Boys Room

  On Friday, Charles took the day off and took the boys to Home Depot to pick out paint.  Ethan's been wanting to paint his room pine green for about a year.  So that's what he got.

The project (both rooms) took all day, with taking everything out, painting, and putting it back in.  Allison, Eli, and I also painted two of Ethan's shelves white.  

Here is Ethan's finished room.

Eli and Joshua decided on bright blue and tomato red.  I wasn't sure that would look good, but that's what they chose.  We are all happy with how it turned out.  We all think (and often say) it's "fun," because of the childish (in a good way) colors.

  

Back to School 2014

Joshua is in 1st grade with Ms. Hogan as his teacher.  He came home the first day and said "Mrs. Hogan is the best teacher ever."

Eli's in 3rd grade with Mrs. Lindhart.  He also really likes his teacher.

 Ethan is in 5th grade with Mrs. Camit as his teacher.  His favorite part of the day is recess when he gets to see his friends that are not in his class.

Erica is enrolled at Provo e-school this year.  She will be doing BYU Independent Study through My Tech High.  She is taking digital photography and ASL in addition to core classes.

Allison's in her junior year.  She is taking two choir classes (She is the accompanist.) and a second year drafting class along with her usual honors core classes.  She was also recently hired at The Red Barn, which she was very happy about.  She is still teaching piano to her brothers and 3 other students.

Cherilyn will move into Helaman Halls on August 27th.  It will be strange leaving her there, but c'est la vie.  She started working at the Helaman Halls Creamery last week.  Her last day at The Red Barn is Saturday.  Cherilyn starts classes on September 2nd.

As we were waiting to talk to a counselor about changing classes, Allison wondered how she could find out about an online P.E. class.  I suggested she ask the counselor.  She said "You are so smart."  It was a nice change from the typical "Your're weird Mom."  Which response I get from all the children, not just Allison.  Usually it comes when I dance or sing Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid or some other song they don't know.

Ethan's Toe

Ethan went to Burraston Ponds on Saturday with some friends.  They had fun jumping from the rope swing. After Ethan's second time he stepped away and cut his foot at the base of his big toe.  The parents brought him home apologizing that he had gotten hurt.

Thankfully, our neighbor is a doctor.  She came over, cleaned it out, pulled out slivers, and put on steri-strips.  She said it would heal best with two stitches, but she didn't have any at home.  She returned Monday morning with staples, having decided they would be less painful than a numbing shot and stitches.  The staples should come out on Sunday.  

Painting the Kitchen

We have been considering painting the kitchen for months. When my sister was here recently she showed me color ideas on pinterest.   I was leaning toward yellow, but was concerned about yellow against the dark cupboards and countertops.  Because of my concerns, I decided to get a light blue.

Charles, true to his word (as usual), did all the taping.

We started by painting the ceiling white to help brighten the room.  Then Allison, Eli, and I painted while Charles taped and then removed tape.  (Taping in the kitchen was extensive.)  All the kids helped clean out the kitchen and put it back.  

The finished product. 

Eli's 9th Birthday

Here is Eli's stack of presents with balloons on top.  (Charles is in the background hanging his birthday present.)

When he opened the card from Grandma Elder with $9 inside he said (or sang?) "Money, money, money!"  He also enjoyed his new lego sets and a watch, just what he had asked for.

Family Vacation

We headed for Seattle to begin our family vacation.  It was great to stay at Ralph's house after a long day of driving.  In the morning we drove past our old houses, old churches, grandma's houses and the steepest hill in West Seattle.  That was a favorite.  As we drove around memories, sometimes specific and clear memories,  came back to us.  Charles said that maybe heaven was that way.  We will see someone or something and remember from long before.  I like that idea.

We left Seattle and headed north for Camano Island where we rented a house for the week.  It was beautiful there, surrounded by trees and just up from the beach.  We went to the beach often, played in the water, threw rocks in, raced boats, threw rocks at boats and logs and built a fort.  In the early morning we watched bald eagles sitting in the trees less than 100 yards from the house.  We all read books and watched movies too.

We hiked at Camano Island State Park.  Here we are on part of the trail.  Eli started out complaining about hiking.  I gave him the challenge to find why Dad, Cherilyn, Allison and I liked hiking.  After awhile he said he thought it was because of the sights.  I agreed and said he could keep thinking.  He enjoyed much of the rest of the hike doing a nature scavenger hunt with his brothers.  They recorded their finds with the camera.  Now we have pictures that are an assortment of leaves, berries, flowers and creatures.

Cherilyn, Monica, Allison and Erica sitting in the fort we made on the beach.

The boys (Ethan, Joshua, Eli and Charles) in the fort.

The kids on a tree stump at the beach.

Here is part of the beautiful view we had.  One day at the beach we found a log.  Here Ethan and Cherilyn are riding on it.  Joshua is trailing behind.  He and Eli gave them a push sometimes.

One of the first things we did with Buchanan cousins was pick raspberries.  Here are Noelle, Brooklyn, Ethan, Lucie, Eli, Alice and Joshua.

On Saturday was Lucie's baptism.  It was so neat to be there with family for her special day.  After the baptism we went to a park in Sedro Woolley for a picnic with my cousins and aunts.  It was so good to see them all.  It has been a long time since we had been together.  My sister and cousins got some great pictures, but I didn't take any.  I am hoping to get them soon.

Sunday we went to church with Ben where he blessed his new baby, Zoe Hazel.  It was great to be there again with family.  It reminded me of the video I saw with the young women about a girl's life.  It showed her blessing, growing up, baptism, and visits to the temple.  At the temple she saw a new bride, mothers, and grandmothers.  It was a beautiful reminder of the precious path of life.

Sunday the kids went to Cousin Camp with Grandpa and Grandma.  They camped, sang lots of goofy songs, ate Grandpa's famous sandwiches and s'mores, made wreaths and generally had a great time.

The weather was hot, for Seattle, on Tuesday, when we planned to drive home.  We decided to stay and go to Ocean Shores on the hot day.  Ocean Shores was warm, though windy, as usual.  We enjoyed playing in the waves and the sand.  We don't plan on going back because the water was brown.

The next day we drove down Charleston, the steepest hill in West Seattle, again.  We went downtown to buy trinkets and after lunch we went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

The aquariums were cool with big tanks full of fish, rays and sharks.  We also saw seals and otters.  We were sad to miss the walrus.

We watched the elephants inside eating and followed this one outside.

The best part of the zoo was watching the tigers and apes entertain us.  The apes were swinging around, demonstrating the name "monkey bars."  The tigers ran around, swam in the water and fought with each other.  It was fun to see.  You can see two of the tigers behind Cherilyn and Allison.

The drive home took us 14 hours and 41 minutes.  Allison set a timer at Ralph's driveway, lapped it each time we entered a new state and stopped it when we got home.  As we left Charles told everyone to take a good look at Seattle because we weren't coming back for awhile, having been there 2 of the last 3 summers.