Dallen's 9th B-day

We were supposed to go camping for Dallen's birthday, and Memorial Day weekend, but the weather wasn't good so instead we went to see my parents. Dallen decided it would be more fun to go over there instead of them come here because he would be able to spend his special day with many more relatives. My mom made his favorite breakfast, cherry crepes. Later, we had a party and lots of relatives came, Dallen's grandparents, Uncles- John, Malachi, Isaac, and Caleb, and his Aunt Talitha. We also got to see Aunt Lane and Uncle Nathanael on other days. The weather was good there. Dallen had a baseball and bat cupcake cake. He got many great presents too, i.e. Heely's, a new CD player, crazy hats, a pocket knife, a bowling game, candy, a money counter, a cool bag to carry his scriptures, and some water toys. He was in Heaven. Don't you love how lots of the wrapping paper looks very similar to shopping bags. That's how we roll.
I think the thing he enjoyed most about the whole weekend was going to the YMCA with his Grandpa Swift, he really loves the "Y" and especially spending time with Grandpa.
Aunt Talitha, the fun Aunt, bought all of the kids these giant Sugar Daddy's. Fun!! (for the kids, not the parents)
This was my dad's idea of consequences. Dallen had some work to do, and this was my dad's idea of work for him. You would think after 8 children he would know this is just fun for boys.

James and I take a trip

James and I went on a trip. On Friday we flew out of Spokane (James' 1st time on an airplane), and met up with my parents and my sister Talitha in Denver. They we all flew together to St Louis. We rented a car, which was a huge fiasco. They tried to put all of us in the smallest car, even though we rented a medium car. From there we drove about 100 miles to Rolla, Mo.







On the way we stopped at Meramec Cavern, an incredible cave, it was huge! Here is a link to their web sight, if you want to know more http://www.americascave.com/. They next evening my dad received his PHD from Missouri S&T. It was neat to share that special experience with him. My Grandma and Grandpa Swift , and Uncle Mark, Aunt Angela and my cousin Kristen came too.
On Saturday we drove about 360 miles to my brother Joshua and his families house in Stillwater, Ok. they are living there while he is getting his PhD in Psycology. En route we stopped in a couple of small cities in Missouri. The first was Cabool, Mo. where my Great Great Grandparents on my dad's side were buried. We made some gravestone rubbings, it was a neat experience.
The second place was Mountain Home, Mo. This is where my Grandpa spent most of his years growing up. We went to his old home and also to a memorial park. It had big slabs of stone with the names of the graduates from each year. My grandpa had moved his Junior year so his name wasn't there, but is was neat for him to see the names of all his buddies on the stones.







Then on to Tulsa, Ok where we stopped and my Uncle Mark and Aunt Angela's. They are building a beautiful new home, which we toured. I hope I get to see it when it's done. Then finally we made it to Stillwater. It was wonderful to see Joshua's family. They have a new baby Ethan, who was only a week old. Ooh, so tiny!. The weather was warm, something we hadn't had in Spokane in a while. We went for walks, toured the college, played games, went to church, and went out to eat at Eskimo Joes. It is a famous place in Stillwater. They have a gift shop where they sell the 2nd most souvenir shirts after the Hard Rock cafe. It was nice to see everyone and their homes. On Tuesday we were on our way home again.

It's Baseball Time Again!

Dallen and Evan are playing baseball for the second year. Last year, it pretty much consumed our life for a couple of months. This year should be better. I was able to move Evan out of T-ball and up to Dallen's team. You are supposed to be 7 & 8 to play coach pitch, but I guess they can make and exception if a boy played T-ball the year before. The boys weren't too sure about being on the same team at first, but now they enjoy it. And Jim and I are so happy to only spend 2 nights a week at 2 hour games, instead of 4 nights. When Ashton saw I picked up the uniforms for his brothers, he was very excited and wanted to know where his "umifoam" was. He loves baseball. I dug out Evan's last years uniform and put it on him. He loves it! Every day he asks me if it is baseball day, if I say yes, then he immediately runs to put on his "umifoam". It doesn't matter if it is 4 hours before baseball starts. He comes to every game in uniform, he thinks he is on the team. He never forgets his bat, ball and glove.

Mother's Tea

Today Evan's class had a Tea for there mothers. It was very nice, Evan was such a gentleman getting me punch and cookies. They shared some of there work and sang us songs. It was a special time for the two of us. Most of the kids dressed up, but Evan said they didn't HAVE too, they just could if they wanted. I guess he didn't want to.

Yay, Visitors!

My sister Doranda, her husband Bob and their baby boy Tucker came to visit for a couple of days. They are on their way to a job interview in Western Washington. We were so excited to have them here. Luckily we had great weather, we went out to eat, played games, went for a walk to the park. On Friday we had such a good time visiting, the kids came home from school and we were still in our PJ's. I don't think I have ever done that before.

Ahh, Home Sweet Home

It was so nice to see to many friends and family. Everyone was so nice and gracious. We had a fantastic time, except those couple of scary moments. Thanks to everyone who allowed to us to come and visit. We loved seeing you. That being said, we are so happy to be back safe and sound in our own home.

Spring Break- day 9 & 10

ON THE ROAD AGAIN! After quite an exciting vacation, we are on our way home. We drove most of the day Saturday. We got to Medford, Oregon pretty late at night and stayed with one of Jim's childhood friends, Todd Hakes. He was very nice to put us up. Eight extra people is a ton, especially when you are only used to one. The next morning we got up early and headed for Salem, Or. This is where my brother Nathanael and his wife Mary-Anne live. We joined them for the second time in two years for one of their family traditions. In between conference sessions they have waffles with ice cream, peanut butter, tons of fruit, and whipped cream. We had a fantastic time. We were happy that they were so willing to share their tradition with us. Our one last stop on our way home was in The Dalles, Or. There we met up with some of our old friends from Evanston, Wy, Ryan and Devona Case and their family. They had just moved to The Dalles a few months earlier. They had prepared a great big B-B-Q for us. It was wonderful! We finally made it home about 9:00pm.

Spring Break- day 8

We thought after Wed we were done with our near death experiences, but no. Today we went to see Jim's Grandma Bev again. While we were there Steve and Gina picked up Jarom and Amery to go shopping. While they were gone, the rest of us went with Grandma Bev's to the famous Neptunes net. We saw a whale on the way. On the way home, Dallen and Evan got out to play on the beach. Evan was burried by a huge wave and had to drive home in his underwear. When I did laundry, I found lots of sand in his jeans pockets. When we got back we all went swimming, except for Jarom and Steve. They went for a drive in his side by side (it is like a small jeep). While we were swimming, we got a phone call. It was Steve saying they had been in an accident and needed to go to the hospital. Gina took of to get them, and Jim and I got the kids out of the pool and situated. Then met them at the hospital. It turns out they were on a steep mountain. They turned wrong and ended up going flipping the vehicle all the way down the hill, 30 times. Jarom was fortunate. He just ended up really bruised and sore. He injured his foot pretty bad, he had to have it wrapped and be on crutches. Steve on the other hand, had 3 broken ribs, a bruised lung, he almost lost an ear (luckily they were able to sew it back on), his elbow had to be stitched, and he was very scratched and bruised up. We are lucky they are alive. Even know we hated to spend our last night in the hospital, we are counting our blessings this day.

Spring Break- day 7

Today was great. We spent time swimming and then had a B-B-Q. Jim's cousin Matt Goodson, his wife Wendy and their children came over. We hadn't seen them in a long time, so it was great. They hadn't changed at all, but their family was much bigger. Jim's dad and Gina made great food for the B-B-Q, that is their specialty!

Spring Break day six

Today was shaping up to be a great day, or was it? It started out great. The weather was nice and the kids were playing in the new jump castle that Steve and Gina bought for them. Then the kids worked for Steve picking up rocks out of the orchard. He pays really well! After that Gina (Jim's step mom), Amery and I went to get manicures, pedicures and out to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Can't get better than that. While we were gone there had been much excitement at the house. The boys were playing outside, trying to catch lizards. Ashton had gone to meet up with them. We think he must have been jumping around on the stones and didn't realize there was a 5 ft drop off into the pool. Anyway, Dallen, who had been playing quite a little ways away, heard a splash (I think it might have been Divine intervention), and ran up to the pool. He saw someone in the middle of the pool under the water. It took him a few seconds to realize it was Ashton, he immediately jumped in with his clothes on and put his arm under his arms, with his head up, just like a lifeguard, and swam him to the ledge. In the mean time, Evan ran up to get Jim. Jim ran down to the pool and jumped in (clothes, cell phone and everything). He got them out and all was well. Thanks to Dallen, he was truly a lifesaver!!
We also went to Jim's Grandma Bev and Howard's house for dinner. It was great to see them too. They were great hosts.

Spring Break day 5

Another day of driving. Our destination Somis, California, sounds easy enough. It took us forever just to get in the car and get on the road. After packing and getting everyone in the car we decided to take the kids to a place that Jim and I had gone to a few years earlier. It is a restaraunt just off the strip. You can get a 10 ounce sirloin steak, salad, choice of potato, and veggies all for $6.99. It was great. Our steaks were cooked perfect. The kids decided that might have to be one of our new Vegas traditions. Then finally we were off. On the way we decided to take a detour to see Jim's great Aunt Bernie. We haven't seen her in years and she lives in Yucca Valley. It would be a few hours out of the way, but what is another few hours in the whole scheme of things :) We were glad to have seen her, she is so nice. She was very glad to see us all. After that we were off to Jim's dad's in Somis, California. By the time we go there we were pretty tired and ready for bed.