A Proud Moment...

Today Ava and I sang in sacrament meeting!  We sang "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" from the Primary song book.  Ava sang the 1st verse all by herself - yes a solo - and then I came in on the chorus.  Then we sang the 2nd verse and chorus together.  I was sooo proud of her - and so impressed! Not only can she sing well, she was so brave.  She just marched up to the front of the chapel and started to sing to the whole congregation all by herself.  I actually struggled more than she did - especially when I looked out and saw Drew and Darrell crying.  I almost lost it myself!  I have always wanted to sing in sacrament meeting with my kids one day - and today was the day!  Good job Ava - I love you so much!

She's only six and already so big!  I am a very proud mama!

Carter is 1 Month old!

As you can see he is eating well... and Carter is a FABULOUS addition to our family!  He is super good, rarely cries, and eats like crazy!  Brycen loves being home with Mommy and his little brother.

When Carter starts to fuss a little, Brycen races to his side and exclaims, "Oohhh, he needs his brother!"  Priceless!

TRUE BLUE PLUMBING

So, it's official! Jayson has started his very own plumbing business!!!! He left Pro Drain and True Blue Plumbing started up this week and things have been coming along. He's been meeting with Property Management Companies and other Managers, distributing flyers and business cards, talking to friends and acquaintances and just trying to get his name out into the world. So far he's busy doing all of that and hopefully the jobs will start coming in. I am SO proud of Jayson and I know that he'll do great! I'm also very thankful for all of the love and support from family and friends. It's amazing to see how much everyone is rooting for us and helping us along this new road of business ownership. We've been seeing the blessings come through, so THANK YOU!!! And keep the prayers coming! ;)

Now, just spread the word that True Blue Plumbing is the best around and have them call Jayson at 503-747-9989. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LISA!

A very happy, happy birthday to Lisa - an amazing daughter, sister, wife and mother!  You are loved by many, many, many people.  Hope you have a great day.  We love you and are very proud of you and of all you do!  (How do you do it???  You're truly talented in all areas!)   xoxo

Man Zone Arts and Crafts 2.0

Some of you may remember my little foray into the construction and use of a backpacking stove constructed out of Heineken cans and powered by alcohol.
 http://zirkerfam.blogspot.com/2008/02/man-zone-arts-and-crafts.html

Well, never content to rest on my laurels, I did some more research into alcohol powered stoves and found this nifty little design which was just about the easiest thing I've ever made in my life. http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html

I spent $0.38 on a can of "Potted Meat Product" at Wal-Mart (which Kya loved) and another $2.19 on a hole punch at Office Depot.  That was it.  Using this as my template:
http://www.supercatstove.com/docs/SuperCat_HolePunchTemplates.pdf
I checked the spacing of the holes and punched them out.  Three minutes later I had this:

 
It can run off of any type of alcohol: Rubbing, methanol, denatured alcohol, everlcear (some people use rum). I used a $0.99 bottle of yellow "Heet" as my fuel (pure methanol).  On my maiden run I had two cups of water boiling in about five minutes.

Glacier Park Adventure

Tim Randall, Bruce Lungren and I went kayaking up into Glacier Park this past week and had a great time!  The weather was perfect, the food was awesome, and I had some time to just unwind from a very stressful previous few weeks.  What a treat!  Here are a few of the better photos of our trip...

 This is the "Going to the Sun" road that follows a precipitous route to the continental divide at the top of Logan Pass.  We were lucky to get there since they closed the road for construction the day after we were there.

Happy Birthday Drew - 33!

We LOVE our Daddy!  Happy birthday to the most wonderful man that I married!  I'm not sure how I got so lucky.  Today we celebrated with an Enchilada dinner and 3 desserts - Strawberry Alaskan Delight, Chocolate cake, and ice cream sundaes!  Only the best!  

After dessert - it was time for bed and a little wrestling with the kids.  They try so hard - but Daddy always wins.  I love time like these - I am so blessed with a happy family.

"Is That Chocolate or Poop?!?!"

Those who have seen "Baby Mama" will appreciate that quote. 

So, what do you think-- Chocolate?  or Poop?

Good News:  Ethan likes oreos

Bad News:  Brooklynn found Braden's poop accident before I did.  Her face looked very similar to Ethan's before I frantically wiped it off and dug poop out from behind her teeth-- yes, she had eaten some too.  You know, the one-year-old has to taste everything!  When I found her she had mooshed, tasted, and crawled through it leaving a lovely little trail (you can see some on her leg and a little on her upper lip in this photo).  At least I had the presence of mind to take a picture before I plopped her in the tub. 

It is getting funnier as I write this.  It'll be hilarious by tomorrow. . . .; )

Carter

I can't believe he is 2 weeks old already!  Carter is a very happy, mello baby boy who loves to sleep and eat.  He weighed 8lbs, 9oz when he was born and yesterday he was weighed again and is already up to 9lbs, 6oz.  Like I said, he loves to eat!

On fast Sunday, DeAnna and I had some fun with the camera and this is what we came up with.  We are so blessed to have Carter in our family.  He is such a blessing to us and we are having so much fun!

Birthday Skiing

Once a year Michael Neal takes me skiing.  What a treat!  This year it was especially important since I turned into an "old" man.  Still can't get over the 60 label but trying to compensate with adventures like this.  At least I can still get up and hot dog a little.

He's FIVE??

So I asked Jacob about his favorite things, and these are some of his responses:

Favorite colors - red and green


Favorite superhero (villain) - Darth Vader (really anything Star Wars is considered AWESOME)
Favorite foods - pizza, pancakes, deli sandwiches with pickles, apples

Friends - Jack, Landon, Zachary, Calvin, Ava

Favorite movies - Monster's Inc., Pinocchio

Favorite games - playing superheroes and fighting the bad guys, playing games with Nana and Papa

Favorite books - the bear book (Corduroy), Waldo, books on tape, The Boxcar Children (Jason has been reading a chapter to the boys every night and the LOVE it!)

Favorite places - the cabin, the park, the museum upstairs, Jack's house

Favorite things to do - wrestle with Daddy, play with Nana and Papa and Grandma, go to the park, riding his bike, going in "the belly of the beast"and finding coconuts (diving in the bushes and finding acorns also known by Bray as "rick-a-wacks!"), finding bugs with Braden outside

Jakey continues to be our sweet, fun, big boy!  I don't know how I would get through my days sometimes without his help-- running for diapers and making his brothers and sister laugh.  We love him so much!  Happy birthday buddy!

Braden's Birthday - #3!

Friends - Zachary, Elly, Calvin, Frankie, Jack, Landon


Favorite Colors - blue and red

Favorite Outfits - Lightning McQueen shirt and basketball shorts

Favorite food - Cici's pizza-- when offered dessert, will still ask for more pizza, eats as much or more than Jason and I do! Also, deli sandwiches, mac and cheese, cheese sandwich, & toast pancakes (french toast)

Favorite things to do - The Lied Discovery Children's Museum; Cooking and doing letters with Mommy; Flying in his superhero capes and catching bad guys; Doing EVERYTHING Jacob does, right next to him, sometimes making him a little nuts; Riding his tricycle outside and looking for bugs; Playing "I spy with my hiddo eye!"

Guilty pleasure - peeing in his diaper--after having an accident while attempting to potty-train, Bray responded with "I wear a diaper." and has pretty much done so ever since.  He likes underwear sometimes, but especially if he's preoccupied he'll refuse candy bribes and would rather pee in his diaper than use the toilet. arg!

Favorite Catch Phrases - "You not da boss!"- directed at Jacob, of course, CONSTANTLY.  His nursery teacher told me that he also likes saying "I da boss!" when he's in nursery.  Ha!; Yes, he has also entered the phase of responding to every question with "Why?"  Sometimes I have to remind him that the correct answer is "Okay Mommy." :)

We love our sweet precocious Bray-Bray!  He's my snuggle buddy and always keeps us laughing with his fun little personality.  Happy birthday buddy!

Happy Birthday Dad!

WOW! IS IT REALLY THE BIG 6-0? And still keeping up with the best of them at water skiing, cycling, rock climbing and everything else!  Happy Birthday Papa! You're the greatest!

Joy School!

This year, some friends of mine and I have decided to gather our little boys together twice a week for Joy School.  This last Tuesday was our first day and Brycen loved it!  He needs something to keep him busy and learning this year while Ava goes to 1st grade all day - and I think this is going to be great for him!

We meet every Tuesday and Thursday and review a color, letter and shape for the week - then we also include library days for story time and field trips once a month.  We will be going to the park, fire station, art museum, zoo, etc.  I am so excited to spend this time with Brycen this year. 

What a HANDSOME boy!

This was from his 1st class - he thought it was pretty cool!

Labor Day -

When Carter was born, Drew and I decided that it would be a good idea if Ava & Brycen received a "birth-day gift".  So we surprised them with fishing poles... they have been asking for these forever!  For the next several days we awoke to find Ava & Brycen outside in their pj's casting over and over in the back yard.  They literally spend hours outside doing this.  So on Labor Day, we woke up early and took the kids to a local pond to put all their skills to work.  We got several nibbles, but no fish.  It didn't matter though.  We all had a great morning together as a family!  

What a beautiful day!

Happy Birthday Ashley!!!

WHOA! Are you really turning the BIG 30??!  Well, no one could do it more beautifully!  You're a wonderful sister, mother, wife, daughter and friend.  Love you sis.  Hope your day is a good one!

Carter Tyson Oakes - 8/29/12

Welcome Carter Tyson Oakes - 8/29/12

   On Wednesday morning I woke up at 5am with mild contractions.  I figured it would be a long day, so I sent Drew to work and continued getting my kids ready for school.  These contractions started about 10 minutes apart, and by 9am - they were 6 minutes apart.  I was able to drive Ava to school at 9am and barely made it home 10 minutes later.  During that 10 minutes, my contractions increased to 2-3 minutes apart!  I called Drew and DeAnna to come home immediately!  Then quickly realized that they were not going to make it in time.  So I called my best friend Abbie and she came right over and drove me to The Baby Place Birthing Center.  We arrive at about 9:50am.  Thankfully, Drew was only 10 minutes behind us.  My midwife checked me immediately and announced that I was already an 8!  She had the hot tub ready for me so I gingerly stepped in and immediately felt some relief.  This however did not last too long because my contractions were now on top of each other and very intense.  I am so grateful for the foresight and wisdom of my midwives... They knew I was going to deliver soon so we talked about the option of a water birth.  This actually turned out to be a really great experience.  I highly recommend it!  

   

   Carter was born at 10:42 am, less than an hour after we arrived at the Baby Place.  It all happened so fast, and I am so grateful that it did.  Everything went so smoothly, all things considered and we were blessed with a perfect baby boy!  

Drew and Baby Carter - One proud Daddy!  (This is our birthing suite - it is awesome!)

Ava wanted to "Help" her new brother as much as possible!  She is so excited about to have him here - FINALLY!

Ava, Brycen and Carter!

DeAnna picked up Brycen as I was leaving the house to have Carter.  Then, less than an hour later she was picking  up Ava from school and coming back to Meridian to see Carter.  I really was so fast!

My mom was already in town helping Grandma Afton, so she came by the house later that evening.  We decided not to  spend the night at the Baby Place.

DeAnna and I are going to "play with the camera" more with Carter on Sunday -  But Drew and I captured  a few photos like this for fun this morning.

A big thanks to everyone for your support and warm wishes!  We love you all!