The DeVore Download

Growing up in the Grange

2011-03-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, to say it has been a while is a little crazy, so I won't say it. I just wanted to post the family Christmas picture and promise more info to come later. I hope everyone is doing well...our life is crazy but so much fun!

Fair Trip

2010-10-10T13:40:00.001-07:00

We went to the Central Washington State Fair a couple of weeks ago. There were rides, games, exhibits and tons of food. We go on the first day of the fair every year and get the bracelets for unlimited rides.

This year I tried out the Drop Zone. Where you go up really slow, then when you get to the top you DROP! It was fun and a little scary.

We tried something new this year called Bubble Bay. You get into a big bubble (ball), they fill it up with air, and then you roll around in the water. I was attempting to stand up the whole time. Shelby just rolled around. Mom said we looked like hamsters.

They have a huge slide at the fair. Dad, Shelby and I raced down the slide. It was so much fun. We went on it about ten times.

Our Camping Trip

2010-09-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Lake Easton during our camping trip in September. We had a wonderful time and it was very peaceful, relaxing and a much needed fun break.

This is a picture that Lexi took on our hike around the lake. It shows how late our camping trip was this year.

This was a beautiful island that the sun was shining on and reminded us of how peaceful camping can be.

The clan with their walking sticks. Dad's is a little big, but we thought it looked good with his outfit.

2010-08-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

School is underway at the DeVore household. We are excited and looking forward to a great year. The blog will be updated this year, I promise. I am actually going to have the blog be part of Lexi's school work this year. That will mean weekly updates, so stay tuned for a great year of photos and info on our lives. Have a great school year everyone!!

The snow finally came to Yakima

2009-12-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

After a week of weather in the single digits, we finally warmed up enough to have snow fall. We got as low as 1 degree and did not go above 20 for over a week. Then the snow came falling down. We got about 6 inches in one night and it stayed around for about a week.

We are hoping for another flurry before Christmas. It would be so nice to have a white one.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas in Seattle

2009-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

We got together with Rich and Cathy and the kids in Seattle this weekend. It was so nice to get to spend some time with them. Grandma and Grandpa came over too. This is the first time in a long time we have been able to have a Christmas dinner together.

Shelby and Lexi had a huge surprise.....Aunt Cathy got them the exact dolls they wanted. She did not even talk to mom about it (or so they think). We are so covert with our email and facebook that we can send each other to the exact store to buy the exact thing they say they want in November. And surprise, it is what they get for Christmas! We are so sly! HA HA

They have been so excited to play with these dolls. They have some porcelain ones, but they are afraid they will break, so they don't play with them too much. You should see them now....we say it is time for bed and they ask if they have time to get their dolls ready too. Julie (Shelby's doll) and Chrissa (Lexi's doll) have to do their hair at night so it will be beautiful in the morning.

I had to include this picture because Grandpa just looked so excited to get this doll, but really he was just unwrapping it for Lexi. I think he has a "santa" aspect to him as well. Thanks family for making this a great weekend even though it was short. Merry Christmas!

Pictures with a great big tree

2009-12-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

The girls were able to have some pictures taken by this big Christmas tree. It was very bright and beautiful.

Lexi was dressed up for her recital and Shelby was looking festive in her green shirt and new jeans.

Shelby was very excited because she got to wear her new boots with her new jeans.

Lexi is looking all-grown-up and I don't like that very much. But aren't they both beautiful?!

Lexi's First Piano Recital

2009-12-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

Lexi's first piano recital was today. She did a great job. She was a little nervous at first, but when she sat down to play, it was just like at home....calm and smooth.

She played one song by herself and then a duet with her piano teacher, LaSarah.

She played at the retirement village that her great-grandma lives at. Great Grandma was very proud and very happy to be able to enjoy this performance with her.

Her mouth is still a little swollen from the dental procedure on Monday, but she was a good sport to go ahead and perform. She was very tired afterward, but was glad she was able to do it.

Just another day of laughs

2009-12-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is an image not often caught on tape.....Mom is usually taking the pictures, but here she is with the love of her life. Here we are 17 years and going strong.

This picture was too funny not to include. The snow where we were was very deep. We had a friend take our picture and just as I was stepping close to John I sunk down to my knee. We were all laughing so hard, we had to get a picture of it. Oh could you imagine.....

I took this picture from our sledding spot. It just reminded me of how wonderful God is and how much he cares that we live in the beauty that He created.

Another picture of how much God loves to see us smile. I can't help but think that He put all this beauty around so I could smile day after day. Thanks Lord!

Our beautiful girls in their Christmas outfits

2009-12-01T08:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so these are not the traditional Christmas outfits, but this is what they wanted for this year.

These outfits are going to be worn with tights, but they each have a pair of long socks that they are going to wear on Christmas day.

They thought pictures with a ballet pose would show you how fun these outfits can be for Christmas.

Shelby is very good at cocking her head to the side for all the pictures taken of her.

Snow Trip

2009-12-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

We had a great time sledding the day after Thanksgiving. Some friends of ours invited us up to White Pass for some sledding. It was only about 35 minutes from home, so it was a great little trip.

Here John is preparing to send the girls down the hill. They had a great time. Shelby usually had her eyes covered with her hat because she did not like to look down the hill.

A day of sledding is so hard. It must be rough to have so much fun.

Oh the joy of snow.....too tired to get up again!

Just two smiling girls.....

2009-11-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

Field Trip to Maryhill Museum

2009-11-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

On Veteran's Day, we went on a field trip the Maryhill Museum in Goldendale, Wa. That is about 2 hours from our house. They have a whole floor designated to Native American artifacts. We have been studying the Native Americans for a couple of months and it was great to spend some time looking at actual things that they made.

There were a ton of peacocks roaming the grounds outside the museum. It was so great, you could just walk right up and take their picture. The girls of course decided to stay inside, while mom went out and took the pictures.

This is outside the museum. It is up on a hill above the Columbia River. These hills you see in the background are actually in Oregon. It was quite windy being near the river, so the girls were pretty cold.

They also had a "metal sculpture" area out on the grounds. It was a little too cold to spend too much time looking at them.

Awana Grand Prix

2009-11-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

Awana Grand Prix was this Wednesday evening. If you don't know what that is, it is similar to the Pine Wood Derby. Anyway, this is Lexi's car, The Weiner Dog. She was very excited to run it in the race. It was not built for speed, so it came in about 15th place, but it was fun to watch.

As you can see her, she did take a prize for "Best Non-Car Design". She took 2nd. One of the leaders asked if she put a real hotdog in the "wood bun". Dad thought that was great because they worked so hard on making it look like a real hot dog. It actually had the "seam" markings on the ends.

What....she's not afraid??

2009-10-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Shelby is afraid of just about every living thing. She is very scared of dogs, cats and has never liked petting zoos. Here you see her feeding a goat. She spent about 1/2 an hour feeding these goats. She had such a great time.

She is so happy to be by the sheep as well. She actually pet the sheep. I can't even tell you how excited I was to see her having fun instead of being scared.

She is actually petting a bunny. She stuck her fingers in the cage and everything. She wanted to spend so much time with the animals, I was a little concerned that someone had stolen my child and substituted her for someone else.

Lexi was also very excited to spend some time with the animals. She was feeding them as well.

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to the pumpkin patch with our small group from church. We had a great time. They had a hay maze for the kids, a corn maze, and fire pits with private party areas.

We had roasted hot dogs and made smores. It was a lot of fun. We attempted the corn maze, but after about 1/2 hour we ended up at the entrance again and we did not think we could go any further. We had a great time walking around in circles.

We went on a hay ride and the kids had a great time. They thought it went really slow, but it was fun no less. John and the guys in small group started talking about tractors with scoop hoods and dragster possibilities and the women just rolled our eyes and laughed.

They had a petting zoo as well. The girls actually had a good time feeding the goats, sheep and pigs. All in all we had a great day. The weather was good, but a little cold. It started to rain at the end, so it was a good time to go.

Our beautiful girls

2009-10-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

I was out taking pictures of the beauty that we live in and the girls were with me. I had to take a couple of pictures of the beauties that God gave us. Shelby is 7 1/2 and doing great. She is still so active and growing like a weed....how do we make the growing thing stop?

I don't know about anyone else, but this little one does not look 9 1/2 to me. She is getting so mature and really loving the idea of growing up. I, however, am having a very rough time of it.

I look at these smiling faces and I thank God for my girls. We have been so blessed with healthy, active, crazy girls and I would have it no other way. There are days when I want to pull my hair out, but I think I will print this picture and remind myself of the treasures that I have.

This is what I get to see when I drive to my house everyday. The mountains, the colors, the apple and pear trees, the river.....WOW!

Fall in Naches

2009-10-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to send some pictures of Naches and the beautiful picturesque setting that we get to live in.

These are pictures of the Naches River and the beauty that God created.

Just another amazing setting that God gives us to look at.

Lexi plays piano

2009-10-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Uncle Mick, Lexi has been able to begin piano lessons. Mick sent us a digital keyboard and Lexi has been having a great time learning how to play. Right now it sits on our dining room table, but Grandpa is making a table for it. The table is coming along and we are excited to add it to our home decor.

Mrs. Montgomery is Lexi's piano teacher. She is wonderful. She is bubbly and ever so kind. Lexi is learning a lot and is hoping to play a Christmas piece in December at a retirement community in Yakima. We are so proud of her and the wonderful progress that she is making.

Updated House Pictures

2009-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

OLD FRONT OF HOUSE.......

NEW FRONT OF HOUSE.....

Pete, Betty, John and Lynn all had a hand in making this house look so good. Pete and John did most of it, but you know. This is what it looks like today. We are still going to make the columns bigger and do some painting, but I wanted to get an updated picture for you. As you can tell, the color of the strip under the lights is the actual color that we are painting the house. I don't know, there is something special about having a "racing strip" on the front of your house.

Gymnastics has started!

2009-10-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

We have started Home School Gymnastics! We go once a week for an hour and the girls get to have instruction and some free time as well. Here, I had to ask Lexi to stop so I could take her picture.

This picture is a little blurry, because if you know Shelby at all, asking her to stop bouncing for a picture is like asking her to not eat for a month, almost impossible.

A moment when Shelby is actually standing still to decide if she wants to jump in the foam pit or if she wants to keep doing cartwheels (her personal favorite).

Thank goodness Lexi is not really worried about her looks yet, but she was having a hard hair day.

More pictures from the Fair!

2009-10-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is Shelby's first time on the Cyclone. She is riding with John and is not scared at all. Lexi is waiting to see how it goes before she attempts to ride. In the end, this was the favorite ride of the day. They all went on it many, many times.

Lexi and Shelby's first attempt at the bumper cars did not go so well. Lexi had some problems steering and they were not able to navigate very well. They had fun, but did not want to ride them again.

Grandma DeVore decided to join them on the big swings. Lexi was a little nervous, but having grandma go with them helped. This was, again, one of the favorites of the day.

The giant slide is another big favorite. John did not go on it this year, but the girls showed him how much fun he was missing. When it was not too busy the attendant would let them race.

A day at the Fair!!!

2009-10-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

It has become a family tradition to go to the fair on the first day. John takes the day off and we spend the whole day riding rides and having fun. We buy wristbands for the girls and John and they ride unlimited rides for hours on end. It is my job to take pictures and I was ready this year, however, the camera only held out for about an hour before the battery failed.

It was a bright, sunny and hot day. The girls had a great time. We were looking at all the boats and campers. The girls were trying to decide which one would be the best to buy. Lexi liked the blue one and Shelby like the biggest one. I guess this shows us what is important. HA HA

Candy Nation was an exhibit at the fair this year. They were showing how Jelly Belly's were made and a lot of different kinds of candy. I love this picture because the kids are posing for me, but John and his parents are reading the information. They had a section with See's candy and the I Love Lucy episode with the candy on the conveyor belt. Shelby thought it was so funny, she stood there and watched the section they were showing three times.

First Day of School

2009-08-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow...can you believe it...the first day of school!! We started school on Monday, August 24th. It has been a great week so far.

Nana and Papa took the girls shopping for a new outfit to start school. They got new clothes, new shoes, new socks, and even new haircuts. Somehow, I think the teacher should get that treatment as well, but I digress.

Shelby is starting 2nd grade and is very excited. She is working on her reading skills and always wants to do art.

Lexi is starting 4th grade (this must be a mistake). She is excited about doing her on-line math and learning Spanish.

We are looking forward to a great year. We are studying American History and Earth Sciences. Lexi is going to begin piano lessons and both girls will participate in the home school gymnastics program. We will continue to swim throughout the year at the indoor pool in Yakima. We are very excited for all the fun things that we are able to do as a home schooling family.

2009-08-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago and I am just now getting the pictures posted. Grandpa DeVore went with us and it was a great time. We are having a great summer, but are sad that it is almost over. We start school next week and then we are going strong for quite a while.

2009-08-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of people what to see some updates on our house. For those of you who do not know John and I bought a 5500 sq. ft. grange in Naches, WA. We took a 1500 sq. ft. open room and made it into our house. This is a picture of our family room.

This is our master suite. The window boxes are "dad-made" and were needed because the windows are so far off the ground from the inside in case of a fire. It is so nice to have the rocker and sofa in there to watch movies or just to read.

This is our bathroom off the master suite.

This is the girl's playroom. It is lavender with a cute pink border. Grandma made the curtains and window seat cover. It is "clean" according to the girls.

This is the girls room. It is a dark picture, but it is pink with the same border. It has lavender curtain and window seat.

Here is a picture of the dining room that flows into the family room. The bathroom door is open and Grandpa is doing wash. As you can see, we have a lot of swim suits hanging up.

Now this picture is of the "dance floor" upstairs. It is 1500 sq. ft. with hard wood floors and a stage. The stage acts as our "storage", but the floor has been used for roller skating, scooters, and both girls learned to ride their bikes on this floor. How many kids can say they learned to ride their bike in the house. Our dream was to make this room a game room as well as an activity center for the girls. Here is where we are so far. John got the ping pong table for Father's Day. The pool table and air hockey table are thanks to "Craig's List". We were able to get them at a good price and now our game room is too much fun. It is great because the skates and scooters can still be ridden around the tables because their is plenty of room.

2009-08-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it has been a while since I have posted and for that I am sorry. We have been crazy with swim team and general summer stuff. These are some pictures of our trip to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. We were able to go in June and are looking forward to going again in the fall. We watched a couple of IMAX movies and had a great time.

We are done with swim team now and are looking forward to playing without a schedule for a week or two.

We are taking a break from the house project for the month of August. We are running temperatures between 100 and 110. It is already 95 degrees and it is only 10:00 am. We are thinking of resuming the project in September.

We had our neice Rachel over this week and had a great time with her. Our friends from Bellingham, the Hendrickson's, are here for the weekend and we are having a great time with them. Currently, Kim and I are sitting at the table both updating our blogs. It is so great to have them here.

Hello to Grandma, part 2!

2009-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Grandma, I am sending this picture because it is so Shelby.

She is still crazy and fun. She is having a great time swimming and is still very creative in playing. She is doing well with her reading, but she is not enjoying it too much. She would rather be playing than reading, so much different than Lexi.

She asks continually when grandma is coming home, so please know that you are missed. She is hoping that you can be here before too long. We all are hoping to see you soon, but know that you are where you need to be right now. WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!

Hello to Grandma!

2009-07-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Grandma, this is a blog just for you. This is a picture that we took on our trip in OR and I thought it really captured our girl.

Lexi is having a good summer. She is doing great in swimming and she is reading like crazy. She is almost 4 ft. 9in. and that is when she no longer has to sit in a booster seat, so she is watching closely for that day. She is doing a lot of reading this summer. She has become interested in Nancy Drew books and has requested that I try and find her another mystery series. She is growing up way to fast, but we are figuring it out. She asked me when we could go to Missouri to see you. She thinks it would be a great driving trip to head that way. Please know that we love you Grandma!

Family Vacation

2009-06-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

We spent a day in Sisters, OR while we were on our trip to Bend the first week in June. We found this great picture spot to capture the true color of our girls. They really should be in jail for being so cute, but we had a great time. We were able to spend the vacation with my parents and sister as well, so all in all it was a great time.

Father's Day

2009-06-30T08:42:00.001-07:00

Okay, here they are being cute, but the other picture is more their true nature.

Father's Day

2009-06-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well I have to say I think I am married to the best man ever. I know some of you would argue, but John is the best father and husband a person could ask for.

I can't believe that in a couple of weeks we are going to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. It seems like just yesterday we were dating in youth group.

Here is a picture of my best guy, with my great girls. Enjoy!

The house is coming along....

2009-06-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you know we bought a grange in Naches. This is an older building from 1920 that was used by farmers for their co-op. They had dances, dinners and all sorts of things in these buildings. Pete, Betty, John and I have put a lot of sweat and tears into this place and now we are working on another project. We are re-siding the house. Just to give you and idea of the scope of it....each side is 65 ft long. We have completed one side, but there is another and the front to do still. Here is a picture of one side being done. I will go out today and take a picture of the completed side. I also painted yesterday so we know what color the house will be. I will include a picture of that as well.

Swim meet at Naches

2009-06-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had our first home meet yesterday against Toppenish. The girls did great!!!

Shelby swam all four strokes under one minute each. She did the 25 m freestyle in under 30 seconds. The first time she swam this stroke last year by herself it took her 3 min and 47 seconds. This is an amazing difference and she is doing great!

Lexi swam two relays, all four strokes, and the individual medley relay (one lap of each of the four strokes). She did great! She was so tired by the end but still pushed through and did the IM.

John and I were timers for the meet and it was fun to have the girls both able to swim in the lane we were timing. It gave us a great view of each one of their swims.

Grandpa DeVore was able to attend and he noticed the significant difference from last year in the speed the girls were swimming.

We have two meets a week until the end of July. I won't post every detail, but it is so much fun and we are really having a great time.

Swim Meet Against Prosser

2009-06-18T17:14:00.001-07:00

The girls had their first swim meet of the season against Prosser. They have a 40 meter pool and the girls are used to swimming in our 25 meter pool. It was a challenge, but they did great.

They each swam all four strokes (butterfly, breast, back, and freestyle) without being disqualified. This is something they were unable to do last year. Lexi swam in both the medley relay and the freestyle relay. Shelby was unable to because of her age.

I took some pictures and am hoping to get them on later in the week, but I have not downloaded the pictures in a while, so there are quite a few.

We have our first home meet tonight against Toppenish. They are a big club, so it could be quite late before we get home.

GO NACHES BARRACUDAS!!!

Shelby's year in Awana

2009-06-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Shelby was in Sparks this year in Awana. She completed her second book and had a lot of fun playing games and talking with her friends. Shelby participated in Awana games this year and our team took 2nd place. She loved the Sparkie Crawl which is a game that has 40 kids moving across the floor at one time. As a mom, it is the scariest game to watch. You can see the collisions waiting to happen.

Lexi's Awana year

2009-06-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

This year Lexi moved into Truth & Training (T&T) in Awana. She finished her first book with a Rave Review. This means that she completed all the sections including all of the extra credit sections. The last section was reciting the entire book in one sitting. She did this with no assistance and did a fabulous job.

She participated in the Awana Grand Prix in April. Lexi's car was a piece of pizza. She won 2nd place in "non-car" design and 4th in speed. This was a great showing for the first attempt. She has three more years to come up with more great ideas.

Our 1st blog attempt

2009-06-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We are finally joining the world of bloggers and are attempting to get the site up and running. Lexi and I are sitting here trying to make it all work and it is so much fun to goof around with. We are going to post some highlights of our year in seperate blogs so you can see what we have been doing. Thanks for understanding we are new at this.....please be patient as we learn the ropes.

Lynn