Another Birthday

The last birthday sign of the year. We have recently moved into a little farm house with very little wall space. This window needed a curtain and the birthday sign seemed to be an excellent solution. Of course, we shall have to see what the weather will do to it. In case you can't read modern Hunt hieroglyphics, it says "HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY MARISSA".

Nichole has become the resident birthday cake maker. She knows how to do the BEST layer cakes. And she makes them however we want! Marissa asked for a white or yellow cake with chocolate frosting and a layer of Heath candy bar sprinkled over the top. It was quite yummy, but very RICH. Happily, we had ice cream to go with it. Notice dinner on the counter in front of Marissa.

With Tim gone, someone else had to step up to the fire-starting plate. For this birthday, we had a fire starting team.

Nichole looks a little suspicious, doesn't she? Hold on to your cake, Marissa!

One Creepy Halloween Night

Well, our Halloween was pretty fun, thanks to Rachelle allowing us to celebrate her birthday, but I did get this rather pretty picture of the moon right over our house. I just love the moon. There is something about it that makes me feel peaceful. We all liked this beautiful scene.

Happy Boooo-th Day Shellie!

Around our house, October 31st is one of the BEST days of the year. While other families are busy getting kids into costumes and rounding up tons of candy, we are baking cakes, rounding up candles and spanking Rachelle. Some time ago, the kids started a fun little tradition. We make a great big birthday sign which we leave up till the next birthday. Some birthday signs stay up for quite awhile, while others get only a week. Each letter in the sign has its own page. Bob from Monsters vs Aliens represents the letter A.

Marissa thinks this picuture should be removed, but I thought it turned out rather appropriate for Halloween. SCARY!

Once all the letters are completed, they are arranged in their proper order and hung on the wall for the birthday person. Nichole enjoyed the "hang up" job this time.

Just thought I should throw in another picture of Marissa to prove that her eyes are indeed very normal and beautiful.

On Rachelle's last birthday, Nichole began a tradition of her own. She tries to steal the birthday cake. Last year, some of us actually sang to Nichole rather than Rachelle and we had to start the birthday song over again. We are used to Nichole's antics by now and everyone sang to the right person. Unfortunately, she has put a new twist on her tradition. EEEEWWWWW!
Not only do candles provide something for the birthday person to blow out, but maybe the heat will sanitize the cake too?

According to our family tradition, the birthday person gets to cut her own piece out first. The rest of us get whatever is left.

I think Rachelle has beautiful eyes. . .
And, here is the birthday cake video. I think I will try to sing much more softly next birthday.

A date and a class all in one!

Another day brings another adventure. Rob and I are in the process of obtaining a foster care license. There are many things we have to accomplish to qualify for that license, one of which is to take a CPR/First Aid/HIV class. As we have been in a bit of a hurry to get all the requirements completed, scheduling this class and that class has been a bit of a challenge. Finally, we decided to make a special weekend trip out of the CPR/First Aid/HIV class. It was either Yakima or Port Angeles. We chose Port Angeles. I can't remember ever visiting Port Angeles. It turned out to be a very nice trip. Rob was pretty happy to get away for the weekend.Autumn is beautiful anywhere, and Port Angeles was no exception. The water was strangely calm on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I expected more turbulence like on the Puget Sound or something.
The port seemed to be quite a busy place for boats, boat making, and the like.
We tried to squeeze some romance into our weekend by going to a nice restaurant for dinner. This is supposedly the place where Bella learned that Edward could hear other people's thoughts in the movie Twilight. The food was excellent!

These lovely trees were just outside out hotel room. Autumn is absolutely my FAVORITE time of year. I love the color, the smells, and the cool crisp air.

Our class was excellent, we really did learn a lot. The trip was really pretty (even the stormy ride up there). And on the way back, we saw this store. I couldn't resist getting a picture for Tim. He used to joke around about SAARS (I have no idea how it is spelled) all the time.

Little Timmy Leaves Home

Once upon a time, a young man known as "Little Timmy" decided to serve a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So, his family loaded up in a very nice rental van and headed East to the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah.

But first, a little pit-stop for some gas. . .

Hmmm. . . everyone is looking a little busy with. . . um. . . business type stuff!

Ok, now we are on the road! Dad is pretty excited to be going, going, gone!

This was back in the day when the weather outside was not so frightful! In fact it was toasty warm. There was hardly even a breeze to move those distant windmills that lined the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon.

We drove all day and all night and all day and all night. . . well maybe just a day and a night. But it was seeming like a day and a night spilling over into the next month or something. We are all pretty tired by the time we arrived at Adrienne's house. Adrienne turned out to be the kindest an most generous hostess ever! We all had comfy places to sleep, towels for showers (and hot water too!) and food to eat for the entire time we were there. The amazing part is that we had never before met her! We only knew her son and daughter-in-law from church. That is the beauty of this church--wherever you go, you have family! Now, why didn't I get her picture? We slept in the first morning, but headed out for the TRAX for a trip into Salt Lake City. Tim, Rob, and I planned to do some worn in the temple, which explains why we were dressed up. The girls decided to do some sight-seeing at the mall across the street. My group spent the entire time on Temple Square and never once saw a General Authority. The girls saw President Uchtdorf and his wife at the mall!!

One of the sights my group took in was the tabernacle. This is where General Conference used to be held. The organ is magnificent to put it mildly! We got to listen to a couple of people practice. The acoustics were indeed very good. Around the temple are various water features. This is the reflecting pool. Tim already looks like an elder, doesn't he?
The sunset was in one word, BEAUTIFUL! I think I got some pretty good pictures. This is one of my favorite. I can't believe I finally got to go inside that incredible building. I hope to go there again someday.

Another pretty picture int he reflecting pool. Funny, someone actually threw change into the pool. Were they making a wish?
This next picture is of the Conference Center where General Conference is held now. It holds like 10,000 people or something. We didn't get to go see that building, but I understand there is a lovely garden with fountains and the like on top. It has a huge organ like the Tabernacle.

After my group went through the temple, we rushed over to the Joseph Smith house to watch a very moving video of our Church's first prophet. When the movie had ended, we had about 20 minutes to run across Temple Square to see the Christus. I must say, I love that statue. I love to imagine myself that close to my Savior in the flesh. It was a very peaceful few minutes before they announced that they were closing for the evening. Man, my picture almost looks like it came out of the Ensign or something! (Church magazine.)

We finished our evening by taking the TRAX back to Adrienne's house. She fed us a nice dinner, and we visited with her for awhile. She is a fascinating woman and we all really enjoyed her company. The next day, we were scheduled to drop Tim off at the MTC around noon. We stopped by a wedding boutique on the way. Here is Tim posing for us. . . "Who will play the handsome Count?"

Tim needed to get a flu shot before entering the MTC. We didn't have time before we left, so Adrienne (who just happens to be a nurse) gave him one. Awwww, poor Little Timmy.

At least he got this really cool band aid!
Jessica will be a beautiful bride. Now if the boy will just "officially" propose. . . .
Due to the Swine Flu epidemic, we were only allowed to drop our Little Timmy off at the curb of the MTC. An elder was already there to cart Tim off. We literally only had time for one last hug and he was gone. We were all stunned. We met Jessica's boyfriend Mick at the Olive Garden for a long lunch before we headed home. I think we really needed that together time to absorb the fact that Little Timmy was really doing it! (And so he is!)

So, we got back into that cool little rental van and headed back into the sunset and home.

Not The End. . .