Price Family

Things to Be Grateful For

2012-01-24T22:39:00.005-05:00

Jogging Strollers: Usually when Karl gets on the bus and it is pouring down rain, I hustle Phillip and Rita inside and I pull out one of my beloved exercise videos and we get a good workout indoors. But an exercise video wasn't going to cut it today. You see, Phillip, who has been getting up multiple times each night for the last three weeks, woke up at 5:20am and would not go back to sleep. The result being that I wasn't too happy most of the morning. So, I decided that today needed something special to snap me out of my bad attitude about mothering. I bundled Phillip and Rita up really well and we went for a run in the pouring down rain. And just as I had hoped, going for a run helped a lot.

Random Strangers: While at the grocery store this afternoon a kind, older lady stopped us and asked if we knew where the peanut butter was. I pointed out the isle to her. She then told me what a beautiful family I had. I thanked her but internally grumbled. This kind lady asked me the ages of the kids and I told her 5, 3, and 1. She told me that she also had two boys and one girl in the same order and about the same age difference. Then she said, "It's worth it." I almost burst into tears at that moment because I had been asking myself all day if it really is. During the course of our conversation she mentioned that she used to go into her bathroom and cry because it was so hard. How did she know that I had spent 10 minutes crying in Rita's room this afternoon? Our conversation was quick, only lasting less than three minutes, but this kind lady made my day. Granted, Phillip still threw a 20-minute raging fit this evening while Rita and Karl were in the tub and Dusty was gone at graduate class. But we survived the day and I will thank Heavenly Father for this kind stranger who was an answer to my prayers.

Grandma's Visit & Thanksgiving

2012-01-19T18:41:00.011-05:00

As I've mentioned before, my mom came home in November for a two week stay while my brother had his surgery. It was great to see her. And it was great to see how much other people love her. I've realized as I've become a mother that my mom has always had her own personality and friends. Somehow I never realized that growing up and so it is neat to really recognize my mom as the wonderful lady she is and not see her only as my mom.
Our time with mom was quite limited because she did come home to help run back and forth to the hospital and take care of Stephen and Shara. So we enjoyed some really simple moments with her. One of the things us Blunck girls look forward to when we are together is exercising. And I guess it rubbed off on Karl, so he joined us for a session of yoga.

And since mom was in town, I volunteered to host Thanksgiving so family could come visit with her. It was fun planning the meal with Shara and then getting everything set-up for our feast. Shara made these super cute turkeys for each place setting. Just a side note, Shara was so delighted with how they turned out that she couldn't eat hers. It sat on our counter for a few weeks so she could admire her work...until Phillip swiped it. That boy has got a sweet tooth out of this world.

And of course, mom, being one of the greatest hostesses I've ever known, helped to make things look especially nice for our meal. Thanks mom!

Phillip was insistent that we have our picture taken on Thanksgiving day. When he first saw Grandma at the airport he was rather shy. But he quickly warmed up. When mom walked into the house and started commenting about items she had forgotten about, Phillip quickly piped up and informed her that they were his things. "Grandma, those are my cups." "Grandma, that's my couch." Mom started laughing... Don't worry, we are already talking with Phillip about the day when we will move into our own home and have our own belongings again.

Miss Rita helping in the kitchen Thanksgiving day. She is such a delight to all of us. I've called Rita my peace baby. Shara nicknamed her "My ray of sunshine on a rainy Oregon day."

Rita warmed up to Grandma pretty quickly and even let her feed her breakfast. Unfortunately, Rita started walking just one week after Grandma left, so she missed that exciting event. But it was fun to share those first few steps with Stephen and Shara.

As you can see, Phillip really warmed up to Grandma and was constantly asking her when she was going to come back. Just the other day a few friends came over and were asking about Grandma. Phillip grabbed them by their hands and took them over to the refrigerator and pointed to a picture we have of mom and dad with about 100 of their missionaries and explained "That's grandma and grandpa. They take care of 200 missionaries. They are in Peru."

According to Karl: "Grandma is fun. She is nice. I love her."

Our best attempt at a group shot.

Taking mom to the airport and saying good-bye was hard. Can you tell that I bawled my eyes out the night before? Like I told my mom, I wouldn't cry if I didn't enjoy you and dad. But I do enjoy my parents tremendously and so it's hard to say good-bye. In fact, I'd cry as I would head off to every semester of college. As a family we joke about Lynette being a mamma's girl, but I guess I am too.

It was hard to say good-bye but I'm grateful that I can share my parents with all their missionaries. They have always been such a blessing to me so I know they are a great blessing to them as well.

The Last Two Months

2012-01-02T00:27:00.003-05:00

The story of the last two months really began back in June. Only twice this last year have I felt like I really couldn't handle any more in my life. One occasion was back in June when summer was in full swing...and by summer I mean yard work. A large lawn to be mowed twice a week, berries to pick and prune, roses to keep trimmed, weeds to spray, flowers to plant and keep watered, and a pasture to keep watered and mowed. All this mixed in with book work, family weddings, scout camp outs, callings, and so forth. And when you do all of this with three little kids, everything takes about three times as long and requires three times the effort to complete. And it was just one of those days when I felt like I couldn't handle another single thing on my plate. Randomly, out of nowhere, I decided that I should e-mail the Relief Society President and let her know that I was comfortable visiting teaching the two sister that I was assigned to and to ask that she not add any more sisters to my route. When I sat down at my computer that day to send out the above mentioned e-mail, I was shocked when I opened an e-mail from the Relief Society President asking me to visit another sister. I sat and stared at the computer for the longest time while the kids ran around in chaos around me. I was stunned. Finally, after doing some deep self reflection, I decided that I wouldn't turn away this opportunity to serve, even though it would mean that I would have two sisters on polar ends of our ward boundaries (50 miles round trip for visits) and scheduling visits was going to get really complicated.

Then in September, life again felt like too much. It was one of those times when I wanted to pray and ask Heavenly Father not to send anything else my way because I didn't feel like I could handle it. I should have realized then that something else was going to come up, but I didn't. My mom called that same day letting me know that my brother and his wife (Stephen and Shara) would be coming home to live with us for a while because Stephen needed to have his colon removed (He has had ulcerative colitis for many years. Recently his colon had developed so many pre-cancerous polyps that it was time to get it out). I couldn't cry, I couldn't talk, I just felt overwhelmed. Not about Stephen and Shara living with us because I knew that would go well, but about supporting Stephen and Shara through this very challenging time in their lives. Again I had to do some soul searching and then dig deeper than ever to keep my head up.

I wanted so badly to ask my mom to try and get permission to come home while Stephen had his surgery. But I also felt as though I couldn't. As though it would mean I lacked faith. When my mom finally asked me if I wanted her to come home and help, I told her that I had wanted to ask her to try. My dad shorty thereafter sent off a letter to the area authority seventy seeking permission for my mom to come home for two weeks during Stephen's surgery. They gave her permission.

November and December have flown by in such a flurry that I feel sad in that I don't feel like I really enjoyed them. Dusty and I moved out of the master bedroom so Stephen and Shara could use it during their stay, Stephen and Shara came home, Mom came home, Dusty and Rita took a trip to California, Stephen had his surgery, Mom and Shara spent a week going back and forth to the hospital while I tried to keep things as "normal" as possible at home, Stephen came home from the hospital, Mom made a quick trip to Hermiston, we hosted Thanksgiving, Dusty and I made a trip up to Washington with Grandpa and Grandma Blunck to attend an uncle's Christmas performance, Mom left, Primary put on our ward Christmas party, Stephen and Shara left, we all got sick and it took a week and a half before everyone felt better, year-end book work kicked in, Christmas came and went, we made a quick trip up to Hermiston to visit family, preparations for the new year in Primary took longer than expected, I spent more time finishing up year-end book work, we dashed out to McMinnville to visit Grandpa and Grandma Blunck, we visited a childhood friend of Dusty's and spent time with family in Salem, we went to the temple, and so many other "little" things in between.

I have felt over-stretched in many ways all at the same time in the last two months. Perhaps I will look back at these days a few years down the road and be able to see that I grew because of them. But right now I feel a little sore and just want January to be a slow month. I want to spend more time reading with my kids, riding bikes with them, listening to their endless stories, laughing with them over the silly things they do, and posting their sweet pictures on my blog so I don't forget about the days we've spent together. They already seem to be flying by.

Woodworking

2011-12-26T00:49:00.004-05:00

There are times I just need to do something with my hands. There is genuine satisfaction in building something. I had a few extra hours to sneak out to the shop this month and built a few toys from scrap wood for the kids.

A mission style bed for Rita's dolls. Every little piece was ripped down from a scrap 2x4 on the table saw. The first thing Rita did: stand on it.

A cowboy Colt revolver for the boys. Phillip has been convinced all week that he needs a pistol. So I planed down an old floor board and rough cut the shape of a Colt revolver. I made two, in case there were any mistakes. Just as I was drilling the last hole on the drill press, the hammer broke and the drill shredded the gun. I was a little dissapointed. But I had a backup. After a few hours of sanding, it turned out okay.

A flintlock pirate pistol for the boys. I figured it wasn't a good idea to have one gun with two boys, but didn't want the hastle of making another Colt revolver, so I decided to make an old flintlock. The boys keep going back and forth about whether they want the "cowboy" or "pirate" pistol.

Train Ride

2011-12-26T00:41:00.008-05:00

This past week we went to Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland on the train. The kids were so excited! It was a cold morning so we tried to convince the boys to wear a hat and gloves.

Rita had a fun train ride. Mostly because she wasn't stuck in a car seat. She enjoyed standing up and waving at all the cars. Towards the end of the ride, she got fussy, jumped back and forth between Dusty and Janeece, and screamed through several stops.

The whole trip was an experience. We had no agenda or schedule, just a bag full of food. The boys stopped at fountains and watched a bear eat a fish. We played the best game of hide-and-seek and chased the birds.

While we were at Pioneer Courthose Square, we looked at the Christmas tree, ate lunch on the steps and watched a dance team perform several Holiday tap dances. As soon as Phillip rubbed his eyes we jumped the first train and headed home before we pushed our luck too far. We had a fun trip and enjoyed being outside.

Christmas Season

2011-12-18T12:16:00.010-05:00

As a family we begin our Christmas celebration on December 1st with a traditional meal of fish, figs, dates, unleavened bread, and grape juice. We read the nativity and give each other one gift. It is a nice way to front-load the magic in December and encourages us to spend the rest of the month delivering poinsettias and home-made treats instead of shopping for presents. We have had some magical adventures.

For Home Evening we went to the Zoo lights in Portland. It was fun. Thanks to the generosity of a random stranger, we were given tickets to ride the train as well. The boys had a lot of fun. By the end of the evening though, Rita was nearly frozen, overly tired, and ready to go home.

We went with Aunt Shara and Uncle Stephen to cut a Christmas tree after school. By the time we found "the" tree, it was dark and a heavy fog was setting in. But Shara, Janeece, and the boys did a great job cutting it down. It was Aunt Shara's first time ever cutting a real tree. So after paying for it, Dusty just threw it in the pickup, tailgate down, and headed back home with Phillip. Sure enough, on Lone Elder it flew out the back of the truck into the middle of the road. Because Dusty couldn't pullover for several hundred yards, he had to drag the wounded tree a long distance down the highway in the dark. To say the least, it has a chunk missing and severe road rash on the backside of the tree. Nothing a few lights and home-made ornaments can't cover up.

After setting up the tree alone (the women were at Enrichment and Uncle Stepehen is recovering from surgery), Dusty was adjusting the undersized base when the entire tree fell over. Water and needles were everywhere. Dusty was a little irritated but eventually found a larger base in the shop and was ready to decorate.

Rita and the boys had fun with the Christmas lights. Phillips job was to unravel the cords; Rita's was to tangle them back up again. What a team!

Phillip is our tractor man. Sadly, just minutes after taking this photo, the ornament crashed and lost its front wheels. It is sitting in a pile of other ornaments that need gluing.

Karl still loves everything ocean. We went to a story time with Mrs. Clause yesterday at Al's Garden Center. When asked what he wanted for Christmas, he told her "the ocean." She said that seemed kinda big. Here he is with his beloved fish ornament.

Rita was quite the little helper. She kept grabbing ornaments and stashing them in her pile. After some coaxing, she would occasionally put one on the tree.

The tree looks amazing! Karl really wanted to put on the star (made from a spray-painted Frosted Flakes cereal box when we were newly weds in true DIYer style). So Dusty lifted him over his head by the back of his pants while Karl swayed awkwardly in the air. Though the star is crooked, it didn't seem urgent to risk our lives fixing it.

With Dusty on a campout with the scouts, Janeece and Aunt Shara took the kids to a breakfast with Santa. Put on by the Canby Fire Department, the event is great. The kids ate breakfast, made crafts, sat with Santa, and all came home with elf hats.

Last night we were loading up in the van to go watch the Christmas Ships light show on the Willamette river with Dusty's parents. Just as both boys were buckled in their car seats, Phillip began vomiting like Niagara Falls. It was amazing, and the stench was overpowering. Dusty just took him, car seat and all, and put him on the driveway to be hosed off. He then cleaned up the enormous puddle on the back seat of the van that had just been vacuumed minutes before. Plan B: we stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa and watched "Follow Me Boys" while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. Oh the magic of Christmas!

School Bus and Misc.

2011-12-18T12:09:00.005-05:00

Miss Rita is now quite the little walker. This week she walked all the way down the drive to wait for Karl's Kindergarten bus. You can see her giggling excitement when she sees the bus coming down the street.

Being such a good brother, Karl held Rita's hand and walked with her back to the house (while picking his nose). It is priceless to see Karl and Phillip adore their little sister. They call her princess, tell her she is beautiful and say "I love you," and are occasionally stiff-armed in response to a not-so-welcome bear hug.

One night after dinner this week, Rita was just so playful and expressive. Her and Janeece were having so much fun. It convinces me that everyone really needs a little girl. I love my boys, but I REALLY love my girl.

Before a ward Christmas party, we treated Stephen and Shara to Mexican food before they left for Utah. Phillip, who loves "spicy things," was just shoveling down the chips and salsa in his suit jacket. The discomfort was then noticeable as he downed several large glasses of water. Can we say strong-willed?

Gourmet Chicken

2011-12-18T12:06:00.004-05:00

Last week a man knocked the door just as Janeece was trying to put the kids down for a nap while in the middle of a variety of business calls. He was selling gourmet chicken that cost over $300 for 15 pounds. But with kids screaming, Janeece frazzled, the man drops the price and sells Janeece six boxes of frozen chicken for $150. For you non-math people (unlike my wife), that's $10 per pound. She was just trying to get the guy off the door step and felt distraught the rest of the day. Dusty didn't say anything, but secretly reconsidered a career in door-to-door gourmet food sales.

After a long week, we had a date night this past Friday. Red beans and rice with GOURMET southwest chicken breasts. It was good. If only we had served it in the glass dish that we bought for our anniversary.

PS- Janeece just wants me to reassure everyone that we are usually not this extravagant. We buy bulk at Winco, shop at thrift stores, drive old cars...and occasionally splurge on $10 per pound gourmet chicken.

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-28T23:16:00.010-04:00

We had a trunk or treat tonight at the church and it was a lot of fun getting everyone dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Rita, however, wasn't very excited about being a crab and never did wear her crab hat.

A few weeks ago we asked Karl what he wanted to be for Halloween. He said a blue marlin. Hmm... We gave it a couple of days and asked again and he reassured us that he really did want to be a marlin. So we went to work making a costume for him. In the end, we were all pleased with his costume.

Dusty and I dressed as fishermen and we used Mom and Dad Price's boat in place of a trunk.

Phillip initially wanted to be a pink dragon. Then he wanted to be a green dragon. Next he wanted to be a turtle. And finally he decided he wanted to be a tractor. Again we said, hmmm... So here is farmer Phillip. He is named after Great Grandpa Hawman who is actually and farmer. Phillip wore one of Grandpa Hawman's Riverview Seed Company hats to complete his farmer outfit.

And here is farmer Phillip. His tractor turned out great (we used his bike as the frame work). I started on it and when Dusty came home he looked at me with a questioning eye (Hey, I'm not the engineer in the family, David is.), but he helped me put it all together in the end it was exciting when we were finally done. One of the coolest features are the headlights (flashlights) that Phillip could turn on as he drove (road) around the parking lot.

We all had fun tonight...well, almost all of us. As you can see from the picture, Rita was pretty upset that she wasn't allowed to go get candy.

Dusty is now attempting to having a "cam pout" with the boys in front of the fire in the fire place. We'll see how that goes.

Happy Birthday Phillip!

2011-10-23T22:30:00.006-04:00

Phillip turned three on October 18th and we had a great time celebrating his birthday with him.

Dusty was actually on a camp out when my water broke with Phillip, so I called him at 3:00AM to tell him he needed to get back into town quick. Things turned out a little anti-climatically with a c-section at about 5:00PM, but Phillip came out a beautiful, healthy little boy. He has been a tremendous joy ever since. And that is why I refer to him as my "joy baby".

Phillip has a contagious enthusiasm for life. He lives life all out or not at all. When he wants to do something, he wants to do it right now. And when he doesn't want to do something, he lets you know quite loudly. His eyes always seem to sparkle and I am constantly wondering what he is thinking.

As you already know Phillip loves John Deere tractors. So we decided to indulge his interest and make him a special cake. He was thrilled! He just wanted to sit at the table and look at it for a long time.

The cake turned out to be really easy to make which made it even more fun to make. And it tasted great too. Phillip and Karl especially loved eating the "hay bales" aka caramels out of the trailer.

Phillip recently learned out to ride a bicycle with training wheels. Since he loves any type of trailer, we decided to get him one. Originally we planned on having Dusty make him one, but after looking at the different parts we would need, we decided that it would end up being too heavy for him to pull. Instead, we bought him a light-weight plastic one. Dusty created a special attachment so Phillip can hitch the trailer up to his bike. It has been the perfect gift. Phillip spends hours outside riding his bike around, pulling his trailer, and loading it up with miscellaneous objects.

What was the first thing he put into his trailer? Bricks... It was a little heavy and it took a lot of effort on our part to convince him to exchange his load for something lighter.

Tonight Dusty found Phillip laying on the ground under the van trying to hitch his trailer up to it. He is so funny!

Phillip we adore you! You bring us joy every day and we cherish the time that we have with you. Thank you for helping each of us to be more excited about life and to live it more fully. We love to watch you grow and discover the world around you.

Birthday Celebrations

2011-10-21T12:58:00.018-04:00

Since Rita and Phillip's birthdays are relatively close together, we decided to have a combined birthday party for them.
Great Grandma and Grandpa Blunck joined us for a fun celebration. Grandma has always loved babies....that's probably why my dad and I likewise love little babies. It was so fun to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma!
Grandpa and Grandma Blunck are so inspiring to Dusty and I. It is evident that they love each other and their family very much. Dusty frequently talks about Grandpa with deep admiration for how hard he has worked to provide for his family. We love you Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for joining us for the celebration.
Grandpa worked as a produce manager for many, many years at the Roth's store in McMinnville. When I was younger and would visit him at the store, he would always take me to the bakery so I could pick out a cookie to eat. It was such a treat and one that I really looked forward to. And when my siblings and I would have a birthday, he would bring us a cake from the store as well. I still remember the cake he brought to me with a gymnast on it. It meant a lot. And so it meant a lot to have him bring a cake for Rita and Phillip. Phillip fell in love with the cake immediately and kept asking me to lift him up so he could look at the cake while it was on the counter.
Phillip was excited to blow out his candles and Rita was anxious to dig into the cake.
But Rita's excitement didn't last too long. She was not very thrilled about having frosting on her hands. So the rest of us enjoyed her cake instead.
All our family was so kind and gave Phillip John Deere tractors for his birthday. Phillip has been in heaven ever since as he can now "plow fields, combine, and harvest crops".

It took some coaxing, but Phillip finally looked up for a quick photo.

No party would be complete without cousins Hailey and Brooklyn and their parents. They gave Rita her first baby doll and she has smothered it in kisses every day since.

Grandpa and Grandma Price gave Rita this stroller. She loves pushing it around and Phillip occasionally tries to steal it from her.

Thanks everyone for a fun time and a great celebration.

Agency, Justice, and Mercy

2011-10-19T17:36:00.013-04:00

At times in life we come face to face with the reality that our lives are directly affected by others because we all have agency. Sometimes other peoples' choices bless and enrich our lives. At other times, our lives are negatively impacted by the choices of others. We can cause others intense hurt and sorrow. And we are sometimes left with deep wounds that take a long time to heal. But what I find most saddening is when people exercise their agency and make choices that deny children of blessings which they are inherently entitled to as spirit children of our Heavenly Father.

It makes me so sad to know that Preston's birth mother (Preston was the baby that my brother and his wife had been asked to adopt) has decided to raise him as a single mother. I am sure that she will be a wonderful mother and that she will love Preston intensely. But, oh how sad I am to know that he is being denied a home in which there is a father and mother because "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity". What makes me so sad is that Preston did not have a choice about this, but his birth mother did. And now his life will be impacted in significant ways because of the way in which she exercised her agency.

It is because each of us has agency that justice is so important in Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation. Our Father knew that we would not always make correct choices and that we would hurt others along the way. Each of us will be held accountable for the choices that we make, especially those choices we make that hurt others.

None of us could ever fulfill the demands of justice on our own. That is why we have a Savior, Jesus Christ. He, and only He, can fulfill all the demands of justice for each of us if we so choose.

I am grateful for all three of these things: agency, justice, and mercy. I have made good and bad choices in my own life. Some of my choices have brought great joy and comfort to others. Other choices I have made have negatively impacted others. I will be held accountable for all of these choices. At times I have been greatly wronged by others and I have found great comfort in knowing that justice will be required. But most especially, I have been extended the arm of mercy through the atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ. For which I am continually grateful.

I'm writing this post, not in criticism of Preston's birth mother, but out of such deep grief for him because of the blessings which he will not have in his life now. I know what he could have been blessed with if he had been placed for adoption, whether with David and Sheri or with another family. He could of had a righteous, priesthood holding father to raise him and teach him about his own priesthood duties. He could of had a dad to give him father's blessings when he becomes sick or needs comfort and direction. He could of had a father to teach him to work hard and to provide for his family so that his mother could be at home, raising him. Most importantly, he could have been sealed to an eternal family unit.

Preston, when I have completed my labours as a mother for the day, I will walk into my room and kneel down and weep for you and what could have been. I will weep for all the dear children throughout the world whose lives are adversely affected by the choices of others. And I will pray that the protecting Hand of our beloved Father in Heaven will be over you always. Then, I will pray for forgiveness and mercy for the wrongs I have committed against others. I will pray for unfailing courage to always make the right choices.

You, dear boy, will always be in my prayers...

It's Late But I Couldn't Wait

2011-10-18T02:38:00.004-04:00

Dusty is a huge movie fan and is always picking out movies for us to watch. He especially loves to check out international films. A few years back we watched an Indian movie called Lagaan and fell in love with it. Dusty has his students watch parts of it each year and watching Lagaan opened up a whole new world of films to us.

Tonight we just watched another Indian film called My Name is Khan. It was a powerful, moving film. I highly recommend it. We found our copy at the local library. Just so you know, it is three hours long. And now that it is nearly midnight on a school night, I am heading to bed with a joyful heart after watching a film that has uplifted my soul.

Days Like Today

2011-10-12T22:35:00.004-04:00

I love days like today! I didn't have any place to be other than home, nor errands to run, or tasks that had to be done. The nice weather made it so fun to be outside and it was a breath of fresh air to follow the kids' leads all day rather than organizing them. We spent the day outside riding bikes, swinging on the swings, playing in the sandbox, catching frogs, climbing trees, picking apples, reading books, riding bikes some more, and wrestling in the family room. I didn't take any pictures because I just wanted to enjoy the moments. And these are moments worth remembering and rejoicing in!

Our Peace Baby Is One

2011-10-01T22:45:00.010-04:00

Each one of our children has added something special to our home. Karl is our "happy baby" because he is genuinely happy most of the time. Phillip is our "joy baby" because he has brought so much enthusiasm and energy to life. And Rita is our "peace baby" because she has blessed our family with so much peace amidst a lot of changes and challenges. And it's hard to believe that is has already been one year since she joined our family.

What a real treat it is to have Rita in our home. I always anticipated having an all boy family and so it was a shock when the ultrasound showed a little girl. Now, I thank Heavenly Father frequently for blessing us with a little girl. She is such a delight.
On her special day we celebrated by having cupcakes, which Phillip and Karl helped make and frost. As you can see, Rita was very anxious to eat her cupcake and let us know through a few squawks and hollers when she saw them.

And she was quick to help herself to her own cupcake.

Rita took just a few bites (although she doesn't have any teeth, so they should probably be called "mouth fulls"). She seemed a little frustrated with the frosting that kept sticking to her fingers. Her enthusiasm wore off quickly and she signed "all done" so she could get down and crawl around.

But we didn't let her get out until we took a family picture. It's not great, but with two older brothers and cupcakes on the table, what can you expect?

And for her special activity, Rita got to play in the sandbox without her older brothers bossing her around. She loved every moment of it. This picture makes me laugh because it seems like she is giving me a looks that says: "Mom, don't you dare take me away from this sandbox. This is way too much fun." A few minutes prior to taking this photo, I had tried to take her back inside the house and she screamed and wiggled like crazy trying to get back to the sandbox. So I let her play some more.

Rita has amazing hand-eye coordination and is so much gentler with things than the boys. She will sit and flip through pages of magazines and paperback books without ripping any pages. I was never able to trust the boys with paperback books. And she loves to put little items into containers, pull them out of containers, and put them back in again.

Oh Rita, how we love you! You are such a blessing in our home.

Poems by Karl

2011-10-01T18:26:00.004-04:00

This past week Uncle Stephen and Aunt Shara visited. It was great to be with them and the boys especially enjoyed the extra attention. After observation, it is obvious that Aunt Shara is the overall "favorite". Stephen comes in a close second as he is really good at wrestling with the boys. One night Aunt Shara sat on the couch and helped Karl write his own rhyming poems. Here is what he came up with.

Silly Poem
I know a shark
Who likes to eat bark.
He has a big head
And his head is a bed.
The bed eats the chair
And there's a big mean bear.
I see a tree,
But it's actually a bee.
The car is actually a bar
And it is really far.
I see a shark! Oh it's actually a fish.
The fish is actually a dish.

Ocean Stew
The plankton
Tastes like bacon.
The shark
Is actually bark.
I see a buna.
Oops! It's actually a tuna.
The clam
Shuts with a bam!
The swordfish
Eats the bored fish.

Apple Pies

2011-09-17T18:10:00.019-04:00

A little over a week ago we invited the families in our play group over for a story time and activity. Since my parents have a nice apple orchard and fall is just around the corner, we decided to read apple books for story time and to make apple pies for our activity. The kids had fun picking apples off the trees and then working with their moms to peel and core their apples. We used pre-made crusts to simplify/speed up the process and I pre-made the crumb topping to also speed up the process. In the end, every family went home with two pies, one for them and one for them to share with friends.

Here is our group, working away. I'm glad the weather was nice enough for us to be out side.
Karl and Phillip loved turning the crank on the peeler/corer.

Mr. Phillip trying to snitch some of the apples before the pies were baked.

The boys were really excited about their pies. After they cooled down, Karl ran right over to our neighbors house and gave one of the pies to them. This last week our neighbor came over to tell Karl thank you and to let him know that he and Phillip good little chefs.

Karl's In Kindergarten

2011-09-17T18:10:00.017-04:00

It's amazing how quickly time passes.
Sweet baby Karl entered the world traumatically, but has been on the go ever since.
He has always been a very happy boy, full of love and optimism about life.
Now he has started kindergarten and hasn't looked back since. Here he is on registration day. We found out that he was going to be in Mrs. Ruwitch's class (I was really excited because I had hear a lot of good things about her) along with several of his friends from church and Cade, the neighbor boy behind us.
Breakfast on Karl's first day of school consisted of apple pie, sausage, and eggs, per his request.
Not only was Karl anxious and ready to go to school, but Phillip was so excited to be involved in the whole process. You can see that he has his own back pack on too. He was disappointed when he couldn't stay at school with Karl.
The first day Karl was gone Phillip kept asking where he was. He seemed a little lost without his older brother around, but he has since gotten used to having more of mom's attention. And he has really enjoyed being able to talk with me about tractors rather than ocean creatures.
Here we are waiting for the bus. The bus drops Karl off at the end of our driveway every day and we have to go out and meet him. Phillip always starts jumping up and down when he sees the bus.

Karl loves riding the bus. It helps because he and his good friend Cade, who is also our neighbor, always sit together.

Karl always comes up and gives me a huge hug when he gets off the bus. Then he starts talking a mile a minute about his day. He loves school!

Karl, oh how we love you! We hope you always find great joy in learning.

Family Reunion

2011-09-17T18:09:00.036-04:00

In August we made a trip out to Utah to meet up with my two brothers and their families. While we were there we also saw Dusty's brothers and their families. It was a great week and we had a lot of fun times. And amazingly the drive out there and back went pretty well.

We went to some awesome water parks while we were there. I wish Oregon had some nice outdoor water parks, but then again, it rains so much here that they don't seem practical.

Here are the little boys waiting for their dads and uncles to go off the high dives.

The "guys". You cannot consider a gathering of our family a true "Blunck Reunion" without it including some sort of physical challenge. This year it was the Air Force Challenge. David came in first with an impressive score, Dusty was next (I think), and Stephen was just a short ways behind. Great job guys!

Stephen going off the high dive.

Me going off the high dive. I just ran at full speed and jumped off. I knew if I thought about things or walked to the edge that I would chicken out.

Dusty, who is VERY afraid of heights, even joined in on the action.

David must be experienced in this area as evidenced by his form.

We all hiked up to the Timpanogos caves. All the kids did great on the long, hot hike.

Stephen and Shara...what a beautiful couple. They are awesome with all their nieces and nephews and very patient.

Yes, Rita is there. She is just chilling on Dusty's back. People might consider our family the "craziest" one out of the bunch.

David, Sheri, Benjamin, Hunter, and soon Preston (Due October 8th) Blunck. Benjamin is a really good hiker and Hunter is a very patient little boy.

Of course on any hike you need to make sure that you bring along lots of "power snacks". Here are the cousins enjoy theirs after traveling through the caves.

And a family reunion wouldn't be complete without a temple trip. Here are all the couples outside the Jordan River temple. Thank you to Shara's parents for watching our kids. I think the word they used to describe the four boys and Rita was "busy".

We missed Mom, Dad and Lynette who are all in Peru, but Mom made sure to send us all something to wear in memory of them and their missions. Thank you Mom and Dad!

While in Utah, Rita discovered stairs and had so much fun climbing up them. She would laugh so hard after she climbed up each step. It was a delight to watch her discover something new.

On or drives to and from Utah, we stopped in Hermiston to see Grandpa and Grandma Hawman and other family. And on our way back we stopped by Grass Valley and the boys were able to ride in the combine with Cousin Nick and ride in the tractor with Uncle Alan. Phillip, our little tractor man, was in heaven. Unfortunately I couldn't find my camera to capture those moments.

We had a great time visiting with everyone and as always, out trip ended with me in tears as we said good-bye. I guess we'll just keep the phone lines and g-chat busy until next time.

Memorable Moments

2011-09-17T18:09:00.035-04:00

We have had a wonderful summer. It has been full or family outings, weddings, road trips, yard work, and fun in the sun.
We went to the Portland temple and walked around the grounds. It was a great time to share my feelings about the temple with the boys (Dusty was on a camp out. Oh yes, Dusty's summer has been of Scout camp outs).

We went on a little scavenger hunt around the grounds looking for special features of the temple.

Karl posing as his silly self.

Phillip trying so hard to look at the camera and smile like I asked him to do. He insisted on wearing his tie on the outside of his vest. I couldn't convince him otherwise. He must have figured that it is rediculous to wear a tie if others cannot see it.Rita has developed a very sweet and cheerful personality. And she tries so hard to keep up with her brothers. Whenever she sees them heading for the door, she starts crawling as fast as she can towards the door too. There have been many occasions when she has ended up crying by the door because she just wasn't fast enough to make it out the door with her brothers.

One Saturday this summer Karl came outside with some crackers to eat for snack. He was really insistent that I have one, so I asked him to leave it on the counter for me so I could eat it with my lunch. This is the little note he made for me. It made me so happy. Bike riding is one of our favorite summer time activities. We have spent many hours riding on the driveway and up and down the road. In fact, Karl has gotten so good that he can ride 2-3 miles at a time. Which made it finally possible for me to go for a run with all three kids; Karl rides his bike while I push Phillip and Rita in the stroller. Yeah!

The boys had fun dressing up as "pirates". Do you see the resemblance between them and the famed Jack Sparrow? I sure don't but I didn't have the heart to tell them. They had so much fun dressing up.

Karl did a little light reading this summer. Yes, that is a diagram explaining all the different methods of catching fish. It is one of Karl's favorite books and he ends up checking it out from the library about every other week.

Rita discovered a new passion for helping me with the dishes. She seemed to crawl fast towards the door, but when she sees the dishwasher open, she puts her head down and crawls at hyper-speeds to get to it before I close it.

Rita enjoyed cruising around in daddy's mustang on our doughnut run Saturday.

Karl and Phillip all buckled in a ready for their doughnuts. Karl loves apple fitters and doughnuts with sprinkles. Phillip loves sprinkles and any doughnut that looks big.

Watch out, Rita's at the wheel!

Rita doesn't have any teeth and she has also decided that she doesn't like to be spoon fed. This has made it a bit challenging in feeding her. One day she was really fussy at dinner and kept signing for food. We'd give her something and she would then throw it on the floor. Frustrated, I gave her my corn cob. She was a happy eater the rest of the meal. I guess she didn't want to be left out.

Miss Rita in her favorite place to crawl. It's just her size. Amazingly, she will most often take all those National Geographic magazines off the shelf and then crawl down onto the floor and flip through the pages. She loves books and loves looking at pictures. Rita has brought such joy to our family!

Beautiful eyes...and beautiful memories of this summer.

Rodents

2011-09-17T18:09:00.023-04:00

Living in the country is always full of adventures and many of our reoccurring adventures always involve a rodent or two. Case in point.

A few weeks ago after returning home from running errands, Karl discovered that there was something in the fire place. We could hear it scratching at the glass and making a lot of noise. We thought maybe it was a mouse or a rat. We even considered the possibilities of it being a skunk or opossum. Not quite sure how to handle the situation, Dusty and I deliberated for a long time on how to resolve the problem.

We finally concluded that we were just going to have to trap the rodent and release it outside. During the whole time the boys were so excited to have a little friend inside the house and were running around crazy with excitement. Here the boys are ready to help us trap our little creature. Yes, those are cookie sheets. Supposedly the boys were supposed to hold them up and help corral the rodent into that plastic tub.
Once we finally opened the fireplace door we discovered that the rodent was actually a bird (makes sense). So we just opened the doors and the bird flew out into the house. The boys went wildy, the bird went crazy, and it took quite a bit of time to get the bird out of the house. In the end, we managed to successfully return the bird to it's natural habitat. And the boys had some new, exciting memories.
And not two days later, I walked to the back door to go outside and water plants when I saw this vole, dead by the door. I have no idea how it got inside the house. I'm just glad it was dead and I didn't have to chase it around and try and trap it. And I'm really glad I found it before Rita, our little crawler, did.

The Colors of Summer

2011-08-01T00:17:00.018-04:00

Dear Dad and Mom,
This post is for you since I know you are in the middle of winter in Lima. Thank goodness you can fly out to your jungle cities and see some green once in a while. I hope you enjoy these pictures I took of the beautiful colors in your yard this summer. Many people have commented that your yard looks like the Garden of Eden. I think they are right. I wish I was a better photographer for you so that I could capture the true beauty of each flower and the entire yard. But I hope my best efforts will make you smile and bring you a bit of joy today.
Love,
Janeece
GREEN
YELLOW
PINK

PURPLE

APRICOT

WHITE

BLUE

Home!

A Little Time Alone

2011-07-31T23:41:00.005-04:00

We celebrated our 7th anniversary this year with a little trip to Lincoln City along the Oregon Coast. Despite clouds on Monday morning, the day turned out beautiful and we had a fabulous time visiting a pottery gallery, a blown glass studio, eating some delicious seafood, and we also enjoyed a nice long walk along the beach.

Isn't the ocean beautiful? For all my siblings, this pictures reminds me of the time we took Great Grandma Garrett to the beach and she thought that the wood that we had stacked together in a similar fashion was a person who was going to get wet as the tide came in. Do you remember that? She kept saying over and over, "Why doesn't that person move? They are going to get wet." It brings back a lot of fond memories of Grandma Garrett.

Here we are after seven years. We were best friends in high school and remain best friends today. We both treasure our journey together.

We spent Tuesday hiking in the coastal area. This is a picture of Drift Creek Falls. It's amazing how quickly we can hike without the kids.

Our second hike was the Cascade Head Trail which terminated in the beautiful view of the coastline.

Thank you Mom Price for watching all three kids so we could make this trip!

Ape Caves

2011-07-25T01:01:00.002-04:00

This weekend we went camping in the wilderness surrounding Mt. St. Helens. It is always good to get out in the wild with the boys in particular. Boys just love being outside and getting dirty with dad.

For dinner we had red beans and rice with roasted summer sausage.

Phillip loves camping. Anything with sticks and fires. He found a scrap tent pole left in the campsite and spent 30 minutes running around the woods and hitting trees, calling them "bad guys". He also always kept our fire going by constantly throwing more sticks on top.

After dinner, Dusty and the boys hiked down to a nearby river to go fishing. Phillip and Karl each picked out their own fishing stick and Dusty helped them attach a hook and bobber. They sure had fun swinging those sticks back and forth but decided in the end that the fish were probably just sleeping.

At night we roasted Starbursts on the fire. Karl and Phillip loved it.

We slept very little that night. Some lost hikers stopped in our campsite at 11:00 PM and woke up the kids. Rita did not fall back asleep; it was a long night to say the least.

Price family outside the Ape Caves, a large lava tube below Mt. St. Helens.

The lower section of the Ape Caves is about an hour round-trip hike. It is absolutely amazing!

The boys were most excited to use their flashlights in the cave. But they did not like the fact that we tied them to their wrists in the event that they were dropped down the cave.

After about 45 minutes in the cave Rita's hands got too cold and she began to fuss and cry a bit. So Dusty tossed Phillip on his shoulders with Rita in the backpack carrier and hurried out of the cave to get back into the warm sun while Janeece and Karl finished the hike.

You always know a good camping trip when the kids quickly fall asleeep on the way home. However, it is a really good trip when your wife falls alseep too.

Canby Ferry and Geocaching

2011-07-25T01:00:00.002-04:00

This past week our family went on our first geocache adventure. We told the boys it was treasure hunting with the GPS.

We had fun geocaching as it combined several of our favorite hobbies: driving in the country, hiking, and spending time as a family.

Last Sunday Janeece and Karl worked together to make Ratatouille for the first time.

It was very good. Karl was sure to remind mom that the plates needed the "red sauce" that Remy uses in the Pixar film. So we improvised with Ketchup.

With summer school finished for Dusty we celebrated by taking the Canby ferry, throwing rocks in the river, and going for a hike.

Karl was just so excited to be going on an easy hike (no Multnomah Falls or Saddle Mountain). Sometimes it is easy to get overwhelmed with the business of life the constant weight of responsibility. At times you feel inadequate and even down right lousy as a parent. But being outside as a family is always a testimony to the beauty of family and the purpose of life. One thing is for certain, we love Karl, Phillip, and Rita.

Rats, Ants, and Skunks

2011-07-17T13:22:00.004-04:00

With Janeece's parents serving a mission in Peru, we are privileged to be the gardeners at their beautiful country home. However, there is never a dull moment. In addition to the usual excitement of raising three wonderful kids, we often have other critters wandering around.

The other night Janeece heard the pitter patter of small feet skittering through the air ducts in the attic just above the bedroom. When it sounded as if the critter made its way to the fan in the bathroom Dusty turned it on. Unsure what he thought he would accomplish with this strategy, the fan blades began mincing the critter's tail.

The very next day, Janeece walks out into the garage to find it overtaken by ants. She spread Terro ant killer throughout the garage, which Dusty kept stepping in and tracking across the rug in the doorway. That stuff is unbelievably sticky.

But if only it ended with a rat in the attic and ants in the garage. The neighbor immediately behind us was outside one morning, her son had a bb gun. It turns out the porch on their brand new home was sprayed by a skunk. They had cornered it under a pallet at the back of the Blunck's property. Neither really wanted to hurt it.

With a little dog food, within minutes Dusty and the boys lurred the skunk into a live trap. After a quick photo shoot, we determined that it was not worth relocating the skunk. After locking the boys in the shop, Dusty shot the skunk 4 ties in the head with a .22. The miracle: it did not spray. Despite Karl really wanting to make "skunk slippers" we decided instead to burry it behind the house.

There are also the wild bunnies and deer eating the garden, the frogs in the pond, and the constant barage of moles and gophers in the yard. But we'll save those stories for another time. Just another day in the country!

My Gift to All You Mothers

2011-07-08T23:43:00.004-04:00

Dear Mothers,

Have you ever felt less than adequate in your most important role? It is so easy to look around the grocery store or church and see all these seemingly perfect mothers. They are gorgeous, their kids are dressed in matching outfits, and they follow behind her without touching anyone or anything. Yes, it is enticing to think that every other mother in the world has it together while it seems that your little world is unravelling. Well, today I am offering you a very special gift. My gift to you is a guilt-free day. No more need to feel as though you are doing a sub par job at taking care of your family. How can I offer you such a gift? Here is how...

I just folded my laundry...the laundry that I washed two weeks ago that has been sitting in baskets ever since. Yep, it's true!

So, there you have it. A reason why you can feel guilt free for the day. Take a few minutes to enjoy this moment of total freedom. And hey, I'm feeling quite generous today so I'm going to throw in another offer. Next time you see my kids wearing their extremely wrinkled clothes, go ahead and take another guilt free day on me.

Love,
Janeece

General Canby Days

2011-07-08T18:48:00.004-04:00

To celebrate the 4th of July, the small city of Canby organizes a car show, parade, and fireworks with live music, food vendors and booths throughout the day. This year, Dusty and the boys got up early and put the Mustang in the car show.
After registering the car at 7:30 AM, the boys cooked eggs and sausage on the Coleman stove with hot chocolate and marshmallows. It was a lot of fun being together.

Karl and Phillip had a lot of fun running around and taking pictures of the other cars. Throughout the car show, Dusty would let little boys passing by jump in and "drive" the Mustang. They always had fun but Phillip would become very territorial: "My Mustang! "He get out of MY Mustang!"

After breakfast we played at the playground. While there, the Fire Department came to help fill up a dunk tank and let Karl and Phillip climb inside the back of the fire truck and wear the headsets.

The parade seemed small this year, with less candy being thrown than usual (evidence that the economy is still in recovery), but was a lot of fun. We met Joe and Annie there and had a great time with their girls. Brooklyn was especially kind to share her balloon with Rita who slobbered so contently all over it.

As for the fireworks, we didn't make it. After being outside for 5 hours on such a hot day, Phillip melted down in the middle of downtown Canby. We decided to get the boys to bed early and watch the Macey's firework show in New York.

Rita's Roamings

2011-07-04T12:09:00.007-04:00

I've become quite good at army crawling. Just between you and me, Mom's floors aren't quite as clean as she thinks they are. I find all sorts of treasures to put in my mouth. Crawling around is so much more fun than just sitting in place. Here are a few of my most recent excursions.
Time for some light reading. Hmm, should I read the National Geographic, The Family Handyman, or Highlights? I think I'll stick with National Geographic.

My new favorite place...the end table. It's a perfect place to hide from my brothers. And who would have know that it would have such tasty treats?

Time to take a cruise around the house. Don't worry, I had my dad stay close by just in case I needed some assistance. I didn't make it very far, maybe an inch or two, but boy oh boy, I sure felt like a big girl. Now, if I can only figure out how to open the kitchen cabinets...

Summer Fun

2011-07-04T10:01:00.006-04:00

The boys have been having a hoppin good time this summer. This last week we finally had clear skies two days in a row (the first time since Nov. 3 and 4), so we've spent as much time outside as possible. Here are a few pictures of them having fun.

Karl caught this massive bull frog in my parent's pond. He was so proud of himself for finally catching it as he has been trying to catch this particular one for a month or so. I asked him what he wanted to name the frog and he came up with "Froggy." So creative. I then asked him what he would name a dog if we had one. He said "Doggy." See where this is headed. He was a little stumped when I asked him what he would name a cat. I guess "Catty" just didn't sound right to him.

Karl really likes to wear his bike helmet, even when he isn't riding his bike. I asked him why. He said it was so his head would be protected if he fell. Ah, my cautious son. I guess he has inherited a few of my raised by a personal injury attorney traits. What can I say, it's better to be safe than sorry.

And here is Phillip, the not so cautious one. He has finally decided that he enjoys holding frogs. And now it seems that he even enjoys kissing them good bye too. It is always tough convincing the boys that they should put the frog back in the pond. Once I did convince them that we should put the frog back, it hopped out of Phillip's hands and into some bushes. We spent about 10 minutes trying to find it and catch it so we could return it to it's home. It was such a relief when Karl finally put the bull frog back in the water, alive.

Since we decided not to get two steers this year, we needed something to eat down our pasture. We asked a friend, Theron Nebeker, if he would bring two of his horses out to eat down the grass. He did and the boys have had so much fun feeding the horses carrots. I think the cashiers at the checkout stand thin I'm crazy each time I show up and buy ten pounds of carrots.

This past weekend Theron came out and took each of the boys on a little ride around the place. When Theron asked who wanted to go first, Karl immediately said, "Not me!" So adventuresome little Phillip took the first ride and smiled the entire time.

After seeing Phillip have a great time, Karl decided that he was ready to give horse riding a try. As you will notice in the picture, cautious Karl decided, on his own initiative, to wear his helmet. He told me it was just in case he fell off the horse and hit his head. By the end of his ride Karl had a smile on his face too.

Multnomah Falls & Alison's Wedding

2011-07-04T00:39:00.014-04:00

Last weekend we headed up to Hermiston, Oregon for my cousin Alison's wedding. We decided on the way to stop at Multnomah Falls and to get our weekly hike in by climbing to the top. We did it last year and had a great time and were hoping things would go well this year too.

Here are the boys all ready for their hike. While it was a beautiful day, both Karl and Phillip decided that they wanted to wear their jackets with the hoods up the entire hike. Why can't I convince them to wear their jackets when it's raining?

Here is the happy family. The boys did great and passed the time by counting the number of switch backs. A couple of signs warned us of poison oak along the trail and sure enough, there was tones of it. So, we took extra care in explaining to the boys why they needed to stay away from all the green plants on this hike. Phillip really took this to heart because he WOULD NOT let Dusty walk on the outside edge of the trail because it put him closer to the green plants.

Dusty and I enjoy watching Biggest Loser. This last season Biggest Loser came to Portland to get contestants. A father and son team was chosen, Jesse and Arthur. While neither Arthur nor Jesse won, they were a great team to watch. Arthur weighed 645 lbs. in 2009 and lost enough weight to finally be able to be a part of Biggest Loser at 507 lbs.

As we hiked up to the top of Multnomah Falls, I pointed to a man ahead of us and told Dusty that it looked a lot like Arthur from Biggest Loser. And it was! He was working with some friends helping them to climb to the top of Multnomah Falls. It was inspiring to see him and to see him helping other people. I wanted to ask him if I could take my picture with him, but decided not to since he was working with other people.

And when we made it to the top of Multnomah Falls, there was Jesse, Arthur's father. Dusty said he wanted to ask him to laugh, as he seemed to have the most contagious laugh while on the show. No request necessary, Jesse laughed often while waiting for Arthur. And his laugh was just as great as when we heard it on the t.v.

Karl and Phillip both walked the entire way up to the top. And they of course had so much fun throwing rocks and sticks into the falls as we celebrated at the top. And they didn't forget to spit into the falls either. How did I forget that one?

Here is the whole crew at the top. We waved good-bye and headed back down the trail quickly so that we could finish our drive to Hermiston. Phillip did not like hiking back to the bottom of the falls. I think he was scared by how steep it was. So eventually I gave him a piggy back ride, just so we wouldn't be late to Alison's wedding.

Alison and Chad's wedding was wonderful. My cousin was a beautiful bride and her groom seems to be a genuinely nice man. I wanted to take a photo or two of her, but somehow in trying to keep track of all three kids, I forgot to grab the camera. I have no idea how that could have happened. All I can say is that the Hawman's (Alison's Family) really know how to throw a great party! Every detail had been thought out and everything was beautiful.

Sunday we spent the day with my Grandpa and Grandma Hawman and my mom's side of the family. I am always so grateful for the time that I get to spend with Grandpa Hawman, as he has a form of dementia, which can make it hard for him to be around crowds. Most of the time when Grandpa talks you can't really track what he is saying, but I love to spend time with him anyway. I spent and hour or so with him looking at his Country magazines and drinking lemonade. He loves Rita and loves to get her to smile by clapping his hands and whistling. And Rita of course loves all the attention. At one point I went and got Grandpa a glass of lemonade as it was getting pretty warm outside. He took one sip of that and just raved about how good that lemonade was. He said, "I think this is the best lemonade I've ever had." I will always treasure that moment.

Here are Grandpa and Grandma Hawman. They are such wonderful people. I'm so grateful that I am their granddaughter. I wish I had gotten a better photo of them.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. And in another week I have another cousin on that same side of the family getting married in The Dalles. So, the fun has just begun.

Precious Moments

2011-06-20T23:47:00.002-04:00

Every night when I tuck Rita into bed I wave good-night to her and blow her kisses. Tonight she waved back. Karl was standing at the door with me and was overcome with excitement when he saw Rita's new trick. I love these precious moments!

Saddle Mountain, Almost

2011-06-19T11:00:00.009-04:00

So we had the crazy idea of climbing Saddle Mountain as a family. It is a 5.5-mile round trip hike with a 1,600 foot rise in elevation. It is rated as "challenging." As Janeece had never been before, she quickly began questioning the whole idea when we pulled into the parking lot and she saw the magnitude of the mountain in the background. It didn't help as we hiked along some very precarious cliffs, washed-out and slippery trails.

Janeece and the boys getting powered up with a pre-hike banana. We also kept the boys pumped with granola bars and fruit snacks along the trail to keep them motivated and hiking.

Rita putting together her pack. She had so much fun hiking, just smiling and giggling the whole way up the trail. But her not taking a bottle and getting a nap would later sabotage the final summit of Saddle Mountain.

Janeece and the boys hiking up the trail. We quickly learned that the boys are very different breeds of hikers. Karl talked non-stop the entire way up. Asking a billion questions. Phillip on the other hand, just puts his head down and drives up the mountain. He is our strong and quiet type. Also notice how Karl is hiking without a jacket; despite encouragement from his mother, he decided to leave it at home. So he hiked with his arms inside his t-shirt. Janeece did give him her fleece on the final descent as he was beginning to get overly cold.

Along the trail we stopped only occasionally to look at snails etc. We feared that any loss of momentum would doom our expedition up the mountain.

The boys hiked the entire 2.5 miles up Saddle Mountain just short of the final summit. It was a very impressive accomplishment. One woman even commented on the trail how she wouldn't even have dreamed of bringing her 10 year-old son on the hike. That is why we did it. Kids do not learn how to do hard things at age 10; it too late by then. Dusty knows because he has backpacked with many whining Boy Scouts.
Cold, exhausted, and hungry, Rita lost it just short of the final summit. She was screaming her head off. Group morale was quickly shattered and Phillip began to cry too. So in that defining moment as parents, we decided to hike back down without making it to the top. We loaded Phillip in an extra backpack carrier and he and Rita slept the entire way down the mountain. As we finished our punishing 5-mile hike. Karl kept saying "My whole body hurts." Despite a little whining on the final mile, Karl was quite the sport.

After the hike, we drove down to the Tillamook Cheese Factory with all three kids exhausted and asleep. At Tillamook, the boys spent a long time on the observation deck mesmerized by the machines packaging the cheese. And of course, we sampled the squeaky cheese and ordered some ice cream cones. Never did ice cream taste so good!

Phillip dropped his waffle cone on the ground 5 seconds after we handed it to him. So we just picked up the chattered cone and dropped it all in a bowl. He loved it.

Rita even had her first experience with ice cream.

While Karl and Phillip finished their waffle cones, Rita chowed down on her favorite snack, Cheerios.

Eye Candy for Grandpa & Grandma

2011-06-08T20:51:00.004-04:00

This picture makes Rita look so grown up, as if she was in the middle of a conversation. It's hard to believe she is already eight months old.

Looking as cute as ever.

Dusty is such a proud Dad. He has so much fun dressing Rita up and putting bows in her hair.

Here the boys and I are last weekend playing with Dusty's old RC car. They love playing with it and especially like making jumps for it.

Just relaxing in the shade after lunch Saturday. It cracks me up that they are both showing off a little belly.

Rita isn't quite sure about grass yet. When I have her stand up in it she lifts up one foot like a flamingo. It's really funny to watch.

We love you Grandpa and Grandma!

Potty Training Made Easy

2011-06-06T12:23:00.004-04:00

Fiercely Independent Boy + Watching Older Brother = Self Potty Training
I decided months ago that I was going to wait until Phillip turned three to try and potty train him. Mostly because I thought that he would put up a pretty good fight about it. And since Karl will be in school part of the day next year, I felt that I would have a little more time to devote to helping Phillip. But Phillip had plans of his own.

About a month ago he started refusing to wear a diaper and would always try to put on Karl's underwear. Honestly, I wasn't quite ready to work with him on going potty on the toilet (I really thought it was going to be disastrous), so I put it off as best I could. After putting off the inevitable for two weeks, I decided that it was time to tackle the issue. I can't believe how easy it has been. Phillip had just a handful of accidents the first week, but hasn't had any in the last week. He even wakes up completely dry in the morning and after he naps. Could it really be that easy? I guess his independent spirit is a blessing!

Here is the proud "big boy." As you can tell from the pictures, Phillip has quite the spunky personality. He lives life at 100 mph all the time. It can be exhausting but it also makes life a lot more fun too. I sure love you, "My Phillip"!

Money Matters

2011-06-02T23:38:00.003-04:00

We have been thinking a long time about teaching our kids, mainly Karl, about money. So, with Karl's birthday and because of generous grandparents, we decided that it was time to begin.
To make the lesson more visual, we bought each of the boys a bank that was already divided into three categories (tithing, mission/savings, and fun money). Then we gave each of the boys ten bills and had them lay them all out in a line. We talked with them about the purpose of tithing and the importance of paying it first. Then each of the boys got to fold up one of their ten bills and put it into the tithing slot. Next, we talked about the importance of serving a mission and attending college and how expensive those things can be. After that discussion the boys each folded up six bills and put them into their mission/savings slot. And finally we talked about how it is nice to have some money that you can use to buy items that you have "always wanted" or to use the money to buy gifts for other people. The boys folded up their three remaining bills and put them in their fun money slot. We repeated the lesson twice more, once with ten quarters and once with ten dimes. Both Karl and Phillip loved the activity.

Phillip was most excited about the little lock and key set that came with the banks so that they can be locked up.

**Just as a side note, if you don't know yet, Phillip is obsessed with keys. He loves keys, he adores keys, and we call him the keeper of the keys. People look at me as though I am crazy when I hand him my keys at the grocery store to keep him entertained. But he holds onto them with such a tenacious zeal that he hasn't lost them yet in the 20+ times that I've given them to him.**

We decided that it would be best to keep the banks in our bedroom up on our dresser, along with the keys, just to minimize temptation.

Becoming Organized...A Never Ending Project

2011-06-02T23:28:00.002-04:00

Tired of the mess of shoes that always greeted us at the garage door and the mounds of jackets littering the family room floor, we decided that it was time to become a little more organized. So we spent a good part of the weekend cleaning out the garage and making it a little more kid friendly.
In an attempt to make it easier for the boys to put their shoes away and to hang up their coats on their own, Dusty and the boys built a shoe shelf and coat rack suitable to their size. They had a lot of fun helping daddy and have been really good about putting their shoes and coats in their new spots.
So when you come to our house next, take a detour around the office, past the kitchen and family room and on into the garage so you can see how organized we are as a family...for the moment. ;)

One Year

2011-05-30T09:28:00.018-04:00

***Disclaimer: I'm writing this post so I don't forget all that has happened in the last year. And since I can type a whole lot faster than I can write (plus there is spell check), I'm going to write it on my blog rather than my journal. Dusty always tell me that the more pictures I include in a post the better. Just as fair warning, this post probably won't have any pictures. But if you would like to find out about my innermost feelings this last year, then read on.***

In October of 2009, I accidentally learned while my mom was visiting us in Indiana that my parents would be flying to Salt Lake City, Utah for an "exploratory" interview with Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They had been recommended to serve as a mission president and a mission mom. Elder Oaks was going to interview them to determine if that was something that they would be able to do at the present time, later on, or not at all. I was not supposed to know, so my mom put me under strict orders not to tell a single soul, including Dusty. I was really good and kept quiet for a few weeks. But as I thought more and more about what it would mean for my parents if they were called to serve a mission, I kept coming back to thought of what would my parents do with their home and their property? And actually, I wasn't so much worried about their house as I was their beautiful, immaculately landscaped yard. Almost anyone can take care of a nice house, but who would be willing to put in the work to keep up their yard? And what about my younger sister Lynette? Would she still have a "home" to go to in between semesters of college?

Several times I had thought that it would be great if Dusty and I could move back to Oregon and take care of things for my parents should they be called on a mission. But I felt bad asking Dusty to consider that as he had just started his second graduate program, he was teaching at the top ranked high school in Indiana, and was teaching at Purdue University as well (which meant his tuition was remitted). We had a lovely house in a wonderful neighborhood with fabulous neighbors and a really great ward. But I decided I needed to talk with Dusty about the possibility of my parents going on a mission, just to see if he was thinking along the same lines as me about moving back to Oregon to help my parents out.

Late one Sunday evening, after we had cleaned up the dishes from dinner, I told him about my parents "exploratory" interview. He listened as I expressed my concern for my parents home and yard and the fact that Lynette wouldn't have "home" to come to. Without missing a beat Dusty said, "If your parents get the call then we need to move home." In my good husband's mind, it was as simple as that. What about graduate school? What about teaching at such a great high school? What about our home? I asked Dusty all of these questions and to each one he reminded me that my parents mission was more important and that we would figure things out as we went. It wasn't but two weeks later that my parents did receive a call to serve a mission, and so our preparations for moving to Oregon and the miracles began.

I think it was a great relief to my parents and siblings when I called to tell them that we would move home to take care of things. My mom and dad had decided to ask Dusty and I to consider moving home, but they were going to wait until an official call was extended. I know they felt bad asking us to do that, so it was a huge relief to them when we volunteered. David, my older brother, who was completing his Ph.D. at Purdue in Mechanical Engineering, was looking at the possibility of taking a job in Oregon or Washington, but couldn't find anything closer than two hours from Canby. And knowing my good brother and his wife, if that had been the only possibility, he would have made it work. So, I think he was grateful and relieved when we said that we would come back to Oregon.

We had decided that we would put our house on the market March 1, 2010. But at the end of January I felt really strongly that we needed to get our house on the market sooner. So on a Wednesday morning, early in February, I called our real estate agent and we put our house on the market two days later. Thirteen days later we had a buyer for our home. It was a huge relief to be able to sell our home so quickly.

Over the next month we packed up our house, sold most of our furniture, and started exploring the job market in Oregon. The job market did not look very promising, so the next question we had to ask ourselves was what would we do if Dusty didn't land a teaching job. We talked it over and decided that if that did happen, Dusty would just take any job he could get, even if that meant returning to Safeway's deli department.

At the end of March we finalized the sell of our home. Just in time too because two days later, our little nephew Hunter was born. And what a great joy it was to be there as that sweet little boy entered the family and to help with his older brother, Benjamin, while his parents were at the hospital with April (Hunter's birth mother) and Hunter.

We spent much of April filling out applications for teaching jobs, training for a half-marathon, finalizing our moving arrangements, and of course enjoying new baby Hunter whenever we could. The month passed so quickly, but still with no jobs in sight.

May came quickly and we started saying our good byes to our wonderful friends in Indiana. It was hard, especially to our wonderful neighbors Judy, Jo, Linda, and Velma (Karl and Phillip had four grandmas all within half a block...they loved it). Dusty and I ran our half marathon (his Valentine's day gift to me) and had a fabulous time doing it. It was a great way to end our time in Indiana. Two days before the boys and I moved to Oregon (Dusty stayed to finish teaching at the high school), we found out that we would be having a little girl. It was an exciting time. Dusty was able to get a teaching position with Canby for their summer school program, but still nothing for the following school year.

When Dusty and I had originally said that we would come back to Oregon to help out my parents, neither of us had anticipated me doing the book work for my dad's law firm. But things fell through with the original plans and they asked if I could do that as well. So, the first two weeks after the boys and I moved back, I went through an accelerated book keeping course with my mom. I took lots of notes as she walked me through everything and as we met with their accountant and financial advisor. I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life. But, it was what needed to be done, so the only thing to do was just to keep working at it.

Dusty drove out to Oregon with his Dad the first of June. He arrived on a Friday night and three days later, that Monday, he received four phone calls from different schools requesting interviews with him. After interviewing with each of the schools, he decided to accept the offer from Woodburn High School. We felt so blessed.

June, July, and August were a blur of family events: wedding receptions, family reunions on both sides, summer school, swim lessons, high adventure activities, canning, book work, yard work, mission fairwells, and the start of a new school year. Dusty and I both experienced several firsts: training up the boysenberries (me), fertilizing the lawn and pasture multiple times (Dusty...I don't think he anticipated the hundreds of pounds it would take), canning applesauce (me), cleaning out the cow stalls and liming them (Dusty...he didn't like that job much), etc.

Dusty started his new school year and I started getting ready for Rita's birth. It was a stressful time because I was really concerned about how things would go once Rita was born and Dusty was having a tough time at Woodburn. Teaching at Woodburn was a huge change from Westside where he taught in Indiana. Many days he would come home from school really frustrated and discouraged. I kept wondering if we had made the wrong decision. I had a lot of sleepless nights in September, staying up to the early hours of the morning working on book work, cleaning the house, and finishing up projects. I was so concerned that life was going to fall apart, or maybe it was me who would fall apart with Rita's c-section delivery and the subsequent recovery. Both of the my recoveries with the boys had been rough.

But September 28th came quickly and little miss Rita joined the family. Besides the panic attack I nearly had right before I was supposed to go into surgery, things went incredibly well. It was a very wonderful experience. It's funny because I can vaguely remember one visitor who came to see us right after Rita was born, but I can tell you exactly what the e-mail was about that I received regarding book work while I was in the hospital and how I responded. Talk about miracles.

October was recovery month. Two great sister-in-laws came out to help and Mom Price helped a lot too which was a huge blessing. I played catch-up on the book work (I think my productivity and efficiency dropped by at least 50% with a new baby) and Dusty continued to struggle teaching at Woodburn while taking on my portion of the yard work responsibilities as well. Phillip discovered many new talents like climbing onto the counter by himself, playing in toothpaste, and running outside by himself, all while I was nursing. Somehow we made it through and into November.

November and December kind of blur together with holidays and the end of Dusty's first semester. Things finally took a turn for the better for him and he has loved teaching at Woodburn ever since. Over and over again Dusty had to remind me that it's not activities and special foods that make the holidays wonderful but being together and remembering the true meaning behind them. Thanksgiving and Christmas were great and then it came time for end of the year book work. I'm just so glad that Dusty was home to help with the kids during that time.

January was an especially busy month of book work. Dusty started taking a graduate course one night a week and I tried to do too much.

So February became catch-up month. I tried to catch-up on my sleep, catch-up on house work, and catch-up on quality time with my kids. Whether or not I caught up on everything, I don't know, but I don't think a mom is ever completely "caught up" anyway.

March was an exciting month because we learned that Dusty was going to be hired on again with Woodburn for the following year (despite the $2.5 million cut they needed to make from their budget). It was also exciting because Rita and I travelled to Peru to visit my parents. I spent the first two weeks of the month making sure everything was in order for me to leave. Dusty spent the nine days that I was gone being "super dad" with the boys. And as soon as Rita and I came back from Peru, it was back to the routine.

In April, Dusty started another graduate course and I started working out in the yard, amongst rain storms. Rita finally fell into a good routine and started taking a bottle (hallelujah!) which made it so much more helpful in planning the day.

May went by in a blur with Karl learning to ride his bike, Rita sitting up on her own, Phillip potty training himself, and Dusty lining up a summer school teaching position. Book work also fell into a good rhythm which was extraordinarily helpful. I got all the pots planted (22 of them). Lots of camping for Dusty that month (three weekends in a row).

And now it is the first of June and all that it has in store.

I have felt very blessed this last year. It has been wonderful and hard all at the same time. Often people comment that it was "So nice that you were moving back to the area. The timing was just perfect. And the free rent must be so helpful." If only they knew... So many blessings have come but along with a lot of hard work. I've never been able to accomplish so much in my life and yet had to set aside so many of my personal hobbies and ambitions at the same time. I've spent many, many early mornings on my knees pleading with God for help in choosing to be happy for the day. It has been wonderful seeing so intimately the blessings that have come to my parents as they have consecrated all and served their mission. Nothing has ever made me as excited about serving missions with Dusty some day than seeing my parents example.

Through all of the experiences of this last year, I'd like to think, hope that I have become a better person. It's hard to know because my inadequacies always seem so big. But if there is one skill that both Dusty and I have, it is a willingness and an intense desire to work, and to find joy in our work.

I wonder what this next year bring...

Pure Sweetness

2011-05-26T21:49:00.004-04:00

Thought we would share some of our joy with you today.
A friend told me that if I wanted to be able to do Rita's hair as she grows older, I need to start doing it now. So, here is her first pony tail.

Just last week she learned to sit up on her own and has loved doing it ever since.

Just enjoying some girl time. Believe it or not, Dusty spent about three minutes trying to keep the boys out of the picture. In fact, he had to pin Phillip down with one leg and Karl with one arm so he could take the picture without them in it. They have a hard time sharing the attention with their little sister.

Rita loves her play seat. She especially loves it when I pull it into the kitchen right next to me when I am making dinner.

A rare moment when Rita fell asleep in her car seat and actually stayed asleep for two hours. If only she would sleep in past 5:30am...

Queen or King

2011-05-22T11:12:00.003-04:00

Growing up in the Blunck household we had a few family traditions that always cause me to smile when I think back on them. One of them was called "talk time". It entailed all of us kids, along with mom and dad, gathering on their bed and overflowing onto their floor and just talking right before bed time. It was so much fun. I don't particularly remember what we talked about, but it something that I have always loved and that we will sometimes still do when we are all together. Eventually, my parents decided that it was time to invest in a king size bed so that we could all fit on it.

Just last night as Dusty and I were getting ready for bed, he asked me if I thought we should take out my parents king size bed (which we have been using) and replace it with a queen size bed. I told him that even though I don't really care for sleeping in a king (I feel so lost in such a big space), we should just wait until we move into our own home and we can switch to a queen size bed then. It would just be too much work to switch out my parents nice bed with a smaller one.

This morning when Rita woke up, I brought her onto our bed so that she could have her parents undivided attention for a few minutes before the boys woke up. Then, in came Karl twenty minutes later and he joined us on the bed. Finally, ten minutes later sleepy eyed Phillip came in a joined the party. We had so much fun snuggling, talking, and reading books this morning on the bed. Maybe we should stick with a king size bed when we move after all.

Exercise Police

2011-05-21T11:43:00.007-04:00

Five months ago I started exercising again after Rita's birth. I have tried on many occasions to get up early and exercise, but to be honest, I struggle at being a morning person. So, I have decided that I just have to work exercising into my day. So, right after Rita goes down for her morning nap, the boys and I exercise. In fact, the boys usually get so excited about it, especially if I let them choose the exercise video we use. In all of this, the boys have said and done a few pretty funny things.

The first couple of weeks that I started exercising again, I of course couldn't do all the moves. Karl would look at me, then look at the t.v. screen, then back to me. Then he would turn to me and ask, "How come you aren't doing everything they are doing?" I'd explain to him that because of my "big owie" that it would just take me a little while to be able to everything that the people on the video were doing. He would then ask me "Do they know that?" I'd tell him no. Then he would walk right up to the screen and say something like, "My mom can't do everything right now because she just had baby Rita and has a big owie." He did this for about two or three weeks. It was so funny to watch.

Karl also loves to hold up pillows for when I do kick boxing. He'll hold up the pillow, I'll kick it and he'll say, "Good. Again." Then he'll hold up the pillow again and we'll repeat the sequence.

Phillip is my yoga man. He loves to do yoga. I can't get him to do anything else with me, but the minute anyone starts doing yoga, he runs over and joins the party. Bob Harper's "Weight Loss Yoga" is his favorite video.

Of course I can't help but love the question I often hear Karl ask. "Is this hard for you mom?" I guess the sweat dripping off my face and the fact that I've stalled out on my walking planks may indicate that. But, what a great teaching moment. So I say "Yes Karl, this is hard for mom, but we Prices can do hard things." And then I have to keep going so that I set the example.

Phillip also loves to give high-fives. Whenever Chalene Johnson (our Turbo Jam instructor) tell us to give someone a high-five, Phillip runs over to make sure I give him a couple.

And then there is the classic moment that happened this last week. I let the boys pick out my video and I got started. A few minutes into it Karl looked up from the Lego's he was playing with and said "That's my favorite move." I asked, "Then why don't you do it with me?" He responded "Oh, I already know how to do it." and then turned back to the Lego's he was playing with. You've got to love a kid's perspective on life.

But my favorite of all time was the question Karl asked while I was exercising on Friday. In the midst of Jillian Michaels gruelling standing mountain climbers he asked, "How come Daddy doesn't exercise?" My response, "That is an excellent question Karl. Why don't you ask Daddy that when he gets home."

Now what fun would exercising be without my exercise police?

Happy Birthday Karl!

2011-05-20T09:53:00.007-04:00

Karl turned five on Tuesday. Wow, the past five years have gone by really fast. Karl has lived in Idaho, Oregon, Washington D.C., Washington state, Indiana, and now back to Oregon. That's quite a few moves for a little boy. To celebrate, I decided to ask him what kind of cake he would like. Immediately he said "A komodo dragon cake."

Just so you know, a komodo dragon is an actual lizard that lives today. In fact, Karl is obsessed with komodo dragons. A few months ago I saw him crawling around on all fours playing pretend. I paused from sweeping the floor and said "Oh Karl, are you pretending to be a dog?" He said, "No mom. I'm a komodo dragon." I was shocked. And Karl hasn't pretended to be anything else since. I guess I can't be too surprised since I'm the mom who encourages him to watch documentaries about animals rather than television programs.

The idea of making a komodo dragon cake was daunting, so I asked Karl if there was any other type of cake he would be pleased with (I was really hoping he would say a fish because I had cute idea already in mind). But no, he just wanted a komodo dragon cake. So, I turned to the comprehensive source of knowledge, google. And wouldn't you know it, I only found two pictures of komodo dragon cakes. I guess they are not in high demand. I decided it was time to enlist Dusty's help as he is more artistic than I am.

Here is Karl's cake. While it is not perfect, I think both Dusty and I were pleased with how it turned out. And the most important part, Karl loved it! Sweet success.

Here is Karl making his own komodo dragon face.

And of course, the happy family celebrating with Karl. The funny thing is, Karl didn't even eat any of his cake. He informed me he doesn't like cake but he likes ice cream. So I guess next year I'm going to make things a little easier and just ask him what type of ice cream he wants.

Karl loves playing with Lego's, so we decided to give him some of Dusty's old Lego's for his birthday. He had so much fun playing Lego's with Phillip and his cousins Hailey and Brooklyn. It was funny to watch each of the kids as they played. Karl made boats and found a Lego alligator that he played with all night long. Phillip of course wanted to make Joe's scout. Hailey built a house. And Brooklyn pulled apart every Lego man that Dusty and I had stayed up late putting together the night before.

When I asked Karl what it meant to turn five, he said, "It means I have to be helpful." I'll go along with that idea. Hmm...I wonder what it means to turn six?

Happy birthday Karl. We sure love you!

Family Camping

2011-05-08T12:17:00.003-04:00

This weekend, the boys just needed to get outside, and Janeece too, so Dusty took Friday off work and we went camping nearby in the Molalla hills.

Karl and Phillip helped pitch their own tent and carry their sleeping bag, pillow, and blankets.

The boys were so excited to sleep in their very own tent that they both volunteered to go to bed early. However, falling alseep was hard for Phillip; he was just too excited and kept getting up.

For dinner we cooked cans of soup on the open fire and roasted marshmallows for smores.

Its not camping without a good fire. This was Rita's first camping trip and she did great. She slept through the night in our tent!

For breakfast we boiled water over the fire and cooked eggs, sausage, beans, and tomatoes in ziplock freezer bags. With a little salsa, they made great breakfast burritos.

After breakfast we went for a hike and found a "lizard."

This is the first time Phillip has ever wanted to hold an animal; he is usually admires at a safe distance. He did great at first, but then ended up dangling the poor salamander by its tail. When the boys put it back on the ground Phillip quickly stomped on it. No worries, the salamander survived but Janeece and Dusty were a bit concerned with Phillip's killer instinct. Boys!

We then found an ant hill and Janeece stuck several sticks into the mound to break it open. It was amazing to see all the ants, but then again maybe Phillip gets his destructo instinct from his mother. She has trained him to stomp on slugs at home.

On our hike, we crossed a narrow bridge overlooking a beautiful stretch of the river. On the way back, we let Karl and Phillip each drop a large rock off the very high bridge.

Dusty has Rita strapped to his chest and a boy in each hand. Phillip is throwing a fit because he didn't want to hold mom's hand on the bridge and so dad held it very tightly instead. He continued to throw a tantrum for another 100 yards up the trail. Then he was happy again. That's our Phillip. Both sweet and stubborn.

This is the sign of a good campout. Phillip was out within a minute of leaving the campsite.

Today being Mother's Day, it is appropriate to pay tribute to Janeece for the wonderful mother that she is. Its not easy, nor is it always fun, simple, or convenient. It is also hard to maintain an eternal perspective amidst the lack of sleep, diaper blowouts, brothers fighting, kids waking up early and throwing fits. But Janeece is a wonderful mother. There are priceless moments when Rita is laughing hysterically, Phillip is cuddling, or Karl says "Mom I love you" as just the right time. Though these kids may never fully realize the sacrifices that Janeece makes for them, their lives will be forever blessed by her faith, virtue, and love. We love you Janeece!

True Blunck Fashion

2011-05-05T13:22:00.003-04:00

While speaking with my older brother David one day a few years ago, he expressed some frustrations he was experiencing with a professor. Actually, my seemingly always calm and patient brother was really irritated about a few things. After explaining the situation he said: "So Janeece, do you know what I did? I went to Rural King (a farm store) and bought fertilizer so I can fertilize the lawn, bought flowers that I can plant, and few other supplies for some projects. And you know what? I feel a whole lot better." That is true Blunck fashion for dealing with stress.

I'm not exactly sure why, but yesterday I was in a foul mood. Usually after I exercise I feel a whole lot better, but for some reason that didn't work. I tried a few other things, but nothing seemed to help. Finally, I decided to follow true Blunck fashion...I went to the farm store, bought lots of flowers, and worked outside planting them all afternoon long. Ahhh...I felt so much better. Nothing like working hard out in the yard, creating something beautiful to lift the spirits and brighten life.

I was going to take pictures today, but it's raining again. So I'll wait till the sun comes out...which might be a few days as this is Oregon.

Easter

2011-05-02T17:00:00.007-04:00

This picture of Rita sums up Easter for our family. It was delightful!

Here we are about to begin the boys' Easter egg hunt. In our family, the Easter bunny leaves one egg on the table for the boys to open. In the egg is a clue to their next Easter egg. It turns into a really fun scavenger hunt with the boys running all over the property. It was fun to see how excited Phillip was to find eggs in a few of his favorite places like the riding lawn mower, the shop, his bike, the doorbell, the trailer, the apple trees, the pond, the berry bushes, etc.

Here the boys are on a mission. They used egg cartons to collect their eggs this year. They really loved putting eggs in each of the twelve spots in the cartons. The funniest moment was when we realized that a squirrel had cracked open one of the eggs and stolen half of the jelly beans in it.

The last egg the boys find gives them a clue to where their Easter baskets are. It is also tradition for the Easter bunny to bring a book for each person. Phillip received a potty training with Elmo book.

Karl received two new books for him to learn to read on his own.

And, what is Easter without an Easter dress? Dusty had so much fun dressing up Rita. He is such a proud dad.

This is a classic moment in our family. Rita getting smothered...I mean loved by her two big brothers.

After Church we went to Aunt Annie and Uncle Joe's house for Easter dinner. They also had a little Easter egg hunt for the kids. This is the best picture I could get of Karl. He had a hard time focusing on the camera so I could take his picture because he was so anxious to look for eggs.

Phillip was in heaven with all the candy. When we came home, I was sure to stash it up high so I can control his sugar consumption.

Karl, The Eldest

2011-05-02T16:18:00.005-04:00

I have to say that Karl is an excellent big brother. He is really good about helping out around the house and with Rita when I ask him to. In fact, he adores Rita. And truthfully, he is the one that gets her to laugh the most. One of our favorite games is for me to chase Karl around the house while holding Rita. She laughs so hard every time that she gets the hiccups...just like her mom. And Karl of course loves the attention.

Karl loves to give Rita kisses...lots of kisses. At night when I am getting Rita ready for bed, he frequently runs in and gives her a kiss and says I love you before I lay her down for bed. The other night after he gave Rita a kiss, he said, "Rita, I love you. I will always take care of you." That was one of those magical moments as a mother that make a long day so worth it. This morning I took Phillip down to his room so I could change his diaper. When I came back into the family room, Karl was "reading" Hercules to Rita. He was so happy to share his love of books with someone who doesn't hit him because he would rather read a tractor book (Not that sweet little Phillip ever does that).

My Phillip

2011-05-02T16:01:00.002-04:00

Dusty loves playing Lego's with the boys. Karl loves to build boats and planes. Phillip loves to build Joe's Scout (a type of truck) and a trailer. That is it. Don't even think of trying to convince him of building anything else. He will not go for it. So here is one of Dusty's creations for him. Phillip loved it.
Each month Dusty takes the Scouts on a camp out. And each month, Phillip bursts into tears because he cannot go with Dusty. Phillip loves being outside and doing things with Dusty. He runs to the door every evening as soon as he hears the truck or mustang and greets Dusty with a huge hug and kiss. Well, this past month Dusty took the Scouts mountain biking. I guess Phillip decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.

After Dusty loaded his bike and a few extras into the truck, he came inside to round up a few more things for the camp out. And to his great surprise, when he came back out, Phillip had loaded up his bike onto the trailer. He really wanted to go with Dusty. Dusty and I just both started to laugh. Unfortunately, Dusty had to tell him that he couldn't go, but he promised to take him camping soon. And what makes me laugh even more is that the picture of Phillip with his bike on the trailer is just like the truck and trailer Dusty has built for Phillip many times over.

Here are some of the Scouts Dusty took mountain biking. And thankfully, none of them get injured. Dusty always considers that a successful camp out.

Milestones

2011-04-13T11:24:00.005-04:00

This has been a week of milestones for all of the kids. Here they are. Karl...the first born. This is his self-portrait.

This week I decided it was finally time to teach Karl to read. Here are a few of his word family words that we have practiced together. Since he loves fish, I decided to have him create fish shaped words. He really seems to love it.

Phillip...the independent one. Always gives us something to laugh about.

Whenever it was nap time or bed time, Phillip would beg to be able to sleep in Karl's bed. So, we decided it was time to have him make the transition from a crib to a "big boy bed." He's done great so far. Just as incentive to stay in his new bed, we've left the crib in his room so he has a visual reminder that if he gets out of bed when he is not supposed to, then he will have to sleep in his crib again. He's done great the last two days, but I think I'll give it a week before I call it a success.

Rita...the petite one. She loves to watch her big brothers.

This week Rita finally took a bottle. Ever since her first day of life, Rita has definitely had her preferences. She likes to be with mom more than dad, she will NOT take a bottle or a pacifier, she loves her thumb, she likes to be wrapped up in a tight swaddle even after six months of life, etc. Most of these are not a big deal, except for the not taking a bottle. He weight plateaued between her four month and six month appointment, so I really needed to switch her to formula. But she would not take a bottle of any sort. It took two weeks of "intensive bottle training" and now she is on her way to becoming a pro. Thank goodness because I have to admit, I was becoming pretty stressed out by the whole process.

Next on the list of milestones...potty training Phillip.

Weekend Warrior

2011-04-10T11:40:00.004-04:00

This weekend, I just finished two more required tests for my Oregon teaching license. After having already fulfilled the test requirments for my licenses in Idaho, Washington, and Indiana, this makes test 10 and 11. Each of these Praxis/ORELA exams cost between $90-100. With only 1 more to go this Spring, I will have taken a grand total of 12 tests to demostrate that I am qualified to teach in the state of Oregon. It is expensive to be a teacher! I work anywhere from 9-14 hours a day, and Janeece figured I would have 4 weeks off this summer. But nothing beats my job! I work with 190 students and all the excitement, curiosity, boredom, and drama that comes with high school. It is the most difficult job to try and provide structure and discipline within a safe learning environment for so many other people's kids, but I love it. I am especially grateful that despite continuing cuts in Oregon (my district alone anticipates cutting another $2.5 million from the budget), my contract was extended to teach Global Studies in Spanish at Woodburn. Who would have thought that serving a mission in Mexico would shape every career decision I have since made? Spanish has helped me get and keep every job since my mission. What a blessing!

Bugs Bunny

2011-04-10T11:28:00.004-04:00

After General Conference last Sunday, Karl and Phillip were outside and found a beautiful white rabbit. They decided to name him Bugs Bunny. The rabbit is lucky the boys found him first because the Blunck's have a shoot-on-sight policy for wild rabbits that eat the garden. The The boys then spent the next 30 minutes trying to pet Bugs and feed it carrots. Karl would get quietly walk within 5 feet of the rabbit and then would throw the carrot at it, scaring Bugs off again. The Oh the endless fun of living in the country! All week Karl and Phillip have been catching frogs from the pond and bugs from all over the yard. They usually end up inside in Phillip's sippy cups. However, we are helping our kids realize that most bugs and animals prefer cath-and-release.

The

Janeece and Rita are Home!

2011-03-26T10:51:00.011-04:00

We are running through the airport as fast as we can, balloons tied to the boys' hands and flying wildly behind them. All of a sudden I turn around and see Phillip's two balloons floating away. I quickly lept and caught them mid-air, with applauses from several witnesses of the miraculous save. We dashed across the airport and arrived just as Janeece and Rita walked out of the terminal. The boys were so excited! It is good to have Janeece and Rita home.e Janeece brought several gifts back from Peru for the boys. Besides the handmade Peruvian shoulder bags, the candy has been a big hit. PHillip just keeps coming uo to Janeece and saying "Candy?!"

Rita is adorable! She is nearly rolling over and still loves shoving things in her mouth and sucking her thumb. Janeece brought some very cute Peruvian dolls and paintings for her bedroom.

Phillip loves his Peruvian pants and shirt. He already has a t-shirt from Peru that Grandma and Grandpa Blunck sent for Christmas, that he wears all the time. He shows everybody his shirt and says "Peru! Peru!"

Day 9: Family

2011-03-25T00:21:00.005-04:00

Today was a nice, quiet day. We had my sister Annie and her girls, Hailey and Brooklyn, over to play in the morning. Annie is such a good mom and the girls are very cute and full of energy. It is fun living close to family (though we do miss David and Sheri in the midwest more than they realize).
The
We had a soap-carving activity. Everyone had their own knife and bar of soap with endless possibilities as to what they would carve. It mostly turned into chunks and shavings.
The
It was fun to see the different personalities: Hailey made a camera, Karl a komodo dragon, and I helped Phillip carve a tractor.
The
Phillip showing off his soap tractor. After carving, the kids played kitchen out in the playhouse. Phillip had several meltdowns and spent half the time in timeout on my lap. We then had leftovers for lunch and put the boys down for a nap. While they slept, I cleaned the laundry room and our bedroom and folded an enormous pile of clothes.
The

After nap, we drove to McMinnville to have dinner with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Blunck. We ate at Alf's, an old hamburger diner with a pet monkey that kept coming up to Karl and Phillip on the other side of the window.

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The boys' dinner came with a banana, which was good, to compensate for the fact that Phillip was drinking fry sauce and mustard straight from his dipping cups. Yuck!

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We went back to the Blunck's home and visited while Grandma showed the boys family photo books. Grandma and Grandpa are an amazing couple; they are so genuinely kind and loving. Grandpa is one of the men I most admire; he works very hard for his family. He is so good to Grandma, a real gentleman.

The

Day 8: Beach

2011-03-24T00:38:00.003-04:00

This morning we cheated and watched part of a movie before going to the beach: Dr. Doolittle (1967 musical). We then grabbed a change of clothes and snacks and hit the road. I answered Karl's questions the entire way to Lincoln City. The weather was incredible (for Oregon in March) and it felt great running around bare foot.
The
At the beache we collected sea shells and rocks to bring home for mom (an apology for again forgetting the camera). While we were collecting them at low tide, Phillip had a few close calls. First, he ran right into a tide pool and fell in over his head. Then he was wiped out by a wave that was chasing him. No worries, I was within reach both times. It was pretty funny though.
The
After throwing a few hundred rocks into the ocean, we ate fish and chips for lunch and bought a $12 kite and some salt-water taffy. It is amazing how much better a $12 kite flies than our usual $5 kite. After flying it for only a few minutes though, we spent the rest of the afternoon building sand volcanoes. It was fun, and as usual, the boys slept the whole way home.

The

Day 7: Swimming

2011-03-22T22:35:00.007-04:00

To move the sandbox out of the shop, I threw a few skateboards under it and let the boys push it. I just picked a spot; if Janeece doesn't like it, I am sorry. It is now full of 2,600 pounds of sand.

First thing in the morning we ran to Canby Sand and Gravel and picked up some landscaping fabric and a 1/2 yard of sand. The boys helped me fill the sandbox while two of my scouts needing money for camp worked clearing the area between the grapes. After 2 1/2 hours they cleaned an area a 1/4 the size of what I did in 40 minutes yesterday during the boys' nap. They are good kids though and are worth supporting in scouts.

The boys did great until Phillip began throwing sand in Karl's face. This was thus one of many timeouts today. I usually have to lock Phillip in a booster or car seat as he is extremely head strong (I am sure he gets it from his mom) and gets very obstinate when he knows he did something he was not suppose to. He fights all through timeout, but when he finally calms down, he is such a sweetheart. Sometimes he just needs to work things out on his own.

The two best investments that Grandma Blunck made for the property were the riding lawn mower and leaf blower. They are lifesavers. The leaf blower is also endless fun for the boys.

Today us boys mowed the lawn. It is beginning to get difficult to do with two boys falling asleep in my arms as I am trying to operate the tractor, but as you can see, the lawn looks beautiful.

Stopping to smell the flowers. Karl and Phillip love living at Grandma and Grandpa Blunck's; there is enough rocks and dirt here to make this a small patch of heaven on Earth.
The
It must be spring! The daffodils are in full bloom and the popcorn trees are beginning to blossom along the drive. Today was a gorgeous day outside.
The
After working all morning in the yard, we went swimming. The boys love being in the water. Phillip like to continuously jump off the edge. Then the boys discovered the rope swing. I would hold Phillip and swing one-handed out into the pool and wait for Karl to come behind us. It was crazy fun.
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On the way home we went grocery shopping and picked up the final 1/2 yard of sand for the sandbox. I had to keep yelling and hitting Karl on the way home to keep him awake. The boys then rode skateboards and we cleaned out the bed of the truck. After cooking dinner and putting the boys down for bed, I finished mowing the front lawn and worked for another 30 minutes in the far back. I think I deserve a movie tonight. Tomorrow: lunch with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Blunck and a trip to the beach.
The

Day 6: Sandbox Part 1

2011-03-21T16:28:00.003-04:00

On the calendar for today was building a sandbox. After breakfast we first replaced the plug wires on the pickup and finally got it back up and running. We ran to town and purchased our materials, which came to $150! That doesn't even include the sand. But we are not cutting any corners; this is going to be an awsome sandbox, designed and built by the boys.

Karl and Phillip took turns helping me measure the cedar boards and cutting them to length with the saw. Phillip then helped me screw the boards to the pressure-treated corner posts.

When Karl and Phillip were not running the saw or drill, they were rolling around in sawdust, using the tape measure, building airplanes, or digging outside in the mud. These are busy boys!

This is the sandbox being framed when we stopped for lunch. I put both Phillip and Karl down for a nap with the promise of a sleepover tonight if they slept big. They are both out cold. I wanted to quickly post the first part of the project in hopes that Janeece might get the photos out in the jungle. She and Rita are having a blast in Peru, but Janeece is absolutely exhausted. There is no rest on vacation for a mom.

Day 6: Sandbox Part 2

2011-03-21T16:27:00.002-04:00

While the boys were sleeping, I cleared a large area between the grapes for the sandbox. It was covered in weeds and gave me quite a blister getting it all removed. After nap, we went to town to replace a 2" x 6" that was splitting, stopped by the library, picked up some free popcorn at the bank and watched a softball game at Canby High School. As it was a 6A tournament, Karl and Phillip were most excited in between games when they came out with the four wheeler to rake the infield. We had dashed over to Canby Sand and Gravel but missed closing time by 2 minutes. We will just have to wait until the morning to fill up the sandbox.

Boys will be boys. There is always something exciting about power tools. I figure projects like these are an investment: eventually the boys' productivity will increase and they will be able to get more work done.

Here is the corner of the sandbox to show the tight miters. Not bad for a teacher and two kids under the age of five. Tonight we watched RV together and slept out in the bunkhouse. After sleeping on an area rug all night, I will be glad to go swimming tomorrow.

MAX and Saturday Market

2011-03-19T22:56:00.004-04:00

Day 4: Train ride to Portland.

On our way to Portland, there is a local artist that carves amazing log sculptures with a chain saw along the highway, but we have never stopped. So us boys pulled over and checked out the bears. Here Karl is giving his best growl, which by the look on Phillip's face is pretty scary.

After picking up some swim shorts and church clothes at a couple of different thrift stores, we drove past a vintage car dealer: another unexpected detour. There were some beautiful muscle cars (Mustang, Challenger, 442 etc.). Even though they did point out all the Mustangs, Karl and Phillip always fall for the ones with flames.

After parking the van, we rode the MAX lightrail into downtown Portland. Karl and Phillip talked nonstop the entire way, asking a billion questions, and pointing out every other train, bus, bridge, or tunnel. They had fun!

We got off the train and walked through Portland towards the Burnside Bridge. Walking through downtown Portland gave us a great opportunity to talk about homelessness, smoking, prosthetics, vandalism, and a variety of other important topics. When we made it to the waterfront, we walked out over the river on the Morrison Bridge, threw sticks in the river, and climbed on rocks.

We explored Saturday Market and decided to eat Chinese and Thai for lunch. After scarfing down all the Teriyaki chicken, Karl and Phillip pole danced at a live concert for a singer with the voice of Lionel Richie.

When we ordered lunch, the lady gave Karl some chop sticks which he was determined to use. It went better than I expected.

We found a street landscaped with palm trees and it felt kind of like we were back in LA. Considering how wet it has been, today was absolutely beautiful weather. Perfect for walking all over the city with a 4 and 2-year-old.

Karl and Phillip are catching the return train. I can't believe how well they both did today. Phillip had already been in time-out at least three times before we left this morning. But sometimes boys just need to get outside.

Phillip began melting down on the train ride home. After hitting me, I just tightly wrapped him up in a bear hug and he was out within two minutes. He slept the whole ride home and stayed asleep in the van.

When we finally got home, we washed the van, called Janeece, made nachos, read books, and went to bed. Now I just need to write a 10-page essay for my graduate class tonight. Yeah!

When the Girls are Away, the Boys Play

2011-03-18T23:35:00.008-04:00

Janeece and Rita flew on Wednesday to South America to be with her parents in Lima, Peru. They are having a wonderful time. Janeece said she even spoke Spanish today with the missionaries she met at a mission conference. Everyone keeps coming up to Rita and saying "Que Linda!" A friend of Janeece's parents even crocheted Rita a beautiful dress. Tomorrow, Janeece said they will be going to a market in downtown Lima and will then leave for the jungle on Monday. What an adventure! Rita did amazing on both flights. However, as soon as she saw Grandma and Grandpa at the airport in Lima, she started crying. What a long trip for such a little girl! She has since been an absolute doll for the Bluncks.

So while Janeece and Rita are gone, us boys created a calendar of the activities we wanted to do during Spring Break:

Day 1: Karl and Phillip spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Price while Dusty took Janeece to the airport at 3:30 AM and taught at the high school. Day 2: Karl had a dentist appointment before we went camping. Being a cold,wet week-night, we had the entire Scouter's Mountain camp to ourselves. It was awsome! The camp has large Indian teepees, several boxcars and a caboose from a train, and a western-style fort. The following highlights from our trip are mostly for Janeece as an apology for not bringing the camera:

As we couldn't find Karl's boots, we merely put his socks in plastic sandwich bags and he wore his crocs on the campout. The entire camp was flooded and muddy. Amazingly, he didn't complain the first day until he slipped and landed on his back in a puddle.

On Thursday afternoon we saw three Blacktail deer and quietly stalked them through the woods, getting within 30 yards.

Karl was thirsty so we drank water from the moss growing on trees. He and Phillip thought that was great.

We rode out a rain storm inside a teepee singing "If you're happy and you know it..." The next day we waited out another storm playing duck-duck-goose.

For dinner, we cooked hot soup and fish fillets with sauted onions. Better than the mac-n-cheese my scouts decided to cook last weekend.

When the rain finally stopped on Thursday night, we built a one-match fire and had smores.

Before going to bed, we read the Introduction to The Book of Mormon together. We discussed how if you want to know the book is true you have to 1) read it and 2) pray to God and ask him if it was true. So during his prayer, Karl asked very sincerely: "Is the Book of Mormon true? Cause I don't know if it is true." The best teaching moments always happen on campouts. That made the whole outing worth it.

The boys slept great in 39 degrees (each with two sets of pajamas, a blanket, and a good mummy bag), except for Phillip waking up at 3:45 AM and panicking in the dark. I quickly used a glow stick as a night light to get him calmed down.

In the morning we made hot choclate and breakfast sandwiches: egg, spam, pineapple, and english muffins. They were huge; at least 1/2 the size of Phillip's head.

We went exploring after breakfast on Friday and stumbled upon the same group of deer, except now there were six. We got within 10-15 yards (seriously) of these deer that had been bedded down. The boys were very excited.

Karl wanted to go fishing, so we rigged up several sticks and went down to the creek. After 30 minutes he concluded there were probably no fish in that river.

BY 11:30, the boys were cold and fighting, so we hiked back to the van with our gear packed in an all-terrain Radio Flyer wagon and ate lunch at McDonalds. Both boys fell asleep within five minutes after lunch and slept for 2 hours after we got home. Just enough time for Dusty to clean up from the campout and get showered.

Tomorrow will be another adventure: we are riding the train to Portland.

Hermiston

2011-03-06T22:57:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we made a fast trip out to Eastern Oregon to visit Janeece's grandparents in Hermiston. They are both amazing people. The Hawmans have a large farm that the boys loved exploring.

Phillip was named after Grandpa Hawman. Luck has it that little Phillip loves tractors too. During our visit, Grandpa was great with Phillip. They read a book about the Little Red Caboose.

Grandma is such a wonderful lady. She had bought some special books and tractors for the boys to play with. Here is Grandma and Karl reading about Lightning McQueen.

To give Janeece and Rita some quiet time with grandparents, Dusty and the boys went exploring on the farm. They played in the sand (of which there are 1,600 acres), walked, climbed on hay bales (of which there are thousands), walked, followed deer tracks, walked, climbed on rock piles, walked, picked flowers, walked, caught bugs, and walked some more. We did our best to wear them out.

Grandma Hawman then took the boys to go see some of the new tractors. They loved it.

Janeece with her Grandma. Is there any resemblance?

While the boys went swimming in Uncle Mike and Aunt Diane's pool, Grandpa held Rita. That was a sweet moment.

Rita may seem adorable, and she truly is, but she is also quite the firecracker. Rita was born a momma's girl and never hesitates to let daddy know. Janeece will leave for an hour while Rita is playing quietly with Dusty. She will then scream for 59 minutes despite every effort to calm her. We wonder what she will be like as a teenager.

The blessing of having a girl is that you get some very cute hand-me-down clothes. Everyone has been very generous with us. We have so many cute dresses.

Let it Snow!

2011-03-06T22:39:00.002-05:00

Despite working more hours than anyone realizes, the one perk of being a teacher is snow days, even as rare as they are in Oregon. So when Woodburn schools declared a 2-hour late start, we spent the morning eating breakfast as a family, building a snowman, and throwing snow balls. After school, there was still enough snow for an even bigger snowball fight, snow angels, and snow cones. Phillip didn't quite figure out the idea of eating only clean snow.

Janeece and our boys with the "angry" snow man. Karl drop kicked him a few minutes later.

Our good friends Autumn and Jeff Crump came up from Sacramento for President's Day weekend. On Monday evening, Karl and Phillip helped build a fire for smores. Phillip quickly stripped off his shirt and the boys began to do a war dance around the fire. What a proud moment for Dusty! Future scouts in the making.

Autumn and Janeece were college roommates at BYU-Idaho for 2 years before both Jeff and Dusty returned home from their missions. Both guys were matter-of-factly informed that they had to like each other. The Crumps are an awsome family and we had a lot of fun with Kirstin and Jared. Phillip and Jared got along a little too well though; they fought like true brothers. Thanks for making such a long trip. We will see you soon in Sacramento.

Where's the Camara When You Need It

2011-02-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

Tonight for Family Home Evening, Dusty had bought some chocolates from a local candy shop for a special Valentines Day activity. We took turns telling each other what we loved about one another and then gave each person a chocolate. Karl loves mom for reading books, Phillip loves mom for her van etc. When it was Janeece's turn, she was telling Phillip how much she loved him for all the joy he has brought into her life. He was just listening intently while picking his nose. I mean really going to town on his nose. Dusty began to laugh hysterically, Phillip choked on a chocolate, mom put out her hands, and Phillip threw up everything. Absolutely everything. To make matters worse, we had just eaten seafood pasta for dinner tonight: octopus, squid, shrimp, muscles...Let's just say Dusty made it for the boys. A real special ocean dinner. Octopus stinks when it is raw, it smells after being cooked, and it definitely carries a powerful scent partially digested. So there Janeece sat in the family room with both hands completely full of semi-chewed chocolates, pasta, and octopus. Just another day in paradise. Happy Valentines Day Mom!

When the Boys Dress Themselves

2011-02-07T17:27:00.004-05:00

Ever wonder why it is just easier not to go out into public when you have little kids? Here is one reason why I don't.

Karl is in love with his pajamas. He is pretty finicky when it comes to clothes. He either wants to wear his pajamas all day long or shorts and a t-shirt. Sometimes it is a real fight to get him to wear pants and a long sleeved shirt, even if it is cold outside. One week I finally hid all his pajamas and shorts and t-shirts so he would have to wear his pants and long sleeved shirts. We've finally come to an arrangement which allows him to wear shorts and t-shirts at home any time he wants, but when I tell him we are going somewhere, he has to put on pants and a long sleeved shirt right away. If he throws a fit, then its bye-bye to his shorts. And, nearly every day he tries to convince me that he should be able to wear his pajamas all day long. And every day I tell him no.

Phillip also has his definite opinions about style. Although, he expresses himself more through accessories. He likes to wear my headbands, Rambo style. His most recent find are my goggles, which he hasn't parted with for three days. He was in tears when I wouldn't let him wear them to church.

I wonder if Rita will have any fashion sense...

Precious Moments with Rita

2011-02-07T17:13:00.003-05:00

Rita is now four months old. To celebrate, we introduced her to rice cereal. She wasn't too convinced the first few times she tried it, but she is gradually getting used to eating a semi-solid food.

Feeding Rita was quite the family affair. Karl and Phillip were both there to "help" Rita every step of the way. So, besides stiff arming Phillip the entire time in an attempt to protect Rita from the spoon he was trying to shove into her mouth, it turned out to be a successful experience.

Mom, you keep saying "Yummy!" but I'm not sure that I agree.

The other night as I was looking through our blog I realized that I never posted a picture of Rita on her blessing day. Sorry you had to wait so long to see how pretty she looked.

Becoming Independent

2011-02-07T16:57:00.002-05:00

Karl is four and a half and becoming more independent with each passing day. His new found desire for doing things on his own is a blessing and also a challenge. It's hard trying to foster his independence without getting too upset when it results in a bigger mess than mom or dad were hoping for. Here is a view into his world.

Hi, I'm Karl. I read a book the other morning before breakfast about fruits and saw a picture of a fruit salad. So, I asked mom if I could make a fruit salad. She said yes. I sliced the bananas and apples all by myself and added some grapes and mandarin oranges to them. Then I mixed everything up and added a cherry to the top. It was very yummy. I even shared with Phillip.

I love bugs! Any type of bug, big or small. And I really love to keep them as pets. Mom once suggested that I put the bugs I catch in sippy cups and it has been her best suggestion of all time (although she doesn't think so). When you come to my house, you will most likely see several seemingly empty sippy cups on the kitchen counter. But don't be fooled, there is probably a friendly creature in there somewhere.

I also love to make cookies. When mom lets me put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet, I make "giant" cookies. Here are some that I made last week to take to our new neighbors. And what fun is it to make cookies without eating one yourself? So after baking these, of course I had to sit down and taste them myself. They were delicious! Let me know when you are coming to visit and I'll be sure to make you your own "giant" cookie.

Oh Phillip!

2011-02-01T17:00:00.004-05:00

The most challenging part of having three kids is without a doubt, Phillip. Please don't get me wrong, he is a tremendous joy to be with, but that is the key. You have to be with him or at least able to get to him quickly, to be able to enjoy him. Otherwise you find him getting into things that he is not supposed to, or hitting his sister, or going outside unsupervised. And the most challenging part of the day with Phillip is when I need to shower. Here are a few of the things I've tried and what it resulted in.

I've tried having him play in my bedroom while I shower.

That led to him getting into my make-up and spreading it all over the living room coffee table. And on another occassion it led to him taking the toothpaste and spreading it all over the kitchen floor. Okay, that doesn't work, so I'll try something else.

I've tried letting him watch a movie.

That led to him climbing on the counter and getting into the candy drawers. Okay, so I'll empty the candy drawers. But guess what? He found the vitamins and some how opened them, even though it has a "child-safe" lid.

I've tried putting him in his room.

That led to him climbing up his closet organizer to reach a toy he really wanted on the top shelf, and pulling everything else down with it. So, I bring all the toys down and try it again. This time he just wanders out of his room and finds my hair blow dryer and burns the bathroom rug I have in front of my sink.

Needless to say I have tried a lot of things...Sorry, gotta go. Phillip!

A Reason to Celebrate

2011-02-01T16:43:00.002-05:00

Last week was a little rough...a sick mom and sick kids does not make for a very happy combination. But one of the moments to celebrate was paying off our student loans. And to celebrate, Dusty brought home these beautiful flowers. I love flowers, inside in a vase or outside in the flower beds, so they were a much appreciated and enjoyed surprise.
Dusty and I feel very blessed for the great educations we have received. We loved attending BYU-Idaho and dream of Dusty teaching there one day, many years down the road (Sheri, we'll keep trying to convince David to teach there too. Wouldn't it be fun to live by each other again?). And we had a great experience while Dusty was attending Purdue for graduate school as well. It was challenging at times, but we definitely grew a lot as a family. And while our education is far from over (Dusty is currently taking evening classes so he can become ESOL endorsed and hopes to eventually earn a PhD in curriculum development and I dream of returning to school to study chemistry, English, or business...it just depends on the day and what I have been reading), we are so grateful to be (as Dave Ramsey fans say) DEBT FREE!

Project of the Century

2011-01-23T01:10:00.002-05:00

Today, Dusty, Rita and I finally tackled a project that has been on our to-do list since she was two weeks old. We cleaned up her room. Her room was very clean before she was born, but then so many generous people have given us clothes for her (and I haven't stayed on top of sorting them into sizes), that things got out of control. So today, Dusty pulled everything out of her room and put it in the living room so that we would have to deal with it. Neither of us would ever let the living room stay a disaster forever.

It took nearly all day to get everything sorted, put into boxes, and placed back into her room (don't forget, we had two little boys trying to "help" for part of the time). We ended up with six big boxes full of clothes. WOW! And the only thing we have bought in all of those boxes is a newborn sized dress.

How much would you pay for these?

2011-01-23T01:01:00.003-05:00

Dusty has had these wrestling shoes for 13 years. He has worn them every season whether it be for wrestling or coaching, except for the two years he was on his mission. They have been restitched twice and the sole is extraordinarily thin. So, he decided this year that it was time to buy some new shoes. As he shopped on e-bay, he discovered that there is quite a market for rare wrestling shoes, which his are. So, he decided that he was going to try and sell them online. So, how much do you think these old, stinky, worn out wrestling shoes are worth?

$167.50! That's right. Someone paid that much for Dusty's old shoes. What do you think someone would pay for my old running shoes? I have several pairs if anyone wants to bid on them.

Dont get pinched!

2011-01-23T00:51:00.004-05:00

Dusty made us all a special dinner two weeks ago, which included crab. It was a lot of fun to break open the crab legs to get to the meat. Phillip didn't quite know what to think of the crab. He kept eyeing it throughout the meal.

Karl was of course in heaven, as he loves anything related to the ocean. Before the meal even started he told us that he "loves crab", even though he had never tried it before. And come to find out, he does actually "love it."

Funny Story of the Day

2011-01-10T00:28:00.002-05:00

I had to post this story before I headed to bed because it made for an interesting day. This afternoon while we were sitting in sacrament meeting, Phillip started saying "wet, wet, wet" (one of his new words). I couldn't figure out why he kept saying it. Come to find out, his diaper had leaked and the whole front side of him was drenched. So, Dusty made a mad dash home to get him changed into some clean clothes. After Dusty and Phillip returned to church, Dusty took Phillip to nursery. Not 15 minutes later the nursery leaders brought Phillip out to Dusty because he had a dirty diaper. Since I was feeding Rita at the time, Dusty did the honors. Then, he took Phillip back to nursery. Then, 45 minutes later, the nursery workers brought Phillip back to Dusty because...you guessed it...another dirty diaper. This time, Phillip had to wait with Dusty for 15 minutes until he finished the lesson he was teaching. And then this evening when we went over to a friend's house for a birthday celebration (not kidding you) Phillip had another dirty diaper.

Note to self: Don't' let Dusty give Phillip a bean and cheese quesedilla for lunch, especially on Sunday.

Finally...

2011-01-02T21:34:00.006-05:00

...after two weeks of Christmas vacation, and innumerable distractions, detours, and hang-ups, the long-awaited book shelf and magnet board are finally finished.

This is the kids' "Reading Corner." To celebrate, we brought in a box of children's books from Indiana. Karl and Phillip spent hours reading with us. They were so excited.

The bulletin board is made from a $5 piece of scrap metal and miscellaneous scrap wood from the shop. As heavy as it is, we sunk screws right into the wall studs. The boys were excited to display their art, and Janeece was excited to get a part of her fridge back.

The book shelf is solid wood and very heavy. With some nice trim it actually turned out well; not bad for a history teacher.

These are the plates that Karl and Phillip decorated with Grandma and Grandpa Price. Watch out Picasso!

Now that church starts at 1:00 PM, we have lots of time in the morning as a family. Here is baby Rita in a beautiful Sunday dress.

New Year's Eve

2011-01-01T12:01:00.004-05:00

Rita is the angel sent to our family to help Janeece maintain sanity. She is cute, precious, and best-of-all, sleeping nearly through the night.

For Christmas Rita was given a little blanket teddy from Grandma. Today she was holding it and slobbering all over. She smiles a lot and is beginning to coo more.

The boys love swimming. In fact, on our way into town we pass the swim pool and Phillip ALWAYS shouts "simsool." He will continue shouting "simsool" until we offer validation by saying "Yes Phillip, that is the swim pool."

While Dusty and Rita watched, Janeece and the boys went swimming. Karl could swim on his own wih the life jacket and so he just zipped back-and-forth across the pool. Notice his band-aid on the forehead. For Christmas, each boy got a box of cool bandaids and could use them wherever and whenever they wanted. Never have we had so many "owies" before.

Phillip normally loves jumping fearlessly into the pool. However, he kept getting ready to jump to Janeece but wouldn't. More often than not, Janeece would just have to grab him and pull him by the vest straps back into the pool.

For our family New Year's Eve party, we had a plate painting party with grandparents, pizza, "Don't Eat Pete" M&M game, and the burning of the Christmas tree. Most impressively, the boys still got ready for bed at 7:03. We then stayed up till midnight with rootbeer floats, Shanghai, and taboo.

The now beautifully decorated plates are hanging on the wall. It sure makes the family room feel more elegant.

Christmas

2010-12-25T17:21:00.008-05:00

The Canby Fire Station put on a very nice community breakfast and Christmas celebration. The boys had fun making crafts.

Janeece and the boys made lots of yummy Christmas treats to deliver to their teachers at church. These sweet ladies are angels and are so good to Karl and Phillip.

With Rita being blessed in church, Uncle Stephen came out for the weekend. He is great with the boys, wrestling, reading etc..

Karl and Phillip both decorated their own ginger bread house. It was amazing that any candy actually made it onto the house and not into Phillip's mouth.

I must correct the previous statement, Phillip and Dusty made a ginger bread house, Karl and Stephen made a ginger bread single-wide. The roof collapsed within 3 minutes. But a little more frosting had their trailer back in mint condition.

It was amazing, not a single ornament broke. Karl and Phillip had a blast decorating the Christmas tree, especially when Dusty lifted them to the top.

For our gift to Dusty's mom this year, the boys painted wooden Christmas ornaments: a dolphin, sea horse, dinosaur, front loader, cement truck, and dump truck. By the end, the boys were all covered in paint and had decorated ornaments that only a grandma would appreciate.

A brother's love is a brother's love. Rita is so patient with her brothers.

On Christmas morning we opened a few gifts as a family. You can see Rita's excitement for her new toy.

It was fun for the kids to have Grandma and Grandpa Price over for Christmas morning. Though we loved living in Indiana, it is nice living close to grandparents. Here is Karl playing with Phillip's Mr. Potato Head. He thought he was so funny by putting the hand in the nose hole.

Phillip was always willing to help unwrap everyon'e presents. Here he is with Grandpa opening his new Texas Tech shirt from Mike and Katie.

Rita is absolutely adorable. Here she is with a "Lamanite" doll from Hermana Blunck in Peru. Janeece's parents are there serving a three-year mission. It is sure nice to be able to call them on the phone and video chat on the computer.

Karl, Rita, and Phillip with their new Peruvian shirts, hats, and most amazing wood toys. We wish the Bluncks were here to see their excitement, but we are so glad they can be serving a mission instead. That's why we will just keep sending videos. This morning Phillip said Peru for the first time while talking to "Bapa."

We love our family and express gratitude for all the tender blessings of the Lord in this most magical Christmas season.

Christmas Tree

2010-12-05T23:45:00.013-05:00

Here is our family at Merrywood Farms as we begin the search for the perfect Christmas tree. It became quickly obvious that Janeece and Dusty have different preferences. Dusty prefers a classic, full douglas fir tree. Janeece prefers more "elegant," $45 trees. She is a Blunck, what can we say? Dusty and his $15 tree won.

Karl on the other hand is less particular. He hauled a dried-up sapling back to Canby where he placed it on our front porch. "It only needs water and soil" he keeps telling us.

Both boys took turns with dad cutting down the tree. Rita was being babied by her mother in a warm Snuggli, and got out of helping, figures, sisters!

Karl and Phillip both proved to be quite the pair of wranglers on "Katie" the mild-mannered pony. It took Karl a little work to get his boot high enough into the stirup to be able to get up into the saddle.

Phillip was a bit timid, not knowing what to think. It didn't help that he had just sat in an unsecured, empty saddle in the barn per his dad's coaxing and nearly fell right off.

Phillip was much happier on the tractor. What can we say, he is named after Phillip Arthur Hawman, his great-grandfather and seasoned farmer. Just don't let him know that though green, this was no John Deere.

Today I Am ...

2010-11-18T17:43:00.002-05:00

a Zoo Keeper
My counters are cluttered with multiple sippy cups stuffed full of frogs, worms, ants, and spiders.
a Negotiator
No, you can't eat Halloween candy before breakfast. No, you cannot watch movies all day. It is not okay to hit/kick your brother when mom isn't looking. You can watch Dinosaur Train only if we get the family room picked up by the time it comes on.
a Cook
Breakfasts, snacks, lunches and dinners...you name the meal and I make it some time during the day.
a Librarian
I'm frequently asked "Will you read a book to me?"
a Referee
Two little brothers, need I say more?
a Nurse
I found Phillip with a open bottle of chewable vitamins with about ten in his mouth. Good thing I know how to do the finger sweep. And a bigger thank goodness that I know how to do the cheek squeeze so he wouldn't bite my finger during the procedure.
a Sanitation Engineer
Two kids still in diapers and one who rarely flushes the toilet.
a Marine Biologist
Do you know what sea anemones eat? How about blue whales, sperm whales, orcas, marlin, tuna, lantern fish, wolf eels, leopard sharks, basking sharks, angler fish, or squids?
a Computer Engineer
Hmm..the mouse doesn't work after finding Phillip sitting at the computer, pounding on the keyboard. Could he have anything to do with it?
a Teacher
Everything from washing your hands after using the bathroom (although I think I need a different strategy as mine doesn't seem to be working) to why it is spring time in Peru and fall time in Oregon. Thank goodness we have lots of balls, they worked perfectly as the sun and the earth.
a Personal Trainer
What I tell the boys with a big smile on my face: Lets go outside and ride bikes. What I am thinking: If I don't have the boys burn off some of their energy right now, I might go insane.
a Housekeeper
Always plenty of laundry, messy rooms, cluttered floors, and dirty dishes.
a Buisneswoman
Took our van in to have it checked out as it was making a really loud noise. Found out our tire was about to fall off because the lug nuts had not been put on properly. Not a happy customer and not going to pay to have it fixed!
an Insurance Expert
What is so complicated about adding Rita to our insurance plan? It's only taken four calls.
a Soother
Gassy baby leads to not eating well leads to not sleeping well leads to spending a lot of time trying to calm an unhappy baby.
TODAY I AM A MOM!

Halloween

2010-11-02T13:24:00.006-04:00

We had a great Halloween this year. Here are a few pictures of our fun adventures.

Little Miss Rita was our beautiful flower. She is growing so quickly. I'm curious to see how much she weighs now.

Karl and Phillip were Lightning McQueen's pit crew. And since Dusty has a nice red car, we just had to turn it into "Chow" for the trunk-or-treat. We were pleased with the result.

Here is the master mechanic and his crew. Dusty, thanks for making Halloween magical for the boys!

We started a new family tradition...eating brains and eyeballs out of a pumpkin with our hands. Why? Who knows, it just sounded like a fun thing to do. The boys loved it and we even convinced Grandma Price to join the party.

Pumpkin carving is always an adventure. This year you can really see Karl and Phillip's personalities through their pumpkins. Karl's is a shark and Phillip's is a tractor. Each boy chose what he wanted and Dusty and Grandma did a great job of helping them carve away.

Little boys are so much fun...they are so full of energy and Phillip is especially excited to help do anything we ask him to. What two year old wouldn't want to carve a pumpkin if it means using a knife?

Of course, Halloween wouldn't be complete without a graveyard dessert. It turned out looking great and tasted even better.

You know you are a new mom of three when...

2010-10-26T13:24:00.002-04:00

Just a few days ago my day started at 5:20am, only because all three of the kids were all up. So I jumped out of bed and quickly put on some clothes so at least I would not be stuck in my pajamas all day. It wasn't until 7:30am, when I finally looked in the mirror, that I realized that my shirt was on backwards. What can I say? I'm still trying to figure out this three child thing.

Sister-in-Laws & Miracles

2010-10-20T21:48:00.005-04:00

Before I start writing, I need to add a disclaimer. Due to the fact that Rita will be needing to eat soon, these posts are in no particular order. But I hope you enjoy them just the same. Oh, and another disclaimer. I may not edit this before I post it, so please excuse any and all mistakes.

Rita is a great eater and as you can see she is starting to fill out.

Here Rita and her cousin Hunter are meeting Great Grandpa and Grandma Blunck for the first time.

Aunt Sheri helping me give Rita her first bath. I'm always so nervous to bathe my babies for the first time. Usually I ask my mom to do that. But since she is in Peru, I asked Sheri to help. It's a funny thing...this is my third child and I'm still nervous. And believe it or not, Rita didn't even cry.

Karl and Phillip adore Rita. They are constantly asking me if they can hold her. Phillip loves to help get Rita's blanket, pacifier, diapers, etc. He also really loves to give Rita kisses and to stroke her hair. Karl keeps asking if Rita likes him and when she will start talking. I assure him Rita loves him very much and while she wont be able to talk for a while, she is a great listener. Which is a perfect match for Karl, as he can tell her all about ocean animals and she won't tire of it.

Sweet Rita, taking a little snooze outside. We have had beautiful weather for the last two and a half weeks which has been so helpful in keeping all our spirits up.

Karl playing in the sandbox at OMSI. Thanks for taking him Aunt Shara. Hopefully we will get back there soon.

Aunt Shara with Karl and Phillip at swim lessons. Thanks for swimming with us!

Amongst other activities, Aunt Shara took the boys to a local pumpkin farm where they rode on a train, played on a massive hay tower, and picked out pumpkins. Unfortunately, Phillip didn't smile for this picture, although I am sure he had a great time.

Phillip has done a great job adjusting to having a little sister around and to not being picked up by mom. It breaks my heart when he comes up to me with his blanket and asks me to pick him up and I have to tell him no. But we have had a lot of good cuddling time sitting on the floor.

I wish I could write in detail about all the miracles that have happened surrounding Rita's delivery and my recovery, but I don't' have enough time to write about them all. Needless to say, things have gone so much better this time around than the last two times (first, we haven't moved a week after this c-section and second, my incision hasn't become infected). What great blessings. But truly, the greatest blessing has been all the love and support I've received from family and friends. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. I was really concerned about having another baby while my mom and dad are in Peru on their mission because I have relied so heavily on my mom in the past for help after each c-section. So I took my concerns to God and asked Him how everything was going to work out because it wasn't just recovering from the c-section, it was staying on top of all my parents business affairs after the delivery that I was worried about. I didn't receive any detailed answer about how things were going to work out, just the most calm and peaceful feeling that things would be okay. And so I decided to do my best to move forward with faith and trust in the answer I had received. It has been amazing how things have worked out and the small impressions I've received about what to do or someone to call for help. I've learned again how much God does love us as individuals and will help us in our times of need. One such impression was to call my two sister-in-laws and to ask them for help. So I did and I am so grateful that I did.

Sheri (David's wife) and Shara (Stephen's wife), each came out for a week to take care of Karl and Phillip, and truthfully me! What wonderful women they are. I appreciate so much their selflessness and their hard work. They kept the boys busy all day and helped with dinners, laundry, mowing the lawn, etc. I don't know what we would have done without them. I can't wait for the next time that we can get together because then I'll actually be more fun to be around. I think David and Stephen are very lucky to have married such remarkable women. I love you Sheri and Shara. I hope to one day return the favor.

Rita Ann

2010-09-30T10:32:00.006-04:00

Here we are at D-Day. Dusty's mom was willing to watch the boys while he and Janeece were at the hosptial. Karl and Phillip immediately found the cat and had a blast in the sand box and bath tub. Thanks Grammie Price!

Unlike the boys' "emergency" c-sections, we already knew that Rita would come via cesarian. As we got to the hospital, Janeece had an anxiety attack. That is not something she had not really experienced before. But it was a tender mercy for the doctor to be delayed and so the extra hour in our room together helped calm the situation. During the procedure itself, Janeece was very peaceful and attentive. We were able to hold Rita for about 15 minutes in the operating room while they stitched mom up.

Rita was born at 2:09 PM on Tuesday, September 28th. She weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and measured 16 1/2 inches.

Rita Ann is an absolute doll. She has a beautiful complexion with dark hair.

There is something special about having a little girl, especially after 4 1/2 years of living with boys.

Kathy Lazott is a dear friend and has been an angel while Janeece's parents are serving their mission in Peru. We can't say thank you enough for all she has done.

This is the first encounter between the boys and their new baby sister. It took Phillip some time to warm up to the idea; he didn't quite know what to make of her at first.

Everything changed as soon as Phillip got to hold Rita himself. This iss one proud brother if I've ever seen one.

Every girls needs a brother like Phillip. He is sweet and gentle, and very protective. As he was holding Rita, her pacifier fell out. Karl quickly ran over to help but Phillip grabbed his hand and yelled "Don't!" He could take care of his sister by himself.

Here are the boys with baby Rita. It was hard to tell how much of their excitement was from meeting their baby sister, or from being at the hospital with a box of chocolate chip cookies that Grammie Price brought for Janeece.

We feel very humbled and grateful as a family to have a healthy girl. Despite not sleeping the first night, Rita is an absolute sweet heart. Janeece is also recovering very well. We could not have asked for a better surgery, delivery, and subsequent delivery. But the road to full healing is still long ahead and life begins once we get home on Friday. We will move forward with faith and greater purpose, and much less sleep.

When Mom Sews...

2010-09-03T13:46:00.004-04:00

Why is being a mom so tiring some times? This is what happened yesterday when I was working on a quilt for Rita. I literally had only worked on it for three minutes when I thought things had become too quiet. This is what I found.

So what do you do when you find a mess like this? You give up on sewing, clean-up the mess, and go outside and ride bikes. At least that way nothing else in the house can get dirty.

Ugh...Slugs

2010-09-03T13:23:00.004-04:00

After living in Indiana where there are no slugs, we've forgotten how bothersome they are. After a little bit of training, the boys now know how to handle these planting eating pests. Look and learn.

Karl's Prayer

2010-08-21T12:07:00.002-04:00

Before going to the airport this morning to pick up Uncle Stephen and Aunt Shara, Dusty asked Karl to say a prayer. We just had to share it.

"Dear Heavenly Father,
Please help us to drive safe. Please let there be no monsters. And help me to see what I want to see...DINOSAURS."

What can you do but smile and laugh?

6.1 Year Anniversary Trip

2010-08-15T23:58:00.005-04:00

In July Dusty and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. We decided to take a trip, just the two of us, before Rita is born. But since Dusty was teaching summer school at the time of our anniversary, we concluded that we would wait until he was done teaching for the summer to take our trip. Shortly before he finished summer school, he was called to work with the Varsity Scouts in our ward ... and that meant a week-long high adventure activity the first week of August. While Dusty was on his high adventure trip I received a call from the school district he will be working for stating that he was going to have a week of training, a week earlier than we had anticipated. To say the least, I was starting to panic thinking that our trip wasn't going to happen because all our open weeks were now filled. So, when Dusty got home from his high adventure trip with the scouts, we made our plans, called Grandma and Grandpa Price and asked if they would watch Karl and Phillip, and actually made our trip happen. Yeah!

We saw some beautiful countryside. The weather was perfect: mid 70's with no humidity (something I love about the Northwest).

We went for a 6.5 mile hike one day and saw a few fellow hikers and backpackers along the trail. It is so motivating seeing families and other people outside enjoying the great outdoors.

Leavenworth is known for being a Bavarian town. The entire town is built in the Bavarian style. Even Napa, which is an auto parts store, is in a Bavarian style building (I think it is the only time I will see flowers on a Napa store sign). We enjoyed walking through all the shops and especially loved seeing the different types of artwork that local artists were selling. The authentic German food was delicious. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Price for helping to make this happen!

Summer Time Happenings

2010-08-08T23:54:00.003-04:00

Here is just a glimpse of where we live and what we have been up to the last couple of weeks. We had a few video clips we wanted to upload but the Internet is just too slow. So, here are a few pictures to hold Grandma Blunck over until we can give her a more detailed update.

This is about 1/7 of the beautiful yard my parents have entrusted us to keep up while they are in Peru. Hummingbirds flit around daily, squirrels scurry through the yard nearly hourly, and we love to spend as much time outside as possible. I feel a lot of responsibility to keep the flower beds looking nice and Dusty feels a lot of responsibility to keep the grass nice and green. I think Dusty was a bit surprised when he had to go to the local farm store and purchase 500 lbs. of fertilizer in July: 300 lbs. for the pasture and 200 lbs. for the grass. Lets just say that last week I mowed on Monday and Thursday and we definitely need to mow again tomorrow, which is Monday. Isn't the grass nice and green?

Its a good thing we didn't have a little girl as a first child...I think we would have gone broke on all the fabric I would have wanted to buy. I decided to add a feminie touch to our carseat by making a carseat cover. I'm pleased with how it turned out and Dusty gave me a thumbs up on it too!

What can I say? We live in the country with two little boys. It's impossible to keep them clean.

Phillip loves to help you do most everything. Here he is helping me make boysenberry jam with style.

While Phillip loves to help, he has also started to be a little more independent. He definitely has an opinion about what he wants to wear. On this particular day, he wanted to be a fireman.

Photo Update

2010-07-11T17:26:00.011-04:00

Here are some quick photo updates with a few short videos at the end.

Here is our family: Janeece, Dusty, Karl, and Phillip, with Aunt Lynette on the far left. We added her to the photo to offset the boy:girl ratio and because she is pretty. Actually, we were able to go to a Hawman family reunion just before she left to Peru. We had an absolute blast together.

We make mini vans look cool!

Aunt Lynette used to make the boys special smoothies each morning. They included boysenberries, carrot juice, cabbage, black beans, and goji berries. Sadly, Grandma and Grandpa took their blender to Peru with them. To say the least, we had some happy boys as soon as we unpacked our blender after several smoothieless weeks.

It is official. Mom and Dad got on the plane and left on their mission. They will be serving in Lima, Peru for three years. Though Phillip still wanders the house occassionally looking for "Bapa", we are all genuinely excited for their mission and grateful for their willingness to serve. What a powerful example for our boys.

Here we are with Elder Oaks as Dad and Mom were both set apart for their mission. It was a wonderful experience to visit with Elder Oaks; he was incredibly gracious and interested in our family.

Phillip is an absolute riot. Here he is dancing at the Newport Aquarium.

Phillip loves working out with Grandma and Lynette. Here he is doing his stretches.

Karl, Grandma, and Lynette at the Newport Aquarium.

The ultimate pregnancy test: it takes both Karl and Grandma to balance with mom and little sister.

Aunt Lynette and the boys at a fun park in Canby.

Everyone is looking down at the sharks in an aquarium that wraps all around the glass tunnel. This was undoubtedly one the boys' favorite parts of the museum.

Phillip has a very strong will. Every once in a while, it gets him into trouble.

Phillip loves mowing the lawn.

Most people choose a graduate school to attend because of its rankings etc.. We chose Purdue becuase of the Bluncks and had a wonderful experience in Indiana. Here is Hunter Blunck, a beautiful boy recently adopted by David and Sheri who will be sealed to the family in August. We sure miss him and Benjamin, but it is still probably Sheri that we miss most of all.

Karl and Benjamin were "best buddies."

Here is Karl and his cousin Ben trying to share the new-to-Karl bike we got him for his birthday. Sharing can be a hard principle for two strong-willed boys. As Ben would say, they each like to cooperate by themselves.

Newport Bay, Oregon

Fishing and throwing rocks along the Molalla River

Karl jumping at the Hawman Family Reunion

Karl's Birthday

2010-05-19T21:44:00.004-04:00

Karl turned four on Monday. A few weeks ago we asked Karl what type of cake he wanted for his birthday. He quickly responded that he wanted a dragon cake. This came as quite a surprise since he only knows of dragons because of a short video clip he watched of "Puff the Magic Dragon" on YouTube. Nonetheless, his mind was made up, so we made our best efforts and were quite pleased with the results.

When Aunt Sheri asked Karl why he wanted a dragon cake, he told her it was because he just wanted to see what a dragon cake looked like.

The kids had so much fun picking off the yellow spikes along the back of the dragon and they tried on many occasions to eat the chocolate wings. Alas, moms ruined their plans. So instead, we sent one wing home with Benjamin and one wing home with Miranda for them to enjoy throughout the week.

Karl Knew All Along

2010-05-18T13:45:00.006-04:00

Since before I even knew I was pregnant, Karl has been telling random people that he has a baby sister in mommy's tummy. It made for a few awkward conversations as people would look at me questioningly. Not wanting Karl to be disappointed if he had another brother, we have tried to talk with him over the last few weeks about this possibility. He has been unconvinced. So much to our surprise and excitement, Karl is right. He is going to have a baby sister. Here is Rita Ann Price.

Family Videos

2010-05-16T14:56:00.009-04:00

We tried loading a video of Karl explaining his innovative invention, but it wouldn't work. So we'll just have to settle for a picture. Karl was having difficulty eating his spicy Thai noodles because the sauce kept splashing up into his eyes, so he came up with noodle goggles. They work like a charm.

Here is Karl with his best friends chasing a frog at Turkey Run State Park. Surprisingly, no animals were hurt in the filming of this short segment.

Phillip is noticeably upset as we visit Prophetstown State Park. He did not want to walk.

This is just minutes after the previous video at Prophetstown State Park. It is amazing what a few rocks and a little water will do for a boy.

Price Family Update

2010-05-16T14:00:00.008-04:00

As it has been some time since we have updated our blog, we will give you the highlights from our life. These are a few of the many recent tender mercies of the Lord that we are overwhelmingly grateful for:

1) Janeece is pregnant, 5 months along and expecting on October 3rd. We will hopefully find out the gender this coming Tuesday, May 18th. Karl is convinced it is a girl; he already has a brother and sees no need for another.

2) Janeece's mom and dad were called to serve a mission in Lima, Peru, where he had served as a young man after joining the Church. The family is so excited for them and impressed by their willingness to leave so much behind to serve. There is no doubt that the Blunck kids will rally to support their parents while they are serving their mission; they are an exceptionally tight family. Janeece and Dusty will be postponing graduate school at Purdue University to move back home and help as we are able with their home, property, and other personal matters. Though it is overwhelming to think about all that will need to get done, especially for Janeece, the Lord has been very merciful with our family. Everything has just been falling into place, a testament to us that the Lord will provide a way. We are now genuinely excited (though equally nervous) to be moving back home. Grandma and Grandpa Blunck's home will be a magical place for our boys.

3) Anticipating our move back to Oregon this summer, we put our our home on the market and sold it within 13 days. We got our asking price, which was $12,000 more than we purchased the home for three years ago. Considering the significant improvements we made to the home, and the cost of our relestate agent, we think we came out even. It was a beautiful house and we feel very fortunate to have been able to make it our home while living in Indiana.

4) Getting a teaching job in Oregon has become an all-consuming past-time for Dusty. We are now waiting to hear back about the dozens of applications he has already sent to every school hiring within an hour radius of Canby. This application process will continue all summer long, as jobs are posted until he gets hired. However, Dusty was hired by the Canby School District to teach this summer at their Adelante Summer Academy for migrant students. We both feel very fortunate to have been offered this position so close to home.

5) We were able to attend the temple sealing of Janeece's little brother Stephen to Sharalee Debenham in the Draper, Utah temple this month. It was a beautful weekend with the entire family (though freezing with a little snow). The boys especially loved the hotel's swim pool, and Phillip proved to be quite the fearless swimmer. He just kept walking right into the pool. Not to mention that Benjamin Blunck got stuck in the drain and they almost had to call 911 to have him cut out. The other excitement for the weekend was when we decorated Stephen and Shara's car and put it up on blocks. When he went to drive away the car's front tires just free spun. It was pretty hillarious!

6) Janeece and Dusty both ran together in the Indianapolis 500 Mini-Marathon, which included one lap around the "Brickyard" (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). This is the largest Mini-Marathon, with 35,000 runners. Yes, 35,000 runners! It was an amazing experience seeing that many runners; it took us 20 minutes just to get to the starting line after the race began. It was a solid sea of runners as far as we could see. We did a lot of weaving the entire race. Janeece finished strong, with a kick the final mile that would have made most guys cry, finishing in 2 hours. Not bad for being five months pregnant!

7) Perhaps the greatest tender mercy has been Phillip attending nursery at church. It is now such a relief not taking him to Sunday School and Priesthood meetings. However, after just three weeks of Phillip being in nursery, they asked Dusty to sub in there today at church. Phillip just melted down, screamed and wanted to be held the entire time by dad. It was no Hallmark moment. It was actually a very long two hours, considering Dusty had already held him during Sacrament meeting as he screamed until exhaustion before falling asleep.

Lil' Phil

2010-02-21T19:40:00.005-05:00

Janeece and I consider ourselves very forunate. We have a beautiful family, with two active boys that keep life exciting. With plans to move back to Oregon at the end of May, we just sold our home. Life has been crazy busy these last few weeks, but we are happy. As the boys were both sick today, I had the opportunity to just cuddle with both of them. That was a genuine treat for me. Especially since Phillip, who is always on the go, typically never lasts for more than 10 seconds on my lap. What follows then will be a few photos and videos of Phillip. He is a character! Janeece is an absolutely wonderful mom. "Exhausted" is the word she would use. Our boys truly adore her. It is priceless to see Phillip giving Janeece some of his open-mouth kisses. I know being a mom is not easy, but I am grateful for Janeece's compassion, resilience, and grit. Raising boys is a tough job, but she has three boys her love her everyday for it.

Phillip is hillarious. He loves to walk around the house and talk on the cell phone. He will then hand the phone to us, which is our cue to pretend like we are talking to grandma and hand the phone back to Phillip. If we every try to get the phone from him, Phillip goes crazy. He sure knows what he wants and is quick to let you know when he doesn't get it.

After always watching Karl, Phillip will often walk into the bathrrom and try to pull up his shirt like he needs to pee also. So the other day when he wanted to sit on the potty, what parent is crazy enough to say no. And yes he did go just a little bit. As exciting as that was, it will still be a few more years until he is actually potty trained; he's a boy.

First Snow of the Season

2009-12-07T11:28:00.005-05:00

This morning we woke up to the first snow of the season. Karl was excited, to say the least. The last few days he has been asking when it would snow. We've read a few books recently about children builtding snowman, so Karl was very anxious to get outside and build his own snowman. As you can see, there really wasn't that much snow to work with, but we did our best.

It took some time to convince Karl that he really didn't want to throw snowballs at Phillip. Instead, we threw them at a nearby bush.

What a cute little boy. This is Phillip's first real experience in the snow and even walking around on his own outside. He was anxious to explore all the things he hasn't been able to before since he is usally in the back pack carrier when we are outside. Now that he is walking...it's a whole new world.