Monday, March 4, 2013

Saturday in DC

As our time in DC was growing shorter we tried to do a few things that we had neglected during our time in DC. We had yet to go visit Ford's Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It appears today much like it did in Pres. Lincoln's day. This is the suite where the assassination took place. No one has sat in it for a performance since that day. It is kept the same today as it was that horrible day. the museum was also very informative and we loved it.

 We then went over to the Jefferson Memorial so that we could go on the paddle boats, thankfully it was not a hot day! Those things are hard to paddle around, especially when your paddle boat if filled with little kids that can hardly paddle. Fun times were had by all!




Back to School Fall 2012

The boys were pretty excited to start school this year. We had such a full and busy summer with travelling, swim lessons, sight seeing and just plain old having fun that it was nice to settle back into a routine. 

 Tate - 3rd Grade
 Gage - 1st Grade
 Connor - 5th Grade
 I love these three crazy boys. 

Fall Monument Walk

Our favorite Sunday evening activity was heading into DC to walk the monuments. The night before school began for the fall we decided to do just that. It was a beautiful night and we had a great time with the Sorensen's walking through the DC monuments. 





 Lily has the most contagious smile!
 This girl is so much fun. I don't think I have any pictures of Stacey and I where I am not laughing my guts out so my eyes are closed and my face is all wrinkled up, but the laughs are worth it!
 Standing where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech.
 Gage and Eva - best little buddies






Love this place, it will always be in our hearts!

The Hunger Games - Redneck Style

All the Hunger Games hype did not escape all the kids and while the older boys had read the book, the younger kids had only head of it, but figured they knew all about it. The older nephews spent hours planning a mock Hunger Games in the Jensen's lower 40. They built a cornucopia and spent hours fashioning weapons out of bows, arrows, stumps of trees, and swimming pool noodles. They had big plans, VERY big plans. The cornucopia contained sleeping bags, matches, bits of food, the homemade weapons and shields, water, and of course duct tape. 
The older boys had grand plans of getting rid of the little kids early on in the game and then spending the night in the woods, picking off one another as the night wore on. The mothers vetoed the idea of spending the night in the woods filled with wildlife and dry as tinder after a summer of little rain. The boys pushed back, complaining that we were turning them into the "Mom Games" and that we were no fun at all. We told them to just play it out and see what happens. If it got dark, we would pick them up. Karli and I were allowed in the "arena" for a limited time to photograph the Hunger Games. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!
Each boy had a backpack, prepacked with a little food and water and nothing else - they had to be checked to ensure there was no contraband. When the whistle blew they were to grab their backpacks and whatever else they could and get out of the cornucopia area before they were killed. It was mas chaos as the boys grabbed what they could and ran after those that they had made alliances with. 


 The Cornucopia



 Even warriors need a little break. 


 Gage got his backpack and a hulk hand - little good it did him.
 Ethan fared pretty well out of the cornucopia - swords, bow and arrow, shields, etc.

 This little tribe thought they could hide in the bear den and escape detection. It was the first place the older boys looked!
 They were filthy!
 They ran like mad men and wore themselves out. 


In the end, it only took about an hour and 15 minutes before there was a victor. Coleson was crowned the Hunger Games champion. We didn't need to worry about sleeping in the woods and lighting fires, etc. We celebrated with a hot dog roast and they headed out for round two. It was the highlight of my boys summer - they have yet to read a book or watch a movie, but they feel like they have lived the Hunger Games!

Sisters Make the Best of Friends

These fun gals all came up to visit my Mom while I was visiting in August. My sweet uncle Scott drove Cheri, Keli and Lauri all the way to Vanderhoof. I imagine he had a wonderful time! Jana and I snapped a few shots of these lovely ladies - okay, it was more like several hundred. It turns out that at least one of these ladies can't keep her eyes open for pictures (i.e. Kathi), one couldn't stop laughing (i.e. Cheri) and the other two must have been at their wits end, but it was all fun and games until mom could not get up from the ground shot - then it was a lot of fun and games. This was so much fun. Love all you wonderful girls!





Sunday, March 3, 2013

Berry Picking

We loved our time spent on the farm. I wish I could take them there everyday and have a huge garden, with acres for the kids to play and work on. But for now summer visits will have to suffice. The kids hardly came in for meals, they just ate out of the garden. It reminded me of when we were growing up and kept a salt and pepper shaker in the green house for the tomatoes and cucumbers. 
The raspberries were a big hit with all the kids. They spent the summer afternoons with raspberry stained faces and fingers. 

 Cora sampling the raspberries. 
 Connor was able to reach the high ones where the littles and the chickens couldn't get to. 
 This boy could be a farmer every day of his life and be living the dream. 
Kael and Gavyn didn't get many in the bucket, but they picked a lot!