Kenji Sakota Family Relief Fund

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!