~Blessed~

Snow Day?

2012-01-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

Getting a taste of winter

These pictures are actually from Monday's tease of snow. Big flakes started falling just as Claire's nap was ending, so I whisked her out of bed (a bit traumatic I must admit) and we headed out the back door to check it out. Snow is so beautiful and being a northwest girl it is still a welcome (and wished for) novelty.

A moment of stillness

And to the woods we go!

This morning we woke up to a blanket of snow and no school. I always love a good snow day, but it is even better when Paul is home! We bundled up and took a winter drive before ending up at our favorite Vietnamese cafe. While we were out driving Paul made a pretty exciting turn around (i.e. cookie) in a parking lot - as we straightened out again Claire shouted "ring around the rosey!"

The more the merrier

2012-01-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas Paul's best friend Nate called and asked if he, his wife Kristi and their two kids, Isaiah (13) and Kiela (6), could move in with us. We wondered if they understood our current living situation (the double wide!). After talking it over we realized we couldn't say no. So on New Year's day we became a family of seven! Nate is a police officer in Redmond, WA and has taken a position with the International Justice Mission in Calcutta, India. They rented their home and needed a place to land before they leave for India. They will live in Calcutta for three to five years while Nate works with local authorities to fight child trafficking. So for the next several weeks there are a few more shoes in the mud room, cars in the driveway, chairs around the table and loads in the laundry room. But considering the mission they are about to embark, our part is pretty easy.

Pierced

2012-01-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, the bag says it all...I may have gone to bed at 10:30 on New Years Eve but I still know how to live on the wild side! A few weeks ago Anna and I somehow started talking about a desire to pierce our ears. So when she was in town this past week we put the plan into action. After a delicious dinner at Nicholas, literally pita bread two times the size of my head and enough garlic to last for a month, we headed over to Claire's for the main event. The highlights of getting our ears pierced -

- calling Claire's on the way to dinner to find out how late they were open and how late they pierce...only to have the gal ask Anna how old she was..."Kim" wanted to make sure Anna could stay out until 9pm

- the three year old getting her ears pierced before us

- the six year old getting her ears pierced after us

- buying $9 glasses to go with our new bling

- following Anna's friends advice to get the cubic zirconium...go big or go home

- apologizing for our horrendous garlic breath...and "Kim" readily agreeing

If you can't get ahold of us in the next eight weeks it's because we are in our bathrooms cleaning our ears - three times a day - it's like a part time job!

Baby Ray

2012-01-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

On our way home from the coast we stopped to meet our new, tiny nephew - Ray Yamada Dinsmore. Ray was born Dec. 17th - just about eight weeks early. When he was born he weighed 3lbs 3 oz, when we saw him he had gained nine ounces already! Yeah Ray! He is doing really well, despite his early arrival. Matt (Paul's step-brother) and Chiharu are very thankful. The doctors are optimistic about Ray coming home even before his due date. Welcome baby Ray!

Newport

2012-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

The week after Christmas we spent a couple of nights at the beach. It has been years since we've been to Newport and we were excited to take Claire to the Aquarium. We stayed at an ocean front hotel with breakfast, chowder, fresh cookies, cable (we don't have a TV right now) and a swimming pool - everyone was happy! It really was one of our favorite little trips we have taken with Claire. Two & a half (almost) is such a fun age (most of the time). Relaxing, fun, and just the three of us...we were even tempted to stay another night. The aquarium was definitely a highlight - so many amazing fish and sea creatures to see. We had forgotten that several of the exhibits are outside - we got pretty good at zipping in and out. We also stopped at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center - which is really interesting as well. Claire was finally brave enough to put her hands in the touch pools. She, of course, is still talking about swimming with daddy and mommy. So fun.

Watching the seagulls

I love the Oregon coast

Walking into Passages of the Deep for the first time - nothing like a shark swimming over your head!

A Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T21:18:00.001-08:00

A post full of pictures to commemorate this wonderful season! Christmas at our house seems to last for several days, which is always really fun. Wednesday night we had Paul's dad, Belinda, and Great Grandma Annabelle over for venison burgers and to watch The Help - we had read the book and were anxious to see the movie. We even stayed up until 10 o'clock!

Thursday we bundled up (along with my mom & her friend of 46 years, Dorothy) and walked down Peacock Lane. What is really fun, is that my cousin's Matt & Sonja bought a house on Peacock Lane last year. The three of us are pictured in front of their display. Did I mention that it was very cold?! I think next year we may be driving around looking at Christmas lights...

The sun decided to show on Friday, which is always a good reason for a visit to the park with the little bear. Two of her favorites - swings & the tunnel.

Saturday afternoon it was Christmas at the double-wide with the Fish family (my mom's side). We were missing some members but still had a great time. I am wondering if this will be Claire in one year (Alana is exactly a year older)...there is a bit of a difference in their expressions.

Christmas morning - new paint set!

Christmas day with Grandma...why shouldn't you wear a red tutu?

It is hard to believe that this is Claire's third Christmas. How much she changes in a year - more hair, more words (thus more opinions), and even more JOY to our lives every day.

Merry Christmas!

Good things

2011-12-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

I love being on Christmas break! I can have lunch with my grandpa at noon and then head to Olympia for a night with the Griffiths. My dad brought Grandpa Lundy to see the farm on Monday morning. My grandpa still lives in the farmhouse on the 40 acres where my dad and his three brothers were raised, so it was special to have him see our small slice of that. Claire warmed up to Great-Grandpa right away, evening asking to sit on his lap (well, he was sitting by the Oreos). Seeing Claire with him makes me realize that she does look a little bit like a Lundy!

Four generations.

After lunch, Claire and I scooted up to Olympia for the night. Everytime we are together the girls seem to enjoy each other a little more...which is really fun. Cate gathered Claire and Jane so she could lead a little Bible study (she's a natural). I'm not sure how much she was impressed with her students, Andrea and I often heard, "now everyone settle down and be quite." As usual there was lots of good conversation, coffee, the Bread Peddler, some shoe buying, and Andrea and I even snuck away (thank you Telfer) for a little dessert that she had been wanting me to try - a hearty cake made with Organic Amber Ale's spent grain. Served with a creamy coconut glaze - and we didn't share!

3-2-1 - Birth order in the Griffith's new bathtub.

A bit of Christmas

2011-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we (and the double wide) are getting into the Christmas season.

Paul and I spent last Saturday evening at the annual firefighter dinner & dance. It's a fun way to kick off the month of December. It was extremely cold but we had a really good time - and we were not hesitant to get out on the dance floor (okay, I was, but he convinced me we didn't look any more ridiculous than anyone else). The photobooth was also an added bonus - you never know what can happen when you add a few accessories!

Uncle Jim & Aunt Martha had an extra penguin snowman (as Claire calls it) ~ so we got to bring it home to our yard. Claire is pretty impressed and it gives Paul one more year to get out of putting up Christmas lights! She is doing great with the Christmas tree and even managed to put some ornaments on herself. I had big dreams for an Advent calendar, but this year we are sticking with the 99 cent one from Trader Joe's. She gets to open the days chocolate after a successful trip to the bathroom (yes, we are potty training and it is actually going really well). My hope is that I will find some Advent inspiration at an after-Christmas sale...I have seen some great ideas on Pinterest.

A bit of sushi & chopsticks before heading to Joshua (a donkey) and Alana's (a sheep) Christmas program. So fun.

I was listening to a podcast this morning on the way to work and the speaker was sharing that Christmas is about three things ~ family, a Message and a Savior. How true this is. I am so thankful for my family, and the message of Christ our Savior. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Let's celebrate!

A little reprieve

2011-11-27T13:50:00.001-08:00

I woke up on Black Friday and was a year older. It was 7:30, the sun was shining and I was still in bed (yeah!). We quickly took advantage of the beautiful morning ~ with hot cups of coffee in hand, we grabbed Claire and Scout and went for our usual walk around the property. What a great start to my 34th year (I just completed 33...)!

When I was younger I had difficulty appreciating a birthday that often fell on or near Thanksgiving and one that was always shared with my sister (the 28th). My sister loved pumpkin pie and I was clearly not a fan...this did not change the fact that I have many birthday pictures in front of a pumpkin pie with candles in it. But now, it is pretty fun (and I don't have to eat said pumpkin pie)! Stacia and I did some shopping and had dinner with my mom on Tuesday. Friday night was a celebration with Paul's family (his sister's birthday is next Friday). Tonight my sister and I will have dinner with some friends.

Happy Birthday to Us! :)

PS: Just in case you're interested, I am saving some birthday for these. Love 'em.

Give Thanks

2011-11-25T15:06:00.001-08:00

The six oldest...post-dessert and an hour past Claire's bedtime. They look a bit rough.

Paul's sister and family are in town for the week, so we had a very busy but very fun Thanksgiving - and we got to host! We started the morning hosting a Thanksgiving brunch (which I was a bit hesitant about at first, but in the end it was really nice and we had a good morning meal...so we were not hangry all day) with Paul's mom, step-dad and sister. Claire took a nice nap and we all watched "Elf" (thank you Will Farrell). For dinner we hosted the rest of the family ~ all twenty! Everyone pitched in, ate a lot and just had a good time. So much to be thankful for.

John - always happy!

Really, this is how we (I) felt by the end of the night...sweet Grace.

Nine on the 9th

2011-11-20T21:31:00.001-08:00

Nine years ago we sent out a wedding invitation that announced ~

"I have found the one my heart loves..."

~ and it is still true!

I can hardly believe that we have been married for nine years - it has been the best of everything. We still make each other laugh and would choose time together with our little family above anything else. God is good! It is also nice to know that even if we wait a week and a half to celebrate our anniversary (lost iPhone, a Wednesday night, Paul getting ready to go elk hunting) we still really like each other!

Since breakfast is my absolute favorite, we decided to do a brunch date. Broder was the spot - a bright, tiny Swedish cafe in the midst of the fun Clinton neighborhood, which we don't visit often. They won my heart with the small milk bottle filled with warm half and half for our coffee (it is definitely now on the 'list'). We sat at the bar which gave us a great view of the open kitchen. We held hands, talked and shared Danish pancakes and the daily lefse.

Just perfect.

An Evening

2011-11-20T21:03:00.001-08:00

Every once in a while Asha, Alisha and I find a time that we can have an evening together and we managed to do it once again on Friday night (birthday celebrations are always a good excuse). It was a cold and wet evening in Portland, so that helped us make our food choices! We wanted something warm and comforting and ended up at Podnahs Pit (we are not afraid of some good BBQ). Oh it was good. Asha and Alisha had brussel sprouts as one of their sides - I could have taken a bath in them, they were that wonderful. We needed dessert as well - so we stumbled upon this perfect creperie called Suzette. We ordered our crepes and coffee in the alley and spent the rest of the evening in their cozy cafe. After sampling our dessert crepes, I realized I probably should have just skipped dinner and went straight to dessert.

Not only did we eat our way through the evening but we just talked, talked, talked. I am definitely thankful for girlfriends that met me at my worst (Junior High!!) and still are two of my closest friends!

Fall on the Farm

2011-11-20T20:38:00.001-08:00

I have been waiting for the mountain behind our property to look like this - it is beautiful! It doesn't take much to get the four of us out on a walk - as long as we have boots, hats and a snack - everyone is happy.

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is this week and our first fall season on the farm is almost over! Our little family has spent a lot of time together, doing our favorite things and seeing some of our favorite people ~ I am grateful for this season!

Scout!

Farmer and his dog.

Running!

Ten Years

2011-11-10T20:40:00.001-08:00

Class of 2001

First floor south, New Dorm (Freshmen Year). Nine of the original 24.

Some how it has been ten years since I graduated from NNU? To celebrate we hoped in the car with Claire and drove 7.5 hours to be with some of our favorite people. Claire is not a car sleeper - not a crier either - but it still made for a long drive. I do remember at one point asking, 'why didn't we fly?!' Regardless of how we got there, we had a great visit and did a lot of what we do best...eating, drinking coffee and spending time with dear friends.

Our class had the largest reunion group this year - way to go! After our class luncheon we took a brisk walk to the Bookstore where Andrea and I classically purchased the same NNU sweatshirt (living in different towns is helpful). Paul, Claire and I spent the weekend with Anna, who is a wonderful hostess (she didn't even kick us out, when in the first 20 minutes a certain substance had "fallen" from Claire's diaper onto her carpet). Other highlights included a basketball game, attending my first book club and Paul visiting the local tractor supply stores. Friday was a bit yucky with cold, wet snow but the rest of the weekend was just how I remember Nampa in the fall - crisp and sunny.

And now, a plethora of pictures...

Boise Fry Company...if you go, you must try it. We managed to order every fry option available. Yum.

A fall walk with Anna to The Messenger for some REALLY big pizza & amazing bruschetta (I can still taste the garlic)

Visiting with Kathy Burns - our Freshmen/Sophomore RD. Telfer and Andrea fell in love in Kathy's apartment :)

Saturday night at the Fraham's farm - so thankful for my dear friends (and the 20+ lbs of pork that Andy smoked for dinner)!

Crusaders!

"Someone I love went to Idaho and all I got was this horrible black eye..." Claire vs. the night stand - the night stand won...

A bear becomes a lion

2011-11-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Although she is not smiling in any of these pictures, Claire had a really fun "first" Halloween. After talking her down from being a "church" - that was her first request, we finally landed on a lion costume. She was so.stinkin.cute. Our first stop was the old neighborhood - it was really good to see everyone! Next it was the Monahan's Halloween Party. Kara did a great job of coming up with scary food and yucky games for all the kids! We also did a little trick-a-treating in their neighborhood. Finally we headed back to the farm and visited our neighbors who had a special Halloween bag just for Claire. She was so excited!

Gettin' ready for a game!

Could she be any more serious?!

First trick-or-treating experience...she loved it.

Can't forget the deer

2011-11-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Paul got his first deer - and it was basically in our backyard! A couple weeks ago the three of us decided to go hiking on the mountain behind our house (our neighbors own 20 acres behind us and then the rest is county land). Seeing that it is deer season and Paul has his hunting license, he set out on the hike ready to find a deer. He gave me ear protection and instructed me that if he gave the "signal" I was suppose to put the ear covers on and cover Claire's ears. Could you just imagine?! Fortunately it got to be dinner time and Claire and I headed back down the mountain before a deer was found. About 6:15 I got a phone call, with the hushed words, "I just shot a deer..." And so began the long process of getting the deer down the mountain and preparing it for the butcher. No details necessary. All I know is we have one happy hunter in our house!
Well I have 70ish pounds of deer meat coming my way...anyone have some great venison recipes?!

A bit of the beach

2011-11-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ohhh, the ocean!

My mom, Claire and I got to enjoy a quick 24 hour trip to Lincoln City this past weekend. One of my mom's dear college friends lives there and so it was a good excuse to go. We picked a perfect hotel (pool and ocean front) and had a great time! The weather on Saturday was incredible. We checked out the beach (where we experienced one of those 'real life' sneaker waves...very scary in retrospect), McMenamins, swam in the pool, shopped at the Outlets, watched old reruns of the Dick VanDyke show, and finished the weekend off with a delicious breakfast at the Wildflower Grill. While my mom visited with Marilyn on Sunday morning (it was pouring down rain), Claire and I checked out the McDonald's playplace...pretty fun.

Fruit Loop!

2011-10-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

We picked the perfect day for our annual trip to Hood River - it was beautiful! Claire kept asking if we were going to go swimming, so we attempted some form of an explanation. I think this is our eighth consecutive visit to the Fruit Loop? I just don't know if it would be fall if I couldn't go. It's that lovely.

Draper Girls Country Farm - trying to convince the goats that we were friendly (and the sheep and pigs too) - followed by LOTS of hand sanitizer.

Tractor time. Claire is a pro now!

Hugging the pumpkins.

Apple Valley Country Store & Bakery - BBQ, fried biscuits & apple butter (seriously), a swing and some country music.

Missing our nap...

Just stinkin' cute!

Almost a family picture! We had a good day - and we brought home honey crisp apples, fresh apple cider, and cookies from Packers (which Scout found on the counter and promptly inhaled).

Pumpkins!

2011-10-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

L-R: Micah, David, Leah, Joshua, Claire, Emery, & Alana

Sunday evening we had my sister and Matt over, along with dear friends Asha and Alisha and their families. We carved pumpkins and roasted hot dogs & smores. Actually the parents carved pumpkins while the kids got very wet and dirty (more than half had to drive home in their underwear they were so dirty). This photo cracks me up! First - Joshua's pumpkin isn't carved because Matt ran out of time; Second - the hostess is the ONLY one not cooperating for the picture...stinker.

Chris and Alisha enthusiastically carving Micah's and Emery's pumpkins.

Asha and Leah - first one's done!

Nothing wrong with a little ketchup...

And then the girls found a five gallon bucket of water under the gutter - better than pumpkins, hot dogs and smores combined!

John and Grace...sweet babies!

End of September Sun

2011-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

As much as I love fall I was not complaining about the little streak of summer we had in September. When one is living in a camping trailer, sun is a very welcome companion. While the sun was still shining we were able to squeeze in a few more adventures. Claire and I picked another round of blackberries. I froze this batch specifically for making blackberry scones. Yum. We also ventured to local parks - found one with a slide and tunnel that she could manage on her own. It was a big hit. Paul also managed to continue his clean-up project, with Claire's help of course. Anything and everything you could think of is on our property. Found another back half of a Honda if anyone needs one.

BUT! the big excitement is that we moved into the double wide this past weekend. Hallelujah! The time in the trailer was memorable but we are all very happy to be in the house. Claire loves her room and I am actually motivated to unpack (my NNU roommates may be shocked by this). For the first time in our (almost) nine years of marriage Paul and I are not living in a house that we are remodeling (this is our 3rd) - and that is a good thing!

Blackberries

2011-09-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

We have inherited a large number of blackberry bushes. I am thrilled with the idea! When we moved to our previous home I even asked Paul if we could plant blackberry bushes. He gently informed me that people don't plant blackberry bushes - they get rid of them. I can think of nothing better on a summer (fall, winter or spring) evening then a bowl of vanilla ice cream with fresh blackberries on top. So on Sunday, Claire and I dressed in our berry picking gear and set about finding all the shady places we could pick berries (it was 90 degrees). It was so much fun and I think we were pretty successful. I even got out the ladder to reach some of the high ones (this was a little concerning to Claire, so it didn't last long). Claire was a good helper and was excellent at quality control.

Things are going well around the farm. We are getting closer to moving into the double wide (painting happening tomorrow) - which will make things so.much.easier. Scout had to be the first to take one for the team. Monday I got home from work and his entire left leg was swollen. Paul took him to the vet Tuesday morning - looks like it was a bite or some other puncture wound. Either way, he has a leg infection - poor guy. So he is being a good patient and taking his antibiotics. He already looks better tonight.

We are thrilled that Miss Mary - Claire's nanny - is returning to us! She finished her cancer treatment and is looking forward to taking care of Claire this year. What an answer to prayer. We continue to pray that she will be cancer free.
On the other side of the country, Uncle Jim has flown to Pennsylvania and plans to have major cancer surgery in the next few days. I am thankful for a God that is in control.

Our girl

2011-09-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

So much fun!

You know you live on a farm when...

2011-09-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Bathing has increased exponentially...

Your two year old is driving a tractor...

Burning things is our favorite past time...

Who cares if the truck gets dirty!

Wrapping it Up

2011-09-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Picture me - dirty/sweaty and having been awake for 36 hours - arriving home from Hood to Coast to this...a little piece of paradise! Needless to say there were a few tears and Paul advising me that I just needed to go to bed. While I was running from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Paul and Claire were finishing our big move. I left my home on 95th Street on Friday afternoon and arrived home Saturday evening at the farm. We have been "camping" for the last week and a half while we have worked on the manufactured home - cleaning and painting. Despite the rough first night (oh dear) we are actually having a really good time.

Hood to Coast

2011-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be the end of summer without Hood to Coast. The "largest relay in the world" celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Despite two of our runners dropping out in the last seven days - it was a good race. I have been wanting a dear colleague of mine from Bay to run with me for years - so I was very excited to have Tami (second from right) join our team this year. She is a rock star soccer player and I'm not sure we convinced her that she is a runner (never good to convince anyone of anything on no sleep). The relay organizers allowed 250 more teams this year - it made such a difference. The traffic/congestion was terrible. Tara, our last runner, had to wait for us for an hour at the finish line before we could get there. Crazy. I really enjoyed our van - five educators (teachers, counselor, principal) and a nurse. When it was all over and we half slept, half ate our way through dinner - we also managed to talk about what a special experience Hood to Coast truly is. No one really understands it unless they've done it themselves. It's amazing. By the way, I thought I had a little color from the summer...then I saw our van picture. Look at those pasty whites!

To the Farm we go

2011-08-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

We have taken many Sunday drives through the country dreaming and praying about the possibility of someday owning a little piece of paradise. Our prayers were answered this summer when Paul came across a 10 1/2 acre short sale right on the edge of town. It has been a long process but it is finally ours. Not only do we own 10 1/2 acres but it also includes a manufactured home - double wide to be exact. What more could a girl want?

We put our house on the market and received an offer within 11 days. It seems a bit crazy - our five year remodel is now complete! I could go crazy but I know that our remodel is what sold our home and that makes it all worth it.

The most difficult part for us is leaving our neighbors. Wonderful people that adore our little girl...and mow your lawn when your husband is sick for a year. Pretty awesome. I'm really going to miss them.
Despite the difficulty of leaving, packing (I am NOT a packer), and moving we are looking forward to this next phase of our life with great excitement. The farm is beautiful. Green Mountain backs up to the property and we have heard it is lovely in the fall. I can't wait.

There is a lot of work and clean up to do - the previous owners may have been in the mafia, I'm not sure. The long term plan is to build a new home. One step at a time.
Websters dictionary defines a farm as a piece of land devoted to agricultural purposes or to the raising of domestic livestock. Bring on the chickens!

Who wants to pack when you can sit by the pool and drink a blueberry smoothie? Must.get.packing.

Part III

2011-08-17T20:27:00.001-07:00

My favorite part - the three of us spending two nights in Seattle together. Paul and Claire met me in Seattle after the triathlon. It was so much fun.

I must admit it started out a bit shaky - and I am so thankful that after 8.5 years of marriage we are able to laugh at some of the things I do. I am a big Sunset magazine fan, so when it came time to find lodging in Seattle I looked into some of their recommendations. I was excited to come across this affordable B&B - and right in the heart of downtown. I wasn't too excited about the shared bath, but with a greatroom with a view, breakfast and only $140 a night (great for Seattle) I could do it. It was so sad. After parking down the street and dragging our luggage, pack and play, stroller up three flights of stairs we arrived. The sweet gal at the desk took us to our room...I took in a deep breath. We sat in a windowless room and just laughed. Paul said things like - did you see pictures on the internet; well, there's no sprinkler system or window, so hopefully we will make it to the fire escape before anyone else; this place reminds me of rehab (I don't think he has ever been ); there is wireless, right. Yes, that was going to be my saving grace - there was wireless. But, after several attempts the sweet gal at the desk told us it wasn't working. Oh no. In no less than five minutes we had our money back and we were out the door (sweaty, tired, but happy). We ended up at a hotel over looking Lake Union with a bathroom, window, and breakfast...and we were even more happy. I'm glad my husband loves me.

Once we were settled we enjoyed every minute.
Claire is a big fan of the water and would shriek loudly anytime it came into view - which in Seattle, it does quite often.
Monday we took a little walk through Pike's Place and shared a fresh bbq pork bun from our favorite pastry stand.
After Pike's Place we were off to Alki beach (where Paul proposed nine years ago!) for lunch, playing in the water, and sharing huckleberry ice cream.
From there (we were busy) we headed to UW to give Claire a tour of her dad's Alma mater (she will get a tour of mine in November), restock our supply of Huskie apparel and see where Paul lived while attending UW.
For dinner it was amazing Vietnamese food at a tiny restaurant in the International District called Green Leaf (thank you Sunset for redeeming yourself on this one).

Tuesday we started our day off with breakfast at OddFellows and then we hit the road. One stop at Cabela's and I think we were all asleep by the time we got home!

Part II

2011-08-17T20:04:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning at 6:00 I headed home to begin making my way up to the Danskin Women's Triathlon. My ride arrived at 9:15 and we were headed to Seattle. Saturday was spent picking up our registration packets, going to Ivar's and U Village, then finally taking our bikes to Genesse Park (on Lake Washington) where the triathlon took place. The bike situation proved to be a bit of a fiasco. Since I only have a mountain bike I chose to ride my friend Tara's dad's road bike. I brought my bike seat and stem to put on his bike...but of course my stem didn't fit. So, at 6:00pm Saturday (this started to be a LONG day) we were at REI buying a new bike stem to fit his bike. Thankfully, it worked on Saturday morning.

(pre-race)

Based on our numbers there were approximately 3,000 women that participated in this triathlon - pretty amazing. The weather was great and the water was actually bearable! I was so thankful when the swim was over...looking back, that was probably the easiest part. My bike was not my best so I was looking forward to making up some ground on the run. When I got off the bike, I was just happy to be moving in a forward motion...
I really had a great time and am definitely a fan. I will do this again.

(post-race w/ Tara)

Part I

2011-08-17T19:53:00.001-07:00

We have had a busy six days - I never knew we could produce so.much.laundry.
Our week started out on Thursday at the Hendricks family reunion - Claire's first. Paul's mom picked a beautiful spot this year - Fisherman's Bend campground along the Santiam River. The facilities and weather were perfect. The family spent time floating in the river, fishing (guess who was doing that?), playing basketball, swings, visiting and of course lots of time around the campfire. We did experience some grief because we are now the only ones to camp in a trailer...oops! :)

Party!

2011-08-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Claire is a fan of Dr. Seuss's ABC book (and I now know it by heart..."Icabob is itchy - so am I") so we went with that theme for her 2nd birthday. I was very happy to find some inspiration from this post.

Our family and neighbors gathered on the back patio to celebrate with us. Red velvet cupcakes and Swedish pancakes were on the menu...you really can't go wrong with anything that you top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Claire was a champ and blew out her candle perfectly!

Claire tended to be a bit AWOL while I opened (excitedly) her cards and gifts. Joshua, Alana and Mariah are pro's - they knew where the action was.
Happy Birthday to our Claire bear!

Two...August 5th...

2011-08-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

How is this possible that Claire will be two years old tomorrow morning?! Look how much she has changed in one year - she is such a little person! Such a little girl! After posting this picture of her with Grizz last year a friend suggested taking a picture with Grizz every birthday - what a great idea. Of course we also had to include big bear in a picture (it will be awhile until she surpasses him)! She has gotten pretty good at answering the question - "when are you going to be two?" and her response - "August 5th" Very sweet. Although this week she has been chanting, "two... August 5th" We are looking forward to celebrating our little bear tomorrow morning!

Girls

2011-08-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Claire and I made a quick trip up to Olympia on Monday to visit Andrea and the girls - we managed to pack a lot into 20ish hours and Andrea and I also had a chance to catch up over good food and beverages. Pretty impressive!

Post Children's Museum and Otter Pop bath.
Jane is wondering who the new kid in the tub is!

Chatting outside The Bread Peddler waiting for their morning rolls.

Quite scarey that we could be repeating this picture in about 14 years!

Library & Lions

2011-08-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

There are still several items on my "to do" list for the summer - go to the beach; find an outdoor community swimming pool to take Claire to; visit Seattle; move (more on that later). Last week Paul had some time off so we had the chance to do a couple things - visit the brand new Vancouver Library and take Claire to the zoo for the first time. The new library is pretty incredible...the architecture alone is beautiful! We loved the 2nd floor, devoted entirely to kids. There were so many great things to do, I was trying to convince Claire to let me try a few!

Grandpa and Grandma visited the zoo with us - we were all commenting about how long it had been since we had been to the zoo. I think the last time I visited the Oregon Zoo was close to 14 years ago!

Things Claire liked about the zoo:
People watching - at times she was definitely more interested in the kids then the animals
Bears
The farm exhibit - cows, cows, cows!
Giraffes (my personal favorite - they are amazing)
Elephants

Things Claire did not like:
Anything in water - especially animals that would go in and out of the water (picture screaming at the sea lions...)
The large orangutan that put the black cloth over himself and ran through the trees (more screaming)
Missing her nap

Love this picture...how does our little bear compare?

Post zoo ~ playing with the hose for the first time and getting v. wet!

Tidbits

2011-07-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's such a blessing when we get the chance to spend time with Grammy! My mom, Claire and I went down to Salem for my cousins bridal shower, which also included a little slumber party at Grammy and Poppy's! Whenever Grammy comes to visit it is usually a little crazy, especially when we add Joshua, Alana, John and Grace. Grammy was really pleased to have Claire all to herself - and I think Claire was a fan as well.

Now that our visitors (Con and Erin) have come and gone, the weather has been awesome (of course)! We spend lots of time in our backyard, playing and finishing little projects.
On Wednesday I had the chance to do a little bike ride with my friend Tara and some gals from her church. We rode our bikes from Gresham to Downtown Portland and back again on the Springwater trail- 36 miles! It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun. BUT my derier definitely paid the price. Ouch!

Happy Birthday Alana!

2011-07-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Our sweet niece Alana turned three on Thursday. We celebrated with donuts, princesses and Chuck E. Cheese - a three year olds dream! It was Claire's first visit to Chuck E. Cheese - we rode the "Bob the Builder" bulldozer approximately eight times and the carousel another four. She loved it.

Big Bear

2011-07-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

Big Bear is deserving of his own post. Costco has been carrying some large teddy bears. Erin and I were talking about this on Monday. When we walked into Costco - they were still there! Suddenly I was giving "permission" for her and Con to buy one for Claire as an early birthday present (you would be shocked at what a good deal these bears are!) For the rest of the day we discussed the best way to give Claire her bear. She is not always thrilled with unfamiliar things and a 53 inch bear would fit in that category. Tuesday morning Con talked to Claire about how big Grizz is and that maybe there was a bear bigger than Grizz. Finally, the new bear made its appearance. We had nothing to worry about...Seeing the new bear for the first time...followed by squeals of delight for the next 20 minutes!

Look at that face? Pure joy! She is hooked!

Hugging and loving bear...

When we asked Claire what the bears name was she said, "big bear!" I think it is fitting.

Currently Big Bear resides in the recliner in the living room. It is like we adopted an adolescent child (but much more cute, cuddly and soft)! He is definitely the current favorite!

Four days...14lbs?

2011-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe 14lbs is an exaggeration but that is what it feels like! Con and Erin flew into town for a short (but always fun) visit. We, of course, packed six months worth of food into four days! This is rather obvious when all our pictures include food. Really.

Sunday: Mio Sushi (Erin is v. excited) for dinner - and yes, that is all our sushi on the counter.

After sushi - Hawthorne food carts. I think I may have been channeling my inner-travel channel star - we sampled items from Whiffies Fried Pies, Potato Champion, and Perierra Creperie. I think the winner was Potato Champion ~ Belgium Frites are yummy! It all felt good going down but when I woke up to run Monday morning...oh, boy.

Monday: Trader Joe's, Costco, Title Nine, Food Carts for pho and Vietnamese coffee, and a little stop at Cupcake Jones (red velvet and peanut butter cup).

Monday night we invited the rest of the neighbors over for a dinner. We barbequed and enjoyed our "new" outdoor area and fireplace. It was a great gathering.

Tuesday: MORE sushi (it's not the same in Colorado)!

I can't believe I am posting this picture. Tuesday evening we went to the Kennedy School for dinner and a movie - Meek's Cutoff. It.was.the.worst. movie we had ever seen. The employee warned us that there was a "really loud" scene at the end. That "loud" scene was a covered wagon rolling down a hill. Seriously. After the film we tried to capture our feelings - obviously my version of disappointment is a bit different than everyone else's.

Wednesday: breakfast at Mother's Bistro, Erin getting her hair cut at Magnum Opus (the cut looked really good - I confiscated her hair tie for the rest of the day), and lunch/dinner at Famous Dave's. Claire was really a trooper - she came down with the worst cold/cough she has had. She felt a little better on Wednesday...but not much.
Whew. It was a fast, full trip. We loved it.

A little bit of camp

2011-07-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

We survived our second year of ski camp with babe in tow...I could have handled about 10-15 degree warmer weather, but who's complaining?! On Tuesday afternoon Uncle Jim brought Mariah down to camp and she was able to spend the rest of the week with us (the longest she has ever been away from her parents...which she confidently told me at the end of the week, "I didn't really even miss them..."). Claire loved having Mariah around! Paul was in charge of the paintball portion of camp and I was in charge of keeping the girls busy and happy. It was a success. We ate a lot, played a lot, did some tubing, and I even "let" Mariah beat me at several games of Uno...not sure if I mentioned but I'm a bit competitive.

The trailer did great - it was like one big slumber party! I even was brave enough to use the shower...although it was freezing cold (Paul didn't get the warm water working until after I realized my fate...).

We were all pretty tired by the end of the week (PTL - I found a little espresso drive through a short walk from the campground and they even served Sisters Coffee) so the drive home was pretty quite...with a little pit stop at Dairy Queen. Ahhh, it's good to be home.

Favorites

2011-07-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to head to ski camp in Madras, Oregon. Our ski camp experience last year was one of our primary motivations for purchasing a trailer. I never realized how cold it gets in Central Oregon until I had a little person that I needed to keep warm. Hoping the trailer will provide more sleep than last year!
I love going to ski camp. Paul and I met ten years ago, in the church parking lot, as we helped load the vans with the week's supplies. Now we get to sleep in the same tent (er, trailer)! This would have been a bit scandalous ten years ago...
This picture is from one of our first "big" dates that summer - we spent the day in Cannon Beach. We had a great day - but what I remember is the two naked people that were frolicking in the ocean as we oogled (?) and googled over each other. It was a bit traumatizing but very memorable.
Her favorite things: blankey and Grizz

We have somehow manged to earn a little bit of summer here in the NW. It has been beautiful. The 4th of July was one of the nicest I remember - that could also be because last year was a little disappointing - everyone was working and we were wearing long sleeves! This year our family joined up with some other families for a big bbq. Claire was a big fan of the nacho cheese Doritos (am I a bad mother?) and a not-so-big fan of the fireworks. Although the fireworks have now been a major topic of conversation since the 4th. Claire also stayed up very late - she normal goes to bed at 7/7:30 but she stayed up past 9:00pm. Yikes! I believed that she would wake up at 7am like usual...so the next morning I got up at 6:00 for my little meeting with the treadmill. Claire slept until 8:30! What would it have been like to stay in bed until then...

Biker Chick

2011-06-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

This morning we took a nice bike ride on the Burnt Bridge Creek/Leverich Park trail. Claire was very eager to wear her helmet all morning as we got the bikes and trailer ready. This was our inaugural ride with the bike trailer - Paul really got a work out. We need to figure out the helmet situation when Claire is in the trailer. It was not comfortable for her at all! Plus, I don't think she could see very well because it would tip into her eyes. Hmmm.

I also realized I may have been feeling a little too confident about my biking skills. Those are definitely not the muscles I am use to using! Yikes! I think I need a little more practice.

Schools out!

2011-06-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

I think we were quite possibly the last district in the state of Washington to start summer break - isn't it almost July?! Of course it didn't help that I had four extra days to work...but the library is in order and ready for the fall - thank goodness! Claire also had her last day with Chiharu, whom she adores. We sing "happy birthday to Haru" 7 to 10 times per day. She was such an answer to prayer - she quickly stepped in when Mary had to take a break. We will miss seeing Chiharu on a weekly basis!

The start of summer also means it is Great Grandma Annabelle's birthday! I tried to convince her she was turning 85...oops.

Father's Day

2011-06-20T20:44:00.001-07:00

We spent Father's Day weekend in Gates, OR with Paul's mom and Jonathan. We picked Paul up at work and whisked him to a Father's Day breakfast at Cup and Saucer before we headed south. Jonathan's daughter Darcy, her husband Graham and son Grady also came down for the night. It was the first time we had all been together since Claire and Grady were born (Grady is 3 mos younger than Claire). We actually had a really good time! Claire was interested in several things. Grandma has two havanese puppies that are the perfect size for a little girl. They are so cute (although the barking at 6:00am was not so cute).

Claire also thought that Grady was a lot of fun! He is definitely all boy - not quite talking but doing a lot of grunting :). Sunday morning we took a walk to the new volunteer fire station so Grady could get his fix of trucks for the day. Claire liked the fire engines but she was more focused on holding Grady's hand and running around in circles. This stage of life continues to be one of my favorites! We are so thankful for our little girl.

Weekends

2011-06-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

Uncle Jim and Mariah

June is full of celebrations - graduations, retirements, birthdays, and homecomings. For Paul's birthday we had a Swedish pancake (crepes) party. Making batter for 20ish people proved to be too much for me - I did too much of one thing and not enough of another. No one wants salty pancakes. So at 9pm the night before I found myself at the grocery store re-buying all of the ingredients. In the end, it was worth it. I actually was the new apprentice as Dan taught me the secret craft of crepe making. I feel pretty good about it - although some of mine still end of with holes. Whoops.

Paul's cousin James just returned from a year + in Afghanistan serving in the Marines. We were able to celebrate his homecoming. We are so thankful for his safe return to the States.

The whole group together for a picture. It's a bit spastic - people began realizing that everything on the BBQ is going up in flames and Uncle John has no clue that he is blocking half the group!

I am supposedly competing in a triathlon in August - so I decided I better start swimming. The first day at the pool I didn't have goggles - I felt ridiculous. Thank you Target for saving me. Now I just have to work on swimming a half mile...ugh.

Camping

2011-05-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend camping in Gifford Pinchot National Forest at Paradise Creek. I was anticipating the three of us, plus Scout, sitting in the trailer all weekend watching the rain pelt the windows...we were pleasantly surprised to be dry the entire trip! Yeah! Saturday evening we celebrated Paul's 31st (31!) birthday with a mini-eclair cake. I could eat way too many of these for my own good - fortunately they only come in packages of eight (thank you Trader Joe's!). Claire loved singing "happy birthday" and proceeded to sing "to you" for the remainder of our camp out.

Sunday morning we checked out the Carson National Fish Hatchery. We got to see a pretty big group of spring Chinook salmon which was fun.

After Claire's nap (I love naps - I read an entire book and two magazines during Claire's naps) we all headed to Falls Creek Falls trail for a beautiful hike. I thought Claire might want to walk a bit but she instead stood in the middle of the trail crying, "pack-pack, pack-pack." So Paul had Claire and I had Scout - not sure who's job was tougher. I loved hearing Claire talk to Paul the entire time...favorite thing to say over and over - Mama's here! Dadda's here! Scout's here! Claire's here!

Giving Scout some love after the long hike.

Back at camp...where's the s'mores?!
I am definitely ready for summer (and sun) - only a couple more weeks to go and 12,000 library books to inventory!

Babes & Parades

2011-05-31T19:50:00.001-07:00

Claire and I made our 2nd annual appearance at the Hazel Dell Parade. It is within walking distance from my mom's house and a lot of fun. I was trying to remember how many times I was a participant in the parade (really high caliber...) - let's see, I rode in several church floats, a fire engine a couple times, twirled a baton and juggled. This year one of the top entries was assisted living facilities - really. I think there were at least five or six - some had senior citizens waving from an air conditioned van and others were in a covered wagon singing, "when the saints to marching in..." I guess there is hope for future parade opportunities.

Claire was a fan of the bands - big and small. She did lots of waving and clapping. She was not too thrilled with loud trains and those ridiculous blow horns.

Almost two...can hardly believe it!

And of course - the twins! They had their two month appointment last week -John is weighing in at 12lbs and Grace is just over 10lbs. It is hard to believe they were 6lbs when they were born. John has doubled his birth weight in 2 months! But they are so cute and sweet!

Mother's & Pianos

2011-05-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

As is normal, celebrations in our family tend to span over several days. Paul, Claire and I celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday with delightful breakfast at Petite Provence on Alberta. Somehow I managed to walk away with THREE pain au chocolats (this, I'm sure, doesn't surprise anyone). I forgot how big these are - probably should have thought about it when the waitress asked, "now you said you want three..." Regardless, they were the perfect mix of bread and chocolate. After breakfast we did a little estate sale shopping...Paul does most of the browsing while Claire and I walk around the neighborhoods and look at the beautiful old homes. Claire and Paul spent the afternoon napping and I went shopping for. my. self. by. my. self. My kind of gift.

Sunday Claire and I went over to the Perez house to celebrate with Grandma, Grammy and the rest of the crew. The twins are getting so big! John is a box - literally. He wants to eat all the time. Grace is still her petite little self.

Tuesday we had dinner with Dan, Belinda, and Annabelle. Belinda introduced Claire to her piano and it was all over after that. So fun. The gift of choice this year was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Andrea had recommended it to me after several other girlfriends had suggested it. I picked one up for all my "mothers" and one for myself. Really looking forward to reading it.

We are continuing to pray for our dear friend Mary and thanking God for providing a new nanny for Claire in a matter of days. God is good.

Getting some tips from Grandma Belinda.

Feelin' the music...

In her p.j.'s - one more song before we go!

Easter Weekend

2011-05-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter weekend in Olympia celebrating Uncle Jim's birthday and Easter with Paul's family (his mom is one of seven). Mommom is the matriarch of the family and at 90 she is amazing. Lots of pictures were taken - Paul had to stand in with Claire during the "great" picture - I think there are eleven great-grandchildren. The birthday party for Uncle Jim was really special - a lot of friends and family. Claire did not have that great of a time, since she didn't take a nap. Fortunately we stayed at Andrea and Telfer's - Claire and I left a bit early and she was very happy to go to bed. Andrea and I had a sweet visit and I salivated over her Easter brunch menu and coconut cake :).

Easter we went to church with the Griffith's - well we went to church and they were working in the nursery. Claire has never been so happy to be in the nursery! It was a great service. Then we headed to the family Easter dinner. It was so fun to see Claire interact with her "older" cousins - and they just loved her. They were really concerned about her during the Easter egg hunt. Kaylee especially - she came and got Claire, took her by the hand and made sure that she picked an egg. Claire was in very impressed.

Ups & Downs

2011-05-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post for several days but the sun has been shining and a wedding needed to be watched. I had to wait over 24 hours, but I spent Saturday evening eating croques monsieur and chocolate biscuit cake (which we are still nibbling on - it gets better each day!) and watching the royal wedding. It was beautiful, meaningful, romantic. I cried and was still talking about it on Monday morning. Sunday felt like spring might finally be here. After church the three of us hopped over the river to an estate sale and had lunch at the Garden State food cart. Lemon cured chicken sandwich with goat cheese for me and a catfish sandwich for Paul with oranges...it even tasted like spring! The lawn was mowed and my cousin stopped by to introduce us to her fiance. Monday always comes too soon!

Monday did come and with it some difficult news - Claire's precious nanny (and our very dear family friend), Mary, learned that she has lymphoma cancer. It is devastating news for Mary and all who love her. She will begin treatment as soon as possible. We are going to miss her and will be making routine visits. I know Mary wants to be back in the fall and we are praying that will happen. When I talked to her today she reminded me, "the one thing I know in all of this, is that whatever God wants to happen, will happen."

Claire has been loving her visits with Great-Grandma Annabelle. When Grandma spent the weekend with us the two of them poured over Claire's photo book together. Very sweet.

The Beach

2011-04-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

(First breakfast in the trailer)
I feel like a bit of a wiener. All of my thirty-two years any time I have camped, I have camped in a tent with many good memories. My parents tent camped with my sister and I for years. After this last week I don't know how I will ever go back. Bathroom. Sink. Heat. Fridge. Shower (although I'm a little intimidated by the shower). It was great. Claire had a separate area to sleep and Paul and I had ours. The bed Paul and I were in lowers down from the ceiling. I may have been some what athletic at one point in my life, but I literally thought I was going to break my arm every time I had to jump down from this "loft" bed. And getting up into it was not much easier. "Ladder" is on the list for things we need in the trailer. Seriously.

Other than the being frightened to get in/out of bed - the trip was wonderful. We woke up Thursday morning to clear blue skies that stayed with us until we left Saturday afternoon. The beach was beautiful. We clammed and then clammed some more. Claire was impressed with everything - ocean, seagulls, all the dogs, clams. Not so impressed when she would fall and get sand on her hands, but we worked through it. During Claire's naps I went on walks with Scout, got coffee and read outside in the sunshine. I actually had to roll up my jeans it was that warm. Paul got to watch movies and fish. That is pretty much perfect. We also got a chance to hike in Ledbetter State Park and visit Oysterville. I might need to live in Oysterville someday.

Getting ready to hike through Ledbetter.

The girls.
Claire and I spent most of our time on the beach watching the water, chasing seagulls and trying to pet the dogs.

Paul and Claire working hard for the razor clams. Although the beach seems empty, there was actually people and cars as far as the eye could see.

Is there one in there?!

So this is it - the mighty razor clam. I have eaten razor clams a few times and never been impressed. Paul cleaned and fried (flour, egg/milk, panko) a batch over the fire on Friday night, convinced I would finally like them. He was right.

We're looking forward to a low key weekend - Great Grandma Annabelle is spending the night tomorrow which will be really fun. I think we will make this for dinner and celebrate Belinda's birthday on Sunday. There is even talk of a little dry streak coming our way. Very exciting.

Children's Museum

2011-04-15T19:26:00.001-07:00

After a bit of a crazy week back at work I'm finally getting a chance to talk about spring break. I think I might be ready for another already! Claire went to her first non-family birthday party at the Portland Children's Museum. We had never been and it was really fun. She had three favorite rooms (i.e. she threw a bit of a fit when we left each one). The Grocery Store & Cafe. She loved pushing the shopping cart and taking her groceries in and out. I couldn't keep up with her! She may have even taken a few items out of other kids' shopping carts. Stinker. She was definitely a fan.

From the grocery store we headed to the Water Works room. There was water flowing from all sorts of pipes, basins, wheels, baskets, etc. Claire loves water so we had a feeling she would get into this. She was so cute, going back and forth checking everything out. And she got really wet. Other parents told us that they usually save this room for last. Whoops.

Finally, the Big Dig. What kid wouldn't like a huge mound of rubber to dig in?!

Of course we were there for a birthday party which meant cake and frosting. Not sure if you can tell, but Claire has been a bit deprived in the sweets department...poor thing she was licking the frosting off of the plate! Too funny.

Almost there

2011-03-31T19:38:00.001-07:00

Compared to last week's late nights and early mornings this week has almost felt like a little "spring break." Almost. We started off with a really good weekend and have had a nice, normal week. Claire and I visited Grandma Annabelle who is doing miraculously well. She has no physical side affects from her stroke and her speech continues to improve every day. Praise the Lord. Although we laugh because I have a feeling that she was hoping it was her time to go Home! I also got to go grocery shopping for my sister - I actually really like grocery shopping. Saturday night my mom drug herself over to our house (she insisted) with her pillow in tow so Paul and I could attend Bow the Knee . It was as incredible as I remember it. Sunday was church and then brunch with Matt and Chiharu. We hadn't had a chance to connect with them since the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, so we were anxious to find out how Chiharu's family was doing. Thankfully their town was only slightly affected by the tsunami.

Of course the highlight was on Tuesday when Claire** and Paul met John and Grace for the first time. Claire loved the babies almost as much as she loved the balloons :). We are quite the crew!

We are looking forward to a week off together for spring break! It may rain every day but we will make the best of it. Ugh. We are hoping to accomplish some firsts - the Children's Museum, zoo, and digging in the sand for razor clams (first for Claire). We are pretty excited.

**Yes, it is 4:00pm in the afternoon and Claire is still in her pajamas. This is her typical attire on Daddy Day's :)

Oh.My.Goodness.

2011-03-25T20:10:00.001-07:00

The Perez twins quietly and safely arrived on Tuesday at 2:16am and 2:32am. They are as precious as they can be. John Matthew was the first to arrive (on the right with the #1 on his hat) weighing 6lbs 1 ounce and measuring 19 inches. Once John entered the world baby girl Perez decided that she could finally stretch out - unfortunately this wasn't in the birthing plan, so after some attempts to change her position Grace Elizabeth (Claire gave the blessing to use her middle name) arrived by C-section. Grace weighed 6lbs 2 ounces and measured 19 inches long. Can you imagine - my sister carrying 12 lbs of baby! Stacia did amazing but the birth definitely wiped her out. I had the privilege of being the first to meet these amazing little people. Grace slept the whole time (what, baby's actually sleep the first few hours of their life?!) and John gave me an excellent diaper to change.

Their names are very fitting. Grace has the perfect little C-section baby head and face and seems to always be peacefully asleep. John has more of a tougher look - he had to weather a bit more to enter this world. He also seems to be more awake. Here he had just returned from his little boy surgery - poor guy - and there is Grace, welcoming him back, sound asleep :>. We praise God for their safe arrival and such healthy babies. Stacia and twins are heading home tonight. There will definitely be many people praying and helping them through these next few months!

Then there is our little bear who transitioned to a new car seat this week. She loves it (although not apparent by this picture when we were trying to fit the straps to her) - when we get in the car she says, "ride, ride" and is very happy to now see every "bus" that drives by. This week has also been a bit crazy - Great - Grandma Annabelle had a small stroke on Sunday morning. Fortunately Dan and Belinda were already headed over to her place and found her unable to speak. She is recovering and is out of the hospital. She is improving daily but it was definitely a scary situation. I'm thankful that it is Friday. All of our families are home, safe, and healthy.

Pictures; odds & ends

2011-03-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Watching Paul work in the backyard...and having a snack, of course.

Claire was not impressed at all when she realized what was floating in the bath water. She gave me warning...what more can a kid do then look at mama and say "poo-poo." Needless to say, the bath was over.

A little randomness before bed....Paul has been sneaking off to work with my laptop (his has been on the fritz) so I have to take advantage of a chance to post. Poor Claire is having a hard time with the time change. She was a bit out of sorts this morning when we got to church at 8:30am and it was really 7:30. She took a long nap but had a hard time falling asleep tonight. Hopefully we will be adjusted by tomorrow! Claire has started to say "morning" when I get her out of bed in the morning - a sweet response to my "good morning little bear." We also recently received her first year photo book in the mail - we have looked at it every day since. She loves it.

We have had a pretty normal week. Paul was home for a few days which is always nice! It was my mom's birthday so we celebrated by dragging my poor sister out to dinner! Many people were gawking and my mom followed behind her whispering, "she's having twins..." Babies are still cooking. She is 37 weeks on Tuesday. Whew.

Being back to work full-time has caused some changes in how I approach grocery shopping and recipes. I feel like I have finally nailed down groceries to one day a week (after church on Sundays at 10:00am - it is great) and a trip to Target when necessary. But I feel like I still need to work on my dinner recipes. Case in point - I have been a faithful subscriber to Real Simple since we have been married but have finally come to the conclusion that the recipes leave a lot to be desired. I actually came to this conclusion several weeks ago but saw a recipe in the current issue that I figured had to be fail safe - curry, chicken, and the crockpot. What can go wrong? We tried it this week - it was terrible! Bland, bland, bland. Very sad. So, other than this and this I think I am done. The good thing - I still like Real Simple.

Last night Paul and I went to our first ever St. Patrick's Day party. A friend of mine from work belongs to a large Irish family and they have been hosting a party for the last 25 years! It was really fun. Irish soda bread, corned beef, cabbage, Irish sundaes, beverages, blarney, and of course Irish dancers! Very cool and we were very full, I think we rolled in the door last night.

A Good One

2011-02-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

How can we not have a good week when it starts with a three day weekend?

* On Monday, after Claire's nap, we headed down to the Columbia river waterfront trail. It was a bit chilly but still beautiful. We hauled the stroller out only to find that Claire is not so fond of strolling these days - she would prefer to walk (i.e. there was a bit of a scene when we tried to put her in the stroller :> ). Regardless of some tears, we had a great walk and a nice dinner at McMenamins.

* Who doesn't like a snow day and a three day week?! It was our first (and hopefully only) of the school year. It was really fun waking up to a bit of a winter wonderland on Thursday morning -it was so beautiful! I knew that I had bought Claire snowpants at Goodwill for a good reason! She looked a bit like a marshmallow and probably felt like one too. The three of us took a little walk and visited with the neighbors. While we were walking Claire kept bending down, touching her boots and complaining a bit. Two confessions - 1) Although I bought her snowpants, she doesn't have snow boots, soooo, we put her feet in ziplock bags and she wore her pink furry boots; 2) I put her boots on the wrong feet. I would be complaining too!

Getting some advice from daddy...so sweet.

*Today Claire, my mom and I visited Grammie and Poppie. Great-Grandma is a trooper - she just turned 85 and had knee replacement a week or so ago. She is has sharp as a tack so I know it is really hard for her when her body is weak. She is on the mend and it was really fun to be together. We spent quite a bit of time talking about "the twins" and how they will be here very soon!

*Tomorrow it is church and then my sister and I are going to hang out. Thinking this might be our last chance for awhile...

Future?

2011-02-20T19:15:00.001-08:00

On Saturday morning Asha and Alisha came over for coffee and cinnamon rolls. Alisha brought along her sweet 2 year old, little Emery. They had access to all the toys little girls could want - but of course they preferred their mom's phone's. Thinking they may have seen this done before?

Just Us

2011-02-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

A couple pictures of Claire and a bit of her cuteness as well as looking like a VERY big girl (and not impressed that I am chasing her down to get a picture). As has been our m.o. this holiday season, Paul was working on Valentine's Day. Claire and I spent a quite evening together at home playing with her new fruit basket. The highlight of our evening was noshing on some Valentine M &M's - Claire had six of them and I had as many as I wanted! Definitely in love with my BIG and LITTLE loves, Paul and Claire -bear.

Checking it off

2011-02-13T14:31:00.001-08:00

We have taken care of several things on our "to-do" list the past couple of weeks. For starters, I have been needing a picture of Stacia to document her "growth" ~ yes, there are two babies in that belly of hers and no, she is not due to deliver tomorrow! Poor thing ~ she is doing unbelievable well and looks darn good if I should say so myself. She is really all belly! Due date is April 5th but it sounds like they will induce her (unless things change) a week or so before that. Can't believe those babies will be here that soon...can't imagine how Matt and Stacia feel?!
Another major item on our "to-do" list ~ carpeting our stairs. It has been 4.5 years since I have seen carpet on our stairs and it still looks a little strange to me. But it is SO nice to come down the stairs in the morning and walk on yummy carpet - no more splinters for us! Claire of course loves it because we let her crawl up the stairs on her own, counting each step as we go. "Two" and "nine" are very distinctive. Still working on the descent process.
This is more in the category of "wish-list" but we have been talking about purchasing a camping trailer for the last three years. We had a little bit of a hiatus during Paul's sickness but now that little bear is here we were ready to look again. We figure this is a good time to invest in a camping trailer - I don't think we will be going on any major vacations for awhile - so camping seems like a good option. I do feel like a bit of a weeny - I have camped in tents all of my life. But after our experience at Ski Camp last summer (freezing cold nights, waking up all the neighbors) we got serious about finding a camper. Of course the trailer (or "toy hauler") we bought just happened to be in Phoeniz, ARIZONA. So on Tuesday morning he and Pete (buddy from work) jumped in our truck and drove 21 hours to pick it up. The coming back was a little bit slower and they didn't sleep much, but he was pretty excited. Paul pulled in on Friday around 1:30pm. He has been cleaning and working on it ever since. You know it is serious when he has his turn-out gear on (as he does in the above picture). Happy trails!

Con & Eeee

2011-02-13T14:18:00.001-08:00

As Erin mentioned in her post, I was determined for us to be active (and not just eat the whole time) during their much anticipated February visit. Does going to the playground after a big breakfast at Grays at the Park count? After her third (my 2nd) trip to sushi and a yummy dish of Yo!, I did happen to mention that I single-handedly re-introduced her to running approximately two years ago ~ and now she is running a marathon in June (okay, a bit of an exaggeration, I was just trying to make myself feel better for all the calories that we consumed)!

Claire enjoyed every moment with Uncle Con and Aunt Eeee. She looked for them when she got up and babbled about Con when she got into bed at night. Tuesday morning (the day after they left) the first thing she said when I got her up - "Con?" What a blessing to have friends that love our little bear! We had a great visit ~ and yes we ate a lot of yummy food. Homemade pozole, Blind Onion pizza, sushi, fondue, Cupcake Jones (this has been on the list forever!) and cake balls. I was quite happy about the cake balls I made, but I don't know if anyone else was a real fan. We also watched the documentary Babies! and recorded the Super Bowl so we could watch the commercials ~ they were a little disappointing.

Family

2011-02-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we were busy with some fun family activities. Saturday morning we went to our cousin Mariah's (Uncle Jim's daughter) basketball game. She is No. 23 (in the white jersey). We must have been good luck - she scored a basket AND her team of 10 & 11 year old girls recorded their first win. Awesome. Saturday night Paul celebrated with the family for Aunt Martha's birthday and Claire and I went to Stacia's baby shower. I meant to take a picture of my sister but somehow missed it in the middle of chasing Claire around the church. Stacia is 31 weeks and going strong - although she was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes. She is managing it through her diet right now. I guess one of the "side affects" of gestational diabetes is larger babies. Um, does this apply when you are having twins?!

A little background - a year ago at Christmas Belinda and I daydreamed a little about having family dinners once a month...for a number of reasons we were not successful at this. I am happy to say that we are trying once again in 2011 ~ and we are 100% so far. Dan, Belinda, Grandma Annabelle, Jason (there were a few absent) came over for dinner last week. It was a good time. We are shooting for our next dinner at Matt & Chiharu's at the end of February. Hoping we are 2 for 2.

Erin and Con come tomorrow for the weekend ~ we're pretty excited!

No. 10?

2011-01-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

It seems like we are always trying to figure out how many reunions we have had....it has been ten years since we graduated, so we are thinking we are pretty close to number ten, if not more! Melissa's sister had her baby a few weeks early, so she was in Spokane rather than in Olympia. VERY sad for us, but very exciting for Melissa's family. We definitely missed her. I guess I felt a bit guilty taking a plethora of pictures without her - but we did manage a few.

It was good to see everyone - it had been almost two years since I had seen Anna and Kori. We were just starting our 30's, now we are officially in at 32! The Griffith's were wonderful hosts and despite the rain we managed to do quite a bit of walking around downtown Olympia and of course ate good food, shopped, watched good movies, and drank incredible amounts of coffee at Batdorf and Bronson. On Monday I consumed 32 ounces of coffee (Claire and I were sharing the same room, i.e. it was necessary). Claire loved seeing the Griffith's again. She is getting rather fond of them...especially Jane. Every baby in our house is currently named "Jane." We didn't digress too often...although one evening Anna, Kori and I stayed up until midnight looking up random people on Facebook and downloading (me) Glee! songs. Tuesday I took Anna and Kori to Ikea on the way to the airport (with a little stop at YO!)...they are now making plans to bring Kori's truck out this summer. I guess it is a little difficult to take Ikea home with you on the plane.

And of course it wouldn't be any fun with out our girls, their sippy cups, and their snacks!

New Year

2011-01-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

It seems a bit like the new year snuck up on me. My Christmas decorations are still up (coming down this weekend, promise). It's been a little hard getting back into the swing of things - but I will get there. We rounded out our Christmas break with a perfect little visit to the Griffiths. (Picture this: Claire and Cate on the couch. Claire trying to hug Cate, Cate telling her that she is going to move "a little." Claire continuing to try and hug Cate. Cate finally deciding a hug from Claire is alright...and then they give each other a little kiss! It was so sweet.) On Sunday we met the Hendricks family at Anthony's Hearthfire Grill to celebrate Mommom's 90th birthday. It is right on the Puget Sound and it was a beautiful winter afternoon ~ a great spot for our celebration.

From Olympia Claire and I drove home and Paul headed to Seattle with Uncle Jim and family. Paul was able to be with Uncle Jim for his finally (hopefully) chemotherapy session. Our heart's prayer is that the chemo will have shrunk the tumors enough for some type of surgery on his liver.

On Monday I wrote down all that was on my mind, so far, for the year. The list is pretty long. Some is tangible, some is not. I think a lot of things I just need to let go of...we'll see. No matter what there are some fun things on the near horizon...
A little reunion, a much anticipated visit, and finally moving into this.

We need a little Christmas

2010-12-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

In the midst of all the Christmas hustle and bustle we really did have a wonderful time with each of our families. Some of our Christmas plans changed a bit - Alisha, Matt & kids decided it was not a good time to make the drive from Montana and Belinda's (Paul's step-mom) dad passed away on the morning of the 20th. So it was a different Christmas but a good Christmas filled with the peace and joy that comes only from Jesus Christ.

Lots of pictures to follow...

Claire getting into the swing of things - this little doll (actually for the bath tub) was literally her FAVORITE gift of all. She loves this baby. She oohs and awws, rocks and kisses her baby. It has never made it to the bath tub.

Stopping at the FlavourSpot for some waffles before we head down to Gates to see Paul's mom and step-dad.

Playing with new sunglasses at Grandma and Poppy's.

Beautiful Pioneer Place (and I got to go to this new hot spot)

Salad rolls at the Festival of the Last Minute with the Hendricks family.

Riding the Max for the first time.

Claire and Mariah (Uncle Jim and Aunt Martha's daughter) - Claire LOVED Mariah. It was so sweet to see them interact. Claire wanted to go wherever Mariah did.

Not sure if Claire is drooling or sweating...either way, she must take after Paul :>

Tea Time

2010-12-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

Claire and I were invited to our first tea part at the Franklin home. Three little girls were invited - Claire, Natalie, and Clara but little Clara got sick. Tea, cookies, and little sandwiches for the ladies and a box of animal cookies for the girls - they were in heaven. Brooke (Natalie's mom) and I tried desperately to get a picture of the girls but to no avail. Despite the lack of pictures we had a great little visit.

Claire, on the couch with her water, cookies and Santa. Happy girl.

Santa - in three parts

2010-12-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

One of the traditions at my former school, Hudson's Bay, is a visit from Santa for all the faculty kids. Claire and I were invited to join the group this year. Here is our experience in three parts:

The approach - it was suggested that I approach Santa with Claire's back to him. Good idea but I don't think it achieved the desired results.

The lap - if I sit on Santa's lap I am sure it will calm Claire down. Nope.

The look & the finger - any doubt about Claire's true feelings for Santa were all erased in our final shot.

Christmas Dance

2010-12-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

I stepped away from my Nazarene roots and hit the dance floor with Paul at the Firefighter Christmas Dance. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic but it was definitely fun! Each year the Portland Firefighters Union puts on a Christmas dinner/dance for the bureau. And for whatever reason we have never gone - but Travis talked the rest of the crew into going this year. It was fun to reconnect with old friends and also meet a lot of new faces. As far as the dancing goes...we kept waiting for a slow song, you know the ones where you really don't need to know how to dance...but they never came! So we got brave and talked the rest of our group onto the dance floor. We still had no clue what we were doing - but no one else did either!

Tree

2010-12-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Hunting and gathering...picking the perfect tree with daddy.

So, our tree is on our table. Christmas is a peaceful time of year and we felt like saying "no touch" for the next three weeks would be anything put peaceful. We love our little tree.

We have been scooting Claire and Grizz around the house in an empty diaper box all week. It's pretty fun. She has now moved "empty boxes" to the top of her Christmas list.

Thankful

2010-12-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving - although we missed Paul - but we combined forces with my mom, Stacia, Matt & kids and Paul's Dad, step-mom and her two sons. So we were well taken care of. For the most part, Claire is a really good eater but she wanted little to do with Thanksgiving dinner - other than the cranberry sauce. I think the problem was she had eaten a raspberry, really liked it and so decided she would only eat red things the rest of the meal. Stinker.
The week prior to Thanksgiving I had several nice little birthday packages delivered and celebrations. Saturday night my mom, Stacia and I went out to dinner (where we met up with family friends that I haven't seen since middle/high school? Fun!) and did a little (a lot!) of shopping. Wednesday morning Asha and Alisha took me out for breakfast - one of my top ten favorite things to do! Paul and Claire got me a really nice pair of gloves - I have been feeling sorry for myself because my hands FREEZE when I am outside helping with Kindergarten pick up at work (it is intense). And to top it off my mom took care of me - she brought chocolate cake to Thanksgiving dinner (I'm not a fan of that pumpkin stuff).

It's that time of year and we are loving our daily fires in the fireplace.

No. 8

2010-11-16T20:17:00.001-08:00

We had a nice little eight year anniversary last Tuesday night. Eight years and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, doing anything else, with anybody else but Paul. It's so nice to be married to your favorite person!
Grandma came over and we went out for the evening. We had a cozy dinner by the roaring fire at the Hudson's Bar & Grill - which is connected to the Heathman Hotel - where we stayed on Nov. 9th, eight years ago. We had yummy hamburgers, which I did tell Paul that I definitely would not have ordered eight years ago (I ordered soup and salad then :>). The chef had his signature bread pudding (with a candle) delivered to our table for dessert. I must say I am not a huge bread pudding fan (it's all about the texture) but it was pretty good. After dinner we headed to see RED. Loved it. Still not sure why Demi chose Ashton over Bruce...

Projects galore are still happening around our house. The weather has continued to be pretty mild so Paul has been working a lot outside. He bought this old fireplace on craigslist and is basically forming an outdoor fireplace around it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will soon come indoors and we will finish our master bedroom remodel - now THAT is an exciting thought!
On the Claire front - she is loving her new Robeez mini shoez. We have gone on several walks around the block. The key is keeping her from sitting down in the middle of the sidewalk. Claire is also jibber-jabbering and really trying to repeat what we say to her. Some words we are hearing lately...bye-bye and cat...she attempts a lot more but I would say these are the most recognizable :).

Hello November!

2010-11-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

Harvest: I am hoping that Claire will forgive me when she is older. For the second year in a row she did not wear a costume on Halloween, she didn't go trick or treating, nor did she attend the church Harvest Party. I have decided that one needs to stay up past 7:00pm to take part in these rituals...so, maybe next year? BUT she did look darn cute in her little spider shirt.

Perfect fit: We have been working on fitting Claire with "new" shoes. She has enjoyed her soft-soled Robeez but they are not cutting it for her new outdoor adventures. Paul, unfortunately, has several foot issues so we are trying our best to take care of Claire's little feet. I picked her up some Stride Rites on Saturday, then we proceeded to try and coax her to walk in them. She would not budge. She wore them to church today and would not take one little step. I am thinking we might try the next step up from the soft-soled shoes - she is not digging the Stride Rites. Stay tuned.

Expanding: The Perez family is growing exponentially! In early September Matt and Stacia found out they are expecting twins! And we just found out this week that it is a boy and a girl - how fun. The twins are due at the beginning of April...we are looking forward to meeting our new niece and nephew!

So, it's fall

2010-10-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love fall. And we love our annual trip to Hood River. We could not have picked a more beautiful day to venture out to the Gorge. We were able to do several things with our Claire Bear. First we stopped at Apple Valley Country Store for a yummy bbq lunch and pie pops. Claire is a fan of pulled pork and baked beans.

Next we stopped and visited the Alpaca farm (Claire wasn't as impressed as I thought she would be). From there we landed at Draper Girls Country Farm - which has become one of our favorite stops over the years. We got our fill of pictures, pumpkins, goats, and apples. I passed up the cookie stop in order to save room for the homemade apple crisp made with our Hood River apples. It was a pretty good exchange. I am so thankful for little weekends like this.

Our little walker

2010-10-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Not a perfect video but it is proof that we have a little walker on our hands. When Claire was a crawler, her favorite thing was to crawl with an item in each hand. So now her favorite thing is to carry anything and everything around the house. This is her escaping from Paul with some electronic device instructions.

Beach

2010-10-11T20:43:00.001-07:00

The four of us spent the weekend at Lincoln City - we had a wonderful time. How could we not - sun, yummy breakfast, ocean view, and our little bear.

There was only one large picture window. Claire loved the seagulls and watching all the dogs down below on the beach. Scout also loved the seagulls and dogs - so they had to take turns looking out the window. Paul and I were laughing as they literally were pushing eachother out of the way. Oh boy.

Sand! For the first time! She doesn't like grass much so I was wondering how she would take to the sand. She definitely liked it but did not want to stand barefoot in it. And of course it was going well until the hand went in the mouth! Water bottle stat!

The four of us...Scout is confused as to which end is his best end.

Pancakes for the first time. She is a fan.

A little visit

2010-10-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Could anybody be any cuter or any littler?! A few weekends ago Claire and I zipped up to Olympia to visit Andrea, Telfer, Cate, Jane and Henry. Andrea is amazing and recovering. She looked beautiful ~ she was showered and put together ~ I don't remember doing this for a month after Claire was born, let alone two weeks! Cate was asleep most of our visit so Claire had full access to Cate's toys - she was very happy. And also very interested in Henry - who put up with her for the most part. It was so good to see everyone. Definitely looking forward to our next visit.

Change, Change, Change

2010-09-17T20:10:00.001-07:00

Lets see. This may come as a surprise but I am not one for change. Lived in the same house all my life, went to three schools from K through twelfth grade, same college for four years (and basically the same roommates for all four years), only lived in two different dorms during those four years, same husband for almost eight years (smile), same teaching position for eight years...So surprisingly, there has been quite a bit of change in our house. At the end of the school year I accepted a new position as a teacher-librarian at Harney Elementary. From seniors to kindergartners. From social studies to Dewey Decimal. Now I talk about how we behave in the library and book care - while my students raise their hand and tell me about their loose tooth and that they need to go poop. Really. My first class was 24 kindergartners. After eight years of teaching I was speechless. Needless to say I am a tad bit overwhelmed. BUT I have brought zero work home with me - and that is a good deal. Especially when I get to come home to Paul and this sweet girl - who is SO busy. Claire's current favorite food is corn on the cob (or anything we are eating), favorite words are "uh-oh" and some version of "Scout." AND she has taken three to four steps on her own. Change, change, change...

197 miles

2010-09-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

This was my sixth Hood to Coast and probably the smoothest one to date. I might even say (with quite a bit of hesitation) that leaving Claire overnight for the first time was more difficult. Might. Team Runner's High was made up of several Hudson's Bay teachers, their spouses, a firefighter, a nurse, a respiratory therapist and a few last minute replacements. And of course, our outstanding driver, Paul! So we were the team to be around if you had any troubles - we could nurse you back to health and tutor you during the process. We were van number one again - picture one - the crew at the top. It was a little chilly but fortunately it warmed up alot as we came down the mountain. I decided I need to do a little tanning before I stand next to Tara again...
I had the "pleasure" of being runner number one...and here I go! Six miles down hill - a 2,000 foot elevation drop. People have lots of advice for how to run this but unfortunately you just have to do it. I have now been runner one and runner twelve (last one)...jury is still out on which is better.
One leg down, two to go. Our van - (l-r) Pete, Tara, Oscar, Paul, me, Erin, and Con. We had a nice little rest at Tara's parents house - shower, spaghetti, and a leg massage if you were lucky. Paul told me that I was walking like I had run all three of my legs already. Not a good sign. But it got me a massage :).

Hood to Coast was just like I remembered...lots of hills. This is Con's two mile up hill jaunt...

Honey Buckets and vans as far as the eye can see...

Awesome team names and costumes. Top Gun was the favorite. How could it not be?!

And finally...Seaside! The whole crew -
(l-r, f-b) Brian, Mandy, Eric,
Oscar, Tara, Tess, Carey, Erin, me
Esteban, Pete & Con

We also had our best finish ever:
Mixed Open Category: 34 out of 315 teams
Overall finish: 209 out of 1,000 teams
Total time: 26 hours, 32 minutes, 2 seconds

Dare I say...see ya next year?

Mission Lake

2010-09-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

How could we resist this picture? When Erin and Con were making plans for their August visit we decided to get away for a few nights. We began looking on-line and decided this was it. This is my kind of place - walk out the back door to your own quiet little lake. Mission lake is not fancy at all but it was a great house and a great location. We ate good food, watched good movies (Paul had never seen!), relaxed, and visited Port Townsend.

Paul and Con decided to have a contest - who could make fire the fastest by rubbing sticks together. Erin and I stood patiently by holding the s'more ingredients and getting a good laugh. The winner? The cigarette lighter in the truck... Erin and I were just happy to have our s'mores.

First paddle (peddle?) boat ride...we didn't make her peddle this time. Maybe next year!

Erin and I spent many hours with Claire in the backseat of the truck - entertaining her, teaching her to make new noises, saying "hi", and "hiding" from her so she would fall asleep. Con and Erin had to put up with my schedules - they are good sports! The ride home from Port Townsend was pretty long and late - we stopped for dinner and Claire was thinking this was NOT on her schedule!

Beautiful Port Townsend. We are still laughing at Paul's shirt...

Next...Alaska

2010-09-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

There is no way I can do this justice, but...in the midst of all our August doings Paul and his buddy Tim spent a week in Alaska. Seven days of fishing, camping, hoping to see a bear (only saw a couple moose), carrying guns around, awesome scenery, driving around a U-Haul van (cheaper than renting a 'regular' van), and more fish. Each evening I would get phone calls like, "my arm hurts from catching so much fish!" They had a great time and I have 20 pounds of salmon in my freezer. Not a bad deal. Tim is thinking he and Paul need to do this once a year...wonder what trip I will be taking once a year? :)

In It to Win It

2010-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Before...

After...being christened by the the family...

"In It to Win It" is the the motto adopted by our family as we pray for Paul's Uncle Jim who is battling stage four liver cancer. In situations like this it is so hard to know what to do - you want to do something, but what? After learning of his uncle's diagnosis Paul became a man on a mission - he wanted to makeover Uncle Jim and Aunt Martha's backyard. With the help of Uncle Scott and MANY, MANY friends and family - in a matter of two weeks - they raised over $5,000 and had all the manpower donated to complete an amazing weekend makeover. The makeover weekend was incredible - the work and the people never stopped - and the result is a beautiful, peaceful, special place for Uncle Jim, Aunt Martha, and Mariah to enjoy.

First Birthday Party

2010-08-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Why wouldn't I decide to make a recipe that I have never made before the day of Claire's first birthday party?! The cupcakes turned out well but I don't think I would do the same frosting again. It was made from egg whites and a lot of "mixing" until peaks form. I am not good at identifying peaks that hold and don't hold. Anyway, we had a great gathering of our family to celebrate Claire's first birthday. It was a special treat to have the Montana crew join us. I have always been a fan of the "one friend per year of age" concept but with six cousins in attendance that rule was thrown out the window. We will see about friends next year :).

This was Claire's first experience with sweets (cousin Miles is looking on with eager anticipation). She was a definite fan - although neither of us were impressed when Paul took away most of the cupcake! He didn't want her to overdue it and get sick...so rational! :)

Due to the loss of half her cupcake she was determined to get EVERY last crumb. Love that little finger.

The "guests" under our almost finished outdoor space! Happy Birthday Claire Bear!

Our big ONE year old! This was her favorite gift...

And we're ONE

2010-08-05T20:16:00.001-07:00

Going home for the first time...she was our 8.6lb bear from the beginning.

Ready for today's swimming lesson!

And we are excited! The swim class (okay, the mother's) sang happy birthday to Claire. Very sweet.

Our favorite little bear with her big bear.

Claire is one. We can hardly believe it. We can also hardly believe that we have been parents for a whole year. What an amazing year it has been. I can't imagine time going any faster than it has the past 12 months. The three of us had a great day and we are looking forward to celebrating her birthday next week with our families (when Matt, Alisha and kids are in town). Happy Birthday Claire Elizabeth!
One year stats: 18lbs 12.5 oz (15%), 29 inches (51%)

I remember...

*Worrying that I wouldn't know when I was in labor and then waking up at 3am and knowing...
*Texting Andrea and telling her I wasn't feeling that great. She figured I would be having Claire soon, but didn't want to tell me that - I was already 5 days overdue...
*Puttering around the house all day, assuming that I better get the house ready...
*Paul telling me to keep track of the contractions and not doing that great of job at it...
*Going out to sushi dinner with Con and Erin...I got the bento box...
*The contractions getting harder all throughout the day and dinner...
*Being determined to make Italian sodas (C & E had never had one) - stopping at Fred Meyer to pick up the ingredients...
*Going on a walk with C, E, their Bear, Paul and "the notepad"...keeping track of the contractions and realizing they were getting pretty close...
*Erin taking pictures of us on our "last" walk (and my enormous feet)...
*Paul making the biggest Italian sodas I have ever seen and then not letting me have one since I was going to be having a baby soon...
*Paul deciding it was time...
*Not wanting to go for fear of being sent home...
*Crying...wondering if I could actually go through labor...
*Arriving at the hospital around 9:30pm - I was good to go...
*Calling our families to tell them there would probably be a baby by morning (hopefully!)...
*An epidural is amazing...dilating from 5 to 10 without even knowing it...
*Throwing up...
*Laboring all night long...
*Claire Elizabeth arriving at 8:00am sharp Wednesday, August 5th...
*That wasn't as bad as I thought...
*Loving this little girl with all my heart...

July

2010-07-31T19:19:00.001-07:00

I should get better at this blogging thing so I am not writing about a WHOLE month at one time. Visiting: We have been doing a little visiting with friends and family. Claire and I made a quick trip out to Troutdale to visit Tara and pick up some new running shoes at the Adidas outlet (because Hood to Coast is only a month away). We did a little walk through downtown Troutdale, shopped and (of course) left our toy's behind at Tara's. Last weekend Matt and Alisha made a quick trip from Montana WITHOUT their three kids! I don't think they knew what to do with themselves. They flew in on Friday morning, picked up a vehicle from Paul's mom and then headed home early Sunday morning. They will be back in about a week - with the three kids.

Birthdays: We celebrated Papa's birthday (my dad) and Alana's second birthday. For Alana's birthday we celebrated at a local park - which was lots of fun for all the little munchkins. Although I realized Claire is a little young for a birthday party at the park - she was pretty limited to what she could do, and that is frustrating when you are 11 months old!
Sporty: Please ignore Claire's attire in this picture - we had just returned from a run and she is in multi-random layers of clothing to keep her warm (it has been cold in the mornings!). For all the basketball fans/players out there - I love this picture. She is taking a knee (didn't we ALL do this in every sports photo) and "dribbling" her little orange ball. All-star in the making.
Water baby: One week of swimming lessons down - she seems to be liking it. Two main goals: blowing bubbles and convincing her to come to us (in the pool) as she sits on the edge. She just sits on the edge and shakes her head "no."

*We continue to pray for several people we love who are in difficult situations. A very recent shock was discovering that Paul's Uncle Jim, who he is very close to, has stage four liver cancer. Our hearts are heavy as Uncle Jim, Aunt Martha and Mariah (10) begin this unexpected journey.

Before 12

2010-07-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

I was waiting on some pictures (I managed to not take any pictures of Claire while camping last week) before I did a new post but realized that might take a few days.
Here is Claire on her first fourth of July (day before turning 11 months). Notice the long-sleeve shirt and pants under her patriotic dress - definitely not the blistering heat we had last year when I was 8.5 months prego! I have a feeling it will be easy to top this year's festivities - Paul was working, his parents were in Montana, and Stacia and I were preparing for a week at ski camp. No hot dogs, sparklers, or ice cream for us. Claire and I did manage to kidnap Great-Grandma Annabelle (who had been craving a hot fudge sundae) and took her to Red Robin. I do feel like I have a slight understanding of what it might be like to live in a war zone...our neighbors a couple of streets over made sure of that. Happy Independence Day!

PS: a "new" mom comment...my mom said that Claire's nose looks a little odd in this picture. I promise her nose is fine...

Rocky Mountain High

2010-07-03T19:31:00.001-07:00

Colorado is beautiful...it reminded me a lot of Idaho (which I am partial to). We had a great trip and a wonderful visit with Con and Erin. Claire did an excellent job on both flights - it was definitely helpful that we sat by a labor and delivery nurse on our way out and on the way in we sat by a former colleague of mine. Despite missing quite a few naps, she was a trooper. She crawled and jabbered her way through the trip. Fishing was the general theme (Paul!) of the trip - but somehow we managed to fit in some adventures around Paul and Con's excursions to the river (which ran right in front of their house - he couldn't help himself). Sunday we started off our day quite deliciously at Snooze - a little a.m. eatery that we had read about in Cooking Light. Con garnered lots of praise from passerby-ers (?) for the blanket that he had for us to sit on while we waited. Good work. After breakfast we made a brief stop at Washington Park and then headed up into the mountains.

Monday we did a little hiking up to the old Boston Mine. E & C borrowed a BOB from a co-worker which was perfect for Claire. Once we found the ruins, Claire was able to do a little "hiking" of her own. The scenery was incredible. On our way home we stopped in Vail and did a quick walk through - now we can say we have been there.

Tuesday morning breakfast at the Pantry (for Erin, Claire and I...Paul and Con were fishing), shopping at the Silverthorne outlets and a trip to the Marble Slab for "two dollar Tuesday." Yum. The next morning we were off to the airport.

Hopefully we can explore Colorado again some day. So much to see and do - we just got a little slice.

*During our trip, Andrea was never far from my thoughts. As we know, God is gracious and good. We are so thankful that He is taking care of the Griffith family.

Firsts

2010-06-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

Claire's first time in a swing! She had moments of enjoyment but was mostly serious - not quite sure what to think. This picture is from several weeks ago - when we were so sun starved that we had to pack in everything we could in one sunny afternoon. Now that school is out (finally!) we are having some pretty nice weather...we can actually turn the heat off in Claire's room!

Waking up...don't you want your picture taken first thing in the morning?

First Father's Day! Paul just finished a four day (96 hour) stretch of work - including Father's Day. Claire and I had to make the trek to the station to see him on his "first!"

First visit to Great-Grandpa's farm with Stacia, Joshua, Alana and my dad. Claire's not too happy...it was nap time...

Tomorrow we head off on our first summer adventure and Claire's first plane flight (prayers are appreciated) to visit the neighbor's in Colorado. We are excited!

When we return home, for the first time in nine years, the Griffith's will live in the Pacific Northwest. As Andrea and I would say, we can actually be "normal" friends! Can't wait.

Four in One

2010-06-05T12:13:00.001-07:00

Peonies are blooming in our yard. Probably one of my favorite flowers. We have had so much rain, one would think it is the middle of March. Hoping this means a long and late summer?

Claire and I met Paul for breakfast this morning at Petite Provence on Alberta. She is ten months old today (17.85 lbs and 28.5 inches long) and this may only be our second or third time having a meal out with her. It was a perfect morning. Claire loved people watching and I loved my risotto cakes with butternut squash and potatoes! We might have left with two "extra" pain au chocolates in our bag...maybe. After breakfast Paul and Claire headed home (who has her first ear infection!) and I went to REI and Target by MYSELF. Walked around downtown Portland with an iced coffee in my hand and the sun shining...lovely.

My husband has been missing for the month of May. The regulations for mustache length (for the bureau) changed - so the station decided it was "mustache May" - slightly scary when he came home like this. I was pleased to see that mustache May was over when we met for breakfast this morning!

Looking back...we really enjoyed our full moon hike although we did get separated from the group. The guide was going to take us to a lake but then decided the terrain was too slick, we of course waited for everyone to pass by the other way and then headed down the trail ourselves. When we came back to the main trail the group was nowhere to be found (it was about 9:30pm). We went one direction and then the other - never did find them. When we got back to the parking lot all the cars were still there. Hopefully they are not still looking for us.

Our Memorial Day weekend did not turn out quite as planned - does this look familiar? Our attempt at drying and leveling our yard did not really work three years ago. Paul came across some free dirt, rented a tractor and decided to give it a go again. So the weekend for him was spent in the rain, on a tractor, moving dirt from the front to backyard. We had the family over Sunday evening for his birthday at 6 - Paul made it by about 6:30. I think he worked about 40 hours in three days. Now we wait for the dirt to dry...

So long...

2010-05-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well the most loved guy in our house is saying so long to his twenties (finally!) as he heads into his thirties bright and early tomorrow morning. It will be nice to have him join this illustrious group! We have had a good couple of weeks - school is almost out and I turned in my library endorsement portfolio this afternoon. Yeah. The other night we got out the calendar and started making some summer plans - we are looking forward to it! Tonight Paul and I are going on a "full moon hike" at the Wildlife refuge. Pretty exciting. We need to remember our raincoats and a flashlight - there will be about 20 of us. Sunday we are going to have the family over to celebrate Paul and then a little relaxing on Monday - possibly going out to breakfast in Portland. Yum. Claire is pretty excited about it...

Nine

2010-05-08T20:55:00.001-07:00

Claire turned nine months on Wednesday and it is hard to believe how much she is changing and growing every day. We love every moment.
*17 lbs
*Started crawling Friday, April 30th - a little sloppy but she is getting better by the day
*Finally (now that school is almost out) she is doing well at my sister's
*Tooth number five is peaking through
*Not too sure about cottage cheese
*Likes her bananas, oatmeal, and veggies
*Sleeping through the night is good but long naps, not so much anymore
*Full of laughter and joy
*Still our little bear...

Visitors

2010-05-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

We were definitely looking forward to seeing our visitors from Colorado. I naively mentioned to Erin prior to their visit that I might have shed a few pounds...well, they all found their way back.

The weekend was really good - spent shopping, eating and hanging out with Claire. As Erin mentioned Claire started crawling! I had told Con and Erin when I picked them up from the airport that she was getting close to crawling, so they were determined to see it happen while they were in town. When we got to our house they proceeded to crawl around the living room (in front of Claire) to encourage her. Claire must have been pretty impressed!
We have been talking about going to the food carts in Portland for a long time. I took the day off Friday and we were set to go. Being the good students that we are, Erin and I researched the best Vietnamese food cart - we came up with two options. Paul and Con went fishing Friday morning and didn't make it back in time so Erin, Claire and I headed to downtown on our own. It was pretty exciting to find the hustle and bustle of the food carts and then...the cart we came for was closed. Seriously. We loaded ourselves back into the car and went to the second option. It was closed. Back in the car we went, back to the other group of food carts. We managed to get some pretty yummy beef pho, banh mi and Vietnamese coffee. We survived.

So, food and shopping - Yo!, pulled pork tacos, food carts, sushi, dessert, burgers...shoes, strollers, groceries, kitchen...

Busy

2010-04-17T14:02:00.001-07:00

Paul has been busy fishing and hanging out with Claire. Last Wednesday he met up with his former lieutenant at 5am for some spring chinook salmon fishing and before I had to leave for work he was back home with an 18lb. salmon. Not bad. Because of my library practicum Paul and Claire are also having longer days together. The typical scene when I get home - Claire still in her pj's (or maybe just a onesie) and ALOT of multi-tasking going on!

Claire is probably the busiest of us all. She has now figured out how to get herself to the sitting position and it is pretty fun to walk in her room in the a.m. and see her little bald head sticking up over the crib rail. She also now has FOUR teeth - her top two have come in over the past several weeks. We love that toothy grin! She is still trying to figure out her sippy cup - would much rather chew than drink.

My library practicum is going well. I am teaching my first lesson on Tuesday - working with fourth graders and Excel. A good match-up. I am also working on sequestering one of these (off of craigslist) because August will be here before we know it.

Last, but not least - I know an astronaut. Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger is a former colleague of mine (and Hood to Coast teammate). Five years ago she was chosen as an educator-astronaut and on April 5th she launched into space with the crew of STS-131. For the first time ever there are four women in space at one time. Pretty amazing. We are hoping she will stop by our high school once she is back on planet earth.

He Is Risen Indeed.

2010-04-04T20:37:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

Claire (eight months tomorrow!) was tuckered out and we hadn't even been to Church yet. She was saving her energy for the big Easter dinner - all 17 of us. It was a nice combination of both of our families.

Uncle Matt and Aunt Chiharu.

I would say they are related...

Spring Break

2010-04-04T20:10:00.001-07:00

Paul took a little "spring break" too - it was really nice to spend the week together. I could get used to this. We spent most of our time around the house but we did manage to get away to central Oregon for a couple of nights.

We consumed copious amounts of coffee. I would move to Sisters just to have this. Everyday.

Checked out some wildlife.

Enjoyed some crisp (little rudolph nose) sunshine.

And attempted a family picture.

Thursday night I enjoyed an evening out with my dear friends Asha and Alisha. With five kids between us our time together these days seems limited and crazy! But the kids stayed home and we had a delicious dinner and good conversation.

Friday Paul and I went on a little date - and somehow we ended up here. How life has changed - in a good way.

Spring

2010-03-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Spring arrived on Saturday with 71 degrees. This may be hard to keep up for the next three months but it was a great start! Our little family, along with a majority of Clark County, headed down to the opening day of the Vancouver Farmers Market. Not a lot of produce but a lot of people and yummy food. After filling our tummies with hand dipped corn dogs and kettle corn we decided to "work it off" with a nice drive through the country. Good decision.

Foodie

2010-03-21T20:29:00.001-07:00

I have been back at work for almost two months and life is pretty full and busy - but very fun. Claire has added sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas, pears, and apples to her weekly menu. Often times she enjoys the spoon more then the food! She is a pretty good little eater. This month she also got to visit with two of her three great grandmas - my mom's mom and Paul's dad's mom. The verdict is still out on whether she will keep her blue eyes but if she does, she got them from these two special ladies. Claire also got to "check out" her first library books. I am getting ready to start my practicum for my Library Media endorsement. So we stopped by Lincoln Elementary where I will be working (first graders are SO much cuter than 17 year olds!). The Librarian let Claire check out a stack of books: The Best Nest, Little Bear books, Angelina books...she is just gobbling them up...literally!

Yardwork

2010-03-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

For many, many weeks we felt like the messy neighbors. We have a huge backyard project going on with Paul building a patio and covered area. We had been accumulating sand, rocks, and pavers in large piles in the garage and drive way. The winter rain finally let up and Paul decided he better get us back in the good graces of our neighbors. So we are happy to say the drive way is cleaned up, plants have been moved around, new shrubs and trees planted - topped off with a little layer of bark. It felt good to get it all done. When we were finished the first thing neighbor Doug said, "when is the 'for sale' sign going up?" Come on, was it that bad?

Our Valentine

2010-02-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

2010-02-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

When our neighbors Con & Erin sold their house this summer we new this day would come - it just came much sooner than we had hoped. Con accepted a job at the hospital in Vail, CO, so this week they packed up the U-Haul, sold one of their cars, loaded the dog and cat into their new truck/camper, and shipped their van to Colorado. They will now be a days drive from family (who lives in Kansas) and are one step closer to traveling and living on the road.
Thursday night we spent one last evening together - dinner at Autentica and you can't leave Portland if you have never been here.
It is a big loss for the three of us ~ we have been very blessed by their friendship.
We are super sad.
Well, I guess I have always wanted to see Colorado...

Six months

2010-02-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Claire turned six months old - we can hardly believe it! It was a momentous week - I went back to work part-time and she started spending part of the week at her Aunt Stacia's and part of the week with Paul. She is loving her time with her daddy and is still adjusting a bit to my sisters. She loves my sister but is a bit overwhelmed by the activity of her older cousins :). Someone else that Claire loves is Scout! She is very interested in everything that Scout does and whenever she sees him it is like Christmas morning all over again! Paul is pretty convinced that she has a word for Scout ("da") but we are still looking into that :).
Six months stats: 14.3 lbs (14%) and 26.5 inches long (75%)

Carhartt Chick

2010-01-20T20:04:00.000-08:00

On Monday we found ourselves making a trip to Coastal Farm & Ranch with Con and Erin. Con and Erin actually live on a farm so we it was necessary to make this trip with them. Paul *wishes* he lived on a farm - but for now he will just have to be a suburban farmer. Claire had to take advantage of the opportunity to wear her Carhartt overalls - could this girl be ANY cuter?! We tried out the saddle but she wasn't quite into it. Coastal was fun - a lot of cowboy boots and wranglers. There were a pair of oh-so-cute baby wranglers - fortunately they were $30 or I MIGHT have needed to buy them. After Coastal we put Claire to bed, Grandma Lundy came over, and the four of us headed to Five Guys for our first Five Guys experience. Delicious.

5 months + 2 teeth

2010-01-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I have been reading articles debating on how we should refer to 2010 - "twenty-ten" or "two thousand and ten." I think I am going to go with "twenty-ten."

The Tuesday before New Year's the Portland/Vancouver area was surprised with a little snow storm - beautiful but causing the worst commute in over a decade! Claire saw her first snow (okay, technically she saw snow in Montana but being -22 she wasn't allowed outside) and she was pretty interested. Twenty-ten came and went without much fanfare - especially when you have a baby that goes to bed at 6pm! Paul and I spent the day out - sushi, shopping - and then settled in for a night of chili, cinnamon rolls and watching "The Proposal." I think we were in bed by 10...it was a good night.

This week Claire turned 5 months old and we realized that she, without even mentioning it to us, had cut her two bottom teeth! We had a weight check on Tuesday - 13.8lbs!

Around the house - Paul is tiling our master bathroom with the hopes that we *might* be moved into our *new* master bedroom by the time I go back to work in February!

Cereal

2009-12-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

A little belated but still cute...Claire started eating rice cereal about 2 weeks ago...and she likes it! I was in no rush but our pediatrician suggested maybe adding cereal to her diet to see if we could put some weight on her (she is in the 20th percentile for her weight). I think it might be working - I'm noticing a little roll forming on each of her thighs :).