New VP running mate announced

This is an update from yesterday in case you had not heard yet:

Here is part of a news article just posted online:

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

DENVER - John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Two senior campaign officials disclosed Mccain's decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio.

Palin is a self-styled hockey mom and political reformer who has been governor of her state less than two years.

Palin's selection shocked numerous Republican officials.

In making his pick, Mccain passed over several more prominent prospects who had figured in speculation for months — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge among them.

At 44, Palin is a generation younger that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is a former mayor of Wasilla who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.

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I'm not sure if an official announcement has been made at this point. Thoughts anyone? All I have to say is this is a very interesting selection. I do not know very much about her other than what I saw on an interview a few months ago and she seemed very intelligent and down to earth.

Hype

I usually don't discuss politics on my blog, I'll leave that to this guy, but I've been bothered by a lot of what I've been hearing and reading in the news lately.

There has been a lot of speculation as to if John McCain will decide on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as VP. The announcement should be coming any day now following the Democratic Convention.

With all the media coverage about the Presidential elections and the candidates choices for their Vice Presidential running mates I have to ask you, normal everyday people of America, does the person selected to run as vice president influence your voting decision or are you purely voting for who will make the best president of our country?

And as parents, what issues are most important to you in this election? What would you like to see changed on a country/state/city level?

It's Tradition

Since pre-school, I have taken a picture on the first day of school of Kendle with her little backpack on ready to head out the door. I'm sure as she gets older this will become more annoying to her, but right now she enjoys the photo ops. It's a tradition in the making.

Yesterday we attended her open house to get better acquainted with her new teacher (who seems fabulous) and look around the classroom a bit. Riley went to school with her and her husband and she seems so friendly and her class was decorated really cute. Kendle loved the reading nook and the big map of the United States on the wall. We found her desk with her name tag on it and put her school supplies away inside of it. She was thrilled.

This morning we woke up really early and had lots of extra time before school started. I am not a morning person at all, but I know if I got up that half-hour earlier everyday during the school year it would make a huge difference. We didn't know what do with ourselves, we read some Scriptures, Kendle wrote in her journal, I checked my email and then FINALLY (according to Kendle) it was time to go.

The school parking lot, actually the 1 mile radius around the school, was a complete zoo. People are cut throat and ruthless when it comes to dropping their kids off in the morning. There wasn't a parking spot to be found, so I pulled up to the front drop off zone and let her out and away she went in all of her first day of school glory. Not even a look back or a wave I tell you. I watched her for a minute or two, she put her backpack by her classroom door, found some friends, and couldn't have cared less that her worry wart of a mom was sitting in the car waiting to make sure she was alright before heading back into the throng of aggressive drivers. I'm glad she's so independent, but sheesh not even a wave.

One of our other first day of school traditions is to have a special dinner. So tonight it is Kendle's choice. What did she pick? French toast. So we will be having french toast, eggs, and hash browns for dinner. She was so excited to see on our weekly menu on the fridge that I had written "Kendle's Choice" for Wednesday night's meal. I love that little things like that make her happy.

So do you have any first day of school traditions. If so, what are they?

Unbelievable

Can this little girl really be starting 1st grade tomorrow?!!

*photo via Tamra Tovey

"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"

~Quote from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

*

Kendle's Birthday

Kendle has been excited to turn 6 for months. It's all she has talked about, she had a serious countdown going on. I'm glad to say that she had a great birthday on Saturday and she told me more than once that it was the best day ever! Our present to her was a new bigger bike. So far she's only crashed once into the neighbors bushes, not bad I'd say.

This was the first year she had a "real" birthday party and she was so excited to see all of her friends. It was a lot of fun and the kids ran, played, swung, rolled, climbed, jumped, and bounced to their hearts content. It was great to have so many friends and family come join us.

Kendle is my special girl and her dad and I are so thankful to have her as a part of our family. She brings light and laughter wherever she goes and tries hard to do what's right and be a friend to those around her.

Here are six things you might not know about her:

-Her favorite color is light blue

-She loves corn on the cob

-Her favorite TV show is "Man VS Wild" or anything about animals

-She wants to be a doctor when she grows up to help people that are sick

-Her favorite movie is the Polar Express

-If she could travel anywhere in the world she would go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower and eat french food (totally her exact words)

Kendle is always keeping us entertained and coming up with interesting questions, her curiosity about life and the world is endless. I hope that never changes and that she continues to have a thirst for knowledge and learning.

*Here's to a great year being 6 Kendle!!!*

A little Mod Podge Fun

Yesterday Kendle and I went shopping for a birthday gift for my niece. After looking around the store for a while and not having any luck, we took a stroll down the craft aisle and picked up a plain picture frame and a cute round box with a lid. We thought we'd decorate the box and make it into a treasure box for her jewelry or special things and decorate the picture frame and tuck a photo of her and Kendle inside. I already had the Mod Podge and a big book of really cute papers so this was fairly inexpensive. Kendle helped me cut, glue,and dry both objects and pick out the papers to use. Both the box and the frame took about an hour total and here are the finished projects:

We put a cute little necklace and bracelet inside the box along with a card Kendle had made for her. We had such a fun time doing this together. I can't wait to get started on some other fun projects I've had planned for Kendle and Morgan's rooms. I loved this idea for a younger childs room.

Have a great weekend!

10 years ago....

I mentioned in a previous post that my ten year class reunion was this last Saturday. Since I wasn't able to go, I took my memory back in time a little, and here's some blasts from the past:

*If you turned on the radio you were likely to hear any of these songs:
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
I Don't Want To Miss a Thing - Aerosmith
I Want You Back - N*Sync
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - Green Day
My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion
Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are) - Pras Michel

*You might have watched some of these movies:
City of Angels
Romeo and Juliet (My favorite movie and soundtrack of senior year)
Titanic
Hope Floats
The Wedding Singer

*You might have been wearing:
Baggy Jeans
Doc Martens
Polo
Tommy Hilfiger
Tall socks (not a good time for fashion in my opinion)

I found one of my old memory books they gave us around graduation and I didn't write very much in it, but here are a few things:

*Best moments: Decorating the senior tree, Girls nights out, Cruising, Homecoming Court, Sadie Hawkins, Beating Baker @ Baker in Volleyball.

*Unforgettable moments: Cheerleading half-time show, Cheerleading squad helping host "Hot 9 @ 9 on 107.3 FM, Dying our hair on volleyball trips, State championship game for softball

*Where will I be in 10 years: An undercover FBI agent married to Leonardo DiCaprio. (What was I thinking?! As Riley pointed out, that just goes to show how out of touch with reality you are at that age)

*For class favorites I was voted: Best dressed, and All-American (whatever that meant)

*Favorite classes: Speech, Creative Writing


It is really funny to me to see how cheesy a lot of what I wrote really was. I had fun going back and looking at some pictures from my senior year.

This picture cracked me up. Who is the mystery guy that I cut out of the picture?! Was I that mad? Does anyone else have a picture like this?

Softball senior girls left to right: Jill, Kristi, Brooke, Me, Rachel

My locker, usually looked like a bomb went off. And there usually weren't flowers in there. I wonder who those were from?

My sister's baptism

The most important part of graduation, getting the diploma

I also saved some of these:

Our class motto inside our graduation announcement was a line from "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd :

"If I leave her tomorrow

Would you still remember me?

For I must be traveling on now

'Cause there's too many places that I've got to see"

Pretty telling about our class, there were a lot of wanderer's and free spirits among us. :)

I think one of the best reasons my senior year was so great was because I did NOT have a boyfriend for the majority of it. I dated a few people, but mostly I was just playing sports, hanging with my friends, and having a blast. I wish I would have taken advantage of that time more before heading into the world of rent, bills, and car payments.

Doing this post has made me realize how fast time really passes us by. I wonder where I'll be in another ten years..................................

Girls Weekend

Friday morning Riley's appointment in Grandview got cancelled so he encouraged me to go with my mom and help my sister move. I had about a half-hour to take a shower, pack a bag, and make sure everything was in order for me to leave him and the kids for the next three days. He's never had to be with the kids that long by himself, but he assured me everything would be fine and he felt confident in his fatherly skills. :)

I got to my parents, helped load up a few more things and we snapped a few pictures before we left.











(way to slouch down in this one to make me feel tall)

We caravanned down the road to Corvallis and made it there by late afternoon. The traffic through Portland was horrible so we didn't make as good of time as we wanted to.

Tamra will be living with one of her good friends from high school and their apartment is not too far from OSU's campus. It looks kind of old on the outside, but the inside looks pretty good. New carpet and flooring and fresh paint. Besides the ugly orange counter tops, and nasty cupboards, the kitchen isn't too bad and they have almost all new appliances. It is easy to find, and right by a nice little park with sand volleyball courts and softball fields.

(Gotta love college furniture)

We unpacked the cars and then started helping Tam unload her "stuff". We got the bed set up, furniture arranged, a few pictures hung, clothes put away, and almost all of the boxes unpacked in an hour or so. Not bad right? We were joking that if we would have had the guys with us, it would have been a million times more complicated.

We decided to take a break because it was about 100 degrees, and no apartments have air conditioning down there. The humidity was unbelievable and we were sticky and sweaty and we needed cold air FAST! Chinese food sounded good and we ate really slow to enjoy the cold air before heading back to the heat. We needed to do some shopping, and at least the car felt good while we drove around. We hit quite a few stores and got some big fans, which probably ended up saving our lives and our sanity through the weekend.

When we got back to Tam's apartment we were completely exhausted and ready for bed. My mom and I were "roughing" it and had brought sleeping bags to camp out on the floor. It sounded good in theory, but after about half an hour we were complaining. Then, just as we started drifting off to sleep with the fan blasting on us, the guys in the apartment upstairs decided to turn their music up and the bass was thumping so loud it sounded like they were stomping up there. So at one in the morning we were laying there, hot and uncomfortable and listening to loud bass. Oh, the joys of being in a college town. We were also sleeping with one eye open due to the large spider we tried to kill before we went to sleep that escaped under the baseboard heater. Yikes!

Saturday we did some more shopping, looking for cheap furniture and a table mostly. I can't believe how much Corvallis has grown in the last few years. We shopped all over Corvallis and Albany and then headed back to the apartment to help Tam's friend unload her things and put together furniture. Later that night we got a nice surprise that these guys were in town at my sister-in-law Debbie's parents' house there in Corvallis. They came over to see the apartment and then my mom and I went back with them to enjoy some cool air and watch the Olympics for a bit. Deb's parents are so nice, and it is great to have people like that close by in case Tam ever needs help.

That night my mom and I were drifting off to sleep when BOOM - a huge clap of thunder woke us right up and made us sit up thinking a bomb had gone off. There was a huge thunder storm and it poured down rain. Lightning lit up the sky and the apartment windows. It was nice to have some cooler weather rolling in and the rain smelled good. After the storm started fading away, the people upstairs (must be their one a.m. ritual) started blasting their loud music with the bass thumping away. It was a long night.

Sunday morning we woke up to some cooler weather, it was such a pretty day. There was a hint of fall in the air. I tried to straighten my hair for church, but the humidity and the curl in my hair just don't mix. I even used some non-frizz stuff in my hair, and it didn't help. We got dressed for church and took Tamra to the student ward on campus. We met the Bishop who was very nice and discovered his son is in my parents ward back home. It's a small world. The ward was packed and it seemed about 1,000% cooler than when I was there ten years ago. A super cute returned missionary gave a great talk (good first impression for my little sis) we enjoyed a somewhat strained version of "Amazing Grace" on the harp, and then listened to an excellent talk by their assigned High Councilman who encouraged them to befriend each other and become a close ward family while there at school. It was a really good meeting. One of the other really cool things is that the Institute is right on campus and when you sign up for Institute classes they give you a parking pass sticker for your car, so Tam can park there during the day if she wanted and be that much closer to her classes elsewhere on campus, and for all of the football games, which is what my dad and brothers really care about. HA.

I really love Corvallis, and I know that Tamra will love it too and have a fun time there. I love driving around and seeing orange and black, and OSU stickers, flags, and signs everywhere. I wish I could be as big of a WSU fan since I've lived in Washington for the last eight years, but I don't think it's gonna happen. My mom and I had a great visit on the drive back home and I knew my family had been missing me while I was away. I didn't get home until about 9:30 Sunday night and I was so excited to open the front door and give them all hugs. It's amazing what a little time away can do for your attitude and really makes you appreciate coming home again. My kids both looked older and Riley looked relieved. He had done a great job with Kendle and Morgan and the house was clean.

So now that I know what a great job he can do, I'm already thinking about another girls trip...............................

Lots to share, so little time

I have a ton to do today, but hopefully I can post a more in-depth recap later tonight about my weekend.

I helped my mom move my little sis down to college. No, I did not go to my ten-year reunion. It was a spur of the moment decision. Here are a few descriptive words I'll throw out there about it until I can wrote more:

-HOT

-77% HUMIDITY

-SPIDERS

-BASS

-THUNDER

-HARP MUSIC

-FRIZZY HAIR

-ORANGE and BLACK

I'm glad to be back in my air conditioned home!!! And yes, Riley survived having the kids by himself for three days.

Questions Answered, Inquiring Minds Want to Know

On MTV's movie page section Stephenie Meyer did a sit down to answer some readers burning questions about her latest book "Breaking Dawn". If you haven't read the Twilight series yet, crawl out from the rock you've been living under and treat yourself to some fun reading.

Anyways, I finally I got my question answered about the book cover and the meaning behind the chess pieces. Here is her response to one readers question that was submitted for the question and answer piece:

Question: You said once you read "Breaking Dawn," you'll understand the cover of the book. So does it represent Bella and Nessie?

Meyer: No, it represents Bella and Bella. ... Bella starts out as the weakest player on the board, and she ends up as the one who decides the outcome of the story. She becomes the most powerful player, and I really liked that metaphor. I liked seeing her evolution in one picture.

















Until reading Meyer's explanation I had no idea that was what it was supposed to represent, but now it makes sense. I was under the assumption it had something to do with the Volturi, but now I can finally sleep at night. Am I the only one who couldn't figure it out?


To read the rest of the interview you can go here. If you are a big Twilight fan you can check back there every week for "Twilight Tuesday".

This and That

Here's a smorgasbord of what's been going on with our family and what I've been thinking about:

-Kendle lost her first tooth while we were at the coast and I failed to mention that in my posts about our trip. She's getting ready to lose her other middle, bottom tooth any day now. She thinks it's so cool and tells me every five seconds (literally) how loose the tooth is.

-Morgan's new nickname around our house is "Morgan the Menace". Believe me, it's deserved even if he is only barely 14 months old. He is FAST and into everything. He has quick reflexes and if you turn your head for a second he is stealing the remote and typing in random channels, typing on the keyboard and messing with the computer (his favorite is that he has figured out how to turn the computer off), taking items off of my bathroom counter and hiding them.....the list goes on. He keeps me on my toes to say the least. He's still my little sweetheart though.

-I was contacted about my high school 10-year reunion that is this Saturday! That's some short notice! Guess a week isn't enough time to lose that last 20 pounds of pregnancy weight. Ha. Not sure if I'm going, I really don't have any desire to go but I feel kind of obligated. I was thinking about it so much yesterday that I actually had a dream about it last night complete with a ton of my old classmates. The sad thing is that I think most of the people I would like to see won't be there.

-I love David Archuleta's new single "Crush". It is so catchy and fun to sing along to, I had to add it my playlist.

-The New Kids On the Block are coming out with a new album. I was a huge fan back in the day so I had to check it out on itunes. There is only one song you can listen to and it was actually not bad. It will be interesting to see if they can make a comeback.

-My upper back and neck got sun-burned while at the water park yesterday. YIKES! I'll be feeling that for the next couple of days.


*So there's just a few random thoughts from me today. *

Monday, Monday

On the agenda for today:

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Have a great Monday!!!

That's a wrap

It was kind of sad Friday morning to pack up our bags (and boy did we cram everything in) and make our way back home to jobs, errands, laundry, stifling hot weather, and what I refer to as "the drudge". We said goodbye to the ocean until next summer.

On the way home we stopped to see some family and gave the kids a good break out of the car. Jeremy and Molly have a lovely backyard with tons of room to play and run and Kendle was excited to see her cousins.

After that it was back in the car, destination Irrigon to stop and see my folks and more family. We felt pretty lucky to be able to see so many people in one day. We were glad to be back in the Eastern part of the state. Riley was counting how many "Obama" stickers we saw as we were driving home compared to how many he's seen around our neck of the woods. I'll just say, there's a reason we like living where we do. Ha. After visiting and eating some yummy dinner, it was once again back in the car to drive that last 45 minutes home, unpack the disaster of a car, literally throw the kids in bed, and then crash. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed after a week away from home. Ahhh......



*Some things about this trip that I would definitely do again:

-I packed Kendle her own mini-backpack for the car (and she packed it on a few of our outings)with a new coloring book, reading book, some crayons, pencils, paper, a few treats, a bottle of water, headphones for the DVD player and about five movies. That kept her pretty self-sufficient and almost completely entertained the whole trip, and it made her responsible and in charge of keeping track of her things. Soooooo glad I did that. Next time I might try and find a cheap disposable camera for her to take her own pictures with as well.
















(check out those muscular calves)

-We decided to take our little car instead of the Durango and although we had to pack a little lighter (which wasn't such a bad thing) and at times I felt a bit claustrophobic, we saved SO much in gas. It was totally worth it.

-I'm so glad I planned lots of things to do. In the past I haven't done this and we would waste lots of time trying to figure out what to do and where to go. This way we could look ahead at what we were doing the next day and plan and pack accordingly. I felt so much more prepared and relaxed.

-We packed lots of food and snacks and a big cooler. Our family always gets really burnt out on eating restaurant food during trips so we brought lots of lunch supplies with us. We ate breakfast at the hotel everyday, packed a lunch, and then only had to eat out for dinner. Everyone in our family really enjoyed that a lot more. We had some fun picnics and we only ate at McDonald's once the whole trip, YAY!

-Staying the whole week made the packing, the drive, and preparation more worthwhile. I'm glad we planned on staying that extra night, to give us one more day of fun.

It was a great trip with my fun family and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Wednesday, Thursday

Wednesday and Thursday of our trip were fun days. *This is a really long post, fair warning*

On Wednesday we decided to take a drive up to Tillamook and visit The Cheese Factory. So after breakfast we took off going north up the coast highway. It was a GORGEOUS day for a drive along the ocean. The sun was shining and it actually looked like summer on the coast. To get to Tillamook you branch off slightly east away from the ocean going more inland. It is a really pretty drive and we saw lots of neat little houses. The thing that struck me the most about all of the little towns we went through from Lincoln City on, was that I saw more American Flags displayed on homes and businesses than anywhere I've ever seen. Honestly, almost every single place had an American Flag mounted or hanging. It was awesome!

We stopped at a little park about 5 miles out of Tillamook and had lunch we had packed in our cooler. The kids enjoyed running around after being in the car for a while.

When we arrived at the cheese factory, it was packed as usual with hardly a parking space to be found. We weren't two steps inside the door when Kendle insisted I take a picture of her and the cows:

The bottom level of the visitors center is made up of a gift shop, a little tour with information about the factory, a little market area where you can buy cheese and other food items, a cafe and fudge counter, and the ice cream court which was the #1 reason the place was swamped. Fresh ice cream = happy people. We took Kendle through the tour portion downstairs and then headed up the elevator to the second level where you could observe the factory operations through big windows. It's amazing to see how fast the people working there have to be and how quickly everything gets cut and packaged and sent on its way. There are little videos you can watch about how everything is made and processed and it's pretty interesting. They also have a smaller ice cream station and we outsmarted the big crowds by getting our ice cream up there and having a bench all to ourselves to eat it on.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have dreams about Tillamook's fresh German Chocolate Cake ice cream. It's heaven. I haven't been able to find it in the stores, (plus it wouldn't have the same fresh taste) so I have to rely on eating it every couple of years when we visit Tillamook. No words can describe how much I love that ice cream. Riley and the kids enjoyed some huge ice cream cones and we all were very content.

After that we headed back down stairs to look through the cheeses and specialty food items. We ended up getting some great stuff, but my favorite purchase of the day was this:

These make the best Pumpkin Muffins, so I had to stock up while I was there. I'll save them for a chilly fall morning.

After we left the cheese factory we headed to the Tillamook Country Smoker so Riley could stock up on his years supply of jerky and beef sticks. I tell you, it does not take much to keep him happy.

After that we went to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum. Riley's family had some deep roots in Tillamook so we thought we would check it out. We were pleasantly surprised at what a cool place it was. One of our best surprises was finding this:

We found some of Riley's ancestors who were some of the first townsfolk in a room full of pictures. Honestly it would have been like looking for a needle in a hay stack, but it was one of the first ones we were drawn too. Coincidence?

We were able to see so many neat things there - war memorabilia, old automobiles and carriages, little rooms set up like the inside of old houses, animals, Indian artifacts,....just so many neat things we were not expecting. Take a look:

As you can see from the last picture Morgan was not happy. He hated that little stroller the whole trip. I'm sure the museum people were glad when we were gone! On the way back we stopped at Beverly Beach outside of Newport and let the kids play some more since it was such a nice day. There was a little stream of water running down to the ocean that the kids had fun playing in and Kendle actually ran out into the ocean and got really wet. She is too brave for her own good sometimes! The weather was lovely though, even the Morgster did not mind getting a little wet. It was a great way to finish off our fun day.

Thursday morning we drove down to the wharf and walked around a bit. We took the kids to go see the sea lions there, they always make us laugh. Kendle kept trying to get them to talk to her which made all of the people around us laugh. I'm not sure what Morgan thought, but he seemed pretty interested. The sun was shining off the water and we had a beautiful view.

*Side note- don't even waste your time trying to fix your hair at the coast. *

After getting our fill of the sea lions and the fish smell of the wharf we drove to Devil's Punch Bowl State Park and had a picnic. We enjoyed the great weather and the sound of the ocean while we ate. We had lots of little visitors too. There are tons of squirrel's there, none of which were afraid to approach us for some food. Kendle thought they were so cute, but Riley quickly reminded her they are nothing more than glorified rodents. (Wow, way to take all of the fun out of it dad.) We walked down where we could see the "punch bowl" and it looked like the perfect place for a pirate to stow some treasure. Pretty amazing what mother nature can do.

We decided some afternoon shopping was in order so we headed to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Lincoln City. We did some school shopping for Kendle and found her the cutest back pack. There are always lots of good deals to be found, especially at the children's stores, but I did manage to snag some good deals for myself. We walked and walked, and walked some more. We worked up quite an appetite and decided to have an early dinner here:

It was super good, even Kendle our picky eater raved about her food. We were totally worn out and so we headed back to our hotel to do one last night of swimming and relaxing. We packed everything up before bed that night and I think we all fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow.