Discovering Louis & Clark State Park

This last week, we went to Louis & Clark Park. It is right next to the Sandy River, has lots of places to walk and the dog is welcome there. We got there a little late in the day, so the light was fading fast. There were pretty fall leaves though and we had fun just being together. We encourage everyone to discover where you live, there is so much beauty that God has created for us to enjoy and we just have to pull ourselves away from the TV to see it. 

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving was really fun. I hope you all had a great Turkey day and got to reflect on the things that you are thankful for in your lives. We spent the day at my moms house and had a meal that was of course over the top and truly delicious. Jim's parents and brother were in from California and his sister was in from Seattle. My sister and her new husband were there as well. Not quite as big as a group as last year, but still plenty of family around to make sure Bekah always had a tea party partner.
This year as a lot of you know, I have really tried to get mine and my family's history down. I want to make sure my kids have written down memories and I want to get to know the people who are still here, before it's too late. I'm not sure why it is such a strong motivation, perhaps it's because my father died last year, and even though we had a falling out, and we weren't close when he passed away, I don't know that much about his life. Which means my children, when they want to know about my father, will know very little. I will only have the few foggy memories of my childhood and a very few of the little stories that my dad would tell to us on rare occasions. I want to make sure that I take advantage of the time I have with family members and get what I can from them, so that these memories and stories will last for generations.
The point of all this is that for Thanksgiving this year I started what I hope will be a little tradition in our family. I got a picture of everyone at Thanksgiving this year, and I made everyone a place card for dinner. Inside the card was a place for everyone to write specific things they were thankful for this year and a place for their pictures. I put them all together and next Thanksgiving we can pull them out and see how we change each year. How our perspective changes, and what is important to us changes. I also made a beautiful memory jar for Jims parents because they have nothing written down. Their children don't know much about them and I know nothing about them having only been in their family for just a couple years. They are not young and my hope is that they get to write down some of these memories for us to read after they are gone. We had fun just listening to their answers as they pulled out a few of the questions from the jar. In just those few moments we all learned that Jim's mom Betty, doesn't like her name and wishes it would have been something like Elizabeth, and that they have never been in a snowstorm since they have been married for the past 60 years. I really hope they will write some of this down, and I hope that you all write down your memories as well and keep them in a safe place. Your children and grandchildren will thank you for it. So I just want to give thanks that I am still alive and that I am able to know all of you, and that you are all part of my memories that make my life so blessed. Thank you!

Toothless

Well my mom finally got me pictures of her trip to Utah. She got to see Zachary and Ryeleigh while she was there and got some cute pictures. Ryeleigh has lost her two front teeth and is pretty stinkin cute! The other picture is of the 2 of them with their older sister Koko, she is 13. Zac & Rye will be joining us this year for Christmas. They are flying out on the 16th of December and we are driving them home on the 29th. We will get to be there for the Hewlett Family Service Auction! We are so excited! For those of you who are not Hewletts and do not know what this is, quick synopsis: Everyone brings things to auction off, whether something physical that they have made with their talents, such as crafts or foods, or something they bought, or they auction off their services or fun things such as mechanic work, babysitting or a fishing trip. You earn points by taking fun little tests or by doing good things within the last while, such as told your kids you loved them today, or been to church last Sunday, or even got your teeth cleaned within the last 6 months. You never know what the questions are going to be, but you really want the points, because the stuff you get to bid on is so much fun! We all get together for dinner and have the auction and then stay up for festivities at midnight. It is a fun tradition that we had to miss last year. We are super excited to get to see everyone too, it has been almost a full year since we have been back to Utah. Can't wait!

Playing

We were getting ready for church yesterday and the kids were in their room. After a while we realized it was awfully quiet in there. We snuck a peek and they were playing so good together with some puzzles. We had to get a picture. They really do get along quite well, Bekah is very glad to have a little buddy to play with and Christopher is thrilled that she is paying attention to him now. Hope it lasts....

To all the girls I've Loved before

One of my very good friends Amy Simpson is moving away to Wyoming this week and I am more than a bit distraught. She has been the one who has made me feel like this is home here in Portland and I am going to miss her very much. She and most of the other girls in this picture are all married to chiropractic students and live in my ward. When their husbands graduate they will all likely leave as well. We had Amy's last girls night with all of us on Saturday. We went to a Lebanese restaraunt downtown that none of us had been to, and likely never go again. None of us really had the palate for that kind of food. Though we did have a blast! There was a very beautiful belly dancer who danced for us and even pulled Amy up to dance with her. Our friend Mandy was giving her one dollar bills, it was pretty funny. This is the closest thing this lot of Mormon girls will ever get to an 'exotic' dancer! Anyway to Amy...we will all miss you and your family very, very much!

A Very Happy 5 Years

We celebrated 5 wonderful years this last weekend. We had such a good time! We went to the Melting Pot for dinner on Friday which was pricey yes, but so delicious! On Saturday we went for a drive in the mountains and out to lunch. We went up pretty high and even got into some snow! My mom and sister watched the kids who were surprisingly very well behaved, so a big thank you to them. And big mushy hugs and kisses to the man who has made me so very happy. xoxoxo I love you sweet potato!

Discovering Powell Butte Park

This week for our Discovering Oregon trip we just went down the road aways. We came upon this place on accident one day trying to find a shortcut to my moms house. We didn't realize what we had found until a few days ago while I was searching the web for dog friendly parks in the area. We found Powell Butte Park, an old volcano! It's the second largest park in Oregon, and it's just a few miles away! There are over 9 miles of trails and beautiful views of the Portland valley. Bauer had a blast running all over and smelling everything. Bekah tried out her pink rain-boots and gave them a good run for their money! She had a blast splashing in the puddles. She did have a few meltdowns, but for the most part we all had a lot of fun!
Also this week, Topher turned 8 months old and had his first dentist appointment. Of course he didn't have any cavities, we just went to get his flouride prescription, (Bekah had a dentist appointment too, and she didn't have any cavities either).
This week, on the 10th, Chad and I celebrate 5 years of marriage! Happy Anniversary to me!

Fall Leaves

This week for our discovering Oregon adventure, we just went on a drive, (mainly because it was pouring rain outside). We ended up at Blue Lake Park, and it is gorgeous right now! There are beautiful fall leaves in every color, we had to jump out and get a picture, beacause we didn't know if we would get back before they all fell.
A few exciting things have happened in the last month or so that we haven't posted so I will post them now...
For those of you that haven't heard us shouting it from our rooftop, Chad got the new position at Target! What it means for us, is that he has every weekend off and is home before 2pm every week day! It has been so nice to have Chad able to come to church with us the last couple of weekends and be home at night with the kids! We are absolutely loving it!
Next, Christopher is crawling! He has been for some time but I forgot to post it! He is also standing up against all the furniture and moving all over the place. You all know he is quite the mama's boy and wants me 24-7 so I was excited to see him start being mobile. I thought it would give me a little more freedom to get stuff done without lugging him around. Quite the opposite has happened, now he can find me where ever I go! What little time I had to do stuff alone, which was minimal to start, is now gone! Oh well, I treasure it, knowing that my sweet little boy will someday tire of me smothering him in kisses. Until then I will continue the smooches on that darling little face of his!