C is for Cookie

Harry has a knack for many things...here, he's baking gluten-free cookies from Ms. Betty (Crocker, that is)!  Behold, the Cookie Monster!!

Harry has a knack

for calling a double yolker.

And he was right again this time when he said, "It's gonna be a double yolker for sure!"

Honorary Page at State Capitol for the Day

Today Jefferson spent from 8am-3pm being a page for Senators at the State Capitol. He delivered messages to Senators, went on a "secret tour", went up and saw the "Golden man", went beneath the Capitol (which he says is full of juvenile delinquents art, okay....?), and sat in the Governor's chair.

He chose to pose under Lewis and Clark in the Rotunda.   He cracks me up how serious he posed in each photo.







And of course, Kennedy and Harrison wanted a few shots of themselves.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Jackson chose the song to go with his post.

I was thinking along the lines of Aquarius, you know, a little hippie music for the boy, not Bad To The Bone.  

2 Weeks of Outdoor School

Jackson and his fellow St. Francis Academy classmates spent 2 weeks in the hills of Estacada at Eagle Fern Camp. He was pleased with himself for lasting the entire 2 weeks without being kicked out. Why a child who LOVES being outside in the woods would even jeopardize this opportunity really makes no sense to me. If he were to be kicked out, his punishment would to be housebound for those two weeks. What a silly boy.


Here is a picture of a typical tree near the camp. Beautiful in its own right, but I know what kind of weather conditions breeds this kind of moss, wet!


We all paid Jackson a visit Sunday night, halfway through his stay and spent an hour with him showing us his cabin and his awesome mopping skills. He was head mopper of the kitchen and dining hall. You might say, "What a helpful young lad!" Actually, he came up with this as a way out of "Evening Circle" Now you can say, "What a clever, industrious young lad!"

Some of the stories that Jackson has chosen to share with us include; finding a deer bone and throwing it under his bunk so the teachers wouldn't confiscate it. And, oops, I forgot it under there. It was still a little gooey and stinky...( I hope someone finds the source of the stink in that cabin)

Jackson: "I swam across the river trying to measure the amount of water that runs through it, you know, discharge volume. That water was SOOO cold!"

Mom: " Oh, the teachers thought this was a safe way to find this measurement?"

Jackson: "Yes, but they weren't there."

Mom; "What safety precautions did you take?"

Jackson: "I tied a rope to myself."

Mom: "Where was the rope tied? Around your neck?"

Jackson: "No, around my toe, but it came undone."

Mom: "............."

HAHAHAHAHA I switched the salt and sugar up so that when people made their tea they added salt instead of sugar. That was so funny. HAHAHAHAHA

I only had breakfast 5 times during my two weeks. (This is due to sleep in the morning, having a greater pull on him than food.) This is a great example of why I LOVE this school for Jackson. They practice natural consequences and let these young adults make their own decisions. Thankfully, this one did not involve the river!

My zipline failed. And yes, I was expressly told, not to build a zipline.

As a community we helped build a retaining wall and a shelter for the camp.

WELCOME HOME JACKSON

As a side note; 1 hour after arriving home, a helicopter hovered over our home for 20 minutes and the fire department showed up.

WELCOME HOME JACKSON

Actually, they were doing a water rescue and it had nothing to do with any member of our family.  Our home teacher did call worried because he knew that Jackson was back home.  He really does know this family!

My 40th Birthday Lunch

GOOD, BETTER, BEST!
 

 My Birthday started out GOOD.  I spent much of my Sunday birthday visiting each ward in our Stake inviting the YW to camp and sharing the 2009 camp theme with them with my great friend Lisa.  It was GOOD to see the Young Women in our Stake and feel of their energy and love.

It got BETTER when Lisa gave me a handmade book filled with some of my favorite people sharing some lovely thoughts about me.  Here is the book:

It got even better when the first page was this:

Lisa knows of my deep affection for cats.  I love the meow, meow ribbon!

The words and thoughts from my friends were so very sweet and I was reminded that I HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS EVER.  I am so blessed to have these amazing women as I look to as my role models and I admire so deeply, call me friend!  WOW!

SO what could be BETTER than that?  Well, how about lunch with many of these fine ladies with delicious food; sweet, sweet fruit, chicken salad sandwiches, pasta spinach salad, tomatobasilmozzarellabalsamicvinegarsalad and cupcakes with ME on each one:

That cracked me up.  I wish I had a photo of 10 cupcakes with a mound of pink frosting and me on top, so funny!

Well, it was better.  It was BEST when my girlfriends gave me my gifts:

They each did service in honor of my birthday.  Here are a few of the many thoughtful acts of service my friends did:

A week of meals to Loaves and Fishes

A donation to help build a library and purchase book in Kenya

Babysitting

Planted flowers to brighten some yards

A donation of items to the West Linn Library

Purchased 4 mosquito bed nets for families in Africa

A donation to buy milk for babies in a Mozambique orphanage

A box of food to families at the Annie Ross House

Toys donated to Doernbecher Children's Hospital

Prepared a garden for a disabled neighbor

A donation of financial advice to someone in debt

Two flocks of chicks to Heifer International

AND MY FAVORITE

A donation to PAWS cat shelter

(Again, my friends know of my love of these furry fur balls ;)

Really, that was the BEST  of all; simple acts of kindness done by these amazing, lovely women, who I am honored to call my friends!  

Thank you Kelly, Kimberli, Shona, Leslie, Ronda, Ellen, Michele, Angie, Danelle, Nancy, and Lisa.

Thank you for being the BEST!  Here's to a great year of paying it FORTY.

Track Season off to a flying ....

As mentioned before, Jefferson "got" to sit the first meet out. While at this track meet, he was hopping down bleachers and landed on a friends foot and sprained his own.


These are photos taken about 5 days after the incident:




We'll see when track season actually begins for him.

Happy 40th Birthday, Jenny

Good moon, Bad moon

A photo of a good moon:



I will not share a photo of a bad moon, instead I will tell you about a bad moon, a moon so bad that it would land oneself in detention for the day and unable to participate in your team's first track meet.

Any questions? You could ask the bus full of middle schoolers, the running buddies who encouraged to show the moon, or you could just ask Jefferson about it.

Easter Egg Decorating

Every year, a kind woman in our ward invites several young girls to make these eggs. This is Kennedy's second year making an egg and had a wonderful time decorating her sugar egg with her friends. Looks too yummy to eat.

Danelle

My annual "get away" with Danelle. This year we traveled to Arizona and had a great time.

OK, OK. I will let you in on what we do on our annual trip. We talk, we sun bathe at the pool, we read books, we run every morning, we talk some more, we play a little tennis and we eat a lot. AND this year for a special treat I enjoyed a bout of food poisoning. Thankfullly, I was able to ask our family's friends, The Nortons, who live in AZ for a blessing. THANK YOU, THANK YOU KEITH! And I was able to get on that plane Monday afternoon and make it back home. So, now you know the rest of the story.

We are hoping that the food poisoning is a once in a girl's get away event :) Thank you Danelle for taking care of me. You are so very kind! I love you!