27 January 2008

Saturday we drove up into the mountains again to play in the snow. Sophie's friend, Riley, came with us.


We went to an area that had several sled runs already established. Here Sophie and Riley are sliding down a slope that is so slick and steep, they don't need a sled. Helen only likes sliding sledless. If you're not on a sled, you can't fall off.


Here's Abe jetting down a luge-like track. Brandan caught the sleds at the end of this run so the kids didn't fly off the bank into the road.


Back in the valley, we came out of church this afternoon to more snow. Abe and Helen changed into snow clothes to play in the waning daylight. Swim goggles keep snow out of your eyes, too. And we still haven't convinced the kids that snow is not clean enough to eat.

20 January 2008

Abe likes to drive his remote controlled car inside and dodge obstacles. One large obstacle is Gibson who likes to chase after the car as fast as his hands and knees will let him. Fun for everyone.

Heather is a recent convert in our ward, and since she's single and 19, we've been having the new member discussions at our house. Our kids love Heather. Brandan and Becky realized last night that they are closer to her age than we are. We might as well be geriatric.

Here's an update photo on Brandan's clinic construction. The building has really taken shape. It is scheduled for completion in August.

13 January 2008

Sophie and Abe went back to school this week after winter break. Sophie's school started 2 hours late because of the snow. In case you're imagining big drifts, we're posting a photo of the actual snowfall. It had all melted by 10 am. If you could see Oregonians drive in the snow, you'd want them to stay home until it melted, too.


Gibson can climb up stairs now and likes to climb up to the landing to pull himself up on the lowest climbing holds. He can climb all the way upstairs with one of us hovering behind him in case he changes his mind and starts back down.


Gibson also likes unloading the dishwasher. If only he'd put the spoons in the drawers instead of dropping them on the floor.

Becky had a root canal AND gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting this week. She's looking forward to having a real life in the week ahead.

6 January 2008

Happy New Year! We previously had no New Year's Eve traditions, but this year we decided to burn our calendar on December 31. Brilliant! Then we roasted marshmallows and had smores. Sophie recommends wearing swim goggles to keep the smoke out of your eyes.


Sophie, Abe and Helen wanted to sleep together in the library on New Year's Eve. They stayed up until about 9 pm. Brandan and Becky stayed up a little later watching the deliciously absurd comedy, Mr. Bean's Holiday.


We're including this photo to make those of you living in cold climates feel better. Brandan took the opportunity of a dry day on New Year's to mow our very shaggy, but also very green, lawn.


Happy Perihelion Day- the day our earth is closest to the sun in its orbit. Also known as January 4 and Brandan's birthday. Becky always works up a little math problem as a birthday present and puts it on Brandan's cake. This year both Brandan and Sophie solved the problem before digging into the vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (Brandan solved it algebraically and Sophie through trial and error). So how old is Brandan? In case you can't read the frosting, here is the problem: There is a 2 digit number such that the sum of the digits is 9 and the product of the digits is 1/2 the original number. Find the number. (Becky's math problems always equal Brandan's current age.)

Miss Helen went to Sunbeams for the first time today. She loved it. They sang two of her favorite songs, I Am a Child of God and Happy Birthday, and ate apples and oranges for a snack.