Time for a new post!

The thing is, I'm just not a very good picture taker. I would love to be better at documenting my life but I'd rather just live the moment than worry about remembering it. This inability to be a good photographer has led to the lack of postings on my blog. Nobody wants to read a blog without pictures. So I've come up with a few fun pictures to help create a new post. Mostly, I should be writing a paper right now about teacher directed vs student centered teaching practices. Would you rather blog or right a paper about that? Seriously!

Morning commute:

The other morning I stopped to take a picture of my morning commute to work (please refer to the above paragraph whenever you feel the desire to critique my photos).


There's nothing like watching the sunrise, looking past a bird refuge, with the silhouette of Mt Hood. It almost makes going to work everyone morning worth it.

Birthdays:

We've had fun celebrating Abbie and Jaxon's birthdays. Any excuse to have a party. We made Graham Cracker Castles for Abbie's birthday. Nothing better than graham crackers with frosting and lots and lots of candy.

Trip to Utah:

No pics of this but it was sure a fun trip. Thanks again Miriam for making it happen. I sure love being with those brother's of mine and their sweet little children. Can't wait to see you again at Christmas.

Halloween:

I love Halloween with the nieces and nephews. A friend of mine said it best when he said, "Halloween is much better when you have kids." Amen to that. We trick-or-treated for almost three hours, all five adults and six children. Sage was a die hard. Abbie was intense. Connor was content. Emily was just along for the ride. Jaxon didn't have a choice. Holly just needed a sucker in her mouth at all times. Rick pushed the stroller. Heidi smiled and tried to make everyone happy even if we never found the full size candy bars that we were promised. Stephanie had a nice butt in those foxy pants. I made sure everyone got candy. And finally Jake...you haven't experienced trick or treating until you've done it with Jake. He DOESN'T MESS AROUND. If there's a door to be knocked he'll knock it. He takes Jaxon by the hand and runs to every door on the street. He is the most driven trick or treater I have ever met. He brings a whole new dimension to the activity and I love it! Thanks for making it so fun.

Creativity is not a gift I was blessed with. The only reason I continue to move to different states and different schools is so that I don't have to come up with another Halloween costume. Hence the reason why I have to move to Africa next year. The Zambians will love it. This year I dressed up as...

(These are the only two roommates I've had while I've been in Oregon. Aren't they just adorable?)

St Helens:

I've been wanting to hike St Helens ever since I moved to Oregon. I finally had the opportunity at the end of September. The whole weekend was a blast. I laughed the entire way down (going up was a different story). The girls were served breakfast in bed because it was too cold to get out of our sleeping bags. It's nice to be spoiled every once in a while. There's nothing like the feeling you get after summiting a mountain.