Catch up...

Jefferson has been on break for the last week. He finally wrapped up finals and, of course, did great in all of his classes. Jefferson is usually kind of a home body on his breaks because he doesn't get to spend a lot of time at home when he's in school. I, on the other hand, am so ready to get out of the house by the time break comes around and want to go and do.

This time we actually have hit a good middle ground. We have been enjoying some quiet time at home in the evenings, watching movies, but have also been out and about visiting some great places around Portland. We have kept pretty busy and I am super behind on posting, so scroll down to see what we have been up to this last week. We are so glad that we have a whole week of break left to enjoy with Jefferson home!

Seaside

This is what is only an hour and a half away from us. How come we have never gone in the almost two years we have been here? We don't know why.

It was so sunny and warm in Seaside and our water babies loved it, true to form. We went out to lunch for some halibut and chips and calamari. Jefferson's Uncle Dean, cousin Joe and their wives, Julie and Chris, were in town from Idaho. It was fun to spend some time with them. We went to the World Mark there and swam in their pool and wade pool. Cousin Joe bought some water wings for Carter and he loved swimming without Mom and Dad holding on to him.





Then we hit the aquarium. It was highly overrated, but the kids loved how dark it was in there and loved seeing the seals up close.



Then, of course we hit the beach. It was so beautiful. Carter loved the ocean. We got a good kick out of watching him get dizzy as the water kept switching directions on him. He loved helping Jefferson dig out little sand crabs.

We had such an amazing day and the kids held up great. We all slept hard that night and can't wait to make it out to the beaches again this summer, now that we know how wonderful it is.

Sprayground

We have finally hit summer and some 90 degree weather. Unfortunately, air conditioning is hard to come by in Portland. We have discovered a nice alternative though, and that's the sprayground at Blue Lake Park. We love it and our kids are definitely water babies. We brought some treats and our kite and enjoyed a whole afternoon at the park. We had to keep our eyes open though, every time we would turn around to grab something out of the stroller, Andi would b-line it for the water. She had no reservations when it came to getting a fountain full of water in her face. Carter loved flying his kite and was so excited to have Buzz flying over head. We were all just excited to be out of the house.

Pittock Mansion

For youth group we went to the Pittock Mansion here in Portland. It was built in 1914. It has the most beautiful view of Portland and we had a great time with the youth who came. Carter and Andi were so well behaved, which was super good, seeing as everything in the museum was authentic and very breakable. After we toured through the mansion, rode the three person original elevator (SCARY!), and helped some old lady who literally fell down a whole flight of marble stairs (not forgiving), we had a picnic on the front lawn that overlooks Portland.

Sam & Nikki come to town

The first weekend after finals, my brother Sam and his wife Nikki came to town. They made stops in Klamath and Salem first so we only got to see them for one afternoon; not near long enough. We did a tiny bit of shopping, went to the zoo, and then had cafe rio pork and just hung out. It was so fun to see them.

Frosting Phantom

We just did a little birthday celebration at home for Andi yesterday... balloons, presents, and cake. What else could a one year old want?! Andi didn't do much opening of her presents....Carter did that. But she sure got into the cake eating!

Notice Carter's little hands in the foreground opening Andi's presents:

Ready....

Set....

CAKE!!!!!

Starting to get angry about the cake in her eyes:

Jefferson thought Andi looked like the Phantom in this one:

Now she's really angry... Andi kept rubbing the frosting into her eyes which, as you can see, she didn't like.

She was happy after getting cleaned up and remembered she had some new toys to play with:

My Moo is 1 year old!

Happy Birthday little Andi! This year has gone by so fast. We are so lucky to have this little girl in our family. She is the most calm, content, child you will ever meet. I think she's secretly just biding her time until she's bigger than Carter, and then she is going to unleash the fury.

She is so adaptable. She will crawl around all day, happy as a clam, whether or not someone is playing with her or not.

No one can make Andi laugh like Carter can. They just sit in their room laughing and talking to each other every night for about an hour after we put them to bed.

Let me tell you, this girl is tough! She took a sucker punch to the face this morning from Carter and didn't even blink. Carter will body slam her and kick her and put her in a choke hold when he's trying to hold her, and she just kind of rolls with it.

I love her sweet little round face and big blue eyes.

I also love her "surprise package".

I love how much she loves me! Carter is definitely a daddy's boy when Jefferson is around, but not Andi. She is a mama's girl through and through.

I love how she reaches for me when somebody else is holding her.

I love how she follows me around the house looking like a bull dog.

I love her scowl.

I love our one year that we have had with her!

Happy birthday baby girl!

I'm famous!

Check this out! In high school our choir would go to Anaheim and compete in a festival called the Heritage Festival. (side note: we always won) Mind you, it has been seven years since I have gone. My friend just emailed me the site for the upcoming Heritage Festival and you will never guess who the picture is of on the website and promotional material that they send out to choir directors all over. (look to the right- this picture was taken eight or nine years ago!!) Go ahead- laugh it up!
http://www.heritagefestivals.org/heritagefest/cities/anaheim.asp

Carter-isms

So Carter is being such an ornery, crabby, whiny little two year old, but there are some funny, happy moments in our days. Here are a few of his favorite sayings:

-"Uh-oh Andi" whenever she is getting into something that he doesn't think she should be getting into, or if it's something that he wants.

-Carter has been calling me "honey" for the last couple of days after Jefferson called me that. It makes me laugh every time he says it.

-When something is Carter's, he says "that's mise" instead of "mine."

-He calls Andi a "stinker-noggin'" I apparently call her that a lot.

-Carter keeps trying to pick our noses and says, "booger?" We pick his nose, why shouldn't he pick ours?

-He labels everything from chairs to glasses to shoes, "that's mama's" "that's dada's" "that's carter's" "that's andi's"