Alice and Betsey...

Alice is the most nurturing of Betsey's sisters. She isn't always Betsey's favorite because she is less secure when carrying Betsey and is known to be a little too hands on, which bothers Bets, but Alice is the one who goes running in Betsey's direction if she hears her cry. Alice is the one who gives up her own fun at the park so she can push her in the swing. Alice is the one who thrills to feed her and otherwise take care of her.

Here's one example...Alice carefully pushing Betsey on the swings at horse camp.

Betsey loves to swing. She calls it "Weeeeeee". "Weeeeeee??" She'll ask?

Fun with the Keim boys...

We got up north to see Kelly and Danny's new house! It is GORGEOUS, but I didn't take any pictures...I guess that is more for her to blog about anyway. Woah, I love their nice, new neighborhood and the large yard they have and we discovered they have quite a frog pond too!

That would be Aksel towing a bunch of frogs in a tote.

This picture of Maddox totally sums up why this kid is all his daddy to me...it is also one of the only shots I got of either boys looking my direction...they aren't super excited about my picture taking.

Ruby wanted to show this frog is still changing from a tadpole to a frog...

Alice was in love with her frog and even shed lots of tears when I didn't allow her to bring it home with us.

Finishing the night with ice cream sandwiches definitely solidified for my kids that this is a place we hope to visit often! Might I add that I was BEGGING for some faces to look my way...to no avail.

Our walker...

So JUST in time for our trip to McCall (beach), Betsey started to walk on her fifteen month birthday. When a baby starts to walk this late in the game, it is usually a quick learning curve, as was the case with Betsey. By day two, I'd say she was walking about 50% of the time and by day three probably 75%. I don't think she crawled anymore as a mode of transportation by about a week. YAY! She still was quite shaky looking, but her falls were less and less frequent and she did a great job toddling around in McCall. Phew! No beaches or camping for crawlers!

Ruby and Alice were even more excited than I was at each and every little step. Wow. They sure love their baby sis.

Bishopric...

I am going to write here both LDS jargon commentary and non-LDS explanation because this is understood probably differently by both parties and I don't think I can really do the post justice with out taking that into account.

First...my non-LDS readers...Chris was asked to fulfill a volunteer clergy position in the leadership of our congregation. Wow...now that I wrote that I have to say, the jargon is really different...here is what that same sentence would say in LDS jargon...Chris was called to the bishopric in our ward. Hahahaha. Okay, so this is kind of an interesting task, but fun. Back to the explanation. Each congregation/ward has a bishop or pastor person. No one is paid for their time, nor is this an appointment based on any formal training or successor-ship. Anyone who is living devoutly is considered, and we believe that the assignment is given by inspiration from God to the current leader when his time is fulfilled. Bishops don't preach every week like a pastor, they preside at the meeting and make speaking assignments to ward members so that each Sunday there is a youth speaker and roughly two adult speakers. One of the three bishopric members speaks one Sunday per month...so Chris will be speaking roughly once per quarter. The basic gist of what a bishopric does is staff the ward with all the volunteers that are always rotating among all the "callings" or volunteer positions. For example, when I moved into the ward I was first asked to be in charge of ward communications. I did a newsletter monthly, maintained the ward website and made weekly programs for the congregation to have letting them know the layout of the meeting each week. After a year or so I was asked to work with the cub scouts. I did that for a year and a half before being asked to serve with Chris planning activities for the 18-30 year old singles which is still my calling today, two years and some change later. Chris spends time each week running around the ward asking people to fulfill various callings. He also performs our temple recommend interviews which we do once every two years to declare our personal worthiness to enter our temples. They take like 5 minutes or so with some usually unrelated chatting before and after. Other than that, Chris is kind of at everything...he went to scout camp one night, he goes to the baptisms, he goes to meetings on Sundays from 9 until church starts at 1:30 and comes home from church usually an hour or so after we get home around 5:30.

Okay, so now that the sterile explanation is out of the way I am going to share more personally how this experience is for our family.

Fist, the call was VERY unexpected. We were asked to come in and meet with a member of the Stake Presidency (shoot...a stake is a group of wards organized below a region...we are really organized). We call him President Hinckley, and he is someone we have worked with in our calling over the YSA's the past 2 years. So we totally thought that he was going to call one or both of us to be in some kind of stake level YSA calling. Probably me...probably organizing YSA social events on a stake level. WRONG. We get in the office at church where we met and chat for ten minutes or so with him about life and our family and whatever else he asked about. Then he said, "I'm about to turn your lives upside down." Duh, Duh Duuunnnn. Silence. At this point, Chris was still convinced we were there for me. I could tell we were there for Chris. So he turns to Chris and first asks him if he has a current temple recommend. "Yes." Then Chris decided he better make sure it wasn't like a few days expired or something like that. Okay, valid. So then he said, "I want to call you to be a part of the Ridgecrest Ward Bishopric." Complete shock. I know my LDS readers know why shock. For my non-LDS readers, this isn't something that you wish for or strive to achieve, it's not about position or importance or anything, so the shock wasn't about like, "we've arrived" or anything like that. It was shock because we like to think we are too young for callings like this. We totally aren't. I'd say Chis is on the younger end of the spectrum, but my brother Jeff had this calling when he was 23 or 24, so at 34, it isn't unheard of by any means...just NOT WHAT WE pictured for ourselves. For Chris, I should say. I never thought it wasn't right or that Chris wasn't qualified or up for it, I know he is super willing to serve and all that, I guess I just always looked up to the bishopric members as older, parental figures...not peers. Definitely not people who think nothing is funnier than someone getting hit in the junk on AFV. Just saying.

We talked a few more minutes and out the door we went! The NEXT DAY, the calling was extended in front of the ward, who all sustained him unanimously (votes are ALWAYS unanimous...at least I've never seen anyone oppose in my whole life...it isn't really a vote as much as a symbol of support). CRAZY. Chris sits up on the stand now on Sundays, so the girls and I juggle Betsey the best we can. Today was the first time Chris had to conduct the whole meeting. Weird.

I have to say that Chris is really unselfish with his time, talents and resources, and this calling has been a natural kind of step further in that direction. He is very willing to do this for his turn and is enjoying the friendship of our Bishop, Bishop Dennis Doutre, and his first counselor (Chris is the 2nd counselor), Bret Reynolds.

How am I? Ummmmmm...I am very supportive, I mean we benefit constantly from the service of the previous bishopric members, so it feels right to take a turn and give back and serve like we have been served. I am obviously adjusting. I feel like I have entered into single parenthood three to five days a week, and it is hard. I think I am less inclined to branch out socially because I either need to be home doing the mommy thing or I need to be home when Chris is home so that we ever have any time together.

I feel pressure to have the house cleaner when Chris gets home so that he can play with the girls and not spend his time barking at us before he runs off to a meeting. I feel TIRED of my kids!! I think I need more than the average amount of down time, and now I don't really get done with the kids until like 9PM and then I am a grouch and I still have work to do and the house to clean. It is definitely a time for transition at the Pierce house.

Chris' parents came to visit two weeks after he was called because his calling means he is now a "High Priest" and his dad was able to ordain him to that new office of the Priesthood. I'm not even going to try and explain all that...click here for a wiki explanation if you are still with me.

So as soon as we found out they were coming to visit for a couple of days, Chris wanted to spend the time building something with his dad. Chris really enjoys building things, but he has very limited time and usually just keeping up with basic yard maintenance is all he can really do aside from work and serve. So he and his dad often tackle something together. My project won out and I got a window seat built in my kitchen! I am having the cushions sewn for the benches and then I am going to hang cafe curtains on each window and get some upholstered chairs to sit on the non-bench side of my new, beautiful round kitchen table. I hope to post the final images before too long...stay tuned.

It was wonderful having Sam and Perry here. My girls really ate up all the quality time with Grandma and they had plenty of time to play with Grandpa too. The weather was wonderful and they played lots of frisbee and read lots of books and worked on some crafts that Grandma and Grandpa brought as gifts. Betsey decided it was time to walk while they were here which was wonderful for them to witness! It's always basically heart wrenching when they leave. Alice and Ruby cried and cried and cried and cried. I'm so glad we got to see them here because we don't have plans to go to Colorado until summer of '12. Boo!

Today...

...Ruby tied together six of my nice scarves, put the end of the long scarf chain on her head, anchored it to her head with a hat and was Rapunzel...for a long time.

...My car was dead with no minutes to spare and no useful neighbors. Text messaging is the best...Rachel to the rescue!

...Alice got out a sleeping bag and tried to clean her room by filling the sleeping bag with all her toys and clothes that were all over the floor. She said she just needed a really big bag. Her plan had a few flaws...where do you hide the sleeping bag that is now larger than your father? I think she should stick to stuffing things under her bed. Somehow when we outlawed that practice, she didn't get the message that things really need to be put back where they belong.

...Chris went to mutual for the first time in his new calling (as of Sunday, 2nd counselor in the bishopric).

...I asked them what they were playing, and once Alice said, "I am the queen and Braden and Ruby are fighting over me." Huh.

...The swords that they were fighting with had thorns from my rose bushes glued to them...they were pretty fierce.

...I told Alice that her cousins that we didn't think were coming to our family reunion are coming. She said, "Emma is my favorite cousin! I haven't seen her in 30 weeks...no longer...15 weeks!" Shoot. her kindergarten teacher is has her work cut out for her.

...Ruby started a photography business called, "Ruby Girl Photography." Alice cooperated as a model for at least two hours and put on virtually every single dress she does or doesn't fit into. These amazing images adorn this blog post. She is pretty cheap, but you get what you pay for!

...Alice let a rolly poly (or in my lingo...potato bug) get cozy on her face.

**We interrupt this post to highlight the below picture. It made me laugh out loud. I think I need to put together a posing guide for my photo shoots...and this pose is perfect FOR SURE when clients are wearing dresses...**

...Ruby cantered over a larger jump at horse riding lessons...way to go, Ruby!

 

...Betsey said, "yummy."

...Betsey also played in the kitty litter box which I am officially going to remove from our house. That cat now belongs outside.

...I canned roughly 600 pounds of beans, rice and sugar with my girl Kelly Benner. 1400 pounds to go.

Bluest eyes...

I love this picture! I wish it was my baby so I could put it on my wall in a 20x30. Sometimes I know immediately that we scored a magic shot...and that is how this shot was.

Easter with friends...

The kids had to hunt for their candy filled eggs in the house and they loved it.

They also hunted around for their basket when first got up.

We usually spend the holidays with family up north, but it was nice this Easter to stick close to home and spend the day with the McDonald's. We had a nice breakfast/brunch together and had an indoor (it was wet and rainy outdoors) Easter egg hunt with the kids before church.

Love the cute Easter-themed hand made outfits the McDonald girls have on? So cute!

15 month rebellion...

"You can force feed me peas, you can wrestle me into a clean diaper, you can even put me on a chair in the front yard and point your camera at me...but you can't make me smile!"

She is happy here...she loves her squeaky shoes and pushing things around walking with her corresponding squeaks. That was something to smile about, but only when looking down.

This picture (below) sends nervous shivers up my spine...she inherited this expression...and it is going to come my way a lot in 13 years!

I tried everything. I danced, barked, jumped, squeaked and played peek-a-boo, but Betsey was NOT having any of it. Little does she know, I'm her mom and I like all her faces...even the rebellious ones! Thanks Betsey!

Whale Watching Tour...

We loved our homeschool program this year. They paid for so many awesome experiences! We got to go on a whale watching tour for an entire day! We travelled over by ferry to Pt. Townsend. Amanda, Mason and Van joined us for that trip and we all stayed the night in a great Worldmark condo.

Here are the kids on the ferry...

Alice and Mason have a very special bond. It's no wonder he adores her, she's always playing with him so sweetly. Here they are playing "hide and going seek" and Mason and Alice are counting down to when they will run and find Ruby.

Ruby is miss social. She makes new friends everywhere she goes. Here is her bff for the day on the whale tour boat.

Alice usually sticks pretty close to me when Ruby makes her own friends.

We saw many whales and other sea life, but I'm not into nature photography...so here were are mid-day, in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. We had lunch, did some souvenir shopping and just enjoyed the nice weather and a lovely little pedestrian friendly town.

They advertise ice cream THOROUGHLY, so the girls were asking from moment one for an ice cream treat...we just had to.

Alice liked identifying the different animals we saw. They were pretty far away from the boat, so these diagrams were helpful.

With some encouragement, Alice made some new friends and spent some time at the back of the boat talking to the captain's assistant about the different animals we saw.

It was a great time, I highly recommend it!!