Tessie

We decided we needed a dog--albeit a calm, non-crazy dog (lets all take a moment to reflect on Clover).
Joe and I went to the county shelter about 3 weeks ago and got Tessie. She is a German Shepard/Jindo mix. She is more cat than dog, but we love her. She is really shy unless she wants her belly rubbed. The kids have been really good with her....i.e. not getting her so excited she bits, pees or any other thing dogs do when they get worked up.

I did win the battle of inside vs. outside dog. It did take about two weeks, but after no sleep due to puppy whining and both Joseph and Ryan sneezing, Joe finally said we could try it. We set up the side of the house (it didn't take much because it was already set up for a dog--we just had to clean it up a bit)and put her outside in her cage for the night. She didn't make a peep!! She loves it outside.

We are so happy she could join our family and we feel great that we were able to adopt her and give her a good home.

Jenna's Baptism August 1, 2009

Jenna Leigh Elder was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on August 1, 2009. She was baptized by her father, Joseph Meehan and confirmed a member by her Grandpa DeLoss Christensen. She was so beautiful all dressed in her white baptismal outfit. I am so proud of her decision to get baptized. Joe did a great job! This was his first baptism so he was just as excited that he got to baptize Jenna as she was about him doing it. My dad did a wonderful confirmation and blessing. Afterward we went back to our house and had a spaghetti dinner and Jenna wanted another Luau, so we decorated a little bit and had a fire pit for the kids to roast marshmellows on. It was a great day!! It reminded me of my baptism and the covenants I made with my Heavenly Father. I am so blessed to have been raised by such wonderful parents who taught me the true and happiest path in life. I know Jenna will be a strong woman in the church one day and she has just started on that journey. Congratulations Jenna! We love you very much!!

Sea World and La Jolla Beach, San Diego, CA July 2009

My parents and my brother Scott came down to California for Jenna's baptism and we all went to Sea World and La Jolla Beach. My parents were able to bring my brother Cody's kids, Reagan and Garrett, when they came and Scott brought his whole family. We spent most of the day at Sea World. The kids had some much fun and so did the adults. We went on the rides and watched a few of the shows. The favorite show of the day was the Dolphins. My kids have all been before, so they had fun telling the other five kids all of the "ins and outs" of Sea World. After Sea World, we decided it would be fun to find a beach so that Reagan and Garrett could play in the water (They hadn't been able to play in the water when they saw the ocean in Oregan because it was too cold). We found La Jolla Beach by accident!! It was so beautiful. I wish the pictures showed more of it. The sand was so fine and soft and CLEAN! The water was warm and it wasn't crowded at all. The three older boys(Garrett, Joseph, and Jacob) went out into the waves to swim with Joe and a surfer came up and asked if the wanted to learn how to surf. I think all three boys nearly died from excitement. Joseph did awesome. He got up on the board the first try and rode that board all the way to the beach! Garrett did great as well once he got the hang of the balancing and rode pretty dang far too. Jacob had a little trouble getting up at first, but then he finally got it and rode all the way to the beach too! They could have stayed forever, but it got too dark. Jenna, Reagan, Ryan, Me and My mom stayed in the more shallow area but they had fun too letting the waves take them back and forth. We were so sad to leave. It was a great day and I can't wait to do it again!! Hopefully next time more of the family can come with us.

Anniversary Weekend at Big Bear Lake

This weekend Joe and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary (actually it was 1 year July 11). We decided to take our new mountain bikes and go to Big Bear Lake. We stayed in a small hotel right next to the sky chair. We shopped at The Village, ate some wonderful food, and went on several bike rides. It was so great to spend time just the two of us.

Jenna's 8th Birthday Luau!!

This year for Jenna's birthday we wanted to do something really fun and special for two reasons: 1. Last year we had just gotten married (we actually had the Luau on our 1st anniversary) and we didn't get to do a whole lot for her 7th birthday; and 2. She turned 8 this year and it is a very special time for her. She will be getting baptized August 1.

Joe and I went to Party City and had a ball finding tons of Luau party stuff. We had planned to surprise her, but ended up telling her because she kept saying she wanted to have a "Puppy party" (whatever that is??) and I got sick of hearing her whine about it. Once she realized what we had planned, she was so excited.

I wanted to have the Luau at night so that the Tiki torches we had bought would look cool, so we had the party at 6pm. We got out the big slip and slide for the first part of the party. The kids had fun on that for about five minutes--they were too excited to start the Luau in the back yard. We had invited about 20 friends and family and by about 7pm everyone had arrived. We had a Hula Hoop contest, and Limbo contest and then just ate sandwiches, fruit, chips and dip, and Heather's Hawaiian slush (I should have made at least twice as much--it was gone in minutes!).

I made chocolate cup cakes and put little paper umbrella's on top to make them look like Tiki huts and then decorated her cake with umbrella's as well. We opened gifts--All of which were great. Lots of craft stuff for Jenna to enjoy creating things.

After gifts and cake, we just hung out, listened to Hawaiian music, and made paper grass skirts. It was dark and we had hung paper lanturns, lights, and had Tiki torches, so we stayed out until about 11pm.

We had so much fun for Jenna's birthday and it was a nice night for our anniversary as well. We love Jenna very much and we are so proud of the young lady she is. I can't wait to see her baptism!!

Jenna's 2nd grade Living Wax Museum

This year in Jenna's class her teacher, Mrs. Struebing, let the kids pick a famous historical character to research and portray as a wax statue that when you pushed a button on each character, it would give you interesting facts about the character. Jenna picked Pocahontas. My mom made Jenna's costume and she looked so cute. We wrote all of the research we did on her down in small, easy to remember lines that Jenna could recite when her button was pushed. This is what "Pocahontas" had to say:

"Hi, my name is Pocahontas, the daughter of a powerful chief. As a child I gave food to the starving colonists. I saved my friend, John Smith's life by cradling his head before he could be clubbed to death. I was born in Virginia in 1595 and died in 1617. I married John Rolf and had a baby boy named Thomas. I went to England where I was introduced as a Princess to the King and Queen. I had no formal education, but everything I knew, I learned from my mother and other women in my tribe."

She looked so cute and did such a great job. She was chosen as one of the students to give her oral presentation to the first grade classes. I was so proud of her!! What a great way for kids to learn about history and how to do research. Jenna really enjoyed this project and so did all of the kids in her class. They were all so excited to give their presentations.

Camp Switzerland May 2009

Joe and I took the kids camping this weekend and we had such a great time. We went to Crestline, CA and Lake Gregory. Our camp was named Camp Switzerland and it was so beautiful. We loved it so much, we decided to stay an extra day. We went hiking and exploring; We taught the kids how to play UNO at night when the bugs got a little too out of hand; and we just had a wonderful time spending time together as a family. Here are some pictures of our trip.


This is the area surrounding our camp. It was so beautiful!





We went hiking around the camp site for a few hours. The kids had fun collecting all kinds of forest treasures.





More hiking.





Jacob and Ryan playing around the campsite.





I couldn't resist taking this picture of twiddle dee and twiddle dum in time out. Man, life is so hard when you have to follow rules even when you are not at home!!




Snug in their beds, worn out from a big day of hiking and playing, the kids give in to total exhaustion.