Christmas Eve and Christmas morning

We had a quiet Christmas Eve and Day at home. We had a nice but simple dinner of ham and potatoes. I used the china since it was Christmas dinner. D was very excited to use the "fancy" dishes. I on the other hand was a little nervous letting a six year old boy use the "fancy" dishes...but he did really good. After dinner, we opened up our one Christmas Eve presents...jammies for all!!



Then of course, we had to get a plate of goodies ready for Santa and his reindeer.



Christmas morning was fun. Santa brought D his own parrot!! He informed me about 2 weeks before Christmas that we need to get a real parrot because every pirate needs a parrot. The stuffed parrot seemed to do the trick. He was SO excited about it.

Jack and D both got Nerf guns...that to was a big hit. We have enough guns and ammo for all of us. Pretty fun!!

We spent that day eating left overs from our Christmas dinner, playing w/ the new toys, and napping. Overall, it was great day.

Midnight visitor

So a while back we had a midnight visitor...

Ugly little thing it was!!

One night, after going to bed VERY late, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep when I heard Milo making a weird scraping noise outside so I got up to see what the problem was and found him very patiently trying to get at the opossum that was sitting on the top of the fence post. I think Milo had enough sense to know that barking would scare the thing away. It was pretty funny!! The opossum just sat there for the longest time while Milo & I watched it. I even had time to go get D out of bed so that he could see it. He, of course, being the animal loving boy that he is thought it was the coolest thing ever to see a wild opossum in the back yard.

Utah part 2---very late

So I have been a total blogging slacker. Although, I was having some computer issues so I do have a little bit of an excuse. Here are a bunch of pictures from our vacation to Moab...


Our caravan to Moab.




D on our first morning of 4-wheeling. We didn't get into Moab until about midnight and I think he fell asleep about an hour before we got there so he was not happy to be woke up at 6 am so that we could get out on the trail.





One of our many stops on the trail. Several people, including ourselves, had mechanical issues. Ours didn't survive for a 2nd day of wheeling. Better luck next year.



My sister-in-law, Jill and I took a sunrise hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It was a beautiful morning for a hike. We both got some awesome pictures.

Here we are at the end of our hike. You can barely see the arch behind us.

Later on after our hike, Jill & I went back to Arches with 2 of the kids and explored some more of the archer. Here is Joelle & Kenalee pretending to be falling off of the rock.

Silly girls!!

One of the many rock formations in Arches National Park...Balance Rock. The park was so awesome. I can't wait to go back and explore the areas that we weren't able to see.

We were all tired at the end of each day so much so that D fell half way out of bed and didn't even wake up.

When D was outside watching the guys load up the trucks on our last day, he found this Preying Mantis. It spent probably an hour crawling all over him. It especially liked D's hat.

On the second day of wheeling, Jack got invited to ride w/ one of the guys from Off Road Design. He had a blast!!

Utah Vacation Part 1

So for the 2nd year in a row we made plans to attend the "Blazer Bash"...Blazer as in the truck not our last name...in Moab Utah. We didn't actually make it last year due to car trouble, instead we spent a week at my parents house. This year we prepared all year long to make it down there. Part of that preparation included purchasing a truck that was capable of towing our GMC Jimmy...aka The Beast. Despite all of our preparation, we still had car trouble and got stuck in Walla Walla again. But, unlike last year, we did end up making it to Utah it was just a few days later than planned and in a completely different truck than the one we started our trek in.

We arrived in Walla Walla on Labor Day. Paige, Doug, and the kids came over for the day to see us. Here is a picture of most of the kids, including Joelle (Jack's brothers daughter) and D. Too bad Miranda is looking the wrong direction.

Another one of the kids with their "goofy" faces. Notice Miranda is paying attention this time. Silly girl!!

And another silly one of Miranda. I think this is her zombie look.

The 2nd day in Walla Walla I took Joelle and D to the park for a picnic and we played in mom & dad's yard while Jack delt with the car issues.

Joelle on the bandstand at Pioneer Park.

D on the zip line at mom and dad's.

The Beach

While Kelly was in town we took a day to go to the beach. We were suppose to go the day we went to Multnomah Falls but the forecast said it was suppose to be cold & rainy at the beach. Kelly ended up staying an extra day & I pulled "D" out of preschool and we headed for the beach on Tuesday instead of the Saturday before. It turned out to be a really fun day. It was rainy & cloudy on our way there but it ended up being a good day for the beach once we got there. It was cloudy but warm enough that the kids put on their swimming suits and took a dip in the ocean. "D" had never played in the ocean before. We couldn't hardly get him out. And of course, we all had a great time playing in the sand.

The kids jumping the waves.

"D" gathering sand for our sand fort.

"D" holding a crab he found in one of the tide pools.

"D" picking at the barnacles.

Kelly and Kaden.

Multnomah Falls

One of the days that Kelly was visiting we decided to go to Multnomah Falls. It was kind of a cold, cloudy day but as we started up the trail to the top it quickly got warm.

The kids before we started our hike...mostly happy. We started up the trail because the sign said it was only 1 mile. We thought no problem. Well, at the bottom of the trail it tells you there are 11 switch backs...at the 1 mile marker we still had 4 more switch backs to go. Kelly & I both say they lied about the 1 mile thing. We decided to head down once we realized it was quite a bit farther to the top. It was a good thing we headed back. "D" was tired and hungry...he had refused to eat the yummy breakfast cassorole that I had made that morning...I think he would have reached complete meltdown stage, if I had forced him to go any further. He was much happier once we got some lunch in him.

After the falls, we headed a little further East to the fish hatchery and damn. We had a picnic lunch, toured the grounds and watched the video about the yearly fish spawn. It was pretty interesting. I can't wait to go back during the salmon run. Here is D and Mac checking out the trout.

After the fish hatchery, we took a quick trip over to the damn. We saw a few fish fighting their way up the fish ladder and through the area where they count the number of fish that are going through. The boys thought it was pretty cool to see the big fish up close.

Kelly's visit

Last weekend Kelly and 3 of the kids came to visit. Wehad a great time making cards, eating good food, playing games, and just spending time together. My friend at church told me how to do "glitter" toes. I thought it was a perfect activity for us girls to do after the little boys went to bed. I think they turned out pretty cute!!

Our new friend

For those of you that don't already know, we have a new "friend". On our blog he will just be known as "D". "D" has been spending a lot of time at our house. We have been able to go on lots of fun outings this summer. This picture is from the trout farm where we caught 3 fish in about 3 minuntes. It was the first time "D" had been fishing....he was thrilled with the entire experience.

Keep It Cool

Keep It Cool
Originally uploaded by metini

It has been over 100 degree for 3 days in a row here in Portland. This is unusually high for this area so most homes, including ours, don't have air conditioning. Usually a few box fans in the windows will cool the house down enough so that we can at least sleep comfortably. Monday we all slept ok but not great. When we came home from swimming at 7 pm yesterday it was 88 degrees in the house. The house had been closed up for the day so I decided to open it up and turn on the fans. Very quickly the temperature went to 89 degrees. Not good!! I just didn't know how we were going to sleep. I knew that we had a small window air conditioner in the garage but I also knew that it was too heavy for me to carry to the back of the house & lift into the window...oh and Jack was at work. I had almost resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a miserable night, when the phone rang. It was our friend Matt. He wanted to come over & put the air conditioner in for me. Hallelujah!!!! Matt, Cindy, and their 2 boys showed up a bit later not only too install the air condition we had but with another bigger air conditioner that we could use for the summer. Double Hallelujah!!! An hour or so later the house was on the on its way to feeling so much cooler. We slept great and have had a much cooler day today. Huge thanks to Matt!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Eighteen years ago today Jack & I were married in the Portland Oregon Temple. Look how young we were. What were we thinking?? We didn't have 2 pennies to rub together but we were "in love". We had met about 9 months prior to getting married at an Institute class in Philadelphia PA. A nanny job had taken me across the country and the desire for a date had brought Jack..a local boy who always knew a date could found at the local singles ward due to the high nanny population..to Institute that night. He made a point of meeting me that night by "accidentally" dropping his Hardy's (like McDonald's) bag in the hallway after class so that I was forced to stop to help pick up his stuff and introduce myself. We exchanged #'s that night and never really dated anyone else after that.
It has been an exciting, fun, and adventures time. Even after all this time Jack still makes me laugh and I love him for that. My sister Paige & I always said that was one of the most important qualities for a husband to have...of course there are other that are important too. =0)

California Part 3

One last post about our trip...We spent Thursday at Univeral Studios. It was a fun day...wish we could have spent more time there.



Cast members from the "Terminator" 4D show. We bought a "front of the line" pass so we didn't have to stand in the long lines in the hot sun and we got to meet the cast members after some of the different shows.

Shrek & Fiona

The "Law"

California Part 2

The second & third day of our trip we spent down in San Diego. The first day we spent at Sea World.

We went to the Dolphin show...
...the Sea Lion show...

and the Killer Whale show. They were all fabulous!! We had a lot a fun and managed to stay mostly dry even though we were technically in the "soak zone".
Then on our second day in San Diego, we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Two of the fun things we did there was feed the Lorikeets and we went on a tour of the park on Segways.

At one point, I had about 7 Lorikeets on me...one even tried to eat my earring.

The Lorikeets eat nectar...you can see the little container of nectar in Jack's hand.
We look awfully goofy in out helmets with our hats underneath but it was REALLY hot out that day and we needed the protection. Jack would have had the funniest sunburn on his head!!
This was a fun time of year to visit the park because there were lots of baby animals...giraffes, elephants, and tigers to name a few of what we saw. Our friend Peggy braved her fear of heights and went on the 3/4 mile zip line that is new to the park. It went right over the area of the park where we took our Segway tour. We might have to try that next time.

California Dreamin'

I have been asking/begging Jack to take me to California for years. He had made a vow to himself never step foot in the state so it was a hard sell for me. A few years back we had saved a little money and had a choice on how to spend it....a new big screen tv or a trip to California. Some how Jack won out on that purchase. I knew that I couldn't convince him on my own so I started recruiting people. Lucky for me one of Jack's good friends,Mark, and his wife, Peggy, are California/Disneyland freaks. I think they have been there a million times. Mark started working on Jack. He sent home Disneyland promotional dvds, emailed advertisments, everything Disneyland he came across he gave to Jack. It finally worked!! Yah for me!!!! We spent 7 days there...Jack survived and had fun. Jack & I outside Mainstreet U.S.A. We spent the first 2 days in Disneyland and California Adventure.



Here we are in California Adventure in front of the water rapids ride.
Jack in front of one of the stores in California Adventure.


Jack & I...I with my Minnie Mouse ears...on the Mark Twain Riverboat.

I got to meet Mickey when I visited his house. Jack missed this. So sad for him!!

It is hard to say what my favorite part of Disneyland was but I definitely LOVED Mickey's Toontown. So fun!! We explored all of the buildings, rode on the Roger Rabbit ride and ate lunch there on Friday. The only thing we didn't get to see was Minnie's house. There was always a long line there...gee I wonder why??? We will have to see that on our next trip. I made Jack promise me we would go again.

We spent Friday at Disneyland & California Adventure also. We ate dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant which is inside the Pirates of the Caribean ride. We waited for a table by the water so we could see the fireflies, hear the cricket and watch the people go by in their boats as we ate dinner. The food was SO good. I had Jambalaya for the first time....YUMMY!! Jack had lobster and steak.

We had so much fun on our trip. It was a great get away. I didn't think or worry about anything at home for the entire week. I guess that is what the "happiest place on earth" does to you!!!