The "Short" Version

Don we now our gay apparel

2010-12-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

So Jason and I got invited to an ugly Christmas sweater party. We looked long and hard for some extra ugly sweaters but all we found were these super attractive ones. I hope we don't offend the hosts when we show up to the party and we're the best looking ones there.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

"The Cruise"

2010-11-14T21:04:00.000-08:00

Please watch above video to find out why I now have a newfound gratitude for warm showers, warm good food, working toilets, windows, good smells and flashlights.

Jason and I had been planning to take our two oldest children on a fun warm vacation for some time now when my mother suggested we join her, her siblings and her cousins for a family reunion aboard a 7 night Mexican Riviera Carnival Cruise. We boarded the ship on the late afternoon of Sunday, November 7th and at 6 am the following morning we heard a loud grinding sound that vibrated the whole ship and it immediately started smelling like smoke and the power went out. We found out later that there had been a fire in the engine room but we were informed that they were working on it and would get the power back on asap and we would continue towards our destination. We did not find out until Tuesday that they would be unable to start the ship up again and that two tugboats would be arriving the next day to pull us back to San Diego. Because we had drifted even farther in the last 24 hours and because the tugboats could only pull us at a speed of 7 mph we would not get into San Diego until Thursday afternoon. In the meantime we had no warm showers, no light in our cabins or throughout the ship, no working toilets and no avenue to cook food. The stench became unbearable…the combo of smoke, rotten food, overflowing toilets…you can imagine. The food was less than desirable…green bean sandwiches, beet sandwiches, cold meatballs, hot dog salad… and the lack of light was not only difficult to find our way around but very depressing as well. We made the best of it by reading and playing cards when the sun was out and engaging in conversation when the sun went down. On the upside it was exciting to see an aircraft carrier up close as well as a navy seahawk as it dropped necessary supplies onto our ship.
As planned, we arrived in San Diego on Thursday morning where we boarded a shuttle bus that took us to a beautiful nearby hotel. We had a warm shower, had a hot delicious breakfast and we played in their pool. We stayed in San Diego a couple more days and had the opportunity to visit Old Town San Diego where we visited the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center, the Maritime Museum, the USS Midway and Seaport Village. Of course we were compensated for the whole trip, including our time in San Diego, and we were given a free cruise to book in the future. We are thankful to be safe and sound. Even though we had three and a half miserable days at sea, we joke now that we have learned how to be grateful for small things like windows. Ironically, we lost weight and earned money, from which I understand, is quite an accomplishment for one who has been on a cruise.

Humble Pie

2010-11-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

Just when I was about to brag about completing my first triathlon, my dad sends me this picture...TOTAL BUZZ KILL.

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Jason got a little creative with our normal breakfast fare this morning. A little LA Confidential maybe?

Beware of dead cheerleaders!!!

Hi, I'm Pizza.

"Since I've already got glasses, mom, I guess I'll be Harry Potter."

"I wub Tinkerbell", said Clara.

Hope everyone had a spooktacular holiday!!!

Pinkalicious!

2010-10-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Move over Molly Ringwald...Clara Short has taken over the title "Pretty in Pink" from here on out!

Clara celebrated her 3rd birthday with 5 other little girls in the most "Pinkalicious" way. There were pink books to be read, pink cupcakes to be decorated and lots of pink balloons to be frolicked in (I guess that is what you call it when little girls run through a pool of balloons and think it's the best game ever).

Thanks Sarah for the pink scarf...it came in handy today considering the dress code for this party!

Cousin Madeline came all the way from Idaho for Clara's birthday. Just kidding. We just managed to celebrate her birthday on the same weekend that my brother Adam and his family were on there way to moving to northern California. They stopped in Oregon on their way and we got a couple of days to play. Can you beleive Clara and Madeline only have a month and half difference in age?

Family road trip

2010-10-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

First stop: A trip down memory lane in Logan, Utah...

Jason and I in front of our very first apartment as newlyweds.

The beautiful Logan Temple
Showing the kids Old Main.

Next stop: Bear Lake for Heder Family Reunion

Highlights included playing in the hot tub and playing with Uncle Matt

Hiking through the Minnetonka Caves

and there were many hours playing on the beach...

And the ever so popular talent show (usually Grandma and Grandpa look proudly on as they relish in the talents of their offspring, but not this year...they stole the show with their musical number of "peanut butter and jelly" complete with costumes and choreography).

The road trip came to a conclusion when, after the reunion, we headed to Jackson Hole where we participated in a Bar J Ranch BBQ dinner and show, an outstanding performance of "Annie Get Your Gun" and a very rainy day in Yellowstone Park...

This is so much better than camping

2010-08-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend came time for our yearly camping trip with our dear friends, the Smiths. With the exception of graduate school and having babies, this has been a yearly tradition with us for 14 years now. Why would we brake such an (in the words of Jen) awesome tradition? Here's a few reasons why...
1. unexpected rain showers
2. dirt floors
3. strange camping neighbors that tried to pawn off their kids on us
4. uncomfortable beds
5. lack of showers
6. dirt, dirt and more dirt

We are getting wiser in our older years and decided to spring for a cabin in Mossyrock, Washington this year...So worth it! We still got the occasional bug bite and sunburn, but we could come inside and take a nice shower, eat from a clean fully loaded kitchen and retire for the night on a comfy pillow top mattress and clean sheets. And we got all this without giving up a little dirt (it stayed outside), smores, junk food and most importantly...good friends and good conversation!
Enjoying yummy ice cream after playing all day in the lake.

Ethan

Jaykob

Max

Mary

Clara

Megan, Mary and Rachael

One day we made the long drive to see the historical Mt. St. Helens. Very...(here it is again, Jen)...Awesome!

Max was AWOL for the group picture, so here he is.

Jaykob turned 9 while we were there. Mary and Rachael made him some cupcakes and he got a rocket which we had fun launching at the local high school football field.

Clara thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes! YUM!

Take a Stand!

2010-08-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Apparently, this is the summer to take a stand! After our family ran the Cancer Awareness 5K on 4th of July we participated the next weekend in the American Cancer Association's Relay for Life where our team helped raise over $70, 000 for cancer awareness and research. My brother also helped the cause by participating in this ad.

Enjoy and Take a Stand!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Our yearly 4th of July tradition...Hillsoboro 5K Run and Parade...

2010-07-13T15:00:00.001-07:00

Accomplished

2010-07-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

"And amongst all of Rachel's other talents, she can sew too!"

That, my friends, is a conversation that I hope to overhear some day, but alas, I doubt it will ever come to pass.

Nothing brings me more angst and frustration than sewing. My pioneer heritage has somehow instilled the guilt within that as a mormon woman I must know how to sew and so I keep trying, but as the teddy bear that I made in my junior high home ec. class proves, I keep failing. ( I gave it to my brother for Christmas and a week later, all of the stitches had fallen out.)

So one can imagine the pride I am feeling right now to have tried again and perhaps not proven to be successful ( don't look too closely), but to not have failed too miserably either.

And Wa - La!...

Clara here is modeling the 4th of July outfit that I made her. Very simple pattern, but hey baby steps, right? The amazing thing about this project is that I did it all on my own, unlike my other projects in which I had someone holding my hand (literally) all the way. Yes, a pat on the back would be nice. ( I really need it if I'm ever going to attempt this again and since I bought enough fabric to make three more similar outfits, I'm really going to need the encouragment).

Happy 6th Birthday Max!

2010-06-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

After a busy week of basketball camp, activity day girl camp and a fun crazy weekend of camping, I neglected to put much thought or planning into Max's birthday. He kept saying how excited he was for his surprise party ( he clearly misunderstood what I meant when he asked me what he could do for his birthday and I said, "it's a surprise"...not realizing that was code for "I have no idea"). Needless to say, I needed to come up with something fast. Soooo...this is how it went down...first off we went to ToysRUs to spend his birthday money and he picked out...you guessed it...a metal detector. Apparently this is the hottest item for 6 year old boys these days...who knew. He is counting on the moment it will lead him to his fortune. He also decided to get a newer fancier marble race to replace the older shabbier one he currently owns.

After he took all of fifteen minutes to make that purchasing decision, it was lunch time at his favorite restaurant...you guessed it again, ...Sushi Town...such a conventional kid, right? So predictable right? I mean sushi and metal detectors...whatever happened to legos and McDonalds?And then it came part for what Max later told me was his least favorite part of the day...his haircut. I know, kind of boring, but he desperately needed one and when they found out it was his birthday, he not only got his cut for free......he got the VIP treatment. Not too shabby, eh? We stopped for a little refreshment of Jamba Juice after that and then off to...

...the Park! I had previously called a handful of Max's closest friends and had them meet us at the park for fountain, sandbox, playground fun and cupcakes!

I haven't had a chance to ask him how he liked his "surprise party" since he slept all the way home and is still sleeping now. For a six year old, I'm going to take that as code for, "mom, I had the greatest time ever!"

Max, I love that mischievous, yet cheerful disposition, that scrawny, but oh so squeezable body, your enthusuasm, your tenacity, your strong will and your ever so charming personality. Max, I love you with all my heart. Happy Birthday kiddo!

Memorial Day weekend

2010-06-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Jason and I took the kids to Lincoln City for Memorial Day weekend and had a great mini family vacation complete with a trip to the aquarium, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Mo's, PigNPancake, the park, Devil's Punchbowl, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the outlet stores and sea lion viewing and ice cream cones at Tillamook. The weather made it difficult to actually get to the sand and play, but we really had an enjoyable time...here's a few pictures...

Procrastination

2010-06-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

In true Rachel form, I have managed to postpone all of my "spring blogging" until today...June 21st...the official first day of summer. If it doesn't get done today, it never will...so here it goes...(deep breath in)...
spring break, made my first skirt, celebrated a great 60th birthday party for my mom, planned and executed two big RS activities, fabulous Memorial Day weekend at coast, watched Mary play spring basketball, wrestled with the locals over the politics of local baseball, watched Max graduate from Kindergarten, watched Mary in her piano recital, watched Jaykob improve his guitar skills and perfect his Justin Bieber impersonation, celebrated a relaxing Mother's Day, did NOT do an ounce of spring cleaning, ran a 10K in my personal best time, unwillingly decided to raise chickens, planned my summer, planted a garden, had a relaxing anniversary trip to Bend with hubby and listened to Clara sing the ABC song at least a million times...(deep breath out).

And today starts our summer ...(deep breath in)...

PURPLE!

2010-03-08T11:05:00.000-08:00

So when I was in fifth grade, my friends and I formed a club titled "The Awesome Purple Preps". In order to be in this club, every Friday one must wear their purple Izod sweater, their shrink to fit 501 Levi jeans and their penny loafers (with pennies inserted). What else we did as club members, I'm not sure (although I do think a choreographed Elton John dance was part of the initiation as well as an undying devotion to unicorns and rainbows), I just remember the outfits. Years later, I looked back at pictures and was horrified of the permed hair and the clothes and vowed I would never wear purple again. Did I really think I was awesome? What a silly fifth grader I was. Didn't I know that purple should only be worn by old ladies who think that tea time still exists and that bonnets should still be worn at Easter?

Well that will teach me to never make vows of the unicorn kind or in this case, the never wearing purple again kind. My mom bought me these great shoes for my birthday.

Of course I loved them, but I had to think, "weird...I don't usually go for purple...I wonder why I like these shoes"...apparently, I don't know myself so well. I looked through my closet and found not one, not two, but seven purple tops...I also noticed one purple dress...

So here's the deal...either
A. I'm old
B. the eighties are making a comeback
C. I'm trying to relive my youth or
D. maybe purple wasn't so bad to begin with

I realize there is some reality to all of those options which means I can end this post by saying...Purple is Awesome!!! (I am not inserting the "prep" part into that because I vow that I will never try to pull off that look that John Hughes...RIP...made so famous in the eighties again. No turned up shirt collars for me. No siree! Oops...famous last words, huh?)

My Creative Itch

2010-01-25T01:17:00.000-08:00

It's winter which means I'm inside more which gives me that desire to make something...anything that might require scissors or a glue gun. It is time for the inner Martha Stewart that hibernates within me during the summer to be released.

Yeah right...I wish...I'm such a Martha Stewart wannabe (without the prison sentence part)...and if her "LIVING" magazine wasn't enough to make me feel like a completely inadequate "crafter", there are now a whole network of crafting bloggers out there that on a daily basis post their latest amazing creations. I could stop browsing through them and remain in my little world where I actually believe that I am the craftiest person on my block, but no...apparently I enjoy humiliation and pain.

But you know what, I just looked at the clock and realized that it is now officially my birthday and so for my birthday, I'm just going to play a little game of pretend. For one day, I want to pretend that my blog is one of those over the top really cute craft blogs and I'm going to post lots of really close up pictures of my "creations" (all of which have been copied from a magazine or blog, but never mind that) and my wish is for all my faithful followers to post a comment that says something like this,"Rachel, I wish I could be like you. No seriously, could you send me the tutorial for that craft because I want to make it so I can be just like you. Oh and P.S. you are so hot...you don't look a day past 18!" (Remember it's my birthday).

Thanksgiving place cardsRosettes that Sister in law, Diana, introduced to meChildren's thanksgiving tableNo, I did not make the ribbon, but it seems like "craft bloggers" all have close up pictures of their supplies which serves to remind you of how crafty we are.

Ornaments made for nieghbors/friends

more place cards

gift tags

Now that I've done that, all that time spent perusing hundreds of craft blogs has not been in vain, right? Never fear...there's more where that came from...Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I've got all kinds of ideas up my sleeve that I know you are just dying to see.

Yesterday, Jason reminded me in an oh so gentle way, that I have a knack for critical sarcasm. Could this be what he's talking about?

Christmas 2009 in Review

2010-01-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

Our White Christmas came a few days late this year. Fine with me...kids got their day of fun in the snow and they didn't have to miss a second of school to do so...Yippee!!!

Mary made Jaykob this Blazer blanket.

Aunt Jeannie supplied my children with plenty of Webkinz this season...here is one of the many.

Clara is now well stocked with baby dolls and baby doll supplies.

New bike and sewing machine for Mary!

Sporting some new Christmas pajamas.

An airiel view of my living room on Christmas Eve. Believe me when I say that I had planned to have a spiritual tribute to our Savior and his birth on this night, but what you see here quickly turned into a large dog pile followed by a game of "who can throw the baby the highest". Why do I try so hard when I am fully aware of my family and their short limit of reverence?

On the 23rd, we headed up to the mountains for a day of tubing. We love this picture of Madeline in her girly snow outfit which includes an oh so cool batman hat.

Dan and Clementine

Tallulah

Max's snow suit is ready to be handed down.

Clara

Grandpa had a bit of fun setting up a train and snow village around the christmas tree this year. The kids loved it.

I didn't get the best picture, but there is mountain/tunnel that Grandpa, with the help of Mary, spent a whole weekend constructing. Matthew alos helped with the final touches.

Our tree this year. A little skinnier, but just as tall as last year, which is a good thing, since we weren't able to play the piano last year.

Taking the MAX train to downtown Portland to meet Grandma and Grandpa Short.

Trying to get a picture of the Short cousins on Santa's lap. As you can see, Cedruic and Julia were not interested.

Jaykob and Max were invited to join the mall carolers. I have to say that their version of "Rudolph" was not too shabby.

Party with a purpose

2010-01-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't like an excuse to party, right? And if you can do it while helping out friends in need, even better! That was Mary's plan at least.

Mary planned a "heartwarming" party early December to help out her furry friends. She invited 10 of her not so furry friends over one morning for a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls, fruit, bacon and hot chocolate. They were all asked to bring 2 yards of fleece and a bag of dog or cat food. After breakfast the girls proceeded to make over 85 mini blankets for her homeless friends down at the animal shelter. We made a trip over to the shelter after we were done with the blankets to present them and the collected food. While there, they presented Mary with a certificate and gave the girls a tour of the facilities where they got to feed and play with some of the animals. It was a perfect way to start the season of giving! Mary is already planning next year's party...my buttons are bursting!!!

Where's the party?

2009-12-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we had a fabulous time. We made up our own turkey trot since the weather and the traveling forced us to forego our normal tradition at the zoo. Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Heder's for a delicious dinner. Uncle Robert and Aunt Paula and family joined us and it was so nice catching up with them. We conversed, played games and watched movies...LOVE days like that...and then Jason and I mulled over the idea of hitting the 5 am sales the next morning.
We do it every year and every year we say we will not ever do it again, but alas, there is always that stupid bargain that we just know we'll never find again, right? Actually, I think what draws me back every single time is the fact that I can leave my sleeping children in the watch of their grandparents, have my husband with me, and get the majority of my Christmas shopping done before 8 o'clock in the morning...it's too good to pass up. Do I have to endure a lot of stinky breathed Walmart shoppers in order to get it done? Yes, but it just might be worth it.
After hitting the sales on Friday and letting the kids help Grandpa build a train set, we headed to the Coast to visit Grandma and Grandpa Short. There we did more shopping, golfing, leftover eating, and even snuck in a visit to the Aquarium.
We came home Saturday night, all much more tired than when we left. I can most definetely say that for Clara...what is it with two year olds? They have no idea what is going on, but when there are a lot of people and food and good times taking place, they know, and they become so un-interested in naps or bedtime much to the chagrine of every person around them. Why do they do this? All of my kids did this and some of them still do...their lids are heavy , they are as cranky as heck, but heaven forbid they should sleep...they might miss something big, right? Don't they know that sleep is absolutely better than absolutley anything else, I mean really. And then it dawned on me...my kids are avoiding sleep only because it is preventing them from feeling included...they don't want to be left out...they too, want to be involved in the party...and where do they get this from? Duh...me. I wake up at 5 am on Black Friday to go to the mob infested Walmart. How sick is that! Another example...New Moon. I went with a group of girlfriends on opening day to see "New Moon". "Why?" all you smart people are asking. Was it because I love vampires? No. Was it because I love werewolves? No. Is it because Jacob is hot? That's a maybe. Is it because Stephanie Meyer is a literary genius and I want to support her on every single level? Hell no. (Sorry dad...emphasis needed to be added.) Is it because every other woman in America was going and didn't want to be left out? YES! Apparently I need a shrink.
Paula and Katie

Max, the pilgrim

the kids table

turkey trot...you can't tell, but we are soaking...thank you Oregon rain!

dinner before "New Moon"

And here are the suckers.

BTW, for the record, I did not go to the midnight show...I do draw the line somewhere.

Room Makeover

2009-11-06T10:08:00.001-08:00

It was time for Clara to graduate from the crib and Mary needed an updated look to her room, so for her birthday she got a room makeover. These are the before pictures...

And here are the after pictures...

I still think we need some crown moulding and the wall above the bed and next to the window needs something, but I'm not sure what. Any suggestions?

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Grandparents, cousins and aunts joined us Saturday evening for chili, apple cider, cupcakes and then off we went for a perfect night of trick or treating.

Spongebob

kitty princess

Luke skywalker

Annie Oakley

Clara and cousin Cedruic headed out the door for their first attempt at trick or treating.

And it deems successful...Clara was in heaven!

Mary thought she was big enough to trick or treat with her friends instead of being burdened by an adult chaperone.

Our neighborhood LOVES Halloween. This is one of the very decked out houses.

This house transformed themselves into an old ghost town.

And the kids got a hefty loot of candy, so night was deemed successful! Fun times!

Reason #7: Halloween!

2009-10-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

Friday night was our 2nd Annual Halloween Party and I have to say, we pulled off a pretty good shindig. We didn't have access to the great barn that we used last year, but almost better...we had access to a creepy cabin nestled in the middle of the forest which meant that once your vehicle was parked, you had to take a little walk to get to the cabin. One may have been accompanied on their walk by ghoulish creatures like this... Or come upon a sight such as this...

or this...

Or the creatures of the night may have howled and hissed ...

Once you arrived to the cabin (that's if you made it there alive)...you were greeted by a festive table full of delicious food, like real chicken fingers...

or kitty litter...

And then there were the costumes...

Janessa and Mitchell Couch ie. balloon boy and missing child

Josh and Melissa Merritt...hell's angels

Ben and Stacey Wolfe...trustworthy, loyal, helpful...yeah, yeah!

I'm the blood sucking attorney (notice the fangs?) accompanied by my client

Curtis and Amy Updike...The controversial nun and priest (yes, she's pregnant)

Corinna and Vaughn Hughes...damsel in distress and dragon

Ryan and Heidi Janeway...just scary??

Angela and Byron Grossnickle...KISS, Milli Vinilli, take your pick

Gabe and Dave Jensen...Laura Ingells and the Tooth Fairy

Matt and Melissa Rohbock...Victorian zombies...no, that's not my camera...those are contacts

Jason and Tammy Stadelman...off to Wonderland

Emily and Patrick Laing...goin' goth!

Scott and Lynne Nielsen...a wigger, a pimp, disco tech owner, I'm not sure and a soldier

There were good laughs, games, costume contest and a big bonfire along with fifty of our good friends. Can't wait til next year! It only keeps getting better!

Reason #6: Birthdays

2009-10-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Around here October is a busy birthday month. We start it out on the 1st with Clara's then my father in law's on the 19th, the 26th is my twin brothers, Dan and Jon, and then TODAY is Mary's. Happy Birthday everyone!

Mary has been having more of a "birthmonth" instead of a "birthday". We needed to get her out of the house for a couple of days to get her present ready, so back at the beginning of the month she headed to Grandma's house where she got treated to a fun shopping day (which included two new stylish outfits) and on her arrival home she was surprised with a Room Makeover! (Pictures will be posted later as we still have some final touches to finish up.)

The next week she was kidnapped, along with her best friend, Felicity (Felicity's birthday also happens to be in October), by Felicity's mom to a fun afternoon...

They started by getting manicures...

After the manicures, they went shopping for new matching Halloween shirts, headbands and earrings and then off to the Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Silly ten year olds...

Oh, and Mary lost a molar during dinner.
After dinner the girls came back to our place for brownies and a movie. Oh yeah...Saturday, prior to trick or treating, we will be having family gather to celebrate her birthday.

With all that said, when she requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning, I felt totally justified when I responded with, "How about toast?"

Kidding aside, I adore this girl. She is blooming with personality and has become so responsible. She is a top notch student and a huge help to me around the house. I'm a lucky mom! And bonus... now that she is officially ten it is legal for me to let her babysit her younger siblings while I run to the store. ( I was just giving her practice all those times before...shhh...).

Reason #5: Candy

2009-10-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

The kids and I for fun one day after school made candy people and then the kids played their favorite activity of ding-dong ditching and left them for friends in the neighborhood.

Leftover Snickers Bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with a food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

Reason #4: Getting Scared

2009-10-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

As if the size of my laundry pile isn't scary enough to make me run far far away, I still feel the need for a good frigtening this time of year. I'm always on the lookout for a good scary movie, but I have specific requirements...no slashers and nothing Satanic. No Exorcist or Freddy Krueger, thank you very much! Some that I have found that I will list for those interested are:

*The Others

*Watcher in the Woods

*Nightmare Before Christmas

*The Birds

*Something Wicked This Way Comes

*Witches

*The Village

*Sixth Sense

Please send me your reccomendations.

This year I also decided to revert back to my old college days and scope out a few local "spook alleys" in my ongoing quest for a good scare. My first attempt promised to be a real nail biter. A fun group of couples had dinner and then went to the fairgrounds to participate in "The Field of Fear". Unfortunately, the scariest thing about it was the $12 entrance fee we paid. In an effort to redeem myself I gathered several of my friends and on Monday evening, we snuck out of our house after the kids had gone to bed and headed to the Haunted Barn just a mile down the road. Goal accomplished! Laughter, screams and some serious heart palpitations occured. The "scarers" even agreed to pose for a picture with us...

Thanks ladies for humoring me! Happy Haunting everyone!

Reason #3: Pumpkins

2009-10-26T08:51:00.001-07:00

Whether I'm picking them, eating them or carving them or decorating with them...I love pumpkins! They are so festive.
I love pumpkin patches and Portland is adorned with them. Its always a challenge to find which one exhibits the best petting farm, which one has the best corn/hay maze, which one has the cheapest pumpkins, which one serves the best apple cider and which one has the most little people.
Every year we usually have two different pumpkin patches that we usually go to, but I'm always itching to try a new one and this year we did. We always go to Lakeview Farms (which we did again) and Bauman Farms. We continued our tradition of going to Lakeview Farms (it's local, inexpensive and the kids love the train and boat ride). This year Grandma Heder joined us. However, we also decided to try out Roloff Farms this year. Yes, all you TLC lovers out there, it is the same Roloff Farms owned by the Roloff Family of "Little People, Big World". We were pleasantly surprised by the good time we had there. We were always told that it is too crowded, but we must have hit it on a good day, because the crowds were low and the weather was beautiful. They had a fun collection of farm animals, reptiles and even a baby lion that the kids got to pet. They had a pumpkin fun house and a great hay maze that counteracted the overpriced pumpkins. We even saw the camera crew and Mr. Roloff himself.

The camera crew interviewing Mr. Roloff (he's in the red).

My sweet little pumpkinfeeding the animals...The very odd, yet interesting "Pumpkin Fun House"

I just really like this pumpkin.

Just sit in this chair and you can feel little too...A fun hay maze.

We stopped for dinner afterwards at the Helvetia Tavern where we ate some seriously delicious burgers.Happy kids after a fun day at the pumpkin patch...One tuckered out baby...

Like I said, eating pumpkins is another reason why I love them so much so I thought I'd throw in my family's favorite Pumpkin Dessert Recipe.

1 large can Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix (not to be confused with just regular canned pumpkin...I know people who have made that mistake...the result will be unpleasant)

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk (pour into a 2 cup measure and add enough water to make 2 cups)

2 beaten eggs

Mix above ingredients and pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle 1 pkg. yellow cake mix over the top. Dribble 1 cube of melted butter over the top. Bake 1 hr. 1o min. @ 325 degrees. Cool and serve with whipping cream.

And of course, there is the carving. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this, but the kids love that slimy stuff between their fingers.
The end results with the flash...

And the end results without the flash...

Reason #2: Soccer

2009-10-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mary and Jaykob have had an awesome soccer season. Jaykob's team finished yesterday undefeated. Mary's team has not had as good of luck, but in her defense, the rules are much more challenging now that she is on the "big girl" team. Winning or not, I love watching these kids out running, having a good time and learning the power of teamwork. Plus it gives me another chance to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and hang out with the other "soccer moms". Jaykob, scoring one of his many goals...(spoken by a truly proud mom).

Mary, the hustler

Reason #1: Leaves

2009-10-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Whether they are falling off trees in my yard or in the park or if I'm driving the back roads to Vernonia or St. Helens for my kids' soccer games where the fall colors are in abundance...I love the leaves. They take my breath away and make the gray skies and colder weather so bearable. Raking the leaves is even one of the chores that

I can get my kids to do with very little complaining, however, as you can see from the pictures posted, they also are not very productive at it.

Top Seven

2009-10-18T11:32:00.001-07:00

Starting tomorrow there are only 7 more days until this glorious month is over. So my plan is, for the next seven days, to list the top 7 reasons ( in no particular order) why I LOVE October. So until tomorrow...

TWO!

2009-10-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Clara turned two on October 1st. She got a really large cupcake (as seen below) and a baby doll with stroller. With age comes a tiny bit more hair. Just barely enough for two tiny piggie tails!

Happy happy birthday Clara dear! We love you!

Eight is great!

2009-10-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

On August 14, 2009 Jaykob Hunter Short turned eight years old! Big deal you may say, but for us Mormons it is a big deal! You see, when you turn eight in our church you have the choice to be baptized and well, Jaykob decided to make that choice and we were very proud of him! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all joined in the event and his birthday present was a weekend with his family at Great Wolf Lodge (An indoor waterpark resort/hotel). Almost cooler than both of those things is that when Jaykob turned eight, he also got to join Cub Scouts. A boy after his grandpa's heart, he is absolutely loving the scout program. Only three weeks into it and he had his first Court of Honor and had already earned his bobcat.

As I posted earlier, he also pulled together enough birthday money to buy Rockband. Wow...Rockband, Great Wolf, Cub Scouts and Baptism...there is no doubt about it...Eight is Great!!!

Jaykob receiving his Bobcat...The kids hanging out at Great Wolf Lodge...

Rockband

2009-09-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

So Jaykob saved his money all summer and with his birthday money from grandparents he bought Rockband for the WII. We've all been having a little too much fun on it and as my kids go about their daily business I'm constantly catching them singing "Eye of the Tiger" word for word. It's kind of cute and endearing and all that UNTIL it made me realize what a crappy parent I was. On our way home from church two Sundays ago, I urged my kids to sing "How Firm a Foundation" as they would be singing it in front of the whole congregation in just a few more weeks for the Church Primary Program. They knew maybe half of the first verse. I decided that maybe we should put the WII aside until we knew our Primary songs a little better, but as you can see I caved...just look how cute this is...

SO, here is my idea all you LDS marketing geniuses out there...a Primary song version for Rockband! I don't mean to go all Pentecostal on you or anything, but brilliant, right? I mean it certainly would make my job, and not to mention the Primary President's job, a bit easier.

2009-09-08T22:36:00.001-07:00

Hood to Coast

2009-09-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Q: What do you get when you put a lot of stinky, sweaty, hungry, muscle-aching, sleep deprived people in a van for 29 hours?

A: A whole heck of a lot of crazy fun...that's what!

And I'm not kidding. This is the 2nd time that Jason and I have organized a team for the Hood to Coast and it just keeps getting more and more fun. Why you ask? I'm not quite sure except that it's just one of those unique kind of adventures when shared with a fun group of people, that puts you in this crazy endorphin induced buzz (Jen, thanks for that one) that you just can't seem to shake. For those reading this and don't know what Hood to Coast is, it is the largest relay in the world that starts at Mt. Hood and ends up in Seaside, Oregon. We have a team of 12 runners and each runner runs 3 legs of the race for a total of 197 miles. Between our legs, the runners try to eat and rest while living in "a van down by the river"...the Willamette that is.

Thanks Meg, James, Amber, Scott, Stefan, Paisley, Chi, Michelle, Dan, Jen, Derrick, Paul and Jenny for a great weekend!

Check me out starting the race...

Pretty much the best summer vacation we've ever had...

2009-08-12T23:15:00.001-07:00

just in case you didn't catch that reference to ND in my title there...I wanted to offer a big shout out to my brother Jon and his wife Kirsten for letting my family of 6 crash at their pad all last week only 2 1/2 weeks after giving birth to their 2nd child. Not only did they offer us a place to stay, but they entertained us with guest passes to Magic Castle, tickets to "So You Think You Can Dance" and a pool that provided hours of entertainment. Thanks guys!
I also need to thank Doug for Dodger tickets, Sarah for fabric district, Meg for Legoland, Matt for his room and for gracing us with his presence, Diana for some mighty fine cooking, Jason for watching 7 kids so the girls could go out to breakfast, Staci for inventing "favorite things", Adam for being smart enough to attempt the CA Bar so that we had a good excuse to come to CA and to Dan for teaching my kids the fine art of Rockband and the finger jab? (Is that what I should call it?) and to everyone for a pretty darn memorable "worst kiss" conversation.
Seriously, anyone reading this probably thinks that I'm related to some pretty cool people...well, they're right!

Who needs pool toys when you have Jaykob?

Mary saved her money so she could have a fun shopping day at the American Girl Place...

Max is checking out the authenticity of the Lego family at Legoland.Four cuties in a row anticipating the excitment of Legoland... (L to R Clara, Josie, Tallulah, and Evan)Pretty darn cute family...Dan, Sarah, Josie and Tallulah and coming soon...baby girl#3!Adam and Madeline on the helicopter ride...pacifier will not come out...no matter what...Jon and Evan having too much fun on the airplane? ride...What a cutie!Olivia, Mary, Jaykob and Max all received their "driver's licenses" while attending Legoland "driving school"....they were pretty proud.A fun day at Legoland...no, that is not a baby in my belly. I just happen to be wearing an empire waist shirt...now I see that was a bad choice.In our excitement to get our fill of In -n- Out burgers while in sunny CA, we may have overdone it. After our third visit, we were okay if we never saw a hamburger again.Jaykob pushing Madeline at Wild Rivers in Irvine... Thank goodness for brothers with connections! Jason and I got to take Mary and Jaykob to the finale of SYTYCD at the Kodak theater...how cool is that? Well, let me tell you...it was SUPER cool! Watching Jeannine and Brandon burn up the dance floor in person in the famous theater frequented by the most famous of movie stars...we were lovin' it! The only down side is that we actually had to sit and listen to all of Mary and Nigel's comments instead of having the luxury of fast forwarding thru them (thanks to the modern convenience of DVRs).
a fabulous breakfast with my awesome sister-in laws...I'm so lucky. Staci, me , Sarah and Diana (Kirsten is missing in the picture).
Jaykob, Adam and Doug at the Dodgers game...it was Mormon night! Elder Ballard even threw in the first pitch! Staci, Doug, Conrad and Eric chatting with some friends they saw at the game.

Diana, Madeline and Adam in front of the outfield. Enjoying Zuma beach in Malibu...Welcome to the world Phillip Henry Heder!

Thanks again family for a great vacation! I wish it was still going on! We miss you all!

Summer so far...

2009-07-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

has gone ridiculously fast. I always look forward to those lazy days of summer after a hectic school year and the lazy part never seems to kick in. Since school got out we have managed to get in berry picking, dance recital, science camp, company BBQ, two birthday parties for Max, a visit from Diana, basketball camp, a fun 4th of July, painting camp, YMCA camp, Safety Town, and a concert in the park. And it's only the middle of summer! This weekend we have our camping trip to look forward to and then we come back for dance camp, bike rodeo and off we go on our California trip and the list continues after that...sewing camp, golf camp, dance camp, Hood to Coast. Phew! I'm trying not to complain because the minute I let my kids have any idle time, they can start in on the whining, teasing and the "mom, I'm bored"s. But I will vow to take my kids to the pool and the park more than once this summer...overscheduled kids never have time to be creative, right?

A hot, fun 4th of July with 5k race, parade, friends, BBQ and fireworks ...

and festive patriotic cupcakes...

Happy 5th Birthday Max!

Two naughty cousins hiding out in grandma's pantry...

A beautiful day at the Oregon Coast during Madeline's visit...

Nothing's better than picking berries in Oregon in the summer...After Mary and Jaykob's dance recital...

Yummy blueberries at Aunt Jeannie's house...

Happy Birthday, Doug!

2009-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my thoughtful, charming and handsome brother!

From a strictly obedient bikini wearing terror of a younger sibling to a hard working father of three...the years have been good to you my dear! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

The hunt

2009-07-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

I look so forward to Wednesday nights in the summer when, after my kids have gone to bed, I can sit down on my couch, which is situated right next to the AC, watch a new episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" and pull out my pint of Haggen Daz. The question is, which flavor do I pick? Last summer my flavor of choice was Carmelized pear and toasted pecan, but this summer I have seemed to grow weary of the frozen pear chunks. I discovered Creme Brulee at Albertsons a few months ago and fell in love, but anytime I tried to find it anywhere else I was out of luck. I did find creme brulee by Ben & Jerry's, but even though the crystalized sugar swirl was oh so delightful, the flavor was no contest for the Haggen Daz version. I did discover that Safeway carries it every now and then, but after all of that searching I'm not sure I want to settle for something that contains no chocolate. After all, if I'm going to add an extra half hour to my workout everyday just to counteract my ice cream consumption, there better be chocolate! So now the hunt begins...must find perfect balance of smoothness, chocolate, crunch and heavenly bliss.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhqRMP9meMc

I did it!

2009-06-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Can I just take a minute to toot my own horn? Tacky, I know, but sometimes you just can't help yourself. So here it goes...I ran my first official half marathon! It felt great and I can't wait to do another one (I'm kind of kidding about that). Anyway...

Here are my homies, rootin' me on...
Good friends, Gabe and Amy who fought and conquered as well...way to go girls!

Playing catch up

2009-06-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Where have I been the last two months? Apparently not at my computer. Actually, I have been at my computer for more mundane reasons, like bill pay, counting calories, checking my email. And it is for those reasons that my daily alloted computer time seems to run out before I get to the fun stuff, like blogging. But, summer is upon us, which means kids are out of school, which means I will be fervently searching for more short, peaceful like retreats on a daily basis as a means to escape the chaos, which means I will be locking myself in my computer room a lot more often, which means I will probably be blogging a little bit more from here on out.
But as far as playing catch up goes, here is a list of highlights from the last two months...

1. Easter
A pleasant morning of Easter basket finding and a yummy breakfast before church and a lovely dinner after church with family joining us...

Easter morning baskets full of surprises...

2. Been doing a little running...oh wait is that a 4th place ribbon I'm holding?

Why, yes it is. Some friends and I participated in a 10 mile run back in April and believe it or not I took 4th in my age bracket. Okay, so maybe it's not that unbelievable since there were only 5 people in my age group. Laugh you may, but I still ran 10 miles.

3. I had a great Mother's Day weekend. It started with a fun evening out with my children, Mary & Jaykob. We visited a traveling Titanic museum and ate sushi.

The next day I headed to the coast with some girlfriends for some good shopping, good food and good laughs. I must thank my parents, my in laws and my husband for making that weekend possible. When you think about it, it takes a lot of preparations just so the mom can get away for one night...kind of makes me feel important...a great feeling to have on mother's day weekend.

4. We had a fabulous stake conference in which one of the 12 Apostles, M. Russell Ballard, came and spoke with us. As wonderful as it was to listen to this incredible man, it was a relief to get out of that very hot and stuffy stake center on that 90 degree day. With the spirit of this meeting in our minds and in our hearts, we decided to continue our worship at one of Heavenly Father's most wonderful creations...the beach!

5. Memorial Day weekend means camping, right? Well in Oregon it might mean the campground that you reserved several months earlier might have 4 ft of snow come Memorial Day weekend! So what to do? Cross your fingers that this other campground that your friends found will be halfway decent since it was the only one available at such short notice.

Well crossing the fingers worked because the campground was perfect and so was the weather! We had a great time hanging with friends, going for a boat ride, eating yummy food and going on a fabulous bike ride with Grandma & Grandpa Heder. Jaykob did end the weekend with a horrible case of empitigo (spelling?) which kept him home from school for a week, but other than that, we had a splendid time.

6. In addition to a little camping, a little running and a little beach hopping, I also read a great book called "The Red Scarf Girl" by Ji-Li Jiang. I highly reccommend it.

BIG NEWS!

2009-04-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Clara can walk!

Yes, it's true. If you are like us, perhaps you thought it would never happen, but here we are...eighteen months...Well, technically she took her first steps at 16 months, but now she is officially choosing walking over crawling as her official mode of transportation. We don't know what took so long. We talked to the doctors and the only diagnosis they could offer was..."Stubbornitis". As you can see from the pictures below, she is healthy enough, she apparently just likes to do things in her own time frame.

Wasabi Wars

2009-04-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

The last time we had dinner group, the Wolfe's took everyone out for a ride on their boat on the Willamette in downtown Portland while watching the sunset. Sounds fun, huh?

I wouldn't know because I managed to get strep throat a couple days before. Pretty lame. I also managed to get an allergic reaction to some cleaning supplies just in time for the Wolfe's New Years Eve Party.

Worried that the Wolfe's might have me categorized as some crazy hypochondriac, I knew we needed to wow them when it came our time to host dinner group. So what better way to do it than with SUSHI!

Okay, so Stacey and Melissa weren't crazy about the raw fish, but they were good sports and we had a few good laughs while watching the boys play "Quien as mas macho?" with wasabi.

The beautiful spread.

Jason teaching Ben and Josh a thing or two about the fine art of sushi making...

Melissa, Stacey and RachelThe war is on dude!

Wipe away the tears...What Jas, can't handle a little wasabi?That's okay...neither can Josh!The guys really know how to serve up dessert...(nice touch Ben on using the cilantro instead of mint leaves...way to improvise...so creative...oh and by the way, we really appreciated the crab in our ice cube trays...such a nice hostess gift.)

I heart Scrapbooking!

2009-03-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of different hobbies out there. Some of mine include jogging, reading, shopping, bike riding and movie watching. And then there is scrapbooking. I really enjoy scrapbooking. I dabbled a little bit in scrapbooking while in high school ( I think the very first one I made was for my high school boyfriend aka Jason) and I did a tiny bit in college, but I really started to adopt it as my favorite pastime after I got married. There was a little store just down the street from our 1st apartment in Logan and it got me hooked. I love it for these reasons ...

1. It is a realistic creative outlet for me.

2. It is a good excuse to get out and hang out with good friends.

3. It keeps me busy on all of those rainy Oregon days.

4. It has provided a good opportunity to make some really great gifts that I'm really proud of.

5. Other than giving me a fun pastime, it is a hobby that has a point, that being memory preservation.

6. It is a hobby that I can include my kids in. (In fact, Mary has her own tote and has been seen accompanying me to many a "crop").

Below are pictures of an album I made for Adam & Diana as a belated wedding gift...

I felt the need to do this post as a tribute to my favorite scrapbook store. So after almost ten years of hard work and persistance , my little "home away from home" had to say good bye. Scrapbook Attack was its name and I had the privilege of being one of their customers and even from time to time one of their employees. I would like to give a little shout out to Sheri, Bev and Sam fighting a good fight and providing a wonderful work environment and just a fun place to hang. I'll miss them.

I dug up this article I wrote almost 11 years ago. My dad had just started our family newsletter, "The Heder Herald" and this is one of the first articles I wrote for it. Please forgive its over the top cheesiness...it's pretty bad, but I still thought it would be fun to post.

I tried to fight the tears that were forming in my eyes as I opened the gift my brother, Doug, had presented to me on Christmas Day 1991. I felt silly making such a big deal over my high school senior yearbook. I think Doug was especially surprised of the emotions stirred by his gift.

My parents had given me an allowance while I was in high school and I was free to spend it as I wished. However, once it was gone...it was gone. When it came time to purchase my yearbook at the end of my Senior Year, I had already spent my allowance on probably other less important items. In justification of my poor planning I thought, "it's not that big of a deal. Maybe I'll buy it later." When Christmas time rolled around I had already forgotten about the yearbook. My perceptive mother had not. Stumped as to what to get his sister for Christmas, my mother suggested to Doug the yearbook.

This gift of memories was more important to me than I realized. As I thumbed through the pages of my yearbook, I reminisced over fun and frustrating times I had with fellow classmates, friends, teachers and advisors. This book was a real treasure. Maybe this experience along with others is what has triggered my love for scrapbooking.

I have been lovingly criticized by my husband and my brothers that I'm a "scrapbook junkie". Scrapboooking has become the latest trend in the craft world and I'm the first to admit that I'm an addict. I can't help myself. There are so many cute papers, stickers, trinkets and tools, I get easily lost in the marketing and excitement of it all. If I find myself with a little extra money at the end of the month, I head to the nearest scarpbook store to buy the latest and greatest gadget. In defense of myself and my newfound hobby, I must ask, " Who's complaining?" With my new self-inflicted role of family photo historian, everyone loves handing their pictures over to me knowing that eventually they will be put into an album. My brother Adam, knows this to be true. After coming home from Germany one summer he handed over his pictures and within just a few weeks I had turned his German trip into a Bavarian adventure displayed in a fantastic album for all to enjoy! Okay, so that might be a little dramatic, but I do think the effort I made to pick up where my mom slacked with my brother's baby albums was appreciated. The only complaining you might hear is from my husband, when at 1 am he beckons me to bed and I say, "just 10 more minutes dear, I'm in the middle of working on the cutest page!"

Even though I am a sucker for all the hype, I actually do believe there is more to scrapbooking than cleverly trimmed edges or creative designs. The creativity of the process is what largely motivates me to pursue this hobby, but I feel that I have a responsibility to my past , present and future family to preserve and establish a legacy. It has also served as therapy in many ways for me as well. For instance, While I was living in Michigan I felt very alone being so far from friends and family. To keep myself busy, I worked on and completed my mission scrapbook. By reminiscing of fun and spiritual times, I was able to fill a certain void I was feeling at that time in my life. At the same time I was also preparing a book that my prosperity will be able to look through and get an idea of some of the great experiences I had.

Just as Doug was able to ignite unknown emotions with the gift of my Senior yearbook, my goal as a scrapbook junkie is to ignite many emotions through creative memory preservation in the years to come.

Welcome Julia!

2009-03-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm the proud aunt of a new little niece!

Julia Mary Wilhelm was born on March 3, 2009 at 8 am weighing 9 lbs. 12 oz. Congratulations to Jeannie and Chris! We went to visit her today and she is beautiful! Way to go guys!

Pity Party or Oscar Party

2009-02-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

I'm wishing that I had my family here last Sunday. It was the Oscars and they are the only other people I know that have seen Slumdog Millionaire. We could have all hooted and hollered for it and I would have handed out prizes for those that made the most correct predictions and I would have made a big dinner for everyone. We could all rip on Sean Penn's speech and question Ben Stiller's wierd presentation. The girls could clean up the saliva on my chin while I watched Hugh Jackman and we could pull out the mop to clean up the brother's saliva after watching Penelope Cruz (or am I mistaking her for Selma Hayak?) We could discuss Reese's interesting hairdo and Jessica Biel's dress choice. I would have slammed Dan and Sarah for seeing "Vicky Christina Barcelona" and everyone else would have ripped on me for seeing "Bolt". And then we could have an exciting debate over the definition of "creamy" vs. "greasy". ( I vote...Mickey Rourke - greasy and Hugh Jackman - creamy...am I right?)
All I'm saying is that it made me really miss you guys. Maybe our next reunions could be centered around the Oscars? Just a thought.

2009-02-11T11:20:00.001-08:00

another Max story

2009-02-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

Max cuddled up in bed with me early this morning and asked me, "Mom, who do you think built this house?" I said I wasn't to sure and so he asked me ,"Do you think it was George Washington?" I said that I don't think George Washington was alive during the building of our house, but I thought I would take advantage of a teaching opportunity and I asked him, "Do you know who George Washington was?" Max said, "Oh he was our first president." Slightly surprised by his quick answer, I decided to test just how far his knowledge went and I asked, "who is our president today?" Max answered, "Rock Obama!" Wow...I was a bit flabbergasted. I would like to tell everyone that I am the great mom who drills her four year old on U.S. history facts on a daily basis, but truth betold, I'm not and I was curious as to from where he retrieved his information. I was sure he would say he overheard me talking to Mary and Jaykob (because, as a matter of fact, I do talk to my older children about U.S. history facts), but when I asked him how he got so smart, he said, "TV!"

And there you have it folks.

When I Grow Up...

2009-02-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

I joined Max and his preschool class at the fire station last week and he assured me that being a firefighter would be his ultimate destination, but only after he put in his time as a policeman, Superman and Spiderman. When I asked him about a mission he said, "Oh, mom...I won't have time for that." Apparently, we don't see eye to eye on what it means to save the world.

Since we're on the subject of Max, my parents have begged me several times to write down some of Max's funnier moments. I hesitate to do this because it doesn't seem to have the same cuteness when you read it as when you saw him say it, but I will give it a go...

Story #1: One day coming home from preschool, Max tattled on a little boy named Hayden saying, "Hayden has a potty mouth! But don't worry mom, I only say good potty words like b-u-t-t." (Yes, he spelled it out. I'm pretty sure he didn't know what he was spelling, but since Jaykob says it that way, then it must be naughty...at least that's what I think is going through Max's head.)

#2: When Max is tired he seems to have a "problem" with his legs. One night I told him to go upstairs and go to bed and he whined and complained saying "my legs don't work". After some bribing/threatening (take your pick), Max was finally convinced that he had no choice. He may have admitted defeat, but he was determined to prove the disfunction of his legs and in quadripalegic style, he pulled his body with only his arms all the way up the stairs.

#3: Max: "Hey mom, I think you need to have 10 more kids."

Mom: "Why is that?"

Max:"So we can buy a limo!"

#4: Max has a fascination with rope, string, yarn, etc. It's possibilities are endless. He assumes that everyone must share his enthusiasm as well. So when one day Jason rewarded Max with a big ball of rope, Max ran across the street to his friend Renee's house and with ball of rope behind the back, he knocked on her door and when Renee's mom answered, Max said "Can Renee play?" and with the infamous devilish grin, he pulled said rope from behind the back and whispered, "I got rope". To Max's dismay, I don't think Renee fully appreciated the diverse uses of such a treasure, but the rest of us got a kick out of his enthusiasm.

To end this post, I will let Max share a little something special...

Welcome 2009!

2009-01-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

Two Sundays ago we (my husband, my kids and I) sat down criss cross applesauce on the picnic blanket in the family room and ate a dinner of chips and seven layer dip. This was the kids request and I complied because it sounded like a good gimmick to get them to sit with me and write down their goals for the new year.
It was so much fun that we might make it a tradition. They came up with some great goals and I typed them up and put them on the fridge as a constant reminder. Of course it is only two weeks later, but they haven't been doing too bad. As for me and my ambitions...well, here we go (yes, I'm publishing them because this might actually help me feel a sense of accountability...)

1. Read at least 15 minutes from a good book every night before bed ( yes, it is sad that I have to make this a goal...I love to read and I manage a good read every now and then, but it's true...I've used the "I'm too exhausted at the end of the day" excuse a few too many times now, that it's time for me to make it happen).
2.Put a post at least once a week on my blog.
3. Have personal scripture study every night before bedtime. I'm doing this right now and I'm loving it!!!
4. Make Sundays more meaningful. This one is a little vague, but I'm desperately needing to get to the point where I like Sundays again. They used to be my favorite day of the week and now I hate them. Did I just say that? I hate that I hate them. I want to love them, but helping my kids define "rest & worship" has become a source of torture. I will gladly welcome any suggestions from anyone of any denomination. Does anyone feel my pain on this one?
5. Dedicate more time to service. Once again this is a bit vague, but I've been once again over using the excuse that my "service" is in the home. Not to belittle that service (since it is the greatest), but part of being a great mom is serving others and having your children see you do it and also participate in it so it becomes a habit established with them as well.
6.Run the Helvetia Half marathon and Hood to Coast. Yikes!

That's all the ambition that I have in me.
Now that they are all typed up here for all to see, it's time for me to make them happen. At least that is what I told my congregation at church two Sundays ago. My bishop asked me to give a talk on "being doers of the word and not hearers only" and so I related that to making our goals realities...

Talk – January 11, 2009

Being Doers of the word and not Hearers Only

So. I’ll have to admit it. When the bishop asked me to speak on the topic of “being doers of the word and not hearers only, it made me squirm a bit. It made me think of making goals and resolutions. Here it is the beginning of 2009 and most of us here including myself have probably thought of or written down some goals for this year. That is great and all but how many of us can remember where our goal list of 2008 is? Or maybe you remember where it is, but it looks exactly the same as this years because you never quite got around to them. Or maybe you consider them more friendly reminders than actual things you plan to accomplish. If any of this sounds familiar, then maybe you also squirm when reading James Chapter 1. In verse 22-24, it reads…

One story shared by Elder Oaks when he was president of BYU went something like this:
Many years ago the federal government placed county agents throughout the country to help farmers learn to be more productive. One county agent in the South went to visit an old farmer in his area, but he found that convincing the farmer to change proved rather difficult.
He asked the farmer, “Wouldn’t you like to know how to get your cows to give more milk?”
“Nope,” the farmer replied.
“Well, wouldn’t you like your pigs to have larger litters of baby pigs?”
Again the farmer answered, “Nope.”
“Well, wouldn’t you like to learn how to get more corn per acre?”
The same answer was given as before: “Nope.”
Exasperated, the county agent asked, “Well, why not?”
The farmer replied simply, “I already knows more than I does.”
In other words, his knowledge was greater than his application of that knowledge, so why make matters worse by obtaining even more knowledge!
Why do we always seem to know more than we do? How come we can come up with great new years resolutions and post them on our cute blogs or type them up in a cute font and post them on the fridge for all to see, but we struggle with finding ways to actually “do” them?
In a general conference address a few years ago, Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated, “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, November 2000, 32; emphasis in original).
And I want stick in there, in between the knowing and the becoming is the doing. So the order would be knowing, doing and then becoming or being. We must learn, then apply our knowledge and that is what helps us become what we had intended.
Knowing
First, we must increase our level of knowledge, or what we know. In our search for truth, however, we have to be selective, because we have an overwhelming amount of information available to us.
How important it is for us to shun the harmful, avoid wasting time on the useless, and, instead, focus on the useful and vital—that which gives eternal perspective, helps develop wisdom, and teaches us the mind and nature of our Heavenly Father. An example of this might be is that a personal rule of mine that I use when selecting what movies to watch, rather than relying on the strangers that work for the rating system to decide what movies are appropriate for me, I use the 13th article of faith. It says that we, as Latter-day Saints, seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” (Articles of Faith 1:13). That’s a good standard for us to keep in mind as we choose what to read, what to listen to, and what to view.
Fortunately for us all here, we have a the perfect resources available to us to obtain our knowledge…and those are, the temple, Church magazines, and the scriptures.
Improving Our Doing
We have established that we know from where to gain our knowledge…how do we change it from a cutely typed up resolution to an action?
The Lord expects each step upward in knowledge to be followed by a step upward in performance. section 82 of the Doctrine and Covenants instructs, “For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation” (D&C 82:3).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell highlighted the tight linkage between knowing and doing as follows:
So it is that discipleship requires all of us to translate doctrines, covenants, ordinances, and teachings into improved personal behavior. Otherwise we may be doctrinally rich but end up developmentally poor. [“Becoming a Disciple,” Ensign, June 1996, 14]
Why does our doing so often lag behind our knowing, whether with home teaching, family home evening, or a wide range of other areas? I suppose that busy schedules, distractions, wrong priorities, lack of commitment, and just poor time management contribute to the problem. We can always seem to find time for the things that we want to do.
There is the key: get the spirit in our hearts so we want to do it.
Improvement in the doing arena takes great dedication. New habits can be hard to establish, and old habits can be hard to break.
Richard G. Scott suggests an example of how our habits can be overcome.
Suppose a small child were to run in front of your car. What would you do? First your mind decides to stop. Nothing else can happen until that decision is made. Then you take your foot off the accelerator. Can you imagine stopping a car with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake? Finally, you firmly apply the brake.
The same pattern is followed to overcome your entrenched habits. Decide to stop what you are doing that is wrong. Then search out everything in your life that feeds the habit…systematically eliminate or overcome everything that contributes to that negative part of your life. Then stop the negative things permanently.
We are blessed to have a Heavenly Father who says it is never too late to change or to make things right.
Just as our gaining of knowledge should expand from basic principles to deeper doctrine, so should our doing go beyond the minimum as well.
Joseph Smith said… It is not meet that I should command in all things. . . . . . . Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. [D&C 58:26–28]
Just as there are harmful and useless materials that can occupy our reading and learning, so are there harmful and useless activities that can occupy our time. We should avoid filling our days with these activities and instead spend our time doing that which is useful and essential. As someone once stated, that which matters most must never be at the mercy of that which matters least. Giving service—such as that which we give in the Church, in our communities, and especially in our families—is central to this useful and essential work. By losing ourselves in doing good for others, we come to understand what the Lord meant when He said: “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39).
Being
Moving from increasing our knowing and improving our doing, we come to the third and most important part of our progress: purifying our being, or refining who and what we are deep down in our hearts.
Elder Henry B. Eyring clarified that although doing is important, it is not our ultimate goal. he said, “The things we do are the means, not the end we seek. What we do allows the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change us into what we must be” (“As a Child,” Ensign, May 2006, 16; emphasis added).
Elder David A. Bednar added, “People of integrity and honesty not only practice what they preach, they are what they preach” (“Be Honest,” New Era, October 2005, 7).
We must be what we know and do. OR it is from knowing and doing that we become. The Savior is our perfect example. He is the mark we must always look to. He is our supreme example. He was chosen as our Savior not just because of His perfect obedience but because of His perfect love—love that encompasses perfect knowledge and that motivates perfect obedience.
The family proclamation also highlights the long-term process of becoming like Christ, saying that we are here in mortality to “obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, November 1995, 102; emphasis added).
Because of differences in opportunity, talent, and circumstance, how we become Christlike varies somewhat from person to person. But common elements in our spiritual progress include gospel study, service and activity in the Church, and obedience to the commandments. But, above all, it is the cleansing effect of the Atonement and the Spirit that purify and change our hearts.
Conclusion
Whether you chose to listen to this talk or not is fine with me because the squirminess I felt at the beginning of this assignment has been replaced with an eagerness to turn my nicely typed goals into realities with the hope that they will bring me closer to my Savior and ultimately more like him.
Amen.

Christmas 2008 in review

2009-01-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

The snow is gone, the presents unwrapped, the tree was hauled off by the boy scouts and we now have the 1:30 time slot in church. What does all this mean? It means that I'm sitting down and putting into action one of my new goals for 2009 which is to add a post to my blog once a week. Now that I have put that in writing, I expect you all to send me friendly reminders. I also expect that you won't judge me when you see how fast I fall off the train of accomplishing my goals. Enough about me and my goals...I'll save that for next week's post since I need to spread them out. Let's move on to Christmas.

Of course there was the snow that added an element of excitement and some sad realities to this season. There was the excitement of one whole additional week of Winter Break on account of the icy roads, but then there was the reality of a frazzled, frustrated and guilt ridden mom who saw 4 kids watching too much TV, playing too much WII and playing too much computer during that very long last week. There was the excitement of Adam, Diana and Madeline's arrival only to be met with the sad reality that their flight from Utah was cancelled and the roads were closed and they would have to spend the holidays in Utah. There was the sad reality that Doug and Staci and kids would probably not be able to make it to Oregon on account of the weather and then the excitement that came when we found out the highway had opened and they were on the road. There was the sad reality that Jon and Kirsten experienced when they had to cancel their trip to Sunriver but then the excitement when we found out we would get to see them more during Christmas. There was the sad reality that came on Christmas Eve when it took us three hours to drive home and then the excitement that comes from a good night's sleep and a wonderful Christmas morning. There was the sad reality that we may not return back to Salem to visit Jason's family on account of the roads and then the excitement that came after a positive news report and a good night's sleep.

So as you can see, the snow came with a roller coaster of emotions, but when all was said and done, it is always exciting to have a white Christmas in Oregon and I know that the kids had a fabulous time playing in it.

All the way from LA...here is Olivia...

Eric and Mary...Jon and Max...

Cousins had a fun time playing indoors at grandma's house and we soon realized that somehow everything seemed a lot more fun without your clothes on.

Whether you were inside...

or outside...

When we weren't playing in the snow, we were cooking, eating, playing games, watching "A Christmas Carol" or dancing...

That obnoxious dog provided hours of entertainment for my kids during our snowed in days...who knew?

When we weren't dancing to obnoxious music, we were singing it. Now everyone needs to know that I'm really putting myself out there in posting this video as nothing makes me more self conscious than singing in front of people, so...no snickering...okay snicker all you want, you won't be able to help yourself, but just so you know...I am very aware that I am off key and that Doug is and always was the more musically inclined one in the family and if he doesn't sound good in this performance, it is all my fault, but with all that said...we sure had fun. We were only missing Matthew in this tribute to Walker Middle School Westside Singers...

Okay...never mind...after two days of racking my resources, I discovered that the video clip contained too many megabytes and it won't be able to upload. Sorry to get your hopes up. I know you all were just waiting with baited breath to listen to my out of tune voice...maybe some other time.

After all of our Christmas eve celebrations with the Heder side of the family, we traveled back to Banks where we had a wonderful and cozy Christmas morning with just Jason and I and kids. I took no pictures, just a lot of videos. I needed proof that Santa had come, because unbeknownst to me, my children had been good. They got what they asked for from Santa, so I'm pretty sure some serious deal making took place.

We headed back to Salem that night to open presents with the Short side of the family and rather than enduring another drive back that night, we opted to stay the night. The next day we had a fun day of shopping and movie watching.

In conclusion...Christmas was almost perfect. I'm so glad that all my family was safe and that I got to spend some wonderful time with those that made it. I can't wait until next year!

Christmas Tag

2008-12-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this idea from my friend Tonya. It looked fun. Here it goes...

1. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags?...Definetely wrapping paper...I prefer solids, stripes or a subtle print with thick fancy ribbon

2. Real Tree or artificial?...for sure real...we're Oregonians.

3. When do you put up the tree?..The first weekend of December

4. When do you take the tree down?... Usually right after the New Year.

5. Do you like egg nog?... in small doses

6. Favorite gift received as a child?... baby doll

7. Hardest person to buy for?...my parents

8. Easiest person to buy for?...the kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene?...Yes...we currently have 3 displayed

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?...Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?... I've never met a gift I didn't love

12. Favorite Christmas movie?... It's a toss up...Christmas Vacation or Christmas Story

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?... Whenever I see a good deal

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? ...Yes, as a white elephant gift

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? ... Judy's bon bons and Hershey's Candy Cane or Mint Truffle Kisses

16. Lights on the tree? ... YES--all white and about 4000 (we counted this year)

17. Favorite Christmas Song?...Anything on the John Denver & the Muppets Christmas album

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? ... Home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? ...Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid and Donner and Blitzen and of Course Rudolph.

20. Angel on top of the tree or star? ...Star

21. Open the presents on Christmas Eve or Morning?... Both because we celebrate with each side of the families on different days.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? ... shopping on Saturdays

23. Favorite ornament?...I like the Margaret Furlongs that my mom started collecting for me

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?... Smoked Salmon Pasta

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? ... a new computer

And the winner is...

2008-12-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

Can I please have a resounding "YAHOO" from all the ladies in the house!!!

As Wolfman in X-Men he was okay, but one night I was flipping through channels and landed on PBS where Mr. Jackman was playing Curly in "Oklahoma" and I was smitten. It took "People" awhile, but they finally hit the nail on the head with this one. Since "People" hasn't discovered my husband yet, I'll settle for Hugh in the meantime.

Gobble, Gobble

2008-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

We've only done it for three years now, but the Jason & Rachel Short family have decided that participating in the Oregon Zoo 4 mile Turkey Trot is a great way to start our Thanksgiving day and we hope it's a tradition that we will carry on. This year we talked Grandpa & Grandma Heder into joining us.

Here's all of us before the race. We couldn't have asked for better weather...chilly, but sunny.

Here is Clara before the race. (Notice the smile and cheerful dispostion...)

The gun shot and the race began. Grandpa and Jaykob were the first to dart off with Jason and I to follow. Grandma was nice enough to push Max and Clara in the jogger with Mary's help. We don't know how it happened, but as we finished the first 2 miles and we were running back up the hill, we saw Grandpa & Jaykob heading down. There were so many people that we didn't see it when we passed them. We then passed Grandma and we noticed that Clara was crying, Max was trying to get out of his seat and Mary was 10 feet ahead (obviously, not helping out much). She told us to go ahead and she would wait for Grandpa to help her.

I finished the race, Jason followed...alright, alright, Jason slowed down as we approached the finish line to "let" me win, it's true, regardless, we finished the race and then waited, waited and waited for the rest of the group to join us. While Jason was in line for water, I backtracked to see if I could find the gang. I finally saw my dad with Clara on his shoulders coming around the corner. I yelled at him to go find Jason while I waited for Mom and the other kids. I waited and waited some more. Jason then found me and said he never saw my dad. We wandered around the zoo and the parking lot for what seemed like forever trying to track everyone down. We finally headed back to the finish line and to make a long story short we found everyone. My mom had headed to the wrong finishing spot and got hot chocolate for the kids and sat around wondering where everyone was. Clara was not enjoying the jogger and so Grandpa had to run with her on his shoulders for the last two miles.

It was crazy, hectic, but in the end everyone said they had fun.

We made it to the finish line and caught the turkey! It looks like we are all still smiling too!Clara was quite fascinated with this fine feathered creature.

I am thankful for...

2008-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

(My plan was to post this on Thanksgiving, but I didn't have access to a computer, so better late than never.)

I am thankful for...

* being an Oregonian
* being an American
* electricity
* seasons
* being a Heder, Heninger, Brammer, Knudsen and a Short
* my gas fireplace
*Gabe, who has helped me become a "yes" person
* Heidi, who kicks my behind and teaches me that it's okay to do "hard" things
* eternal marriage
* my makeup
* Marcy, who through example teaches me the joy of serving
* being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
* my Egyptian cotton sheets
* my computer
* Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Freeman, who educate my children
* Ryan & Dave, who "play" with my husband
* entertainers in general
* Rockelle, who teaches me about generosity
* Leslie, who has a very warm car on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so that I am more willing to go to strength training class
* books
* television
* scrapbooking and scrapbooking stores
* shoes with heels that slightly aid in making my legs look longer
* board games
* running shoes
* candy cane Hershey Kisses
* scriptures
* flattering, well-made clothing
* Trader Joe's Pasadena Chicken Salad
* my husbands fuzzy arms
* blueberry pancakes
* Diana, who is okay with being cheesy regardless of the brutal teasings that may follow
* Staci, who challenges my often way of "little" thinking
* Sarah, who cracks me up
* Kirsten, who has rockin' taste in home decorating
* all flowers and all trees
* Target
* cars
* Stacey, Melissa and Emily who help me relieve stress through our fun scrapbook outings and through their many funny and endearing stories
* my brothers
* Jenny, who made the MTC bearable and now is making H2C bearable
* my parents, (why I'm thankful for them will have to be it's own post)
* my extremely, hilarious, wonderful beautiful children
* my husband's love for cleanliness and his willingness to help maintain that cleanliness around the house
* Jared's wisdom
* Jeannie's inspiring loyalty
* art projects
* dishwashers
* bike trails
* Judy, who teaches me the art of unconditional love
* Jay, who's enthusiasm is contagious
* Jen, who fills all my needs that I require in a friend and then some
* Angela, who makes me laugh and think
*my Heavenly Father and my Savior

I could seriously do this all day.

"Follow Me Boys"

2008-11-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

So lately our family has been resurrecting some of the old Disney classics to watch on Sunday nights, such as "Pollyanna", "Summer Magic" and tonight we watched "Follow Me Boys". I particularly enjoyed this one because it answered a lot of questions from my youth for me, such as, "Why did my dad love boy scouts so much?" and "Is snow camping with 12 smelly boys really a lot more fun than hanging out with your cute daughter on her birthday?". Well, all you have to do is watch Fred McMurray in action to get the answers. Heck, I wanted to be a scout master after watching this film. I mean sure, Lem Siddons (Fred's character) never got to practice law as he always planned to and he never had any of his own children, but he got the wife, inherited the store and was named Scout Master Emeritus in the end with a celebration that put Mardi Gras to shame. I mean that town of Hickory really knows how to throw a party! I realize that most people reading this haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about, so you better go check out the movie and then tell me how much you loved it! It's good clean family fun that I'm sure you'll enjoy and you'll probably be stuck with that darn marching song in your head for the next 10 days too!

My Little Brother

2008-11-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

My little brother can be pretty cute and funny when he wants to be. Check this out:
http://www.gap.com/browse/info.do?cid=43164

Look at "Winter Wonderland" and the cast's version of Jingle Bells (you can watch the other ones too if you want).

Halloween Rocks...

2008-11-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

at least that's what Elvis said, as in our Jaykob dressed up as Elvis...

and there was Max who woke me up at 5:30 am on October 31st to ask, "How many more days until Halloween?"

Mary was a hippie and Clara was a kitty...

Grandma and Grandpa Short along with the Janeways, Jensens, Dixons and Updikes came over to have some yummy chili before we headed out the door for trick or treating. I must say that we really do have a fun neighborhood for trick or treating. We must have passed out 400 or more pieces of candy and the houses really get decked out. It rained all day until about 4:00 pm when it tuned a beautiful 65 degrees...perfect for trick or treating!

After settling the kids down from their sugar high, they went down to bed and Jason and I started the partying...okay we waited until Saturday night to don our costumes as we headed for the coolest Halloween party ever!!

Along with good friends, the Merritts, the Wolfes, the Updikes, the Laings and the Bakers, we spent the last two months planning the most anticipated spook alley/ party of the season ( at least in our minds that was the plan). The men conjured up enough animal bones and fake blood to pull off a very creepy spook alley and since I was too busy screaming and digging my nails into Stacey's arm, I didn't get any pictures. I know my bad, sorry, especially since it would have been nice to have some proof of my husband pulling off a very convincing acting job of being the patient getting his leg hacked off by the mad doctor. Yes, gross I know.

The ladies decorated the barn and planned the food. We had dancing, games, spook alley and food...and no kids...Fun for all!!! And of course there were the costumes...

Not meant to be, but scary nonetheless...this is supposed to be our attempt at Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone (from Anchorman)...I know I shouldn't even admit that that was what we were going for and just left it at...aren't we a cool couple from the 70s? Strangely, Jason really liked the feel of polyester...

Paisley and Chi Miller
Ben and Stacey Wolfe
Curtis & Amy Updike

Rockelle & Shawn Dixon (as Sharon & Ozzy)
Ryan & (pregnant) Heidi Janeway

Finn & Beth Schade

Learning the "Thriller" dance

the onlookers from the balcony where creepy movies were being played

Here's Emily ( I mean Marilyn) who so graciously let us use her barn and property for the event...she also happens to be a crazy dancer (crazy as in good!)

Good times for all...can't wait for next year!

WARNING

2008-10-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

WARNING...mothers reading this post may feel a strong sense of inadequacy and jealousy because Mary just told me that I am like the coolest mom ever and after you hear about the birthday party I threw her you might feel the same. With Mary's birthday only two days before Halloween you'd think we'd have thrown her a Halloween party by now, but princess and make up parties kept getting in the way, but not this year. Mary requested a Halloween bash and that is exactly what she got! (Nothing but the best for our little princess.)

For starters you need to have a cool barn for the proper setting. Lucky for us, my friend Emily has a really cool barn (this isn't like a gross animal barn...it's like a cool party barn...have I mentioned that it's cool?)

(I forgot to take pictures of the outside of the barn...a different post)

And then of course, you need a really scary witch that can make a really good concoction of chicken toenails and bat wings and even bring a few kids to tears (it's true).

The witch is none other than Grandma Heder! Heder Boys...ever wonder where you got your flair for drama? Look no further than your own mother! No joke...she was good...a real genuine cackle. Oh and yes, Jason had plenty of obvious mother in law/ witch jokes (didn't see that coming).

Then there were plenty of appropriate fall time activities...

There were donuts on a string...

and apple bobbing...

don't forget the fun costumes...

Alexis, Sydney, Hannah & Annika

Here is your hostess with the mostess, in costume as a tribute to the guest of honor...Mary (my favorite line was "Third grade and Hannah Montana are awesome!")

Here we have Sarah and Abby Dixon dressed as prom queens and that is Jaykob as Elvis. Sarah & Abby surprised Mary with tickets to High School Musical On Ice and they whisked her away right after the party.

How cute...my little black cat holding a little black cat.

And here is my cute little white cat.

It was a birthday party and so there were presents, cake & pizza...

Mary was very spoiled by her friends with a lot of fun presents! She got several Webkinz? They are little stuffed animals that you can register online and play online games with, etc. I'm rolling my eyes, but in reality I'm thinking "why didn't I think of that?"

Mary is blowing out the candles on her tower of cupcakes. We are covering our ears because all the guests were singing an extra loud version of "Happy Birthday".

What a cute birthday girl!!!

So there you have it moms...I know, I know, you're all thinking how are you ever going to live up to this. You can't say I didn't warn you.

Let's get real though. I actually didn't have to do much. My friend Emily provided the barn, my friend Melissa brought the decorations, my friend Heidi decorated the cupcakes and my mom provided the entertainment. All I did was stretch out my daughter's new Hannah Montana t-shirt. Luckily, she still thinks that I'm like the bestest mom ever. Let me bask in it while it lasts.

Pumpkin Patches

2008-10-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Within a span of 5 days, I visited 3 pumpkin patches, but you know what? I'm okay with that. I love fall and pumpkin patches are the ultimate way to enjoy this season. On Tuesday, I took Max and Clara to Lakeview Farms for Max's preschool field trip and then on Friday we went back for a birthday party with the whole family. On Saturday we met Jason's parents and sister at Bauman Farms. Both Jason and Jaykob won a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider by slingshotting apples into the eye of the jack o lantern...way to go boys!

Max and Clara taking a ride on the train

Max with best friend, Avery

I just had to post this picture of Avery...too cute and so Avery

Climbing on one of the many hay forts at Bauman's

Here's another hay fort

After all those visits, we somehow only ended up with two little pumpkins. How did that happen? In any case, that means we probably aren't done with pumpkin patch visits. Oh well...

Happy 1st Birthday Clara!

2008-10-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

A year ago today I was sitting in Dr. Stewart's office with the the results of a non-stress test. Clara had flunked it. I had been having problems with my amniotic fluid being too low for almost a month and being put on and off bedrest with the hopes to increase it. It seemed to be doing the trick, but when I went to my appointment on October 1, 2007, Dr. Stewart said that it was too low again and we shouldn't keep waiting anymore for the fluid to go back up but that it would be safer to induce me. He called the hospital right away and arranged for me to come in that afternoon. I called Jason and made babysitting arrangements for the other kids. We checked into St. Vincent's hospital around 12:20 pm. At 12:45 Dr. Stewart broke my water and it came out at 1:15. I was given pitocin at 2:04 and by 3:15 I was having contractions every two minutes. By 4:20 the contractions were coming every minute and I then received my epidural. At 6:15 I was dialated to a 10 and Clara was born at 6:27 pm at 7lbs. and 1 oz.!

The delivery couldn't have gone smoother and she was so healthy despite being my smallest baby.

For her birthday today, we went to the doctor's for her 1 year check up and she is a healthy 21 lbs.! She also got 4 shots (not much of a birthday present) and then we met Jason for sushi afterwards (she played with the chopsticks).

I look in awe at this beautiful little girl everyday and can't believe that our family was the lucky ones that she decided to experience mortality with. (Think of "Raising Arizona" when I say) I love her soooo much!!!

Happy Birthday my darling little girl!

Summer Cookin'

2008-09-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's official...summer is gone. We had rain today and the forecast is calling for more starting Thursday, so we can truly say goodbye. I would be more sad if I didn't love Fall so much, but I am feeling a bit melancholy to say adieu to summer cookin'. I'm not much of a cook. I do it more out of necessity than desire, but when you have a great crop from your garden and berry patches just down the street, you can't help but have a small place in your heart for the culinary art. Plus, when the produce is fresh, it makes anyone look like a good cook, including me. For instance, I've had several requests for my spaghetti sauce recipe which in reality is just veggies from my garden coupled with italian sausage. I thought for posterity's sake and as a tribute to good 'ol summer cookin' I would post some of my favorite summer recipes.

Spaghetti Sauce

( modified from a recipe given to me by Gabe Jensen)

You can use whatever veggies you want, but this is what I typically use:

1 thinly sliced medium zucchini

1 thinly sliced yellow squash

1 thinly sliced small white onion

4 cloves of garlic finely diced garlic

Sautee the above vegetables in 2T of olive oil and then add 1 lb. browned and drained ground Italian sausage.

Add 1 large can of crushed tomatoes and 1 can of diced tomatoes. Add 2 T of balsamic vinegar and 2 T of sugar. Mix well, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Marionberry Cobbler

(given to me by Marcy Leonard)

Cream together 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.

Sift the following:

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Stir in sifted ingredients alternating with 1/2 cup milk.

Beat until smooth. Pour into 2 quart casserole dish. Spoon 3-4 cups of cleaned marionberries over dough. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar. Pour 1 cup of juice from a can of peaches over the top. Bake @ 375 for 45-50 minutes.

Tres Leches Cake

(after we pick our strawberries we usually make strawberry shortcake that night, however this year, we have found this recipe to be our favorite to couple with our fresh pick)

1 yellow cake mix (with pudding) baked as directed in 13x9 inch pan

For topping mixture:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pint heavy whipping cream

Mix well.

To finish:

whipped cream, to cover cake

Poke holes in the cake with a fork all over. Pour topping mixture over cake. Let mixture absorb completely in refrigerator ( a couple of hours or more). Cover with whipped cream and serve with lightly sweetened fresh strawberries or peaches.

Zucchini Bread

(given to me by Heidi Janeway)

3 eggs 1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. apple sauce

1 c. sugar

2 c. grated zucchini 1 tsp. vanilla

3 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. allspice

Beat eggs. Add oil and sugar and beat well. Beat in zucchini and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until mixed thoroughly. Bake in two greased loaf pans at 350 for 45 minutes-1 hour.

Well, there are a few of my favorites. On the grill we always enjoy salmon grilled on cedar planks, chicken and steak kabobs and skewer our zucchini and brush it with olive oil and seasoned salt. Oh yeah, I almost forgot my version of bruschetta:

4 diced tomatoes

finely diced half of small onion

finely diced 3 garlic cloves

hand torn into tiny pieces, a handful of fresh basil

Combine in bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

spoon onto thinly sliced baguette and then sprinkle with shredded parmesan. Bake on cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350.

Camping and Ode to the Smiths

2008-09-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

Jason, Jen & Derrick Smith and I in Victoria B.C. in August 2006

With Jason having started his own law practice in May, we decided to take it easy on the vacations this summer, EXCEPT for our annual camping trip with our dear friends, the Derrick and Jennifer Smith family. Before I continue, it's important that I give you a brief history on how it is that we came to know the Smiths...

It was my freshman year at Ricks College and the first day of my group piano class. I walked in, looking for a place to sit and one of the few seats open was next to a cute blonde girl that looked friendly enough and so I hurried and sat down. We had a couple of minutes before class started and so we exchanged the usual questions, ie. "Where you from?", etc. After a short conversation we discovered we were both from the Northwest and we had both been cheerleaders and we obviously both played the piano. Apparently that was all it took. We were immediately kindred spirits. The next two years consisted of us trading a lot of clothes, breaking many hearts (mostly pre-mission boys, because you know, we were helping them build character), ripping up the dance floor at Retrix, campaigning for student body officer, etc., etc.

Jen and I in Spring of 93...

Our years at Ricks came to an end and we went our seperate ways. We kept in touch for awhile, but then I went on my mission and we lost contact. A few months after my mission I moved to Logan and I was looking through an old address book and came across Jen's parents phone #. I thought I would give it a try. I talked to her sweet mom and she told me that Jen was still at BYU, but was no longer Jen Christensen, but Jen Smith. She gave me Jen's # and I immediately called her. We talked forever and decided on a time that we would get together. So one weekend, Jason and I made the drive to Provo ( this was pre engagement for us) and we met up with Jen and her new husband, Derrick. It was like the good ol days and luckily for us, our husbands hit it off well.

Now I can get back to the camping part of this all. After Jason and I had been married for almost a year, we invited the Smiths to come up from Provo and go camping with us for 4th of July. We had so much fun! We camped in Logan Canyon and the next day we went hiking and then to a car show and then found a great place in the football stadium to watch, what I still believe is the best fireworks show ever. We knew at that point that we would be moving to Michigan at the end of the summer and so the future of our friendship was uncertain. I remember talking with Jen during that trip about how great it would be if we could reunite every summer even after we started our families and have a camping trip as fun as this. Little did we know that our great idea would become a reality a few years later. We kept in touch through the years even though grad school and job moves kept us seperated by miles and in 2003 we both found ourselves back in the Northwest. We decided then and there that we had to start up our camping trips again. We started in 2003 and have been going strong every year since then. With 7 kids between us, all approximately the same age and who get along perfectly, we always have an incredible time and look forward to the next year. We have visited Detroit Lake, Pendelton, Cape Lookout and this year we met at Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum, Washington.

Jen, on account of her immaculate literary skills, can give you a much funnier and realistic view of how this years camping trip went, so check out her "Reality Bites" post at: http://www.ginnysee.blogspot.com/

Regardless, of the sickness and the dirt, we loved it and have been begging for more.

Five minutes of peace

2008-09-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh...big sigh...I just returned from dropping Mary and Jaykob off at their first day of school and now I am able to sit down for five minutes and return from my month long blog hiatus and conjure up a post. Oh just kidding, Clara just woke up from her nap, I have a laundry pile the size of Everest, a pile of dishes the size of Mt. Hood and a to do list as long as the Nile oh and a bit of a knack for exageration as well. Thank goodness I blog so that I can remember that I can read and write and that all I gained from my bachelor's degree was not just what I learned from the Dorm 5 laundromat. I must run now, but at least I had this five minutes to let all my fans know that I am still blogging, in fact part of that to do list includes about five different posts including our annual camping trip and our first annual back to school Short family award ceremony (yes, it is as cool as it sounds). See you soon!!!

Thank You

2008-08-07T23:02:00.001-07:00

So here I've been thinking that nobody read my blog and if they did they must think it's dumb because nobody posted any comments...wo is me...blah blah blah. Little did I know that it was actually all my fault. Being a new blogger and all I mistakenly vied for the option to moderate my comments before they were published, but I had no idea, so multiple comments have been sitting at my dashboard waiting to be moderated. Unfortunatly, I am unable to retrieve them now and so I have not read any of the comments all you wonderful people have left me. If any of you have any clue as to how I can retrieve these messages, the advice is welcome. But for now, I want to thank you all for the wonderful comments (I'm assuming they're wonderful considering I haven't read them)and please forgive me for even considering the idea that you did not comment.

The Glory Days

2008-08-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

The proof is in the pudding! Yes, it's true...after four kids, I can still pull off a toe touch. Let's not pay attention to the fact that I need the help of the trampoline and I ran to the bathroom right after this (moms...you know what I'm talking about). I would also like to put a disclaimer on the pooch. It is totally the top (note to self...throw away yellow hoodie). This post is also a shout out to all those fellow South High cheerleaders (none, I'm sure, of whom are reading this blog)...GO SAXONS!!!

Tagged by Diana

2008-07-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Diana...

I think: about the most effective way to properly discipline my children. I'm not sure I have found the solution, but I think about it a lot.
I know: Spanish
I want: a bigger house
I have: the world's best husband and four amazing children
I wish: Politics didn't have to be so contentious. It seems that politics have to be argued about instead of discussed which turns me off to it and as a result I don't educate myself as much as I should
I hate: drugs
I miss: Sunday afternoons before I had children
I fear: losing my husband
I smell: Clara's stale spit up
I crave: Haggen Daaz carmelized pear and toasted pecan ice cream
I search: for a minute of peace and quiet on a daily basis
I wonder: if Mary's beligerence is a phase or will she always be wagering some kind of war with me and/or her brothers
I regret: not buying a house sooner in our marriage
I love: my family and friends and the gospel
I always: am cleaning and if I'm not, I always feel like I should be.
I am not: a scriptorian. I wish I was.
I believe: the Book of Mormon is true.
I dance: a lot! I wish I still took lessons, in fact someday I think I will.
I sing: primary songs to my kids at bedtime
I write: on my blog, in my journal and in my scrapbooks.
I lose: it when my kids have been fighting and tattle telling all day...I can't take that for very long.
I win: tic tac toe every time
I never: swear
I listen: to broadway musicals more than any other kind of music
I am scared: of roller coasters
I need: a maid
I am happy about: my life! I am blessed in abundance.

This was a tag from my sister in law Diana. I tag: Gabe,Jen and Angela

Happy 36th Jason!!!

2008-07-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Forget Tolstoy, Faulkner or Hemingway, it's the great literary brains behind "Anchorman" that gets my husband going.

You're saying to yourself, "Not Jason, a well respected attorney and member of the High Council. He wouldn't stoop so low to the likes of a Will Ferrell comedy". But alas, it's true. It's lines like,

"I'm kind of a big deal...I have many leather -bound books and my
apartment smells of rich mahogany."

that makes this man roll on the floor in laughter. Now I know that I should in no way encourage this behavior, but he's my husband and he's just so cute, so when I saw this t-shirt and I knew Jason's birthday was coming up, I gave into the immaturity and bought it.

Of course, he loved it! Never miind that I also got him a WII Fit and a day of golf and made him a killer tres leches cake...the tshirt stole the show! I think it's a pretty good color on him too, don't ya think?

Putting aside his taste in offensive comedies, Jason is wonderful!

We've been married now for 12 years and I've grown to love him more each year. He is hardworking, positive, charming, funny, energetic and I adore him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!

Bath Time!

2008-07-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

Until I can think of something cute and clever and mildly interesting to write about, I thought I would at least publish this little video of bath time with Max and Clara. Enjoy!

Fourth of July

2008-07-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Jason & Rachel Short family did our best to celebrate our Independence in an All-American way, so we made a check list:

*cheesy local parade

*rodeo

*mechanical bullride

*greasy food

*must wear red, white and/or blue

*BBQ

*illegal fireworks

*friends and family

*and maybe a meltdown or two.

In an effort to check everything off our list we started the day off by hitting the Downtown Hillsboro Parade. The kids got plenty o' candy and we heard a few good marching bands. After that we jetted down to good 'ol St. Paul for the ever so famous St. Paul Rodeo where we met up with good friends, the Jensens and Adam & Diana Heder (on their way to Seattle for his next internship). It was the kids first rodeo and I think they liked it. If not they certainly enjoyed the greasy curly fries and elephant ears and the mechanical bullride. We headed back to Banks after that and put together a quick (but delicious) BBQ with Adam & Diana and as it started getting dark we headed out to the country where some friends put on our very own private fireworks show with a few they bought on a reservation in Washington.

I think we checked everything off our list...oh yeah...the meltdowns...After we lost Max three times at the rodeo we insisted that he hold our hand the rest of the time and he was less than joyful about that and at 11:00 pm when we were still watching fireworks, Jaykob became very insistent that he was ready to go home no matter how great the fireworks were. But all in all that wasn't too bad and we succeeded in having a full on All-American Independence Day...GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Palo Alto

2008-07-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

I decided to hitch a ride with my parents when I found out they where headed south to visit Adam & Diana in Palo Alto. Adam was doing a two month internship there and was staying in a beautiful home right in the redwoods and near the beach, so it sounded too fun to pass up. My kind friends and in laws helped watch the three oldest kids and Clara and made the ten hour drive with my parents and I. While there we visited the Stanford campus, hung out at Santa Clara and played at San Gregorio beach... oh and ate a lot of Haagen Daz (since it was 100 degrees...not that I need an excuse like that to eat Haagan Daz). It was a great time and Clara and Madeline got to do a lot of cousin bonding.

2008-06-26T21:21:00.001-07:00

"Chunky legs" was the name that my brothers sometimes called me when we were growing up. I would like to say it was what they affectionately called me, but I have a hard time believing there was any affection involved. They were aware of how self conscious I was over my stockier build and less than glamorous length of legs, but did that stop them? No! There was even a time when my brother, Jon started in with the name calling and I warned him that if I heard "chunky legs" one more time, I would have to pin him down with my ever so muscular legs and beat him to a pulp. Did he persist? You betcha and the beatings began. I can't say that I beat him to a bloody pulp , but I did make him cry. I'm not sure why I'm writing this because I'm not really proud of this story since I see myself as a non-violent humanitarian, but I felt it was necessary to illustrate my sensitivity on this subject.
But that was then and this is now. Years later I have come to grips and am at peace with the body shape in which the Good Lord has given me (and I think that Jon has forgiven me for the beating as well). And to prove it, I have chosen to title my blog, "Chunky Legs". I dedicate this title to all women out there that no matter how many miles they run will always be "blessed" with short, stocky legs and to my five younger brothers whom, despite their insensitive name calling, I still dearly love.