2nd Washington Easter

I titled this our 2nd Washington Easter because last year, we were up here in Washington as Californians on a one-week spring vacation. That was the visit which set in motion the desire to have more of the Pacific Northwest beauty in our lives, which set in motion the desire to inquire about relocating, which set in motion the official big move from California to Washington just a few months later.

So here we are, Easter 2011!

The cousins singing, "How Firm A Foundation" for Grandpa Pearson.
Jared, age 6, with Grandpa Pearson, age 69 and 11/12ths.
Jared playing with Easter goodies (the coins he found in the eggs are already in his "red box").
We also celebrated with the cousins. Sam and Jared had a great time!


Tom playing Settlers of Catan with the nephews. They seriously love this! Big uncle points for the hours he spends schooling them in strategy and deal-making.

Shipwreck!

"The Peter Iredale was a four-masted steel ship that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon coast en route to the Columbia River. It was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton about 4 miles south of the Columbia River channel. Wreckage is still visible, making it a popular tourist attraction as one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the Pacific."

And we saw it! We climbed on it!




Interesting fact: no one seems to care if you drive your car down to the beach, and drive for miles. There were dozens of cars, trucks, whatever, driving nonchalantly along on the beaches just feet from the water, as if it were no big deal at all. Very different from California beaches, for sure.

Battery Russell

Spurred on by beautiful weather, the Pearson grandparents being in town, and a wild hair for adventure, we traveled north and west to the Oregon Coast. Our destinations: Astoria and Fort Stevens, where Grandfather Welch served in WWII.


It wasn't too long ago that these "ancient" places were alive and bustling with people, apprehension and wartime strategy.


Christopher overlooking the Columbia from the Astoria Column.

We got Grandfather's story via cell phone (put on speaker) as we stood at the exact bunker, Battery Russell, where he served during the tense times in 1943. He told of reporting for duty in his dress uniform, only to be called that very instant to the "front lines" because of an attack on the coast by a Japanese submarine. His job was training men on how to use the big artillery guns. These guns were raised and lowered out of huge holes in the ground, to render them "invisible" to any enemy boats off the coast.

Uncle Eric (Tom's older brother) wrote his Honor's Thesis on the Japanese Attack on Fort Stevens in WWII.
Grandfather proposed marriage to Grandmother Welch at the Astoria Column, looking out to the Pacific Ocean. His wartime proposal went along the lines of, "We only know as much as we can see, and cannot see beyond that horizon. I cannot see what lies ahead for us or our country, but what I do see is that we love each other and we should get married." Obviously, that worked out all right for them. :) We all climbed the Astoria Column and marveled at the GORGEOUS views of the coast and Columbia River flowing inland toward lush hills and high mountains. It really is a glorious place.

A little extra gem for all the little boys out there.





BRAINNNNSSS!!!! (Jared doing a zombie impersonation. Thanks, Plants Vs. Zombies, thanks a lot.)

Kindermusic

Laura and I had our first Kindermusic experience. We were invited to an open house day at cousin Annie's little class, so we went with the grandparents (here for Easter week). It was no more complicated to lead than a primary class, the songs and tangibles reminiscent of Montissori days, and I left feeling strongly that "I can do that!" That is obviously not what they are aiming for (they'd much rather you pay $200 a month for classes!) but that's what I left thinking!

Here we are with the two little musicians.


So...if I get the courage to start my own little neighborhood music class for 2-year-olds, you know where it started. If Mom can do it, WE can do it!

(Hmm, maybe not as well and not with as much patience, but we can try!)

Verdict: Fun for little ones, excellent for beginning to follow class flow and change focus with verbal cues. Negative: high cost, long way to travel for 30 minutes of classtime. Concluded: can be done at home with a basic plan, a few tangibles (homemade would work well!), and a few friends (with laid-back mothers), and Voila! Kindermusic!

Music with Kirk & Kathryn

This is a photo we grabbed during our rehearsal. Another 100 points for Mom! We love playing music (and even WISH we could practice more, unlike what we loudly complained when we were teenagers)!

Kirk invited me to come play a trio with him and Stephanie Tabacco in Battle Ground for their ward's Easter service. It was the first time we've done chamber music together, except for Christmases and a few family weddings, in over 10 years! It was really fun to play together, to get some nice sounds out of our instruments, and to wish we had 2 superb violinists who could round out a nice quartet with us... I also liked having a chance to see his church and drive through some really pretty countryside to get there. Not that it is really that far out from their main street, but it feels like it, and is just wonderful! As always, it's fun to see Emily and Dallin in action, to have another chance to talk with Lindsay, to see how their chicken coop project is coming (beautifully!), and reminisce a bit with Kirk. We have an awesome family.

Who else wants to move to the Pacific Northwest? It's really nice up here. :)

April Fools Pearson recap

So, April is turning out to be "Ye Ol' Month O' Sickness" at the Pearson house. At least we had some fun making these treats, oops - I meant, "dinners" on April Fool's Day! These were on Our Best Bites (I'm sure you've been hearing about this very-approachable Mormon Mom cooking blog made by Sara Smith from our Washington days. I love it and use recipes from it all the time!). This was a lot of fun to make.



Picture time! The kids, home sick, but still having a good time together. We've been through influenza, strep throat, bad colds, a staph infection and fevers this month. What was that about "Spring Break"? I think we need a refund.


These special blankets helped us survive. They possess magical powers that soothe and make kids verrrrry sleepy. Their names are, "Green Blankey" and "Pink Blankey".

Hiding from the sickness monster that attacked our house. But...we still have time to have some fun in the kitchen!

Happy April 23rd birthday, Grandma Joyce!!!

Grandma Joyce celebrated her birthday in style! Aunt Bea put up photos and an excellent description of the big day on the Mountain Houghtons blog. Take a look!

All of the grandkids wished they could have been there with you, Grandma! We love you very much!

It would be OK, Mom...

Jared: "I wouldn't mind if Tyrannosaurus Rex was not extinct."

Mom: "That sounds very dangerous for humans. What would we do if we had to be afraid of being eaten by a predator if we went outside?"

Jared: "We'd just have to stay indoors to be safe."

Mom: "Well, that doesn't seem like a good way to live, to be stuck indoors, fearing for our lives."

Jared: "It would be OK, Mom. Because then we could play LEGOs all day!"

April Fools!

So this goes down as my most successful April Fools day ever! This is what I sent out at work this morning, and the best part is, a TON of people believed it! (the hyper link below the picture went to a big April Fools page on the company's intranet.) It was awesome. Happy April Fools everyone!

From: Kendra Fox Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 7:23 AM To: *TechSupport Subject: What's a Bieber?

You know how Vivint always does things bigger and better than anyone else? Well, we’ve done it again!! Justin Bieber is coming to the Summer Sales Kick Off Party on April 11th! Justin Bieber, the Canadian super star and little brother of Usher, will be singing his signature songs such as “Baby” and “Never Say Never” and showing off his mad dance skills, all while causing teenage girls to go into hysterics and weep in happiness. The Biebs has been wanting to come visit Provo for some time to reveal in the atmosphere of Park City and to enjoy the best skiing Utah has to offer and to see the Jimmer. He will be donating his time and talents to entertain us here at Vivint. It is rumored that Justin will be leading the ride up to the Unitas with Travis Pastrana and Todd Peterson on June 18^th as well!! Expect him in his full leather regalia with tassels and chaps. On the 11^th, Justin will be signing autographs for all you that caught the Bieber Fever! Remember, this will be a community event so if you want to get close to Justin without getting trampled by 13 year old girls, sign up to volunteer and you will get a free signed autograph and get to meet Justin yourself!!

Sign up here today, April 1^st, to be part of Justin’s Utah Entourage!

Happy birthday, Aunt Marilyn!!!

Today is Aunt Marilyn's birthday! She is being swarmed by well-wishes on Facebook. We'll send some more birthday happiness through the family blog!

We hope you have a very happy birthday, Aunt Marilyn!

Today makes me think of the Marilyn Birthday story when her big brother went to school and told everyone he had a brand new baby sister -- and no one believed him. :)