HAPPY BDAY JIM

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Jim's bday! We celebrated it a bit late this year and I was sick all weekend! (which is why I'm NOT featured in this picture! But it was still a good bday! He got some new tie down straps AGAIN for his bike...since he lost his nice KTM straps! (men!). the boys made him a nice candy bar card and since he's always complaining about how cold his head is since shaving it all off...I got him this AWESOME sherpa hat from REI (the best store in the universe!). Anyway...we had a good time. The boys love their daddio.

ALL THAT JAZZ

Micah had his first Jazz band "gig" of the year on Thursday night (Jim's birthday - happy bday babe!). He had a solo in a cool song where it was a "call and response". He had to come up with an improvised solo! He did a great job of showing off the "bone". Using slides and "wows" and great a great range from the bone in his solo. Micah LOVES music, he LOVES acting and he LOVES soccer! I wish I had a better pic, but they do not allow flash photography during the music... awe well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY !!!!

MY ARMY!

These guys are my missionaries! : ) From left to right - Elder Rendon, Keegan Campbell (a former track athlete of mine), Elder Olson, Elder Ledford and Elder Cook. All of these guys came to one of my soccer games plus two more...it was AWESOME! : ) My own cheering squad! We have great games of basketball with them, good dinners and good discussions!Elders Rendon and Olson are trying to get me to read the Book of Mormon before Elder Rendon returns home on Dec 23rd.

Elder Ledford is being transferred and came by to say hello and goodbye : ( Elder Rendon and Elder Olson have been a great help to me...and love my family and we love them! They remind me of my son! They consider me their "WA MA" and they are my surrogate sons! I love them! We get a regular flow of missionaries now...hahaa...and we play soccer with them (me, Stockton, Levi and Micah), along with many other people - each Tuesday, which is the day they get to "play" and shop and do wash, etc. Anyway, I am in deep gratitude to all of these great young men!

The pic on the left is a game we played with them...kind of a prank : ) It was great fun! L to R is Elder Rendon, Elder Lavin (la VIN) and Elder Olson. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pass out!

This pic is when they came to see my "hi-tech" classroom at school. (they have to be in regular clothes - you know, separation of church and state! :)) Anyway...Elder Olson, me, Elder Rendon and Elder Gabor (like Eva Gabor) It was a big game day...Camas vs. Union...it was also Halloween day and it was a "BLACKOUT DAY". Thus, the black in my hair, under my eyes, etc. No, I don't usually dress this way when I teach! Ha!

Run Levi Run

XC 2008

Levi had a great cross season this year. This race was at the Nike Pre-Nationals at the Portland Meadows Raceway. It was a gorgeous day as you can see. There were thousands of runners and Levi had a big PR (personal record time). Leeve is now heading into swimming season. We continue to chart out races throughout the winter-time to stay in race-shape. It's fun to have a son that loves to run! However, it is NOT fun to have a son that can now kick your butt when you race him! : )

Hood River Ride

Well, I took a personal day from school Friday and we took all the kids out of school, met up with the cuz's from Coeur d'Alene, ID and LaCenter, WA and we rode our fannies off (I'm not kidding...we did!) in Hood River! We arrived about 10:30 am and got home at 10:30pm!

It was BEAUTIFUL there as it was about 69 degrees, the fall colors were incredible in Hood River and we would get to these beautiful scenic areas where we could see the gorge with the Columbia River below, Mt. Hood on the other side with the Hood River Valley below. It was BREATH taking!

We had 12 riders in all...it was like trying to HERD SHEEP! But it was a great time! I am suffering from "KTM butt" in case any of you have ridden a KTM, you know exactly what I'm talking about....and I even wore my padded bike shorts! We rode all together for awhile until Sydney took a wrong turn. They sent me to go after her, which I did...for what seemed like forever...Jim came after both of us, so we ended up getting some "fun riding" in to meet back up with the group. After that, we would break into 2 groups, more difficult and one with the littler guys.

Our group had two pretty brutal hill climbs that would require a staff of people in the middle of the hill to help those climbing over the obstacles. It's one thing to climb a good hill, it's quite another to climb it with 1-2 foot roots and rocks every inch of the way!

At the end of the day, we climbed to this "lookout tower" which was another breathtaking view! On the way down the mountain, we ran out of daylight. Levi was the only one with a headlight on his bike. We put him in the middle to light up the trail, but it was still scary dark. We all made it - miraculously - with no major crash or "field test".

All in all, it was an INCREDIBLE day, full of great memories!

My son, Teagen, is currently in Cape Town, South Africa serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is a beautiful picture he took of an African Sunset.

He has been there now over a year and a half and it down to 5 months left and 3 days (but who is counting, right?). I miss him dearly, but also recognize how much he has grown into a man and how much he has grown in many other ways.

He has had some INCREDIBLE experiences.

This is a pic of he and some other missionaries in the "middle of nowhere" as he said. It is a cool picture. I believe this is while he was serving in Sada.

This is a pict of Teagen with this BEAUTIFUL white lion cub! He said that he was the only one that these cubs would do this with. He sat on this stump, and this cub came and climbed into his lap! They all scurried to get a picture...he was perfectly content and we have lots of pictures with Teagen and this lion cub. Look at the size of this cats paws!!!