Top 10 Things I Have Learned From My Dad

1. 10” of new powder is worth skipping school (and work) for. 2. Bread is always better with a good crust. 3. A few squeaky screen doors are good with Teenage daughters in the house. 4. Being organized makes life easier. 5. A sharp knife is essential in cooking. 6. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise (especially the early to rise part). 7. A quiet whisper is often easier to hear than a loud roar. 8. Enjoying the outdoors by canoeing, camping, hiking etc. is one of the great joys in life. 9. Family is more important than work. 10. I am loved.

Fun on the Rocks

"Nooooo, not the rock pile. I don't want to go to the rock pile. Pleeeeeeaaaaase can we go to Roosevelt instead? Pleeeeeeaaase?" This was the chorus - lead by Hannah - that the kids sang as we drove to the Columbia River for a weekend of kite boarding and camping. The kids finished up school for the year, Kirk finished up work for the week and we were packed and headed for The Gorge. We informed the girls that we were not going to our usual spot - Roosevelt - which is grassy, has a great beach, lots of friends to play with and is very kid friendly. Instead, we headed to Rufus which is basically a big pile of rocks further down the river but promised to have better wind. We met our friends, the Lorio's, and hoped for some good kite boarding. We had great wind all weekend and kite boarded several sessions each day. Here's me on my 7m kite.

Here's Kirk catching some air.

The girls had a great time playing on the rocks, in the water, and with their friends Jensen and Kyra Lorio. We all came home tired, in desperate need of a bath and happy. On the way home the kids were asking "When can we go to Rufus again?"

Wheels

We recently discovered the Boot Scoot training bike for our children learning to ride. It is a bike – but without pedals. We got the idea from cousin Drew who whips around on his Boot Scoot in Rexburg. You can buy the fancy version or, if you are cheap like us, take the smallest $20 bike from Wal Mart and remove the pedals. Boot Scoots have no pedals and instead teach children to balance as they go. Maren has been practicing on the Boot Scoot for some time now and decided it was time to try the real bike. As she was waiting in the driveway for Kirk to come out and help her learn to ride, she decided to give it a little try. Without any effort, and because of the balance she learned on the Boot Scoot – she just got on and started going. No chasing after her, no tipping over, no tears. It was great. Now she loves to ride and is glad she can keep up with the big girls. Whew! If only we would have known about this for the first two!

The Peony

Forget roses. Forget Lilies, daisies, geraniums. My favorite garden flower is the Peony. And mine are just beginning to bloom this week. They remind me of my childhood visiting Grandpa Byington’s house in Brigham City. They remind me of our little house in Portland where I first experienced having a peony in my very own garden. They remind me of moving into our home in Sandpoint just as the peonies were coming into bloom. These beautiful ones pictured below were a birthday gift from my sister that I planted several years ago.

Play Date

There are date nights, blind dates, prom dates, weekly dates, etc. Kirk and I have play dates. Although we enjoy the occasional dinner and a movie - our funnest dates occur during the day. In the winter our we have our weekly play date on the ski slope. It's a great time to enjoy a fun activity, have time to talk without children interrupting, get some exercise and clear our heads. Today, Kirk took me on our first moto play date. He loaded up the quad and the motorcycle and we headed to Roman Nose. It's a beautiful mountain peak just north of us. I have ridden the quad in our driveway, but that's about the extent of my quad experience. Kirk picked an easy, but beautiful and fun trail. The idea was to make it to lakes and granite cliffs at the top. Just as we got close to the top of the ridge, we ran into snow and couldn't go any further (although Kirk couldn't help but try). We had a nice picnic lunch on a granite bolder in the middle of a small, picturesque stream. I always enjoy spending time with Kirk and am glad we have the opportunity to do so many fun things together.

Summer kickoff

Last weekend we kicked off summer with our first trip to Roosevelt, Washington. Located on the Eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge, Roosevelt is a small town (population 79) out in the middle of nowhere that just happens to have predictable, steady, consistent wind. It also happens to have a river front park referred to as 'Rosie' by our friends and 'Rose-a-belt' by Maren.

We love to go to Roosevelt during the summer. And by 'we' I mean ALL of us. Kirk and I go to kite board. Sorry, when we are kite boarding I must be too busy to take pictures, but here is a photo so you get the idea...

The girls go to play. The park is full of grass and shade trees. The beach is sandy and shallow with plenty of places to explore. The kite boarding is excellent. There is no TV, no homework, no chores, weeding, or laundry. We do have to eat, but I try to keep it simple. It is great for our family to spend plenty of time enjoying each other and relaxing. We have several friends that we have gotten to know as they come to the park on a regular basis.

There are always kids there and the girls look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. We have also been fortunate enough to have lots of family join us. This past weekend Keith and Jenny came from Rexburg. Kirk's parents often join us from Kennewick and sometimes we even get Kirk's sisters Kelli, Verna or Kim and their families to come out and enjoy a day in the water and sun. Kirk's Grandma even stopped by on her drive from Seattle to Kennewick to see what we were up to this past trip. Paige talked her into giving a knitting lesson after we enjoyed dinner together.

Pleasant Suprise

Sometimes your kids surprise you in the most amazing ways. We've been having trouble around our house lately with communication. It seems that everyone is having a tough time speaking to each other with love and understanding. Instead, there has been a lot of yelling, frustration, stomping around and general grumpiness. So I came up with a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself). I stumbled across a publication from The Church entitled:

'10 Ways to Improve Family Communication'.

I introduced it at Family Home Evening last week and then assigned each person one of the 10 steps that they must present in a Family Home Evening lesson. Hannah was assigned to present tonight. I gave her the pamphlet last week and suggested that she look over it and plan her lesson - offering to help if she needed. I didn't notice her looking at it all week. When she came home from school, anxious as usual to get her chores and homework done as quickly as possible so she could play with friends, I asked her how her lesson was coming. She ignored me. Then she played around, did a few chores and a little homework, played around some more. I also noticed a lot of bad communication going on while the girls were I was starting to plan an alternate lesson. Hannah came downstairs for dinner complaining and whining that she didn't have time to play and didn't have time to get the lesson ready because she is SOOOOO overloaded with chores and jobs, etc. (Of course, her chores would have taken a whole 10 min. if she stayed on task) She was being unusually dramatic about it. I played it cool and said I'm sure she could decide how best to use her time. We finished dinner and were gathering for Family Home Evening. I was wondering what we were going to do for a lesson. When Kirk called for the lesson, Hannah surprised us all by whipping out a two page, written lesson. She did a little discussion, question and answer period about her topic (thinking before you speak). Then she had written a skit where everyone had their own part. Paige narrator, Dad the brother, Hannah the sister, Me the Mom, and Maren the horse - who was cued to say Neigh whenever Hannah said the word 'slipped'. It was brilliant. She had us perform the skit twice. The first time the family handled the problem with poor communication (not thinking before speaking). The second time around the family handled it with great communication (thinking and speaking kindly). It was great, creative, involved everyone and taught us a great principle. I was so impressed. Hannah had a real talent for writing and using her imagination. She is growing into such a great person and I love to see her develop her talents. These moments are so rewarding as a Mother!