Hawaii!!!!

This year Craig and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary....in Oahu! I can't tell you how excited we are!!! We are the original definition of cautious and boring but we decided to go for it. We chose this island because we wanted to see Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the temple. If we ever get to go again, we will choose another island but for now we are just thrilled to go to Hawaii. We go in the fall so I am, of course, vowing to lose millions of pounds and have a bathing suit body....yeah right! Who am I kidding? I turn fifty this December, not going to happen!

If any of you happen to have great advice or ideas, please share. My heart is pounding just thinking about it!!!! Aloha:)

Happy Holidays!

This year at Thanksgiving we all met in Utah where Craig's mom and most of his family live. It seemed to be the most central meeting place for everyone. Morgan, Kristin's amazing sister-in-law, scouted out the location and took the photos. About ten minutes into the shoot it started blowing and hailing, crazy!!! I am thankful to have the great pictures, thanks Morgan!

Dave and Kristen and Kylie are still in Provo. Dave is working hard to finish his Masters in Civil Engineering. Kristen does hair at home and chases a very active Kylie!!!

Nate and Ashley-living in Glendale, AZ while Nate is attending Physical Therapy School. Ashley is working hard at a local hospital waiting to get into the Physician's Assistant program.

Ryan and Kristin are living the dream in Redmond OR. Ryan is in the apprentice program with Bonneville Power and in another two years will be a substation operator. Dylan is seven and in first grade, Leila is five and in pre-k, Cohen is three in January, and Eva just turned one. They are busy, busy and happy, happy!

Can I tell you how blessed I am? Love my kids, their amazing spouses, and adorable grandkids, not to mention my fabulous husband of almost thirty years! We need a party!!!

Summer Fun

They let us take their picture before we left for home. Pretty good for a Sunday afternoon after sitting through church!

Water fight with the sponges! Thanks, Kathryn for the great idea!

The kids loved having Grandpa bounce them on the tramp.

We brought the energy level down for Eva J.

Eva cuddling with Grandpa and wondering why I was taking her picture!

Last weekend we went to Redmond to visit Ryan, Kristin and the kids. Dylan is now seven, Leila is four and will be five in November, Cohen is two and will be three in January and Eva will be one in September. Eva is walking and trying to keep up with the big kids. She is full of personality and fun.

We spent the weekend jumping on the trampoline, having water fights with sponges, putting handprints on pillowcases, having a tea party, eating yummy food and generally having a great time! Thanks for letting us come.

Sad times...

My dad passed away today at noon... not sure what else to say. He is not hurting anymore and not missing my mom anymore. Wanted to say, Happy Day! but that sounds odd because I feel so sad. I guess I will just say, "Love ya, Dad."

Images of Autumn

Kylie in the pumpkins....

Random pictures from this October. Kylie at Apple Festival. Loved those apples!

Grandpa and Leila reading Craig's favorite author, Mercer Mayer!

Cohen and Dylan... after decorating Halloween cookies, they simply must be tested for quality control purposes!



Grammyand Dylan testing the lights for family pictures. Great shot! Great kid!

Playtime with Grandpa! Here comes Cohen...

Ryan, Kristin, Dylan, Leila, Cohen and Eva. Love the plaid!

First day of church, Primary program, I think...

Blessing Day! My sister, Nancy made the gorgeous dress and bonnet.

How lucky am I? I missed seeing Nate and Ashley and Dave this fall... hopefully in the next few months... Nate graduates December 17 so we will go for graduation in Rexburg then on to Utah to see DAVE and Kristen and Craig's family before we come back to Spokane for Christmas.

Welcome Eva June!

Kylie and Eva making friends. I am sure they are making a play date or maybe plans to be roommates at college!

Cohen is full of fun! He played for almost an hour with a pound of butter. He stacked it, he made towers, knocked them over and thoroughly enjoyed the new "toy." I am not sure what he was doing with it on his very cute tummy!

The new girl cousin trio. I love these little girls! I can't wait to host a teaparty and play dress-up!

September 17, 2010 Kristin and Ryan welcomed their new addition, beautiful Eva June Wilkinson. She weighed 5lbs. 11 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. Unfortunately, I didn't get to make it for this one. I missed being there and watching the two of them work so well together. Dylan, Leila and Cohen love their little sister and take fabulous care of her! Kristin looks awesome, as always. She is amazing!!!

I feel very blessed to have such a great family. My own children married wonderful people who have wonderful families. Even though I wish we lived closer, it is reassuring to know that the other side of their families are supportive and awesome. tender mercies...

Oregon Coast...Heaven!

This is their Minpin, Meecka. Such a cute thing! ALMOST makes me want another dog!

I know this isn't the sea perch but I'm not sure what it. Whatever it was it sure was good after Carie got through with it!

Okay, so this is Barbie (Carie) and Skipper (Carrie). She is tall, blond and gorgeous! My lot in life is to be the short, squat, brunette side-kick!

Lois and two of her five boys, Paul and Craig. She is one proud mama!

This is one homely fish! I was shopping in Seaside while these bad boys were being caught!

This last weekend Craig and were able to take his mom, Lois, to Astoria for a visit. We left her with Paul and Carie, Craig's brother and sister-in-law. What a fabulous time! Craig has really missed being close to is brother so this was a perfect trip. They fished on Cannon Beach, off the slough and crabbed in Seaside (I think!) Their lovely home is right by the water and filled with love and light. They hosted a family bbq on Sunday afternoon and cooked up a spectacular fish fry on Monday with the fish they caught that morning. YUM! I will need to ask Craig again what kind of fish they were. I know one was a sea perch but the other two were.... I know one had blue flesh until it was cooked!

Much love and thanks to Paul and Carie for the perfect weekend. We love you lots!

Clark Family Reunion

Father's Day weekend we had a family reunion with all of my brothers and sisters and their families. The last time we were together was ten years ago when my mother passed away. It was fabulous!!! We had about 75 people in attendance and were missing about twenty. I know my mom was watching and laughing at the cute kids, the diverse personalities, and the fun we created and enjoyed.

We were lucky enough to have Nate and Ashley and Dave and Kristen and Kylie. Ryan and Kristin moved that weekend from the Dalles to Redmond Oregon and were unable to attend. We missed them but totally understood.

For those of you who don't know my extended family, I am one of six girls and two boys. I am number five. We range from fifty-seven years old to thirty-six years old. Each of us is strong in our own way and we make a great unit. I am blessed to be part of this family.

Easter Weekend

We were lucky enough to have Ryan and Kristin, Dylan, Leila and Cohen for Easter. Here are a few shots of dying eggs, the hunt and random pictures of the kids. Note the picture of Cohen emptying the shelf of books. I know his dad has a similar picture in his scrapbook except it was albums. Oh, come on! You remember albums! The things we listened to before we had cassette tapes and then cds! The Ryan and Kristin Wilkinson family will be moving to Redmond Oregon the first of June so this will be their last trip for awhile. We appreciate the effort it takes to travel with three kids! Thanks, guys. You are the best!

Happy Birthday, Kylie Marie

I am home and semi-settled so I thought I would add some photos of our newest little miracle, Kylie. It is an amazing thing to watch your daughter have a daughter. Kristen did so well and with Dave by her side they totally rocked! Thanks guys for letting me be part of the fun.

WE HAVE A BABY!!!

Kristen and Dave welcomed Kylie Marie Young into the world March 24, 2010. She weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz and is nineteen inches long. She is a beautiful, petite blond who looks like a real mix of the two of them yet very much like a Young! I am not very good at guessing features! All I know is she is a keeper! We are tired and happy and ready to come home from the hospital! I will post a picture later, just picture dainty features, pink skin, blond eyelashes and big luscious eyes! Okay, picture the cutest baby in the entire state of Utah!

I love spring - rebirth and new life!

See you back in Spokane this next thursday.

Coming together

As you know, I am not the best at importing pictures and having them actually go where I want them to go but I will make a valiant attempt!

We have a before picture of the kitchen(with the wall already down), the new floor with the first coat of sealer (it has mellowed quite a bit!), and the new cabinets without the counter tops and hardware, hmmm or appliances. I chose the cabinet hardware yesterday and they will be installed soon. They come this weekend to make the template for the counter tops, black granite with chocolate flecks, and they will be installed next week. We are finishing the recessed lights in the kitchen and dining room. The pendant lights over the island are on the to-do-list, as well. We have lots of patching of walls, painting of patching and trim work to complete before they do the final coats on the floor. We still don't know if we can keep the current backsplash. I am looking forward to having the dishwasher, microwave, frig and sink back in the kitchen. The back porch and downstairs are very crowded with kitchen paraphenanlia. (sp) We aren't uncovering the new floors until all of the construction work is finished!

Now I have to say, my heart is bursting with gratitude. NEVER did I think that we could or would do this to our little split-entry house! When the cabinet maker came and installed the new cabinets, it was all I could do to not break down in front of him. After they left I went to my room and bawled and thanked my Father in Heaven for all of these great blessings that are being poured out to us. Tithing blessings, tender mercies.... All I know is my heart is full. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who works so hard during the day and then works so hard with me in the evenings to accomplish this transformation. What a man!

So maybe it won't be done by Thanksgiving...

Still not able to place the pictures where I wanted to place them, I finally gave up and posted my October post anyway!

Ryan and Kristin and the kids came from the Dalles last weekend and helped sheetrock enough so they could install the garage door tracks and openers. Thank you, thank you for making the sacrifice to come, guys! Hope the thumb is okay, Ryan...

The doors were put on last week and they look fabulous. Craig installed the back man-door but still no electricity. The gable was put up yesterday so we can move onto wiring. After electricity, we insulate and sheet rock (including framing out the wall next to the house) and finish the soffit(sorry for the spelling). Somehere in there we move the Avista meter from the outside of the house (now in the garage) to the outside of the garage. This is the part that concerns me the most...

We cannot express the deep love and appreciation we feel for all those that sacrificed their time and many talents to help us get this far. The list is long and we are grateful beyond words. This has long been a dream for us, especially Craig, and we appreciate all of the help. We have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Good friends, good family, Good News. (the gospel)

Work in Progress

We are in the middle of a grand adventure, building a garage! We began in July by removing the bushes and fence from the side yard. What a difference it made! It opened up the entire yard. Hmmm . . . only to close it up again with a 28 x 28 foot garage! Crazy! Unfortunately, sacrifices had to be made. I lost my only east facing window, my dining room window. I love the morning sun so you might see me sitting on top of the garage roof with cereal bowl, facing east.

We had an amazing crew of eight men come last saturday (this was written in the middle of October!) to help frame and put up the trusses. I can't begin to express our gratitude. We are doing most of this ourselves with help and encouragment from those who actually know what they are doing!

After Craig finishes a few things we move on to roofing (ok, so done!)and then electrical, YUCK! Not looking forward to that! We are looking at lots of moisture this week and were hoping to get the roof up before it hit but... it is not to be! You know, life happens! We just feel very blessed to be building this at all. Here is a look at the progress, so far...

Craig is so excited he can hardly sleep. It is like Christmas Eve everytime something new happens on the garage. It is fun to watch! We hope to be completed by Thanksgiving.

Wannabe Athlete

So, I have always been a walker, not a jogger or a runner, a walker. Last week in preparation for the Trek, Craig and I were walking some major hills. As I am huffing and puffing up these hills, I am thinking, "If you can do this, YOU CAN JOG!" So on Friday I jogged about 1 1/2 miles of my walk. I was feeling good except for a little twinge in my hip that night after sitting in the truck for an hour. Not bad, I am thinking. Saturday afternoon we hiked around Round Lake with our boots on so I figured I better skip the jogging! This morning I jogged about the same amount, a mile and a half and walked the rest.
Here is my question: Do I continue like this for a few weeks? Do I add more jogging each day, week, month? We have the Trek this Thursday, Friday and Saturday so I don't want to add too much this week. I also don't want to injure anything so I can't do any type of exercise. Any suggestions from those who know about this stuff? I am forty-six and getting kind of old!!! Too old to start?
To tell you the truth, I am excited about this. I never thought I could be a jogger but I have always been a jogger wannabe!

July in Utah

Last week Craig and I were able to go to Utah to visit his family and Kristen and Dave. Fabulous time! I don't think we sat down very much but it was fun. Craig's mom put together a family dinner for Monday which really helps us. We love to see everyone but it is impossible to get around to everyone! We did get to see all of Craig's brothers and sisters that live in Utah at this party so that was great. Besides there are all of these cute nephews and nieces that we love to see but who wants a visit from Uncle Craig and Aunt Carrie! So can't fit it in the schedule! Throw in food, a pool and a little old fashioned parental guilt and a few of them will show up! Thanks, Goodrich clan! Love to see you guys!
We got to divide our time between Dave and Kristen and Grandma. That is a tough choice, let me tell you! My A-list when we left was - a shaved ice, fabric stores, and walking a canyon. All of list was accomplished, whew! I don't think Craig ever did get his BYU Creamery, bummer!
We had a great dinner with Kristen and Dave and his parents, Brian and Sheri. It was probably one of the highlights. Great people, great conversation! Sheri ran the Deseret News Marathon last week with a killer time. She is crazy, gorgeous and in unbelievable shape,but crazy!
Too many great times to write but it was just fun to be in Utah and with such fabulous people. Thanks for letting us come!


p.s. again, the camera stayed in the glove box the entire time! I need Kristin to snap pictures. She is the best!

4th of July with Family

We had a great Fourth of July with all of our kids here. I wish I had great pictures but.. I don't think I took the camera out once. We did have someone take some family pictures so I will post some when I get the disc. Kristen and Dave came the farthest, Provo, Utah. Nathan and Ashley came the next farthest, Rexburg, Idaho. Ryan and Kristin came the least but with the most people! from the Dalles, Oregon. We had a good time visiting, playing cards and other games, and eating yummy barbeque. One morning we went to Post Falls and played on the beach and in the FREEZING water.

Our family has always played games for entertainment, sometimes board games but alot of cards. Poor Kristin, Dave and Ashley! Not only did they marry into the strange Wilkinson family but now they have to play games. Ooohhh... BUT! Dave always finds the best games. This time he brought BANG! It is a card/cowboy game. One person is the sheriff, one the renegade, three deputies, and two outlaws. You can guess the strategies that go with this game since we don't know who anyone is but the sheriff, poor guy! Fun game.

Everyone was kind enough to come back this year for our 4th of July bbq. Susan and Bob's family came along with the Rosenbaum's and my kids. Kristin's sister, Kaylee and her husband, also joined the fun. There was lots of great food and Bree's pasta salad was killer with the curry!

The slip 'n slide was a big hit! The kids kept themselves occupied for quite awhile and the adults slipped in at the end. Sorry if you missed some of the crazier Wilkinson adults enjoying the water, as well. It was too great!

Craig and I so enjoy our family and miss them when we are apart. It looks like 2010 sometime is the next time the Wilkinson family will invade Otis Orchards. We can't wait!

Thank You notes

I am going to write a short editorial because I feel the need. A few weeks ago I loaned a book to a cute fifth grader at my school. This is not an unusual occurance. I lend many books. But this WAS the first time I have ever received a note of thanks. I was so touched that beautiful miss CL would take the time to acknowledge my deed. It caused me to think of my own actions and whether I show enough gratitude for the kindnesses shown to me. My note-writing, thankfulness skills have been sadly lacking. I am determined to be better. Thanks, CL for showing me the way!