Bethany and Daniel

Quarantine Hike

2020-03-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ollie with his "glubs"

Gideon hoisting the "flag"

Bumble Braden after nosing a flower

I photographed every flower I saw.

Daniel says this is a currant

Photo dump

2020-03-05T08:15:00.001-08:00

More pictures

2019-01-14T08:33:00.001-08:00

Future author photo

An abomination that I noticed while shopping the other night. My sister informs me that the tamales are wrapped in paper in the sauce. 🤢

This is the best picture that I could get. Oliver has some fascinating wonky teeth.

Progress on my Sunset Over the Ocean blanket!

Is it washable? Who knows 🤷

Handsome boy loves glasses

Daniel has been working hard on our kitchen cabinets. He's assembling the drawers now, then will work on the doors, then the clear coat, then installation!!

My future kitchen island 😍

Eeeeeee!

California Trip

2019-01-05T09:51:00.002-08:00

While I was driving down to Sacramento, I had some car trouble. I didn't know what was going on at first; it sounded like a helicopter was right above me, then the whole thing started shaking. I pulled off on the side of the freeway and checked my tires: driver's side front was fine; rear left and right were fine; then--Oh. Front passenger tire was not fine.

Front passenger tire

So I got my spare out (thank goodness it was there because I had not ever looked at it!) and had to search through my owner's manual to find the hiding place for the jack. It was a flimsy thing. Do not recommend.

Flimsy jack

The lug nuts were way too tight for me to remove by myself.

It ended up splitting completely shortly after this. I didn't get a picture before the Les Schwab guys threw it away.

A fun little piece of crochet art that lay by my car

After giving up on changing the tire myself, I called the local Les Schwab, who sent a guy out to change the tire for me. It took him all of five minutes. Then I drove to the local Les Schwab to get a new tire. I'd been watching my tires; the rear tires were due to be replaced. So I ended up buying four new tires! They waived the fee for the roadside rescue because I bought four new tires. So that was nice. That night, I ordered a new jack and lug wrench to be delivered to my sister's house. They are much nicer than the junk that came with the car.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We spent New Year's Eve with family and I had a dickens of a time getting a good picture with the delay feature on my phone.

Christmas Time

2019-01-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

We made a Nativity scene with stuff we found outside. It was dark by the time we started gathering sticks, which made it extra exciting, and since everything was wet, we had to pile on the hot glue to bond anything effectively.

Front elevation

Top view

Braden with a very long-suffering Pete

Oliver, the cutest baby in the world

One more shot because he's very cute

A memorial feltwork that I made for for Daniel's aunt who lost her dog last month. Rest easy, Jelly Bean <3 td="">

Adventures in Bread

2019-01-05T09:31:00.001-08:00

I've been experimenting with making fancy bread. It's delicious and lots of fun. Here are a few samples. Sorry you don't get to taste them!

Cranberry Walnut

White

Cross section

Catch Up: Gideon First Grade

2018-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Catch Up: Misc

2018-12-10T10:14:00.003-08:00

We had a Nativity photo shoot with a couple of other kids from church. These pictures will be featured at our ward Christmas party.

My boys are the best helpers. They love to stir things for us.

Catch Up: An actual pet

2018-12-10T10:07:00.004-08:00

This is Pete. I love him very much. He's handsome, cuddly, and sweet.

Catch Up: First time bleaching my hair

2018-12-10T10:05:00.004-08:00

Before

Pic I showed the stylist

After!

She did such a good job!

Very weird o get used to. There are blond streaks? In my hair?

The next morning. I feel like a lion. #wokeuplikethis

Catch Up: Ollie

2018-12-10T10:01:00.001-08:00

Another pet post

2018-03-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

"I want to sit on your shoulder like a parrot."

If I Fits, I Sits: A photo essay about my cat, Oliver

2018-03-08T11:02:00.001-08:00

Not bad for his first school portrait

2017-10-12T21:57:00.003-07:00

I wish that he'd smiled a bit more to show off his missing front teeth, but I'll take it.

Updates

2017-10-07T20:05:00.001-07:00

We painted the house! It's gray now.

Oliver is a fan of the summer harvest.

I'm taking part in a felt ornament exchange. My international matryoshka dolls are coming along nicely!

Oliver likes the baby in the phone. Would like to grab him.

Braden told a story as he stuck these stickers on his paper.

Sundry

2017-10-01T17:06:00.001-07:00

Braden's smile and baby hands

Bath Time for Baby

2017-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Oliver is very happy to be here.

Update

2017-09-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our stake was just split last week. My new ward is taking some getting used to!
I got a new calling: Primary Secretary. I'm not naturally good at secretary tasks, but I welcome the camaraderie of being with the presidency.

It's so tricky to figure out a ward from scratch. We have so many callings for teachers and cub leaders and we only know about half the members of the ward. Add to that the fact that there are several other organizations that are trying to use the same membership pool to fill their various positions and you have your work cut out for you.

I hope that my health cooperates. I'm always so fatigued that I don't like to commit to things. But I have a little hope because I just started thyroid hormone supplementation. My thyroid numbers are within normal limits, but just on the edge, except for my thyroid autoantibodies; those are 23 times the normal limit.
So I'm in the beginning stages of Hashimoto's. It's really the best autoimmune disease to have, so I'm just thanking my lucky stars for that.

Wish me luck!

Kindergarten!

2017-09-04T12:07:00.001-07:00

Today was Gideon's first day of school! He was so excited. I asked for a hug while we waited for the bus and he ran over, kinda tapped my hip, then ran back to stand on the curb.

Braden tried to board the bus twice, and was sorely disappointed to learn that he won't get to ride the bus until he's five.

This is my puppy.

2017-09-01T13:42:00.003-07:00

I call him Oliver.

He Has No Idea

2013-11-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

We got candy last night. Gid (who calls himseld "Did" or "Diddy") knows that. He keeps saying, "Happy Laween!" at random intervals and has mentioned "Did's kinny" a few times this morning. As far as he knows, his "kinny" went night-night because it was tired--and it hasn't woken yet.

But Mommy knows better.

How We're Playing This Summer

2013-06-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Gideon loves to play "Boo!", so I found the perfect place to do that: a box fort!

He's useless at designing/building, but once it's finished, he'll spend a good long time looking through all the holes to try to find me. He especially likes the reed shade on top; its high visibility and high sun blocking abilities are perfect for peeking through!

Each box (which is a top and bottom pair) cost me a quarter, making the whole project total in at $1.75. For older kids, I might double or triple that to really give them a good building set. I plan to buy more boxes and invite the older cousins over sometime next week to see what they can do.

Easter Sunday with Gideon

2013-04-01T22:29:00.001-07:00

Self Portrait Sunday

2013-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Best Chocolate Cake I've Ever Had

2013-03-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Guys. You guys. This is the best. It's so good. It gets moister and moister the longer you set it out. It is fudgy, decadent, delicious, mm.... Go check out Jennifer's recipe at Flavors of the Umpqua and make this marvelous chocolate cake. Do it today. Your loved ones will thank you and fall in love with you all over again.