Florida

We are having a great time in Florida with Eli, Emilee and the girls.  We spent our first day at the beach near Cape Canaveral and Cocoa beach. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  Eli bought a tent shelter so that we had shade at the beach.  The little girls love the beach and it was a fun day.  We went to dinner in Cocoa beach at Coconut's at the Beach.  Apparently it rains in Florida every afternoon and at dinner we had a down pour.  It was amazing that people were on the beach in the pouring rain in bikini's!  It stopped about a half hour later.

 On Saturday we went to the Orlando Science Center and Eli and Em bought passes so they can go any time that they want.  It was a fun and we got to see Clifford the Big Red Dog.  We had lunch at the "Stake and Shake" which was really good!  It rained that afternoon too!  On Sunday we were able to  go to church and hang out at home.
Today we went to the Kennedy Space Center and it was really cool. We recomend it to everyone.  Of course we did not have the little girls and that was good!  We enjoyed the Atlantas exhibit that is only 2 weeks old.  Of course we got rained on early in the tour. But the weather cleared up later in the day.  We spent an hour on the phone with our friends who were house sitting for us.  Our water heater is leaking!  Grrrrrrr.   Thank goodness for good friends.  It should be repaired tomorrow!   We also stopped off to see the Astronauts Hall of Fame which was also good.  More later!

It's out!

This week has been a lazy week for me.  Not that I am lazy but I could not do anything and I am still limited.  On Tuesday my gallbladder was removed!  Yea!  Apparently everything went really well. I slept through the whole thing, and then stayed asleep!  I did not wake up for a few hours.  I guess they were done in an hour but I stayed asleep for another 2 hours.   Jim was there and he was saying "Denny wake up, are you awake".  When we got home that day I went to bed and slept some more! 
    Jim and Aly have been taking care of me and I have gotten better every day.  I am still having some trouble bending over and picking things up, getting my shoes and socks on and I am still tender and sore, but for the most part I am much better. I still can not lift anything over 10 pounds not for another week.  I took the week off from school and will try to return this Tuesday.   No school tomorrow because it is Martin Luther King Day.  
   While I was convalescing Jim and I got hooked on Downton Abby.  We can hardly wait to see season 2 as we watched all of season 1 last week.  Season 3 just started and we have started recording it.  We are hooked!  Such an interesting lifestyle!  Love it!  Can't wait for tonight episode.  I can stay up since there is no school tomorrow!

New Years

Jim and I had a very quiet New Years.  We went out for a yummy dinner then spent the evening at home alone.  Yes alone.. Aly, Ryan and Ella went to a friends house.  We took some pictures of us in front of our tree before we had to take it down. 

A few days before New Years  we went to Mom and Dads to visit.  We got to see Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt TK, Sarah, Andrew Aunt Mo and Uncle Carr and  Kari Ann.  We had such a nice visit.

I have to go back to school on Monday and I am trying to do the snow dance so we will have a snow day but I don't think it is going to work.  I had better get back to my lesson plans!

Christmas time is here!

Christmas 2012

This year because of our vaulted ceilings we got a 10 foot tree.  It is beautiful.  It took about 3 hours to  prepare and put in the house.  We could not even put it on top of the car because it weighed to much!  We had to get the utility trailer!  Ryan and Jim worked on it in the garage to try and wrap it  and put bungies on it to sinch it  so that we could get it in the front door!   When we were to the point to stand it up not one scrape on the ceiling! Yeah.

 We stood on ladders  and threw the lights to each other to get them up at the top.  We used a  yard stick to get the ornaments on the top!  It took all day it get it decorated!  I love having the lights on low and enjoying the wassel and the lights.. This is my favorite time of the year.

Edmonds

We went to Edmonds this weekend to visit Mom and Dad.  The weather was beautiful and we had a really nice time.  Mom and I went to the market and bought some fresh fruit and it was so yummy.  Aunt TK was able to come on Saturday evening and we had dinner with her and watched some games.  We talked a lot about the family reunion that we are in charge of in 2 years!  Any one have any suggestions please chime in.

We went for a walk this morning down to see 9 blue heron's in the marsh then went to the water front.  It was not windy or cold just really nice.

Then we went to Dicks for lunch.  It is Washington's version of IN-N-Out!   We listened to conference going up and coming back home.  Back to reality for tomorrow.  My class is going on a field trip to the pumpkin patch!

  Grandpa just looking at the ferry boat and enjoying the day, and Jim being....... well Jim!  gotta love him!

Busy

It was such a busy week last week.  With school, new baby, 40 pounds of apples to do.....I was exhausted.  I finally felt half way decent Friday evening,  and started getting some stuff done at home.  I finished apples on Saturday, I think I made 7 pies, then finished up with  applesauce.  I just wanted to be done.
 I seem to have a great group of kids this year and only 23 of them. It is pretty even girl/boy ratio too. All three of us kindy teachers are am this year so that we could have more contact time with the kids.  My hours have been flexed, which means that I do not have to be there until 8.  I still go in early because I just can not get everything done.  We also started our kids eating lunch.  That was a real trip.  Trying to get these little ones to make a choice of what to eat, hold a tray while trying to step over a bench to sit down, eat their food and, dump their tray, dump their milk and put the tray at the big window so it can get washed. What were we thinking??? Gotta tell ya that today they did great. It has only been 3 days!

Little Ella is doing great.  She is eating well and the other end is just as active.  She had her first BYU game this weekend at home.  Papa was in Kansas and he did not get to see her in her "cougarett" outfit but we took pictures. At night she seems to sleep pretty well..... I guess.  I put in my ear plugs because I need to sleep and I just don't want to hear her cry.  She cries when she is being changed.  She does not like having her clothes off.  She is a little cutie and I am glad that she is here with us.

Welcome Ella

Very early this morning we welcomed again another genetically superior grand child. Eleanor Olivia (she will be called Ella) came just a bit early but all is well. She weighs 6 lbs 7 oz and is 17 and 1/2 inches long. She is so tiny! Aly and Ryan are doing great as is little Miss Ella. We (Grandma and Papa) got to be their for her birth. It was amazing. She is beautiful and has a good voice. We are very grateful that everyone is fine and that they have a lot of support.

We have been busy!

I can not believe how long it has been since I have blogged. We have had an amazing summer and it is hard to believe that I have to start getting in to a routine for school soon (like tomorrow). First off we had a wonderful family reunion in Coeur d' Alene Idaho. The Quinlan family was in charge and Doneda help out. The first day we were on the river with a boat and two wave runners. Jim took me out for a ride on one and after a while he let me do it. They are so easy to use even a grandma can do it. Which Grandma Squire did! She loved it. Uncle Carr took lots of pictures of all of us out there and we did the same for him as he was out there. Even Andrew and Chandler went out and had fun. The weather was perfect that day. The picnic was catered and was delicious. The next day we gathered in the evening for the big dinner. It too was catered and we took the family pictures and had a great time.

The Squire clan is in charge for the next one in two years. We have already started planning and talking about what we want to do! We will keep you posted. Our family has grown so much and we all think it is important to keep this up so that we always have those memories. Sunday morning most everyone went home. It was lightning and thundering and pouring down rain all morning, flash floods etc. Mo and Carr and Jim and I were in our trailers instead of the hotel because we had plans to go to the "Digs". We were not sure about it but finally around noon the weather started clearing up. We spent 2 more days up there and had a great time with everyone. Tim took us all out to dinner at "The Bedroom" for pizza.

After we got home we unloaded, cleaned the trailer and got it read for Camano for crabbing. Ohhh, yum! We left after church and it took over 8 hours to get there. It should of only taken 5! We got there at 10:00 pm and leveled out the trailer and went to bed. I was so stressed out! The next morning we found out that the camp ground had no water! :-( This means no showers or toilets to use. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We walked up to the group camp where everyone was suppose to meet that day and found out that there was no water there either. We called Uncle Carr (the man in charge) and he talked to the ranger and the pump broke so it might be Tuesday maybe Wednesday before there was water. Ha Ha. There was no water all week. We could go to another camp are to shower and haul in water if do desired. We did. On top of that ......they changed the crabbing rules. You can only crab Thursday through Monday. We were out of luck on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jim and I had to come home on Thursday. Jim had to be at work on Sat and we needed a day to unload and clean the trailer. Then we went to Idaho to bring Eli the yellow bug. I feel like we have not been home that much! WOW!

When we have been home I have been sewing and working around the house. Oh ya..... during all of this Aly and Ryan, Benson and Artie moved in! Ok! Her baby shower is this week and so far we have about 20 people who have RSVPed. We leave again for Utah on Sunday for a week. I have to be back at work the following Monday. YIKES! I am getting really anxious about my classroom and hope that everything works out.

4th of July and other stuff

We had a really nice 4th of July. Great Grandma came up to visit and kicked our you know what's in cards all week long! Aly and Ryan (& the dogs) came on the day of and we had macaroni salad,bbq teriyaki, fresh fruit, chips and red, white and blue jello(which I forgot to serve!) After dinner we played games with grandma then when it was time got the chairs out and went in our driveway to watch the fireworks!. We had great seats and weather and did not have to drive any where. For a small town Happy Valley puts on a pretty good show. For a quiet as our neighborhood is it was really busy with kids/adults that evening and by morning all the fireworks were cleaned up on the street. It was amazing! Summer is finally here! Grandma left for home on Friday and Jim followed her down to pick up our trailer. I stayed home to rest because I am sick. I have had a really bad cough (you know the one) since the middle of June. I went to the Dr. on Monday and I got some medicine, then by Thursday nothing had changed so I got more medicine and an inhaler for my asthma. My urgency in getting this better is because we are going to a family reunion next week and I do not want to be coughing the whole time. Keren was in town because her granddaughter was getting baptized. It was so fun to see her and get to talk with her. She seem's lonely and not liking Florida very much. We had a good time. I miss her. I was hoping that I could go to Florida and visit but it is really expensive, and I am not sure I will have to time. I have also been sewing on Aly baby quilt. She picked lots of colors and a cute pattern. It is not a hard pattern so it is moving along quite nicely. Hopefully I will get it all done before I have to go back to school, which seem like it is just around the corner!

Done with School

Well I am finally done with school! It has been a very stressful year. I went and splurged today....I had a massage. It felt so wonderful. My neck has really been hurting and I felt that I really needed it. On the way home from my massage I stopped off and bought some fresh strawberries and raspberries from the farm that we usually go to out in Damascus. Ate them all the way back to school where I finished cleaning my room with the help from my good friend Donna and getting it ready for summer school in my room. We then went to lunch and I came home.

Tomorrow Aly is coming over and we are going to start to work on her baby quilt.

I have a lot of stuff planned for my summer break, cleaning my house, cleaning the carpets, sewing, walking pepper every day that the weather is ok to do so (not raining and cold like it has been), sorting out pictures and getting them scanned, looking through content standards in math to figure out how to do that better, taking a nap when ever I feel like it, taking a ipad class next week, going to the beach, shopping and camping. Oh and I will be visiting grand children of course. That goes with out saying. Jim has some time off so hopefully we will do some of these things together.

Happy Birthday Ivy

Ivy turns 3 this week and Grandpa and I had the opportunity to go and help her celebrate.  We had a quick weekend up Sat and then back on Sun.  Glad that we were able to go.  Happy Birthday little one.

Tulips

We went to Mom and Dad's last weekend and had a great time.  We were able to go to the tulip fields and it was a beautiful day.  Aunt TK went with us, we got an  early  start and I am glad that we did.  They say that thousands of people go thru during this beautiful season. I took a boat load of pictures, here are a few.  

After we went to the fields we went to Aunt Mo and Uncle Carr's house.  We had a great time with them, Kyla and Bree came over too.  We made stews and ate outside.  

Here area some more pics.

Open House

We had an open house this weekend and it went really well. We love our new home and were anxious to show it to our friends. We had several guest show up and they all seemed to like it. I also finished Ivy's sewing and got the package mailed to them. Ivy says she wants to wear the pant outfit when she rides a horse! OKay! Here is the little dress that I made her. Have a great week!

Sewing done......almost.

Well my goal was to get Noelle's baby quilt done during spring break and I did! Yeah! I also have done some sewing for Ivy and need to finish up on a dress that I am making for her.

I quilted it myself. I am pretty proud of the hearts. And I really like Ivy's outfit.

Snow Day

Well you are not going to believe that we had a snow day on Thursday March 22! The latest in history for Portland. At our house we had about 3-4 inches. It was beautiful and I loved it. Its just that it is spring now! We had a 2 hour late and no morning Kindergarten......so I was able to go to work late and get some stuff done in my classroom. This is looking our our front door. We had more than what this looks like. So now it is spring break. I am at home working on a bunch of stuff that needs to get done. I have finally started on Noelle's quilt and plan on finishing it this week. Dad will be working all week so I should have plenty of time. I have already washed clothes, folded them, ironed, washed mirrors, vacuumed, made some appointments for next week, spackled and painted spots in the house that needed it and got the dishes done. Pepper and I still need to go for our walk since it is not raining or snowing, he really likes the walks we take. If I have any good stories over spring break I will let you know.

Valentine's Day

Dad and I had a really nice Valentine's Day. He took me out to lunch. We ate at Olive Garden and the waitress asked us what we had planned for Vday. We just looked at each other then said "unpacking boxes". We are trying to get things sorted, put away and given away still. We have to much stuff. Dad's garage is shaping up however and we can walk around in there!

We started hanging up grand children pictures in the den from last June. They are looking pretty great and the den is looking a little more like home. We also put some family pic in the hall.

We are looking forward to having a visit from Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. They are pretty excited about coming to see the house. Grandma and I are going shopping and Dad and Grandpa will probably watch the basketball games on TV. Hope everyone has a long 4 day weekend.

Getting there

We were able to go up to Seattle and visit Mom and Dad. This was the first time in 15 years that dad has been home for his birthday. We had a nice celebration at Pat and Dawns. We will have to start planning his 80 th next year. It was a really nice celebration.

This is the new murphy bed. Yeah it is up and going. I also got my new blinds for my windows. They go down from the top and come up from the bottom. I also got a new shade for the slider. It looks so nice.

Come and visit us and you can sleep in either room!

Our New Home

We have been in our new home for about a month now. Our official move in date was the 20th of Dec. It took 2 days with the moving truck. We have been living in a sea of boxes. And we still have more boxes in the storage unit! Jim was able to clear some boxes out of the garage and I am able to get my car in there. The yellow bug and the utility trailer are also in the garage. And he is getting some things hung up, put away and is trying to make a work space. Plus he is working 10 hour + days.

The kitchen is pretty much put away but there are some quirks that need some

attention. We have a 3 day weekend so maybe we can look into some things. My sewing room is going to need a lot of attention! I have pared down to only 2 extra bedrooms instead of 3. We need to look for a murphy bed so that we have room for guests and sewing.

Come and visit us. We are not quite there in the unpacking but

we would love to see you.

Sold

We can't believe that we are moving. Our house was on the market for 11 days and we had 3 offers. We are so excited to move. Instead of putting up the Christmas decorations and tree we are packing up boxes and getting rid of stuff. 22 and 1/2 years of stuff. WOW. We have a really nice home to go to and I feel it is a step up from where we are now. 3 car garage, air, central vac, 1 level, big family room right off the kitchen, master bath. Ooooh can't wait. We will take pictures and send a card soon. We are pretty tired at the end of the day.

Also, just a random note, Pepper started coughing this morning. He was hacking like he had been a smoker. Jim had the day off and took him to the vet. I was able to call at about 10:00 (during recess time) and asked how he was. The vet said he had laryngitis. He gave him some antibiotics in shot form with steroid in it. He is still coughing. I have never heard of a dog getting this. I thought it was kinda funny. Hopefully he will be ok and not keep us up all night coughing. :)

For Sale

Our House will be for sale soon. We have been so busy moving things to a storage unit and getting things cleaned out. Jim says "the hoarder in me is resisting". We have moved some furniture our and around so it looks like there is more room. I told the Realtor that you spend your whole time trying to make your house a home then you tear it all down so that people think it looks bigger. The walls look pretty bear and so does the refer. I can't stand it. But then on the other hand we have so much stuff, I really like how clean the bedroom looks with out all the book cases. The professional photographer will be out to take some pictures on Tuesday so...... probably by the end of the week it should be on the market.

We have not looked for a house yet, just a few times on line. Maybe some time soon we can go for a drive and find something that will fit for us. We do have a few guide lines, a shop, 2 car garage, a large kitchen with storage, larger master bath, one level with family room, and not a lot of yard work. It would be nice to have a fenced in back yard, up dated appliances etc and at least 3 bedrooms, and RV parking. We will see what is out there. I am just hoping that we will have some bites on our home. We have done a lot of improvements to the home and the land. It has been a good home to raise 3 kids. We just don't have any one to help us with the yard work any more!:-)