AMA Supercross Race @ Qwest Field 4/18/09

Cole is really into motorcycles, riding his and watching the pros race theirs! So we decided to get tickets to the race in Seattle. At first Steven was just going to take Cole, then we decided why not take the whole family!!! We got decent seats... we had a great view of the whole track and the tickets included free pit passes. Bonus! We left home @ about 9:30am and arrived in Seattle just about noon. Paid an outrageous amount of $$ to park for the day then headed to the pit!This is our family just before the main event!
Once the sun went down it really cooled off, so when they set off this enormous flame it felt sooo good! It instantly warmed the entire stadium!

This is the view from our seats! We watched all the warm-ups and qualifying heats too!

here is one of James Stewarts bikes! Cole and Steven had hopes of getting their posters of Chad Reed and James Stewart signed by them, but the lines were Enormously long! If only we would've stood in line instead of watching the warm-ups(4 hours) that would've been no fun. Instead we got a lot of great pictures and videos of them! Stewart walked right passed us, and Cole and him

brushed shoulders!

This is the line for Chad Reed autographs. We did see him, so that was cool!

This is Reed's Mechanic's Truck and set-up area

Okay check out the dirt mover's equipment. I have to mention this... They always pre-order all of the dirt that they bring in for the track. Well... being that this is in Seattle, they figured on rain. They brought in dirt that had alot of sand in it so when it rained it would pack down and the riders would get better traction. Well... it didn't rain! So the track was super soft and falling apart. They brought in a large water truck to spray down the entire track.. and they reworked the whole thing... but it just wouldn't stay together. So these dirt mover guys had to fix the track in between each heat! Talk about alot of work! It was quite impressive how quickly they did it!

This is the start of the Main event! So cool to be right there!

The race got over at 11pm... this is the view right outside the stadium! We had a great time! FYI Stewart took 2nd, Ryan Villopoto won the race, and Reed took 7th.

Seattle and Skagit Tulip Festival 4/19/09

Since we were already in Seattle for the AMA Races, we decided to go another 60 miles North to Mt. Vernon, Washington;To The 26th Annual Skagit Tulip Festival. Fields and fields of colorful Tulips and Daffodils. There were alot of people there. We had our camera on our tripod so we could get a family photo without bothering anyone else to take it. Funny thing... severalpeople saw us with it and asked us to take their picture, because we looked like we knew what we were doing...?!?! (their words not mine) Now if I could just get Steven to take his shades off of his forhead for a picture!

Yes I am in the middle, I am certain that I won't have that spot for long.

I wish I would have packed a more vibrant shirt for Presley to wear. This light pink looks washed out.

Sierra Jessica

Cole Preston

This is Maddy's sense of humor. "Mom take a picture of me, guess who I am?"

LOL (dang I should have taken a picture of Steven while Maddy had his shades)

what was I thinking?

Sydnee Brooke

Presley spent most of her time running up and down the rows of tulips.

I thought this was a totally cool picture of Downtown Seattle. On the left is where the Mariner's play Safeco field, then the Qwest Center, home of the Seahawks, that is where the supercross races were. Right in between them is the space needle (or space eagle according to Syd) Right behind these buildings is the Port of Seattle where all of the cruise ships come in. Pikes fish market runs along the pier. If you are ever in Seattle it is worth spending a day there!

The last time we came to Seattle was to pick up Rachelle and Aaron from their Alaska cruise. We all went up in the space needle and Sierra happened to be at girls camp so she didn't get to experience it. So this is for Sierra! Oh and Flat Stanley too! (Flat Stanley is a school project of Sages, he is visiting us and taking in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!)

First Softball Games for 2009!

So Thursday we started with Cole's track meet @ 4pm against Hood River Wy'East. (That is where Steven went to junior high.) His first event was the 4X100M relay. They took 1st with a time of 49.4 sec.

Then he ran the 200M, half way thru his run he pulled his hamstring, he still finished 2nd with a time of 26.36 sec. He was hurting pretty bad... he stretched out and tried to keep from cramping up. He had to adjust the rest of his events. He decided to not run the 100M but to run the 4x200M relay instead. (only because 3 of 8th grade boys were not @ the meet)

So for long jump he did the best he could with his injury he still took 1st with 16 ft. 11 in.

On the 2nd relay they took 1st with a time of 1minute &51 sec. He ran his leg of the relay in 26.4

I was so proud of him for sticking it out and participating with a pulled muscle.

FYI 2 weeks into the season, Cole still holds the record for the long jump for 8th grade boys in the state of Oregon. I'm holding out for at least a 19 foot jump. I know he has it in him!

The fun part of the evening is trying to get all of our kids where they need to be. Maddy's game was out to Barlow high school @ 5:45pm.. Presley's game thankfully was @ Highland(located in our backyard)@ 5:45pm and Cole's last event didn't get done until 5:45pm. Steven left early to take Maddy, I stayed till Cole was done then rushed Presley to her game. WHEWWW... crazy!

I Really don't know how we are going to manage the rest of the season... one way or another! Both Maddy & Presley's games are on the same days & Times always @ 2 different locations. Then throw in Cole's track meets that happen to be the same days... WHAT was I thinking? This is Cole with 2 of the other boys on the 4x200M relay, Nikko & Sawyer

(notice he is rubbing his injury)

Again Steven could not stand by and watch some middle school girls destroy the pit, especially because Cole hadn't jumped yet. He is afraid that he would snap an ankle with the sand all dug out.

(what a thoughtful dad)

Presley is so serious about softball.. she loves to win! Hit hard, run fast!

Presley & Maddy at Cole's track meet before their games!

Maddy at shortstop going after a fly ball... she did catch it!

This was so comical to me that Presley would hit the plate with her bat inbetween pitches! She actually hit it over 3rd base!

Independent Presley!

Okay so back a week or so ago when Steven & I were in Arizona/Cali I told Presley she should do her daily reading to Grandpa or Sierra. Each night I would check in with her to make sure she had read and that they signed her chart. She assured me that she read to Grandpa the first two nights. (And yes I see that she is correct, that is Grandpa's signature.) Then she told me that she read to Sierra the next 2 nights. I took her word on it. I wasn't too worried because she is a good reader and she has to read daily to her teacher at school the same chapter that she reads at home to verify she does know the words. If she needs more practice on a chapter her teacher reassigns the same one to her the next day.

Well I had been home for a few days, and not really paid much attention to her chart. You'll notice that I even signed it a couple days after Sierra had. Tuesday,I was busy getting the kids ready for school and I realized that Presley had not read to me last night. So I told her to get her book and she could read to me before school. She quickly told me that she already read to Sierra. Well, Sierra just happened to walk in on the conversation and looked puzzled. "She didn't read to me." I then looked at Presley's chart and realized that Presley had signed Sierra's name! Twice while I was gone and another since I had been home! The little stinker loves to read silently to herself. So she had read the chapters, but not to an adult! She didn't want to bother anyone! See how nicely she signed Sierra's name. lol
She of course felt terrible when she got caught, she grabbed her blanket and went and pouted on the stairs. I must take the blame. I didn't even notice until Sierra said something.! First graders, gotta love 'em!

Happy Easter 2009!

Sierra wishes everyone a Happy Easter! We had our egg hunt a day early. Weather was alot nicer on Saturday than it was on Sunday! (gotta love the NW weather) Thanks Uncle Mike & Aunt Krista for having it at your house! We had fun!

Good times on an Easter Egg Hunt. These 3 girls are all the same age, Elise, Presley & Brielle

They were so cute.. Elise found more eggs than they did but she divided them up equally! Such a sweety to share!

Dyeing eggs and decorating them is always Fun!

Maddy's friend Delaney spent the night and they had a blast!

Sierra was kind enough to take some pictures for me! Thanks Sierra! I love them!

Here is our group that participated in the egg hunt!

Brielle,Parker, Sierra, Chandler, Sydnee, Maddy, Delaney, Deagan, Kira, Cole, Katie, Presley & Elise

Mike & Steve

Brotherly love!

Cole and Parker

Katie(lives in Utah) spent her spring break here with Grandma Judy, and we all got to visit with her! Aunt Julie, Kira & Sierra

Maddy, Delaney and Sydnee had a good time looking for eggs in Aunt Krista's Huge back yard!

Here they are getting ready to charge after the eggs!

Cole and Parker really look ready with their baskets on their heads!

White Lightnin'! Track is Back! 2009

Track season has begun! Whoo hoo! Cole is taller,stronger & Faster! Dang he is fun to watch! And I am not just saying that because I'm his Mommy...well maybe so but he is Amazing! First meet was this last Thursday the 9th of April @ Gresham High School.
He ran the 200M and took 1st with a time of 26.06 seconds!
He ran the 100M and took 2nd w/ a time of 12.75 seconds!
His 4x100M relay took 1st w/ a time of 50 seconds flat! (state record for 8th grade is 49 seconds, and they ran that in practice) So needless to say they will be competetive all season, as long as they get their hand-offs smooth they will rock!

Cole took first place in the long jump: 18ft. 1.5 in. Steven could not just stand by and watch the long jump pit crew make a mess out of the pit!He had to take over! what a nice Daddy!

Here are a few of Cole's buddies that came to see his meet!
Willie, Brody, Cole & John


The boy to the right of Cole is Devaunte, he is on the relay w/ Cole and that is who took first in the 100M

So here is a short clip of Cole jumping! Enjoy!

Weekend Trip Flying to Arizona to Drive a Truck & Trailer Home!

So Steven's Boss purchased a truck and trailer down in AZ and then gave us the opportunity to fly down to get it. Steven arranged for his Daddy to watch our kids for 4 days so I could go with him and see my family. We spent 7 hours in the airport because the first flight was overbooked. We finally arrived in Phoenix at 7:30pm. Thank you Mom and Dad for picking us up. We spent the first night at my sister Angelene's house and got to inhail her 2 gorgeous children! Thank you Angelene & Zach for having us. I thought this was a totally cool picture of the wing of the plane!
Okay so Steven got this idea of looking for a new toy while we were in Az. It was love
at first sight. Steven spent the remaining 4 days of our trip presenting me with the pro's
of purchasing this amazing sand car. I mean come on it is awesome and we would have a blast on the dunes with it!
It has now been a week and he is still trying to convince me.


Friday when we were in Az the wind blew all day.. even sprinkled in the evening. Our Truck was dirty to say the least. My Daddy took paper towels and windex to the whole truck. Thanks Daddy!



Me and my Mommy

The second night we spent out at my sister Rachelle's. Everyone came out for a BBQ. It is always fun to get together with family. I just wish all of my kids could've been there too. The big boys shot some pool as soon as all the litle kiddies went home.

My mom, me, Rachelle & Angelene

Thanks Chelle and Aaron for letting us crash at your place!

And thanks Aunt Chelle for all of the gifts you sent home for my kids!

Rachelle took my camera for a bit and took a bunch of pictures, this is one of my favorite's

Sage, Tatum, Chelle & Capri

Okay so My oldest, Sierra makes movies/videos and she gave Auntie Chelle copies of them. She played them during the BBQ and the kids all sat around and watched. So cute!

This is Steven with some good friends of ours. Darrin and Sarah Kauer. Steven went to high school with Darrin and they played football together. Sarah was in one of the first wards we were in when we were first married. We set them up on a date and the rest is history. It was so good to visit with them.