Well, friends and family, we have sad news and good news. My beloved Camry wagon was taking me home from scouts a few nights ago when I heard a clunk sound. I got home without noticing any problems, then checked under the car. I was surprised to see a small section of the left front strut had fallen off and balanced nicely on the boot covering the axle. Although it still drives just fine, I know that it will eventually mess up the alignment. I also noticed a few other parts that seem to be getting old because they have gone 145,000 miles. The repair costs are gradually getting higher, so decided that the time has come to replace the car. You may recall that I named my car Tightlikeuntoadish when I got it 12 years ago (four years old already). That was because it was a Camry and was "tight." It was also a barge.  Well, it is still a nice barge, but no longer so tight. 

Anyway, I did a way too analytical spreadsheet based on inputs from E and my own thoughts. I estimated total cost of ownership for 20 cars based on purchase price, gas use, cost of repairs, reliability, likelihood of getting in an accident, then added in number of seats, and "coolness" from the wife and oldest 3 kids. After all of this was calculated, the model popped out the ideal car for us based on our needs:  a Toyota Sienna.  Of course, this is completely unhelpful because we already have one and sure aren't going to get two of the same thing. Our next 3 cars were the Toyota Rav4, Mazda5, and Subaru Forester. After doing some test drives, we finally found the perfect car for us. 

Presenting our new-to-us car: a black 2009 Rav4 with room for 7 so we can all fit in a pinch.

We're just grateful that our Camry lasted so long, especially given its forced role as a scout vehicle. We're also grateful that we were able to save up so the transition won't be as painful. My first day coming out of work and not seeing Tightlikeuntoadish in the parking lot, I actually got choked up and felt a sense of loss. It's not like losing a loved one, or even a pet, but I have been very grateful for that car.

Here are a few pictures from my latest project. It is a Chinese-style concrete bench so kids can take shoes off easily at the trampoline.

Last night, we went camping, so I thought I should include a picture from our campout at Oak Flat. Our kids sure loved cooking tin foil dinners!

Finally, I'm including a picture of yummy treats that Emily made recently. 

Ways to chronicle memories

I've been staying up way too late recently working on a few projects, mostly trying to chronicle our memories and sorting through all of the zillions of photos I have on computers (yes plural, which makes it harder because one is becoming a dinosaur, partly because of all the photos on it).

I know most people don't scrapbook on paper anymore because digital is so convenient and versatile. However, I began scrapbooking while I was in high school, and thanks in part to a sweet aunt who had connections, I got a great stash of scrapbooking supplies before I moved to Michigan, where there were fewer supplies. This started me on some family albums and a baby book for my twins.  I had some awesome friends there who even hosted scrap parties, my Mom in law gave me some nice supplies, and I thought it was fun to create albums while my toddlers entertained each other occasionally, so I was entrenched in this medium long before digital was an option.

These days I have very little time for any albums, online, digital, printed or paper scrapped. I still feel this need to touch actual photos, trim them, find perfect papers and embellishments, so I have these baby albums that I want to be consistent--all of my babies should get a handmade album.

There are some nice supplies out there now, but I can see that the paper industry is not the same anymore, so I struggle with how much I should invest in it. I do have a friend in my ward who owns a business where she chooses papers and embellishments and then ships them out to people all over the world.  I think if I didn't have to pay the shipping when I live less than a mile from her, I would probably sign up, but I can just see my husband cringing at the idea of more "stuff". :) I wonder how long my handmade albums will last versus the digital printed albums I've made. I've tried to decide if I should print previous years blog posts, though it seems like once it's online, it's permanent somewhere.

I guess I'm struggling to decide if this is a hobby that is worth anymore long term investment, or whether it's better to just be finished with handmade when I'm done with my baby books.  Will my handmade efforts be appreciated in the long term? Does anyone else out there still scrapbook?

P.S. I started a different blog today.  I'm not sure exactly what possessed me to do such a thing, but I've had some ideas swimming in my head for awhile and I wasn't sure that putting them on this family blog (that I haven't been updating well) was the place for it.

Can't we all just get along?:)

I love to see imagination blossom in my little ones.  She just loves her babies, stuffed animals, cars, books and people, and is busy constantly.

She is learning how to navigate her world while learning an ever growing vocabulary. Some of the words she says are hilarious like car which sounds like tarccccgg.