Richard is 34

Shhh, don't tell him I posted his age in the title.  Hee, hee.  I only put it there to brag because he doesn't look his age at all.  

He is loving his job teaching the 8th graders math at JoLane middle school.  He started coaching the Roseburg H.S. track team this month and has some great athletes with some real talent.  He does the horizontal jumps (long and triple jumps.)  Those are his events from H.S. and his triple jump record is still on the wall of the high school.  His mission is to train an athlete well enough to crush his record.  

In church he teaches the 16-17 yr. olds.  He really enjoys it.  There are a lot of great kids in his class.  He was also called to help plan Aaronic Priesthood camp.  That, I believe, is his dream calling because he learned and grew so much from his experience as a young man at that camp and is now given the opportunity to help other boys in the same way.  

So, overall, Richard is LOVING Roseburg.  He wanted so badly to move here and he has loved every minute of it.  I have too and I can't stop feeling excited when I see him come home from work happy in every way.  

Our Baby Turned Two

Party time.  Our youngest celebrated her second birthday on Jan. 31st.  We went to the museum and did some excavating in the children's section.  We had cake, opened presents and had a fun time making a fuss over our new two-year-old.  

I have noticed that the terrible twos have really surfaced with her.  We have to work hard to keep her calm when she doesn't get what she wants and she throws more tantrums in public than I care to remember.  I am always worried that security cameras will catch me hauling a screaming baby out of the store and forcing her into a car seat.  Can I be convicted for that?  At least I know at this point in my life that it is a phase and it will pass.  

The New House

Well, we finally made it into our new house.  It was our fifth offer in this area and I am so glad that we didn't get any of the other houses because this one just fits us perfectly and I am absolutely thrilled with it.  I get excited every day just walking through it.  Our family saying is that it is not too big and it is not too small, it's just right.

This home is almost the same as our Provo home.  We have 3 beds, 2 1/2 baths, living room, family room, kitchen, laundry and garage.  The square footage is 1725 and the lot is like a third  of an acre, all fenced and a lot of fun landscaping.  

This view is from the dining room looking into the living room and out to the front yard.  In this room I love the huge windows and the window seat.  At night I turn the piano light on and enjoy the ambiance.  

This view is from the living room into the dining room.  Here I really like the built in bookcase and the space it provides for all our office supplies (since we have no office now.)

This is the view into the kitchen from the dining room.  We have a lot of counter space and tons of cabinets.  The backsplash here is the only project we had to do.  I like how it turned out.  Also, all of the appliances are nicer than I would have ever purchased for myself.  That makes it fancy for me.

This is the hall bath upstairs.  I love that it has two sinks (dubbed the boys' sink and girls' sink.)  Also, not pictured is a skylight that brings in the natural light.  This is one of my favorite rooms.

I am not including the bedrooms yet.  They are not done.

At the foot of the stairs is this laundry room complete with utility sink and toilet.  It has some great cabinet space and plenty of room for the laundry baskets.

This is the downstairs family room.  I love the pellet stove (which we use any time we are down there.)  Also, the windows bring in a lot of light.  

Richard wanted a picture of the "view."  Well, today the view includes fog.  Behind it are a bunch of trees.  The deck this picture was taken from is great.  It spans the entire back of the house and wraps around to the front.  It is a lot of fun.

The neighborhood is right next to the community college which is fun because we have access to a track, swimming pool, tennis courts, etc.  Also, we have a shared 3 acre parcel that is river front property where we can dock a boat or go to swim and play with the kids.  We can't wait for the summer!!

I never dreamed I would live in a split entry again but here I am and I absolutely love it.  Who knew!!!

Our Christmas Story

We had one crazy Christmas week this year.  It all started with our traditional Christmas eve Santa pizza.  This year we were joined by our cousins the Brigantis.  Christmas day we opened presents and I made the traditional turkey dinner.  It was so yummy.  I was surprised that everything turned out, even the stuffing.  I am more confident now for future holiday events.  

Things started getting a little crazy the day after Christmas when our house was swallowed by dozens of boxes.  By Saturday we had the moving van packed but no keys to the new house (it's a long story.)  So we ate on the floor, slept on the floor and sat on the floor for the weekend until Monday at 3:00 p.m. when we could get our keys.  

We slept well in our new house that night...on beds!!

Merry Christmas to All

Sunday we all participated in the Christmas program at church.  Richard gave a talk, the kids sang two songs with the primary and I played the flute in a group with two violinists and a pianist.  It was all very enjoyable.  

We love you all and hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Projects

Yesterday was our first great Christmas vacation day.  We did projects and watched movies.  Richard worked on a 550 piece puzzle with the kids (they helped in 5 minute spurts throughout the day.)  It was our second daughter's wish and he did it to please her.  That is some serious commitment and patience if you asked me.  When it was done they glued it so she could hang it up in our new house.  

I did two projects that I have wanted to do for a long time.  The first was staining our table that I sanded down five years ago.  I never could decide how I wanted to do it.  Well, I just decided to go with a cherry stain and I love how it looks.  The kids keep commenting on how it looks like a new table.  

The second project was painting some dressers I got a year ago.  The two pictured here are for the girls' room which I am trying to furnish with white or light stained wood.  It was crazy doing my first painting project here in Oregon.  It is so humid that things took three times longer to dry.  In the picture I can see that the top of one dresser is still not dry and it has been 12 hours.  Crazy wet!!  

Six Years Old

Our third child turns six tomorrow.  We had a party for her last week that was a lot of fun.  Her request was to have a rainbow pony party.  We had a lot of fun making a pinata with rainbows on it, a game, and a super cake with skittles on top.  She had nine little friends come over and it was so fun to see her enjoying herself with all of her new friends.