Blue eyes

Horray for my blue eyed baby. I really hope they stay blue- Go recessive genes!

Snow Days

Our Christmas break started a little early this year with the biggest snow storm in Oregon in 40 years! We didn't have normal church for two weeks, and the kids missed a week of school. It kept us trapped at home most of the time, then we eventually ventured out with chains on the van tires. Don't worry- we still got to do all of the holiday stuff! Luckily, we were pretty much done with shopping and gift giving to neighbors and friends.


I just had to include this picture of our little darling! She has really been smiling at us a lot recently. It is so fun to see her more engaged with the other kids. She does laugh every once-in-a-while, but it is a rarity.

Here is Larry helping the kids to build a snowman on one of the first days of the storm. Unfortunatly, Miranda and Derek had outgrown most of their snowgear, so only Spencer was really able to stay out long. Lindsey stayed out for a long time even though she was practically frozen. The Snowman eventually looked like Gaba the Hut.

Derek thought it was hilarious to pick up the sheets of ice laying on top of the snow after a night of freezing rain, and throw them to see them shatter.

I found Spencer munching and licking this large sheet of ice. Lindsey also enjoyed eating the snow. Since we don't have a sled, Larry made one out of our cement mixing box (a large, plastic rectangle box) with a hole drilled in it with a cord tied to it. He pulled the kids up and down the street in it. It is so weird that they don't have enough plows, so they don't bother to do the residential roads- so they ended up having huge trenches. It took about 2 days of above-freezing temperatures to finally melt all the slush and ice away. Now we're just back to our lovely Oregon rain.

Larry-the Ultimate Fan

If I had to describe Larry with one word, I think it would be LOYAL. Larry is the most loyal person- to his family, his team, and his friends. Larry wore his Blazer gear at Disneyworld in Florida last January on game days- now that is loyalty. In the picture below, we are at the big BYU/Washington game just a few days before Kara's birth. He got about 75 of his closest friends together and was in absolute heaven! He loves to be surrounded by friends and watch his Cougs. Maybe he went a little over the top with the BYU theme this year- borrowing a Cougar uniform and carrying Kara around in a football costume- but you can never go too far to prove your loyalty if you are Larry. He loves this kind of stuff.

At work, he was asked to head up a team of people in a pedometer competition. Where most teams had 6-8 people, Larry recruited around 35. They were the Texas Walking Rangers. After 6 weeks and many, many motivational emails, at the end of it all, he put together these Chuck Norris heads to give to each participant with some inspiring words on the back.

This fall, Larry was coaching again. He coached soccer for a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds, and really enjoyed it. He has promised to coach Miranda's team next year. He also co-coached waterpolo for Hillboro High School again. He is a gifted coach- maybe not very hard-nosed, but great at motivating people and making them feel great about themselves.We are SO glad that to have our Loyal Larry!

Happy 9th Anniversary to us!

We have had 9 wonderful years of marriage! We were so blissfully unaware of the changes and challenges and children awaiting us on that day. We have had our little ups and downs and put in a lot of hard work- but we are closer and know each other much better because of them. I realize now that I didn't know many of Larry's strengths when we got married- they have slowly emerged as the challenges of life, marriage, and children have stretched us both to become more. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father opened my eyes to see Larry as my future spouse!

And anyway, who could resist this studmuffin...

Kara Renee- the NEW baby

Kara is our new addition - born on September 10th. Spencer calls her "the new baby" because I guess he still considers Lindsey a baby. (Of course, Derek would have a mental breakdown if he heard anyone call Lindsey a baby because she is technically a toddler, as I have had to explain a zillion times- but I digress...). Anyway, Kara has been a very good baby in most respects. She is very pleasant and rarely cries- usually only when she is VERY hungry or VERY tired. She is great at soothing herself to sleep. Currently, she goes to bed around 11 pm and wakes up at 5:30 or 6 to eat, then back to sleep til 8 am or so. So, she's very managable.

Kara has big beautiful gray eyes, short dark hair, and the cutest smile. I'm afraid she inherited my "Sam Donaldson" eyebrows, but I think she'll live. She is also growing a ton- she's just over 3 months old and she's already fitting nicely into 6-9 month clothing. Kara has a really pleasant personality so far. She loves to look at the kids and smile, hoping they glance her way. She is quite enthralled with batting toys and looking at books. She has even started laughing, and it is adorable. One of her best traits is her ability to fall asleep amidst screaming children. I don't think she's too deeply asleep, but she gets her little naps in during the day and sleeps soundly at night. We sure love our Kara!

Michelle (Supreme ruler of the house)

Hola! It's me, supreme ruler of our home. This year, I spent much of my time being pregnant with Kara. I still find it a little amazing that I am now the mother of 5 small children. I am constantly getting comments whenever I go out in public. I think it's funniest when someone sees me with Lindsey and Kara, and comments, "you're a busy mom!" I reply, "you should see me when I have my other three kids with me!" (Ha, ha- it is one of the few rewarding moments I experience in public, most are bad- VERY bad). Life is speeding up as the Larry and I multiply and the kids get older. I usually enjoy the busy-ness of it all, although it has taken a while to adjust since having Kara. (As one friend put it- #5 breaks you!) I think it will get better when I don't have 3 different groups of kids to get ready in the morning. All in all, family life is enjoyable and I like working hard- so life is good.

Here is little Kara. Another girl clone, almost. It's a good thing that I enjoy babies, cooking, and cleaning (when there is time). I still love to read- although most of it is church-related, parenting books, or organizing books. I had fun in the garden this year- until the weeds took over. I also enjoyed working out at the gym up until Kara was born. I have only recently returned in the mornings and I LOVE it! I think I experience a lot of endorphins or something.

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. I went out shopping for myself and got some great jeans, a sweater, and slippers. Larry got me an I-pod to listen to while I work out. I also got a great plastic snake that grows when you put it in water for 4 days and some jelly beans. I'm looking forward to my massage (thanks, Lori).

I'm glad these giant days are over- for now...

Miss Miranda Rose

Miranda is the silliest kid in our family. She is the ringleader for pretend school, babies, and pet play. She is great at getting all the kids to work together on some project- whether it is collecting worms outside and making a house for them out of bricks and dirt, or making cards for all the neighbors. Of course, Miranda's love of drawing and writing continues. In this picture, Miranda wasn't allowed to mess up the dining room because we were having guests over, so she took her coloring supplies outside. She just really has a need to create things every day. Other than using many many sheets of paper a day to color and write on, she also loves to dig into the recycling can to get materials for her projects. In this picture, she is a robot with toilet paper tube hands. She has also made sandals, clocks, teddy bear houses, leprecaun traps, castles, travel games, and more out of our garbage.

Miranda is in second grade this year. She loves art, recess, and writing. Math is her least favorite subject. She likes to chase her friends and play on the monkey bars. Her favorite things to eat for lunch are: leftover potato soup, noodles, pretzels, and peaches.

Miranda loves to jump on the trampoline and elsewhere, swing on the swings and jump off, and go under the trampoline and play spies. Miranda likes to wear interesting combinations of clothes. She really loves to wear skirts and bright colored shirts.

One of Miranda's big obsessions right now is her dog and teddy bear collections. She loves to carry them around and has even secretly brought some of them to school in her backpack. They are her favorite toys and accompany us on our long trips to Utah. Some of their names are: Diamond, Crystal, Sparkle, Golden, Cupcake I, Cupcake II, Sprinkles, Cherry, and Heart-y.

Miranda is usually very helpful with Kara and Lindsey. She will entertain them both if I am cooking or cleaning (especially if I'm making potato soup). She sometimes rebells against responsibility, but is usually just looking for something fun to do. In every prayer she asks to "have a fun day". That's our Miranda.