I PASSED!!!

....my shooting test!!! Yeah!! Now all I have to do is pay some fees, take some paperwork to the police station and get fingerprinted- and viola!! I'm a recognized concealed carry permit holder in Nevada, Utah, and 31 other states (none of which are California, by the way).

My friend Sarah and I went down to take our test this morning and it was a lot of arranging to make it happen so we were both relieved to pass! I had to get a note from my midwife (because I'm pregnant) so they'd let me shoot, drop Caitlin off early at a friends to get her to school, and then we got 2 babysitters to watch 8 little girls at Sarah's. And that's what it takes to get two moms out of the house on a Friday morning to take a gun test.

I scored a 302 out of 360 possible, which I was pleased with since my gun kept jamming and several rounds I couldn't get off in the minute alloted because I was trying to unjam my gun! I found right after I got my gun it needs a certain type of ammo, but when you take the test, you have to use the lead-free ammo they give you. So I was expecting it to jam a little, but it was a lot more trouble than I thought it was going to be. So yay!!! I'm excited to have taken care of this test and don't have to worry about it anymore!

Rod and I are celebrating with a date night and chocolate!!!!

Lost and Found

I lost the dogs. That was what Alex kept telling me last week. The lost dog situation began about 2 weeks ago; I was taking the kids to the bus stop, and as usual we were in a hurry. In my mind NOTHING could be more tragic than missing the bus. Anyway, in my rush I forgot to close the garage door. At night we put the dogs in the garage in a little 'kennel' thing Troy made. I usually put them in the backyard when I get back from the bus stop. Well, on this particular day when I got back from the bus stop I immediatly noticed the dogs were not in their enclosement. I was really ticked off because I did not have time for this. It was enrichment that night and I was in charge of decorations, the food and a few ladies were meeting me at the church that morning to start setting up. I drove around town a little and didn't see them. I knew that Sasquatch's nose just takes over and who knows how far he would run. So I went back home and got ready, and spent a little more time driving around before I went to the church. I think in the back of my mind I thought they'd come back or someone would find them. That's what's happened in the past anyway. I was frustrated that the one day that I wasn't going to be home all day, was when I felt like I needed to be home. Troy and the kids were very sad when I told them. We went along with life...everyone hoping but not expecting them to come back. After a couple days Troy and I just knew they were gone. Devon was especially sad, he said he didn't want to look at any pictures of them, and when we were cleaning up the backyard for FHE he was sad cleaning up their chew toys. It was sad. I have been and always will be more of a cat person, but I do like those dogs a lot. Sasquatch's only fault is when his smelling/running instincts take over. Nessie is the sweetest dog. She is very obedient and always comes when we call her. She just follows Sasquatch when he starts running. She used to be a chewer, but seems to have outgrown that. Other than the occasional hole being dug in the yard, they are very good dogs. Anyway, a week goes by and I kept wondering where they could be. We put up fliers, we called all the local animal shelters, and vets...we felt like we had done all we could. Last Friday I got a call from the animal shelter in The Dalles. The lady said they recieved a call from a guy who found some dogs that matched our dogs descriptions and she was wanting my permission to give the guy my phone number. So of course I said yes, and a few minutes later the guy called me. He said the dogs wandered onto his ranch the day before and looked pretty worn out. He put them in his barn and fed them. I drove out there, - 'out there' being about 12 miles north of Lyle in the hills on an obscure dirt road, -and sure enough it was them! Hooray! I took them home and they were so happy. They were so exhausted though. Their paw pads wore worn raw and a little bloody, so they could barely walk. They looked dirty, hungry and smelled of skunk. They were covered in ticks. We probably pulled 50 ticks out of them. I hate those things. But they were home. They've pretty much been sleeping and sleeping and eating since they got back. It's like we can literally see the relief in the eyes. Who know how many miles they actually trekked and what things they encountered. The rancher who found them said he was surprised they weren't shot by other ranchers, or killed by coyotes. So that's the dog saga. The kids and Troy were so happy to have them back. Everyone keeps reminding me not to forget to close the garage door in the morning. We are glad they are home, although I have to admit, I was thinking about all the good things to not having dogs....saving $ on dog food, no poop in the yard, no holes to fill in, no wondering what to do with them when we're out of town....but I have to say I'd rather have them back than all those things. It just took losing them for a week to realize that.

Random Whittle Stuff

Here's some random pics. My birthday ghetto birthday cake Troy made. It tasted great (homemade frosting-the ONLY way to go), but it looks awful. It was a cake to remember.

I love having a 'rec' room. Space for the kids to do whatever. Well, sometimes they take EVERYTHING in the room and make barricades, divide into teams and have Nerf battles. It usually takes at least a half hour before the crying and fighting begin, so I consider it worth it in the long run. They usually do a good job putting everything back.

I took a picture of the hall one day. I mean, why put up hooks on the wall anyways? Clearly there is no purpose.

Troy did a super job getting Alex ready for church while I was on my girls trip. Isn't he handsome?

We needed some more pics of Em to help celebrate her bday! Love you sis!

Happy Birthday to EM!

Emily Jean jumping bean is 22!

Our spunky, confident, happy,

compassionate daughter.

We love you!

Girls Weekend 2011!

This post is not helping me get back to reality any sooner. I feel like I'm mentally still on a girls weekend getaway. It was SO much fun. The house was amazing. We were really living in a Pottery Barn catalog. We felt torn between never wanting to leave the house and heading out and about. We left my house Friday morning, which turned out to be bad timing with the tsumami warning that was in force on the coast. What are the odds? But we figured we'd risk it. Actually Troy called the Chamber of Commerce in Lincoln City to find out what was going on, and while they had to evacuate early that morning, everything was pretty much back to normal, other than some larger than normal waves. Here's a quick rundown of the weekend:

-Food. I love that my family loves to eat with me!

-The Beach

-Hot tub

-Staying up late watching movies in the ahem, media room :)

-Sleeping in. Or at least trying to. I think my kids have ruined that for me. I admire Carrie's skills.

-Social worker Kate buying food and dog biscuits for the guy we saw in the parking lot with his dog. He was gone when we came out. We then realized it was a bus stop and perhaps we was waiting for the bus. We tried to find more homeless people with dogs but to no avail. So my family was the recipient of Kate's gifts. Although ironically yesterday the dogs escaped and we can't find them and I think they're gone. More on that later.

-Being surrounded by too much seafood. Only Kate understands. We had steak while everyone else ate that stinky stuff.

-Shopping at the outlets and finally finding a coat I like AND a price I like!

-Pastries

-Birthday Party!!

-Explaining to Carrie who Jimmer is. Sigh. And watching the BYU game

-Dying my hair (thanks mom)

-Walks in the rain

-Mom making sure we weren't turning our backs to the ocean. Thanks mom :)

-Locking the car in the garage. Glad that didn't turn into a disaster

-Lots of laughing (the best part!)

I know the above shot isn't the best, but wasn't it so fun to pig out at 2 am? Really it was 1am, but daylight savings was in effect. Which really made me mad. I lost an hour I could've had! We felt like we HAD to eat the ice cream. We were leaving the next morning and couldn't take it with us, so what were we to do?

MY birthday pie. Got it, Carrie?! :)

Gourmet kitchens really are much funner to cook in!

Seals on the beach. I think they have the life. Basking in the sun. But I think not having arms would make me crazy.

Kate HAD to see the Lincoln statue.

Mousse made from the best chocolate. Thanks Carrie. I'll forgive you for the pie incident.

I think we established that the trip wasn't long enough. We need at least 5 days. Hear that husbands? I will say that I don't worry at all when I'm gone. Troy does a great job with the kids. I told him the only things I worry about are the kids eating zero vegetables when I'm gone and their teeth not getting brushed. (they can never seem to remember to do that on their own. You'd think after several YEARS of a routine they'd see a pattern.) But those are just little things compared to keeping the kids alive, which is really all that matters, right?

Happy Birthday Brooke!!

It's 4 days late, but Happy Birthday Brooke!!
I'm so glad that we were able to party with you on your birthday and be there to celebrate.

Brooke is such a wonderful person, she is beautiful, hilarious, loving and super easy-going.
She is the best oldest sister- and really set a wonderful example for the rest of us.

We love you Brooke!!!
Hope you got spoiled when you got home from your girls trip! :)