Saturday Achievements

We woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning. NO WIND! The sky was blue and the temperature was manageable. I decided that today was the day that I would take the girls to climb a mountain. Badger Mountain that is. Chad had Ivy Glades to take care of, so it was just us girls. We had a great time with only minimal whining. Our next achievement was Hannah's soccer game. Hannah is an all-star and even more so when the temperature is about 68 degrees. She had a hat trick and played amazing. Some of the parents on our team asked if she ever gets tired. Great job Hannah. We ended the night at Nick and Ashley's wedding reception. The girls were all-star dancers. The dance floor was alive with little girls dancing. I wish I had my camera for that, but I forgot. They danced until the tables were torn down and the last box of wedding mints was put away. Hannah commented on the nice weather on our way to the reception. She said, Mom how did they know that today would be such nice weather for their wedding. We told her a lot of prayers were answered. Hopefully my kids learn that Heavenly Father is watching over us all the time and is even concerned with details like good weather on a day when you have planned and planned and planned.

The beginning.

Picking the wildflowers that are probably illegal to pick.

a resting point. Still pretty happy, except the one on my lap. "I tiwoud mom. you cawwy me."

The summit. YEAH! we made it.

The reward at the end was the play area.

The walk back to the car.

Hannah can usually be found here...stealing the ball from the entire opposing team.

climbing a mountain. scoring 3 goals. dancing the night away. Where does she store all this energy.

Just a funny side note. All of my kids have come in to me this morning, including Emma and told me that their buttocks hurt. Those climbing muscles must not get used very often.

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

We are back from sin city and so I thought I would post some thoughts about the trip. The above picture is a view from our room at Planet Hollywood. It was a nice room but not Caesar's! It was fun to have John and Amy there with us to hang out with.
1. Eating at buffet's night after night can cause havoc on the intestinal tract. From burping to well, gas problems to trips to the bathroom that rivaled the scene in dumb and dumber, we were ready to come home to regular food again.
2. When you ask locals who usually drive the strip and don't walk it, if you could walk from your hotel to a certain outdoor mall and they say, no problem, it's right past Mandalay Bay. Well in this picture Mandalay Bay looks close...oh no, no, no my friends, we walked past the hotel and then another mile and never found the mall. The next day we decided to ask the concierge and she told us that whoever told us we could walk it was stupid, we won't tell that to our "local" that told us to walk. Anyway 4 blisters and minor heatstroke later, we found the closest taxi back to our hotel.
3. If you can't afford a good show, just take a 3 hour tour of a timeshare resort, listen to their speel, pretend to be interested, eat their lousy snacks and then get free tickets to a smaller show. We went to the V show. It actually was really funny and Chad even was chosen to be part of the show. They wouldn't allow cameras or else I would give you a sneak peak. Let's just say my sides hurt and I almost wet my pants....And the show was pretty funny too.
4. Red carpet events look really cool on TV, but in real life they weren't that cool. They had the premier for a movie called 88 minutes with Al Pacino at planet Hollywood on Wednesday night. We got to see him walk down the red carpet with 8 body guards surrounding him. He was actually a lot smaller than I had pictured him and after 10 seconds he was gone and that was it. whooo flippin hooo. Hope the movie does well Al!

We really did have a great time. It was a nice break from the real world. No kids, no phone calls, no fixing dinner, no cleaning house. It was nice to relax and spend some time with Chad. Thanks mom and dad, Tess and Tyler for taking such good care of our kids. When we got home the kids were so excited to see us that they cried and asked if they could spend the night at grandmas again. I'm glad we are loved. Viva Las Vegas!

Are we there yet?

The countdown is on and I think I am almost done with my checklist.

Important things

1. tan...burn...whatever!

2. pack summer clothes...yeah!

3. borrow people magazines from Heather for the plane ride. I need easy reading to calm my nerves.

4. Got my hair cut.

Really important things

1. wrote out list of the kids schedule, lunch menus, maps to get to their bus stop, medical cards, doctor numbers, allergies, immunization cards, mother's maiden names and the number for our veterinarian.

2. cleaned the house. Top to bottom, ready to sell...if anyone would ever call.

3. packed clean clothes and unders for all the girls, soccer stuff, b-ball stuff, etc.

4. Gave Sarah encouragement about WASL testing this week. She will do great, she is an excellent student.

Really Really important things

1. got babysitters

2. assured the children that my enthusiasm for leaving doesn't mean I don't love them, it just means that it is good to have a break once in awhile.

3. asked Sarah to help Rebekah say her prayers every night. Rebekah was very concerned that I wouldn't be here to help her.

4. Reminded Emma and Hannah to please, please, please use the bathroom before bed.

5. told the girls I love them and I can't wait to see them on Thursday (5:15pm, mom could you pick us up...I guess that should have been on the important list)

Now that I have gone over my checklist one thousand times I am still left with that feeling that I get every time that I leave. I'm sure all mom's do. It's that feeling that you are so excited to leave that you can hardly contain it, but at the same time I worry about my girls and feel a little bit guilty for leaving them. I know that as soon as I get on the plane, I will feel better, but until then, I guess I have to suffer with the anxiety. See ya all on Thursday (5:15 mom...thanks).

Here is a picture of my haircut. Thanks Heather for always making feel like I'm kinda in style again.

Oh what do you do during sprrring break, when it's way too cold outside

first of all you stay in areas with controlled temperatures, fattening food, and toys. Our first adventure took us to the beloved McDonalds.

I think it was a success!

Second, and again, you go to a controlled temperature environment and SWIM of course. Thank you to the Woodwards for letting us use the wonderful indoor pool and to Staci for setting it up for us.

There really is a pool in there and not just a slide, I guess I forgot to take pictures of them actually swimming.

Third, well, it finally looks like we are going to have a decent day, so we plan a trip to the falls, then decided to have a picnic lunch at Staci's. The kids found a rabbit and decided that it needed to be caught. Entertaining! Then we went to the Mercantile and had ice cream. After we got home and were almost convinced spring was here, so we decided to wash the cars and then.... the clouds started to move in, raindrops, wind, you know the story. We ended the day by making an offer on a house. All in all a pretty fun day.

And finally, when you are just so sick of cold, windy weather, you make a tanning appointment (for a little too long) and come out looking like...

THIS!

Priceless

1 gallon flavorite non-fat milk................................$2.68





1 package boneless pork loins................................$1.28 per pound





Shopping with an energetic 3 year old and a grouchy 5 year old that both have to use the bathroom half way through the trip and neither of them have eaten lunch and they both want every sugar filled candy item in the store........................Priceless

So what do think the Haertling family spends on a routine trip to Winco? Make a guess on how much this shopping trip set us back. The person who comments and guesses closest to the actual amount without going over wins a little homemade package from me. I will take guesses until Saturday night. Good luck!

Herb sales, mud, and bubbles!

Well, the last couple of days have been packed with tons of cousin fun. And with that you can imagine the great footage I could have gotten for my blog. Well, I didn't get everything, but I did manage to capture a bit. So for all of you out there that didn't get to experience it first hand I will try to fill you in on the highlights. First of all to let you know all of the kids were so good, but they are kids and with that comes messes, and more messes, but we just laughed our way through it.

Giorgia is a total outside girl. She just kept saying "out" and "bubbles". The thing that I learned about these two is Harrison loves to do little things to Giorgia to annoy her. He must have been doing this for quite a long time because she doesn't even flinch when he runs by and squeezes her leg really hard or pinches her arm. Giorgia is a trooper. Harrison makes me laugh...really hard.

It's always nice to have a little money chat with Harrison.

And speaking of money here are two of the most clever entrepreneur's you will ever meet. The original idea was to sell lemonade. This came from an episode of Ruby and Max. However with the temperature hovering in the 50's we decided that the lemonade wouldn't be a good idea. So these two little brains went to work. Well, I guess they decided that mint leaves would be the next best thing...I mean who doesn't want mint leaves? Anyway they ended up bringing in $10.00 in about 1 1/2 hours. At first glance you might think they are selling marijuana, and that might have brought in a little more cash, but no, just mint leaves...carefully picked and put into plastic sandwich bags. The earnings were given to Tara for her birthday. They really are all very sweet kids. They could probably sell dirt and make money.

Where there is water, boys will gather! That mud is just so darn tempting. How can you be upset with these faces.

Thanks to mom for letting us hang out at her house the last two days. We really all had a great time. It made me so grateful to have family close, so we can share these memorable times together. By the way has anyone seen dad. Maybe he is hiding in his room.

Tara tote in a boat, in a little city boat

Last night as I was laying in bed thinking of what I would say about Tara today on her 29th birthday, this little jig came to my mind. I don't think I have said or heard this for many many years. Our little Tara is all grown up now and I found some cute pictures of her throughout the journey. Tara is a wonderful sister and friend. Never judging, always happy and never lets a detail slip by. She is a wonderful mother and teaches me new things all the time. I love her big smile, it always brightens my day. I'm so glad she is near (palm spri....oops I mean Yakima) and not far (Jersey). I hope you have a most wonderful day. It was great having lunch with you and mom today at the gourmet restaurant we call Mom's dining room table. Happy Birthday.

This picture really is Tara, the "sunshine bear" the pointed toes and flexed muscles and of course the smile.

Those are three sets of the most Henry legs I have ever seen

Now what are those yellow ropes for around your neck, I never got those. Maybe I forgot to pick mine up.

Happy family. The only thing it needs is a little girl.

Happy Birthday Dad!

A tribute to William Arthur Henry Jr.

Many may not call him by the above mentioned name, but rather....Dad, Gampa, Mr. Henry, Brother Henry, The man in the Rainbow van, the guy that looks younger than most of his students and can still outrun his kids, the "punny" guy. There are many hats that my dad wears, but the hat he wears the best is the being a great example of a true follower of Christ, hat. Thanks dad for always being a great example to your family and everyone you meet. Most everyone in the community of Pasco knows dad and I don't think anyone would ever say anything but good about him. Dad is always kind to everyone he meets. I am proud to have you as my dad. I hope you have a great day. You look great for being 45. Here are some pics I found
in the archives. I hope you enjoy them.

dad and nate showing off their jumping skills on a family hike in Utah.

The picture of mom and I mastering that same jump just wouldnt scan very well, but it was impressive!

dad with his firstborn and probably favorite child.

dad with his firstborn 18 years later. I sure changed alot, but dad still looks the same.

Ok, I had to post this one just for the great wardrobe choices and, mom, what is that beautiful gold wall decor behind our piano. Do you still have that somewhere, I would love to take a closer look at that.

3 generations of Handsome Henry Men.