World Traveler...well not quite!

In the last two months I have gone on trips to Arizona and the Oregon Coast, attended a wedding in Seattle and another in Portland with a reception to follow in Olympia, and another in Pullman. Whew! I am so happy to be home for the month of June (well the majority of it anyway)!

I've written about the trip to Arizona. The trip to the coast was the weekend after we returned from our fun in the sun, on Easter weekend. We travelled with Greg's parents (yes Greg finally got to take a trip with us!!) to Canby, OR where Greg's sister and brother-in-law and kids joined the caravan to Oceanside, OR. It was beautiful and sunny the day we arrived, and windy and cold the next. Only on Sunday when we were to depart did the rains tumbling down! We rented an awesome house a few blocks from the beach and just had a wonderful time. I told Cora the story of the Resurrection on Saturday night and she proceeded to tell it to everyone else at breakfast the next morning (with a little help). She has asked for the story several times since then and gets especially excited to chime in on the part when "Jesus came back to life!!" What a joy!

The weekend following Easter was a quick trip to Pullman for my future sister-in-law's bridal shower. After that I had a whole week at home before driving through Portland to pick up my brother Tyler, and continuing on to Tacoma, WA to the wedding of a dear friend from high school. It was a long drive, but worth it to see my friend and spend some time with my brother.

Then came my long and luxurious break with a whole week and a half at home before it was time for my other brother Brody to get married in Portland! Cora and I rode over with my parents on Thursday. When we arrived I found myself doing last minute haircuts for my brothers Derik, and Brody. Greg came later that night. The wedding was on Friday in the Portland, OR Temple and it was a beautiful affair! Greg and I hadn't been to a wedding in the Temple since our own in 2001 and it brought back sweet memories. That night Greg and I went out with his sister Debbie and her husband Greg, and my brother Derik and his wife KaBreena. It was so much fun spending time with family! The next day Greg drove home and Cora and I continued on to Olympia, WA to the reception. I had cut my finger badly enough the night before (right on the knuckle) to need a splint, so I got to do the brides hair with a bum finger! Besides that, all went well and Cora and I made it home Sunday evening.

On the following Saturday was the reception for the newlyweds in Pullman, WA. So home again I went and did Ashley's (my new sister) hair for the third time! I stayed 5 days in order to do some hair and make some extra money. Cora and I finally got home Wednesday afternoon and haven't done much of anything in the last few days!

I am staying home for the next four weeks spending some much needed time with my wonderful husband who puts up with all my random gallivanting, and stays home to work the majority of the time in order to make it all possible. Thank you Greg, I love you.

I will try to find time between the piles of laundry and finding my routine again to post again soon. Wish me luck!

Fowl update

Our chickens are growing at an astonishing pace! I am finding that I am quite chicken naive, so I bought a book (recommended by my friend Jenny) called "Keep Chickens!" and have been reading up on the art of chicken ownership in my spare time.

While Cora and I were in Arizona at the beginning of the month, we missed out on what Greg calls the UGLY stage. They started sprouting feathers and their wings appeared out of nowhere! We were still keeping them inside the house in a rubbermaid tote due to the unpredictable weather, and Greg informed me over the phone that they were really starting to stink. One day, while Greg was occupied at the computer, Jayda (our dog) was sitting by the chicken tote dreaming and drooling when suddenly Jayda's hopes and dreams were fulfilled...one of the chickens had flapped enough and managed to flap/flop/fly out of their safe haven and into the waiting jaws of a now VERY happy wiener dog!! Poor chicken. One down...5 left.

When Cora and I got home from our trip, it only took one sniff after walking into the house to decide that it was definitely time for the chicks to move outside. We have an unused, insulated dog house that serves as the new hen house, and a wire dog kennel up against the door of the house used as the chicken run. This is definitely a temporary setup until we can get going on a more suitable home for our girls, but it is sufficient for now.

The next surprise from our "girls" was the strong suspicion of a rooster in their midst! This little chicken's comb and wattles are growing at a much faster rate than the others and are bright red in color, and he is also quite aggressive for such a little guy. Oh well. We were trying to decide what we could do with him and I jokingly asked Cora if she thought we should eat him. Without batting an eye, she responded with a resounding "YEP!" Oh boy...on second thought, perhaps there is someone looking for a rooster on Craigslist?

While we have learned some new things about keeping chickens, we undoubtedly have much more to learn in the future!

Just like mommy.

I put Cora in bed last night then went to my room for some mindless tv. I didn't settle in until about 11:00 so I hadn't been asleep long when Greg came home at 1:40. Now, just for a little background here; I can sleep through some things, but when it comes to Cora I hear every little sound. It used to be that I would jump straight up out of a deep sleep and run check on her at the faintest little cry (first time mom here!). Now that I've got a couple years mom practice under my belt, I know that she is a vocal dreamer like her mom, and most of the time she just settles back in all by herself. Anyway, the point is that I still hear every noise she makes, but now I know a response is not always necessary!

So back to the wee hours of this morning. Greg came in about 1:40. This is something that I almost always wake up for as Greg is not the quietest person when it comes to entering a house! I glanced at the clock and then waited for him to come in the bedroom. When he did come in, he was holding Cora. I didn't hear her wake up, but Jayda had been barking so I thought he went in to check on her and couldn't resist a snuggle with his girl. Wrong. Oh so wrong! Greg handed Cora to me and said "Did you know Cora was in the kitchen?" "Excuse me?" was my not so polite response. Apparently Cora had sleep walked out to the kitchen (perhaps for a midnight snack?) and then curled up on the kitchen floor to go back to sleep. AAAAACK! Quite disturbing that I slept through it all (how long had she slept on that cold hard floor...poor baby!), and only a little disturbing that she seems to have inherited my ability to sleep walk! Is that possible? Is it genetic? Oh well...

Working on my freckles!

I am definitely having blogger withdrawals from my extended absence!

Cora and I had the pleasure of accompanying my mom, Karra, and Levi (younger sibs) on a leisurely 26 hour drive to the great state of Arizona to visit my big brother Derik, his lovely wife KaBreena, and their adorable little girl Krystonna! It was spring break for the kids, and mom and I figured everyone could use a little sunshine, so we spent a total of 4 days in the car in order to enjoy 4 fabulous days with the much missed Payne family. Okay, so the sun was just a huge bonus...the real draw was getting to see our brother and his family who live entirely too far away!

The 13 hour days were long, but the kids did amazingly well. We watched movies, listened to audio cds and music, and munched our way through. Seriously, I may be cured of junk food for a while! I couldn't wait to cook a real meal when I got home (although we did have some awesome lasagna- compliments of KaBreena, and killer BBQ- thanks to Derik, while we were there)!

Along the way in Utah, we had the pleasure of seeing (and taking advantage of, for free food and bed) our Uncle Brad, Aunt Deb, cousin Ashley, brother Daniel and his wife Emily! I think it had been about 13 years since I had seen this part of my family...it was so fun to catch up, although we didn't have nearly enough time in our race to make it to Arizona!

My Nana and Grandpa Roger provided a much needed break in southern Utah. The sun was shining, and we could tell we were getting closer to our destination! They had some very cool parks near their home, and the kids were able to expend some pent up energies before the last leg of our journey.

When we finally made it to Arizona, we spent our time in the beautiful sunshine, catching up with old friends (Brian and Kim Bower), going to the zoo and aquarium with another friend (Harleen!), getting pedicures, shopping, hiking, and most of all hugging and kissing on that beautiful Krystonna as much as she would allow!

We were late to bed and early to rise, taking advantage of every second possible that we had together! All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Thank you D and KaBreena for letting us invade. Thanks to mom for the ride! Thank you Brian and Kim for an awesome dinner at Margaritaville (You really shouldn't have!).

On the way home we stayed at a Super8 in Lehi for the sole purpose of letting the kids swim! No pools open yet in Arizona = disappointed kids. So we got to see my Uncle Will, his wife Meri, and their kids. We swam until 11:00, ate pizza, and had a fast and furious visit with them!

Wow! Isn't family wonderful? I thank God for the possibility of eternity with mine!

*pictures of this trip will follow in another post.

What 4?

Cora: Mom, I wanna hold you (repeated several times).

Mom: What do you want to hold me for? (I know, great english!).

Cora: Ummm...foreber and eber!!