As in bake a cake

January 2012 at the Bake's

2012-02-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

January at the Bake's wasn't too eventful. Anders and Ian have been playing basketball. Jeff has been coaching them. Anders and Ellie are running with the track team. Ellie is tutoring a couple days a week. Ian spent an awful lot of time on his science fair project - ohh I should include a picture of a rotten apple.

While that boys went on a ski trip with the Boy Scouts, Ellie and I spent the weekend at the beach with friends. Here's a funny photo of Ellie and friends trying to plank - doesn't look like it feels too good.

Ellie and friends: Tracy and Roz

Boy's getting ready for a night camping in the snow... brrrr

The boy's at Hoodu

#4 Ian Bake

Coach Bake

I didn't take many pictures of Anders this past month but I think he is somewhere in this crowd dancing????

The Science Fair Project - Glad that's done

December 2011 at the Bakes

2012-01-06T13:58:00.001-08:00

HERE'S A LITTLE CHRISTMAS IN THE NORTHWEST

We started off the month of December celebrating the birth of Anders - 17 years old!

Ian earned his 2nd Class in Scouts

And dazzled us all with a jazzed up version of Winter Wonderland at his piano recital.

Than we got to see him perform in his first band concert playing the clarinet

Grandpa and Grandma joined us to pick out our Christmas trees

Ian was excited to be in charge of the chopping.

Anders got tired of waiting for Jeff and decided to put up the Christmas lights on his own. Here he is being creative and making a star.

Ellie performed with some friend at our Stake "Creche" and on Christmas day in church.

Grandma and Grandpa fixed us up with gingerbread fixings and we had fun being creative and eating all the candy.

Then we headed downtown to watch the Christmas Boats.

Ellie's friends, Stephanie and Emily, surprised he early one morning and kidnapped her for a birthday breakfast.

At our annual retirement home visit on Christmas Eve morning Anders surprised us when he volunteered to play a Christmas song on the piano. (We didn't know that he played)

Ellie Belle turned 15. Her favorite gift was from Anders who bequeathed all of his AP European History notes and Study guide to her.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma's...

And Christmas day at home.

Anders invented a new game, "Civil War Risk" and we had fun playing it as well as lots of other new and old games during the break.

We had a fun time this past month with good friends. Here we are watching the BYU Bowl Game at the Gibbons...

Enjoying great music and company at the Andrus' and New Years Eve Celebrations at the Brunos...

And the Jimmer VS Blazers game with the best BYU fans in the world - or ward.

Finally, our 15 year old Ellie was proud to pass her exam, get her driving permit, and get on the road.

November 2011 at the Bakes

2011-12-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

THE HUNTERS...
Jeff took the boys on a little hunting expedition to Idaho over Veterans Day weekend. Anders was excited to shoot a quail and Ian shot a little bird, which I'm a little sad about, but he ate it. You can see that it wasn't very big.

I'm just kidding. That was Ian's annual attempt to eat the Turkey leg on Thanksgiving. Here is the little bird:

And Anders' quail

On Thanksgiving Morning we all ran in the "Over The River and Through The Woods To Grandmother's House We Go Run."

What else happened in November? Same ole, Same ole. Jeff traveled to California on business. Anders and Ellie stressed me out studying for their finals and then achieved perfect grades in their first trimester. Anders and Ellie are running again in preparation for Track and/or maybe Golf. Ellie is tutoring a couple of students. Anders and Ian are playing rec. basketball. Jeff is coaching both of them. I've been tutoring,and got called into the R.S. presidency. Piano. Scouts. Young Mens. Young Womens. Meetings....

On the Run...October 2011 at the Bakes

2011-11-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

Everyone was busy running during the month of October. It was fun to have Jeff come home from his runs in the mornings and report a new record for pace or distance. And it was great to watch the kids in all their cross country meets - rain and shine. Ian ended his season undefeated by his 6th grade team. Anders is most proud of the course record that he set at the first annual Aloha Blue and Green meet. Ellie endured to the end with an injury but not before she proved herself with some awesome times.

One of my favorite meets for Ian was held at Aloha where the Aloha cross country team took charge. Anders got to be the "rabbit" and lead Ian's race and Ellie helped take times. It was just fun to have all the kids involved in the same meet.

We had a lot of fun at the OSU/BYU, I mean, BYU/OSU game.

If you don't live around here, you might not know about Ian's "uniform." He pretty much wears a BYU t-shirt and shorts every day of the year. So it is no questions where his loyalties are. Last year he had fun giving and taking a little guff from his 5th grade teacher who is a big OSU fan; it was fun, therefore, to run into his teacher after the game. -Who, I'll admit, was a pretty good sport.

And I'm not sure who would have done this to our neighbor's house. - Also big OSU fans.

Anders has had a fun year being involved with Leadership at Aloha and getting ready for the Homecoming Festivities. Here he is with Amy Boswell on their way to the homecoming dance - Back to the 80's; Bring on the Neon (WHATEVER!) Anders had a little issue with the preppy sweater over the shoulders, but he was excited about the boat shoes that I found at Goodwill.

Halloween: "Thinking outside of the box": Sad to say that I'm counting down our trick or treating days or maybe I've arrived. Here is Ian living it up as a blind referee. I believe that this is the first year that he hasn't made his costume out of a box. He went out with his friends with his little jack o'lantern pail and came back with a pillow case that some lady gave him because his pail was overflowing. I'm so embarrassed!

AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER AT THE BAKES

2011-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know that I was quite ready for September - again. It always comes as a shock to me and I am just now catching up, ready to reflect back on the end of summer - it seems so long ago.

H2C - Hood to coast was extra fun this year. Grandpa and Grandma Ririe were the best volunteers ever out in the country on a Friday morning directing traffic. It was fun to "run" into them. Jeff and our van got volunteered to drive Anders team on the Portland to Coast High School Challenge. While we were about three hours a head when they started in Portland, they quickly caught up. It was fun to hear from them from time to time and even find them sleeping in a field about 2 o'clock in the morning after searching bodies for about a half of an hour. The boy's did great and had a lot of fun running together with their friends. We ended up at Seaside about the same time - lots of fun.

Dumbledore's Army at the finish

ROUS (Runner's of Unusual Stamina) at the finish

Anders and I with our finisher medals

LABOR DAY - We decided to see a different part of the Oregon Coast and headed down to the dunes and found a fun camping spot on a little lake. Our friends, the Johnson's and the Gold's were camping near by and we had fun hooking up with them.

SCHOOL - I get a little sad thinking that my kids are growing up, but at the same time I just love watching it happen. I loved watching Anders and Ellie drive off together on the first day of school. My little girl is in high school, but she is not phased one bit by the new challenge and elated by the social aspects of it all. We were all excited that she would finally join us at the homework table, but she is still hardly there. I love watching Anders have a great time being part of Leadership at school. It is great to see him so involved and finally know what is going on at Aloha. I love that Ian came home his first day of school and went straight up stairs to weigh his back pack - 25lbs, that is not counting the clarinet. He started Summa and we all have to admit that it is a little overwhelming and tears are involved, but that kid is amazing. He loves learning and he's really good at it.

Anders and Ellie heading off to their first day of school.

Ellie's Dace Party

MY RUNNERS - I now have a family of runners. Jeff is the vice president of his "Running Club", I have my "Running Group", Anders and Ellie are having fun on the Aloha Warrior's Cross Country Team and Ian is on the Mt View Cross Country team. Ellie and Anders had a fun team camp at the beach in August and traveled up to Washington for a meet in September. Last weekend we were excited to have Grandpa and Grandma Bake and the Tanners join us for the Nike Pre Nationals. It is pretty cool that Grandpa and Grandma were able to watch 3 grandkids compete in one day. (Should have been 4 Morgan) Ian got 1st place for his team and 8th overall in his first meet last week.

Parker, Ian, Maddie, Mason, Benjamin and Aaron - All the little Mormon XC Runners

Ellie at Nike PreNationals

Anders and Kenny at Nike PreNationals

Grandpa and Grandma getting a little exercise of their own at the Japanese Gardens

LAKE TAHOE - Jeff had a business trip to Lake Tahoe and I was desperate for a break so begged him to take me along. It was magically relaxing, just not long enough. We got to stay in the Ritz Carlton secluded in the mountains. Here we are on a hike.

JULY 2011 at the Bake's - Reunion Time

2011-08-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

BAKE FAMILY REUNION - Parma
The Bake family enjoyed an impromptu family reunion complete with a tent city in Grandpa and Grandma's yard, lots of food, Porty Pottys, motorcycle rides, wood chopping, a pool party, songs, games, jumping, throwing, pulling, shotgun shooting, marshmallow roasting, camp fires, fireworks and a trip to the emergency room and 7 stitches.

ANDREA
Andrea, our exchange student from Spain, joined us for all the fun. I think her favorite thing was listening to Grandpa play and sing on his guitar. The shot gun shooting was up there too. Here she is with the kids at a 4th of July Parade in Caldwell.

Here we are at Saturday Market enjoying a sunny day down town with Andrea and the Gold family who also hosted an exchange student.

SUMMER
Our summer days have been filled with summer activities like...

PICKING BERRIES

- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and then making jam

SWIMMING

Ian at his first swim meet

LIFE GUARDING

Ellie with her new life guarding friends

PARADES

Ian and I at the Sherwood parade with the Brunos and then we all got to see Emily Bruno as Gretel in the play - The Sound Of Music.

LES MISERABLE
While Jeff and Ian were at camp, Anders, Ellie, Grandpa and Grandma and I got to go see the play Les Miserable. - I love that music!

CAMPING

Anders, Ellie and I went camping with the Andrus family and additional friends from the Hazeldale ward

MOVIE WATCHING

The greatest Harry Potter Fans in the World at the Midnight Movie

AND SCOUTS

Jeff and Ian at Scout Camp

RIRIE FAMILY REUNION - Lincoln City
Our month ended in celebration of Grandpa and Grandma Ririe's 50th Wedding Anniversary and a Ririe Family Reunion at Lincoln City.

Some of our favorite memories include beach games, ping pong (Ian), a cloudy, but then amazingly beautiful hike, noodle soccer (Anders), date night food, talent show, Pacific City Dune climb (Tami), balloon sling shot(Jeff) and celebrating Grandpa and Grandma.

June 2011 at the Bakes

2011-07-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

June started with a run...

The first weekend I traveled to the beach with my fellow running buddies to support our friends Kellie and Julie as they ran the Newport Marathon. They are so awesome and we had a great time running with them once they were all worn out.

Ian wrapped up his 5th grade school year and end of elementary school with lot of fun activities. He got to participate in this cool program at school called Biz Town. He was excited to get the job of CFO of Intel. Then, after his Battle of the Books team came in 1st place for the 5th grade, they battled against our rival elementary school and became the champions once again. Here is MaddyAbbieParker and Ian celebrating.

Jeff and Ellie went to their annual Daddy Daughter Camp out with their annual bike rides, ferry rides, and shoe kicking contest.

After 11 years I hung up my volunteer badge at Errol Hassell Elementary School for the last time. I felt a little teary as I walked out the door remembering Anders coming home from kindergarten his first day and the only thing he could tell me was that his teacher had red shoes or the time that Ian got in trouble for "huddling" with his friends or Ellie being proud of her huge Idaho potato that she brought in for the "State Fair."

And after 5 years we said good bye to Mt View Middle School. It has been a crazy two years having 3 kids in 3 different schools. Ellie is off to high school. Sigh.

The week following the end of school Ellie left for Girls camp and had a blast with her friends and came home with even more - but with a horse voice.

Jeff and Anders also left the week after school ended to go Kayaking in the San Juan Islands. A raccoon ate all of Jeff's food, but he survived.

Ian and I were feeling a little left out with everyone leaving for fun adventures so we decided to go camping at Fort Steven's. Grandpa and Grandma joined us for one night. Ian had fun making us fires and we managed to get the tent up all by our selves and blow up the raft for a few trips on the lake.

May 2011 At The Bake's: CELEBRATING AMERICA

2011-06-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

We the People of the United States,

in Order to form a more perfect Union,

establish Justice,

insure domestic Tranquility,

provide for the common defence,

promote the general Welfare,

and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves...

and our Posterity,

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

or abridging the freedom of speech,

or of the press;

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

I think that I always liked the fact that I could call my parents Aliens, but they are Aliens no more. We celebrated their new American Citizenship with a Citizenship Party. We invited the Rumps and McCaslines to help us celebrate with hamburgers, apple pie and red, white and blue.

Ellie had a Disney themed dance recital and had fun showing off all the things she has been learning this year. I loved watching her high kicks and all of the fun costumes, but my favorite was the Prince and Princess dance at the end with dad. Ellie was busy in May with all of her usual activities including winning Jazz Band competitions. The picture above is with her friend Emily at a Beaverton School District meeting protesting cutting the band program to part time.

For Memorial Day Weekend we had our second annual beach party at the coast. Uncle David's family and Cousin Kyle and family joined us for a beautiful weekend. We had fun eating, playing in the sand, playing games and eating.

For mothers day my new garden boxes were completed with new dirt and Ian began his gardening merit badge. He also kept busy this month playing baseball and performing in a piano recital. The above pictured bruised arm is Ian's of coarse. He got it while shoveling in the sand at the beach.

Anders competed in his district track meet in the pouring down rain. I'm not talking about Oregon's usual drizzle. It poured. Anders had a ice cream party to celebrate after and we ended up going through a lot of hot chocolate instead of ice cream. This is a picture of his 4 X 400 team. I'm not sure what the eight fingers mean. The picture of Anders and Ian in front of the Teepee is from the Fathers and Sons outing. The above picture with Gannon, Anders and Ben is at the outing after being challenged to finish all the left over sausages from breakfast. The picture with the fire is at a service project that Anders organized for the youth.

Also pictured above is my Youth Indexing Celebration and BBQ. Of course it was hailing when I went to set up so we had to fit inside. Our youth exceeded their challenge to index 10,000 names by indexing over 16,000 names. It was a great experience.

April 2011 At The Bakes

2011-05-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure how to describe the month of April. It was gray. I loved the headline in the Oregonian one morning, "Scary-bright ball in sky will go away." It went on to describe how the National Weather Service uses a number rating system to measure sky cover: 8-10 is cloudy, 4-7 partly cloudy and 0-3 is clear. January and February had 2 clear days apiece this year, March and April had none until this report. There was 41 days between clear days. Ha! I'm not sure why that makes me laugh. Anyway, here is what we did without that "scary-bright ball."

Passport Club - I will miss Passport Club. For the past 6 years I have been the Passport Club coordinator at out elementary school. The kids receive a study map each month and then come in and test their knowledge on "Passport Club Check Days" if they pass they get to put real stamps in their Passports. We allow kids who have passed level 5 by the 4th grade to be "checkers" while they are in 5th grade. Ian and Abbie have had that honor this year.

Neil Armstrong - Here is Ian and his friend Tayler at the 5th grade Wax Museum. Ian decided to be Neil Armstrong after being told that he couldn't be Brigham Young (HMMM - I'm still a little bothered about that. Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson, it seems, are better roll models that other kids chose to portray.)

Easter Sunday - Here is Ellie is her Easter Bonnet, minus the bonnet. Ellie and I had fun singing in the choir this Easter.

Are they talking? No, they're texting! We enjoyed having the Andus family over for Easter dinner. It made me laugh to see the teenagers over in the corner laughing and texting.

Diverse Talents - I love all the things this boy can do. This month Ian made the hard decision to go to Suma next year. It is a middle school program that accepts kids who score in the 99th percentile. It will require a lot of work, but I think this kid is up to it.

Ellie's Bass fingers - Here is evidence of our Easter Egg Coloring and the results of plucking away at the Bass all the time.

New Garden Boxes - I am excited to get some new garden boxes. I will be even more excited when we get another dry day to finish them and then get some new dirt and seeds in them. Here are two of my "worker dudes." (an inside joke)

National Honor Society - Anders and his friend Garrett at the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony.

Anders and Samantha ready for the Stake Priest/Laural Prom - Anders shocked us by being willing to wear a pink tie, oh and by asking a girl out on a date.
Then he shocked us again with some Jimmer Moves: He made this up on his own and didn't tell us that he was going to perform it in the YM/YW talent show. Jeff was fortunatly there to pick Ellie up when Anders showed up after his track meet and slipped in this final act.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1930396214160#

Ian Baseball - Oh yeah, we've been to a lot of baseball games in April. Still smiling.

March 2011 at the Bake's

2011-03-30T15:49:00.001-07:00

Here's what happened in March:

Jeff traveled to Taiwan - again. Things got a little exciting when the earthquake hit Japan and shut down the airport that he was to travel through the next day. We are glad to have him home.

"So... what are you going to do with the truck?" - Anders. I'm not sure if Anders or Jeff was more excited when Jeff bought a new Jeep this month. He thinks that he is pretty cool and waves to other Jeep drivers. It's even a little embarrassing for me and I'm not even his teenage daughter.

Anders started track - officially - and I endured the 4 hours of his first meet in a hail storm with numb fingers and toes. Today's meet was a little more comfortable.
This is Anders running his first hurdle race. He got 1st. Oh yeah, there was only two runners.

This is not a foul!

I love this picture. It makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it. Anders' basketball team made it to the semi finals and their game was scheduled for a Sunday. Since the two coaches and three of the kids are LDS we tried to get it changed but the other coach refused to change it. POOR SPORT! So the rest of the boys decided to play the game on their own and won. What a victory! Unfortunately they lost in the final game but should be very proud of their 2nd place season finish.

I think that Ellie's highlight this month was going to the beach with the Young Women in our ward. She continues to keep busy with her dance, jazz band and working. I think the strangest thing was to have Ellie forecast for her High School classes for next year.

Ellie and Rylie on Crazy Hair Day

ARRRRH, Looks good enough to eat!" - Ian's favorite line from the Errol Hassell 5th grade play, Pirates. Ian, Sophie, Maddie and Abbie

I think that Ian had the busiest month: He participated in the Regional Battle of the Books Competition. Although his team won all of their battles they were unable to advance to the finals because they didn't score enough points. I was very proud of Ian and his team; they did an excellent job and had a lot of fun participating. Parker, Ian, Diana, Abbie and Maddie who didn't make it because she was sick.

He had a great time playing basketball and finished up the season just in time to start practicing baseball. He is excited to have his dad help coach his team.

He took part in our last Errol Hassell Science Fair. His project tested which coat material kept in the heat the longest. Fleece and Down were the winners just in case you are in the market for a new coat.

"Sorry, I just ran into a tree back there." - Ian, after catching up to us on the ski slope. We had a blast during spring break. We spent the week in Bend with the Andrus and Gardiner families skiing in a ton of powder. We are a little jealous of Ian who broke a ski at the top of the mountain and got a ride down from the snow patrol and then another ride on a snow mobile back to the other lodge. LUCKY!

Jeff and Ellie ready to "RIP"

Anders giving Berkeley a fist pump

Lunch with the Andrus Family

The Adult Table at Baldy's BBQ celebrating Hannah's Birthday

February 2011 At the Bake's

2011-03-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

CHINESE NEW YEAR!
We have a tradition of celebrating the Chinese New Year by going out for Chinese food. Yes, it's just an excuse to go out for Chinese food, but it is one of our favorites. This year we invited the Hess family to join us. They made it lots of fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN
Ian turned 11. We had a fancy birthday dinner of homemade sushi and enjoyed playing family games.

HEAVY SHOULDER AWARD
Ian woke up about a week before his 11th birthday from a nightmare that he didn't finish all of his Webelo's badges. I didn't know that it was his plan to finish all 20 of them. I was quite satisfied with what he had accomplished, but when Ian gets something in his head there is no stopping him. We had a busy week, but Ian finished all the requirements and received the "Heavy Shoulder" award at his last pack meeting where he crossed over into scouting. I guess that I should find out now what his plans are for scouting. I'm not doing one of those last minute Eagle projects.

DAD'S VALENTINE DINNER
I love Valentine's Day! I was driving Ian to piano and passed by an elementary school where all the little kids where walking home with the boxes of valentine notes and I almost cried. What a great holiday. Our annual valentine's day dinner for Jeff got postponed this year because Jeff was traveling in Taiwan, but we put up our sign and made our fondue when he got home. We also enjoyed our annual tradition of making and delivering valentines.

WALLPAPER
For several years I've been wanting to tear the wallpaper off my bathroom wall but just haven't gotten to it. Wednesday night I was sitting in the bathroom and thought to myself, If I just tear a little bit of wall paper off the wall then I'll be committed. Thinking that Jeff was out of town and couldn't stop me and that I had kind of an open schedule I went for it. I ripped about half of it off and then remembered that I had planned a party at my house on Friday and I would be volunteering at school all day Friday. The top layer came off just fine.... The bottom didn't.

MT HOOD MEADOWS
We had a crazy ski day with a bunch of friends this month at Meadows. It was so windy that the resort eventually shut down all but one lift. This is the first time I've experienced going backwards while face straight down hill on skis. The first photo is Katie, Maddie, Sam, Ian, Spencer, Roz and Ellie followed by Anders and Nate and then Ellie and Roz.

SNOW DAY
For all of you complaining about the snow this winter. Here is our one snow day. Yes, there was no school. Ian and I went up to the school to sled. It was mostly on wet grass, but it worked. Ellie and her friend Stephanie made this little snowman. You'll notice that Ellie did it in shorts and flip flops. We take what we can get.

January 2011 at the Bakes

2011-02-11T16:20:00.001-08:00

I've been slow to post the Bake happenings for January because I knew that my camera was pretty void of pictures and I been waiting for a moment to make my kids pose for a photo so I could document our month. Last night, way too late to mention, I got Ian to put on his basketball uniform when he should have been putting his PJ's on and I just got Anders to sit in the truck for a minute after his run. January was filled with lots of activities; nothing exciting or extraordinary but I suppose we should be grateful for the ordinary. -I am.

The kids had a day off of school and we took them on a date to The St. John's Theater and Pub. The Pub was once an old palace built for the Lewis and Clark Exposition/World Fair in 1905. Here we are on the way.

Ian has a busy schedule these days;Piano on Monday,Scouts on Tuesdays, Basketball on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. And, he wants me to add, more homework than Ellie.

Ellie is also busy four mornings a week with Jazz Band. Here she is with her bass at the Winter Festival in which she played with the Jazz Band and even got talked into playing a few Fiddling tunes on her violin. She tutors for an hour every afternoon and on Wednesdays has Dance lessons and Young Women's.

Anders keeps studying,running,playing basketball and having Midnight General Ben/Basketball parties with his friends every weekend. At least that's where he says he is. It has been fun to watch is Independence grow. His exciting news was passing his driving test. I was not excited at all about this new development in my life, but now that I don't have to be in the car with him when he is driving I find that an extra driver in the house is really nice. My full time job as a taxi driver just went part time.

Jeff joined the First Church of Jimmer and keeps pretty busy with his other church calling - What church is that?

I've been going crazy not being able to run. One night while gingerly stepping down the stairs because of my calf injury I fell and tore my muscle even worse. I'm now doing physical therapy and hoping that it will make a difference some day soon.
I have been having fun getting the youth in our ward signed up to do an indexing challenge. Here are the young men busy at work one night.

December 2010 at the Bakes

2011-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

December is our busy month of celebrations.

Anders celebrated his 16 birthday with a lobster dinner. One of my treasured moments was watching and listening to Anders bless the sacrament for the first time. He is only one of two priest so he is getting lots of practice. Anders started playing basketball with his Rec. team and continues to run and do a lot of homework. We traveled down to Corvallis and had a fun time celebrating with Aloha High school as they won their first football state championship ever. I don't think that we will soon forget the famous chant, "I believe that we will win" as it changed to "I believe that we just won!" Anders celebrated the new year reluctantly at the stake dance, but had a fun party at our house with all of his friends before hand.

Ellie celebrated her 14th birthday Christmas Eve and was delighted to attend her first Stake Dance on New Years Eve. She finished swimming and is excited to start dancing next month.

Ian also finished swimming and started practicing basketball. We enjoyed listening to him perform some Christmas songs at his piano recital. My favorite part of Christmas this year was receiving our gifts from Ian which were all homemade while working on his craftsman webelo's pin.

We enjoyed all of our favorite Christmas traditions like hunting for a tree, decorating, making gingerbread houses with Grandma, making goodies and deliveries, singing in the choir and shopping as little as possible.

We were happy to have Grandpa and Grandma join us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We even talked Grandpa into spending the night. Anders, Grandma and I decided to try something new and attended St. Cecilia's Midnight Mass.

I'll have to admit that things got a little wild as soon as Mary got hold of the sparkling cider. Do you think that the Shepard ate shrimp? Because that is our favorite part of our Shepard's meal.

Lucky for us, Jeff had the week off of work after Christmas. We had a fun day of skiing and then spent three days at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa Ririe. We met our friends, the Gibbons, for lunch at Moes and an evening of games.

We didn't take any pictures of our ski day, but I found this 10 year old picture of another snow day gone by.

And a day at the beach.

November 2010 at the Bakes

2010-12-06T07:59:00.001-08:00

We started off the month of November traveling to Idaho where Anders competed in the Nike Regional Cross Country Meet.

Uncle Darren, Cody and Caleb met us at Grandpa and Grandma Bakes and we had a good ole time shooting guns and eating sushi. Daniel and family joined us for the BYU game and a yummy dinner by Ma Bake.

Ellie spent a lot of time this month rehearsing and then performing in our Stake play, Annie Get Your Gun. It was a lot of fun to watch her.

Ian received his Arrow of Light in cub scouts.

We were all anxious to see Harry Potter and decided to go to the midnight viewing opening "night." Yes, it was a school night. I don't know if that makes me a really bad Mom or a good Mom? I think that I need to see the movie again however, I don't remember much of it. My favorite comment as we were leaving for the movie was from Anders who said to Ian, "We better take our wands, just in case.

We had a perfect Thanksgiving weekend at the Beach with Grandpa and Grandma. There was lots of good food, puzzles, games, a short hike and Tillamook ice cream. - A few of the things that I am thankful for.

October 2010 at the Bakes

2010-11-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

VBB - Very Busy Buddy. When Jeff got his little pickup 15 years ago his license plate letters were VBB and these are the words we used to remember it; Very Busy Buddy. It referred to Anders, who we always called Buddy, and was a very busy little toddler. Anders continues to be very busy.

It is true, I have no pictures of Anders for the month of October. We don't really see him much. He is either at school, running x-country, studying or cheering on the Aloha High School Football team. Those of us who grew up playing sports in the metro league will appreciate this: Last year Aloha won it's first metro league game in 20 years against Sunset. They always do great in their non league games and then get straight loses within the league. This year they went undefeated in the metro league, beating Jesuit for the first time in 27 years. Talk about an unbelievable boost to a school and community. It has been fun to see.

BELLE
Ellie has had a fun month dressing up as a purple witch. She has a new principle this year from somewhere in the Midwest who fortunately doesn't know that it is politically incorrect in Oregon to celebrate any holidays and the middle school kids got to dress up for school for the first time in their lives.

Ellie and I got invited to a Witches Party. What a fun idea. We had a blast.

Here is Ellie with some friends she invited over to celebrate Halloween. Ellie continues to keep busy with Jazz Band, working, swimming, play practice and Young Women's. Ellie's biggest excitement this month was purchasing her own phone. Her thumbs are really strong from txting. LOL

LITTLE FOOT
I love Jeff's new nick name for Ian; Little Foot. Last summer Jeff and Ian started running together in the mornings. It is a sweet sight to see them spending this time together and encouraging each other to get up and run. They invited me to join them once but it didn't turn out so well. I will be scarred for life - literally.

Drum roll please: I know you are just waiting to see what kind of box Ian recreated into a costume for Halloween this year....

It's a match box and his red headed friend, Parker, is a match. Since Halloween was on Sunday we organized trick or treating with our ward on Saturday. It was so fun to see everyone we knew. It was like living in Utah.

Here is Ian on the piano as I promised last month. It is the perfect song for Halloween.

September 2010 at the Bakes

2010-10-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Jeff came down stairs the other day and said that he was going to need more white shirts in order to keep up with all of his meetings throughout the week. At the beginning of September he got called into the Bishopric. We were grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa Bake visit and ordain Jeff to be a High Priest.

We had a fun time visiting the temple grounds. Jeff tried to get Grandpa and Grandma to re-enact a little wedding pose of ours. Grandpa didn't want to have anything to do with it so Jeff and I had to show them how it is done.

We had our annual Labor Day picnic with Grandma and Grandpa Ririe. This year we went up to Council Crest. It is the highest point in Portland. We did a little Geo caching. I don't know that I'm a fan of finding a bit of buried junk, but it was a fun adventure anyway.

We keep this comic on our refrigerator because we can relate to it all to well. It brings back fond memories of a pair of duct tape shoes we made for Anders one time. The comic reads, "Kids, grab a light jacket - we're going out to eat tonight!" and then, "Put your shoes back on before they ask us to leave. Shoes?? You, didn't say anything about needing shoes."

Ian tried to one-up the duct tape with a homemade pair of cardboard and plastic grocery sack shoes.

School started after labor day and reality hit. Anders has a tough load of school work including his first AP class. With X-Country and studying he keeps busy until late every night. Several times I have knocked on his door after midnight wondering why he is still up only to find him studying his scriptures. He amazes me and I am so grateful to be his parent. We have enjoyed watching him run and give his best at everything this past month - and always.

Jeff and I took a weekend trip up to Tacoma Washington to watch Anders run one weekend and then spent a day volunteering at the Nike PreNationals where there was over 100 x-country teams running. This is Anders at the Tigard High (My Alma mater)invitational. He got a PR at this race. Bryce might be interested to know that the coarse is totally different now from back in his glory days. It is all down in Cooks Park; they no longer have to run up that nasty hill to the school.

Here is Ellie on the first day of school with her neighborhood carpool. Ellie doesn't have much homework. We're not sure if it is because she isn't being challenged or if it is because she is super smart. Maybe it's both. She keeps busy however with other activities. She goes to school early 4 days a week for Advanced Jazz Band and loves it. She is playing the base. She has a cleaning/tutoring job one morning and two afternoons a week and swims the other three afternoons. She is also busy as the Beehive President and enjoys leading and being with her friends.

Here is Ian receiving his Weblos award in cub scouts he is already anxious to become a Boy Scout. Ian swims three days a week with Ellie and a started back with piano lessons. I will have to record his latest piano masterpiece next month. It is too funny to watch his little fingers fly.

Jeff left for a two week trip to Taiwan and New York at the end of September. We are glad to have him home for the rest of October.

August 2010 at the Bakes

2010-10-03T17:20:00.001-07:00

IN AUGUST WE WERE EXCITED TO TRAVEL TO IDAHO - And do all the things that we love to do in Idaho like...
PLAY HORSESHOES WITH GRANDPA

SHOOT ARROWS

DO A LITTLE SHOTGUN SHOOTING

SHOT 3 of 5 CLAY PIGEONS ON MY FIRST TRY

TAKE A SWIM IN THE CANAL

TAKE SOME GLAMOR SHOTS WHILE THE BOYS PLAY

WE WERE EXCITED TO ARRIVE AT ISLAND PARK AND FIND ALL OUR FUN COUSINS WAITING IN THE HOT TUB AND BEGIN THE RIRIE FAMILY REUNION

MINUTE TO WIN IT. Each night someone was in charge of entertainment. I don't have pictures, but the grand kids put on two great plays for us and on our first night we had fun with things like... CHERRIES

PAPER BAGS

M&M'S

THE WOOD BOX. Well, that wasn't really part of the games, but we has A LOT of fun with the wood box. In fact...

THE WOOD BOX was one of the best things about the whole trip.

AND OREO'S

GRANDPA LOVED THE OREO'S

AND HERE'S A NEW PICTURE FOR ALYSHIA'S FACEBOOK PROFILE

ELLIE AND DEVIN

OUR FIRST DAY AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
MASTERING THE ART OF CHINESE FIRE-DRILLS

JEFF AND IAN AT ONE OF OUR FIRST GEYSER STOPS

ELLIE AND TAMI

THE BAKE FAMILY

Following JEFF around the HOT POTS

OLD FAITHFUL

TAKING A BREAK

THE BALLOON PARTY - by the SOJO RIRIE's

BAKES SHOWING OFF THEIR LOVELY BALLOON HATS

DAY 2 AT YELLOWSTONE
THAT'S A BEAR BEHIND THE BUSH - We were excited to see lots of wildlife on our second day including a couple bear spottings.

BAKE FAMILY AT YELLOWSTONE FALLS

GRANDPA AND GRANDMA RIRIE

MAX INN DINNER THEATER AFTER A FUN DAY OF FLOATING DOWN THE HENRY FORK RIVER

ROBIN HOOD AND THE TALE OF ROTTING HAM

ISLAND PARK CABIN

EAST COAST RIRIES NOT AT ISLAND PARK

SOJO RIRIES AT ISLAND PARK

HIGHLAND RIRIES AT ISLAND PARK

BAKES AT ISLAND PARK

BACK HOME OUR YOUTH WENT ON A TEMPLE TRIP. Tonya, just so you know, I had several pictures to choose from.

YEP, THAT'S LINCOLN CITY. The Teachers enjoyed a sunny day at the beach and enjoyed staying at the beach house.

TWO LITTLE SURFER DUDES - Look how hard Anders and Nate are working to make some muscles.

CRACK THE WHIP - Ian got to tag along since I was running H2C. I love how the boys just include him as if he is part of the group. Maybe they just like to have him around so they have someone to whip around.

IAN'S PACK HELD A RAINGUTTER REGATTA. We haven't quite mastered the boat making.

AND FINALLY HERE IS VAN #1 OF TEAM ROUS (Runners of Unusual Stanima) AT THE HOOD TO COAST START; TIMBERLINE, MT. HOOD.

198 MILES LATER AT THE FINISH LINE; SEASIDE - "You said this was going to be fun!" - My favorite quote from my friend Kellie at about 5a.m. while standing in a 20 min porta-potty line after running all night and knowing that we had to get up in 3 hours to do it all again.

AUGUST = AWESOME
THE FACT THAT IT'S THE END OF SUMMER = NOT SO AWESOME
BUT I LOVE THE FALL!

July 2010 at the Bakes

2010-08-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun highlights in our lives during the month of July. The rest of the month was spent swimming, Jr lifeguard training and lots of running.

4TH OF JULY PICNIC AND ST PAUL RODEO

4th of July Picnic at Cooks Park with the Ririe Brothers

St. Paul Carnival

Waiting for the Rodeo and Fireworks to start

CAMPING WITH THE BAKE BOYS AT MT ST HELEN'S

Anders, Ellie and Ian posing by the crater

It was so cute; we sent the cousins up a trail and they all came back down with little friends on their backs.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed these three beautiful ladies...

With these three lovely boys...

Girl Cousins

Boy Cousins

The two Ellies

Playing in the river.

Just one of the amazing fairy homes built by the cousins.

MOTHER/SON WEEKEND AT THE BEACH

We went to Pacific City and climbed the sand dune. Here are the boys running down. Ian has a nice lead.

Oh, it looks like they're putting on the breaks...

And Anders wins!

Anders, Mom and Ian

Sam, Brenda and Berkely

Sam and Ian in their new matching outfits ready to shoot some squirrels.

HIGH ADVENTURE

The Aloha 1st Ward Teachers and Priest heading off to Eastern Oregon for a week of high adventure.

And their leaders. A little questionable if you ask me.

Caving

The prize at the end of the Geo Cache

Anders climbing Smith Rock

Jeff at the top of Smith Rock

Shotgun Shooting

River Rafting

The funny part about this picture is that just as it was taken the guide told everyone to put their paddles in the boat and duck down in preparation for the rapid. You will notice Anders in the front with his arms up in the air waving his paddle.

THE A1 WARD CAMPOUT

Anders and all his girlfriends

Ian and Parker testing the waters

June 2010 at the Bakes

2010-07-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

HE'S THIS TALL
Rob made the comment on my last blog, "When did you get so small" Much to Anders' dismay and Jeff's relief Anders has been about this close to passing Jeff up for about a year. Jeff just tells Anders to keep running and tells me not to feed him so he'll stay a fraction of an inch shorter them him.

THE POOR SCOUTS WENT CAMPING IN THE POURING RAIN. We've really given up on any other reality.

THE MYSTERIOUS BOB (Battle Of the Books) SOCIETY
This is Ian's Battle of the Book's Team; Parker, Maddie, Abbie and Ian. The Errol Hassell 4th grade champions. I like the way that Ian says their names; Parkermaddieabbie as if it is one person. And they kind of are. And that makes me smile.

IAN TRAVELED THE OREGON TRAIL
Each year the forth graders travel a simulated Oregon Trail journey. This year they did it in the rain.

Ellie - The special guest fiddler on the Oregon Trail

HELVETIA HALF MARATHON
Last winter Anders decided that he wanted to run a half marathon and talked me into signing up to run with him. (well, run at the same time as him) I proceeded to talk all my running buddies into running it as well. It was a perfect running day.
Carbo loading - Pre-race Party

Heading off to Helvetia - The before picture

Anders and Ethan - After
There were 76 people in Anders' age group (20 and younger) Anders and his friend came in 7th and 8th.

My Running Buddies - After
A few days after the race Ian was talking about how old I was getting and I proudly told him that I am just fine with my age because my, uh um, 40 year old self can run a half marathon just as fast as my 33 year old self. His shocked replay, "You mean you've been running for 7 years and you haven't gotten any better?"

ANDERS HAD HIS EAGLE COURT OF HONOR

Two medals, One awesome weekend.

Scouting Awards

THERE'S A RAT IN MY ROOM! - Just a little present to Ellie from Channey

FATHER AND DAUGHTER CAMP OUT

KIDS GET OUT OF SCHOOL - Ellie and her friend Ros on the last day

FATHER'S AND SON'S OUTING

Jeff celebrates his birthday

Anders and Ian happy to have Max and Henry join them at the Father's and Son's

Henrietta or was her name Maxine?

Annual Rock Throwing Contest

TWO AWESOME FATHERS AND A BIRTHDAY GIRL - We were good about sharing.

ANDERS WENT TO EFY

ELLIE WENT TO GIRLS CAMP
Aloha 1st Ward Camp Buddies

Cabin Buddies

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AT THE BEACH

2010-06-26T20:31:00.001-07:00

THE NW IS DEFINITELY THE PLACE FOR BAKES. IT'S MORE FUN HERE.

Tide pools

Rock Climbing
Beach Day

Jeff and Darren Snuggling

BBQ

Bake boys with cousin Kyle

Ninja

Tag in the Park
Lighthouse/Eagle watching

Darren and Julie's 18th Anniversary

May 2010 at the Bake's

2010-06-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

We did everything we did in April once again in May including:
the rain
baseball
dance
track
swim
orchestra
piano
cub scouts
Young Men/Young Women

But we added:

Marching in a Parade and learning how to play the flute in 2 weeks.

Camping

Playing Fur Elise perfectly in a Piano Recital

Making French Cuisine

Running in the District Track Meet

Celebrating 20 years of marriage on the go between a track meet, baseball game, dance lessons and YM/YW. (At our wedding reception we had chicken croissant sandwiches, fruit and cheese. As we were poor we packed up leftovers which we ate over the next few days on our honeymoon. Every year Jeff and I have our chicken croissant sandwiches, fruit and cheese to remember our beginnings.)

Eating breakfast in bed on Mothers Day

Dancing in a dance recital

Jeff turned to me and said, "All they do is go change and then come back out and twirl around some more." My reply: "What more can a girl ask for than to change clothes a bunch of times, twirl around and have everyone watch and smile. It was well worth the money."

Teaching Anders some dating moves

Did I mention that Ian looks really cute in the baseball uniform?

Then there was Memorial Day Weekend...
I'm going to have to work on that another night.

Just for the Record

2010-05-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

Even though it is the end of May there are a few things about April that I would like to remember like....

1) Remember how I like baseball for about 1 minute. That is the minute that I see the kids is their cute little baseball uniforms. After that I hate baseball.

2) Remember to take allergy medicine two weeks before I can't breath anymore.

3) Remember that according to the weather man there are about 100 different ways of saying that it is going to rain; chance of rain (rain), showers, rain showers, cloudy with a chance of rain (rain), partly cloudy with rain, mostly cloudy/rain, rain late, showers/sun breaks, thunder showers, rain and hail, rain. I guess that when it rains 28 out of 30 days in a month you might try to get creative too. But the thing I want to remember is the fact that it may not stop raining in May so just be prepared.

4) Remember that before my husband wipes out my hard drive to insist that he back up years of pictures.

5) Remember that tutoring, 3 hour track meets, 3 hours of baseball, dance lessons and young men's/young women's are all great activities but they make for a crazy Wednesday.

6) Remember that orchestra, cub scouts, swimming, track practice and piano lessons are all great activities but they make crazy Tuesdays and Thursdays.

7) Remember that tutoring, track carpool, and 3 hours of baseball games or practices on Monday and Friday make crazy Mondays and Fridays.

8) Remember that it is impossible to eat dinner together as a family when you have too much going on.

9) Remember how I was the Primary President for the past 4 years and now I'm not and I love it. I do miss the kids and I'm not going to say anything negative about having to sit still for 3 hours.

10) Remember that to this point in my life I have never done genealogy research and I just got called to be the Family History Consultant Coordinator. Hmmmmm

11) Remember how my living room carpet and fireplace tile was green. Now it's not and I love it!

12) Remember how we went to conference and got to see the prophet. And I loved to be with my brothers and their awesome families for one quick night and Alysha made us pina coladas and Seth told us amazing stories.

13) Remember how me and my running buddies went down to the beach house and as we were driving up to the house we were talking about robbers and when I went to open the front door there was no door knob because the house had been broken into. It was so sad. But we had fun.

And Remember how Kimberly got married to Ryan and she was so beautiful and her wedding was so perfect and it was so fun to see all (most) of the Bake family.

It's a hard enough life for Ian

2010-04-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

CHORES

By Ian Bake

During the weekend I like to play on the computer, watch TV or read, but before I can do that I have to do chores. I wish that everything would just stay clean and organized so people wouldn't have to do chores. The three chores I avoid the most are cleaning the toilets, cleaning my room, and mowing the lawn.
Cleaning the toilet is horrible. It's the worst chore in the history of the universe. The bathroom is so stinky I feel like I'm going to puke. Most times I can't open the lid of the noxious toilet. When I finally open the lid the fumes fill the air. It smells gross. Sometimes when I scrub it I get toilet waste on my hands. It is revolting. I hate cleaning the toilet.
Another job I hate is mowing the lawn. It's really hard to get the lawn mower out because it sticks. The lawn mower is really hard to push and I ram into things a lot. It takes up a big chunk of the day, so I don't have much time to do other stuff. I dread mowing the lawn.
Something else I dislike is cleaning my room. When I put stuff away I don't have any room. I shove things in my drawer and everything gets messed up. My bed is always really messed up, and I don't know how to make it. I hate cleaning my room.
I hate using my weekend to do awful chores. When I clean the toilets, mow the lawn and clean my room I don't get to read as much as I want. Someday I hope I can hypnotize my cat to do them. I hate doing chores and if I didn't do them I could read more. That's good, don't you agree?

March 2010 at the Bakes

2010-04-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here lies a record of our trip to Boston - Spring Break 2010. My favorite family vacation EVER! Jeff had to go to Boston for work. Since it was Spring break we decided to go a day early and tag along.

DAY ONE: PLIMOTH

Plimoth Plantation

Ellie checking out the Wampanoag corn.

The English Village

Ellie at the Plantation with a view of Cape Cod in the back.

The Boys chatting with a settler.

Chasing Chickens

Plimoth Rock. Yes, it's that small.

Ian, the 1st Mate, and a crew member of the Mayflower II

Checking out the living quarters of the Pilgrims

On board the Mayflower II

First Lobster Meal on Cape Cod Bay

DAY TWO: Hanging out in Boston while we wait for Jeff and then off to LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.

The Boston Public Library - The first public library in America

Cobble Stone Street in Beacon Hill

Minute Man Statue in Lexington

Listening to a group of high school kids sing the National Anthem impromptu on the Lexington Common where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired.

The Kids with Marsha, (Don't pronounce the R) our tour guide, at the minute man statue in Concord where the first battle of the war took place. Rude Bridge.

Grave of the British Soldiers killed at Rude Bridge. That is Ralph Waldo Emerson's house in the background by the way.

The Alcott Home (Louise Mae Alcott - Little Women)

Waldon Pond - Is this not so cool?????

The kids picking off British Soldiers on the Battle Road between Concord and Lexington.

The spot that Paul Revere was captured by the British on the way to Concord from Boston in the early morning hours of April 19th.

A proper dinner at the adorable Colonial Inn in Concord.

Searching the grave yard for Emerson, Hawthorn, Alcott and Thoreau.

DAY THREE: THE FREEDOM TRAIL, BOSTON

Riding the Trolley.

We started following the red brick Freedom Trail at the Old North Church where Paul Revere lit his two lanterns before his famous ride.

The Revere Pew

Paul Revere Statue with the Old North Church in the back.

Italian lunch in the North End

Roasted Nuts at Quincy Market

Faneuil Hall

DAY FOUR: HARVARD, BUNKER HILL, USS CONSTITUTION

Harvard Yard (Pronounced HAV VID YAD)

Mr Harvard

The Natural History Museum. We could have spent 4 days here.

My DoDo Bird. I just got done reading The History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. He talked about the DoDo bird and all kinds of things that were displayed here at the museum. It was so fun to see everything for real.

Triceratops

Anders happens to be studying about evolution in Biology right now. I think he makes a nice monkey.

Bunker Hill Monument - 294 steps. We counted.

The End of the Freedom Trail.

The USS CONSTITUTION - Ever heard of "Old Iron Sides" who took down the British in America's 1st real naval victory?

Ending our trip with another plate of Lobster.

Anders and I running to the finish of the Boston Marathon by the Tortise and the Hare.

Three "Cheers" for an awesome vacation!

February 2010 at the Bake's

2010-03-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

So... I feel a bit like a failure with the blog thing. I haven't taken too many pictures which doesn't matter much anyway because I've been fighting with my computer for a couple months and haven't been able to bring them up. - I know. Excuses!

I did takes pictures of Ian's birthday. What can be more important than turning 10 years old? 1st we took him out to eat two days before his birthday because it was the only day of the week we would all be together.

For his present he got his room fixed up with a new bed spread, (Here we are testing it out) new curtains, posters and a night stand complete with clock radio and a reading light.

On his birthday Ian and I were left home alone. While the YM/YW were off doing their thing we made sushi. (Ian's favorite food)

That weekend we had a friend's party. Anders and Jeff were off to Hoodoo for an overnight ski trip. Wish I had pictures of that.

I love Valentine's day. Here the kids are with their annual Valentine's Day Fondue dinner for Jeff.
We also had fun making our valentines for each other and delivering them to our mailboxes. This year the missionaries were over for dinner the night that we made them so we talked them into joining us and making valentines for their families. I think that they had more fun than any of us cutting and pasting.

In January Ellie finally got a chance to celebrate her birthday with her friends. She had a beach slumber party. How fun is that? Well, I have a few stories, but I can't tell them over the Internet. Let's just say there was a lot of riff raff hanging from the rafters in the morning. Ellie has been busy with swimming team, dance lessons, orchestra and Young women activities.

Here is Anders with his friend Sariah making us some French cuisine for a class assignment. Anders has been busy running. He made, and accomplished, his goal to run 300 miles in preparation for Spring Track. That's pretty amazing! He also played on a rec. basketball team and had a great season. It has been fun to watch him play. Anders takes every chance he can get to go skiing.

Here's Jeff and Ian on the roof trying to kill the moss. I'm behind the camera hoping that this isn't the last time I take a picture of them.

This is about as much of Uncle Rob as we got to see on his surprise visit.

December 2009 at the Bake's

2010-01-06T19:28:00.001-08:00

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS....
About the Holidays this year:

ANDERS BIRTHDAY

Here is Anders with all his friends. They had a fun night celebrating Anders' birthday by playing General Ben and Capture the Flag and eating pizza and ice cream. Anders was determined to get his drivers permit on his 15th birthday so Jeff picked him up from school and he went and took his test. My favorite part of Anders party was when he brought down his drivers permit and showed it off to his friends. They all enthusiastically cheered and clapped for him.

THE TRADITIONAL TREE HUNT

Here is Ellie cutting the tree down while all the men stand by and supervise. It was a great tree.

TREE DECORATING

We were happy to have Grandpa and Grandma Ririe join us for the tree decorating. Afterwards we went to Grandma's house to decorate our gingerbread houses. How did we not get any pictures? Dang! They turned out great, but most of all we always have fun making them.

WRESTLING

Ian is wrestling again this year. It is challenging and a little boring sometimes when you have to wait for your turn to wrestle, but he is working hard.

PIANO RECITALS

One of my favorite things this Christmas season was watching Ian perform this song for his piano recital. His biggest challenge was slowing down enough to get all the notes in.

ELLIE'S BIRTHDAY

I have another teenager in my home. I've thought of her as a teenager for some time now so it is not so shocking. Just look how beautiful she is becoming. And she's so much fun!

CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING AT THE RETIREMENT HOME

It was a treat to join our friends the Andrus' and the Bruno's for some holiday entertaining at a local retirement home. Ellie and Abbie performed on their violins. Ellie has had the chance to perform several times this holiday.

CHRISTMAS NATIVITY'S

Most people know that I collect nativities which consume my home at Christmas time. I just had to include this picture of one of my favorites that isn't packed away with my other nativities but mysteriously get set up each year.

MY LIVE NATIVITY

It is our tradition each Christmas Eve to dress up and have a Shepherd's meal. I missed having Grandpa and Grandma join us this year. Jeff got a little carried away without the extra supervision.

TURKEY HUNT

I caught Ian heading out to hunt our turkey or some other kind of bird for our Christmas dinner. He's so silly.

SKIING

The highlight of our Christmas was a ski trip to Bend and Mt Bachelor the week after Christmas. It was so much fun to spend this time together and we survived the week with only a couple bruises and cuts which is saying a lot after all the wipeouts I witnessed.

We were excited that our friends, The Ashby's, were at Mt Bachelor at the same time. We had a fun time hanging out with them skiing, eating and playing games.

We returned home New Year's Eve in time to celebrate 2010 with our friend's at the Andrus home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

October 2009 at the Bakes

2009-11-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here's what we did in October

Ian played soccer in the rain.

and won 2nd place in the Space Derby.

Ellie and Jeff took a little trip to Idaho for fun. Ellie claims to have driven part of the way while Jeff took a nap. Knowing my husband I'm guessing it's true. I don't even want to talk about it.

Anders ran - We call him the Flying Eagle. Partly because we have several pictures where his feet aren't touching the ground (don't look too closely at the shoes though, they are not to be photographed), Partly because of his x-country hair cut (complements of Robbie), and partly because ....

He is truly, officially, an Eagle. We are so proud!

Finally, Here are my trick or treaters. Ian was a tissue box. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next year.

September 2009 at the Bakes

2009-09-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

LABOR DAY WEEKEND was spent in Idaho.

JEFF WAS ABLE TO TRY OUT HIS NEW SHOT GUN

ANDERS HAD LOTS OF FUN WITH IT TOO

THE KIDS HAD FUN WITH ALL THEIR COUSINS

ELLIE HAD FUN ENTERTAINING ALL OF HER CUTE GIRL COUSINS

THEN... SCHOOL STARTED
Anders started High School, Ellie's looking fashionable for Middle School and Ian is ready to rock the 4th grade in Elementary School.

I caught Ian and his little friend Eli out the window. I'm not sure what advice Ian is handing out. I'm not sure I want to know.

X COUNTRY has been so much fun. Jeff and I were able to enjoy a fun weekend in Tacoma when we went to watch Anders participate in an invitational there. Last weekend AHS and Nike sponsored another invitational with 70 schools. It was pretty cool to be around so many runners on another beautiful weekend. Anders shaved almost 2 minutes off his time in that race. We can't wait to see what he does this week. I wish I had more pictures but it is hard to take them when he runs by so fast. Well, that and its really important that I be cheering for those few seconds.

ANYWAY, WITH SCHOOL AND ALL STARTING AGAIN I WOULD LIKE TO DEDICATE THE REMAINDER OF THIS BLOG TO ALL MY FELLOW CARPOOLERS who make my crazy schedule possible and share their wonderful, funny, and polite children with me.

SOCCER PRACTICE

SWIM TEAM

PIANO AND VIOLIN

MY OFFICE WHILE I WAIT - Passport Club to organize, SAT essays to read, Another primary program coming up - yuck.

X COUNTRY

CUB SCOUTS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

AMEN

August 2009 at the Bakes

2009-09-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT - We always joke around and say, "Everyone Likes Anders." Well when 50 people showed up to help him with his Eagle Scout project it was confirmed. We were so grateful for every one's involvement with his project which turned out great and was a ton of fun! He had so many volunteers that they were able to repaint the U.S. map as well as paint the new World Map.

X-COUNTRY - Anders started official X-Country practice with a midnight run in August. He has loved being part of the team and earned a t-shirt for running 200 miles this summer. One of his highlights was going on a beach trip/training camp with his team. I'm a little sad that I can't keep up with him anymore, but so proud to see his hard work and excitement.

BEACH TRIPS - We had lots of fun playing at the beach this month, but didn't take many pictures. Ellie, Ian and I went to the beach for a few days while Anders was gone with his X-Country team. The weekend we returned Ellie, Anders and Jeff went back down to the beach with the Youth.

IAN THE STAR - Ian was excited to be chosen to be in an Intel commercial/video. You might think that he was chosen because he has connections but the truth is that for his try out lines he had to whine and complain. We, at home, know that he has lots of experience with this and was perfect for the part. Here he is recording his lines.

HAGG LAKE - It was our last weekend of the summer and we had a free weekend, how did that happen? We had a fun day with Grandpa and Grandma at the Rock Meseum and then went to Hagg Lake for a picnic.

The other morning Ian was moving around the kitchen getting breakfast and commented, "I feel tall, I think I'm taller." This made me chuckle. We checked and he had grown almost an inch in the month since we had last checked. It is amazing and fun to watch my kids grow up, but it is all happening too fast. Kind of like the summer - I'm sad it's over already.

July 2009 at the Bake's

2009-08-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

ELLIE GOES TO THE HOSPITAL

June ended and July started with a scary week in the hospital. After hearing Ellie complain about being in pain all day I finally asked for some details. When she pointed to her lower right side I figured that it merited a call to the doctor. He told me that if it was his kid he would take her to the ER. I hate the ER. After an examination and blood tests that indicated a high white blood cell count the doctor ordered some morphine for the pain and a cat scan to check for an appendicitis. The morphine affects on Ellie where funny for a few minutes and then I started to get concerned that maybe she was having some kind of reaction. Minutes later the nurse came rushing in to hook Ellie up to oxygen and heart monitors and the doctor came in to apologize for the fact that Ellie had been given a morphine overdose. 6 times the amount prescribed and regardless of the cat scan results she would be spending the night in the hospital to be monitored for the overdose. Two cat scans, no answers, apologies and 10 hours later we were finally checked into the hospital in the early morning hours. Her condition worsened over the next two days until they decided to do exploratory surgery on Thursday and found that her appendix had ruptured and removed it. Fortunately she had some weird flap of skin surrounding her appendix which kept the infection from spreading. I can't tell you how grateful we are for the prayers, faith and love of so many friends and family. We are happy to have Ellie home and fully recovered.

Here's Ellie's Homecoming on the 4th of July. We begged the doctor to let her go home in time for the fireworks.

THE TANNER'S COME FOR A VISIT
Hiking at Silver Creek Falls

Trip to the Portland Rose Gardens

Larisa, this is just for you. Jeff couldn't help himself.

IAN GOES TO CAMP

BEFORE

AFTER - You can see he had lots of fun and that he is a little tired.

JEFF AND ANDERS GO KAYAKING in the Puget Sound for a week for high adventure and had a blast! I want to go. They spent the week kayaking between islands, camping, bonding and jumping off bridges.

I'm not sure why and what kind of power Jeff holds over people.

SOUTH JORDAN RIRIE'S COME TO PLAY

There goes another foul ball at the Portland Beavers vs. Salt Lake Bee's baseball game.

Looking forward to the candy at the Sherwood Parade and the Harry Potter movie afterwards.

The girls taking a break from the cup game.

The boys thinking about their next reenactment of Harry Potter.

Campfires and roasting marshmallows at the beach and keeping cool from the 100 + weather back home

Oregon Coast Aquarium

June 2009 at the Bakes

2009-07-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

WE'RE STILL HERE - So it is somewhere towards the end of July and I'm just reporting on June. I have my excuses. I'm also little disappointed with my own memory and my lack of pictures taking that would better document the happenings of the month. The first part of June was filled with those end of the school year parties, concerts, baseball tournaments and signing year books. The day that school let out we packed the kids in the car and headed to California. I have pictures of our fun vacation. The day after we returned Jeff headed to Japan and Korea for a week long business trip, Ellie left for Girls camp and Anders, Ian and I went down to the beach house for a mom/son week with our friends Brenda, Berekely and Sam. And that was June.

1st DAY OF TRAVELING

CAMPING IN THE REDWOODS

HIKING IN THE REDWOODS

CLIMBING IN THE REDWOODS

DRIVING THROUGH THE REDWOODS

PARTY WITH THE TANNERS, BAKES, BAKES and BAKES - THANKS EVERYONE! Sorry about the broken leg Janette (She got a little too competitive on the obstacle coarse)

POOL PARTY AT THE TANNERS

JEFF + DARREN + SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING = VERTIGO THE NEXT DAY

PURE MAGIC

CUTE COUSINS

CUTE KIDS

CUTE FAMILY

FUN DAY AT THE BEACH

PERFECT VACATION

May 2009 at the Bake's

2009-06-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful sunny month of May!

FATHER AND SON'S OUTING
The Boy's began the month with the Father and Son's Outing

Here they are doing some shooting

HARRY POTTER AND THE BEAST
The day after Ian broke his arm and was band from baseball he found a new friend - Harry Potter. This is the position Ian has kept for the past month. He's on book #5. Ian was also awarded his Bear in Cub Scouts.

TRACK
Here is Anders with his Relay Team. He is not here right now to tell the truth, but I think they came in 3rd in Districts for the 4X400 Rely. Anders also got 5th in High Jump. He might have done something else but I can't remember. It was just fun to see him competing.

A SUNNY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AT THE BEACH
We had a perfect weekend at the beach house. We spent a day in Pacific City playing in the sand dunes. Ian claims to have made it to the top first, but I think I jumped to the top at the last second before him. We had fun playing Frisbee football and capture the flag in the sand dunes. It was weird how all that sand came out of Ian's cast when we got it off.

We were so excited to run into Uncle Darrin playing Frisbee on the beach.

Jeff and Ellie at the tide pools

Riding jet ski's at the McCaslines

We are looking forward to a great summer with lots more fun!

TWO MORE WEEKS UNTIL SCHOOL IS OUT!

April 2009 at the Bake's

2009-04-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

MY CALENDAR JUST GOT A LITTLE SIMPLER

1 FALL FROM A TREE (Inevitable after all these years of climbing)
= A BROKEN ARM
= THE END OF BASEBALL SEASON, and to Ian's delight - piano lessons

APRIL STARTED OFF WITH SOME FUN VISITS:

FIRST THE SAN DIEGO BAKES CAME

WE WENT SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING ON MT HOOD

This was our first run down the mountain, you will notice that everyone is on their behinds. Things got a little easier after this with the exception of Darrin who could fall over just standing in line for some reason. He gave us some good laughs.

WE HAD AN EASTER EGG HUNT

WE TORTURED PEEPS AND HAD A PEEP STUFFING CONTEST. BEWARE OF THE FOLLOWING PICTURES IT WASN'T A PRETTY SIGHT. In fact, notice Ellie spitting up in the sink behind Anders.

WE COLORED EASTER EGGS

AND WE PLAYED BOCCIE BALL

ON EASTER DAY WE WERE EXCITED TO SPEND THE DAY WITH THE HIGHLAND RIRIE'S

THE COUSINS PUT ON THEIR TRADITIONAL CIRCUS.

IAN WORE HIS NEW FAVORITE HAT

LATER IN THE MONTH ANDERS WENT CAMPING WITH HIS SCOUT TROOP.

AND HAD HIS FIRST TWO TRACK MEETS. I love that he signed up for 5 events. He got 3rd in High Jump and took 1st place in the 4 X 400 Relay.

ELLIE REMAINED BUSY THIS MONTH WITH 2 VIOLIN CONCERTS AND PLANING PARTIES WITH HER FRIENDS.

March 2009 at the Bakes: The month which came in and left like a lion.

2009-04-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS IN YOUR POCKET?
This morning Ian came to me requesting a sticker and a button before he left for school. When I asked why he replied that he just needed them for his pocket. I guess he had watched an episode of Arthur in which all the kids revealed what was in their pockets and they all had a sticker, a button and some loose change and Ian was determined to be the same. I personally don't like having anything in my pockets unless it's money - bills; not change. Ellie, on the other hand, stores everything in her pockets. You would be amazed at what has gone through the wash.

BASKETBALL CHAMPS

Here is Anders and his teammates at their end of the season party. They came in 2nd place in the end of the season tournament. The tournament was so exciting with close games and sweet victories. It was a fun group of boys. Oh, and Jeff was a great coach!

FROZEN LIQUIDS

Ian participated in the science fair this year and had fun looking for the changes that occur when freezing liquids. I'm really curious how they make "Deluxe Skim Milk" It's not so great after it's been frozen.

ELLIE'S FIRST TRIP TO THE TEMPLE

Ellie got to go to temple for the first time. A sister in our ward had Anders and Ellie do some family names for her. It was perfect!

IAN IS THE WALL BALL CHAMPION OF THE WORLD

Ian always comes home talking about Wall ball so I assumed he was pretty good. A couple weeks ago we were looking for a fun outing so we invited the Gold family to join us for a wall ball tournament. Ian took everyone of us out.

SPRING BREAK
We spent the later part of the week at the beach. O.K., we played on the beach one day building a pretty cool dam, digging a big hole, flying a kite and making a fire. The rest of the days were kind of wet. So we did other things like...

STOPPING THE RAIN FROM COMING IN

PLAYING GAMES

DOING PUZZLES

AND HIKING TO BEAUTIFUL PLACES

WITH WONDERFUL PEOPLE

February; the month in which I hope to be the first one in my family to write my monthly newsletter...

2009-03-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

since I failed miserable at posting a blog last month.

Ian recently discovered some old books including a delightful Winnie the Pooh chapter book. Although we might be a little past the Winnie the Pooh stage it was such a treat to snuggle up with Ian and giggle and read the funny adventures of Pooh. I don't know why, but I love the fact that each chapter begins with "Chapter _ in which ...?"

February; the month in which Ian...

Wrestled. Ian decided to try wrestling this year and had a great time learning something new and trying his best. Here he his leaving for a tournament with Grandpa and Grandma on one of those Saturdays that we were going three different directions.

Celebrated his 9th birthday. For Ian's birthday I asked each member of the family to come up with a party game. Ian gave us the added challenge of making the games have a hippo theme. It is always interesting to see what creative minds come up with. We had a fun night celebrating Ian. I wish I had a picture of Ian after his birthday. He had learned how to tie a slip knot in scouts that day and for his birthday he got a pair of ski goggles, Lego's and a watch. For the next week you could always find him with a rope tied around his waist, the goggles on his head, working on his Lego's and timing everything.

Finished #1 in the Pinewood Derby.

February; the month in which Anders...

Played a lot of basketball. It is so much fun to watch his games as they are very exciting with close finishes that most often end in a win.

Skied with the scouts. They spent the night in the snow, crowded together in a tent. Jeff said you didn't have to worry about the boys getting cold or not sleeping as there was plenty of heat in that tent and a smell that would knock anyone out. Anders loved skiing and claims to be the best in the family.

Made music. Each year the school has a Play a thon in which the kids raise money by playing with the band up to 12 hours in one day. Ellie and I stopped by in between basketball games to listen.

Registered for High School. O.K. that is weird.

February; the month in which Ellie...

Joined Facebook

Was named Student of the Month

Played lots of Basketball. Ellie was on the Metro/Aloha basketball team this year which meant lots of tournaments as well as regular season games. She just finished her season yesterday at a tournament in Seaside. While the games weren't very successful, it was a great shopping day in which she purchases the above cute hat with her own babysitting money. She also had fun spending time with her teammates and being attacked by a flock of seagulls when she shared a couple of crackers with them on the beach.

February; the month in which we...

Celebrated our dad on Valentines day with our traditional fondue dinner. The Bake Family Red Robins has been open on Valentines day since the year 2000. I love that our restaurant is named Red Robins due to the fact that it was the fanciest restaurant our kids could think of 9 years ago.

9p.m.; the hour in which I finished my blog. Hoo-ray!

Here's What Happened In December, 2008

2009-01-07T10:29:00.001-08:00

ANDERS TURNED 14

How grateful we are to have Anders in our lives for the past 14 years. All I have to do is think about Anders and it makes me smile. For a cub scout project Ian planned Anders birthday party down to every detail. My favorite moment was Ian waking me up at 4:30 AM so he could make breakfast for Anders.

THE ANNUAL TREE HUNT

If you are a Ririe you know that the Christmas tree hunt needs to be an anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed event. I remember Dad not letting us pick out the first tree we found. There had to be at lease some arguing involved. This year was like no other. We were in a bit of a time pressure as every minute of the next couple weeks until the kids got out of school was booked. So when Jeff and Anders got home from a crabbing trip Saturday evening we jumped in the truck with about 1/2 hour of day light to spare. When we got to the tree farm the owner was putting the chain across the driveway. I begged him to let us in. He did despite his wife's grumbling. She gave us a dirty look and demanded that we be back with a tree in 10 minutes then proceeded to count down the minutes for us as she smoked her cigarette. Ian looked up and ask, "Do you think they'll give us candy canes this year?"

SNOW - AN ANSWER TO MY PRAYERS, BUT THEN IT JUST KEPT COMMING
The beginning of December was way too crazy. I had one more week to survive until school was out and I could breath but it seemed like too much so I prayed that life would somehow simplify and this is what happened:

We didn't go to school for a whole week.
So we went sledding

We didn't go to wrestling.
So we went sledding again.

We didn't go to basketball or scouts or swimming.
So we made a cool fort.

We skipped all the violin and band Christmas concerts.
So we went for long walks.

After the snow we got this thick layer of ice.
So we stayed close to the fire and played games.

Then we got more snow.
So we invited our neighbors over to visit.

Everyone was stuck.
So we helped people dig their cars out.

All the Christmas parties were cancelled.
So we visited with neighbors

Church was even cancelled for 2 weeks.
So we sang lots of Christmas songs.

THEN ELLIE TURNED 12

My sweet little girl is now a young women. I think we have thought of her as a young women since she was 2. She has always been so responsible and nurturing. We are glad that she is part of our family.

Grandpa and Grandma Ririe got brave in between storms and came over the the night before Ellie's birthday and just became snowbound with us. We were happy for the company and to spend the next few days together.

ANDERS AND IAN TESTING OUT THIER NEW BB GUNS

ENDING THE NEW YEAR WITH A SKI TRIP

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here's What Happened in November at the Bake's

2008-12-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

AS I REFLECT BACK ON THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER HERE ARE SOME RANDOM THINGS THAT I AM THANKFUL FOR:

MY FAMILY

SWIM MEETS

A FEW HOURS SPENT WITH MY HARD WORKING KIDS WORKING ON OUR FOOD STORAGE AND FEELING PRETTY GOOD ABOUT HAVING ONE.

NEWT HUNTING
There is nothing better then a muddy rainy hike turning into a newt hunt. I'm even O.K. with the fact that while searching for a picture of a newt on Wikapedia that I found out that newts are highly toxic if handled and that a drunk man in Coos Bay recently died after eating one. I'm pretty sure that Ian didn't wash his hands after handling those numerous newts.

A WEEKEND AT THE BEACH WITH GRANPA AND GRANDMA RIRIE

TUESDAY TEMPLE TRIPS WHERE MY OWN MOM IS THE CUTEST LITTLE ANGEL THERE.

101 REASON WHY MY DAD IS GREAT! This month I started e-mailing my Dad each day reasons why he is a great Dad. You might think that it would be hard to think of that many things to say about a person, but in my case it is really easy and I feel a greater love for my Dad than ever before.

ORCHESTRA PITS
Don't you love listening to the sound of an orchestra pit while sitting in anticipation for a great play or performance? I love the fact that my house sounds just like an orchestra pit warming up each morning as Ellie and Anders both practice their musical instruments at the same time.

A WEEKEND IN IDAHO AND A CROWDED HOUSE WITH ENOUGH FLOOR SPACE TO SLEEP EVERYONE

COUSINS, LOTS OF LEGOS AND A DOG NAMED BULLET

GRANDPARENTS

CUTE BABIES

AND MY HANDSOME HUSBAND - WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR?

October at the Bake's

2008-11-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

I told Anders that he needed to fast a few more days before I would let him have Halloween Candy.

Seriously, this costume idea was brilliant but a little too scary. Anders wanted to dress up as a ghost so I handed him an old sheet and he came down stairs dressed as Gandhi. I do feed him - Really.

October was absolutly perfect. Here's why:

We found the perfect pumpkins.

We got to shoot off perfect little pumpkins high in the air.

That's a head not a pumpkin Ian

We had fun carving perfect Jack O'Lanterns.

We created the perfect costumes.

Ian is a mailbox by the way. This is what they look like in our neighborhood.

Ian got to make Grandma into a perfect witch with green wrikles and worts so she could pass out Halloween candy to over 150 trick or treaters.

We had the perfect Teenager Halloween Party.

and we held the perfect annual Halloween candy trade when it was all done.

Here is What Happened at the Bake's in September

2008-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

"The Cat's Out of The Bag" Caught on Tape (I can't wait for my kids to see my blog)

I was sitting here wondering what to report happened in our lives in September besides going back to school, soccer games, swimming practices, scouts, lots of homework etc. Since I hadn't taken any pictures of these events I was thinking that my blog would be a little boring this month with no photos to share. However I was excited to find that when I went to upload my pictures someone had taken 85 pictures. This is what I found out that my kids have been up to:

Yes, I think we have rules about this.

Yep, and rules about this too.

What is Ellie is hiding here?????

Parties and Dancing with girls while Mom and Dad where away? I didn't know we needed to talk about that already.

Speaking of dancing. Jeff and I were teasing Anders that he would soon be old enough to go to stake dances and that we needed to teach him some moves. He quickly replied that he already knew how to dance. That he learned in P.E. at school. ??? Do you think this is one of his moves?

I am glad to see that someone documented the fact that I did a lot of canning this month. I sent Jeff to the store to pick up chillies and he came back with jalapeno peppers. I hate to admit that I don't know what they look like and just added them to the salsa - all 10 of them. I didn't taste it until I was in the processing stage after cooking all day. IT"S HOT!

FINE, I forgive you. What a great family I have!

BYU FOOTBALL - TOP 10!

The fall would not be complete without BYU Football games. Yes, life revolves around them. We had a fun trip to Washington to watch the cougars beat the University of Washington. It was an exciting game. Mom and Dad joined us as well as our friends the Gibbons and the Shorts. We went up the night before and enjoyed a fireside by the football team. The kids loved meeting the players and we loved having a fun weekend together.

August at the Bakes

2008-09-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

So maybe September is half way over. It is amazing to me how once we get back into the grove of school etc that summer seems like a distant memory. I will try to remember our highlights from August. I just remember thinking that is was wonderful..and it was. Mainly because we didn't have a million things going on. Swimming almost everyday, reading, playing. Take me back!

Ian received the rank of Wolf in Cub Scouts.

This is his awesome creation that didn't quite make it to the rain gutter regatta. This is a posed pout by the way.

Hood to Coast: What a crazy, fun thing! 200 miles of running between the top of Mt. Hood to the Oregon Coast with no sleep but lots of fun with 12 of the best friends ever!

This is the first time our first van met up with the second van. Bruce, Steve, Scott, Nicole, Jane, Heidi, Heather, Breezy, Becky and me. Rick is taking the picture and Christy is running.

Our Awesome Hood to Coast Volunteers. Thanks Mom, Dad and Tom!

Ellie also helped volunteer. After the race Grandpa and Grandma took Ellie and I down to Lincoln City to rest for a day. I needed it. I have to say that the hardest part of Hood to Coast was no sleep.

Anders, Ian and Jeff had a fun weekend caving with the boy scouts. The idea of being in a cave personally freaks me out, but the boys loved it.

The boys came prepared with flashlights, helmets, first aid kits, water and Pringles.

Here are all the boy scouts in Cougar Washington on the way to the Ape Caves on Mt. St. Helens.

We ended our summer with a Labor Day picnic and bike ride around Hagg Lake.

After about 1/2 hour on the mountain bike trail and not getting very far we opted to take the road the rest of the way around the lake.

Anders and I had so much fun we decided we should come back next year and do the Hagg Lake Sprint Triathlon. I'm wondering if maybe we could split that up and he could do the swimming for me.

July 2008 at the Bake's, continued...

2008-08-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

So... I'm finally finished with that stupid vampire book I can move on with life and get something else done. Here is what we did the end of July.

What is it with Boys and Dirt?

This picture was taken the morning that Jeff and Anders left for scout camp. Ian started cub scout day camp the same day. He was so excited to go to day camp that he slept is in new camp shirt the night before and then got up at 4am with Jeff and Anders when they left and didn't go back to sleep. Thus started a week of a dusty dirty little boy who refused to let me wash his camp shirt for fear that the signatures would wash off. One night he came home and I forced him to take a shower and I personally put his shirt in the wash. The next morning I got up early to put it is the dryer and it wasn't there. confused, I went up stairs and there was Ian sleeping in his dirty shirt. He came home every day and retold every skit and song word for word. We took Alexia to the final camp program/BBQ. I wish I knew what she was thinking of all those crazy screaming kids.

Here is Anders doing the mile swim and letting Jeff know that he was still alive. Jeff was a little worried by the blue lips.

Jeff was proud to come home with the "Leader High" award meaning that he shot the highest score in the rifle gun contest.

And here are those awesome scouts.

GOOD BYE ALEXIA

We were so sad to say good bye to Alexia at the end of the month. She was the perfect guest and addition to our family. We miss her dearly. We discovered that she could cook a couple weeks into her stay and my did she ever treat us. I loved to watch her cook. She does everything so precisely, patiently and with love.

One night she made us crepes.

We all took turns learning how to flip them in the pan

And we all enjoyed eating them. Yum, it is making my mouth water just to think about it. Keep in touch Alexia. We wish you the best.

RIRIE FAMILY REUNION

Here are some highlights from our Ririe Family Reunion/Cruise to Alaska.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sure, Why Not!

2008-07-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

We were excited to welcome Alexia, our exchange student from France, upon our return from the Bake Family Reunion. She is truly delightful and we are happy to have her. We are busy showing her all the important things about America.

Like how to play the Wii.

Friday night we took Alex to the Rose Gardens for a picnic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory play and bocce ball with the Gold family who are also hosting a French exchange student, Anaelle. I love Alex and Anaelle's attitude. Whenever we ask them if they want to do something their reply is, "Sure, Why not!"

Grandpa and Grandma Ririe joined us for a hike to SilverCreek Falls on Saturday.

Bake Family Reunion

2008-07-15T12:49:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The rest of June

2008-07-10T17:24:00.001-07:00

After having a weekend home, Jeff spent another week working in California. The kids and I just relaxed our first week of no school. Ellie spent a day at girls camp. We went swimming, bowling and played a little tennis. That weekend we headed up to Washington to try out a new water park. A group of friends had all booked the trip together as fathers day gifts. Our friends helped Jeff and I celebrate our birthdays while there. We are so grateful for wonderful friends. Thanks!

GREAT WOLF LODGE

Maddy, Ellie and Abbie

Ian's favorite thing was the wave pool. Unfortunately Ian has no fear and was continually saved from drowning and instantly went right back in.

IAN IN HIS FAVORITE SPOT - KEEPING AN EYE ON HIS BIRD FRIENDS

IAN AND SAM AT THE BEAVERS BASEBALL GAME

MY FAVORITE GROUP OF DEACONS PLAYING BOCCIE BALL

TRIP TO IDAHO
At the end of June we headed for Idaho in preparation for the Bake family reunion. We were happy to have a few days just to relax and do the things we do in Idaho.

HERE IS IAN SHOOTING

HERE IS ANDERS SHOOTING

HERE IS ELLIE WITH BULLET

AND HERE IS ANDERS AND ELLIE AT THE PARMA DRIVE-IN

Here's What Happened the First Part of June

2008-06-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

So... I was feeling a little overwhelm when I did my May blog. I just wanted to get it over with so I could mark it off my list. So I'm doing June in pieces.

SAN JOSE

After playing single mom for two very busy weeks I joined Jeff in San Jose for the weekend and it was wonderful! We took a hike in the Redwoods. We didn't run into many other hikers so it was so nice and quiet. I am always amazed when I stand under a giant Redwood tree. It is kind of like looking into space through a big telescope. For a moment you realize how very small you are and what a short amount of time our existence here is. We arrived in Santa Cruise for a late lunch, beach stop and then took a drive along the coast to Monterrey. I can't remember the last time I just went for a drive with no particular destination or time frame. At the end of the weekend I wanted to stay in that warm California sun while Jeff was anxious to get back home after such a long road trip. But I left Jeff behind so I could get back for the last week of school, field trips to the zoo and Oaks Park and wrap up things for the Passport Club. Best of all I made it home for...

THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

Here are the undefeated Speed Readers, Zakary, Riley, Ellie and Tyler. They beat Cooper Mt. Elementary by 5 points. Close and exciting match! What am I going to read next year with no kids eligible for Battle of the Books at Errol Hassell? I guess I will have to move up to the Middle School Level.

FATHER AND SON/DAUGHTER CAMPOUT

When the tradition of a Father/Daughter Campout started Ellie always referred to it as the "Father and Son/Daughter Campout and the name has stuck. Jeff got home in time to take Ellie off camping for the weekend.

I was looking through the pictures and asked Jeff what they were all doing in this one. He replied, "Oh, that is the annual shoe kicking contest." I guess they all stand in a line and see who can kick their shoe the furthest. Whatever makes them happy. I just love that a bunch of really cool dads take their daughter's camping.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

I just love Mothers and Fathers Day. There is nothing better in this world then getting personalized poems, cards, live juggling shows and clay grasshoppers from your kids. I just had to laugh as the kids brought Jeff breakfast in bed and then proceeded to eat his breakfast. They had done the same thing for Mothers Day. Today as I was pondering this I realized why they seem so welcome to partake. Several years ago when the tradition of breakfast in bed started breakfast would consist of things like peanutbutter and jam sandwiches, pretzles, soda crakers and KoolAid and we egarly encouraged the kids to help us out. So you see, it is our own fault that our yummy breakfasts quickly dissappear these days.

May 2008 at the Bakes

2008-06-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

AHH, I CAN FINALLY BREATH, The past few weeks have been a little crazy therefore I am slow to post my May update. Here it is. Thanks to Ellie for the new background and music.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Jeff and I celebrated 18 years of marriage on May 5th.

FATHERS AND SON'S CAMP OUT

The boys had a great time at the father's and son's camp out this past month. They came home with lots of fish. They took these cute boys from our ward and it was their first time fishing.

FORT VANCOUVER

I had planned a hike for our Memorial Day weekend but it was a little cold and wet so we decided to visit Fort Vancouver instead.

IAN SHAVES

Here is a picture of Ian at Fort Vancouver looking a little too interested in the way they used to shave. The funny thing is Ian actually cut himself shaving this month. "I was just practicing"

LIFE SCOUT

We are so proud of Anders for earning the Life rank in scouts this past month. For his communication's merit badge he had to send a letter to the editor and his got published. Here is the link: http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=121270670868703400

CONCERT IN THE PARK

Anders at his last concert of the year. He played in both the 7th grade band and the Wind Ensemble. They had an amazing performance. LET'S GO BAND!

PIANO RECITAL

Ian jazzing things up at his piano recital. He has amazing (loud) fingers.

BASKETBALL

Both Anders and Ellie finished up their spring seasons of basketball. It was great fun watching them play.

BASEBALL

That's My ACE (#1)

Ian finished up his spring season of baseball. It was very cold and wet watching him play. I think it is funny to see the difference in the player's sizes.

5th GRADE MUSICAL

Ellie was a Pick-a-Lillie Lady in her 5th grade musical - The Music Man Jr. It was a cute play and they did a good job. Check out the band uniforms that some great mom spent hours making.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

Yes, we went to HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, the play, with 1000 other screaming tweenies and it was great. Here we are with our friends the Golds.

SILLY FRIENDS

Ian and Benjamin

Ellie, Caitlyn and some strangers who showed up at our door.

My Primary Presidency, Gayleen, Caitlin, and Danielle hard at work during our Primary Activity/Family Talent Show and Dinner

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

Here's Jeff leaving us for Taiwan,Vietnam and California for a three week trip and with instructions not to buy anything.

April 2008 at the Bake's

2008-04-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

SUIT FOR SALE/CUSTOM MADE JUST FOR YOU, 2 DOLLAR
Jeff traveled to China for work this month and was excited to go shopping in his spare time. I gave him specific instructions to not purchase any "Rolex" watches or pirated DVD's. (We have not had much success with those in the past) Instead he carefully measured Anders before he left so he could have a custom suit tailored for him. Check out the arm length. Anyway... I will have to add suits to my list of no nos for his next trip.

THE OTHER SIDE OF JEFF'S FACE
I received a comment on my Feb. blog requesting a picture of the other side of Jeff's Face. (You'll remember the Skiing incident) Well, here's the other side. The eye is complements of Anders' elbow and a nice, friendly game of basketball. I am serious when I tell you that you don't want to mess with Anders. He's SHARP!

THEY CALL ME ACE

Ian is busy playing Baseball. It cracks me up to see him wearing the catcher's gear because he is not quite tall enough to fit into it. He has to walk stiff legged and can't bend over to pick up the ball. He is having fun, doing great and gets a lot of playing time when his games haven't been rained or snowed out.

ELLIE AND ABBIE FIDDLING AWAY
This is the first time I have used the video on my camera. I'll do better next time. I enjoyed listening to Ellie play with her fiddling group one afternoon this month at a retirement center. Next month she is off to play in the State's Old Time Fiddler's Contest.

SPRING BASKETBALL

I have to admit that I miss all the little softball cheers, but I am happy to be in the gym watching Ellie and her friends play basketball rather than in the wet and cold watching softball. Besides, Jeff keeps us entertained by singing the softball cheers.

MORE SPRING BASKETBALL

It is so fun to watch Anders play basketball. We just got home from his second game this week.

BOY'S GO "CAMPING" AT THE BEACH

Jeff and Anders had another "Camping" trip with the scouts this month. I just have to wonder when I call and I hear Foosball in the back ground. -Grandpa and Grandma's beach house sure makes a nice tent.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT
I also got to enjoy the beach for a night with some of my favorite friends to celebrate our friend Megan's Birthday. We enjoyed sunshine, shopping, crafts, games, lots of chit chat and giggles and not much sleep. That's just the way it should be. I am so grateful for such great friends. The best part was coming home to a planted garden. Thanks Family!

March, 2008 at the Bakes

2008-04-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

IAN GETS BAPTIZED
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This month started out with a very special day. Ian got baptized March 1, 2008. We are so proud of Ian's decision. He was definately excited to be a new member of Jesus' Church. Way to go Ian.

Grandpa and Grandma Bake came for the special occasion. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

Grandpa and Grandma Ririe participated as well. We were grateful for all of our friends and family who come to support Ian.

GRANDPA AND GRANDMA BAKE COME TO VISIT

While Grandpa and Grandma Bake were here Jeff introduced them to geocashing or is it geocatching or is it called something else? I really don't know. But they had fun running around in the rain looking for burried treasure. We also got them hooked on the Wii. They decided it was pretty good excersize since they were sore the next day.

WINTERHAWKS HOCKEY GAME

Here's the family at a WinterHawks Hockey Game.

We attended the game with our neighbors and friend's, the Golds. This is Ian and Eli.

And here are the cute little tweenies, Ellie and Rylie. Ha, They're going to die when they see this on the blog.

SCIENCE FAIR

Ellie and Ian participated in our school's science fair. This project is dedicated to Aunt Kim who gave us the cool Airplane book for Christmas. Ellie and Ian made all the planes and then tested them in flight to see which design would stay in flight the longest and which would fly the farthest.

Ellie did an additional project that tested at which temperature seeds sprout the fastest.

PINEWOOD DERBY

Ian takes 3rd place at the Pinewood Derby Competition. He made a sweet looking car with a BYU on it.

BOY'S GO CAMPING IN THE RAIN

I feel like I'm mentioning the rain a lot. That's because I'm sick of it! The scouts had planned to go snow caving this month but the trip got canceled. Jeff had already taken the day off so he decided to take the boys camping. They were excited when they got to the campground and a cabin was available. This made playing Risk in the rain much more enjoyable. They were able to take in a few good bike rides when the sun came out. We have no pictures of the trip because I made Jeff leave the camera home for me so I could take it to the...

REGIONAL BATTLE OF THE BOOKS CHAMPIONSHIP
...but I got there with the camera, but no battery. Hence, no pictures of that weekend. Ellie and her team mates did a perfect job and they worked so hard to prepare. Unfortunatly so did the teams they competed against so there were no chances of steeling points away and their battles ended up even. Only those teams who played teams who were unable to answer questions advanced. We are so proud of Ellie and her friends. It was a fun ride.

THE RUBIC CUBE GENIUS
I mistakenly called Anders a Rubic's Nerd the other day and his friend corrected me and said, "No, he is a Rubic's Genius!" Anders purchased a Rubic Cube the beginning of the month and had it mastered in a couple of weeks. Now he has us timing him to see how fast he can do it. When I attended Anders' teacher conferences this past week all his teachers talked about was how he was so amazing at the Rubic Cube. Anders, of course, hated all the attention and has sworn never to bring the cube to school again. But how about that 4.0 GPA again this tri-mester. YOU ARE A GENIUS!

SPRING VACATION

Spring Break began with a Ski Day at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl. The resort has recieved record amounts of snow this year so we enjoyed fresh powder and great runs. Jeff avoided the snow boarders and Anders spent the day trying to convince the rest of us to move away from the green runs. After a pretty good wipe out by Ian Jeff went to check him out to see if he was O.K. and commented, "Do you know how fast you were going?" Jeff was convinced that he was fine when Ian lifted his head and said, "Faster than a mother bear!" Whatever that means.

The next day we headed to the coast. This is a little hike we took.

We had fun celebrating Easter at the beach house. Here are the master egg decorators.

We experienced every possible form of weather at the beach; sunshine, rain, snow, hail, sleat and wind. This is a picture of Ian and Sam Andrus being blown away.

But no matter the weather, every night we enjoyed beautiful sunsets like this. We had a great time together and with friends we got to hang out with while there; the Kramers, the Golds and the Andrus'.