find joy in the journey

#shannonbrowncomestotown2014

I'm glad to finally take a moment to sit down at the computer and share my wonderful girls' weekend in Oregon.  This is year number 3 that we have made this weekend happen.  Three years!  Three Decembers that I have now been in Las Vegas and I love having this weekend to look forward to.  I know that it is something we ALL look forward too.  The group texts usually start appearing in mid-October . . . 

• I bought a few things today to wear on our girls weekend.  Clearly I'm not excited at ALL.  
• I'm ready to declare tomorrow December 5th and get this party started. Can we do that?
• and on and on . . . 

This year we upped our game and planned out the whole weekend and filled it with so many fun things.

We stayed in a 2-bedroom suite overlooking Lake Oswego.  Yay, for a great home base for late night talks.

We visited Pittock Mansion (so beautiful! I may have to share an entire post with photos from that place), Powell's Books, and downtown Portland

We ate at the Portland City Grill on the 30th floor of the US Bank tower, Henry's Tavern, St. Honore Patisserie Boulangerie, Papa Haydn and Beesaw's on NW 23rd, and Chipotle.

We got pedicures, picked up ice cream from the grocery store for a late night treat, got a little crafty with glitter, shopped around Lake Oswego, donned green Masks of Magnaminty from LUSH, and did our traditional Christmas gift exchange.

But, as I told the girls before leaving on Sunday, my most favorite part of these trips is all of the little stories that get added to our friendship. I'm talking about the silly tidbits, quotes, and random happenings that get added to the story we all share.

And those things are important.  It's important to have these opportunities to build upon our friendship . . . savoring the old and gathering the new.

Stories like . . . 

The month before our trip we all read The Language of Flowers just to have an extra little thing to discuss one evening.  We all loved it.  The combination of the bitter and the sweet, the past and the present . . . what a wonderfully woven story!  Anyways, a flower shop named Bloom is at the center of the story.  Well, there just happened to be a flower shop named Bloom a few blocks from our hotel.  Of course we had to visit!  And bring a copy of the book.  And bug the ladies working there (they had not read the book).  And visit the floral designer upstairs (she had read the book).

With hawk like eyes, stealthy moves, and a high school connection (Nicole!) we scored this window booth at the Portland City Grill.  So much better than squeezing 5 of us around a tiny cocktail table.  Happy hour food & soda all around!  Because that's how a bunch of Mormon moms party in the city.

When they offer a deluxe pedicure you say, Yes!  Salt scrub, hot towels, paraffin wax, and an extra long massage.

We had just arrived at the Pittock Mansion when we happened upon this cute couple leaving the mansion.  Jenn (in her awesomely innocent & people-friendly way) asked "Are you Santa?" Why yes I am.  He pulled out his wallet and showed us his Santa ID card.  And then our eyes lit up and we all smiled like 8 year old girls and asked to take our picture with him.

Love the group texts and especially love reading them later out of context.  We get really excited about bathrooms.  And Santa.

The Santa above must have been ending his shift, because once inside we came across another Santa.  And um, let's just say that this Santa had a tight grip.  See below

As we only do this once a year there was a lot of picture taking happening . . . This photo makes me smile from ear to ear!  Because that's pretty much how it was!

We are so happy that Jenn finally got a smart phone too!  I think she is loving it.

As creepy/friendly as Santa was, we still had to take the opportunity to sit on his lap for a photo.

Jenn was fascinated by the pickle ornament on the tree in the lobby of the US Bank tower.  We'll just leave it at that.

We stopped a man with a dog outside the mansion and asked him to take our photo.  Well, we didn't realize that we were in for a posing lesson!  First he asked if we were princesses, and said he would only take our photo if we were princesses.  Then with a lot of flair/flirting he instructed us on the best way to stand and that you should always angle your head so only one ear is showing.  Every time we took a photo the rest of the weekend we reminded each other, "one ear!"

A few other randoms:

Sheila's 90's bangs . . . $1 showing of Home Alone at the tiny theater next door . . . Todd at Chipotle . . . "glitter is the STD of the craft world" . . . Tenzi . . . that crazy parking lot at Powell's . . . creepy dolls at the Pittock Mansion . . . Paige's rain sound machine and making a beeline to the bathroom in the morning . . . . going into Target for just one thing (because a girls' weekend isn't complete without a trip to Target) . . . Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera.

With all those click, click, clicks we would smile and exclaim, we are so cute!  Not because we're vain - heavens, no.  But because every photo just oozed that happiness, joy, and delight that comes when you spend time with people you love!  You can't help but look and feel cute!

I count these friendships as one of the dearest things in my life.  Thanks girls for listening, making me laugh, for encouraging & supporting, for loyalty, for sharing your bits & pieces, for making time . . . for all of it.  Love ya.

my oregon christmas weekend

"You can always tell when two people are best friends because they are having more fun than it makes sense for them to be having."

Case in point (and only my girlfriends will understand this):

the razor aisle of Target

the Wendy's drive-through

driving in a Suburban equipped for anything (including a zombie apocalypse)

This past weekend I got to spent some time in Oregon with my girlfriends (a repeat of last year).  It was so so great to be with them again!  As always we have a lot of fun, we stay up late, we eat out, we shop, we pamper ourselves, and we have great conversations.  Though, each time we get together the thing I look forward to the most is the familiarity.  The way that we know each other so well, our stories, our quirks, our children, etc..  It's the kind of comfortable where it just feels like family.  Whether it's foot-rubs or chatting with Jaren (Paige's 7 year old son) while I put on my mascara.

I just love these girls and I'm so glad I get to go back to Oregon from time to time to visit them.

Here's a peek at our weekend

Reading material on the plane  // a view of Red Rock Canyon shortly after take-off  

Hot chocolate under the heaters at PDX while waiting for our hotel shuttle (Paige, Jenn, Nicole) // Christmas lights in our hotel room.  So fun!  Jenn thinks of everything.

Presents!  It's just like Christmas morning!  //  After breakfast at IHOP we came back to the room for sharing presents.

Last year we piled on the bed for a picture in our pajamas.  But this year Sheila wasn't able to join us until Saturday morning, so the picture came later.  Don't we coordinate so well?

Sheila took some Pinterest inspiration and got super crafty.  I was super impressed.  //  Cutie patooties right here!  I gave all my girlfriends these super soft scarves from Gap only to discover later that they are not a good combo with wool coats.  Lint roller, please?

Loved these geometric/pattern coloring books from Paige! Big girls like to color too.  //  Great minds think alike - both Jenn and Nicole gifted water balloon launchers after we had so much fun playing with Jenn's at her house this summer.

This sign is just perfect.  As are these ladies.  Me, Nicole, Sheila, Paige, Jenn

A little shopping to finish up Christmas lists. Sheila was a bit reminiscent of Mary Poppins as she carried around this coat-rack.  //  Driving back to Saint Helens.  Strangely we only encountered snow/ice on a 4 mile stretch of the highway and the rest was clear.

After Thai food for dinner we booked appointments for all 5 of us at Happy Nails.  I was in massage chair heaven!  //  Pretty toes!

Sheila had to go back home (an hour drive) and the rest of us went to Paige's house for cards and received excited updates on the tooth fairy & Jerry Stewart (their Elf) from Jaren  //  turning in for the night.  Paige's guest room was so comfortable.

Waking up on Sunday morning to these frigid temps.  Brrrr!  //  The sunrise was glorious.  I loved looking out and seeing the snow on the ground & houses, the silhouettes of Douglas Fir trees, and smoke billowing out of neighbors' chimneys.

#airportbathroomselfie  Mark and Jenn picked me up and drove me into the airport on Sunday morning.  Wah!  Too short.

 

In all this weekend included 4 airports, 6 terminals, and 1 almost missed flight so that I could enjoy . . . . 4 fantastic friends, 50 pretty toes, 1 zombie apocalypse vehicle, 10 hot chocolates, and 1 bucket filled.

10 from OMSI

We love OMSI.  The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  I only started loving OMSI, though, when my kids got a little older and we were out of the stroller phase.  If a stroller needed to accompany us on an outing then we were going to the zoo.  And I will also say that we loved the Oregon Zoo.  Both are fantastic places to visit with kids.

And adults.  Scroll to the bottom of THIS post for an awesome, hair-raising photo.  Scott and I also went to an IMAX movie at OMSI for our January date during our Year of Dates.

the sand tantrum

I will state that for the majority of our 3 week road trip the kids were fabulous.  Like, really really good.  Happy, cooperative, fun.  But there is no possible way to get through a vacation like this without a few "moments".

There was an incident involving a bee in the van and based on my kids' reactions it was pretty much akin to having a serial killer in the van.  Payton was getting hurt, like, all the time.  I got angry while driving and was unable to control the volume of my voice.  There was the time that someone (Payton) said, "it's been such a long time since we've done something fun" and I just about blew a gasket.

And then there was the sand tantrum.

Remember my post about Cannon Beach?  We had a great time on the sand.  The kids were running, playing, shoes off, building sand castles, no cares in the world.  But as soon as we began the walk back to the street some kind of switch flipped in 2 of my children (Payton & Anna) and suddenly the sand was killing them.  Like, literally causing bodily harm and trauma.

And the thought of putting their shoes back on . . . . that was when paranoia set in.

Jenn led us to a nifty hose and took on the task of spraying off all the kids' feet and shoes.  But it was no good.  We all know that being wet and sandy is just a part of going to the beach -- we've been to the beach dozens of times!  The other 10 children were fine with it, but for some reason these two just flipped. out.

The group started walking ahead and I stayed back with my 2 wailing children.  Wailing.  Seriously, you are 7 and 10 years old?!  I told them, in a surprisingly calm voice, that the group was leaving us, they were being ridiculous (it's called the beach!), and if they wanted any chance at some taffy they needed to start walking pronto.

So we started walking, they were whining and crying, (really it was embarrassing) and I had had enough so I announced, "okay, you both get no candy."

And then . . . . and then.  This is where it really fell apart.  Payton touched his face and "got sand in his eye".  "I'm blind! I'm blind! I'm blind!"

Really, he's yelling "I'm blind" as he wails and stumbles with his arms out-stretched as I drag him down main street.  What a sight.  People passed by with sympathetic faces, others with concerned faces.  But me, at this point I've detached myself from the crazy and I'm just straight-faced moving forward, one child in each hand, making our way towards the candy store (where the group is shopping).

When we got to the store I stood outside with Payton & Anna.  They were not getting candy so they were not allowed to go inside.  Plus, they hadn't stopped crying so I didn't want to subject the other customers to that.  Payton was still "blind", but eventually I convinced him to let me wipe his eyes with my sweater and miraculously he could see again.  

So I made them a deal.  If you can calm down, and stop this craziness, we can go in the store and you can pick out 5 pieces of taffy.  (Conner was inside picking out 15 pieces - the reward for good behavior).

Finally, the cries fell to a few heavy, breathy sobs, then to a whimper, and eventually, miraculously, Payton composed himself enough to go inside.

Anna was still caught up in her emotions.  I stayed outside with her and tried to convince her to calm down and come inside, but she spouted off some angry words so I said, "Fine.  You stay out here in the rain.  I'm going inside.  You can join us when you have calmed down and you are ready to apologize."

From indoors I found a spot to watch her through the window (no need to call CPS, I didn't abandon my child).  But I did take pictures.

5-7 minutes passed and she joined us inside.  Calm now.  And she apologized.  

So I gave her the green light on taffy.

Immediately Anna turns to me and says, "Can I have some different candy?"

No.  The deal was 5 pieces of taffy and that's it.

"But can I have some of those jelly beans."

Anna, I told you that you could come in here and choose 5 pieces of taffy.  Nothing else.  If you challenge me on this one more time you get nothing.

Short pause.  "But can I have . . . . "

Okay, you get nothing.

And then I watched a look of shock and surprise wash over her face as she stood still in her tracks.  There were no more words, and she knew it.

So why am I sharing this story?  I don't know, other than it was a horrid experience placed smack in the middle of an otherwise great day.  Ha!  And I felt like it has been a while since I've shared some "real" mothering stories on this blog.  I try to keep things positive, but real in this space.  I think the last few months with the crazy of getting through the school year, I haven't had the mental energy to share the messy parts. . . . Slap some pictures up there, add some cute journaling, done. 

Motherhood doesn't get any easier as they get older.  As a young mom I thought it might.  But no, it just gets different.  It changes.  Different battles, a different kind of intensity . . . 

At the same time, some things stay the same.  It's still possible for a 10 year old to have a huge meltdown in public.  I'm still bribing with candy.  And I still love them, even when they drive me absolutely crazy!

camp 18 and cannon beach

My kids may have put Sunshine Pizza at the top of their Oregon bucket lists, but a trip to Camp 18 and Cannon Beach were at the top of mine!

I was so excited for this day!  Especially because I was going to spend it with my best friends and all of their awesome kids.  

We arrived at Camp 18 Restaurant with a party of 16 and they seated us at the BIG table!  How fun!

Waffles, omelets, hashbrowns, hot chocolate, and even pizza & burgers, with one of their famous big-as-your-face cinnamon rolls to go.

After eating we always have to pose with the lumberjack man outside.  Always.

Let's just pretend that my kids have their eyes open in this photo.  Nevada or Oregon, sunshine or overcast skies . . . they just can't handle the light!

Paige and her kiddos . . . Joelle, Jaren, Jillise

Nicole and her boys (Cameron & Andrew) rode in our van.  It was noiiiiii-sy!  My kids are already noisy then add a few friends, a game of telephone, Cameron's dance moves, some music, and a few ill-attempted rounds of "the quiet game" and we were pretty much the party wagon.  (Austin was missing today - he was at a sports camp)

Jenn's crew . . . Calvin, Josie, Belle, Caleb, (missing Alyna who had to work)

What cute / crazy kids!

Now, onto the beach!

The weather was not what we hoped for, but we made the best of it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . these kids get along so well together.  Our Oregon cousins!  ;)

It will be interesting the next time we get the crew all together (which might be a while), and see what the dynamic is with a few more teenagers in the mix.  In this photo, plus Sheila's kids (not pictured) the age distribution is

16/17 - Alyna, Hayden

12 yrs - Conner, Jillise

11 - Caleb, Austin, Kennedy

10 - Calvin, Payton, Joelle

8 - Belle, Cameron

7 - Anna, Olivia, Jaren

5 - Andrew, Josie

4 and under - Megan, Nolan, Addelyn

Everyone whined when we said it was time to go (after 15 minutes on the sand, and beating rain/wind/sand), so I take that as a sign that they had fun.  

Jenn was our hero when she revealed a secret spot for hosing off sandy feet!

She's smiling on the outside, but on the inside she's saying "help me!"

Oh Cannon Beach . . . . rain, sunshine, or wind.  I sure do love you!

jacksonville, oregon

This little town won me over in a big way.  I am in love.  

To help make the drive from California to Portland a little bit easier on me, I booked a hotel about half-way in Medford.   I knew we would arrive there mid-afternoon so I got online and started looking around for things to do in the area.

When I saw Jacksonville on the map, it rang a little bell in my mind.  I soon remembered that blogger/photographer Karen Russell (who lives in southern Oregon) frequently mentions Jacksonville as a place she takes her family and I'm pretty sure she has acquired some of her amazing antique finds in that town.

Now I was excited! 

We checked into the hotel, unloaded all the luggage, "ok everyone use the potty!", and we were off.  It's only 7 miles away from Medford.  But it was almost 4pm at that point, and I knew that some of the shops closed at 5pm.  We drove past little farms, lavender fields, & berry stands and I knew this was going to be something great!

We found the public parking lot and I gave the kids a little pep talk to set their expectations.  "Okay kids, today we are visiting a little old town.  We are going to walk up and down main street.  Mom is going to take a lot of pictures.  We will go inside stores to look at old things.  If you're good we might buy some candy or a treat.  But basically today is about mom fun.  Tomorrow I'm taking you to OMSI and that's when we'll have kid fun.  Got it?  The stores are closing soon so we'll only be here for an hour.  You can handle one hour.  So be good, don't whine, don't complain, stay by me. Let's go."

Now that we're all on the same page we can have some fun!

(I'll note that today I checked the time stamps on my photos, from the first to the last . . . . 55 minutes.)

Our first stop was The Candy Shoppe

for rootbeer floats.  We got there just in the nick of time.

I was drooling over this house across the street

No one does flower baskets like Oregon does flower baskets.

This is Jacksonville.

They have a great toy shop -- so many fun things.  I stepped into two antique/junk shops with great stuff and really good prices.  There were many more stores and boutiques we could have walked into but I didn't want to push my luck with the kids.

That is a fake frown on Payton's face.  

 

We spotted this cute trolley driving around town.  It became our mission to find out where it stops for pick-ups.  We asked store owners and even called out to the trolley driver while we stood at the corner.  

Eventually we found the Trolley stop!  It was in our parking lot.  

The driver recognized us from our conversation on the corner and he let us get on for free.  The trolley was running that evening as a shuttle for people attending the Britt Festival.  Never heard of it.  Apparently it's a series of outdoor concerts in a small venue (2500 people) that runs May through September.  That night the festival was hosting The Steve Miller Band.  Yes, the Steve Miller Band in small town, Oregon.

Even though the ride was free, we left a few bucks in the donation box because we had had such a great time in their town.

I imagine that traffic in town doesn't normally look like this.  But when The Steve Miller Band comes to play . . . . 

Isn't this the cutest little town?

Off Main Street we passed by several Bed & Breakfasts and lovely Inns and spas.  I think it would be a great place for a long weekend vacation.  Shopping, antiquing, dining, taking in the town's history, ride the trolley, then attend an outdoor concert, and maybe even a jetboat excursion on the Rogue River.  Sounds like fun to me!

3 weeks 3 states // week 2

Here we go on week 2!

I'm so glad I made the decision to break up the 13 hour drive into two days!  After 450 miles we checked into our hotel in Medford, Oregon.  The drive was rainy!  Super rainy.  

It put a small wrench in my along-the-way sight-seeing plans, but it was dry-ish once we got to Medford. So we hurried over to Jacksonville, about 7 miles away, to check out the town because it is on the National Historic Registry and sounded cool.  I'll tell you right now that I am in love!  So much character and charm I could hardly stand it!  I took lots of pictures with my DSLR so expect a full post on that when I get back home.

If you're in Medford, the Harry & David store is a must visit!  So much goodness inside.

Day two, 300 miles, more rain.  :)  But the scenery was beautiful!  As we drove through the lush forests and mountains I realized that the kids had their noses stuck in their Nintendo DS's and the needed to stop and take in all of this around us!  They haven't been to Oregon since we moved 15 months ago.  What followed is my favorite conversation of the drive.

I said, "Hey kids, look at the pretty trees!"

Conner, "There are so many!"

Payton, "Wow.  It's so green!"

Anna, "Hey look, there's a stream!  So cool!" 

Yes.  Trees, the color green, and running water are a novelty when you live in the desert!  

 

We arrived in Portland at noon and went straight to OMSI.  The kids were sooooo excited!  I was too.  It's such a great museum.  I especially love it's location on the Portland waterfront, under the Marquam bridge, with a great view of downtown.  We played for 3 hours and the kids left wanting more.

That night we met our friends at Sunshine Pizza for dinner.  It was as if we had never left!  Everyone picked up where we had left off and it was such a good evening . . . good friends, good food (love that pizza), and facial hair.

Anna has made it widely known that she is planning to marry Jaren when she grows up.  On this trip he gave her a rainbow heart bracelet and she has worn it everyday for the past week.  And we recently discovered that they BOTH sing the wrong words to the Wise Man and The Foolish Man.  I can only imagine the plans, and scheming and stories that these two would come up with if we lived closer!

My primary Oregon Bucket List item was a trip to Cannon Beach.  Jenn, Paige, Nicole, myself, and our 12 kids (2 were missing) headed to the coast for the day.  Sadly Sheila couldn't join us -- she had a 4 week old baby at home so it was probably for the best.  But we missed her!  We ate brunch at Camp 18 - love that place.  We hoped for good weather at the coast, but we didn't get so lucky.  You just never know what you're going to get with the Oregon Coast.

We saw Haystack Rock, the kids ran around in the sand for a few minutes, and we got taffy at Bruce's Candy Kitchen.  Short, but it was still a good day!

Late Friday night (11:20 pm!) Scott flew into PDX to join us for the rest of our trip.  On Saturday morning we went into town for some Portland fun.

 

I've only been twice, but I just really enjoy the Portland Saturday Market under the Burnside Bridge.  It's like one of my favorite Portland things now.  I love the treasures that I have purchased there both times.  A sweet Japanese man spent a lot of time demonstrating his handmade toys for the kids, so we made sure to get one for each of them.  

A stop at Burgerville for a strawberry milkshake was a must!  Seriously, we drove 1200 miles just for this!

And finally we took a jaunt to Sauvie Island where I picked up some fresh berries and peaches from Krugers Farm.  There is nothing like fresh Oregon berries!

 

During our 3 1/2 days back "home" we were able to spend a lot of time with our friends and do a lot of fun things . . . but I don't have the pictures to prove it!  I'm seriously lacking on photographic evidence.  I think we were all just enjoying the moment and it felt so casual, like old times, just normal . . . . that we didn't feel the need to pull out our cameras and document every moment.  Because, we were just going to see each other the next day, and the next, and the next.  Right?

Wrong.  That fact didn't hit me until we were in the car on Sunday morning, Idaho-bound.  The good-byes on Saturday night felt more like "see you later."  Which is awesome, because I know that we will see each other later.

I'm glad that we did sit back and enjoy each moment.  Even the moments that included freak-outs, power outages, and broken arms (just 1 broken arm - poor Caleb!).  

Seriously, just like old times.  ;) 

Moments to remember:

breakfast at Paige's new house and sending the kids outside to play in the yard

the noise bouncing off the walls as 13 kids swam in the indoor hotel pool

the kids' ingenuity at scrounging up quarters at Sunshine Pizza . . . reaching their hands far under the arcade machines (because "there are always quarters under the video games!").  All I have to say is the kids purchased way more prizes/toys than we gave them quarters for.

playing at the park in the 90 degree heat.  That's HOT for Oregon.

every meal when Jaren and Anna wanted to sit by each other

the water balloon launching game  (The "two-dad game")

rides in the Gator provided by Calvin

vanilla ice cream with fresh berries

candy from China.  Blegh.  Those poor Chinese children.

the Waite boys' athletic, competitive nature.  And Cameron's dance moves.

encouraging Scott to not write something dirty with the Scrabble letters at Jenn's house.  He went with "moist" . . . {{shudder}}

Caleb hanging out in the recliner nursing his broken arm, and Conner taking the time to sit by him and keep him company.  Those two have some pretty creative, imaginative minds.  It made me smile to think of the stories and thoughts they shared.

holding Sheila's 4-week old baby, Addelyn.  Tiny!

counting Sheila's kids . . . 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

2 year old Nolan using "the force"

chatting with Alyna - can't believe she's a senior this year!  I swear she was a 6 / 7 year old with a cute little bob haircut, hanging out in my backyard just yesterday.

a super quick sand castle contest on Cannon Beach

the power going out while shopping at Bruce's Candy Kitchen (apparently a transformer blew and the entire block was without power)

standing with our backs to the wind & blowing mist on the beach, then realizing that our backs were soaked

sitting at the big oval table at Camp 18.  All 16 of us with room to spare.

driving the "noisy" car to Cannon Beach.  Me, Nicole + 5 kids.  Meanwhile, in Jenn's car the kids were quietly reading and in Paige's car they were listening to music and napping.  Whatever!  We offered to trade, but no one would take us up on our offer.  I don't blame them.

the big 5-family BBQ just like old times (even though we were missing a few of our husbands)

giving hugs to Belle & Josie on their way to bed, in pj's, with wet hair . . . makes me feel like an aunt of sorts

Mom medicine . . . a.k.a. M&M's

#shannonbrowncomestotown

That was the hashtag for the flood of pictures that hit instagram during my girls' weekend to Portland.

Yes, Portland.  My first time back there since the big move in March.

It was absolutely wonderful!

Love these girls.  So so much.

I think we all needed and appreciated this weekend for different reasons.  And we all left with our buckets full.  

I loved having good conversations -- from the little details of life to the deeper stuff.  Most of my conversations the past 9 months have consisted of small talk -- which is what naturally happens when you're meeting new people.  But, it just gets tiring after a little while.  I felt buoyed up in our sharing.

I loved being in a familiar place, with familiar friends (the kind that notice when you get your hair cut!), and feeling like I fit in.  Everything is easy and good and flows naturally.

We can have fun on a night on the town . . . . 

 (let's all pretend this photo is in focus)

And just as much (or more) fun cozying up in our jammies.

Paige shared this quote a few weeks before our reunion and I think it is perfect:

In Friendship…we think we have chosen our peer. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another…the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting—any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances.

A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,’ can truly say to every group of Christian friends ‘You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another.’ The Friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of others."

--C.S. Lewis 

And what beautiful friends I am blessed to have.

oregon raspberry jam

One of the things that I really missed this summer was our trip to Sauvie Island Farms for picking fresh raspberries, and the process of making freezer and canned raspberry jam.  Oh, that is good stuff.  

When we moved we cleaned out our cupboards, gave away all of our food . . . . . but I kept the jam.  And brought it here with us.

Last month we finished our last jar.  It was a sad day.

I realized that this (berry picking & jam making) was an activity and tradition that I wanted to remember.

And I remembered that last year I had taken a slew of detailed, day-in-the-life photos during our excursion to Sauvie Island Farms.  A photo book was in order!

To make it even easier, these photos were sitting in a Facebook photo album so all I had to do was use Blurb's Facebook photo book tools to pull it together.  It was so incredibly easy.

 7x7 inches, 32 pages, Imagewrap cover

I've made a few Blurb books in my time (blog books, vacation books, etc.).  I know how time-consuming it can be for those like me who want to get every detail just right.  But this one . . . . This literally took me 30 minutes start to finish.  And it looks great.

I love it!  I love how it tells a story.  I love the simplicity and focus on the photos (no words).  I love the memories that it captures.  I love seeing this book sitting on the side table in the living room.  

I'm already imagining more memories, events, traditions that need to become photo books.  My little stack is definitely going to grow.

See the full book: HERE

For you:  go HERE and grab a code to get 15% off at Blurb through the end of the month.

_______________________________

I have been compensated for this review, but the opinions are alllll mine.  I {heart} Blurb.  Smooch!

snow day 2012

We love snow days around here.  Although the kids were already scheduled to have no school today (a professional development day), it felt like a surprise bonus day off.

a little sad because everyone had finished playing in the snow (after 4 hours) and she wanted another snowball fight

Other snow day activities included:

• baking cookies
• serving hot chocolate
• piano lessons
• laundry
• watching Phineas and Ferb

to Bend and back

Can I just say, hooray for spontaneous vacations!

We seem to be getting really good at this in 2011.

First there was Memorial Day weekend in Lincoln City

 . . . then an over-nighter in Portland during which we acted like tourists

 . . . and then we rounded out the year with 2 nights in Bend for some skiing on Mt. Bachelor.

Each of these trips have been last minute adventures (planned just 24-48 hours in advance).

Each one has allowed us to explore new parts & places of Oregon.

And each one has been initiated, suggested, and booked by Scott.  Even he was impressed by himself.  Typically, he would prefer to stay home while I want to go out and explore.  I told him that his training was now complete. 

Scott and the boys hit the slopes, we checked Anna in for a full-day lesson (her first), and I set up home base in the lodge.  I tried skiing once, it just wasn't for me.  Since then, Scott has taken the boys skiing by himself.  But 3 skiers is a bit much for one adult to handle, so I've been recruited for lodge duty.  

Even so, I ended up spending a large part of my time outside watching Anna and waiting to catch a glimpse of the boys coming down the ski run.  I had one hot chocolate and only made it through 1 chapter of my book.  But that's okay.  This trip wasn't about me.  It was an excuse to get away, give everyone a chance to ski (this will probably be their only chance this winter), and spend some quality time together.

And now for a few photos . . . . (and a video - scroll down)

I decided to travel light and only used my iphone for photos & video on this trip

We took the truck to better deal with any snowy driving conditions we might encounter.  This also meant that the kids had to sit very close to each other for the 4 hour drive.  I was worried about our sanity at the end of the trip but the kids surprised me and they did wonderfully.  No complaining whatsoever.  In Payton's words, "when we're playing our DS's for a long time I don't really care about anything else."

Conner was in such a zen place that he was able to lend a shoulder to his sleeping sister.  Usually, this would be cause for much grumbling.

We made Conner's day when we let him order the crab legs for dinner.

Thursday morning, our first glimpses of Mt. Bachelor.

Anna, getting all geared up.

The boys heading out for their first run of the day.

This is how I ski . . .

A few random shots

And back at the hotel after a long day, this girl was wiped out.

When I picked her up from ski school she was smiling, showing off her "jumps".  As we walked back to the lodge the exhaustion hit and she collapsed to the ground, moaning, complaining about how tired she was.  During the drive down the mountain she said her head hurt.  Back at the hotel she said she was sick.  And 15 minutes later she threw up.  After a good 30-45 minutes of deep sleep while the boys went swimming she woke up and she was ready to go, no worse for wear!

Here is the video I promised

As you can tell the kids had a great day.  It was a great little trip!  We stayed at a hotel on the Deschutes river with a big breakfast buffet every morning.  We rented a Redbox movie each night and popped popcorn in our hotel room.  The kids got to see and play in the snow!  We survived the trip there and back.  We choose an alternate route for the way home (to avoid a massive snow storm on Mt. Hood) and saw even more new parts of Oregon.

Hooray for spontaneous vacations!

pumpkin patch // a photo story

 

It was a most lovely day at the pumpkin patch.  With all of our travels this month I had exactly one afternoon available to squeeze in a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Looking ahead on the calendar I hoped and prayed that it would be a good-weather day.  Plan B was to ditch the patch and pick out a Safeway pumpkin -- not nearly as fun..  But, you can see the autumn sunshine that we were blessed with!  Gorgeous!  I feel like a lot of my tender mercies lately have come in the form of good weather at precisely the right moment.  {sigh}

And now those pumpkins are sitting on our front porch, freshly painted. Yep, we opted for painting them this year instead of carving.  I think everyone loved the project.

Halloween costumes and accessories are prepared and laid out for tonight's festivities.  Anna and I are going to pick up a jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's soon.  And we are so thankful that the school was smart enough to plan one of it's Professional Development days for tomorrow -- no school! 

Have a Happy Halloween!

And you need to watch this:  The Zombie Song  

It's super catchy.

box number 9

So I think my mom and I started doing the mother/daughter weekend thing back in . . . . 2001.  Twice we attended Women's Conference at BYU, another time we enjoyed a day of pedicures and shopping, there was a mother/daughter spring event, we've gone to Wicked in L.A., and then there was the time I hosted in Portland and we stayed in a nice hotel downtown & attended Time Out for Women.

This time I was the host again.  Usually, we do this in the springtime, but there were a few special events that I knew were coming in August so I decided to change it up a bit.

For one, Les Miserables was coming to town!  I've never seen it before and Scott has an eternal dislike of the production, so I knew bringing my mom into town was my only (and the perfect) opportunity to see it on stage.

Here we are all dolled up for our matinee show . . . 

And for the first time ever I was taller than my mom.  It's all because of these heels:

She is a bit taller than me and then she compounds that by wearing heels all the time, everywhere.  I like my flats and lower heels.  :)

The show was fantastic.  Jean Valjean was amazing.  I cried.  Our seats (box number 9, front row) were amazing.  

After the show we enjoyed a great dinner at Nel Centro, per Scott's recommendation.  (He's eaten just about everyone in town.)  Calamari, roasted pork loin, beef short ribs, s'mores with housemade graham crackers & marshmallows, and an apricot & strawberry galette.  Very nice.

So that was just day one.

For day two . . . we meandered down a Street of Dreams.  My mom has always loved walking through model homes, and in our area it doesn't get more spectacular than the Street of Dreams.

5 homes, 3300 to 5000 sq. ft., all above $800,000.  Lots of eye candy.  Lots of inspiration.  Some things that made us wonder "who in the world thought that was a good idea."  Master bathroom showers big enough for an entire family.  And beautiful outdoor spaces.  I took pictures to remember some of my favorites.

1.  I like the exterior design of this house, but the colors not so much.  I need white trim.  Nothing dark or creamy.  2. Isn't this the most adorable backyard garden!  Goes to show that your garden can be an attractive part of your landscaping.  3. I have now decided that I need a metal kitchen table.  Hammered metal and round just like this one, please.  4.  Liked this color combination in the bedroom.  5.  I wish you could see this up close because it was amazing.  Imagine a giant wood die-cut, painted and adhered to the wall.  The next day we saw this in a magazine.  I think it might becoming a trend.  A trend that I want to jump on!  6. Love the round section for eating that comes out of the main island.  And those chairs.  7.  I think a subtle pattern in the carpet looks very nice.  8. Genius!  A woman must have thought of this.  9. The upstairs media room features a row of built-in cabinetry.  Two giant doors open to reveal a secret playroom!  How much fun would that be?!

So that was the Street of Dreams.  Loads of inspiration and we got to ride on a school bus to and from the parking lot.

As for the rest of the day . . . . we enjoyed a good lunch and shopped.  Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie, Container Store, LOFT, Urban Outfitters, . . . definitely a good shopping day.

I feel pretty lucky that I get to do this once a year with my mom.  And super lucky that I have a husband who supports it by staying home with the kids, taking them to the park, cooking dinner, managing laundry, etc.  Pretty lucky indeed.

summer fun #4: go to the coast

This is turning into the summer of beaches (May - California, May - Lincoln City, August - Cannon Beach) and I'm liking it quite a bit.  

My mom is in town and she wanted to do something fun with the kids so off to the coast we went.  

Breakfast/lunch at Camp 18 was deeeeee-licious.  Pancakes, sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, mmm-hmm.  Any place that serves cinnamon rolls the size of your head is a guaranteed winner.

There are statues carved from wood all over the restaurant -- inside and out.  Right next to the cashier is a little bear with a chainsaw.  When Payton saw it he jumped and immediately said:  "Rule #862 - never give a chainsaw to a bear."  That boy is a crack-up.

While at Camp 18 you also have to pose with the logger-dude.

And browse the antique logging equipment spread across the property.

Cannon Beach was beautiful as always.

There was this low mist that clung to the beach all day.  I loved it -- very mysterious and romantic looking. 

For the most part it was an overcast day, the sun peeking out here and there.  But the temperatures were perfect -- no extra layers necessary.  There was no wind.  We played for almost 3 hours but could have stayed much, much longer.  In my book, it was a near-perfect day on the Oregon coast.

The kids got to work doing what they love most at the beach . . . digging holes and building damns.

All so they could achieve this . . . "a hot tub".

They later went on to build companion hot tubs which were called Lake Payton and Lake Anna.

In between documenting with photos and video, I got to work doing this

laying on my back, nibbling on Twizzers, and occasionally capturing the action from a lower angle.

{Anna is getting a running head start for her cannon ball into Conner's hot tub}

And after seeing these happy faces, basking in 3 hours of relatively argument-free play, taking some time to relax myself while the kids contentedly played nearby . . . I'm mostly positive that we will need to visit the coast again before the summer is out.

weekend in the life // keep portland weird

At the last minute, as in Friday at 2 o'clock, we decided to do something fun and different this weekend . . . . be tourists in our town!  We booked a hotel, made a list of things that were very "Portland" (many of which we had never done before -- even though we have lived in the area for 11 years), woke up saturday morning, packed, and were on our way.

Here are our adventures . . . . week in the life style.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

83 degrees

8:25 am -- packing

8:45am - drying Anna's hair

10:13am - checking out the hotel room.  I've never actually seen an episode of Portlandia (a show that pokes fun at Portland), but here's a pretty funny clip about birds.

10:24 am - ready to explore the city

11:21 am -- awesome 4-person, continuously flowing, drinking fountain.  You can find these all around downtown.

11:41 am - Portland Saturday Market

12:06 pm - lunch by the fountain.  Pizza for Anna.  Chicago hot dogs for the boys.

12:20 pm - we sat and listened to the Supa Dupa Marimba Bros. play for a while.  Very cool music.

12:50 pm - the boys picked out some arrow head gear from the Spoon Man Creations booth.

1:44 pm - found some food carts for the grown-up's lunch.  I had Korean BBQ and Scott had Thai food.

2:28 pm - checking the transit maps . . . about to hop on the MAX

3:18 pm -- riding Portland's aerial tram.  Love that the lady in the other car is taking my picture, and I'm taking hers.  :)

3:25 pm -- cute boy.  And now we're on the Portland Streetcar.  Other than the buses, I think we covered just about every public transportation available to us.

3:46 pm -- fountain at PSU.  Our kids love, love, love fountains.

3:51 pm - waiting for the MAX

4:10 pm - get in line for VooDoo Doughnuts.  We have never partaken of the VooDoo, but it's a Portland favorite.  "The magic is in the hole."

4:17 pm - This sign is directly across the street from VooDoo doughnuts.  This is the mission statement for many Portlanders, and they do a pretty good job at it.

4:34 pm - While waiting in line we suddenly hear a chorus of "arrrghh!" and giant pirate flag leading a group of 30-40 people decked out in elaborate pirate garb.  Earlier in the day we saw them filling a bar.  We're guessing, that they were walking towards the waterfront for Brewfest this weekend.  Quite a scurvy bunch.

4:40 pm -- Our first glimpses at the famous VooDoo doughnuts.  We selected a one dozen assortment including the maple bar with bacon, fruit loops doughnut, captain crunch donut, and their famous Portland creme doughnut.  Altogether, a 35 minute wait.

5:09 pm -- had the experience of being sandwiched like sardines on the MAX.  Conner said, "this is a death trap."  Photo was taken after the majority of people exited at the last stop in the fare-less square.

5:45 pm - ahhh, adjoining rooms.

5:52 pm - my treasure from the Saturday Market.  I have the perfect spot for it.

7:00 pm - hotel swimming

About an hour later I got horribly sick (massive headache, nauseous, & other stuff) -- I'm guessing from something that I ate today.  Scott took the kids out for pizza and frozen yogurt.  I hunkered down in the hotel room.  Thankfully, I was feeling okay by the next morning.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

80-something degrees

9:16 am -- breakfast.  Just 2 bites of my glazed doughnut . . . trying to be kind to my stomach.

9:44 am - the morning routine

10:04 am -- this photo reminds me of a comment Scott made on Saturday, "I thought we ordered normal children."

10:47 am - checking out of the hotel

12:20 pm -- driving across the I-205 bridge following church.  Great view of Mt. Hood.

2:00 pm - lunch picnic in Washington Park

2:32 pm - meandering around the Rose Gardens

2:48 pm - Loved overhearing this conversation.  Scott to the boys:  "Sometimes you just do things to humor the ladies."

4:57 pm -- Home.  Watching Shark Week, napping, reading blogs on my ipad.

6:48 pm -- Yes, the bedroom is finished and it is heavenly.  (Before and after blog post coming soon.)

7:25 pm -- Dinner.  Waffles with raspberries & whipped cream & nutella.  Very tasty combination.

8:17 pm -- goodnight kisses.

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And that, my friends, is a week in the life of little ol' me.