Life here....

A go-kart powered by Johnny and Judson.

My 3 year old Jud's, sweet job of folding the kitchen towels.

Papa Larry over to figure out hunting season tags.

This is about as calm as he gets....

Home group bbq

I didn't get too many pictures, but we had fun hosting a barbecue for the end of our home group.  We spent 17 weeks together learning how to love, lead, and train our kiddos.  A long class, but well worth it!

stitches

Poor Justin had to get his first stitches in May.  Fortunately I had gone out to lunch with friends from church and missed the whole ordeal.  I'm not so good with blood, lucky for BJ.  Story goes that Jesse and Justin were playing baseball together and Justin walked right into Jesse swinging a metal bat.  BJ said it was a clean cut, just very deep and a lot of bleeding.  The Lord was good, though.... Nurse Debbie Betts just so happened to be there giving us her cats and was so sweet to stay with the other boys so BJ could get Justin to the doctor.  I had been enjoying my lunch with the girls until I called to check in.  Jared informed me that Jesse had hit Justin with a bat and Justin was bleeding all over and daddy was gone to get him stitches.  I'd say he left out a few important details....like the fact that Mrs. Betts was there with them!!!  Jared and I had a talk about being a little more thorough next time.  :) 

Jesse felt just awful about the whole ordeal and was so concerned for his brother....sweet for a momma to see.  :) We are all thankful that he is healing up so well!

The Collingsworth Concert

This was so much fun!!! Probably 10 years ago my Aunt Lorena gave us a couple vhs tapes of the Collingsworth Family for Christmas.  Being married to BJ, we love that kind of stuff.  :)  My boys have watched them many times over the years....and even joked with one another about marrying little Olivia.  Little did they know that little Olivia didn't stay 5 years old all these years.  :) I have been waiting for them to tour the west coast and was thrilled when my father-in-law told me he had 4 tickets to their concert at the Vancouver Church of God.  It had been a long time since we had hung out just us and BJ's parents.  Even though my father-in-law and I have very different tastes on restaurants :), we had a great time!  The Collingsworths' voices blend so beautifully and they have such a sweet spirit about them.  

My Aunt told me to introduce myself since she and Uncle Gene have known them for years.  It was wonderful to talk with people that know and love my aunt and uncle. Ohio is just too far away.  :( 

We can't wait for them to make their way out here again.....and next time, Lord willing, we are bringing the boys!

Piano Recital

Our boys did so good at their recital in April.  They have really improved this year. BJ and I are so proud of our boys' diligence in practicing and their love for music.

Jared played Solfeggietto by CPE Bach and Afternoon Workout by Martha Kelsey.  

Jesse's pieces were Beethoven's Fur Elise and an arrangement of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.

I've gotta say, it is amazing how much a person learns in just 3-4 years of lessons.  Kind of makes me wish I had stuck it out!  :)

Thank you, Mrs. Coleman, for a great year!

tractor rides

Look at our big boys now!  I forget the age that the older children started doing things and start thinking the next batch of kiddos are too young yet.  The biggest boys especially love when I remember this when I ask for help around the house!  I find myself starting to ask Jared or Jesse out of habit and then say "never mind, Justin you come help me."  :) It is fun to watch the middles' excitement as they grow up!

our walk

BJ has a new favorite place to walk....the hillside in Oregon City.  It kind of makes me nervous so the boys aren't allowed to touch the railing, but we have fun nontheless.  We have had trouble finding places to hike that are nearby.  If you know of any, please let me know.  I'd love to find one that doesn't have a steep drop off on one side!

Christian Heritage

We were so fortunate to be able to attend the Christian Heritage Homeschooling and Family Discipleship Conference.  BJ's wonderful Aunt Candy and Uncle Mike graciously let our family stay at their home (and fed us delicious breakfasts).  This was a HUGE savings for us.  Finding accommodations for a family our size is usually expensive.  One hotel quoted us $600 for the two nights!  This conference is always a blessing to our family....even with little ones in tow needing a lot of attention.  BJ and I know to anticipate the hard work that it takes to pull off anything right now with littles, but the blessings are well worth our efforts.  

Usually in a parking lot I can always spot our van fairly easy....not at Christian Heritage.  In fact, I had to walk down two long rows pushing the twins to find where BJ had parked after dropping us off!  

An obvious highlight is seeing our Centralia friends and family.  :)

BJ was really blessed by the choir!

Is he amazing, or what?  These twins are getting heavier and heavier!

This is a picture I took to text my sister. I have been reading Mrs. Shupe's blog, Large Families on Purpose,  for a while now and really appreciate the wisdom in her posts.  I was hoping to meet her at the conference, so I was excited to run into her van on the hunt to find my own.  :)  I did end up chatting with her later on.  Funny how you feel like you know someone that you have never met. 

Jared was lost and then found.  A big thank you to Uncle Steve for helping Jared hook back up with us.  We learned to designate a meeting place for the end of conferences. :)

Miss these sweet Wileys!!!

Oh...on the drive to the conference we took a little detour to look up at the Space Needle.  We need to plan ahead next time and tour a few of these landmarks since we never got around to it when we lived closer!

first haircuts

As you can see from his expression, Josiah was thrilled with his first little trim around the ears.  :)

Joshua was a much better sport.

 

Loving these handsome little boys! 

We Moved!!!

I know we have lived here for 3 months already, but my goal was to get postcards with our new address sent before Christmas.  So looking at it this way I am waaaay ahead of schedule!

I am only just now blogging about this, but really I haven't seen my family in a loooong time.  I miss them.  Back in April my mom, Ray, and the Freemans met at our place for the day.  We visited, ate lunch at Izzy's, stopped by Willamette Valley Fruit Company, and said our good-byes.  The visit wasn't long enough and we are due for another one soon!

Josiah wanted to hold Livi's hand.

I am loving the girls' toothless grins!

We BJ guessed a little secret at the end of this day.  It has since been announced, but he suspected Freeman baby #5 was on the way.  Amy just had the "glow."   :)