R.I.P. George

We never got a picture of George, but this is what he looked like. Yes, LOOKED, we noticed he was dead today. George was an AMAZING little fish! Before George, I'd have to clean the tank every other month. And we are talkin' can't see through parts of the tank cause it's covered in algae dirty! Well after George, I never cleaned the tank! That was over 6 months ago when we bought him! I will miss George, but apparently not as much as Aleksia! She has been crying off and on since we discovered his demise. Trestin mentioned George right before bed (big mistake, she had maybe forgotten), and it set her off again! Through the tears we hear her in bed, "George...(snuffle)... George...(snuffle)... George...(snuffle)... Why did you have to dye?" So after our quiet chuckles (yes, we are evil parents), I went in to talk with her. So I explained that everything dies someday, and talked briefly about the atonement (thought it was a good opportunity!), and ended with;

"Maybe Great Grandma Gray (Than's Mom's mom) is taking care of George now, do you think?"

"But she didn't have a fish tank!"

"Well she does now, to take care of George!"

"Yeah!"

So that calmed her down. Maybe not the best way, but what is the harm in having a little girl think that our dead fish is now being taken care of by her Great Grandma that has also passed on? Knowing Grandma, I'm sure she wouldn't mind!

Aleksia's 5th Birthday Pary

We give the kids a birthday party on the bigger birthdays; 5th (start K), 8th (baptism), 12th (enter YM/YW), 16th (driving), and 18th (adult). Otherwise that would be ALOT of parties! Well since Aleksia just turned 5, it was Party Time! The weather didn't cooperate, and our swimming/water party moved indoors, but we still had a little water fun! It started out with just some water balloon fun, but then the slip and slide came out and a couple kids where brave enough in the 65ish degree weather.

Free Fishing Saturday

Last weekend my brother-in-law, Nathan, and his two girls, Aubrey and Emmaleena, came up to go fishing with us. It was "Free Fishing in Idaho" on Saturday, so we went to Spring Valley. The Blue Gill always bite like crazy, and we weren't let down! Our friend Derek Holmes (probably spelled wrong, sorry) and his two boys, Aidan and Ethan came too! The kids caught lots of blue gill, a couple trout where caught, and LOTS of fun was had!

It's a miracle!!!

We FINALLY got our furniture! After waiting several weeks beyond the 8-12 weeks we where told, it arrived. It was better then Christmas! What a great highlight to an otherwise crappy day (I got a stomache bug that Than had, although it hit me worse. I've not been that sick in a LONG time. Lots of trips to the bathroom all night long from both ends, light headed/dizzy/nauseated everytime I moved, and ache all over! But I'm feeling better tonight).

Here is the truck backed into our driveway!

Here is our couch! They are chocolate in color, but in the lighting looks black.

And the rocker and loveseat! Now with the Cassiah's blessing behind me, I can finally read the last book in the Twilight series, and I'll have a nice squishy spot to read!!!

A view of all three! It makes the room look smaller, but thats fine! We feel like we have a real "home" now with furniture!

Here is our table! We love it! Trestin doesn't get to sit on the new chairs, since he's still too messy of an eater! And when you all come to visit, we can put the leaf in the table, and then 3 can sit on each side! Come on over!

Busy weekend!!!

So it all started on Friday, when we headed to the Tri-Cities for Than's younger brother's HS grad. It was the same high school I graduated from 12 years ago, and was funny to see some of the same teachers still there. I guess they haven't retired yet. As they proceeded in, I still got all goose bumpy, remembering the excitement I felt 12 years ago. Then as they read off the kids' names that are joining the armed forces, I got the goose bumps all over again, with an over whelming sense of gratitude! I'm not a really patriotic person, so it kinda surprised me! Plus the fact that they all look SOOO young! Too young to be giving themselves, and possibly their lives over to our country! It just really impressed me! The kids did better then I expected them to for a 1 1/2 hour block of sitting, so that was good!


Here are all the 2009 Hanford High School graduates, looking so very young. Or maybe I'm just getting so old, I did turn 30 last month!



Here is Webster (aka Web, Webagail, Webber, Weasel, and Jungle Gym to the nieces) in the middle looking oh so fabulous in purple and gold.


Than getting Cassiah to smile (kinda) and "talk" to him at the grad.



Then we quickly came back the next morning for Cassiah's blessing. And just like me, I finished her dress with only hours to spare! But it turned out pretty cute, especially with one of Jeniel's famous hair bows! Thanks Jeniel, it was soooo cute! We had quite a bit of family come up for the day, which was alot of fun!


Sorry this one's sideways, but it's a closer up picture.


Than gave a wonderful blessing, and still got emotional (he did Garrick, Aleksia, and Trestin's too), but not as much as some of the others. It's always very touching! The others that participated where; my dad, Than's dad, Than's step dad, 2 brother in laws, and my doctor (is actually the bishop of the Colfax ward, yes, he's a VERY busy guy, so we where touched that his wife, son, and son's girlfriend came!).

Time to eat! We had a bbq after sacrament meeting, and it was tasty! We have a wonderful family that helped by bringing and helping do the finishing touches after church! Here's Evan (stepdad), Sonja (Than's mom), Stella (Than's sister's youngest), Kath (my mom), and Ron (my dad).

Maren (Than's sister), Harvey (Than's dad), Nathan (Than's brother in law), and

Whitney (Than's sister).

Sitting at the kids table is Sarah (Than's sister), Emmaleena (niece), Sloane (niece), Aubrey (niece), Garrick, Destiney (my sister), and Aleksia.

Oh, I forgot to rearrange this one, it's from grad, Trestin wanted to "take picture Garrick!" And this is what we got!