How Can I Keep from Singing?

On my last night in Portland, Milaka invited me to attend "Chorus" with her. Doug was willing to watch my 3 children and put them to bed, yippee!

She is a member of Pride of Portland, a womens a cappella chorus that sing Barbershop. It was amazing. The director was so fun to watch and sing for. He had a way to make you want to sing better. We rehearsed the three songs they're working on for the international competition this fall. I was Milaka's shadow, and stood by her the whole time, even when the assignments were changed. I had a hard time falling asleep that night because I had so much adrenaline from the good music.

I do want to be a member of Sweet Adelines International and sing in a Barbershop chorus. Perhaps I can have that happen sooner, than later. I'm glad my mom introduced my sisters and I to the wonderful world of Barbershop singing. It is nice to have a part of my own. As Milaka told the ladies who asked at chorus, having us sing together in a quartet is the way that our mom got us to get along when we were younger.

The King of April Fools

Ambrose told Sabrina this morning at breakfast that Alton is "The King of April Fools." When Sabrina mentioned that to Milaka as we went to IKEA, she told us about last year, when Alton took a white pony-tail holder and wrapped it around the spray nozzle at the kitchen sink, so that when you turned on the water, you were sprayed.

When we got home from our shopping excursion, Alton came over and told me quietly that I should avoid using the kitchen sink for a while. A few minutes later, Doug turned on the water and got sprayed. He got a gleam on his eye, didn't say a word. Milaka was standing in the kitchen as well. More minutes pass and then Milaka turned on the water and got completely sprayed. So wet she had to change her shirt. What a lucky mom she is to be the mother of "The King of April Fools."

Travelling Family part 3

This morning we hiked to Wahclella Falls, a 2 mile round trip hike. Hyrum was in the backpack on Ryan's back. Again, as we left Milaka's house, it was raining/snowing, but about 5 minutes after arriving at the trailhead, all rain stopped and we had sunshine the rest of the day. Sabrina was our trailblazer. Roderic walked all the way there and about 10% of the way back. Then Ryan carried him on his hip. Still with Hyrum on his back. I've learned another way that this area is so green. There is moss growing on all the trees. It looks like a green shag carpet completely covering the trees.

We drove back along the Columbia River Gorge Historic Scenic By-way passing waterfall after waterfall. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and hiked up to the bridge at the brink of the lower falls (.2 miles on a paved trail, pushing Hyrum in the umbrella stroller). Beautiful. It was really remarkable how many waterfalls we saw. Big and small. I guess I'm used to living in a desert. Roderic got to see 2 freight trains up close and personal because the train tracks were right next to the parking lot.

Ryan flew back to Boise tonight. He's got to go to work in the morning. As we were driving along Marine Dr. on our way to the Airport, we got to see several 'neighborhoods' of houses built on the Columbia River. Floating houses. Some houses did have garages, for their boats. Milaka took this picture for me, since I was the driver. Pretty cool.

Travelling Family, part 2

Getting 6 children and 4 adults dressed and out the door for 9am church is not an easy task. We arrived shortly after 9am, while the opening hymn was being sung, #64 On This Day of Joy and Gladness. We didn't pay attention to what verse was being sung, so Milaka led our group into the chapel. The hymn ended. The person saying the prayer waited at the pulpit while we all finished filing into the row, climbing over Ambrose who wanted to sit on the side. Talk about a dramatic entrance. We had a lot of people notice we were visitors. I was surprised at how many said I looked like Milaka, but agreed with them none-the-less.

Every week, Roderic tells us how much he doesn't want to go to church. How he wants to go to Nursery instead of Sunbeams. This week was no different. When we get to church, though, he is happy and running off to his class. This week was no different. Ryan took him down to the primary room, asking where the sunbeams go. Then Roderic happily took the sister's hand and walked with her until he was dropped off in the sunbeam classroom. She asked him what his name was and he said "Wodewic." She turned to Ryan for translation and then Roderic said, "My name is Wodewic Wyan Gibby." Apparently the sunbeam teachers also had a problem understanding his name. As we were putting him to bed, he told us, "Them called me Wobert. My name isn't Wobert, its Wodewic Wyan Gibby." When I picked him up from Sunbeams, the teachers told me he told them that he would be back at Thanksgiving. News to me. Perhaps we'll get Milaka to host the Christensen Thanksgiving dinner at her house this year.

Travelling Family, part 1

We came to Gresham, OR for a long weekend to visit Milaka and family. As soon as we arrived yesterday, it was time for Aanja's birthday party to start. I went with Milaka, Sabrina, Aanja, 3 friends and Ambrose to a giant mall 20 minutes away to a Build-a-Bear Workshop. It was a really cool party.

Today, we braved the rain/snow/sleet/hail and went to the beach. Before we saw the ocean though, we went and toured the Tillamook Cheese factory. It was not fully operational today, since it is a Saturday. [Of the 3 factory tours I've ever been on, only one of them had working machines and people, and that was in Ukraine!] We did get to see two ladies heft 42 lb. blocks of cheese, watch them get vacuum-sealed in plastic bags, put in boxes and go up a spiral conveyor belt. Then, we got to EAT cheese samples. Yum. Did you know that they age sharp cheddar cheese for about 2 years? And of course we had to buy a magnet for my collection and some ice cream cones.

We went to the beach at Oceanside, OR. It was beautiful. When we left the van, the sun was shining and it even felt warm. After about 10 minutes, Ryan ran back to the van to get mittens (for Roderic) and warm hats. All told, 12 sand dollars were collected (6 coming back to Boise with us). Roderic was hilarious in picking up a handful of sand, running to the edge of the surf, throwing it in and running back as fast as he could to not get his feet wet. After another 15 minutes, we were all cold and it started raining again, so we ran back to our cars. We drove for a few minutes and then we stopped at Cape Meares, walked down to the lighthouse and did a bit of whale watching.

To come back to Gresham, we drove along US 101, Pacific Coast Highway. It was such a beautiful drive. We stopped at Cannon Beach to eat dinner at Mo's. I had Parmesan Cheese Sole and Ryan had Halibut and we both had a cup of the most delicious Clam Chowder. The kids shared a Fish & Chips basket and a Chicken Strips Basket. It was too bad that Ambrose didn't make it to the restroom before he puked in the gift shop/lobby of the restaurant. And then it took several minutes for the staff to come and clean it up. Commenting on the slowness of the cleanup a woman at the table next to us said, "Some tables have views of the ocean; and other tables have views of vomit." When the staff finally came, they first thing asked if he had eaten the clam chowder. Apparently children have had problems with it before.

All in all, this has been a great day. It has been neat to spend time with Milaka, Doug, Alton, Aanja and Ambrose. And yes, Noelle, I did bring up creating a blog with her, but she's not ready to set one up yet.

Spring Break!

In the Boise School District, Spring Break starts at 1:15 pm on the second to last Friday of March. This year it happened to be Easter weekend. So at church, instead of the chapel being filled to the brim with people, it was sparsely populated. The primary children (who were there) sang "Hosanna". Roderic wouldn't go up to sing, though; he was feeling shy and nervous (and he peed his pants). I got to sing "I Walked Today where Jesus Walked" in an ensemble of talented people (standing next to my honey) with an amazing accompanist. Our ward choir didn't sing because all of the accompanists and a lot of singers were out of town for Spring Break. In January, at a choir practice where I asked who would be in town on Easter, 3 people raised their hands. Then as I was finding people to sing in a triple-quartet, lots of singers came out of the woodwork. They must not have been at that one choir practice in January.

Since we have Sabrina enrolled in the Optional Calendar class at her school, meaning a year-round schedule, we rarely leave town the week of spring break. Starting last Friday at 1:15 pm, she has no school for the next 3 weeks!

The YMCA offers swimming lessons for school-aged children during Spring Break that cost $15. The lessons are daily for 45 minutes (15 minutes of instruction outside of the pool and 30 minutes in the water). Stacy and I are carpooling, so I'm only driving on Tuesday and Thursday. During the lessons, the kiddie pool (1 to 2 ft. deep) is open and available for the younger siblings of those taking lessons. Roderic and Hyrum had a lot of fun in the pool this morning. Although, Roderic is scared by the buckets of dropping water in one corner of the pool. And he refused to go down the dragon slide.

When Sabrina got home yesterday, I asked if she was in the same level class as Sara and Tessa. She said no. I asked how many swimmers were in her class. She said 2. I asked how many swim instructors. She said 2. Lucky her! Lucky me! We are basically getting a week of private lessons for $15! (Today she said there were 3 teachers for her class.) If you'd like to watch her technique, which is a lot better than mine, click on the movie below.