Project 365 (#342 - #348)

Sunday ~ #342/365

Chef Yohn made an appearance at children's church today!

Monday ~ #343/365

The cherry tree in front of the kids' classroom is now in bloom.

Tuesday ~ #344/365

I had to crop this so you could read it, it cracked me up that he thought this was the answer. I hope you can get out of the water if you are hit by a boat!

(And yes, I asked before I posted it, since my boy does not like me to embarass him)

Wednesday ~ #345/365

Koda looks like he is pleading with me, "Stop taking my picture and come let me loose so we can play!"

Thursday ~ #346/365

Family Night

We played Outta Control. Has anyone ever played this game. I played it at a friend's house once as a kid and we had soooo much fun. I remembered it about a year ago and bought the game on the internet (but I don't remember the website). It is one of our family's favorite games, we laugh so much each time we play it.

Friday ~ #347/365

Houston, we have a nine year old in our house! Repeat, we have a nine year old in our house!

If you'd like to read my birthday letter to him and/or send him a birthday greeting click here.

Saturday ~ #348/365

We did some birthday celebrating at Sky High. This place was awesome and I guess it's been in our area for over a year. Wish I had known about it sooner because we're definitely going back and this time I'm gonna join in the fun too!

That's it for my week, what about yours? Hope you linked up with Sara so everyone can see!

Nine Years Old

He is nine years old today. Wow.

Dear Elisha,

In some ways I can't believe today is here, but then again I can. You've grown and changed and matured a lot, I almost can't imagine you being any younger and while I miss your small-self, I love who you are becoming. You try so hard to do the right thing and don't like when others choose not to. You work hard to get good grades at school, help others when they ask, are saddened when you hear of injustices in the world. You have a heart for God and want what He wants for you. You are quick to pray for others and your trust in God amazes me at times. You are you! And while I wish at times I could re-wind time once in a while and keep you small, I love who you are becoming and that is the person I enjoy being around. Your Dad and I are so proud of you!

Love you and have a great birthday son!

Rewind ~ Oregon Vacation ~ Day 8

Call me crazy, but I never did finish my vacation posts. And I was looking through the pictures the other day lovin' all the sunshine and decided I did want to finish. So without further ado, here it is, our Oregon Vacation Day #8:

Day #8 took us to Sumpter to ride on the old Sumpter train (geez it's been a while, I don't even remember it's official name).

We arrived at one end and learned we had to go into town to actually ride the train round trip because we had missed our chance to ride round trip at this station. But since we were there we looked around a bit at all the old train parts. Above Bethany is looking at some part of the engine (I think).

Turning the crank.

Climbing on the ladder on the side of the box car.

Checking out the train they were currently restoring. There was a huge pit under this train and the lady touring us was a little nervous about Bethany falling in so we had to get her and her hyper self back outside. See the blur in the bottom left corner. She was in her fast forward mode.

Posing in front of a newly restored engine.

Loving to run up and down this small piece of track.

My mommy and daddy! :) Old trains and cars are things my dad is really interested in so he loved this trip a whole lot.

Awwww..... Yes, they were actually getting along and not nit-picking one another. Miracles happen!

Bethany decided the ladder was good picture opportunity too!

We found a playground and played for a minute before heading to Sumpter ride the train.

Oh there we go, it was the Sumpter Valley Railway that we rode on.

Yes, I was a sucker and brought both of the kids a conductor's hat. But don't they look official?

Poor lady she was in the middle of talking to us and I just snapped a picture. She did tell us all about the car we were riding in. Apparently it had, at one point, been sawed (sawed? sawn?) in half and used as a chicken coop. Somehow they did a beautiful job restoring it.

This dog loved visiting with my dad and Bethany while we rode.

See, she totally loved Bethany!

I love the scenery out the window but I also love that look of contentment on Bethany's face as she sits next to her grandpa.

Elisha insisted I wear his hat while we waited at the station for the train to turn around. The station we had toured an hour before.

See there's that merry go round again.

Good thing we had our look around earlier because it was only like a ten minute wait and we were back on the train again riding back to Sumpter.

There's the boxcar we rode in, the one that had been sawn in half. You can't even tell, can you?

The kids got a chance to talk to the conductor for a minute...

...before he had to leave to go turn the train around again.

I don't remember it being that tiring, but we were in the sun most of the time and did walk around a lot and it was an hour and a half drive home, so I guess you could say there was plenty of reason to nap on the way home. But from the looks of the view outside the back window, we hadn't gone far when they had fallen asleep.

Yohn and I played a lot of rummy during our stay at my mom and dad's house and I had bested him most of the time. But on this particular night he beat me several times - BADLY!

And he, of course, had to be photographed with it just to prove the hand was really his.

Beware, I'll probably be posting Days 9 and 10 soon too!

Project 365 (#335 - #341)

Sunday ~ #335/365

Bethany outgrew her cleats and had to have new ones for this softball season. She wanted me to take pictures of them.

Monday ~ #336/365

Happy Birthday Harmony!

My niece's birthday is on Valentine's day and her mom asked if I could take pictures of her with the almond tree in the background.

We also did our annual Build a Bear trip, in which Teddy and Princess get to pick out new clothes.


You can check out more of our Valentine's adventure if you want by clicking right here.

Tuesday ~ #337/365

Ordered another free canvas from the Canvas People.
I only had to pay shipping!

Wednesday ~ #338/365

What I really wanted a picture of was the way the clouds looked in the night sky. But, alas they did not turn out. So I practiced shooting on manuel mode and got a sorta decent picture of the moon instead.

Thursday ~ #339/365

It's been raining here on and off since Sunday night, but it really let loose on Thursday. I took this picture hunched under my umbrella with my camera low to the ground. It's not quite what I had in mind, but I like it anyways.

Friday ~ #340/365

Every time Elisha pulls that blanket over him he falls asleep. I may just do a post about it one day soon :)

Saturday ~ #341/365

Bethany's music teacher encouraged her to write her own song, since she loves to show him new melodies each week. She usually has them memorized (short term) but he wanted her to write them down so she won't loose that ability or those fun songs from these early years of keyboard lessons.

Baseball/Softball season officially has begun and we had two practices this week at the batting cages due to the rain. Be prepared, if next week is a bit nicer I may have lots of ball pictures to share. Or not, cuz' I might think that's a little over the top. Now I'm off to Sara's blog to see what everyone else has been up to this week. Ta, Ta!