September Fun

Yes, Yes I know... here are all the happenings in September! :)

Landon and I went to a Single's BBQ that also had a boat at hand for fun times... Landon really came to like this girl named Cassie while we were in the boat... he liked to sit on her lap and look at the girls who were wake boarding and knee boarding. It was so much fun. Landon was in charge of the flag at first, but after getting pulled over by the water patrol and told that we just had to move something he liked being on Cassie's lap the rest of the time. :)





This is Leah at the end of August, beginning of September. She is just 6 months and is looking so cute. Every time I see her belly I just want to go and feel it. I don't every time because she might freak out on me, but I do when I can. It's funny... since I have been pregnant, and heard a lot of women don't like their bellies touched I'm really hesitant to touch other woman's bellies. I don't want to offend them or get into their personal bubble. While I was prego I didn't mind anyone touching my big belly... it was fun actually...



Believe it or not, this is Leah at the end of September... she doesn't look like she's changed at all huh! :) I just caught her right when she got home from work and she had the same shirt on that's all. She is still cute as cute can be. Last night though she said that Drake was sitting on her pelvic bone and she was SOOOO uncomfortable. I felt so bad for her and offered a massage, but she just wanted to lay down to see if he would move into another position that didn't hurt as much. I have to say... there are some things I don't miss about pregnancies. lol


We were invited out to camp with Tiffany and her family. Landon and Nicole are best friends... actually Landon asks most everyday that I pick him up from Daycare if we're going to Nicole's house and when I tell him we're not, he tells me he loves Nicole and wants to play at her house. Awww... my little boy already has a best friend. :) I love it!


This would be me starting the fire and adding more wood. I was going to make a tee pee type thing with the wood and then light the newspaper underneath, but someone brought lighter fluid, so I cheated... hahaha... whatever works right!


This is Ashley Rae and Nicole... sisters... and awesome posers too. My camera disappeared while I was there at the campsite when I took Landon to the bathroom and these ended up on my camera by chance... who do you think could have borrowed it? lol


The happy little family. Tiffany with her girls. Something funny was going on and this was my favorite picture of the night.


Landon admiring his smore that I made... I really don't know what's wrong with me, but I've never liked smores. I think it's the marshmallows in it. I have never really like marshmallows... plain and simple they're disgusting to me. If I HAVE to eat one I will, but I can't stand their texture and how they taste... but I love to watch Landon get all gooed up with marshmallow while trying to devour his smore. Those times are precious and should be a part of childhood for everyone.

Roasting Smores...


This should tell you that Landon had HAD it with my camera shots by this point in the night. He was tired of looking my way and being blinded by the flash... but he is just so darn cute that I can't help myself... so this is when he was coming towards me telling me no more. :) Then right after this was taken I felt really bad because the flash really did hurt his eyes and partially blind him for a few seconds... so I put the camera up...


But you know it couldn't stay up all night... hehehe


We were invited to Brad and Nelda Asay's house. Brad works as a Funeral Director where I work and they just moved into their new home. So they had us over for dinner, swimming and fun. I went planning on getting in the pool, but I totally forgot to take off my mascara...


So I ended up with Raccoon eyes at the end of the night. Non-waterproof mascara + water = a MESS! hahaha Lesson is now learned and I won't be doing that again anytime soon.


On the upside, Landon had a BLAST with the other kids. He LOVED being in the pool and jumping off the steps to me, watching the rocket launch onto the neighbors roof, and eating the delicious ice cream dessert Nelda prepared. He loved getting to know Rob and Sonda's children and play with Nicole and Linzey too. At the end of the night the kids were exhausted from all the running around, exploring, playing, eating, swimming, and cheering.








Just this last weekend Corey and Sammy came over to hunt with Uncle Thomas during the Youth Hunt. Corey shot his first duck of the season... and Sammy showed Corey the ropes of how to cut the meat out, bag, and freeze it.



I had to come see Cheryl this early Monday Morning because I was going through withdraws of her happy attitude, her stories, and her chiding me for not updating my blog. She's awesome and I love this photo of her. She's beautiful and so caring and giving to others. Thanks Cheryl for the many things you have given me while I have known you. You are truly an amazing God-fearing woman and I am blessed to call you my friend. Keep your chin up with helping Jeremy through this rough time for his father who is in the hospital. You are a beam of happiness in a busy, fast paced business there. Remember that I love you! :)


Then I got a shock when Larry Bateman came in and asked me if I thought he had forgotten about me... a little confused I asked him what he meant... that's when it clicked. The Batemans and the Mueller's families have always helped each other out. So naturally when Larry's mom and dad passed away last year, I was able to help him with their services. During that time I came to love the long conversations we had where he told me about many different experiences he's had in his life and the stories about growing up in the Tri-Cities area when there wasn't anything here. I grew to really love our visits, but when the services were done we knew we wouldn't be able to see each other on a regular basis again... but he did mention that he was getting a Camaro that was custom built with everything he wanted in detail. He said he had just ordered it and paid for it and that it would be in sometime in August... little did I know that day that he came in that it was parked in the driveway! So this is Larry Bateman, one of the best men I know through my job. He even let me get in it and took a picture for me. Thank you Larry for the eye candy I was able to feast on for a few minutes and it was good to able to see you. Thanks for that laughs you caused by telling me about your wife taking the car to work and taking some of her coworkers out and wondering why everyone was staring at them... good times... good times...



I bought the kids some silly string things at the Dollar Store and they were having a blast with it. Landon couldn't hold the button down by himself, but Linzey knew just what to do. I seemed to have taken the brunt of the end of one of the cans and got all those fuzzies on me from Linzey's can. It was like Christmas morning for the kids though. Definitely something we'll have to do again! :)

Landon is now with his Dad and enjoying one-on-one time with him before James leaves to go to Iraq. During this time without him I have come to realize how much empathy I'm gaining for James having to go during times without seeing his son. I found myself bawling last night after getting off the phone with Landon who was eating pizza with Tyler (his dad's girlfriend's son) and have resorted to sleeping with his blanket at night. It's not the same, but it helps just a tiny bit. I can't wait to get him back on the 7th of October... 3 weeks without your little one is torture... especially when you're used to him being there, hanging with you everyday.

Quick Update

Yes I am still alive and functioning... although it's hard not to get caught up in the memories of Landon and I while he's away spending one-on-one time with his dad for the next few weeks. I know I've been horrible about blogging, but I hope to turn a new leaf and really get to work! I just haven't been motivated to constantly deal with the PMS of uploading pictures. Apparently the Blogspot is just fine until you upload some pictures... so this will be a pic free blog! One of the VERY few! hahaha

Landon is amazing as always. I am really excited to be able to go do a Army Family Retreat with Landon in St. Louis in November to learn on some ways to help him cope during the time his dad will be in Iraq. I have noticed, for a while now, that when Landon goes a few months without seeing his dad, he starts to act out a little more up to a LOT more as the time gets longer. There are factors in this... the annoyance of his cousin Linzey who we live with (and is practically his sister in many ways) and the fact that he's never really set on a daily schedule of doing the same thing... but it does become noticeably worse. I was hoping to glean some information off a child therapist in our ward who was doing a Parenting Class, but I had to leave early due to a family emergency and didn't get to ask my questions... so this trip to Missouri is going to be awesome. I can't wait for it. Landon hasn't been in a plane since he was 4-5 months old! So it's going to be a fun time! :)

Landon loves his bike, loves juice, loves rolly pollies still!, and loves the new playground set Thomas just put up in the backyard. He is talking a LOT, but I'm trying to work with pronouncing his words correctly... so instead of saying, "Can You" he says, "Thank You!" But he's such a cutie that people just smile and laugh. My favorite is his trying to say "Gracias"... it comes out "Assis." hahaha Love it...

I am doing very well. Working full time at the funeral home which is boring as all heck one day and busy as all heck the next. I am also still doing Mary Kay and enjoying that so much. I love spending time with women getting to know them and teaching them tricks on shaving for the closest shave ever (which my sister said she didn't have her hair grow back till 2-3 days later!) and makeup looks that are customized for them. I am in the process of becoming a Master Make Up Artist and am super stoked about graduating as a Master Makeup Artist on November 19th! I still have a lot to do with my Portfolio and I'm still having a hard time identifying face shapes, but I hope to be going to the store and getting some practice in! I will post pictures soon of our classes and training... it's so much fun though. It's my job and I love it! I hope to be able to earn my car by my birthday! So I am working hard to get there!

My Dad went back into Detox and Rehab and has been sober 34 days! We couldn't be more proud of him. He took my grandma's death pretty hard, but decided he needed to change his life after a little intervention. Now he is more determined than ever to stay sober. I was able to go with Leah and April to see Dad this last Sunday and it was so nice to be able to learn about addictions and the effects of them, history of alcohol, and learn more about my dad along the way. We played horseshoes for the first time ever and my Dad beat us all. If you weren't on your team, you were NOT winning! Although it was all our first times and my Dad's second... I'm just saying... lol. I am so proud of you Dad and so happy that you're graduating today from Sunset Ranch. I love you Dad and know that I will be rooting for you through all this. Can't wait to see you once a week when you come into town. It's going to be nice to see you more often.

I can't wait for the fall weather to finally arrive... I know the first day of Fall was Tuesday, but I am still sweating when I go outside... so I can't wait to have to put on sweaters instead of wishing I could take off a few layers... or turn up the AC. I have already picked out Landon's Halloween costume. He's going to be Bumblebee off of Transformers. I am super excited too because last week Kate called me and invited me to carve pumpkins with them the weekend before Halloween. Of course I wanted to! The last time I carved pumpkins with them I was 5 months prego with Landon! So it's been long overdue. Plus Halloween lands on a weekend which means that I don't have to work! YIPEE!!! I can take Landon to the trunk-or-treat and then walk around our neighborhood to the people we know. I can't wait!

I hope you all are well and will be making my blog rounds to see what each of you have been up to. Again I apologize for not being diligent, and wanted to thank Cheryl for reminding me that this was something I needed to keep up on! :)

Landon Turns 3!

So we took some pictures the day after Landon's party at the park and I loved the one where Landon's peeking around the corner. :) And if you're wondering Landon did put his flower on himself after seeing one of the older people do it. I just had to get a picture. hahaha... thank goodness he got some more boy toys and cars and such. I was getting worried about the purses, dresses, and necklaces! o_O

This is a combo of pictures of those who made it to the party and what happened there. My mom came over with Misty (pictured with the dog on her chest) from Quincy! Landon sang with my mom the Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam song. She would sing the verses and he would pipe in "BEAM!" or "SUN" when it came to the word. I got a video of it, but haven't found time to upload it, so that will be coming. :)

Mario Valencia and his kids came (Mary had to work). His kids are the boys with red hair, Mario Jr. "Bubba" and Maxum, and the little blonde haired beautiful girl, Mariah.

Then there were the Gillespie Family with Cheryl, Jeremy and their kids, Mykaela (spelling is always wrong), Derrick and Brittany. I worked with Cheryl at the car wash and she has become a very close and special friend to me. She and Jeremy are amazing together and they have to be to put up with her father who owns the car wash and is hard as nails and frustrating as all heck! Their kids are amazing too. Mykaela and Derrick are twins and so sweet and caring. Brittany is growing into a young woman and worked last summer and this summer at the car wash helping wipe down cars and cashiering.

There were SOOO many people that showed up:
Andrea Mendez, Fabian, Kyla and Mathias
Tiffany Plassaras, Ashley, and Nicole
Mario Valencia, Bubba, Maria, and Maxum
Cheryl and Jeremy Gillespie, Brittany, Mykaela and Derrick
April O'Neal, Leon, Autumn, Dakota, and Claire
Misty Gottschalk, Corey and Aby
Mom
of course, Leah and Thomas and Linzey
... and a good surprise was his dad came too!
James, his girlfriend Tamara and her boy, Tyler

James got Landon a Thomas the Train bike with training wheels as well as a Emergency Crew Toy/Truck/Vehicle set. Landon was super excited to see his dad and to have him be a part of the festivities. I am glad James was able to make it. I had told Landon for a while that his dad would be coming to his birthday party so it made my little guys night to see him show up and spend some time with him.

Landon had a blast opening presents and blowing out candles... although I have to admit that I completely forgot about the cake until after most of the friends had left and only a few family members remained. :( But to my surprise that was probably the best thing because one sheet of cake wouldn't have been able to feed all the people who came! So it was a blessing in disguise.



Mario brought the pinata last year and it was such a hit that I got one this year and stayed up till midnight filling that sucker up! Apparently it was too full because when the 2nd kid went at it, it fell off by where it was hanging by! So we reroped it and most of the kids were able to take a swing at it. It was a blast and the kids enjoyed the candy and money (thanks Jeremy!) that were inside.



This would be the infamous and best family. The Gillespies!
Cheryl is a doll. Jeremy is a big teddy bear, and their kids are amazing.

We finally got to the cake before long. :)
Landon tried to blow out the candles like 3 times before I picked it up and put it closer to him.
You know when you're spoon feeding your kids and you tell them to open up, that your mouth automatically does what you are wanting them to do? This was the case in the picture below. hahaha



This would be the next morning when Landon got up he brought this to me and wanted me to open it. It was the Transformer's costume I got him. He put it on and it was a 4-7 year size, but it was just a wee bit big on him. I'm glad I didn't talk myself out of getting it because of that. It was the last one and like I stated earlier... he needed something mocho to dress up in. He's such a cute little guy huh?!?!



The party was a success. I have NEVER had so many people attend a birthday party and I defintiely was greatful for the outpour of good wishes, comments, thoughts, and birthday singing that happened that day and on his actual birthday.

When someone would tell Landon, "Happy Birthday!" he would shout right back at them with just as much enthusiasm, "Happy Birthday to YOU!"
hahahaha He's so cute, smart, handsome, and filled with love.
Happy Birthday Landon. I hope to share many more birthdays with you sweetheart.

The Oregon Coast

The last time I had traveled to the Oregon Coast was before we moved to Missouri the summer before I started my 5th grade year in Elementary School. We went with Karen Wells and her boys, Tyler and Nathan. My mom, April, Bubby, and Leah and I went with them in a camper on the back of a truck and a couple of cars to follow. We camped and saw lighthouses, jellyfish and starfish, caves, StoneHedge Tribute, and of course the amazing and vast ocean. I also got my first taste to the forest... a real forest that I played and camped in. It was fun and definitely memorable. I wish I had more photos to remind me of the sites and adventures, but I find myself at a loss.

So this last month I had an invitation from Tiffany to go with her and her daughter to the Oregon Coast for a weekend. I was immediately ready to say yes! To take a trip anywhere with Tiffany would be fun and memorable, but to return to a place that I hadn't seen or experienced in over a decade was priceless. So we made plans, reservations, arrangements, packed, and Friday finally came!

I have to give you a little background when it comes to Tiffany and I. We met while I first started working here at Mueller's Funeral Homes and we have slowly become more like sisters than anything else... best friends at heart some would call it. We have so much fun together. We are constantly meeting up to have play dates for the kids at the water park just less than a mile from Tiff's place (which is where I used to live before I moved in with Leah and Thomas) and Nicole and Landon have a BLAST when they are together while Tiffany and I enjoy one another's company, conversation and many laughs. She is an amazing Daughter of God and gives me the "Scripture of the Day" at work every morning. :) So as you can plainly see she is a lifesaver, belly-holding, blast of a friend. And we've known each other for a little over a year now.

We headed out and I took the wrong turn onto highway 82 right at the start of our trip. I quickly made an illegal U-turn known (at a cop's sitting spot) and we were back on the road... and in the right direction, might I add. :) That was about the most lost we were on that trip... and it wasn't really lost... just turned around. hahaha But that started our trip off!

We passed barges, cliffs, windmills, and trains along with many a semi and other vehicles. We made a few pit stops to go potty and that's to be expected traveling with a 5 year old and a almost 3 year old. :)

We finally made it to Kate and Mike's at around 10 at night. James was there and was able to enjoy seeing Landon for a bit before he had to go to his motel to report to drill in the morning. Kate and I stayed up getting her ready for the Young Woman's trip she was going on the following morning at the crack of dawn. Mike went to bed and you could tell he was beat. I stayed up helping Kate till about 12 or 12:30 and Kate was still up when I passed out on the couch with Landon falling asleep with me at the late hour. Kate was up at like 5:30 too! So I am not sure if she pulled an all-nighter or not... but she was a trooper and looked gorgeous as always in the morning ready for the long day activities planned for the young woman at Lincoln City, Oregon. Which happened to be the same place Tiff and I went to. After everything was packed into coolers in the morning and put into her vehicle she was off. Korben was playing the computer and Landon woke up soon afterwards and refused to go to sleep. So I started the day with a very sleep deprived son who was going to be overloading his senses later that day at the ocean beach.

We all got up and got ready. Mike made us some slamming sweet waffles that were homemade and homemade syrup too! I haven't been so spoiled in so long. It tasted great! Then we headed out after making a last potty stop in their bathroom before we hit the road. The traffic in Portland/Vancouver area was crazy and the highway down to Lincoln City felt like Seattle traffic! It was busy and crowded and clogged at points on the way down there. Tiff found later that we totally went out of our way with the directions we had and could have driven by the ocean the entire way down instead of fighting traffic on the freeway. But we got there in one piece and after checking into the hotel, getting the kids changed into cold weather clothes (the wind was really bad and it was foggy = humid and cold), we finally headed to the beach.

I was walking from parking the car after dropping the kids and Tiffany off and got a couple of balloon hats for the kids on my way to meet up with them. They loved them, but it was too windy to keep them on. So we anchored them to the basket of beach toys we had and were off.

The kids loved playing in the sand and learned that if they got to the sand right after the water went out that their castles and things stood better... so it was a race with the tides as they built and played. They watched the sea lions across the way and enjoyed running, sitting, building, and flicking sand. I vacuumed my car out and swear I pulled at least a full bucket of sand out of the carpet and seats with the shop vac! :) But it was worth it!

We wanted to get a picture first off (after getting the kids settled with their buckets and toys) of our feet in the Oregon Coast sandy beach... so we started to take them... but I wanted to have some of the ocean water in the picture too! So we went a little closer and got a good shot of the waves just going out.

Then before we knew it, a HUGE wave came our way while we were looking at our feet and about knocked us down by how hard it hit us! Then the rest of the night our pants were wet and sandy... I'll just say by the end of the day on the beach I was happy to change into some other clothes and my legs were about rubbed raw by the combo or sand and wet jeans. :)

Did I mention the water was cold??? This picture is priceless!

It's of Tiff touching the water with her feet for the first time. :)

We stayed in Lincoln City overnight and then the next morning, bright and early, we headed up the coast to Cape Town which had a ginormous rock a mile or so from the beach which was so captivating and mesmerizing at the same time. I don't know why being in the presence of this rock and ocean combination that was so pleasurable, but it was. I could have sat there on the beach doing absolutely nothing but watching the waves and surfers and of course the rock. The Ocean kind of has a tendency to put me into a trance-like state at times. Maybe this happens to more than just me, but I can just tell you from experience that it happens every time I go to the Ocean. Maybe it's the sand under my feet, the cool misty breeze that smells like salt water, and the constant crash and fall of the waves around you that seems to occupy all your senses at moments and just takes them over... who knows. But I am now addicted to the ocean's beach. I am addicted to the relaxing environment of people and kids playing in the sand with kites, buckets, balls, frisbees, and whatnot, the sound of seagulls sqwaking back and forth, the view of driftwood up and down the shore, the unmatched feeling of sand under your feet (and sometimes in your eyes when the wind blows just right), and the sea lions that you can see across the way. I am addicted to it all. I have found my favorite vacation spot now. I will be visiting it often. :)



Now back from my personal thoughts to our weekend. We went to Cape Town which is where they were holding a Surfing Competition. There were surfers all over the beach which was lined with vehicles that held occupants, boards, dogs, changes of clothes, and supplies for the participants of the competition. It was so cool to see the surfers out on and in the water.

I never knew that surfers could paddle around while atop their board like you see in those guys do in the Venice boats with the striped shirts and red ribboned hat. But they did! And it was so cool to watch. There were kids trying to surf really close to the shore with their parents out with them in the water of course...

and the most unusual sight was a HUGE mountain of sand that had a bunch of ants on it... that's what I thought at first, but then at a closer look it was a lot of people climbing up to be able to surf down! Surfing on sand! Who would have thought!?!?! But someone did and it looked like loads of fun. hahaha



After Cape Town, we traveled up the coast to Cape Mearse where the lighthouse was located. The kids were asleep and so I dropped Tiffany off with a camera in hand to see if you could see the lighthouse through the fog that was there on the coast the entire weekend we were there. Yes I was very upset at the fog! I wanted to see the miles and miles of water in front of me, but that was impossible the weekend we were there. So another time maybe. Anyways... she was gone a long time and I was in the car with the 2 napping kids reading the Oregon Coast map because I didn't have a book handy... when she came up, all out of breath, and said that you could see the lighthouse just fine! At that point the kids were already awake and so we all traveled down to the lighthouse. When we turned the corner to go to the lighthouse, I was expecting to see those tall lighthouses which are always in paintings... I was so wrong. This lighthouse was only 3 stories high (only looked like 2 though) and I was kinda of disappointed. But soon got over my expectations and decided to take in what I could while I could. I was able to see a lighthouse after all and that is special in itself. We went inside and waited for our turn to go up to the top of the lighthouse. Why wait? Because only 10-12 people could go up at a time because it was so small a space. I found that the lighthouse was built in the 1880-1900s and ran about 60 or 80 years (can you tell I was trying to keep a little boy from touching the panes in front of us as the gentleman was trying to fill us with the history of the lighthouse?) and when it was shut down the people just locked the doors to it and left for about 2 years. That's when the Parks and Forest Services found it and fixed it up. There were panes that were taken and never returned during those 2 years and since then they've been showing it to the public. It was fun to hear about the history of the lighthouse in which we stood at the top of.

We walked on back up the long walkway to another look out point and Nicole and Landon had a fun time running around and getting their energy out. They picked flowers, raced to see who was the fastest, and climbed trees. Of course we got pictures of it all and my favorites are the ones of Landon giving me a flower and looking for more to pick for me. :)

Then we began from that point the long drive home. We passed through Tillamook, but didn't stop because we were both so tired... we didn't get home till 9:45 or 10pm as it was. So I'm glad we didn't stop.

I almost forgot that we stopped at the Multnomah Falls. We didn't climb up to the bridge or even to the top, but we took some pictures and had a fun run around time with the kids to stretch our legs. It was so hot. The entire weekend was hot once you you left the coastal winds. The tempurature was 110 as a high one day in Pasco! So I'm glad we traded that for the coastal wind on one of the hottest days of the summer.The kids did really well on the trip other than some of the tantrums that Landon chose to have in the restaurant and lighthouse.

This week after the trip, whenever we get into the car Landon asks me, "We go to Nicole's house Mama!?" To which I inform him we aren't but mention we are going so he can play with Mathias or Maria. That isn't the end of it though... he always finishes his musings with "Me Love Nicole." I guess they are going to continue to be best friends, just like Tiffany and I are. :)