Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo

August 2008 Catch Up

On Saturday, August 16th the kick off to the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo began. They have the Grand Parade every year but did the 1st Annual 5k Rodeo Run which was before the parade. I decided I wanted to sign up but would only do it if my dear husband would. He agreed and we did it! It was the start of some changes in my life that I'll post more about later.

The last run I participated in was the Cherry Blossom Run in George, Washington on a 4th of July when I was 15 or 16. I took 1st in my division. Of course that was only because my cousin, Heather had placed 1st of all the participants and since she got a medal for that, I was fortunate enough to get the 1st place medal in my division.

I am a silent competitor. My only goal was to not finish last and I didn't! Tom pushed the kids in the stroller and let me go ahead. I wasn't that much quicker than him though and we ended up finishing at the same time. My most rewarding moment was when he took a shortcut down a street so he and the kids could cheer me on when I passed by. Jayni seemed so excited and it made me work harder.

Well the outcome wasn't as amazing as it had been 12 or so years ago but it was an accomplishment for me. In the 6+ years I've been married I've gained a little over 50 lbs. and I carried that junk to the finish line in 37 minutes 33 seconds. I thought that was pretty amazing to accomplish a little over 3 miles since I didn't practice beforehand! Here's Tom & I in all our glory afterwards waiting for the parade to start.

On Wednesday, August 20th I took the kids to the fair for Kid's Day even though it was raining and a little cold. I can handle that way more than a scorcher like the day we went to Grant County Fair. We were only there for a couple hours and the first thing we did was go to the library's booth and the kids both won books. By the booth was a stage that was about to perform a show with the help of children. Jayni was lucky enough to participate. She was so cute and I have a video of her whole two minute performance. Unfortunately it's too large to post! Boohoo!!

We finished out the day with watching some of the animals being judged (Jayni insisted), going through the animal barns, and having lunch. We then went home for naps!

On Saturday, August 23rd we returned to have family day. Jayni did the tractor pull again, saw our neighbor's pigs, and then got our wristbands for the rides. We're lucky enough that Tom's grandparents help with the fair because we were able to ride the rides free. Thank you Grandpa & Grandma Underwood!! We had a great time riding the rides.

I love this sequence of pictures. Whenever Mason's scared he covers his ears. It's so cute! I also love the look of terror on his face in the last one.

As you can see from these next pictures Mason was still a little scared but finally got a little more comfortable and the hands came down.

After the rides we took the kids home to have naps. We returned for the rodeo that night but didn't stay long because the close proximity with a can't-stay-still boy wasn't working. We walked around a bit more and then headed home. It was a fun day and created great memories!

Weekend Away!!!

Tom and I were fortunate enough to get away the first weekend in November. Thanks, Mom for watching the kids...I am forever grateful!! We went to a resort in Harrison, Idaho. It was so nice.

We did a little browsing at some stores and we ate lots of good food at a couple of my favorite restaurants in Spokane. We went on a walk on the boardwalk at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. The sun was setting and it was so beautiful. It was difficult to take decent pictures all by myself.

I took this as we were leaving the resort. It was gorgeous all weekend but a little cold. I've decided I need to get some warmer clothes for Tom since he only had this sweatshirt.

It was nice to get away together. We missed Jayni and Mason like crazy though. I felt like I was calling my Mom nonstop to check to see how they were doing. They did great and had a good time with GraMimi and Poppy!!

Autumn Hayride

I love Autumn and I get excited about all that comes around this time of year. Two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving, the changing leaves, and the brisk breeze and smell of the air.

On October 6th we went on a hayride to a pumpkin patch and picked pumpkins.

     

Jayni with Grandma & Grandpa Perkes

Beth (Tom's sister) & Rex

Bob (Tom's brother), Britta, Rex, Eli, & Asa

Tom & Ryan (Beth's husband) being goobers

Later that evening we went over to Tom's parents house for soup and scones and so the kids could decorate their pumpkins. Usually I look forward to carving pumpkins but not this year. We went the easy route with Mr. Potato Head parts.

Here's the finished pumpkins! The Mr. Potato Head parts were a little hard to poke through the pumpkins so it was actually the adults that ended up decorating them.

Family Reunions

Over Labor Day weekend we went camping with Tom's parents, siblings, and longtime family friends the Goodlander/Maus family. We had a great time! Phil & Sandi Goodlander brought jet skis with them. Jayni & cousin Rex loved riding on the tube with Grandpa Perkes.

Tom's sister Beth, came up with some great games! The first night we did some various relay races. One of them we had to eat a whole donut that was tied to a string and we couldn't use our hands. After the adults were done with the relay races the kids wanted to do the donut game.

Jayni beat her cousins, Rex and Eli, and even ate the whole donut!

The downside for me was not having any showers where we were at. I can't stand my kids being dirty! We ended up using the bin that we store our tent in as a bath for Jayni & Mason to clean up in the two nights we were there. At first Mason didn't like it...

...but soon enough he was splashing and playing in the water. Tom and I used this to wash our feet at night too.

Tom and Mason relaxing together. Tom's sister Christi, designed these cute shirts.

The last night we were there, Beth came up with the idea to have a rodeo. She even made the little horses. Here's Jayni playing with one of the horses. She wouldn't let anybody else use this horse. It ended up coming home with us.

Here's the Rodeo Princess and her favorite horse!

Grandpa and Grandma Underwood (Tom's grandparents) came the last full day we were there and made us a delicious dutch oven dinner. It was fun to be with everyone, play fun games, and eat good food!

In July we also had gone camping for the Chlarson Family Reunion. We went to Ensign Ranch. We had good times with crafts, numerous trips to the big slip 'n slide, and lots of yummy food. Unfortunately, I only took one picture. I have no idea why I didn't think to bring out the camera! The one and only picture I took was this one of Jayni on our way home.

She was so worn out from all the running around and fun she had with her cousins. We packed up and left right after breakfast and I didn't notice that Jayni had hot chocolate all over her face until we got home and had a bath.

4th of July Parade

Tom drove a little truck in the Pasco 4th of July Parade for work. They let Jayni ride with him and even got her a t-shirt.

I may have gone a little overboard with the bows and flags but I was feeling very patriotic this Independence Day. I don't know if that's because I'm getting older or having lived in another country. I even had a flag and placed it on our house.

My Mom and Pop came down for the parade. It was nice that they joined Mason and I. Here's Mason eating some crackers as we waited for the parade to start.

I can't believe how long his hair is!!

Here's Jayni going by.

How cute are these two? Tom said Jayni probably ate more candy then she threw. He hadn't realized how much she was eating until he found all the candy wrappers.

Jayni joined Tom again for the parade in Kennewick to kick off the Benton Franklin Fair and Rodeo. For some reason I didn't take any pictures. I'm really not sure why. Thanks Landon and Holli for joining me and walking so far!

Haircut & Spring Festival 2007

Finally enough time to do another post! So...after our LONG flight back to Washington, we ended up at my Mom's, late, late on Thursday night. I was so desperate for a haircut, that first thing Friday morning my dear sister-in-law, Melanie, cut my hair. It hadn't been cut for about 15 months! Anyway, here's the pile. I know it's gross, but had to show it. I think Melanie said it looked like a little dog or something. Unfortunately, I didn't take a before and after picture and I haven't been able to find a picture to showcase my new hairdo. I feel like a new person having some style to my hair again!

The next thing we did was spend the day at the Moses Lake Spring Festival on Saturday. We planned to come home in time for this so that Tom could play in the basketball tournament with my brother Milo, and friends Brady and Richard. I really wish Tom would play in a normal t-shirt or something. He always has to wear these stupid, ugly jersey tops.

Tom pushing to the basket and Richie blocking out.

Here's my brother, Milo standing behind the guy in the maroon shirt. I'm not sure what he's doing, but this is the only picture I had of him. I only brought the camera out for about two minutes for one of their games.

I've seen A LOT of Tom's basketball games. I still love to watch him play!!!

Crazy Brady passing the ball to Tom. When I first saw Brady I had to laugh. He had these huge bushy sideburns and if I didn't know him, I'd think he was a little weird and crazy. Okay, actually he is a little weird and crazy and that's why we love him. But aren't we all just a little weird and crazy? I know I am!!

Here's my nephews, Malcolm and Quinn playing a little basketball. My sister, Shaila's husband, Matt, was originally supposed to play on the team with the guys instead of Richard. He was cut because Richard was better. Sorry, Matt! I still feel really bad that the guys did that to you. The guys took 1st in the tournament!!!

Here's some of the kids playing at the park. They had so much fun together and they all got so dirty!!

We had a little barbecue at the park between one of the games. All my Mom's children and theirs families were there and my cousin, Annelise and her family came with her sister, Kayce. It was nice to see a lot of people in one place since I hadn't seen them all in so long.

The Longest Flight...EVER!!

So, since I haven't blogged in 3 months, I thought I'd do a few catch up posts first so that I can give an update of what we've been up to in the past few months. So bare with me until I have a chance to catch up.

First of all we left England on May 23rd and had the longest plane ride ever! A few days before we left, Mason got sick and started throwing up. Jayni started the night before we left, and Mason threw up all over himself and his car seat as we were heading to the airport. What a great smell for the rest of the trip!

We got to the airport plenty early but no one was to be seen to check anybody in. Finally they opened an hour before the flight, we got checked in and by the time we made it to the terminal, we missed the flight! At first we were told we were going to have to buy another set of tickets but eventually when they determined we weren't the only ones that missed the flight and stuff, they finally booked us on a flight and at that point by the time we were to arrive in Chicago, we would miss the flight to Seattle.

I ended up being completely useless as we flew to Chicago because I started feeling sick and kept throwing up. Sorry if this is grossing anybody out, I just want to prove how awful the trip back to Washington was. Mason was a little fussy but ended up falling asleep on Tom's lap. It was so cute!

Jayni ended up falling asleep on my lap at one point.

So, once we landed in Chicago we found out that the flight had been delayed and luckily we were able to get to the terminal in time to make the flight. Finally, some luck on this trip. Unfortunately during all this we never had a chance to call Tom's dad to let him know that we'd be late. Thankfully he was there when we got off the plane! Thanks Tom, for all your help with the kids and with me. It was greatly appreciated!!

Bowling with Max!

Jayni has been excited all week for today. Today was the day we went bowling with Max!

Max LOVES basketball. Just as much, if not more than Tom. Can you believe that? Max is such a sweet guy! He's fifteen and Tom has been helping him with basketball.

Tom actually arranged for Max to go to the Big Bend Vikings Basketball Camp in June! So, we'll see him again in Moses Lake!! We arranged for him to stay with my Mom, but his Dad decided to go and wanted to stay in a hotel. Tom's planning a Seattle Mariners game with them. I hope I get to go, too!! Isn't he a cutie!

Max was so sweet to Jayni. I think he helped her more than Tom and I did.

We captured video of Jayni's disappointment after not hitting any pins. She wasn't disappointed for very long though!

The way she reacted to that totally reminded me of something Tom would do after missing a basket or something to do with sports. I loved her tap dancing afterwards! She was doing it all night. She hasn't done it before but I know she saw a little girl doing it on TV, so I guess that's where she got it from.

It was nice to get out of the house and have some fun tonight! After bowling, we came home, bathed the kids, put Mason to bed and had dinner. After dinner, Tom and Max went to have a night out playing video games with some guys from our ward. I got Jayni to bed and decided to take tonight off myself. I haven't had time to post anything or read up on other blogs. Just relaxing!

Hopefully I'll be able to fit in some more blogging before we board the airplane for Washington! I'm not counting on it though. We'll be leaving the house here, at 2 am Thursday, to catch our flight. We won't arrive in Seattle until 7:30 that night! Oh, it will be such a long day. I'm really not looking forward to it!!!!