Pictures as promised:

Here are some pictures from about the last month or so:

Our hike in the gorge

Look what I found!

Lots of pretty waterfalls

self portrait w/ Mommy

watch me jump!

perfect landing!

Mother's Day gift

Cousin's weekend

Macy driving

Bailey driving

Ashlyn driving

Cousins

 
Fun day at Dozer Days!

Well, hello there!!

We have been busy as usual lately! Time seems to just fly by, I cannot believe it is June tomorrow! I do have to apolog ize for my lack of posts. I usually post from work but the sisters (Catholic hospital :)have not upgraded our computers in so long I'm unable to post. I can view but not post, darn it! So I'll have to try harder to find time at home to post.

My mom and Eddie came up Mother's Day weekend so Jered and I could have an overnight date! What a treat! We went to Hood River and stayed at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. Its a really cool old hotel. We visited 5 of the 8 tasting rooms in town. We had a really great dinner at Brian's Pour House and a delicious breakfast at Bette's Place. We would definitly recommend both restaurants. We came home with quite a few bottles for the wine fridge too!

A couple weeks ago we had our two nieces, Bailey and Macy, up to stay. Ashlyn was super excited, they got to stay the whole weekend! We took them to Dozer Days in Vancouver, Jered's company is a sponsor. Its like a big fair but instead of rides the kids get to drive tractors, back hoes, etc. The girls seemed to have a good time, but I think their favorite part might've been the elephant ears and bags of candy. After Dozer Days we took them to my favorite little gelato place on NW 23rd. If you've never had gelato, its a must try! So much creamier and more flavorfull than ice cream. Yummy!! They might've been on a bit of a sugar high by the end of the afternoon but what are Aunts for if not to say yes to pretty much every request! ;o) Besides they deserve a little spoiling and special Auntie time!

It had been so long since they were able to come up and we had the three cousins together I leaped on the opportunity to get their pictures done. Mom had got the three of them Hawaii dresses when we were there last May so they look like little hula girls. The pictures look great!! The girls did such a great job! I'll post pics later, I pick up the CD tonight.

Ashlyn is growing like a weed! She has been into all things girly lately. She's loving playing in her kitchen, playing with her dolls and she wants to wear dresses every day. I'm going to stop by this little second hand store and pick her up more dresses suitable for school. I don't like to send her to school in her really nice clothes. She plays pretty hard at school.

She is still super independent and wants to do everything herself. We're trying to take advantage of some of her indepence by having her do some chores. She is definitely old enough to clear her own dishes from the dinner table, put her dirty clothes in the basket, pick up her toys (or her work, which is what they say at school), organizing her books, etc. She also "helps" me unload the dishwasher, swiffer the floors and put her clothes away. I say help in quotes because it takes 10 times as long to do something with her help than it does without!

We are two weeks shy of completing 10 weeks of swim lessons and she has done so well! She will submerge her whole head now, she can pick up a rubber ring from the bottom of the pool, she can float on her front and back with assistants. She can get into and out of the pool from the edge by herself with only a little boost getting out. She is not the most fearless kid in the pool but we are really proud of her. We're not doing lessons during the summer months, we just get too busy, but are hoping to get her to at least one open swim per week.

We purchased our tickets for our Canada trip! Yay!! We are flying this time because quite honestly I cannot possibly imagine doing that drive again. It is expensive to fly but when you factor in gas prices and time spent driving, it is totally worth it. Mom and Ed are coming along again and I think we are all looking forward to some boating, fishing, seafood and relaxing. We have 10 whole days!

We are gearing up for some camping this summer!. We are doing our annual Father's Day campout withe Kacalek's. This year though we'll be a few campers shy. Uncle Jim accidentally made reservations at the coast not realizing what weekend it was so him and Maggie won't make it. Thats a bit of a bummer but we're hoping to connect with them on another weekend this summer. We of course are doing our annual 4th of July Ballard camping at Honeyman. We're trying to carve out a few additional weekends as well. Of course we say this every summer and it seems like something else always comes up.

I promise pictures are coming! We have swimming tonight but maybe after Ashlyn goes to bed I'll get to the pictures :)

Here's a few more pics from the last month or so. We made a trip over to the coast w/ my mom and Eddie. We had a lot of fun! We spent some time on the beach looking at the tide pools and even saw some seals. We ate a lot of seafood, yummy! We swam in the heated outdoor pool, which Ashlyn loved! We visited the Hatfield Marine Science Center. A lot smaller than the Aquarium but just as fun. 

 Random photo=funny faces

too blue eyes

 trip to the beach: we climbed all over the rocks, 

looked at the tide pools, saw seals, ran on the beach

 the seals are right in the center of the image. 

we were closer they look

 lots of starfish and sea anemones

 it was very windy and cold!

 at the Marine Center looking at the fish in the aquarium

 pretending to feed the fish

 touch tank

 trying to get a picture next to the flowers

 she was being too silly

who me?

We have been busy busy as usual! Every year we tell ourselves we're going to keep more time for ourselves, but we never do! 

We had a fantastic time in Vegas with Justin and Steph. It was really relaxing. We layed at the pool, we walked and walked, we ate way too much food, probably drank a few too many drinks. But hey, its Vegas baby! Jered and I had tickets to see Garth Brooks and it was an amazing concert! Totally worth the money! I would recommend it to anyway who is even slightly thinking about it. The tickets were expensive but I'd do it all over again.

Ashlyn has been doing great! She will probably be moving up to the next class sometime in the summer. She already visits the upper class on most days. To move up she has to be totally potty trained and we're almost there. She still needs a diaper at nap and night time. We're working on it, but it may take a while.

My mom came up last weekend and watched Ashlyn so Jered and I could go to a wedding. I work with the bride and Jered works the groom. After we went to Edgefield with some friends and had a really great time. We had such a great time we stayed out till 1230am! It was so nice to have a night out together. It had been a while and we really appreciated my mom staying with Ashlyn! Thanks Mom!

Jered has had to work most of this weekend,which really ruined most of our yard plans. We have a lot of work to be done in the yard. Flower bed to be prepped, weeds to be pulled, the lawn needs moved etc. Its never ending! Ashlyn is napping now but as soon she as gets up we're going to the park!

Some cell phone pics:

We lost electricity a few weeks ago and it was a perfect time to break out the glow sticks! Ashlyn had a ball!!

swinging at the park

riding her bike

I'll post some of our Easter pics soon. Hope all is well with everyone!

What've we been up to?

We spent my birthday weekend at the District wrestling tournament in Monroe. The weekend after that at the state tournament here in Portland. Ashlyn was pretty sick another weekend. Then I surprised my mom at the airport last week and flew to Texas with her and my Aunts. Here are a few pictures of the activities:

 practicing my long jump

 Daddy says its never too early

 wearing Daddy's hat

 watching a movie on the computer. 

Yes, I am that cool to wear sunglasses inside!

 playing a matching game

 showing my Dragon pride!

with Uncle Keith

 Mommy and all the Aunts in Texas. 

Having a breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, 

or as Mommy says "the glorified Denny's!"

 Mommy and Grammy

 The Alamo

 really cool big old live oak tree at the Alamo

Having lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Ross was such a sweetie, 

he gave Ashlyn his frog cup that is sitting in front of him. She loves it!

Texas was a ton of fun! My cousin was a super host! We ate some really mexican food and drank some really great margaritas. Probably one of the best margaritas ever and that's saying a lot because I've drank a lot of margs in my day! We toured the LBJ Ranch and Texas White House. Huge working ranch and then the house was a lot smaller than you would think for a President. Really nice house by anyone's standards but also quite modest. 

We also drove up to a town called Fredericksburg. Little touristy town, similar to Sisters, OR. I found two different tasting rooms to try some Texas wine. The first one was a total dud, and the second one wasn't too bad. I bought two bottles to bring home in my suitcase. A bottle of viognier, which is one my favorite wine varietals but not grown well in Oregon. I also bought a Pinot, which is grown very well in Oregon. The Texas variety was a lot different than an Oregon. It was a lot bigger, fuller, and more fruity. Very good, but not typical.

Another day we visited the Alamo and the Riverwalk. The Alamo was very small, smaller than you imagine it to be. So much history though! The Riverwalk and river cruise were pretty cool. I'd love to go back with Jered. I've never been called ma'am so many times in my life! and the first time I heard someone say "bless your heart" it was hard not too laugh out loud! My aunts love to stay up late and drink margaritas so all in all a very fun and successful trip! 

Ashlyn seemed to grown an inch though in the six days I was gone. She is growing up way too fast! The things she says and the way she says them cracks us up! She likes to do everything by herself. Get dressed, get undressed, pick out her clothes etc. Some of the outfits she comes up with are pretty colorful! She's opinionated and bossy. If she thinks you're not doing something right, she'll tell you! She loves to sing, read books, dance, jump and do somersaults on her mat. She loves to watch TV, which we restrict, but she is allowed to watch a movie every once in a while. Barney is her new favorite. She got some birthday money from Papa and Grandma Mac and she picked out a Barney movie, an Elmo book and a stuffed Elmo doll. She has an imaginary sister and brother. Her sister's name is Ashlyn (of course!) and she's not sure what her brother's name is. Don't get too excited though. She's happy with the imaginary ones. When you ask her if she wants Mommy and Daddy to bring a baby home, she says No! She's living the good life being an only child, smart girl!

Sorry for so long between posts! My St. Patty's Day resolution is to post more often :)

Do we ever have any down time??? Not really, we are as busy as ever! After Mom's wedding we had one weekend to ourselves and even that wasn't totally ours. Jered had to go to a meeting in Jantzen Beach that was most of the day on Saturday, then we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening driving out to Corbett. We stopped by the Vista House State Park. It was beautiful but so cold and windy!! We drove out to see a couple of houses in Corbett that we've been looking at. Still in the dreaming stages of course but it was nice to see where the houses located in relation to the schools and our work. One of them is right in town, if you can call it a town. It has a little country store and that's it! The town is smaller than Monroe (yes, its possible :) ) but the school is larger. One of the other places we'd been looking at was WAY TOO far out of town. Up and down a long windy road. Then at the end there was a gravel road. Ummm.....NO! Jered said it reminded him of how far out he lived when he was in high school. :) I lived down a long gravel road when I was growing up, not happening! Anyway, we're still looking and hopefully we'll find something that fits for us. When we do find something, hopefully we'll be able to get rid of our house too. There are so many factors when you're selling and buying!

Some of you are probably saying, "Corbett???" Where in the heck is Corbett? Well, its out in the gorge, near Multnomah Falls. It may sound crazy but the main reason to move out there is that they have amazing schools. The high school has been one of the top in nation for the last few years. The middle school is also well recognized and has been named as a "School to Watch". They opened a charter school a few years ago due to funding issues and have managed to remain as well respected as before. The charter school and the public school is all together in the same building. It sounds weird, but they make it work and they make it work well. For us, with our jobs and wanting to stay in this area because we love Portland, our choices if we want Ashlyn to get a great education is Corbett or private school. I'd prefer not to have to pay for private school! We pay enough for daycare as it is! Well, hopefully it works out the way we want it to. We never planned to stay in our house as long as we've been here, sometimes you just have to adapt!

We're taking Ashlyn to see the Magic School Bus play this weekend. I'm looking forward to it, she loved the last play we took her to, Pinkalicious. She sat still for over an hour, completely enthralled! One of her favorite songs and books has always been the Wheels on the Bus. So I'm hoping she love this too.

The next couple of weekends we'll be busy at wrestling tournaments. This next weekend will be District at my old high school and the weekend after is state here in Portland. We'll have a few of my cousins staying with us for state. It'll be a lot of hours sitting on a bench in a gym but we both enjoy it!

Ashlyn had her birthday and she is so proud of being THREE! She had two parties, one at Grandma G's and one at Grammy and Grandpa's. She had a lot of fun and loves cake and ice cream so she loved being spoiled with two parties!! She loves to tell everyone how old she is now and how she's a big girl. And she is a big girl! She is using the potty so well now. She hasn't had an accident at school in a few weeks. She still needs a diaper at nap and bedtime but its often dry when she wakes up. She has been visiting the next class up at school quite a bit. Probably by this summer she'll be a salmon :)

Here's some pictures from the last couple of weeks:

 rocking my headband

 playing in the first snow

 catching snow flakes on my tongue....it was cold!

 I'm THREE!!!

 unwrapping my presents at Grandma K's

 she gave me a pillow and blankets for my dolls

 my birthday outfit

 birthday picture with Grandma K

 birthday cake that Mommy made

 my cool frog card from Papa and Grandma G. 

It croaked the "Happy Birthday" song! I loved it!!

 listening to the frog card

 holding Paisley Marie. She's almost as big as me!

 my birthday cake our friend Dawn made. Elmo is all sugar 

and I've been eating him one body part at a time for the last couple of weeks!

 Blowing out my candle

eating my cake and ice cream cone...it was so yummy!!