterfly.

They each did about five or six crafts but one of their favorites was the tin art craft. They used the little hammers and nails to make their own pretty pictures on some tin board. Their Dad would have been proud of their ability to use a hammer and the pictures turned out great.

Afterwards we went to lunch to a local pizza and games restaurant. It is one of the girls' favorite places to eat. Unfortunately I didn't think to bring the camera with me to catch a picture. After being home for a while and resting our full tummies, we went through baby stuff! Mark and I thought that we had donated all of our baby things last year when we didn't think we would have any more children but we came across a large tub that was just full of baby clothes! What a relief! The girls were anxious to help sort through the different sizes and decide which things we could keep and which things were just a little too used. Mark did three loads of laundry that night to get everything washed up and ready to be put away in the baby's room. We had clothes all over the living room!

It was so fun being together and being able to spend some quality time with one another. We feel so blessed that we have another child coming to our beautiful family but also very blessed to have the two daughters that we have as well as our extended family who are so supportive. We love and miss you all and hope that you feel involved with us even though you are far away!

Baby Update

2011-04-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

I realized this morning that I haven't included much about my pregnancy on our blog so I thought I would give an update to everyone. As of today, I am 19 weeks along and the past couple of weeks have been pretty stressful for our family. Two weeks ago I went in for my four month check up and happened to have very high blood pressure. The doctor took it several times and each time it was high. So.... this meant that some lab work needed to be done (which I am NOT a fan of) and that I needed to have my blood pressure checked each day so that it could be monitored and recorded. Of course, I followed the doctor's orders and completed my lab orders and went to Safeway each day to check my blood pressure. This became exhausting after a few days and so I decided that I would go out and purchase my own blood pressure machine. I thought it was going to be a great investment but when I returned to the doctor a week later, turns out that my machine wasn't callaborated as closely to the doctor's blood pressure cuff so my readings were off. Darn!

In the meantime, Dr. Whitaker also suggested that I have an appointment with the chiropractor to help with some headaches that I had been having. I went to my appointment and then had an enjoyable conference weekend. Unfortunately by Sunday afternoon I began having difficulty keeping food down and by Monday morning had a MIGRAINE! The migraine was accompanied by vomiting and although I went to see the chiropractor again that afternoon, it did little to alleviate my severe headache and I was still unable to keep food down. Tuesday was a bit better for the headache but was still throwing up. I saw my OB that day and because I hadn't had any nourishment for three days, she diagnosed me as being very dehydrated. So..... this meant that I needed to spend a few hours up at Labor and Delivery having an IV with some good fluids given to me. Although my headache was somewhat better, I was still pretty miserable on Tuesday night and unable to sleep but by Wednesday morning I was much better. I saw the chiropractor two more times during the week and as of today I am feeling pretty good which makes me grateful. The other good thing is that my blood pressure seems to have calmed down a bit for the time being and doesn't need to be treated.

Pregnancy has never been easy for me. I have been ill with all three of my children but this particular pregnancy has been especially difficult and I find myself having a hard time being positive and excited about the coming months. I keep hoping that each day will bring added energy and less pain. I know that I am driving my husband looney with my endless complaining but thankfully he is a trooper and does so much for me. On a lighter note, last night I could really feel this little one kicking away and moving around - even Mark could feel it when he put his hand on my tummy.

We have a milestone coming this Friday - we will have our ultrasound to find out what we are having and we just can't wait! The girls are hoping for a little brother so badly but will be very happy with a little sister, too. We'll let you all know just as soon as we can! Thanks to a wonderful family and great friends who have been so supportive and added extra prayers on our behalf!

A New 'Do

2011-03-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

This morning Emma went to the salon to have her hair cut. That in and of itself isn't very exciting but today we were cutting it short - something new and a little more grown up. Emma has had long hair for most of her life but we were looking for a style that would allow for a little more independence and a lot less tangles! She was pretty nervous when we arrived at the salon. BEFORE:

and AFTER!

Her wonderful stylist, Emily, thought that there was enough hair to put into a ponytail and have it cut off to be donated to "Locks of Love" which we were very happy to do. The new style is adorable and a great improvement!

Happy Birthday Mark!

2011-03-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Mark celebrated his 42nd birthday on the 3rd of this month. We tried to make it a special day for him but he had to work and I wasn't feeling well with my morning sickness so I'm afraid it didn't have the feeling of excitement that we were hoping for. But we did have a surprise birthday breakfast and then went out to his favorite restaurant for dinner. We came home for some yummy dessert and gifts. So even though it wasn't a grand and exciting day, we did have a little fun and were able to show how much we love him and how thankful we are for all that he does for our family! Here's to a great year ahead!

Mini Mounties

2011-02-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's weekend, Samantha was able to participate in a little dance camp put on by the dance team at the University here in La Grande. They were called the "Mini Mounties." She spent three hours learning how to dance and do cheers and then at the university basketball game that night, she performed with the rest of the little girls! She had so much fun! Unfortunately, Emma came down with a flu bug the night before and wasn't able to participate which was very upsetting. Mark took a couple of videos - Samantha is in the middle with thet long brown hair. Good job Sam!!!!

Our News

2011-02-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

I realize that it has been since January 1st since I last blogged about the Perry Family. It's been a long couple of months for us. Mark was gone to Minnesota for two weeks after his dad passed away. The girls and I were at home by ourselves and not really doing very much. Then Mark had to be gone for another week for some work business. The weather has been cold, we had some colds and flu bugs, and I have been feeling a little depressed about turning 34 in January! Needless to say, things have been rather quiet in our household and we haven't had much to blog about. However, spring is around the corner and we are anxious to get out and do things and enjoy being with each other. Plus.....we are expecting our third baby! After Christmas we were completely shocked to discover that we were pregnant! We tried for a few years and had very prayerfully come to accept that Heavenly Father had blessed us with two beautiful daughters and that was enough. There were a lot of tears but eventually we felt peace with our happy family of four. What we have learned is that our plan was not THE plan for us and we have been blessed yet again! Unfortunately, the morning sickness has been hard to overcome and I am feeling ill almost 24 hours a day. I have missed a lot of church, a lot of playdates and other activities which I hate to do. I am optimistic, though, and hoping that things will be back to normal in a few short weeks! So, here's to more blogging and more updates from our family to yours!

Passing

2011-01-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

Today, instead of celebrating the New Year, our family is mourning the passing of Mark's father, Bob. He died early this morning in Minnesota. I have learned that no matter how hard you try to prepare yourself for something like this, it doesn't mean that you feel the effects of it any less. If there's anything that I could share about him in the ten years that I have been his daughter-in-law, it's that he deeply loved his family. He spent his whole life caring for others, from his mentally handicapped sister, to his widowed mother, to his dear wife and five children. He worked extremely hard farming and taking care of his family. He and Maxine were married for over 50 years.

One of the things that brought him immense happiness was being around horses. He grew up on a ranch working with animals and even at the age of 80 years old, he still knew how to work a horse and he had great fun doing it! This picture was taken a few years ago at a family reunion and it's one of the best memories that I have of him. He was so tickled to be up on a horse again!

Bob was a wonderful listener, very wise, and he always had time for his kids and grandkids. Mark speaks often of the special visits he and his dad would have while they were out working together. They would talk about life, history, the Gospel, and SPORTS! He loved the Twins and Vikings but despised the Yankees (and who can blame him for that). He was also a scriptorian and he knew the Bible and Book of Mormon better than anyone I have ever known. Our family is not the same without him and he will be profoundly missed. However, we know that there is a grand reunion in heaven today as he is reunited with his parents, all of his siblings, and a granddaughter - all of whom he loved so much. We love you Dad and Grampa!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

It was another wonderful Christmas for the Perry family! It was quiet, peaceful, and there was lots of love to go around! As always, Santa Claus was really able to make the girls happy.

Gramma Terrie made us a Family Home Evening board which we really love. As you can see, the girls are still a bit sleepy when this picture was taken.

Samantha has had a Pillow Pet at the top of her Christmas list since this summer. She wrote many letters asking for her very own Pillow Pet and Santa came through and brought her one! I love this picture because of Emma's reaction! She just couldn't believe it!

Sam really hasn't put her pet down since Christmas morning. It is a penguin and she has named him Topper.

The girls love Disney movies so Santa brought them the Scene It? DVD game. They have played it several times a day since Christmas morning.

Emma absolutely loves a series of books entitled "Children Just Like Me." The books take children from all over the world and talk about their customs, their languages, their dress, etc. She is very intrigued by learning about other cultures so when she saw this new book from Santa she was thrilled!

Of course, there were a couple of American Girl movies for the American Girl lover....Miss Emma!

On Christmas Eve Emma lost a tooth! She had wiggled it for weeks and it came out just in time to have a visit from Santa AND the Tooth Fairy! How exciting! The next morning she and I were wrestling a little bit and we heard something hit the floor. I took a closer look and low and behold....another tooth had come out! So the Tooth Fairy came two days in a row and she has very few teeth left in her top row. :)

Of course the girls are a little down about having to wait for an entire year until Christmas comes around again, but we feel especially blessed this year for our little family and for this special season. We hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday as well!

The Nativity

2010-12-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

One of the churches here in La Grande puts on a Living Nativity each year at Christmas time. They recreate the city of Bethlehem and the town is invited to come in and see what life was like two thousand years ago when Christ was born. They have the wise men, the shepherds, and Mary and Joseph as well. Plus there are little shops to see, like the candle maker, the weaver, the fish market, etc. We always look forward to going. This year we went with our good friends, the McIlmoil family, and we had a great time together.

Here we are with one of the Three Wise Men and their camel.

Samantha was very interested in Mary and Joseph's donkey. She enjoyed petting him.

Here is Emma with her little friend Ryder petting the donkey. They had so much fun.

The weather was very cold and snowy, but the girls were troopers and really had a nice time. It was a wonderful way to feel the true spirit of Christmas.

School Christmas Concerts

2010-12-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

It wouldn't be the Christmas season without a couple of school music concerts to attend! This year was Samantha's first school concert. Since the kindergarteners attend their own school in La Grande, they had their own program, too. Sam was so excited to sing with her class and did a wonderful job. She is a very natural performer and loves being in front of people. Her video is of the tried and true S-A-N-T-A song.

Emma's school program just happened to coincide with a special visit from her cousins, Ashley and McKay, who were driving through La Grande on their way to Tacoma, Washington. They spent the night with us and were eager to see Emma's concert. She had a new dress to wear which her Gramma Maxine made for her and she was the prettiest in the room! Her class sang some really lovely songs and althoug she was nervous, she ended up enjoying herself.

Emma also had a speaking role in one of her songs. She introduced "Feliz Navidad" to the audience.

"Well Done" to both girls. They make their parents very proud!

Special Day

2010-12-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

Emma turned eight years old over the weekend! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by and how grown up she is. I am not ready to be the mother of an eight year old! :) We had a grand celebration with lots of family - first a birthday party on Friday night with cake and ice cream and PRESENTS! The one thing she has been asking for this past year was an American Girl doll - her aunts and uncles made her wish come true and she was absolutely thrilled!

On Saturday we held her baptism and it was a very special experience. Her daddy baptized her and her family all participated in the service and showed so much support. She was pretty nervous about having lots of attention on her, but she got through it with a few tears and lots of hugs and kisses.

After the baptism we spent the day at the church with all our family playing games and making crafts and eating lots of good food. The girls had the best time with their cousins and they were also able to come to church with us the next day before heading back to their own homes. It was a perfect weekend! We are so proud of Emma and the young lady she has become! We love her very much!

Thanksgiving Week Activities

2010-11-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! It was a busy week for the Perry family, although we had a lot of fun and it was great to have several days together. The week started off with a real good snow storm. It was a welcomed sight for us because last year we saw so little snow. Sam was anxious to do some shoveling. She had a hard time getting the hang of it, but it was nice of her to try to help.

The weather turned bitter cold by Tuesday and the girls had a day off from school. It was a challenge to keep them entertained because playing outside was not an option. Unfortunately we all came down with colds during the week, too but we weren't going to let it stop us from having a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. We sat around the table and told each other what we were thankful for and then we had our feast!

Here is Emma with a turkey drum stick. Her eyes were DEFINITELY bigger than her stomach and she was only able to eat a fraction of it.

Pretty much all Samantha cared about were the croissants. Who knew all I needed to make for her was bread and she would have been satisfied? I shouldn't have bothered going to the trouble of making potatoes and casseroles and veggies.

By Thursday the weather had warmed up and we had another round of snow. The girls took advantage of it and really enjoyed being outside.

On Friday we decided to put up the Christmas tree. Traditionally, we wait until Emma's birthday in December to put the tree up but it seemed like the right time and it looks really beautiful now. We love turning out the lights in the house and just sitting and enjoying our very pretty tree.

On Saturday morning we had yet another snow storm to conquer. We made the trek out to the Festival of Trees here in town. The children's choir was lovely and the trees were gorgeous. And the girls even got to see Santa Claus which was a delight. Unfortunately Samantha got stage fright and couldn't think of anything to tell Santa that she wanted for Christmas. Is that a good sign?

By the afternoon it was STILL snowing so Daddy and the girls put on thier snow gear and spent time outside enjoying the weather.

And to finish out the day we went downtown to see the Christmas Tree lit up at the town square. There was a short break in the weather but by this morning we had several more inches of snow. At least it was clear enough to see the pretty lights on the tree and do something in the community.

As always we have much to be thankful for this year - our family, our health, our home, and the list goes on and on. We have our struggles and our trials but in the end we can sit back and recognize the daily blessings that we receive. We hope that all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as we did.

Grandma

2010-11-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

On November 9th my Grandma Peggy passed away pretty unexpectantly. We always had a family joke that she had nine lives because she could be very ill and all of a sudden would recover and be better than she was before. This was one of those same situations - she was in the hospital and she did perk up and seemed to be doing much better. However a few hours later her body just gave up. She passed away very peacefully with my mom and dad by her side. I have been feeling guilty since her passing, wishing that I had called her that day to wish her well. I should have visited more, called more often, sent more letters and cards. Yesterday was her funeral and although she is gone, it ended up being a really wonderful day. The service was beautiful and it was great to be able to visit with my aunts and uncles who we don't get to see very often. I'm grateful to have had a grandmother who always loved her family. I'm also grateful that my children were able to have a few shorts years with their great-grandmother. We'll miss you!

Shoulder Surgery

2010-11-21T18:55:00.000-08:00

For years now Mark has been living with really bad shoulder pain and electric shocks down his arm. This past spring we began seeing an orthopedist in Boise to see if any relief could be given. Some x-rays and a couple of MRI's later, the results were pretty inconclusive because the doctors really couldn't get any good pictures. However, Mark's doctor recommended surgery and after praying about it we decided that it was what we should do. So last week we went to Boise for a couple of days so Mark could have his shoulder taken care of. We were a little nervous but everything went beautifully and we couldn't be happier! The medical care he was given was outstanding and it ended up that the surgeon shaved 11 millimeters off Mark's bone and he was also able to clean up some arthritis that had set in. I wish I had pictures to share, but Mark was a little camera shy, understandably so. He's been doing really well - we are nine days post surgery and he is doing physical therapy and will be back to work full time tomorrow! The girls spent a couple of days with Gramma and Grampa while we were out of town so we are certainly grateful for their help, along with aunts and uncles and cousins - we're very lucky to have family nearby.

Leaves Everywhere!

2010-11-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love the fall season? It's so beautiful to watch the colors changing around our valley, especially when you live in the mountains as we do. Even when the leaves are falling, it's wonderful to know that the seasons are changing! There are a lot of trees around our home so we had LOADS of leaves to rake up. One Saturday morning the girls and I raked a giant pile of leaves in our front yard. They had the greatest time jumping in the pile and throwing the leaves around. I couldn't resist taking some fun pictures of them!

There were so many leaves that they were literally buried in the pile. Unfortunately we couldn't keep the leaves for very long because that weekend it started raining and it rained for several days. So the leaves have gone away but at least we have these great pictures to remember our morning of fun!

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

We tried to do lots of fun activities during the Halloween season. We always make a trip to the pumpkin patch so the kids can get pumkins and go through the scary corn maze. This year we went with our friends, the McIlmoils, and the girls really enjoyed themselves running around with their friends.

Here is Emma sitting on the Castle that was made out of bales of hay - so creative!

For costumes this year, Emma was a Diva! She had a lot of input and really liked putting her costume together. The schools always do a parade with all of the classrooms so the parents can come and see their children. Since our kids attend separate schools, I went to Emma's parade and Mark went to Samantha's parade. It worked out just fine, except I didn't get any pictures of Samantha! What a horrible parent I am! I'll have to take a picture of her later just to show that she did have a costume and she went as a Karate Girl! They also were able to wear their costumes the next night to our ward Chili Feed and Trunk-or-Treat that I was in charge of. It was pouring rain and both girls were soaked to the bone, but they had a wonderful time and definitely filled their trick-or-treat bags.

Emma and Sam had no problem this year getting their hands dirty when it came to carving the pumpkin this year!

Cousin Time

2010-11-21T18:32:00.000-08:00

Emma and Samantha absolutely adore all of their cousins. They have twenty-one first cousins and they would do just about anything to spend time with them. A few weeks ago their cousin, Ashlynne, was in La Grande for a middle school volleyball game and we were able to go and watch Ash do her thing on the volleyball court. We were super proud of her and she is always so nice to give lots of love to her younger cousins, even in front of all of her middle school friends. :) The entire team sprayed green in their hair because it was their last game. They were super cute. Go Ashlynne!

Halloween Field Trip

2010-11-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

One thing that I really enjoy doing is being able to volunteer in my daughters' classrooms at school. On this particular day, Samantha's Kindergarten class was going to the Pumpkin Patch for a field trip. I was lucky enough to come along as a chaperone. We had a really nice time together and I had lots of fun watching Sam interact with her classmates.

Our Trip Home

2010-10-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made the trek home to my parent's house. We haven't been for a visit since the beginning of August and we were anxious to get out of town for a couple of days. We had a really wonderful time visiting with Mom and Dad as well as my sisters and brother and their kids. We love hanging out with all the nieces and nephews! A neighbor of ours gave us about fifty pounds of corn so we took a big box with us to share with everyone - this is a picture of the little ones helping Grampa shuck the corn for dinner! They are too silly.
Cute little Lillie was in need of her dinner so we got her in her high chair and little Jordan wanted to be a big helper so he fed Lillie her banana chips. He was quite proud of himself!

After dinner the adults sat around and visited with everyone while the kiddos all ran around and played. We all took turns holding Lillie but she especially loved sitting on Grampa's lap and playing with the water bottle.

On Saturday Mark and I were able to take a few hours away and go to the temple and get some shopping done. So the girls stayed with Gramma and Grampa and watched movies, did crafts, and played with cousins. Emma loves the Lincoln Logs and always makes interesting things.

Now we are home and it's back to real life - school and work and cleaning house and running errands. We are looking forward to our next visit!

Coupons and More Coupons!

2010-10-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I started educating myself on the art of couponing! It has since become a big blessing to our family. Couponing has helped me have the ability to stock up on all kinds of products, try things that I never would have been able to afford, and to spend a little less on our groceries each month. There has even been a couple of times when I was actually PAID to buy groceries! Can you imagine? I like nothing better than going to the checkout lane and watching my price drop dramatically when I enter all of my coupons! My girls call me the "Krazy Coupon Lady" which, by the way, is the title of a coupon blog that I check religiously. One of the aspects of couponing that I enjoy is signing up for free samples! There are always lots of different samples that you can request and so now I look forward to the mail coming each day to see what goodies I have been brought! Last week to my utter surprise when I went to the mailbox I had loads of free things and free coupons! I had two laundry detergents, a protein/breakfast bar, shampoo and conditioner, and coupons for a free bottle of Advil, two free boxes of Triscuits, two free tubs of Cottonelle wipes, plus five other very high values coupons! And that was just on one day! Now I know that couponing isn't for everybody - it takes alot of dedication and research and requires good organization skills - BUT.... I'm hooked!

First Day of School!

2010-10-07T06:48:00.001-07:00

Yay! The school year has arrived and we couldn't be happier about it! All summer long I kept thinking about how much fun I was having being at home with my girls and I was kind of dreading the start of school. But the girls were so excited that I tried to put on a brave face. :) Samantha has entered Kindergarten and they have a staggered start. So, while Emma was able to start school on Tuesday, Sam had to wait until Friday for her first day. Emma started second grade and woke up at 6:00 on the first day. She got herself dressed, made her bed, packed her lunch, and brushed her hair, all before 6:30! She just couldn't contain her excitement.

It's been about a month since school started for us and everything is going so well. The girls adore their teachers and their classrooms. They have lots of new (and old) friends and we are really looking forward to having a great year!

Sleeping Beauties

2010-10-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

On this particular day, both girls were being very cranky and I had reached my limit. We decided that it was time for some "Quiet Time" in their bedroom to calm down and relax and think about trying to have better attitudes. At the time I left their bedroom, both girls were reading on their own beds and all was fine. When I went back in about ten minutes later, this is what I saw:
Sometimes sisters just need to have a good snuggle. Of course when you see your little angels sleeping like this, it's quite impossible to still feel frustrated. Definitely a tender mercy!

It's the End of Summer!

2010-10-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

The end of summer came quickly in La Grande and we were anxious to have one more outing together as a family. So we packed up our gear and headed up to Catherine Creek state park and had a wonderful day! The park was pretty much empty and the weather was perfect! The Creek itself was flowing nicely and we could even see some salmon spawning and jumping in the creek.

It was very refreshing to stick our feet in and cool off and enjoy the pretty scenery!

Then Dad fired up the barbeque and had a yummy hot dog roast!

The girls rode their bikes and went on a little hike. It was just so nice to get out of town and have one last family activity before school started and we had to get back to our routine. We had so much fun that the next week we met Gramma and Grampa, Uncle Jon, Aunt Natalie and cousins to come visit and do it all over again. (Except I didn't have my camera for that trip). What a blessing it is for us to live in the mountains!

More Summer Activities!

2010-08-16T15:56:00.001-07:00

This summer I have really been neglecting our blog! We've been so busy with trips and family and friends and day to day things that the summer has got away from me. Now it is mid-August and I feel like I have accomlished nothing......except that our family has made some wonderful memories that we would like to share with you. The next several posts are a few of the fun activities we have been able to do! We hope you are having a great summer, too!

The County Fair

2010-08-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my sister Shellie and her hubby Joshua came to Oregon from Wyoming to visit the family. The girls and I decided to go to Hermiston again to see them and to also support Ashlynne and Myah who raised pigs this summer with their 4-H group, as well as a few other projects. We wanted to see them in action! Here is Emma and Sam with miss Myah.All the cousins and my sisters and brother came to the fair together. This picture is Emma and Samantha with Christian and Camryn at the show barn.

And here is Aunt Shellie with Myah. Aunt Shellie is one of the world's best aunties!

Here she is with little Eliza who is such a doll.

And of course, you can't forget Isaac!

We looked around at the animals and the other displays and then it was time to hit the carnival rides! The girls decided they wanted to go on the roller coaster. (All of their screaming gave me a screaming headache....)

Here is Karlie and Emma on a ride together. I don't know how they manage to not get sick on these rides. I can't go on anything anymore because it makes me feel horrible! I guess the kids are just tough!

You can't make a trip to the fair without stopping at the carousel. The kids loved it! Here is Karlie and Sam who were pretending the whole time that their horses were in an actual horse race. Too cute!

Emma had a great ride, too.

Lillie had her first carousel ride! She was bouncing up and down and laughing the whole time!

The bumper cars are definitely a must! This ride gave me a little insight as to what kind of driver Emma is going to be in eight years! YIKES!!!

Uncle Josh was a good sport and took miss Karlie in a car. I think he even let her drive, too. Watch out everyone! :)

After the fair we needed to do a lot of cooling off so we headed back to Stephanie's house for some swimming and a BBQ. After dinner we had a boys vs girls volleyball game. The girls totally kicked butt!

We had so much fun! The kids played so hard all day and then stayed up really late at Uncle Jon's house playing. They pretty much crashed the rest of the weekend which, as a mom, makes me very happy.

Soccer Time

2010-08-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be summer without Union County soccer! This year Emma decided that soccer wasn't her thing but Samantha couldn't wait to sign up! She's had to sit on the sidelines for the past two years and her turn finally came! Soccer is pretty demanding around here with it taking about two to three nights out of your week for eight weeks. But Sam loved it and it was great to watch her play and get better with each game.

This was the last game of the season so Sam's super nice coaches brought root beer floats for everyone which the kids were ecstatic about!

Good Job Sam! We are proud of you and for the great little soccer player you are!

Happy 88th Birthday Gramma Peggy!

2010-08-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Last week was my grandmother's 88th birthday so the girls and I drove to Hermiston to celebrate with everyone. Any opportunity that we have to get some cousin time is wonderful! All the cousins are very close with one another and have so much fun together! If only we were closer to Luke and Kate in Utah so that we could see them more.Aunt Stephanie with Lillie. Lillie wears a special helmet to help make sure that her head shapes correctly as she grows. She is so precious and is a very patient little girl. It would drive me crazy to have to wear a helmet for six months, twenty four hours a day. But Lillie is such a trooper.

The trampoline is always a big hit for the kids.

Here is Kenniday holding Jordan while Gramma Peggy opens her birthday presents. She is such a good helper.

Emma looks a little tired, but she was having so much fun with everybody.

Here I am with my brother Jonathan. He is such a ham sometimes. :)

I sure love my family! Hopefully Gramma enjoyed her birthday party.

Trip to the Coast!

2010-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

Mark needed to attend a business meeting in Tillamook, Oregon a couple of weeks ago and we decided that the girls and I would join him and have a little mini-vacation. Boy am I glad we did! We had so much fun and I can never get enough of the coast! If you haven't been to Tillamook, you should know that it is known for its dairy farms and cheese! So of course we had to check out the cheese factories in town. The first was a small factory: Blue Heron. We enjoyed seeing it. I love this picture - not because my husband and children are animals, but because Samantha is looking up to her big sister. Too cute!

The big tourist attraction in town is the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It's very large and the tourists are encouraged to go in and see how the cheese is made and packaged, and also to learn the history and the process. It was really very fascinating, especially for Mark who grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota.

One of the best parts of the tour is being able to sample all of their cheeses. The girls kept going through the line because they love cheese so much. It was very delicious!

Of course you can't leave without having a Tillamook ice cream cone! Oh my gosh, was the chocolate mudslide ice cream yummy!

After the factory we purchased a few picnic necessities to go to the lighthouse and have a little picnic before Mark needed to be to his meeting. It was so gorgeous there and a perfect spot for picnicing! While Mark was in his meetings the girls and I stayed at the hotel and swam in the swimming pool and played games. Fortunately Mark was finished early and so we drove about 10 minutes up to the coast to Rockaway Beach where my family once stayed years and years ago. It was beautiful!

Of course, if you have never been to the Oregon Coast you should know that it isn't really ideal for swimming. The water is freezing and the temperatures along the coast are only about 60 degrees. But the views are breathtaking and the sand is very inviting. We had a good time chasing the waves on the beach.

I love the ocean. It's a very sacred place for me. There's something about looking out at the vast expanse of water and waves and feeling very close to heaven...but also a little frightened at the magnificence of it. I feel so blessed to view such a creation! If I had my choice to live anywhere, it would be near the ocean.

On the way home we stopped at Multnomah Falls for a quick break. They are so beautiful but it is always crazy busy there.

The trip was a blast and I am definitely looking forward to our return!

Camping Trip

2010-08-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Summer is the time for camping trips! Our family met up with my parents and my sister's family up at Ukiah-Dale campground for a couple of days of fun. The weather was beautiful and it felt so good to be in the great outdoors! Samantha always likes to try to help set up the tent. Sometimes she helps a little too much. :) We got up bright and early the next morning and boy were we cold! It's amazing how chilly it can get in the mountains during the summer. We all worked together and made a nice yummy breakfast for us all to enjoy. The hot cocoa was a big help in getting warmed up!

Here is Sam and Christian enjoying their breakfast with Gramma.

Here is Emma with Ashlynne gobbling up their eggs and potatoes.

Camryn and Myah were having a bit of a hard time getting into the swing of things at 5:30 in the morning. We were awfully tired!

Mark is feeling a little camera shy.....

....And so is Grampa!

Hopefully we'll be able to do some more camping before school starts up again in a few weeks. We really had such a fun time!

Trip to Utah

2010-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

In July we made the trek to Utah for a college reunion with some great friends of mine. The four of us were roommates at LDS Business College and we have stayed close over the years. At the beginning of the year, we realized that this summer would mark 15 years since we first met and we felt like we should celebrate! We haven't all been with each other since 2002 so we made a promise that we would bring our families to Utah to catch up on old times. Kim and Jim hosted the event at Aspen Grove which is up Provo Canyon. It was so beautiful and a perfect spot to get together. There were lots of fun things for the kiddos (and the parents) to do. This next picture is Emily with her sweet little girl Audrey. She was a little camera shy most of the night but I did manage to get a few shots of her.

There was a little water spray area that the kids enjoyed doing. There's nothing better on a hot day then playing in the water. Thanks to Jim for making it a fun activity for the little ones.

There is a cowboy village which was super fun. Here is Samantha with Aspen (Kim's oldest) who became quick friends. They were working at the General Store when I snapped this picture.

Here is Kim with her little girl Madi. She is so sweet and she and I enjoyed some good snuggle time throughout the day. We couldn't get enough of her!

Most of the time Tiffani and I were fighting over who got to hold Madi and carry her around. (Just kidding....no fighting was involved!)

Samantha has been watching John Wayne movies since she was old enough to sit up on the couch and watch with Dad. She comes from a long line of John Wayne lovers (on both sides of the family) so I couldn't resist taking this picture. Howdy Pardner!

Here is Emma, Aspen, Samantha, and Lukas (Emily's husband). Lukas was a good sport having all the kids follow him around everywhere.

It was such a fun day! I can't believe it's taken us so long to plan our reunion. We made some very special memories and it was wonderful to pick up where we left off. Can't wait until the next reunion!!!!
One the way back from Aspen Grove that night, we stopped to see the Mt. Timpanogos temple. Mark and I were married here and we haven't been back since we left Utah several years ago. We wanted the girls to see where it all started. It was so beautiful that night.

We stayed with my brother and his family in Herriman while we were in Utah. It was great to have some cousin time with Katie and Luke! We went to a splash park near their home and the kids splashed around like crazy!

Even Kate got in on the action....

Here is Luke and Emma drying off.

We had a fun filled day with cousins playing around and having a yummy lunch out. Then we came back to the house for more water time in the back yard. We got the Slip 'n Slide out and had popsicles to cool us off. It was about 100 degrees that weekend!

Here is my man Luke! What a buff guy he is! :)

We really had the greatest weekend with our family and friends! Wish we could see more of each other and that we weren't eight hours away. Todd and Sue were great hosts and made us feel right at home. We hope to see them again very soon!

Summer Vacation!

2010-06-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

This year we had the opportunity to take our vacation to the Mid-West to visit friends and family. Because it is such a long distance, we are only able to make the trek every other year so we were really looking forward to this trip and taking advantage of all of the fun things along the way. (I took over 200 pictures on this vacation but will only show a few here.) Our first night we stayed in Salt Lake and visited with my family members there. It was a quick visit because we had to be on the road very early the next morning in order to make it to our hotel in Nebraska. The third day we made it to my aunt's home in Iowa to visit with her and my uncle and my sweet grandma. We were there a couple of days and loved every minute of it. It's been seven years since we last saw them so it was very special to be with them again. They had never met Samantha and Emma was about a year old when they saw her last but it only took about 30 seconds for the girls to feel a special kinship with their Iowa relatives.
After our visit in Iowa we drove a few hours south to spend some time in Nauvoo. Mark and I visited Nauvoo when I was pregnant with Emma but we hadn't been back since. It rained so hard while we were there but we were determined to make it special and enjoy every aspect of that wonderful city. Here is the beautiful Nauvoo Temple! What a site it is!

One of the places we went to was the Family Living Center where we saw several displays on what life was like back in Nauvoo's heyday. This sweet sister missionary showed us how bread was made and then allowed us to try a bite. Of course, it was delicious and the girls were tickled to get up close to the large oven.

This area was the Monument to Women which had about a dozen statues representing the many roles of a woman. It was one of my favorite exhibits.

Here we are at the Blacksmith shop. We learned how the Nauvoo pioneers made wagons, wheels, horseshoes, etc. We each came home with a nail ring and a horseshoe.

Of course we had to spend some time in Carthage as well. That was a wonderful experience and we were so grateful to have taken the girls to this sacred place. The sister missionary was a great tour guide and the Spirit was very strong. The girls listen intensely and had lots of questions.

After our time in Nauvoo we drove up to Minnesota to visit with Mark's family. Along the way we met up with a dear friend of ours and her boys. (Tami, Hawkeye, Orion) We went to the "Bounce Depot" and had a great time catching up with each other. The kids bounced and jumped and ran around and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we were ready to leave.

While in Minnesota we stayed a night with Mark's sister Karen and her family. Their daughter Amber is Sam's age and the three girls had a blast playing with each other! Here they are at Famous Dave's!

Another fun activity we did was visit an indoor water park. Oh my goodness, did the girls have a great time! Who doesn't love swimming and going down water slides for four hours straight? Thanks to Uncle Dan who took the girls down the big slides because the mommys were a tad bit nervous to go themselves. In this picture the girls are sitting and waiting for Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan to come out so we could head home. They were so tired they could hardly see straight so they needed a little sugar pick me up for the drive home.

We had a nice dinner with all of the Minnesota family members where we took lots of pictures and laughed about old memories. This is me with Karen.

After six days in Minnesota it was time to head home. We went to Wyoming to stay with Mark's other sister (Joanie) and her family for a couple of days. Her girls are our girls' age and they had the best time playing together! Rebecca and Mariah raise chickens so Emma and Sam learned how to pick up chickens and feed them and gather their eggs. It was a great adventure for them!

After we left Joanie's house we headed towards Salt Lake and made a stop at Independence Rock. The girls were very intrigued with finding the scratches in the rock where people have signed their names over the past 170 years.

Down the road a few more miles is Martin's Cove where we stopped to look around. Martin's Cove is where the handcart companies stopped during their trek west in 1856 and is a very special spot. The Perrys have ancestors who were in one of the companies so we found their names on the wall.

We made it back to Salt Lake to visit with family for one more night before heading home to Oregon. Here the girls are with their Auntie Tracie who made us breakfast before we hit the road one last day. I forgot to get pictures of Todd, Sue, Luke, and Kate but we had lots of fun being with them, too!

It was a wonderful and LONG trip - it took us 16 days. We were glad to be home but we made so many fun memories along the way! The girls were troopers and didn't complain too much about seven entire days in a car. Thanks to everyone who helped make our trip so great!

Happy Graduation to Samantha!

2010-06-28T13:56:00.001-07:00

Samantha officially finished preschool on June 3rd by having a graduation ceremony with her little classmates. The girls sang songs, wore their graduation caps and received diplomas! It was very precious to watch. Sam so enjoyed her time in Joy School but is quite ready to move on to Kindergarten! We are so proud of you Samantha - what a special little girl you are!

Emma's Last Week of School

2010-06-28T13:49:00.001-07:00

Much of the last week or two of school this year was spent on field trips and extracurricular activities. One thing that Emma's class did was invite all of the parents to the classroom and see everyone's portfolios from the past several months and watch some homemade videos that the kids made. Emma and one of her classmates made a video called "The Foot Book" which was adorable. She also had a farm unit where they planned out their own farms - including all of the animals and outbuildings. It was really fun to see Emma in her classroom and to see what she's been working on in school. First grade was a great year for her! Good job Emma - you made mommy and daddy VERY proud!

Starting to Save

2010-05-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

The tradition in our family is that when the girls turn five years old we take them down to the bank and help them open up their own savings account. They take all the money they have earned in their first five years through allowances or birthday gifts and deposit it at the bank. It was Samantha's turn on Friday and even though she was nervous that the bank was taking away all of her money, once she understood that it wasn't the case, she was very proud of have her own account. Hopefully this will help her learn the value of saving her money!!

Happy Birthday Samantha!!!

2010-05-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a Birthday Weekend for Samantha! My baby girl turned five years old. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital. When she was a baby it seemed to me that time was going too slow and I would wonder when she would start to grow up. Now the time goes by so much more quickly - if you blink for one second, the moment is gone. I informed her that there weren't going to be any more birthdays and that she was always going to stay five years old. Her response was, "Mom - I have to grow up. But I'll always be your little girl."

We started the weekend off by having a friend birthday party. We had lots of fun playing with balloons, going on a treasure hunt, and making necklaces. This is Samantha with her very best friend Nora.

The little girls were so cute and the weather was perfect to spend time outside. Mom was pretty tired afterwards, but the party was a big success and there were lots of smiles!
The other special occasion for the weekend was being at my niece's baptism. Tracie flew into town and Todd and Suzann and their kids made the trek from Utah as well. Because Kennidy's baptism fell on Samantha's birthday we had a big family dinner to celebrate both of the girls. The baptism was very special and it was so nice to spend time with family. The girls always have a fabulous time playing with their cousins and feeling very spoiled by aunts and uncles and gramma and grampa. Of course I couldn't resist taking a picture of my precious little niece Lillie.

Here is Aunt Tracie with Camryn.

Unfortunately I was having too much fun visiting with my siblings and my parents that I really neglected to take very many pictures. My sister's house was filled to the brim with lots of little children - it was kind of an organized chaos and I wasn't thinking about the camera too much. But I did manage to get the birthday cake moments. Here are the girls of honor - Sam and Kennidy. (Samantha has black makeup under her eyes because all of the "older" girls were playing dress up with the makeup).

Here they are blowing out their birthday candles.

It was such a great weekend! We love you very much Samantha! Happy 5th birthday!

Shoutout to Girlsfriends!

2010-05-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have a very special group of girlfriends that are so much fun to be with. The four of us do all kinds of things together and share our innermost secrets and wildest ideas. It isn't uncommon for a "Girls Night Out" to last until 2am because we just can't stop laughing! What a blessing it is to have friends who understand your concerns and insecurities, who can relate to you when life gets frustrating or confusing, and who aren't afraid to offer advice or to be brutally honest. We can have a great time together going to Walmart, folding laundry, taking the kids to the park, or going to a nice restaurant for some much needed dessert. At this particular outing we were celebrating Alisa's birthday with some delicous key lime pie....and a few onion rings to go!
I often wonder what I would do without you three gals. You are definitely kindred spirits and I love you!

Exercise Groupies

2010-05-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

One of the ways that I enjoy working out is by doing a pilates and yoga video. It's a good workout and I can sneak it in at various times during my day, depending on my schedule. On this particular day I did my workout right before Emma came home from school. The yoga mat was still out and when the girls saw it on the floor they decided that they wanted to have a little workout for themselves. Here they are doing the single let stretch.

The teaser is pretty hard to do.

Not to mention this move...

Now she is the Exalted Warrior!

It's nice to be able to exercise with my girls and hopefully they learn some good habits!

School Field Trip

2010-05-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I have made any posts to our blog - not that things haven't been happening with us, but because our computer has been so dreadfully slow and I didn't want to take the time and sit for five minutes to wait for each individual picture to download. However, we purchased some extra ram this week and then installed it on Friday night and now the computer works WONDERFULLY! I'm so grateful!!! Now I can be more on the ball with filling you all in on how things are going for our family.

Being a stay at home mom, I am fortunate enough to be able to volunteer in Emma's classroom which I love doing. At the beginning of April I was a chaperone on a class field trip to the local newspaper office where the kids learned how to put a newspaper together. They then came back to school and the rest of the week worked on publishing their own newspaper. Emma and I had a fun time together and I loved being there with her.The machines were very loud for the kiddos, but of course it was the most exciting element of their tour.

Here she is at the end of the tour where she saw how the ads are inserted and the newspapers are loaded up.
Emma enjoys really enjoys learning so this was a very fun experience for her.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

It sure was a nice and relaxing Easter weekend! We enjoyed spending time together as a family and participating in our Easter traditions. I think the only thing that would have made the weekend better was to have warmer weather. (Winter finally arrived this past week.) We still had a wonderful weekend though, despite the cold temperatures. We started off by making some Easter goodies and delivering them to ward members which we did between sessions of General Conference. Then we colored eggs while Daddy went to the Priesthood session.

The girls were very creative.....

When Dad came home we had ice cream sundaes which are a Perry family tradition, dating back to when Mark was a kid. You can't go wrong with ice cream.

This morning we woke up to a blustery and very chilly day - it was 19 degrees! It was hardly the weather for an Easter egg hunt but we figured that if the Easter Bunny could handle it, then we could, too! The girls literally jumped out of their beds before seven and were anxious to get outside and find their treasures!

Emma and Samantha weren't too phased by the fact that they were wearing their pajamas along with their heavy coats and gloves.

Hooray for the Easter Bunny for finding his way to La Grande! The girls were tickled with their discoveries.
We spent the rest of the day watching General Conference and snacking on the Easter goodies. Mark cooked a turkey so we had a delicious Easter dinner and then listened to the Tabernacle Choir concert on BYU TV. It was amazing and a perfect way to end our holiday! And....thanks to our very nice neighbors who helped the Easter Bunny find his way back to our house for a SECOND time! :) The girls were sufficiently spoiled!

Conference Weekend

2010-04-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

I love General Conference. I look forward to it every spring and every fall.
It's wonderful to be able to stay in my home with my family and listen to the messages that have been prepared for us. I feel particularly blessed this weekend -- I feel uplifted and spiritually fed. Every talk was amazing and hit home to themes that have been on my mind lately. I love that a good deal of the talks given centered on family relationships -- how we can learn from one another, how we can look to our parents and how we can teach our own children. I was also grateful to hear a few of the Brethren talk about the Youth Programs of the Church. (I sure hope that my Young Women were listening and have recommited themselves to Personal Progress!) Most of all, I was drawn to Elder Ballard's talk on Mothers. I am so grateful for the mothers in my life, including each of my sisters and sisters-in-law. What a blessing it is to have so many wonderful examples to look to and to share my joys and burdens with! I love you!

Spring Break Activities

2010-03-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

This past week was our Spring Break and we had a wonderful time together. I really enjoy having my kids home with me and not having to stick to a certain schedule. We could just relax and have fun! Unfortunately, Mark had to work all week so most of our activities were just me and the girls. We started off by having a family movie night. Mark turned the living room into a movie theater and we had popcorn and watched Kitt Kittredge. Emma has been reading the "American Girl" series of books lately so she really enjoyed seeing the movie.

Most of the weekend the weather wasn't nice at all. It was cold and windy. On Tuesday the weather was so nice we decided to take advantage of it. We spent lots of time outside playing in the backyard or at the park. Emma has learned this past year how to go across the monkey bars which is a huge accomplishment!

Samantha couldn't get enough of what she calls "The Spider Bars." She is getting better and better at climbing and is such a monkey!

On Wednesday the girls and I went to stay with Gramma and Grampa and to see their cousins. Mark stayed behind because of work responsibilities so we reluctantly left without him. But we kept very busy playing and spending time with family. Here is a picture of 18-month old Jordan swinging at his house. What a cutie!

The kids played on the trampoline all afternoon together and got all their energy out. In this picture the kiddos are trying to make Uncle Jon come alive!

Here is Emma, Samantha, Eliza, and Isaac.

We spent time with the Perez cousins at the park, even though the wind came up and it was stormy. Emma and Kennidy love the swings!

My camera died again so I didn't get very many pictures at the park. (I think I need some new batteries). But they played hard and had a great time! We also had a birthday celebration for my niece Karlie. She turned five years old. Plus, it was Gramma and Grampa's anniversary and my sister Shellie came to visit.

Here is Karlie with her little sister Lilly. How precious they are!

Uncle Jon, Kennidy, and Jordan at the birthday party.

Samantha and Karlie having a fun night together!

We came home on Friday and that night the girls had an "Almost Slumber Party" at their friend's house where they made pizza and painted their nails. Last night we capped off our school vacation with another family movie night. I was really sad for spring break to be over and today it was hard to send Emma back to school. Dare I say that I am looking forward to the summer break????

Morgan Lake Adventure

2010-03-08T14:55:00.001-08:00

The girls were out of school on Friday and Mark was off of work so we had a family day and took a little trip to Morgan Lake to hike around and enjoy the warm weather. It was nice and warm at our house but once we got up to the lake it was very chilly and we found that the lake was still frozen over. We walked down to the water's edge and took turns throwing rocks and sticks onto the ice.
The girls had a lot of fun playing in the trees and climbing on the rocks. Samantha pretended that we were in a cave and that we were explorers.

Blogging Again....

2010-03-04T14:22:00.001-08:00

It's been two months since my last blog post and unfortunately I haven't been keeping up on it as I should....in fact, I haven't really been taking too many pictures. I suppose we've just been too busy. However, I would like to share a few random pictures that I've taken over the past several weeks. These are of the girls playing together. It's so fun to watch them enjoy being sisters with each other.
We have had such a mild winter this year - I think it's only snowed three times all season. Although I miss not seeing the snow this year, it has been advantageous because the girls have spent so much more time outside burning their energy! We have some nice neighbors next door with teenage daughters who are so kind to Emma and Sam. They let the girls play with a badmitton set and they had a fabulous time! Emma is growing up so quickly. Every day there is something new and she gets closer and closer to not needing me as much anymore. This is very hard for me to watch but I'm trying to let her be her own person and find her way with her classmates and her other activities. Apparently it is "all the rage" to wear a side ponytail to school so Emma wanted me to take a picture of her before school to prove how stylish it is.

I did have a birthday in January...not that I want to commemorate the fact that I turned 33. I did agree to take one picture with the girls after we opened presents. I actually did have a wonderful birthday spent with family and friends which I am very grateful for.

Yesterday Mark had his birthday and I will spare him the agony and not announce his age to everyone. :) Hopefully he had a nice day. I snapped a few pictures as we were having cake and ice cream and opening up presents. (I think that Emma and Sam usually have more fun at our birthdays than we do.)

I will definitely try to be better about documenting the events going on in our family so I can share them all with you!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, the month of December has absolutely flown by for us. It seems we were so busy that we barely had any time to breathe! Now that the month is coming to a close, I look back on things and wish we could have done things much differently. December was also a difficult month - we had several things going on within our family that actually kept our spirits down most of the time. I feel like I need to apologize to so many of our family and friends because I just didn't get things done like I would have liked to and we basically laid low when we could. Having said that, we were able to sneak in a few things to help us celebrate the holidays.

School Christmas Programs!

Samantha had a wonderful Joy School program that her and her little classmates participated in. They reenacted the Nativity, sang songs, gathered donations of necessities for a local shelter, and made gifts. All of the families came together for a potluck and an evening of entertainment. Sam did a wonderful job as Mary in her play.

Emma also had a Christmas program at the Elementary School. Unfortunately the pictures we took just didn't come out well. The second grade classes and the fifth grade classes put on a play and sang lots of songs. Emma was so cute in her new birthday dress and she knew all of her lines and the motions to the songs. We were very proud of her.

Snow!

We had a little bit of snow this month. It snowed a few days before Christmas and fortunately it stayed cold enough that it never melted and we were still able to have a White Christmas. We are hoping that we get some more soon. Sam wanted to pose in the fresh snow for a picture.

Baking Day with Gramma!

Gramma and Grampa were able to come visit from Hermiston for an afternoon. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving so we were really looking forward to their visit. Gramma brought all the makings for some treats so all the girls worked hard in the kitchen melting chocolate, dipping pretzels and candy canes, and doing a little baking. Everything was so yummy and we had a good time together.

Christmas Day!

Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning. It was the first time that we were really able to relax and enjoy being with each other and celebrate the birth of our Savior. My favorite part of Christmas is watching my sweet daughters come out of their room to see the bounty under the tree. It is so special to see their delight! I always try to take a video of it:

The girls bought each other a little something and they were very happy and thankful for their new play-doh and colored pencils. Aunt Joan and cousins Rebecca and Mariah sent books for the girls which they absolutely LOVE! And Santa brought them a little something that they could open up together.

It really was a nice day and we enjoyed our gifts and being in our pajamas all day!!!

Sledding!

The day after Christmas we decided to get out of the house and drive up the mountain to Tolgate for some serious sledding. It was just gorgeous there and there was so much snow. The trees were all covered and the undisturbed snow looked like little fairy wings. It was the perfect day for sledding and we topped it off with hot cocoa and popcorn afterwards to warm us up.

We are looking forward to the new year and all that it offers for us. We hope that you all have a wonderful new year as well!

Welcome Lillie!

2009-11-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

My sweet niece, Lillian, arrived this week to Hollie and Bryce. We had the opportunity on Thanksgiving day to visit them in the hospital and meet her for the first time. She is so precious and we are grateful for the beautiful blessing of having her join our family.

The girls have been looking forward to their new cousin for so long now so they were thrilled to finally meet her! Emma said to us, "I felt like crying when I got to hold Lillie!"

We love you Lillie!

Into The Woods

2009-11-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

Last night the girls and I went with a group of friends to go see a play called "Into The Woods" at the Elgin Opera House. Our good friends were performing in the play and they did such a good job. The music was fun, the acting was hilarious, and the three of us really had a nice time together.
The lovely Jeannette played Cinderella and she was amazing! Emma and Samantha were so thrilled to see her on stage!

Although it was a late night for us, it was well worth it!

New Moon!

2009-11-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Last night was a very fun night for me and my girlfriends. When it comes to the Twilight Saga, you either love it or hate it. I am not ashamed to admit that I love it. I consider it one of my "guilty pleasures." So it's no surprise that November 20th has been circled on my calendar for about a year now. My friends and I bought our tickets in advance, went out to dinner, and stood in line (in the rain and freezing temperatures for nearly an hour) in order to see one of the first showings of New Moon. Although I enjoyed myself immensely, I must admit that the movie didn't necessarily meet my expectations as I thought that it would. I suppose that I'm just going to have to see it again to make sure.........

Thanksgiving Program

2009-11-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

In a world where the Thanksgiving holiday is quickly forgotten or shoved in the background, it was so nice that Emma's classmates put on an adorable Thanksgiving program for all of their family members to attend. They did a reinactment of the first Thanksgiving. Emma was one of the narrators and also an Indian who was at the feast. The kids all made their own costumes and memorized their lines. What a great job!

Let it Snow!

2009-11-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

Boy do we love the snow in our family! Snow is soft and peaceful and looks so pretty. We haven't had a lot of snow yet but we take advantage of it when we do have it.
The girls were outside playing by 8am. They couldn't wait to get their snow clothes on and make snow angels.

Snowed In

2009-11-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

Last week we celebrated Veteran's Day. Here in La Grande there was no school and the weather was very cold. It was snowing and the wind was blowing hard so we were inside for most of the day. The girls needed a little bit of entertaining so we got out all the fixings to make sock puppets. They had a great time with their dad and their puppets turned out very cute. Sometimes having a fun and simple craft project to do does the trick for cooped up children.

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

As always we had quite a few Halloween festivities to participate in this year. Samantha was able to dress up for her preschool class and then they went to the pumpkin patch which was loads of fun.....except for the fact that is was snowing the entire time and freezing cold. The hats and gloves covered up her costume but she went this year as a Musketeer from the recent Barbie movie.

Emma dressed up for school as a gypsy! She had a parade with all of the children in the school and Mom was able to help plan her class party, which hopefully was a success. What a very pretty gypsy she is.

On Saturday night we had the Ward Chili Cook-off and then a trunk-or-treat afterwards. The girls were loaded up with candy and were utterly exhausted by the time we arrived home. They were asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. I am certain that they had very "sweet" dreams that night....

All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!

2009-11-03T13:53:00.001-08:00

This was a very big day for Emma! She went to the dentist and had two of her bottom teeth pulled because her permanent teeth had started coming in and the baby teeth weren't inclined to come out on their own. Emma hadn't lost any teeth before so we took a before and after picture of her experience. The dentist was wonderful and the teeth came out very easily. The laughing gas had quite an effect on her as well. :) But the best part was that the tooth fairy left a gift for her under her pillow which she was able to put in her piggy bank!
What a brave little girl!!!!

Pumpking Carving

2009-11-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

We were a little late this year getting our pumpkins carved and put on display - we waited until just a few days before Halloween. But we had a fun evening together. At first the girls were a little leary of putting their hands inside the pumpkin but after a little while they loosened up a bit and were good helpers.

First Day of School!!!!

2009-09-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

It's the day that parents look forward to and dream about for three months and it has finally arrived for us in La Grande. Monday was Emma's first day of first grade! She has been looking forward to school starting for a couple of weeks now and she didn't sleep much on Sunday night because she was so anxious about going. She had a new lunch bag from her Aunt Hollie and all of her school supplies all packed and ready to go days in advance.
The school was, of course, very busy with all of the parents bringing their children. Here is Emma out in front of the school. She was starting to feel a bit nervous about being away from home all day. Daddy gave her a nice father's blessing and we assured her that all would be well.

This is outside her classroom. She is in a combined first and second grade class this year so we're looking forward to seeing how that goes. We told her that as soon as she saw some kids that she knew, she would forget about Mom and Dad and jump right in to class which is exactly what she did. I kept hanging around hoping that she would miss me a little bit but she didn't even glance our way. Mark finally told me that she didn't need me to stay and that we needed to leave and let her be a big girl. All summer I told myself that it was going to be great having her in school all day but when the day came, it was Mom who wasn't quite ready for it to happen. :)

Sam started her second year of Joy School and since I was teaching this week, she got to stay at home with me and help me to not think about Emma being gone. Sam had a great time and all of the little girls who are in her class were very happy to be there. She's a 'pro' at preschool now and she definitely won't be missing me when she attends school at the other homes.

They grow up way too fast....

Utah Trip

2009-09-02T14:48:00.001-07:00

We had an end of summer vacation last week and visited some of my family who live in Salt Lake City. We spent four days with my brother and sister-in-law and my sister and we had a really wonderful visit. It's a seven hour drive from La Grande to Salt Lake and while the girls were very well behaved along the way, they did get tuckered out pretty quickly. If only they could have slept like this the entire way.....

Aunt Tracie made a yummy chocolate cake for our visit and so the next morning for breakfast Aunt Sue let all the kiddos have cake. Who doesn't eat chocolate cake for breakfast when you're on vacation???? My niece, Katie, had most of the cake on her face but she didn't mind one bit having her picture taken.

You can't visit Salt Lake City without visiting Temple Square. Even amidst all of the ongoing construction of downtown, you can still have a really nice experience seeing all of the landmarks there. The visitors' centers are always beautiful as well as all of the gorgeous flowers and fountains.

We really only lasted a couple of hours because it was 100 degrees in Salt Lake that weekend. Too hot! If the weather had been more bearable we would have spent much more time there looking around.

One night Uncle Todd barbequed for us for dinner. And everyone knows that you can't have a BBQ without having s'mores! Here is Aunt Tracie with Emma and her cousin, Luke. Aunt Tracie is so silly when she is around all of the nieces and nephews. That's why they all love her soooo much!

Luke had chocolate on his hands, his face, his ears, his neck....everywhere!

Of course, Katie, found it more enjoyable to actually play with the marshmallow instead of eating it. No matter how messy the little ones get, they are still so adorable.

Unfortunately, the batteries in the camera stopped working after two days on our trip so I didn't get near as many pictures as I wanted to. For some reason the camera started working again for a little while on our way home. We stopped in Perry and Brigham City to pay our respects to our deceased family members. This is a family tradition for us and it's a good way to teach the girls about their ancestors and the importance of family history work.

Our plan was to be able to visit with all of our friends who live in the area while we were there. But Emma unexpectantly came down with a flu bug so two of our days were spent nursing her and making sure that she was feeling better. We thought it best that we not spread germs to our friends so we stayed home. We do miss all of you and will be in touch the next time we are there.

Precious Children

2009-08-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sure there are MANY of you out there who would agree that parenting is the toughest job there is. Most of the time we go through our days dealing with temper tantrums, fighting siblings, time outs, and feeling a lack of patience. But then there are those stolen moments when you peek in on your children while they are sleeping and you realize how much you love them and how special they are. You feel so grateful to be a parent and to have been entrusted with this most precious gift. I just couldn't resist taking these pictures of Samantha.

Isn't she beautiful?

Camping Trip

2009-08-18T11:53:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we took a family camping trip with my parents. We went to Red Bridge State Park and had a wonderful time together! Although it was cold, the girls did well and enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and exploring outside.
Typical Sam....hamming it up for the camera.

My parents came back to our home and stayed the weekend with us and accompanied us to church.

It was a great end-of-summer activity for us to do. Now we can concentrate on back-to-school preparations. Where did the summer go?

Soccer Season 2009

2009-08-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

We sure had a fun time with soccer season this summer. Emma has improved a lot since last year and she worked really hard each game. She also made some good friends which is an added bonus for her.

Thanks to both of her coaches, Jeannette and Elizabeth, for working with all the team members to make sure they had an enjoyable experience!

Her last game Emma was given a soccer medal which she was very proud of. And, as always, Samantha was excited to cheer on her big sister!

Huckleberry Picking

2009-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was a scorcher here in La Grande.....102 degrees! It's pretty rare that temperatures reach that high. We decided to get out of town as a family and head higher up the mountain where it was cooler to do some huckleberry picking. We also were very excited about Mark completing his Masters Program this weekend so we were in need of a fun family outing to celebrate! The huckleberries are everywhere right now so we got alot of picking done....at least Mark, Emma, and I did. My favorite quote of the day was when Sam said, "Emma, I can't help you pick right now. I'm too busy exploring!" She had a hard time focusing on filling up her bucket because all the berries were going straight to her mouth! They were just too temping! She also found a handy dandy walking stick which made the "exploring" much more fun. We haven't decided on what we'll do with our huckleberries - maybe some yummy syrup. At least we know that we have alot more berry picking trips to make before the summer is over.

Anyone Up For A......Triathlon?

2009-07-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

This morning my friends and I participated in our first ever triathlon! It was a really wonderful (and exhaustive) experience and I'm SO glad that I did it! Never in my life would I have imagined that one day I would complete a triathlon so I feel a great sense of accomplishment. If any of you are wondering just what is involved, it requires a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride, and then a 5k run. We have been training together all summer.

I finished in 1 hour 49 minutes. My good husband was there to take pictures throughout the morning. Unfortunately for me, it's near impossible to come up with a flattering photo after nearly two hours of intense physical exercise....LOL (Pictured: Alisa Rasheed, Jeannette Smith, Elise McIlmoil, myself, and Erin Jones.) I sure love these girls! We've done a half marathon and now a triathlon - I wonder what's next for us?

4th of July

2009-07-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

While I know that the 4th of July has long passed us, I couldn't resist putting up a few pictures of how we spent our day. Somehow time just gets away from me so I'm really late in making this post. Our day started out with playing in the sprinkler outside. The girls had a good time and eventually turned the water guns on their dad who was a great sport. Emma really did have a good time, although her facial expression may not look like it.

Later on we went to visit an Oregon Trail Interpretive Park which was really interesting. The girls had a great time running along the wagon rivets and the trails. Plus, it was in a really beautiful area in the mountains.

The day wouldn't have been complete without a family BBQ and fireworks to top it off.

Mother and Daughter Outing

2009-06-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about our stake is that each year it holds a Mother & Daughter outing. Emma and Samantha and I were able to go up last weekend for a few hours and enjoy the company of the other mothers and daughters from Church. I love spending time with my daughters. They are very special little girls.
There is a rickety old bridge that crosses over Catherine Creek. It swings when you walk over it so, of course, all the kids have to run as fast as they can because it messes up your balance. They think it's great fun!

There was a craft pavilion where the girls were able to paint rocks and make popcorn trees and flowers out of yarn.

The Circus Comes to Town

2009-06-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last week the circus came to La Grande and we decided to go as a family. We have never been to a circus before and figured that a quality circus would never come to rural Oregon. However, we were pleasantly surprised. There were some really exciting acts and some fun animals like the tigers, lions, and elephants. Despite the rain and wind and cold, we had a wonderful time together. Here is a picture of the girls standing by a bear. The video is of the girls riding the elephant!! Are our girls cool or what? For the rest of their lives they'll be able to tell people that they once rode on an elephant!

Living Room Campout

2009-06-17T14:19:00.001-07:00

The girls decided that they wanted to have a campout outside. This would have been just fine except that the nights are still too cold here to be sleeping outside. So we camp up with a compromise and they camped out in the living room instead. We thought that they would give up during the night and just crawl into their beds but they made it through the whole night of sleeping on the hardwood floor and lots of blankets. It was pretty cute!

Joy School Graduation

2009-06-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Samantha completed her first year of preschool and we are quite proud of our little girl. We had a family dinner with the other families involved in the joy school program and a little graduation ceremony where Samantha and her classmates sang songs and received a "diploma" from Miss Karen. She learned so much this year and is looking forward to one more year of preschool.

Last Day of School

2009-06-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

Emma completed her kindergarten school year on June 4th. Samantha and I were able to go to her classroom and sing songs and play games with the rest of the kindergarten class and then there was a school wide BBQ afterwards. The year went by so quickly and Emma loved every minute of it! She is going to miss Mrs. Huntington as her teacher and miss all of her classmates. We're so proud of Emma and all of her accomplishments!!!

2009-05-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

My sister Shellie and her husband Joshua were in town visiting this weekend from Wyoming. It was also my other brother-in-law's birthday (Bryce) so as a family we decided to get together at another park in the mountains by our home and have a BBQ. It was the perfect day for a picnic and we all had a great time together. Here is Sam and Emma with their cousin Karlie.
Grampa, Emma, and Karlie taking a little break.....
Here is Samantha sitting and having a little rest
For some reason the guys thought they needed to eat lunch together - away from the wives and away from the children. Gee.... wish us girls would have thought of that.
All the cousins together. Ashlynne and Myah are alot older than the other cousins so they are really good sports about playing with the younger kiddos.
Some of the kids and grownups went on a little hike together. When they came back Gramma had sliced up a watermelon so everyone could have a refreshing and cool treat.
We had a water balloon throwing contest so here are a couple of shots of Emma and Sam hitting the target!

It sure was a great way to spend the day!