Quick Quotes- April 2008

(A self portrait by Bennett)

Bennett: After the boys baseball game, Bennett said, "I want to go home to live happy ever after."

Lowden: After making him a zucchini omelet, said "This is the single most greatest meal I have ever tasted in my life!"

Parker's MVP Medal

Parker and Lowden's baseball coach gives out a MVP medal at each game. Last night, Parker was awarded this special honor. He was SO excited and we were all very proud.

Here is Greg's game recap (If only I could get him to do all of the writing for our family blog, we would all be riveted to our seats):

"The Phillies scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the 1st inning, then gave up six straight runs to the Cubs to fall behind 6-1. But they hung in there and came up to bat in the bottom of the last inning down 6 runs to 3. Things looked grim when the first batter grounded out to the Cubs' second baseman, but the next few batters drew walks from the suddenly erratic pitcher and a couple of ground ball hits evened the score at 6 runs each. Another pair of walks loaded the bases as Parker made the long, scary walk from the on-deck circle to the plate. With the bases loaded and one out, a hit would win the game, a double play would end the inning and bring the Cubs' best hitters up again in the first extra inning. The pressure was on. Parker, looking shorter and scrawnier than usual in his batting stance, could barely see out from underneath his helmet. Parker's dad was mumbling half-coherent words of prayer and desperate encouragement.

The first pitch sailed toward home plate; Parker waved the bat in its general direction: strike one! The second pitch was high and outside: ball one! In came the third pitch, chin-high and inside: ball two except for the vain swipe Parker took at it. One ball, two strikes. Incredible, suffocating pressure...Parker probably felt it too.

The fourth pitch came in slow motion, each stitch on the ball's seams clearly visible as it tumbled toward the crouching 9 year-old. High again! Don't swing! But the end of the bat started moving forward, in slow motion of course! A sickening moment of helpless frustration: strike three, inning over. But wait, what was that 'cracking' sound?--and what was that small white object rolling toward third base? Someone (I'm not sure who) screamed "It's a hit! It's a hit!" and Parker took off running for first base.

Reaching top speed in about three steps, elbows and dust flying, Parker churned toward safety at first. The runner on third base sprinted in for the go-ahead run; the third baseman mishandled the throw from the pitcher and the next base runner scored as well. When the dust settled and the cheering subsided Parker was standing on first base, the huge grin on his face just visible beneath the giant overhanging brim of his batting helmet. Final score: Phillies 8, Cubs 6."

EDIT: After posting this and adding it to our baseball team's website, Parker saw what I had done and asked "Does this mean I'm famous now?"

Quick Quotes- April 2008

Lowden & Parker: Lowden says "I cannot believe that dad survived this whole weekend while you were gone. Because it was CRAZY with capitals." And then Parker interjected, "And three exclamation points." (I found this picture on Lowden's camera...I have no idea how he created this three-Lowden effect. I'll have to ask him his trick.)

Dad, Lauren, Parker & Lowden: We are at the dinner table and dad says, "Modest is the Hottest." Lauren starts repeating, "I'm the Hottest. I'm the Hottest." Parker says "It means you are beautiful or something." Lowden says "It means your sweaty. Very sweaty."

Our Week in Review Monday-Sunday

This is late a few days since I just got back from California. But, here a little bit about our last week...

On Monday, the skies in Oregon smiled on the sport of track, but frowned on the sport of baseball. It was pouring rain when Lowden started his first day of track. But, that didn't dampen his excitement! Luckily by the time they started running, it had stopped raining. Lowden and Parker got dressed for baseball practice and then it started pouring rain….it kept raining till the coach decided to cancel practice…then as we drove away the rain completely stopped. Funny spring weather...sure keeps us on our toes. But, I will take it over snow or ultra-hot weather anyday.

Lauren has decided not to become a book writer after all. Now she wants to be a teacher like her first grade teacher at school. She also insisted I take this picture...

Bennett had a bit of extra social time when we attended a church lunch group this week. He learned that sharing is hard work on both ends. But, he gave he managed to share his Sun chips with Whitney and Emily without complaint.

In other news, the sun came out. The kids were so excited that they insisted on having blankets to sit on and ice cream cones. How could we say no to these faces?

On Friday, I headed to California to see my parents and attend my dad's retirement dinner. It was so fun to meet up with my mom and have some time together. We had a great time on Friday shopping in Sacramento and eating at our favorite mexican restaurant across the street from the Arden Fair Mall.
I also got to see my grandparents who recently moved back to Lodi. You can see from this picture that I didn't get my height from my grandma's side of the family. But I love her just the same! Grandpa talked and talked....it's fun to listen to him. They have a newly remodeled home they are living in next door to my Uncle Frank and Aunt Norma. I have so many fond memories with them from my childhood. Grandma taught me how to play King's Corners (a card game) and makes the best garlic spaghetti next to my mom's. And grandpa always made us laugh.

Back on the home front, I left Greg with a charge to take pictures of the boys' opening ceremonies for Little League. He turned this charge over to Lauren and I got this riveting video... WARNING: If you are affected by motion sickness, you may want to reconsider pressing play. The good news is there is no height restriction for this ride. And, pregnant women who have stable stomachs are welcome too!

On a less twirly note, the boys had a great time! Here they are with their friend, Chris.

They were especially excited to sit in "reserved seating" at the Eugene Emeralds Civic Stadium. Here they are running out on the field. Lowden is number 12 and Parker is number 10.

Then, they line up all the players across the field and do the national anthem and some other baseball ceremonial stuff. I wasn't there...I'm just trying to remember from the last few years what they did. But, the word is they had a great time. Oh...I just asked Lowden and he said "We ran across the field. They introduced all the teams. And some other stuff." So, there you have it...the word straight up.

Greg told me that Bennett was having a hard time sitting so he had to bribe him. When I got home from California, Lauren spilled, "Yeah Bennett was crazy so dad bought us a bear claw, a big cinnamon roll, a long chocolate bar, and a nut doughnut." She is always good for the scoop.

Later that day, they had their first game. There are no pictures due to a cranky Bennett and an exhausted father. But, the boys each got a run and got to play a few positions 2nd base, shortstop, outfield and benchwarmer (apparently their coach calls that a position...and there are 13 boys on the team so they rotate that honored place near the field.)

Back in California, I got all dressed up to go to my dad's retirement dinner put on my the Deputy Sheriff's Association. Here is me and my step sister, Michelle! It was so fun to be with her.

My dad looks pretty happy about retirement, doesn't he? I had to harass him to get this smile out of him....this is rare photographic evidence that my dad can be coerced into a smile. It's a cop thing.

Here he is with his wife, Mindy. Doesn't he look sharp? Mindy and I discovered two hours before the dinner that my dad didn't have an outfit that was fitting for his special night. So, she and I drove to Mervyns (20 minutes away) and bought him this suit jacket, tie, shirt, and belt. It was a lot of fun to buy something for my dad to wear. And, he looked very sharp! Mission accomplished. This dinner included all the men and women who retired from the sheriff's department in the last two years. Also present was the County Sheriff and the President of the Deputy Sheriff's Association.

Mindy has two children, Michelle and Robby. It was great being together with them! I haven't seen Robby and his wife, Melissa, since they lived in Oregon. He is in the US Navy and recently moved to Monterey from the base in Hawaii. He and Melissa have a ten month old daughter named Bridget. She is a beautiful baby and is a little angel. They tell me she cries sometimes but I haven't seen or heard any proof of that. I do not have a picture of her here ,but I'm hoping Robby will send one soon.

The Sheriff's Department gave my dad a special retired sheriff's badge. He served 35 years in law enforcement. Five of the years were with the California Highway Patrol and the rest were served as a County Sheriff. I'm very proud of my dad's accomplishments. And, I know that if his mother and father could have been there, they would have been very proud too!



I love this picture of me and my dad. This is out in front of his home in California.Here are my dad's other kids, Champ and Buddy. My dad has always had a thing for large dogs. He has had a labrador retreiver ever year of my life. My dad and Mindy in front of their yellow country house.My dad has always liked to go to breakfast. When I was younger, he took me often. He always knows all the server and cook's names. Going to breakfast with my dad is a tradition.It was so fun to be together with them all. I had the belgain waffles with fresh strawberries. It was yummy!

And there you have it our week in review.

Summary of the Week

After a rainy spring break, we were happy to see some spring-like weather this week. This is our flowering cherry tree that we planted last spring. Someday we hope it will grow up to provide us some needed shade in our backyard. But for now, we are enjoying the blossoms it is producing despite it's little size.

The kids got back to school and they seem to be happy about it. Well, most of them are.

Lauren decided this week that she no longer wants to be a veternarian, but has switched her life focus to being a "book maker". Specifically, "coloring the pictures" and "writing the words". She was seen practicing her illustrating skills this week. And wrote many, many, many notes to various members of the family.

Bennett got his birthday book, Dinosailors, in the mail this week. His favorite part was when all the dinosailors start throwing up because they are so sick. It seemed like a fitting book to buy him since this was the winter of throwing up. But, in truth, it's a fun read with great illustrations.

The highlight of our week was Mike (Greg's brother) and Sherrilyn's sealing in the Portland Oregon Temple.

We felt very blessed to have our good friend, Codilynn, with us to be our traveling babysitter and, as it turned out, photographer for the day. She took the above photo for our family. Thanks Codi. We love you!

She also took this picture of our little family. It is the first picture of all of us at the temple where Greg and I were married so it is very special to us.

...and this one of me and Greg. If you look closely, you can see a small child running in the distance. Sort of ironic that it's Bennett.
It was really nice to visit with Greg's sisters, Melanie and Karen. I haven't seen Mel in three and a half years. So, it was especially nice to see her.

I had to reminisce about the last time we brought our all our troops to the temple which was for Karen's wedding. Lauren was 13 months and had the cutest, little piggy tails.

She has grown so much since then...

Greg rescued Bennett from falling in the reflection pool. Phew. Glad his reflexes are as good as ever.Parker and Lowden really enjoyed being there too!

They've come a long way at their good photo-making skills since Karen's wedding...Don't you think? They've got a little ways to go still. Most of these pictures had closed eyes, Bennett blurry from moving, and bunny ears. But, we are making progress.Getting a picture of Bennett and his cousin, Christian, was a fun challenge. They were cracking us up with their antics. I also just noticed they almost match which makes this picture extra cute.Afterwards, we went to Izzy's for a late lunch with the Hansen and Edgar families. Mike and I had to laugh when we saw this sign at Izzy's that says "Sugar Free Sugar Cookie". I mean, really, what exactly is in a sugar cookie that is sugar free?

We visited some more with family on Saturday and have been enjoying listening to General Conference this weekend.

Summary of Week

Last week was Spring Break, although it didn't feel like much of a break. The weather was crazy last week with icy rain for several days. One of those times when you actually wish you brought an umbrella even though in Oregon that is not kosher. It almost snowed one of the days which is very odd for March here. If we had known the only sunny day was going to be Monday, we would have gone to the zoo in Portland that day. But sadly, we planned it for Thursday and it wasn't in the cards that day due to the weather. But what can you do? Just try again for another day.

We did manage to make it to Brush-Fire to make tiles for Grandma Ludene's recent birthday. She wanted the kids to make them to go around her new tub. The older three kids enjoyed painting their tiles. Bennett had a difficult time being a "happy guy" and I had to finish his for him. When I got the camera out, Parker and Lauren said in a sour tone, "You're going to put this on your blog. Aren't you?" It's not a crime. I'm sure of it!

On Saturday, Greg somehow squeezed mowing the lawn between rain storms. I hadn't even realized the lawn was so high. The lawn speaks to Greg...but I don't hear it. I only hear the laundry and the dishes.


And here are a few more updates...

Bennett: The poor guy's finger was wrapped up all week. He learned to do a few things with his left hand for the week. He was happy to have playmates around to play with. They were very helpful with him too...most of the time... Well, when they weren't making him scream. Here he's showing off his good hand at the Pinewood Derby. I was grateful Greg was there since being one-handed hasn't slowed him down at all.

Lauren: She was a good helper this week. She cleaned her room really nice and got did some organizing for me. She also played with Bennett a lot and helped with him during baseball practices. She had a great time at Brush Fire. And, got to see her old friend from Kindergarten, Emilia, this last weekend. Lauren made a very Oregon tile for grandma with a boat on it with clouds and sun in the sky.


Parker: Parker became a Bear Scout this last week. He received his wolf badge and took second place in the Pinewood Derby. He had baseball practice this week and is enjoying it. There are quite a few boys from his school on his team and Lowden. For Grandma's tile, he made a grey shark with a blue background. It turned out nice. I'll take a picture of it and post it soon.


Lowden: Winning the Pinewood Derby was the highlight of his week. He did baseball practice too but was happy to have the break from his other activities. The tile he made for grandma was blue and white curvy stripes which were in honor of the ocean.

He got some new fish for his aquarium which he was VERY happy about! He now has two snails and 3 danios and 2 dalmatian mollys.

Greg and Meg: The Planets Aligned!!!

Greg and I haven't been on that many dates this year. In fact, it may have been only two since January 1st. Seems like whenever we have planned to go out, some issue will arise to thwart our plans...kids sick, kids throwing up, etc. So it was VERY nice to go out with Greg on a date last weekend and do some of our favorite things! We went to one of my favorite restaurants Beppe and Gianni's Trattoria. I had the halibut. It was so very yummy and I cleaned my entire plate. Greg had the spinach raviolis.


Afterwards, we went to REI. Greg has this wild idea that he is going to hook up with a friend of his and his brother for a trek in the Indian Himalayas. So, he really wanted to look at zero degree sleeping bags. He tried them each out very carefully. How could I not take a picture?!

Then, we went to The Sweet Life, one of our favorite places for dessert. I chose the delicious Key Lime Tart. Greg chose a Raspberry Crunch Bar. YUMM!!!

And, to end our date. We stopped by a Redbox and rented a movie, Elizabeth the Golden Age, for a dollar. Love that!