Family Weekend at the Beach

We spent last weekend at Lincoln City with all the family. The Matthews family came from all around to join us and catch up. I wish I got more pictures of the family that came to visit, but when we're all together, it can get a little hectic (in a good way). It isn't very easy to get everyone's picture when we're such a big group. Plus, some of mine didn't turn out.

Eleanor was so excited to go see the ocean. We had been telling her all day while we were packing that we would go to the beach and see the ocean. She kept saying, "See ocean!"

This is Serena. She is married to Duane's brother, Derek. She's so funny. As we were leaving the beach, she noticed this ridge in the sand and ran to it. Apparently, the second she saw it, the thought popped into her head to hide behind it and pop up periodically and wave to all of us, and of course she had to act on that thought!

Carolyn already posted a few pictures of this, but I had to post it for my family to see. She made these matching headbands for Adelynn and Eleanor to wear. Aren't they such cute cousins? Eleanor was so thrilled to have a headband of her own since I have been wearing headbands lately. Thanks Aunt Carolyn!

Fun on the beach. . .

This is how Eleanor was carried back from the beach. I was tired of holding her, and Grant didn't want to get covered in sand.


Derek and Serena got Eleanor this great backpack set, complete with cell phone, sunglasses, and play makeup. She loves it! And I'm so glad it has a flip-phone; maybe now she'll leave mine alone! I love her googly eyes in this last picture.

Eleanor and Carter.
Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandchildren together. We're so glad Michael and Lucero could come visit us! (And we can't wait to see them agian.)


Dog pile on Alex (as usual).

This is one way we convince Eleanor she doesn't need to be carried on the beach. She loves to hold the dog leash. I don't think she dislikes the sand anymore; she just has a hard time walking through it. Plus, she tends to be a wimp whenever it's windy on the beach. She has never liked the wind.

She loved playing in the sand. When we told her we were going to walk down the beach, she threw a fit because she had to stop playing in the sand. She soon discovered that she could stop along the way to use her rake here and there.

Cute girl on the beach (with saggy clothes).

She got a little carried away washing the sand off her feet. Grant was holding her up so she wouldn't sit down in the water, but then she saw me bending over and scooping water onto my legs to wash off the sand. Grant let go of her for a second, and she had to do what I was doing. Of course, when she reached down for the water, her bottom dipped into it, too. Since she was already wet, we let her go ahead and go down the slide. I thought she would want to stay in there for quite a while, but after one slide, she was done. She must not like the feel of wet clothes. Such a princess!
I had to document one of the only times Eleanor and David would share a toy. They are both in a phase that isn't very conducive to sharing. This was a very brief moment when they were both content. You should see the other pictures!

Goose! Goose!

Here's a little video of Alex and the kiddos playing around at the beach house on Sunday. Once all the older kids were gone, Eleanor and David had Alex all to themselves to attack. Eleanor has learned this new "goose, goose" trick. I did it to her one morning in bed, and she quickly learned to do it back. Man, those tiny little fingers sure do tickle! I'll post more pictures from our beach trip with family. Right now, I'm still trying to clean up the house and unpack.

I've Been Tagged!

Arin tagged me about a week ago, and I'm just getting this done.

10 random things about me. . .

1. I am a storyteller. Some might say blabbermouth, jabber jaws, etc., but I prefer "storyteller." Some things in life just weren't meant to be abbreviated. For example, if you were to ask me something simple such as what college I attended, one would think I could reply with a simple, "OSU." But no, that's not me. I would probably explain what brought me out here to Oregon in the first place, why I didn't go to WOU, which was closer, or Chemeketa, which was cheaper, what subject I thought I wanted as a major, and how it changed, actually negating the entire reason of going to OSU instead of those other schools. And don't EVEN get me started on how Grant and I became a couple! I cherish every little detail of that story so much that I couldn't bare to leave out one thing in consideration of another person's time or attention span! This need to tell the whole story when relating events also causes me to talk very quickly so that maybe it won't seem like I've been talking as much if I finish in a shorter amount of time. Plus, I can hopefully spit it all out before being interrupted, which completely derails my train of thought and leaves my story incomplete. I have to then rack my brain, using my very imperfect memory, to try to remember where I left off in order to continue. Another result of this is that I tend to interrupt people so I can spit something out before my faulty memory lets it go. I feel very rude, kick myself, and always resolve that I will work on not interrupting people. That being said, don't be surprised at the length of any of these other answers. . .


2. I have never been: east of Colorado, north of Victoria, BC, west of the Oregon coast (except on a whale watching boat, but I don't think they go far enough out to be significant), or south of Claremont, CA.


3. I almost constantly have music in my head. Because of this, I am always looking for good new music to keep more variety floating around in my head. There is nothing more annoying than having an undesirable song in my head. At any given moment in a conversation, someone's words can remind me of words in a song and put THAT song into my head.


4. I am a picky eater! My pickiness is mostly texture-based, but not limited to that. For example, I don't mind the flavor of onions in food, but if I happen to bite down on a piece of onion that is even the tiniest in size (we're talking the size of a sunflower seed), an almost uncontrollable shudder of disgust runs through my entire body, and I can barely bring myself to swallow. Funny thing is, I don't mind lettuce, which has a similar texture. I don't like celery, pickles, tomatoes (unless they're cooked in something, and cut small), peppers, mushrooms (I don't do fungus), or olives to name a few.


5. I am NOT a morning person! Most anyone who has lived with me, spent the night, or interacted with me regularly knows this. Unfortunately, Eleanor didn't get that memo, and she pops out of bed bright and early around 6:30 most mornings. Because of this, we are slow starters. There are many days that I don't get the two of us dressed until after her nap because I know I'm going to nap with her, so I might as well stay in comfy clothes. Besides, we rarely go places before her nap. Like I said, I'm a slow starter. There are some mornings when I get up feeling so cranky that I actually know if I even open my mouth, it will cause a problem. I'm not very good at keeping my mouth shut. It's something I'm really trying to work on. Poor Grant, right? He knew what he was getting into (that's a story for another time).


6. I'm full of stupid-human tricks. I can curl my tongue, twist it one way or another (but that's nothing- my sister can make hers into a flower). I think one of my big toes is double-jointed. Oh, and I can pinch with my toes or pick up small objects. But wait, I haven't brought out the real talent! I can hold a pen in my collar bone. And, my favorite: when I drink a lot of liquids, I can lay down and cause my tummy to slosh so you can hear it sloshing and slurping around inside of me.


7. Whenever I'm around a natural body of water, such as a lake, creek, ocean, waterfall, etc., I feel an overwhelming urge to at LEAST dip my feet in (but sometimes more) no matter how cold the water might be and no matter what I'm wearing. I have acted on this urge less and less since I had Eleanor, but it's still there. I've tried to teach Eleanor it's joys, but she doesn't like the cold water. Lately, she likes to go out into the water on the beach as long as I'm holding her, making sure to keep her dry. Oh well. Baby steps, right?


8. I was born on Christmas, which is why my name is Jocelyn Noel, meaning joyous Christmas. I have never had a problem with having a birthday on Christmas. Most people think it would just be awful. I think the worst part about having a birthday on Christmas is that whenever I tell people my birthday, they say something like, "Oh, doesn't that suck?" and I want to reply, "Only when people say, 'Oh, doesn't that suck?'" My parents have always been really good about separating birthday and Christmas. We usually would open Christmas presents in the morning and go to Grandma's in the evening for birthday celebration. I have almost always gotten double presents, or if I got one present for both occasions, it was usually more expensive than a typical gift. It's not like I have ever known anything different. I didn't have a June birthday half my life and then had it ruthlessly yanked away from me so I would have to wait all the rest of the year for my fun day. Imagine the excitement surrounding that one day! I still can't sleep the night before! Plus, look at the benefits that carry into adulthood. Once I get older and don't necessarily want a lot of fuss about my birthday, there are plenty of distractions that can take my birthday out of the limelight. In other words, no, I've never thought it sucks, so stop asking. Besides, get a better vocabulary! You would be amazed how many people actually use the word "suck" in relation to my birthday.
9. I love the rain. When I lived in Utah, I used to want to run outside every time we had a big downpour with those big, juicy raindrops that could soak you with one hit. Many times I would run outside in the rain, run around, dance around, hold my arms up to the sky in my joy, etc. (especially when it wasn't too cold-- how I loved random downpour on a hot summer day). It took me a while to get used to the "misting" that goes on here in Oregon. At first, it seemed like I was being spat upon by someone who sprays when they talk. But, I soon learned to love that too. I love cloudy warm days when you know it's warm enough to go out, but you won't get scorched by the sun (believe me, I burn!). I love the winters here. I don't find them depressing. I love days when it rains without a stop. It just gives you an excuse to bundle up inside and watch the rain, read a book, or spend time with family.
10. I'm having a hard time thinking of things for this last one. This might not be that interesting (not that my other factoids were), but it's what comes to mind. I have only had one bloody nose my entire life. We were living in West Jordan, UT. It was a very windy day, and our garbage can was at the bottom of the driveway, empty. On days like this, it was not uncommon to find your garbage can a block away after the storm was done. Knowing this, and being the only ones home (I think), my sister, Beth, and I struck up a deal. She would open the garage door and close it if I would go down the driveway and get the garbage can. Now, in a sense, I did get the shorter end of the stick in the deal, but it's not quite as bad as you think. We didn't have a garage door opener, so Beth had to go into the creepy garage and climb past and around various garage junk to get to the door. Plus, she could have just made me do it all myself. How could she make me, you ask? With her big sister mind controlling power. I don't know if every big sister has this, but I think Beth was stocked up on it at times. I just did what she said without wanting to. One time, she made me taste puppy food just because she was curious and didn't want to be the only one to do it. I knew I didn't want to taste puppy food. I was not curious about how it would taste (refer to factoid #4). Yet, I did it because of that big sister power. I'm still not sure how it worked. Anyways, I went down the driveway like a good little sister and got the garbage can. On the way up the driveway, which had a slight uphill slope, a BIG gust of wind came through, lifted up the hinged lid on the garbage can and smacked it right into my nose. I bent over in pain, and blood gushed out almost immediately, so I also was bending over to keep the blood off my clothes. Beth came out and helped me into the bathroom where she proceeded to doctor me, all the while laughing hysterically. I cried (of course), and told her she shouldn't be laughing because it really hurt and that was just rude! She said she couldn't help it because from her view from the garage, she saw me pushing the garbage can, saw the lid rise up with the wind, and when it came down. . . I was gone! Jocelyn disappeared! Ha ha ha, thanks for the sympathy!

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tag three people. I tag Daphne Crook, Kelli Pinkerton, and Annette Davis. Get posting ladies! Oh, and I'm adding one. Haley Judd: I said it before, and I'll say it agian, get a blog!!! That goes for you too, Kristen Arnett; I want to see pictures when that baby is born!

My Favorite Discovery

Ingrid Michaelson.

Who is she, you ask? She's a singer, and I just love her music. I found out about her because the main sources of new music for me lately are TV and movies (I rarely listen to the radio). I hear a song playing during something we watch, and search the internet desperately trying to find out what it is. She has several songs that were played during various episodes of Grey's Anatomy. She sang a song that was used on the season 3 finale of the show that has yet to be released on the Grey's Anatomy Vol. 3 soundtrack called "Keep Breathing." It's SUCH a good song. About a month ago, I purchased her album, Girls and Boys, and I have not been disappointed. I've been listening to it almost every day, and I'm still not tired of it. It's a great CD for singing along in the car. Some of my favorite songs are "Die Alone," "Breakable," "Overboard," "The Way That I Am," "Far Away," and "The Hat." And, yes, I realize I might as well have named every song on the album. It just seems like it's been such a long time since I've found music that I really really enjoy (especially so much by one artist). She has one other CD that came out before Girls and Boys. It sounds ok from the song samples, but I think I got the better of the two. But if anyone gets the other one, I sure wouldn't mind a copy!

So, what's your favorite music lately? I have half a mind to start a music swap. I'm always interested in finding good music, and I love to share what I find. It almost feels like I've accomplished something when I find good music that maybe isn't so mainstream, like I've unearthed a hidden treasure.

Playground Fun & Spaghetti Slurpers

Grant joined a bunch of guys to go shooting on Saturday, so while the daddies were away, we decided to get our kids together for some fun. We went to the park out by the Winco in South Salem. The name still escapes me. Kari brought Audrey, Kelli brought Larissa, and Alicia stopped by with her sister, Celinda, and daughter, Paige.

Eleanor, Kelli with Larissa, Paige, Celinda, Audrey, Kari.

I got home and looked at this picture and kicked myself. The kids wanted to sit on these after seeing Celinda on one, so it soon became that 4 of the 5 had people sitting on them. I said it would just be perfect if someone filled the last one, and Kari helped Audrey fulfill my wish. Well, duh! If I had just asked Alicia to hop in there with Paige, I would have had our entire group. I can be such a space case sometimes! Plus, I worry about being too pushy about making people let me take their picture. I know I always have my camera out, and I just hope I don't make people too uncomfortable.
I don't know if you can see it, but Audrey's face is SO adorable in this picture! She has such a cheeser grin on her face!

I loved the light we had in the park that day. It made everything look so angelic.


Peek-a-boo Audrey!

Here's Eleanor and Paige. It's not the best picture because of the light, but they sure are cute girls!

I LOVE these pictures. We put out the blanket to sit on to eat, and Larissa decided to lay down as if she were going to sleep. Eleanor saw that and decided it was time for her to go "night, night" too. They are so cute together. Eleanor is just a day older than Larissa.
I love Larissa's face in this one.

Then Kelli took the girls for a little walk while Kari, Audrey, and I finished up lunch.

Later that evening, we went out to the Old Spaghetti Warehouse with Nate, Kari, Audrey, and Kari's mother, Connie. The girls ate like champions! They were loving those noodles. Eleanor was trying to twirl her fork to pick up the noodles just like Daddy does, and Audrey was slurping the noodles into her mouth, one after another. Kari could hardly keep up supplying her with more noodles. That's the best I've ever seen Audrey eat.

What a great smile!

Eleanor is really a copy-cat lately. She will do anything the other kids do. If they squeal, she squeals. She is definitely being a little follower lately. Even with Audrey, who is six months younger than Eleanor, she lets Audrey take the lead. If Audrey runs around squealing, Eleanor watches and mimics. Even when Audrey trips and falls down, Eleanor watches and copies the fall. I'm afraid if all her friends jumped off a cliff right now, Eleanor would get a running start. Hopefully it's just a phase.

Mills Family Reunion

We went to yet another reunion two weekends ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures. The Mills family is my mother-in-law, Dana's family. I didn't get a ton of pictures, but here are some of them.

Grandma Mills and most of her grandchildren.
Grandma Mills and most of her great-grandchildren.

Very cold pool.


Stu and Addie.

And now for the talent portion...

I just want to make it abundantly clear that I am only related to these people through marriage. That guy singing his heart out? That's Jonathan. He's single, ladies!

The Matthews' talent.

Carter seemed like he was either confused by the whole thing, or he wanted to be a part of it.

Daniel enjoying S'mores.

Jonathan and Abby.
Maggie.

Heavenly Father. . . Day!

For Father's Day, I took a short video of Eleanor saying, "Happy Father's Day," with me prompting her for each word. Whenever she repeated the word Father's, she would fold her arms. We figured out that she was doing it because the main times she heard the word was when we said, "Heavenly Father," at the beginning of a prayer. She enjoyed watching the little video of herself and asked for it to be repeated again and again.

Lately, we have been helping her say the family prayer at night, prompting her with what to say, and she repeats back a few words from our sentences. She has even asked me at random times to say a prayer, and we stop what we're doing and have a prayer. She's always really good at the beginning, but if you get too lengthy, she stops repeating until you get to the Amen. About a week or two ago, she added her own little touch to her prayers. We prompt her with, "Heavenly Father. . ." and she repeats, "Heavenly Father. . ." and before we tell her the next line, she very clearly and happily says, "Day!"

Eleanor's Healing Touch

Eleanor has done this several times, and it seems to be a habit now. I've been meaning to blog about it for a while. I'll just tell about one time. One evening, we got home after Eleanor's bedtime and were getting her ready for bed. She had her sippy cup of milk and was on Daddy's lap in the chair, drinking away. As I walked past them, Grant stuck out his leg, thinking to gently stop me as I passed. I wasn't expecting it, so I kept walking, bonked my leg on his, and let out a loud, "ouch!" I sat down on the couch and pulled out the scriptures to start reading. Eleanor started squirming to get out of Grant's lap. He asked her, "You don't want to sit with Daddy anymore?"

"Mmm-mm," she replied in the negative as she rushed over to me. I moved the book on my lap to make room for her as she stopped at my feet. She removed her sippy from her mouth and kissed my foot (because that's where Mommy always gets owies by stubbing her toes on things). Then she went back to sit with her daddy.

--Finished Project--

I was going to make this for my Aunt Kathleen's birthday, last December, but I didn't get it done in time. Christmas wasn't very realistic, either, because of all the projects I took on. I finally told myself there was no way I could go to Utah without having it finished. I did. But, I finished it soon after arriving in Utah, and was finally able to give it to my aunt.

It's a handmade journal. I learned to make them a few years back for Christmas. I made one for Alex along with a notebook that had pockets for holding notepads and a handmade sketchpad. I also made a journal for Dana for a birthday. So, I've done this a few times. There are still some minor kinks in design I'm working out, but I'm generally pleased with the result. This is the front cover, with her initials stitched onto it.

This is a view of the spine from the top.

This is the front inside cover.
These are the pages. Grant always helps me out with the pages by printing them out on the computer. He really had to battle with it to get everything lined up properly the first time around.

It Seems I'm not the Only One Confused!

I found an article on MSN about tipping and how the norm has changed these days. It has a helpful chart to use as a tipping guideline in different situations. Here's a link: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/HeresATip20PercentIsTheNew15Percent.aspx I'll probably still be a cheapskate with services other than waiting tables (I've been there: I feel for them), but it's nice to know a standard. I still just am so bothered that tipping for things like haircuts ever became the norm. Pizza delivery is another one of those. It's really not that much work. I've done it, and I was amazed at the tips people would give me when it seemed like I was doing hardly anything. I loved getting paid to drive around in my car listening to my music. Plus, I could park anywhere I wanted on OSU campus with that light up sign on my car-- even the sidewalk!

Also, if you're in a reading mood, read this guy's article on tip jars. My sentiments exactly!!! http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/WhatsUpWithAllThoseTipJars.aspx

Fun Blog Layout

Now that we're back from yet another family reunion, I forgot to post that my friend, Mandy, found this neat blog with layouts you can use for your own blog. That's where I got this neat patterned design. Apparently, they're having some problems with it as far as functionality. I haven't had a chance to see if mine will have the same problem, but if it does, I guess I'll have to change mine back. Feel free to give it a try: http://shabbytulips.blogspot.com/

How to Have a Great Family Reunion

1. Get as much family together as possible in a great place to stay. We counted about 35 adults and at LEAST 20 children under the age of 12. My generous grandpa rented several of the buildings at Brighton ski resort for us all to stay in. We all had our own rooms (except maybe some of the kids), and the accomodations were wonderful. This family reunion usually happens at my grandpa's cabin in Arizona. We all cram in, sleeping on couches, floor, shared beds, and some camp outside. This year, it was in Utah to make it easier for some of the family to make it (at the sacrifice of all the Arizona family who had to travel more). We are very grateful to Grandpa for providing such a beautiful setting for our reunion and to all those who were willing to travel more than usual to make it easier on some of us who are more removed from Arizona.

This is my mother and her sisters, although Grandpa is standing in front of Donna. Then, there's Sharla, Leslie, my mother (Diane), and Eileen.

My mother is the oldest, then Donna, Sharla, Eileen, and Leslie.

2. Do some fun dancing.

3. Play cards as much as possible.


4. Make sure the kids have fun. There were at least two pool tables that I know of. This one was in the main lodge. Eleanor loved playing with the balls just like the bigger kids. Naturally, she couldn't reach the table, so she had to sit on it.



On Saturday, they also provided several crafts for the kids so the parents could play some games and spend time together while the grandparents supervised the children. That was a real treat.

5. Have relay races. In the past, all generations seemed to get involved in the relay races, but this time it was mostly the younger kids. In this picture, Eleanor was just bringing back the potato and spoon she was allowed to play with after the spoon races were over. Her "relay" of the potato was more of a wandering one.

Connor was rather enamored with Kourtney. Apparently, he wasn't the only young boy who was confused by the pretty girls who were off limits, but there's no harm done. They'll understand when they're older.
The spectators.

My adorable niece, Callie.
Addie (Sherri's oldest) and Zac running back after racing to blow the first bubble gum bubble.

Of course, Matt and Laurie couldn't resist a little friendly competition.

I let a couple of the kids take some pictures with my camera (with my help). Callie took this one of Ethan. I just love it.
Toby (Sherri's son) took this one of Eleanor.

Cute kids! Callie, Addie, and Connor.

Connor was being affectionate with me. He shows his affection by squishing his cheek against yours. I was happy to receive it.

6. Get all the families to do some wacky skits!

This is the Hathcock family, showing us what family home evening is like in their house.

Kelli (far right) got engaged during the reunion! Her fiance drove up from Arizona, secretly asked her parents' permission during the day, and they took her to meet him right after their skit so he could propose at sunset! I'm so excited for her!

And, it wouldn't be a Rogers reunion without the Hathcock girls dancing around, while Bob (their dad) looks oh so cool.

Grandpa wrote a poem about all the changes that happened to the reunion this year and about how he kept getting out-voted on things.

I told you the skits were wacky! This is my sister, Beth, and her family (minus Isaac) and Mother and Gary doing a lipsink (sp?) to Grace's favorite Carpenters song. Can you guess who's supposed to be Karen?
James and Lia and family, doing a lipsink to a song about how the house is never clean.

Here's Matt and Laurie's family skit:

And a little "Rogers Idol" happened during the skits.

It wouldn't be a reunion without someone impersonating Grandpa and Grandma Nancy.
"Scott Left Texas."

While Scott was on his mission, the Hathcocks danced to the song "God Bless Texas," but changed the words to "Scott Bless Texas." Now that Scott is home, the Taylors changed the words again.

We had SUCH a great time at the reunion. I didn't get much sleep because of card playing. Plus, Eleanor came down with a bit of a cold on Friday and didn't sleep very well as a result. It was so good to see all the family again. I hadn't been to one of these reunions for 6 or 7 years! Too long! Very few of them had met Grant at our wedding, and so I got to introduce my little family to everyone. I have such a great family. Everyone is warm and welcoming to new people and people they haven't seen in years. I am so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group with so many who have such strong testimonies. I hope we can all remain on the path and teach our own children the important values we learned from our own parents.


To finish out the Utah trip, we got back to the valley on Sunday and paid one more visit to Michael and Lucero. They took us to a little cafe they had discovered while living at the hotel and being forced to eat out for every meal. The food was wonderful. We had empanadas and passion fruit smoothies. Yum!

The high chair had wheels on the bottom, so it soon became a game of David pushing Eleanor around in it. Eleanor really enjoyed the ride. David is a strong little guy!

On the way home. Eleanor did better in the car on the way to Utah than on the trip back, but she still did quite well, all things considered. She invented a game of "open, shut" with her feet.
She also liked putting her feet on her cheeks.