Hetherington Happenings

Springtime

This year, Spring came to Bend.  And it has been amazing!  A normal Spring for us lasts about 3 days of 80 temps, and then its right back to snowy cold until July.  Summer does not arrive until July 4th.  Thus the reason I've been absent from this blog - - we had a real Spring and our family took advantage of it!  Here's some of our action:

Hot sunshine in April?  Yes! I'll take it!

Bike rides in the sunshine and forest...absolutely!

Frogs for Max

Catching air for Mikhal

And some sweet spring skiing!

Mikhal graduated from two rounds of ski lessons this season...and he is fast! He loves to find a hill and catch some air...far more air than his mom thinks a 6 yr old should catch.

 

Afternoon coffee date with my big boy

And that leads us to the month of May, where more sunshine and even warmer days greeted us!

Rick used the time to remodel the treehouse. He's a talented man who doesn't know the meaning of "sit still" and he uses his time wisely with his boys. They love to work along side of him and make memories. I use the word "work" lightly, because if you've ever had 6 year olds as your assistants...well, you don't need me to explain any further.

We had the new swing up and put to good use in April.  Next came the addition of a deck and firepole, and by days end, the boys & friends had slid down the pole at least 100 times.

Once that was completed, the zipline was moved from one area of the yard, to launch from the new deck and soar 120 feet across the grass.

Max took advantage of the sun to make mudpies (surprise!)

While Mikhal, apparently long over his fear of heights, found a good tree to climb

I think we've put the skiis away for the season and have moved on to the bikes and the hundreds of trails in our area.  The boys are going to the Bend Endurance Academy this summer for more mountain bike training.

We love the river trails and single tracks surrounding our town! We don't have to go far to have fun in the sun in Bend.

Well, thats it for now...still half the month of May left to have adventures.  Stay tuned for more photos soon.

 

 

Celebrating Milestones

April 5, 2007. 

The date may mean nothing to you, but it is one that changed our family in many ways.

Five years ago we stood hearts beating rapidly in silent prayer, hands sweating, ears listening to a language we could not understand, our eyes fixed steadily upon a judge waiting with anticipation for her decree.  When I close my eyes every detail of that courtroom is still fresh in my mind. Every smell of the babyroom breathes into my body. 

That day, five years ago, God blessed our lives with Mikhal being added to our family through the miracle of adoption.

Five years, gone so swiftly! As my friend Candi says, "The minutes are long, but the years so brief".

Mikhal has blessed our lives in so many ways...here are a few photos that catch his personality

2007

2008

Full of personality

Always Determined

2009

Lives life his way

Dances to his own beat

2010

Breathes in every moment with passion

Laughs and Smiles often

2011

Compassionate, patient and loving

Adventureous

2012

Stylin

Gifted

We love you Mikhal!

Connecting to Family Roots: or how to eat Pierogis when you are gluten free.

Pierogis.  Now that's a word I never imagined I'd use in a sentence a decade ago. But 10 wonderful years of marriage to an eastern Pennsylvania coal region man changed a few things in this California gals heart... and recipe box.

While recently wasting time exercising my mind on Pinterest I came across a recipe for Pierogis and pinned it with the intentions of someday trying it out.  Thanks to Stephanie and her wonderful blog, most of the recipe research was already taken care of for me and I had a lazy Sunday after church. 

It's not often I find myself with three hours of time and no to do list a mile long. Guess that's a benefit of recovering from walking pneumonia -- too tired to do much of anything that uses exertion (ie, skiing all afternoon), but too bored to sit and watch a movie.  So standing in the kitchen rolling pastry dough and stuffing pierogois was the perfect answer.

Pierogis (by the end of this post I WILL have learned to spell that word correctly) are stuffed pastry dough, typically a potato based dough, most commonly stuffed with potatoes and cheese.  Since I've been allergic to casein for two decades, I've never tried them when visiting my husbands family back East. However, one time we were at a fancy schmancy 5 star restaurant in Las Vegas when lo and behold there were Pierogis on the menu: stuffed with roasted squash and dairy free.  Let me just say: they were amazing!!!

Then I added a gluten restriction to my diet so Pierogis altogether disappeared from my radar.  Just this month I came upon this savvy traveler/mom/gluten-free blogger, Stephanie, who was making pierogis  and I knew I had to try it.

Back to this afternoon and my kitchen. With one helper available I set out to kneading the dough, rolling it and cutting circles.

I made a batch of traditional potato & cheese filling, as I've been reading that often time those with a CF diet can tolerate cheese that has been aged (Parmesan) and dairy that has been heated to high temps. So I'm giving it a try.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and since this post was made written after the photos were taken I can tell you what I learned:

Roll the dough thinner. 1/8 inch is flatter than I think.
Make bigger circles.  Mine were 3 inch, then I increased to 4 inch. I think 5 inch would be perfect.
Wet the edges of 2 circles at a time. By the time I filled and sealed/pinched the first pierogi, the second was ready. So wet 2, fill 1, wet a third, seal the second, wet the fourth, seal the third, wet the fifth, seal the fourth.... you get the idea.  Because sealing them tightly is crucial, and thankfully, mine all stayed sealed.

I made a batch of roasted butternut squash and apple filling just to be on the safe side keeping it casein free for me and my lil guy, and of course, to pay tribute to the California girl inside me. I think I didn't add enough flour, and will next time make this filling thicker and pastier.

Because I made them in the quiet afternoon but wasn't serving them until dinner, I placed them on the baking sheet and popped them into the freezer.

When the skiiers arrived home, I had a big boiling pot of salt water ready, and dropped them in for a few minutes.

Then my handsome Pennsylvania coal region man jumped into action frying some onions and sauteeing the Pierogis with butter.

It would be an understatement to say my family liked these.

My boys couldn't eat them fast enough - - squash and all!!!  In fact, the next morning they asked for them at breakfast and said they would like it if I would make Pierogis for every meal from now on.

I'd call that a success!

Let it Snow! (more snow that is)

Happy March!  Today was such an amazingly spectacular day that I can't resist sharing more photos with you.  At least a foot of fresh powder covered the world when I opened my windows this morning.

The sun rising through the trees was glorious!

I LOVE this icecicle "bird" sitting in my tree...

Care to join me for brunch on my back patio...

With so much fresh powder and sunshine, I was bad...I gave the boys a snow day from school.  Look at that snow! How could I not play with them!

After building a snowman/storm trooper/AT-AT walker/art tower, I filled my frosting decorator bottles with water and food coloring and let them snow paint.

Of course Max wanted to have a snowball fight...here's his arsenall

What an amazing day to live in Bend! 

A Snowy Day of Fun

Its the end of February and the La Nina that was predicted has just maybe, possibly, decided to show its stuff before Spring. Briefly. Maybe. 

I love the white stuff, so I'll take whatever is offered. It has been an unusual winter as most of the snow has landed in the mountains just 17 miles west of our house, and I can count on one hand the number of times we've seen sparkly white stuff on our front yard.

Thankfully, we just had a good one and its continuing on for another day or two, so I have some fun photos to share. Pour some hot cocoa and pull up a chair!

Green trees, snow white flakes and blue sky...there is nothing more awesome and breathtaking than a winter day in Central Oregon!

I love that I get to see this view everytime I pull into my driveway:

Mikhal quickly ate breakfast and bundled up to go build a snow fort:

He settled on a snow chair instead:

Max's favorite pastime is to EAT as much snow as he can:

But he does like to help throw it too:

Rick continues to decline my gift idea of getting him a snow blower, and prefers the workout of shoveling (seriously!). He's the man!! :

Even our dog is a true Bendite and loves the snow as much as her owners do:

Just like Max, she would rather eat it and roll in it:

 

There is so much beauty around us; truly all Creation shouts it praise to its Maker! What an incredible gift we've been given!

Thankful for my other boy

Today's focus is the other blessing God sent us. What a joy it has been to watch Mikhal grow physically and see his personality blossom with each passing day. He certainly fills our life with laughter and fun.

He began full-day kindergarten this year and he is thrilled with each day. He thrives in school!

Mikhal is a social butterfly and quite the little ladies man already. It's cute at 6; hope I feel the same at 16. Here's his cowboy  birthday party:

He cheers on Penn State with daddy on Saturday mornings

He's got an amazing imagination and is quite creative in all he does

And some lofty goals for life... watch out Bono!

He's so creative and arts are his passion

He's emotional, expressive and the life of the party when he's in his comfort zone

He is very patient, compassionate and caring toward his brother when it matters most. He's had to be mature beyond his years to understand his brothers disabilities and I appreciate his sensitive spirit.

I'm so thankful I get to be his mother.

 

 

Thankful for my boys

This boy has brought so much joy into our lives. Everyday I am learning something from him...grace, hope, laughter...and patience.

Mornings start with Max and his dog...

Helping me in the kitchen...and this is the best part of course!

Max loves his Legos and they can be found EVERYWHERE in our house!

So proud of himself for riding alone at equine therapy

He lives life with zest...doing his own thing, not caring about what others think.

He lives for bugs...look at all these snails he collected at Aunt Jeri's house

Outside of Lego's and bugs, he LOVEs to take things apart.  This is  was a slide projector.

You'll always find him with something in his mouth...I'm trying to make it bubble gum and not fingers.

I love, love, love this photo of him watching Disneyland make it snow on Main Street as the fireworks show ended.  It captures him perfectly: joy, hope, happiness!

Can't wait for Christmas morning to see the excitement on his face once again.

Real life lessons

Each morning at breakfast I spend a few moments learning Catechism and reading the Bible with my boys. We’ve been going through the book “My 1st Book of Questions and Answers” by Carine MacKenzie. I highly recommend it if you are seeking to give your children a foundation of Truth.

This morning instead of our usual review, we ended up with a life application. A sobering life application that brought me to tears (...and I’ve noticed that anytime momma cries, the boys sober up and listen very astutely).  A life application I never, ever imagined I’d be sharing with them; one that grieves me deeply even as I write this.

My extended family is deeply ingrained in Penn State. Not just ingrained - - they are emotionally attached to all things Penn State. My father in law was on the Board of Trustees, my in-laws have held primo season football tickets forever, my husband and his brothers attended PSU, my nieces have and are attending, and my brother in law is currently on the Board.  And after more than ten years of all things Penn State, even I, a proud alumni of The Master’s College in California, have a fondness and admiration for Joe Paterno. It’s been an emotional week around our house. 

As we sat down to breakfast, Mikhal, who is wise beyond his 6 years, asked why is Joe Pa so sad (his photo is on the front page of our paper - hundreds of miles from Pennsylvania). Thus I sat down at the table with my boys and began this real life story: 

Joe Paterno is a very important man. (We know mom.) And Joe heard that his friend, another coach, did something bad and mean to someone else. (What mom?)  This coach was mean to other people and he hurt them.  Not Joe Pa. He didn’t hurt anyone.  But Joe Pa knew that his friend was mean and Joe Pa knew that he should make a right choice to do something hard. (This is when tears started rolling down my cheeks.)

And now this bad man is going to live in jail, and Joe Pa can’t be with his team at anymore games. (What!?! Thats not fair mom! How can we watch a game? Who will play with them?  Amazing questions from 6 and 8 year olds.)

I queitly went on to say I know its very sad and it doesn’t seem fair, but when you know to do right and you choose to do wrong it is sin. And sin always has a consequence. I’m very sad that this has happened to Joe Pa. (Still crying.) And I wish so much it wasn’t so. But when you see or hear about a friend doing something mean to another person, you should always do something to stop it.  (Full on river flowing down my face, so the boys are very attentive.) Now Joe Pa can’t be with the football team he loves, his family is sad, your cousins are sad, mommy & daddy are sad.

Max pipes up and says mom, “its just like in our catechism.”  Which blessed my heart greatly to know they are indeed grasping these truths little by little.  It is very much our catechism:  Man has a sin nature; God is holy. All have sinned. Love God most of all.  Love other people and treat everyone like our neighbor.

If everyone involved in this horrible situation had loved God most of all and treated other people like they wanted to be treated, NONE of this would have happened. 

Not speaking to my boys any longer, just commiserating to you: I’m just sick that its all happening: to the victims, to Joe, to the football players, to my dear family who are students.  And that things “happened” that are so hideous the only way to describe it to my young children is to say “a man did mean things to another person”.

There are many, many ways to look at this scenario:

As a reader of the news, I’m ill, nauseated, I’m angry, that it was allowed to go on for so many years. How could that man do such things to children!!!

As a friend, how would I feel if someone told me one of my friends was doing something so egregious to others? I’d go ask my friend and if my friend denied it, I’d believe them. And if I had proof, I’d go to the authorities while my heart was breaking.  Joe Paterno was between a rock & a hard place with his friend. Did he choose wisely? I can’t answer that.  I don’t know what Joe knows in the quiet of his heart.

As a person connected to Penn State, I’m heartbroken that the man who was a father/grandfather figure to thousands is ending his amazing career this way. To quote Joe “This is a tragedy. This is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

As a mom, I want all of those involved to pay dearly for what they did or allowed to be done to a child. I want revenge and justice. Mostly revenge. I want that offender castrated in public!

As a child of God, I want the offender to be brought to justice and I want to pray for all those involved. I want the one who did it, those who knew and those who should have known to fall on their knees asking for forgiveness in this life and mercy in the life to come. I pray for healing for the victims, that they will find hope in the everlasting arms of a Heavenly Father. For truth to reign. For hope and healing to flow freely in the years ahead on the campuses of Penn State.

The moral of the story to my children this morning was this: 

Every action we make has a consequence for good or for evil, that will affect us and the people we love.  There is nothing we do that is hidden from the sight of God. Ever.

As the simple song from Sunday School says:
“Oh be careful little mouth what you say, oh be careful little mouth what you say, for the Father up above He is looking down in love so be careful little mouth what you say.
Oh Be careful little ears what you hear....
Oh be careful little hands what you do...
Oh be careful little eyes what you see...”

And that was July...

So there goes July 2011.  I have 247 photos to prove that it exsisted and that we filled it as full as we possibly could. And I have two boys sleeping past 10 am so they can catch up some much needed rest.

August sends me into a panic. "August" screams summer is over! And school is coming! Snow is just around the corner.  Stop! Please, stop!  I just need to enjoy the sunshine and warmth while we have it.

We did enjoy it on a gorgeous July weekend. We crossed off another adventure in our guide book. This one took our family to Canyon Creek Meadows on Three Fingered Jack.

Which now includes a dog...

Oh, yeah, thats a cast you see on his arm...fractured wrist (but that's another post) and it isn't slowing him down. He still marches to his own beat...

It was an amazing hike, starting at the area most affected by the B&B fire in 2003, where new growth is now sprouting up...

Taking us past small patches of snow

And into lush shaded forests

Finding beautiful wildflowers in bloom:

We hiked to the meadow

We intended to go further, but we met snow at the otherside of the meadow and altho we hiked another 1/2 mile on slushy, slippery snow, we decided that was far enough without boots.

Still, it was a fantastic afternoon!

And we found another hiker to take a family photo for us.

A Boy and His Dog

It's been just 10 days since we added Ginger, the Retriever, to our family, but its very clear that she is already Max's best friend.  Yesterday we had her spayed, and I'm not sure which was harder: the surgery for Ginger or the day of separation for Max.

As soon as she arrived home last night, drugged and down from the vet, Max was near to give her comfort.

Ginger had no appetite and was clearly very sleepy, so Max positioned himself near her and grabbed a book.  Appropriately entitled "Jake and the Brave Night", it's a story about being brave and unafraid of being alone at night.

I'm proud of Max for being so compassionate to his friend, and for the huge progress that this shows for his reading skills. We've worked long and hard, through many hours of therapy and many tears of frustration, for him to accomplish this simple task of reading. I am thrilled beyond words that he had the desire to read to Ginger, but even more proud that he had the ABILITY to read to her all by himself.