Senior Pics

I can't believe Brandon is a senior. This is such a monumental age. We are happy for him and sad that his years at home with us are nearing an end! He is such a wonderful son, and we are proud of him.

He recently had senior pictures taken. Some of these are duplicates of the same shot, in color and in black and white. Here is a sampling:

(Grandparents and other interested people, let me know if you would like to have a copy of any of these pictures. Tell me which one and what size, and I will send it to you!)

Night out in Portland

Dan and I went away for an overnight date this last Friday. The last time we got away without kids was FIVE years ago. So, I would say that we were overdue for a night away. Since moving, we don't have family around to watch kids. However, we do have two fantastic babysitters in our home, ages 17 and 12. We really like hanging out with the kids and going on trips as a family, but it was great to spend time alone. The kids got along just fine without us. They even finished their lists of Saturday chores before we returned home!

We decided to spend a night in downtown Portland, to take in some of what makes Portland unique and enjoy the urban feeling downtown. We stayed in a "boutique" hotel called Hotel Deluxe. The building was built in 1912 and the hotel was renovated a few years ago. It still has great charm, but with some modern conveniences. The entire hotel highlights movie making in the 1940s and 50s. There are pictures throughout from movies of that era. The decor, colors, and on-site restaurant are all reminiscent of the 40s/50s "glamour" era. It was a fun place to stay. I would say that modern hotels build much bigger bathrooms. It may not be possible to see in this picture, but the bathroom was unbelievably small - probably the smallest bathroom I have ever seen! Yes, it had cool marble floors, but no more than one person could stand in the room at one time.

Only in Portland would you find a "spiritual menu" in the room. Hotel guests are welcome to peruse the Torah, Koran, Book of Mormon, Bible, or books on Scientology. Another only-in-Portland sight - a recycle bin in the hotel room!
All the walls of the hotel, including in the rooms, were lined with pictures from great old movies.

After we checked in we put on our walking shoes and took off to the "Pearl District." It was an interesting walk. The downtown was very festive on a beautiful Friday night. We ate at a popular Peruvian food restaurant. We had tapas, which meant that we tried five different plates of food. Dan was brave and ate beef heart - I passed on that one! We thought the food was delicious, and we felt very adventurous.

Afterward, we walked to Powell's Books - an absolutely amazing bookstore. I have been there many times, so I shouldn't be so awed, but I still walk in and marvel at the sheer number of books. You can seriously find almost any book on any topic. Used books are shelved next to new books. The store takes up an entire city block. We wandered and browsed and picked out a book for each of the kids and a few for ourselves.

A few of the less savory residents were hanging out on the streets when we left Powell's, so we walked quite quickly back to our hotel. The next day we planned to eat breakfast and then walk to a different area with fun shops and restaurants. But, the RAIN hit. We are accustomed to rain, so we thought we could handle it. However, over 1/2 inch of rain fell during the two hours we planned to walk. We checked out of the hotel and drove instead to explore more of the downtown "districts." We feel like we have a much better understanding of Portland's downtown. It is a fascinating place to visit. We postponed the rest of our Saturday plans (we wanted to visit Pittock mansion which overlooks Portland of go on a short hike, but visibility was nil) and headed back home.

I took my nice camera and intended to get some great pictures of us on our adventure, but we were too busy exploring and being adventurous to take many pictures!

This is a less than flattering picture of us having a fancy brunch in the hotel restaurant. We had been soaked by the rainstorm! Below, Dan checks out our handy dandy walking map of downtown Portland. It was our best friend!

Birthday Week

One of Dan's many fantastic attributes is the way he celebrates happy occasions. He doesn't just celebrate for a day, but for at least a week! Mother's Day gets a week-long celebration, as do birthdays. He has always enjoyed shopping for gifts for others, and is really good at picking out presents which will help the person have fun, develop talents, explore new activities, etc., etc. He makes lists (he is an accountant, after all) listing the person's interests (such as: Aubrey enjoys gymnastics, art, reading, dolls) and then makes sure that there is a gift to represent each of the interests. I wish I could say that I am as good at gifts for him. I always come up with something adequate, but I just don't have his special talent for gift giving, I guess!

So, this is birthday week for me. He has arranged for fun things all week (a pedicure, a movie, shopping with a friend, dinner out) and on Friday night we are going to go to a fancy hotel in Portland without kids! Brandon will be in charge.

Yesterday a friend and I shopped for a really good pair of jeans. As in, ones that actually fit a mom's body and still look stylish. It took a lot of looking, but I found a great pair. Then, we stopped at a makeup counter and got a "makeover". I took Bailey to a makeup counter when she turned 12 (to learn about skin care), but I have never stopped at one myself. It was fun! We tried three different brands of foundation/concealer, looking for one which would do the best job of concealing. Sometimes I have a hard time feeling okay about pampering myself - I am too practical. But, I had a good time relaxing this week. I think I am prepared now for the busy school year to begin!

One final thing, this time about Joseph. Yesterday he was dressing for a Primary Activity. When he was all ready he came to me and said (as he often does), "Mommy, my love." Then, he stopped, looked worried, and said, "Don't tell my Primary teacher (whom he idolizes) that I call you 'love', okay?"

Wiggle on, Dan!

I am really hoping today to obtain a picture to illustrate this post. Dan completed his Portland to Coast team walk on Saturday. It went well, other than the inevitable loss of a night's sleep. What I thought was really funny was how Dan's competitiveness overcame his concern about swinging his arms and hips. As each team member walked a leg of about 6 - 7 miles, those in the van calculated the speed of each team member - how fast they were walking a mile. He was determined to beat the fastest mile time in his group, so when it was his turn he (in his own words) "wiggled anything I could wiggle to make me go faster." He said he experimented with various wiggles and methods of swinging or hunching or stretching, hoping to increase his speed. Apparently someone in the group got pictures, which I am dying to see!

In other news, I got a fascinating look at how the youth today dance when I chaperoned and provided refreshments for a multi-stake dance Saturday night. I haven't been at a youth dance since I was a youth. What I saw was this: youth today do not understand how to fast dance. I think that those of us who were teens in the 80s were great fast dancers, at least in our own minds. At least we moved a little . . . we showed some personality and "felt" the music. I think this is fascinating - the teens stood in big circles and kind of bounced up and down while a fast dance played. That's it. We, the leaders, were dying to show them how to REALLY dance, but our children at the dance would have sunk through the floor in embarrassment. So, we just watched.

I had a nice birthday yesterday. As my sisters have been kind enough to point out to me, I am getting old. As in almost 40. I remember my parents turning 40, and they seemed a lot older to me than I think I am. Hmmmmmmm. Somehow I think my own children don't view me as young as I feel! Anyway, after church we had a nice "Cafe Rio" Mexican meal with Haagen-Daaz ice cream for dessert. No cake because everyone else was too busy this weekend to make one and I was not going to make it for myself. My friend Rachel came over for dinner and games. It was a great night!

Addendum to "Car Trouble"

I just had to add this new development about our car saga.

A friend and I went to see a movie tonight, as our husbands were both busy. As we were waiting to buy the tickets, a woman walked by, did a double take and said hi. She looked vaguely familiar, so I smiled in return. While we were waiting, she looked at us repeatedly. I actually thought she was a girl in the Stake that Brandon has liked (shows how observant I am). It turns out she was going to the same movie as us and sat a few rows ahead of us. Once again, she smiled, I smiled, I asked how she was doing (hoping that how I knew her would soon become apparent). She leaned over to her friend and said, "this is Tiffany, the woman whose car I hit last week." So, there you go. That's how I knew her. Funny I didn't remember her face very well - I think I was in a little bit of shock after she slammed into the back of me!

Car trouble and long walks

Last week I had to drop off our van at the shop for some maintenance work. Because the shop is close to Dan's work, I took his car (the Infiniti) home. Five minutes later, as I was stopped in the freeway off-ramp waiting to turn right, an Expedition slammed into the back of the car. No one was hurt, thank goodness. It was pretty shocking, as car accidents always are. The good news: The other person was clearly at fault, they had insurance, and their insurance accepted full responsibility.

Now for the bad news. After the car was towed to a body work shop, I stopped by to sign some paperwork. As I walked in and gave my name, the people in the office said, "OH, Mrs. Porter, you need to see this for yourself." Never a good sign. The head mechanic took me back to the car and proceeded to show me all the evidences that our car had been in a previous, very bad accident. Probably should have had a salvage title. Except we bought it used four years ago from Tim Dahle Nissan in Utah, and they had showed us evidence that it had NEVER been in an accident. The mechanic said that there is no way that Tim Dahle's mechanics wouldn't have been able to spot the evidence of the previous repairs (which were done very poorly), so they had likely not been honest with us.

The real implication is that, because the previous repairs were shoddily completed, and the accident was roughly in the same spot, much more damage occurred in the accident than the insurance is wanting to pay for. And, also because the work was done poorly, there is a significant amount of rust on the underside of the car. Lovely.

We were planning to sell Dan's Infiniti next year, when Brandon goes to college. We will be back to a two car family for a few years (and a much cheaper insurance bill!) Now, we are not sure what to do. We are waiting to hear the final disposition, and then we have some hard decisions to make.

In other news, Dan just left for the "Portland to Coast" walk. A team from his work is doing the event. He will walk two legs of the race, the first 7 miles, all uphill, and the second 4 miles, flat. He is really nervous about doing the walk rather than a run. He runs all the time and I fast walk all the time. Neither of us likes the other's preferred exercise. He says that he refuses to swing his hips or arms to walk fast. I told him that he won't be very effective at walking fast, then. They couldn't get enough people from his work for a running team, so they are walking. I told him to think like a pioneer. He has plenty of ancestors who walked and walked and walked, and didn't even have fancy running anti-blister socks or ipods to listen to or bottled water to drink . . .

Watch out, Food Network . . . Here We Come!

Bailey received cake decorating classes for her 12th birthday. I took the classes with her, every Tuesday in July. I've always though cake decorating seemed daunting and complicated, and I haven't really changed that assessment. We worked hard to create our first "Wilton roses" on this cake, which we decorated our last day of class. Whew . . .

Next we tackle fondant and gum paste, hoping to eventually make something worthy of our favorite Food Network show, "Ace of Cakes"!

By the way, notice the sweat on our brows - it is due to more than the strenous exertion in our class. This was the record-breaking week of 105 to 108 degree days with 80% humidity. Man, it was as hot as Phoenix during monsoon season. We were so glad to return to our "just right"summer weather!

Back from Vacation

We recently returned from an almost three week vacation to Utah, Idaho, and Moses Lake, WA. Because this blog is serving as our family journal, I am going to document some high points of the trip. Warning: this will be long, so feel free to skim or skip!

If you prefer to just get the summed-up version, here it is: we spent weeks reveling in everything we love about Utah (and Idaho and Moses Lake). Everyone spent time with some best friends and family. It was sometimes crazy, sometimes relaxing, but overall wonderful.

The end of July Dan and Brandon left to a High Adventure backpacking trip near Pendleton, Oregon. At home, the kids and I packed up and prepared for our family vacation. The guys left the backpack trip a few days early and hiked 7 miles to the cars. Another family was leaving early, and they drove Dan and Brandon to Pendleton. Meanwhile, the kids and I left Vancouver and drove the 4 hours to Pendleton. We met up at the hotel in Pendleton, where we all spent the night.

The next day we drove to Shelley, Idaho to see Kara and Dave Yancey and family. Bailey had spent a few weeks in Shelley with Ashlyn last summer, and she thinks Shelley is the greatest town ever. She's right - it is wonderful. It has a very nice small-town feel. The kids are safe to walk to the store and play outside all day. Our kids had a great time with the Yancey kids and Dan and I loved visiting with Kara and Dave.

One night we took the families to see G-Force at a drive-in. How fun!

Earlier the same day we attended a rodeo featuring little kids. It was fun to show the kids a real rodeo. The most exciting event was the sheep riding. It was crazy - little kids held onto a sheep the best they could, until they were thrown off, under over, whatever. The announcers called it "the only form of legal child abuse in Idaho!"

Ashlyn, Bailey, and Aubrey watching the rodeo.

Joseph and Lauren, both age 4, had a great time together. They dressed up in costumes and played nonstop outside.

Getting a snow cone was a highlight for the kids. What a fun rite of summer!

Here the girls are preparing to walk to the store to get a treat.

Saturday, August 1st we left Shelley to drive to Utah. We arrived just in time to change our clothes and drive to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Dad (Grandpa Springer) attended with us.

A few weeks prior, a bolt of lightning had hit the Angel Moroni on the top of the temple. The face and arm were still blackened. The next week the statue was replaced, before the dedication.

It is a beautiful temple. This was the first time the kids attended a temple open house. We waited outside for about half an hour before entering the temple. It was hot! Joseph created his own sunshade using his Sunday suit coat.

While in Utah we stayed at my parent's home in Draper. We visited with them for a week, and then they left to Europe. They were nice enough to let us stay in their home for another week.

This Utah trip was really all about kids. For much of the time, Dan flew from Utah to facilities he needed to visit for work in Arizona, Nevada, and California. I facilitated the kids in their quest to do as many fun things as possible.

We didn't see much of Brandon, as he went to EFY shortly after we arrived. The day he came home from EFY we drove him to Aspen Grove to spend a week with his friend Jeffrey Bennett. He had a great time. He hasn't shared any pictures with me from his adventures, so we'll just have to imagine how fun it must have been.

The younger three kids and I started our week in Utah by visiting some of our favorite field trip locations. We have great memories of our "field trips" from past years.

On Tuesday we visited Thanksgiving Point Children's Garden and Dinosaur Museum with our cousins, the Sullivans, and Aubrey's best friend, Breanne Yates.

When Aubrey and Breanne were very young, about age 3, I took pictures of them dancing around this "bug stage" in the Children's Garden. We had to re-create the moment, so they danced again.

KSL TV was filming at Thanksgiving Point that day. Bailey and Mianna (Sullivan) were filmed answering questions about what they like about the parks. They enjoyed their moment as TV stars!

The next day we drove to Ogden with the Sullivans and Breanne to our FAVORITE museum - the Treehouse Children's Museum. It just feels magical to us- so full of imagination, literacy, and exploration. It is mostly geared for younger kids, but Bailey and Mianna loved re-living their favorite moments in the museum.

Joseph pretending to be a cowboy. The museum is divided into many small sections, each with a theme. In each theme there are costumes, books, and playthings to help the child explore that "world." Joseph, who lives for costumes, thought he had entered his own version of heaven.

Bailey and Aubrey in the "England room," which includes a table set for tea, Harry Potter and wizard robes, and a "magician's desk" with secret compartments and riddles to solve. Here Aubrey and Breanne pose in front of the desk after they solved the riddles and claimed their prizes.

Bailey and Mianna in the Germany room.

On Thursday, August 6th Bailey and Ashlyn flew from Salt Lake to California to visit my brother Scott, his wife Ann, and their kids. They had a fabulous trip in beautiful California! Scott and Ann sent a disk with wonderful photos they took during the trip. A sampling follows . . .

Burying Scott in the sand.

Boogie boarding in the ocean!

Kayaking (from left: Ann, Ashlyn, and Bailey).

Bailey with her cute cousin, Cameron.

While Bailey was in California, I visited Temple Square with Aubrey, Joseph, my very great friend Christine Yates, and her daughter Breanne.

Still very best friends!

After Bailey returned from California and Dan returned from his business trip, we took the kids to a few more fun places before the vacation ended . . .

Rollerskating with friends. Bailey is on the far left, Aubrey on the far right.

Joseph wouldn't go near the skates, but liked the stable scooter we rented for him.

Bouncing in the Classic Fun Center bouncy slides. The kids also went to a water park that day.

Now, this was a treat. Here the girls and I attended a cabin overnighter for our Mother/Daughter Book Club. We had started the book club when we lived in Utah. The girls and moms in the group are absolutely amazing. They have kept the group going, and the moms and girls have all become great friends. They were kind enough to invite us to attend the overnight book club party at the Page's cabin. We had such a great time . . . it was a little bit bittersweet, because we miss interaction with them, but felt truly "filled" by our visit.

On one of our last days in Utah Bailey and Mianna were able to do Baptisms for the Dead at the new Draper Temple. This was Bailey's first time going to the temple! How perfect to go with a wonderful cousin/friend.

When Brandon finished with Aspen Grove, we picked him up and loaded the car. Friday the 14th we drove to Boise, Idaho, where we stayed in a fantastic hotel (for a really great price). The next day we drove to Moses Lake, Washington, where I grew up. We stayed with my Aunt Lora and Uncle Brent. They were so welcoming to us, and we loved visiting with them. We also had some wonderful visits with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer. We went to dinner with them, to church the next morning, and then visited and had lunch at their home. It was a fantastic visit!

As I finally uploaded all the pictures from our trip, I realized there are some things I didn't capture on film.

1. The mountains in Utah. They took my breath away frequently.

2. The feel of a beautiful Utah evening.

3. The excitement of a crazy Utah summer thunderstorm (in the midst of a wild windy storm Dan's plane tried to land. They were diverted to Idaho and Joseph and I were stranded at the airport waiting for him!)

4. The great joy we felt seeing family and friends who we love so much.

5. The bittersweet feelings we experienced, because we love where we live now, but we miss so many people who live elsewhere.

6. Our incredible joy every time we ate Cafe Rio Mexican food. Wow - it was amazing.