Home again...

...And I have the sweetest hubby.

Brian had the entire house cleaned (except for mopping). It looked great! That was hard for him, I know, but he did it.

to my sweet Brian-

thank you for the clean house
thank you for watching the kids ALONE
thank you for being in a good mood when I got home
thank you for being my best friend for almost 11 years
thank you for being my eternal companion for 6 1/2 years and counting
thank you for loving me so much that you're willing to spend eternity with my quirks :)

It feels so good to know that I am home for a month and I have a clean house, a full fridge, and that we all fell asleep for our afternoon nap at the same time. I had to get up, since it's hard to all sleep in the same queen bed anymore. We were all so tired, but 4 people in one bed is too much.

Whenever I go to California, particularly LA area, it makes me long for the clean, uncluttered Oregon. A gentleman on the flight down to OC told me that he just finished at a conference in P-town and learned that there were 3.6 million people in the state of Oregon and there are 3.7 million people in Orange County. Nothing but cars and people down there, whereas we have a gorgeous state, green trees, and a beautiful wetness called rain.

I love where I live, I love my friends, I love my family, and I love my husband.

Coming and going and coming and going...

This is a weird travel month, even for me. Usually I go on one long trip a month, 4 or 5 days then I'm home. So when I checked my April schedule last month it was easy- one two day trip to San Francisco. one night, two days. Easy. Then I get a call and I end up having to go to Phoenix for one night, two days. OK, that's not so bad, there's a two day break between the trips. Then I gent an e-mail and guess what, One night, two days in L.A. with a two day break in between. Aackk! This was supposed to be a light month. Next month I have have one small trip and I'm sticking to it. No more little day trips to random corners.

So I went to Phoenix for Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow I go to San Francisco and I'll be home late Wed. nite. Saturday I go to LA and I'll be home either Late Sunday (but it's really hard to get a late flight into Eugene on a Sunday nite) or Monday morning.

While in Phoenix I ran into my hair stylist from Cleveland, OH. She was coming to the event I was teaching at and she knew I was going to be there, so she brought my highlight haircolor and her scissors. I'll have to get a photo 'cause I look different :) She already arranged to do my hair at some of my other upcoming events for the next year. It's pretty neat- I have a stylist who will travel and do in-home haircuts (or at least in-Hotel haircuts).

When I got home the kids and I just hung out on Sunday and destroyed the house in the glorious sunshine. My sunflowers are starting to come up and my brother brought me fresh soil for my front planter boxes, so I have big gardening projects I need to start on. Too bad it's still early to plant my tomatoes.

On my Phoenix flight I took the "Twilight" book with me. It was very fitting since my return flight went from Phoenix to Seattle. I like taking books with me that have vague references to where I am traveling to. I really should spend more time drawing than reading, as I have a LOT of artwork I'm behind on.

Speaking of which, I gotta get going, since I only have one day before I leave again. See you all later!

The Easter Bunny and the tooth Fairy

Both Came to Luke on Sunday!

I have been sick with a very bad Flu all weekend. So Daddy took Luke to the church Easter-egg hunt on Saturday. Luke made a bunch of dyed eggs and brought home a healthy stash of plastic ones.

After the hunt Daddy took Luke up to hike the Butte just to get him out of my hair. They had a great time as always, and stopped by grandpa's house for a quick dip in the hot-tub before heading home. The boys have a tradition thing going on now, which I think is great.

Sunday Morning Luke wanted to wear Brian's old nametag, so here's our little missionary knocking on a door. What a cute little prospective elder!



The Easter bunny brought him more eggs on Sunday- I didn't even know that the Easter Bunny had gone and brought home things to give to my kids. Doesn't the Easter Bunny ask before he brings sugar into my house? Luke got his basket, found his sister's basket, and promptly started feeding her GOBS of sugar. Thank you Easter Bunny.

I taught the RS lesson in Church. I was able to share a whole bunch of seeds from our garden with the other members. we put them in cute little packages and passed them out- giant sunflowers, garlic, chives, parsley, yellow onions, small dark sunflowers, carrots, and marigolds. we made close to 300 seed packets and I still have PLENTY more for next week.

After Church we came home and Luke helped himself to an apple. We keep a bowl of apples out and he knows that if he's ever hungry he can always eat an apple. He starts munching along then all of a sudden he YELPS! Crying he comes running to me with his bottom tooth all crooked and hanging out funny. The dentist had told him last month that he had at least 3 new teeth coming in, so we're not surprised. Daddy helped Luke calm down (Luke thought he was going to die) and gently pulled it out. I convinced Luke that he couldn't stop eating just because he was missing a tooth. Now in his prayers each day he prays that the new tooth will grow quickly.

Here's our big boy, missing his tooth. He sounds kinda lispy now. it's pretty cute.



Then we went over to the Tamasakas after a quick nap and the Easter Bunny visited there too. that insidious critter won't leave us alone.

I gotta get back to bed now that I've finished my taxes and done my social networking for the day. Have a great week!

Luke's question is: Is the Easter Bunny a real bunny or is he just a person dressed in a bunny costume? Where does he get his plastic eggs?

Sunny Sunday

A couple days ago we drove up to Hendrick's Park to take some early Easter photos while the kids were dressed up and the sun was out. We love this park for photography, too bad more of the rhodies weren't in bloom. Here are some of the shots we got.

Liz came to visit

We got a random call on the 25th. It was Liz, a friend who we went to institute with way back when. She had gotten married a month after we did and then moved off with her husband. She was an only member in her family and there were only 3 of us for her side of the group at her sealing when she went to Portland.

Liz had been a shy, naive young innocent thing until she started hanging out with our loud, obnoxious, and slightly eccentric group of friends. She said we were the ones who helped her break out of her shell and become who she is today (scary that we influenced her so much! we were NOT the best of influences). We even made some odd movies with her.

So she's in town, we haven't seen her since she got married and what joy we had when we found she was still happily married, active at church, and had two great little kids. Then we made chocolate cupcakes and her kids promptly smeared chocolate all over everything.

Then she came back on Thursday and we got to hang out some more. It will probably be a couple more years before we see her again, but it is so nice when you find a long-lost friend and know that they have been making good choices.