Sitting in the Shade of our Trees

Our little aspen tree grove. The single big tree melted my heart when we first saw this house. I grew up with aspen trees in my yard. I love their small dainty leaves, with white backs, that glisten when they flutter in the wind. (So much, we even named a daughter Aspen Spring.) If it were up to me, I'd let all the starts grow every summer in the lawn. They grow like weeds. Troy keeps me in check, reminding me that they will get big one day, and it would be nice to still be able to mow between them. So we've just let a few extras grow, and do they grow FAST. (The shorter ones that are still mainly trunks without big branches yet. Yet, they tower over me already.)


How they look today. Bridger loves climbing in the big one.


Troy framed a saying when we were first married that said, "Plant trees that you never plan to sit in the shade of." We've planted trees here, hoping that by the time we're grandparents, we could have a tree-lined driveway, kinda like the road to the experiment station here, so beautifully lined with huge trees. It's hard to see as it's still winter and the leaves are gone, but if you look hard in the next picture, there are 4 of the 8 sycamore trees we've planted the last 2 years. And 2 little oak tree starts we're protecting in the "tear-drop" lawn. Are we going to get to sit in the shade of our trees when they mature? Or is the big black walnut tree that's dieing in our front yard, a sign that we're not gonna be here much longer either?


2 years ago. This is a black walnut tree, like the famous tree of President Hinckley's. The one that he raised, and that was dieing just as the new Conference Center was being built. And so the pulpit in the Conference Center is made from his tree.



A picture Hanna took that I love:


How the tree looks now. A lot of branches also had to be cut out of the power lines they were growing into. It also was unfortunate to catch some new, incurable disease, that many other walnut trees in the Western USA have caught the past few years. Since Troy works with many of those experts who know about trees and stuff, it didn't take long to find out why big branches kept breaking off last summer. It's basically doomed to die a slow over the next couple years. Very sad.



It was exactly on this day, 3 years ago that we drove in to Prosser, moving our family here. Last week, Troy had his 3 year review, which although stressful, seemed to turn out more positive than he expected. Ironically, that same time, we started hearing news of MAJOR state budget cuts to Washington State University. WSU's plan with that 12-18% budget cut is to cut 50-70% of the public service programs. Which means practically gutting the Extension Programs, and lots of the employees at the station here. YIKES!





We moved here planning to settle down and stay the rest of our lives. Before Prosser, we had moved every 3 years, between college, 1st job, graduate school, post-doctoral job, and then here. Recently we've been thinking how NICE it is that after 3 years, we don't have to be planning another move! Did we think too soon? Now we have to wait a few months to see what the final verdict on the budget cuts turn out to be. Maybe a 3 year pattern is what destiny has in store for our family. One thing we've learned, is that everywhere we go, we find great friends, and it's a fun new adventure. Tiring at first, yes, but things have always worked out. I just hope we get to stay here!

Sweet Somethings

I know Valentines Day was nearly 2 weeks ago. This is just 50 weeks early for NEXT Valentines Day. How about that?

Anyway, when my sister was visiting that weekend, we washed strawberries to dip in chocolate, but then dinner was ready. Aspen finished eating before the rest of us, got to work, and dipped them all herself. Next time, we'll have to put them on wax paper. It was pretty funny pulling them half-out of their chocolate skin each time, lifting them off the plate. Seeing the seed imprints left behind in the chocolate was pretty cool.


We also went to Aspen's kindergarten class Valentines Party. That's gotta be the easiest party of the year. Just serve treats, and then they love looking through their valentines the rest of the time. No other organization necessary! Bridger insisted on wearing his Tigger outfit. Is this his way of "making up" for his less than acceptable behavior, at her class Halloween party earlier this year? Her teacher is SOOO wonderful, patient and accomodating for Bridger. I hope he's in Ms. Zocher's class one day too. (By the way, her only daughter's name is also Alana!)

Then we went to Seth's room for a bit, (borrowing some kindergarten toys along the way). Seth's classmates had fun remembering how LAST Valentines Day, Bridger swiped one girl's cupcakes and ate all the frosting off the tops. This year, he didn't swipe anyone's treats, but he did take over the girl's desk next to Seth's, though we tried to persuade him to share with Seth. She was very nice to share.

We didn't last long in the 3rd grade, before having to head back to the kindergarten. (More toys.)

And lastly, Alana and Hanna went to a friend's party that night, where they covered baggies of candy with plaster, and made them into hearts. That they could crush open later. They didn't finish painting them, so they brought them home and Aspen LOVED coloring one with markers. It's still not crushed open. Too much of a treasure now! (Does plaster-covered food make for a good food storage method? Especially for the prized food--like chocolate! It's not quite concealed here though.)

Ghosts of Dancers Past

In Amarillo, the clogging group was mostly middle school through adult age (there were at least four 50 year olds in there!) Hanna and Alana were the babies in there, along with 2 other lil' girls, but the teacher welcomed them right in. It was family friendly, at that worked well for us. They still were able to learn a lot of the dances. Alana did all but their most advanced competition numbers.

This is at The Big Texan, a famous steakhouse in Amarillo. It's shown in the bonus features of the Disney movie Cars. If you can eat a 72 ounce steak and all the trimmings in one hour, it's free. The group danced there every 2nd Tuesday each month. In the "Cowboy Palace." Sorry--this was the best picture I had of that.



A Clogging Showcase on the San Antonio River Walk. We had 15 minutes, so we did a little Irish dancing too. (Yep, I'm in there, 4 months pregnant with Bridger.)



I think this was the Beer Barrel Polka, or something. The 4 little girls started it out in wooden dutch shoes. NOT comfortable, by the way. But it was fun dancing along the river with the tour boats going by. (The audience is sitting across the water.)











That last group of pictures was at a little neighboring town's fair along Route 66. (Vega, TX.) Later that afternoon, big tornadoes were rolling through, and they had to cancel the evening festivities. Luckily, we were back home by then (an hour away). I wish I had a better group picture of the whole group, but I guess I usually just zoomed in on our girls.



Hanna especially stood out, being one of the tiniest there, with her bright white hair. When she'd occasionally get discouraged because she couldn't dance as well as the bigger girls, or because she was bored sitting out of the dances she couldn't do, we'd remind her that people had fun watching her just because she looked like she was happy, even if she made some mistakes. Most of the time, she was fine with that. At least there was one or two other little girls with her sometimes to keep her company. And it was nice that all 3 of us could do it together as a family. (I did it a few years too.) Our last year there, Alana was getting a little bored, since the teacher wasn't teaching anything new. So she quit going, but Hanna wanted to keep going. That was the year she was at the point where her coordination really clicked, and she could grasp more intermediate steps and improve really fast. Around 3rd grade, which I seem to notice in a lot of other dancers too. (Like the buck-steps, for those of you who know what I'm talking about.) So even though she only did clogging here in Sunnyside for 5 months total, I think she's caught up to the level Alana was at when we left Amarillo.

And by the way, if you're ever looking for fun aerobics, I recommend clogging! I think it's the most user-friendly kind of dancing out there--especially for beginning adults. And for the moments when you can't remember what to do, you can always just bounce and do the basic step, and you blend right in! There are no "sore thumbs" that seem to stick out, from what I noticed.

I tried to find a short video clip of them, but apparently, all those videos were taken by our non-digital archaic camcorder, and I don't have the software to transfer it to digital yet. But if you ever drive up to our home and the house is shaking, it's probably b/c they've got country music on, and are poundin' their feet away in our dining room. (We've pushed the table back to the wall, and now it's a mini dance hall. Or "cultural" hall. Heh-heh.) And since that's the window on the porch with no curtain, you may even get a peek at a "show" without our knowing. Especially if you arrive after dark, when it's time to do our ADJs. (After Dinner Jobs.) That's usually when the music turns on.

Multi-Tasking

Alana is practicing a Bach "Invention" on the piano. Looks like she's "invented" a new way to stretch too. She took the pictures and showed me later, saying, "Here's how I can practice piano and dance at the same time."

Reminds me of years ago when she figured out how to play a song on the piano, sitting backwards at the piano, leaning back, upside down with her head near the ground,with her hands crossed above her. It looked tricky, but the same hands were still playing the same parts they had learned, so as long as it was memorized, it wasn't as hard as it looked. (So she said.) Of course, it was a much easier song too. A train one I think. She could add that "back stretching" to her piano "workout" now.

Discovering...

...A new kind of dance fun for Hanna.

Who once started out as a little clogger is now discovering another type of dance. Hanna started clogging when she was 4 with Alana and Aunt Georgia. She did clogging in Logan for 2 years, then in Amarillo the next 3 years. We tried getting Hanna in it again here. Joining, then quitting. Twice. It's just far more inconvenient to have to drive to Sunnyside or Tri Cities for class.

Unexpectedly, a new dance teacher in town started jazz classes this year. Before now, ballet was the only dance offered in Prosser. Alana wanted to try it, but Hanna wasn't interested. (I wouldn't be surprised if they both get back into clogging again in college though.) So along came Jazz class...We never thought our kids would get into that. We're usually biased against jazz dancing, since so much of it is inappropriate these days, but this teacher is keeping it fun and clean. Yahoo! And Hanna definitely likes the more upbeat rhythms of clogging and jazz. She loves getting to dance with her friends now, rather than be a lone ranger in class. Big bonus!

After only a few months, this is their first hurrah. Half time at a basketball game.





(I wanted to get the "Prosser" in there.)



Almost all of these girls are also from church. The little girl behind Hanna in the first picture -they were partners- has the same name we MIGHT name our new baby in May. Same first AND middle name! Though we might switch the order. In fact, we almost named Hanna "Eliza". (Funny how Hanna is a common name, yet she's been around more Eliza's than Hannah's.) I'm also very happy for the tallest girl, center back. She's one of Alana's favorite friends here, lives far away on a big farm, and has wanted to get in dancing for years. Now finally here's a group that's convenient for their family too!

Hanna's used to flat clompy feet in clogging, so pointing toes and dancing smooth is a new challenge for her. Only one other girl in her class has ever been in dance before. So these are ALL beginners. I know everyone in town has seen this already, but for grandparents' sakes, this is what they're having fun doing so far:



Thus we discover that even in a small town, we're continually surprised with what new and fun opportunities come our way.

Lucky Day

It's Friday the 13th. A lucky day for our us, because Troy and I were married on a Friday the 13th. (Much to the dismay of some people.) We planned it around his brother and my sister's high school state track meet, so that's the day the wedding fit on the calendar. He proposed to me on his birthday, so I've had the ring on my finger for 15 yrs as of yesterday.

Here's our engagement picture. We were a little younger then.



This is a funny one I found from back then, that's also a good example of the white-eye-red-eye thing on me. You might have to click on it to enlarge it and see it better. I've tried enlarging it, and I'm giving up for now.

Twinning up with the wrong Twin?

That's what my grandma used to always say.

The last entry on here is my sister Shara, with her moving truck. She is a twin, and I just realized that her name and mine could've made a good set of twin names. (I've got baby names on my brain lately.) Her twin brother is Zach. Zachariah Shane and Shara Kerianna. We called them Shara and Shane their first week of life. (Kerianna is my father and mother's names combined.)

Zach and Shara at Shara's wedding:



Last summer, Shara married Ben, and Ben's only sister is also named Shara! What are the odds of that??!!!

Here are Shara #1 and Shara #2.




Zach is a red-head, like Crystal and I.



And Shara is brunette, like Talia and Mom. Not just that, but they REALLY look alike: Shara, Talia, and Mom. I wish I had a better picture to show this, because they could pass as identical triplets, if they were all the same age. I looked around for a picture of my mom this morning when she was younger to prove it.



Somehow, with the hundreds of wedding pictures, we forgot to take just a picture of us 5 kids with our parents. But here's my parent's whole family last August.

Wonder of Wonder, Miracle of Miracles

I never thought this would happen, but I now have a relative living in the same state as me! My youngest sister and her husband just graduated from college and both got jobs near Seattle. This picture is when they stayed the night with us, on their way to Silverdale. They're only about 4 hours away now. Unlike the previous distances we've always lived from any family: 11 hrs, 15 hrs, and 24 hrs (which realistically was 28 hrs in the winter, when we lived in Texas.)

We did get to live near family in college though. That was a treat, especially for our kids to get to know their grandparents, aunts and uncles better. Troy has a career that only has about one job per state, so we don't have a lot of choices where to live. We bypassed the Georgia and Louisianna jobs, because Washington state was much closer to all our family in the west.

All the Better to See You With, PART 2

These are the real spectacles Seth just acquired. He's an avid reader, and started getting headaches around Christmas. The eye doctor checked, and said his vision is still fine, but these "Reading Glasses" will help relax his eyes, and hopefully prevent him (or at least postpone it) from getting near sighted.





The rest of this is probably boring for all of you, but for journaling purposes, I'll continue.

Alana also got glasses, this same time last year, mostly due to reading, but she really is a bit near-sighted in one eye, and far-sighted in the other eye. It's SO nice that even in rural Prosser, there is a good eye doctor and dentist we can see. We're usually in and out in 20 minutes or less! Unlike if we had to make it a half-day ordeal to see one in Tri-Cities. Hanna used to be far sighted in kindergarten. She had glasses, and it was corrected by 3rd grade. Far sightedness can be corrected if caught before the eyes are "set in stone" around age 8 we were told.

Despite me being totally blind in my left eye, Troy and I are both the children in our families with perfect eye sight. Everyone else has glasses, all 12 of them. My vision did noticeably change during 10th gr. swim season (I could tell things were more blurry), but apparently, I still have 20/20 vision. So I guess that means Troy has 20/10, and I once did too.

I know some of you are wondering, so--- My type of blindness is called "Morning Glory Syndrome", where the optic nerve is hollow where it attaches to the eye. It's barely attached. I can BARELY sense light in that eye, and that's all. I think that also explains why I don't get the "red-eye" from camera flashes in pictures, in that eye. It always reflects white. But the good eye still reflects red, and then I look like an alien! One white eye, one red. (So does that mean the retina isn't normal either? I don't know.) Oh well! It IS fun whenever I go to the eye doc. I get to be the guinea pig for any resident doctors/students in the building at the time, and it's usually the 1st time they've ever seen this rare condition.

HA-HA HEE-HEE

Have you ever played this game? You lay like this on someone's belly, and each one take turns saying "Ha-ha-hee-hee" while trying to bounce their belly as much as possible. Like a bowl full of jelly. And no one can laugh.

Yeah, right. Everyone ends up laughing!

3 for 3

Red heads, that is.

My red-head sister just had her 3rd baby, (and 1st little girl,) and all 3 kiddos have red hair. Though it's hard to see here, it's unmistakeably red.Looks like they're gonna be another one of those families that are all carrot tops. (Except the lone dad). Interesting how Troy's hair is the same color as these cute kids' father, and I'm a red-head too, yet we didn't get any red head kids. Not yet anyway.

I love little Jake's expression here! Looks like he's already getting the idea of being a middle child!

All the Better to See You With, my Dear

Seth got glasses. First these...compliments of awesome Gramma Mary at Christmas. Pictures just don't do them justice. They really are great spectacles, especially when trying to act like a nerd. Just trying to carry on one family tradition! (From their Dad's side that is. My side-we tried to be nerds with class. Is that possible?) I want to get a group picture of all 5 kids before all 5 pair are lost.

It's too easy, being GREEN

From the looks of this blog, and the paint colors on our house, both outside and inside, it appears we LOOOVVEE the color green. Well, it IS a nice color. The color of nature. Warm and peaceful. Things growing with life. It's just a coincidence that there's so much green around our place. It was the previous owner of our house that decorated it this way. (Although, I do have to admit, that the last house we owned, we chose to paint the outside with a green trim as well, but nothing on the inside.) Not only is the paint in several rooms of our home green, but the kitchen and bathroom countertops, the kitchen floor, and the carpet is too. Could that also be why there's a lot of green in Housel Middle school? (The wonderful woman who used to live here was also school board president when the middle school was remodeled.) I don't know how true this is, but I have heard that to decorate a home in green is the most peaceful and calming color to use. I would have guessed another color, like light blue, yellow, or tan. But we've enjoyed living here. At least, we're not singing, "It's not easy, being green..." yet.

When I was a little girl, we had friends that lived close by with the last name of Green. They also had a green house, and when they painted it a peach color, I really thought their name was changing too.