Birthday Boy celebrates #6!

Sunday was T's 6th birthday!

So hard to believe that six years have gone by!

We LOVE this kid!!!

K and I came home from the youth retreat on Saturday with a big box of donuts from a great donut shop out near Mt. Hood.  I walked in the door and realized I needed to make a birthday cake for my special guy, but I kind of (really) didn't want to have a cake on top of all the donuts I had just brought home.  I asked T if he wanted the donuts instead of a cake and he was game.  Bless him!

So on his birthday we took the donuts and spelled out his name "T-Y" and he was thrilled with that.  Again, bless him!

At age 6, here is a little glimpse of T....

favorite color? orange

favorite toy? legos

favorite stuffed animal? guiness (his black dog)

favorite thing to sleep with? stuffed horse

favorite fruit? watermelon

favorite cereal? rice chex

favorite thing for breakfast? welsh cakes

favorite thing for lunch? ham sandwich

favorite dessert? mint brownies

favorite drink? root beer

favorite animal? dog

favorite book? A-Z mysteries

favorite song? the Happy Song

favorite game? hockey

favorite TV show? Phineas & Ferb

favorite movie? the Lego Movie

favorite thing to do outside? ride bikes

best friend? Simon

what do you want to be when you grow up? a dad

I thought that last answer was so endearing....he wants to be a dad when he grows up!  

Then as he wrote it he said, "I want to be a dad cause I don't want to have a job.  I just want to stay home every day".

No longer endearing.  Now I am just scared!

Thank goodness you are just 6!

Love you T!

Sister's Summit

Last weekend K and I attended a Young Women's retreat with our ward (I have been called into the YW program in our new ward).  It was really fun and it was a great way for both of us to get to know the girls and leaders in the ward a little better.

The retreat was three days at a BSA lodge (Nanitch Lodge) at Mt. Hood.

There were devotionals, campfires, crafts, and games.

On Friday we took a 6-mile hike and it was gorgeous, although we had some low clouds that prevented the view of all five mountain tops that you are supposed to be able to see at the top.  It was also pretty cold!

I hope to do it again really soon on a clear (and warm) day.  Future visitors beware that the next person to come see us is going to get hit up to take this hike with me :)

This is Mirror Lake and is at about the half-way mark to the top of the trail.

This is the view from the top of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain.

We were all looking a little rough by day three but I think everyone left with a smile.

On the way home K and I made a quick stop in Sandy for some very tasty donuts (they have the cronut!) and ran into another carload of girls/leaders.  Hmmmm....great minds think alike!

11 year old Campout

Two weeks ago C was able to attend his first 11 year-old campout.

Hopefully it will be a first of many.

We are glad that he has a fun group of boys his age and look forward to him getting to know them all better.

Critter Cabana

Last week we discovered a new pet store that allows, actually encourages, their pets to be held and handled by visitors.

Luckily my kids stuck with the cute and furry and didn't go for any of the hedgehogs or snakes or gila dragon :)

Father's Day 2014

Poor Rich.

His birthday happened amidst the busiest time for us as we were preparing the new house and trying to move bits and pieces all while we were finishing up the sale of his parent's home.  I was pretty sure I would make up for the lame birthday celebration when Father's Day rolled around but then Father's Day happened a week after our official move and it was only slightly less rushed and crazy as his birthday!

Points for Rich for his patience and understanding!

I hope through it all he knows of our love and appreciation even if there were only small tokens this year.

We did get the annual Dad & Kids photo....every year it get's a little crazier and I am not sure how much longer it will involve the stacking of people as everyone is getting bigger and heavier.  

It is always good for a laugh!

We had planned a Hamburger Bar extraordinaire to go with the picnic-sized barbecue that Rich had been wanting (and that he received) but then the weather pooped on us and while we were still able to BBQ the burgers (and stuff ourselves silly) we weren't able to do it at the park with his new toy :(

Then it was time for cards and gifts...

that all led up to THIS gift....the 

CAN YOU BEAT THE DADDY? box! (year #3)

filled with everything we needed for some crazy fun!

Game: Mad Dog

this game was for Rich alone....we just watched and laughed as he tried to shake all the tic tacs out of their containers by shaking his head (like a mad dog)

(fyi Rich reports that this game gives you a massive headache)

Game: Match Maker

different colored candies were under each of the cups and using one hand they were sorted by color into separate cups

Game: Nose Dive
using a little vaseline on the end of the nose, cotton balls were transferred from the bowl into a cup...and of course, no hands allowed!

Game: Sticky Situation

bounce a ping pong ball and have it land on a piece of bread that has peanut butter on it...make sure it sticks!

this is how it looks when you are successful....only three (or four?) of the 30 attempts were successful

Game: Chocolate Unicorn

some were chocolate...but some were powdered cause I am evil and I liked the messy faces after multiple attempts were made to stack 6 miniature donuts on the forehead

Game: Cheesy Head

FAVORITE GAME OF 2014!!!

a shower cap, a little shaving cream and a bag of cheetos...see how many you can catch

This duo killed everyone...they caught the most and probably had the most fun doing it!

No surprise the game ended in a shaving cream/cheeto  fight

Happy Father's Day Rich!

Believe * Stand * Shine

Youth Dance Festival's are a BIG deal in this area....my hubbie still talks about the dance festivals that he participated in thirty years ago!

I was so excited last summer when our (old) stake announced that there would be a five-stake dance festival this June that K would get to be a part of!  K got to be part of the promotion of it so she actually started learning her dance last year....then official rehearsals started in January, four times a month.

With our move K wasn't at all of the rehearsals but I was grateful that her leaders supported her still participating in the festival.

June 13/14 were the big days....basically it was a two day Youth conference with over 1,200 kids and four performances for the public!

It was HUGE!  

And so much fun!

The symbol for the festival was a lighthouse and they related the purpose of the lighthouse (safety, guidance, etc.) to the purpose of our LDS temples for us today.  Then there were dance numbers from all over the world (with AMAZING costumes!) while photos of the temples in those areas were shown on the big-screen.  It was pretty touching!

K was in the opening number, the closing number and in the Asian dance number.