Bend

We had our timeshare in Bend the week of Isaiah's birthday, so we decided to celebrate a long weekend in the snow! Turns out we had to drive up to the mountain to play in the snow because it was a balmy 60 degrees while we were there! Isaiah spent most of the weekend recovering from a fever, cough, mild wheezing, and runny nose. Poor guy was miserable, I felt so bad for him. His fever broke on Saturday and he was feeling better by Sunday, so even though his birthday was on Friday the 21st we decided to wait and celebrate. It just wasn't fair to make him do anything he didn't want to in his state. We left Friday morning, not a fun 3 hour car ride for a feverish kid! I was so worried about him, I kept taking wipes and holding them against the window to get cold and then put them on his forehead (we get creative when we have to!). That calmed him down enough to let him sleep. When we arrived he took another nap, but that night was a long one. Luckily Ashley was able to stay with Grammy and Grandpa at their condo so she wasn't waking up every hour too, but Gram stayed with us so we were all a little tired the next day. Saturday he felt well enough to go for a stroller ride around the complex. It was sunny and warm, it felt great to get outside. After naps Grandpa, Brian and I took Ashley swimming and the Grandma's watched Isaiah at the condo. That night we went out for pizza in the old mill district. Isaiah had a really hard time and wasn't feeling well, but hung in there as we took turns carrying him around the restaurant. Sunday after nap is when we did cake and presents, nothing like a cupcake at 10:30am! He had fun squishing it and playing with it, but not much appetite for putting it in his mouth. I think he was still recovering. He got some really great books, clothes, shoes, a stand up push toy, and a toy train and football from Papa and Ashley. The best part was the wrapping as every kid loves! After gifts we packed up and headed to the mountain to go sledding. Again another gorgeous day! It had rained the week before so the hill was really slick. It was great because you didn't have to climb all the way to the top to get a good ride! We all went sledding and had a blast. Luckily no one got hurt! We brought stuff to make lunch and ate outside out of the back of the car. After sledding I took the kids back to the condo for a nap, two nights of no sleep were catching up to me, so I was happy to go back and lay down with them. Brian went skiing for the afternoon and we all met up for dinner back at our condo. We left Monday after lunch and stopped for ice cream half way to break up the trip. All in all it was a great trip and fun memories for Isaiah's first birthday!
























helping pack up

Birthday Cake

Here is the mister with his cupcakes. The first pictures are of the cupcake he had in Bend, his first ever. The last two were taken when Danielle came down to visit last weekend and brought S'mores cupcakes. You couldn't even see his mouth as he devoured this cupcake. He kept it up to his mouth and ate the whole thing. It had a layer of graham crackers on the bottom, then a layer of chocolate chips, chocolate cake, and a toasted meringue frosting. Ohhhh, they were delicious!



Steph made this wall hanging for Ashley's first birthday and every birthday we celebrate after. Eventually we'll have our names to attach to the bottom to say who's birthday we're celebrating.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

Zoo Day

For MLK the zoo had free admission. Ashley has only gone to the zoo once when she was a baby and that was in San Antonio... I don't think she remembered it. So, when I heard on the radio that it was free admission we decided to check out our zoo. We met Uncle Dan there too, which made it really fun! I think our favorite were the sea otters, they kept jumping off the glass and doing flips, we even saw them get fed shrimp. The monkeys weren't very active at the time we were there, but we did see an orangutan get into his box and hide under the sheets. The hippos were out of the water and enormous, those are Papa's favorite. We were there for a few hours... until Isaiah told us it was time for a nap, but we'll be doing it again maybe when the sun is shining!

Skiing with Grandpa

It's not too often that I get to hang out just my Dad and I, so this outing was really special. We decided to head up to Mt Hood Meadows and do some night skiing a few Sundays ago. Sunday night is the night to ski, there was no one up there! We started at about 3pm and left at about 8:30. We stopped for an hour to fill our bellies, but then were back out on the slopes. 'Ol pop held up pretty well and was able to keep up with me. We're going to have to do this again soon because it was way too fun!

Christmas 2010

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! My favorite part was seeing Ashley understand the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. She only asked for white gloves "like Santa has" and couldn't wait to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Christmas Eve we went to mass at 3pm and then over to Selby's for appetizers (a tradition we've done since the early 90's when we moved to Portland). Janie and Scott give all the kids gifts which is really sweet. Ashley got a sticker book and Isaiah a dinosaur book, which the kids loved! After their house we drove around to look at Christmas lights (another tradition I grew up with), went home to open our new pajamas and then off to bed... us much later than the kids due to some assembling. Christmas morning was at our house. Everyone came over in their pajamas and we opened gifts and had breakfast. Then around 4:00 we headed over to my parents where we had dinner and celebrated Christmas with the family. This year we had my Aunt Martha and my cousin Monica come up from California and Arizona (a treat since we never get to see them), Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Al, Adam, and Lucas, Aunt Becki, Uncle Dan, and Steve and Steph. We feel grateful to be able to spend the holidays with our family all together. The best part of the night was everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus before the pies came out. I got tears in my eyes thinking about how this was really what Christmas is about. It was a moment that will last a lifetime, Isaiah even started singing!



Ashley relaxing waiting for brother to wake up.

Gram and Grandpa Timm

Uncle Dan and I

Aunt Becki and Gram Timm



My cousin Monica who is going to school in California. I haven't seen her in years, so it was great to catch up. Her and my aunt drove up to spend Christmas with us. The last Christmas they spent at our house, Monica was a little baby. I remember her sneaking candy canes behind the tree and by the time we caught her it was evident by the red sticky stuff on her face what she was up to!

Christmas Morning 2010

Wow, did our house look like a tornado hit on Christmas morning! I think Santa left his entire bag at our house! It was hard to wait until 8am when Grammy, Grandpa and Uncle Dan arrived in their pajamas to open gifts and have breakfast with us, but Aunt Becki spent the night so it was fun to jump and play on her bed while we waited. Ashley was so excited to see all the gifts under the tree, but first she needed to see if Santa liked the cookies she set out for him. Sure enough he left only a few crumbs, which she politely asked to finish. The reindeer must have liked their carrots too because only a few bites were left! Santa also left a note next to the cookies which told the kids they had been good this year, but they needed to keep it up so he would come back next year! After reading Santa's note is was time to get down to business! Ashley carefully opened each gift and waited her turn while we went around the circle so every one could open one gift at a time. We've always done this at Christmas and it seems to slow things down a bit, allowing time to be thankful for what we got and be excited to see what everyone else has gotten. It was pretty cute though when it came to her turn, her eyes would light up "my turn!?" and when she tore into the paper she would neatly bunch each piece to go into the garbage bag. Isaiah was happy playing with the kitchen we got Ashley last year, but once we showed him what was under that wrapping paper he got pretty excited. They both got a wagon which was the big item this year, but Isaiah also got a car driving toy, a riding toy that makes all sorts of noise (with volume control... thank you Steve and Steph), clothes, a basketball hoop, shoes, a puzzle, more toys... Ashley got an easel, two tea sets, clothes, a purse, white Santa gloves, a sleeping bag, slippers, and college credits for both of the kids from Grandpa and Grammy. After opening gifts Brian made homemade cinnamon rolls and a frittata that was delicious! I think the cinnamon rolls are going to be a Christmas morning tradition. The rest of the morning was spent in our pajamas playing with toys until we had to get ready to go to Grammy and Grandpa's for dinner.


Christmas pajamas!

A basketball hoop from Santa!



The big mess we made in our living room Christmas morning.

Santa brought the kids a wagon. I never knew they would get so excited about it, but they ended up playing in it all morning. Although it served as a nice toy box while the weather was cold, we took it for a ride a few days later and now it stays outside. Ashley keeps talking about how she can't wait for the summer when we can go for wagon rides to the park.

Ashley's easel she got from Gram and Grandpa. She's really been into writing and coloring lately, so she was super excited to open this.

Isaiah's riding toy.