May 2022

Horseback Riding

Aria has been going horseback riding each Monday with her friend Juliette at the Peterson's.  It's been a lot of fun for her.

Dead Trees

We had quite a few dead cedar trees along our driveway, and one looked like it would soon fall and damage our neighbors property, so we had them all cut down. 

Track

Zade has been doing 6th grade track and has been trying out a number of events, such as the 400m, 800m, 3000m.  I was able to watch him run a 13:08 3K (after already running the 800 and a relay). He's having fun with track, although doing it and soccer has been a bit much in his opinion. 

Duke's Baptism

We attended my nephew Duke's baptism, and went over to my brother Derek's house afterwards.  

Hammock

We found Aria had apparently put herself to bed out on the hammock one night.  Since it was a little cold, urged her to come and sleep inside, which she didn't appreciate. :)

Retirement Celebration

We went to the CH2M Hill Alumni Center at OSU for the retirement celebration they had for my dad.  It was fun to see how much several of his former doctoral students appreciated him.  Even Aria came along.

Siblings

Nova and her friend Ava took a bunch of toys into Zade's room and made a huge mess.  Zade decided to show his appreciation by taking all those toys and piling them up on Nova's bed.  After we helped Nova remove the mountain of toys, these were the notes we found that Zade had left.  They made me chuckle. 

April 2022

 Spotlight Dance Competition

Aria competed with a group of friends doing a number they called "Wonderland", where she was the Queen of Hearts. Here she is with her coach, Sarah Pecht. 

She also won first place for her solo. 

And first place for her duet.  Things worked out very well for her, and she almost didn't even compete.  She originally was feeling too glum to perform, but Tara was able to talk her into it, and it paid off.  

Nova's Hair

Nova was trying to do her own hair, and wasn't happy with how things were going, so apparently she took some scissors and cut off some hair that she felt wasn't behaving.  The wisdom of a 6 year old. 

Escape Room

Aria had her 14th trip around the sun and went with her friends out to eat and to an escape room.  She had a fun time. 

Portland Temple

My mom came and watched the kids so Tara and I could go to the temple.  It's always great to go.

Easter

My family came over after church and we did a big Easter Egg hunt with the kids. 

Sweet Creek

It's been raining a lot recently so when the weather cleared up, we went for a hike out at Sweet Creek. It was beautiful as usual, and there was a lot of water moving through the creek.

Purple Flowers

The field behind our house is in full bloom once again.  It's so pretty at this time of year. 

It's taken 12 years, but Zade has finally decided to start combing his hair.  Thank goodness. :)

Dishwasher

On 4 different occasions professionals came to try and install our dishwasher and told us they couldn't do it.  Tara got fed up and did it masterfully by herself.  She's awesome.  (Here's a pre-installation pic).  We were getting so so sick of it falling forward whenever we opened the rack.

Dessert Auction

Ryzen helped Tara make some dessert for the auction to raise money for girls camp.  

Acro National Championships

Tara took the older kids to the acro national championships, which were held here in Eugene.  They had a great time.  I however had to stay home and deal with our backed up septic system, which had been overflowing and leaking brown water out from under the toilet.  Not cool. 

Hendrick's Park