Rashworth Family Memo

Cherry of a Ride

2011-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well my brother Jared and I did a ride in The Dallas called a Cherry of a Ride. It was through the Cherry orchards and along the Gorge. It was so FUN! We rode his tandem and went 64 miles.

This was somewhere before mile 20 and look at

my brothers mad skills, photographer while riding!

We are at about mile 42 here...

Yes we rode up this hill from all the way down at the river

and the farthest point of the mountain in the background

and them some you can't see on the other side of that mountain.

The picture doesn't do the uphill trek justice

we are really far up, we really are!

It was so beautiful and not raining!

Beaver Freezer

2011-04-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ryan and I did the Beaver Freezer a Sprint Triathlon in Corvallis at Oregon State University....The Beavers thus the name The Beaver Freezer.

We went with a couple friends and had a great time.

My Goal was to finish in 2 hours or less and I finished in 1hr 54min.

I ROCKED the Swim and the bike and run where fine. I could totally improve my time here! Ryan had the same goal to finish under 2 hours and a secret goal to beat me and he did both! 1hr 49 min!

Good Times!

What you find when you download pictures from your 10yr olds camera!

2011-03-12T00:24:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted about Eliza in awhile. She is so much fun! She is getting older and not so much underfoot anymore, so I do not have as much material to work with for her as I do with Mary. However, tonight I was loading some of her pictures from her camera onto the computer and this is what I found.......

I think she may have too much time on her hands as you can see faces on her her BFF's feet!?!

Oh maybe she has all that time because her room looks like this! And yes she took this picture! I am not sure why.

Another way that girl can spend time is with her imagination. I didn't even know this happened and I have to admit I laughed out loud when I saw these pictures! I just picked a couple to show, but she had about 30 on the camera!

Mary Get's Her Ears Pierced

2011-02-12T22:05:00.001-08:00

Today Mary and I had a mommy daughter date. We first picked out a dress and some new shoes. Then we went to Build a Bear and Mary made a pink puppy she named Ruffie. She was so thrilled we got some puppy accessories. Then we were off to get her ears pierced.

Daddy and Mama Sherrie met us at the mall and Mary had already picked some princess crown earrings.

She was super excited about this day. She had been waiting to get her ears pierced for a couple months now. She did an excellent job, no tears. After she was done she was walking with dad and said that the tears were coming but she had to use a big 'current' to push them down. I think she meant courage, how cute is that!

Seriously!?

2011-02-04T18:42:00.001-08:00

Do you ever wonder; am doing the right thing, or am I over reacting? Well I do all the time! I would say I question myself daily with should I or shouldn't I do this or that. And then feel guilt about my decision second guessing myself. Last Wednesday night however I was extremely glad I just went with the prompting to do it and didn't question and have not had guilt or regret.

Lets see if I can give you a quick update and story. I am not very good a quick when it comes to a story but lets see ;-0

So my mom aka Grandma Troy had surgery at the end of January. She had a sphincter that was too tight and not letting food into her stomach. The food was getting caught in her chest and so she really wasn't eating because it was too painful. The Surgery was to fix this, it went ok. She did suffer some major bruising from the intubation tube on her tongue, and more bruising around her neck, chin and forehead which was from them anesthesiologists trying to get the tube in. This trauma was more painful than the abdominal surgery.

She went in for her post op appointment 1 week post surgery and had blood work done at the same time. Mom really wasn't feeling well at all this day, it was by far the worst day after surgery and it was day 8. She told the dr and they decided that she may have had a stroke so sent her for a head CT. Rachel was with her. When they got home my mom's stomach was really hurting, what could this be? "GAS?! That is what it must be", my mom said. So I ran and got some medicament's for that to get the ball rolling down there but still no relief. Rachel left and the pain started getting worse, much sharper! I spoke with the dr about her head CT and everything was great there. But he really didn't have any answers about the abdominal pain. He said I would have to decide about bringing her into the ER because it is so hard to diagnose abdominal pain over the phone. I thought she was starting to get some relief and doing ok until she called me on my cell from upstairs and when I answer all she said is "Charity, help!" I run up there and she is moaning 'it hurts, it hurts'. I just start getting her dressed and we went to the ER.

They were great got us right in did a bunch of tests and we waited. Mom was pretty uncomfortable and was continuing to ask for more pain med, which they gave her. At one point she said just roll me like a baby and pull my butt out to help relieve this pressure. ( it was hilarious the way she said it) So I rolled her and she was facing away from me. The pain meds were starting to make her pretty loopy. Still in pain but very loopy. She started singing to the wall ' 3 little monkey's jumping on the bed one fell off and bumped his head...." she ended up singing this like 20 times. I asked her why are you singing mom? she answered oh I am? I don't know. Then continued right were she left off. Drugs are a funny and wonderful tool.

Eventually it was so determined she was having some bleeding around the surgery site and in her liver. We were in the ER all night, it was crazy, transfusions of whole blood and platelets, touch and go diagnosis', anxiety attacks and we are in the same room Grandpa John was in just 6 months ago when he passed. Not good for the stress or anxiety level of the patient especially when your symptoms are mimicking your deceased spouse of only 6 months! She finally made it out of the ER and into the ICU were she is now.

She has a significant amount of blood in her abdomen that the dr's are monitoring waiting for the body to take care of it. They were thinking of doing surgery but thought it was too risky for now. We did find out that this complication was probably due to the blood thinners she needs to take, to avoid a stroke, and they cause her to bruise very easily. So when she had surgery and they needed to move her liver to get to her stomach the liver got bruised. Then when she was back on the blood thinners the bruise broke open and she started bleeding filling her abdomen with blood and this caused the severe pain. She has needed another transfusion since being transferred from the ER to ICU. Today they say tests came back she has MRSA not anything to be alarmed about and it's not a set back she is probably just a carrier. So visitors and hospital staff need to gown up to see her. Seriously! How much more does my mother have to go through!

Even so, no regrets or guilt here for taking her to the ER. She kept apologizing all the way to the hospital "I am so sorry, it's probably just gas, I am just sending you on a wild goose chase!" Doctors said it was really good we brought her in when we did or the outcome may not have been the same!

Okay, so that wasn't very quick but there is a lot packed into this post....so glad mom is still here!

Quick Update on Mary's Pimple

2011-01-31T10:10:00.000-08:00

I thought we were going to be okay this morning while we were getting ready for school, Mary hadn't even mentioned the pimple and it was very tiny almost gone. So I didn't say anything. While we fixing her hair, all of a sudden she gets real close to the mirror and says "OH NO it's still there!"

What I say what's still there? (playing dumb)

"My pimple, I can't go to school now!"

I had to convince her that you could barely see it and put some medicine on it. That seemed to work! And off to school she went. Happy as a clam!

Mary's Pimple

2011-01-30T14:57:00.001-08:00

Okay totally hilarious Mary Scarlet came to me just a tiny bit ago with a question.

"Mom what is this on my face?" as she points to an area of inflammation on her cheek with a tiny whitish spot in the middle.

I tell her "it looks like a zit."

She exclaims "WHAT is a ZIT?"

I tell her it is the spot on her cheek.

She starts to cry, "I can't have a zit. Why do I have a zit?"

I don't know I tell her maybe because you chew on your hair all the time and the germs from your mouth got on your cheek and gave you a zit.

"NO, NO, NO, I can't go to school with a ZIT!"

Yes, it's true I wasn't lying she is dramatic! VERY DRAMATIC! We had

to clean and medicate the pimple and almost put a band aide on it. But Mary decided having a band aide on it may draw more attention. Having a zit is very traumatic at 5 I guess!

The picture is terrible but at least you can see the spot on her cheek....

her first traumatic pimple! ;-)

My Mary Scarlet!

2011-01-30T14:49:00.001-08:00

This is seriously my princess for sure! She is so dramatic and you just have to laugh and give her a big squeeze! In the picture below she is having a wedding for PB bear and Aurora (mary's bear). In Kindergarden they each get turns to take PB bear home with them and read and do different activities with him, you then get to write PB's adventures in the journal and bring him back to school and report to the class what he did. It is very exciting in a 5 year olds world! So Mary thought PB needed to get married! So here is there little ceremony and photo shoot. Was really cute. When she got to school the next day, her teacher Mrs. Long asked her if PB was going to miss his new wife. Mary responded: "no, he can come back and visit!"

Bff's at the beach!

2011-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

I just love these girls they are so sweet and fun! And they are growing up too fast. This last weekend they made their own pj pants while we were at the beach! They did great! Will post some pics of them soon.

In Loving Memory of Grandpa John Adams

2010-06-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

We sadly lost our
Grandpa John
Saturday June 12, 2010
Just wanted to share some of our favorite pictures of him and the fam

At the temple when Grandma and Grandpa got married in April 2005

The whole family was there.....Mary is in my belly :-) John with the wedding gift he got from a good friend. His toggle switch board!Holding little Mary Scarlet
so Mom and I could putter around in her garden

The girls and I went to visit Grandpa and Grandma in Texas when they were on their road trip.

Grandpa John teaching the girls how to read the worn engraving on headstones
Note: He has a tool belt on with all the needed items. He loved that tool belt ;-)

We love you Grandpa John!

He was a wonderful man! He loved his family so much and thought of others all the time. He loved to do genealogy, temple work and fulfill his calling. He loved our Grandma Troy Mae very much and always wanted the best for her.

We love Grandpa and will miss him a ton!
We look forward to the time when we are reunited with him in eternity.

Mary's Soccer

2010-06-20T21:49:00.001-07:00

My Sweet Mary is a soccer player! She finished her first session a few weeks ago, I think I liked it more than she did since she says she doesn't want to play next fall. :(
She wants to dance so I guess I will reluctantly try that :-)

Mary loves coach Michelle, she is just awesome!
And Michelle just happens to be her BFF Kara's mom!

We had an AWESOME bunch of kiddo's on our team!
It has been so much fun!

I think Mary loved me coaching and much as I love to coach soccer.

Mary was so cute when she played her games or at practiced, she would just laugh and giggle every time she got the ball and continue laugh all the way up the field. She was good at using her hands to keep you behind her. However, she tended to give up easily when the ball was stolen from her and she FELT like there was no chance of catching whomever, or she just didn't want to run anymore. ;)

You just gotta love the experiences and opportunities you get to have with children!

It is time!

2010-05-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

I know I have fallen off the blog wagon but have decided to join again! Life has been crazy in the Rashworth Family for the last little bit. Not in a bad way just crazy. My sister and her 3 kids lived with us last year for about 6 months. Then my mom and step dad moved in and stayed for 6 months.

We are by ourselves again and realizing how much we missed it just being us :)

My Vancouver bff moved away to Nevada

and my Seattle bff is moving to Arizona at the end of June :(

This has been a weird transition but I have had come out of my comfort zone a little and had to not rely so much on my girlfriends and more on my boyfriend and #1 eternal companion

Ryan :)

Let me just say he has taken to the task and is doing fabulous,

I do think he thinks it is a bit weird for me to call him in the middle of the night and tell him a blueberry poop story involving our little gal Mary. However he did laugh hysterically. More to come on that in a later post!

We took a trip at the beginning of May to New York! We were blessed enough to be able to go see Ryan's little bro Glenn graduate from dental school. It was a fabulous trip! Here are a couple of highlights.

Here we are at Nigira Falls....Cold & Wet but FUN & BEAUTIFUL

Scott is taking the picture

Christy and Caleb not pictured they are inside staying dry and warm and maybe because Cab's has a slight fear of heights ;)

Uncle Scott and Geneve

I just love this picture

These cousins Ceila, Eliza and Geneve had so much fun together!

Lasting friendships for sure!

More to come on our trip some exciting adventures........

The sun is awesome

2009-08-01T22:56:00.001-07:00

We had another great day at Sandy Beach. After the beach, Jill and I did our clothing exchange. Eliza's clothes for Ava and Ava's for Mary. Works out awesome. We were so excited we both feel like we hit the jack pot. We don't think they will need much of anything for Fall! Yeah!

So after we got home and were showing Daddy the stash of clothes we made out with Mary started playing dress up and put this outfit and headband on. She was in a pretty good mood and I remembered this field I had driven by a couple days ago and thought ahh picturesque!
So here are a couple of shots of my little Mary Scarlet and the gorgeous sunshine we have been having!! The field had all these queen anne's lace and daisy's
and these 3 HUGE hay bales.
Made a perfect back drop!
Okay the sun was awesome tonight!

Mary Scarlet dancing to the music (in her head) ;)

Is that a pouty face Mary!?

That flower was tough to pick...

She did finally get a full boutique thanks to dad!
Love these hot summer nights!~

Sandy Beach

2009-07-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a funny name for this area on the river....

it was not sandy!! But, oh so much fun.

We had a great time swimming

with our friends the Lyman's and the Fogle's.

With the sand missing from the shore all the kids do is swim swim swim and and swimand jump off this great rock..
click on the picture to see Elley up close in mid-air :-)

Mary absolutely loved it!! So did I ;)

I promise I WAS there just no pictures to prove it!

This is little miss Ava Jane and I just happen to love this picture ;-)

It was just a great day for sun!

On a side note I got fried!!
Oh so sunburned!

Luckily Miss Jill coated little miss Mary.
She was sunburn free!
Just I forgot!!

Mary is 4!!

2009-07-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

She is 4! Wow!!
We had a super fun day yesterday!
I know it is hard to believe that my little baby isn't a baby any more!

As a side note for Mary's birthday I didn't make her do her hair and I let her pick her clothes! As you can tell!! ;)

Eliza planned Mar Mar's birthday party and solicited help from her friends.
3 little girls + 1 BFF who is 12 ;)
Yes Carlin is much older but according to Mary Carlin is her BFF!!
Carlin was a good sport and came to her Birthday Party!
Thanks Carlin!!Ava Mary and Kara and 4 big girlies! Eliza is behind the camera!
Mary's guests were Ava, Kara and Carlin.

Mary wanted some other friends too but with summer they ended up on vacation! Sorry Ashlyn and Kalea that you couldn't come:(
Here are a couple pictures from the birthday party. They ended up doing a makeover party.The little girlies were so excited to be pampered by their older sisters and some friends!We even had a little tiny girly guest Molly.

Long OVER DUE......

2009-07-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Okay I know this has been way too long! I told Korie when I was visiting in MAY that I would try and post once a week :( I am horrible this is my first one! Sorry Korie! But here is to new beginnings right!

Mary having some Smore's at Aunt Grammy's (this is Mary's coined name for Aunt Jeanette! Mary still asks to go to Aunt Grammy's just about everyday:~)

Velzy and Eliza Rockin' out in Papa's garage. He even helped Eliza make a guitar!

The Girls and their sleep over at Aunt Grammy's!

if you want to view more pictures click on the picture below for some highlight of our disneyland trip with the brownings!

JEANETTES

deryks birthday!

2009-02-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's a tradition on Deryk's Birthday(Valentines day) we alway get together to celebrate his special day. Not only because it is his birthday but because he shares it with Eliza's 1/2 birthday!

We always have dinner and Larson's Chocolate Cake and Banana Cream Pie!

Funny Story: When Mary and I went to pick up the cake and pie she was NOT happy about the writing on Deryk's cake. She "did not like it to say Big Stinker Pants" she was very serious about this and had to call Sherrie right away to tell her it was NOT appropriate! But by the end of the night she was and still is calling him Deryk Stinker Pants!

Okay funny story 2 about Mary (i can't resist): Background info you need for the story; we usually do not exchange gifts for the adults birthday's. So we are on the way home from picking up the cakes and have settled the stinker pants thing and then Mary says from the back seat,

Mary: Hey, Mom presents are for Birthday's and Christmas! We NEED to get Deryk a present!

Mom: No, Meme we aren't getting Deryk a present
Mary: Yes we are! He NEEDS a bone!
Mom: A bone?
Mary: Yes, weeeellll......... maybe a Queen and King.
Mom: A Queen and King, huh
Mary: No...... a Prince and Queen. Mom Deryk needs a present!
Mom: Okay, we will go to target.
Mary: Sucker! (okay she didn't say this one, but I am sure she thought it!)

At target we couldn't find a king /prince and queen. But found some acceptable Nerf guns. She was only going to get him one if she could have one too. Of course I obliged the sucker I am ;)
Check out the pictures below from out Nerf Gun WAR!

A very fun time was had by all!

Happy Birthday Deryk!

Fishing with Dad!

2009-02-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Fishing at the sportsman show is way fun! .
Everyone caught 2 fish!
Ryan was dad to 2 and uncle to 2.
He was out numbered!
Only lost one kid (Mary) and a coat(Rory's)! Way to go Dad/Uncle. ;)

Here are Eliza Mae and Mary Scarlet checking out the fish in our kitchen sink ;)

Eliza with one of her fish

Playing Jaws with a dead fishy is always fun!

Cousin Rory and her fish

Oh wow dad this fish i caught is heavy
and slimy so hurry up with the pictures already! ;)

ah man...dropped it!

that's so gross, YUCK!

eek! I have fish blood on my arm.

Funniest part: when Mary Scarlet retells the story the fish blood wasn't on her arm, it was in her
mouth and she had to eat it!

Saddest Part: No pictures of Rocco with his fish :( by the time they got home Rocco was feeling
so sick he put himself to bed at 2pm :( :( 103 temp, he was perfectly fine when
they all left that morning. The flu came on really fast and hard he is just starting
to feel better 1 week later!

2009-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2008

2008-12-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is our cutie pies for Halloween I know long time coming but I did eventually get around to it! I am bummed lately because my camera broke both of them so I am using eliza's and it is CHEAP!!
Our Halloween bunch is Tiana in the back as a lady bug, Chloe (Eliza's BFF) and Eliza as Bumble Bee's, and Mary Scarlet she wanted to be scary pink for Halloween thus the painted on eyebrows, but her costume was a unicorn. She was so cute!!

And our little Oliver as Santa's Trusty Elf! He has slippers too but he kept kicking them off!

Eliza's Fall Soccer

2008-11-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

Eliza's first season of soccer with mom not coaching, and it's official

she likes Coach Rachel better....

Eliza said I was too easy that is why we always lost! Ha!

Mary and her Friends

2008-11-15T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is Mar Mar (as her friends call her) and her friends Calea and Cara

they are wrestling in the grass at Eliza's soccer game...each of them have a sister on the team ;0

Here is Mary Scarlet with a frog she and Cara found

They both love it so much we had to let it go so it could survive :)

They both insisted that holding it very tight did not hurt the frog!

the grocery game

2008-09-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, i just had to share the longest receipt i have ever had, over 9 feet long! I was not even at Costco. I joined The Grocery Game (an Internet coupon helper site) and saved over 60% off my bill. A full shopping cart at Albertsons for 145.62 saving 217.43. Also I bought so much Campbell's soup I received a 400 dollar credit for Eliza's school! KILLER BOOTS MAN!!

Thanks to Hilary and Kelley for the tip of The Grocery Game!

Fairhaven 15K run...what a great weekend

2008-09-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

some of you know that i had been training for a 15k run. it was in bellingham last saturday. my college friend hilary and i (mostly her) planned a weekend invited a 2 other moms, to run and relax and it was awesome!!
carrie, kelley, hilary and me
i was nervous, excited and kind of sick about the run, the train up and back by myself and sharing a relaxation weekend with 2 women i hadn't even met yet(and hil which i was thoroughly looking forward too!).

me, hilary and carrie still cold. we hadn't started

running yet and the sun was behind the clouds still ;)

i also, wondered if i had trained enough and could actually run/jog the 9.3miles. i was pretty sure i could finish, but i really didn't want to end up walking several miles of the race! the last 2 races i had been in i finished in great positions the lake run in lake oswego 2006 i was 814 out of 816! yes total runners not age group...too hilly was my excuse! the deschutes dash in bend i came in at a whopping 64 or 65 of 68 total runners! now this was pathetic! i was very disappointed and not very motivated to keep it up after this. not that i was trying to win by any means but second or third from last!!! so, i really had 2 goals in mind first, finish second, don't come in in the bottom 10.
still waiting for the horn

so here i was at the start of the race

isn't that a great picture, totally me!

thanks kelley!

it was a slow start but once the 595 runners were spread out a bit it got much better. i ran/jogged all but about a .25 of a mile. this i walked so i could down some goo i had been told really helps your long run
Here is hil coming in ar 1:29:59! Way to go hil

here i am coming in at 1:52:09

here is carrie coming in at 1:54:56

Yes, we it did!

i was slow but steady and i did not come in in the bottom 10! yeah!!! i was 486! 109 runner/joggers/walkers came in after me!! can you tell i am excited about that!?!
when finished running we totally expected to be completely wiped out but that didn't come until a much later. we were all so excited to have finished and so happy with our times the adrenaline was really flowing. we followed up the run with some fabulous massages at the chrysalis spa and spent a few hours there just relaxing, looking out at the puget sound it was great! then we did some window shopping, ate gellato and mexican food, then back to the hotel for a movie and snacks (chocolate/diet cokes) in bed!

i loved this weekend it was great! i met some awesome women. carrie and kelley! and it is always a treasure to spend time with hil gotta love that women! so motivating! yes i love you hil! thanks till we run again 1/2 marathon january? hehe

3rd Grade!!

2008-09-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is the first year we didn't get to see Eliza off on the first day of school, Grandma got that fun task! Eliza was so excited! One of her favorite friends is in her class for the first time....Chloe!

It has started already they are planning their clothing to match or coordinate! How fun! I hate to actually write this but I will for a memory because we all know I won't remember come next year or maybe even next week! You will see why in a minute! I am really revealing part of my inner self in this story and I'm not so sure it is a fabulous quality!! ;)
About a month or two before school started I had decided that we had plenty of cloths to start the school year, and it's not the same now as when we were growing up when you really only got cloths for back to school, Christmas and Birthdays. So I thought, do we really need anything? No! So, we bought one outfit for the first day of school. Eliza didn't even notice the difference. In fact I think she would have been ecstatic if I had pointed out that we weren't spending the last few days of summer shopping instead we spent them at the river! So lets fast forward to a week before school. Eliza and her friend Chloe had decided that they wanted to wear black and white on the first day of school. Eliza and Chloe had planned what they were wearing and both of them were quite excited about their plan. All but me...the outfit we got her for back to school was not black and white, she was planning on wearing a dress that was a couple years old! I knew I shouldn't even care but I could not let my 3rd grader go to school on the first day in old cloths! My problem not Eliza's. So for several days I just bit my tongue and said nothing. But really come on I guess I am too vain. I couldn't do it. I talked with my BFF Jill and she agreed with me that definitely new cloths on the first day. But she thought I should just make Eliza wear what we had bought. (internal turmoil!) I just couldn't break her little heart, it was set on matching her BFF Chloe! And why should I care, if Eliza is fine with wearing old cloths why couldn't I be? But, I could not mentally deal with it. Alas, in the middle of the night a couple days before school started I envisioned a dress. I knew I had some left over scraps and other pieces from some formals I had worked on this summer and decided to make her one! It looked a little bit different in my head but I do think it turn out awesome!

Eliza loved it!!

She was so excited when she saw it and both of us where happy! I got my new cloths and she got her black and white! With no money's spent!

I was however sad that I missed her first day of 3rd grade, Grandma said it was great! Eliza rode her bike with her friends and called grandma 1/2 way there and then on the way home. She is growing up so fast! I can't believe she is 8 and in 3rd grade! We are cherishing every moment!

Eliza's 8th Birthday

2008-08-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Eliza turned 8 on the 14th is was great! Maybe it was the magic number 8, or maybe it was that we had all girls this year, or maybe i finally realized what the kids really want out of a birthday! We had the best party! Friends, 104 degrees outside with a water slide, some water balloons, a trampoline, swings, pizza, all the bottle soda you could want, and cake t'boot. Then after dark a movie alvin and the chipmunk drive in style in the backyard with soda pop, popcorn, and movie candy! The girls brought their sleeping bags and pillows and layed out under the stars for a movie. It was so much fun!~!!~~!!!~~

Eliza's Baptism August 16th

2008-08-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

Eliza's baptism was awesome! It was so simple yet the spirit was strong and the feeling was just awesome. Eliza got to share her baptism day with one of her BFF's Elley Lyman. She is 2 days older than Eliza. They are so cute! I posted 19 pictures in the slide show and added captions. It is so hard to put into words the feelings you have when your first child has made the choice to be baptized. I just hope we, as parents have taught her and continue to teach her what she needs to know to be a great adult and eternal partner!

Sunriver Vacation!

2008-07-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

We did finally make to Sunriver! We were a few hours late (see previous post as to why!) but at least our little Eliza Mae is okay! I just wanted to post a few of my favorites from our day's at the pool! The pool is an all time Rashworth fav!

Eliza's Scary Day!

2008-07-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that this little bottle of water could keep you from riding in an ambulance and 5 hours in the emergency room!

The morning started out with super special date with neighbor Sherrie. They went to get french toast sticks from Carl's Jr. and then their hair cut at J Michael's Salon. They started out about 8:30am. Eliza was super excited to get her hair cut in a dramatic A-line, visit with Sherrie and eat french toast sticks! Ryan and I were home packing/cleaning for our 2 week vacation that we were starting as soon as Eliza got back from her date with Sherrie. Around 11:15am Deryk (Sherrie's hubby) came over and said Eliza had fainted or something and 911 was called. Ryan spoke with Sherrie and she said fire and ambulance were on their way. Ryan called me down stairs and asked if I knew where Eliza was and if I did she needed me ASAP. Then told me that my mom should drive me. My mom and I just walked out the door, not really knowing anything but that we needed to get to the salon. While on our way, the a fire/rescue gentleman called and said that they need to take Eliza to the hospital. The said they weren't "actively trying to save her life" but that she was "pretty out of it and should be checked out because 7/8 year olds don't usually faint for no reason!" So, apparently while on the way to the hospital the paramedics tried to give her an IV in her hand

but they were not successful in finding a vein and decided to wait until they arrived at the hospital. (She ended up never getting one!) Her BP was pretty low as was her blood sugar. When I first saw her she looked pretty grey and shaken up and started crying as soon as she saw me! But, what 7/8 year old wouldn't be, most people have to wait a few more years before their first ambulance ride!

The nurse said the room in the ER was too small for Grandma and Sherrie to stay so they went to visit Crissy, Bob and their new baby Allison Grace. At least they didn't have to be bored in the ER waiting room, I think time went a little faster in the labor and delivery part of the hospital, especially holding an 8lb miracle!

I will spare you the boring details of our wait for the urine analysis, EKG, chest x-ray and blood work and then for the results. But while we were waiting Eliza did start to perk up and decided to take pictures, with my phone, of all the things that were scary and not so scary in the ER.

Getting her blood drawn scary!

light, Scary

Gloves, not scary

Machine with tubing....scary!

BP machine not so scary they have one at the doctor's office ;)

Heart monitor, Scary! Lots of beeping!

Fire alarm, scary

Mom pretending to sleep, not scary

the curtain, not scary until they close it!

Mom sticking her tongue out a you while you take her picture, not scary

..very silly!

She bored of this pretty quick and the nurse was really kind to find some

arts and crafts to work on and a Popsicle.

When the results came back we were told that all the tests came back normal. Yeah! And, it was probably just a combo of dehydration, low blood sugar and exhaustion. Wow, does she even have a mom to look after her!?! ;) I guess it was a good lesson for us/her to learn that water, food and rest are an important part of life! And for me that my little girl still needs her mommy ;)

Cousins Addison and Geneve's visit!

2008-07-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

We all had such a great time with Geneve and Addison but I think Eliza was the most excited when Geneve first got here Eliza couldn't stop touching her! I had to explain that not everyone like to be petted constantly ;) Another super cute comment was Geneve and Addison had been gone for about an hour and Eliza said she already REALLY REALLY missed Geneve! She didn't know if we would be going to utah fast enough! Here are some of the highlights from the visit!

Fourth of July @ Jason and Tina's

2008-07-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

Mariners vs Marlins

2008-07-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Safeco Field

on June 16th, 2008

This was our very first baseball game and we had such a good time! We went with the Sewells. As you can see the 2 little ones love Merideth! We got to sit right behind home plate!! It was awesome! Eliza was totally amazed at how many bats broke ;)

Thanks Marti and Merideth for the tickets :)

This is the only picture I got because the LCD on my little camera somehow got cracked and you can't see anything out of it now just black goo and it was the only one I brought ;(

Charity's Birthday 35?!

2008-07-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

My 35th birthday!

Yes I know it was almost 2 months ago but I just found the pictures ;)

Mom, me and John

Mom made me Eliza's choice for dinner chicken pillows

(they are secretly one of my fav's too!)

She was busy all day she made so many

we were able to eat them at work the next day too!

Cris would hate it if she saw this picture but it shows she was here! ;)

And these are my wonderful friends Sarah, Molly and Nathan...she made the wonderful cake featured at the top :)

It was a GREAT day!

Fourth of July~!

2008-07-04T06:55:00.001-07:00

I don't know how many of you know that the 4TH OF JULY is my favorite holiday (well maybe a VERY close second to Christmas if not a tie!) So I wanted to make sure to post today and wish everyone a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

I lost my tooth!

2008-06-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tooth #3 for the toothfairy ;)

eliza finally lost tooth #3

no that isn't candy in her molar it is a pink filling!

how cute is this!

Ryan's 35th Birthday!

2008-06-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

RYAN turned 35 this last month and he still doesn't play well with others ;)

notice the shirt says it all ;0

Are we BURNING house down or what all those candles!

Homemade carrot cake cupcakes for the birthday boy....his fav!

Eliza being silly with her cupcake

Mary eating a cupcake...mostly just licking the frosting ;)

Ryan got a juicer from the girls and me...he was very excited he has wanted one for a long time. My mom got him a bunch of veggies to juice. He has been juicing virtually everyday!

Long over due easter post

2008-06-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Okay...Okay I know this is long over due and I was going to start with a new post but thought I would check to see if I had any drafts and I found these Easter pictures...I almost just deleted them but I couldn't resist....the girls are so CUTE I just had to post them! Isn't Eliza's new haircut so cute! (It's not so new now but was at EASTER TIME!!)
I really wanted to get the beautiful blossoms on the tree in the picture but kept getting eliza blurry this was the best I could get. My subject wasn't very patient and I am not talking about the TREE! ;)

I decided to break the mold and go for some completely non traditional EASTER skirts this year. The girls totally love them and I must say they turned out pretty TOOTIN cute!

Do take note of the shoes Mary Scarlet has on...they are cinderella shoes with HEELS clear with white polka dots! They are so fun I got them at Sears of all places for dirt cheap and she absolutely loves them! She calls them her Arial shoes, I guess Cinderella wasn't good enough ;)

Ashworth Look-alike Meter

2008-03-22T23:37:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Ashworth Look-alike Meter

2008-03-22T22:53:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Geneology

My business website...

2008-03-14T13:10:00.001-07:00

I know most of you have already checked my NEW BUSINESS web site out but I wanted to post about it...CHUBBIE CHIC Jill and I are posting our creations here you can also see what is available to purchase directly from us or where you can buy retail. We are on a fun adventure :) So, please pass our site along to your friends and family! Thanks

Mary Rides her Bike

2008-02-26T14:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute snapshots of Mary on her bike!

Last weekend she learned to pedal her bike and has been having so much fun. This weekend we went down to the Fort with some friends and rode across the new skybridge and it was so fabulous!

Some of the friends in our group.

Jayden, Eliza and Aspen with Sacajawea

I think Mary went a few miles never getting off her bike or complaining! Wow what a trooper. Too bad she is soo sick today:(

Our Favorite little Model

2008-01-26T10:20:00.001-08:00

Most of you all know I have a very good friend that is a professional photographer. She is very talented and artistic. She wanted to enter this photography contest and the parameters were the photo had to have a dog, a cane and knee highs. This is what she came up with! The socks really are knee highs Eliza just pulled them up to her thighs! ;0

Too see more of Shannon's work go to her blog She is AWESOME!

Too Long....our update!

2008-01-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am so sorry;( We have been so busy (the fun kind) with the holiday's, new jobs, a puppy and lots of family and friends! I am going to try to do a quick update for everyone ;)

Mary and cousin Kaitlyn (Uncle Jared's daughter) playing under the table after family dinner! Mary calls Kaitlyn Clayton it is pretty cute!

Uncle Thad

Isac and Owen (Uncle Thad's boys) playing under the table.

Thad trying out guitar hero. Too much fun!

Crissy and Jared talking....maybe she is telling him she is pregnant!

Yep that's right she is having a baby!!! We are so excited!
Uncle Bob and Tiana cuddling up on the couch. Tiana ended up getting sick. ;(

Mary and Kaitlyn playing on the sit and spin, they sure liked each other! Andrew (Aunt Crissy's son) playing Guitar Hero! Nice one Bob!
Owen really wanted his picture taken by himself. Isn't he a cutie!
Christmas Eve we were at Crissy and Bobs house and here Mary was singing 'Best of Both World's' by Hannah Montana. And yes she does know the words we couldn't believe it!

Our Christmas was great! We had a very low key Christmas this year. Most of Ryan's fam is out of town now and we stayed home so we just hung out with my fam. We played lots of games ate a ton and just relaxed! It was awesome! Christmas morning was great! Santa came to our door with a Lhasa Apso 8 week old puppy for Eliza. She had asked Santa for a puppy but mama Sherrie had her convinced that Santa doesn't deliver livestock! So when Santa came to the door (almost 3 hours later than scheduled! Do to black ice in Oregon City) and told her she had been very good and he had something really special for her. Eliza blurted out 'an Ipod Nano?' Santa said 'No.' Santa even had the puppy in his arms but she hadn't seen it yet. Then she got this big smile on her face when she spyed the puppy and said 'a puppy?' The grin on her face was totally priceless!! It was so awesome. Eliza named her puppy Oliver. She loves Oliver and is a very good mama! Mary was quite impressed with the whole Santa Delivery too! Eliza loves to take Oliver with her! The other day we even walked him to school and Eliza rode home on her bike with Oliver in her back pack. Adorable! Mary is very loving to Oliver too, but often squeezes his poor neck to death! We let her give him lots of treats for putting up with all the physical abuse from having a 2 1/2 year old alpha ;)

Our Little Oliver!

Mary got a train table and she is in heaven, playing with her choo choo's!

It snowed on Christmas nothing stuck but we got to take Oliver out in his first snow! mama Sherrie and daddy Deryk came over and spent several hours with us Christmas morning and Evening. Eliza and Mary so love them!! Thanks!Mary got a slide and she was having so much fun sliding over and over and of course testing out new ways to go down the slide. It was and still is a big hit at our house! Thanks mama Sherrie and daddy Deryk!

Grandma Troy made the girls blankets for Christmas, they absolutely love them! Eliza's is green and pink with sock monkeys all over it! Mary's is red and black with Olivia the Pig on hers. She has to have her 'Olibia blankie and book' every night to sleep. It is so cute! We all had a great Christmas!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

We are in California for Thanksgiving and are having a great time! I just wanted to post a couple of highlights from our trip!

Disneyland was a blast!! We went with Papa Joe, Nathan, Korie, Velzy, Avery, Ryan, Me, Eliza, Mary, Alyssa and Aaron on the first day and everyone but Alyssa and Aaron but added Jeanette on the second day. Alyssa carried Avery or Mary all day! Her arms were never empty and she has the sore muscles to prove it! Alyssa just spoiled the kids....she got them Mickey Mouse suckers and light up necklaces

We ended up seeing Ryan's cousin Jason and Andrea and their 6 six kids at Disneyland! Thanks for the extra fast pass action! It was awesome! ;) It was great to see you!

We got to see it snow in Disneyland, that was sure a fun treat!

We also got to see our friend Meredith who works at Disneyland. It was fun to catch a bit and for the girls (especially Mary) too kiss and hug her for a few minutes! Can't wait to see you in December Meredith.

We had such a great time we always love to come! We rode tons of rides and Mary was tall enough to ride the Matterhorn. She loved it so much she rode it 4 times! She loves those roller coasters just like her mom! It was so cute she wanted to go again and again and really liked it but plugged her ears for the whole ride every time! I guess Disneyland was a little loud for her she did this a lot not just on the rides ;)

When asked, Eliza's favorite part was California Screamin'

(notice she is posing for the camera...yes she knows where the cameras are on the the rides!) and Tower of Terror!

(She wasn't really scared!)

When asked the next day, Mary's favorite part was the Christmas Tree.

Thanksgiving Day Jeanette, Korie and I cooked and cleaned together and got all set up for dinner while most everyone else took the kids or went to a movie. Avery stayed home and Mary took a long over due nap. We had a great dinner that seemed to take so long to prepare for the 20 minutes we enjoy the food and the the hour to clean up.

Is it worth it! Of course!

I am thankful for....healthy kids who say the funniest things and keep me smiling all the time. A husband who put up with wife and all my crazy ideas and whims, I am trying to get more focused ;) I am so easily sidetracked. I am also thankful for family, especially my immediate family, mom, sisters, brothers, and extended family. I am thankful for friends, good friends who keep you on track and love you for you! I am thankful for our jobs and for good babysitters. I am thankful for technology of computers, photo etc to keep my memories current in my mind. I am thankful for car seat cozies and Jill for motivating us to get it together! I am thankful for walking and my walking partner and friend, Shannon, and for keeping me motivated and still wanting to go even though her challenge is over. I am especially these last few weeks thankful for a good nights rest! I haven't slept through the night in years and thanks to Tylenol pm :) I am getting that straight sleep it is awesome! Lastly, I am thankful for good music I have been turned onto lately, particularly Amy Seely, Fiest, and Ingrid Michaelson...thanks Shannon!

Halloween Costumes

2007-11-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

This is my lovely pirate cutie! Eliza And our Beautiful Little Mermaid Mary Scarlet

Isn't the hair hysterical!! It was wildly, awesome! ;) It's foam! With her cheerleader sister. She Cheered at a football game the Friday before Halloween! Stay posted for a video coming soon to a blog near you ;).
These cheering pics were taken a few days before Halloween

The girls weren't a very good posers for pictures on Halloween... too much excitement!!

Jack o lanterns

2007-11-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

These are our Jack o Lanterns this year. This is one of the first years Ryan hads been home while we were carving. The girls had so much fun and Mary Scarlet was scary with the knife! Eliza designed all our pumpkin on the computer. We each had our own template to copy:)

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Joe's Place Farm to their pumpkin patch for Family Home Evening with the Lyman's. We had such a good time. They had so many activities and it was beautiful fall day. We went through a maze of hay and wood, walked through the corn stalks and took a hay ride and ate fresh apples. (Mary ate the core and all!) We all got our pumpkins and then enjoyed some yummy treats from the produce shop. The girls had Snickerdoodles and Ryan and I got some super yummy pumpkin fudge and we brought home fresh apple juice!

The girls actually got to go to the pumpkin patch twice this year once with the family and another time with the Young Women. Here are a couple shots from our trip to Bi z farm. Here I am with Sister Nielsen, Rachel and Alyssa. At Bi z Farm they had a pumpkin sling shots(fun), an apple press and corn huller (the kids actually got to do these), a petting zoo, a hay pyramid (you can kind of see Alex, Brenna & Eliza at the very top Eliza is the one hung over the side), a corn maze, fresh hot cider or cocoa and a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Plus a washing station to shine your pumpkin up before you go! I think this was Mary's favorite part, aside from feeding the goats! That face was priceless and the image doesn't do it justice!

Hawaii

2007-11-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I went to Maui and The Big Island in Sept. We SCUBA dove, snorkeled, boogie boarded, hiked, and even rode in a Helicopter over the Lava flow! We had such a fun time. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

We went with our friends Jason and Tina.

Here we are in Lahina under the Banyan Tree
At Big Beach where Jason and Ryan rode some really BIG waves on the boogie boards.

Tina and I thought we were destined for the ER! Check out the video!

Mama's Fish House.

An awesome snorkeling cove called The Aquarium and a super hot man!! My man!

Kona!!!

This is what we saw when we walked to the first beach in Kona! Huge spiders and tons of them. They were hidden everywhere on the trail. yeek! oh la la our drive to South Point the southern most tip of the US not Florida like everyone thinks!

Here is South Point it was so windy!!

The Lava from the helicopter. The picture is deceiving the lava river is really really wide 50-60 feet!

Spectacular sunsets almost every night! I LOVE Hawaii!!!

September! October! Were has it gone!!!!

2007-11-04T16:42:00.001-08:00

Well these 2 months have flown by....school started we have a 2nd grader now it is almost too much for me! I love summer and hate to see it end. I am one of those weird moms that would rather the kids stay home all year long. I don't long for school to start each year I actually dread it, the routine of it all! haha Here she is on the first day of second grade. She is posing with her Carmeled Apple she gave to her teacher on the first day of school.

A tradition in our house. Here is Eliza with her teacher Mr. Bitton on the first day of school. I have to say Mr. Bitton is one of the best!! Eliza is having so much fun. He is very strict, animated, funny, and sarcastic. It is a perfect combo for our little Eliza. He is kind of like a Ryan personality. The funny teddy bearish strict one that only a few people get to see ;) Anyway the kids really do well in his class and he makes a great learning environment.

Here is a picture of my family getting together for some birthdays....Tiana, Andrew, and Owen.

I had to throw this picture in but there is quiet a story behind it!! Ever since the Halloween decorations came out in the stores we have had a scared little Mary. A month ago I couldn't tell you the whole story because it was so hard for our little 2 year old to articulate her feelings, but I do think I have got it down now. So...a very long story but the short version.

Mary Scarlet is terrified of scary mannequins. Especially ones that move or make noise. She experiences full body trembles, crouches down and hides her face, literally frozen. She saw one a Wal Mart and then it was the 'cary tor' (Scary store). The sad thing was that we didn't realize that Mary was calling wal mart the 'scary store' for quite sometime. Mary was scared to go in the backyard or the bonus room because you can see the 'scary store' from these 2 locations. It took us several weeks and many sleepless nights (she would panic at bedtime and wake during the night screaming) to figure out she was scared of the 'scary guy' and the 'scary store'. We had to prove to her that the 'scary guy' was 'bye bye' (by going in a different entrance at the 'scary store') and then she STARTED to get it. We then went to party city to get Eliza's costume and, I thought it was unfortunate at the time, THE 'scary guy' that was at wal mart was also here. argh! But it was actually good! We hardly ever go to the Party store and now that is the 'Scary Store' in Mary's book! Yeah! When we got home she pointed toward wal mart and said ' Not scary store, scary guy went bye bye to other scary store!' What a big concept for a 2 year old! So back to the picture. The first day we saw the scary guy Mary (who never before) started throwing an absolute fit for bed so we tried her with Eliza the first night and within minutes we had 2 beautiful sleeping girls......how cute huh!!! As a side note to the 'Scary Store Story' Mary now asks to watch 'scary tbee' (scary tv). Honestly, I don't know where she gets it!

Mary baking cookies with Eliza for the first time. Loved it!!

Mary is a mama's girl she loves to stay right under my feet doing what ever I am, and then doing it without help but I still can't walk away. Particular isn't she! One of her favorite things is to 'paint nails'. Here she is learning to use the finger nail file. She thinks she is a pro now! :)

Eliza love to craft anything to do with art and she is game! You should see our garage/Eliza's art room. Or should I say Art floor, it's a mess!! Here are a couple of her latest projects. She was very proud of.

Well I thought I would post all of Sept and October in this post but I was wrong. Stay tuned for a couple pictures from Hawaii and some super cute pumpkin patch, jack o lanterns and Halloween Costumes!!

our detour home took us to utah!!

2007-09-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

On our way home we decided to take a major detour and visit some of Ryan's family in Utah and my sisters family. His little sister Sandy just had a baby on the 15th of August, Atticus Aaron. Check out my post Our Newest and definitely smallest nephew for all the details. Ryan wanted to come see is lil' sis after especially after such an early delivery!! My sis Rachel's son just had a bone marrow transplant and is doing well too!! He is really puffed up in the pictures because of the steroids, he was about 18 pound a week or so ago and is now about 30. Wow, mostly water though it should come right off when he is off the steroids. Viggo's older brother Rocco was the bone marrow donor. Look at that red hair!! Isn't he a cutie!

We stayed at Scott and Shelley's and Eliza was in heaven with Geneve!! They have the same passion "littlest pet shops". They had a ball pulling out all there stuff! They even linked there littlest pet shop digi pets so the pets could be friends too!! To be a kid again, I think I would enjoy it more this time around! ;) Here are a couple of my favorite pics.....

Chase at the pool...he is such a character! Love that boy!

At the Children's Museum learning about air and pressure

Sunriver Vacation

2007-09-10T00:49:00.000-07:00

Well we are here in the mostly sunny Central Oregon with our good friends the Dressers. We just finished a Wii play off of tennis. Hilary Rocked it until Scott decided to get his butt off the couch and really play! But, yes, Shannon i think i can kick your butt!! ;) Watch out for the super fast serve!! ha ha!

Anyway, we have been having a great time we have been bowling literally and virtually(Wii). Mary & Regan bowled both kinds too cute!!

Elliot sat and watched, Mary kept him company between frames with some smooching!

Eliza thinks she is all that and has the attitude to boot!

She can talk smack with the best of us, oh yeah!

We have also raced Go Carts

and Sea Doos, and have spent some time at the Batting Cages and lots of time at the pool and the water slide there!! Biking to the park and stables has also been a favorite.

We also got to shop on a couple rainy days. We are relaxing and having a great time! We don't want it to end! I thought I would post some of my favorite pics so far! Well I never got them loaded with the slow Internet or computer or both;) so here they are now! I will post a slide of all my favorites soon!

Our newest and definately SMALLEST nephew!

2007-09-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Atticus Aaron Billette was scheduled to be born around mid November of this year. However, Sandy developed pre eclampsia also known as Toxemia. Most experts define pre eclampsia as an elevation in blood pressure in a pregnant woman of 140/90, with protein in the urine, or swelling (edema) of the feet, hands, and/or face. Sandy's blood pressure was in the 200's and the bottom number was in the 100's (I am not sure of the exact numbers but they were very very high!) She had thought the high BP was an asthma attack at first and was told to go to her primary care provider when they realized her labored breathing was due to the fact her BP was so high they promptly sent her to the hospital. Jeremy drove her over to the hospital and while he was parking the car she walked around trying to find where she was suppose to go. When she finally found the place the nurses were very upset and shocked (not at Sandy) that she was walking around they thought she was coming by ambulance!! In an effort to get her blood pressure down they put her on one and then two drugs neither really worked for any length of time. This high blood pressure put Sandy at risk for stroke and the baby at risk for death (through tearing of the placenta). So the doctors took Atticus Aaron by cesarean on August 15, bringing him into this world three months early. They said he was born at 26 weeks and 5 days. He was 1 lb 9 ½ ounces and 13 1/4 inches long. He almost looked like a miniature skeleton, so tiny and fragile. However, he has proved to be a little tiger.

The LDS hospital in SLC, Utah is one of the very best places little Atticus could be. They specialize in premature births and have an extremely high rating, being one of the top 6 hospitals in the nation.

He was put into a special incubator. He was on a ventilator and was fed special food directly into his blood stream through his umbilical cord. All his vitals and his breathing were monitored. He received 24-hour care. A tiny plastic tube was put down his throat into his tummy to allow air to escape. No one was allowed to touch him except the hospital staff caring for him.

Soon the ventilator was replaced with a C-pap machine which puffs air into the nose to remind him to continue to breathe. He was placed back on the ventilator for a short time to give him a rest. Although the doctors had prepared us for regular setbacks, this minor, temporary, change is the only thing that has happened that could even be construed as a setback. Almost daily, we received good news from the nurse about some definite progress he was making.

He received medication to help a valve in his heart to close off. With rare exception, this little valve gets the signal to close at birth when the baby takes its first breath and cries. With premature babies taken by cesarean, this doesn't happen. Sometimes the doctors will have to order as many as three series of three doses each of the medication in order to get it to close off. Even then, sometimes it will close and then open again. Sometimes surgery is necessary. Atticus was tested after one round (three doses) of medication, and the valve was closed. This was wonderful news, because it meant that he could begin to be fed his mother's milk directly into his stomach. The nurse said he had been fussy due to feeling hungry, so we were really happy for this milestone.

Sandy had been pumping, and the colostrum and then the breast milk had been frozen. The nurses warm the milk and feed him every three hours, giving him larger and larger amounts. He started with 2 CC's and now gets 15. (9/2/07)

He now has no wires hooked to him, just a tube down his throat, and has graduated to a different section in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). He is in a different incubator because he doesn't need as much monitoring. He is gaining strength every day.

Sandy says to tell you he's so cute!

She gets to change his diaper, brush his hair with a toothbrush (to prevent cradle cap), take his temperature, clean out his mouth with a slightly minty wet sponge on a stick, and sometimes lift his body so his bed can be changed. Sometimes Jeremy participates in this as well. His favorite part is holding him with his hands.

The next step is called "kangaroo care" meaning Mom gets to hold baby skin to skin, with baby covered in warm blankets to aid in bonding and increased milk production.

We look forward to the day his Mom and Dad can hold him in their arms, when Mom can breastfeed him instead of pumping, and the great day when he can come home.

If you want to keep updated, Sandy and Jeremy started a blog through the hospitals website, visit http://www.carepages.com/ Atticus' care page is named BabyAtticus.

Thanks to Mom Sandy (Grandma) for writing most of the above info in an email to the family:)

Newport with Grandma and Grandpa

2007-08-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Grandma Troy and Grandpa John invited us to come down to Newport with them. They stay in a little house right on the cliff!! This is our second time joining them here. The first time was when Mary was only about 3/4 months old! It is so awesome here you can see tons of ocean from the living room and the kids have such a great time hiking down to the beach and playing for hours!

Mayfield Lake with the Woodlands

2007-08-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at Mayfield Lake with the Woodlands!! We got there about 2pm and had fun watching the kids play and tube. Ryan and Darrell had fun taking the kids out in the boat while Rene and I held down the shore line! Rene's parents were there along with her Sister Cheree and family, and her neice Tiffany and her daughter. We had a great time!! Here are Ryan, Eliza and Lindsay enjoying a speedy ride on the boat! Eliza had to try the tube with Lindsay, I have to say see takes after her mom and dad she loved it!! Just wait til she's older and can really be wipped around! :) And then there is little Mary Scarlete who spent most of her time on land. She didn't get to go in the boat this time but had fun splashing in the water and eating cupcakes! ;)

Well I was tagged!

2007-08-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't really even know what this was but I am assuming I am to answer all these questions and tag some more bloggers
4 Jobs I've had:
1. Sweeping pine needles and picking moss off my friend Michelle's parents roof
2. Sales Clerk and Fabric cutter at "Best Fabrics" in the Vancouver Mall (it is no longer there)
3. Dental Assistant/Sterilizer
4. Dental Hygienist -currently

4 Places I've lived:
1. Los Angeles
2. Battle Ground
3. Yacolt
4. Vancouver

4 favourite TV shows:
1. Grey's Anatomy love it can't wait til it is on again
2. How I Met Your Mother. This is hilarious!
3. Hannah Montana okay I know this is a kid show but hey I like it!
4. Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals- I love to cook fast and it is so yummy!!

4 favourite foods:
1. Pizza most any will do but I have favorites depending on my mood ( Smokey's is a good one)
2. Pasta with virtually any sauce
3. Red swedish fish love love them
4. ice cream everynight!

4 Websites I frequent:
1. shannonsewell.com
2. Gap.com
3. Blogging friends
4. Ebay.com

4 Places I'd rather be right now:
1. On Vacation-oh wait I am on vacation!
2. Playing on the Computer- Oh look I am doing that too! ;)
3. Hawaii going here next month!!
4. Scuba diving anywhere warm! (doing this next month too)

4 Movies:
Okay this is a hard one because I only like to watch movies once and I have a horrible memory of movie names
1. Sweet Home Alabama- I have actually watched this several times!
2. Grease- An all time favorite!
3. Pride and Prejudice- I am sticking this one in because I have actually watched and enjoyed this movie a few times!
4. My new favorite is Hairspray totally hilarious!!!

4 bloggers I tag next: This is also a hard one I'm not sure who will do it! or who hasn't been tagged!
1. Korie
2. Shannon
3. emily
4. jill

Eliza's 7

2007-08-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

My Eliza Mae is 7 today! I can't believe it seems like yesterday when we were trying to decided if it was time to become parents. I didn't feel old enough and I still don't! Well, I wanted to make a list of special Eliza Mae things so here goes!

1. Eliza loves Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus. She know almost every word to every song and can belt them out with great talent and acapella and stay on tune. Now if you know Ryan and I you know this a great feat we do not have singing voices.

2 . Eliza is very particular about what she wears. She likes what she like and usually won't budge.

3. Eliza is very sweet to everyone.

4. Eliza is excellent at talking with adults.

5. She loves rules and wants to make sure everyone is following them!

6. Eliza loves to cuddle. Which brings us to the next one...

7. Eliza comes into or starts off in our bed at least 3 times a week usually more.

8. Eliza was a preemie only 4lbs 15oz at birth

9. Eliza loves cantaloupe but insists on everyone in our family calling it cannacope.

10. Eliza HATES oranges but can't eat enough canned Mandarin oranges. She also hates peaches and any fruit that has that texture

11. Eliza also LOVES strawberries, broccoli, and canned green beans

12. She will help you do anything if she doesn't think it is work.

13. Eliza is independent(when she gets enough sleep) she wants to bath, dress and do her hair

and Mary's with no help. But is completely opposite when she is tired.

14. Loves to say It's not fair about anything she is disappointed about

15. Can bring on the fireworks(tears) at the drop of a hat.

16. Is very dramatic about everything important to her. Happy or Sad!

17. Loves summer days

18. She wishes she lived it Hawaii-although she has never been there:)

19. Is a mother hen to her sister. She constantly thinks she knows better what to do with Mary than her parents!

20. Likes to wake Mary in the morning because it is one of the only times Mary will let Eliza hold her for more than 10 seconds. The other times Eliza tries to steal a hug or kiss Mary freaks out and if Mary does give Eliza the time of day Eliza hold on for dear life and then Mary freaks out anyway. Eliza hasn't learned the hug and release method yet! It would come in really handy for the toddlers in her life.

21. Eliza would eat crepes or roll ups as she calls them everyday of the week if I would make them for her.

22. Eliza loves to ride her bike but really wants a skateboard. (like lily on Hannah Montana)

23. Eliza loves to ride in a tube behind a boat or tube down a hill in the snow!

24. Eliza is excited for a strict male teacher in second grade so all the rule breakers will get in trouble.

25. Eliza was very upset that I didn't get a speeding ticket when I got pulled over for speeding because I was breaking the law!

26. Eliza is very blond literally and figuratively;)

27. Eliza gets distracted very easily, she wants to do so many things in life and she acts like there isn't enough time to do them. So, when she is doing something she is told to do or otherwise and on the way sees something else she is often found off task, at home. She is pretty good about this at school. hmm bad parenting! ;) ha no way! genetic maybe!

28. Eliza is a planner. Example: Eliza planned her birthday party this year around a porch swing. When we were thinking of getting this swing we were sitting on it at Home Depot with my mom, Mary and Eliza Eliza said that 'we just had to get it because then she could have her birthday party in our backyard and she could sit on the bench and open her presents. (We had been planning Big Al's Bowling) It would be so cool to have all her friends there.' She went on and on about how great the swing could be at her party it was a dream come true!

29. Eliza loves Disney Channel she would watch TV all day!

30. Eliza likes to read to Mary. She likes even more for mom to read to her and has really enjoyed Junie B Jones books and The Superfudge books this summer.

31. Eliza loves thrill rides. 6 Flags, Disneyland you name the ride and Eliza will try it. Her favorites are the ones that take you up and then drop you to the ground.

32. Eliza loves to swim

33. Eliza wants a ramp for her bike so she can do jumps.

34. Eliza loves to swing.

35. Eliza is a collector. She loves to have collections of random items. I gave her a desk drawer in her room to use as her collection box and she has to have all her collection in this box. That way when the collecting part gets out of control she knows when to downsize. A great idea from my friend Glee.

Eliza on her 6th Birthday

Eliza on her 5th Birthday!We LOVE YOU Eliza!

2 black eyes update

2007-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this is what I look like today 10 day post injury. I don't really feel any different from the day after the pain is still just constant but definitely workable. It feels like a sinus infection with the pressure. The black eyes and swelling have gone down a ton and more quickly than I could have hoped. When I put lotion or makeup on my nose crinkling and cracking noises. It is kind of creepy. It really grosses people out! I keep forgetting not to scratch or rub it and then I am not gentle enough and I bring tears to my eyes. I never realized how much I touch my face until this happened.

I went back to work this week and ended each day with a major headache even with Alieve or Advil. So fun for me! But on a good note I get to have surgery in three months too! yeah! No, I am not really that bummed about it and I still love soccer:)! It is just part of the game. It is unfortunate though.

2 BLACK EYES

2007-08-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, look at those eyes! On Monday during my soccer game a player from the other team and I were both going for a header and she got me instead! (I got the ball! At least I think I did ;) That is very important of course!!) My nose bled HEAVILY for a couple of hours, 3 huge wads of towels, a couple shirts and lots of tp, puddles on the floor and bench and it was still dripping down my elbows onto my legs, it was even in my bangs this was all before I got to the hospital. YIKES! Lisa from my soccer team took me to the emergency room and I got right in! I guess you have to be bleeding profusely to be seen quickly;) I got hit about 7:20pm and my nose finally stopped bleeding around 12:15am. I broke my nose in a "C" shape around my left eye and the Dr. thinks that there may be bone poking through the skin inside my nose. It is too swollen now for an ENT to check so they will be checking early Friday morning. I will probably find out then if I need surgery. The nurse said if it was bone I would most likely need surgery. Hopefully not, but we will see! Thanks, to all for the calls and support! I appreciate it! The picture at the top is today the one below is from yesterday. It is slowly getting more red right now!

Mary's 2nd Birthday

2007-07-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

My good friend Michelle wrote a blog 25 things about Nini (her daughter) so I wanted to use that idea. Thanks Michelle!.

A tribute to Mary Scarlet our little two year old.
30 things about Mary Scarlet

1. Mary was born 15 minutes after we arrived at the hospital - super fast!

2. She loves her sister Eliza's room so much she would spend the whole day in there if we would let her. I think it's the endless drawers of stuff she loves so much to explore them!

3. Mary drank from a bottle every night, until just a few weeks ago

4. Her first favorite toy was Thomas the Tank engine

5. When asked how old she is Mary will reply 'I'n twoooooooo', and 'I'n MeMe'

6. When she gets too tired she is impossible to get to bed, but if you put her down before the tiredness is apparent she is a cinch to get down.

7. Runs to the door whenever Daddy comes home, yelling 'Daddy, My Daddy'!!

8. Loves to go Bye Bye

9. She thinks it is a requirement when we go to Target to get popcorn and a drink before we shop!

10. She squeals so loud when she is excited that you think your ear drums are going to explode!

11. Loves to swing endlessly on the swing, Loves even more to go really high

12. Loves to ride bikes, until today this meant to walk a razor scooter around outfitted with a helmet. She definitely thought she was all that. Today she got a real bike for her Bday

13. Hates sand on her feet or any other part of her body except her hands. But then only likes it on her hands if it magically falls off when she is done.

14. Loves to run everywhere, Runs so fast you think she is going to crash

15. Loves to have a water bottle on hand at all times but would rather drink pop

16. Has watched Happy Feet so many times we all have it practically memorized and none of us have ever watched it all the way through in one sitting! (except Eliza)

17. Asks for a choo choo every night on her way to bed, which could mean the movie or an actual train

18. Absolutely loves to brush her teeth, calls the toothpaste 'paste'

19. Loves to wear flip flops, mostly adults and Eliza's but will settle for hers if that is all she can find. Recently got crocks and they are a close second!

20. Asks for Emmy, Annie and Ava all the time (friends)

21. Always wants to payee (play)

22. Loves play with her babies especially to feed them

23. calls grandma and grandpa 'Papa'

24. Loves fruit especially apples

25. Loves to peek in on mom, dad or Eliza when they are showering or bathing, and nearly

every time will strip down and join them.

26. Can open the front door and will and does....that little escape artist!

27. If you ask for a kiss she will tell you no and then snicker. She thinks this is especially funny if she can turn to someone else and give them a kiss instead!!

28. Will mimick Eliza singing Hannah Montana, too cute!

29. Everyday she pushes her shopping cart all around the house while talking on her cell phone!

30. Loves snuggles first thing in the morning

At first I thought this list was going to be hard to write. It ended up being quite easy. I could have easily done more but her are 30 reasons Mary Scarlet is Mary Scarlet and we do so love that she is part of our family!

Happy Birthday my Precious little child!

Road Trip!

2007-07-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to go on a road trip. We took cousins Andrew and Tiana and headed south. This last spring we bought a timeshare and wanted to check out one of the resorts. We had a fabulous time. Mary isn't the best in the car on long trips. She usually awesome for the 1st couple hours, then awful for the next couple, then finally decided she will just whine for the next couple, and then finally, when everyone is ready to pull all their hair out she decides she will go to sleep, or she passes out I haven't decided. Eliza is awesome she can ride forever as long as the destination is good! She is such a trooper! Andrew and Tiana were great too. I think Andrew could have slept the whole 10.5 hour drive if Mary wouldn't have been pestering and spitting on him so much!

When we got there we checked out the accommodations, totally awesome, and then we all headed to the pool. That is all we did for the next day and a half. The kids loved to play in the pool then warm in the hot tub. Eliza, Andrew and Tiana got really good at jumping into the center of their tubes. Mary just loved to think she could do whatever she wanted! It was actually relaxing for the adults too! When we weren't in the pool Andrew was either shooting hoops or all of them were begging to go to the arcade. We did get a few games of ping pong in too. Way too much relaxing fun!
We decided to take the beach route home. We thought it would help break up the trip. After 8 hours in the car we stopped at the beach in Oregon and played until dinner time and then drove 3 hours home. It was a quick trip and one we will likely repeat! We had so much fun! I love my family!!!!!!

4th of July!!

2007-07-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Honestly I think this is my favorite Holiday!! It is hot and sunny (well sometime here in Wa). It means summer is really here and you gotta love AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY. And everything the LAND OF THE FREE stands for! Freedom of religion, speech, right to bear arms......etc and the super cute cloths, fun firework, tasty BBQ's, wet water, bouncing bounce houses and lots of friends....for the last 4 years I have planned and hosted a big block party but this year my gracious friend Michelle said that she wanted to host it at her place! It was great! She just moved into a big beautiful house on a park like 1.5 acres and it was the perfect place to have the party! She was a great host especially since she just moved in on Saturday and still didn't have a working kitchen sink!! She got it together and hosted a great party even though her house inside wasn't exactly like she would have liked! We lit off firework and had a show after dark it was great! I had to have one of our guests burn me a CD of all the pic's he took because I misplaced all my memory cards. bummer!! He did get some really good snapshots of our family, he has a great camera!You can see the back of Eliza...I really like this picture even though you can't see her face! She loves the pool...this is where she and Jayden (michelle's daughter) spent most of the day!

I am strangely attracted to this picture...maybe because I am not often photograph unknowingly?

This is a pic of Mary in her 'cracker swimsuit' as she calls it. This is actually a few days later but she is just so cute!

She is so funny, she was petrified of the fireworks! She didn't even like the sparklers. A few days before the 4th Ryan was trying to get her 'conditioned' for the big day but this is her watching the sparklers. After the first one she would say as the sparkler burned down and crackled 'no green, no green'. We had the sparklers that start out orange then crackle in the middle and change to green. Eliza would tell her 'mary it is goin to turn green, here it comes' and mary would just keep saying 'no no green no green!!'

Salmon River Trail Head

2007-07-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

We went on a family outing a couple saturday's ago. Eliza wasn't happy about going at all, because her friend was suppose to go but ended up not being able to come. But by the time we were finished with our hike she was in much better spirits! We decided to go to the Old Salmon River Trail. It is in just west of Zig Zag, Oregon on the way up Mt. Hood. We had a great time showing Eliza all the different vegitation, fungus'determining the age of fallen trees, why the trees fall and decay, and sharing stories of when Ryan and I were kids on hikes with our families. It was really fun!! And Mary just kept saying wa wa. I 'ant wa wa. She wanted to go to the river that we were hiking along. I carried her on my back about 3/4's of the way in and then she decided she wanted to walk and walked about 1/2 the total hike of maybe 1.5 miles.

Mary showing us her snack :0

Eliza and Mary riding a fallen log

Daddy and Eliza showing they conquered the trail!

And how Mary didn't, someday she will!

Great trail if any of you are ever intrested!

FINALLY, I lost my first tooth!!!

2007-07-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Late, very very late, after Eliza's ballet recital she finally lost her first tooth!!

Funny story. Eliza has had a loose tooth for quite a while now. The permanent one has almost fully erupted behind this baby tooth. The baby tooth was strong and didn't want to come out. You can see in the picture that she has a double row of teeth. Now, knowing me and seeing as how I am a dental hygienist you would think that this would totally bother me. But it actually didn't. You see I haven't embraced the next stage of Eliza's dentition the mixed stage. You know big yellow awkward looking adult teeth mixed with the bright white baby teeth. I think this stage is...well awkward!! I am not a fan at all!! Weird, don't I work with kids!? ;) Anyway you get the picture not a fan of the mixed dentition. So I felt like as long as we could hang onto the baby the better. Vain, I know! But Dad (Ryan) on the other hand could hardly stand that this tooth was taking forever to get loose and then to see that the permanent one was coming in behind was just about too much to handle. He tried several times over the past couple of months to get that sucker out of her mouth. These sessions usually ended with tears sometime from Eliza and sometimes from Dad ;0 not really just thought is sounded good and makes the story better;) he he Well, Late very very late on this particular Saturday night Ry decides that it is time for this tooth to come out. Mary and I are in bed, Eliza is down getting her midnight snack (literally). And I hear her start to cry. It starts soft then becomes full on wailing! I let it go for about a minute and then go downstairs. I see Ryan trying to get his hand in Eliza's mouth. She is doing just about everything she can to keep him out. She kept saying that he already tried to get it out and it didn't work. I was totally irritated. I said 'are you kidding me' it is midnight and you're trying to take her tooth out?' Dads defense was that he was afraid that she would swallow it. I walked over to Eliza, asked to see her tooth, and plucked it right out. She started to squirm but it was over. I said now everyone go to bed!! Eliza was shocked that it was out and kept saying 'is it out? Mom is it out?' She just started laughing when I handed the tooth to her. They we asked if the tooth fairy comes when you loose a tooth this late. Ryan decided that she does. We asked Eliza what she thought the Tooth Fairy was going to leave and she said that she would 'only leave $2 because I was a wimp...if I wasn't a wimp I could have gotten $10!' I wonder where she got her #'s didn't we just get change for our teeth :)

PS: The Tooth Fairly left $5 and almost got caught!!
PPS: The pink in the last molar on the right is her filling, everyone thinks it is candy!

Ballet Recital- Jill and the Magic Beans

2007-07-02T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well it was ballet recital time again. Oh how we love to make our princess feel even more like one!! Here ballet studio did 2 recitals this year so it was a long day for the little dancers but they did a terrific job! This year they performed Jill and the Magic Beans. A spin off of Jack and the bean stalk. Eliza's class were the chicks, they got to dance with the Hen that lays golden eggs. I put a video clip of the dance Eliza was in you can't really see her but she is toward the far right of your screen in the back row.

Eliza's BFF Elley got to be the Hen's partner. She was so excited. Here are the girls with there flowers and cupcakes after the last show. Boy were they hyper!
Here is Eliza with Grandpa John. He and his son Michael came to the last show.

Our mini housewife

2007-07-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

This just cracked me up. Mary got up today and got dressed and then decided that she wanted to wear Eliza's dress over her clothes. Yes, Mary is fully dressed underneath ;) She then wanted to follow me around all day and do everything I did. As you can imagine this got fairly time consuming and frustrating quite quickly. However, you gotta love a little girl with clothes that are too big, a baby (Mary's nickname for her pacifier) in her mouth and a vacuum in hand! It is absolutely adorable!! She continued to vacuum for about 10 minutes! That spot was really really clean! ;)

Field Trip to Water Resource

2007-07-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ryan went on the Water Resource field trip with Eliza on May 29th, 2007. They had a good time learning all about where water comes from, how it comes to our house and how some of the things we do can pollute our water. After they went to a park nearby to play and have lunch. We didn't get any good shots of Eliza but here is one of her teacher. Who, as a side note, we (ryan and I) went to high school together. Miss. Canfield was a fabulous teacher and we are going to miss her next year!

Memorial Day

2007-07-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

I am trying to play catch up with all my posts...Here are a couple shots from our memorial day picnic.

Here are Eliza's bff's Tatum and Elley. We spent the afternoon at LaCamas Shores for another friends Birthday. We let the girls go to the water for just a couple minutes. There wasn't an area on the water that was kid friendly.

Tatum and Mary.

Mary's friend Ava

Eliza's June Bug Presentation

2007-06-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Eliza had to do an end of year presentation. It was a bug report. The kids are so fun to watch when they are sharing all the information they found. Eliza decided to do her report on the June Bug. She is so interested in June bugs because Ryan put one in a big mound of drywall mud years ago (pre-kids) and we still have the rock of drywall mud. Eliza has heard the story many times. And last summer we found the June bugs hissing on our front porch all the time. I guess this was pretty interesting for the teacher too. She couldn't remember ever having a June Bug report in past years. I think that was great Eliza totally picked a unique bug to learn about! It is fun to watch the video but you can't really hear Eliza talking she was kind of quiet.

I wanna ride too.....

2007-06-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Well I think it is finally time to get Mary a bike. She love to get on Eliza's but it is actually quite dangerous. She has absolutely no fear when it comes to her and this bike. She tries to climb on and go.

Maybe a smaller helmet too ;)

May 12th

2007-06-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

May 12th Ryan's 34th birthday and Eliza's recital.

Ryan's portion, the birthday part of the day was fairly uneventful. Except for the small fire on his cake. 34 small fires to be exact! He is still a cutie pie Ryan has been dealing with a hurt toe so he has taken post on the couch most of the time. He hasn't been able to do much this last month because of his poor toe. He had a minor toe surgery on the 8th and has had a hard time walking it was pretty sore. Then, it got infected and so more pain and suffering. And to top off all the inconvenience with his toe, his parents moved to Utah on the 25th and he was trying to get their basement here in Washington finished so they could close the sell and move. He did get it done. His parents were very patient with him and Ryan was a trooper through it all. Many long days standing and walking on that poor toe. So needless to say on his birthday he just hung out. We were going to go bowling, that is what Eliza wanted to do for Dad's birthday, but not with that darn toe!

Eliza's piano recital....She did a great job! We were really proud of Eliza. She has been taking piano for just about a year. We aren't the best parents about remembering to make her practice and being constant. We even often forget to send her to her lesson. It is across the street so I often just loose track of time and neglect to send her out the door with her books. BAD MOMMY! But it is true. However, in April I was getting kind of worried that she had really been missing a lot of lessons and the recital was quickly approaching. She didn't have a song pick out to memorize and I was thinking this was going to be pretty hard for her to memorize in a couple weeks, remember we forget to have her practice. So anyway she picked a song totally took responsibility and remembered to practice mostly on her own and she totally had it memorized in less than a week. She did a great job. She is liking piano but I think she is just toughing out piano until we in to guitar lessons. She wants 'to be a Rock Star you know and they play the guitar'. So she has to get proficient at piano then she can add guitar.

Last few pic's from Texas

2007-05-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

This next picture is just too cute to leave out.

The story behind it....Mary was walking in front of this cactus and totally did the ta da pose, it was so cute. So I was trying to get Mary to do that again in front of this cactus, you know for a picture. She did it a couple of times for me but I kept missing the shot, stupid slow digital point and shoot camera!! So inevitably she absolutely refused to keep cooperating and wouldn't give me the time of day, and she kept trying to walk away. I kept putting her back in front of the cactus. I know she was thinking I have already posed 3 times, Mom! After about three times of shoving her back in front she gave me this look. I just thought it was funny and cute. Mom's so demanding! ;)

While we were visiting my mom's cousin, Sherly Ann Turpin Dickenson, she took us around to see the Texas country (and a cemetery or two) we were boldly introduced to this donkey. His named was buckwheat. He wasn't very happy we were just driving by. He chased us up and down the fence as we drove along the rode. He whinnied the whole time. Not just a quiet little whinny you are imagining but the movie kind of whinny. It was loud and obnoxious and just down right shocking!! We were laughing so hard! Apparently he was quiet upset with us that we were driving by and didn't feed him some carrots or apples. He was a sassy fellow. He has on occasion attacked a horse and broke the horses teeth! I tried to video him but I couldn't get him to do it when I had the video on, but here is a picture of this priceless Buckwheat!

They also had some baby kittens that were totally adorable. Mary couldn't get enough of them. She was actually more gentle than the 5yr old boy who was carrying them around by the necks!

While we were here Grandpa John showed us how to clean a headstone and apply shaving cream to see the information on it. This come in really handy with the old headstones that haven't been kept up and have lots of stuff growing on them.

Visiting the Malaga's in Texas

2007-05-24T10:22:00.001-07:00

Our 2nd night in Texas we had dinner at Cami Malaga's house and the kids had a fabulous time. Riley and Madison were great with Eliza and Mary. Madison was so thoughtful and totally helped me keep an eye on Mary in the pool. Riley and Eliza didn't want to leave each other at the end of the night they were getting along so well. They had a great time sliding down the slide and playing games in the pool, while Grandma Troy, Grandpa John and Cami caught up with each other in the house. Steve was out of town:( maybe next time. Mary couldn't get enough kisses from their puppies. She was mauling them all night!

Six Flags Over Texas

2007-05-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Eliza and I went to Six Flags while we were in Texas. We got to ride roller coasters to our hearts content. We did find Eliza's extreme. The Titan towering 255 feet above the earth, the muscular steel superstructure features one of the world’s mightiest drops at hyper-speeds of 85 miles an hour. This seemed be Eliza's max because she kept hitting her chin on the bar that was supposed to be at her waist...she was a little short. It wasn't the speed of the ride or the extreme drops in her words 'they didn't make that ride very well mom. That stupid bar didn't even hold me in it just kept on bonking my chin!' She wasn't very thrilled about that. She also didn't like that she couldn't see herself in ride pictures she was always too short so it just looked like an empty chair next to me. Eliza's favorite ride was the Wildcatter first you fly 10 stories straight up in the air—then, an irresistible force shoves you over the edge into a heart-pounding free fall. Yeah I know she absolutely 'love love loved it' as she said we went on this one twice! When you get to the top you get a Birdseye of Arlington, Dallas and Fort Worth, literally! Then you fall 10 stories, Eliza's favorite part of the ride! Our first ride was Sponge Bob 3d that was pretty fun!

Here she stopped to pose with Batman and Robin for Dad. While we were there we practically froze to death! It was so cold this afternoon and evening. We went to buy sweatshirts at the gift shop but they were sold out. Unseasonably cold weather. We were so disappointed because we were looking forward to some hot weather and instead we got unseasonably cold and the day we left it was snowing. SNOWING can you believe it!! We did find Ryan a long sleeve Dallas Cowboy's tee shirt that Eliza broke in for him. She found it quite warm;) She is showing off her pop gun she got at the gift shop. Go figure, you can actually get toy guns all over in Texas!

Some Texas Gravestones

2007-05-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to updating my blog I know it has been a long time!! Wow how time fly's. Everything is great with our family. No news is good news!!

I did want to post a few pictures from spring break in Texas.....As most of you know my mom and step-dad have been traveling the country visiting all the temples and doing genealogy. They have found hundreds of names and have done a session in virtually every temple in the continental US. 60 something if I remember right. My mom's grandma grew up in Texas and my grandma grew up in Oklahoma. So my mom wanted to get more info on family members that were buried there in Texas. This is the Thurber Cemetery in Thurber, Texas. This is were my mom's great grandma's son Jim (little Jimmy) Whitenton's was buried. He was 26 months old when he died in 1910. My mom had never been here and walked right to his head stone. She is amazing when it comes finding what she needs to know. She sure listens to that still small voice. I wasn't sure if it was morbid to take a picture of the kids around a head stone and I was reluctant to do so. But I am sure glad I did! I love this picture!! One of the coolest things about this picture is that there is another one that is almost the same with my great great grandma and 3rd great grandma in it instead. The picture was probably taken 70 or 80 years ago. When I get a copy I will post it too. I just love that we were so close to were our ancestors were. It is so cool to know that they were here putting flowers on this same gravestone many many years ago. It was an amazing feeling of family and sense belonging. It is very hard for me to put into words what it was like to be there. But it does put a smile on your face and gives you the good chills.

The next picture I chose has a bit of a story to it. We were hunting in a cemetery in Stephenville, Texas for my 3 great grandma and grandpa's headstone. My mom had gone the day before to the town's historical library to find the plot map and my 3 great grandma and grandpas location. The map narrowed it down to section 11 and we had been looking for about 40 min's I was getting frustrated. A little background on the day, is that Mary and Eliza were completely done looking in cemeteries for something they couldn't understand and were even more done riding in the truck and we had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us. I was a bit stressed out and started questioning my mom. "Are you sure this is the right area? You didn't look at the map wrong? Mom I don't think it is here." She kept telling me "I know it is I was here." "Yeah I said in 2nd grade." I said sarcastically. She said that she was sure 'it was along the stone fence' and I was sure she was remembering incorrectly so we bantered back and forth as we stood there. mom was talking as we both looked down and we saw the corner of this gravestone peaking out from under the dirt. As we were talking my mom kicked some of the dried mud off and we realized it was the gravestone we were looking for!! Over the years the mud had collected over the head stone. If my mom had not been persistent it may have been completely covered next time someone came looking for it!! See the stone wall in the background my mom was 100% right! This is one of my most cherished times we had in Texas with my mom and John. Even Eliza got into cleaning the headstone of Grandma Bertie.

Spring Break in Texas

2007-04-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well the girls and I are hear in Texas with Grandma and Grandpa John. We left quite early this morning 4:50am!! The kids were such troopers. I tried several times to get Mary to go to sleep on the plane, I was unsuccessful. We finally got to Dallas and to our hotel we had a tired little Mary. Mary climbed up on Grandpa John's lap and within minutes this is what we had ....A sleeping little Mary ....

The girls hangin' out with Grandpa John watching cartoons....Well Mary really isn't watching and for that matter neither is Grandpa!

Easter Egg Hunt with the Drays

2007-03-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

This year we had an Easter Egg Hunt at our friend house. We had a great time! It did start raining as soon as we were going to start the hunt. But what is an Easter Egg Hunt in the northwest without a little rain! Eliza was off so fast I didn't even get a shot of her but you can see in the video her little blonde head bouncing around. Mary wasn't too interested in picking up the eggs, next year. I did get Mary to pick up four eggs. But all she wanted to do was slide on the soaking wet slide.

Wooh Whoo The Tea Cups

2007-03-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Disneyland we just loved to take Mary on the rides. Her favorite was the tram ride from the parking lot to the Disneyland Park. She would get so excited just seeing the tram drive up, and would continue to laugh and wave her hands long after we were on and moving toward Disneyland.

We did catch on video her on the Tea Cups. I think she has a bit of her Grandpa Ashworth in her...she seemed to like the Tea cups at first but then she wasn't looking so good by the end. Grandpa doesn't like those Topsy turvy rides either!! Click on the arrow to see the video it is only about 45 seconds :0

Ouch!

2007-03-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ouch is right,

poor little Mary fell on the patio at Aunt Jeanette's and this is what happened. Eliza is such a loving sister she carried her into the house cuddling her the whole time. (Mary about 3/4 the size of Eliza so this wasn't an easy feet) There was blood everywhere! It doesn't look like much now but it sure seemed like more at the time....I guess we should have taken a pic of Eliza and all the blood in her hair and on her shirt and mine too! Mary did recover quite quickly, after a few minutes of snuggles she was willing to show us her lip and give a smile for the camera!

We aren't used to such a dare devil . Eliza was so much more mellow

so we didn't have to deal with all the boo boos!

While Waiting...

2007-03-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Venice Beach was our entertainment. We got to Anaheim too early and we couldn't check into our hotel until 3pm and it was about 5:30a when we pulled in. So we slept in a parking lot for a couple hours, thank you McDonald's. We went for a long breakfast at I-Hop and decided to go find the Hollywood sign and Venice Beach. On our drive we ran across the LA Marathon and saw many runners and bikers.

The HOLLYWOOD sign was mostly for Eliza. While at breakfast her suggestion was to go to the sign, she really wanted to see it. We decided to go to the beach first then go to the HOLLYWOOD bowl. While driving we saw the sign from the freeway and she was so excited. When we got to Venice we were walking the boardwalk and she saw a tee shirt with the sign on it and she snapped a pic and said 'look mom now we don't have to go to the sign I already have my picture'. I don't know what the attraction to the sign was but she was totally happy with the snapshot.

We realized, while we were on the boardwalk, that Eliza was totally in her element.

She loved riding her scooter down the boardwalk and was not her nervous little self. She usually is very cautious not to get to far ahead and mostly will stay right next to us if not holding onto the stroller or our hand....but today was different she would just ride ahead and stop and watch people and the ride on. She found a skate park and had fun riding her scooter there. We finally talked her into going to the beach. This only worked because she was wearing sweats and it was hot so the ocean water was a big attraction.

Mary liked the walking freedom. (especially after a 18hr car ride) She just ran from one thing to the next but was mostly just chasing Eliza. On the beach Mary didn't like the sand on her feet and liked it even less on her hands. She kept showing me her hand saying 'uh oh' or 'oo oo' .She soon decided differently but it wasn't until after playing in the waves. Mary was so fun to watch in the waves, she loved it! She just kept laughing. She didn't have any fear after the first couple of waves. A little fear might have been good;)

Mary and the Cake Batter!

2007-03-01T01:53:00.000-08:00

Mar Mar was so funny last night. I was making a cake for a birthday at work and she was crying for no apparent reason. Just sitting on the chair watching me make the cake and basically screaming. I decided to hand her a beater but not say anything and see how long it would take her to stop crying and open her eyes to see the beater. It wasn't very long at all before she peeked out one eye and spyed the beater and as soon as she saw it she instantly stopped crying and grabbed the beater and said tank tou (thank you). Now is the manipulation or what!! ;) Here are a couple of pictures of Mary enjoying the cake batter!

Look at the mischievous little girl.....or is she just sweet......

we can't tell ;-D

Green Eggs and Ham

2007-02-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today Eliza's School celebrated the anniversary of Dr. Seuss's Birthday and "Read Across America" with a Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast. It was fun. A local restaurant served the food and other companies donated books and hats for the first graders. Eliza kept telling me before the breakfast that it was just food coloring that made the eggs green. As you can see the eggs are really green! Even though she had tried to convince herself it was just food coloring she couldn't bring herself to touch the eggs. She did eat the GoGurt, banana and OJ. When I first got there Eliza didn't want to wear the hat she was given because of the color. ( I think it was because she thought it was a boy color) So she had me wear it.
Eliza and her friend Alex with their Dr. Seuss hats! Eliza decided after a little bit that it might be fun to put the hat on for a minute of two!Alex and her mom, Betty

We had a good time. After the Breakfast we went back to her class and read the new book she got and "Surprise"a story Eliza wrote. Afterwards, I took Eliza out of school and we went at had some real lunch and just goofed for awhile.

Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well it was Valentines Day and we had a great time!! We didn't get the best pictures though. Mary was feeling quite ill. And we had a busy day after school. Eliza had great time giving out her Valentines to her class mates and she came home with quit a bit of loot!
This is Mary in her traditional pose of pulling Eliza's hair! We can't seem to break her of this but we are getting closer. She pulls or pinches when she gets mad but only when she is tired or sick. So we knew something was off when she was pulling Eliza's hair first thing in the morning~ She slept most of the day ;) Hope you had a great Valentines Day too!!

I took the Plunge

2007-01-21T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well I finally did it. I have been mulling it around for a few months now and I decided to go ahead with a bloga dn business cards for the car seat covers I have started making. I twas fun to put together, and somewhat scary. I just can't help thinking what am I getting myself into. At any rate it will be a journey I can control. Right?

So, my car seat cover blog is http://designsbycharity.blogspot.com check it out. I have just made a couple new things, so stay posted for some new items.

Feedback on what you all think is always good too.

More fun in the snow!

2007-01-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

This snow storm started on Tuesday morning and we were so excited that it snowed again :) The snow started around 6am and didn't stop until about 1pm. Only 3 inches but we will take that here in Vancouver, WA. Seeing as we don't get that much snow around here.

I have had so much fun watching the girls laugh and giggle while they were playing. Mary was having a great time too, when she could keep her boots on. They are 3 sizes too big so it was difficult for her. She was a little trooper with cold feet, from losing her boots often as she walked, and calves from the snowsuit being 3 inches to short. We did resolve this issue by day two of the storm. I got Mary new boots at GI Joe's while dad was getting a new battery for the Tahoe. And we got Eliza's old snowsuit back from friends who borrowed it last year. She was so much happier by day two. Too bad my camera battery was dead :( Eliza and Mary loved to be pulled around on the sled.

When Mary Scarlet was done on the sled she would just roll off. We should so live where it snows more often I think we missed the boat on that one. Our family loves this weather!! After we played in the snow for awhile we came in and had fresh warm cinnamon rolls and got warm and cozy and waited for the next trip outside for more snow fun.

Mary's snow fun with cousins

2007-01-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

We went to Bob and Cris' today to help with the cleanup from their home remodel. Well, mostly Ryan came to help. Mary and I just sorta hung out. Mary was so excited to be pushed around by Andrew on the sled. She was having so much fun until I pulled out the camera and she decided she wanted nothing to do with the sled.
She wanted to help Tiana build a snow fort. She and Tiny made small progress in collecting snow for the fort. It was so cold outside I didn't last very long. I didn't have the proper clothing on to play outside. So this outdoor play was short lived for Mary but I do think she had a good time.

First Snow 2007

2007-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

Snow Day

The long awaited snow finally came!! It was suppose to start snowing last night but it didn't come until about 4:45pm today. It was really starting to get dark when we went out but the girls still had a good time.

Mary was hysterical, she just kept picking up the snow and eating it and she loved her gloves, Eliza too!! Mary never even tried to get them off.

Eliza was enjoying writing in the snow. After she wrote her messages and was pleased with her work, we pulled out the sled.

I pulled them and the neighbor girl Melanie around the neighborhood. The giggles and laughs were grand!! True and pure fun. We played on the sled for awhile until Mary got tired.

This is one of my most favorite time with the girls. Playing with them in the snow is just so magical, to me. I will cherish these memories forever. Snow is so awesome. It makes all us rAshworths gitty:)

Ryan took Eliza back out after he got home from work then he and Eliza tried to tag me with snowballs. I was just trying to get a couple shots of them;)

Ryan was trying to teach Eliza how to make snowballs from the snow from cars instead of the street but Eliza liked the street snow better, even though it kept melting before she could get it into a ball. It would end up being a ball of slush.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-25T14:47:00.001-08:00

Santa came on Christmas Eve...the kids were so excited the best was Lacy... Her face told it all she couldn't decide if she was excited or scared of Santa.. Eliza, Briana and Velzy were totally excited to have a personal visit from Santa. Santa gave them all little gifts and went on his way to deliver toys.

The girls had fun making shadows in drive way......They look like The Charlie's Angels!!
Sandy and Me
Mary has taken up drinking....Martinelli's Apple Cider..she guzzled that bottle. It was so funny.

Eliza and Geneve were so excited to see each other.

Aunt Jeanette's Before Christmas

2006-12-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Eliza and Briana seeing Santa at the Mall on Saturday before Christmas!!

Mary waiting to see Santa......but she doesn't like him, Yet!!

Dinner Party!!

2006-12-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas Stockings!!

An Ashworth Favorite

Mary loved looking for all the hidden treasures Especially her 'babies' (pacifiers)in her stocking.

Daddy got a massager but Mary loved it so much. She would lay on the floor and just Dad massage her back!

Breakfast with Santa

2006-12-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

Eliza's school had a Breakfast with Santa Fundraiser on Saturday. She was very excited to go....so I packed up the girls Saturday morning for a fun filled couple of hours!! We got to eat bagels from sunrise bagels and then we got to see Santa..... Eliza and Mary Scarlet were so excited to see Santa. We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes..Eliza hoped right up on his lap and was patiently waiting for Mary. I line I kept asking Mary "Do you want to see Santa?" She would nod her head yes and then and point to Santa. But when we got about 5 feet from Santa she started trying to climb over my shoulder. She sat on his lap for about a 1/2 a second before she started screaming!! She was so funny. I had the photographer take the picture even though she was crying. It is just too classic to pass the photo opportunity up. I didn't get any pictures on my camera but we do have a hard copy on our fridge now!!

Waiting in line for Santa

After our picture with Santa we went to decorate a picture frame...this was serious business for the girls....Mary seriously thought she was creating a masterpiece too...

After decorating the firemen came and the kids got to get in the fire truck and look around. The best part for Mary Scarlet was the Dalmatian....she just couldn't get enough of him :)

Joe's Place Farm

2006-12-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

Eliza had a photo shoot with Shannon last Saturday... Shannon wanted to have a video made of her doing a photo shoot so she asked Eliza to be her model. Check out the pictures on Shannon's buisness blog at http://www.theblankpage.typepad.com/sneakpeek/

Eliza did a great job so good that the Vancouver Family Magazine is publishing one of her photo's on the COVER!! You can check out the cover at http://www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com/ .

One of the places we went was Joes Place Farm. Here is a picture of Mary at the farm later that day when we all (Shannon's Family as well as ours except Ryan he had to work) went back to check out the maze!! It was so fun!! I also got permission to post a couple pictures from Shannon's personal blog they are here too. Obviously, her pictures are to die for so I just had to share with you all. If you'd like to check out her work her is her buisness link http://www.shannonsewell.com check it out!!

Thanksgiving with the Ashworths

2006-12-01T02:50:00.000-08:00

Our Family Thanksgiving was last Sunday. I wasn't feeling up to my normal snappy click click personality so I didn't get very many good snapshots but here are a couple highlights from the night. We had a great time seeing extended Ashworth Family and the food was GREAT!! Thanks Grandma Ashworth and everyone else who made this evening happen!!

Thanksgiving Day

2006-11-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Turkey Day!!

At least on day late. I am waiting for my girls to get up so we can go to the mall on black friday.... the biggest shopping day of the year!! While I am waiting I thought I would post a few highlights from our Turkey Day. Ryan had to work, so the girls and I spent most of the day at our friends house were Eliza and her friend Elley put on a Rockin' Concert for us. Too Cute!! Here are a couple pictures from our day.

Disneyland for Drew's Birthday!!!

2006-11-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

We went to Disneyland for Our friend Drew's Birthday!! We got to stay in the Disneyland Hotel and it overlooked Downtown Disney!! We had a fabulous time! Eliza and Drew got to ride California Screamin the highlight of the trip at least for Eliza!! She rode about 5 times. For those who don't know Califonia Screamin in a roller coaster in California Adventure the takes you upside down. She absolutely loved it! Check out the slide show for more pictures.....

Pumpkin Carving Frenzy!

2006-10-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

Well Halloween has come and gone.. We carved pumpkins this year in a frenzy this year. As we were going to walk out the door for trick or treating Eliza remembered about carving pumpkins. I thought we would just not do it this year but that was unacceptable for Eliza. Here are a few pic's from our carving frenzy.

Ashley was here with us and good thing she really helped us get through all 3 pumpkins quickly!!

Mary's contribuiton was to eat the raw pumpkin pieces. She loved EATING them;)

One of the finished products. Eliza was very happy to carve her own little pumpkin but was too excited to go trick or treating for a final picture with her pumpkin :(

Halloween Party

2006-10-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

This was our Ward Halloween Party! The kids had so much fun!!

Last Soccer Game

2006-10-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Eliza's last soccer game for the season.... They did really well. I unfortunately was to consumed with my sideline duties that I neglected to take any pictures of them playing but here are a couple shots from the post game party!!

Touring Washington DC

2006-10-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Mary and I went to Washington DC to see Grandma and Grandpa John.

We are having a good time. So much to see and so little time. Today we quickly walked through the Air and Space Museum and stood outside the Capitol Building. We also so the Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Korean, Vietnam and WWII Memorials. We are riding the Metro Rail and using a Tour bus to get around. We also stood in line for about and hour to get into the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights etc.. only to find you had to wait in another at least hour line to actually see these documents. Wow!! Needless to say we ran out of time:(

Washington DC is beautiful we had a great time!!