Just an update.

We had to add 2 new screen printing stations over the summer to keep up with all the orders for the Twilight store in Forks and Port Angeles and had 3 people working full time! We were working like mad! We expected the summer to be crazy, but that was beyond crazy! Anson and I thought it would be a good idea for me to take the fall quarter off school so that I could focus on the business. As it turns out we slowed down in the fall and have only worked a couple days a week if that.

We moved into this house at the busiest time possible and haven't been able to fully unpack or decorate or do any of the things you do once you move somewhere. This break has given me the chance to decorate, put pictures up, unpack and just organize. I have had a really nice time doing it.

I asked the boys how they wanted their rooms decorated and Anson chose a "cabin/outdoorsy" theme, Ammon's favorite subject is Social Studies and he loves Geography and maps, so he chose a "Map" room which I kind of changed to a "travel" theme, and Ashton wanted a Spongebob Bikini Bottom room which I changed into a "surf" theme. I'm still not completely finished with all their rooms but my ideas are coming together and the kids like it a lot. I'm doing it on a budget and getting everything used from thrift stores, which leads me to how much I love finding, searching and shopping for these themed related items! I don't know if you can call that a hobby, but it's fun, something I like to do and I'm good at it! :)

I will post pictures after I have a chance to clean up a bit when the kids are in school.

Anson Sr. is back at school in Seattle and has classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fortunately, he doesn't have to spend nights there this semester and hopefully won't have to again. He also started practicum here in Vancouver on Tuesdays and Fridays. Just when I didn't think Anson could get any busier, he does.

Anson Jr. is now taller then me and wears the same size shoes as Anson Sr. That boy is only 13 years old and is all arms and legs! He's 5'10" and will be passing up Anson Sr. probably within the year.

The younger two boys are enjoying their freedom in this neighborhood and having fun in the backyard we now have.

This has been a good move for us and we're very happy here. We only moved a couple of miles from where we were, but it is such a HUGE difference!

Monster Mash!

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What a weekend!!!

We had business in Forks, Washington this last weekend. The city was celebrating "Stephenie Meyer Day" and "Bella's Birthday". (Here are the shirts I designed and made for the event. All the red parts are red glitter ink.)



Our friends who own "Dazzled By Twilight" brought in The Mitch Hansen Band for Saturday's entertainment and Anson was doing the sound for them.

Of course we tried to book a hotel last minute and NOTHING was available, so we decided to take our motorhome since we had to haul a bunch of music equipment, including a drum set along with 3 big boxes of merchandise for the twilight store.

We dropped Anson Jr. off at Shannon's house and Ryan came and picked up Ashton and Ammon. Anson and I were really looking forward to a good weekend away and spend some time alone...without the kids.

We made reservations at an RV resort in ocean Shores for that night and would head up to Forks at 7AM to get the merchandise in the stores before it opened. That was the plan anyway. We got up at 6AM, showered and got everything ready to go and then the RV didn't start! Anson worked on it thinking it might be the starter and after about an hour of just sitting around and waiting, I went back to sleep. I had dreams of me lying in the back on the bed, waking up and we'd be moving and on our way to Forks. When I actually did wake up, we were still where we were before I closed my eyes.

While I was asleep Anson called and set up AAA...and had some repair guys on their way out to fix the problem...whatever it was. In the meantime, he had also called our friend up in Forks to tell him we were stranded. Tim was able to make a few calls and found some friends of his that were willing to come get us and all the stuff we needed to bring up there. That was still hours away. So, while we were waiting for the repair guys and the people from Forks, we decided to walk down to the beach.

A couple of hours later, the people from Forks show up and we unload everything from the RV into their truck.

We decided it would be best if I stayed back with the RV so that once it was repaired, I could drive it up to Forks. Otherwise, Anson would be stranded in Forks with no way to get back to me. No sooner did they leave that the repair guys showed up. I sat on the bed and read my book, "The House" by Danielle Steel while the guys worked.

They changed the starter....that wasn't the problem.

They charged the battery, that wasn't the problem.

They put in a new battery....that wasn't the problem.

They tinkered around and finally found out that one of the cables that connected the motor to the starter was dirty or something stupid like that. FINALLY after 3 hours, the RV started! So an $8 fix ended up costing us $500!!! Yeah.....WOW!

Good news is, that I got to drive this 27 foot mother lover up to Forks without hitting anything, crashing or breaking down again!!! I have never driven this thing before and I was scared! I got on the road at 5:30PM and told Anson that I was on my way. He was so happy because he felt so bad leaving me there alone.

Driving the Rv wasn't so bad. I was very lucky that there wasn't a hole lot of traffic though, cause that stresses me out more than anything!

I get to Forks around 8PM with NO GAS to spare...it was completely on empty when I pulled into town! Anson and I reunited and all was happy again! We headed up to "The Twilight Lounge" were we listened to the band and had a good time.

Notice the name on the drumset! :)

After the show we took all the equipment back down to the RV and drove 3 hours to Aberdeen where we parked in their parking lot for the night. It's a good thing too, because we were SO TIRED! We would not have made it all the way home that night. On our way there we saw a baby bobcat run across the road! It was very cool.

The next morning we stopped in Chehalis at the Denny's and ate some brunch and then drove home and picked up our kids. It was a one heck of a weekend!!!

I love Anson SO MUCH!
He is my best friend and I'm so lucky!

"Lucky" Official Video With Colbie Caillat

Going private.

Most of you know that Anson is in the doctorate program for Clinical Psychology. He graduates in 2012 with a Psy. D! It's been a long road. Anyway, Anson is starting his practicum this week and will be working in a clinic. He will be coming in contact with a lot of people and I thought it would be wise to go private. If you still want to read my blog, let me know and I will add you or give you the password. I'm not sure how that works just yet, but wanted to give everybody a heads up.

Paradise Weekend.

This weekend we went up to Silver Creek, WA. They have a Leisure Time Resort (which is another property of Thousand Trails) campground called "Paradise". It was only an hour and 15 minutes from our house. We've never been there before, and when we got there we weren't happy to see that the campsites were all so close together with nothing separating many of them. It looked like an RV parking lot in some areas. We drove away from that section of the camp and found a more private spot near some trees separating the only neighbor on the other side of us. It was much more secluded, but we sacrificed sewer hook-ups (too bad for Anson Sr. - he had to dump it when we left). We were further away from the pool, store and clubhouse, but that was okay, because we all brought our bikes this time, even Anson and I.

After we got all set up, we rode bikes around the campground to see what this place had to offer. We rode to the store and over to the pools and found that they had a family pool, kiddie pool and an adult pool and hot tub all in one area. We rode down to the lake, around the smaller lake and over to the putt-putt golf area.

Anson Jr. brought his own tent and slept in it the first night,
but decided to sleep in the RV the second night. He says it was too cold outside.

Then we went swimming and hot tubbing.
The adult pool was warmer than the family pool and it was 8 feet deep!
Here's Anson enjoying the hot tub.

Ashton is a little sea monkey! He LOVES swimming!
I caught him jumping into the pool. It was only 3 &1/2 ft. deep
here, but he ventures off into the 6 ft. deep area all the time.
It's a little scary. I'm thinking about enrolling him into swim lessons.

The flowers there looked a little harsh,
but I took pictures of them anyway.

Saturday night they had a magician
named Brian Ledbetter come in and put on a show.
He was actually pretty good.

http://www.bluemoontalent.com/brian-ledbetter.html

Friday evening we rented "Mr. Mom"
from the campground store for $1.
Saturday afternoon we watched the movie "Tremors"


and then later that night we rented "TAXI".




The weather wasn't that great this weekend, having rained during the night on Friday and Saturday, making it hard to sleep. There was also an incident involving a truck's clutch that gave out, rolled down a hill and crashed into a trailer and tent. Nobody was inside them at the time so nobody got hurt, but the trailer and truck looked totaled!

We don't have another camping trip scheduled until the end of this month.
Not sure where we are going yet, but I'm already looking forward to it.

An RV, a flat tire and lots of FUN!

Anson and I just bought a Thousand Trails campground membership from Anson's brother Rob. Anson has wanted one for a long time so that we can do a lot of camping all year round. We also bought an RV to make camping easier, better and more fun! Who wants to camp in a tent anyway?! That is not my idea of a good time. So this was our first camping trip using our membership and RV!

Thousand Trails has so many bunnies all over the
campground and they aren't scared of people.
Anson had one eating right out of his hand.

The kids spent a little time on the playground. They played some putt putt golf,
but I don't have pictures of it. We also did A LOT of swimming and I don't have pictures
of that either because Anson and I were in the nice warm 80-90 degree pool swimming
with the boys.

This was the view from the deck of the lodge.

The first night, the boys roasted hot dogs
and I think I had a sandwhich. Mmm.....not really!

This is the trail we take from the campground that
goes all the way to the beach. It's a nice short walk.

Pacific City has the best sand dunes.
The last time we went there, we climbed up REALLY high
and told the boys we were not going to do that this time.
Instead, they climbed up this tiny little thing! They still had a great time.

Anson and I climbed up and watched the kids
run up and down the hill. I also took a few pictures.

Haystack Rock in the distance.

This is Anson Jr.
He is "King of the world!"

How cute are Ashton and Ammon!

A nice older couple was leaving the beach
and asked us if we wanted their fire.
And we took it!

The Anson's buried Ashton in the sand.

And made Ashton look like a pregnant lady.
I have no idea what that is about...
but he's still cute!

Later that night, we watched "RV" . It was a lot of fun!


This is what happened to our tire on the way to Pacific City.
We just didn't have any idea until after we got there.
We decided that we would take care of it when we left.

On our way home we stopped at the Les Schwab in Tillamook
and walked over to the Safeway to get a bite to eat.

Here we are back at Les Schwab just waiting for them to get done.
It took a little longer then what was expected.

And here we are back on the road.