Because I Said So...

Wow! A lot has happened in one short week. Last week some people from California looked at our house and this week they decided they want to buy it. So we signed papers on Saturday. I was at Union High School for a FIVE STAKE YOUTH CONFERENCE. It's all in capitals because that is how it has overrun my life for the last many months. It was a smashing success despite the fact that it was 100 fetching degrees on Saturday. We had some fantastic teachers for the workshops and a fun dance/kareoke/games night. We had 850 kids there from Longview to Washougal. And somewhere in the middle of that, Dad showed up with a notebook. "Hi honey those people who saw our house last week want to buy it. Are you OK with this for a price?"
As of August 10th we will be out on the street.

And then the Ranger said: "Total cave darkness." and turned out the lights.

We got back from Utah a few days ago. It was a grueling drive but well worth it. We swung through Rexburg to drop off Shayla and Seth for OYA. Then we drove on down to Provo--where we got to see our older kids who are there working and/or going to school. Always a pleasure! While we were there we took the two younger boys to see some of the local attractions.


The picture below is Shane and Andy on the ski lift at Park City. As I was taking this picture Shane was saying: "I'm sorry, I admit imminentdeath makes me tense!" He kept his eyes closed for most of the ride to the top. He and Sam had a blast sliding down though. Then Sam and Andy went on the Alpine Coaster while Shane tried out the maze.















The next day we hiked up to Timp Cave:



















After the Ranger told the story of the Indian Princess who threw herself off a cliff to save her tribe and now her heart is a formation in the cave... Shane said (in what he thought was a whisper but actually echoed loudly off the walls) "…

How's this for the perfect Father's Day Gift?




I know I did that whole previous post about being cheap and creepy if you give a gift like this; but... at least he has clothes on. Besides there was another little statuette that said "World's Greatest Lover" --too bad Shayla was with me. Contrary to reports otherwise-- I really do try not to embarass my children in public. Happy Father's Day, Honey!

I call today's entry: Frog Blog...
This cute little critter peeked in the window last Sunday while Sam and I were making Family Night treat. We invited him in to have some, but he saw that it wasn't fly guts and hopped away. Hopefully back to his froggy family for Family Night.

Father's Day is coming soon, so today I will share with you a cautionary tale of gift-giving. Here you see a picture of a hammock: a well-intentioned but misguided attempt at finding a gift for the man who has everything. It all began years ago with a dream. I was visiting a friend and as our children played in her backyard and we chatted, I noticed a hammock hanging between two trees. It looked so inviting and the kids were climbing on it and swinging each other in it. I thought: someday I would like to have a yard with some trees close enough together to put up a hammock. I imagined someone relaxing in it on a summer day with a good book and some lemonade...maybe one of the kids, or my husband. But not me -- because if I laid in a hammock, all of the kids would swarm in and climb aboard and defeat the whole "quiet relaxation" thing. But I still thought it would be wonderful. It just never happened. We moved twice after that but both places were sadly lacking in sturdy…

You may have noticed I got a little crazy and spontaneous and changed my TEMPLATE! Look out, next thing you know I'll be buying an ipod and downloading Fall Out Boy. (This just in: apparently Fallout Boy is three words-- not the nuclear "fallout" as I assumed--who knew?!)

Funny story:a little side note to the Annual Deer Creek Neighborhood GARAGE SALE!
For awhile the day of the garage sale, Shane was sitting out there with me. He was flaked out on the couch that we had already sold, but had not been picked up yet. He was watching the cars come around the island in the middle of our cul-de-sac. He commented that they all seemed to be stopping at the house a few doors down from us. Soon, I heard him grumbling: "They're taking our customers!" I told him to simmer down-- it was all fair and they were stopping because they saw something they were interested in. "I'm going down there to see what they're doing to steal OUR business!" He had a vested interest in our sale because he had cleaned out his room of all toys and knick-knacks with hopes of making big bucks. He marched off down the street. Soon he returned from his reconnaissance mission with important news: "Those fetchin' neighbors! They have a fetchin' a…

I told you of the amazing hiking experience we had yesterday-- but that was just the first part of the day. There was plenty of daylight left for more Gale Family fun. Because Saturday was the day of the Annual Deer Creek Neighborhood GARAGE SALE! As Andy describes it: "Everyone puts their junk (OK- he said crap) out in their front yard and waits around for someone to come and give them money for it. Then they go to the neighbors' houses and spend the money they made selling their crap to buy the neighbors crap!" We have been Spring Cleaning and getting organized for a possible move -- depending on where Andy gets a job. So we had some odds and ends to offer for sale. The kids get into the spirit of it when they start thinking about making some money. Shane was upset that I wouldn't agree to him selling his bed ("IT'S MINE--I should get money for it if I want to! I can sleep on the floor."--- Practical and enterprising).

Andy and the kids laid out our w…