Palouse Falls

Over Labor Day weekend we squeezed in one more little family outing. We decided to pick somewhere we'd never been and just take a drive there. About an hour and a half from our house is Palouse Falls State Park. Neither Riley or I had visited there or heard about it, so we thought why not? We needed to get the kids out of the house for a bit and some quiet nap time in the car for the kids never hurts. The drive went through some pretty no-man's land stretches and at times was pretty hilly and curvy. We're talking no cell phone service for miles around in any direction. Not much in the scenery department to take in either, but upon arriving at our destination we had a beautiful site to see.

There are some trails you can hike that take you close to the falls, but as they are slightly dangerous we did not attempt them with the kids. We would love to go back and explore more another time. We also found another cool spot to go swimming/camping so we'll have to do that too.

Sometimes spur of the moment plans are the best and you just never know what you might find!

Weekend

What a fun and relaxing 4 1/2 day weekend we had. Friday Kendle only had a half day of school (it was a furlough day). Kendle had another birthday party to go to that night that she was excited to attend. January and February have been super busy birthday months! It was a sleepover, but since she had an early basketball game the next morning we agreed to let her stay until about 9:00 or so instead. After much deliberation she decided that sounded fair.

Bright and early Saturday morning we went to Pasco High for Kendle's basketball game. Her team was missing a few players and have had quite a few people that have been sick so it didn't go too well, but Kendle had a couple of outstanding baskets the last little bit of the game. On one play all of her team mates pulled out of the key taking their defenders with them and left a wide open lane right down the middle for Kendle to drive to the basket. It was great. I wish they could do that more. Since she is not one of the taller girls out there she has to really hustle and try harder for rebounds. She does a good job of shutting down the other teams good players when she gets to defend them. There are only two more games left in the season and it has gone by really fast. I wish I could get pictures and video of her playing more, but it is hard when I'm wrestling little guys during the games.

Saturday night we celebrated my little sister Tamra's 22 birthday. She came home for the weekend from Corvallis. We went to Texas Roadhouse and stuffed ourselves silly and Tamra even got to sit on the birthday saddle. Yee-haw! It was fun to visit with her and her boyfriend Luke, and also Tucker and mom and dad.








After that we made a run into Ranch and Home so the guys could look at some "guy stuff". You know - guns, ammunition, out door gear, etc......We found a super fun little sandbox digger for the boys that was a total steal that looks like this:


Morgan has been digging some big holes already and loving it for his farm. We might have to go back and buy two more for the the other little farmers though! Good thing we still have that big patch of dirt for the kids to play in on the side of the house. Some days I hate it, but it keeps the little guys busy.

Monday we relaxed most of the morning and then Kendle and Riley headed to soccer practice after lunch. Riley is coaching Kendle's t-cysa team and also a tournament team he was asked to put together for the upcoming Blue Mountain tournament that is put on every year over here at our soccer fields. It will take place next weekend so Riley has been trying to cram in some practices beforehand with these girls who are mostly all coming from separate teams and have not played together before. Kendle will be playing up an age group and hopefully their team will do some good things in the tournament. It has been a lot of work having two back to back practices for the regular season team and then the tournament team and Kendle has been getting her soccer legs back under her on Monday-Wed-Fridays and then running more at basketball on Tues-Thurs-Saturdays. The regular season for Kendle's soccer starts March 2 and then softball starts in April. Riley also "officially" starts high school soccer in the next week or so as well. Whew! Hope we can keep up.

Cozy Saturday

It's been a white frosty couple of days making everything winter white outside with a tiny skiff of snow dusting the ground this afternoon. Today I managed to do an overhaul on my craft closet and get it all cleaned out and organized before the holiday madness hits. I can safely say now I can find all the ribbons, bows, wrapping paper and bags that I will need in the next few weeks. I made Riley take the kids and get out of the house for a few hours so I could get a little peace and quiet. This is what I did while they were gone:

1. Treated myself to some amazingly delicious hot pumpkin spice cocoa and cookies.

2. Put our family advent calendar together and hung it by our tree.

3. Turned on some Christmas tunes and the fireplace.

4. Put my feet up in front of the fire and got comfy with a good book.

This was exactly what I needed today and the perfect way to relax.

Wicked: A review by Kendle

Memorial weekend Kendle, my mother, and I made our way to Spokane to see the totally fabulous and magical production of Wicked. Here are Kendle's thoughts about the day:


Okay, first this is one of the only (awesome) plays I've seen.  I thought the coolest prop was a dragon that breathed fire -- aka red smoke.  We got to sit in row F.  Good for me 'cause I'm pretty short.  When we finaly got into the event center I was super excited.  My top 2 favorite songs were Popular and Defying Gravity.  The main characters in the play were Galinda, (Glinda later on) Elphaba, Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose, The Wizard of Oz, Chistury, (that was a flying monkey), Madam Morrible, and the fellow Ozians.  There was one part I don't recommend for kids age 6 and under. I thought it was just loud and violent in one scene. (The part where the Wizard's big talking head moves around and makes lots of noise.) Oh, and did I mention in the beginning it had a big map of the Emerald City? My favorite scene was when they sing Defying Gravity and Elphaba's a witch and her dress is HUGE!  It's like her dress just magically grew. 

I will just add that Kendle had a huge smile on her face for the majority of the show and her eyes got really big quite a few times. I'm so glad it worked out that my mom was able to come with us as well. It was the best girls day ever! After the show we walked the water front and the park, Kendle climbed the huge red wagon and rode the carousel, and we stopped in at Cyrus O'Leary's for the pie we'd been craving all day. The weather was perfect to boot. My mom and I concluded we MUST do that more often.

Mother's Day Weekend

 {One of my Mother's Day gifts, new running shoes}

We had a great weekend here at the Dodson household. Friday afternoon Morgan and I went to the doctor, got some prescriptions that would help us feel better, and Friday night I got knocked out and slept the best I had in weeks. My body needed a serious reprieve from all the coughing I'd been doing and I felt so much better Saturday morning after getting a full nights sleep. Saturday morning we all got to work cleaning the house and working outside. Riley took down our poor play set that was falling apart and got that area all cleaned up and Morgan and Kendle hauled the scraps and the wood to his truck to be taken to the dump. After that the twins went down for a nap, Kendle and Morgan went to my mother-in-laws for the afternoon and Riley went to go scout a game to see who they would be playing this week. I was really tempted to go rest up and take a nap while it was quiet, but I put on some work gloves and decided to go do some weeding instead. I got all of the front weeding done and most of the back. There is something so satisfying about pulling weeds and seeing an instant effect of everything looking nice and clean. Later that afternoon we got to work on our new "fire pit" area, which was really pretty simple. We just raked all the peagravel to smooth everything back out and clean out the debri, assembled the fire pit, and I planted some cute little trees in some bright green pots to put around it. I'm still looking for some better chairs, but anything is an improvement from what it looked like before, trust me. Now all that's left to do is to frame the edges out with some wood to contain the pea gravel better. This is definitely everyone's new favorite spot. I'm trying to convince Riley to try and make us some cute benches to go there.

Sunday I woke up to Riley making me a delicious breakfast. Granted the kitchen was a mess and the whole house smelled like a diner, but the food was really good. He had gotten up extra early to make me bacon, scrambled eggs, country hash browns, english muffins and orange juice. It was delicious. At the table were also some beautiful roses and some cute gifts from the kids. It was a great way to start Mother's Day. I wanted to take a picture with all the kids before church and of course at least one of the kids has to start crying. Don't ask me why this always happens, but it does. This time Morgan had a whole bunch of stuff in his hands and in his shirt pockets and I made him take them out (because he couldn't take them to church anyways), so then he totally started crying and he was the only one NOT smiling for the picture, but I love him anyways and it keeps it real I suppose.

And here is one of the funny out takes.....



So as you can see, we took what we could get in the two minutes we had to spare to snap a few pictures.

Church was wonderful, there were so many good speakers and inspiring thoughts that were shared (not to mention the chocolates and cheesecake we were treated to). It made me remember more than ever to be grateful for the opportunity to be a mother and that this is what I wanted in my life so I need to choose to be happy and make the best of whatever comes along, and also I need to be the type of mother my children deserve to have. It was one of my most enjoyable Mother's Day Sundays I've had in a long time.

Last night after putting the twins to bed, we gave in to Kendle and Morgan's begging and tried out the new fire pit. We sat around and watched the sparks fly into the dark sky and listened to the crackling fire. We watched Riley stoke the flames and add more wood.  We stayed there until it was way past bedtime and my feet in my flip-flops got cold. It was one of those rare moments in time where you could just soak in the contentment and see it mirrored in your children's faces. It was the perfect way to end such a wonderful day. I'm grateful to my little family for making me feel so loved.

What a fun weekend

Our weekend fun started on Friday when we surprised the kids with a family day trip to Seattle to see the HarryPotter Exhibition  at the Pacific Science Center. Kendle was so excited and kept asking us the whole way there what it was going to be like. We had a great trip and luckily the roads were dry and safe. When we got to the PSC, we were told we would not be allowed to take pictures or video or anything of the sort once we entered the exhibit hall. We were so bummed! There were so many cool things that would have been awesome to have those memories of. The very first thing we encountered upon entering was an actor that was welcoming us and let some of the children try out the sorting hat. It was great! All the kids got a kick out of it. As a whole there were lots, and lots of interesting memorabilia and staged rooms from the movies. They also had a few hands on activities like pulling out mandrakes in the herbology lab and throwing quaffles through hoops in the quidditch display. Our kids liked those rooms the best. I think that is one thing that could have improved it a bit was more hands on activities and displays. My favorite room was Hagrid's hut. We got to sit in his big comfy chair. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. I would recommend going if you are a big HP fan or if you were going to be in Seattle anyways and were looking for something fun to do with your kids. (Although, younger children might not find it as fun or interesting.) The tickets were a little overpriced in my opinion, but I think it was still worth going to.

After that we battled the horrible (and I mean, really, really horrible) traffic and finally got out of the city a little ways to stop for some dinner at Red Robin. The kids had been wanting a milkshake all day long. I think Morgan probably asked at least ten or twelve times. So finally we got them a milkshake. Because it took so long for us to get a table the manager brought us a complimentary appetizer. I have to say the babies were great up until this moment in time and then they were just starving. As long as we kept food coming their way and their little chubby fists stuffed with fries they were perfectly happy. After we were all done eating, we packed everybody back up in the car, changed them all into jammies for the ride home and took off. We got as far as the gas station to fill up when Riley realized he forgot his debit card, so back to Red Robin we went. Whew! Then had to stop one more time to get some milk for the babes and then we were really on our way. It was a quiet drive home. We pulled into our drive way around midnight, put all the kids to bed, and then I think Riley and I were asleep before our heads even hit our pillows. What an exhausting but awesome day! I can honestly say we really had a fun time. We were hesitant about taking the twins, but they are great little travelers and didn't make a peep during the whole time at the Harry Potter exhibit. Everyone slept in Saturday morning and that NEVER happens, so I know the kids must have been just as tired as we were.

Saturday morning we spent cleaning out the car and doing some house cleaning and laundry and hurried to get done so we could watch the Civil War game, which to Oregon football fans is the biggest game of the year.  Sad to say our team lost, but it was still a pretty good game and not too big of a blowout. Better luck next year Beavers. After the game we dropped the kids off at our SGB's (soccer girls babysitters) in Kennewick. These girls are awesome. They love to watch our kids and our kids think it is the biggest treat in the entire world. They are always asking to go over there. Then we headed to Famous Dave's to meet up with Johnny and Julie for dinner. Riley and Johnny received Famous Dave's gift cards from their team so they took us ladies out for date night. We kept joking that we are cheap dates. After filling up on delicious food, we all went and got pedicures. Yep, that's right, all of us. We enjoyed some pampering and the guys enjoyed the relaxation as well. I could tell Riley was looking kind of sleepy. After that we headed to the mall to do some shopping/browsing for a while and ended the night with some Cinnabon's. That was a lot we packed in and still picked our kids up by just a little after 9:00. That was quite the date. I think the guys definitely deserved an A+.

I told Riley, see this is what every weekend could be like if we had an unlimited amount of money and you weren't coaching soccer every Saturday. Ha, ha.

We had a really great weekend. Friday night kicked off with a fun "date" with Riley, Cooper, and Kale. It is hard to find a babysitter for all four kids, so we opted to have my mother in law watch Kendle and Morgan and just take the twins with us so we could have some time away. We hit up Red Robin for dinner which ended up being a good choice since it was loud with lots of lights and things for the babies to look at. That being the babies only second time ever eating out at a restaurant, they were completely entertained and so, so good. We kept their little fists stuffed with french fries and they were totally happy and content. After that we shopped at Target for a little bit and they loved riding around in the shopping carts (x's 2) and laughed and had fun through the whole store. Riley and I were seriously blown away at how easy it was to take them (although I think our idea of easy has changed a lot) with us and how absolutely great they were. Pretty sure that would not happen every time, but we were glad we were able to get out for a bit and it wasn't all that stressful.

Saturday everyone pitched in cleaning the house. It felt good to have the bedrooms and bathrooms cleaned and the floor mopped before Riley had to leave for soccer. His team traveled to West Valley and earned a 5-0 win. Kendle's team played later that afternoon and they did amazing. This was their first game where everything finally clicked and they played like a real team. They looked awesome. It was so fun to watch. They were passing and controlling the ball really well. They took a lot of good shots and really hustled. Kendle scored a goal and had a few assists. She loves playing goalie and did good there when it was her turn. She is a good defensive player (sometimes a little too aggressive), and she has improved a lot on regaining the possession of the ball and hustling to get in front of her opponents. The girls were so excited and we could tell they were enjoying the game.

After that we headed back home and I made some soup and fresh bread for dinner. It was nice to have some cooler weather.  It had been such a drizzly day and it was a relief to have a cozy night at home without having to go anywhere else. I was pretty worn out from the busy day and enjoyed just relaxing. The kids were all pretty tired so it was an early bedtime for them all. After Riley got home from his game we watched the newer Robin Hood with Russell Crowe and thought it was just ok.

Sunday we had a good day at church. Kendle and the rest of the primary children were practicing for their primary program coming up in a few weeks. I've been trying to work with her on memorizing her part. She had to write a little part about her baptism. At one point in time when I was out walking Kale during relief society I saw Morgan and his nursery class come down the hallway taking a little indoor walk since it was rainy outside. They all hold onto a little rope and it is so cute. He is starting to really like going to nursery again and seeing his teachers and his little friends.

After church we came home to a wonderful smelling house. We had a yummy roast going in the crock pot and it smelled heavenly. One thing I dread about coming home after church is the crazy messes that are leftover from all of our hurrying to get ready for church. I really appreciated that everyone helped pitch in tidying up the house while I got the rest of our dinner made. That rarely happens, so I knew everyone must have been really hungry. After stuffing ourselves full of dinner Riley and the boys crashed and took naps and I helped Kendle work on some Faith in God projects. She's in charge of planning and helping to prepare our dinner and dessert tonight. She is really excited about it and even designed a fancy menu on the computer last night. It should be an interesting experience, but hopefully it will be fun and educational for her as well.
I will try and post some pictures of her meal tomorrow.

Fun Friday

Today being October 1st we are putting out all the fun pumpkins and fall decorations. I put my pretty fall wreath on the front door and Morgan helped me get the scary pumpkins out of the garage so we can put them up on our high wall ledge and plug them in to have glowy yellow spooky pumpkins at night. I am not a big Halloween decorator, I usually opt for things I can leave up until it's time for the Christmas decor to come out. Morgan keeps asking me if it is Christmas time and if he can help put up the Christmas decorations. I think the holidays all sort of blend together for him at this point. He also thinks Dumbledore from Harry Potter is Santa Claus, so I guess we have a few things to straighten out.

Kendle gets to have a friend over after school today and she is excited. They get to play and have pizza and watch a movie and then we'll take the little friend home after dinner. It's so nice that the girls can just ride the bus home together which saves me lots of running around. It never hurts either to use the friend coming over as bribery to keep her room clean. :)

Riley hinted this morning that they are having early soccer practice tonight and he may want to take me out to dinner. Sometimes it is fun to get dressed really cute and have a night out with your hubby. Those get few and far between for us during soccer season (which is pretty much all year long.) Other times it is nice to just enjoy a night with everyone home at the same time without running from here to there and reheating dinners and being exhausted by 7:00. We have been wanting to try out this little place:

We have heard good things about it and one of the boys soccer players Riley coaches works there. It is supposed to be really authentic home cooked Italian food.

Today just feels like a good day. I'm going to try and get caught up on folding the laundry and get ready for our crazy soccer day tomorrow. Kendle's team plays bright and early at 9:00 and then Riley's high school team plays Kamiakin at 11:00. Busy, busy but it will be nice to be done with all things soccer by 2:00 in the afternoon and have the rest of the weekend to enjoy our family and General Conference.

I can't believe last year around this time I looked like this. I can still remember how uncomfortable that was!

4th of July Weekend.......Surprise!

Last Thursday I happened to see a lady on craigslist that was trying to sell her reservations in Seaside Oregon for the 4th of July weekend. I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and plan something spontaneous to surprise the kids. She ended up taking our offer and it was a great hotel right on the beach. We were going to be in Portland until Sunday anyways and I thought why not just drive another hour or so to the beach, spend the night watching the most amazing fireworks show ever, and then spend Monday having fun too? We went for it.

Riley and Kendle headed to Portland on Friday for Riley's soccer tournament and I headed down the following morning with my mom and the three younger kiddies. We spent the day at Jer and Molly's house along with the rest of our family. Once again the kids had a blast all day long and Jer and Molly were wonderful hosts supplying us with yummy food and their lovely backyard to lounge in. That night we sat around the fire and watched the guys light off some fireworks. It was a perfect day and our kids were completely tuckered out. {Earlier, before my mom got ready to head back home, she offered to just take the twins with her to make the rest of our weekend trip easier and I'm so glad she did because I don't know if we could have made it otherwise. It helped SO much.}

Sunday Riley's team played in the championship for the Portland Cup (one of the biggest tournaments in the north west). Although they lost in a close, close game and Morgan was all over the place and I was up chasing him more than I got to watch, it was still fun to be there to support the girls and their hard work. After that we headed out of town but didn't tell the kids where we were going, only that it was a surprise. As we got closer to the coast I thought for sure Kendle would start picking up on where we were because of all the signs and billboards for the beach attractions. Finally we got into Seaside and had to tell them where we were and the kids started freaking out they were so excited. They love the beach!

That evening after dinner we let the kids swim and play for a while in the pool, then headed up to our room to change and pack our stuff to head to the beach for the big fireworks show. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the craziness that ensued that night. There were people as far as the eye could see up and down the beach lighting off fireworks and making bonfires. The fireworks never stopped, in fact we weren't sure we would be able to tell when the city fireworks show started because of all the other ones going on. Kendle loved it, Morgan hated it. He made us cover his ears the whole time. It was SO loud I don't really blame him! It was an endless barrage of whistles, cracks, booms, and explosions for a good two or three hours. I think our ears are still ringing but it was the coolest thing ever to see millions of fireworks all over the place. It was definitely an experience to remember. After the fireworks we went back to our room, had treats and snacks and then passed out.

We all slept like the dead until 9:00 the next morning. Even Kendle, who has never slept past 8:00 in her life. I had to wake everyone so we could get up and going. Our check out time was at 11:00 so we had to hurry to pack some fun in. Riley took the kids to the beach for an hour or so while I tried to pack up a bit and get myself ready. Then they went swimming one last time in the pool. After that we headed over to the main drag and had some lunch and then walked around and let the kids ride the tilt a whirl and bumper cars. One last walk on the beach, then some ice cream and a stop in the candy shop. We really know how to pack it all in! The traffic out of Seaside was horrible, but we still made really good time on the drive home. We stopped at my parents to get the twins and rest for a bit and then it was home again home again jiggety jig.

So glad to be home, but so glad we went out on a limb and made some amazing memories for our family that we will always remember! How many times can you say you packed in that much stuff into one weekend? Not always the way to do it, but this time it all worked out and we're glad it did.

Pictures:

(Kendle and her cousins at Jer and Molly's)

(Getting ready for the fireworks)

(The kids being very patriotic as they stood up to salute the firework called the "American" about to be lit)
(The three amigos)

(On the beach in Seaside watching the fireworks. Can you tell Morgan is enjoying himself?)

Memorial Weekend

While Riley was coaching a tournament in Seattle over the weekend, I stayed at my parents house along with my brothers and their families that were visiting. It was one big party. It was loud and crazy but fun. We talked, laughed, ate, ate some more, ate some more, .............you get the idea. The kids all ran, jumped, yelled, and played to their hearts content. The kids love staying at grandma and grandpa's. One afternoon we headed to the park and played some baseball. It was so fun and I think my brothers and I enjoyed it more than the kids although I am mighty sore today. My parents have also cleared out a space for their fire pit up in the trees and it feels just like a real camping spot. So one evening we grilled burgers and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and the kids were in heaven. It was so fun. They made sure to give the kids really long sticks so they would stay far enough away from the fire. That was the only night I took some pictures so here are a few:


{Grandpa T. helping Morgan roast his hot dog}

{Morgan declared it was yummy!}

{My nephews Zack and Caleb}

pg">

{My neice Moira and Zack}

{My brother Rich sharpening the end of the

willow sticks. A boy scout is allows prepared with his pocket knife right?}

{My brother Jeremy manning the grill. The burgers were delicious!}

{Morgan just being himelf.}

What a fun time. We came home all tired out last night! It was a great kick off to summer even if the weather didn't cooperate all that much.

The Baptism - BBQ - Birthday Extravaganza

The weekend before last we made a trip to Portland to be with my family for the weekend. My oldest brother Jeremy and his wife Molly live in Milwaukee and their twins were getting baptized. Although it was a race to get there in time, we arrived with minutes to spare and it was so great to be there for their special day. They both looked so happy and we are so proud of them. {Despite our screaming kids,} I could feel there was a lovely spirit to be felt and it was wonderful to watch my brother baptize and confirm them both.

(picture via my brother Jeremy)

(Jer, Molly, Caleb and Alia. Isn't their family the cutest?)

After the baptism we all convened back at Jer and Molly's house. We had planned to BBQ and have an early birthday celebration for my dad who turned 60 today. The weather cooperated luckily and it was a perfect and gorgeous day. Jer grilled up some delicious ribs, burgers, and hotdogs. All of the kids had a blast playing out in their big backyard - they ran, jumped on the trampoline, played with the new puppy, climbed trees, played catch and completely wore themselves out. The adults had a blast eating yummy food, visiting, laughing, listening to my brother play and sing us some of his music, chasing kids, and holding our babies. My arms got a much needed break thanks to everyone there. It was fantastic to all be together, I think it has been over a year or longer since that's been possible. It reaffirmed to me how much I love and enjoy my family. We are all different and bring something unique to the group and we always have fun. On top of all of my siblings we also had my grandma and grandpa and my uncle Lester and his wife Jan and a few of their children with us. It was a houseful. When we all get together it is great.

We had planned on doing a little "roast" for my dad and have everyone tell their favorite things about him. Jer got out his video camera and recorded it I think. It was really funny and we laughed and laughed, I could barely breathe at some points. Some of our favorite things about him:

-Summer trips to Idaho where he would always have us stop at the same places (Crater's of the Moon anyone?)

-The fact that he can figure out how to fix anything and walk you through it over the phone if need be.

-He can talk to anyone about anything at any time.

-He can give you a full history lesson and then some.

Then what I didn't expect was that since my birthday was coming up, they all roasted me too. I think they went a little harder on me, but lucky for them I'm tough and I can take it. It was all in good fun. Everyone sang happy birthday to us and we blew out the candles on some cake. I don't think I ever get too old to like making birthday wishes. We'll see if they come true.

We decided to take some pictures while everyone was together and because our family keeps growing and growing.

(Tam, Tuck, me, mom, dad, Jim, Rich, Jer)

(9 grandchildren and one more on the way)

(Maelin, Kendle and Alia)

I wish we could have more days like that where we are all together. It gets harder as we all get older and life gets busy with kids, church, work and sports, but it is so worth the effort to make the time. Hope we can do it again soon! Thanks Jer and Molly for opening up your house and letting us party.

Near Perfect Day

*Sunshine*

*Perfect weather*

*Baseball food*

*Second row seats*

*Ichiro*

*The Cheesecake Factory*

*A quiet car ride with good conversation*

The only thing that would have made it better is if the M's could have pulled out a win.

Thanks for the early birthday present Riley!!!

*And thanks to my parents for making it possible for us to go

It's Monday Already

We had a wonderful time on our little overnight trip. It seems like it just flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the east side, pick up the kids, and head home. We got home very late and everyone was exhausted, but here are some fun things we enjoyed on the trip:

-Sleeping in until eight in the morning

-Getting to IKEA before it opened and beating the rush

-Shopping at IKEA and getting some new dishes, glasses, some home organization items, and a few other odds and ends. We did really good staying on task and not getting googly eyed over everything in the store. It is just so appealing when everything is so low-priced. It was a good thing I didn't go to the kids section. We were out of there in an hour and a half, I think that is a new record for us.

-Got to hook up with my brother Jeremy, his wife Molly, and their twins Caleb and Alia for some lunch at Claim Jumpers. Yum!

-Went down town to peruse all of the books at Powell's. There are so many books it can get a bit overwhelming, but if I had the time I could spend hours and hours there. For a book lover like myself, it was like walking into a candy store. We came away with quite a few books for our family. I know if I lived close by I would go there on a weekly basis.

-Visited Niketown, wasn't that impressed because everything was over the top expensive, but the store is really cool and I liked how they had all of the rooms put together by sport or activity. We ended up visiting another Nike store a few minutes away from there and scored some good deals.

-We were running out of time, so right before heading out of town we stopped by to see my brother Jim and his cute girlfriend. They live in some cool apartments right downtown with a little dog park across the street where they had their little dog out running around. It was good to see them and get a little visit in.

We had other things we would have liked to do, but they will have to wait for another time. It was simply gorgeous there, the weather was wonderful and all the trees are already in full spring blooms. It was so much fun, but driving in down town Portland is not on my list of things I enjoy. Good thing we have GPS, I don't think we're cut out for the city and paying to park everywhere gets old really fast. I like that where we live has lots of open sky, sunshine, and people who take showers. Seriously, personal hygiene is NOT overrated.

Today I have to unpack, clean up our disaster of a house (the messes don't seem to ever really end), fold lots of laundry and all of the rest of those fun household things that keep me busy. The time away was good for my soul.

Off for the Weekend

We will be heading to Portland this afternoon for a short but fun getaway. We'll be staying over night and going out to eat, to a movie, and shopping on Saturday. Some fun places on our list:

IKEA

NIKETOWN

POWELL'S CITY OF BOOKS

And maybe a little stop at VOODOO DOUGHNUT

This will be the first time away from the babies overnight, but they will be with my parents and in excellent hands. No worries!

Asta la vista!

So Glad It's Friday

I'm happy today because:

*I got some decent sleep last night.

*Morgan has slept in his big boy bed two nights in a row + a nap in it yesterday.

*My parents are taking Kendle with them to my nephew's baptism in Coquille, OR and she will get some much needed one on one time, not to mention lots of cousin time. She is so excited and has been counting down for weeks.

*I will miss Kendle being gone, but the house will be a little (a lot) quieter this weekend.

*I've been working hard all week and today minus a little bit of laundry, I am going to relax and have fun.

*On that same note, take out or going to dinner somewhere is on the menu for tonight, along with renting some movies.

*Going to Yoke's this morning to stock up on some canned goods. Won't have to buy those again for a long time which I like. I hate loading up my shopping cart with heavy cans when I'm grocery shopping.

*Don't have to worry about packing lunches, gathering homework, fixing hair, or early breakfast's till Monday.

Have a fun Friday!!!

Near Perfect Weekend

Here are a few things that had me in a good mood all weekend long:

*Cooler/rainy/crisp weather made it feel like fall had arrived

*Soccer games in the cool breeze

*Made these donuts - they were SO yummy

*Windows open to air out the house

*General Conference

*Make your own mini-pizzas and root beer floats

*Relaxing with a good book

*Hot chocolate

*Staying in comfy clothes

*Being in my cozy little house with the people I love

What would have made it perfect? Sleep. I'm not getting much of it these days. Regardless, it was a nearly ideal way to spend time with my little family. Weekends like this don't come along very often with the hustle and bustle of life, and it was good to slow down and really take the time to make every moment count.

Over the Weekend

My life is not very exciting, but last Friday I got a pleasant surprise - my mom called to see if I wanted to meet her in Kennewick and she'd take Morgan home to spend the night. She could tell I was needing a little break and I knew Morgan would be thrilled. He was so excited to go stay and enjoyed going to the Homecoming football game, driving grandpa's truck, and getting all of the toys and attention to himself.

So Friday night we took Kendle out to dinner for some one-on-one time and then did some much needed grocery shopping. It seemed to take forever and I wasn't sure I was going to make it out of the store. It was safe to say I was walking at a snails pace and holding up the show. I told Riley that might be one of my last big shopping trips, just too much walking. We finally made it home and had some root beer floats per Kendle's request. It was a good way to end the night and it was nice to spend some alone time with Kendle.

Saturday we all managed to sleep in a little (for Kendle that means about 7:30ish) and it was a nice relaxing morning. We met back up with my mom and Morgan at Kendle's soccer game at 1:00, Riley's club team had an away game in Spokane. Kendle's team played a really good, very fast, very well coached team and by the end of the game the girls were exhausted. Kendle still managed to score a goal and do some good things on defense. I do my best to yell helpful advice from the sidelines. I'm totally one of those moms. Riley's team ( 3-Rivers Rage) won their game, are leading the league, and had the game of the week.

After the game my mom took Kendle to go see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in 3-D and they said it was great. After that they stopped by the Halloween store and came home with a big hairy spider you hang on the wall that crawls up and down on a string when it hears noise. Kendle and Morgan got a big kick out of it and were squealing and yelling every time it moved.

Sunday was our ward primary program and it was really great to see all of the preparation and hard work pay off as the children said their parts and sang the songs we've been learning. Kendle did a good job with her part and she just makes me smile with her little personality. I got released from being the second counselor in the primary presidency during sacrament meeting and it was really bitter sweet for me to watch all of the children and think about the funny and cute things they have said or done during my time serving in primary. It was strange to think I won't have to rush off after sacrament meeting is over anymore and I will miss seeing all of those children every week. I'm sure every primary feels this way, but I really think we have some of the best and sweetest children in our ward. They are a really special group. It was funny when I told the sr. primary it was my last Sunday they all yelled Nooooooo! I had to laugh out loud, but it made me feel good they would miss me just a little bit. I had to promise to bring the babies back in for a little show and tell after they're born. I will miss working with the other ladies and the teachers too - I was just lucky to be surrounded by great people all around.

After church I just came home and crashed. I have been coming down with a bad cold all weekend and it was taking it's toll. It's hard when you are already short of breath because you're pregnant and then you are stuffed up on top of that. So I just relaxed and rested the rest of the day and it felt really good. I needed to recharge a bit for the coming week.

Here's to the start of a new week which will bring cooler weather, the start of a new month, and of course more soccer!

Weekend in a Nutshell

-Date night of P.F. Chang', shopping, and ice cream.
-Planted some mums
-Cleaned house and made snickerdoodles - yum!
-Kendle had three goals - an awesome assist - and super good defense in her first soccer game of the season.
-Enjoyed the sun and glorious weather (although a little hot for this time of year).
-Coach Riley's team won their game.
-Kendle had a fun night playing with cousins.
-Watched the AMAZING Jessy J at the Jazz and Blues concert at Columbia park. Can't even describe how talented she is.
-Ate the best carnitas known to man kind.
-Had dreams about said carnitas.
-Watched the Oregon State Beavers pull out a nail biting victory.
-Had really great quality time with friends and family.
-Kids and mom in bed by 8:45 last night, all tuckered out from the fun.

Ellis Reunion

On Friday afternoon we left to attend an Ellis family reunion for my mother's side of the family. My aunt and uncle that live in Welches, OR were hosting it and we stayed in a little town called Rhododendron which is about 10 miles away from Government Camp and the Timberline Ski Resort. It's a lovely area of Oregon to travel to in the summer - very green and lots of pretty forest.

Friday night we were all meeting at my aunt and uncle's house for a taco feed and lots of visiting. They have one of the coolest houses, it's out in the middle of a forest basically with a big backyard and deck and an awesome tree house complete with lights and electricity. When the kids spotted the tree house their eyes practically bugged out of their heads. My aunt wasn't kidding around when she had the dinner catered - it was a Mexican feast and we had a great time eating, visiting, chasing kids, and eating some more. It was so great to catch up with family that I normally only get to see every few years and watch all of the little cousins have fun running around playing together. Our kids had the BEST time. They played in the tree house, chased the dogs, went exploring, drank all the pop they could get their hands on, roasted marshmallows, and got as dirty as possible. Here a few shots I took of Morgan and my brothers tossing the football around:























Kendle and Morgan were beyond exhausted and when we went to shower Morgan off that night his feet were literally caked with black bark and dirt. My mom's family is really fun and my aunt and uncle are so welcoming and accommodating that we thoroughly enjoyed our night.

The next day we were scheduled to meet up at the Timberline Lodge for a tour. It has a lot of interesting history that I was not aware of and is overwhelming in its size and structure. I couldn't believe how many people were up there skiing and snowboarding this time of year, that was quite surprising to me. I also was not aware that it was the inspiration for the resort in "The Shining" and is featured in it's opening shot. It really does look like a gigantic fortress sitting up on the mountain.

As usual I took my camera with best intentions of getting lots of good pictures, however I literally ended up taking three or four pictures the whole time. Here is one of Kendle in front of one of the main fireplaces at the lodge:

After the tour we had some time to kill and hungry kids to feed so we drove back to Government Camp in search of somewhere good to eat. We ended up at a little pizzeria that had really yummy food. After lunch we still had a while until our family was meeting up for a dinner that night, so Riley and I decided to take the kids and follow my brother and his wife Molly back to their house which was about an hour away. We had to stop and get ice cream on the way per the kids requests and I think the warm weather combined with all of the yummy food was taking it's toll on us. We relaxed at Jer and Molly's for a while (the guys took naps) and the kids had fun playing.

On our drive back to Rhododendron for the dinner, there was a huge car accident and we couldn't get through. Traffic was at a standstill, so we decided to just pack it in and head home to Pasco. We flipped around and headed back towards Portland to be on our way. We had planned on going home after the dinner that night anyways, so in a way we were just getting a head start. We halfway thought we could take the other exit to Mt. Hood and still make it to the dinner, but for some reason that was backed up too with what looked like another accident. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Just as well though, we were all worn out and the kids fell asleep for most of the way home. We stopped once in The Dalles for some dinner and that was it. I think we pulled into our driveway around 9:30 pm.

So in true Dodson fashion we successfully made another whirlwind trip that was well worth it and we all slept soundly in our beds that night.

*If you want to see what my husband unselfishly gave up to attend the reunion with me, check out this gal's blog, or this gal's blog. That's true love, especially if you know how much my husband loves soccer.