Weekend Jaunt

This weekend our family went on a very short road trip to visit family in western Oregon, including a quick jaunt to the coast in Lincoln City.  Such beautiful and OH-SO-WINDY weather.  It was too cold to play in the ocean but the kids still had a blast on the beach. 

By the way, is it still called a "selfie" if you have five people in the picture?

Spring Update

It's almost crazy how early Spring came this year.  After a bitter cold November and December we expected a long, fierce winter but instead we were greeted with warm weather in January and it seems like Winter never came back.  Our kids seem to have expected the same, never wanting to go outside because they were certain that it was still cold and wintery outside.  That phase has passed and the kids are once again outside most of the day, playing in the dirt and having loads of fun.  All three kids have decided that they are finally ready to embrace bike riding.  Yay!!!

A couple weeks ago *M* lost her first tooth after a grueling four weeks of waiting for that loose tooth to fall out.  The Tooth Fairy brought her a dollar and she was SO SO excited!

This morning our local Rotary Club sponsored an easter egg hunt at the high school. *A* was too old (4th grade age limit) so he assumed the role of *J's * coach and cheer section.  *M* decided that this year she wanted no part of the hunt so she sat quietly on the sidelines.  *J* did awesome, though he was off to a slow start because of the unexpected loudness of the firetruck siren, but he still had fun and made sure to share his chocolate with his brother and sister, which we found to be incredibly generous for a three year old.  :)

Picture Update

Pictures from the past few months.  Click on any picture to view it bigger, then right click on it to save the image to your computer.  Enjoy!

 "J" all ready for the first BSU game of the season.  Go Broncos!!

 "Dragon" - or so he likes to be called while wearing this costume.  "J" brings it to us on a frequent basis and begs us to help him put it on. 

 "M" all dressed up in her Care Bear costume.  Sadly, she outgrew it before Halloween came.

 "M" and "J" - insisted on their picture being taken for the first second day of school.

 "M" at the zoo.  She was SO excited when she discovered that water squirts out of the statue's nose.

 "M" on her 4th birthday.  She was thrilled that she got to pick out her cupcakes and some of her presents all by herself.

 "A" on the first second day of 4th grade.  He's growing up so fast!

 "A" going for a ride at the zoo.

 "J" riding the monkey at the zoo.

 "J" with the tigers.  He's just started saying 'cheese' each time we whip out the camera - can you tell?.

 "M" with the tigers.  She carried her notepad and pen all over the zoo so she could 'take notes'.

 "J" LOVES it when big brother plays 'Dukes of Hazzard' with him and makes the car spin until it stops. So fun!

 "M" in the garden.  October 2013.  SO beautiful!

 "A" in the garden, October 2013.  Yes, that's ink on his cheek. 

Our family picture, taken October 26, 2013.  Shortly after we arrived at the portrait studio "J" tripped and slammed his head on some cabinets, so he had a huge goose egg on his forehead and was not feeling like smiling or having his picture taken.  It's a miracle this picture turned out so great (and thank goodness we didn't cut his hair beforehand like we'd planned - those long locks covered the bruise really well).

Utah Trip, Baptism, & 8 Years Old

Little J, 5 1/2 months old   Loving sister's bear.

Check out our new ride!  Thank you generous aunt (you know who you are)!!

M getting the royal treatment from her cousins.  Oh yeah!

Uncle J

Such a lovely smile

Cousin C

Another Cousin C

M finally overcame her fear of slides and was LOVING it!!!

Cousin C

Another Cousin C  

A and Daddy before his baptism

Johnson's and Mullenaux's

A whole bunch of family!

Cousins

Cousins with G&G Dabbs

7 of 10
we missed you C, K, & K

Classic - a zillion shots of our family and this is the best of the lot.
Tired, hot, and hungry.  Time for some Cafe Rio!!!

Couldn't rotate this one - love the looks on all three of their faces.

Happy Birthday ATM!!!!

Awwwwwwww!

Loving his daddy!

Great shot of the cousins.  Time to open presents!

A's first knife - just in time for scouts!  Thank you D family!

Aunt S showing him how to put on his uniform.  Thank you K family!!

Are we done with pictures yet mommy?  Yes, yes, we are.  :o)

Here's the story:  We were supposed to have a baptism for A in our home stake on Saturday the 7th but we found out shortly beforehand that it was postponed until August 4th, so in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with another cousin's baptism and to take advantage of many family members on vacation in Utah that weekend, grandpa D was able to find us a place to do the baptism in Utah.  So this was all last minute, it was a much-needed vacation, and we had a blast.  Thank you again to all those who were able to make it - we missed you family members that weren't able to come.  We learned that baby J does NOT like car trips and we returned home with a lot of great memories.