Working in the Yard

Since we’ve been home from Idaho and after I finished the big FBLA conference I recruit judges for, we’ve spent some time working in our yard.  I should really say Shane has, although I did plant a few flowers and rearrange some of our strawberry plants.  Shane has got our flower patches all cleaned out, and our garden pretty close to ready.  It’s been a lot of work!  Landon has helped Shane out a little, so here are a few pictures of him at work with dad.

We have also enjoyed some delicious French bread and hot chocolate.  The boys have caught on to this unique breakfast tradition quite well!  Davis looks a bit concerned in this picture – not sure why. 

That’s all for now.  I’m officially caught up!  (well, on my blog.  Now if I can just get caught up with everything else in my life.  :)

Easter Weekend

Besides being at Grandpa's funeral, we had a wonderful Easter weekend, spending time with Grandma Landon (who I hadn't seen for two years) and with aunts, uncles, and cousins I hadn't seen in that long or longer. We even made time for an Easter egg hunt, coloring eggs, and a trip to the falls to feed the ducks and see the temple (despite the BITTER cold weather! It was painful!). It was nice to be there with family during this time. Due to the huge amount of photos, I put them all in a slideshow. Enjoy!

Grandpa Landon

                    

I haven’t posted in awhile on this blog, but before I update too much on what we’ve been up to, I wanted to do a little tribute to my Grandpa Landon.  He passed away March 28th, and we were able to go out to his funeral Easter weekend.  It was especially poignant to be there for the Easter holiday and have the meaning of Easter sink in in a different way than it has before.  Although I will miss him very much, I know that it was time for my grandpa to go, and I’m so grateful all of our family could be there together to remember him and his amazing life.

The funeral was an amazing and sacred experience.  There were so many people there who loved my grandpa, and I think I came away from it realizing how lucky I am to be his granddaughter and to have had the chance to know him for so much of my life.  He was a great example of faith, service, and hard work. 

I always loved going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Grandpa loved to tell stories and to joke and laugh with us.  He was always working hard too, even after he retired from farming.  Most mornings when we’d go visit him in the summer, I’d come upstairs for breakfast, and Grandpa would be already outside picking raspberries, which I then ate bowl after bowl of.  When my grandparents would come and visit us, I can remember waking up in the morning and hearing him snoring as he slept out in the living room, and being so excited that he was there. 

As I grew older and attended BYU, Grandma and Grandpa Landon’s house became a home away from home for us, and Becky and I, and later Jacob, made many trips up there for Thanksgiving, to go to the cabin, and just to feel like we were going somewhere close to home.  Grandpa would always take us out to the deep freezer and load us up with all kinds of meat, and Grandma would send us back with homemade bread and freezer jam (made from all those delicious raspberries!).  Grandpa would always slip some money in our pockets as we left.  They often came to visit us in Provo too, taking us to dinner and bringing us similar goodies and treats. 

I remember when Shane and I bought our house in Ogden, my grandparents came to visit for the day while Shane and I worked on painting (with my mom and Becky’s help!).  They brought goodies to eat, and while we were painting, I found Grandpa kneeling on the hard wood floor (we had pulled all the carpets up) and pulling out nails from the floor.  That is how he was.  Always at work.  Always serving.

My favorite thing about my Grandpa and Grandma Landon is their love for the temple, and how they instilled that love in us.  They always let us know how much they loved to go there and to serve as temple workers.  That is why we named our first son Landon – to remember them and the legacy they have left for us.

Play dough

Yesterday, I decided to make Landon and Davis some new play dough. I hoped they would enjoy playing with it for a little bit while I got ready and then we could go play outside, but they enjoyed it so much that it wasn’t until 1 1/2 hours later that I finally convinced them to do something else. Click here to watch a short video of them playing.

Mad Pianist

Shane and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready, listening to Davis pound away on the piano.  When we walked in to set the table and peeked in at him, this is what we saw.  I guess he decided he needed the 3-D Avatar glasses to create his musical masterpiece.  (His glasses fell off after the first picture, so he put them on again right-side up)

Seattle

 

After living here for almost four years, we decided it was time to take a trip to Seattle. I hadn’t been there since I was maybe ten or eleven, and Shane went once in college, but it had been awhile.  Landon kept asking, “Mom, so have I never, ever been to Seattle before?”  He’s been excited and talking about it for weeks. 

It was a short trip – we left Friday afternoon and got back Sunday night – but we had a great time!  Here’s a short run-down of our trip:

Landon was really excited to stay in a hotel (I know – we need to get out more!).  I think it was mainly because they had a pool.  He told me when we got home that he just wants to move to a hotel and live there all the time.  The pool was not so great in my opinion (WAY too cold), but Landon loved it and would have stayed in there all night.

Landon sound asleep Saturday morning, and Davis eating some brownies in the hotel room (he insisted on having one in each hand).

                     We started out Saturday morning by going to Pike Place.  (Camille – the pregnant belly shot is for you!)  We had fun checking out all the interesting things that are down there.  Some lady insisted on taking a picture of us all in the middle of the market, and it’s the only one of us all together.  There was a guy at one of the fish markets that really liked Landon and Davis and took one of the live crabs out of the aquarium to show to the boys.  They were both a little nervous, but eventually got enough courage to touch it.

    At the end of the market, there was this little park that looked out over the Puget Sound and the boats going by, so we got some sandwiches at a French bakery (YUMMY!) and enjoyed sitting down and resting for a little bit.

  We took the Monorail out to the Space Needle area, and the boys LOVED it.  It’s too bad the ride wasn’t any longer!  There was a ton to do out by the Space Needle.  We didn’t go to the top, but we did go to the science museum.

Landon and Davis liked sitting in this rocket and listening to the blast-off sounds, and then they checked out this replica of the solar system.

The butterfly house was definitely our favorite part of the museum.  They had a special room with hundreds of butterflies, all different kinds.  We even had to be careful where we walked to not step on some that were on the ground.  They had a window you could look in on the side that had hundreds of chrysalises, with some butterflies just emerging from their cocoons.  It said they release butterflies that have just emerged twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.  Landon and Davis loved looking at all the different butterflies up close.

Some of our other favorites included:  the mirrors (Davis), the microscopes (Landon), the “all about your body” area with a smell test, balance tests, hearing tests, etc, the water experimenting area, and the Mars exhibit.

       Just walking around and hanging out by the Space Needle.

 

After the science museum, we took a ferry across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island.  Davis fell asleep about two seconds after we got in the car, so Shane took Landon up to see the cars unloading off the ferry boat (first picture), and then up to the deck while I waited in the car with Davis while we were on the boat.  Landon thought it was pretty neat to ride on a boat.  When my mom asked him how it was, he said, “It was so windy up top it almost blew my head off!” 

                       When we got off the ferry, we had a short ten minute drive to Poulsbo, a small Norwegian-settled town with Norwegian style main street and Norwegian stores.  When we pulled in, this is how the boys were in the back seat.   They were pretty worn out!

The boys woke up though and had enough energy to walk around the town for a little bit.  It was almost 6:00 when we got there, so a lot of the stores were closing down, but we did manage to find a shop with some imported Norwegian food and a Norwegian bakery to try out. 

We decided we will definitely have to do a trip like this again!  Seattle was a ton of fun . . . although I must say even though it’s fun to visit, I’m glad we live in Portland!