Meet the Whiteleys

Kenji Sakota Family Relief Fund

2011-03-16T18:08:00.001-07:00

All of you know of the continual earthquakes that are happening in Japan along with the tsunami and the nuclear plant. Many of you have expressed concern for Kenji and his family who currently live in Tokyo. The up-to-date news states that the nuclear plant is getting warmer; therefore the situation worsens for Kenji’s family. Of course this doesn’t include the daily earthquakes, the possible scare of Mt. Fuji erupting, radiation poisoning, and the destruction caused by the tsunami. We have created the Kenji Sakota Family Relief Fund to assist Kenji in anyway possible. Please consider what you can to help Kenji and his family. Go to my sister's blog and look for the "donate" button. mikeandchiye.blogspot.com

Thanks for the help. Thanks for the phone calls, and emails. Thanks for the kind gestures and the late night texts. Thanks for being such a great family. Please call if you have any questions.

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Paden's car

This was Paden's first Pinewood Derby. The red car is his. He choose the design and sanded and painted. He was really excited to be able to make this. We then took it to the derby to race the other cars.

Paden's car in a race

It was a nice round robin type race. There were 9 cars total and Paden's car got 3rd fastest overall. He was really excited! Isn't he a cute cub scout! A shout out for my awesome sister in law Jenni for the cub scout shirt!

Paden's bronze medalPaden's advancement

Paden was also awarded his Bobcat. He is really enjoying Cub Scouts, though getting him to do things is hard as it takes time away from the Playstation. We just work other activities into passing off Cub Scout stuff. Eldon really enjoys doing the activities too so it makes it easier to get Paden to do them.

Halloween!

2009-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

I know this is late, but I still must document my kids' lives. Halloween was fun. TDs has a 2 hr trunk or treat with the businesses downtown. So Friday we dressed up and went trick or treating. The sidewalks are packed with kids and parents walking between stores. It's busy but fun. Saturday we went to our ward Halloween party. There were games and cake walk, well, cupcake walk.Eldon wanted to be a ghost for Halloween. He told me early on that he wanted to be a ghost, but I thought he would change his mind, but he didn't. Pretty cute ghost, huh!Paden told me that he wanted to be a bat. I wasn't sure if it was Batman or just a bat as we had had 3 bats in our house in Aug & Sept. He was pretty excited when I brought the Batman costume home.Sydney was a '50s girl. I made her the poodle skirt for a 4th grade music program and she wanted to wear it again. It is a bit long but still cute!

Pumpkin Races

2009-10-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sydney and Eldon wanted to do the second cross country race. They had to run the same distance as last time. Eldon improved and came in 4th of the kindergarten boys and Sydney, well she did place in the top 10 but she ran with her friend Maggie and they finished 9th and 10th. Still in the top 10 of the 5th grade girls. Way to go! There was a raffle after and Eldon won a brand new basketball! He was excited!

2009-10-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

Fall Jumpstart Elementary Cross Country Races

The Dalles has some interesting events for kids. This year we participated in the Cross Country Races. Jumpstart is the organization that puts on the basketball camp for the area, which Sydney participated in this past summer.
Eldon after registration

The cutoffs were K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. Sydney wanted to participate as her friends Maggie and Max were going to run. So, we went up to Sorosis Park to register her. Eldon decided that he also wanted to participate. Paden opted not to run as he doesn't like to run.

At the starting line

We went to the starting line for the k-1 race. I was worried as he had never done this before and he didn't seem to recognize any other kid in the pack.

The Start of the Race

Eldon had to run a half a mile. He started about the middle of the pack. The high school cross country team was there to guide and run with the kids. One of our ward's young men were there.
Running to the Finish Line

Eldon came in 33rd which was pretty good. We didn't get to see much of his running as I was worried he would get lost at the finish line. He got a participation ribbon.Sydney and Maggie at the starting line

Then we headed over to the 4-5 grade starting line. There weren't as many kids in this race. Well, lots of boys and not so many girl. The 4-5 graders had to run 1.1 mile. I wondered how Sydney would do as she has done the mile at school in PE but never in a race.

Start of the 4-5th grade race

Sydney made a good start and her 5th grade teacher (Mr. Kiser) even said that she stayed at the front. Mr. Kiser had at least 4 of his students running in this race. This race was 1.1 mile and the kids had to run around the park.

Max and Sydney at the Finish Line. Max did a big push to finish in front of Sydney.

This race was longer so I did get to see some of Sydney running but again I went with the boys to the finish line to catch them there. Soon after, there was an awards ceremony. The people in charge had collected the tags of the incoming runners and placed them on a paper to see who was the top 10 in each grade and sex.

Eldon awarded

Eldon was the 8th Kindergarten boy to finish. Hurray!!!

Sydney awarded

Sydney was the 3rd 5th grade girl to cross the finish line. Maggie was the 8th. Amazing!!!! We are so proud of her, well of course of both kids.

Sydney and Eldon at the end of Sydney's race.

We may see more cross country running as the Pumpkin races are Oct 8th. I think there will be more to come. Eldon said that he wanted to run again and I think if Maggie and Max run again, Syd will too.

First day of school

2009-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Once again it is the first day of school. The kids all got the teacher that they wanted and have friends in their class. Sydney is the oldest class in the school and Eldon, the youngest. This is the only year that all three of my kids will attend the same school together. It will be an interesting year for us.

Sydney 10yr old, 5th grade

Sydney has begun picking out her own clothes. She has a very good sense of modesty but style is now coming into play. Before, I was able to buy almost anything and she'd wear it. Now, it's better to take her along or run it by her before stashing it away for next year. Her favorite color, PINK. No matter how hard I tried, she loves pink.

Paden, 7 yr old, 2nd grade

Paden is my mild mannered boy. Very tall for his age, he is quiet and very watchful. He always asks politely for things. He is the one that I worry the most about. I don't want him to get left behind. He is very good at video games and would play the play station forever if he could. He doesn't like the cold weather or the hot weather. I have a hard time buying him jeans as everything is so huge on him. Thank goodness for the button elastic in the waste band.

Eldon, 5 yr old, kindergarten

My baby is no longer a baby. Well . . . he hasn't been a baby for a very long time. This day couldn't come soon enough for Eldon. He has wanted to go to the same school as Sydney and Paden for forever. He is so excited to be in kindergarten, though he's the size of the 1st graders and some of the 2nd graders. He is so energetic. I wish I could bottle some of his energy! He has never been one to walk anywhere. He runs, hence the skinned knees and bruises. He is an easy one to shop for as he loves to get hand me downs from Paden! Hurray! I don't even have to store the clothing for very long. He is my most loving kid, always a kiss or a hug for me. He has this funny clutch (?). He rubs the back of my arm. It's a comfort thing. He says he likes the bumps that are there.

We started the year out with father's blessings. I'm so glad/thankful that Travis is able to do that for the kids. It's a scary world out there and the kids need all the help they can get!

Multnomath Falls

2009-06-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

We decided that we needed to explore the beauty of the area that we live in. So we decided to visit Multnomath Falls. For those of you who don't know, it's that waterfall that's in one of the scenes in the movie Twilight. It's just east of Portland, OR and we have driven past it every time we go into Portland this last year.This was a beautiful hike and though the hike guide said that it was a popular hike it wasn't too crowded. We had a picnic dinner of chicken and rolls the then walked to the lower falls and across the bridge.We then proceed to try and hike to the top. The kids did really well but at the 1 mile marker, Eldon had to go to the bathroom and we had to high tail it down the mountain. We were almost to the top but there was not bathroom there.We had a great hike, though I'd like to do it again and actually make it to the top. It was really beautiful!

Syndey's 10th birthday party

2009-06-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

So for Sydney's 10th birthday we had a cooking party. I'm really into themed parties and I think I have more fun with the planning that I do the actual party. I still have fun! I can't take full credit for this idea as my cousin did it for her daughter's 10th birthday a few months ago. I loved the idea and decided that was what we were going to do! Thanks Karri for the wonderful idea!

Travis and I went to Freddies and found some dish towels to use to make aprons. I wasn't too excited about them and about the price but Freddies is about all we have here in The Dalles. They sat on my counter for a couple of days and then Friday (the day before the party) I had a great idea to try Kmart and just see what they had. Boy am I glad that I went there! They had the cutest dish towels in the exact party theme that I had gotten for napkins and paper plates! The price was much to my liking also!At the party we made individual pizzas. They kids got crazy, putting every topping on and stacking them high, but they had fun. I had Sydney ground the sausage, another girl make the fropee (sp) drink, and another girl make the cake mix. I even cut up different fruit for kabobs.

Then we put cake mix into their own cup and cooked little cupcakes for each of them. The kids thought that it was so much fun to eat the leftover mix and were even chasing each other around to get the last lick in the bowl.

Here in the birthday girl! She had so much fun!10 things I love about Sydney!
1. I love her blond hair and blue eyes. How would have ever thought that I would have a blond/blue kid.
2. I love that she cares about her brothers.
3. I love that she is artistic and loves to draw.
4. I love that she is a well rounded child.
5. I love that she has a great singing voice and love to sing. She's getting better at the performaning part.
6. I love to sit at the piano and accompany her singing. (That's why I learned to play the piano!)
7. I love that she loves to do things with me.
8. I love the nurturing qualities that she has. She'll be a great mom someday!
9. I love her smile. It continues into her eyes.
10. I love that hugs that she gives out freely to anyone that needs or wants one!

2009-06-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed to have my sister and her kids at our house for a few days. Eldon and Naomi have gotten along so well. Two peas in a pod. We will be sad to see them go home. I hope to be able to visit them in Las Vegas sometime before school starts.

Star Wars Birthday

2009-06-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

My baby Eldon turned 5 and we had a Star Wars party. The padawans were invited to Jedi Training at our house.

Destroy the Death Star

Lightsaber training

We had a great time and the kids enjoyed the party. They went home with a penny, a light saber and a Star Wars bingo game. It was good to enjoy the kids having fun!

How do you rate?

2009-04-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

I was rated very superior! Guess I'm a good 1930's wife.

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test

We are still alive!

2009-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't blogged in a while. Life has happened and spring is here. Just a little update on us. The tooth fairy visited us 3 times last week. Paden actually pulled a tooth out. He was upset when he left it on the table and it got thown in the trash but was excited that "the tooth fairy was able to find it in the trash and still give him money for it". Sydney also pulled out 2 of her 6 yr molars. She now has a large hole on the right side as both the top and bottom teeth are gone.

We were able to take the kids to the Dollar Tree to spend some money. Sydney has some items that she must purchase for her Dog Obedience (4H) class so she has wisely opted to spend money on the things she needs for fair. Training on dog and said girl are coming along well. Paden is excited to begin taking care of his own dog as we studded our dog out and in the coming months we will have one of his puppies for Paden to take care of. Eldon is just a energetic as ever and I'm glad that spring and nicer weather are here. Over Spring Break he told grandpa to "take my training wheels off" and procced out of the garage all by himself. Side note: Travis did work with Eldon last fall to see if he was ready to ride without training wheels. Eldon didn't quite get it then but has it now.

Travis is getting ready for his busy season to begin as spring and summer lead to long/late hours for flying. He is teaching ground classes every other week which keep his very busy. I am knee deep in YW activities and camp stuff. I love working with the YW! I am not actually in the presidency but since we only have a president and 1st councilor, they use me like I am. It's a great escape and I love the ideas and activities that are on sugardoodle.net!

Dr. Suess Birthday

2009-03-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

Dr. Suess' birthday was this week and the whole week there were dress up activities at the elementary school. Sydney wanted her hair done and to dress up in green. Paden just dressed in green. I tried to get the Cindylou Who hair do but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. They had fun that day.

2009-01-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

I love posting with pictures but this time it's just a story. Last Friday, because of school being cancelled before Christmas vacation, the school did their holiday parties and this Polar Express celebration. It was a 'wear your pj's to school' day. Sydney was all excited but Paden was a little apprehensive. I made sure that all was ready for the next morning so that the morning routine would be smooth. I got Paden's pjs out and showed him and told him what was to happen. He then told me that 'one time I wore my shirt backwards to school and the other kids didn't'. Poor boy. In his own way he told me that he didn't want to wear his pjs because he wasn't sure that others would and didn't want to be the only one. He did wear his pjs and went to school and when I checked on him before school was out he was having a great time. Kids say the darnest things!

Happy 7th Birthday Paden!

2008-12-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

We let Paden open a birthday present early, well, just a few hours before his party. He was so excited to get Lego Batman!

We envited lots of kids to come to Paden's party but the weather was a bit of a challenge.

We had lots of fun playing pin the nose on Rudalph and decorating sugar cookies. I made cupcakes into ornaments (very cute). Overall, it was a good party dispite the weather.

White Christmas, indeed!

2008-12-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday night December 14th
The snow started Sunday night. Lots was predicted and school was delayed 2 hrs on Monday.

Wednesday December 17th
School was delayed 2 hrs Mon, Tues, & Wed. The city of The Dalles doesn't plow all the streets, just a few of the main ones. Watch the accumulation on the well.

Thursday December 18th
School was cancelled and Sydney played in the snow all day.

Friday December 19th
School was again canelled. Christmas vacation was to begin early. Again, Sydney played all day in the snow. We have a great hill behind our house, in the cherry orchard. I will post pictures of the sledding activities later.

Saturday December 20th
Church was delayed 2 hrs and it was only sacrament. It snowed off and on for the last few days. It's predicted 4 more inches tonight (Dec 23). We will have a white Christmas after all. Sydney has had fun in the snow. She has learned how to snowboard down our hill and wants a snowboard. Too bad all the stores that carry one (an inexpensive one) are sold out. Maybe next year. Good thing the boys here are willing to share.

2008-11-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

So, one night at the dinner table, Eldon started singing a song. We have heard this song by the other kids. But we didn't know that there was a 'chorus'. We were all laughing hard as Eldon sings it so well. Hope you enjoy!

Halloween!

2008-11-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Jedi Knights

The boys wanted to be Jedi knights for Halloween. So, I made them jedi costumes, capes and all. I think that they look really cute. Eldon has been wearing his for the last couple of days. I'm sure that the bottom of his cape is filthy.
Sydney was Hermione Granger. She even went to bed with curlers and braids. She went out to the yard and found a wand. A friend and I took our kids to the downtown trick or treat where the shops on the main streets hand out candy. Kids got a lot of loot. We then grabbed something to each then went to the church Halloween party with games. Afterwards, we went to the neighborhood near our house and did more trick or treating. I thought that with Halloween on Friday people would be out later but by 9pm the streets were looking pretty bare. So, we called it a night and went home to count our stash. The kids had fun and have be wired on candy for days now. It's almost gone!

Paden

2008-10-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

I recently found this picture of Paden. Isn't it precious! This is my son! Calm and cautious. Eldon would be trying to get into the water but not Paden. He has to test it out, see what it does. He is calm and quiet and a really good boy!
My dad did a tax return for a lady who takes pictures. In return for the work done, this lady said that she would take pictures. My kids were just candid as they weren't to get theirs done at this time. There turned out to be some good ones. I especially like this one of Paden (of course, that's why I am posting it!)

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

Hurray!!!
'Wal-Mart filed an application Friday with The Dalles planning office for a 149,000 square foot Wal-Mart Supercenter store in The Dalles.' This was on the front page of The Dalles Chronicle today Monday October 20th. For those of you who have heard my complaints about The Dalles, having this Walmart Superstore would be such a great benefit. Hopefully, it would drive local food prices down and give some compitition the the other stores here. I would love for a Target to come in. Then I would be happy. Portland is close enough that I could do clothing shopping whenever I was there. Having this Walmart would also help out economy here. The added jobs are a great thing also.

2008-10-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my friend, and Syndey's Achievement day leader asked me if I know anyone who made cheesecake from scratch. I told her that Travis did. She then asked if Travis would come make a cheesecake with the girls. So he took some time off and came and made 2. One the night before to eat after they made the second one at the activity since it would be cooking or just out of the oven. I think they all had fun. Travis was able to have the girls add the ingredients and mix. Then they put the cheesecake mixture into little graham cracker crust pie tins. Each girl was able to take home 3 little cheesecakes to eat themselves or to share with their family.

I am very lucky to have Travis as a husband. He is great with kids. He loves to do things like this, though he may grumble. He has hidden talents. So, basically, I have the best husband who is still my best friend!

Can't contain my excitement any longer!

2008-09-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know we live in a little house in The Dalles, OR. I have a basement that has no windows and I have to duck, yes, duck every time I enter my bedroom. I have a rather large kitchen but have no room for a table(how is that possible?) I felt that I was forced into moving into this place, but our options were really non existent at the time.

Well, our 6mo is almost up and we have found a larger house with everything that we wanted. It's a 3 bed 2 bath old farmhouse.

The kitchen has been remodeled (and I can have a kitchen table again), the garage used to be an old carriage house. It fell down so a nice new large garage has been built in its place.

It has a large, large yard in which we will put in a garden and raspberries. It puts us back into the school boundaries of the school that the kids attend. And even though the ward members were worried that they would loose us to 1st ward, we remain in the 2nd ward. A major plus. This house has hard wood floors in all room except the bathrooms and the laundry room. Our land lady (and her family, as it's her parents that own the house) do not depend on our rent to pay the mortgage so we can move in at our convience, which is Oct 17th. They have also let us store stuff in the garage or in the house. So I have been over 5 times already with boxes. We truly have been blessed in this regard (we are definitely counting our blessing!). I also forgot to mention that this place has a wood stove and this is very exciting for Travis. He has spent the last week trying to find wood so that we will have fuel for the winter. We are all excited about moving and having more room. I have already said yes to a Mary Kay party and a Pampered Chef catalog party. I would love to have a Halloween party but I think that's pushing my luck. I want to have a candy party in December. We'll see how that goes. Hurray for us! (just tooting my little horn!)

First week of school done!

2008-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Our first week of school is done and over and we survived it. 7:40 AM is quite early to have the kids out door for school. I have to get myself showered and ready and 3 kids. Oh boy! Sydney has the routine down, so I have really no problems with her. It's the boys. Eldon is usually energetic enough that I just have to keep him on track. BUT Paden is not a morning person and loves to lounge in bed. I really have to keep on him so that we aren't late for school. Sydney really likes her teacher, Mrs. Ashley, and is excited to be bring the class pet home this weekend.
Paden hasn't said much about his teacher but I've met and spoken with Mrs. Fred(erickson) a few time now and I like her and think that she'll be good for Paden. After dropping off the older two, I take Eldon to his school.

Eldon is lucky to be the youngest as he goes off to preschool. Like the other two, Eldon is attending a Headstart preschool and I get to have breakfast with him every morning. He likes Teacher Kara & Misty and will have one more teacher soon. Such a big boy! He loves to go to school and is excited to going like his siblings.

I am fortuante to then be able to go over the the airport and work without kids. It was supposed to be 3 morning a week but I haven't gotten to that yet. It's nice to be able to work while the kids are in school.

We don't play cars, we play airplanes!

2008-08-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

So, today we had to go to the airport. I had to work and that means the kids come too. Travis had just come back from a flight and the plane needed to be fueled. So the kids thought it would be fun to play. Sydney was the pilot and Paden and Eldon were the repair crew.
They had to repair the wings mid flight lots of times and had to parachute out of the airplane. All would jump out to repair the wings or to parachute out. I wonder where they get their imagination. Silly kids, but boy did they have fun!

Busy Summer

2008-08-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! It's been more than a month since I blogged. I guess I have been busy.

Paden lose 2 teeth at the same time with the permanent teeth already in behind them.

Travis' brother recieved a kidney/pancrass transplant. So we were in and out of Portland quite a bit. I went to girls camp, lost lots of sleep but had fun and got to know some great young women in the stake.

We spent a weekend at the beach in Lincoln City. Tons of FUN!

The kids enjoyed their cousins and the beach, even though the water was cold. The weather was foggy but nice but the water was cold. The house we rented was very close to the beach. We played during high tide.
We had great meals planned but planned way too much. It was fun to play in the cold ocean and then go home and hop in the hot tub. The kids loved making sand castles, even the younger kids!

Toll Bridge Park

2008-07-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Travis woke up Saturday morning and decided that we were to go camping. We checked a few places and decided to go. We ended up at Toll Bridge Park, just south of Hood River. While driving there we could see Mt. Hood very nicely but while camping the trees were too high to see. It was nice to explore and hike around.We forgot our camp stove and had to cook everything on the open fire. This was fine for Travis who loves to tend the fire. We made tin foil dinners with a dutch oven peach cobbler the first night, and hot dogs and baked beans with s'mores and eclairs the second night. We all had lots of fun!

2008-07-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Eldon!This was Eldon's 4th birthday and we had a small family party at home. We did the traditional Whiteley first bite. Eldon was excited to open some new legos and some black Spiderman sheets. Cool!

Happy Birthday Sydney!

We celebrated Sydney's 9th birthday in Nampa. We went home for a family reunion and her birthday always falls around this family reunion. We had tons of cousins (20) plus 2 of Sydney's friends. We were able to play in a large pool, have some water games, cake and ice cream and presents. I think all had fun!

2008 kids race

2008-05-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

2008 Mt Hood Cycling Classic Kid's Race

The first ever kid's race. They had races, celebs, prizes and fun! Sydney, Paden, and Eldon registered and because I couldn't find their helment, which are still in a box somewhere, they were fitted with new helmets - no charge. The kids' bikes were also checked to make sure that they were ready to race, tires pumped up, tightened up handlebars, etc. Eldon was the first to race. He was all ready and race against about 25 kids 2-3 years in age. For each race, the city had a famous cyclist leading and following the kids.

Paden raced with the 6 year olds. We decided that he needed his seat higher. He had to do one lap which was around the block.

Sydney and her friend raced with the 8 years. This was the first race that had a crash and it was a girl from Sydney's school class. Sydney came in 5th of 6th but was the first girl in her catagory to cross the finish line. Hurray Sydney! She did say that she wanted to come in somewhere in the middle so that she didn't have to stand up and talk to the crowd. Though it was very hot the kids enjoyed themselves and hopefully the hospital will sponsor this event next year!

Fishin in Dufer

2008-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

The kids have been waiting to go fishing. We drove to a small town called Dufer and then to a camp just outside of Dufer. It was a free fishing day for kids. There was some cub and boy scouts there and fish and game/state forestry people there for this event. They all did a great job - free fishing, food, games, etc. All there had a great day!

The day started out slow with three kids wanting to fish with three poles and two parents trying to get it all ready. Sydney, being the oldest was the last to get her stuff so she was bored quickly.

Paden made the first catch of the day and caught 11-13 in fish. Yea Paden! He was very gun ho about his fish and wanted to do more.

Eldon was very patient as his fishing pole broke right away. Luckily the fish and game had loaners. He got a nice little pole. Eldon caught the second fish of the day. He was very happy.

Sydney had a hard time and seemed to be unlucky with every pole she tried. But finally she caught the third fish and was very happy. It changed her whole perspective. We all had a great time and learned a lot. We only caught 5 fish out of the 25 that we could go home with but for a family that doesn't fish or eat fish a whole lot, 5 was great!

Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

So, our ward here in The Dalles had a Cinco de Mayo potluck dinner at a park that I can't remember or spell the name of. It was up at the top of the hill/mountain here in The Dalles. It has this great playground set amongst trees and has a awesome medieval theme. Lots of great things for the kids to play on. It was a nice dinner but not much in the way of mingling which is what we need being new to the area, but the kids liked the playground. We even took the dog and he got lots of attention and finally fell asleep.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-03T15:52:00.001-07:00

Cherry Festival Parade

2008-05-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

The City of The Dalles celebrates the cherry blossoms, so they have everything. Pie eating contest, open market, parade, etc. We decided to take the kids to the parade. It was nice and lasted about 1 1/2 hrs. Travis splurged and bought the kids the inflatable superheros and a hat. They enjoyed getting the candy and the floats. For a small town, they put on a pretty good parade. Later we also walked down to the open air market. One vender tried to see me a violin, case, and bow for $80 - what a deal :). I was tempted but didn't buy one. We had a great time and got to see some of the local venders.

2008-04-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

We had a US Coast Guard helicopter come in to fuel. It was huge and Eldon, being the child with me at the time got to go see it. The guys were so nice! They let him 'help' them move gear around and even sit in the pilot's seat. Eldon talked with the guys, some pilots and some were the jumpers. Eldon really enjoyed himself.

Trying something new

2008-04-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I am to have a go at this blogging. I don't know what to do or how to make it my own but I shall have a go. Maybe it will be like a journal for me since I haven't kept one in a very long time. I don't have much to say at this time. I'm here in The Dalles, OR and working and trying to manage my house or just unpack it. It's coming together slowly. I have put up pictures and have only a few more boxes left, most of which are my scrapbooking stuff. I don't have the wonderful shelves that my sister set up for me. :(