Merry Christmas and here's to another year.

Things sure do have a way of getting away from us. And you all know that clean socks and clean dishes trump blog updates. Then there's another thing: our boys are addicted to an online game that only works on the laptop (minecraft). Sometimes it's just not worth the fight to get online.

Here is our year-in-a-minute update:

MIKE
new thing: went to Germany, conducted first funeral
same old thing: coached Emily's soccer team

TONYA
new thing: in primary presidency (but old thing because it's my third time)
same old thing: still starting lots of projects instead of finishing them
news on my back: got the all clear from the doctor to do reasonable things and shouldn't have much trouble until arthritis kicks in

HAYDEN
new thing: in jr high, got taller than mom, went deep sea fishing
old thing: still on the computer non stop, still working towards Eagle scout

EMILY
new thing: in intermediate school, playing the flute,
old thing: still making crafts and drawing

TATE
new thing: new elementary school, likes Mike's fish 'n' chips, reading chapter books
old thing: still wants to do everything Hayden does, still likes to hug and snuggle

Our big tree is gone!

First, Mike and I have been sick for what seems like forever, or at least most of September. REALLY didn't feel like blogging.

Our Sycamore/cottonless cottonwood tree has been dying. The dying accelerated this summer, and after many false starts, we got it taken down before some big branches could do damage to the neighbor's home. Here is movie made from multiple clips to show the process (beware: the sound ranges from silent to super loud, so you might want to turn the sound down...)

Willard Peak-what a ride...

Hayden's in misery.
View of Brigham City
Perry reservoir
View of Ogden valley and Pineview reservoir
Loverly mountain flowers


So back in July we grabbed Subway (to please Emily) and drove up to Willard Peak. Mike's always wanted to check it out. The view in 3 directions was sa-weet!!! We never made it to the end of the road, though, because all three of the kids were very very unhappy. Emily hates driving on mountain roads with cliffs, Hayden said it all made him feel sick, and Tate was distraught because everyone else was. sigh. The ride WAS pretty rough, but the view more than made up for it to Mike and I. Sounds like a good (but long) date idea for next summer.

People on a Beach

Three silly kids on the beach
three silly kids, their dad and his kite on a beach
Mike and Emily and rocks on a beach
Hayden sitting on rocks on a beachTate looking like a manta ray (in his reflection) on the beach
Emily and her baggie of shells she wouldn't touch on the beach
A fine example of the stride I love on the beach
Me taking my own photo on the beach
my boys looking for stuff on the beach
Hayden and Mike. The beach was so big, and the water so far out right then, it just seemed so cool, these two guys, in the middle of the beach.


PS I am dividing our many many photos (which I will not bore you with all of) into categories. These are pictures of people on a beach.

pps don't you think I need a fancy camera with super zoom???

Deep-sea Fishing but not for Me

The boat. Or, as they say on "Phineas and Ferb", bo-at (bow @).
Hayden felt he'd caught enough after 6 (including two at once). So he napped.
My dad, working on a big one!
Mike and my dad.

Hayden and my dad.


I didn't go because Emily and Tate are scared of boats. It was ok, because we all hung out with my mom that morning. That was fun. I bought $$$ of salt water taffy. Yikes!

I didn't include pictures of the bloody rubbermaid tote with all the fish inside...if you'd like to see them, e-mail Mike, who will gladly share them. Not me. ick.

Now, a word from Mike: We didn't actually take any pictures of the fish as we brought them in because we were just busy fishing. I wish we had some photos, but no, we don't. When I brought in the big ling cod I knocked on the window to get sleeping Hayden's attention. He looked out, but he didn't bother to come take a picture. Here is one photo I took using my phone because it was easier than getting the camera out early on when Tonya's dad had caught 2 rockfish and Hayden and I had caught the slightly smaller but larger number of rockfish in the other tote. We caught larger ones after this. Really.


In the end we ended up with a whole bunch of rockfish, one "sea trout" (really a kelp greenling - very pretty colors), and a nice ling cod (the biggest, meanest, and reportedly tastiest of them all). We now have a whole lot of fish fillets in our freezer, vacuum packed and awaiting future dinners.

Certain smaller kids need to get over this boat problem if they ever want to go out whale watching one of these days...

Part one of vacation pix--the aquarium and waterfront

The very entertaining and very stinky sea lions!
the lovely Yaquina Bay bridge
the lovely Yaquina Bay
Even the bathroom at Mo's was cool! This is the light fixture in the bathroom.
Mike and one of the many awesome murals!
My phone didn't make Em look good, but the whales are sooo cool!
Underside of a bat ray!
jellyfish!
Scary huge crabs from Japan-spider crabs
the turtle's gonna get Mike!
Hayden naps on a whale...
Em and one of her favorite creatures--a seal

This is just like on TV when people invited their friends over to watch slides of their vacation photos. Poor you! The photo quality is not great because I forgot the camera on these two jaunts and had to use my phone. :(

Phew! No knife to my heart!

I went school shoe shopping with Emily. I saw these shoes, and they were marked down to $7!! Now, if I had been a teen or pre-teen and stumbled onto these, I would have considered them a gift from heaven for being a good girl. Also I would have possibly died from joy. Emily didn't necessarily like them--she says she's not a bright color girl. She tried them on and then went to try on something she liked better. I told her to go ahead, break my heart. It would be a sin to pass on a gift like this. Eventually she chose another ok and reasonably priced shoe and DECIDED TO GET THESE, TOO! Phew. Crisis averted.
To my great surprise, Hayden chose these on his own without any encouragement from me. Hooray! Also, his feet are getting freaky huge.