James & Lisa Lee & Co.

Levi Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!!!!

2012-01-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

So, Levi turned 5 this last week. Here is what he had to say about it....
Levi - I am not going to school when I turn 5.
Mom - You're right. You are not going to school WHEN you turn 5.
Levi - And I'm not going during that Fall time either!

Mom - Good morning Baby! And Happy Birthday. Wow, I'm not going to get to call you that much longer.
Levi - Don't you worry. You'll be calling Jet that for a long time. (sigh)

Levi - Is 5 big?
Mom - Yes it is. But not so big that you can't snuggle with me.
Levi - I know. Even Dad still has to snuggle.

Levi - Why do I have to grow up?
Mom - I don't know. Why do you?
Levi - I don't know either. If you don't know and I don't know, then maybe nobody will know if I don't grow big.
Mom - Dad might know why you have to grow up.
Levi - Well, don't ask Dad!

I love that he likes being little even though he really is doing everything a 5 year old does and even more. He had a wonderful birthday. He choose cereal and boiled eggs for breakfast and pizza for dinner. we had a fun party with presents and cheesecake with ice cream. It was a perfect evening and Shiloh got to webcam and watch him open his gifts. The joys of technology. He also spent all week looking at the e-card Grandma Lee sent him. So much so, that he figured out how to get to it all by himself. I need a password protection for my 5 year old!! He also loved that Shane wrote him a special birthday letter. - Thanks big brother Shane!

Showing Shi his gift

More basketball games

Family Night at the school. Notice the game they are playing? Trouble. How fitting!

2 Weeks or More?

2012-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

We have had a crazy busy couple of weeks. I'll start with the visit from Elder Holland to our stake. We had stake conference last weekend and Elder Holland and Elder Bussey came, yes, out of the blue. well, announced out of the blue in November. Can I just say it was incredible. Elder Holland was so sweet and sincere and kind and passionate and fiery and bold and kind and grateful. He gave such a powerful talk, sermon, challenge on Saturday night. I sat on the front row next to an investigator and she was glued to him and hung on every word he said. After the meeting as we (Elder Holland, Elder and Sister Bussey, James and I) were walking to the cars, my investigator friend walked out a side door and Elder Holland called her over and hugged her and told her he wanted a call when she was baptized. She mentioned she couldn't wait to write her son who is on a mission and James and I chuckled as we thought of this little missionary praying for his mother to accept the gospel and finding out an Apostle of the Lord committed her for baptism. :) Then on Sunday all the youth and new members and investigators were invited to sit in the chapel. He spoke mainly to them and it was simply inspiring. James spoke as well and announced to the stake our wonderful news that we have a COURT DATE!!!! James and I will travel to Ethiopia on Feb 23 to meet our boys and complete the adoption. We won't be bringing them home but hope to go back within 6 weeks to pick them up. I can't even express my feelings on this. I did think it was ironic (you know, in the sense of a tender mercy) that Elder Holland is the Apostle over Africa. He enjoyed hearing our news and told us of wonderful things happening in Africa with the church. Our Ethiopian couple came on Sunday and were able to meet Elder Holland and shake his hand. It was awesome. Then our family was able to have lunch with the visiting authorities along with the rest of the stake presidency. All of our kids were able to talk with Elder Holland and he hugged all of them. Sister Bussey was so sweet and they came with their son who was adopted from Russia. It was so fun to talk to her and hear a little of their story. Then Elder Holland spoke to the YSAs of the area and gave another amazing and inspiring talk. We then said good bye to the Busseys and drove Elder Holland to the airport. He was so kind to James and complimentary of him and his presidency. Of course I agreed with all of it and have thought that for the last 5 years but it was nice to hear an Apostle say it. He hugged us both goodbye and kissed me on the cheek. I felt so loved and cared for. He told me he was proud of me and what I was doing for my family and husband. And the best part was that as I was in the spirit of the spirit, I later that night heard my dad whisper in my ear the same thing. That night I had sweet dreams of my dad. It was wonderful. An experience all of us will remember forever.
And then real life began again on Monday and snow hit. We've all done a lot of shoveling this week. The kids even had a snow day on Friday. They of course loved it and spent a majority of the day outside. We ended the week with a great day at church and a great fireside broadcast with Elder Packer. And now, the kids are in bed and I'm about to email my wonderful missionary.
I can't wait til after court and to be able to fully tell our story of adoption and post pictures of their sweet little faces and beautiful eyes so full of the spirit. You'll see what I mean when you meet them via photos.
The Gospel is true and in Elder Holland's words, "I dare anyone to meet me outside and try to convince me otherwise".

Happy New Year

2012-01-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

We had a great week after Christmas. We played together, did some work together, did some serving together, and did lots of eating together. James and Tony were able to play lots of hockey and even took all the kids with them a few times to the pond. We had a wonderful New Year's Eve get together with James' family. Susan and JA were in town as well as Carson and Kandi and their 3 little girls. The party was at Brandon and Shiela's home which is always a treat. The cousins all had a great time together and the adults had some fun playing games. And of course the food was fabulous as always.
Then a bunch of the family got together the next morning for some football. i think they all enjoyed the game. Then some of us went to lunch together and it was a great weekend. Thank you to everyone who came!
To celebrate his last day of vacation, James cleaned our carpets. He did a wonderful job and I love my clean carpets. We also rearranged rooms; Shauna and Ali now have their own rooms, the girls divided their room into two, and Josh and Koli did some redecorating. Everything looks great.
And then we started school again. School is, well, school. I miss the kids, the kids miss home, and we miss the free time. But, we like the accomplishments that happen. it's a new year and we've made some goals and we want to accomplish many things. Number one is to get our little boys here from Ethiopia. We are getting closer. I can't wait to introduce them to you all and write about our story. But all in good time.
Happy New Year to All!

Becca and Katie handed out awards as part of ASB and also received an award.

This is the cutest thing ever and this is for you Shane.

I forgot we did this one for you Shane.

Christmas was Wonderful

2011-12-28T18:25:00.001-08:00

We had a great week before Christmas of play and shopping and baking. James and the high school kids didn't get out of school until Wed. The kids were great going shopping together and working as partners. Thank you Tony and Shauna for driving them around! We were all very excited for Christmas and for Shane to call. Here's how it went...

Leaving the camera in the hands of boys!

Leaving the camera in the hands of the girls!

A Winter Wonderland!

Saturday all of my family except a sister who had in-laws in town, came for dinner. We had a great time and I didn't get pics again of dinner because I was having too much fun eating and visiting. Shane was suppose to email me on Saturday, so I kept checking my computer all day and night. Even other people were keeping an eye on it for me. Well, then someone yelled, "Hey Lisa, I think Shane is trying to Skype you". So I went running into the living room and there he was on the computer. We could see him but not hear him. He was Skyping as a trial run to make sure everything worked and to set up a time to Skype on Sunday. Well, after 45 minutes, Shane still couldn't get his mic to work and we finally got a call through to one of the 5 cell phones that were in the apartment. We were really hoping something good would happen on Sunday. So, I missed dessert, clean-up, and saying good-bye to a few because we were trying to get all that worked out. Thanks to my extended family who just took care of it all.

Christmas presents from G-Ma. Tony had to work, so he missed the family party. Shiloh got to web cam with Addy so everyone could see her.

Christmas morning on Sunday we began the day with waffles and the Missionaries. It was a great breakfast and visit. We also got to watch Scott, Shiloh, and Addy open presents from us via web cam. You gotta love technology! It was great. Addy was so cute!

Elder Simon from Kiribati (near the Marshal Islands and pronounced Kirabess) He said he did not know what a stocking was so the kids wanted to make him one and fill it. It was very cute. He also was able to call home and I got to hear his mother wish me a Merry Christmas in English which she was very proud of. Considering what their language sounds like, I was very proud of her too.

Elder Potter who calls Hawaii home, was able to Skype home. It was very sweet and made me anxious to talk to Shane. He also got a stocking from the kids.

After breakfast we went to church and had a really nice Sacrament Meeting. Then we came home expecting to hear from Shane at 3 and have to call him while he was on Skype because of the microphone problem and he Skyped at 2:30 with a mic! I can't describe the emotion of seeing him on the computer and hearing his voice. It was amazing. We all got to visit with him for about an hour. We even got on web cam with Shiloh on another computer and she got to see him and he got to see her and Addy and Scott. It was really fun. He thought Addy was so cute! His Portuguese is excellent and his English is fading. :) He looked awesome and sounded great. His companion was very sweet and you could tell he and Shane truly loved each other. He thanked me in broken English for the stocking I had sent him in Shane's Christmas package. It was very tender and sincere. I'm so glad they got it before Christmas. A little miracle there! Shane was so loving and sweet with us and funny and entertaining all at once. It was awesome. He couldn't believe how big the kids were and how good looking they were. He kept saying "you are all so good looking" which struck us all so funny. We pictured him seeing us as pale creatures! After saying good-bye, we tried to move on. Happily James' brother and his family were there to get us going. We had a fun evening with them and a friend from church that I work with in the nursery.

Opening Christmas PJs Sunday night. The excitement begins.

Christmas Eve traditions. You gotta love 'em!

Goodies for Santa

James waiting patiently for the kids to go to sleep

After mom and dad were done

Ready to hit the hay

Santa came! Even a day late, just for us. Who says you can't change Christmas - Hehehehe

Our Christmas morning on Monday. It was wonderful. We had such fun as a family and then we had a dear friend come to visit who use to be with us on many Christmas mornings in the past. She was Shane, Tony, and Cameron's 2nd grade teacher. It was a fabulous visit.

We are looking forward to New Year's with James' family. Hope you all had a merry Christmas and you have a happy New Year!

Twas the week before Vacation...

2011-12-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

We spent the week going to concert after concert, parties, having missionaries to our home, trying to do some shopping, I had a birthday, cleaning, writing out Christmas cards, and trying to sneak in a Christmas show or two. What a week. We can't wait to talk to Shane on Christmas!

Play Time

Christmas Cookies

Shauna's goggles for work

Gingerbread Houses

Ward Christmas Breakfast - Shane, do you recognize Santa? You were his best man - does that make you an elf?

Court of Honor

Smack in the Middle of Christmas

2011-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

We are right in the thick of things of the holiday season. Concerts, field trips, parties, baking, caroling, scouts, young women's, primary program, Christmas shopping, cleaning, planning, missionaries in our home, doing all the traditions (we've gathered quite a few over the years), and trying to just enjoy each other. It's a busy time, but a fun time. Here are a few of the things we've done this week.

Alison's Young Women's in Excellence Program. Arrrgh!

The kids and all their coloring

We went to a Brazilian Shurrascraia and ate and ate and ate. It was so good. We did dip into the rice and beans in honor of Shane. We preferred the meat. :)

What a Week!

2011-12-04T22:37:00.001-08:00

Wow! Most of my week was spent putting up Christmas decorations and fixing them and putting away all the mess from decorating. What a job! I did have lots of fun with James on his birthday and we all emailed Shane on Sunday for his birthday. I also had a lot of fun with Addy on the web cam. Shiloh is so worried that our blogs will be repeats because we have the same pictures of Addy, so I promised not to blog all her daily pics. But this one I had too. It was so dang cute!

Becca and Katie playing volleyball

Decorating the tree

Ryan made this hat at school for James.

James got several presents but loved his hockey bag, jersey, and a new Christmas tie. he also loved his new wallet.

James sharing his candy - a tradition :)

Our little boy turned 20! Hard to believe. we love you Shane. Hope you can view this on the computers where you're at.

It must be Christmas time!

Life is Good

2011-11-28T05:22:00.000-08:00

Monday - So happy to have Addy here. I took her to all of my parent/teacher conferences. It was so fun and brought back so many memories of having a baby in tow for conferences. All of the kids are doing great. They are top of the class and having a good year.

Tuesday - Family Pictures

Wednesday - Hockey. James and Tony have found a new hobby they love!

Thursday - Thanksgiving Day! We began with a fun breakfast and then football, cooking, eating, cleaning, eating, more cleaning, more eating-you get the picture :)

Turkey Bowl pics

Turkey Bowl after pics

Thanksgiving Dinner

Friday - Getting the Christmas Trees

Yes, I really want that one.
Okay Lisa, but you know it's going to be 15 feet tall
Whatever the wife wants I guess.

So, let's see. We can take 3 feet off the bottom and maybe 3 feet off the top?

Sure, I can drag this thing out.
Okay, maybe a few more feet off the bottom.
This tree looks so lonely. Let's cut it down for Charlie Brown.
Well, one down, one to go.
Wow, she really is going to drg that thing out of here.
What do you think of that one James? What? That one all the way at the edge of our property line?

Addy waiting for Grandma and Grandpa in the truck.

Saturday at Brandon and Shiela's

Sunday - Last minute pics of Addy

Addy has arrived!

2011-11-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Scott and Shiloh showed up a week early! It was awesome. Scott had to do some training in Massachusetts so he dropped Shi and Addy of on Friday and flew out on Sunday. He gets back tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). They get to stay the week. It has been so fun to have Shiloh and Addy here. It's been kind of nice to have the kids in school so I could have Addy to myself during the day. These are just pictures from the week.

Addy getting ready to come see Grandma

Addy in her little cradle swing I bought her from the quarter sale.

What a great week we've had! I love our family. These are a few videos - mostly for Shane.

We miss you Shane!

My week with Shiloh and James' week with the kids and Halloween!

2011-10-31T00:16:00.000-07:00

The fun of carving their own pumpkins that they grew. They all did a great job. Thank you to Daddy!

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds!

Halloween Party

I already posted Saturday's pictures of us meeting Addy-Lee. There might be a few repeats here. It was a wonderful feeling seeing her.

SUNDAY - James and the girls left around 10. We had a quiet day with scripture stories and Veggie Tales. These were some cute pictures.

MONDAY - We carved pumpkins for FHE. Scott's was amazing and Levi's was well, much easier to do. :) We had fun doing it and he designed it himself. He was cleaning out his pumpkin rather slowly and so I dug in and pulled out a TON in comparison to him and he exclaimed, "Wow, you must have done this before!" I had to laugh as I thought of the very first pumpkin I carved with Shiloh 21 years ago. Yes, I have definitely done this before.

TUESDAY - I had to dress her up in the very dress Shiloh wore. She looks SO much like Shiloh did. It was definitely a blast from the past.

WEDNESDAY - We just hung out, dressing-feeding-blowouts-bathing-dressing-feeding... You get the picture. It was wonderful!

THURSDAY - Grandma had too much fun with a photo shoot. I couldn't help it, she's just so dang cute! And it didn't hurt that I'm the one who did her dress. Picture Perfect!

Friday - Shiloh and Levi had a fun day together. They cooked and played and enjoyed a taste of the good ole days.

SATURDAY - We were glad to have James again and this time with Ali and Becca. We went to a nature park just a few miles from Shiloh's house. It was a nice walk after a wonderful lunch with Susan and JA. The kids fed the ducks, played, and got some fresh air. I on the other hand, got too much fresh air. I was freezing by the time we got home. Addy was snuggled up in her carseat/stroller and never made a peep until her hat slid over her eyes. We had a great time.

We got the kids dressed up and went to the ward Halloween party. It was cute to see all the young couples and their 1 or 2 children all dressed up. They all looked so young and James jokingly said, "You know, Any one of these little girls could totally marry Levi and probably be too old for Jet. And at least one of these couples will make their way to our stake." Then as if on cue, a couple asked where we were from and when we said Spokane, they said they were hoping to be in law school at Gonzaga in the Fall and would love to live in our ward. It all made me feel this fake sense of timelessness until James did the math for me and I realized that when Levi married their little girl they would be my age and I would be like my mom's age. That whacked me back to reality in a hurry! - No offense Mom. :) Anyway, it was a fun night.

SUNDAY - What a beautiful Day. Addy was so sweet and it was so weird to have Scott get up and take the baby from me when it was time for her to be blessed. When James got up he kissed me on the cheek and whispherd, "Shouldn't I be the one blessing the baby?" It's so hard to let go of those days even though we love being grandparents. I think it's because we have so enjoyed being parents that we would be happy to be doing it forever. I realize we will be parents forever, but I mean I think we would always be happy having little ones in our home forever. So, that said, we better always have our grandkids under foot!! Scott gave a beautiful blessing and I must admit that when he said "Amen", I knew Addy would always be with them and it would be okay. :)

For Halloween this year we did a family pizza and movie party. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures. The best part of the day was when I went to the school dressed up. I have never done that before. I wore a velvet gypsy dress and a long jet black wig. It had bangs and I pulled it down just over my eyebrow. I did black eyeliner above and below my eyes and dark brownish purple eye shadow. I wore red lipstick and darkened my eyebrows to almost black. When I saw Koli he didn't really look at me. When I said his name, he didn't really make eye contact. Finally I asked him if he knew who I was and he said, "I think you might be my mom, but maybe not." It was great. When i started laughing and said of course I'm your mom, he lightened up a little but he was still a little nervous. When I went to Ryan's class his classmates guessed who I was before he did. The same thing happened in Katie's class and Becca gave me the look of "I can't believe you left the house like that". Even James didn't know who I was. When I pulled up in the car and honked to get Tony he looked a little concerned when he got in the car. I rolled down the car window and said hi and he said, "Wow, I didn't know that was you". And of course I don't have a picture to prove just how disguised I was! Anyway, it's good to be home and we are finally back to a little normalicy - until tomorrow. :)

Happy birthday Ryan and Hello Addy-Lee!!!!

2011-10-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ryan turned 7 this week. He had a great birthday. It was actually celebrated a day early on Monday. He had crepes with pudding and whip cream and peaches and whip cream for dinner. He designed his cake himself. I tried as best I could to follow directions. Grandma was there for dinner and cake and the girls and James and I went to the Jon Schmidt concert. It was excellent. We saw lots of friends there from years ago as well as friends from several different stakes. I had a great time showing them all pictures of Addy. I guess I am already doing the grandma stuff. Although, to be honest, I was showing the pictures my mom had of Addy that I had given her. I left mine at home. So, I am learning. Thanks for bailing me out mom! On Ryan's actual birthday he had hard boiled eggs, toast, bananas, and hot chocolate for breakfast. On Wednesday all the kids ran in the all-city cross country race. They all did well. On Thursday we had pizza and a movie to celebrate cross country because on Wednesday was youth night and interview night for James. And then on Friday, James, Shuana, Katie, and Levi and I made the drive to Rexburg. Addy-Lee is soo cute and so sweet!! And her parents couldn't be happier. it was a wonderful weekend with james and the girls and now I am here with just Levi. levi thinks she is pretty cute and he has warmed up to her as in now he thinks he needs to feed her, burp her, and entertain her. When he got herre he told Shiloh he was ready to take care of addy because he knew how to take care of and hold baby rabbits.:) He has also warmed up to Scott's really nice MAC computer and thinks he needs to be using it 24/7. I am excited for the week and look forward to posting our fun on the blog next week. To Shane - I love you and Addy has a wonderful uncle as an example! Thank you.

Daddy making crepes for Ryan

The world's coolest Dad graduated to world's coolest grandpa. And let me tell ya, he is!

Fun presents

The cake

Ryan

Becca

Katie

Koli

Josh at the top

Ryan on the way down - I might have yelled at him to get down immediately before I thought to take a picture :>

The trip to Rexburg

The BYU I Center where Scott works (Basically a replica of the conference center in SLC). This is what he uses to control all the stuff he does. A bit intimidating!

Inside the BYU I center

Underneath the BYU I center

Meeting Addy for the first time

Addy's photo shoot :)

She is SO CUTE!

Just for Shane...

Shiloh's baby has arrived!!!!

2011-10-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

We are grandparents and aunts and uncles. Shiloh finally had her sweet baby. Adalaide Lee Carter was born Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 7:37pm in Rexburg ID. They call her Addy-Lee. She is so cute and reminds me so much of Shiloh. They were very good to me and called at every check point... "Hey Mom, I just got my IV put in... Hey Mom, they just checked me and I'm at a 4 and they've started pitosin... Hey Mom, they just broke my water... Hey Mom, i just got my epideral..., Hey Mom, the epideral isn't working. I'm at a 7 and I can feel everything... Hey Mom, they just upped my epideral and I hope it works... Hey Mom, I'm at a 9 and the epideral is useless!... Hey Mom, they took the whole epideral out and put it in again. I feel so much better... (and then 2 hours later) Hey Mom, she's here and I had to push for 1 and 1/2 hours and I'm so glad it's over but it was so worth it!" Some of those calls were from Scott. They were both very sweet to make me feel like I was closer than I really am. I am so proud of both of them. Enjoy the pics Shane. You are now an uncle!
PS - Tony brought Levi to the school to find me on Friday and the office ladies asked, "Is this the littlest Lee?" Levi's answere, "Um, I'm an uncle now." The office ladies cracked up and said they were mistaken and he wasn't little anymore.:)

Going Home

Saturday, the 15th

Sunday the 16th.
Scott took like 31 pictures of her sleeping and all her faces. these are just some of my favorites.

Levi and I leave on Friday to go stay a week with Shiloh. We are very excited.

Another week...

2011-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week. So busy, I didn't do much picture taking. The big day was Monday when the kids had Cross Country. All of them qualified for the All-City race which is in a couple of weeks. They all did great and they have another race this week. We also sent our home study and papers to immigration. We expect to hear back within 4 - 6 weeks. I really do hate the waiting game. James and the kids have been gathering fire wood this week. They have been 5 times in the past 2 weeks. We have enough for this year and we have been setting logs aside for next. James went to the doctor and she cleared him for weight lifting and throwing. This was on a Thursday and this is how he celebrated on Friday. Racquetball in the am, weight lifting after that, slam dunk ball in the afternoon, and insanity in the pm. Saturday he played roller blade hockey with the kids between Conference sessions. I think he's been itching to get out there and play. Tony has worked 23 hours the last 2 days. One night he didn't get home til 2:45 in the am. I had a really hard time waiting up for him. I had a few cat naps in between Psych episodes. Shauna is loving her job and is now taking x-rays. She rides the bus to Cheney at 6:15 in the mornings and gets home at 4:00pm twice a week and at 6:00pm twice a week. On Fridays it is between 6 and 7pm. She is staying busy. The rest of the kids are busy as well and Levi is enjoying his time with mom. We run some errands once a week and we spent the day at the school last week helping with vision screening. He did really well with his snacks and gameboy and movie and coloring and just observing. We are all getting very excited for the arrival of Addy-Lee. Shiloh is due the 15th and Levi and I are going to stay a week with her. All in all, life is good. We miss you Shane and love you.

Ryan placed 3rd

Koli placed 6th

Katie placed 2nd

Becca placed 5th

2011-09-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Another great week. The highlight was Tony's Eagle Court of Honor. He is amazing. Thank you to everyone who took part on the journey. Shauna took James, Ali, and me to Silverwood. I have never been so sick in my life. I rode 4 roller coasters before putting my foot down on the Panic Plunge. Therefore, the only pics I have are of them on the Plunge. We had a fun time and considering all the boys she could have taken, I was honored she invited me. Well, I'm off to bed. PS - Shane, Bishop Reed was released and Dustin Crossley was called to Bishop and his counselors are Bro Bertholf and Bro Lewis (I'm not sure if you knew him). Anyway, Love ya Shane.

Baby Bunnies anyone? We have 6 looking for homes.

Cam received merit badges

Josh received merit badges and an advancement to 1st class

Tony's Eagle Court

Eagle's Nest

Eagle Oath

Doug Marx, one of Tony's mentors. The other was Cameron Rippy who was unable to attend.

Sis Brower, Scout Committee Chair

Welcome to the Eagle's Nest

Memory Lane

Proud Brothers - Levi was wanting cake...
Bro Schmauder - another great Scout Leader (Shane's mentor)

Cute Cousins

Tony is... Tony. His new toy.

Sweet
Candid Camera
Levi wanted Shane to see this.
The mighty Dagon Trainer
James thinking... Mom's a pansy.
Me taking a second picture thinking... Whatever dude!

A Fun Week

2011-09-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

We had another fun week. The kids are getting into the swing of school and Tony and Shauna are heading to school this coming week. For family night, we went to the fair on Wednesday. We had a great time looking at all the animals and watching a few shows. The highlight was the Muttin Bustin. I don't even know if that's even how you spell it. Anyway, for those of you who don't know what it is, I'll explain. Basically it is bull riding except on a sheep and you have to be under 60 pounds to ride and under 6 to compete. Koli, Ryan, and Levi all rode. Koli just did an "exhibition ride" and Ryan and Levi competed. I had no idea what to expect. James just told them not to let go and not to cry when they fell off. I really didn't think Levi was actually going to do it. Well, Koli was second to go and he rode for 11.5 seconds. (You're suppose to try and stay on for 6) Some guys who had been watching all week said that was by far the best ride. Way to go Koli. Then I watched the other kids. I'm not sure any of them went 6 seconds. Ryan was up about 2/3 into it (a total of 25 kids did it). He rode 11 seconds and had a few head hits against the other sheep because he wouldn't let go. Then it was Levi's turn. I was fairly nervous but I calmed down when I heard the announcer say, "We're trying to adjust him but man he's got a grip!" I knew he'd probably be fine. And he was. His sheep shot out of there and he did great. Ryan took first and Levi took third. When it was all said and done, the guy running the thing suggested we get some sheep and take the boys on the road. It was a proud moment in their little lives and they love their medals. We ended the night with ice cream at home and a bath for the sheep riders. :)
Enjoy the videos. Grandpa Jenkinson would be proud!!

Josh and Koli's famous cookies.

Ryan getting geared up

The 3 Amigos?

Levi ready to go
Koli looks a bit too ready to go :)
Ryan surrounded by girls - typical

koli poki

Ryan

Levi

Josh

Levi is posing for the lady taking pics

Now what?
Ryan waving to his fans

My 3 rough and tough Lee boys

School Sarted

2011-09-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, summer came to an end this last week. We had a wonderful Labor Day at Diamond Lake. The weather was beautiful and we had one last swim in the lake. Then school started for the middle school and elementary on Tuesday. The high school kids started on Wednesday. Tony and Shauna don't start until the 22nd, although Shauna started a new job which she loves. And of course, Levi is feeling great about being left at home. He spends the mornings playing nintendo with Tony or running around with him before he leaves for work. His mid-days are spent with me and his afternoons have been spent in the pool waiting for the kids to get home. I think he's going to enjoy this year. Below are some pics of the week. And just another "we love you!" to Shane.

My sister and her baby

Ryan and Mrs. Hollenbeck in 1st grade

Koli and Mrs. G in 3rd grade

Katie and Mrs. Hildahl in 5th grade

Becca and Mrs. Petty in 6th grade

Josh in 7th grade

Ali in 9th grade

Cam in 10th grade

Shauna her first day of work

James during his first lesson for Old Testament. (He's renting his shirt as an example of traditions in the Old Testament) Ali said in her class, buttons went flying everywhere. She said it was great.

Tony enjoying his leisure time

Levi enjoying his freedom

Another week of camping!

2011-09-04T20:46:00.001-07:00

We headed out to camp again. We had a great time. Tony wasn't in the water 2 minutes and he nabbed this fish. He is the top fisherman, that's for sure. We took a little nature walk and it had 28 points along the way. We loved it. The last day it rained, then poured, then hailed! It was crazy. We came home and went bowling. We also came home to wet bunnies and had to revive them with the hairdryer. I'm happy to say they all pulled through. What a great end to the summer.

Mr. Sandman....

And the rain came a tumbling down!

Check out this video!

I just realized Levi was saying "It's hurting". Poor kid; I was preoccupied with the camera.

Camping this past week!

2011-08-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to go camping Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had a great time. Tony had to drive back and forth for work, but the rest of us enjoyed the time off. It was beautiful weather and a great place. This was the focus of the week. We used Friday and Saturday to catch up on house and work. We came home to 4 batches of beans needing to be done and a pile of squash needing to be eaten, shared, and used for target practice. Our bunny had babies while were gone. I'm happy to say there are 7 healthly little babies. After the last fiasco I was really upset we were going to have babies again. But now that they're here and fine, I don't mind so much. They are so cute. Sunday was a regular day with a seminary fireside after church. Yes, it's time to start seminary again. Well, love ya Shane and until next week -----

A worth-while service

Enjoying Camp

Great spot for a fireside

Fun in the sun and water!

James and I took a spin around the lake (out and back is more like it:)

Levi got brave enough to take the plunge

And let the fishing begin...

James

Playing with the ducks

Catching Baby Fish

Ryan

Koli Poki

Josh

Becca and Katie

Ali and Levi

Levi and Dad

Cam

Tony and his fishing

Fun in the Sun

2011-08-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, we had a bit more of a mellow week this last week. We just kind of hung out and did every day stuff. We have begun to harvest the garden. I have canned 18 quarts of beans so far and have done 8 batches of raspberry freezer jam. We have also been eating all the squash, cucumbers, beets, beans, and peas that we've wanted. It has been very nice. We had a party here for my mom's birthday. I lost my camera for most of the night, but I did get some pictures of the cake.
We also went to the river (long lake) by Tum Tum. This has become one of our favorite spots. The little kids like it and the big kids really like it. It has a lot of things to look at with the mask and the water is pretty warm. The kids and James also tried some fishing, but without success. We will try again this week. We miss Shane on these outings and most of the time Tony is working and Shauna is socializing. I hate to see them grow up. Shiloh keeps in pretty close contact so it feels like she's around. Hope you are enjoying the end of your summer.

Birds playing in the sprinkler.

The river out at Tum Tum.

Trying out the fishing.

Heading back.

We're following the leader,

the leader,

the leader.

We're following the leader...

wherever he may go.

Another week gone

2011-08-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

We started our week with a funeral for Brother Leacil Nix. I first met Leacil as a child in the 2nd ward. He was the guy who counted the members in Sacrament meeting and he always had a child on his lap. Later after James and I were married, we moved into his ward (Shiloh Hills) and he stopped me in the hall and said, "You're as pretty as your Mamma - you have to be Linda Jenkinson's daughter!" I recognized him as well. He also always asked what we were going to name our babies - he was around for the last 9 to be born, and he always replied, "but Leacil is such a pretty name." :) We loved brother Nix and his funeral was heavily attended. He was a great man. His wife Margaret is also amazing.
Shiloh and Scott left on Monday. It was hard to say good-bye. I wish they lived closer.
We were able to play at the lake in Suncrest on Wednesday and at the river by Platt's Park on Thursday. We ended the week lazily, well all of us but James. He taught classes all day Saturday. Our Sunday was busy as usual and we had a great evening of family time. These quiet times are the times I miss Shane most.

"Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub!"

Nice tan lines :) I made them sit here and let the baby oil soak into their skin before getting dressed.

At Suncrest

I bought a TON of red-banded bananas from Fred Meyer. Levi came in and told me he was working at the Banana Factory. :)

At the river

What a wonderful week.

The past week has been BUSY!!!!

2011-08-07T09:42:00.001-07:00

So, obviously the best part of the week is that Shiloh is here. Her hubby is in Las Vegas training for his job. He was back at the house on Saturday. On Monday we had a couple over from Ethiopia. They were awesome. We enjoyed their company so much. The girls did a dance they put together after watching a few videos. I made their costumes and they apparently looked very authentic because Alex and Ethiopia (the couple) exclaimed, "Where did you get those?!) The girls also got the exclaim of (This is the real dancing!!!) They really did a great job. The girls did it a second time and Alex and Ethiopia joined them. It was awesome to watch them dance. Then Ali did her presentation on musical instruments. The couple said that she did a good job and they gave a lot of insights. They also gave us some history on Ethiopia and told us what tribes our boys are from. (Yes, we are adopting two little boys from Ethiopia - more on that to come). There are 12 tribes in Ethiopia. Yeah, interesting. Anyway, the night ended with the greatest compliment we could have ever received. Alex said it was the first time he felt like he was at home since leaving Ethiopia. The people in Ethiopia are very family - extended family - community oriented. They love a crowd and love to hang out together. My kind of people!! The night was awesome. Thank you to our friends the Fredricksons for bringing us together.

Tuesday we played in the pool. We had a great time. The kids love it when James plays in the pool.

The Lee's 21st annual Easter egg hunt, candy hunt, spring hunt, okay - can we just have some nice weather to find our eggs in!!!!! hunt. Yes this year was the latest we've ever done it, but it was worth the wait. Shiloh was here and we swam before and after and we did 320 eggs. I know, a bit over the top. Our dentist would have a heart attack. :)

On Thursday we had a baby shower for Shiloh. She is due October 15, and is having a girl. Everyone was so gracious and generous. We have wonderful friends. The pictures are to the right.

On Friday we went to Lake Couer d'alene for the day. We had our camp stove and did lunch and dinner there. We all had a great time. We left with little injury other than Shiloh getting very burned on her legs. She spent the night visiting the pool and her daddy was very sweet to go out with her during the dark hours. She is feeling much better.

Saturday we spent recovering from the day before. We had a fairly lazy day and didn't enter sunshine til 3:00 in the afternoon, well the boys had their weekly sports day in the field. We had a wonderful family dinner in preparation for fast Sunday.

Today, Sunday, we had a great testimony meeting in church (almost all youth about the Moroni's Quest) and a fireside watching a DVD they made of Moroni's Quest. Now Shiloh and Scott are making caramel popcorn for the family. I love these summer nights. We love you Shane and think of you always. You are my Stripling Warrior!

Just another week!

2011-07-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

The big thing this week was Moroni's Quest - a 3 day camp for the stake youth which consisted of reinactments of the Book of Mormon. It was done so well and was so powerful that I can't even really use words to describe it here on the blog. It was the most incredible youth activity I have ever seen. The size of it was unbelievable and the results were also unbelievable. I would love to tell anyone about it who would like to hear, but you'll have to call me. I really don't know how to write it. Here are pictures of the kids and James and I before we all left.

A week of fun.

2011-07-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

So, we had a really nice day this last week and we went to the river. All the kids had a great time. Even Butterscotch got in to cool off. Then we had a not-so-nice day, but the kids wanted to swim anyway. It had rained all day so they decided on a midnight swim, well it was only 10pm. It was so cold James had to build them a fire. Since there was a fire we did some night games and marshmallows. All this ended at 11pm when it began to rain again! I'm glad the kids can have fun with the rain. I personally am pretty done with our flip-flop weather. The only thing producing in my poor garden is the raspberries and they are doing great. Shiloh is coming this weekend for a week and she has stated she misses making jam. Won't she be happy to find 5 gallons of raspberries waiting just for her! Just a personal note to Shane - "We love you! And are so proud of you and the example you are!"

Gearing up for the plunge!

Getting warm after the first pose :)

Showing how brave they are

Ready, set, go!

Levi got in up to his knees

Koli showing me he's frozen

Ryan getting the prize ready

Cam and Josh ready for the battle

Levi retrieved the prize.

A quick trip to St. Ignatius

2011-07-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

James and I received news this last week that a dear friend, Scott Burnett, had passed away in Montana. He and his wife Colleen fellowshipped us when we first moved to Spokane. We've known them for 18 years. We went to St. Ignatius for the funeral on Saturday. Even though it was a sad occasion, it was so good to see Colleen and her kids. We use to trade babysitting. We took the little boys with us for some fun. Poor Koli is so prone to carsickness. He unfortunately threw up a few times along the way. After the funeral we went to Lake McDonald which is where James and the boys often go for their "Boys n Barry" trip. The view was spectacular and the water was FREEZING! I got in to my knees and pulled out to take pictures. The boys loved it and we had a great time on the way home. We stopped in St. Regis for some sight seeing at the amazing gift shop there and some huckleberry ice cream. It was fun to get away with just the 3 of them but then to realize, that's where we'll be some day - just the 3 little boys left. Sad, but reality. We'll enjoy them while we have them! Here are some fun pictures - mostly for Shane. The last one is Levi playing his harp made of k'nex :)