portland in the fall

 we decided to take a quick trip to portland.  the girls had a couple days off of school and jason happened to get the same week off at work, i can't believe how well it worked out.

we haven't ever gone over in the fall, the weather was perfect!

krista drove up thursday with the kids. we got to babysit jessy, kami, and bode while kris and tim worked friday.  it was fun haning out with their kids, the girls loved being with their cousins.

the girls got to decorate sugar cookies with their cousins.

we played a ton of games of freeze tag at the park.

krista took me out for my first spiced pumpkin latte, it was so good i got another one for the drive back home.

we saw jason's grandma 3 times while we were there, it was so nice.

abigail and jess asked grandpa if he would pay them for picking apples off his apple trees, he agreed. they ended up picking 400 apples and each made 10 dollars.

everyone came to portland on saturday and we all went to the roloff farm!
i was so excited.  we've watched all their episodes.  it was great to see it all in person and meet them!  we talked with amy and zach and saw matt riding around.
can you believe we stood in a face painting line for an hour, but the kids sure did look cute.
we took the 30min tour of their property, their farm is huge and absolutely amazing!
i can't wait to see their new episodes, they're going to start shooting soon.

 it sure is great to have such a wonderful family.  we love you guys and the time we get to spend together!

 

Night at the Farmstead

Our school started this thing called "kiss the pig".  The kids bring in loose change and the grade level that ends up raising the most money gets to pick the teacher they want to see kiss the pig.  For every hundred dollars raised the PE teacher will also kiss a pig. 4th grade won and Abigail's teacher was picked, so we skipped soccer practice and headed out for a fun night at the Farmstead.

We met up with boys.
Right away Ash saw the pony rides.
We all walked through the 'creature'.
The kids played on the swings and slides.
And then it was finally time for kiss the pig.  The cute little pig was named Kevin Bacon.  The teachers were such good sports.  They even got the principle and librarian to kiss the pig.
They did the bounce pillow.
Before it got too dark we started through the corn maze.  Abigail and Luke took off, thankful they always made it back to us.
Donuts and cotton candy were eaten.
And pictures were taken.

Photo Download

I finally downloaded pictures off my camera this morning.

I had fun uploading them to PicMonkey and applying different effects to them.  Now when they get the ability to do collages, I will super duper love them.

When Beverly was here we went out to Swan Falls, look at that backdrop.

Ashy got a new bike, she's on an 18in now.  That girl sure is growing up.

Look at what I walked down to one evening.  Isn't Ash so sweet.  She informed me that one of the candy bars was for me and one for her.  We're both chocolate lovers, I love that!

Ash saw my camera out and wanted to take my picture, here's where she placed me and Jake.

My Ashlynn.

pumpkin patch 2011

Spring Trip!

For spring break we packed up and flew to Seattle to spend it with Keith & Amy and the girls.  We couldn't wait to tour Seattle, see their new house, help work on the chicken coop, celebrate birthdays and spend time together.

Monday

We got into Seattle around 10am. It ended up being a beautiful day to tour Seattle.  We actually saw the sun!

First stop, the famous Pike Place Market.

It was fun to watch the guys throw the fish to each other.

And all the fresh bouquets of flowers were just beautiful ... check out the tulips.

Of course the food was amazing, chicken on a stick, and who could resist fresh doughnuts.  Not us.

Then we went to the space needle.  The girls had been talking about this and couldn't wait.  I love how cool the space needle looks in the Seattle sky line.  And the view from the top, priceless.  I'm so glad it was a clear day, you could see for miles.

Next we headed over to the Seattle Aquarium.

That was awesome.  The girls got to touch the star fish, watch the divers feed the fish and see the otters.  Plus look at tank after tank of cool fish and amazing sea life.

Last we loaded up and took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island.

Tuesday

We took a trip to the beach where the girls looked for sea shells and sea glass.  The guys got started on the chicken coop. And we celebrated Keith's birthday!

Wednesday

The guys took the girls swimming while Amy and I did a little shopping downtown.  Dave drove up and spent the night, it was so nice to see him.  We missed celebrating his 70th birthday with him and are so thankful he was able to come up.

Thursday

Amy and I took the girls out for lunch, the guys worked on the chicken coop (I wish I had taken a picture of it, it's so cute!) It'll be so nice to see chickens running around out there. Plus, not to mention, how nice it will be to have fresh eggs.

The girls and I, okay more like Anna and I, made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and Amy made a fabulous chicken and artichoke dinner.

Friday

Amy took us to a cute little candy shop, Bon Bon.  We wanted to go to the beach at the end of their road but it rained hard all day. So, we just hung out waiting for the inevitable ... having to leave to go back home.  The girls were so sad, Abigail and Ash wanted to move there, they said Melissa could just send our clothes and Jake to us.

The week was over in a blink.  The girls loved playing with their cousins.  Emily played 'horse jumping' with them (she'd build a course of different jumps and then they'd act like a horse and run and do the jumps) and she'd do their hair for them everyday, and Anna shared her toys and games with the girls, Ash loved her Squinkies.

Thanks for having us, we loved that we got to spend spring break with you guys!  We're counting down the months until we see you again!

Happy Days

 We went out on our very first family bike ride yesterday.  And since the weather was so nice, we decided to go again after dinner.  All in all a total of 4 miles.  It was great.  Jason lead us around the subdivision, Abigail followed right behind him (it was funny, if J moved a little to the left, Abigail would move a little to the left ... adorable), then Ash and I bringing up the rear.  And in case you are wondering, yes Jake was in there too, running right along.  He might have been the happiest dog ever ... running, hanging out with his humans, getting out of the back yard, sniffing everything, yep happiest dog ever.

I loved it.  The whole family together doing something we all enjoy, I'm looking forward to many more happy days just like yesterday.

Fun with Harts

Over the long weekend, we...

*enjoyed a fun visit with the Harts

*watched the cousins play, laugh and be wild together

*met and got to know a crazy sweet, full of life, Columbian girl, Alejandra - I can't wait for our trip to Columbia to visit her, I can dream.

*went and saw Michayla on her birthday - Jessy, Cami and Bode couldn't wait to see her.

*had a birthday party for Jessy

*promised the kids we'd play at Bounce but ended up going to Wahooz, Cami hit the jackpot and won 400 tickets, the kids loved that they walked away with tons of prizes.

*had family game night and laughed all night as we played charades

*took the girls ice skating - Abigail finally let go of the wall and did great (I'm so proud of her, thanks Alejandra for helping her gain the confidence she needed to do that.)

*did a little shopping at the outlet mall, it'd been forever since I shopped out there. Abigail and Jessy really wanted some best friend necklaces, so we made a quick stop at the mall.  It was cute to watch them decide on the set they'd get.  They really wanted mood necklaces but also wanted a set that could fit together.  I love the necklaces they ended up picking. (Abigail told me that all day at school the kids would ask who had the other half.)

*watched movies

*played guitar hero and video taped a certain someone while they rocked

Thanks for coming guys, it was a great weekend!

NY to Idaho

May 2009

 December 2010

 My niece, Sidney, was in town over the Christmas break.

I'm so glad we got to see her.

We played some crazy rounds of uno flash, ate pizza and caught up on her college life.  We'd ask her if she's going to move back to Idaho after she graduates (from a college in New York) and she would so politely  say, "I'm thinking about it."

Then the next day we took her roller skating.  I'm still glad I opted not to put the skates on.  Sid was a good sport and skated with the girls.

Thanks for hanging out with us Sid, we love you!

2011 Snowmobile Trip

Happy 2011!

This weekend, Mom and Dad took us to Fairfield to go snowmobiling.

It's the perfect place for the kids to drive around, wide open spaces.

I was worried it'd be too cold to go, or that it'd be snowing (like they predicted) BUT it turned out to be a nice sunny day.  It was down right cold, but the kids didn't let that stop them from having tons of fun in the snow.

Abigail

She jumped right back on the sled (acting like it hadn't been a year since she'd been snowmobiling) and couldn't wait to drive.

Ashlynn

She got to drive the snowmobile for the first time with grandma.  She's not afraid of speed.  She took me for a ride and I had to keep telling her to slow down (this doesn't surprise me).

Clay

I'm impressed at how good this kid is.  It's fun to watch him ride.

Michayla

I love her pink helmet.  Her and Abigail rode around together, I'm so glad they're close in age and good friends.

Here Clay rode up a little hill, look at all that air he caught.  My dad has taught him well.

We also did some sledding, ate a good lunch, drank hot cocoa, spilt a few drinks, and laughed so hard we were all snorting.

Note to self - don't forget the ABC chew story.

What a fun day, thanks mom and dad!

Once A Year

Do you have a saying that you heard as a kid (which drove you crazy) and now you say it all the time to your kids?

I do.

When the girls say, "that's not fair!"

I say, "life's not fair, the fair only comes around once a year."

Thanks for that one dad. It's so true. And well, since the fair does only come around once a year and because I have such fond memories of it from my childhood, I couldn't wait to take the girls.

It was a great 8+ hours there.


















I'm so proud of Abigail for doing all the big rides with her daddy.
I'm so proud of Ash for finally trying the bigger rides (and of course she loved them!).
I'm so proud of Jason for doing all the rides with his girls and not even feeling like throwing up.
I'm so proud of me for caring around a backpack, camera and little girl most of the day.