Lunch at the Park

As most of you know, we live right across the street from a little park with swing sets and other toys. Well, we have only been there a few times since we moved in right before harvest and its been winter up until last week! Today was "lunch at the park" day where some of the moms in our ward meet at the park and have lunch and talk while the kids get to play. Let's just say Blake was the only kid remotely interested in food over the slides, and his activities were limited to going down the slide once (with my help of course) and he spent the next 45 minutes putting sand on the bottom of the slide so when the bigger kids came down they would get all dirty. He loves to be outside and play in the grass and the sandbox! I enjoyed visiting with some of the other young moms in our ward and I think we both enjoyed just being out in the sunshine! Sorry, no pix this week, maybe next!

Wisdom Teeth Update

Yesterday morning Doug dropped me off at the Dr. Simpson's office to get my wisdom teeth removed. We were a little late, but i walked in the door at 8:05 and an hour later, i was missing four teeth and they were asking where my mom was. They told me it was going to take a few hours, so obviously mom wasn't there yet. All four came out really easily without any problems, and thanks to the pain meds, i am feeling great. I haven't really swollen up like some people do (thank heavens) but i do look funny when i eat cause i can't open my mouth very big. My tongue is still numb, and i was a little worried about it until Dr. Troy told me that he probably hit a nerve with the numbing shots and it could last a few days!

Just wanted to say thanks to Rachel for keeping Blake and mom for taking care of Blake and I and making me jello, pudding and mashed potatoes! Yumm! Thanks for everything!

Settlers of Catan

After playing Settlers in PA with Al and Amber, we decided we should "invest" in the game as well. We went ahead and got both the original game and the extension so we can play with up to six people. We ordered it off ebay and it came in like 2 days! I told Doug it was an early birthday present, but i wasn't going to wait ill my birthday to open it!

Last night Doug and I played settlers with Jeff, Lyndsey and Curtis. We taught Jeff and Lyndsey how to play on Friday and then enjoyed enough to come play again with us! Now, i don't normally make a post about us playing a game on Sunday afternoon (its a pretty regular activity) but i had to make a post about settlers because i WON! I have played with game quite a number of times and this was the first time that i finally got 10 victory points! And i must mention that i did it all without the longest road, largest army or any victory point cards! Want to play? Give us a call, we are glad to pull it out anytime!

High of 48*

I realize that this is a large amount of posts for us, but there is so much to blog about lately! Yesterday, it was almost 50 degrees outside and we had to celebrate....by wearing shorts! No, not me, just Blake. I will pull out my capris after i get that tanning pass i want for my birthday! Yes, Blake's shorts have been patiently waiting in his dresser for over a month, so i decided to let him wear them yesterday. We played in the yard for little bit and then i got this cute photo! Yes i know, he's kinda nerdy with sox and shorts on, but i forgot we had short sox until after we had taken the picture. The shoes are a little big but he didn't have anything else!

As you know, along with this Idaho heat wave comes yard work! Doug and i got out in the yard on Tuesday afternoon and raked up about 8 million pine needles, cones, leaves and even a few pears (not from this year's crop of course). We made a few plans for the yard and house and i thought i would blog them so at the end of the summer we can look back on all the wonderful plans we had!

1. Take out HUGE bush by front door (cause the mailman gives it a funny look every day)

2. Replace bush with FLOWER bed

3. Put new roof on (sounds like such a little project right)

4. CLEAN out GARAGE (this can only happen after the new roof is on)

5. Replace windows in downstairs red room (since one has a broken pane)

6. Maybe add cCURBING to each side and back of the house....we'll see about that!

7. Grow some pears on our PEAR TREE!

8. Get our back dirt patch to become a luscious green playground for Blake!

9. And most importantly- A NEW FRONT DOOR- so it won't snow in our house next winter!

Easter Candy and Settlers

Okay, i promise this is my final post about our trip to Lancaster. I just had so many pics that i didn't want to make one HUGE post and overwhelm everyone...

The day after we got there we packed the boys up and went to Hershey, PA a.k.a. Chocolate World (home of the singing cows-see pic below). They have this great little tour you take that teaches you all about how they make chocolate and everything you would want to know about Mr. Hershey, who started the town and has done some incredible things for the area. They give you a piece of candy at the end and then dump you out in the gift shop, where we stocked up on kisses to bring home!

We also visited Intercourse (an Amish town in Lancaster County) and enjoyed walking around the shops and finding cute crafts, yummy jams, and "i heart intercourse, pa" magnets to take home. The Amish people live simple lives. They don't own cars, but instead use buggies pulled horses and the kids ride on scooters with big wheels like a bike to get around. Doug enjoyed checking out all the farm equipment that is run by horses. In an odd sort of way, its like you stepped into the life of a pioneer or early settler, only different because ten miles away there is a seven eleven....


We also hit the outlet malls... and needles to say we came home with more than we went there with. We found great steals on shirts and jackets that he can use for the next summer. Those with boys know that clothes get worn out easily and those that live in idaho know that you nevere go anywhere with out a jacket, even in july!


Even better than seeing the sites was just spending time with the 4 Campbells. It was our first time to see Marcus and he has this smile that just makes your heart melt. And Jackson is growing up so fast. He knows so much and he was so good to play with Blake. We played too much Nintendo (it was even the activity for FHE) and probably too many games of settlers as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but I ate way too much easter candy and loves spending one on one time with Al and Amber and the two cutest nephews in the world! p.s. we watched Dan in Real Life while we were back there and i highly recommend it for those looking for a good laugh!

National Treasure Tour: Part II- Washington D.C.

Saturday, Alan, Doug and I left Amber at home with the three boys and we headed to D.C. All three of us have visited the area before but there was still some things none of us had seen before. It was Doug and I's first experience riding on the metro-train (as Jackson calls it). We parked up by the D.C. Temple, which we had never seen before, and it was gorgeous! After jumping on the Metro, we headed straight to the National Archives building, the home of the Declaration of Independence and other very important documents. We waited in line for about an hour, but it was definately worth it. It was extrememly cool to try and pick out the signatures of those who signed the documents so long ago, especially since we had visited Independence Hall the previous day. This was just the beginning of our National Treasure Tour Part II!



We ate lunch at a tiny mexican place in China town (funny how that works) and then headed over to the Capitol building area. We went into the Library of Congress, which was a runner up in favorite sites we saw. It is a gorgeous building both inside and out and we jumped in with a tour to see the "reading room" where part of both the first and second National Treasure was filmed. While on the tour- one tourist asked "So where is the book of secrets that they talked about in national treasure kept?" The tour guide looked at him like he was crazy and then pretty much ignored him and went on. I'm sure they get a lot of that...

He walked past Capitol Hill, which is always a cool building to see, and continued on to spend some time in the Air and Space Museum. We then took the metro over to the part of the national mall with the memorials. We walked past the Washington Memorial, the White House, WWII Memorial, and saw the Lincoln Memorial as well.




Visiting Washington is something every American should have the oppurtunity to do. You always learn something new while visiting this city.

National Treasure Tour: Part I- Philadelphia

While visiting Al and Amber, we spent Good Friday visiting Philadelphia and learning lots about our nation's history and also got to see lots of sites. We visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the U.S. Mint, a museum dedicated to Ben Franklin, and even found time to scarf down a philly cheese stake at Campo's.

I think both Doug and I's favorite part was visiting Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. We had an excellent tour guide that reminded us of all that went on at the building. The still have the same chair that sat there when our fore fathers were organizing this wonderful country.

As the day went on, Alan- another wonderful tour guide- did not fail to mention all the scenes from "National Treasure" we were walking through. These included the cemetery where Ben Franklin is buried, and the specific spot that the glasses were found, and even the stairs that the three "treasure hunters" went up to get to the roof. Besides Blake being sick that day (and the days to follow) our trip to philly was a blast and i'm so glad i got to visit the sites. Here are a few pics from our day trip to Philadelphia.

Happy Easter

The VanOrden family just returned from a wonderful trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we got to spend easter with Al, Amber, Jackson, and Marcus. The boys all got to open their Easter gifts from Grandma Campbell (matching shirts) before Easter and so the morning was spend dressing the boys in their new plaid shirts! Needless to say- the photo shoot didn't go as planned and Blake is screaming and pointing in all of the pictures taken that morning!
We loaded up in the minivan and finally made it to church, where Doug, Amber and I practiced with the ward choir. The choir sang two very pretty songs in sacrament meeting. Doug and I decided it would be fun to visit primary instead of Sunday school and we throughly enjoyed it! Amber does an awesome job as Primary president and it was nice to just sit back and not have to worry about anything (like singing time).

After church, the dads hid the easter eggs and the two older boys searched for eggs in the front yard. Amber made a wonderful Easter dinner and dessert! Amber also helped the boys dye eggs on Saturday, but you'll have to turn to her blog for those photos. Overall, it was a very relaxing holiday and I'm glad we got to spend it with Al and Amber!

I will post more about our trip later (maybe tonight even)!