Rachel's canoe trip

Rachel went on a canoe trip with her class where they learned about Lewis and Clark and some Oregon history. She had a lot of fun, and we were sent some cute pictures.

Musicals

I have been on a Gene Kelly kick recently. I have found that it is much more enjoyable to iron if I have something fun to watch, so I have been multitasking. I love the more popular movies he was in like "Singing in the Rain", but I have seen some fun ones recently that I hadn't seen before like "On the Town," "Anchor's Aweigh," and "Take Me out to the Ballgame." If you like musicals, a really fun one that is kind of obscure is "Neptune's Daughter." It has Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban (he was the guy in Fantasy Island) and is a great show. That's where the song "Baby, it's cold outside" came from. Here are a few links for some of my favorites:

Neptunes Daughter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAdEYU3btg

Singing in the Rain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ

Brigadoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Od2idW0KM (this is where my name came from - "The Heather on the Hill")

On the Town: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7QfCxuvLo (this one has Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra)

Xanadu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWEwzzTYgDU (we used to watch this movie over and over as kids - now my girls love it!)

Enchanted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYU4cqUAUs not a classic, but still really fun

Cross Country Meets

Rebekah had her first meet of the year last week. It is a really tricky course for several reasons: first, for most of the course there are holes in the ground every few feet because of moles and there are beehives in some of the holes; second, the course is hilly; third, many of the kids were running with bee stings. It seems really crazy to me that they have a race at this particular park every year, because this was our third year going, and the third year that many kids were stung. Rebekah and Elizabeth were each stung once, and Rebekah's friend was stung five times, and had to run 1/2 hour later. CRAZY!
Anyway, Rebekah did pretty well, especially considering the challenges. She finished the two mile course in 16:03.
Rebekah at the finish line
Elizabeth and Rebekah
The second meet of the year was yesterday, and Rebekah finished in 15:08! Pretty good to cut a minute off of her race time! The cool thing about this race was the 8th grade boys and girls ran together, and Rebekah was the fifteenth girl to finish the race, and she finished ahead of a lot of the boys. She is a great runner! She is not deterred by her height at all, even though most of the kids her age are a lot taller.
Rebekah is a great example to me of modesty. She always wears a t-shirt under her jersey for modesty's sake - even on hot days. I love you Rebekah! Rebekah at the finish with some of her friends

Busy, Busy, Busy!

There is too much going on now for details, but here are some highlights:

All of the kids are enjoying school this year and doing well. They are spread out between three different school, which has made for crazy calendaring with different days off and early release days. We also have Josh leaving for school at 6:57, Elizabeth, Michael and Rebekah at 7:30, and Rachel at 8:30, so it's a constantly moving morning around here. Elizabeth is in an early band class at the junior high, so she takes the bus with Michael and Rebekah. She is learning to play the flute, so we have flute, piano, clarinet, tuba, and trumpet players.

Michael got to play on the starting line for the first time for his football game Saturday! He was really excited about it. Michael doesn't let me take pictures if he knows the camera is around, but I caught him a few times. I love Michael's stance, something about it is really cute. He always stands with his hands on his hips, and his toes pointed outward. Michael is #13. They won this game, and Michael got in on some tackles and blocked a PAT.

I have started taking a weekly institute class on the book of John, and I am really excited about it. I have been in primary for so long, it is really nice to take a class with other adults. I am also in the process of becoming a regular temple volunteer in the cafeteria. Today was my third time helping, I work a 4-5 hour shift once each week. It's a lot of fun. I help with cooking, serving, and running the cash register. My bishop has the paperwork to make me official, and once it is turned in I will be set apart by the temple president. I am really excited that I can serve in the temple.

We have successfully completed two back to school nights, and have the high school tonight. I am scared, I feel like I really shouldn't be there because there are so many parents who are my parent's ages. It's a bit awkward, but I've got to go, so I'll grin and bear it :)

Rachel and Elizabeth tried out to be munchkins in our high school's "The Wizard of Oz" production. They both did great in their audition, and Rachel got a part. She is super excited. I think that Elizabeth is just too tall to be a munchkin - she has an amazing voice and really did well during her audition. The director was a bit overwhelmed by the turnout - they had about 150 kids try out, and had planned to cast only 20. They decided to cast 40 instead because of the amount of interest. The performances are in November and should be a lot of fun.

Rebekah is in cross country and has her first meet tomorrow. Josh is the team manager for her team (Josh was at the junior high's first practice watching Rebekah, and the coach asked him to be the team manager. He was on the junior high team for two years and did not join cross country this year because he needs to focus more on grades. So much for that idea!)I think he likes the power- a lot of the kids think he is really cool. I will let you know how Rebekah does in her first meet. She ran two miles yesterday in under 14 minutes, so she is doing really well in her training.

I finished writing the primary program last week and got all of the parts distributed to parents. Now I am working on the seating chart (very important - this can make or break our program!). I will be really relieved when the program is finished. We have our first practice this Sunday, so I also need to print packets for all of the teachers with the program and music. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed!!! (but I do love primary, and I love my calling - thought I needed that disclaimer!)

Mushroom hunting adventure

Every year we go to Mt. Ranier searching for golden chantrelle mushrooms and huckleberries. It's a tradition that started with Paul's grandfather when Paul was a teenager. Grandpa is gone now, but we really enjoy going with our children and Paul's mom. It is so much fun to go tromping through the forest looking for those priceless gems. We picked about 15 pounds of mushrooms this year. For the first time in fifteen years we were not able to pick huckleberries :( It has been too cold this summer, and the berries are still green! It was a little disappointing, but we had a fun day anyway.Rachel and Elizabeth cutting some mushrooms - they are tricky to spot sometimes, so you need to keep a sharp eye to avoid stepping on them, or missing them all together!
The happy hunters!

Here's what the mushrooms look like on the ground. I was hoping to get a picture of a giant one (we find some that are about 2-3 inches across on a good year) but most of them were pretty small this year.
Rebekah is a willing picker, but does not like to eat mushrooms! She said that she will continue the tradition with her family as far as huckleberries go, that might be it though.
Michael cutting a mushroom - they need to be cut rather than pulled so that they regrow.
Josh the manThe kids had fun riding in Grandma Debbie's trunk. They rode up and down the road while waiting for us to finish coming down the hillside.
This is what they look like after being cleaned - it takes a long time to clean them because of pine needles, dirt, moss - but they are well worth the effort, and fantastic in stroganoff, gravy and spaghetti. I can the extra mushrooms when we come home with a lot, but this time we are just enjoying them.

Hood to Coast Relay Race - 197 miles and still alive!

We ran in the Hood to Coast this weekend and had a great time. This was my fifth year! This is also the first year that Paul and I have been in the same car, and that was really cool. Normally, we each drive one of our cars and only see one another a couple of times during the race at exchanges between our cars, and talk on the phone a lot. This year we were together all the way through, and that was a fun change. Paul ran right after me, so it was fun to hand off to him at our exchanges. We did that one other year when I was the first runner in my car, and Paul was the last runner in his car, and our handing off to each other was the only time we saw one another until the end of the race. We would kiss as we handed off, and got lots of ooh's and aah's. We were pretty sore at the end of the race, but are doing good now. I was really pleasantly surprised that I didn't have more back problems during the race, yeah! Next year is going to be even better, my goal is to run 9 minute miles, so that is what I will be training for. I didn't take any pictures this year along the way, but these pictures were from the beach at the end of the race.

We had a great team this year, and a lot of fun cheering one another on. The three boys at the back on the right are only 14 and 15 years old! The three of them ran in the same car with their dad. They ran amazing paces-we thought they might fizzle out after the first or second times running, but they held strong, and actually ran quicker than they thought they would. This is the first year we have had anyone younger than 18 run with us, but we were pleasantly surprised.
Our team name is Numb because when you run for miles and miles you fall into a rhythm and feel like you can keep running forever because you become numb to it. (This is a theory, you do become numb to it to some degree, but hurt like crazy afterward!) We write on the car windows everyone's name, tally marks for roadkills (when you pass another runner it is called a roadkill), and other fun stuff. By the time I took this picture some of our writing had worn away, but the back window says Uncomfortably Numb. This race is so much fun, if any of you out there want to do it with us, let me know! It is hard, hot, stinky, tiring, and long, but an absolute blast! It is really rewarding to know that you can push your body to the limits and do something so extreme, I love it!

Summertime fun!

We went with my friend Tammy and her family to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a lot of fun, and really pretty. Tammy and Rob's oldest daughter is Rachel's age and they have two younger boys. Our kids get along great and really enjoy being together. We had a picnic (with a visiting racoon trying very hard to get some food!) and then walked up to the bottom of the falls and the kids played in the water. Thank you Tammy for the pictures!
Rachel and Kayla picking flowers
Tammy and Heather - we were inseparable in high school, and it's great to still be friends! Michael is king of the rock!
Rebekah, Josh and Michael built a dam, and Michael decided to lay in the FREEZING cold water. It was icy!

We started our vacation off by going to Idaho Falls. We used to live just a block from the Idaho Falls temple, so we went to see our old house, and walked around the temple grounds. It was beautiful, and HOT! We aren't at all used to 100 degree heat, and it killed us!
We went to visit Rexburg and BYU-Idaho. Everything has really changed in the last 15 years! We spent a couple of hours walking around campus and through the buildings. This is the bowling alley on campus where Paul and I first met.
I am really hoping my kids go to BYU-Idaho. I love that the school is so conservative in a world that is continually becoming more and more liberal. I love that each week there are devotionals, and that there is now a temple right next to campus. I love that classes begin with a prayer, and that there is a strict dress code. I love the atmosphere of the school - it is so different from the experiences Paul had at Portland State and Idaho State, and I hope that my kids will want that same experience. Here is the temple in Rexburg. If you have not seen it, it is one of the largest buildings in town, and you can see it from all around because it is up on a hill. It reminds me of the Nauvoo temple.
We are definately not acclimated to Idaho heat! This is what Rachel and Josh looked like after walking around campus for a couple of hours.

We took a great trip to Utah which included a lot of visiting with family and Lagoon. We asked the kids what they wanted to do during our trip and our answers were swim, go to lagoon, visit cousins, and go to the Peppermint Place store (an outlet store in Alpine for a candy factory). We finished everything on the list, so that was good! We were at Lagoon on a GREAT day, and waited only a minute or two for most rides. It was a lot of fun. We spent a couple of days at Tricia's house and enjoyed being with them. The kids love playing together, and Paul and I had fun playing games with Tricia and Byron. We enjoyed a BBQ with them, and mom and dad and Allyson and her kids came too. Unfortunately, I left my camera packed for most of our trip, so I don't have any pictures - just imagine lots of fun!