Swim Free!

In November we became the proud parents of 250 salmon. We have watched them grow, and some of them die. Today we released our surviving babies into the Rogue River at Touvelle park. It was a blast watching them hatch from their tiny pink eggs (I missed it because I was in Georgia, but I got minute by minute calls from the kids telling me all about it). I let Jeremy pull the few dead from the filter, because that is gross. I was very nervous because our once active fish have taken to lying in a pile at the bottom of the tank the last few days. I knew they were dying! Jeremy reassured me, telling me that when it is 25 degrees outside that's what fish do. Most of them seem to revive when we set them free. I guess the river was warmer then our garage. We will miss you baby salmon, live long and prosper.

Mission Completed!

At the beginning of the year our family signed a pledge to read the Book of Mormon this year. Considering we have never been good at family scripture study Jeremy and I decided we needed a goal and a visual reminder of how we were doing. We printed this chart off the Internet and began our adventure. I was amazed. The kids rarely complained and were pretty good about following along. It was fun seeing how well Jaden and Kyla can read and having them take regular turns reading out loud. Ella was great at repeating the words for her turn. I am grateful for the spirit we felt in our home as we undertook this challenge. I think doing this in the year Kyla got baptized made it that much sweeter for her. The scriptures her Grandparents gave her have already been well used. We often would have to stop so she could underline something she thought was important. We didn't read every day, so sometimes we had to play catch-up. We finished on December 26th sitting in our trailer in Grandma and Grandpa King's driveway. We cheered! Tonight we are starting our new challenge, The New Testament. Bring it On.

Watching the Lunar Eclipse! Jeremy and Jaden are watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit? " in between viewings.

Help Me

Baking Cookies for a Christmas cookie swap. Any ideas on what I should make? What are your favorite Christmas goody recipes?

Bye-Bye :(

The last of my family has just left for the airport, after a fantastic ten day vacation together. I was amazed at how well everyone got along. We love each other, but something is bound to explode when there are 14 people living in such a small space for so long. I kept waiting for the fight, but thankfully it never happened.

We filled every second of the trip. Ballet recitals, cooking, runs in the snow, family pictures, dental work, baptism, re-enacting the battle of Bunker Hill with marshmallow guns, movies, Rumicube, hot tubing and Qualf by the fire.

Thank you everyone for making the long trip in the freezing cold, we love you and are already missing you. Good thing I have all the laundry to keep me company.

2 days left till Jaden swims the mile for the first time. I am so excited, he is so nervous.

I'm an Indian Outlaw...

The Indian braves were doing speeches on settlers who had been taken captives by Indians.

First they prepared their trusty steeds for battle by painting them with signs of protection and symbols of honorable deeds done, then they prepared themselves by applying war paint to their faces. They stealthily dashed to the England's homestead where they tied up their captive. After ransacking the house and gathering ingredients for skeleton cupcakes, they shot a "burning" arrow at the house and ran for home. All in all it was a successful raid.

Way To Go Rainbow Stars!

Can a team name get any better then that? I submit that it cannot. Ella played in her first kindersoccer game on Sat. at Jefferson Elementary. Besides arriving late, because I did not check where Jefferson Elementary is before we left the house, and realizing it was on the other side of town.

We had a fantastic time. We came and we screamed (really loud)! And loved supporting Elle in her new endeavor.

After she stopped folding her arms reverently while she played she kicked it in to high gear. I see big fun in her future. We are very grateful for a fantastic coach who is so good with the girls and very positive with them, (Which we all know can be a saintly attribute of a kindersoccer coach)

And finally the news you've been waiting for. Ella's got a goal at her first game! Hip Hip Hip Hooray And to think that she was worried about the girls knocking her over on the field. It takes more then 30 lbs. to bring my baby down. She's a proud Amazon!

Watch Out Second Grade...

So Glad That School is in Session!

Ella's first day of Kindergarten. At the time she was in

Mrs.Capsey's class with Alana, but on Monday she was moved to

Mrs. Gressett's with Whitney West. She is having a great time.

Jaden is dissecting a cow eyeball.


Wendy is trying to be one with the cow.

This is how wide the Mayflower was.

Brian Regan!

I am so excited! Jeremy just called and said he got us tickets to the sold out show tonight. Apparently they opened up some seats reserved for the handicapped. I really need a good laugh.

The Winston Highland Games

I have been waiting for this day for months. My friend Janelle is the MC for the games every year. She is very into her Scottish heritage. She has been to Scotland and bought her official clan tartan. This is serious stuff to her which makes it very exciting when she describes it. I thought it would be a great addition to Jaden's schooling.
Today we drove up to Winston so the kids could participate in the kids competition. After a little bit of cajoling they were glad we made them enter. The events included the stone throw, sheaf toss, caber toss, weight for distance, and the farmer's walk. It was so fun to see the kids trying new things. Ella was not old enough to compete so she spent the day climbing trees, getting her hair french braided, and cheering for Jaden and Kyla. I didn't get a picture of it because I was so busy screaming, but one of my favorite moments of the afternoon was Kyla doing the stone throw. The other kids her age had scratched because the stone was to heavy. Kyla struggled for a few moments to pick up a 35 pound stone, I thought she was going to give up. At the last second she gets it about six inches in the air and hucks it across the line. It went about 5 in. I was so proud of her for not quitting! The caber toss was another neat event to watch. The kids pick up these giant logs and have to toss them so they flip end over end and hit the ground upright before they fall. It was a blast watching them practice. I think it made them feel powerful.
After attending the games I can understand why Janelle loves them so much. Thanks for sharing this great experience with us. The kids wanted to rush home and find out if we had any Scottish ancestors. The closest we could find is Irish. We'll have to keep looking.
I'll have to get some big logs for the backyard so we can practice for next year.

Janelle of Clan MacDougall, Ella, and Kyla

Level 4 of the sheaf toss

60 lbs. Farmers carry

Kyla's first attempt. She got better, I promise.

Maiden Voyage

Friends don't get better then this!

Friday we went on our maiden voyage in the raft. We spent a wonderful day with our friends the England's on the upper Rogue. We had the river to ourselves which made it a great day for Ella and Alana to get their sea legs. Ella finally got brave enough to let me help her in the water. By the end she was sitting on the front of the raft riding the "rapids". The boys got bored with no one to water fight with so they decided to start throwing each other in. I am so excited for our future journeys.

PS. We'd love to have company.

The Knights of the Medford 2nd Ward!

My primary class this year signed a code of honor that they wrote outlining their responsibilities and rights in our classroom. Each sunday that they fufilled their responsibility they got a stamp from the King (me!). Last week they earned their twentieth stamp and got a party at my house. They choose "Minute To Win It" games and pizza. We had a blast! The only thing that could have gone better is if it hadn't been so darn hot outside, and some of my fantastic class hadn't missed it due to vacations. My camera battery went dead in the middle so you only get to see the beginning and end.

Big Bad Vodoo Daddies

I had a fantastic time Thursday with the great women Jeremy works with. Janell, Lori, and I went to the Brit to see the Big Bad VoDoo Daddies. We had a great time. We took a picnic and ate on the lawn while waiting for the show to start. It was fun spending time with these amazing women and getting to know them better. I didn't know anything about the band, but I ended up really enjoying the music. It was a big band, swing, jazz combo that was fantastic. I didn't end up seeing much of the actual show, but I had a much more entertaining view of the concert. The two men in front of me were clearly intoxicated, but they acted out the entire show for me. They used their beer bottles as instruments and danced the night away. At one point the gentleman on the left fell over and couldn't get up for about 10 min. His friend was so far gone he didn't even notice. When he finally got back in his chair he wouldn't talk to his friend... that is until the music touched his soul and they were fist bumping and dancing again. As you can see from the video at the end I had a tush shaking good time. Sorry it's sideways. I was trying to be discreet and that was the best way for me to shoot it.

When it rains, it poors!

What a month we've been having. It ended just as well as it started. On Thursday morning at 7 am sharp our alarm went off like it does every morning. Jeremy hops out of bed to turn it off, when all of the sudden I hear ," OH MY GOSH, I think we're flooding!". He opens the bathroom door and I hear a waterfall. I jump up and immediately feel the drenched carpet under my feet. Squishy, soaking,and nasty. Jeremy turns the water off under the bathroom sink. I immediately run to the garage and grab our tiny carpet shampooer and start extracting the water. Jeremy throws on some clothes and runs to his office to grab his rug doctor. I get the kids up. Kyla starts mopping the bathroom and Jaden starts lugging the food storage out from under our bed. Ella is picking all the odds and ends off the floor. It was a mess, but it was also kind of fun having a project that we were all working on together. No one was angry or fighting, just concentrating on the job at hand. Jeremy had to leave to see a patient so the kids all took turns running the extractor. Jeremy took the rest of the day off and came home to help rip out the carpet and pad and move all the furniture to other rooms. Our friend Josh came over who works for RBS and brought his fans and giant dehydrator for the bedroom and hallway. He measured the moisture up the walls and said it had wicked 6 in. up the drywall. Luckily he believes that it will dry in a couple of days and we won't have to do any drywall work. Meanwhile all our furniture is divied up in the kids room and we are sleeping in the living room. I am so glad that through this all everyone had such a positive attitude and was so willing to help. It could have been a disaster, but instead turned into an adventure.

Sorry, the pictures are backwards. I'm to lazy to fix it.