3rd Annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Marathon

On Saturday May 28th, 2011, we had the 3rd annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon. What a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who helped out this year. We had a great time, and thanks to everyone who came out and participated. We had 54 recorded finishers. Great job everyone. A special thanks to Doug and Connie Asay who came out just to help, and Dave Burton to helped with the aid stations as well. We couldn't have done it without your help! Now, I only have one picture to post, sorry! That is what happens when I participate. It is of the wisest of the bunch who finished (way to go Grandma!) and one of the youngest (almost), great job as well, Chase!

I am not going to take the time to sort the times by first to last, so just scan down the list to find your number (if you remember it) and your time. Just remember, these were bikers, walkers, and runners mixed in. Next year I'll try to keep track of who did what.

301 Oakli Burton 1:49:08
302 Chase Burton 2:00:15
303 Bryce Burton 1:16:54
304 Ambri Burton 1:29:55
305 Kari Burton 1:48::45
306 Mike Dedera 1:55:55
307 Jodi Dedera 1:29:58
308 Maddi Dedera 1:23:55
309 Mya Dedera 1:28:58
310 Danny Dedera 1:57:53
311 Angie Dedera 1:29:13
312 Josiah Dedera 1:24:00
313 Lilly Dedera 1:29:13
314 Steve Farrar 1:54:12
315 Kris Farrar 3:04:16
316 Kraig Farrar 1:42:25
317 Joe Phair 1:42:10
318 Katie McGowan 1:58:28
319 Kyle Latimer 1:39:10
320 Goldie Burton 2:00:23
321 Jamie Stover 3:26:51
322 Raine Morris 3:26:47
323 Debi Burton 2:15:43
324 Jamie Pierce 51:36
325 Cody Bush 1:16:50
326 Garrett Burton 1:17:03
327 Jenna Burton 1:29:46
328 Sam Burton 1:39:28
329 Kelly Merrill 2:11:08
330 Sarah Merrill 2:11:08
332 Maria Burton 1:39:28
334 Tom Burton 1:39:30
335 Nathan Tolman 1:40:22
336 Nick Tolman 1:17:06
337 Satina Tolman 2:10:19
338 Tatiana Tolman 1:40:22
339 TJ Hafner 51:36
340 Heather Clark 2:05:42
341 Jason Hawthorne 1:28:09
342 Angela Smith 2:07:07
343 Bethany Marteeny 1:29:54
344 Doug Marteeny 2:28:39
345 Hannah Marteeny 1:11:08
348 Allison Parmenter 3:04:17
349 Jennifer Madsen 2:06:28
350 Rachel Madsen 1:21:01
351 Larry Sykes 1:18:57
355 Teresa Gardner 2:17:21
356 Rob Simmons 55:22
357 Andrea Simmons 55:22
360 Crystal Sublett 1:57:32
361 Paul Tappana 1:27:57
364 Brady Tappana 1:32:57
365 Ryann Tappana 1:27:57

If I have made any typo-s or left anyone off the list, please, Please, PLEASE, let me know. The list was very long this year (a good thing) and I could have made any number of mistakes. Feel free to pass the good news along to everyone who is on the list so they can check out their good work! I'd be happy to post pictures as well, if you would like to email them to me as well.



This is the logo that Bryce designed for this year's race. It was also on all of the finisher's medals. He did the design this year for his Art Merit Badge that he successfully completed after the race was over. Bryce is a Boy Scout and is now working on his Eagle Project. Awesome job Bryce!




Great job everyone, and thanks for coming out. We'll see you next year!

The Room (finished!)

I have finally put the finishing touches on the girl's room. It seems like it took forever. I think that I painted last year, so one year start to finish, that's not THAT bad, is it??? OK, it is bad, but now at least it is finished AND blogged.

As a re-cap, here is what the walls looked like when I finished painting: Ambri and Oakli's Bedroom.

Here's what their room looks like now: (the walls in the previous blog post still look like that, they are on the other walls and I didn't get all of it in the picture.)

So I needed to get the bedspreads done and a different wall hanging, along with a new lampshade. The new lampshade provided a new challenge of a bed stand as well, so why not take it all on, right?

So here's the bead spreads that I did. I did a combo of lots of different fabrics on one side, and then on the plain brown side, I didn't want it to be so plain, so I did their names on the back.

Here is now the "underside" of the bead spread. It was supposed to be the top. I guess a girl is going to have, what a girl is going to have.

Here are the "tops" of the bead spreads.

They were supposed to be the undersides, and they could flip them over once in a while if they wanted to, OR simply to just tell which blanket belonged to which girl, but alas, all has changed.

The girls are so proud of them, that they both want their names showing all the time. (Sigh...)

This is what I put on the wall. While I was in Utah over Thanksgiving, I bought wood letters to spell out each of the kids names. The letters for the girls are fancy, and really pretty big. This was the only "plain" wall space that I had left. I covered each letter with scrapbook paper that was brown/pink/white, or brown, pink, or white and hung them from a curtain rod that we just attached to the wall. "Ambri" hangs from cream tulle, and "Oakli" hangs from brown tulle.

The girls have had a pathetic lamp in their room for a long time now. Of coarse, as kids do, they ruined the first lampshade that they had. It was a cheap paperish type of a shade. We never replaced it because Ambri was keeping the lamp in the window sill so she could reach it without getting out of bed, AND if we gave her a new one, it would just bang into the window. So if I wanted to "help" this poor lamp, I'd have to start from the bottom up. Literally. I found a used crappy-looking shelf type at St. V.d.P. Stopped at H.D. on my way home for some brown spray paint and headed home. It's nothing fancy to speak of, but it is doing the job. I also sprayed the base of the lamp. Here's the little shelf now:

So lastly, the lampshade. I just picked up the cheapest one that Target had, and took it home, traced it for a cover, added 1" to each side, just to make sure I didn't totally mess it up and then cut my pattern out of matching fabric that I used on their beds. I had the seam pretty well tucked under, but added the strip of ribbon just for fun and I love the way it turned out!

One last thing that I wanted to try for their room was one of these: Here's how mine turned out for the girls:

I made one for each of them and I think they turned out well. Instead of stuffing them, I just bought pillow forms and did a "fold and tuck" method on the back side. I know, really technical... just think of the shams that you get when you buy a bedding set...that's what I did, but I overlapped it a TON more, so the pillow forms are NOT coming out without a fight.

And there you have it. A year's worth of work (on and off) is finally DONE!

The boys want to know when it is their turn. (Sigh...)

What I've been doing...

Well, because blogging about what I do on a weekly basis clearly didn't work, here I am today. I guess I can only do what I can do. Today you get pictures! Yea. I can't remember how long it has been since I posted with pictures. I guess I just could go and look. I wanted to actually show some of the things that I've been up to. I'll also tell what the kids have been doing as well.

First off, I'll SHOW what I've been doing, I'm super excited about this, and so are the girls. They are begging for them:

and

The problem for the girls is that they are too big because I made these to fit my wrist. I guess I'll be making some smaller ones for them today. I can't wait to make a black one too, that is next on my schedule. I'm thinking of putting them in my etsy shop, what do you think of them? Do you think they'll sell?

I have also been making more watch bands. These can be found in my etsy shop.

I also made these:

So that's the "crafty" stuff that I've been doing, at lest that I have pictures of. I have more projects in the works, so I can't wait to get started on those.

Other things that have been going on:

I'm still doing my 5 miles a day, every day. It is hard, but still worth it. I have a new cell phone (Yippee) that I don't know how to use (um, yeah). I got it for Christmas and it is awesome (I think), but I know it's better than the last phone I had. The kids love it because it makes the transformers sound every time I open it. I did get a hands free device (Thanks a lot OREGON) for it that I love/hate. All the kids are doing swimming right now. They all love it. Bryce and Ambri are having swimming lessons at school every day and Chase and Oakli are doing their lessons at night. It makes for a crazy Tuesday night, but it is worth it. Bryce has scouts on Tuesday nights and soccer practice just started up again for him on Tuesday nights as well. Ambri is loving achievement day (which is at night), also on Tuesday nights... did I mention that Tuesday's are our FAVORITE (not really - or crazy, or something like that...). Bryce and Ambri also continue to very well with their piano (thankfully that is NOT on Tuesdays). Doug is super busy trying to get all the blueberry plants pruned and it is taking a LONG time this year, but he is doing a great job with "Hose-A" and Hose-C". (For those of you that don't know, "Hose-B" quit a while back... really... hehe...)

...

looks like my "new attempt" was not so successful. i suppose i could blame it on being busy, or reading other cool blogs, the fact that Bryce had another birthday (darn that kid, stop it!), the laundry continuing to pile up...even though i don't want it to, or maybe the fact that that i did Christmas cards, made awesome gingerbread houses at kindergarten with Chase and Oakli, reading hordes of Christmas cards (thanks!), took Chase to the ER on Christmas Eve to get "glued" back together, had a great Christmas, cleaned up Christmas, put away all the Christmas decorations and celebrated New Year's too. maybe it is that i've re-discovered crafting again...in many different forms, swimming lessons for Chase and Oakli, scouts for Bryce, Achievement days for Ambri, 5 miles a day for me (still), sewing projects (only the necessary ones - darn those scout shirts!), movies, a messy house that i haven't cleaned, jewelry projects that i want to get done, messes that i don't know how they got there, a new church calling that is giving me "panic", major kid drama, ice skating on our pond, Doug's new High Council assignment with the Spanish branch, Ambri's (I mean Bryce...) careful planning each day to get her hair and clothes just right for school... maybe just maybe it is one or two of those things... or maybe it is just sheer laziness.

in any case, i'm still here, in one form or another.

A New Approach

Well, no big surprise here, I didn't come back to make that blog entry. I have just been so busy, but who hasn't, right? I read a new friends blog today and I decided to steal her new approach to blogging. I'm at least going to give it a try and see how it suits me. She did more of a journal entry for the week. (Thanks for the idea Madeline.)

Last weekend we took the kids to Bend and we had such a great time. Apparently we missed a pretty "awesome" rain storm. I use the punctuation marks because it must have rained a ton. We had awesome sunny weather and it only rained a smidge for us, which was mostly at night. It still amazes me how different the weather can be only 2.5 hours away, just on the other side of the mountains. We had a great time swimming, sight seeing and just relaxing. We always love going to Bend.

Monday saw us back to the usual routine, although Doug, Oakli and I did go to Salem for "lunch". Doug made it quite clear that it was a date, and not a reward. You see, we have this standing deal, that if I clean the house, he'll take me out to lunch at my favorite restaurant that week. We happened to go there, which is the "Best Little Roadhouse", not to be mistaken with "The Roadhouse". We had to go to Salem to the scout office to get Bryce his new scout things, now that he isn't a cub scout any longer, so why not, right? It was the best. I don't ever get anything special, just a salad, but there is just something about that place! I have tried to re-create the salad and bread, but I just can't seem to get it right.

We have a former neighbor who was a fighter pilot in WWII. He passed away 5 years ago and was buried in a family cemetery about 1 mile from our house (on family property - we don't live by a cemetery, per se)... so for FHE we decided that we wanted to do service and clean up the cemetery in his honor. Because Veteran's Day on Wednesday, we thought it would be nice because his widow may come out to visit the grave. We don't know if she was able to come, because she is VERY sick, but it was nice for the kids to do some service anyway. The grass needed mowing badly and the leaves had not yet been cleaned up, so it was a great opportunity for our family. Right when the kids got off the bus, we grabbed them and ran down there. We were loosing daylight fast, so we needed to go quick. We had 2 lawnmowers, 3 rakes, 2 garbage cans, 1 edger, 1 blower, 4 kids, 1 dad, 1 mom, 2 girls that had to go pee, (hello, why don't you go when mom tells you to BEFORE we leave the house???) and 0 complaints. We got the job done and it was amazing. Bryce and Doug ran the lawn mowers, I ran a rake, and the 3 youngest kids ran their 2 arms picking up wet piles of leaves. We even had to work some in the dark, but we got it done.

Tuesday found Oakli and I spending the day at Kindergarten. Oakli loves it because she thinks she is part of the class. She joins in with everything and loves it. She blends in well and you can hardly tell that she is not a "kinder". I love going to help out, but it is so exhausting. Mrs. Graham is the best and needs so much help to get all the projects done. I normally go in only once a week but try to help out as much as I can with things at home. (My Cricut is working double-duty as I am typing, so my hand doesn't have to do all the cutting out of candy canes for her... boy- or girl- am I smart!)

Wednesday saw us all home. I still don't understand why they can't celebrate Veteran's Day on a Monday or Friday if they are going to give the kids the day off school. It was a bit crazy having them all home in the middle of the week. It was only yesterday, and I really don't know what we did yesterday. I do remember vaguely that I had them clean and do some chores. The kids did get their piano practicing done, but looking around right now, I'm not sure what else they got done. I do remember giving them chores to do. Funny thing that is. Mess, I guess that is life, right?

As for some random thoughts, I am enjoying helping out in the kindergarten class a lot. Mrs. Graham has 30 kids in the morning and 30 kids in the afternoon and she has no help except for when parents come in and help, so I feel like I need to be in to help when I can, except that I don't think that I can help more than once a week, because it is so draining for me. (Some years she gets an assistant, some years she gets no help.) I would never make a good teacher. Some days I come home with a migraine. Some days I feel like I should have done more. Some days I wonder why she does it. Some days I can see why she does it. Chase is the 3rd child of ours that has had Mrs. Graham. In years past we have been able to help out the kindergarten in the financial department than we are able to this year, so I feel bad about that. Maybe that is why I feel like I need to be in the classroom helping more. When Bryce and Ambri where in kindergarten I couldn't be in the classroom as much because Chase and Oakli were little babies. (Sigh).

I still can't keep Bryce "in Books". He continues to read me and his teacher out of every book he checks out from the library. He always has his limit checked out and can read through a very large book in 1 day. It truly amazes me. I can't even keep up with what he is reading. He also loves to play the computer and DS as much as he loves to read too, so he isn't a "nerdy" child, thank goodness!

This year has been very hard. I hope next year is a better year. I do have to say though, if this year wasn't so hard, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I needed to learn.

I'm very behind on my jewelry making. Bad, Kari. Another side effect from Kindergarten. The kids are addicting. Well, maybe not the kids, (that sounds bad, but it is different when it's your own kids...) but I do feel a strong urge to help out wherever I can. I guess that is why there are still no pictures posted here. (Sorry Jaclyn). I was thinking that on the long drive maybe I could post some. Yes, I just said it, ON THE LONG DRIVE... for those of you that are reading this that are "Utards" (and I say that so affectionately - because I still consider myself a Utard - that is what Doug and I call us - you, me, I, whatever) we are coming for Thanksgiving. If Mom doesn't know, I sent her a text. I do need to call her. See... I do have procrastination in my veins. I'll email, I promise. This is one of the most "last minute" trips I think I've ever planned, except for a funeral trip.

I'm on Strike!

Now, don't go getting any ideas now... I'm still:

I don't know that it was ever officially discussed before, but I think it was mentioned previously how difficult it was to blog every day for a whole month. I'm not saying it can't be done for some people. I know there are a lot of people out there that make a lot of money doing it every day. I'm sure that if someone wanted to pay me a lot of money, I'd change my attitude really fast. But, because no one is beating down my pathetic front door, my attitude is still the same, blogging everyday is not for me. I will, however, be back. Just not yet. I think about it often, so I wanted to let you know (if you are out there) that I am still here. I am still trying to enjoy the last few days of sun that we have in Oregon. I am swamped with soccer 6 days a week (but loving it!), canning, and am now enjoying what is a quiet afternoon once in a while. Chase is in school now in the afternoons, and Oakli still loves her naps, when she gets them. I am proud to say, some afternoons it is quiet. Sitting here thinking about what happens during those quiet hours, I cannot even begin to recall, but I'm sure that something productive happens (I hope!)

Once the rain starts to fall and soccer ends for the Princesses, Elves, Tornadoes, and Renegades I'll post pictures of the kids in action and begin work on scrapbook pages (I hope) and who knows what else, but until then, we are still here and I'm still reading your blogs too!

The Coats ~ Day 30

Tonight we went to the park and saw The Coats in concert. It was a great concert and the kids loved it. Bryce and Ambri love their music and have their iPods loaded with their music. This was a sample of one of their funny spots that they did. It was a great night of music in the park! At the end of the concert we got our CD's autographed and Ambri got her shirt autographed as well.

(This was my first attempt at uploading a movie.)

Sisters... Naw, couldn't be... ~ Day 26

I took this picture today at the neighborhood picnic. Ambri and Oakli are looking more alike each day.

Sigh (not "hunh" today).

Nothing in particular ~ Day 5

I'm sitting here trying to think of what I am going to write about today. Normally it's not a problem, but I'm trying to do a post a day, for a whole month. So, in my efforts to not break my streak, I am writing again, but don't have much on my mind. The good thing is, it just gave me an idea for tomorrow. Back to today. I am in the process of downloading (note picture, which I'm sure is hard to miss) Anne of Green Gables from my brother**, so I am excited to watch it with Ambri. She is excited (she's excited for anything new) and I'm excited to share it with her. I've always liked Anne of Green Gables. So that is what is up for this week. The weather is supposed to turn "bad". Anything that isn't VERY warm for July, is "bad" for me, so a nice long series should be just what we need.

** Sorry, said brother, as I read that post back, that sounded really bad. I'm sure you got the movies for your wife or something like that, and that I'm not downloading them "from" you, just that you have them for a noble purpose, or something like that, right?

Ambri's Baptism

Ambri~

Mom and Dad are so proud of you! You have made the decision to be baptized. You have looked forward to this day for so long and you finally did it! You looked so beautiful in your new dress. So many family members and friends came to support you. We all love you so much!

Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon

Doug was very kind to set up a half-marathon for us this past weekend. We invited many to join with us, and we had a great turn out! Here was part of his announcement:

We are making final preparations for the first, possibly annual, Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper-Half Marathon on June 6, 2009 at 7:00am. Yes, 13.1 miles of pure fun and joy (well, it can be). The course is set to run on flat, paved roads going through beautiful, Willamette Valley farmland in the Dever-Conner area of Northeast Albany. The race will start and end at the Burton’s home. Anyone of any age, that thinks that they could finish the course is invited to participate. Running, jogging, walking, biking, blading, crawling (bring knee pads if you are going to do that), are all permitted this year. If for some reason someone is not able to finish the course we will arrange for a ride to the finish line. Aid stations will be at miles 2, 4, 6, 9, and 11 with bananas and orange slices at the mile 6 station and bathrooms at miles 2, 4(?), 9, and 11. At the end of the race, at the finish line we will also have some drinks with some light foods and snacks.

Here are the results of the marathon. If you don't find yourself right away, check for another category. The results have been broken down based on the method of completion. (I've left off your last name for privacy. If you want me to put your last name up on the site, just email me.)

Runners:

1. Matthew K. (#128) 1:27:00

2. Kyle M. (#117) 1:49:00

2. Bill H. (#129) 1:49:00

3. Larry S. (#127) 2:00:00

4. Maria B. (#123) 2:31:00

Walkers:

1. Kari B. (#114) 2:45:00

Adult Bike:

1. James C. (#135) 49:00

2. Brent B. (#131) 50:00

3. Preston B. (#124) 59:15

4. Jaclyn B. (#116) 1:25:00

5. Bart B. (#115) 1:25:00

6. Afton B. (#119) 1:35:00

7. Steve B. (#118) 1:35:00

8. Paul T. (#134) 1:39:00

9. Charisse B. (#130) 1:59:00 (ran 4 miles, then biked)

10. Tom B. (#122) 2:31:00

Youth Bike:

1. Jordan M. (#105) 59:35

2. Sarah M. (#104) 1:00:41

3. Sarah C. (#106) 1:00:42

4. Bryce B. (#101) 1:08:00

5. Ceana B. (#109) 1:08:00

6. Matthew H. (#112) 1:15:40

7. Chase B. (#113) 1:25:00 (rode with #116)

8. Oakli B. (#103) 1:25:00 (rode with #115)

9. Brady T. (#132) 1:30:00

10. Kerry T. (#133) 1:39:00

11. Kaeli B. (#110) 1:40:00

12. Caiden B. (#111) 1:40:30

Other:

1. Tyler B. (#121) Roller Blade

2. Jace B. (#107) (rode with #121)

3. Traeden B. (#108) (rode with #121)

4. Porta Potty (#136) 2:27:00 (Tractor)

"What I Wouldn't Trade For A Pot Of Gold" by Ambri Burton

This was a school project that Ambri did. It hung in the hall at school. Each class member did one. I'm sure Ambri's was the most serious of them all. Her teacher was very impressed, and I am too. I had no idea that she was writing this until she came home with her rough draft already corrected. I asked her teacher about it at conferences, and she said that the other kids wrote about candy, stuffed animals, other toys and other frivolous things. Ambri, I think you are definitely ready to be baptized. Way to go, I'm so proud of you!

Ambri's 8!

Happy Birthday Babe, I Love You!

Ambri finally made it. She had a great day, even though she didn't have a "party" with friends. We took her out to dinner with Uncle Tom and Aunt Maria. We went mini-golfing and she loved it! She's turned into a little (sweet) diva and proudly admits it. Many of her gifts were geared toward her baptism but Uncle Tom and Aunt Maria gave her a gift card for Claires and she asks almost every day if we can go to the mall so we can get more earrings. I think that she forgets that I can make hear earrings almost instantly, but that just wouldn't be as cool as actually going to the mall and buying them. I can't make some of the other things that you can buy at the store. What can I say, she's obsessed with earrings. Maybe while the boys are on their camp out this weekend. Here's one of the pictures from her photo shoot with her new clothes: Had to make sure we got the "wings" on the back... wouldn't want to miss those!

Now that Ambri has turned 8, she is very excited to be baptized. Each time she says a prayer she prays for when she can be baptized (even though she already did that, she especially does now). She is planning on being baptized the first Saturday in June. She can't wait!

Ambri and Oakli's Bedroom

I finished painting Ambri and Oakli's bedroom today. It took me a week to do, and I'm beat! I've wanted to paint it like this for a long time. I saw the idea and thought that if I waited long enough the idea would wear off, but it never did. The painting bug hit me a few weeks ago, and this is my 3rd room. The other 2 rooms I painted "normal" though. Bryce is lining up for his room next. The problem is, I'm worn out!

I like the walls so much, I don't know where to put the girls beds. Up until right be3fore I painted their room, we had them bunked. Mainly to keep Oakli up on her bed during naps (she was on the top bunk and she couldn't get off) now they are both on the floor. I really just want to put both beds outside with the "shracoons" (that's what my younger kids affectionately call raccoons) and have all the walls showing. Does anyone object?

Did I mention how much I now dislike pink? Let me start by saying, I've always liked pink and brown together, I think they look really classy together (don't knock the blog background). Sure pink is a great color for clothes, jewelry, flowers, cotton candy, subtle nail polish, shoes, hair ribbons, stickers, bathing suits, toothbrushes, stuff like that. But paint in large coverages... I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate my thinking on this one. I knew there was a reason that I never wanted to paint their room pink. The other two walls are plain pink, 2 different shades. One wall has the closet on it, the other wall has the window. Their room glows pink. It's like... radiation pink. Pepto pink. The brown wall and flower wall is awesome. It's just too bad that you don't see those walls first thing when you walk in. You have to turn around after you go in. You have to get radiation poisoning first, then feel like you are going to choke, then turn around and try to realize that there are two really cool walls in the room. The cool-ness factor has worn off, and by now the flower walls are only semi-cool, because you are suffocating in the radiation poisoning you have just committed yourself to. I wonder what would have happened if I would have painted the closet doors pink as well? (I did leave those white.)

It's all good, because I'm still super, euber proud of the (awful) (awsome) pink, and slightly brown room that I slaved over for over a week on. I am awesome!

~Kari

A mother caves... but for good reasons!

(Click on the picture if you want to see it closer up)...


Ok, so I took Ambri to get her ears pierced. No big deal (it was to her). I told her that we'd do it when she turned 8, so she was totally surprised when we went to the mall yesterday. (Her birthday isn't until the end of April.) We arrived at the same time as her best friend, Ceanne and her mother, so they could be there with us while Ambri got it done. It was a lot of fun for her. We had to wait quite a while so they roamed the store together and wanted to buy all the make-up. I decided to go ahead and do it now because if we wait until she turns 8 in April, it is right when spring soccer is starting up again and that conflicts with earings because they make you take earings out for soccer games, no exceptions. This way they will be all healed up in time for the games in the spring.

We're home.

Our trip was so great! We went to Hawaii, Australia and Tahiti. I'll touch on a few highes. Ambri's favorite part of the trip was breakfast (more than once) at the Hukilau Café, in Laie. Bryce loved it all. I loved being warm.

• November 7 - we traveled to Hawaii and visited the Dole pineapple plantation. We love that pineapple!
• November 8 - we went to the Hukilau Café for breakfast and then went to Diamond Head for a hike, which was closed when we got there. Got us out of exercise that day!
• November 9 - we went to church, and then we visited the Laie temple and visitors center.
• November 10 - we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Our favorite part was visiting Samoa and watching the Chief.
• November 11 (Vetran's Day) - we once again had breakfast at the Hukilau Café (they are closed on Mondays, or we'd have eaten there yesterday) and then we went to Pearl Harbor. It was amazing seeing it again. The devastation reeked on our military is amazing to behold. This was my 2nd trip to Pearl Harbor on Vetran's Day.
• November 12 - we spent the day on another airplane, to Australia. It was November 13 when we arrived in Sydney.
• November 14 - we exercised in Hyde Park (Doug and I, at different times) and then we visited the Taranga Zoo. Our high for the zoo was being able to take pictures right next to the Koala bears. One thing I noticed was how rude the many school children were, sadly. We got to fairy right in front of the Sydney Opera House. We also went to the Sydney Tower (and we even got in for free - score!)
• November 15 - we toured the Sydney Opera House and saw a cute show called How To Read Tea Leaves, in the famous Spiegel Tent.
• November 16 - we went to church. It was a YSA branch, so we only stayed for sacrament meeting. The chapel and classrooms were on the 2nd story of a high rise building.
• November 17 - we visited the Sydney Aquarium, and then McDonald's for lunch (for the kids, Doug and I found Subway). We wandered around downtown Sydney for a bit and then walked back to our condo. We got to go swimming that night at the community pool.
• November 18 - we exercised again this morning, each of us going all the way to the Sydney Opera House and then back. We made the train trip out to the Sydney Temple. It took us 2 hours to get to the temple, that was 15 miles away from our condo. We didn't get lost, it just took us a long time to get there, and we had to walk a long ways as well. Bryce and Ambri came along and waited for Doug and I while we did a session.
• November 19 - we visited the Powerhouse Museum. It is kind of like OMSI. It was a nice relaxing day, but our last day in Sydney.
• November 20 - we left Sydney. Everything went fine at the airport. The thing the kids liked thte best was the individual TV screens that they had on the flight. They could watch their own movie or play video games. We crossed back over the international date line and arrived in Tahiti on the 19th.
• November 20 (again) - we slept in. The first thing we noticed in Tahiti is that people can smoke anywhere (starting with inside the airport). We spent the day at the pool. The beach at the hotel is BLACK SAND (just what I wanted to see in Tahiti - yea!). The shocker in Tahiti was the lady at the pool that didn't wear a top. Doug said he expected it (at the beach) but we forgot to warn the kids in advance. Oops! Picture is of Ambri and Flat Stanley. She got to bring him along on our trip, he is from school.
• November 21 - we started the day by exercising. It was so difficult to exercise in Tahiti because it was so humid and hot. It was another day at the pool, and we ventured out to the beach to do some snorkeling. Later that afternoon we went to the temple. We waited in the (HOT) sun for the bus, but after 20 minutes, it never came. They said the busses stop coming after 5pm. We made it to the temple, and Doug and I did a session. It was in French, so we got to use the headphones. Bryce and Ambri waited for us in the waiting room and they got to watch a movie and talk with the Temple president. Some members took us back to the hotel.
• November 22 - was our last day in Tahiti. We had to check out of our room at 11am, and our filght wasn't until 11:30pm. I started the day by exercising and then we had breakfast. We checked out of our room and then spent the rest of the day by the pool (they stowed our bags for us). It rained a bit later that afternoon, but it was warm and refreshing. We headed to the airport early and got on an earlier flight (10pm). It was a red-eye and we made it to LAX to find that another passenger took one of our suitcases. Good thing it was on the way home. We continued onto Seattle and then Eugene. We made it home by about 6:30 and we were very happy to see Chase and Oakli. We finally got our suitcase back by Tuesday afternoon. It was a great trip! Tahiti was so warm, it was wonderful!

Give the Aussies another chance... and they failed!

Well, I figured I'd give 'em another chance, maybe it was just a bad zoo day (see the post before last). We headed to the Sydney Aquarium today, hoping for a relaxing day. We walked over to the Aquarium today, rather than taking the subway. The Aquarium is in Darling Harbour. Of coarse, we took the long way because we really didn't know where we were going, but we found it, nevertheless. We got in and everything was fine. We were admiring the Platyapus', the HUGE Croc, and many other exotic fish that I had never seen before... and then we heard it. The stampede of school children, AGAIN. I think Bryce was as dissappointed as I was, but I was determined to give them another chance, knowing that these couldn't possibly be the same school children that mobbed the zoo just days earlier. I was dissappointed though, they were just as rude as all the others. They were pushing (not just nudging... all out pushing total strangers)! Poor Ambri was trying to take her turn at the touching pool and she got totally squeezed out of the way from all directions. They even had their teacher telling them "manners...manners", but nothing. She could see how rude they were being (I made eye contact with her, with a question on my face) but nothing was done. So, we had to quickly finish our tour and then move on. They failed.

We continued out to find lunch and Doug saw the sign for McDonalds. The kids were thrilled! On our way we also saw a Subway, so we stopped in there for some "healthy" food for Doug and I. Bryce even got a sandwich, his new fettish is ham, cheese, and lettuce. The cheese here is a little different, but we are managing. The cheddar cheese is not "yellow" or "orange" (pick your descriptive color, I think it is still up for debate) but rather it is a white color. We bought sliced and shredded at the grocery store, and the shredded tastes the same. The sliced is a close 2nd. Anyway, we got some lunch and then headed to McDonalds for chicken nuggets for Ambri. We all sat down to eat at an outdoor McDonalds. The birds were mobbing us and Bryce and Ambri had a wonderful time chasing the birds. No one was even annoyed about them making so much noise, because the birds were that much MORE annoying. We stopped for a few minutes in Darling Harbour because Ambri asked to play on the play set. As they were playing, that same pesky group of school kids came walking through the area. At least they couldn't stop and play, only watch Bryce and Ambri longingly. Some redemption, maybe.

We walked over to the "Cinema" to see if we could see High School Musical 3. First they were "closed". What kind of movie theater closes? Well, I'll tell you. The kind that has Daniel Craig there on Friday night for the premier of the new James Bond movie, and then Nicole Kidman coming tomorrow for the premier of the new movie "Australia". Who wants to see stupid movie stars anyway? I guess it doesn't matter much anyway, because Sydney doesn't even get HSM3 until "Early December 2008". I had 2 mighty dissappointed kids. We came back to the condo and watched a pay-per-view. It was a comedy and they soon forgot their woes.

NOTE on the time stamp: It is actually 11:00 pm here on Monday night. I believe it is 4:00 am at home.

A picture from the past.

I'm working on sorting pictures and I came across this one. I thought I'd post it for all to see. This is Ambri eating ice cream (or something like that) in 2003.

Taronga Zoo ~ I thought Americans were rude...

Well, first I'll get the bitterness out of my post, then I'll get on with it. We went to the Tagonga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The Zoo was mobbed with school groups. When I say mobbed, I mean MOBBED! It was difficult to see a display without getting pushed (that would include any school age child of various ages that runs into you because they are not paying a whit of attention) or having toes stepped on by a school child. I can say definately that it is a school child because the kids in each group would all be wearing the same uniform. Some group even had the same backpack for each child with the name of a school on it. AND I THOUGHT AMERICANS WERE RUDE, I DON'T FEEL QUITE SO BAD ANY LONGER. I mean, I came to Australia expecting a little more hospitible behavior than what you typically expect from Americans... I was dissappointed.

With that said, the Zoo was amazing. After disembarking from the "Subway" (which is really the train I guess, sometimes it goes under the ground and sometimes you can see it at street level), we headed to the warf and took a fairy over to the Zoo. On the fairy we went right by the Sydney Opera House. It is the most recognizeable building in the world, so they say. We'll tour that tomorrow... or is it today? I'm not sure, but it will be SATURDAY.
We took a really cool sky bus ride up the side of the mountain and then we were at the top of the Zoo. The Zoo is on a hill, similar to the Portland Zoo. Nice exercise. Anyway, we got off right by the Koala encounter, and we got to have our picture taken with the Koala bears (that really aren't bears). Here's Ambri with her photo:

The kids were amazed at "how cute" they are. We weren't allowed to touch them, although we obviously could, it is against the law. They sleep for 20 hours a day because they eat eucalpytus leaves, and they don't have much energy in them.
We saw many other native Australian animals while at the Zoo, and then the "regular" zoo animals as well. The giraffe habitat was really nice, and many of the exhibits had a great backdrop of the Sydney Harbour, Sydney Bridge, and Sydney Opera House in the background.
Later that night we went grocery shopping with the kids. The reason I mention it, is because the grocery store is in the basement of the mall. The mall is smack in the center of Sydney, amidst the office buildings and residential apartments. Doug and I have experienced it before in Chile, but the kids were in awe of it. Of coarse everything was different, but many things were the same in a wierd kind of way. For example: Rice Krispies are called Rice Bubbles, but they are exactally the same, even made by Kellogg's. Pringles are the same though, and we can't forget the wonderful Cadbury Chocolate. It still tastes as good as at home.

Just a note on the time stamp, it is 9 pm here on Saturday, 2 am Saturday at home.

Do we get to go "Charc-ling" today?

That is the question that I have been asked more than once today by Ambri (7 yr). What she really means is snorkeling (for those of you that didn't know that we are on vacation right now). She's interested in that, and going to "Smashers" beach. She really meant "Pounders Beach" (which is where we are actually staying) but the cute things she says still get me.

We had breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe. We ordered way more food than we could eat, and just as always, it was wonderful food. Bryce said he wants to come back on Tuesday (they are closed on Sunday and Mondays) and he wants to order a whole plate of just bacon. We were also supposed to hike Diamond Head today. When we got to the parking lot, the lady at the pay booth said "Didn't you see the big sign at the bottom of the hill? The trail is closed." We weren't the only ones that didn't see the "Big Sign" because there were many cars behind us as we turned around and pulled out. So we went in search of the "Big Sign", which for your information, Lady, it was NOT at the bottom of the hill. I think that Bryce and Ambri were releived that we didn't have to go on "another hike". He just wanted to stay in the car and play the DS. He's milking this trip for all it's worth. Instead of going "Charc-ling" (which we will do later on in the trip) we just went to the beach and played in the "Smasher" waves. So far we've done that both days and Bryce and Ambri just love playing in the water the best. That is surprising to me because they get the chance to play in the ocean in Oregon many times each year. I guess it really doesn't surprise me once I think about it, the water is much warmer. Heck, I even got in!