This day in history...

April 15, 1865
President Abraham Lincoln was officially pronounced dead at 7:22:10 a.m. having received a gunshot wound in his head the night before while attending "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre. He was the first US President to lie in state.

April 15, 1912
The RMS Titanic sank in the early morning hours. Two hours and 40 minutes after striking an iceburg. On its maiden voyage. I have never seen the movie "Titanic" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

April 15, 1955
Income tax has been collected by the US Federal government since the 16th ammendment to the constitution was passed and rattified in 1913. However, tax day has not always been on April 15. It was changed to that day in 1955. I have never gone to the post office to postmark my tax return on my birthday. This year we filed in February and got our refund 12 days later!

April 15, 1977
I was born at 12:48 p.m.! The fouth daughter (fifth child) of Glen Earl and Faline. This cute picture is of me and my sister Keturah (who should start a blog).

April 15, 1985
I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Grandpa Bateman. My family was in Mesa, Arizona visiting cousins. It was a Monday morning.


April 15, 2008I woke up to a birthday couch decorate just for me! Ryan got me fabric napkins, a coffee grinder and a USB microphone. Watch out SingSnap, here I come! FYI, the coffee grinder will be used to grind flax seeds and other seeds that can then be used in making breads and such!

Photos from Oregon

Ryan loves taking panoramic pictures with our camera and then use PhotoStitch to stitch them together. Here are some from our recent trip to Oregon.


The lighthouse at Cape Meares.


Wahclella Falls
A cliff along the hike to Wahclella Falls. And then the Falls.


Multnomah Falls
Funky 1970s colors on a shot of Multnomah Falls. The upper falls from the bridge. The bridge with Sabrina and the falls behind. Sabrina, Hyrum and I are tiny specks on the bridge in the first and last photo.

The Costume Party

The queen lights the rocket boosters.

'Synomym Girl' (Word Girl's super-twin sister) and the cake.

Sabrina's costume party was a hit! The first guest to arrive forgot to wear a costume, but we took care of that quickly with the pioneer outfit I made for Sabrina last spring. We played 'Curses', which they all totally loved, 'Pass the Parcel', and 'Musical Spots'. The fondue was delicious. They liked the chocolate more than the cheese. It is amazing to me how much kids don't like birthday cake. I think I threw away about a quarter of the cake (partially eaten pieces on the plates). In the future, I should probably serve smaller portions, so there is more cake for ME to eat. Cream cheese frosting and all. And raspberry filling. YUMMY!

9 is Nifty!

Nine years ago I became a mother. My precious baby girl was born.
My how time quickly passes.

This morning we woke up to a new family tradition. (Thanks to the Schultz's!) Ryan and I had such fun wrapping her presents and decorating the birthday couch just for Sabrina. She even got her own box of Disney Princess cereal! She did jump the gun and open 2 presents before I got out of bed, but I asked her to wait for her dad before opening the rest. She got a digital tuner/metronome for her violin, a map of the Pacific Northwest, a new shirt and skirt (that matches the one I made for Aanja), a dress for her build-a-bear (from Hyrum), a set of 10 finger puppets (from Roderic), "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland" books, and a cool coupon to go buy and make a model rocket with her dad!


Tonight we are having a costume party with some friends. She is still undecided on what she'll dress up as, so you'll have to check back. We're going to have fondue and play some games. I made this most adorable cake with the help from Family Fun.

I Looked Out the Window...

and what did I see?


This is what we woke up to this morning. The sandbox is full of the recently played with sand toys. There are pea and lettuce sprouts coming up in the garden plots. I am really glad that I have not yet pulled out the capris and shorts for daily wear! Perhaps I'll still get to see 'popcorn popping' on my birthday.

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."