Kailyn's Kolumn

Pictures from the Wedding!

2012-01-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well, finally I'm getting around to posting some pictures from our trip in Seattle. These are from Galen and Hannah's wedding.

Below is Emily and Ashley reenacting Galen and Hannah's ceremony.

Seven in Seatle part 3

2012-01-08T19:23:00.001-08:00

Our family left the hotel, and headed downtown, to brave the streets of Seattle, Washington.
I'm sure there were over a million hilarious things that happened during our one mile walk but since I can only remember a few of them this may be short. (And then again, maybe not.)
We toured Pike's Place Market and browsed through a few shops along the way. One store in particular was a Seattle Seahawks equipment store. Now, as you may know we are 49er fans and so Cade was wearing a 49er sweatshirt. The very next day there was going to be a big game between the Niners and the Seahawks. So he went into the equipment store and walked up to the clerk and asked if they had any 49er gear in stock. Now this poor sales clerk kind of looked at him and then muttered, “Um no, but there's probably some down at the stadium.” The rest of us were laughing as well as the other people in the store and the other clerks. And the first guy still didn't really get it.
We left that store pretty quickly.
When we arrived at Pike's Place Market and we looked through the different displays until we stopped at the fish throwing thing. All I'm gonna say is that we got some pretty sweet videos. And then all of a sudden this random fish throwing guy in an apron that looked like it weighed about 50 pounds starts pointing at Cade, “We got a BIG game tomorrow!” And then he got down in a quarterback position and mimed like he was hiking the ball, “Yeah, that's right buddy! You're going down!”
We are definitely not in Albany anymore.

Mission: Possible

2012-01-02T09:32:00.001-08:00

My Grandpa works with the Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, Washington. He disciples men, meets for lunch with them, works on the Mission board and goes downtown every week to feed the homeless. He has been writing a lot lately about his experiences, and my dad and I decided he needed some sort of outlet for his writing.

That's how we started Mission:Possible.

Mission Possible is a look at the homeless of Spokane through my Grandpa's eyes.

There is a link to it on the side of my blog, but if that doesn't work here is the web address if you want to visit it.

http://vbmissionpossible.blogspot.com/

Seven in Seattle part 2

2012-01-01T14:45:00.001-08:00

The rehearsal dinner was held in a incredibly fancy room, at the very top of the hotel with an amazing view. Smiling waiters walked around, balancing delicate trays with appetizers on them. Soft music played. It was beautiful. As a waiter walked over near our family, he offered us an appetizer from his tray. There were about six or seven dainty bits of food resting on the tray and when we’d each taken one, it was empty. The waiter took back his tray, smiling awkwardly as he retreated from the room to fill his tray again. Although he might have tried to avoid us there wasn’t much he could do, with five hungry kids who hadn’t eaten since 11:30 (it was close to 7:30) stalking him. I think we kind of forgot the meaning of the word appetizer.
There was a small room, where you could go to get a drink made. While some people were drinking wine, our family opted for soda, (with the promise that we could drink some champagne the next night at the wedding.  Everybody was dressed in fancy dresses, slacks and shirts. They walked around, chatting softly, sipping champagne. Guess where my little sisters had planted themselves? On the floor, doing pushups. “No, honey, we don’t need to be doing pushups at the rehearsal dinner.”
Dinner was delicious…rare steak, light mashed potatoes, and sautéed zucchini. No biscuits n’ gravy there. It was a very nice evening.
The next morning, we had all day before the 6:00 wedding so we decided to sightsee around downtown Seattle. We walked across the street to a small café for breakfast. After ordering, our Chinese waiter began arriving with steaming plates of food. Holding a mug of tea, he angled himself behind Cade, muttering a warning in his accent, “Hot behind!” he said to Cade.
We managed to choke down our laughter until he left…I think my dad milked that one for as long as he could. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to directions to Pike’s Place Market. The concierge unrolled a map.
“It’s a good one mile one way,” he said, “It might be too hard for your little ones to walk, but it’s pretty hard to find parking. I would take you in our car but…” he scanned the seven of us warily, “but our car only seats four.”
“Yeah…” my mom said, “We’ll walk.”
And we did.
Until next time.

Seven in Seattle

2011-12-31T16:16:00.001-08:00

Wow! After a busy December things are finally beginning to get back to normal. Where to start? Well, maybe in Seattle. My family drove to Seattle on the Thursday before Christmas so that my dad could do a wedding for some friends of ours. They put us up in a hotel for two nights.

Well, let me just say this...there are seven people in my family. For some reason we tend to be rather loud...messy...expensive...We stick with places like, well Motel 6. The kind of places that have faded signs with peeling paint, hard beds, and one room for the seven of us. Places that feature thick gray slush dumped over biscuit shaped rocks as a delicious choice for our breakfast.

The Hotel Sorrento was not Motel 6. The Hotel Sorrento was a tall building with a waterfall in the front, concierges who parked our car and opened the doors for us. The Hotel Sorrento was a place with tall ceilings, brilliant chandeliers, plush couches and crisp, uniformed receptionists. The Hotel Sorrento was exactly the opposite of most hotels we stay in.

WE got out of the car and dragged our many suitcases into one of the fanciest hotels in Seattle. Two receptionists were involved in a hurried conversation as they exchanged worried glances at our family. Now this is just a guess, but it probably went something like this:

“Oh my gosh, look at the size of that family!”

“Where did you say their room was again?”

“Floor two, but we put them the farthest back so it will decrease our chances of hearing them.”

“I know, but floor two, really, a few more floors up and we'd hardly notice they were there.”

“I doubt anybody could ignore a family that big.”

“And they have two rooms, too. The parents won't be able to control their own kids, look at those little ones, they're crawling around on the floor.”

Well, we finally managed to get to one of our rooms. We opened the door. It was dark for about five seconds and then somebody found a light switch and the whole room was flooded with light. We looked around. Then Claire asked, “Is there a reason why there is a picture of those naked ladies on the wall?”

Now, I know that it's supposed to be a form of art and all and yadayadyada but I still don't see any reason to be walking around the hotel slapping disgusting pictures of naked women on the walls for people to be having nightmares about as they drift off to sleep. Well, my dad walked over and tried to yank one of things of the wall, but what do you know? They were glued on fast. By this time it was getting late, and so, with a promise to track down some tape my parents headed out the door to the wedding rehearsal.

The five of us waited....and waited...and waited. And I began to think that it was not the most brilliant idea when I promised my mom that we could handle everything. Emily and Ashley jumped from bed to bed, then, when they got bored of that they made a pile of loose sheets, blankets and pillows and jumped off the window sill into them. Finally it was 7:00. Claire was looking out the window when she saw Galen and Hannah, (the couple that were getting married), drive up and walk up to the hotel. Well, the five of us started knocking on the window to get his attention. They waved and smiled and we moved away from the window to get ready for dinner. All of a sudden we hear this banging on the window and there is Galen, holding onto the window sill and smiling happily. Well, of course, we did the natural thing, we let him in.

When my parents came back they were thrilled to find us, with the window open, talking to a strange man who had climbed to our room via the fire escape and, oops “catch you guys later” he had to go to his wedding rehearsal dinner.

So that was the first part of our trip to Seattle, and I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing more about it later, when I get around to writing it!

2011-12-19T15:34:00.001-08:00

Somehow I don't think it will be long until we adopt again....

That's fine with me.

When love takes you in

2011-12-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

All I really want for Christmas

2011-12-19T15:31:00.001-08:00

Love

2011-12-10T14:45:00.001-08:00

How do I keep loving, when my friends keep leaving without a single goodbye or apology to me? Why do I keep loving, if my trust just keeps getting dashed to pieces every time someone says one more unkind thing? I guess the question that I'm wrestling with is, how can I afford to keep on loving? It does nothing for me except hurt my heart again and again. And then I turn to His word: "There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear...whoever fears has not perfected in love." I can't be afraid of what others will do to me, or say to me. I cannot be afraid. If I am a daughter of God I cannot afford that luxury. Later John writes that I can't love God and hate my brother. Love isn't exsclusive. Love isn't only to people I can trust. Love extends to anybody and everybody no matter what their background, position or place in life. And until I realize that I can never truly love God.
Christ first came to love us when we did not know him, did not care about him. Christ loved all, despite the fact that he knew he would be betrayed. As he hung, soaked in blook and crying out in agony on the cross he didn't think about what he "got" for love. Christ's love is total, unconditional.
What about me? In my heart I know there is only one choice. I have to keep loving. I have to open my arms, embrace the world and love without reservations, without a thought of what it owuld do for me. Past hurt, past anger I must love. I must love until I am so hurt and exhausted that at the end of each day I must again, fling myself on Jesus and cry for mercy. I have no choice. Christ expects no less.

Week with the Cousins

2011-09-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

On a happier note we had a great time with our family, some of which we have not seen in six years. We took lots of pictures and so everyday I'll post a few pictures to tell you more about the happier moments of our trip. Today there's a lot of pictures because I'm introducing each of my cousins. The only one missing is Jared because we didn't have time to take a picture of him.

Claire...obviously.

Little Ashley.

This is Sabrina, she's the oldest from my dad's sister. She's 14 almost 15. Her younger brother, Jared is 9.

This is Daniel. He's 13, three months younger than me. He's the oldest from my dad's brother.

This is Matthew. He's the youngest from my dad's brother. He's 9.

This is me. :)

Emily...she thinks she's really cool.

Juliana...the middle girl from my dad's brother age 11.

Cade, with his "peace" sign.

So those are my cousins from my dad's family! More pictures to come...

Memorial Service

2011-09-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that my Grandma died a couple weeks ago. My family just got back from California where we were at her memorial service. The oldest grandchild from each family read something they wrote for her at her memorial service and so I decided to post what I read.

Ever since I was little I have always called my Grandma, Lola. That’s what my grandparents requested and so that’s what I have always called her. Somehow that makes her seem more personal, more specific. I mean there are thousands of grandmas in the world, but, at least to me, only one Lola. I hope that today she is honored like she deserves.
The last time I saw Lola was in January. She and my Lolo had just come back from a business trip in Maryland and they stopped at our house in Spokane for a week. That was the most fun time I ever had with them. It started off with me getting lost at the airport and ended with them waking us up at 4 in the morning on their departure date for a little “surprise.” While they were there we went to a movie, went shopping, got manicures and hosted a New Year’s Eve party with Lola’s cooking.
One of the things I loved about my Grandma was her cooking. Every time we visited we would load up the car and head to the local Asian market. Hours later the house would be filled with the smell of delicious Filipino food. Some of my favorites are panset, synagong and champarado. She loved to cook and blessed my whole family with her delicious food.
Another activity I did with Lola was loose teeth. Obviously, I’ve lost all my teeth now but when I was younger we found out a secret. Everybody knows how generous Grandmas are, and mine probably more so, but anyway, we found out that the tooth fairy at Lola’s house was just a little bit more generous than the one in Spokane. Well, we would always try to loose teeth around the time of our visits. It usually took a lot of effort on our part, but if we succeeded in yanking one out we were rewarded by Lola with a 20 dollar bill. Eventually my parents started talking about popping out a few so they could earn a little extra cash.
I really admire my Lola for her generosity. She was always giving, giving, giving. Lola loved to buy clothes for us and give us gifts. In fact, whenever we knew we were going to see her we would make a list of “fun things” to do with them that we wouldn’t normally do. These included bowling, going out to eat or for ice cream, going to the mall, etc.
Another thing I loved about Lola was her spontaneity. If you even hinted at something you wanted to do she would either immediately suggest it or ask you if you wanted to do it. And of course who is going to say no to ice cream!
There are so many things I could tell you about Lola. I could tell you how excited I was when I was finally taller than her. Or how I scared her so bad she screamed and jumped straight into the air. But I hope this has shown you how much I loved Lola and what an amazing woman she was. I’m so sad to loose Lola. Nothing is ever going to change that. But I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend with her, and the things I was able to learn from her. I love you, Lola. I can’t wait to see you again.

Blackberries Anyone?

2011-08-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

2011-08-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last week my cousins came down from Spokane and we had a great time! Their parents stayed for a couple of days and then Annsley and Seth stayed for a week before flying back to Spokane on Saturday. I have several great post ideas but right now the pictures say it all!! We went to the river behind our house as well as our friends' man made lake! It was a great week with lots of memories!!

"The Samaritan Woman"

2011-07-04T15:46:00.002-07:00

Again this is based off of a story from my dad's sermon. This is part one of "The Samaritan Woman." You can read about it in John 4.

Johanna clutched her head covering tighter and walked even faster. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, hot and painful, reminding her that nothing could ever be right for her again. Dust clouds billowed up ahead and Johanna jumped to the side, stumbling and falling. The rider only laughed mockingly and whipped his horse faster. A woman, an outcast, scorned and mocked to tears. Unrespected, unloved, unwanted. What good am I anymore? She walked wearily to her house and hoisted a large clay jug to her shoulder. As the sun slowly appeared behind a curtain of fluffy clouds, Johanna followed a trickle of women leaving their city to fill buckets with cool water for the day ahead. She continued up a hill, averting her eyes from needle sharp stares and biting whispers. Bits and pieces of conversation leaked out from secluded groups of women.
“What does she think she is doing here?”
“…mmm what more can you expect from someone like her?”
“Don’t you know, rumor has it she’s sleeping with Ahmon the butcher, and they're
not even wed,” the woman sighed with mock sympathy.
“Not that it would make much difference if she did,” another woman added. “How many husbands did you say she’s had?”
“Oh at least five. Takes them in for a season and then throws them out like food gone rotten.”
“Or maybe it’s the other way around,” the women tittered.
Johanna cried out like a wounded lamb. She let her jar fall to the ground and listened to it shatter as she ran away from the well. Her heart thudded in her chest like a hammer striking down again and again. She looked back to see pieces of her jug scattered near the well, the broken pieces like her broken heart.

Strawberries!

2011-06-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today my mom decided it was time to go strawberry picking so we packed up our van with the six of us, containers for strawberries, and a bag of crackers for on the way home.
We drove until we came to a sign that read "Grandpa's U-Pick Strawberries" After weighing our containers we went out to pick our strawberries. Now, just before we went I told my mom that all I remembered about picking strawberries was that it was hot and back-breaking because you have to hunch over the tiny strawberry plants that are about two inches tall. Personally, I thought I spent more time hunched over, making sure my pants don't fall down than actually picking the strawberries. Anyway, we went up and down the rows filling our tupperwares with strawberries. Emily and Ashley's attention span lasted for at least five minutes and then they busied themselves walking up and down the rows eating strawberries. Finally we finished picking 16 pounds of juicy strawberries. We brought them home, ate some lunch and then began cutting each and every strawberry. As you can see we finally finished with this...
...and this too, which didn't make it into the first picture

And then we ended up with several pints of jam.

We have also frozen three quarts. So now we're taking a quick break before we plunge back into it!
Oh, and did I mention that on Thursday we're getting another 30 pounds? Just thought I'd mention it.

Pictures

2011-06-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

I think these are some beautiful pictures of the countryside around Looney Lane.

I think this one looks like a sunrise.

Life on Looney Lane

2011-06-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

Heading for the crik...

Playing in the sand...

Swimming? I'm here to relax...

Just my feet, please...

Should I go for it???

Just a little bit more...

Race for the towels...

Homeward trek...

...in the pickup...

Behind the house where my family lives right now is a river right on the property. My family loves to go down there in the evenings or on the weekends. It is so quiet and still and beautiful...our own little retreat. We ride the pickup truck back 3/4 of a mile and then we have to walk for another quarter mile or so. Everything is gorgeous! We walk on a path of trampled down grass. The trees surrounding us are all different shades of green. Dark, shiny, vibrant... Their trunks are thick, deep brown, standing tall. Blackberry bushes march along on either side. We finally reach the river. We duck low hanging branches until we come out into a beautiful pebbled beach. It is about 50 ft. around with multi-colored rocks of different sizes. On the right it is sandy, bordered with leafy bushes. We set up the chairs and get out the beach toys. At first we stayed on the beach, content to wade and splash each other. Then slowly we got in deeper and deeper. I should mention that my dad triple dog dared us to swim in the water and Cade immediately responded, "Oh,oh, yeah! I am definitely going to do it, you don't even need to dare me. I am sooo going in!" Before we got in my dad made Cade take his shirt off so that he would have something dry to come back to. Now the big guy wasn't so sure..."Oh, guys it looks really cold now. I mean before I thought I could keep my shirt on so I was going to do it but, ahhh dad, do I have to take it off?" Eventually we all (except my mom. It has to be 90 for her to swim) got in...minus Cade. Apparently he was all talk. He would stand about up to his waist and say, "No, guys I really don't want to do it." A little later, "Oookay I guess I'll do it. Is it really cold?" "Ohhh, but do I have to do it?" Finally we convinced him that it would be better to get it over with because otherwise we would tease him about it. After we were all on shore, wrapped in towels my dad said, "Listen." Everything was absolutely silent except for the gentle rush of water and the chirping of birds. God's creation is so evident, especially out here!
Oh and by the way, if you're wondering when we found time to go swimming since it hasn't been above 75, I'll just tell you that it was barely 60 degrees when we went. Everybody claims the water was -30 but hey, if that's what you gotta do to swim in Oregon, that's what you gotta do.

Story

2011-06-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

My great-aunt Marvella read my most recent blog posts and asked me to write a short story based on the Good Samaritan for her Sunday School. She thinks that most of the time we don't realize just how amazing it was for the "good samaritan" to help that man. So this is what I came up with for her and I thought I would share it with you all. I realize its probably way to long for a single blog post but maybe you can just take it in chunks.

It hadn’t been Aubrey’s idea.
The teenage girl had never wished more fervently that she was somewhere else than where she was right at this moment. As she steered the large van to a stoplight she told herself again that she should have never let them talk her into this. She remembered the grandmotherly woman’s face peering into hers. “Please, Aubrey just this one trip. These kids are counting on you.” Out of guilt, she had reluctantly agreed to shuttle a group of kids home from an event at her church. There had been only one problem. These kids all lived in the heart of downtown Chicago, in the center of the busyness, the noise, the crime…Aubrey was terrified of going there.
Now it was late. The kids had all been dropped off. Outside snow flurries whistled against her windshield wipers and icy wind howled. She could barely see, her headlights scarcely cutting through the inky darkness. Bruised storm clouds hung overhead, their bellies heavy with snow.
Aubrey nervously switched on her blinker and turned left. She chanced a glance out the window. Boarded up windows and dirty shacks lined the alleyway. A couple of teenagers lounged against one of them, smoking cigarettes. Splashes of colorful graffiti decorated cement walls. It seemed to Aubrey that downtown Chicago had never been more frightening.
As she continued to drive, a warning light flashed from the assortment of dials behind the steering wheel. WARNING: LOW GAS! Aubrey groaned in frustration.
Nervously she tapped an uneasy rhythm on her seat, “Come on, come on! Just get me to a gas station,” she muttered nervously. Her car began to sputter as she whipped around another corner, scanning the area frantically for a gas station. The old van gave one last groan. The car managed to go 15 feet more before it coasted to a stop at the sidewalk.
“Great, just great!” she yelled. “I’m stuck in downtown Chicago with no gas in the middle of a snowstorm and…” Aubrey fumbled through her purse and came up with her cell phone. She flipped it open. A brief glance revealed that it too was dead “…and no cell phone! Ugh.” Aubrey leaned her head against the steering wheel. She watched through a foggy window as dozens of cars sped past her. “I hope somebody’s in a good mood,” she muttered.
Then, she wrapped her coat more tightly around her and opened her door. An icy blast of wind hit her as she stepped out of the car. Aubrey waved a gloved hand frantically at passing cars. One car slowed and Aubrey redoubled her frantic waving. A policeman eyed the teenage girl, alone on the dark sidewalk. But then turned and drove away without a second thought for the frightened girl on the road. Aubrey stared in disbelief at the receding police car. Could he really be so heartless? What would it have taken for him to let her borrow his cell phone?
She was pretty, young, strong; she would have to get herself out of this mess. After all, he couldn’t do everything, could he? His job was to fight crime not to babysit irresponsible teenagers who had forgotten to fill up on gas.
Wind blasted at her. Snow sliced against her cheeks. Aubrey continued to wave at the passing cars. Faces turned from windows, heads were bowed, eyes were averted… Nobody wanted to notice the stranded girl on the side of the road.
Two approaching forms caught her attention. Two teenage boys cockily walked up to her, their eyes taking in her situation.
“Um, I’m Aubrey. I’m lost here. My car ran out of gas. You don’t happen to know where I can get some gas, do you?” she asked timidly.
One of the boys nudged the other in the arm, “Hey, isn’t that cute, Brian? She wants our help.” The other kid snickered stupidly. Aubrey began to back against her car.
“Listen, kid we don’t help anybody but ourselves.” Brian stepped closer. The other kid grabbed her purse. “You’re gonna come with us now.”
“No, please don’t,” she cried as each of them grabbed one of her arms. “Please, please stop!” she pleaded as they forcefully pulled her away from her van. Tears leaked from her eyes and froze as they slid down her cheeks.
“Hey boys, whatcha doing with that lady?” Aubrey nearly gasped with relief as her savior appeared from a whirlwind of snow. “You leave her alone, you hear?”
“Aaaah, we were just having a little fun,” one of the boys protested.
“You better get outta here before I call the cops. I don’t ever wanna see you again, now git!”
The boys left quickly, kicking up snow in their wake. Aubrey turned to thank her rescuer and nearly gasped in shock again. He stood at least a foot and half taller than her, with thick muscled arms and legs. His skin was the color of ebony and tattoos crisscrossed his arms.
“Those boys hurt you, ma’am?”
“No…no, not yet,” she managed to say as her pounded within her chest.
“Well, you’d best be getting on home now. Chicago is no place for a pretty thing like you in the middle of the night.”
“But, that’s just it. I’m lost. My car ran out of gas and those boys just took my purse.”
“Well, then you’ll just have to come with me. My trucks down there a ways. I’ll get you some gas and then get you on your way.”
The relief that flooded Aubrey was replaced with fear. Could she trust this stranger? His appearance gave her every reason to believe that he could and would harm her. But then again what choice did she have? The alternative was being stranded out here, alone until the snowstorm let up.
“Here, let me help you. How long you been out here, miss?”
“A while…I came in early this evening.”
Numbly, she let him guide her across the icy sidewalk until they reached a beat up red pickup. She slid into the passenger’s side and buckled herself in. In a moment he joined her. “What’s your name?”
“Aubrey, Aubrey Stone.”
“I’m Gabe. What are you doing ‘round here?”
Warmth was starting to slide back into her fingertips. “I was taking a group of kids home from our church and I ran out of gas and got stranded here. I didn’t have my cell phone and no one would stop to help…until you came along. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
They drove on in silence for a few moments until Aubrey said, “Do you live in Chicago, sir?”
“Don’t do none of that ‘sir’ stuff. Call me Gabe, same as everybody else. But, no I don’t live here…just passin’ through.”
“You have a family?”
He didn’t answer, and Aubrey began to think he never would, but then he said, “No, no family.”
“What do you do?”
“Do you always ask this many questions, Aubrey?”
She paused, “Yes.”
“I thought so.” Just then Gabe pulled into a gas station and got out of the truck. He entered the gas station store and Aubrey watched as he talked to a man in boots and stained overalls, then exited with a gas can. He walked over to the truck and plunged the hose into the can, squeezing it with his powerful muscles. Aubrey watched his fluid movements and wondered what such a man was doing all alone.
Gabe reentered the truck and placed the gas can down near Aubrey’s feet.
“There you go. Should be enough to get you home.”
“Thank you so much…Gabe.”
Half a smile broke out on his rugged face. “Let’s get this back to your car.”
They drove back to her car and Gabe easily filled up the gas tank until the gauge rested just above the halfway mark.
She thanked him again and was just about to enter her car when he put a hand on her arm. “I thought I should tell you… my wife left me and took our son a while ago. They were all the family I had.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I brought it on myself…I was drinking. Drinking real bad. One day I drank too much. Yelled at her, got real mad. Then I hit her. Later she came to me in jail, told me she was done. That was the last straw. She was leaving. It broke my heart. She was the only thing that kept me going, her and our son. Then, I got into drugs. Got in real deep. Served a few more years in jail. When I got out I promised myself I would be a better person. I know you’re probably thinking I deserved everything that happened and maybe you’re right. Most people treat me different when they know. They don’t trust me because of my past… I just thought you should know.”
Gabe turned and started walking away. “Gabe, wait!” Aubrey called. “Thank you.”
He smiled, and this time it reached his eyes, “My pleasure.”
Then her Good Samaritan turned and was swallowed up by a flurry of snowflakes.

Story Part Four

2011-06-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth and final installment of a story I wrote based on Numbers 21:4-9

My entire body explodes in pain. The snake’s fangs latch into my back. I scream and claw at my back, desperate to get the creature off. It hisses at me as I fling it away. Only now do I understand the pain of the serpents’ victims. My back feels like burning coals have been spread over it. I can feel the venom racing through my body, like lava in my veins. I scream again. This is what the wrath of Yahweh feels like. I think dimly.
Then a pair of strong hands lift me up and turn me over. Something is placed on my back and I felt the pain diminish slightly. I am laid on my back again and something is brought to my lips, “Drink this, Lydie. It’ll hold you over.” I find myself looking into a woman’s seamed face. I recognize her, she sometimes camps next to our tent.
“Until what?”
“A group of our people have gone to Moses to beg for Yahweh’s forgiveness. Maybe the Lord will remove the curse.”
Moses steps into view holding something. It is a serpent, made of bronze. Through a haze of pain I watch as he mounts it on a pole about 10 feet high.
“People of Israel!” he cries, “You have sinned against the Lord, yet he has chosen to extend his grace. Look at this serpent. If you raise your eyes to it Jehovah has promised that you will live.”
All around us people are following Moses’ advice.
“It’s working, my fever is going down!”
“Anna’s breathing easier now.”
“She’s just stopped bleeding.”
“Look up, child.” The woman urges. But I’m not so sure. If Yahweh was so powerful why couldn’t he have cured them all without a word ? He wasn’t strong enough to save my father. I grind my teeth with the pain and draw another raspy breath. Could something so simple really be a cure? The screams all around me continue. The serpents are still biting.
“What could it hurt?” The old woman sooths, “All around you others are doing it, please child look up.” Could it work? Yahweh, are you there? My body continues to burn and I struggle to breathe. “The sun is rising child, lift your face. Yahweh is good, He has promised he will never left me. He has sealed his promise in the form of this serpent.

I open my eyes and lift my face to the serpent.

1,500 years later others would lift their faces to a man hanging from a cross. A man who had come to bring forever healing to everybody who would believe.

Well, I hoped you liked it. I wrote it in a few days based on part of one of my dad's sermons.

Story Part Three

2011-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is part three in my story based on Numbers 21:4-9.

I watch in horror as a serpent sinks its fangs into a young woman’s leg. The woman cries out and falls to the ground writhing in pain. All around her men, women and children are being bitten. I cover my ears against the horrible sounds that fill the air and run. Bodies strike the earth…people scream in agony…snakes hiss…
I almost trip over a body in front of me. A small child lies limply on the sand. His body is soaked in sweat and he is foaming at the mouth. I drop to her knees and trickled water into his mouth out of a pouch at my waist. I dip my sash in water and lay it on his head. Then I notice an inflamed area at his ankle. It is the color of the serpents themselves, swollen to twice its normal size. The little boy screams and thrashes his body around. I tear strips of cloth from my tunic and tied them tightly above the injured area. Then I cradle the boy in my arms and walk to my tent. I pass other people in agony but I don’t stop. I lay the boy down in the shade and set some water near him. Hopefully there is a chance he will live.
I move on to others as night fell. Apparently other uninjured Israelites have the same idea. They pick their way through the empty camp treating the wounded. The initial panic of earlier has been replaced by a grim determination to stay alive. As I soothe an old man I notice a familiar figure. Standing, I make my way through a maze of empty tents and dying fire pits. “Father!” I scream. Two snakes swarm up his legs. One coils around his arm and bites him, the other sinks its fangs into his neck. I run to him as he collapses on the ground, gasping for breath. I cradle his head in my lap. “Why, father, why?” His eyes bug out and blood spurts from his neck. His body burns painfully.
“Shouldn’t have listened, Lydie…”he chokes, “should’ve stayed in Egypt.” Then his eyes rolled back in his head. I begin to sob. I sobbed for my father and the dying people around me. I cried for the broken lives and homes and families all because we had failed to trust Yahweh. As I cried I was unaware of a coiled snake behind me. It hissed once before it reared up and struck its fangs deep inside my body.

Story Part Two

2011-06-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is part two of a story based on Numbers 21:4-9.

Moses steps back, “I will go ask of the Lord what he would have me do.” The crowd hums with anxious murmurs as he step back into his tent. I watch as the crowd slowly disperses in twos and threes. To care for children….tend their animals… The sun sink lower in the sky. It is a fiery golden ball resting on the horizon surrounded by splashes of red and orange.
Moses reappears from his tent. His head is bowed. Then he raises his voice, “People of Israel! The Lord God is a just God. He rules in Heaven and he does not take lightly the complaints of his people. You have sinned against him and in rising against his servant you have risen against him.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Yells Jeptha.
Moses fixes cold eyes on him, “Look to the hills for your judgment draws near.”
I turn my eyes to the east, where the setting sun is still bleeding out golden rays of light.
Tension hangs thick in the air, “What is it?” somebody whispers. I watch as something begins moving towards us. It looks like part of the desert has broken free and is sliding forward. Except it isn’t gold. Whatever is drawing near doesn’t have the color of sand. It is the brightest red, as if fashioned from fire itself. No, not it them. Thousands swarm towards them hissing angrily. Hissing. Fear wash over me as the realization hits. We back away frantically as the serpents slither towards us.
The serpents are all about the length of a man, with thick scales and forked tongues. Their black eyes are set in their heads like two shining orbs. Each of them has a hood at their head and heavy pouches of venom near their mouths. They start striking as people try to run away. Pandemonium reigns in the camp.
And then the screams start.

Short Story

2011-06-08T13:46:00.001-07:00

I don't know how many of you were there on Sunday for my dad's sermon, but he talked a little bit about Numbers 21:4-9 about the serpents. Well, I had a little bit of an idea and I decided to write a short story about it. You might want to read the Numbers passage first. I'll be posting part of it everyday for a few days...

“We want something better!” A gruff looking man barks. His voice breaks free from the murmuring crowd of angry people.
“It isn’t enough!” hollers an older woman.
“We should have stayed in Egypt,” a young man cries bitterly, “At least we had enough to eat.”
I watch all this from my position crouched near a goatskin tent. Men and women are yelling angry insults at an old man with white hair. His skin is dark like old leather and his face weary but he stands tall before the complaining Israelites.
Another man steps forward, tall and muscled. His beard is tangled and his clothes are wrinkled and stained from weeks of travel. The crowd hushes as he speaks, “We’re tired of this manna, old man.” His voice is edged with menace. Then he leans closer and I can imagine the stench of his breath, bits of meat caught in his beard. “We’re tired of you, Moses.”
“You dare to address the Lord’s servant in this manner?” Moses’ voice rings out across the camp, gaining strength as he speaks. “You, Jeptha who swore to obey his commands, who heard him speak. I warn you Yahweh does not take this lightly.”
He’s giving you a chance to take it back! I want to scream. Say you’re sorry, beg Yahweh’s forgiveness. Because as much as I hate what Jeptha is doing I don’t want to see him get hurt. And I knew just what Yahweh can do. Because the man standing before Moses isn’t just any man.

He is my father.

Quote of the Day

2011-05-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Claire came upstairs today, with her hand covered in blood.
"Oooh, Claire what happened?" I asked.
"I was trying to clean your razor. I didn't know they were so sharp. "You know they should really put a notice on those things so that eight year olds don't play with them and cut themselves. Wait...I'm nine... yeah, nine-year-olds."

2011-05-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon Cade and I had a brilliant idea to ride our bikes to Limeberry, a little frozen yogurt shop near our house. We thought it would be a great idea for an otherwise boring afternoon, or as Cade put it: "We ride our bikes there, stock up on fat, and burn it all off riding back." Right, Cade, because you're in such danger of getting fat. There was only one small problem. Limeberry happened to be four miles away, eight miles altogether, over a series of busy streets. We finally convinced my mom that it would be okay for us to ride there, when we reminded her that my dad had ridden around in San Fransisco on his bike when he was in third grade. We finally got out of the house, after numerous promises to stay on the right side of the road, wait for the little hand signals on the other side of the stoplights, and wear our helmets. Oh, yeah and we also brought her phone.
It started off great we rode there and got in line to get our yogurt. "Now remember, Cade. We have seven dollars. They cost about $2.50 each so don't go over!"
"Yeah, yeah. I won't."
We proceeded in getting several little cups and tasting every single one.
When we were finished I placed ours on the scale. The total came to $6.14.
"Let me feel yours," I said suspiciously. I weighed each in my hands. "Oh my goodness, yours is so much heavier."
"Let me see." He grabbed them. "No way, yours is, like, waaay heavier!"
How come people say we never agree on things?
We ate our yogurt and listened to a group of high school girls in talk about how their tans were really coming in. Cade got up, "I'm gonna get a drink." He came back with an ice cream bowl filled with water. "They didn't have any cups." He explained. We finished our yogurt and got on our bikes. We had gone maybe one block when I heard a small pop. All of a sudden it was very difficult to ride and my back tire was suspiciously deflated.
I got off my bike and pushed down on the wheel. My hand came down and squished the empty tire. I yelled to Cade, "It's flat!"
"Oh, great, I guess you'll just have to ride it flat."
"But it's dangerous! You're not supposed to do that."
"What do you suggest?"
I felt my pocket where my mom's phone was. "We could..."
"No, we're old enough, we don't want to bug her. Come on, we can switch off."
So we rode the next four miles in strained silence, switching off every now and then. The last stretch home was the worst. The bike made a terrible noise with every pedal. As I strained to keep going on the last mile all I could think about was that noise. That terrible, gravely grinding noise. What did it sound like? Chewing, I thought, chewing, like cookie monster gobbling cookies and chewing them. Again and again and again. (Yes, I did forget that he now eats vegetables.) As we pedaled home, all I could think about was that gravely cookie monster-like chewing.
After what seemed like forever we reached home where we realized my mom had tried to call us twice and not succeeded. Needless to say she was not thrilled...but that's a different story for a different time.

Yes, we are in the country.

2011-05-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today, my family visited Scio, Oregon for the annual county fair. We got a wonderful taste of true country life. As we drove down a winding road to the fair we passed many indications that, yes we were in the country. Old barns with the paint peeling, cows peppering the countryside, an old man in his overalls next to a fire pit with a pipe hanging out of his mouth...Finally we reached the sight of the fair. We pulled off onto a street and started walking. Just then, we heard music playing.
"We're gonna miss the parade!" My mom yelled, "Come on guys, lets run."
So our family ran down the street to be greeted by a dozen kids on tricycles and half as many moms parading down the street. Oh, boy. Cade and I exchanged looks. It was going to be a looong day. Following this we saw, a school band, two church groups, several parade floats, numerous John Deeres', horses, and five men, my Grandpa's age, toodling around on go carts in a figure-eight fashion. The highlight of the experience (for Cade) was when a van advertising midwifery came along. A mom was running around passing out slips of paper for midwifing. She was trailed by about five kids. She tried to hand one to my mom. "Oh, I'm well past the birthing age," she said. The lady smiled, "Oh, of course." Then she looked at me. "Here you go."
Okay... Either a. It means I look pregnant. b. I'm the closest female who would require her services. Or c. I look like I'm planning to get pregnant.
After the parade we walked around the fairgrounds. It was exactly like fairgrounds are supposed to be. Numerous displays advertising, face painting, crocheted sweaters, tie die t-shirts, beaded indian works and COSTCO. There were stands serving elephant ears, sno-cones, ice cream, chicken and lemonade. Port-a-Poties dotted the grounds. The smell of smoke, live animals, and hamburgers drifted through the air. It was alive with the noise of several hundred people who had come to enjoy the county fair.
Emily and Ashley got to run around with the goats in the petting farm, while my Dad, Cade and I sat at a live cooking show and learned the benefits of sweet potatoes. After this, we got snow-cones and cotton candy.

The next attraction of the day was the sheep dog contest. We drove a couple miles to a sign that read:

CHAMPIONSHIP SHEEP DOG TRIALS. NO SPECTATOR CARS PAST THIS POINT.
We piled out of the car and were halfway there when we heard a voice behind us. "Hey! Have you guys been here yet?"
"Uuuh, no."
"Well, you have to pay, it's $5.00 a carload."
Cade happens to be the only one with cash left, so he reluctantly peels a 5 Dollar bill out of his wallet and hands it to the man.
"Have a great time."
As we neared the fence we noticed there was going to be a bit of a problem. For one thing, the sheep were about a football field away. "I thought there were going to be bleachers," my mom muttered as we took our seats on the grass under a thin canvas tent. A lively lady with a microphone kept us informed on the sheep.
A sign on the fence read:

"I didn't know sheep had tendencies to attack," one of us said.
We watched the dogs try to herd the sheep through several obstacles and finally into a pen. The smart dogs were trying to herd the less-than-smart sheep through and...well not doing quite so well. From behind us we heard a lady with a southern accent drawl, "Those sheep are 'bout as dumb as a box o' hammers."
The three of us tried not laugh.

The owners all had uniquely different techniques for directing their dogs. Some whistled, others yelled, one barked orders to hers in German. Only one dog succeeded in successfully corralling the sheep. The lady behind us shook her head, "That dog is jus' like a rodeo clown."

So, I learned something new today. It's not necessarily what you're doing, but who you're doing it with. That and I will never use a midwife for my delivery.

"Pretty soon your necks will be red!"

2011-05-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

We've been getting a lot of wonderful comments about how we're going to become country folks. The quote in the title, which I did not appreciate, came this afternoon. :) Here are some pictures. Yeah, maybe I understand where they're coming from...

We're borrowing this Ford Pickup until we buy a car! All it needs is a gun rack.

Happy Mothers Day!

2011-05-09T15:42:00.002-07:00

I'm sorry this is a day late but, anyway better late then never, right?
Well, Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, I hope you had a great day yesterday. I just wanted to talk a little bit and say a few things about what I appreciate about my mom.

Mom, I love you so much! I'm getting more and more thankful for your example as I get older. Thank you for being a faithful example of a godly woman to me. I enjoy taking long walks and talking to you...sometimes serious, other times not so much! Thank you for being an example in how you honor Dad. I hope you were honored by yesterday, because you deserve it. I want to be like you, mom, I really do. You're amazing, I'm so glad God gave me to you.

Happy Mothers Day!
Love, Kailyn

Blessings

2011-05-07T15:55:00.001-07:00

This is an amazing song by Laura Story.

1 Peter 1:6-7

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:3-5

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

Seven Quotes of the Week

2011-05-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

"He is no fool who looses what he cannot gain to keep what he cannot loose."
-Jim Elliot

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength."
-Corrie Ten Boom

"Loss for Christ is always gain."
-John H. Orme

"Help me to remember these four words: 'This is my doing.'"
-Bonnie Witherall

"God always gives his best to those who leave the choice with him."
-Jim Elliot

"You are only as much as you think in your heart."
-Unknown

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart."
-John Bunyan

Life on Looney Lane...

2011-04-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

For weeks now, my dad has been pestering the owner of this house, Don Jenks to let us mow the lawn with his rider lawn mower. Each time Mr. Jenks says he is only getting him started and that he can do it later. This week it has been borderline begging and finally he agreed. He promised my dad he could try it out on Saturday in the late afternoon...
So, today our family is in the middle of an educational conversation about my mom and dad's dating life when we hear the soft hum of a lawn mower fill the yard. My dad panics, wolfs down his pasta salad and becomes determined to not let him get away with it this time. "I've gotta go get him!" he says, "he's doing our lawn again!" "No, no wait!" Claire says, "I've got a great idea. Why don't we all go outside and wait for him and when he comes around we can just hold up our hands with this 'what are you doing?' look."
"Go, dad, go!" "Well, you know, maybe you should just let him do it if he likes doing it so much." my mom suggests. "Yeah, maybe you're right." he sighs and slumps into his chair. Then he jumps up again. "But I really want to ride that mower!"
"Yeah, so do I." "No, Cade, you will be pushing our old manual lawn mower, while I ride the other mower. It'll be good for you." My dad makes a quick decision. "I've gotta go stop him." He jumps up and jogs outside. "Don, Don wait!"

My whole family runs outside. Yeah, the city folks are all outside to watch their first experience with a riding lawn mower. (Yes, we did bring the camera.) Mr. Jenks is saying, "Here, I'm going to give you a little demonstration on this little patch of grass. Back and forth. Back and forth.
"Yeah, yeah okay I got it."
My dad mounts the lawn mower and drives off as Mr. Jenks watches, his arms crossed, his dark sunglasses hiding his expression like a father watching his sixteen year old take his first drive. Occasionally he calls my dad over for lawn mower tips. All of us kids take a turn on it. When it's Emily's turn she gives us all a parade float worthy wave. Ashley pushes my dad's hand off the steering wheel and he lets her crazily drive on the grass.

So that's our excitement for the day. Riding lawn mowers. It doesn't get much better than that.

Quotes of the Week

2011-04-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

"I hate the smell of grass because it reminds me of work!"
-Cade
"Have we ever had a black president?"
-Claire

*"Amtrack? I thought that was the stuff that a bunch of people sell and you always give them a bad time about it?"
-Kailyn

"I've noticed, Jesus that on your resume you don't have much formal education. Of course omnipotence will suffice but still..."
-My dad during his sermon illustration

(Emily signs...)
"Can I have some more chicken?"
My mom, "Well, actually it's ham. (She signs "pig")
Emily waits a few seconds, "Can I have some more chicken-pig?"

Legends from Looney Lane.

2011-04-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

It was 8:00 on a peaceful Saturday evening, we were sitting around with a family from Spokane, the Kerrs. The adults were drinking tea, and talking while the rest of us hung out enjoying the evening. All of a sudden the calm was shattered by their nine-year-old's cry. "Dad, I can't get the bathroom door open!" The statement was punctuated by the rattling of a 100 year old doorknob. Well, Abagail is now stuck in a 4' by 4' bathroom or as her dad put it, 'A closet with a toilet and sink.'
Instantly, her dad and Aidan are at the door and discover that Abagail is indeed stuck. Mr. Kerr's first method is to ask Abagail, "What did you do?"
"I locked it." To which he responded, "Unlock it." "Dad, I can't turn it." "Turn it the other way."
At this point Claire appears, "I have a key." she announces and proceeds to produce an ancient, rusted key. After jiggling the key in the door we discovered that it doesn't work.
Abagail's little brother, Aidan is pacing around frantically, "Please tell me Sissy's going to be okay." he said dramatically.
My dad enters the office, "Wow, you really did it to yourself this time." He announces, then leaves
"How about an axe?"
"You might want to remember that we are only renting this house."
"Hey, Roland do you have any tools?"
"Ooh, sorry, they're all packed away."
"Oh, no."
"Hey," Mrs. Kerr whips out a purple Swiss Army Knife, "Maybe this would work."
"Give it to me, hurry."
Meanwhile helpful comments are floating in...
"Well, at least she has a toilet in there, so she'll be able to "go" whenever she needs to."
"But what about food?"
"Well, we'll only be able to slide flat food under the door."
"Yeah, like pancakes, tortillas, and ham slices."
Using the flat-head screw driver (in case you ever get locked in a bathroom) Mr. Kerr disables the doorknob and takes it off. Abagail is freed from the bathroom and everything ends happily!
To his credit, Mr. Kerr managed to complete the whole operation in the small office with a giant air mattress taking up most of the room. I do have to say that Abagail was very brave and there was no drama on her part.
The first picture is of Mr. Kerr taking off the doorknob, while the second is of him putting it back on from inside the bathroom.
Well, as the old saying says 'All's well that ends well' :)
As we all sit around the living room discussing the events I conclude with,
"You do know this is going on my blog, right..."

Of Mice and Mud

2011-03-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well, you didn't expect it to be called a country farmhouse without a mouse did you? Now that you've heard about the mud part, it's part two in the saga of Looney Lane.
It all started when the seven of us had just sat down to dinner. As we were eating our tacos, chips and fruit Cade noticed something...

Cade- "Mom, look at that is that a...no...is that a hole in the bottom of the chips?"
Mom- "Yeah, I think it is."
Claire - "What if it were a mouse, wouldn't that be funny?"
Kailyn - "We had enough mice trouble in California!"
Dad - "It probably just got caught on something."

There was nothing to do but transfer the chips into plastic bags so that they wouldn't get stale. And we left it at that. But the next day as we took a fresh bag of chips down from the cupboard what do you know? A bite-sized hole rested in the very bottom corner of the Costco tortilla chips bag. A quick search revealed many more holes in various bags. After clearing out the top shelf we found mouse droppings scattered across our newly cleaned cupboards.
That evening, while we listened to a mouse scrambling around in our cupboard my dad did a great job of comforting our fears by telling us about a mouse who used to crawl through his bed. He said he had eventually killed it by throwing an army jacket over it and stomping on it until it died.
The next day as we opened various cupboards we found mouse droppings in almost every one. We evacuated our cupboards and put mouse traps and sticky pads in them. That night the comforting message of the evening was when my dad said that since there was no food in the cupboards anymore the mice would move up to higher ground: our bedrooms.
After we went to bed we heard a scream! My mom had opened the only cupboard we hadn't guarded with traps and saw the mouse chewing away at our 50 pound unopened bag of rice. By now I am thoroughly freaked out at the prospect of a mouse appearing unannounced around any corner.
The next morning, Saturday morning I wake up at 8:00 to my dad screaming, "We caught him! Come on kids! We caught that dastardly mouse! Come on kids! We caught that dastardly mouse! We caught him!!!" A sleepy trip downstairs reveals the presence of not one but two mice trapped on a sticky pad. I guess you know what happens next...
Our Saturday morning was spent scrubbing out cupboards and hand washing many tupper wares and pans. We've been told that 'it's all a part of country life' but needless to say we're all hoping that we've seen the last of the mice here on Looney Lane...

Living on Looney Lane

2011-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say I'm a country girl now. We moved into Looney Lane on Saturday so the two acres and the 100 year old farmhouse are probably proof enough. I will say that it is beautiful outside, the perfect place to take a relaxing bike ride, enjoying the scenery right? Wrong! I guess I found that out yesterday...

The house is clean, the majority of the boxes are unpacked, and my mom has sent us outside to burn off some energy. So I get out my bike and am riding around "exploring." Well, it just so happens that there is a creek that goes through the land. It's surrounded with thick green grass and mossy trees that wrap themselves around the bank. It looks like a perfect spot to ride my bike and walk around. So I ride out. WELL, somewhere in between the creek and the road I realize that the beautiful grass is nothing more than a miniature swamp. My bike gets stuck and I'm forced to try to wheel it out, too far in to turn back. By now my shoes are squishing with water and mud. Finally I get to the edge of the swamp. I'm now walking on mud. Aaah...this is better than the swamp. I walk to the edge of the water and then....I slip and am sliding down the bank until SPLASH! I'm in the water up to my waist, with my bike in ice cold, muddy water and I'm standing on something soft and squishy at the bottom! "This kind of thing only happens in movies." I mutter as I struggle, and fail to get myself out. Finally I succeed in grabbing hold of a low hanging tree branch and crawl out. I don't think I have to tell you that I was a mess. My jeans were entirely soaked, mud was smeared along most of my face, my hair was a mess, and I was freezing!
Well, it just so happens that a little hill, slick with mud, slopes down into the creek. I have two choices: Try to drag my bike up this hill (while avoiding sliding and falling back into the water) or dragging it across the bank and through the swamp. Well, I tried fruitlessly to get my bike up the hill and managed to fall in the mud several times in the process when who should come around the corner? My younger brother and sister both on and perfectly in control of their bikes. Cade, biked over and grinned when he said, "Do you need some help, there?"
He managed to get the bike out while I scramble to the top of the hill where Claire is waiting, "Kailyn, you're soaked. How did you manage to get your jeans wet? Did you fall in? How did you manage to do this? Oh, my goodness, mom is going to be so mad! How did you manage to do this to yourself?"
"Claire, would you please just get me inside!"

Anyway, the three of us made a master plan for Claire to sneak into the house and get me some extra clothes, then she would unlock the laundry room door and I would sneak through, change my clothes and throw them into the dryer.
Well, this was all great until my mom finds the muddy, socks, shoes and jeans in her dryer. Although I had given her the rundown of my experience in the creek she was not exactly thrilled to find little muddy rocks populating the bottom of her dryer.

I guess you could say everything ended happily ever after. I cleaned the dryer, changed my clothes and stayed inside. I haven't even caught a cold yet! Maybe it's just me but I don't think the country is the BEST place for me....

Welcome to Oregon!

2011-03-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

I guess that since we're moving I don't have an excuse to not keep up on my blog anymore. Well, finally in Portland, Oregon for a couple days. Today we headed to OMSI and hung out for several hours. We also went to a pizza restaurant where we got some entertainment...Portland style. We sat down to wait for our pizza and learned that it was "customer appreciation" night. A...unique man informed us that he was going to be our entertainment for the evening. He showed up at our table with a bag full of balloons and a couple juggling balls. Joe made two hats, a chain-of-hearts, a bow and arrow, and a set of butterfly wings for us, while he told jokes. Now it's back to the hotel for the night! Tomorrow we our first look at Looney Lane. :) More later...

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-08T13:57:00.001-08:00

Happy (Belated) Halloween! Our family went to my Grandpa and Grandma's and we took the little girls around trick-or-treating.

As you can see, there were two other little boys that we decided to take with us. With the nine of us, one stroller, in the dark, and in the cold you can see how long that lasted! They were pretty helpful though. When we went up to a house this older couple would come to the door with a bowl of candy:

Us: "Trick-or-Treat!"
Them: "Aaaaaaahhhh! you all are soooo cute! Here you go, and here you go and, did I give you one? Well, here you go too! You boys are so cute! Are they twins? Here, you're so cute, why don't you guys just take another one. Well they probably can't have it can they? Oh well, you can eat it for them! Bye."

The only downside to this, was that the only houses that did this gave out peanut butter candy. (which half the people in our family can't have.)

Well, anyway you can imagine how long we lugged Luke and Levi around! After dropping them off we took Emily and Ashley around to another few houses we went alone to the rest of the neighborhood. Because my Grandma and Grandpa live in an older, community neighborhood they don't usually have anybody for trick-or-treating so even w/out the little girls we were a big hit! :)

The five of us, (Annsley, me, Seth, Cade, and Claire) all agreed on our favorite house. This lady met us at the door with a big bag of Almond Joy.

"Well, hello! I'm so happy we have trick-or-treaters. We never have any! Lemee just get this open...(attempts to rip) oh, well. (she bites down on it and tears it open with her teeth) okay, now here you go. (she hands one of us a heaping handful) and here you go, and, oh, I didn't give you enough. oops! here you go. Oh did I miss you sweetie? Well, I might as well just give you all of it, I'm not going to see anybody else tonight."

Then she continued to finish off the bag on us!

Anyway, we had a great time. Now we're just gettin' ready for Thanksgiving.

Soccer is in Session!

2010-09-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Soccer has been going for two weeks now! All of Claire's devoted siblings have been going to the games in the cold and rain. I'm posting a couple of the pictures that we took. And of course I have to add some of Cade and I, because we all know who Claire's real fans are, right? Go Lizards!

We will, we will rock you down, shake you up,
like a volcano about to erupt!
we are lizards here to stay,
We will rock you night and day,

Wins Losses
1 1

Seven more days of Summer!

2010-08-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

....and summer is almost over! We've been gearing up for school all week. (O.K. the two days of this week that we have gone shopping.) Emily and Ashley got the surgery for their cochlear implants. I'm sure you've seen the pictures. They were major cute!!! They're going to Hope School. It's a school for kids with hearing loss, although many of the kids have cochlear implants. Em and Ash are going there 2 1/2 hours a day. There are three other kids in their class...all girls. They're going to have so much fun!! It's so weird, though sending them off to preschool!!! They're not even FOUR! It will be nice to have them at school while we do school for at least a little while! Last year it was a little bit crazy! (O.K. a lot!) We got them little pink backpacks today, as well as doing our own school shopping. I love school shopping. Organizing, notebooks, neat, organizing, pencils, orderly, schedule, organizing.

(Notice how I said school shopping, not the actual word school.) Actually, I'll be excited to get back to a schedule as long as Mr. Sun doesn't leave his spot in the sky!

Colorado

2010-06-15T09:01:00.001-07:00

Our little astronauts

Em and Ash's first smores

Oldest and the youngest

Cheyenne Canyon.

Jackson

2010-06-15T08:54:00.001-07:00

Yellowstone

2010-06-15T08:42:00.001-07:00

Canyonlands

2010-06-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is the cliff that Ashley almost fell off of. She was closer than this when my dad grabbed her.

Arches

2010-06-14T21:25:00.001-07:00

Vacation!

2010-06-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

We're back from vacation!! We had a GREAT time as a family, but it's good to be home! I'm not sure you want the whole rundown of the trip, so I'll just give you a quick summary!

Our first day we drove to Billings, Montana and stayed the night there. Uneventful except for the fact that my dad left the key to our borrowed sky box at home, and we had to call in a locksmith.

(Oh, and we made up this system of "tokens," where if one person "argues" with another person they have to put a "token" in. Each token is worth 25 cents, which the unfortunate offender must pay when we get back home. There is also a penalty for asking, "Are we there yet?" which my dad specifically thought up.)

The next couple days we spent at Yellowstone, and saw the bubbling mud, animals, geysers, etc. We did see Old Faithful, and maybe it was the fact that the day was cloudy, (it was hard to see the geyser well) or maybe it was the fact that I was skeptical about how amazing water shooting from a rock really was, but I wasn't terribly impressed. We also were stopped numerous times, by traffic, dozens of people claiming they had seen a pack of wolves, as they peered through their binoculars at several unnatural bumps on a hill.
Anyway, it was fun, and the only thing that I didn't like about it was our cabin. I'm not a great camper type person anyway, so a cabin with insulation coming out of a partly done bathroom, old candy wrappers lodged inside the hideaway bed, a flooding shower, and a toilet on the front porch didn't appeal to me. (Not that I'm complaining or anything, but...)

Grand Tetons was beautiful! Gorgeous snow-peaked mountains, dotted with pine trees, against the backdrop of a clear blue sky. A crystal clear lake, as cold as glaciers, with different colored stones lining the bottom was at the base of it! We stayed in a cabin again. This time it was a plus!

Our time with my dad's brother and his family went very well! It was very relaxing and enjoyable. We kids had so much fun, playing croquet, building dams, sleeping in tents, hiking, and playing a new game we invented titled-"Crawl Ball." Pretty clever? I'll give you the rules another time. It has something to do with crawling and a ball.

After that we headed to Arches, went on some hikes, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and made our own rendition of Survivor Man. (I'll explain in a minute.) We also explored Canyonlands, and had a bad scare when Ashley ran straight for the edge of a 3,000 ft. cliff. Thankfully, my dad was able to grab her by the shirt, less than three feet from the edge.

Then-home!

By the way, Survivor Man is a show we used to watch on Netflix, and we made our own dvd of it with Julien, titled Survivor Kids. (Don't ask to watch it, our acting is slightly cheesy.) This time we made one about Cade and Claire surviving in "a remote canyon in Utah." I was the filmer and narrator. I'll post it later, when we get it made into a movie, and when we get it together, I have some pictures.

This is getting a tad longer than a brief summary so I'll stop.

By the way, we never actually followed through with the token thing. It died a quiet death when it's container began to overflow, and my dad was cleaning out the car. It was probably just as well. We all had a lot of money in there. We decided we'd cover it over with grace.

It's swimming time

2010-05-21T18:45:00.001-07:00

Well, we had our first swim of the year last week! We all enjoyed it. Yes, even Emily and Ashley, who were content to dangle their toes in last year, had a good time. We got to the pool and initially were disappointed to find that, though they were excited about the idea of swimming, they were still scared. We swam alone for a little while, then Emily saw me jumping off the diving board into the pool. She decided she wanted to do it to, so she got my attention and asked to jump off the diving board too. Well, I thought that was great, and we should do it, but unfortunately my mom vetoed Emily’s brilliant idea. Instead, Emily jumped off the edge of the pool into my arms. After that she was excited to do anything, so we got out the water wings, and… we had some swimmers!! That was all fun, until we realized that we had to stay by their side in the shallow end the entire time! We immediately thought up several solutions for the problem…

* Swim with them in the deep end
* Pass them off to a willing (?) sibling and run off
* Complain until mom either tells us to leave them with her, or comes into the water herself

Eventually they started to get scared again and returned to their former positions on the steps with the tips of their toenails dangling into the clear water... Until next time...

Sisters....

2010-04-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

After an exhausting afternoon at the park we came home to let two little girls have a little room time. About twenty minutes later we hear, a very surprising noise, a noise that makes us go investigate to see what mischief those girls are causing. The noise? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even a remote giggle to confirm my fears that they were pulling all the wipes out of a newly opened wipe box or smearing their hair with my entire tube of lip gloss. (By the way, you want anymore fun "twin toddler stories" you have come to the right gal! I'll tell you about when they took all the clothes out of their dresser drawers....that was fun!) Dead silence. Any mom knows that is only a recipe for one thing....trouble. Well, me and my mom headed upstairs to check on the little culprits. We opened the door, there were no trace of my sisters. Under the beds, nothing. I opened the closet door, and what do you know? There they were...sleeping. Each was laying on her pillow, on top of a pile of shoes, sucking her fingers. Cute! So, I posted a picture of it. They look pretty darn cute.

Wrestling is done, Soccer has begun!

2010-04-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine a wet, rainy day, and outdoor soccer? You get a devoted sister. Or... a mess!

Recently, Claire started soccer, giving me another opportunity to shower you with even more tips for a safe, happy and messy sports life. Last Saturday.... rain. We got there at 8:00 in the morning, all of us. Standing there in the middle of a muddy soccer field, with two three-olds and no umbrellas, I found myself feeling slightly (!) frustrated. The news that the game did not start 'till 8:30 did nothing to warm me up. After an emergency trip home for umbrellas, we all piled in the car for a few minutes to wait....

8:30. No sign of a let-up yet, this is what I call a true sister. If this isn't above and beyond the call of duty, I don't know what is. Shivering in my wet socks, and jeans, huddled in a blanket, under an umbrella, in a chair, trying to keep warm, I watched Claire's coach try to get 8 girls under 10 to listen to him.

All the moms are very positive, though. One mom said to my mom,"I love how we don't have just one star player. They're all just equally good." Another one commented to my dad, "It's just amazing to see how they improve over the year. I mean they just keep getting better and better, and they don't all follow the ball anymore. Oh look, is that Claire? She does really well on just driving the ball towards the goal. Alright team, good hustling!" We have some very sweet moms on our team.

By the way, their team name is the Killer Whales... I think. It has been changed 4 times in the past couple weeks. From Wizards, to Bullies, to Blue Whales, to Killer Whales.

All that to say, Claire has started soccer. Oh yeah, she's doing great. Their record: 1-1

Did I mention that by the time we got home the sun was out, and we went outside in shorts to work in the yard?

Another one of Kailyn's brilliant ideas!

2010-03-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of known for getting really big, fabulous (?!) ideas. My cousins, and siblings found evidence of that just last week! We found a notebook with the brilliant ideas, rules, and guidelines of a club I had attempted to start....

Several years ago, I had an amazing idea to start a club with my cousins, (Annsley and Seth) and brother and sister, (Cade and Claire. Emily and Ashley weren't around yet!) I chose my title, "Kings Kids Writing and Reading Best Friends Forever Club" or KKWARBFFC.
The Kings Kids I got because we were Jesus (the kings) children. I don't know where the writing and reading came in, I think I planned to start something where we read a book and wrote something about it. Keep in mind, our ages range from 4-9 or so. The best friends part, well...I guess I thought we were all best friends! Later, Seth commented, "I'm not really best friends with you guys," so we were forced to change our title to, "Kings Kids Writing and Reading Club."

Well, we even got our own "government" together, with Annsley being the president, me being the secretary, and Seth being the vice president. We never could decide on what Cade and Claire would be. They went from the garbage men, to the prayer committee, to the spies?!
Anyway, we assembled some rules, 20 of them actually. I'll just write a few of them down because you'd probably fall asleep by the seventh.

Always obey all the laws (really?!)
All members of the club must practice the play at least once everytime we get together if possible (when we said must, we meant must. Even on January 1rst could there be no exceptions. By the way, we usually have next years play planned before that years is finished.)
You must have a trial before you are punished(we had a whole system of judges, punishments, and strikes.)
Don't bribe (I added rules like crazy. One time when I thought Cade was "bribing" Claire to do something for him, I added "Don't Bribe," and it got scribbled into the notebook.)
Don't blame (What are you supposed to do, "Who hit you?" "I'm sorry, I can't say I don't want to blame.)

Our strike system might be familiar....
1. warning
2. short talk outside (delivered by... you guessed it!)
3. trial with the three oldest counsel members (we managed to overlook the fact that a couple of the counsel members were often the ones in need of strikes.)

Our ideas for punishments were things like, "No playing with play mobile." or "We must wear costumes while we practice the play."

When somebody disobeyed I wrote this down in my notebook, "We are not doing this to be mean just to love others."

I compiled a purpose statement: (this is word for word, by the way.)

"This is not a club of rules, but a club of friendship. We may forget the rules but our friendship will last forever-" (added on the end,) "to glorify God and love one another."

Wow, if I was making up clubs like that at the age of nine, you'd better watch out in a few years!

The Sanchez family goes to the dentist

2010-03-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

It's dentist time for the Sanchez family! Our family goes to Dr. Maloney's office. It's this little building, with two assistants and a very sweet receptionist. You hardly sit down, before the assistants come to take us two by two to get our teeth cleaned! The waiting room is very tiny, and our clan kind of takes it all up. The other day while we were waiting, a man walked in. He stopped, taking it all in.... big backpack full of stuff partially pushed under a chair, books scattered over the floor, Emily and Ashley fighting over a toy, me laying down on two chairs reading.... He sat down gingerly and looked extremely relieved when about two seconds later this smiling face peeked out from the other side of the door, "Are you ready for your appointment Mr. so and so?"

Well, today I was getting my twelve year old molars sealed so I went in at 7:30. I had just started a story in a magazine about a waitress saving a man's life, when the receptionist peeks around the corner. "Oh, my goodness Kailyn. I didn't hear you come in! I'm so sorry! You know we just got the door's hinges oiled, and so now I can't hear it when people come in and I could hardly hear it before, and....."

Well, Dr. Maloney came into my room. By the way, he always has this huge smile plastered on his face, so he's working on my teeth, and he has this smile!!! While he was working on my teeth he kept telling me everything he was doing. I mean, every single step! I like to know what's going on in my mouth, but not that much! When I was finished, he smiled even wider and said, "Thanks so much for your help, Kailyn. You really made it easy by keeping your mouth wide open!" (That would have been kinda weird if I just closed it!)

Overall he's a very nice dentist, and we were in and out of there in fifteen minutes, so I'm not gonna complain!

Our New Car!

2010-03-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

And we got it.... We finally bought the long awaited van yesterday! It's pretty cool, and we're all really excited about it! Yippee! Praise the Lord!

More of my adventures in the wrestling world!

2010-03-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

I guess a lot of you have seen Cade's wrestling videos! He did pretty well! (I mean, win a gold at your first match, pretty good!) :) But I mean, gold medals can be over-rated. Let's continue the saga of Kailyn's adventures at the wrestling match!

....and so here we are, continuing the attempts of Kailyn, (sometimes successful) to entertain herself as she waits for wrestling matches. Well, we got there at 11:30, early enough to start weigh-in, but turns out they are doing the heavier weight class first, going down to the lowest one, which Cade is in. So, we got to watch some 100 pound boys, (and one girl) wrestle each other. By the way, girls and wrestling, I'll save that for another post! Of course, I didn't watch the whole thing. I took Emily and Ashley on a walk. On it we learned some very useful information....

1. You can go up to a lady and she will give you some food
2. Yelling does not work when Ashley runs away.
3. Bathrooms are very interesting places, partly because you press a button and water comes out, and these long pieces of paper come out of this machine.
4. There are lots of people to get handouts from, while waiting to watch Cade.
5. At a public place your sister is much more apt to do random stuff, such as teaching you to slide down the handrail!
Yes, there was no one around, and I was very bored, so I copied the idea from several fourth graders standing around. (Not a very smart idea!) So, Emily was sliding down, when Mrs. Long, (Logan wrestles with Cade) starts walking up the stairs. Oops! "Um, hi, what are you doing?" "Emily and I were just playing...."

Well, anyway, maybe you can apply these wonderful tidbits of info to your personal sports life. (or your brother's.)

Crazy award of the Year!

2010-03-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

These are my very interesting sisters, in some very interesting pictures!

That is some wild hair, Emily! Emily always manages to look like a scarecrow in the morning, but Ashley....

Ashley on the other hand, somehow manages to keep her hair nearly perfect!

Emily just learned how to do this, and does it at the most random times! It's really funny!

One day, you guys are gonna get older and you're gonna see I'm getting my kicks from you! Love you guys!

The Circus of The Year!

2010-03-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

You don't need to go very far to see a circus, in fact, there is one right here, in the Sanchez home! Better yet, why not read about it from the comfort of your home, while I take you on a fabulous trip to see the circus of your dreams! Well, one of the best ways to illustrate our very own circus is to go to the kitchen, where my family is just starting dinner....

Dad-....and we thank you for this food, amen!"
Mom-"Cade, why don't you just ask for someone to pass the pears, you don't need to reach so far!"
Dad-"So how was your day?"
Kailyn-"Can you pass the spaghetti?"
Claire-"Can somebody roll up Emily's sleeves, she's getting them in the sauce?"
Cade-"Good."
Kailyn-"Huh?"
Cade-"I was just saying good to daddy."
Dad-"That's all it was, just good?"
Kailyn-"Did you know that Fletcher is still a vegetarian?"
Cade-"He actually told you that?"
Kailyn-"No, he announced it in front of class."
Mom-"How is Fletcher?"
Dad-"Can somebody wipe Ashley's face. Is this topic of general interest?"
Claire-"What's general interest Daddy?"
Kailyn-"He was just wondering if Fletcher was really interesting to the rest of the family."
Mom-"So how was your day, honey?"
Dad-"Oh, pretty good. I met with..."
Kailyn-"Oh, do you know what? My teacher passed out these eight page booklets and told us she wanted us to read them. I mean, how many junior highers are actually going to understand the north and south poles of magnetism just by reading about them."
Cade-"And then there was this singing class...."
Dad-"I think I was telling mom about my meeting."
Cade-"Oh, I'm really sorry daddy, but can I tell you about the singing class?"
Mom-"Hon, can you give Emily some more spaghetti, she's asking for it."
Dad-"Sure."
Cade and Mom-"Thanks."
Cade-"So, we were trying to read, and this singing class was going on next door and it was really hard to focus 'cause she just kept lalalalaing....."

Well, that's just a little taste of our own personal circus. And by the way, the show times are:

Monday: 7:00am-9:00pm
Tuesday: 7:00am-9:00pm
Wednesday:7:00am-9:00pm
Thursday:7:00am-9:00pm
Friday:7:00am-10:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am-9:00pm
Sunday: 7:00am-9:00pm

My job in the wrestling world!

2010-03-06T16:38:00.000-08:00

Today I was schooled in what my job is in the wrestling world. The answer: to cheer at the appropriate moments, to support my brother, and to never, at any moment, under any circumstances, give some of my personal counsel to him. He was supposed to be warming up, and I thought he hadn't warmed up nearly enough, so I took it upon myself to tell him that he should be on the mat practicing instead of sitting on the bleachers with me. As you might guess, this lovingly meant counsel was not exactly appreciated.

As you can see, all of us girls had our different methods of entertaining ourselves.

Ashley.... Entertained herself by walking up and down the stairs next to the bleachers.

Emily.... Was entertained by asking to be taken on walks, stealing fruit snacks from a little boy next to us, and eventually joining Ashley on her quest to lose weight by walking up and down the stairs.

Claire.... Enjoyed walking with Emily, following my dad around, and wearing Cade's wrestling t-shirt when he went onto the mat.

Kailyn.... Read some books that she had already read three times, repeatedly checked the clock, complained about how we had gotten there way too early and how she was claustrophobic, begged money from Grandma, and pestered her nervous brother with questions about when he was going to be wrestling.
I wasn't exactly the model sister today.

Anyway, he did great, and won two out of three of his one minute matches! I posted a clip of his third match which he did win!

Cade's Wrestling Meet from Roland Sanchez on Vimeo.

What happens when you leave, mom!

2010-03-05T10:10:00.001-08:00

My parents occasionally go out and leave me in charge of making dinner and putting the girls to bed. It can get pretty hectic....The other night was no exception.

We were having leftover soup, so the cooking wasn't a big deal but that doesn't mean everybody wanted to eat what there was.

So my parents leave and I start getting the soup out of the fridge and bowls down from the cupboard. Cade walks in, "Do we have to have soup?" I might mention that one of the soups is beef vegetable and the other is tortellini. He likes tortellini but he just had it the other day and beef vegetable is definitely not his favorite!

"Yes, you need to have soup."
"Why?"
"Because mom said so."
"She did not!"
"Yes, she did!"
"Well, can't I just have cereal?"
"No, you can have tortellini or beef. If you have beef you can pick out the carrots."
"But I want cereal."
"NO."

On that happy note I poured soup for each of us. We all sat down at the table....

Kailyn-"Emily and Ashley are going to watch our movie with us."
Cade-"NO, I do not want them with us, they are really naughty."
Kailyn-But we won't...(to Emily) you want water? What do you say? Okay." I get up to refill her cup. "Anyway, we won't be able to....Watch out Claire, she's spilling her water!"
Claire"You didn't put the lid on tight enough."
Kailyn-"I didn't put the lid on, you did! Like I was saying, if we don't watch
Cade-"Oooo, cool, she has a little pool of water in her bib!"
Kailyn-"Like I was trying to say, IF WE DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE WITH THEM WE WON'T BE ABLE TO FINISH IT!"

Why do I get the feeling that nobody cares about what I have to say?
By this time Emily has decided that soup is more fun to chop up in tiny bits then to eat. I give her the firm command to , 'no play, you need to eat.'

We finish our meal and start on our ice cream, all except Emily, who has still not finished her soup. (I have already told her that she will get no ice cream because she was a slow eater.) Just then, she holds up her empty bowl. 'Ice Cream, please?' Who could resist that smiling face? I start dishing up ice cream for her....

Cade-"Why are you giving her ice cream?"
Kailyn-"Because she finished her food."
Cade-"But you told her she wasn't gonna get any ice cream."
Kailyn-"I know, but she did finish her soup. I thought maybe she deserved it."
Claire-"You never stick to your punishments for her."
Kailyn-She's fine."
Claire-"You're too soft-hearted!"

Well, we clean up the kitchen and head downstairs to watch our movie. We watch with Emily and Ashley for a little bit, but then put them in my room to play "trains." For about ten minutes all we hear are the cheerful giggles of toddlers, but then....
"Waaaaaaa!" We rush in the room to find Ashley sobbing, pointing at her older sister, the picture of innocence. Come to find out, Emily bit Ashley. This is not the first time either. So Emily gets to go to bed, Ashley gets to be rocked, and my parents get an earful when they return from their date.

The Front Yard and Little Sisters! Part Two

2010-03-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you think I would have learned, that when you want to play with your little sister you don't do it in the front yard, it just doesn't mix! But did I learn, no...

I got Emily up from her nap and brought her downstairs where we had a glass of chocolate milk and licked the bowl from my mom's banana bread. Okay, we're starting off pretty good. Sisterly bonding is on its way! But then I decided to take her on an excursion on a bike. Don't ask me why, she had enjoyed it the day before. Once again, I underestimate how long a three-year-old can be entertained by something. We rode the bike down the driveway and up and down the sidewalk. I checked on her and she had a snot-crusted nose, her hair is in her face, her teeth are chattering, and no she's not smiling! Not a good sign. But I was having a good time riding down the sidewalk and it's all about me right? So Cade rides up and I ask him to check on Emily. Bad idea. She reaches out to him with eyes as mournful as Ashley's were the other day. Sadly, Emily joins Ashley back at the house. When I checked on her ten minutes later she was happily playing with her doll. Go figure, where am I on your priority list?

The Front Yard and Little Sisters!

2010-03-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

The other day Ashley asked me if she could play outside. "Run, please?" I obliged. I took her into the front yard and left her on the grass with the brief command to, "go, run." Whatever that means! Then I went to go shoot some baskets. I'm aiming at the basket when this frantic waving catches my attention. I underestimated the ability of a three-year-old to entertain herself by running back and forth across the lawn. I went over to her and consented when she asked to 'throw the ball.' I lifted her up to the hoop and she threw the ball at it. It bounced on the ground and rolled away. I set her down and she began to run after it. "Stop!" Oops, that doesn't do anything does it? I chase her, deposit her on the sidewalk and chase the ball. After I have caught both my fleeing ball and my sister I drop her off back at the house. Big, tearful eyes are the only thing that lets me, groaning, pick her up and send her off to "run" again. Three seconds later I'm lifting a giggling toddler up to the hoop again. This seems vaguely familiar. Needless to say she is promptly dropped back off at the house.

Moral of the Story: If you want to play with your little sister, do it in the backyard. The front yard is just too hazardous!

Just Beginning....

2010-03-02T14:22:00.001-08:00

If you're reading this now I want you to know the purpose for "Kailyn's Kolumn." I love writing, it's one of the ways I process things. I love the challenge of expressing my thoughts in a clear interesting way. Through this blog I want to express my thoughts to you. This is an avenue for me to write, to share with you part of mine and my family's life. Happy Reading!