Go Ducks!

Go Ducks!

Compared to last year's Civil War, Makenna is now a full blown little girl. This photo doesn't do her pompom piggy tails justice, but she has thoroughly enjoyed the football season. Like her sports fanatic brother, she actually watches the game...giving Mom a chance to work on other projects...

Hopefully we'll have a video for you by the championship game...

Thanksgiving Pics

We spent a relaxing Thanksgiving at my parents place in Days Creek. We had fun hanging out and playing lots. The kids love being at Grandma's and Papa's, and being in the country. Kieran loves going to the barn at the school to feed the pigs, and Makenna was excited to have a whole gymnasium full of balls to play with. We also went up to snow level to get our Christmas tree, which is now providing a warm glow in our home. Thanksgiving already feels like a long time ago, and it's only two weeks until Christmas...

Happy Halloween!

My camera has been broken for several months now, and it's been killing me to not be able to take pics of the kiddos and all our special moments. We went out to for a hay ride at the Pumpkin Patch today, and I kept lamenting not having a camera with us. Thankfully my Mom visited last weekend and brought us some nice big pumpkins and took a few pics.

Kieran just went to bed, ODed on candy, but loved trick or treating in his sparkly red cape for the second year in a row (he was a monkey at school on Friday, but was disappointed that his tail didn't stick upright!) Makenna's teething so she was in bed at dusk. There's always next year...

Tillicum Beach Camping Trip

Tillicum Beach is our very favorite beach spot, and this Labor Day we lucked out with some amazing weather! We made and destroyed sand castles for hours. My parents visited for the day, and it was a great way to end the summer.

8 year anniversary camping trip!

We celebrated eight years of marriage on a beautiful camping trip in Southern Oregon. Highlights included swimming in Crater Lake, hiking to the headwaters of the Rogue, and cooking camp dinners for two!

Takhlakh Lake Trip

My camera started to go on the fritz here, but hopefully you'll get an idea of the fun time our family had at one of our favorite places. I didn't get a shot of Mt Adams, but we got an amazing view our first afternoon.

Oregon Country Fair

We had an magical time at the Oregon Country Fair (while Kev was backpacking in the Wallowas...sorry, no pictures from his trip).

Best of Summer 2010

It's been a busy summer for us, and it's kind of hard to believe that summer is really over. Alas, with all our activities I've been neglecting our family blog. Here's my attempt at catching up.

Makenna's favorite pastime lately has been digging/eating dirt/sand:

Below is a video of Makenna and Kiki early in the summer. She has grown even more in love with Kiki and every dog she meets lately, and loves baby-signing dog by sticking out her tongue and panting. It's quite adorable. He's now been part of our family for over a year, and Makenna doesn't remember life without him.

Summer Splashing

Summer is finally here in Portland...

Makenna was elated to splash around in her kiddie pool with Kieran. Not surprisingly Kieran kept wanting to be hosed down. It wasn't even that hot, barely eighty degrees, but with our seventy degree June we were ready to get wet.

We also had a blast at Sunday Parkways North. I wish I had photos or videos, but it was an amazing day. Better than the weather, Kieran rode a few mile loop with full gusto. Makenna slept in her bike seat, and we all enjoyed the family ride amidst hundreds of pedaling Portlanders.

Sunny Silver Falls

Here are a few pics from our recent trip to Silver Falls State Park for Mother's Day weekend. It is one of my favorite places, and hiking through all the waterfalls is always majestic. My Mom drove up with Kieran, since he had been visiting for the week (loving his new-found freedom!)

We also met up with good friends who we were really close to when we lived in Ashland, and it was great to reconnect. Their son is in between Kieran and Makenna's ages, and they all had a great time together. Shareen is also pregnant, she we're looking forward to seeing their family grow!

We rented cabins, since we're not die-hard enough to go camping in May. It turned out that the weather was amazing, clear blue skies and sun all weekend. I completely agreed with Kieran when he asked as we he asked "Mommy, when are we coming back to Silver Falls?"

Happy Mama's Day indeed.

Backyard Play

We had a blast in the back yard this past weekend. The spring weather was beautiful and we got our garden prepped and mostly planted. Kev took the kids on wheel barrow rides, which they loved. Makenna enjoyed dumping buckets of weeds and showing us how she can walk carrying enormous dandelions around the yard. Kier pretended to sell me plants from our shed's unique Popsicle stand pull down table. Although I didn't get any adorable pics, Makenna is totally in love with Kiki and shows her affection whenever she manages to chase him down...I'll try to get a video of it soon, too cute!

Hope you are enjoying your spring...stop by if you're in the neighborhood, we'll more than likely be in the back yard!