Life at the Emerys and Big News: Tay is going to Japan

When it gets cold, the fireplace is the best spot in the house. Apparently if your a dog, you just climb over whoever else got to the warm spot first. Orie and Cameron are so cute together. Orie woke Cameron up this morning by climbing on top of him and putting her head on his chest. She thinks she is a person and I think Cameron thinks so too.
Allison and I were in the car together and she leaned over with her cell phone and said, "Smile!" She is so busy with school. She has AP classes and she also is an editor on the school newspaper. It seems like yesterday that the kids were all so small.
Miss Sarah has the same teeth problems as Allison. The orthodontist said they must get it genetically. He didn't know Sarah was adopted. She told me that she used to be adopted but now she is just an Emery. We laughed and said we always knew Sarah was an Emery. Anyway, this is her after the retainer got put in the bottom of her mouth. Now she gets to have two teeth pulled after Christmas. Happy New Year to her!
For our 22nd Wedding anniversary, Scott and I went to a resort in Washington. This is us at a place called Panorama Point. It was so fun to go exploring together and to enjoy being alone. We sure are lucky to be married and to have such great kids. We love them all so much.
Speaking of kids, Taylor isn't so much of one anymore. He is currently finishing his training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri. After returning home for a ten day leave and Christmas with the family, he is headed to Okinawa Japan. His leave is only until December 19th so Santa will visit the Emerys early this year. He will be part of the 3rd Recon Battalion stationed in Okinawa Japan. We don't have much more information such as his daily duties or his length of stay. Hopefully he will have more of that when he comes home on Friday. It is the neatest anniversary present ever; our whole family gets to be together on December 10th.

The Beach with Friends

There is almost nothing better for my spirit than going to spend time at the beach. Just hearing the waves crash and feeling the wind through my hair makes me take a big sigh and forget much of the stress of life. A couple weekends ago, we rented a beach house and took some friends of ours with us to go enjoy a respite. Lucky for us, the friends we took owned a camera and Lacressa, my friend, is a photographer. Yeah! Not only did we have a great weekend, but we have pictures to prove it. Thank you Lacressa!
We took Ross, Rylee, and Sarah with us and left the teenagers at home to hold down the fort. Allison had homework and Cameron had a boy scout camp. Our kids are growing up!
Anyway, here are some of the sights we enjoyed while we were away

This is the beach and I can't tell you how beautiful it is and the sounds the waves make. Ah makes me want to go back right now!
See the Sea Lion? We were so close to them They just slept and ignored us. Combined with the fun of the tide pools, having good friends with us, and meeting up with Jeannine and Don and their kids made for a fantastic trip. Even the weather cooperated. Yeah!
This cliff was right on the beach. See how huge it is and I think the picture only captured half of it.
This is my friend Lacressa and me. We have decided she is a triplet to Jeannine and I. She and I took seperate trips to the beach to walk and upon returning, we found we had collected two items. Each of us brought home a grey rock and a white shell. They were identical. Funny huh?

The Beach

Jainey and Sarah play in the sand. They were so happy to be there.
Rylee and Mommy look at different sea animals in the tide pools. I love getting close up views of sea life.
All the kids got to bring home sea shells. Yeah! Ross was extremely happy about that.
We got this present at the end of an amazing day at the beach. What a beautiful sunset!
This is called Devil's Punchbowl. It's a popular destination at the coast.

Disney Summer 2010

Look! Tinkerbell is in our hands! Ah the magic of Disney. Actually, this had meaning to us because Rylee was convinced that he was going to see Tinkerbell so she could give him a magic wand. Then he said we could do "whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted!" Sounds good to me but alas, thanks to Ally's knowledge of "fairy rules" we learned that Tinkerbell cannot make real magic wands for others. Good thing we have Ally for such good information. Thanks, Ally!

Cinderella's Castle was one of the first places the little kids wanted to visit. But then they wanted to do all the cool rides. We have great memories of Splash Mountain, the Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and all sorts of other great rides. What a fun vacation.
Belle is Ally's favorite princess because she reads books, is very smart, and wants more than the provincial life. Sounds like another 16 year old princess I know. he he

Taylor being in boot camp had us all feeling pretty military, but none more than Rylee. He was so excited to meet the green army guy. Rylee back talked the army guy and the army guy said "Front and center!" Well, Rylee dropped to the group and began push ups right in front of him. The entire line of people gathered began to laugh and Rylee hammed it up. It was probably one of the highlights of the trip. Way to go, Rylee!

Sarah and Cameron were in their element here at Disneyland. They both love fast and fun rides and they couldn't get enough. Sarah's favorite was Tower of Terror and I think Cam's was the California Screamer. Sarah was just barely to short to ride it and one other cool ride. Platform shoes next time, huh Sarah. Ross was a brave guy. He was scared to death on the Tower of Terror but once he'd survived the experience he wanted to do it over and over. We had a wonderful vacation. Even Scott, who dreaded the trip and the long lines, surprised himself and had a great time.

Disneyland Pictures

Ooh Disneyland is sooo fun! We saw so many fun characters and rode great rides! Thanks to Grandma Charlene for being a kid at heart and enjoying the time with us. I just love her smile. Thanks Mom!

I think Tigger was in love! Cute pic Ally!

Mom and I love Winnie the Pooh. We got to see Pooh Bear and Tigger at the same time. And the lines weren't that long. Score for us.

My cute kids. They were so great at Disneyland. All we had to do is step into the park and their faces lit up. Even if they tried not to smile, they couldn't help it.

It was Ross, Rylee, and Sarah's first visit to Disneyland. They all got first time visitor buttons and they were so happy.

We may not look like much, but we raised a Marine!

We had so many people come to support Taylor as he graduated from Boot Camp. Here is Grandpa Ted and Grandma Pam. Thanks so much! We have so many people who did so much to help support us and Taylor so THANK YOU!

Here's Grandma Charlene and next to her is Grandpa Art (he is invisible here but his presence was felt and we wished he felt well enough to come). We love you!

Here are Grandpa Bob and Grandma Peggy. It was such a long trip and we appreciate the dedication of all who made the sacrifice to be there.

Here are his parents. I don't think we look at all proud and happy to have arrived at this time in history, do you? Tay is still shell-shocked in this picture as I don't think he had been allowed to smile for three months. We have seen many smiles since the first day we got him back:)

This is Taylor with the other recruits in his platoon who attended church services with him on Sunday. We are so grateful for the LDS service missionaries who loved our boys and fed them contraband brownies and candy bars every Sunday. They also called to say he arrived safely and then took pics of our boys.

Thanks to all who support us and love our kids! Another post will be coming with more pics and also pics from our Disneyland vacation. Yeah!

Sarah's baptism

Isn't she lovely. She was so happy to be baptised. I just wanted to document the pic and she is so happy. I love you Sarah and I am so proud of your decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Sometimes you've just got to be silly. We were at Target the other day and the kids were being so cute. I took pics. We called this one Rylee in danger.

This one was where Ross and Sarah kept falling off as they tried to share the top of the ball.

And this one we labeled, "These kids are really on the ball." I know it's silly but I think humor is what gets you through life. Have a great day everyone!

Finally Getting Around To It

Saw these geese while driving in Milwaukie Oregon the other day. Aren't they cute!

Okay, I should never say "Things will be easier when..." I thought that surely in the summer I would find more time to keep the blog up to date, take more pics, etc, etc, etc. Uh no!

Just to catch everyone up to date, things are going well here. Taylor only has six weeks left of boot camp and is doing awesome. He sends letters pretty frequently and says it's not too bad. The only thing he hates is the food (They don't eat healthy enough for him). I would have never guessed that when he was a kid. He marches a lot and they are now on to several mile hikes with 60 pound backpacks. He is also having Rifle training. We are looking forward to going to San Diego and watching him graduate on September 3rd.

Ally wishes she were older and more independent. We, as parents, are stifling to her independent streak by worrying about safety and her going places alone. We blame it on her great looks and our parental responsibility. Hopefully she makes it through this frustrating time for her. She is really an awesome person and I personally hope she lets me travel the world with her when she gets older!

Cameron is really into exercise right now. He can bench press and leg lift so much more than I ever could. He is also a great big brother to the little boys. He will be in eighth grade. Unbelievable.

Sarah is eight now and was baptized in Utah by her dad. It was really great to be with so many family members and Sarah loved having a cousin to share the excitement. Thanks Jonah for waiting so that you and Sarah could be baptised together. She then finally got her ears pierced. She looks so cute. Her life is about playing with friends and being outside. Her smile lights up my world. The drama is beginning though and I don't have to like that, right?

Rylee is five and a half. He starts kindergarten this fall and he is either so cute or so terrible. Just depends on the day. Although the terrible side of him is sometimes fun to watch, I prefer the sweet boy who tells me he loves me better than anyone.

Ross is eight and I really enjoy having him here in our home but he and Rylee butt heads (several times a day). My newest strategy is that they must hold hands whenever they fight. I think I just enjoy the physical humor that it brings along with it. :)

Scott and I just plug along doing all that is required to raise six kids and keep a marriage and a home going strong. It sounds boring when I type it but we actually really enjoy it. It must be the details that make it fun: the wonderful personalities of the kids and wonderful friends and family that turn our actions into a life. We love you all!

Random Pics

Sarah is a fish. Since the moment she was put into a swimming pool, she had taken to it naturally. She was two or so when she fell into the pool and when we fished her out, she took a huge breath! She held her breath instinctively and has never looked back. This is a cute pic of her at Cherry Hill in Utah.

Ally got her artistic talent from someone other than me. This is a portrait she made for her art class at school. I love it!

Ry makes funny faces. Just thought this one was pretty cute.

Random Pics from Utah

I got to see my brother in his true character while on vacation. Here he is on his motorcycle, complete with leather chaps, cool hat, and goggles. Wish I could look this cool on a bike:)

This is a tree at Mueller Park in Bountiful. Trees call Cameron's name and this one was no exception. He scaled it in no time much to the dismay of my friend who was sure he would fall. Lucky for us he was perfectly fine. I pray when he climbs trees. He must have been two stories off the ground.

While at Mueller park, we buried the ashes of our beloved dog Carmel. In the pic, you can see a rock currounded by pinecones by Sarah's feet. That is her final resting place. I still miss her.

We also went to see Shannon's gravesite. Jeannine and Don's oldest daughter would be 20 this August. It is hard to believe she has been gone so long. I layed in the grass at the cemetary and soon my two kids were laying by me. It took six times to get the pic right.

Sarah"s 8th Birthday

For Sarah's birthday we took her to Multnomah Falls and Crown Point. She loves Crown Point especially when it is very windy. Although we didn't have wind, we did get to share her cupcakes with the Hokanson family and another family we met at the outlook point for the Gorge. What fun we had!

Sarah loves her dad and by the picture you can tell the feeling is mutual. She climbed onto his shoulders and I knew it was a Kodak moment.

Also for her birthday, she got her own room. When Taylor left for Boot Camp, Cameron moved into Taylor's room and then he helped Sarah move into his old room. She said to me as she fell asleep in her bed the first night, "I have waited so long to be able to say Get out of my room."
Happy Birthday Sarah!

A New family picture

So here is a new family picture. It feels so awesome to have a recent photo before our family sends Taylor out into the world next week. We don't have our Ross in the photo because of restrictions by the state but we love him just the same. I will post more photos later but I was excited to get this one up for all the world to see. Love you all!

Hi Everyone

Well, they say time heals all wounds. We have found that the loss of our dog Carmel has left us wanting to shower that doggy love on another pet that needs us too. This is Orie. We have other pics but this is the one most accessible on the computer. It is her pic from the shelter. Above it, the words were "I am adoptable." Who wouldn't fall for that? She came from the Dog shelter in our county. So far, we have really enjoyed having another dog. Although we miss Carmel, some of the things Orie does remind us of her. Other things teach us how much we have to learn as dog owners. Wish us luck in our new Doggie adventures! Sarah loves to cook, decorate, etc. The other day she asked if she could make a fruit plate. What a great job she did, all by herself. It seemed that she looked so cute and the fruit plate so beautiful that we needed a picture. By the way, the fruit was delicious. Great job, Sarah!

Mantras

There are many mantras I have adopted in my marriage and in raising children. The most used one at this stage of the game is, "If it ain't broke, it ain't ours." This is usually repeated by me and my husband in unison as yet another household item becomes junk or at least maimed by the household chaos we live in. That being said, I give you an episode that occurred at our house this weekend.
We were working in the yard and had just discovered that another household item was broken. This time it was the weed trimmer which had bit the dust (someone ran over it or otherwise caused it to become less than the once solid piece of machinery it was. So Scott and I started to repeat the above stated mantra, more to each other than to anyone else. The next thing I knew, Sarah was standing by me and looking up at me with a smile on her face, she said, "But Mom, I'm not broken and I am yours."
In that one short statement, my mind snapped into recognition of what was important and what was not. I t is easy to replace items but not to replace people. Thanks Sarah for the perspective shift I was in need of that day.

Scared Sarah

So we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last night. Turns out there are parts that even if you are sitting in your mom's lap are too scary for a seven year old girl. At two a.m., Sarah was in my room trying to pretend she wasn't scared but I could tell that she was. We talked about how movies aren't real, etc. All that talk wasn't working. "I can't stop thinking about it," she said. "Well," I said, "whenever the movie comes into your head, replace it with something that makes you feel warm and safe. What might that be?" With the sweetest look, she stares at me and says, "You." Oh, my little mommy heart melted. I sat for a moment, pleased that my daughter knew her mommy loved her and would try to keep her safe. Then out of her mouth comes this after thought. "And Dogs!" Well, there goes my warm mommy bubble:)

Funny Things

So kids make life so interesting. The kids at school use the Lord's name in vain so frequently that Sarah slipped the other day and said it too. What ensued was a long conversation about what it means to take His name in vain and why we shouldn't do that. Since then, we have been relatively vain free.
Well, yesterday while getting dinner ready, Ross came to me and said,"Mom, Rylee is taking MY name in vain!" He then proceeded to show me with tone and voice inflection how it sounded when he said it. "Ross Hawley!" I know that he was truly serious about the grievous offense. I , on the other hand, could only stifle a giggle. he he

Tribute To Carmel

Our beautiful Carmel :)

Kyle and Cameron with Carmel

Looking out the backyard

She LOVED going in the car:) Look at that smile! She must have that smile as she chases everything up in heaven.