Spring Break with Uncle Keith!

My brother Keith came to visit us Friday through this afternoon. We had SO MUCH FUN with him here! He helped out a TON with the boys, playing with them, helping get them fed, and ready for bed, and wearing them out. He watched them while I deep cleaned my van, and he took them outside to play tag and on the skateboards, etc. They were in heaven with him here and were devastated when he left this afternoon. Let's be honest. I was pretty devastated too. We didn't get enough of him! 

We mostly hung out around the house (cleaning, playing outside, etc) until Monday when we left at 8:30 am and headed for the Coast. We ate ice cream before lunch at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, enjoyed a little hike at Oswald State Park, had the BEST day at Cannon Beach with perfect tides, weather, and no crowds, and closed out the day walking the shops in Seaside. On our drive home we stopped at the Lower Nehalem River where Sean and Keith were going to try to go crawdadding but were unsuccessful. We finished our day in Banks, visiting Ryan and Heidi and their family, and I got to snuggle with baby Jordan for an hour. It was the perfect day, and I hope I never forget it!

Oswald State Park

The look on his face says so much!

Cannon Beach

Proof that I was there!

Seaside

On Tuesday we went to the Zoo, but I have those pictures on my phone. I'll have to upload them later. 

Wednesday I had treatment all morning, and the boys just hung out at home. When I got home, Keith and Sean went to Malibu Raceway to go Go Karting. Keith is turning 18 in a couple weeks and he hadn't ever been go karting before! With the help of Groupon, we remedied that :) When they got back, it was such beautiful weather that we headed to the park, then walked to the store for a donut. We definitely have been spoiled with incredible weather this Spring Break, and it should get up to 70 this Sunday for Easter. It's been bliss!

We headed to Portland this morning and after running a few errands, at lunch at the Food Carts (Keith had Cuban, Sean and I had Meditteranean, and the boys had Grilled Cheese). We then headed to Union Station where we walked around inside and out, and enjoyed the cool architecture and views.

We are really sad to have Uncle Keith be gone. The boys are going to miss a wrestling buddy and I'm going to miss a live in babysitter. Keith will be leaving on his mission this Summer, and it was so fun to get so much time with him before he's gone for 2 years. We definitely did way more than we would have if he wasn't here, and we were very lucky that Sean, Brayden and Keith's Spring Break all lined up. Definitely a Spring Break for the record books. Thanks for visiting us, Keith! We love you!

Phone Pictures!

Today was a pretty eventful day. We had Ward Conference at church this morning, then came home to eat, take an afternoon nap, and relax. Well, yesterday at the St. Patrick's Day parade, Asher got red food dye. Brayden decided that he wanted his tooth out today so he wiggled it ferociously, and Everett decided to wake up after only a 45 minute nap. We tried to take it all in stride and after engaging the children and allowing them all to compile their own tin foil dinners, Brayden brought me pliers and said "K, Mom. I'm ready."  I grabbed a hold of his really loose tooth, and after 4 tries I finally got it out. Brayden was SO brave. I would NEVER have guessed that he would react the way he did. He didn't flinch. Or blink. Or cry. Or complain. Or say ow. He just sat there while I'm (gently) yanking this thing out. It finally came out, and after a couple seconds of disbelief, a smile crossed his face and he said "It's out? I can't wait to tell my friends!" He held the tissue in his mouth to catch the blood then went and stared in the mirror in awe that this loose tooth that has been taunting him for well over a month was finally free! I remember being TERRIFIED of the pliers. He was a champ. Nice work Brayden! He wanted to make sure that the Tooth Fairy knew that his tooth had fallen out so he wrote her a note.

I took pictures on my phone, so since I'm uploading those I might as well upload others as well, right?

One of Sean's professors raises sheep. Her kids show them at fair and 4-H. Sean and her had talked about it and arranged for our family to come out and check out her little farm, since he knew the kids would have a blast. He wasn't wrong! They had SO much fun feeding the sheep, chasing them around, petting them, and seeing how cute and soft the lambs were and how raggedy the older ewes were. It was a great experience. I'm grateful for a husband who isn't afraid to let his children experience new things.

Now that the weather has warmed up a little more, we have ventured outside a lot more. Every morning when Everett wakes up the first thing he says is "Chicken! Eggs! Outside!" He absolutely cannot get enough of being out by those chickens. He loves throwing food to them and just stares in awe. He is a great helper in collecting eggs, and has a blast being outside.

Yesterday we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Hillsboro and it was so much fun. It was a bit chilly, but the boys had a blast. We met the Blaisdell's and Everton's there, and I love seeing all of our kids together!

I figured I should probably post a picture of what I look like now that I'm 24 weeks pregnant. I got this new shirt and I LOVE it! It's from Milan Maternity and it did not disappoint. It helped that I had a gift card there, but now that I've bought from them, I'll definitely go there again (if I need more maternity clothes, that is.)

This morning, the sun was shining through our window and although it wasn't quite 7, we all woke up on the right side of the bed. We had a morning cuddle session with the 5 1/2 of us in our queen size bed. It's always an adventure, and we're lucky if we all escape without a bruise or two. But we sure do have fun!

Right before church, Asher had his scripture case and he was being very protective of it. I had just seen his Book of Mormon and I knew it wasn't in his case. I told him that and he said "I know, I just want the case though." Suspicious, I opened it up and he had stuffed 5 aebleskivers in there to snack on at church. He said "I put in 5 because that's how many my tummy needs during church." He was being so cute I almost let him bring them. Instead, I suggested he eat them then so he had room for his Book of Mormon. He obliged :)

On our way to church today, Asher was cold. We had extra clothes in the van from the parade and Sean in jest suggested that Asher should put underwear on his head as a hat to keep him warm. He did it! It was hilarious.

I LOVE my family! I love the joy that comes amidst the choas, and I'm so grateful for the tender mercies that the Lord blesses us with every day. I definitely need to be better at recognizing them, but it doesn't take longer than a second once I start pondering to find several! I am SO BLESSED!

January - March: Picture Style

I have been horrible about putting pictures on my blog lately. Actually, I've been horrible about taking pictures in general lately. I finally took the small amount of pictures I've taken this year and put them on my computer so I can finally share them here!

The first day of 2013 was ridiculously cold but amazingly beautiful at the same time. We took the boys up to Forest Park and walked around. It was so fun!

We went up to Washington the weekend for February 18th for William's Farewell weekend. He left this past Wednesday for the MTC, then is headed to the Nevada Las Vegas Mission. Soooo exciting! While the ENTIRE family was in town (it was heaven!) we played volleyball at the church. I love that our family is big enough that we can have full teams (including subs!)

 We took the kids to Deep Lake and they had fun throwing rocks. Sean and Keith watched the kids while a lot of us walked around the lake. It was really nice to walk around!

Despite what all of these pictures look like, it has been pretty cloudy, rainy, and miserable these past few months. There's Oregon for ya! I suppose I only take out my camera when it's sunny :) This past week we went to the park with the Grahams and it was warm enough (58*) that we could be out there in Tshirts and not freeze. It was so nice!

Here's a pic of Miss Mo. I love this girl!

My sick little boy...

Asher, Jackson and Baron found this tree at the park that they had so much fun climbing. (Brayden likes keeping his feet on the ground.)

I spy Baron

There is a skate park at the park we went to. It was booming with a bunch of talented boys on bikes, razor scooters and skateboards. The boys were entranced watching them. Their favorite was the kid that could do a backflip on his scooter. It was pretty phenomenal!