Oregon Summer- Pendleton edition

We got to travel to my hometown quite a few times this summer.

Unfornately many of the times these trips were prompted by funerals of close friends or their loved ones.

My heart hurts for them.  Some neat, sobering conversations that I had, re-taught me the fact, that even though we believe differently, these people are loved no differently than me and are being taken care of by their Heavenly Father.  So hard though still to see their hurt.

 Devin was left behind with each trip.  Sad to leave him by his lonesome,

but he gets more done when we are gone!   I like this guy quite a bit.  Hard to drive away  

but oh man, do we LOVE coming home to him.

I love this boy!  And he loves his moon pies at the gas station.

This sight is always so exciting.

Home.

Morning jogs put me at peace.

Those trees in the distant were my childhood friend Cyd's house.

Sam and Joe are pretty perfect Uncles for my boy that has no older brothers.

View out the kitchen window.

Yes these Uncles are loved. Or is it the other way around?

My little sister Sarah and her Danny boy drove out to my parents every single day we were

home.  I love my sister.

My dad gladly took hold of my idea to build a mini picnic table and walked me through it.

All of his highschool shop skills are pretty well still in place.

Loved it!  

After it turned out so well we made future wood building plans for when the farm work slows down... Next early summer? 

Tyler and Allison came out to play for a WHOLE day! (These two are my cousins.)

Cache and Nay adore them and drool over everything they say and do. Naomi gets all glassy eyed and smiley when Ali's around. She looks up at her just stares and smiles.  It's pretty cute.

Showing that Spratling blood is strong in their veins.  The urge to Dog pile must be genetic. I have pictures of my uncles doing this and memories of me and my cousins dog piling at every family gathering.

I can't explain it. Just something that happens every time.

They had a blast running free on the farm.  I think they ran all day.  We lured them in with popcorn and a movie to dry off before the day was done.

Uncle Joe plays Rugby.

Cache showing off his mystery barn wound. He refuses to tell me how this happened.

He and T were playing in the barn, I heard the loudest BANG and screaming. Ran like only a crazy mama would.  Bloody face, but fine.  When I ask him what happened, he just shakes his head. Meaning leave me alone. 

Boys.

Grandpa making them do his work.

Old man Joe leaving for his game. I love this kid!

Last trip home for HARVEST!

Great early morning conversation with Dad.

"Joe lets me dump it."

Little girl. Big truck.

We deliver lunches every morning and milkshakes every afternoon.

Gage thought it was so neat to sit like a big kid. Don't worry you crazy mama's out there, it was only through fields and a much safer option than in the back of the truck right? Oh the dangers I lived through  as a child.... 

Cache's second year of being old enough to go out for the day.  He even gets his own packed lunch, which is his favorite part.  Grandma Colette always gives him the old tin Yogi lunch box.

Then my dad each year sees it and says:

 "That was my brother Jay's lunch box at harvest when he was a little boy."
And then I always say "oh cool!" Like I've never heard it before. :)

How many Spratlings does it take to fix a broken lug nut?

:) 

Uncle Jay is missed. Strange not to see standing there when I drive up to the field.

I wonder if he got to pop in for a day or two. He loved harvest.

My grandma's brother came up from AZ to help with harvest. He told me one day as we brought out shakes, that 50 years ago when he was a young gun and working harvest for the Spratlings, milkshakes were served every day too.  Love Uncle Loyd.

Gage throwin a fit because he wants to ride in the back of the truck.  

Grandma Colette's watermelon line up.  

Harvest sun pooped out this guy daily.

New house means new accessories for this guy. He wore this around every day.
Not a bad idea considering his siblings.. and cousin Danny ;)

More morning Jogs with my sis Ash. Home in the background.

One day Grandma and Grandpa Orton brought a slew of Orton cousins over to Pendleton to swim.

I love that all Grandpa Orton has to do is lay in the grass and grandkids gather. 

I have lucky, lucky children. 

And that's it! Oregon Summers: Pendleton edition OVER.

Amie un-edited.. blah blah blah. Just look at the pictures.

This is definitely not my journal, but sometimes I'm lazy and treat it like it is. 

Yesterday was a bad day. No reason. Just slump.  Felt like a true LOSER and no hope of ever not being one. ha!  Thanks to a husband who made me express my thoughts, I felt 40% better just saying them out loud.  Then he went back to work(till 10pm bleh) and I decided to just, keep on keepin on, and try not to let my children take the brunt of my downer. I have to talk to myself as say things like: 

Laugh Amie, just laugh. Stay calm, stay calm, smile, just breath and walk away.   

I sound crazy don't I? Well it helps. Maybe those crazy people are onto something.  Clean house always helps, so I bribed my helpers with snow cones.  Totally worth it.  

By bedtime my mindset had changed back to normal. I'm back on track.  Pumped to make my life awesome.

I've just been thinking about this year. It has been a hard year actually.  It is so hard for me to see any growth or change for the better in myself EVER.  But looking back on this year the growth of Devin and I as people, is obvious to me in so many ways. I attribute a lot of it to stinking trials. We had a couple of doozies.   Over. Done and aaaalmost healed. Lessons learned.  Easiest just to look forward at this point.  One day I know we'll be able to look back at our young selves with kindness and understanding and maybe even fondness.  Right now we just cringe. So we focus forward and upward, put our blinders on and not look side to side. If I feel myself mentally slipping, we tell ourselves that this is what we felt is best for our little family, whether its loftier than other's goals or way lower it's whats best for us.  Keepin our eye on the ball.

Another thing that I think has made this year a year of growth I think is setting goals.  We love goals. We set them every year. In fact it seems like we set the same goals for 10 years in a row.  We don't accomplish them. Not completely.  This year we set our 5 year goals and taped them on the wall in our closet.  Then our 2012 goals and taped them up in our bathroom.  Seeing them every morning and night is so helpful.  We are not going to make them 100% But maybe 80%. And that thrills me. 

I know we are being helped as we've had small and big miracles of opportunity open up so that some of those goals that are so important to us could be fulfilled and some instances surpassed. 

Another thing that has surely helped in growth is our church assignments. Demanding on time but also to swallow pride and just do what your asked too no matter how scary it is, and then to see it turn out okay, or sometimes even awesome, gives us confidence.  Sometimes still it has been complete disaster. That has been good for me. I feel like I'm gonna die. But then I don't. And the fear of messing up is eased a bit. Life goes on even if you make an idiot of yourself.  People forget. I hope. 

Also I have to attribute Devin.  He is a really good natural health doctor. You know what?  He really is.

Yes that is coming from me the biggest skeptic of them all. Poor Devin. It is not easy to treat or train your spouse not matter what profession you may be. But especially THIS spouse. But he has helped me so much. More than any doctor or drug has ever.  

My mind is clearer, my body is better, absolute motivation has replaced by frustration and hopelessness.  I just feel instinctively that I finally found the path that will  help me reach optimum health. A gift from Devin. Another of the millions of non tangible gifts this man has given me.  What a unmeasurable blessing he is.  A healer in every sense of the word.

Maybe all this above is just rubbish and the real reason is that Devin and I are turning 30 this year!

Maybe it's immature to say I feel myself maturing, but I do.  I feel myself calming a bit.  I'm actually learning to like myself a bit more even though my stupidness and weaknesses are becoming more glaringly obvious to me that is hurts. As I laugh at myself a lot more, I also do at others and feel now that I can completely accept people with all their faults.  I wish my old friends lived closer so I could now fully enjoy them.  Not because they have faults but because, I can just chilax and have more fun now that I'm not mentally beating myself up constantly.  If this is what growing older does to a person than by all means. I welcome it!

In keeping theme with accepting real life, here are a bunch of real life un-posed un-edited pictures.

I'm starting to like these kind best. See? Change.  

Date night.

Hunger Games at our own personal Theatre. (Devin's office) 

Our Date nights NEVER go as planned. 

Why should our pictures?

Really our dates most often fall to pieces.  We'll just have to keep trying. :) 

 Before and after of our Sunday spring rolls.

It's always amazing how something so appetizing can turn into so un appetizing in the matter of minutes.

When I listen to conference on lds.org, Gage folds his arms. So cute.

 Sunday breakfast.  I learned to Poach an egg.  So proud. 

 We go through a box of band aids weekly. I try to blame the kids but...

 I consider myself to be pretty backwoods sometimes but really?

If this is normal how have I lived nearly 30 years without seeing one.

Weelicious

Here is my new favorite food website for kids.
Thought I'de share.

http://punchfork.com/from/Weelicious#

or here is her real site, I just like the first one for it's ease of scrolling through quick and finding recipes.

http://weelicious.com

Cache tooth #3

Cache just lost a tooth at the dinner table.
He or we didn't even know it was loose.
Just ate a fish stick and spit out the tooth.
They are practically fallin out of his head.
tooth #3.