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.