Update

I think I mentioned to everyone that I decided to go back to school. I've been wanting to do things like read, blog, scrapbook; but between a TON of overtime at work (I'm on a break as I'm typing this), and all the schoolwork there just hasn't been time. I haven't even been able to read other people's blogs, so I have no idea what's going on with everyone else.



Jeremy took some fun video of the kids dancing. He bought me a new program to edit the videos with so I can post them. I'm excited to use it. Hopefully I will have time on Sunday. I also have some video of JD's birthday and some of Kilo.



On the subject of Kilo, Jeremy has had to devise a way to make the fences taller because evidently she can jump a five-foot fence with nothing for her paws to grab on to. I hope that this latest fix works, because she keeps hurting herself and we had to take her to the vet this last time due to infection concerns.



It's hard to believe that my baby is three already. He had a good birthday. The kids are getting big. Sariah was very helpful last night. She emptied the dishwasher and I worked on teaching her how to rinse and load.



My first set of classes is almost over. One week left and I still have an A in both classes. Hopefully I can do a good job on my final projects and keep my A.



Anyway, I will post some pics and video as soon as I can since I know that's what everyone really wants to see.

First Day of School

School started a couple of weeks ago. I took half the day off so I could see the girls off. Afterward, Jeremy and I wanted to do something fun since I had the rest of the day off. That's one of the few advantages of working at 4:00 a.m. So, we decided to take JD to the railroad museum. I thought he'd be really excited and running all over and looking at everything. Instead he sped through, barely taking a minute to pause and look at the different trains they had set up. The reason? He really needed to go to the bathroom. He's kind of finicky and doesn't like public restrooms because they tend to be dirty. He finally gave in and used the restroom there. After that, he had a lot of fun.

With most of the displays you can only look in the windows, but there are a couple that you can actually go in and touch.

Upstairs there are model toy trains from over the years, including a huge setup of four different sets of tracks and trains that you can watch and control. One of the volunteers at the museum thought JD was cute and tried to play with him but he's been kind of shy lately and wasn't having any of it. They also had a bunch of Thomas the Tank Engine tracks and toys set up for kids to play with he probably spent like 20 minutes playing with them and we finally had to pick him up and carry him out. The video is taken with the Canon Powershot and not the video camera so it's kind of grainy but still cute.

This is Becca on the first day of school. She was having a hard time with the sun in her eyes; so Jeremy let her wear his sunglasses for one of the pictures I took. It turned out cute. She has two teachers this year that split the time between the two of them. She hasn't been in any trouble so far and her teacher even called to say what a good reader she is. It's so nice to hear something positive about her.
Here is Sariah. She immediately went to a couple of friends that she made last year and hung out with them. Those friends aren't in her class but she says she likes her class and she likes her teacher. It's hard to believe she's in third grade. I remember being in third grade. She is learning cursive now, and finds it frustrating. Unfortunately, I have nothing to offer her in the way of help. I need some third grade book recommendations though. For some reason she doesn't like reading any of my Beverly Cleary books. Becca has picked up The Mouse and the Motorcycle though and says she's reading it and likes it.

Toothless

It has finally happened. Becca lost her first tooth last week. Between school, overtime at work, and being sick, I haven't been blogging much. So, I was trying to take a nap before Jeremy left for work and Becca runs in screaming like she'd just mortally injured herself. She lost her tooth, couldn't find it, and the blood from her mouth was freaking her out. Luckily, the fact that she couldn't find her tooth gave us an excuse to delay the arrival of the tooth fairy until payday. Hopefully the next tooth isn't quite so dramatic.

And can I just say that I love how curly her hair is and I'm SO glad that she's finally stopped cutting her own hair? She gets a lot of compliments too, which is good and I think she really needs. Also, this is not her normal smile, I told her to smile so I could see all her teeth. This was the result.

HNFS Employee Appreciation Night

Since finding out that Health Net didn't get the next TRICARE contract, life has continued on at work pretty much as normal after a few weeks of everyone being a little shocked and upset. We all still have a job to do. I decided to return to school and from the looks of my schedule, I should have my Associates degree in about November of 2010. After that, I'll get my Bachelors. Health Net is currently protesting the contract award. Obviously, I'd like us to win so I can keep my job. I believe regardless of what happens, things will be okay.

Anyway, Health Net Federal Services gets cheap tickets to the local AAA team for the Oakland A's, the River Cat's. It was $5 a ticket and included $3 in vouchers per ticket for food. Since it was $1 hot dog and $1 ice cream night, food didn't cost much at all. Between a little extra money for food and paying for parking, we spent $45. The game was on a Friday, so Jeremy took the night off and we went to the game. I'm not much of a sports person. Well, not really at all, but I do like to go out with my family. River Cats games are a little more entertaining because they do fun things while each team is warming up. They did an American Idol spoof and they also did a competition where kids tried to run along the visiting team dugout while putting on racing gear, for tickets to Indy 500.

The game only went 9 innings and the River Cats lost to the Salt Lake Bees. It didn't help that their relief pitcher in the 6th inning faced four batters, walked three and beaned the fourth. JD was so exhausted when we got home that he had a minor meltdown and I had to lay down with him for about 15 minutes until he was calm. He had too much fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Isn't this beautiful?

When Mom, KC and I went on vacation, we came home along Highway 101 by the Avenue of the Giants. For those of you who haven't been to the Redwoods or have just driven through, you need to stop. I found the trees to be very peaceful and inspiring. I'm so glad that people have worked so hard for this slice of majesty to be preserved for us. I especially like the top picture. You can almost get how HUGE the trees are. Almost, but not quite. I was really sad to see that some people had decided to deface the ones that have fallen by scratching their name in them. Someone had even lit a fire in a log. I do think it's amazing that these trees have lived for so long.

I liked this picture too, the way the light is shining in. It made me think of the Sacred Grove. I can understand why Joseph Smith would have picked the forest near his home to pray.

More Escape Attempts by Houdini

You'll have to excuse the bits where I'm getting mad at JD. I was taking the video through the window in my bedroom and he kept climbing and pulling on me. Here is more video of Kilo's escape attempts. Later, after we recorded her, she got stuck between the posts and Jeremy had to let her out. He fixed it so she wouldn't hurt herself but we don't think she can get out now. She hasn't done it in a few weeks. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Trip to Oregon

I had a very nice trip to Oregon with my mom and my brother. We went to Tillamook for my cousin's wedding. He got married in the Tillamook Forest. Then we took a road trip to the coast and stayed in a place called Yachats. There were beaches to go explore right by the hotel and some really nice state forest areas a short drive south. Here are some pictures.

If you look at this pic real close you can see the hump of a whale and then over to the left, the tip of his tail.
These are waves crashing into the fissure at Devil's Churn

This was the view from our hotel
This is another view of Devils churnPortland Temple