What a week

We have been so busy. I can't believe how much more there is to do with one more teenager in the house. But it has been great fun. There have been hard decisions made by some of us. As we all learn to have more patience and understanding with each other.

Justin has spent a lot of time studying for the ham radio test. I will be joining him in the studying effort so that we can take the test in Dec. We are wanting to be able to use this as a hobby we can enjoy together. We had an investigator at church today, so Justin had to teacher a class today, he said that it went well. They will actually be in the Everson ward, but knew someone from the branch and came to visit us, we were quiet glad to have them.

Nathan got a truck this week, we are hoping, with fingers, eyes, and toes crossed that this one keeps running. Nate knew I had, had a bad few days so he made lunch for all of us today of french toast. It was very yummy, THANKS Nate. He and Alice also tackled the dishes for me which was muchly appreciated.

I have had a busy time, trying to keep up with the kids and my new project and the CTR Bookstore. It is keeping me busy but I did learn how to change a regular file to a PDF which is a new skill for me. I am also learning more about web design, I am so excited about all the new skills I am learning, or expanding while helping a dear friend out.

I am also learning the importance of patience, prayer, forgiveness and turning the other check, things that I really need to practice and remember. I have finding my time on my knees and in tears over many things. I am trying, not always successfully to put Christ first and do what I believe He would want me to do, instead of follow my first response. I have always said that I would never let someone else make me upset and then use that as a reason not to go to church. That was put to the test this week, I am glad that I didn't let this keep me away from church, as there were many things said that I needed to hear, especially in primary where being kind to others was talked about several times. I must always remember that kindness begins with me.

This week I am adding a workout back into my routine. I have a new workout that is only 20 min long so I am going to be in bed at 10 PM so I can get up and do my routine, before reading my scriptures. I'm looking forward to the results as I make this change in my life, even though I know that it will be tough.

We have decided what we want to do as a family to welcome in the New Year. We are gong to go for a walk around Lake Padden, and then go and do the polar bear plunge. It will be cold and cold, but it will be fun to create this memory with the kids, everyone but Liz will be there. The boys are so excited about it, I think we have even got Justin on board with our craziness. We shall see.

ok so what to say.......i got a truck again after decideing that cars are from the lower levels of a place i cant say cause mom is gonna read this. its an f 350 camper special from 74 with a 408 V-8 in it, its a beast to say the least, has four gas tanks and runs well, im scraping my other two cars to make some cash, to get to work im riding the bus from lynden to belling ham so i gotta get to be sooner than i used to, no more late nights for me. not much else going on here, so ttyl yall TRUCKS ROCK if you dissagree go eat a lemon lol jk jk

Hello! It is Alice. My past week has been quite exciting. I started school at Lynden High recently. It has been quite fun. In my 1st period fitness for life class almost all of the girls remember me from 7th grade. Me and my next door neighbor Erin are best friends. We go for long walks after school everyday. This thrusday and friday I stayed home sick :( which was not fun. Saturday night I went to this church dance. It was LAME! to put it lightly. Over all my week was pretty good. I have been talking to my friends from Reno a lot more than I thought I would; I talk to my bestest friend Ryan more than anyone. I'm so excited for turkey day. School is going good :) How is your week going?
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Rain, Alice, and Nate at church....great week

Zach's week was good, because he umm played with his friends, and this week he was doing the pacer at PE and I could have got more but he felt like he was coughing stuff up. He played with his dog and he went to Aunt's house and saw his grandparents it was great to see them. He watched a movie at his aunt's place.

Hello, its Alice. My week was filled with excitement. Sunday was my last week in the Peavine Mountian ward in Reno. Monday after school my best friends Rachel and Ryan came over and we hung out until like 10. It was great. The next day we did not have school so I went over to Rachel's house and we picked up Ryan. We played pool all day and looked at pictures from our Yosemite trip. Wednesday was a late start day; after school Ryan came over and we baked chocolate chip cookies for a church dinner. For mutual we had a thanksgiving dinner and Ryan came with me. It was a blast. I felt bad for him though because my bishop drilled him with questions about us and his future after high school. Thursday night Rachel threw me a surprise going away party. It was Rachel, Ryan, Spencer, and I; my friend Jessica was going to come but no one could get a hold of her. We went to Starbucks and then up to Rachel's and we went into her hot tub. When they dropped me off at my house we said good bye and there were watery eyes. Not 5 minutes after they left Shealie a girl from church came and picked Liz and I up and we met our Laurel president at Cold Stone and we got ice cream and talked for a while. Then Liz and I went home. That was my last night in Reno. I was up until at least 1 in the morning packing and cleaning my room. On Friday I flew up to Washington. Now I am living in Washington with my mommy. Today we went to church and all of the girls were amazingly nice. I'm so glad to be home and living with my mom again. I should be starting school on Wednesday or Thursday.
Anyway that was my week. I hope you had a wonderful week!

ello every one, nate here to talk to you about my week

ok let me lead off with spunge bob is the dumbest cartoon around, its running in the back ground and i cant stand it. on now for the week, i SEVERLY over ordered for my freezer and am trying to figure out what im gonna do on monday, ive decided to take my car into a shop in sedro so i can get it fixed before it gets much worse weather wise up here, other than that not much finally started to go back to church so yeah, guess i'll talk to you later , PEACE

Well, I"ll start with our house is clear full, which is very nice. The best part was having everyone at church with us. The only way it wold have been better was to have Liz with us. She will be here for Thanksgiving and it will be great to have all of the kids here for a bit. I have had a busy week. Thursday I went with a Laura, a dear friend, and we started working on a project together, that will give us both more business experience. I'm very excited about it. We presented a local business with a new business plan. The owner really liked the plan so now we are working on putting the plans into motion, they include updating the stores web page, a newsletter to send to people who visit the store on a regular basis, and other things. Now comes the part of making it all work.

Thursday it started raining, and raining and raining. But luckily that didn't keep Alice from getting here on Friday. We are so glad that she made it here. she had requested fajitas for dinner so that is what we had, followed of course by ice cream. Zach and Christian were excited that she was coming as they figured there would be ice cream involved. She picked egg nog, the kids said it was very yummy. They are also glad she is here as Alice likes to bake and made brownies on Saturday. The boys requested Navajo taco for dinner on Saturday and they were yummy. Zach and Christian want me to make them for Turkey day but I told them NOPE we are having turkey. Justin mentioned that he could get use to eating them weekly, I don't think so though. I've been looking for more recipes that I can do in the crock pot as I'll be home a lot less to cook dinner on time after the first of the year.

Alice is now busy setting up her room. To make the rooms work in here we have made these adjustments, she will be in the bedroom during the week, and on the weekend she will sleep on the futon and the boys will sleep in the bedroom. So she is trying to make it so her things don't over power the boys things, but it feels like her room to her, and theirs to them.

Fire pits and good times

There were many exciting things this week, and a few ooohhhh:) moments. Alice will be arriving on Friday to stay. This would be one of the exciting things. There is lots to do at our end and hers to get things ready for her arrival. We need to fix the room she will be staying in, and get things lined up at both school and church for her. But every is excited for her. Nathan says we need to do something fun when she gets her, perhaps her favorite ice cream and dinner. I'm excited to have another girl in the house.

Saturday we had an extra boy, Kayden, his family were moving so I had invited him to come and help Zachary and Christian. They were in charge of digging a fire pit. Which they did a wonderful job at. After it was done, Justin went and helped them toward the end, and then helped them build a small fire in it. They are all hoping that this coming weekend we can make a big fire, roast some hot dogs, and burn some marshmallows and turn them into s'mores. Kayden did say he would like to be here for that so we shall see if he is available then.

I know many wonderful men, this week two of them did remarkable things in my eyes. The first is my dear wonderful husband, who is always thinking of others. I was working on a board with our last name, Masterson on it, which I was putting the words, "families are forever" across it. Justin saw what I was doing and said he really liked it, but was wondering if we need to do one that says Adair as well as Masterson. He doesn't want any of my children to feel left out as they are Adair's not Masterson's.

The second was when my little brother called me. He was at Home Depot, Jonathan said they had sold their house this week and that his little girls were sad as they had to leave their swing set behind. So he was looking for a new wooden one, that hasn't been put together yet so he can have it shipped to Italy with their other things, where he will put it together when it gets there for the girls. He also got himself a Harley to be shipped also. They leave in 9 days, we are wishing them a safe and uneventful flight.

I also talked with my sister, Amy, I think our cats must be related as they both do strange things. She said that Stinky, her cat, brought a pheasant in to the house today. It was still very much a live. It didn't appear to have any damage, so they caught it and put it in with their chickens, so they can watch it and make sure it is okay. According to Amy the ducks chase Stinky, she is thinking that Stinky is working her way up to them as the pheasant is the same size as Stinky is and ducks are the next size up. If I were one of those ducks I'd start watching my back.

Friday night we invited two couples over for dinner. Justin made his wonderful chili, and I made corn bread to go with it. We were going to play games, but ended up just visiting for a few hours instead. It was great, Justin and Darrin figured out that they were related, and we all shared great stories about how we met our spouse and funny things that happened to us as we were growing up. It is wonderful to have good friends.

Today in primary we talked about what we did as being in the "Service in Secret Club" It was fun to hear the different things that kids had done. After which we talked about our different talents and how it is important to use them to use them, and that you must sometimes work hard to develop your talents. Then we must share them with others, so we can receive more. we ended with the challenge to use your talents to do things in our Service in Secret Club. I will need to bring something for the kids next week.

Firewood is on all the boys minds

Zachary worked on his bear this week, he wrote two letters, and did a to do list. At scouts they went to the library, and learned about where different types of books were kept in the library. Zach also became an expert at splitting logs, learning safety from Christian. At school his friend who had been out for two weeks because he was sick returned. Zach was excited to see him. He stayed side by side with the fastest kid in his class. Today at church they played jeopardy and the girls won by eight points. the boys are hoping to do better next time.

Christian has been reading a bunch of books this week. He went trunker-treating at church, chopped some wood. At scouts they are building a tribusha, to go against another pack in pumpkin throwing. Christian also finally got through a piece of wood that he has been working on the last two weeks he is so proud of himself. At church his lesson was a out temple marriage.

It's been a busy week, part of it was quiet relaxing as I refilled the bird feeder. I have been enjoying watching all the birds around it. Today we had a woodpecker out side also, so I may need to get some of the stuff they like. Yesterday the sunrise over the mountain was quiet incredible.

Thursday evening a friend of mine came to visit, Miss Kinsey. she stayed for a while eating popcorn and enjoying a cup of apple juice, watching some TV until her mom came over to pick her up. Friday Kinsey came to my rescue. I had put some gas in my car and accidentally locked my keys in the car. Justin was a sleep with his cell phone off, and couldn't hear the house phone. I called Kinsey's mom to see if she could go and wake Justin up so he could come and rescue me. Kinsey answered the phone and her Mom wasn't there so I told her I need to go. I continued to try and find someone to help. I was having no luck and was quiet frustrated when the ear piece for my cell phone went off. It was Lianne, Kinsey's mom, when she got home she said that Kinsey was quiet insistent that I called. When Lianne checked the caller ID it said Safeway, so she said that I hadn't called, but Kinsey was quiet insistent that I had so she was calling to make Kinsey happy. I was able to ask Lianne to go get Justin up and tell him what my problem was. Justin tried to call me several times but my phone never did pick it up. I called him back and got him as he was awake and he came to the rescue. I'll forever be grateful Kinsey insisting that I had called or it would have been an even longer morning.

An old friend from high school found me on Face book. Which is fun as I haven't kept track of anyone from HS. It has been fun to exchange messages with her and talk about old times.

Nathan found a great deal on firewood for us, if you go and split the wood you get to keep half. So Nate has been going on the last two days he was off. I am greatly appreciative of it. As Nate enjoys this kind of work it makes it great for both of us. He said that the guy is a real character, he has a collection of I think he said 20 or so pipe organs. Sounds really fun to see.

I was in charge of sharing time in primary today and I had the children start a Service in Secret Club. It started as a fun way to teach the children about doing service to others. I made Service in Secret cards for all of the kids. the more I thought about it the more I decided that I would take on the challenge I gave the children to do Service in Secret this week. I'm going to be looking hard to do some secret service myself. I know that it will feel good to do some service in secret. And am passing on the challenge to everyone who reads our blog, do some kind of service in secret and see if it makes you feel better.

Alice is coming to live at our house!!!

Christian has had a busy weekend, he went and started working on his citizenship in the community merit badge on Saturday. When he got back he did a lot of wood splitting and bringing it up to the porch, which I sooo appreciate. He went to a joint activity with one of the other wards in the stake where they did a service project and then had RBF's (root beer floats).

Zach had a more laid back weekend, but he did help with the wood, and set some goals on what he was going to work on to get his bear in cub scouts. He did a wonderful job in the primary program. He liked telling stories with the missionaries when they were over for dinner on Saturday.

We woke up on Thursday to find out that the farmers had left all these marshmallows in the field behind our house. So if you need some for your hot coca come over. Call first, we might even think about smores:)

Justin was in charge of getting Christian to the merit badge class on Saturday. I so appreciated it. S I could stay home and clean. Which was also nice to get done.He also helped the boys with the wood, and my favorite, did the dishes for me. He is such a great guy. Today during the primary program he played with one of my counselors baby as her hubby was out of town. I think he had a lot of fun :)

Today was our primary program and I think the children did a wonderful job. Then Amy, the primary sec. made the best treats, pretzels with a Hersey's hug and m&m's where the hug and m's were on top of the pretzel and the hug melted around the m's into the pretzel...they looked yummy. She always has the neatest little treats idea's

Our exciting news for this week is that Alice is going to come and live with us. We are sooo very excited. She is coming sometime between now and Thanksgiving. I've been finding out what we need to do to get her in to seminary and transfer to our high school. I can't wait for her to get her, part of the reason is I miss her tons and I will no longer be the only girl in the house. Justin said he needs to stock up on chocolate, and is glad that Edaleen is near by (yummy ice cream place). Our house that emptied out not to long ago seems to be filling back up. And we are glad.

Nathan learned to make mash potatoes:)

Our weekly funny is on Nathan this week. As we were leaving for church today I stuck my head in his room and asked him to: do the dishes, take the rolls out of the fridge, and cut up some potatoes put them in the pot on the stove and cover with water, so we could have mash potatoes. As church was over I had Zach call and check ans see how he was doing. Nate reported that he needed to talk with me. Apparently all he heard was to wash the dishes and mashed potatoes. Being a good boy he washed the dishes and having no idea how to make mash potatoes made an attempt. He microwaved the potatoes, cut them up, put them in the kitchen aid, added some milk and turned it on. He said said he had a lumpy mess. I told him I'd fix it when I got home and to make sure the rolls were out of the fridge. I stifled the giggles until I hung up the phone. When I got home there was a bowl of cold have mashed potatoes. That I soon realized were half cooked. Back in the microwave they went until cooked then I finished mashing them added some butter, milk etc. Nathan said he couldn't figure out why I had asked him to make mash potatoes when he never had and didn't leave any directions. I gave him a lesson on the right way to make them and then told him what I had asked him to do. He said all her remembered was do the dishes and mashed potatoes. And all he knew about mash potatoes was you cooked potatoes put them in the kitchen aid and added milk. I promised to make sure he was awake from now on and out of bed before giving instructions. But the pork roast was yummy falling apart and tender, and rolls perfect as is expected. Christian even commented on how much he liked dinner. He is my picky eater and is pretty sure half the time I'm trying to kill him. He has gotten better and trying new things though.

Justin and Christan went camping with the Scouts on Friday night. It was a long hike in, but from all reports it was great. They stayed at a look out point up at the Twin Lakes. Christian loved the fact that there were already things up there for people in case they forgot something, and left his hot chocolate up there in case someone needed some. They cooked dinner on white gas stoves, and lit candles. Justin said they were glad to be sleeping inside and not in there tents and it was quiet windy and there was snow on the ground. I smiled as there were 4 adults and 2 scouts on the hike. I understand the view was incredible, Justin kept saying that he had never seen so many mountain peeks. And they both agreed that it was beautiful. We are hoping to take a day hike up there in the late spring or summer when it is a bit warmer.

Zach went to Sister McCoy's on Saturday to practice for the primary program and have pizza. The rest of his weekend was pretty laid back, we did start a jigsaw puzzle though.

The practice for the primary program was today, it went well and I think the children will do an excellent job next week. It will be nice to have it done so we can focus on the next thing. I was talking to the branch pres. and expressing that I am finally feeling that I might be starting to get this calling figured out, but that didn't mean I was wanting to be released. I love our branch as I am getting to know new people. I'm sure I have some of the best teachers there are in our primary.

I went to Express Personnel and interviewed, they will hopefully have work for me to do at the end of the week. It will make it a lot easier as we need to be getting the tickets for the girls to come for Thanksgiving.

I talked to Shirley today!!! She sounded good and is going to send pictures of Parker. He is in kindergarten this year. We can't wait to get them. We had sent him some Parker root beer and he loved it, so we are thinking we shall send some more, it will just have to be opened carefully as not to explode.

Also talked with Amy, she sounded good. She actually called during sacrament meeting, and I didn't have the ringer of on my cell phone. I called her back after church. She is doing well, her and Jake were taking it easy and waiting for Ariel to get back from work.

I also got Michael, Young Mi and Max on the phone. It was a great day to catch up with everyone. Michel starts his last semester to get his RN WAY TO GO!! They have great plans and I am sure they will all happen. I know they are all glad that he is almost done. Young will cut back on work this summer it sounds like and her parents will come in from Korea for a visit. Max just got contacts! Is playing the bass, and working on his black belt. GO MAX.

I didn't catch up with Jonathan this week just left a message, but Mom and Dad are there to see them before they leave on their great adventure so I am sure they were off doing something fun.

I don't know how Justin's family is doing as he had to run before he talked with them. On the weeks Christian has BYC we just have enough time to eat before he has to leave for work.

Happy Birthday Justin

Hey peoples my life (Christian) is kinda bore'in right now but...just so y'all know you need t0 read this in a...western accsent ya varmits!!! soo00oo . . . I got this mini skateboard that you use for your fingers!!! and its kinda co0ol scho0ol is. . . the same so ummm . . . ya thats it In scouts we built a kitchen box for when we go camping. Watched conference and got to go to priesthood session and share a quart of ice cream with Dad afterwards.

Zach's week, when we were going to get Dad's present with Melanie we saw a rainbow, at first I could only see red, yellow and green, and then I could see all the colors. We got Dad an old fashion 9:10 to Yuma, a pocket watch that says "DAD" on it and a jacket for his birthday. On Tuesday his teacher says if they were quiet during writing time they would get a treat, it was rice crispys and was yummy. At cubs we studied the American flag and worked on the citizenship belt loop. On Saturday and Sunday I watched General conference, on Sat. I also watched "The Other side of Heaven" I really liked the movie and think you should watch it. It's about a missionary and his mission.

ok this is nathan here to tell you about my week so that mom doesn't make stuff up about me, the week kicked off with WORK of course now that I'm back from Reno and went back to the regular routine, and of course i am still car less since i cant buy a decent car to save my life, working on that though, as far as other projects go I'm fixing moms lawnmower as soon she buys a new pull cord for it, other than that its just playing with the fluffy dog and taking trips to sedro to visit Friends, that's pretty much the standard that I'm carrying on

So we have had a busy week, I'll start with the funny on the Gizmo. All week she has been chasing mice through the house at night. I haven't seen any signs of mice in the house though. Thursday night Justin said she brought a mouse into the living room, let it go, went and caught it again and brought it back. Saturday during the day she had it cornered again, and caught it again, then let it go...girr. She then cornered it by the door. Got board and left it. Thanks heavens for Nate, he came and shooed it out the door. We have slept soundly every night since thing. No more mice in the house.

Wednesdays are busy days for me, lots of driving. This week was even more so as the boys weren't in the same place for scouts, it looks like ti will be the same this week I figured I drive almost 2.5 hours on Wednesdays, doing my part to keep the oil companies in business.

Friday during the day Justin and I went down to the temple and did a session. It was nice to get a way for a bit. Traffic was intense on the way home. there was an accident and we had to figure out how to get back on the freeway, but we did, and got home and picked up the boys.

Come the first of January I will be working full time at the dr. office, Kelly will be doing other things. She will be greatly missed. I"m excited to go full time there, but know I rely on her when I have questions. she did say she would cover for me when I need a day off though and I am grateful for that. I will not be able to over see cub scout day camp next summer so I'll be letting them know this week.



I have been emailing Alice this weekend and found out the following. Liz took the SAT's on Saturday. I remember when I took them, we ended up needing to wait for an hour until the person passing out the test got there. I'm sure that Liz did an excellent job. Alice has been watching the boys a lot and doing school work she said. Alice also sent some great pictures of her birthday hope you enjoy them, We did.




I'm also posting some pictures that Jonathan sent of the girls and him and Celeste. We are so glad to get them also. The one of the girls with the turtle was when they are in Argentina. I'm hoping that he will continue to send pictures when they are out of the country. I thought about them when Pres. Monsen announced the new temples in Rome and Argentina. I hope they get to enjoy both of them.


Today is Justin's birthday. I made him lasagna, rolls and cake. After conference we had dinner, had cake, and opened presents. I think that he liked his presents, Zach was very excited about them as he was the one that went shopping and picked them out.

I've been working on the primary program, next Sunday is our run through and then we will do it. I think it is going to be good. I'm also working on next years primary things, I was inspired when Jonathan said the Christina was learning her articles of faith that we should learn them in our primary. My secretary said that she was in a ward where the children went to the bishop after the block and passed of an article of faith, we are going to give it a try at the beginning of the year. I am going to make a chart to keep track of how we are doing. We are even going to challenge the teachers, and presidency to learn them. Along with studying the monthly themes.

I started weight watchers this week, so you won't get an update here until I hit my first goal of 10% of my body weight. I am working hard at following the program, and learning the points system to help me eat wisely.