unexpected visitor

So on friday, we were pouring the rest of a driveway and steps, etc. and all of a sudden a new fire engine pulls up. One of J's best friends is in charge of the vehicles at the fire dept. They are looking at getting a new engine, and someone brought one down for them to check out. J's friend brought it to the job site so we could get a look at it. The guys who work for us are volunteers, so they were also very interested. We all forgot about the concrete...while they checked out all the cool things on the engine...and I took photos. It was funny cause the salesman just stepped away and let them have their time checking everything out. I thought Travis was such a good friend for keeping J in the loop. but when I told him that, he said J told him he HAD to bring it by.

I thought it was still cool. There are benefits for working in a small department...and having the right friends! ;)

So, most of you know we have a construction business where we do a lot of concrete. We usually don't have animals, especially wild ones walk on our wet concrete. Actually we have only had one other time we can think of....and it was right next door to this sidewalk we poured on friday. This is an exposed agragate sidewalk, so...we couldn't try and work it out....and there were probably a few little holes. j said by the time he went back to spray off the cream, there were a bunch more prints. We saw so many deer there. It was crazy. Earlier this week, we also had a dog walk all over a driveway. We live where there is a leash law, and the general contractor on the job said they never saw dogs running free there. Luckily it was also exposed and didn't show up....but we were worried for a bit. This is another job we are working on. Concrete deck and stairs. We are pouring the sidewalks on tuesday.

Back stairs and large patio.

Driveway and cool rounded flowerpots.

I really love doing concrete. Jeremy is pretty creative with designing. We are getting ready to put a shell design in a driveway. It should turn out nice. I wanted to take a photo of me in my work clothes. carhartt jeans, ragged tee shirts and hoodies. usually frizzy hair from the humidity here...not pretty at all. When I pick the kids up at school they say they always look at my shoes to see if we are going to work afterwards or not...which is funny, that they can't tell with my clothes...that are so thrashed. Anyways, a part of our daily life.....

redneck alert

Okay, I finally got my photos downloaded. Last week, during church, I looked over and Kas and her friend, and she must have had some bendable metal, because they were forming rings out of them. I thought it was funny, but they were staying quiet, and so....it worked for me. These are the rings they ended up with.

But, I looked over on my other side and saw J playing with his knife....this one:

I think he was picking at his callouses on his hand. my heavens! we ain't rednecks!!!!!!

new one

So, here's a new Mormon stereotype. The other day Kaleb was talking with a friend about something I made, and his friend said, ' man, your mom likes to cook.' Kaleb said I did, and another friend said, 'You're mom's Mormon, right?' Kaleb said I was and the friend said ''Mormon's like to cook.' and then they went on saying that when the missionaries were giving their spiel, they could add that if you join the Mormon church you'll learn how to cook! funny kids' perspectives!

misc

Yesterday was the last football game for Elijah. After their game, against their closest rival school, they came in and played volleyball with the girls volleyball team. That was pretty hilarious! Elijah has been doing great in football though, and it is a sport he LOVES. He had some good coaches, which helped. It has been fun watching his enthusiasm. We have not done a lot with sports yet....so this is cool. I didn't get any photos of him this year with his team or playing. sorry.
Kaleb's had his last cross country meet today. It was also actually the first he could compete in as well. We were either out of town, or he hadn't had enough practice with the others. He started late in the season. I am proud of Kaleb because he has shown his willingness to go the extra mile in training. He doesn't give up easily, and I don't think he necessarily pushes himself too hard, but he will do all that is required of him and maybe more sometimes. I think that is a great trait. He was mostly running to train for wrestling, which is starting very soon....I think next week. He does pretty well in that. I was just thinking today how much he has changed in the last year. Last year he was pretty scrawny in his singlet....He has gained a few pounds...like 7-10 I am guessing and quite a few inches....His chest is filling out...he is looking less and less like a kid...sad and excitement at the same time. Anyways, it will be interesting to see how he does this year.
Kasidee is not really participating in anything. I am tempted to take her into Aberdeen for piano...but don't know if I will stay with the commute.

We had the pumpkin auction tonight. It is fun. The 4th graders have it every year for a fundraiser for their field trips. People decorate pumpkins to sell. We got one with the ff emblem on it. It is very cool...Maybe I will take a photo of it tomorrow and post it. We are doing 3 pours tomorrow though...so I am sure we are going to be exhausted when we are done. we'll see.

Well, I decided I am going to go to Hawaii for my brother's wedding in Feb. I have been very hesitant, cause I can't take my family and it is so much money. I want to support him on his special day, but I am a worrier.... well, I decided to live large and pray that things will work out so at least J can come with me or meet up. He is awesome for making sure I can.

I know this is all quite boring stuff...but that is what's happening with us. hope you are all well. I have a funny story to tell, but it has to go with photos...and I don't want to take the time to download them now...so it will have to wait.

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

I was able to attend Time Out for Women in Portland last weekend. I went with my Time Out buddy, Jeri.....and met up with one of my favorite missionary companions, Stef and her cousin Karen. I haven't seen Stef since before I was married, so that was an awesome reunion. It was great meeting her family that I only knew through pictures. ...I just tried to find a good photo of us in the mission to scan, but I will have to look harder. Here we were waiting in line. Jeri is a good friend to bring along. She is an early riser, so got there very early. She was about 12th in one of the lines. so we were able to get up pretty close. Our problem is none of us are super aggressive, so we didn't get the best seats but still good.
We got these cool bags when we arrived. One of the reasons I go is always for MEE aka, Mary Ellen Edmonds. Stephanie, Karen and I all served in the MTC while she was the MTC RS Pres. so, we all had fond memories of her. She is awesome. She was the last speaker and had us all laughing so hard. I think we all could have heard much more from her. Notice how her sweater matches the color scheme for the event....remember the bags?....I wondered if she bought the sweater for this years tour, or if the sweater was where the idea came from..hehe. I was going to ask, but didn't get a chance.
Kenneth Cope was the main musical guest. He is my favorite LDS performer. The lyrics to his songs are awesome. I love his outlook on life, and his love for the Savior.
I did not take very many photos this year, because they don't show up that well, but we also had the pleasure of hearing from Emily Watts, Camille Fronk Olson, Cherie Call and Elia Gourgouris. They were all wonderful, with messages I felt I needed. It seemed they reinforced the things I have already been working on.

I've heard Cherie Call before cause I had friends who really liked her, but seeing her live gave me an appreciation for her music I didn't have before.

I love Time Out for Women and am so grateful that I am able to attend with women I admire. Some of my regular peeps weren't able to make it with us.....and there are some I still am hoping to go with sometime...like all my sisters........so...I am making plans for next year. But this is always a highlight of the year for me. I feel blessed.

On our trip home we stopped at a rest stop to make some sandwiches, and a young adult came up to us telling us some story about his car breaking down and running out of money before he got home....I felt like it was an opportunity for us to carry on some of the love we were feeling all day...well the last few days, so we gave him some of our food and a small portion of what he needed. I wondered a bit if he was legit, and then really didn't care, because it felt good to share. Alot of the message we received, was on being a peacemaker, not judging others and ourselves, and feeling the love of our Heavenly Father and passing it on. It was all good.

eggs

we got our first brown egg yesterday. The only problem is Kaleb realized it when he stepped on it! but then we got another one today. Yea! and this is the first time we've gotten three eggs at one time. Usually it is one. progress...

I made 2 batches of blackberry jam. except I made mistakes on both. I think they will both be fine. the jam won out over the pie. I figured jam would last longer....I was trying to be responsible.

tomorrow i am heading to Portland with a friend for Time Out for Women. I am very excited to go. Sad that some 'regulars' aren't able to attend with us. I am certain you will hear about it!

call of the career

In August J had the call of a career. I haven't said anything about it because I didn't want to violate hippa...but, I think it is okay now, since he was awarded for his actions on the call, and it was all explained in a public forum. He made a shift change with another emt, and had been on shift for just a few minutes, when tones went out for a preg woman in labor. Soon after they said she was 23 weeks along, and the foot was hanging out! Now, for a little history....J has dreaded the labor call. Most people like these calls, but J wasn't interested. But, when it happens, you don't have a choice. He and the Medic on duty responded. He said at the top of the stairs were a few pit bulls that they had to get through to get to the woman in the bathroom. Anyways, they got her in the ambulance, picked up another medic at the firedept on the way to the hospital...and off they went. the first Medic delivered the baby and handed her off to J and the other medic. When she was born she was blue and not breathing. but they started cpr on her and by the time they arrived at the hospital she was breathing. Like I mentioned before, she was 23 weeks along....not even 6 months....She was 1 lb 9 oz. J said her head was about the size of a light bulb. She was 12 inches long. Now, she is over 2 lbs. and has been doing very well. They are just waiting for her weight to come up so she can come home. All of the responders were each awarded a medal... for their amazing work. The medic who delivered the baby was asked to sign the attending physician spot on the birth certificate, and the parents were there. It was awesome. they also did a slide show of the baby with the song 'the first time....ever I saw your face......' it was killer.
This is one photo from the slide show. I want to respect the privacy of the family but I also wanted you to see how little she is...She is a miracle. J was on a high after that call. He called me right afterwards, just saying he was in awe...It was awesome. What I originally thought was going to be the dreaded call, became the call of a career!


Today I was able to pick blackberries....only for the 2nd time this season. It took awhile, but I got quite a batch. They were beautiful, but I got a lot of scratches, and amazingly my feet were soaked even though it was around noon and the last time it rained was yesterday morning. Oh how I love the PNW. I think we still have berries because we had such a cool summer and warm fall. Anyways, I am thankful, since I haven't been able to pick much.
Jam tonight...well, I was trying to decide...do I want more jam, or a pie. I love love love blackberry pie! I think I may have enough for both! Weeeeeeeeeee....

Baptism

Last weekend we were able to attend the baptism of my beautiful niece. I love baptisms. Here is mom and dad with the special girl. And here she is with Grandpa and Grandma Simpson.
We had quite an experience while we were driving to the stake center. We were following my brother and his family, and my parents were behind us. All of a sudden our car started sputtering, and we realized we were running out of gas. We were on some country road...so we kept going as far as we could. There were alot of hills, so we joked about making it to the top of the hill and coasting down. It was funny and dumb...that we didn't notice our situation. I was just glad J was driving. hehe....anyways, we finally died on the top of a hill. J told the boys to jump out and push us so we could coast down, and told me to drive and he jumped out. While we were switching, I noticed the church was right there...halfway down the hill! Talk about tender mercies! The guys coasted us into the parking lot. We went to the baptism and didn't have to worry about the car until after.....and we found a gas station with fuel at $3.16...last we paid it was probably $3.59....but, the gas can (1 gallon) was like $10. and then the station where we filled up, was not that inexpensive, even though it was the same company.

We found other success on that trip. J found the watch he's been wanting for $64 rather than $300! He was so excited! And Kas found a cute snowboarding jacket and pants. sorry, no photos yet. Now she can't wait to get on the slopes! well, we are all excited for that!

We have had a lot of things going on right now...but not time to post. First, on the first week of October it was Elijah's turn to take a bike trip with J. He has been anxiously awaiting this opportunity. We have had to postpone a month or so....so they were ansy to go. They left on wed. morning after J got off work and took a little nap, since he worked all night. Since Elijah took 3 days off of school, he'd gotten his homework to do on the trip. Here are his books... protected by the waterproof bag.
The trip down is 11 hours of driving along the wa and ore coast. It is a beautiful drive. They had great weather the first day, and really enjoyed their drive.
Isn't this a cute photo!
Here they are at the redwoods. They had some great adventures. I am going to let Elijah tell the rest of the story.
On friday morning I realized they were going to have rain and cold for the last two days...they were going to be home saturday night. So, I loaded up the motorhome, hooked on the little trailer and we went out to meet them. We ended up in Lincoln City. I love the oregon coast, and so I really enjoyed the drive. It was raining hard the whole drive though. We got to Lincoln City about 45 minutes before they did. The campground we were thinking of going to wasn't that promising, so we just waited around. I don't have any photos of the cold, wet guys. I must say, riding in the cold and wet for extended periods of time is not fun! J pants didn't stay waterproof...and he was sitting in a cold puddle most of the day. Anyways they were happy to see us! A little further down the road we found a koa to camp in that had wifi...which was a blessing for me!

The next day J hung up all the wet clothes. Before that they sat in the shower stall, with all their gear. It was a huge mound of wet gear.

But, before we hung the gear, we watched and or listened to the saturday session of conference. I was so grateful we were able to get wifi, and for great technology. We really are blessed to be able to listen, and see conference whereever we are. Checkout was at 11, which is when conference ended....so we were getting everything ready the last few minutes we were watching, and as soon as they said amen, we put the computer away and left. It was awesome. Elijah made eggs for breakfast

And Kaleb made his famous cheese toast. I love having kids who can take care of themselves. We laid around watching conference while they cooked and listened.

Afterwards, we shopped....okay...I shopped...there is a great outlet mall in Lincoln City, and then took out time going home.
We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory...bought ice cream and squeeky cheese. Here is J eating the squeeky cheese on a cracker.
Kas is trying to hear the squeek!!!We had so much fun. I know we crashed their ride, but it was fun...and I think they appreciated riding in the motorhome.

We had our Tuna Feed a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I was so busy cooking and trying to keep everything running smoothly that I wasn't able to take many photos. The Tuna Feed is a tradition that we have in our branch when the tuna is running. It is basically a potluck with tuna as the main dish. We cut the fresh tuna in small, bite size chunks, wrap each in a half slice of bacon, with a water chestnut tucked in there somewhere...and then grilled until done. They are killer yummy. I like canned tuna alright, but had no idea what fresh tuna was all about, before my first tuna feed some 10 years ago.
So, I was determined to have one this year...even though things seemed to not work out for it. We did get it scheduled, and had to change because of scheduling conflicts with members, and leaders....so we rescheduled it, and then at the last minute we still had major helpers not be able to show up. But it was still a great time and great food. J was on duty, but fortunately he was able to come and help out and eat.

This is the cake Kas made for the event. It cracked right away, but was still yummy! She loves chocolate with white icing...I like all chocolate....and so does her daddy, so it was good. in fact I think it was all gone by the time we went home. Anyways, she has been really enjoying cooking lately. While I was in Idaho with Gramma Jello, she called me to tell me a friend had invited them over for sunday dinner...and gave them the option of picking the dessert. Kas said she would let her know...and REALLY wanted to tell her she would take care of dessert. That's my girl!!!! Our friend ended up making them yummy cinnamon rolls....and Kas actually hasn't done many recipes ALL BY herself....so it could have been very interesting, but I loved the enthusiasm, and desire! So, now all my kids are turning out to be great cooks! They all have their specialties. maybe sometime I will have to blog their foods. pretty interesting and good.

OSFD Open House

I have been a slacker lately. First I thought I didn't have anything fun to write about....and then I found some photos that reminded me I did...but then I didn't have time to blog, and then we got too busy, and then I had no creative juices flowing. I really shouldn't be blogging today, because I have a ton of other things to do, but now I have a few things to blog, so I am going to at least get a bit of it done.

In the middle of Sept the fire department had an open house at the convention center. I think they would normally have it at the firehouse, but ours is in such bad shape...we are waiting for the new one to be constructed...that they did it there, which was nice. The weather wasn't great, and there wasn't a great turnout, but It was well done.

Here is my hunny running the ladder on the ladder truck.

Amber and my parents were visiting, so we drug them along. Here are my parents.
Here is the ladder truck demonstrating their water flow.
J is giving a demonstration on some of the equipment. His firehouse job is being responsible for all the equipment on the vehicles....perfect job for him....His nickname is Toolbox Towery
Isn't this a much easier way to jack up a car than those little things in the truck of our cars! Youc an see grandma, Kaleb and Elijah peeking around the firemen.
I wish I would have taken a photo of my kids. We all had ff teeshirts on.
If you ever get a chance to go to a firedept open house, do it. There was a smoke house, which is a trailer, with a mock living room, kitchen, bedroom, where they will explain what it is like and what you should do when there is a fire in your house. Then they will turn on the smoke, or steam...or whatever it is, so you can see what it is like, while still being able to breathe. I was very surprised by the experience. How much you could not see, and how easy it would to be disoriented. So, then we get to practice crawling to the door, while following the wall, or whatever, and getting to the window and crawling out. It was a great experience, and something I think every child should experience. Anyways, it was a fun event.