Schoonies and I finally got back to the temple. It has been a busy time, but I had a Thursday off and enjoyed the trip down.

DeA has been working hard and I think we all should take a moment to check out those guns.

I have been learning Portuguese for 1000 days on Duolingo. This was a big deal to Jensley and she wanted to throw a party. It was a pretty lit party.

Ryker had his first cross country meet, it was a home meet in Manson.

He ran well and PR'd with a time of 19:27.

There was a big ward activity that afternoon at Bishop's house. DeA and I got there as soon as we could after the meet. I spent the whole time in the kitchen with Nate prepping food, taste testing corn on the cob, and carving brisket. When it was all over, as we were cleaning up, someone asked what to do with the flowers. Jill said to throw them away and all the women screamed "noooo!!" and turned an ran to save them from the tables.

DeA had a hard time deciding which flowers to take for her own boquet.

The flowers are almost as pretty as she is. But not quite.

 

Schnoogie LongStockings

DeA's favorite movie as a kid was Pippi Long Stockings. Pippi cleans the house while skating around, and apparently DeA hasn't forgotten that dream.   

The kids put a jersey on Leo Puppy for the Seahawks' first game. He doesn't walk around when they put stuff like that on him, but he did eventually lay down where he was until he was freed from his oppression.

Waking up at 5:50am and finishing cross country at 6pm is wearing little Gyker out.

A father in the ward brought his three kids alone because his wife was working. We held their daughter during second hour so that he could attend temple prep and the little girl would not calm down or let herself fall asleep.

The front door knob has been janky since we moved in, and it finally broke off. DeA had serious doubts about my ability to fix it. I'm not saying that I think that she doubted that I could fix it, I'm saying that she repeatedly told me that she doubted. But, would you look at that perfectly functioning door knob...

Ryker is using his new laser engraver to make individual coasters. 

Back to school

Every spring I get so excited for school to end. By middle of June I'm ready for school to start again and have a routine and structure back in our lives. Here is Rock's last first day of school picture. DeA cried.

Not because he is a senior, but because the kids can't just freaking stand close and smile like they love each other.

Jensly ordered this carpincho because it looks like Hampa Dale on vacation.

Horchata has learned where to lay for attention. I'm surprised that she hasn't been stepped on yet.

She looks cute and sweet, but her absolutely favorite thing in the world is torturing small animals.

The entire primary presidency was gone and I was asked to be in charge for a week. The little goats were very reverent.

After stomping on her family's grounds in The Dalles, DeA made her Grandma Anderson's sour cream cookies.

As Jensley said, they were bussin', no cap.

If you give a mouse a cookie, they will ask for a glass of milk. If you give a teenager bread, he will dip it in the jam like chips and salsa.

Rock, Jensley, and Jens' friend Cady buzzing the tower.

Summer winds down

We don't do normal smiles in this family.

Sometimes we don't even get smiles at all.

It is always nice when we are together and enjoying the noise and laughter. And farts. Lots and lots of farts.

The teenagers definitely love to egg DeA on to doing things she knows that she probably shouldn't do.

It shouldn't be a surprise that things didn't end well.

Horcha started spending time on the front porch, almost like she bullied Leo Puppy off his spot. She definitely loved the attention on the grass.

It was such a wonderful evening that Jens decided to sleep on the front lawn with Leo Puppy. He lasted about 30 minutes before he got too antsy. She stayed out there all night, I'm pretty impressed with her front yard survival skills.

 

20th Anniversary Trip

Many people said it would never happen, many said is should never happen, but somehow, someway, DeA stuck with me for 20 years. For one of us, it has been the most wonderful 20 years imaginable. For the other, she had to be married to me so...

We took off on Friday afternoon and made it to The Dalles, OR. DeA said "I love being in The Dalles because I feel like I'm stomping on my family's ground!". We had dinner at Cousin's restaurant and found our hotel which was very The Dalles-ish. We stopped by the Portland Temple on Saturday morning before hitting Trader Joe's, Chick Fil-A, and Deseret Book. All the places that aren't close to home.

We stayed in a renovated hotel on the beach in Lincoln City, OR. The view from the balcony was pretty spectacular.

The view of DeA is always spectacular.

We went on a long walk on the beach and DeA decided that they are vastly overrated.

We found a ghetto gym that was still stuck in 1983, but the girl who opened the door when we got there was dressed up like a ninja turtle (literally) so DeA felt very comfortable there.

This was not a long walk on the beach. It was a short stroll in the sand.

Being on vacation made her crave Nachos Bell Grande for 4th meal. We hooked up a Roku stick to get to watch stuff that we actually like.

That treadmill might be as old as she is. Literally.

We made the hour drive up 101 to Tillamook to see the cheese factory.

They sold a flight of ice cream in the cafeteria (the food was pretty good, BTW)

She was pretty excited for her sample tray.

The gym had a little room for power lifting and a decent deadlift platform. It was great for old-school lifting with metal plates that clang together and made it feel a little bit like Rocky IV.

We went to a seafood place so that she could get her sesame seed chicken that she always got as a kid at Long John Silver's.

The sunsets on the balcony were one of the best parts of the trip.

We were on one of our long walks on the sidewalk when we strolled past an Indian restaurant. Everything in Lincoln City is bar/grill or seafood and we were getting sick of it. The smell of the Indian place was like walking past a Cinnabon at the mall. We craved it until the next evening. DeA has never been a big fan of Indian food, but she discovered mango chicken curry and it is her new obsession in a way that I never could be.

There was a local candy store that was a lot of fun with pretty good candy and chocolates.

We had to stop by on our last night to order more mango chicken curry for the road. We also bought a cooler to make sure it made it home safely.

We stomped on family ground on the way home.

Sharon's ice cream has some incredible homemade snickerdoodle ice cream. Who knew that The Dalles was more than a truck stop and meth house?