Tuesday, November 29, 2011

So Grateful

We were very grateful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with Emily and Steve in Las Vegas this year. Michael and Jennifer were there too and we had a most wonderful time. It took all of us to prepare the meal which was a lot of fun. We gave dad the job of peeling the apples for the pie and he was very good at it, he said it comes from peeling so many potatoes on KP duty in the army.

Em making her delicious pie crusts, we made several batches since we had A LOT of pie, pumpkin, apple, blueberry, cherry and pumpkin cheesecake, all delicious.





We called for help from Michael every time we needed a can opened. Carly never strayed far from Michael, he is great with the kids and they love him.


Easton and I making the crust for the cheese cake.

Here is the whole gang at Nick and Christy's home on Thanksgiving, they were the perfect hosts and we love being with them and their adorable daughters, Regan and Alice. You can't see Jenni's tummy but there are three pregnant bellies right in a row there, it was pretty cute. Christy is due very soon and worked so hard that day taking good care of us and wouldn't let us do any of the work, she is amazing and we appreciated it so much. The weather was beautiful all week and Emily took us on a great hike, and to the Cactus Gardens all decorated with Christmas lights and our favorite spot, the Ballagio. Everyone else in town wanted to see the conservatory and light show too, it took us a half hour to get from the parking lot to the street, we enjoyed the time visiting but others weren't as happy, there was a lot of loud horn honking and shouting going on. We went shopping at midnight on Black Friday, the girls are busy here figuring out our plan of action. We were in and out of Kohls in a half hour but not so lucky at Target, we put our items back and left as the line was all around the store. We had great luck at the outlet mall later in the day.There was a lot of time for games, resting, reading stories and just visiting.







My favorite part of the trip was seeing these two cute pregnant girls and feeling their babies moving all around. So fun and exciting!! A BIG thanks to Em and Steve for inviting us!


I love this time of year and Thanksgiving, I always feel we have so much to be thankful for and that I could never properly express my gratitude. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, can't wait to hear all about it.





























Wednesday, November 16, 2011

CALIFORNIA

We had a great time on our annual visit to Melanie's house over Veteran's weekend. One of the highlights was our visit to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, it was excellent and really fun for Dad to point out all his expertise to the kids, they had been there before and enjoyed showing us around.






We went to Hobby Lobby, a huge craft store that had just opened in Roseville and that place is amazing, lots of good deals on Christmas decor and anything you could possibly need for your crafting pleasure. The girls in the group LOVED it and Dad was a good sport. We went out to eat to some yummy places and this is Joshie entertaining himself outside of Red Robin as it was a long wait, everyone went to all the places we went all week end because of it being Veteran's Day and people had the day off.


We now have a second generation Cinemark employee, Bethany was hired recently and is enjoying making money, driving herself to work and school, so grown up! Luckily she only had to work one shift while we were there.


We took the kids swimming at the motel, took our walk to the railroad tracks to try out Nick's new remote control vehicle, went to church, had a Duck party, played games and just had a wonderful visit.


I was glad that Dad went along this time and the drive was really beautiful with Fall leaves, snow, California sunshine and yes, Oregon rain. I did miss my train ride experience but only a little tiny bit. Thanks Sorensens - we love you and had a great time!













Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Catching up with Grand kids

We have been really blessed this year when it comes to spending time with our family. It is never enough but looking back and considering the distance between us and the busy lives, it's been great. I went to Las Vegas to be with Easton on his 5th birthday which I can not even believe he could be five. I gave Bruce ample opportunity to come along and he declined and has complained ever since that he didn't go since he missed these adorable faces.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EASTON! We love you.


We have been to a couple of Marc's football games and the bonus is spending time with Connie and the boys. Kellen is a ball boy and it is so adorable to see this little tiny guy running out in the middle of all those huge football players to give them the football. Caleb is usually tired after a long day and falls asleep right on the bleacher. This is Cameron all snuggled in with GG, his great grandma who drives from Junction City to EVERY game. She is amazing. GO TIGERS! They are undefeated!It was truly amazing the Harlan was well enough to make a visit to our house, what a blessing to see him out of the hospital and doing so well. We just loved having them and I wish I had a picture of the whole group. Darian was very excited to hear Mitchells had a trampoline after being cooped up in the house and attending a wedding so we let her get some wiggles out. She is adorable and I was grateful for the chance to get to know her a little better.





Our last picture of Seth was his 8th grade picture, it was time for a change! He has grown into quite the handsome young man.


Here is baby Harlan at 9 months old on his first visit to our house. So adorable! We hope he comes back real soon. He was a little tired from the trip and the wedding but was rolling over and being happy for us.


Next was our annual visit to another Tigers game and the pumpkin patch with Marc and Darren's families. The weather man said rain but just like last year we were spared and it was warm at the game and beautiful the next day for the kids to pick out their pumpkins. They love being together and made every minute count, besides the football game, the boys had a slumber party, went to Kellen and Caleb's football and soccer games, out to lunch and the pumpkin patch all in 24 hours.


This was Erica's first time at the pumpkin patch, isn't she adorable?
The whole gang at the corn maze.


Just look at this adorable smiley, three month old baby Cameron. He is so CUTE!


Thanks Connie and Marc for a very fun time. We love you!

From there we drove on to Seattle for a fun filled three days with Darren, Jill and their family.

We love to visit their ward with Bishop Jolley and Erica loved me this trip and let me hold her all through the meeting. Dad and Darren worked in the yard and house all day on Monday and I had a great time with Jill and the kids playing outside and at the park.


Erica is loving learning to feed herself. She loves her dolls and lets her brothers give her hard hugs and is patient with them, she walks really well and is full of smiles and cutenes.


Time to try on the Halloween costumes, aren't they just adorable. Love these boys!


Happy Halloween!! I am loving these beautiful fall days.

Blogging is exhausting and my show is on.

























































































Since my last blog...

I turned the big 60, along with LeAnn and Warner, and thought this milestone should be recorded on the blog. I wasn't looking forward to it but have since changed my attitude and realized that I am grateful for my many years and look forward to all the good things that are yet to come. Jennifer made sure Warner and I had our own favorite cakes, tomato soup cake for Warner and carrot cake for me. She made waffles for breakfast, we had a picnic for lunch and Dad took us all out to Kabuki's for dinner
We had a super fun 60's party at Mitchells with friends, everyone dressed up, we listened to all the great music from that era and played 60's trivia.














Sunday, August 21, 2011

Cameron is one month already

I got to spend all last week with these three cute boys, we had a very fun time together. Cam was being so cute right before I snapped this picture and just decided to cry instead.

Caleb loves to hold his baby brother and is so tender with him.


This is his favorite spot for his afternoon nap, all snuggled up in the cozy green chair. My favorite seat too, Cam. He looks so long in this picture and is growing like a weed.


One month old already! He tries to hold his head up and is awake more looking around all the time.


We were happy to be able to be at his baptism last Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church along with Jenni and Michael and Connie's family. Love you Cameron! I'm having with drawls.















Thursday, August 11, 2011

August Already

Marc and Connie made it possible for a few of us to get together at Black Butte and it was so much fun! What a fantastic place for families, swimming, biking, hiking, walking, relaxing, fishing and more. I'd love to share all my favorite photos but it would take forever so here are a few. The top one is all my little helpers, we planned an anniversary party for their parents since they were all married within a month from each other. They were adorable and really kept the secret
It was amazing to me that Connie was willing to do this after just giving birth to Cameron but we tried hard to make it so she could rest a lot. Still she was on the move with us all the time.


The bike races were hilarious! Kellen and Caleb are pros and Justin, Joseph and Easton just learning but they took turns and helped each other.


AWH, here is a chance for me to brag about the skirt I made Carly for her birthday, I love it! It was so fun to make and doesn't she look adorable in it? It got me in the mood to do more sewing.


Erica wasn't sure about any of us and stuck pretty close to her mom but by the end of the week she had warmed up, she is just the cutest. She learned to crawl this week and is almost walking as well.


Baby Cameron never wanted for someone to hold and love him, we were lined up for that job.


These boys are so cute together, this is in the awesome loft room where they all had a bunk bed. We had to pay them to go to sleep each night!


Swimming happened every day with several pools to choose from.


Nature hike first thing in the morning.


Melanie and her family came to visit for a few days and we had such a fun time with them.


Feeding the ducks and fishing.

Miniature golfing


Joshie joined the ranks of the little boy cousins this year and he fits right in. As you can see August has been GREAT so far and I hope the rest of the month will be just as good. We are grateful that we finally got Summer weather and that the garden is finally doing well. Cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, zucchini, potatoes all from the garden last night for dinner. YUM!


Have I mentioned how much we love having Jenni and Michael living here this Summer? Our time is coming to an end but I don't like to think about it yet.