Willowbrook!!

I just dropped off my boys at this wonderful arts camp. I wanted to stay and make art too. Pottery, dance, film, theater, puppetry, origami... Tons more ..and the kids get to pick where to spend time! Walking through the camp felt like I was going to my long lost home. I love artists. There were lots of bearded men with weird clothes and instruments and hats. There were people in their pajamas and wearing layers of funky clothes with born shoes or keens in bright colors. There were hand painted signs all over and bin rage sheets with flower prints as backdrops. There were thousands of origami birds and woven fairy art and tassels and castles and drippy paint. It was my kind of place. I must figure out how I can work there!

Eirik said:

"Don't touch my stomach. It's exotic and by that I mean active"

Day at Grandparents

The kids got to spend the afternoon at Pat and Johns house. I was so thrilled to have an afternoon to get some business done that I would not have cared if they watched tv the whole time so imagine my delight when I went to pick them up and the kids couldnt wait to show me that grandpa had made balloon animals, and parachute rope bracelets with them. Grandma had given them each an old cell
Phone and to Eirik a Bluetooth. She had also helped them transplant beans into pots they could take home. They got to eat popcorn, macaroni, root beer floats, and carrots and grapes. Now that is what we have been missing!! That's why we moved by family!

Sectional

I'm having nightmares that I chose the wrong sectional. I have been dreaming about buying a sectional for so many years and finally got to go and pick one and I am worried that in my anticipation I just blew the whole thing! I picked the style below in a tan color. I was sold because they have a 5 year warranty on the fabric. No matter what happens to the fabric they will come out and clean it for us or replace it. I thought that was a pretty amazing deal and so even though I was not in love with any of the fabrics I went with it because of the great warranty and because it was a six week lead time and I just wanted to get it orderded. I am supposed to be really good at choosing furniture right? Well my practical working knowledge is way behind my theory and a little experience in the furniture buying world is going to go a long way for me. I have tons of confidence buying second hand, but new and custom, well that's all new to me and my hours and hours and hours of shopping online did not prepare me for the anxiety of finally getting to choose the couch of my dreams.
Didn't I just write about not caring about the things of this world too much?? This is a great sectional right? Will it look great in tan with white and tweed pillows??? Why in the world do I second guess myself so much??

I like to make stuff.

Joren was having a hard time going to sleep tonight so i laid next to him and let him talk. This is what he said: "I like fossils. I like whale teeth. I like sculptures. I like to make stuff. Can I please sign up for willow brook? That's going to be my thing. I like to make stuff. Mom, how do you make liquid? Like water? Who made God? I like to know stuff. Knowledge. I want to know the future. "

Today we had Sunday dinner at Pat and Johns. They serve dinner on their lovely collected china sets and each child gets a tiny miniature tea set at their place. They absolutely love it and my kids had no interest in eating the roast and pototoes but loved the tea sets and cousin time. I enjoyed talking to grandpa Rallison. I can't help but wonder each time I see him if it will be my last. Last week when we saw him at Ben and Kim's house I said" grandpa, we want to come visit you at your house." he said: "we'll don't wait too long." with a twinkle in his eye. His stroke has made him forget names, nouns and numbers but he is still sharp as a whip and very funny. I watched him struggle to eat. It took him a long time and could not cut up his food without a lot of difficulty but he would never have let us help him. He refuses to stop driving even though he probably shouldn't be. He fell and hurt his hip this week. He was concerned about it but would not see the doctor because he said, "knowing what is wrong is not going to change anything." Paul told him he had a skin cancer on his ear and grandpa looked at Paul and said "well thanks a lot" with his sparkling eyes. He said something like "well when people get old these things happen, and now I'm one of them".

Today in Sunday School we learned that if someone is righteous they are on the right side of God or their will is in line with the Father. Someone who sins is simply someone who does not do what the Father says. The main reasons people are not righteous are because they are worried about the things of this world or the honor of men. I have spent the day considering how much I care about the things of this world or the honor of men. I a have always been a people pleaser. I lost my temper today. I will spend my week considering my motivations in more detail. I also plan to think about how I can be more decisive, spin my wheels less, and be more action oriented when it comes to making my dreams happen. I want to take some risks and I need some good plans.

I never stop thinking about making art. I have two large boxes full of art that I am not even going to hang on my walls in this house. Most of it is just not good enough but also I just have too much art, but I still want to make more. Why? I'm like Joren. I just want to make stuff! I'm not focused. I'm scatterbrained. I don't remember things. And I am completely obsessed with color. That's just who I am even when I try to run from it.

Hosting Kristen's 30th!

We hosted our first Aanderud family gathering at our house last night.
This is why we moved here and it was great. It was a fun birthday party for Kristen. Happy 30th!

Another perfect day

Another gorgeous day. Jorens last day of sports camp. Eirik bought me a frame at a garage sale. Paul and I met with 5 contractors at the office to get bids on all of the work we want to have done.
Pizza at round table with Grandma Pat and Grandpa John. We took the kids to Costco to get goodies for aunt Kristen's birthday party at our house tomorrow. Eirik wanted to buy us all ice cream with his allowance. On the way home we stopped to check out our third Marshall arts studio. It was perfect so we signed the boys up for a 3 week trial period. It's expensive but you should have seen our adorable boys working so hard to impress Master Lee. They showed their best manners, their hardest punches and their loudest giiups. (I don't know how I spell that). They were so elated when I told them I paid for a trial period. Eirik offered to do 8 extra jobs tomorrow and said we were the best parents in the world. I did feel pretty awesome, but it's not me, it's Paul that is amazing. I remember wanting so bad to go to gymnastics when I was a kid but classes were $40/ month and it was too much for our big family. I was the oldest of six and it was too hard for my mom to take me into town dragging along my 5 siblings. I was so disappointed. I remember having to quit right before our first tournament. I hope my parents don't feel bad when they read this. I understand perfectly what a huge sacrifice that would have been for my whole family. I would have loved to do more dance, art, martial arts, sports, everything and I am so excited that money won't hold my kids back from opportunities. I am also reeling with excitement when I look through the west linn parks and recreation booklet at all the classes, camps and workshops offered. My lucky kids!! The Tae Kwon do program we chose requires that the kids earn good attitude stripes from their parents at home before they can test for their next belts. That also have stripes they earn for good schoolwork which their teachers have to sign, and stripes for book reading! I love it!
Tonight while eating sundaes in front of Costco I played "would you rather" with Teig and he answered all of my questions with the most an animated face and loud intensity. He was spitting on me in excitement. I was dying with how cute he was. Tonight Joren told me a bedtime story about super owls that had 3rd senses which were super powers. The super owls made houses for all the other owls and shared their big homes with them so they were all big happy families. I spied on them after they were supposed to be going to sleep and they were being sneaky and looking out the window and making up spooky stories about what was out in the distance. Then they dared each other to go downstairs. It was fun to watch them scheming and even more fun to startle them when they tried to sneak out. Eirik read his first chapter books tha week. I gave him a dollar. Thank you West Linn library!

Teig says breakfast:bekast
I called the tv remote a camote.
He says "I have to show you funsing"

A Whole New Life

It's killing me that I have not been blogging this tremendous month of our journey. Every day has been an exciting new adventure so attempted below is an account of our move across the country, our stop in Utah to partake in pure happiness, a whirlwind of unpacking, then a week of 4th of July fun at the beach, followed by two weeks of getting settled into our new life. What a trip it has been!

Catching up will take quite an effort, so let me start today by writing about today.

Joren is in Shorty Sporty camp this week at this incredible park in our town. He is learning about softball and listening and following directions. While he has been in camp, Eirik, Teig, Juni and I have spent our time exploring. The park has a splash pad and a skate park and basketball court in the woods. And it also has a trail. In Oregon when there is a nature trail, it is nothing ordinary. Every step is tremendously beautiful. I could not stop taking pictures and exclaiming loudly how gorgeous every single view is.  We walked down a big gorge and up the other side. My boys loved discovering 6" lime green banana slugs. It has been sunny and a perfect upper 70s lower 80s range of temperatures since we moved in. It could really not be more perfect weather. After our picnic lunch we went to check out some Tae Kwon Do studios, and then went to get ourselves a library card. We were all impressed by the new, beautiful library with two stories and a giant children's section. Joren loved that there are big statues outside. I read to the kids and Teig fell asleep in my lap. A minute later he crawled into Juni's carseat and the rest of us read until he had slept for a good hour. I tried to carry Teig in the carseat with Juni in the other hand to the checkout counter. We are a bit of a sight everywhere we go with such a brood. I love it actually. If only everyone were so lucky to have 4 gorgeous kids tagging along with them.
Tonight after we all relaxed and had dinner we all walked to the skatepark by our house. This is not like any skatepark I have ever seen. It has deeper ramps, steaper pitches and tons of valleys.  Joren has been dying to try it out. He has asked almost every day. He had all his gear and lots of courage, but he did not have the right teachers. Paul and I couldn't begin to show him how to skate that park. So I texted my bros and told them they had their work cut out for them when they come. Tor was FREAKING out while Joren was trying to skate. I think he could tell it was dangerous. I was a bit worried too. He is only 5 after all.
On our way home we ran into a bunch of wild blackberry bushes. We all ate handfulls of giant sweet balckberries, from bushes in our neighborhood!! I NEveR!!
I can't begin to explain how absolutely amazing it is to live here. Every day is filled with new delights. I tell my kids all the time to pinch me because I can't believe we actually get to live in a place that feels like a resort every single day. Unbelievable! I am one lucky girl!

Juni Juni Juni

An absolute delight and joy in every single way..

 

 

Juni's first night out to the theater with Mom and Dad

Juni at church in the blessing dress I wore as a baby, in the fur blanket Grandma Law gave her.

 

Getting snuggled by "Auntie" Debbe

Island Fest Rocks

One of the things we love about Grosse Ile is the Island Fest every summer. This year we took Josh Seager with us and having three adults made it even more fun! Joren was dying to go on the ferris wheel, and that is my kind of ride especially when you get to ride with someone as cool as Joren. Look how much fun he is having!

 

 

Carnival games sure can lure you in, and dissapoint too!

This was WAY fun at first and then as it went faster and higher... well...

The terror rising in Eirik's eyes got us pretty worried, but by the end he had decided to have fun again.

 

 

 

 

Au Sable River Memorial Day Vacation

Mom's version:
Paul took us to his favorite Fly Fishing spot in Michigan this weekend. He went last year with Jake Budd, and Ryan Christensen and this year they decided to bring their families.  In the end, I'm not sure they were all glad they decided to bring us, but we were. :)
The location is amazing. It's an old lodge right on the river that has been there forever. The rooms are small and quaint. The back door opens to a beautiful lawn that leads right down to the bank so you could literally fish out your back door.  The rooms have not been remodeled since the 50's and I mean gold flecked laminate, plastic fake stone walls and vintage 50's furniture and light fixtures.  It was so authentic it was like a time portal. I loved it! You could get lost in another dimension hanging out there.  The people that own the place were awesome. They were super accommodating and friendly. They let us eat at their restaurant the first night, but since the restaurant is small they did not have room for us so they served us in this big board room in a separate building. We could be as loud as we wanted and the kids could get up and run when they were done eating.  It was the most stress free restaurant experience I have ever had, and great food too! Liz and Annie and I split up all the food and we ate all the meals together. We had a lovely breakfast of pancakes Sat. morning, then paninis for lunch and Cafe Rio pork salad for Sunday dinner.
There was a free Orvis sponsored fly fishing class from 9-12 on Sunday. Paul insisted that I go. He really wanted me to learn to love to fly fish so that we could spend time doing it together in the future. Isn't he great? I was not so sure I could ever get into it, but I found it to much for fun than I expected. I like the casting. I'm not sure I how much I could ever love the thrill of the catch or the "hunting" part of it, but I can see the art in all of it. One of the hours of the class was all about the flies. This retired guy who has spent his whole life fishing talked for an hour about the types of flies that live on the river, their life cycles, what fish like, how to imitate them, and what to look for when you watch the river. You can actually see the flies hatching out of the water and identify them. He knows what time of year and what time of day the different types of flies hatch and he knows what will fool a fish and what won't. Fascinating. One of the owners was watching me practice casting with the class and he came up to compliment me afterward. He said I was a natural. That made me feel pretty good.  Paul spent the afternoon fishing by himself and had a great time.
The girls and I spent a lot of time chasing kids and trying to keep them happy. There was a little drama, but I think they all had fun. Eirik wants to be 16 and he's 7 and it drives him crazy.  I think all the kids had the best time when I took them wading in the water. It was cold, but once we all got in, we got used to it.  The water was fast and I enjoyed fighting with the current to stay up and getting completely numb from the icy water. It was very refreshing and I could see myself enjoying fishing to just be out in the water and alone with nature for a while.  It was beautiful. I don't see myself taking that much time for myself for a long time though. My kids need me every minute.
Before we headed home, we stopped at the fish hatchery so the kids could catch a fish. It was the kind of place where the minute your hook is in the water, you have a fish and the kids went nuts. At first Eirik was so excited but as soon as he caught a fish and watched it die he broke down into torrents of tears. He ran to the car and cried. He called himself a murderer and wanted to go home. Joren and Teig thought it was awesome and each caught some. We ended up bringing home 5 and I learned how to fillet them and pan fry them. I thought they were delicious and I was so glad to learn how to do it.  Teig ate some, but Joren and Eirik did not want to.  I just love Annie and Liz. They are two of my favorite girls. You would think that in such an awesome relaxing place we would have had tons of girl time, but we hardly had a chance to talk at all. Our kids are still young enough that we were mostly just cooking, cleaning, nursing, chasing, changing and comforting the whole time. It was really fun to see Paul totally in his element and it was fun to support him in his hobby that he loves.

According to Paul:
Retrospectively this wasn't the easiest trip. And it wasn't very age appropriate. It was setting the stage for a future vision. Long term, I'm hoping our family can go on fly fishing expeditions all around the world to exotic locations. This trip allowed them first hand experiences with a beautiful river and the wildlife therein. Still, with an infant and a 2 year old in arm, we were not able to show the older boys the river as I would have liked. The best part of the trip was that Melody got to learn to fly fish. Our friends were great. The Budds and the Christensens.  And everyone's personality and quirks came through. In the end, it was really fun...

Eirik's Vacation Journal:
Today is Monday. We started on Saturday. We just finished driving the car for five hours. We unpacked and met our friends for dinner. The next morning we woke up and watched some tv in our cabin. It was pretty nice. They said that the next day we could go canoeing. We played with our friends then I went to a fly fishing class. We went on a hike and then went back to the cafe for dinner. After we went back home we built a campfire and had smores. We stayed up late. The next morning we could not go fly fishing or canoeing but we got to wade again. Then we had breakfast and came back to the cabin. We played at the park some more and went tracking down by the stream. Then we got into the car and went to the fish hatchery and caught a lot of fish there- 5 to be exact. It was time to drive back to our house. When we got home it was rainy and we unpacked in the rain and put everything away. The best part of the trip was that I got to have time with my family and friends!!!

Joren:
Once there was a campout. And here come the problem with Amy. She showed us her privates. I felt sad. We were at the playground when it happened. Everyone got in trouble. Then we, after that, there was, when it was lunchtime we did this little game. It was about whoever colored their fish page the nicest got a coin or a penny or a nickel or a quarter. After that we went to bed. The next morning we had another lunch. It was outside. And we with a table and there was some watermelon. And I liked getting wet in the stream. It was really really fun and I liked my family.

Teig:
I liked the playground and playing checkers and playing my whittle tiny checkers and putting them in my bag and Eiriks pocket. Then I put them in my pocket. That's the last thing I did. I saw many many flies and saw them go into the woods. Into the tree with lots of holes. That where the fly house live. I hate those flys. There bug us. I can't fit in the fly house. I can't. I went swim. And I dig last morning. I ate a granola bar in the middle of the night and got messy all over my bed.
There trees are red. They're dancing and smelling the smell of the flies and to the black trees. And there was gone dun dun dun. That's the crudes. The mom come up and the baby come up and they say dun dun dun. That was a movie theater.

Eirik made my day:

Then Eirik said: "you are so pretty. I wish there was a mini version of you that I could marry. "

Anticipa..............................tion

Another day passes. They just keep going by and there's nothing I can do about it. My baby girl gets one day closer to not needing me, and resenting me as I am told all teenage girls do. My boys get one day closer to all those teenage mistakes that keep me up at night worrying about. My face got a new dimple this week. Not a cute one, but a wrinkle dimple in my chin. It made me feel really old. I'm old enough that last night Paul and I spent 15 min reminiscing about some favorite memories and they seemed like a lifetime ago even though they were only 10 years past. I saw a photo of Eirik and Joren from when we first moved into Grosse Ile and they both fit in the kitchen sink playing together! It doesn't seem that long ago. The passage of time is always in the forefront of my mind as the days are checked off before life changes so dramatically in just 3 weeks from today. I keep seeing myself in my mind boarding the plane with three of my kids leaving Michigan for the last time. It's not unexpected. We have planned this exact thing since we started 8 years ago and it has arrived. I know how thing are supposed to go. I know the plan. I have confidence that all will go well and that we are moving to a great place. Yet for some reason I find that I feel numb. I can't really explain it except that I feel like I should be devastated and ecstatic at the same time and maybe i am both so equally that they are canceling each other out and I am just numb instead. I feel like I am following a plan and jumping into the unknown. In a lot of ways this is just out of my control.

Having 4 kids is more overwhelming than I think either of us figured.  We are loving it, but we are running ragged. We knew this would be a trying couple of months, and we are up for it, but we are in deep and we are swimming hard.

Teig loves Tigers

Last morning I saw a real tiger and it got bugers out of its nose and it ate it all up.. Sersly. Real.
Andover tiger I saw at your room yesterday when we went to church and I ride on him.
Once upon a time I got a tiger and he ate all the bear up. He missed the one and run reawwy fast.

Today all my toys disappeared. They're gone. Tigers live in the forest. He said you can ride on my back and hold on reawy tight and he run reawwy reawwy fast.
Today at the tigers game we eat and ride on the tigers.
Today we played in the rain in my raincoat and umbrellas and I spwashed.

God's Hand today

I have been feeling so emotional about moving this week. Yikes.. All of my preparation has not prevented the waves of anxiety, sadness, excitement, fear.. you name it, from rolling over me this week.  My friend Emily taught me the work natsukashi.. a sort of a melancholy or state of reminiscing.  That's how I have been feeling all week.  Everything I do I think, "is this the last time I get to do this?" Everyone I talk to I think, "will I ever see you again?" My bishop stood up in fast and testimony meeting and got emotional about how he will miss all of the families that are moving.  I had to say goodbye to Anona since her family moved first. They left last week and it felt really weird to sit in our row behind her empty row on Sunday.  There is no way to express how much I will miss her. My sister in law Jeanette was in town this weekend and she asked me what I have been doing with my time. I told her that besides taking care of 4 kids and obsessing about moving and packing and getting rid of things I have been spending my time trying to spend quality time with the people I love.  I told her that I wish I could have brought someone to the gospel while I was here. I wish I would have seen someone become reactivated because of my efforts as Relief Society president or visiting teacher. I wish I could have lightened someone's load more while I was here. I would like to think that I am leaving Michigan better than it was when I got here, somehow. It is hard to know who I might have influenced and what good might have come from my efforts. I know I have loved a lot of people here and I have made many memories, but sometimes it doesn't feel like enough.
This weighty feeling has been on my mind for a while and yesterday the missionaries called me and said they had prayed and thought to call me and see if there is anything that I need. I was very surprised but said, "as a matter of fact, I do have a project I could really use your help on." They came right over and I put them to work digging out one of my square foot garden beds into wheelbarrows and they pushed two full wheelbarrows full of dirt over to Debbe's house around the corner and we built a square foot garden for her. They also helped me return some big items we had of hers at our house from the garage sale. They worked for several hours and then they came in and helped me by eating heaping plates full of leftovers of the food I have been making to use up the food in my freezer.  The best part about their visit though was when Elder Martinez said, "Sister Aanderud, Heavenly Father wants you to know that he is thankful for the hard work you have done in this ward. It is time for you to move on and he wants you to know that he will take care of the people here that you care about."  The spirit bore whitness to me that he was speaking as one of Heavenly Father's servants and that those words were really what the Lord wanted me to hear. It was a great blessing. Elder Martinez said that it was great that they got to come do service, but he really came to tell me what the Lord wanted me to hear. God knows us. Isn't it wonderful that He is in the details of our lives.  I was grateful for the whole morning because I was so glad to be able to share my garden and bless Debbe's life, and I was grateful to see God's hand in my life so clearly.  What a blessing!