Our Easter Weekend

      I invited my Mom & Bill to come down and spend Easter weekend with us and they accepted the offer.  It was a busy weekend though!  Friday was the Mindy Gledhill concert so I bought an extra ticket and brought my Mom with me.  We ate at Sunshine Pizza before the concert and afterwards we stopped at Yo Place for a yummy treat.

      Saturday morning was Megan's endowment session at the temple.  Spencer had to work so I invited my Mom to join me in that session.  It was really nice seeing so many familiar faces at the temple that morning.  Visiting the temple is truly a great way to start the day!  While we were gone the kids hitched a ride with their CrossFit teacher, Ali, to a gym sponsored Easter Egg hunt.  They even won free t-shirts!

      The Ridgeway's Annual Easter Egg Hunt was that afternoon, so after leaving the temple we hightailed it back to town.  The turnout is always great for this big event, I only wish the weather would have been nicer.  Following the egg hunt the guys grilled some hamburgers and we had a nice potluck meal.  There is always plenty to do out at the Ridgeway's.  Both Ryan & Spencer had their 4-wheelers out and let the kids take turns riding around.   

      Easter Sunday was really nice.  Church was great, and Spencer made us a really nice salmon dinner with garlic mashed potatoes, salad, rolls and dessert.  I am definitely spoiled by the fact that he enjoys cooking and is SO good at it!  My parents left after our big meal, which was mid afternoon, so we borrowed Ken's classic Buick and went on a family drive.   

Mindy Gledhill Concert

      I honestly can't believe I have seen Mindy Gledhill in concert three times now!  You'd think I was a die hard fan, but it just comes down to luck.  The first time I saw her I had no idea who she was but it sounded like a super fun time with my friends so I went.  I really did enjoy her music after hearing it though.  The second time I saw her was at a garden party I attended in California.  It was definitely more of a personal setting seeing her this time and her performance was just wonderful! So after two concerts I really had no expectation of seeing her again, so I was very surprised when my friend, Jenn, announced that she had invited Mindy to come and play in our small hometown, to which she replied yes!  Way to go, Jenn!!  This time seeing Mindy Gledhill in concert was different from all of the rest though because she had a full band with her, an opening act, and together they all sounded so good.  The only thing missing was our friend, Shannon! :-(  Other than that, it was a great night!  

Middle School Track & Field

      All 6th graders were invited to join the middle school track program and when I asked Austin if he was interested I thought for sure he would decline.  But he surprised me and said he wanted to, and I was really happy he chose to do it!  The events he chose to compete in included the 4X100 meter relay, 4X400 meter relay, long jump, and high jump.  He didn't quite learn the technique for high jump so he dropped that and picked up a spot in the 100 meter dash after the first meet.  The season consisted of 5 track meets, two of which were at home.  Austin rode the bus with his fellow teammates to each meet and I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw him board that first bus to Banks, OR.  I had a moment of anxiety thinking, is my son ready for this!???  It was a weird, new feeling watching him go off on his own.  This new adventure didn't seem to phase him at all though, which is exactly what I'd hope for him.  I was able to attend all but one meet and really enjoyed watching him work hard!  He really enjoyed the season and almost made districts in the long jump.  It will be interesting to see if he'll continue this next year. 

Cameron's Wild & Crazy Birthday Party

      Cameron convinced me this year that he should have a birthday party at our house, so I gave him the okay.  What started out as 6 invites somehow turned into 8, and then when you add in my three boys, I'm sure you can imagine how wild & crazy this party really was!  The noise in my house during those 2.5 hours was unreal.  One of the parents even commented that he could hear us from the street. The kids had a ton of fun though and that's all that matters. 

      The favorite activity of the night was a game where the kids had to roll 2 dice and if they rolled doubles of any number they could take a turn trying to open a wrapped present.  The catch was they had to put on a hat, ski gloves, and use kitchen spatulas to try and open the very well wrapped present.  Meanwhile the dice keeps going around the circle.  The boys had such a blast!  They also had a relay race involving M&M's and straws.  And to finish the party they had a good old fashioned stick pull competition.  Boys love competitions for sure!  It was one crazy evening but Cameron was so happy and very grateful, which made it all worth it!

  

Astoria & Seaside

      Another activity we did during Spring Break included a day trip to Astoria & Seaside with Caylin, and the Cottrell's.  In Astoria we spent a few hours at the Aquatic Center, which is a really nice facility.  The kids had a great time going down the slides while us ladies sat in the heated kids pool most of the time because it just felt SO good. 

       Afterwards we drove to Seaside and had lunch then walked to the beach.  Unfortunately the wind was not in our favor that day so we opted to skip playing in the sand.  We didn't stay too terribly long, but long enough to eat ice cream, wander through some shops, and let the kids ride the carousel.  It really is awesome to live so close to the beach and be able to make a quick day trip!

OHSU Tram Ride

      I thought it would be a fun activity during Spring Break to take the kids to OHSU and ride the tram down to the river, then eat lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory with Spencer.  So we did, and the boys thought it was pretty darn cool!  Each time I visit the OHSU campus I am more and more impressed with it, and super excited that Spencer works there.  One of these days I'll share some of the interesting stories Spencer has told me about his job.  He has a very interesting job for sure!

Fitness Instructor Photo Shoot

      Several months ago the gym I belong to changed ownership.  I was really excited about this change because our new owner is very passionate about fitness and making the gym the best it can be.  Since he took over we have lots of new equipment, new classes, including a kids CrossFit program which my boys are a part of, and the overall attitude of the gym is positive and exciting.  All that is great, but what I love the most is the unity that has occurred with the instructors.  We are all united now and we promote and attend each other's classes.  This didn't happen much before because the old owner never encouraged team meetings to bring us close.  We never really had a voice, but we do now.  One of the fun activities that we did as instructors was have a photo shoot at the gym.  It was super fun, I only wish we took a group shot!  Here are my photos from that day.