Elvis has broke my machine

Well It could have been me that broke it :) My sister has been love with Elvis since we watched Elvis and Me in Florida. Grandpa would take us to Sam Goody to rent movies and we would always rent the old ones. We watched the Patsy Cline story, Shirley Mc Downy story, Ritchie Valens story, and and and.......well you get the idea all the old people movies. Grandpa would also take us to the library a lot. We had to read at least two books a week so we always picked the easy craft books. Neither one of us really enjoyed reading so we would get books that we could make stuff. Shawna was always interested in scary movies. One time we got a make up book and had this great idea to make her look like Freddy Kruger from nightmare on elm street. We didn't really have any one the right stuff so I decided let melt some wax and pour it on her face, LOL well to make a long story short it didn't work~

Being stuck at home without my kids or my man I remember these old days and they make me laugh. It's amazing how much time flies. One day your making up dance video in the back yard and you blink and you see your kids doing the same thing.

Well for Shawna birthday I decided I was going to make her an Elvis blanket. I thought it would be cool to interlock Patsy Cline and Freddy Kruger some home but couldn't find the material. You would be surprised that they don't have that LOL. So, after making Kevin's blanket I got into a small grove of making it go faster. IT still is a process I get a little obsessed with......once I start I don't like to stop. Unfortunately getting older your body does too and I noticed my wrist getting more and more swollen each day. After this blanket I might take a little time off. Oh, and the fact that my sewing machine isn't working might make me day a couple days off. So here is the blanket. It is not complete yet but should be soon.

Remember the Old Days....

I was sitting at home this morning thinking.............. The other day Kevin was working outside in the garage I heard him whistling while he works. Ah, that brought a smile to my face. It's weird to me the little things like this you miss when you get older. I remember when I was a kid my dad whistling all the time. There was the good whistling while he worked, there was the whistle when you where down the road you better get home fast, and the whistle when you looked really cute to embarrass you in front of all your friend. Just wonder, why people don't whistle as much anymore?

SUMMER< SUMMER SUMMERTIME!

I can't remember the last time this last month I have sat down. The kids and I have been running from one thing to the next.....and enjoying every minute of it! Since a picture can tell a thousand words I thought I would add a lot to this blog.




Oh boy, Did the kids fall in love with Kyles house! So much stuff to do it was almost better than Disneyland. This is "Grandpa Kelly" giving Mason a ride on his hog. He told mason you want to take a ride on my hog? Mason looked and him kind of in shock because they had just placed the pig in the BBQ. He said ok, so Kelly went and got his motorcycle out of the shop and Mason wanted to drive it. He said not this time buddy :) Melayna and Ashlee got to go for a ride and they were grinning from ear to ear.








The Mason Man and Harley Man

The Kids love there grandmas! Georgia took a couple days off this summer to take the kids to the beach. Grandma took the kids to the Albany Linn County Fair and we spent all day riding the rides and looking at all the exhibits.I went with Mason while my mom went with the girls for awhile. The girls were going on all the big and fast rides. Mason and I are more a slow speed :) He wants you to think he is tough, but he is a softy like him mom.
My Summer Love is Gardening! I could spend hours out in the yard just messing around with all the flowers. This was the best my hanging plant has ever done. I got it for mother's day and it is still alive! It some kind of record because hanging plants are so hard!

This took our breath away. This is the Vietnam Memorial at Timberlinn Park. The kids and I went around to all the monuments. I think on a every day basis we sometimes forget we are at war.

Our NEW CAMPER!!! After endless craigslist adds, car lots, and magazines we finally found a camper! It was hard to agree on this one. I wanted a fifth wheel or trailer. There huge and more roomie but Kevin wanted a camper. My reasoning was you get more bang for your buck! The trailers are so huge on the inside and have bunk beds for the kids. Kevin's side was we could pull a boat if we got a camper. He was right. After several months of looking because we had to have specific stuff we wanted, A north to south bed (so no one is jammed up against the side) a camper that would fit a short box (which who knew it was so rare) and a bathroom. We found this up in portland and feel in love. We have only had it since a couple days before the pig roast.

Lisa and I at the pig roast.

So last year we decided we should do another Pig Roast with Kyle. We had one before about ten years ago we we lived on Airport Rd in Lebanon. It was such a hit not sure why we haven't brought it back till now. Kyle made arrangements for the pig and BBQ. It all came together so well. Kyle put so much time and effort into this party! It first started with him pouring 10 yards of concrete to make a patio for everyone to walk on.......then he decided we need two Kegs so him and his dad built a kegorator for the party. We set up the huge Elk tent and several other tents for food and drinks. Kenny made a whole cooler of jungle juice. There were so many kids and teenagers that would look at the pig and say "EWWW GROSS, I'm so Not Eating that! " It was so cute because they are the ones that came back for seconds and thirds! We are going to have to have another BBQ like this every summer. Not sure we will do a whole pig but everyone really enjoyed themselves. We did a loose count and had around 80 people show up, there was still half the pig left over. It all turned out so amazing!

Kyle and Kevin getting felt down to cover up some of the wires on the ground. Can' have a party without lights and a radio.
The night before we were all a little shocked on how big the pig was. This one was 250 lbs.
Took up the whole tail gate. Kyle started the BBQ at Friday 2:30 AM and did not finish till 5:30 pm Saturday.
The kids thought it was pretty cool.
It took all four guys to lift it into the BBQ.

The Sea Lion Caves.

I have never been to the Sea Lion Caves at the beach. We started off in Florence and worked our way down the coast line till we reached the caves. It was really neat to see them. We all enjoyed it very much.

Melayna loved the view of the bird and watching the sea lions come in from the ocean.

Triangle Lake.
Vacation Bible School.

The kids look forward to it every year. The South Albany Community Church does such a great job every year!

House Project aka MELAYNA Rooom

Well there was only one plug in her whole bed room. SOOOOOO, I decided to do something about it :) We tore off all the sheet rock and Kevin put in seven new ones. Maybe an overkill but at least she will have electricity now. We are still working on this one, will keep the blog posted.



They are great helpers!

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Daisy the Trucker.

The newest Addition to the family Daisy the Hampster. When Matt came back from Iraq he bought a hampster in Texas where he was living. He drove from Texas to Oregon with his Hampster Booger. When we went over to the house the kids could not get enough of him. I have been going every week for sewing and noticed Gracie has a hampster too. They are pretty cute so we had to get a little Dwarf Hampster and the kids named her Princess Daisy.

this is so true....a letter to the grandkids

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.


It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.



When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.


On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with them.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Never a dull moment....even at 330 AM

Whoooo Hooooo, Date Night!

My mom said the kids could stay the night at her house. She just got back from Florida. Mason and Melayna asked every day how much longer till grandma got home. They missed her everyday.

Kevin and I decided to meet at Calapooia for some tater tots and drinks. We left the house and came home to watch tv and relax. Funny you finally get a moment with no kids and all you can think about is how wonderful your bed sounds. I woke up at 230 feeling kind of sick to my stomach and decided to get up and watch tv. The previous day Mason was throwing up all day so I thought I might have a touch of what he had. The news in the middle of night got kind of boring so I decided I better make myself go to sleep. I turned the tv off and heard a weird noise. I thought it was the dog, so I yelled Kolbe go to sleep. Then I heard it again, it was a swooping sound across my head. I thought I better get up to see what is making that sound. I turned the light on and BAT Was diving towards my head!!! I screamed and ran into the bed room to wake Kevin up. I said, KEVIN WAKE UP!!! There is a bat in our house. He was half asleep and said....Well kill it then. I said, NO WAKE UP I'm scared! He got up and put his hoodie on and opened the door. The bat was doing figure 8 thru the kitchen to the living room. Swooping down by our heads every pass. I was screaming and laughing at the same time. How the heck did a bat even get into the house? The little black hairy thing was BIG! Kevin was running around the house with the broom trying to get him out the front door.

So finally the thing flew out......Just to fly back in! It was too funny I had to record some of it. I didn't get him flying thru the house like a crazy bat I kept hiding in my bed room because he was trying to dive bomb me. The bat decided he was done flying around and made himself a little home inside the wall. In between the window and the sheet rock is open. We still are working on what kind of trim we want to put up.....never ending homeowner battle. The bat would not come out of the wall so we decided to shut our door and go to bed. Kevin had to be up in a few hours to go to work.

A few hours pass and it's time for Kevin to go to work. He looked in the wall and you could see the bat hanging upside down. He would look at you with his beaty little eyes but wouldn't move. Kevin said, way to go Trina buy some curtains that invite Vampires into our house! I couldn't stop laughing. I finally broke down and bought some new curtains....they said on the DIY network there supposed to start at the top of the window.

Later that night it started to get dark. We decided after getting input from Lisa (who used to work with bats at the aqauarium) that they are very delicate and we have to be careful getting it out of the wall. Kevin grabbed a rip rod from the garage and tried getting him to move. All the bat would do is bite the rod. It was actually really funny seeing his little mouth biting it. I was holding the flash light with the curtain half closed. FINALLY he flew out the window!!!

My Esty Account!

My Girl!

Last night concluded the final episode of Melayna's "most favorite show EVA" .

Every tuesday night we all get together to watch the Discovery series - Out of the Wild "The Alaska Experiment". In these show they have a group of every day people (mostly city people) that are dropped of at the beginning of winter in the middle of Alaska. The do not get paid a large amount of money for winning.......it is strictly volunteering. You are there to push yourself to see how far you can make it. The people are given a map and a compass. With just this and some basic materials they have to hike back to civialization.

Melayna fell in love with all of the people on the show. She would talk about it during the week and always ask how many days till Tuesday, so I can watch Alaska Experiment. She would say Dad, I really want to go on that show. I know I would be able to eat squrriel :)

Melayna was born with an extra big heart. She has always had her own way of thinking and the way she does do them makes sense to her. I remember when she was little she was coloring a picture. Grandpa said "Melayna you need to color inside the lines" she said "but why grandpa? I like it like this". Grandpa smiled and said well Princess I don't know why you have to color in the lines" If that is the way you think it looks pretty than you do it how ever you want. From that moment on I knew she was going to be different, and I LOVE IT!

Back to the story, last night the final four finally found a train track, which meant they found civialization. Melayna was sitting on the couch and Yells...... YES!!!! I knew it, I'm going to cry now. I said, Melayna are you really crying?? I looked over and she had big crocodile tears running down her face. I said are you ok? She had a huge smile on her face and said "I'm just so happy"!

In the future I see Melayna as an avid outdoors person. She loves camping and just being in the outdoors. She can't wait till she old enough to go hunting with her dad.