Another Week, Another Post

We officially started our summer break this past week 😊Yay!!!!!

I rearranged the layout of the two quilt tops. I like the one and not so much the other. I liked it better in my mind and not really how it ended up looking once it was all sewn together. I was trying to make it a bit smaller because the original layout was so big. I did manage to accomplish that goal at least.

Monday Rhaevyn's friend asked if they could get together. Her friend doesn't have a lot of good days health-wise, so I was happy to drop her off. There was a bit of miscommunication, though, in that it wasn't a drop off.  Her friend had forgotten that we don't have an extra car anymore. It actually worked out nicely as I had brought Meg along for the ride. We went to a frozen yogurt shop. Rhaevyn and her friend ate outside and soaked up the beautiful sunshine. Meg and I walked around for a bit and then ate inside. It was all new to Meg.... eating at the frozen yogurt place.

Meg's creation:

My creation: hot fudge is one of my weaknesses....

I discovered this sweet drawing on the table that Meg did.

While waiting for Elsa during her dance class there were two Steller's Jays stalking me. I caught one of them on camera. They are very pretty, but they are rather sneaky.

The weather was so glorious the first half of the week that we decided to have a hot dog and marshmallow roast one night for dinner.

Molly was just waiting for someone to take pity and drop something.

Elsa, unfortunately, burned her index finger. She ran it under cold water and then we put some raw honey on it. It didn't end up looking very bad and it just about healed. Aeva and Myles decided to help her out and roast her marshmallows for her.

Meg getting some swinging in before dark. We are down to one swing now. It's had a good life!

I've been busy de-cluttering. I went through baby clothes this past week, and now they aren't all together. Every child has their own box of clothes they wore and wanted to save for their future children. Whatever they didn't want was carted off. I went through my hope-chest and came across my glasses from 6th grade. Don't they look stunning on me ????

Now I've been through all the closets and rooms, toys, books, etc. Maybe I'll move onto weeding outside next.
Other than that the dog has been ill, and Ben and Stacey came down to visit. They brought cupcakes for the gender reveal of their baby. It was so fun having them here, eating meals together, visiting, etc. The time always seems to go by too fast, and before we knew it it was time for them to head home this morning.
Also, we think the dog is on the mend. At least we hope so after all the power prayers we've said over the last couple of days.
Until the next post, have a wonderful week😀

And Just Like That May is Over.....

 25 years and counting.................

 Chris and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this week. We had a nice dinner together at a new Mexican restaurant (new to us). We reminisced about the past 25 years together, talked about the present, and shared with each other our plans and hopes for the future. We both can't believe that we have reached the 25 year mark. We're super excited for the next 25 and beyond!

 

Thursday, while Rhaevyn was babysitting Meg's friend KK (Meg went along with Rhaevyn), the rest of us went on a bit of an outing. Aeva went to visit the two Japanese professors she had at Clark College. While she visited with Okuhara Sensei I parked the car and Myles and Elsa ran around and played.

Once Aeva was done visiting we made a visit to Trader Joe's for an orchid plant, and then the four of us shared two sandwiches at Jimmy Johns. On our way back to the college we stopped off at the hospital to deliver the orchid and a card to our favorite nurse and friend, BJ. We normally go in April to bring her something for her birthday but with Christopher's new job and getting the older girls from Utah it just didn't happen. I figured this would be a perfect day to drop off a card and belated birthday present. Whenever they call her to the front desk, and tell her there is a family there to see her, she automatically knows it's us. We're the one family that always visits her. She turned the corner, had the biggest smile on her face, and chuckled that it didn't take me long to have tears. I always just have such an overwhelming feeling of happiness and gratitude when I enter the birthing center, and especially when I see her. I can't believe it has been 20 years since we first met BJ and Rhaevyn was born. It was the start of a very wonderful and special friendship indeed.

I decided to treat myself to an orchid plant because I've wanted one for quite sometime:

We stopped and watched some planes land and take off down by Fort Vancouver

Myles, Elsa, and I walked Officer's Row while Aeva enjoyed a nice breeze while sitting in the car drawing.  Myles hid some of his rocks that he had painted.

 

 

Myles was a stinker while I was trying to take a picture.

There were some rhododendrons along Officer's Row. There was even a beautiful butterly that landed right above me while I was taking pictures of the Rhododendron plant.

Myles loves how big the maple leaves are:

Can you spot the rocks:

Myles wanted a slow motion video of him tossing these green horse chestnuts in the air. I miscalculated where they would land once they were tossed.

Myles and Elsa had several races to these trees and back. Myles kept giving  Elsa a head start or just walking a bit while she ran.

Sitting in the car I was fascinated by the hungry bug that bit holes in these leaves:

We made it back over to the college at 3:10 pm in time for Aeva to visit with Sato Sensei. I asked Aeva if she spoke in Japanese with her professors, and she answered, yes, both entire conversations were in Japanese. I think that's pretty neat. They both commented at how well she spoke. Aeva was so thrilled that she was able to see both of them. 

Thursday evening Meg started complaining that her throat was really hurting. She was in tears. Her tonsils were pretty swollen, but her throat was not excessively red. She drank all my ice water and ate the ice which she loved for her throat. After a bubble bath she finally fell asleep. She was awake at 3:45 am though, in tears, over her throat. I made her some warm cocoa to see if that would feel good. She didn't drink much. I made a bed for her on the couch and laid down with her while she watched PBS Kids. From 4:30 am to 2:30 pm she threw up consistently, and her temperature kept rising. If she wasn't sleeping then she was throwing up and whimpering quite a bit. Poor girl.......

 

At 4:00 pm, Friday, I consulted Chris about what to do regarding Meg since he and Myles were leaving for a Father/son camp out. I also consulted with  my best friend, and I decided since we were heading into the weekend I should take her into Urgent Care. Her temperature there ended  up being 102. They did a rapid strep test, which came back negative. No ear infection, so that was good. They were going to send the throat culture off to see if it ended up being positive. Poor girl fell asleep twice while we waited in the room.

We had a good Urgent Care PA. He was really thorough and could see how visibly ill she was, although there was no definitive result of what was causing her to be so ill. Although by Saturday, she was looking more chipper, she still spent most of the day on the couch and had chicken soup, saltine crackers, and gingerale at her disposal.

I finished one quilt top this week. I absolutely love how this one turned out:

These are the next two that I'll be putting together:

Myles and Chris had a great time at the Father/son camp out:

 

 

 

Elsa had her violin recital Saturday night. She has worked so hard to have everything memorized. She did a really great job! The recital was  held at a local violin/cello/viola shop. This is where Rhaevyn bought her violin. There were ice cream sundaes afterwards.

Elsa with her teacher.

All the students:

Elsa was first up with Lightly Row:

Then all the students played three group three group songs:

Saturday afternoon Chris, Rhaevyn, Myles, and Aeva went to do some temple work at the Portland Temple. Aeva took some pictures of the beautiful roses on the temple grounds.

Myles said goodbye to his cello this past week, which he's had for almost three years. Parting was such sweet sorrow. He has really missed being able to just play his instrument whenever he feels like it. He had his last lesson, on Tuesday, until we find him a full size cello. We are praying that we will find a really nice one for a good price fairly soon. 

It's been a pretty fun, exciting, crazy, and exhausting week. I'm ready for the Sabbath day, and I'm looking forward to what the first week of June has in store for us!