Reach the Beach 2013

This year Grandpa decided to do "Reach the Beach" with Papa. They started in Newberg a little after 8am on Saturday and ended about 4pm, an entire day on the bike, in the rain and they made it! I couldn't be more proud! One day, Grammy and Mama will do it, but for now we're happy cheering them on as they cross the finish line. I drove out on Friday with the kids to get ahead of the crowds, but also to enjoy a gorgeous day on the beach because we knew rain was coming. We flew kites, went for a long walk and the kids climbed the sand dune for the first time. They thought that was pretty cool! Grammy came out to the house Friday night. Around noon on Saturday when we were out to lunch, we saw the first riders coming in. We got all excited, even though Papa and Grandpa wouldn't arrive for another few hours. We met them at the finish line with a sign we made cheering and waving. 84 miles! What an accomplishment!

flying the kites Gram got them for Easter

looking for sand dollars

Climbing the Sand Dune

almost there!

pumping up his bed in his new beach hat

You made it!  We're so proud of you guys!

Breakfast in Bed

I woke up to the sweetest surprise this morning... breakfast in bed made by my beautiful family.  Coffee, an english muffin with "special peanut butter" and a carnation flower.  No reason, just pure thoughtfulness that they wanted to do this for me.  It made my day to know how much I'm loved!

Painted Nails!

Papa made a deal with Ashley that when she was able to read the book "Goodnight Moon" he would paint her nails any color she wanted.  Last night she worked very hard and felt that she was ready.  She came downstairs and read the whole book by herself, sounding out and getting the words she had trouble with!  We're so proud of you Ashley Cakes! 

Mother's Day Brunch/ Cinderella

Mother's Day weekend was filled with lots of fun this year! On Friday Gram and I took Brody and the kids for a long walk to Happy Valley Park. They rode their bikes the whole way and did great! On Saturday Ashley, Mama, Grammy, Gram, and Aunt Bonnie went to Grammy's church for their annual Mother's Day brunch, which is always a treat. The decorations were amazing, the food and desserts were soooo good, the speaker was very motivational, and the best part was the Mother's Day craft that Ashley worked so hard on. She's getting used to my "happy cry", I was very emotional that day! Later that afternoon we went to the play "Cinderella" at the NW Children's theatre. It was a really cute play, but the best part was the tap dancing! It was also a very warm day, so the theatre was a little toasty, but we still really enjoyed ourselves. After the play we met Grandpa and Uncle Dan at our house for a BBQ. Brian and Isaiah cooked up a yummy meal and even made homemade angel food cake for dessert. Sunday Becki drove up from Coos bay to spend the night. It was great to catch up with her and spend time just hanging out.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

We went to the beach house to bring a picnic table for the deck and had to find indoor activities since it was a rainy weekend.  We were hoping for some sunshine because our neighbors from Seattle were in town and invited us to go paragliding with them!  The weather didn't cooperate, which was a bummer, but we did have a lot of fun going to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and listening to the band "Cloverdayle" at the Grateful Bread.  We were there for breakfast and Brian saw advertising for it.  We didn't have any other plans Saturday night, so we went and had a ton of fun.   They've opened up for Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd to name a few, they were really good!  They grew up going to their family's beach house in Pacific City and wanted to one last party before they moved to Nashville. They even got the kids up dancing!

Kona Days

I can't believe I forgot my camera, so no pictures from the Sno-Kona Pond Skim at Mt Hood Meadows, but the pictures wouldn't do justice anyways.  This competition is hilarious and our family friends actually participated this year!  Anybody is eligible to dress up in crazy costumes and try to make it across the pond that's about 33 degrees!  Yep, not many made it so there was a lot of gasping faces as they hit that water.  The costumes were really good and the guy that won made it across backwards!  The kids had a blast watching too, and it was a gorgeous day.  After the pond skim we checked into our condo at Cooper Spur.  This is the third year my parents have been doing this with the Ronne's and Selby's, but this year all the kids and their kids were invited, so it was a PARTY!  We're already planning for next year and hope to make it an annual trip!

1st Swim Lessons!

Ashley started swim lessons last month and completed level 1 and is now starting level 2!  She has come so far since the first lesson, I'm so proud of her.  She barely put her face under water when we first started, but with lessons and a few extra practices with Mama, she's doing the front stroke, front and back float on her own, jumping in and swimming to me, and working on the back stroke.  That's been a hard one not to go under water with, but she's working very hard and determined to get it. 

Silly Guy

Loungin' in his sister's chair, in his snowpants and boots, sporting a hair clip and necklace... that's our silly guy

... and his sister loves him to pieces!

Easter 2013

Mom and Dad invited the group over for brunch Easter morning after 8:30 mass at their church.  They set up an Easter Egg hunt before we ate, so that was a lot of fun for the kids. Brian and I even got to find our own golden egg with our birthday gift inside :) The sun followed us from Vegas so we were able to spend a lot of time outside.  After naps the Easter Bunny left clues around the house to find Easter Baskets, so that was a lot of fun too.  It was a very relaxing day with family.

Vegas/Zion Birthday Trip

We took a birthday trip to Vegas this year with the Saliba's and had an absolute blast.  We flew in early Wed, so we had all day to walk the strip and check out the hotels.  It had been over 10 years since I had been there.  The temp was in the 80's, so we were soaking up the sun!   We stayed at New York, New York that night and grabbed a bite to eat at one of the pubs before heading out to the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere.  It was a great show! The next day we picked up the Saliba's at the airport and drove to Zion National Park.  My parents had been there and highly recommended it.  It was beautiful!  We took a couple of small hikes that night where D announced she was pregnant with baby #2 (she did amazing the whole trip)!  The next morning we took a 4 hour hike to Observation Point, which had spectacular views in and out of the Canyon. We ate lunch at a really cute cafe near the entrance to the park and drove back to Vegas after to check into the Monte Carlo.  We had dinner reservations at RM Seafood and went out dancing after.  It was great to feel young again (just what I wanted for my birthday!) Saturday morning we had breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Hotel.  The food was outstanding and since it was another gorgeous day, it was great to sit outside on the patio.  After a couple of hours at the restaurant we got into our suits and headed to the pool before packing up for our 1st class flight home!  This was the first time I had flown first class and it might be a little hard to go back!  The kids were waiting outside with Gram when we got home, it was so cute to see their excited faces when we drove up.  I missed them a ton, but appreciated the time we had away with friends.  Thanks Gram and Chris for taking such good care of them, it was great to hear how much fun they had too!