Sommer Family News

Happy Retirement, Dad!

2012-01-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

My Dad has worked as a Bricklayer for 35 years. He has been a Foreman for most of his career for as long as I can remember. He is the hardest working man I know. I cannot voice enough how proud I am of him and how I absolutely admire him. I am thrilled at the example he has set for my kids and I hope they will strive to be like their Papa. His last day of work was Friday, so we had a little party for him on Saturday

This is my Dad on the right and my uncle Roger on the left, talking with one of Dad's work buddies

Yes, I realize there are 2 of the same pictures but my computer will not let me delete one of them right now

Mike and uncle John

Many coworkers and friends were there and said such nice things about my Dad. This is my dad's mentor and friend...Snarlin' Harlan. It was fun to hear those two reminisce about the 'old days'.

Zach felt that he needed to try a piece of each kind of cake to make sure they were both good.

Happy Retirement, Dad! Dad had surgery today to replace both of his knees. I went up to the hospital this evening to hear from the surgeon and see him when he got out of recovery. I will spare you the gory details, but believe me, he needed his knees replaced in the worst way. Now the long recovery begins, but it cannot be any worse than the extreme pain he has suffered with for years. I am very excited to have him back up and ready to chase around his grandkids soon!!

Flooding 2012

2012-01-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

Sibling Love

2012-01-23T23:26:00.001-08:00

Tyler adores his sister. I mean, will hurt anyone who gets in her way adores. I went in to tuck them in a few weeks ago and found that Tyler had made a bed for them on the floor and had snuggled them in together. I love that they all love each other so much!

Christmas Left-overs

2012-01-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

I finally got the Christmas pictures off of my mom's camera. Just some cute shots of the family on Christmas Eve and morning.

The boys were so excited to leave Santa this giant cookie. Tyler drew Santa a picture and told him that the cookie was for him, and Zachary got carrots set out for Rudolph.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T16:04:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas 2011!

Some of my pictures are still on my mom's camera, so I will have to post the pictures of the cookies for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer in the next week or so. Santa visited and left lots of goodies at our house this year.

Miss Kylie was the first kid up this morning. Can you tell she isn't quite awake yet? I love her Santa jammies. So cute!

Santa brought the boys each a Nike mini basketball. They were pretty excited!

We had to wake Tyler up and he wasn't quite ready to get up. He was a little shy for the first few minutes.

For Christmas morning, my parents were here as well as Mike's dad Dave, who recently moved to Burns. The grandkids were all very excited to have all their grandparents here!

The boys were very good helpers this year and wanted to be in on all the action! Kylie got a baby doll bed and she was trying it out for us.

One last visit with Santa

2011-12-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

We stood outside and braved the 32 degree weather for 45 minutes for one last trip to see Santa tonight. As you can tell, Tyler was freezing, poor guy. Zach was just excited to ask Santa one more time for a video game.

Our neighbor Gabe came along to help out and we had a blast, despite the chilly weather.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Tree & Presents

2011-12-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is Michael asleep on the bed with Tyler laying on top on him watching TV. Nice, huh? Mike is the boys' human pillow most of the time.

Here's a picture of our very full Christmas tree. You can see the train under it. That's Tyler playing with the train and the village and all the other cars down there.

Kylie loves the ornaments. This is her showing me the Little Einstein's Rocket.

Somehow I didn't turn this picture, but it is her showing me Tinkerbell.

And since I had the camera out, she wanted to show me her Tinkerbell lunchbox. This is her 'say cheese' face. : )

This is Tyler showing me how he lined all of the presents up around our dining room and piano room. I wasn't sure where we were going to stack the presents since we couldn't put them under the tree, so he solved this dilemma by making a line around the 2 rooms. He is slightly OCD like me. Poor kid.

A little bit of everything....

2011-12-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

We have been insanely busy with the holiday season upon us, but we have definitely been having fun! However, I feel like I need about 98 hours of uninterrupted sleep to catch up.

This last weekend was the Salem PD's Kids Christmas Party. It is our favorite holiday event. So many friends in one place, plus amazing food, great crafts, Santa, and presents for everyone!

Kylie was fine around Santa as long as I was nearby. As soon as Santa left the room, she asked, "Where's Ho Ho Ho?" and has been asking me that every day since. I guess she can't say Santa yet so "Ho Ho Ho" works for this year.

The girl on the left is one of my piano students, Jenna. She will turn 8 this week. The boys and Kylie just love her. Kylie sat next to her the entire time they waited for their presents. It was probably about half an hour. I was so glad to have a bit of a break and Jenna is such a great sport to play with her.

The boys got Transformers and Kylie got a talking Dora backpack. Kathryn got a $20 Jamba Juice card. Lucky girl.

This was Kathryn's 1st year of playing volleyball. She really enjoyed it. She is good at it with her height. I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures this season, but here she is with her team.

Kathryn's the tallest one.

And the boys are so into the holiday season this year. Every day they want to do something to make the house more Christmassy. Today they took pipe cleaners and beads and made things. Then Zach made me close my eyes and he took me to his room to show me how he had decorated.

It is hard to see, but he put Christmas ornaments that he made all along his upper bunk. Here is a close-up:

A candy cane and a wreath. I just love his spirit. And this year they really get that Christmas is about baby Jesus being born into the world. They are also understanding how fortunate we are to have money for presents and food, and a warm home to live in. Tomorrow we will be purchasing presents for a child who has no presents this year and they are so excited to deliver the gifts to our church for the little boy. Very proud of my family and their giving spirit.

7th Anniversary at Depoe Bay

2011-12-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

7 years ago, on December 4, 2004, I married Michael. I am so lucky that he has given me 3 amazing children, plus allowed me to parent my 2 amazing step-children, and stay home to raise them as I have always dreamed. For our anniversary, we were able to to escape to Depoe Bay with friends to enjoy each others' company without screaming children constantly needing my attention. I have never seen the Oregon Coast so beautiful. It was as clear as could possibly be with no wind and about 53 degrees. Just amazing.

This was the view from our room. It was amazing!!!

The rest of the pictures were taken at our resort on the lawn out front of our room. These seals were really enjoying the sun.

Our wonderful friends Mike and Shari

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

2011-11-28T22:14:00.001-08:00

Every year we go to the same place to cut down our Christmas tree. It is always so much fun and everyone looks forward to it. This year we luckily got about the nicest day we've had in months!

Right off the bat Zachary found a ladybug that he carried around with him pretty much the whole time.

Here is Kathryn and mini-Kathryn. Oh my, how this little girl adores this big girl. Inseparable. Tonight Kathryn and Kylie spent quite some time in Kathryn's room with the door closed doing 'girlie things', aka painting toenails and styling hair. Kylie came out with her hair straightened and literally looked like a mini-Kathryn.

Both Matthew and Kathryn are saints when it comes to the 3 little kids. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that they are such amazing older siblings.

Our neighbors, aka our next door family, came with us this year. Mike and Jake were having quite the fun time. I kept trying to get Mike to buy the biggest tree I could find for their house and he kept saying, 'That tree isn't in my price point.' I just had to laugh because it isn't very often around my house that I hear the term 'price point.'

My beautiful friend Shari peeking out around the trees

Um, look how big this kid is. Oh yes, he is huge. We used him, all 6'6" of him, to help us measure our trees.

The whole time we were there, this helicopter was moving trees right above us. At first it was cool, but after awhile it was annoying as it was so loud!

The 2011 Sommer Family photo in the Christmas trees. Seriously, we tried 5 times to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time, but this was the best we got. Oh well.

Turkey Day!

2011-11-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!! We had such a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and we hope you did too! So much to be thankful for!!

Miss Kylie getting ready for the day. And look at this AMAZING turkey hair clip that my friend Sharlee MADE for Kylie! So much cuteness! Thanks Sharlee!

Jumping, Jumping

2011-11-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

I adore this girl. Absolutely adore her.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

Ahh, yet another Halloween has flown by. I love Halloween. It is just so fun! All the parties and the costumes! When I pulled out the boys' costumes from last year to sell on Craigslist, they begged to wear them again this year. Um, ok! I saved a lot of money! So Zachary was a giraffe and Tyler was a dalmatian, and Kylie was an OSU cheerleader. Mike got the cheerleading costume on major clearance after last year's football season. We went pretty cheap this year!

We had an early dinner and headed to our church for Trunk or Treat and games. I love our church! And of course we had a wonderful time playing all the games and getting candy.

When we got home we trick-or-treated the neighborhood. Thankfully it was dry, but it was definitely a little chilly. Kathryn carried Kylie most of the way and kept her wrapped in a blanket. Kylie loves her "Ka-ka." I just love the bond that these two sisters have.

When we got home we of course had to examine all the candy. Kylie was telling Papa all about her candy. I can't wait until my dad retires on January 20th because he will be able to be at all the kids' events after that without being too tired or getting home too late after work.

Look at all this candy!!

Football

2011-10-29T21:30:00.001-07:00

The boys finished football today. They played flag football this year through a Christian league called Upwards Sports. I cannot say enough amazing things about this league. We will be Upwards kids for many years to come, I am sure. They also have basketball so that will be next winter. The boys had the best time ever, and our team had amazing coaches. The boys made friends that I know they will see for years to come. This week was their team party and they both got awards and trophies.

Zach got the 'Intensity Award' because let me tell ya, this normally easy-go-lucky guy was all business on the football field (mini-Matthew). He was all over the ball and pulling those flags and loved to blitz the QB and pull his flag. One coach told me that Zachary was one of his favorites to coach and one of the most coach-able players on the team. Zach was always so eager to learn something new and do whatever was asked and had an amazing attitude no matter what.

I couldn't get Tyler to show me his award and smile, but he got the 'Best Effort Award'. Tyler was always out there hustling and doing anything he could and always gave 100%. He also was really helpful to other players and other teams. I was really proud of Tyler to watch him control his energy and focus it on the field in such a positive way. He had some phenomenal defensive plays where he was looking ahead and anticipating what would happen next and had some great offensive runs. Last week he ran in a touchdown AND scored the 2-point conversion.

I'm a super-proud mom of these two guys! And we survived the entire season, practices and games, with no rain. Talk about lucky! And we came away with some friends that I know we will have for years to come. Can't wait for next year!!!

Denial...

2011-10-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

..................I am in complete and total denial. How did this happen? How did Kathryn grow up so fast into this beautiful girl who is 12 going on 16? Kathryn was 1 when I first met her and 5 when I married Mike. And now I am worried that I am going to have to beat the boys off with a stick! Or Mike's shotgun. Either way....it isn't gonna be pretty. Kathryn had a dance at school last night and she and her friend Shianne had a great time. In 6th grade, she said they just mostly stood around and there wasn't much dancing (which was fine by me) but she said that last night she danced the whole time. I am drinking a glass of wine right now as I type this so I don't have to think about the years to come and the possibility of boyfriends.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today was such a soggy, wet day, but we braved the pumpkin patch anyway. We didn't last more than about 1.5 hours, so hopefully we'll go back on a drier day. But the kids still had all sorts of fun.

Picture Shoot with Asay Photography

2011-09-26T23:59:00.001-07:00

I have given up on doing photo shoots at picture centers. We have tried Sears and Picture People and I think it is just the 'stress' of the set-up for the kids and they never seem to cooperate. So I asked my amazing friend Sharlee Asay of Asay Photography if she would take some pictures of the 3 kids at Bush Park. Many months ago, I bought a picture canvas on Groupon and it will expire soon so I am really anxious to get it ordered! I need your opinion...which picture of the 3 kids should I use for the canvas? I will number the ones that I am considering and give me your opinion, please!

#1 (black or color?)

#2 (black or color or this one with the pink tutu)

#3 (black or color)

Friends

2011-09-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today we headed for Molalla to see my parents and visit their neighbors for their annual Block Party. We were there all afternoon and evening and had a wonderful time! The boys got to play with their friends who live a few houses down from my parents. Cute picture!

The big #5 - Batman!!

2011-09-18T20:24:00.001-07:00

5 years ago today, our world changed when Zachary & Tyler entered it. Let me tell ya, after being on bedrest for what seemed like a really long time, and feeling like there was no way I could possibly get ANY larger, I was really ready for them to be born. Baby A (Tyler) was born at 12:23am and weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz, and Baby B (Zach) was born at 12:35am and weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz.

Yesterday we had a Batman Birthday party at the Gilbert House, and we were so blessed to have such great family and friends attend.

My amazing neighbor Shari made cupcakes for the party. And let me tell ya, I am not an easy client. "Let's do this, let's do that! Batman here, Batman there." And of course by 'Let's", I meant "you" so poor Shari was a saint to make cupcakes. I owe her tremendously and they came out amazing and tasted fabulous! I ordered Batman rice paper toppers but they couldn't be put on until right before the party, so here is my Mike and her Mike putting on the toppers.

They came out fabulous!

Batman Pull-String Pinata.

Batman candles, so cool

I just can't get enough pictures of these cupcakes. I love them.

There was no shortage of presents, that's for sure.

Miss Kylie was one tired girl. She played hard and snuggled even harder with Grandma. She insisted on wearing her pink tutu for the party.

Kids and candy. Craziness.

Papa found the boys tucked up in this little hidey-hole and snapped a couple good pictures.

Happy Birthday, Boys! I LOVE YOU!!!

When did this happen?!?

2011-09-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

Kylie has a cute little tricycle that she just learned to ride at the beginning of the summer. It was her brothers' tricycle and up until tonight, she has been perfectly content to ride all around on it. This bike below was Kathryn's when she was a little girl. We just got training wheels on it so that if and when (next summer, we were thinking!) Kylie was ready, the bike would be all ready for her. Well, apparently tonight was the night she decided to be ready.

She literally got on the bike, started pedaling, and rode down the street. I was so shocked that it took a few seconds to occur to me that she was riding towards the street (since we'd never had to have that conversation with her before) and had to tear off after her to stop her, since she obviously didn't know how to break (or even turn!) on this new bike.

Once I showed her the basics, she just took off riding in circles all through the driveway. I can't believe it! She JUST turned 2! I thought I had a year before she'd figure this one out!

She is very proud of herself, as you can see in these pictures. : )

Football!!

2011-09-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

Football season is in full swing at the Sommer household. Well, actually, it has been since June for Matthew, but now games have started. The boys had their first game today also. Matthew is on the varsity West Salem Titans and wow, he is having a good season already. In fact, he scored the 1st touchdown of their game last night. It was pretty sweet! He said it will for sure make the Titans' highlight video this year....I don't think linemen make touchdowns too often. The boys started this year and are on a Kindergarten team, even though they don't start kindergarten til next year. They are playing through the Upward league, which is Christian-based, and I love it. Here are some pictures and videos of the game today....it was the cutest chaos ever! Zach and Tyler are #6 and #8. Oh, and my videos are out of order so start with the bottom video and work your way back up. Sorry! : )

Kylie is 2!! How did this happen?!?

2011-08-08T23:42:00.001-07:00

My little girl turned 2 today. I am not sure how this is possible, but the date tells me she did, and my little girl also reminded me all day long that she is now 2. Seems like not so long ago I kept praying for some miracle that I'd have another baby. I never dreamed that it would happen, and when it did, I was convinced I was having a boy. When I found out I was having a girl, there are no words for how happy I was. And once she came into the world, she has blessed me every day. I am so in love with my little princess. This birthday she wanted 'Bee bugs' which means Ladybugs.

This cute little ladybug is the pull-string pinata....how cute is that??

It was a cloudy morning, but we lucked out and by noon is was sunny and beautiful and the bigger kids played in the pool during the party.

I am so blessed with wonderful family and friends. We had such a great turn-out, and it overwhelmed me to see so many people here for Kylie's special day.

This cutie is Kylie's friend Eloise, and I just love that they are so close in age and get to spend time together often.

The two girls on either side of my mom are our wonderful babysitters, Megan and Sara. I would be lost without having Megan on call. They are both wonderful and I was so glad that they came to spend some time with us!

Kylie kicked off the pulling of the strings.

It took several tries, but once the pinata broke open, the kids swarmed!

This little girl was spoiled with just a few presents. : )

These handsome guys are our 'Neighbor Family.' I would not survive without them. Well, I might survive, but my sanity would be shot! This is Mike, Jake, and Gabe, and they live just over the fence. Shari is missing from this picture, but she keeps me sane. And helps me with anything I need. Gabe is always offering to run errands for me and both boys are just the sweetest, kindest boys. We are very blessed to have them in our lives.

Pink tutu from Megan and Sara....AMAZING! Love it!

Kylie and Kathryn...pretty much best friends and inseparable.

Kylie had her own ladybug cake, which she wasn't too sure about. Once we helped her dig in, she thought it was ok. And there was a big cake fiasco...this wasn't the cake I ordered, but it was the cake we got, and it was pretty despite it not 'matching.'

Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Kylie! I love you!!!

Family Fun Day

2011-08-08T23:29:00.001-07:00

Omigosh, have we been busy lately! There is no slowing down for us this summer! I recently enjoyed a 4 day trip to California to see a great college friend. I went by myself. Without kids. It was amazing. Once I returned it was all business getting everything done for Kylie's birthday party (post to come soon) and Matthew's football team's garage sale that I am in charge of. But Saturday was a day of fun. We started out in the park for the Family Fun Day, then to Mike's work BBQ at another park, then back to the first park for our church's service in the park. I was exhausted that night!

The kids had such a great time at this event!

Look at this little girl with such long hair and growing so tall! She is keeping up with her brothers!

It was so cool watching the REACH helicopter take off and land!

4th of July!!

2011-07-06T21:01:00.001-07:00

We always look forward to the 4th of July every year. We get to celebrate America's birthday by going to the Molalla parade and spend the day hanging out and BBQing at my parents' house.

The cool thing about the Molalla parade is that they still give out lots of candy and treats. Kylie brought her Elmo Easter basket to put her candy in. Don't you love her dres??

That night, the kiddos took a bath and got in their jammies so that we could head home after we did fireworks in my parents' driveway. Notice how it looks like Tyler is wearing a dress? That is a Titan football t-shirt that Matthew's coach gave him. It is a Men's Medium. Tyler loves being like Matthew so I let him wear the shirt as pj's.

Notice Zach's ear muff thingies? He was all prepared for the loud ones. : )

Nice pj's with the rubber boots!

Tyler was pointing to the black snakes that we made in the driveway

Ooh, now we have to analyze them! Fun!

Kylie too!

When we did the bigger fireworks, I opened up the back of the car so the kids could sit there and see them perfectly. Tyler and Kylie loved it! These two are the best of friends. Tyler has amazed me with how protective he is of his little sister.

We hope you had a great 4th of July also!

Beach Day

2011-07-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on updating my blog! Summer is supposed to be where things slow down, and you rest, right?? Well, apparently no one at my household follows that rule. A few weekends ago, we decided to take the kids and our neighbor Jake to the beach while the weather was decent. It was cloudy, but it was probably 68 degrees with no wind, and we didn't even need jackets! That never happens on the Oregon coast.

This was Mike's position most of the trip.

This little girl was FILTHY by the time we got home. I have never seen so much sand in a diaper before! We had a great time though...I am so glad all the kids love the sand.

Happy Father's Day!!

2011-06-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Yummy!!!

Public Works Day

2011-06-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

Salem Public Works puts on a great event at the park once a year and it was today. Perfect weather, mid 60's, no rain. It is a free event and includes a free lunch!

Oddly enough, this was a giant fish that they got to walk into. Kinda gross if you ask me, but they loved it! I love how Tyler helped Kylie the whole way.

They got all sorts of free prizes and candy. Kylie got this little pinwheel that she has carried around all day, trying to blow it and make it spin.

See her little cheeks puffed out? She's trying to blow it. : )

Awesome day!!

Photo of the 5 kids

2011-06-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

I had a Groupon for Picture People for one pose so I wanted to get a nice one of all 5 kids as I haven't done that since Kylie's been born. Well, of course ONE of the 5 wouldn't cooperate. That was Tyler. This was the best of all of them. He wouldn't smile for anything, not even for ice cream and a balloon sword! So...here it is....the best one we got.

Fishing Derby

2011-06-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get signed up for a Fishing Derby put on by the Molalla Kiwanis where they take only about 45 kids to a private pond to fish. So this morning, at a few minutes before 7am, Papa, Zach, Tyler, and I headed to Safeway for donuts and chocolate milk, and then to Molalla City Hall to load on this bus and head to the lake. The boys were very anxious to go fishing. I was very anxious about touching not only a worm, but also a fish if we caught once. This is of course why I asked my Dad to go.

This is the beautiful lake where we fished. We had perfect weather. High 60's, mostly cloudy, hardly any wind.

Luckily Grandpa did all the 'work' on the fishing poles. I just made sure the poles stayed in the water. I don't do worms or fish.

Notice Grandpa has his chair to sit in.

Notice the canopies set up behind...there they had a weigh/measure station. Anytime someone got a fish, they ran it up there where it was 'tagged and bagged' and put on ice. The boys loved watching each fish as it came up.

And Grandpa even found a nice rock where he took a snooze or two during the day!

I'm not a good fisherwoman. My dad is not a good fisherman. We caught nothing. Keep in mind, this is a stocked pond. There's really no excuse for us, other than that the fish just don't like us. So a kind man took pity on my children and helped them catch a fish. Zach was first. Funny thing was that once it was caught, neither child would touch it. Oops - they got that from me saying 'gross' all the time!

Here's the fish! It was 16 inches long and 2 lbs. 7 oz.

See how they wouldn't touch it? This poor little boy ended up doing all the work.

This is them taking their fish to the tent to get weighed and measured. They were so excited!

Tyler 'caught' one too with the nice man's help, but it was such a huge fish that I had to reel it in and I guess there is an artform to reeling and I did it wrong (too fast?) and I lost the fish at the very end. Seriously...there is a right and wrong way to spin that little knob that brings in the line? Who knew! But Tyler was still excited so it worked out ok.

The Kiwanis provided a free lunch and each child got a prize. The boys both picked out a new fishing pole!

Preschool Graduation, year #2...one year left...

2011-06-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for the boys. Not as big as this day will be next year, but still a big event. Today was this year's preschool graduation. And although the boys will be back again next year for their 3rd and final year of preschool, most of their good friends were 'on the other team' of kids wearing black graduation caps which means they are going to kindergarten next year. The boys are having a hard time with the thought of not going to kindergarten with their friends, but, their birthday is 9 days past the deadline and they will be able to still keep their old friends and make new ones.

I love their preschool, Titan Tots. The graduation ceremony was so cute! They even had donuts and drinks afterwards!

This is the boys' favorite teacher, Nikki. I am very glad that she is only a sophomore and will be around the next few years to babysit for us.

This is the boys' best friend Jaycoby. He is 'on the other team' who is going to kindergarten next year, but luckily I like his mom alot so we'll have lots of playdates still, no doubt.

After school we went to Applebees with Jaycoby and their other good friend Aliyah to celebrate the day.

The boys insisted on their certificates and hats being up on the mantle. So cute!

I must confess, I actually forgot my camera for graduation, but that previously mentioned friend pretty much rocks, so she took these pictures for me until Mike arrived with my camera. Good thing I have smart friends!

This was the walk down the red carpet during the ceremony

I wish life would slow down......

2011-05-31T21:37:00.001-07:00

Gosh, these last several weeks have been crazy. I have been out of town every weekend for the last 4 weekends now. I am looking forward to being home this weekend! My grandfather passed away on May 15th, and that has been a bit tough, but I am so thankful that he is in Heaven and not in pain anymore. As Zachary put it, "Grandpa is in heaven now with a new healthy body."

***

This last weekend we got to have a fun break and went camping for Memorial Day. We went with my parents and some friends of ours who also have 4 year old twin boys and a little girl just 4 months older than Kylie. It was the perfect combo for the kids, and with Kathryn and Matthew there, we had built-in babysitters!

This is my dad's favorite position on camping weekends. You will notice a theme (and even the same chair) throughout the weekend.
The first full day we took the kids fishing at a lake nearby. Didn't catch anything (um, I am thankful for that!) so the kids were a bit disappointed, but it was still fun.

I am not sure how I managed to snap a picture of my dad holding a fishing pole, as he only held it for maybe 18 seconds!

These are the other twins. This is Luke, Tyler, Braedon, and Zachary. We met their parents in our birthing class at the hospital when we were both pregnant with twin boys.

See, same chair. Same position. I think same clothes even. We didn't have hook-ups. No electricity, no showers.

Tons of s'mores that weekend.

Look at that little girl with her high ponytail and her 'little miss thang' attitude. She rocks my world.

A little story from camping. My parents had 2 jump ropes in their trailer from hunting season last year for the boys to play with. On the last morning (everyone was a bit tired after 4 days of camping and no naps for the kiddos) the boys found the jump ropes. 4 little boys, 2 jump ropes. Zachary didn't want to share. So I called him over to me to have a little chat about sharing. I said to him, "Zachary, there are 4 of you playing with the jump ropes and only 2 jump ropes. What needs to happen so that you can all get along?" His response: "You need to go to the store and buy 2 more jump ropes." Yep, too smart for his own good.

Mother's Day Weekend

2011-05-09T17:02:00.001-07:00

Wow, busy weekend!! I am still recovering from it. My cousin Justin was getting married Saturday in Klamath Falls so we headed down Friday to stay for the weekend. We discovered that this was a very long trip with 3 little kids. We stopped in Eugene for lunch (El Torito...yummy!) and then continued the trek. We met up with my parents and brother at the hotel and let the kids swim that night. Saturday it was more swimming, then off to the wedding after nap.

I didn't do a good job of taking pictures at the wedding, but I snapped a few. They had pool tables in the back area so that kept the boys entertained.
Zach went out to catch the garter. What a cutie.

Mike thought it would help Kylie sleep better to give her some of our Coors Light.

Just kidding. Its water, but it made for a funny picture. Please don't call the child abuse hotline.

Grandpa, Grandma and Kylie getting their groove on.

The next day we headed to Wildlife Safari.

Kylie got bored quickly and decided she wanted to drive.

Mike was drooling all over this bad boy.

We had a great time, and even though it was a long, exhausting trip, the kids were great! Unfortunately we came home to a broken dryer. Oh well. Its just money, right?

"My Mom is........."

2011-05-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is coming....and I got some pretty great presents from the boys that they made in preschool today. Potted plants with pots that they painted, bath salts, and this lovely tribute. Too bad the first line says...."My Mom is MEAN". Zachary wrote this whole page. When I first saw it I was like, wow! He's really doing great with his writing, especially since he's only 4! Then I read the words and I was like, what?? My mom said, you have to keep reading, it also says 'pretty, fun, and super'. I was like, the first line says MEAN!! I can just see Zachary sitting with that poor high schooler in class who says 'tell me about your mommy' and he says 'she's mean!' Then I can just picture the teacher spelling out the word and helping him write M-E-A-N. So, should I be expecting a call from Child Welfare this week?? I asked Zach why he said that I was mean and he said 'Because sometimes you spank me and because you don't give me candy whenever I want it.'

Here's miss Kylie who decided to help me with my cleaning last night. She likes putting on the rubber gloves and splashing around in the toilet. Great.

Ag Fest 2011

2011-04-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

Ag Fest. My absolute favorite event of the year.

We got so many plants and vegetable starts for our garden!

Digging for potatoes

Digging in the corn

Cow!!

Tyler's favorite: Ladybugs

I love Tyler's protective arm around his baby sister. He is always watching out for her.

Kylie loved the animals this year. It was really hard to drag her away!

Pig!

Rabbits.

Tractors!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everybody! He is risen. He is risen indeed!

We had such a great, relaxing Easter this year. We hope you had a great Easter too! I just had to take a picture of Miss Kylie's hair the other night after her shower. I can't believe how long it is getting! God not only blessed me with a girl, but also a girl who has super long hair at such an early age so that I could have fun with clips and bows!

Had another awesome Easter Egg Hunt with the MOMS Club. So cute watching all the kids looking for the eggs.

Kylie is so great at playing with her older siblings, but she is also amazing at entertaining herself. She's perfectly content to play by herself for hours. She sat so quietly and nicely at the table for a good hour while I prepped my Easter food.

Easter morning...the kids scored from the Easter Bunny!

Colored Bubbles....which mom and dad have been cursing the Easter Bunny for buying. It is the first Crayola product that I am so incredibly disappointed in. They are the messiest, biggest disaster ever.

My parents spent the night so that they could be here to see the kids do their baskets on Easter morning, and then we all went to church.

Kylie was not happy about getting her Easter dress on. She screamed for probably 5 minutes, and would not let me get a good pictures. But then after church, she didn't want me to take it off! Silly girl.

I used my fancy china for dinner that I rarely use and even got to use my new silverware that goes with my china. First time for the silverware!

I love my china pattern! My grandma and I picked it out when I was 11. It is always such a special reminder of her when I use it.

And here's a cute little video of Kylie and her Elmo shirt...she calls Elmo 'Momo'.

Tulips!!

2011-04-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

I love tulips. And I love the Tulip Festival. I didn't realize they had so much fun stuff for kids. We had such a great time that we will be going back next week. I bought lots of bulbs and cut flowers today, so my heart is very happy, and my home looks very cheery. I am sure I will end up buying more next week too!

Kathryn's 12th birthday party

2011-04-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

Kathryn turns 12 on Wednesday, so we had her birthday party this weekend at Pietro's Pizza with some friends from school.

Enjoying the pizza!

Mike's dad Dave was here from Montana so he was able to help Kathryn and Mike celebrate their birthdays a few days early.

The girls played Lazer Tag and then we all went and played mini golf. It was pretty cool...it is all dark and they have things that glow.

The boys were very (aka a little too) eager to help Kathryn open her presents. Fortunately, she is very patient. : ) Happy 12th birthday Kathryn!

Easter Egg Hunt #1

2011-04-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

These are my 3 little snugglebugs. This is what my house often looks like at 4pm each afternoon. A bit of milk and a few minutes of waking up before the evening fun begins.

We went to an Easter Egg hunt last weekend. It was cool because the sponsor was collecting food for the food bank so that was really neat. It was also at the football field at West Salem High School so the boys thought it was pretty cool to get to be on "Matthew's field." (obviously this was not a challenging hunt for the eggs) Kylie didn't quite know why we kept giving her this basket, but I think she figured it out by the end. Waiting for Peter Rabbit (aka poor 18 year old who either volunteered or was told to put the bunny Halloween costume on and go entertain the kids)

Sisters (um, doesn't Kathryn look older than 11?? I am a bit scared for when she starts dating....oh wait....that's another TWENTY YEARS....)

Checking out the loot! If you will notice, Matthew is right there in the thick of things. I later realized he went through and picked out all the good candy so there was none left for me! I mean, for the kids.

Camping Weekend

2011-04-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

We took our trailer for its 1st family camping trip last weekend. We went to Deschutes State Park, up past The Dalles, with my parents, my aunt and uncle, and some other cousins. We had a blast! The kids had been counting down the days for about 2 weeks. They were all up by 7am chomping at the bit to go. We finally got loaded up and took off at about noon, and shortly thereafter, this was the scene of 2 of the 3 in the backseat of the truck.

We stopped and got lunch and went to Multnomah Falls to eat and take in the sights. Had so much fun! It was a gorgeous day and the kids really had a great time.

The boys found a little pond of water in the trunk of the tree and they were fascinated!

Once we got to the campground, I was terrible about getting out the camera. The only pictures I took were of the boys playing football together in the field.

We had a great time, and the little trailer worked out perfect! Our next big trip is Memorial Day Weekend and the boys already have their countdown going.

Reading Glasses

2011-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Kylie was given these sunglasses as a baby shower gift by my dear neighbor Jessica, and she loves them. I think she thinks they are just like Grandma's reading glasses, so now she wears them all the time. (pardon the terrible self-portrait)

Don't you love how she looks like she talks on my cell phone all the time?

Planting, Glitter, and Batman

2011-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Ahh, so happy to be starting my pots for the year. I love this time of year. I love flowers, and I love making the house look cheery. Today I bought these pretty flowers for my pots by the front door.

And updated a few of my house plants that were looking pretty pathetic from this sun-less weather. Kylie insisted on wearing her sparkly glitter shoes today. Didn't really match her outfit, but she absolutely insisted, so glitter shoes it is! I love that she is starting to make her own choices and statements about her likes and dislikes.

Every year, we have a tradition of buying fuschia starts at Fred Meyers and making our own fuschia baskets to hang on the front of the house. Fuschia baskets are so expensive, so I prefer to spend about $3 a pot and nurture them myself. We've done this every year since we bought this house, and I'm sure we'll continue the tradition.

The kids just absolutely love helping. I think they did a pretty good job! Can't wait to watch these grow!!

I love my Easter decor at the front door. 3 bunnies and an egg wreath, and now pretty flowers.

Kylie hasn't quite figured out the proper helmet-wearing technique.

The neighbors gave us a huge box for the boys to play in and build a fort with. Its funny how long a box can entertain little ones! This week, Matthew decided to help them make a Bat Cave. The boys are totally into Batman now (thanks to Mike) so we have lots of 'Batman and Robin' themes in the house right now.

Zachary got a Sharpie (yah, I didn't realize it for about 20 minutes...I promptly took away the Sharpie but at least he only wrote on the box!) and wrote his and Tyler's names on the box. I thought he did pretty good! He's never written Tyler before. We need to add the 'E' still. : )

Matthew helped with the cutting of the door and window and wrote everything else. Don't you love the 'No Girls Allowed' part? Luckily they exempted Kylie from that rule. So its basically just Kathryn and I that are excluded. On that note, I am so thankful that Matthew loves the boys so much. He always plays with them and helps them make cool things. Yesterday, I picked up him and his friend after Track and I had to shuffle around carseats to make room. His friend said, 'Geez, how many siblings do you have?' Matthew said "5, and four of them are under the age of 4." His friend said, 'Does that suck?" I thought for sure he would say YES! But he said 'Nope, not really." Love that.

Zachary got ahold of my camera and wanted to take pictures of his new Batman shirt. I found them at Walmart today for $1 on clearance so the boys each have a new Batman shirt to wear tomorrow.

Mike is working 9 days straight, so I feel like all I am is a line chef and a taxi service. I am sorely outnumbered 5 to 1. But, as exhausted and tired as I am, I am so grateful for my family. So, so grateful.

Spring, Maybe...

2011-03-31T19:48:00.001-07:00

Today was the warmest day we've had all year. It was almost 60. We set a record for the coldest March so far. Gotta love Oregon. We were finally able to get outside for a few hours tonight and PLAY!!!

Kylie has figured out that there are airplanes in the sky and when she hears the noise, she needs to look up for them.

The boys found at least a dozen lady bugs, and 5 or 6 potato bugs. Also a few worms and snails under some rocks and in our garden.

Can't WAIT for this summer!!!!

Finally...Orange and Black

2011-03-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew finally got a letter of interest today from the OSU football program. He has been waiting and hoping to get something from them soon! So far he has letters of interest from OSU, U of O, and Notre Dame, and has had some interest from some other smaller schools across the nation. My Beaver family and friends are very excited!!

Spring Break Coast Trip

2011-03-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Whew, Spring Break of 2011 was busy!! There was definitely not much resting going on, that's for sure. I feel like now I need to take a break once the 'normal routine' starts on Monday!

Mike and Matthew went hunting (rats...yes, rats...) for a couple of days and took our trailer out on its first trip. Then we were all off to the coast for 3 days with Grandma. It was Grandma's birthday on the 19th, so we had to have cake, of course. The boys picked this one out, obviously. The obsession with lady bugs continues.

What more could any girl want...chocolate cake and a telephone.

We swam for 3 days straight, and finally had to drag the kiddos out of the pool to go see something else. Went to the Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center and a lighthouse.

It was a pretty typical March coast weekend...windy...rainy...sun breaks...too wet to do too much outside.

We did get a decent hour in on the beach before we froze and had to come in.

Matthew and Mike spent that entire hour trying to build a fire, but with no dry wood, it was pretty difficult and unsuccessful.

I just love this picture and her sweet little face.

Kylie is obsessed with purses. Anytime she sees someone's purse, she has to drag it to them, whether they want it or not. So here she comes with Grandma's purse, through the sand.

The boys and Kylie especially missed their Papa. They didn't understand why Grandma got to come but Papa had to work. Kylie kept 'calling' papa on this phone and any cell phone she could get her hands on. This little girl is pretty much crazy about her Papa, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same about her.

Re-purposed Underwear

2011-03-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

This is Kylie's new favorite thing to do with her brothers' underwear. At least she usually takes them from the clean laundry while I am folding clothes.

Titan & Kylie

2011-02-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Poor Titan. Kylie loves him. I don't think he loves her back. Or at least not at much. She thinks he is her personal pillow.

And she loves playing with his paws. He is so patient with her, he has never scratched her.

Kylie is learning all sorts of sounds and words. Love it! Like how she says 'arff' for the dog sound? : )

Matthew turns 16

2011-02-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it, but Matthew turned 16 this week. What an amazing kid he is. He is so kind and caring, thoughtful, great with the little kids, and always (well, usually always) eager to help out. I cannot say enough how proud I am of Matthew. Today we went out to lunch (his choice was the Great Wall Buffet...after seeeing how big he is, is anyone surprised he chose buffet?) and then had cake at our house afterwards. This is him, not wanting me to take his picture.

Mike got a Winnie the Pooh cake, because on Matthew's 1st birthday he had Winnie the Pooh. I think Mike is just trying to hang onto the little boy he was.

Tyler and Papa

Kylie's favortite thing to do when Gramma visits - go through her purse and pull everything out!

Zach got ahold of my camera and started snapping pictures. These next few are from him.

He is obsessed with balloons. Talks about them non-stop. So of course he had to take a picture of his balloon and made me promise to put it on the blog.

He did a pretty good job of taking a picture of Gramma! (I am not too thrilled with him running around the house with my good camera, as you can tell)

He finally smiled for me!!

His 2 little helpers, that love him dearly!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-17T21:34:00.001-08:00

Mike and I got to enjoy a night without the kids on the 13th. We were very excited to have some time to just go do something fun. I played the piano on the worship team at church that weekend, so I was pretty tired when I got done Sunday, so I got to take about an hour and a half nap, then we headed out to the casino for their buffet (which is amazing), and I actually won $23 on the slots. Almost paid for dinner! We drove back home, chilled around the house for a bit, then headed to a late movie. It was great! The next day I got to sleep in til 9:45am (I have no idea when that last happened....) and then started stripping the tile floors. I mop every week but they just get so dirty, so the ammonia bottle and I tackled them. Not so fun, but at least it is done for a while now. We then headed up to my parents' house for dinner that evening and my mom made a beautiful dinner for us: Oysters for the guys and chicken for everyone else. Mike got me these beautiful flowers. I was so impressed...he put a lot of thought into them. He found a picture and took the picture to Safeway and had it made for me. Also, notice all the chocolate he got me....I don't eat chocolate. He knew that, and was very pleased to eat it himself.

I love this vase. It'll be perfect for the flowers from our yard this summer.

I took these pictures of it today, now that it has started to open. So pretty.

I love that the boys love Kylie so much, and are so great with her. Tonight I took this picture of these two in my bathroom. Tyler was sharing his snack with Kylie.

And Zachary wanted me to take 'cheesy pictures' of him. So, I did.

TP Tower

2011-02-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

Miss Kylie's new favorite pasttime while I am getting ready in the mornings.

But hey, at least she isn't into my makeup.

Random February Pics

2011-02-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

I finally took some pictures of the kiddos and thought I'd better post them on here. I didn't get any of Matthew, but he turns 16 next week so I'll post some of him then.

Kathryn made the honor roll for her first semester of middle school and got a certificate. Very proud of her! And doesn't she look so grown up?!? When did this happen!! (Thanks Stacey for taking this picture!)
Miss Kylie is into everything these days. And I mean everything. And her favorites are my kitchen stuff and my makeup.

She decided to put on her hat this afternoon while I was folding laundry.

Our friend Brenna painted on her purple hearts at our Valentine's Day party at playgroup today. So sweet. This girl just fills my heart.

Naptime!

This is what she does every morning to my bathroom. And sometimes every afternoon. And every evening.

She loves playing with her headbands and hair clips too. And my water bottle, as is evident on her shirt.

My Tyler-man. Hates having his picture taken. Couldn't even get him to smile. He has a black heart painted on his face.

These boys are getting so big.

And then there's Mr. Zachary. My little talker. Always. Never stops. Seriously.

Love my kiddos.

And this is just showing Miss Busy Girl Kylie going from one thing to the next. Always. Never stops. Seriously.

Rock Climbing Wall

2011-02-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

I have become the worst blogger lately. I used to try to update it regularly, and then our computer went into the shop for what seemed like forever, and I kinda lost my blogging mojo. I will try to get back into the routine. We have been really busy in January, which is good, but at the same time, I am pretty tired. Matthew is still in the full swing of basketball, Kathryn has been busy with school and choir and dance, and the little ones have had tons of playdates and trips places like the zoo and the Gilbert House and the Kroc Center. Mike is now on a swingshift schedule, so he works from 4pm to 2am. It is sure nice to not have him on graveyard, but sometimes the evenings get awfully long when I am by myself with the kids. But, it is still better than graveyard. I started playing the piano again at church on the worship team once a month so that has been really nice, and Kathryn and I volunteer in the little kids' Sunday School rooms at least once a month. We are definitely keeping the calendar full!

When we went to the Kroc Center this week with the boys' new best friend Jaycoby, they had the rock climbing wall open after we swam. Tyler tried it but didn't really get too far, but I was really impressed with how high Zachary got!

December Catch-up

2011-01-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

Well, December went by very quickly. I can't believe it is a new year already. We had a super busy month, and unfortunately our computer was in the shop for most of it. So I am really, really behind on my blogging. I am going to just give you a brief snapshot of December because frankly, that's just all the energy I have!! We were very unfortunately to catch a flu bug on December 20th which put us out of commission the entire week basically right up until Christmas Eve and then went straight into colds (and an ear infection for Tyler) and I am still recovering. I am really looking forward to school starting again this week for the boys and getting back into the normal routine.

This is Matthew at his West Salem Football Awards Night. He made all-conference second team. So proud of him.

Mike and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on December 4th, and we were able to get away for 3 days to Eagle Crest and enjoyed some snow and time with great friends who we don't see often enough. This was the view from our room:

We also enjoyed all of the lights that they had up there. It was really a snowy holiday wonderland!

We also went to Storybook Land in Albany with Uncle Matt. We try to go every year as it brings back such memories from when I was little and went there. I took about 2 dozen pictures but here's just a couple.

We got to see Santa a few times this year. This was the only time that Tyler seemed at all thrilled about it. I was just so glad he actually sat on his lap!

Zachary of course loves Santa as he can talk Santa's ear off and Santa always listens.

I didn't bother showing you the picture of Kylie screaming and running from Santa. Speaking of Kylie...she is a little girl now. And a Mini-Me. And a Mini-Kathryn. Love it. She also is into EVERYTHING. Her favorite things: my glass measuring cups and my pizza pan. Here she was using kitchen spoons to beat on the floor and the pizza pan like drums. She loves to make as much noise as she can. Her eyes were closed because every time she'd make a loud noise, she shrugged her eyes closed. So cute!

And Christmas Day: way to many presents. Wow, our family is so blessed. I am so grateful for each and every one of my family and friends and I am so grateful that we have the ability to provide them with presents each year.

This year, the boys begged for Pillow Pets, which they both got.

For some reason, Papa got TONS of presents this year. He said he must have been reaaaallly good, which my mom doesn't seem to agree with. : ) Kylie was his big helper on Christmas.

Uncle Matt

The big boys

Kathryn & Kylie

And Kylie is now protesting her high chair. She wants to be just like the boys. So, for breakfast and lunch, I usually let her sit at the big table. She always gets out her own bib, and brings her stool and just climbs right up there.

I love this little girl.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas updates soon....I hope

2010-12-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we are still trying to get this darn computer thing sorted out. We have lost everything we had on our computer. I mean, everything. And I haven't attempted to get pictures off of my camera yet, which has so many on it, it is out of memory. I hope to tackle that soon. But, here are a few pictures from Mike's work Christmas party for the kids.

Notice none of them look too thrilled that we are making them pose with Santa. But this pic is my favorite: Kylie streaking out of the picture and away from Santa as fast as she could go.

Darn technology!!

2010-12-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Really, I haven't. Well, in Technology Land, I have. Our computer got attacked by a major virus, so several hundred dollars later, we got our computer back. Only to find that it didn't have the virus anymore, but it didn't work at all either!! So it has now been in the shop for over two weeks. In the mean time, I have photos on my computer that are just dying to be put on my blog. Soon, hopefully...

Christmas Tree 2010

2010-12-03T00:26:00.000-08:00

We picked the perfect day to find and cut our Christmas tree. It was a bit muddy, but that's part of the fun. Look at this crazy family photo...how did we get so many kids?!? : ) And, look how huge Matthew is! It is hard to tell which one is Matthew and which one is Mike these days!!

Tyler and his yellow boots that he wears everywhere, all year long. I was very lucky to find these at a garage sale this summer for $1 to replace the ones that were about 3 sizes too small that he just couldn't part with.

Tyler loves to collect things. He has an eye for detail and he literally could find a needle in a haystack, I think. He set out on a mission to find ladybugs, and the final total was 6.

Kylie wore her pink glitter rubber boots and was happy as a clam running around with all of the big kids in the trees.

Kylie "supervising" Matthew's work.

Again, Kylie supervises. I love how she is propped up on Mike and Matthew, just checking it all out.

The kids (and by this, I mean all 6) love playing with the train and the village under the tree. We set the tree up very early mostly so the kids can spend the whole month playing with all of the cars and town accessories that Mike has collected over the years. I love that all of the kids play with it, no matter their age.

Zachary took all of the trucks and tractors and made his own little 'town' on the carpet.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T00:17:00.000-08:00

Our computer has been in the shop for the last week, so I am finally catching up on all of the photos I had hoped to post much earlier than this! We had such a fabulous Thanksgiving this year. Wow, we are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for! Wonderful friends and family!

We had a very relaxing day of watching sports and eating food.

"Man time" carving the turkey

Kylie loves pie. I mean, really loves it. Runs from person to person to make sure she gets all that she can!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving also!!

1st snow of 2010

2010-11-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

Green and Yellow??!!??

2010-11-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

As many of you probably know, our house is filled with lots of orange and black. And just a few OSU symbols and pictures of Beavers here and there. Matthew and my mom are gi-normous Beaver fans which means that of course the boys, Kylie, and now Mike and I, also have lots of Beaver gear. There is not much yellow and green in our house. At least not together.

But. Maybe that is going to change? Matthew has been getting a few recruiting brochures and items from U of O over the past year and we keep teasing him about how he may have to change colors. Well, yesterday he got a letter from the Oregon Ducks and this was the opening paragraph:

"The University of Oregon Football Department would like to inform you of our sincere interest in you as a potential student-athlete. You have been recognized by our coaching staff as one of the best football players in the country for the class of 2013."

Oh my word. We are all pretty excited around here. I am just so proud of how far Matthew has come and how well he is doing at this point. But, he has 2 more years of high school football left and if he keeps playing the way he is now, I am excited to see what options he will have to pursue his college career and dream of playing football. Congratulations Matthew, you have earned the recognition!!

Veteran's Day Parade

2010-11-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for our current and past military men and women. I feel so blessed to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Today my best friend Trish and my brother Matt and I took the kids to the Veteran's Day parade in Albany. We used to go every year growing up, so I was excited to get to go today.

It was PERFECT weather!! Look at that beautiful blue sky!

There were over 300 motorcycles that started the parade. It was amazing!!

Miss Kylie all bundled in her stroller with her snacks and juice.

LOVE the bagpipe band. My grandfather used to play the drums in a bagpipe band. Brings a tear to my eye every time I hear them play.

This is my high school band. Gotta love the Bulldogs!!!

A random statue of a possum on the street corner in Albany. Weird.

Happy Veteran's Day!!

Halloween!!

2010-10-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. I love that the kids get so excited for it. I usually find stuff on clearance to stick away for the following year, which makes me even more excited when I can pull out new things that I got for a fraction of the price. This year's fun new (year old) things: Kylie's Happy Halloween Tinkerbell shirt ($.50) and her purple ghost tights ($.74).

I never did get a very good picture of them, she's so fast now! But this gives you an idea anyway. Unfortunately I got a stomach flu on Friday so we didn't get to attend a couple of events and parties we had hoped to, but the good news is that we got lots of time to rest at home, and no one else got my bug (so far).

Tonight we got all dressed up to head to the church's Trunk or Treat party.

Zachary is a giraffe and Tyler is a dalmation (fireman dog, as he says). Kylie is a butterfly.

Apparently he likes this more as a hat than to put candy in.

Kylie didn't really get the whole concept at first, but after the first few times of trick or treating, she would march right up to each house and take candy, then try to take more. It was adorable!

Here we are, heading into church.

I wonder what the weather is like up there!!

Zachary trying to kick a field goal through the goal posts

Kathryn was such a great helper with Kylie. Those two scored all sorts of awesome candy!

Fishing for candy!

Face painting - he got a pumpkin

Trick-or-treating

The big haul. We are going to have candy forever, I think....

Happy Halloween!!!

1st Annual Girls Coast Trip

2010-10-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Trish, Kylie and I went to the coast for the night. We stayed in Lincoln City at a great hotel. We had an absolutely wonderful time!!

We of course had to hit the outlets for a bit of shopping, went to a great dinner, some swimming and hot tub time, and watched some great sitcoms on tv with a bottle of wine!

Kylie loved running the halls. I think she really enjoyed just having some individual attention from Aunt Trish and I.

She loved the big beds and all the room on the floor to roll around!

Today we went to Depot Bay to do a little more shopping and wandering. Here's Kylie and her Aunt Trish.

Kylie and I. What a fun few days we had! Can't wait to go again next year!

The new truck

2010-10-21T22:14:00.001-07:00

So, we've had an ongoing truck drama in our house for months now. For those of you that remember Mike's old truck, it was his "dream truck". It was a 2001 Ford F150 Lariat truck. He absolutely loved that truck. But, he had been complaining about the poor gas mileage over the last few years. Fast forward awhile...my grandfather in Washington purchased a 5th wheel trailer not long before he had to move into an assisted living home, so we are now the proud owners of a small, but very nice, 5th wheel trailer. Mike's truck just wasn't equipped to pull the trailer, so.....we sold it, and borrowed a neighbor's vehicle while we searched for a new truck. Well, not new, but new to us. This is what we found: a 1999 Ford F350 Diesel. We love it!! And, it gets way better gas mileage so Mike is very happy!

That's the trailer in the background. Hopefully once I get it all situated I'll put some pics on here of it.

New tires and rims

I love the camo carseat covers (he has used them for 9 years and couldn't part with them) and the Harley Davidson floor mats. Pretty much covers my husband's favorite hobbies!

My little dancer

2010-10-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Kylie is definitely a little girl now, no longer a baby. Look at this cute little pink dress with her pink rubber boots! Although I dress her in lots of pink and frilly dresses, she definitely strives to keep up with the boys. Loves to play outside, get dirty, chase balls...I love it!

She also absolutely adores her big sister Kathryn. She watches Kathryn dance to the music all of the time, and lately any time she hears a tune, she dances. I am so happy that she has all of her big siblings to look up to and learn from. I see pieces of each of the 4 older kids in her.