Progress

Brian and I were able to take a quick day trip down to the cabin to see the progress. We totally lucked out and it was absolutely one of the nicest days of the year on the coast. 85 degrees with no wind! Just beautiful. This little cabin has taken on such a transformation, yet still retaining its original charm! Scott has done an amazing job heading up the project.

The view from the drive way at the front door. They were putting on a deck the day we got there.



The view from the street below. There will be a bunk room, washer/dryer, bathroom, and mini kitchen down there.


The sleeping loft above the living area.

View from the living room. The house you can see out the window just went up this year also.... It didn't block the view nearly what I thought it would.

The Pacific Ocean from the nook.

We continue to feel so very fortunate to have been able to use this wonderful cabin and can't even tell you the excitement we have about it for the future!

On the way home, Bri and I stopped at Roseanne's to celebrate a belated 12th anniversary. Got to go to soccer practice and back to school night on our actual anniversary ;) ...... What a fitting place to do it. We have a lot to be grateful for.

To Music....Oaks Amusement Park

Sorry for the original post with no words.... I had just finished completing the blog, when my computer froze and all my commentary was lost. So I begin again.

With two of the three being in full time school, I now have a little more uninterrupted time to do many things, one of which is going to be working on my blog/journal. I wanted to include some of the things we did over the summer.....

Yes, I finally did it. Took the kids to Oaks Amusement Park! I haven't been here in years, in fact the last time I was here I didn't even have kids! I was working at an elementary after school program while I was finishing up my degree. This is where I met Nell, one of my longest and dearest friends in Oregon. We met her and Leslie, another longtime friend, at the park at the end of this summer. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it's kind of amazing to see how far we've come from those days of working at Duniway..... Husbands, Kids, Houses, Degrees (Nell's a Masters) and pets.

It's such an interesting feeling to see your children playing with you friend's children. It made me feel a tad old, but also really accomplished. In any event, everyone had a really good time.

All the kids, minus Allyssa (in the front pack) on the Frog Hopper. Their height restrictions were somewhat, oh how do I say this, ambiguous?

My two year old 25 feet in the air with only a little bar holding her in place.... what kind of mother am I?

Ella, Madelyn, Avery and Grace with Smokey

Chandler was an old pro at the roller coaster and showed Jake the ropes around the park.

This little funny mirror seriously kept them entertained for 30 minutes.

This will have to do....as we do not have Disneyland planned for a few more years:) Although Kiran says that's overrated too.

Go Pink Lightning, Go Titans

Not a bad way to start out the season!!

Pink lightning's record: 1-0!

Titan's record: 1-0!

I generally hate talking about the weather....but it was just sunny and beautiful for the games. Avery had a 8:30am game and Jake's not till 10:50... What else to do with an hour to kill in between games?? McDonalds Breakfast of course. I generally am not a fan of McDonalds.....but their breakfast menu is to die for... The sausage McGriddle.

Might I digress, I was talking about Soccer right?

This is Avery's first year to play on a Soccer team and she is just the cutest. Those 6-8 year old girls can really be aggressive. She's smack in the middle of the picture.



Avery especially fond of the number six, she's six you know.


She did have a brief moment of acting like a dog (only the top paws) but then shortly got into the game. She blocked three or four goals!! And wasn't the least bit scared of the ball.

Running in for water.

Pep talk from Coach Emily

Jake, the seasoned soccer player, is excited to be on a team with a few of his good friends. Brian helped coach his side of the field and Jake scored one goal. That kid is such a hustler!!

Squaring up on the ball.

Max, Kelvin, and Jake...

Two kids in sports....... I think I will encourage Grace to be a TV watcher??

And So It Begins...

Two kids in full time school!!! Can hardly believe it.

Avery in 1st grade with Mrs. Kluver (Jake's teacher from last year) and Jake in 2nd grade with Ms. Kelly. I think it's gonna be a great year with great teachers and fun friends in their classes.

Asked Jake to put his arm around his sister for the picture, and he actually did it !!!!!! I can only imagine how Avery felt. She idolizes her older brother (when he's not being mean to her)


1st day of school outfit. Brown dress and pink leggings. She wanted to wear a sweat suite..... I vetoed it!


One more arm picture.

Jake's 1st day of school Mario shirt. Gaynea Shirli made it for him and he was so proud to wear it.

The backpack shot.

Grace also wanted a picture taken before we walked to school.

The cutest fairy shirts and striped skirts my mom embellished. The girls got so many compliments on them! Great back to school outfits for the future.

Mom made the trip down to give them their school clothes and go to get Avery's hair cut.

I was almost giddy with excitement.....got the kids to school and soooo much that I could accomplish with sooo much time. We went to Ray's fruit stand, came home to put groceries away, and Grace knocked over the bar stool and broke it in half. Guess that I will be fixing a chair today. So much for an unplanned day.... but even that couldn't kill the mood :)

Now with a little extra time, will be updating the blog from more of our summer fun adventures.

Cousins + Fountains = Fun

The Wilsonville Fountains.

I love the heat, I love the smell of chlorine water, I love the sound of a lot of kids laughing together. This makes for my favorite kind of summer day.

New Gymnastic moves.

PS - Tired kids, and afternoon naps are just a bonus.

Where's the Party?

I love to ask this question when in a big group of kids. Well let me answer the question!! The party was at the Horse barn!!! And boy was it a party.

For Avery's 6th Birthday she really wanted a horseback riding party. Well for their Birthdays, I really like to be the dream-maker....... So we made it happen. Avery had been to Haven of Hope Horse Ranch for a preschool field trip and at that time they had mentioned that they did Birthday parties. Well I stored that away, and called them to see if we could celebrate Avery's Birthday with them.

I was only slightly uncomfortable letting the kids parents know they would need to sign liability waivers :)

Avery invited 6 close friends and cousins. There is such a magic when children get around animals, and this was no exception. The kids were all able to ride the horses, pet them, feed them and even paint them (more on that later).I think this will be a memorable 6th Birthday for an amazing 6 year old.


All the girls got their pictures taken meeting 'Dutch'.


They had the choice to ride Dutch or Ichabod (he was HUGE)



Painting the horses. I think all the adults there were a little surprised by this. What would PETA say?

But when the party was over, all the kids just kept talking about how they were able to paint a horse! Ichabod is pictured below.

Helmets required!

I think I was the only one with flip-flops.... As Bri would say, " Only Holly".

Avery having a moment up close.

All the children: Grace C., Grace G., Eli, Jake, Lucy, Gretchen, Rachel, Emma, Avery, and Caitlyn. And Ichabod the horse.

Horse cupcakes with Skittle apples.

And because my parents were not going to be able to be at the Horse party, we had a second party (which was actually first) celebrating Max and Avery's August Birthdays.

Avery got a Ipod shuffle. It was on sale and I will tell you some of the best money I ever spent. She loves to listen to music and sing along. It is really priceless. And only a little sad that her two year old sister wants one too!

Hillary helped me to snap this shot. I love her face.

The party was fish themed. My mom had goldfish on the table and a goldfish cake. We even ate fish for dinner, Salmon Bri had caught on his fishing trip.

Singing.

Mom picked out this cute outfit. It reminded both of us of Aunt Kiran. Avery will be wearing this for the first day of school.

The rowdy, no shirt cousins. I love that they love each other!

I love you Avery. I'm grateful to have been a part of your first six years. You really bring a lot of joy, happiness and laughter to my life.

Happy Birthday. May ALL your dreams come true.

Beach Trip

Our family has been going to Brian's parents Beach Cabin, well, since the beginning of our family.
To say that we love this place, is an understatement.

We recently took a trip with Brian's parents to check out its progress.

A few years ago Brian's parents decided to sell the lot to the North of the cabin to finance the remodel of the 500 square foot cabin. Well the remodel is finally underway and going well, in fact the inspector signed off on all the permits today. Today also would have been Brian's Grandma Isabel's Birthday. Maybe she had a hand in it. She and Grampa David originally purchased this cabin and it was later passed down to Patsy.

The cabin in the picture below is the one with the huge spruce in front of it. It is grey on the top,
with wood framing underneath. The three story house behind it is what was built on the North lot that was sold.

The house will have an open floor plan on the main floor, a sleeping loft and finished basement. I can't tell you how excited and grateful we are for this place to be finished!



Para-sailors coming off Maxwell Mountain. They kept coming down one after the next. Sailing right over our heads. If you ask me, I think it is a little crazy. But that's just me.



Poppa John and Grace.

I think this is one of my all time favorite pictures. I just love the look on Avery's face!

Grace running in from the ocean

Jake and Bri dug out quite a hole and kept filling it with ocean water.

How's that for a family picture??