almost famous

Check out our feature at the newly remodeled Richland Public Library in Richland, WA! It's a terrible picture by all accounts, but maybe it will be a cool memory for the boys. :) What happened was this: The day before we went to the library for storytime (and ultimately had this picture taken), I had been at cubscout day camp all day and went to bed exhausted. So when I woke up the next morning to take the kids to the library, I said to myself, "Screw the shower, screw my hair, screw my outfit, screw getting the boys dressed." But as things tend to happen, it was an ill-fated choice because during storytime, I was pulled to the side by a librarian and asked if me and my "cute boys" would pose for a publicity picture for the "new" library. GRRR. Why didn't I curl my hair?? Or at least WASH it? So they snapped a few pics (I opted not to look at them), mass produced our image and made trifolds for the computer stations when the remodeled library opened a few weeks ago. Shown here is the end result and we have 10 courtesy copies to keep for memory books, etc. All I can say is that I'm moving anyway, so what do I care if my ugly mug is scattered all over? At least the boys are charming (although Jarron detests the 49ers jersey Mayes is wearing!).

a house on Home

A sneak peek at our recently purchased house on Home Ave in Selah, WA! We'll be officially changing our address mid-late September. WHOO-HOO!

training season

Major milestone for Mayes: He peed in the toilet for the first time on Monday (the 20th) and has gone at least once every day since. Crazy!! He's about 2.5 yrs right now so I'm not expecting much and I'm not officially going to undies any time soon. (Unless he insists.) Part of me is a little nervous this won't last...But at any rate, YAY MAYES!

it's (almost) official

No, this isn't a prego announcement. It's better! Jarron and I are 2-3 weeks away from having our Washington State Enhanced Driver's Licenses! Which means that we can use them to cross the Canadian and Mexican boarders and even go to the Caribbean without needing a passport. I am sooo excited to see what Canadians are all about in Vancouver when Jarron and I go to a ROD STEWART concert there for our anniversary this summer!! I will admit, I am a total fan and have a secret crush on Rod. We got our cheap seat tickets in the mail and reserved our 4.5 star hotel (one magical night only) and now the countdown is on for August 8th.

The substory to this is that when we were in the agonizing process of applying for EDLs at the DMV (ugh yuck vomit hate gov't agencies), the boys were hanging out at Jarron's brother's house playing with their cousins. Right before we left the DMV, our sister-in-law called to tell us that Cameron broke his toe and was freaking out/screaming/crying. He wouldn't let her ice it, he turned down ice cream, and wouldn't be consoled. Jarron, the more panicy parent, took Cameron straight to the ER and they x-rayed C's foot. Sure enough, his middle right toe has a teeny tiny break, but the more amazing thing is that they discovered a small extra bone in his right pinky toe. Not really surprising since this kid has all the weird stuff (including an extra tooth). Rest assured that he's fine, but during the ride home he was bawling and insisted that we call the police to help since "the police help people who are hurt and could catch the criminal who did this" to him. After a few minutes of this, Jarron told Cameron that we'd help him but he needed to stop talking about his "freaking toe". Cameron retorted (between sobs) that it wasn't nice to talk about his toe like that! You would have thought he broke his freaking head. It's a darn good thing that Jarron knows about the silver bullet to all childhood hurts: Slurpees. Peace restored.

Master Fishermen

First off, Jarron started work on Tuesday. YEAH!! He commutes about an hour each way four days a week but he enjoys the people he works with and the type of therapy he'll be doing once training is over. Before he started, he had about 2 weeks off after graduation in which we moved all of our stuff and spent some time with the boys. I'd like to recount one of the family activities we had:

Last Friday we went fishing at a man-made lake close to Richland with Jarron's older brother and two of his kids. Cameron started to wander around waiting for a fish to bite and decided to poke sticks into the water instead. He was about 30 yards away when, all of a sudden, he came racing around the bend yelling, "I caught a fish! I caught a fish!" Mind you, he had no fishing rod and was all alone so I was skeptical. Low and behold, as he got closer I saw a real, living fish in his hands!! We were all shocked and asked him how he caught it. He said, "I just saw it start to swim away so I stepped in a little bit and got it." Seriously. The child caught a fish with his bare hands. He never ceases to amaze me. So here are a few pics of the incident and a couple of Mayes demonstrating his emerging fisherman skills.

The Palm Springs of Washington

Today Jarron and I took the boys to Yakima, WA (self-proclaimed to be the "Palm Springs" of WA) so we could check out our future hometown. Jarron starts work at the hospital there on Tuesday and we are SO excited to start paying off student loans and save money for a house.

Our itenerary was simple: scout out the local high schools and desired neighborhoods and get a feel for the housing market. We'll see what happens as far as home buying goes--Jarron has already decided on which house he wants and is praying it stays on the market for a (potentially long) while. Aptly, the house is on Trout Lake Court.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Yakima. There are a lot of great parks, newer areas, a charming "historic" downtown (where the hospital is), and great views. I felt a little more at "home" in Yakima with the snow-capped mountain range nearby. I guess Utah grew on me more than I realized. I need scenery in my life!

On a related note (well, not really but it happened while we were driving), Cameron asked me to find his superheroes. "You know, mom...The orange and green ones. One has hair that feels like chocolate and one has a helmet." Help! What in the world is he talking about??

Forget H1N1; I may have Hantavirus.

First, a definition. Then a story.

Hantavirus: Hantavirus is a disease characterized by symptoms that resemble the flu, followed by respiratory failure. Hantavirus is carried by rodents, particularly deer mice, and is present in their urine and feces. The virus does not cause disease in the carrier animal. Humans are thought to become infected when they are exposed to contaminated dust from the nests or droppings of mice.

I thought I would live my whole life without needing to be educated on this disturbing disease, but since I wasn't so fortunate to live in ignorance, you no longer will either.

The back story: WE FINALLY MOVED OUR STUFF OUT OF UTAH!! It is now in a storage unit in WA until we buy a home. (Don't ask when that will be because I have no answer.) Jarron and I left our boys with his sister, Tiffany (THANKS FOR BABYSITTING!!) and headed to SLC to clean out our apartment. We were blessed a million times during this journey and I will abbreviate the details by saying that I am truly amazed at how aware Heavenly Father is of our family. Jarron's amazing(ly strong) friends loaded the truck within a couple of hours and I really didn't have to do much. My only task was to assist Natalie (Jarron's younger sister) in pitching our crappy entertainment center off our four story balcony. All went well.

Then Jarron and I headed to Idaho Falls to fetch a fridge and piano from my parents. I had been SO excited to finally have the piano in my possession and had spent hours convincing Jarron that it was worth the trouble and expense to keep it for our future home. He grumbled, complained, finally admitted defeat, and was ready to move it into the truck as soon as we got to my parent's home. I asked my mom for a dusting cloth and cleaner and started to wipe down the piano before I would let Jarron load it. (It had been stored in the garage for the past few months and was quite dirty.) Then I opened the fall board that covers the keys and saw some sticky yellowish gunk all over the white keys. I grimaced and thought, "What the crap is all over my piano??!" Then I pushed the fall board all the way back and found a freaking DEER MOUSE huddled in the high notes!! I spent the next few seconds screaming my bloody head off while my half-lunatic mother attempted to PET the vermin! Screaming commenced (solely on my part) until my mom found her wits and shooed it out. She then assured me that it hadn't been there long because there wasn't much excrement. (Is that supposed to relieve me?) I had enough of cleaning and left the rest to my mom. Jarron and I measured and rearranged the truck while we waited for my mom to finish. When I went to check on her progress, she told me that she had lifted the top board and found a NEST and TWO MORE MICE. (Not to mention, a LOT of poop.)

More screaming.

My good mother cleaned it out the best she could and then we loaded it onto the truck. She promised to pay for professional cleaning, but I am now wondering if I can stomach keeping my dear, infected piano. It wasn't until later that evening that I learned about hantavirus. A Canadian report said that only 6% of all mice studied were found to be contaminated. Relieving? Not really. This was a Canadian report and the incident I am worried about happened in America. I will let you know if my health fails within the next 5 weeks (potential incubation period for hantavirus). And YAY if it doesn't, but then there's always the swine-flu. Ain't nature fascinating?

PS--anybody in need of a piano?