A Beautiful Day for Boating

The past couple of days have

 been beautiful here in Portland.  So beautiful, that our friends, Cody and Tennille, decided to take their boat out, and invited us long for the fun!  They just bought this boat a couple of weeks ago, so this was their first launch with Violet (the boat).

We went to Lacamas Lake in Camas, Washington.  I didn't even know that there was a lake in Camas, but it is beautiful.  However, there are two docks at the lake, if you ever go there, I would recommend launching from the north shore, because the lake gets pretty shallow on by the east dock (we scraped bottom,

 don't worry, Cody says the boat is fine).

After we got past the shallow part, we had a blast!  Owen did not quite know what to think at first, but he eventually warmed up to the whole thing once we gave him a job.

Can I just tell you that I think boys are crazy?  Yes, it has been beautiful the past couple of days.  You could even say that it has warmed up a bit, but the water in the lake was FREEZING.  So what does Tom and Cody ?  Well, of course, boy logic kicks in, and they go Wake Boarding.  Why go to all the trouble of taking a boat out on the water, and not take advantage of being pulled behind it, despite the frigid temperature of the water?

Here is a picture of Tom catching some sweet air.

And here is a picture of his life jacket blowing off him.  :0)

Yeah, it was pretty awesome.  We can't wait to go again.  Thanks for all the fun Cody and Tennille!

My Great Cake Experiment

Tonight was my wards Enrichment Night.  It was our Relief Society Birthday party.  They usually have a dinner and program.  And of course what is a Birthday Party without a cake?

Well, somehow, someone, somewhere heard that I make and decorate cakes, and I was asked to make the cake for this shin-dig.  Let me clarify now that I have never in my entire life decorated a cake....EVER.   So how the Relief Society got the notion that I know how to do this is beyond me.  I tried multiple times to tell them that they had asked the wrong girl to do this, but they just would not take "no" for an answer.  So I made the cake.  It was HUGE by the way, 13 in X 27 in (that is what they asked for, and their wish was my command). 

This year, the theme was "Food Storage: Creating Your Own Noah's Ark."  So I thought that I would put attempt to put an Ark on it.  This is how it turned out:

Not so bad for being a first attempt, ehh?

"Sow" Excited

Yesterday, for Family Home Evening we made a garden out of storage containers and some hanging planters.  We plan on growing veggies in the bins, and plant tomatoes upside-down in the planters.  I know it sounds like a crazy thing to do, but it is actually really cool.  

Each bin is it's own self-contained garden, with a water 

reservoir and shield to prevent weeds from growing, and supposedly tomatoes grow really well up side down.  We will see how well it all works.  You can find the instructions to make a container garden here, and an upside down tomato planter here.  

Because it is still cold outside, we did not fill any of 

our gardens up with dirt.  Instead of planting directly in dirt, we sowed some seeds in a Garden Seed Greenhouse, which supposedly helps seeds grow better.  I can't wait to see if it works.

I love having fresh herbs and veggies.  It is a definite Summer Highlight for me.  I can hardly wait for these little seeds to grow into yummy food!

Success!!!

Last night for the first time ever Owen slept in his own bed, in his own room, for the entire night!!! 

I know, I know, you are probably thinking that 14 months is a little old for this to be a first time, but I say better late then never.  

Ever since Owen was born, we have been having him sleep in the bed with us.  I love having a Family Bed, especially with a newborn.  It makes midnight feedings so easy, and I never really had sleepless nights with a new born.  Anyway, we have been slowly transitioning Owen into his crib, and last night he spent the whole night in his own bed!!!!  Hurray!

"Hoppy" Easter

Happy Easter!! I love Easter. It is full of so many great memories and traditions for me, like watching The Ten Commandments with my dad, or hiding freshly colored Easter Eggs with my brothers and sister. We never would quite find all the eggs we had hidden, and inevitably every year, someone would find a colorful egg under a rock in the back yard in the middle of July.  

When I was little I always looked forward to Easter Sunday. My parents always did a good job of making Easter centered around Christ, but I gotta admit that my favorite thing about Easter Sunday was the Easter Baskets, not because of the candy (although that was great), but because of the hunt. Yes, the "Easter Bunny," which we all knew was my Dad, took great joy in hiding our baskets, in the craziest places. All Easter morning was spent searching high and low for our baskets, while my Dad would laugh and drop hints of where they were.

Now that I am older, Easter has changed a bit.  But I still love it.  Owen is still so young, that we did not do a basket for him, or even hide eggs.  However, our stake did have an Primary Easter Party, so he did get to hunt for eggs, and make some bunny ears.  We had a beautiful Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School program today on the atonement resurrection of Christ.   

As I have gotten older, I have really truly come to understand and appreciate the importance of Easter.  I am so grateful that Jesus Christ atoned for all my sins, and then rose from the grave so that I can return to my Heavenly Father, and live again. What a true blessing.