TUESDAY!

Oregon or at least Hillsboro/Beaverton have some really fantastic parks and I really wanted to take my kids there to play, but with it raining all week its sorta hard. We finally found a break in the rain and loaded up and headed out to Rood Bridge Park - it has a great playground, wide open fields and hiking trails through a little forest with a stream running through it, etc.On our drive to the park it starts to sprinkle a little, no biggie, we can handle sprinkles. Then it starts to rain a little harder, still...no biggie. Then we get to the park, turn off the car and get out and it starts to pour on us. We ran to the ramada to try and figure out what to do. All the kids were gathered around and then Tyler finally thought, screw this crap, I am playin'! So he headed out and then one by one the rest followed. A few minutes later, Tyler came back and told me, "it's to coldy!" The kids found a little shelter to hide out in to protect themselves from the rain and then after I realized it wasn't going to get any better, I said, "who wants to go to Dairy Queen and get some ice cream" and then before I knew it the kids were all in the car and we were outta there!We enjoyed some cones at DQ and then headed home. Not a very exciting adventure for the day, but its the best we can do when its raining so hard!

MONDAY!

Jared headed off to work today and I was left to figure out what to do with the kiddos. Driving far with all the kids by myself doesn't thrill me, but I would do it if I needed to, a lot of the touristy things we have done since we have lived here twice before and really the kids are just having fun hanging out in daddy's 3 story apartment and don't care if we go anywhere.
I decided that since I am a Twilight fan it might be fun to load the kids up and go check out Forks, WA. I map quested it and once I realized it was 5 hrs and 16 minutes away I thought, ya, I am not that big of a fan. Perhaps I should follow Jacob and try La Push, WA instead and check out the hot werewolves, so I map quested that one as well and it was 5 hrs and 40 minutes away...so forget that crap, I will just stick with the books and the movies.
I had to come up with some great plan for the day though, so why not do a little selfish shopping. I loaded up the kids and we headed to Victoria Secrets, then I unselfishly took Emma to Justice to go shopping, then we went to Costco where I discovered they had fountain Pepsi there instead of the usual Coke we have in AZ, so I so kindly bought all my kids lunch and sodas and then I found some shoes and bought them for myself as well :)
The babies took a nap, the older 2 played in the playroom and the Jared came home and I went to 24 Hour Fitness to workout. I LOVE the gyms here!! They don't get any better than here. I did a turbo kick class and was in heaven.
I came home, Jared had fed the kids and I watched the Bachelor finale with Jared. It was a pretty good day. Check out the view from a window in our apartment...I love Oregon, so cloudy and pretty!

SUNDAY!

The first 24 hours in Oregon were very nice. Just as I remembered it being. Cloudy, no sun and drizzly. I can do without the rain, but I LOVE no sun! Makes me happy :) I have said before, I am not a napper, but I have slept so much since getting here it's ridiculous. I think my lack of sleep while Jared has been gone has finally caught up to me. Ha ha!

The only thing exciting we did on Sunday was take the kids to the Portland Temple. It was freeeeezing! But, still worth it. Emma used her new camera that she got for her birthday and snapped away and the boys really loved seeing the Angel Moroni on top of the Temple.

As we walked around, Jared and I were realizing how crazy it was to be at the Temple now with 4 kids! The first time we went there was back in 2004 and we just had Emma, now look at our family, how times have changed.

Emma in 2004 at the Temple...2011...

SATURDAY!

Saturday was our big day to head to Oregon to be with Jared for a little bit. I thought I had it all planned out nicely, I saved my packing, laundry and cleaning for Friday so I could come home to a clean house. Well, Friday the day got crazy, I really blame the boys for that one. I didn't have enough hours in the day like I needed so I called the world's greatest visiting teacher/friend and turned in one of my free babysitting coupons she gave me (cause she knew I would not just call her up and ask her but I have no problem turning in a coupon - ha ha) and she came over and watched my boys out front for an hour while I got most of my cleaning done that I had left and it let them run around and get out there wiggles. I finally got all my laundry done and then my west side cousins came over for the night so we could hang out and eat a bunch of junk. I sure do enjoy those girls! Then after they left I had to pack...um, ya, I guess I didn't think it would take me as long as it did, I finally went to bed at 2:30am and got up at 6am - yippee!

Back to Saturday, my parents showed up in the morning and helped me get the boys dressed and took us to the airport. They even helped me bring in my 5 suitcases, 4 kids, 1 double jogger stroller and 3 backpacks! The boys were SUPER excited to fly on the airplane to go to "daddy's Oregon". We picked a great flight to be on because everyone else on the flight they made my kiddos look like angels. The first few rows of the plane were filled with kids flying by themselves and they kept bugging the flight attendants for snacks and drinks and then the baby behind us cried the whole time, and then there was a 2 year old running up and down the plane so my boys sitting in there seats without crying or asking for things looked like angels :)

It was amazing what a couple of red vines could do to entertain a 4 year old and 2 year old twins. You can make swords out of them, Spider man shooting things, a straw, guns and just a good tasty treat!That night we went out to Red Robin to get dinner. We usually just pick up food for the whole family and eat at home or we go to something with a play area so eating at a sit down restaurant with all 6 of us is rarity. We had a really nice time and the kids did pretty good. Eli cracked us up, he wanted a corn dog and broccoli - that's right, broccoli - not french fries and he ate it all! Tyler wanted carrots and he ate all those and Tyson was in a rare mood and scarfed down whatever he could get his little hands on. They ate so well that in the end we ended up getting a big 'ol dessert to share. 1 big piece of mud pie, 6 spoons and 6 fattys gathered around made for one messy yet extremely fun time :)

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY EMMA!

Emma turned 9 years old yesterday! She was super excited about it, just like you would expect any 9 yr old to be. Every year she has had a party, but this year with Jared being gone a lot and all the craziness of life, we decided no party. She did have her little BFF, Maddy P., stay the night on Friday and we got dinner for them and they hung out at home with nice Grandma Rodgers, (while Jared and I went out) then when we got back we took the girls to get a movie and to get milkshakes - it was 11pm so Emma was thinking it was pretty cool, ha ha.

The next morning I ran and got her Krispy Kreme donuts and then she had her tumbling practice with coach Emily, then Grandma Jensen came over and then Emma and I had the rest of the day to ourselves. I am sorta hard on Emma so I wanted to spend the day with her and remind her how much I love her, how proud I am of her and how much I enjoy her. I made appointments to get some pedicures and the girl was soooooooo excited when she found out. She had never been before and was in heaven. Her whole body would shake from the chair massage and she thought that was so awesome. She thought her toes were hot stuff and couldn't wait to show everyone them. The best comment when we left was when she said, "mom, I see why they call that place Star Nails, because you feel like you're a star when your there!"After our pedis it was time for lunch! We went over to Joe's Farmhouse Grill and ate lunch outside and just sat there and chatted. Then we headed to the mall to go shopping at Justice with her new gift card, but that was kinda a bust because their computers were down so you could only pay with cash, then we looked on the bright side and now we are looking forward to another excuse to have a girls day and go shopping together again :) Next, we figured we had some time to kill before we needed to be home so we went out for some dessert! oink oink. We sat there and ate our ice cream sandwiches and looked through a prom magazine and picked out our favorite dresses on each page (it reminded me of the "future books" we would make in like 5th and 6th grade where we cut out pictures of what we wanted our future husband, wedding dress etc to be and we would glue them in a book - ha ha).Next we headed home and Grandpa Jensen and Jackie came over and hung out until it was time for us to go out to Barros for dinner and then to the movies to see Rango all together as a family. Emma had a great day and loved all her gifts she got from everyone, the phone calls, text messages (on our phone, no she does not have a phone) and just being the center of attention. The boys loved her birthday as well since they got to go get pizza and go to the "big movies".

My favorite part of the day though was just being with Emma and her sweetness. She is truly a light in my life and I love her and how happy the little things make her. Happy Birthday Em!

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

Living to be 100 years old is pretty amazing!! She has been through a lot in her time and she is still pretty much with it. She has lived through 2 World Wars, the Great Depression, amazing inventions like dish washers, vacuums, indoor plumbing, the evolution of cars, computers, TVs, the basic things in life we take for granted.
We had to have a birthday party to celebrate this momentous occasion! My mom's side of the family is extremely small (completely opposite of my dad's side), my mom and her twin sister (who has passed) are the only children and my mom had 4 kids and my aunt had 2 kids. So, we had the whole family come down minus 1 cousin and his little family, even Ashley and Jared flew in for the occasion. First thing we had to do was take a family picture.It was really fun to see my cousin, Barbara (yes, named after my mom - who by the way, looks like my mom) who I haven't seen in 5 or 6 years when she came down to see my Grandpa one last time before he passed away.
It was also great to see my Uncle Dick who I haven't seen since 1987 or 1988. He came down and stayed with his brother over the weekend and drove an old 1949 (I believe) Ford pick-up he restored - with might I add a Chevy engine (cause he is awesome like me and loves Chevys!). I don't know him all that well, but I did manage to ask him for one of his old cars he has restored back home when he passes - lovely niece I am huh!We gave Grandma 100 pink roses (her favorite) and 100 kisses (the chocolate kind which some might think are better than the real kind! ha ha) for her birthday in a jar that said, "100 kisses for your 100th birthday!"After dinner we played a game of Jeopardy all about Grandma. It was really fun to get to know random facts about her.
- Her and my grandpa worked at competing oil companies (Standard Oil) and had to secretly date, elope, and then they lived separately for the first year of their marriage.
- Her family was one of the first in the neighborhood to get indoor plumbing when she was a teenager.
- She had a tumor the size of a football on her kidney and her incompetent doctor treated her for arthritis. Luckily, before it was too late she switched doctors and was then properly diagnosed. (I don't remember how old she was but I know it was well over 50 years ago).
- She had her first kiss as a teenager and it was to a missionary who was living with her family at the time. Scandalous :)
- She has never broken a bone.
- She has traveled to Hawaii, Europe and Tahiti.
- Her first drivers license was at age 15 (1926) and her first car was a Studebaker.
- She grew up on her family's ranch and canned peaches every summer.

Here is my cousin and uncle with Grandma5 out of the 6 grand kids (she has 7 great grand kids right now).A 4 generation picture of all us ladiesAnd finally my grandma. (she wearing a lei made by a Tongan lady in my parents ward for her birthday). It was a great party, great to see my relatives, but it was a hard goodbye. Grandma silently shed her tears keeping up with the tough girl image we Mason/Rodgers like to have. Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you, your sarcasm, your deck of cards we always played with, the grandfather clock I would stare at forever as I would try and fall asleep at your house, the smell of the fig tree outside, the feel of the cold padded toilet seat you had and all the other special memories we will treasure forever!

LET DOWN...

I have let my blog down and I have been slacking. I let my husband and myself down and I re-joined facebook. I didn't join facebook in the past because it took up to much of my time and today while I was accepting friend requests - I dropped the ball and forgot to pick up Emma at the bus stop. Wow. Not off to a good start.