The Bike Riders

Yesterday, as I looked out the window to check on the girls outside I found Kelsee running along side her friends as they rode their bikes. Well, that became my incentive to finally get her over her fear and get her riding. After what seemed like atleast 100 trips up and down the street with me holding her seat, she finally had it. Atleast I thought so. During this time Karlie convinced Kody to take her training wheels off and he worked with her for a short period of time. She was so wobbly we figured there was no way she would get it yet.

This morning Kelsee went out to try again, only to quit after being scared. This afternoon they went out to ride again and Karlie wanted me to put the training wheels back on her bike. I told her as soon as I finished folding the clothes. Well ten minutes later, I went out to find her riding all by herself.



When dad came home she had to show him. This spurred Kelsee and after Dad helped her for awhile she is now riding, very cautiously, but doing it all by herself. After watching Karlie tonight I feel the need to put her in full body pads. She is already slamming on her brakes and flipping the back tire around. I am so excited to see them both riding bikes. It is a cool step to finally accomplish. Good Job Girls!!

Basking in the Sun

I walked down the stair this morning to find Tiko doing his daily basking in the sun. As you can see there was a limited amount of sun on the stairs and he was taking full advantage of it. Every morning I find him in a different sunny spot. This was his most creative place yet.

The Burn

Saturday Dennis took the kids and went to Kody's basketball tournament, while I attended a pre-Youth Conference event outdoors. It was a beautiful day and a fabulous event. As a stake we are going on Trek and this was the "Iowa City" representing the last chance the saints had to do any preparations. There were 26 stations set up. The kids got to shoot guns, make walking sitcks, make candles, start fires, make a sling shot, try trail food, learn dances, make ropes, do orienteering, lasso, make butter, pull handcarts, make music with spoons and harmonicas, there was a Sweetwater rescue simulation. and many others. They received tokens for each station they completed. Then they had the option of using them at the trading post or saving them for the trail. I was in charge of getting the youth's pioneer names and bracelets made so I sat at a table most of the day. I did take the challenge in the Sweetwater rescue and sit in a barrel of ice water for 2 minutes. Doesn't sound long...until you are the one sitting there.

When the event ended one of the girls from my ward looked at me and said, "Sister Gould, haven't you ever heard of sunscreen?" Sure enough I was very burnt. I had been in such a hurry that morning I rushed out the door not even thinking. When I got home I got the lecture again from my children calling me a hypocrite beacuse I always make them wear sunscreen. Then at church yesterday I guess it was the topic of Kody's Sunday School class. I honestly did look funny and yes, it was stupid. I guess I really got BURNED in more ways than one.

Just Smile and Laugh

The last few days the kids have come up with things that leave me speechless to where all I can do is just smile and laugh.

The other day Kody and Dennis were talking about cars and maybe getting a sitck shift. Kayla piped up and said, "That is the kind that doesn't have a steering wheel" She actually thought you steered it with a stick.

Yesterday when I picked up the girls from basketball camp, Kelsee commented on how it was not fair that everyone did not get a prize. Kayla did not miss a beat and gave her a lecture on how "Life is not fair". Once again all I could do was smile and laugh especially considering this came from Kayla.

Last night as we were getting ready for bed, Kelsee said, "Mom life is like a dream. If your eyeballs popped out you would not be able to see." Ok so random. After laughing. She explained that if you could not see you would have to see life in your dreams. All right, makes more sense now. We still got a good laugh though.

Kayla scaird Kelsee, made her scream. Afterwards, in amongst the laughter said, "Wow that's a keeper."

Karlie asked me what I was going to do if she got bigger than me. She also said that when she gets to be a mom, I will be her kid.

When we were shopping the other day, Kelsee commented on how cute the clothes always were at this particular store. Karile said, "No Costco has the cutest clothes." (We did get her a really cute outfit there and for only $5). This is my child that will only go to Costco if she can get a hotdog.

The Flip-Flop Disaster.

This morning coming home from taking the girls to basketball camp and picking Kody up from Cross Country practice, we heard on the radio about "the best burger place in Seattle". So since Grandpa is coming in August and that is his favorite thing, we decided that we would find out if what they were telling us was true. So after picking up the girls we headed to Renton to find "Five Guys Burgers and Fries". Kody drove and it was a good thing he printed off directions because Garmin got us so lost. Kody was so frustrated that he made me drive after that. When we finally arrived at our destination we found out that yes, it was a pretty good burger. To make things better they made homemade fries with Idaho potatoes. YES! Finally something I have missed. Believe me, it really is the best potato. Then we decided to go and see Snoqualmie Falls.

It is quite impressive. The girls would not go out on the observation deck.

So we decided to hike the trail down to the bottom.

The bad thing is one of Kayla's flip-flops broke.

Did I mention that I hate flip-flops!!

Kody carried her screaming for a short distance.

Then the Boy Scout in him came to life and he pulled the toe strap through the thong and tied it with a weed.

.

Kelsee was the drill sargent wanting us to hurry along.

A huge slug was right in the middle of the path.

Kayla thought she was just going to die having to come back up the trail (and she was very vocal about it also). We had a bet on which would last longer, the flip-flop or Kayla.

After leaving the falls we drove on to North Bend and went to the Factory Outlets. Where we purchased Kayla a new pair of flip-flops for $1.99, but the look on her face in this picture is Priceless!!

Needless to say the broken flip-flop won!!

Better Late Than Never

Today I was searching for pictures that I had downloaded and came across a great find. Remember the anniversary post to this blog and I had no pictures... Well Kody had taken a few with his phone on that day and actually downloaded them. I stumbled across them today so indulge me a little, for the better late than never post.





Walking to the pier with Aunt Heidi






Getting "the wave" instructions
from Uncle Royce.

Trying the theory out!

Den and his mom enjoying the show.

My Little Superstar

Kayla performed in the school talent show today. She sang "Love Story" by her favorite artist Taylor Swift. She said she was really nervous, but you could not tell. She was awesome!! She brought me to tears. I am really bummed because I have tried to get the video to download, but have had no luck. So you will just have to use your imagination that it is Kayla singing everytime you hear that song!

THE BEST DATE

We had good friends invite us to go to a Mariner game with them last Friday. Dennis and I rarely go out without our children. Pathetic I know. Kody was moved up to the JV Basketball team at the last minute and had a tournament that night (which he played very well this weekend.) Luckily, I was able to get the best babysitter whom the girls adore! It was such a great time! We had excellent company and awesome seats. In my world it was the perfect date with the exception of Dennis had to go back to work right after the game and did not get home until 3:00 am.



View from our actual seats. When I showed Kody he asked me if it was my REAL seat. He knows me way to well....




Felix pitched and Griffey was the DH in the bottom of the 10th. Got to love bonus baseball. The only problem was we lost 2-1.

What more can I say, I LOVE baseball season and a huge THANK YOU to my wonderful friends for such a great night!!

The Question

So those of you who keep up with my blog know I avoided the gay question with Karie last year. Now since her new idol came out of the closet for say, I could not avoid it any longer. I did not realize how hard it is to carefully explain worldly ways to a five year old. She put me on the spot last week with why a song she liked was so bad. With both items I have tried to carefully put it in her terms. So now she knows that gay means you are happy, but also that Adam likes boys instead of girls. Then the question, "Can I still like him?" I hope I answered correctly. She explained it later to Kody telling him that we still like Adam and his great voice, but don't have to like some of the things he does.

What a crazy and also evil world we live in. I know I did not have to explain this to my other children at such an early age. I feel like by letting her watch American Idol I exposed her to this. I also know that even though we want to shelter our kids from the world, it is impossible. On a good note. While watching the NBA finals the other day, the Lakers and the Magic, the commentators were discussing the bad language used by the Magic coach. Then they brought up superstar Dwight Howard and how he does not swear. WOW. That caught my attention. You don't hear of that very often. You don't ever hear the commentators even talking about that. It was cool on all parts. I made sure that my children had heard it also. I don't know how Dwight lives the rest of his life, but good job on the language. It gives me more respect for him. Go Dwight and the Orlando Magic!!

As an added note I received this in my email today. I feel it is very fitting for this question and post:

"One of the greatest challenges for all of us is to learn how to live in the world without participating in all that it offers. Worldly standards will always be in a state of flux. The only true and unchanging standards are those set by the Savior and His teachings of the restored gospel."
--Donald L. Staheli, "Achieving Your Full Potential", Ensign, Feb 2009, 57–61

My Brush with Death....OK not really!!

Saturday when I was cleaning the kitchen I lifted up the dog dish only to find a large, Black Widow. I hate spiders and especially the Black Widow variety. Had I picked up the dish the usual way I would have unknowingly grabbed the spider. YUCK!! Luckily Dennis was home and I ran outside and made him come in verify my find and KILL it. I am really paranoid now about picking up the dish, but I for sure will not let the kids do it.

This situation got me thinking that there are Black Widows in our lives. They are lurking ready to pounce and hurt us when we least expect it. The world is full of evils. They seem to be hidden in what may look like an innocent spot. For example: an upbeat song with subliminal messages or just plain bad lyrics, a funny show with a little bit of crude language thrown in, peer pressure... There are just to many to name.

The devil knows us all to well. With every bite he is happy because he is getting us closer and closer to being caught into his web. This is why it is so important to be prepared. We need to prepare ourselves with the tools to guard us from these evils. The gospel standards and principles, scriptures and prayer. These items will help protect us and provide us with the knowledge we need when a Black Widow surprises us.

It is funny because everyone I talk to says that they did not know Black Widows lived in this part of the country. The spider was not active and barely moved. This event occured the day before I was to talk to group of Young Men & Women. The story made a great attention grabber and lead into just what I needed to wrap things up with. Do I feel this was just a coincidence? Maybe I am wrong, but I feel it was all in His plan.