Back from Arizona!!!

We made it back on Monday night and had a great trip. We spent the first five days with Kristi's parents in Sun City West. We had a hotel room with a heated pool so the kids swam alot and played with their cousins Austin and Jordan. The kids hadn't seen their cousins in almost 4 years so it was good to get together with them.

Grandpa Faris, me and the boys went to a Winter league baseball game with is made up of minor league players and that was fun. The boys got about 30 autographs so hopefully one of them will make it big. We went to the Heard museum and learned about the southwest Native Americans. It was a little much for the littlier kids but there were different activities for them to do. We also got to eat some deep fried Okra which is a favorite for Kristi and I.

One day we went to Cabelas and were able to see all of the stuffed animals. It was quit a deal if you haven't been to one I would suggest it. There were hundreds of stuffed animals like bear, elk, polar bears, snakes, goats, lions, zebra....the list goes on. They also have fish tanks with trout, catfish, bass, etc.

We spent the last five days in Gilbert with my folks. Grandpa heated the pool so again the kids swam a bunch. It was in the mid to high 80's the entire week which was great. Kristi went to the women of faith conference with my mom on Friday and Saturday. I took Kody and Kailin to a run in Surpise where they both ran a 5k and I ran a 10k. Grandpa also went and Margie met us there and ran with Kailin. Margie was a lifesaver because Kristi forgot about the conference when we signed up to do the run and had it not been for Margie Kailin wouldn't have been able to do it.

We all survived the run and had a good time. We just swam a bunch for the 5 days but mostly relaxed. The last Sunday I went down and watched the Ironman Arizona in Tempe. I took Kody at 0630 to watch the swim start. 2200 people alll swimming in the lake at once was quit a sight. Kody and I had breakfast at the Waffle House, which is my favorite breakfast greasy spoon on earth. They don't have them in Oregon so I happened to find a way to go there 3 times for waffles and hashbrowns with cheese, onions and ham, mmm mmm good.

Kody and I went back and got the rest of the family and went back and watched some more. The poeple have 17 hours to finish it so we watched for a while and went to lunch. The swim is 2.4 miles, the bike is 112 miles and the run is 26.2 miles. The pro triathletes finish in about 8 hours and 15 minutes while others took the entire 17 hours.

Kristi and I came back at about 8pm and stayed until midnight when it was over. It was like a huge party but nobody was drunk. The music was blaring and people were just going crazy cheering on the finishers and they seemed to appreciate it. We had a great time and were very glad we got to see it.

Anyway, we had a great trip but it is nice to be home. Nothing beats home!!!

Gone to Arizona

We are off to see the grandparents. We leave Friday for Arizona for 10 days. We are all looking forward to a little warm weather. It has been raining off and on for a few days so nice weather will be a nice treat.

We haven't really been up to much for the past month or so. Kristi's grandma passed away a couple of weeks ago so we made a trip to Nampa, Idaho for the funeral. We were able to visit with Kristi's family before and after the funeral. Kristi's grandma was in her mid 90's so she lived a good life and we all should be as lucky as her. Nonetheless her passing away is still a bummer. We were fortunate enough to have her come and stay at the house last year so we have some good memories of her being here.

After Kristi's parents left back for Arizona we went into Boise and visited my Aunt Pam. We went to lunch with her and then went a visited with Grandma Kantola for a couple of hours. Grandma Kantola is in a care facility in Boise and seemed to be doing good. We enjoyed hanging out with her and her memory is still really sharp. She hadn't met Kirik yet so it was good to introduce them.

Her hearing isn't the greatest so when we would ask her questions she would answer something totally unrelated and kids would giggle. So grandma did provide a little entertainment for the kids. We miss having her so close to us like when we lived in Portland and she was just a block away. We wish we were closer so we could have her just hang out with us and see the grandkids more often.

Anyway, no major problems with the motorhome on the trip which isn't always the case. The front heater was acting goofy so there were some issues but it wouldn't be a road trip without something going wrong. You pretty much add $500 to any trip to fix the problems once you get home.

If you notice we have no pictures from Boise then you are right. Somehow we managed to lose the digital camera. So all of our pics with Kristi's family, the funeral and our visit with grandma are gonzo. We have gotten a new one so hopefully the arizona trip pics will be posted when we get back.

Gone Camping...

Last weekend we went on a camping trip to Foster Lake. We went with the Stanger's who we have know mostly through Kody and their son Matt. Kody and Matt play football together and have been in school together for a while. They also have a boy named Marcus and a girl, Peyton. Marcus is Kaleb's age so they hit it off pretty well also. Peyton is younger than any of our kids but they love playing with her. She is a little fireball and is always going.

The lake is really low so we didn't go in the lake at all. The kids did take a rubber raft in the pond in the middle of the campground. We fished a bunch but didn't catch much. Kody caught a little bluegill and then threw it back, at least that is what he claims.

The Stanger's, Craig and Tiffany, also have a motorhome so we had been trying to plan a trip with them for most of the summer but it just never seemed to work out so we finally got it in after school started. The littlier kids didn't have school on Friday so we went from Thursday to Sunday. As it does sometimes it rained for a good part of the camping trip but we still had a ball in the motorhomes.

Tiffany made some great Apple Cobbler which didn't last long and we mostly ate a bunch of good food and junk food. Probably wasn't the best training for my upcoming half marathon, but oh well. We are planning on doing more trips in the future, hopefully sooner than later.

Football and Soccer

The fall means sports. Kody is doing 7th grade Football at Talmadge Middle School and Kaleb is playing soccer for Central Youth Sports. This is Kody's second year of football and Kaleb's first time to play soccer.

So far Kody has played almost every position on the field at one time or another except maybe offensive line. He has really taken off and seems to have figured out that if he hits the other guy harder that it hurts him less. In the past few games he has really gone after the ball carriers. He is also playing running back and had over 50 yards rushing on just 5 or 6 rushes in his second to last game.

Last game he played what would be the equivalent to midde linebacker and had a bunch of tackles. His best play though was one where he just got crushed but got back up and still made the tackle. I was really proud of him because he could have just laid there and thought about how he just got crushed but he didn't. Most of all he is having fun and seems to be enjoying it. He is walking around right now with a huge black eye that he got 3 games ago, but it is about the size of a softball on his left cheek/eye. Kind of a Badge of Courage I think. Mind you, Kody is only about 91 pounds so he isn't the biggest guy on the field, by far, but he makes up for it with effort.

Kaleb is also enjoying soccer. Mostly a social time but he also likes to run around on the field and try to kick the ball. He played goalie here last game and did really well. He knows alot of the kids on his team and practices turn into screw around sessions from what I can tell, but they try to mix some soccer in when they can.

I'm not sure my girls are going to be into sports but who knows, there is still lots of time. I really think Kennedy has the personality to play linebacker or something where you have to be mean. Ask Koda, she thrashes him every now and then.

Kirik Goes to Pre-School

Kirik started preschool last week. So now we have three days a week where we have no kids at home for two and a half hours. Can you believe it??? I thought the day would never come. We had decided to hold Kirik back from preschool this year and put him in next year but the preschool called and they had an extra space which is unheard of. We talked about it and we decided to have him do the 4's class this year and repeat it again the next year.

He is still pretty small compared to the others and not sure how he is going to do socially. Although there area usually as many kids at the house as there are at the preschool at any given time, but it's a litte different without mom and dad around. His first day was last Wednesday and it seemed to go really well. When we told Kirik he was going to go to preschool this year he immediately wanted to call Miss Diana his teacher to tell her he is a big boy now.

All of the kids have gone to the Monmouth Independence Cooperative Preschool (MICP) so it is kind of a tradition. Miss Diana has taught all of the kids and all of her kids go on to do really well so it is a great start for them. Kody's best friends are still the kids he went to preschool with as they form a pretty tight bond and probably will be life long friends.

Today I picked Kirik up and Miss Diana said Kirik had punched a boy in the eye for not looking at him. Which seemed like as good a reason as any to punch someone in the eye. Sounds like something all of the rest of the kids did at one time or another. So we'll see how he does. He is pretty smart so I don't worry about that part but it is just being so much smaller and behind due to the orphanage.

Check out his pics from his first day as a bona fide big boy.

Birthdays and Back to School

Grandma was here so Kirik and Grandma celebrated their birthdays together. Grandma turned ?? and Kirik turned 4. Hint, if you look closely at the picture with the cake it will give her age away. Kirik got a vacuum cleaner for his bday and grandpa made some comment about needing to give that to grandma...not sure what that was all about but grandpa wanted to sleep on the couch that night. Just kidding!

Grandma and Grandpa passed through on their way up to take care of the boat. The kids all started back to school last week. It all seemed to go good. You almost have to be a admin person to figure out when they are coming or going. Kennedy is doing half days in the a.m.'s and her bus comes home around noon. The other kids all get home around 3pm except on Mondays where they get out an hour early. Kody is doing football so he doesn't get home until around 5:45pm so he is gone most of the day.

Yesterday a boy got off of the bus with Kennedy and announced he was coming to our house. I didn't even know who he was. I thought wow this is starting early...however, it turns out he is coming over to play on Wednesday but not Monday.

Lastly, we went up to Portland this weekend so I could run a 10k race. It was called Pints to Pasta. It was a neat course that started on Swan Island and then went to the Old Spaghetti factory in John's landing. We just found a parking lot to park in and camped right there. Kody's friend Brendon went with us also.

Last Chance Summer Bash

The kids start school tomorrow!!!! So we decided to go up to Portland for the weekend with another family from the big city of Monmouth. We went with the Moore's. Kenny, Charissa, Jordan and Mariah Moore. Kody played basketball with Jordan and Kenny was Kody's coach. We all went to the Embassy Suites at the airport and on Sunday took the Max in to Portland and watched all of the freaks, I mean Portlanders, in the downtown area.

We went to the Saturday market and walked around a bit and then to Pioneer Square. We ate lunch at one of our favorite Greek Restaurants called the Greek Cuisina, if you've ever been downtown in has a huge purple octopus on the building. We all tried different types of Greek foods like spanikopita, gyro's, grape leaves, etc. It was a good lunch and the vanilla bean cheesecake and strawberry shortcake was a good way to end the meal.

The kids actually got to pet a Bengal Leopard at Pioneer Square. Some guy buys exotic cats and keeps em' for pets and he just happened to have one on a leash. It wasn't much bigger than a domestic cat but you could tell it was a little more substance in terms of muscle and killer power.

We left the kids in the room on Saturday night with some food and movies/tv and the adults had a nice dinner in the restaurant at the hotel. Which was nice. Anway, we had a good time and did some swimming and just relaxing before school starts.

Kennedy is starting kindergarten tomorrow so it is a big day for her, and mom. We'll have pictures of the big event. The other kids are actually all starting new schools also. Kody will be at the middle school and Kaleb and Kailin are now going to Ash Creek so it's new schools for everyone. The districts were all rezoned which is why the younger kids are going to a new school.

Kirik will still be home hangin' with mom and dad. We are holding him back one year before starting him in pre-school. We think that will benefit him in the long run. The Russian Rocket still only weighs about 35 pounds so he could use some more growing before he starts, plus some more time to develop will be good for him. He is bummed out about it but he'll get over it.

We'll post some school pics when we get em. Hope you all had a good summer and are ready for fall and winter. Do they have seasons in Scotland? I guess my brother will be able to tell me here in a bit.