Mother's Day

The smell of crepes with strawberries and ice cream awoke me on this fine day to celebrate mothers. Breakfast in bed is fabulous. We had a nice church service and in the later afternoon went on a nice hike. We told the kids it would be about a 30 minute hike and we went for 2 hours! The weather was perfect and we really did enjoy our time outdoors and the blessings of this beautiful earth.

Florida...

My sis and her man came to Florida with their friends Peter and Sarah. Chris and I coerced our friends Jona and Julia to watch our kids for 4 days while we went gallivanting.

Making mom proud :)

We had fun traveling to several parks and going on the "grown up" rides! We ate too much food and stayed up late and slept in.

Me and Lizzie

Thanks Lizzie and Alan for a fun trip! We sure wish you guys lived closer, hint, hint.

Swim with Santa

Another fun "Swim with Santa" was had by all! Mason even sat on Santa's lap this year, but he did it stealthily so that we didn't know it was happening, thus no pictures. Derek wouldn't have anything to do with Santa, again. At least Santa's beard stayed on him this year and he had a little meat on him unlike last year.

At the park

Chris dad came for a few days just after Thanksgiving to deliver a few goodies to us from Oregon. We were excited to have him here for the visit. These are a few shots from playing at the park.

Visit with Grandma and Ursula

After the marathon I had the great opportunity to visit Grandma Hari and Ursula in Portland! They were 2 of the main reasons for running this marathon. Thank you Sherilyn for a great trip. We had a fabulous day eating breakfast at Bob's Red Mill, then touring the mill itself. We shopped at the mill and then went to Crate & Barrel to browse around. We had lunch at PF Chang's where we ate only appetizers! It was happy hour and we really only wanted the lettuce wraps (delicous) but ended up with a sampling of appetizers. We went home with a piece of the Great Wall of Chocolate! After lunch we went to see Grandma's new house (which is beautiful) and did some Target shopping. Then we went home to eat cake and my favorite ice cream of all times, Tillamook's mint chocolate chip!

My visit was way too short and I am going to miss Grandma's house on the river. Thank you for letting me visit Grandma and I can't wait to see all of you again!

Uncle Fay and Linda

Saturday was a fabulous day for me. Cynthia and I rented a car and we were off on a journey to Santa Rosa to visit my great uncle Fay and his wife Linda. We managed to get through the downtown traffic and across this beautiful bridge:


and ended up here. 19 beautiful acres of hillside property that Uncle Fay owns. We arrived to a big hug and warm greetings from both Uncle Fay and Linda. Uncle Fay drove us to the top of his property in his truck in 4WD low. It was a fun ride up to the top where we saw beautiful wild turkeys and bay trees. We had a nice walk and Uncle Fay told me stories of my grandpa and family.



After our trip up the hill we had a wonderful lunch consisting of cantaloup melon and prosciutto along with bread and cheese (not just any cheese mind you, but bree and havarti which are 2 of my favorites). This meal was a favorite of Frank Senatra's and it might become one of my favorites too!

This is Uncle Fay and Linda in front of their home. The house was built in 1925 by an Italian family who used to farm the hillside. The house has tons of charm along with the barns on his property.

We went for a nice drive through the valley and saw grape leaves turning a beautiful red and gold color. When we stopped at the market we saw this sculpture on the back of the jeep. We just had to take a picture because it was so...unique?


Thank you Uncle Fay and Linda for such an enjoyable day! We loved visiting with you and I hope I can return again soon. Love you!

Favorite Faces

We've been so busy since school let out that I feel like we are still in school! These were taken on one of our "relaxing" days as a family, playing soccer, frisbee and just having fun. My favorite people...
  
  

NC Zoo

Saturday at the Zoo. It doesn't get much better than that. We have the biggest zoo I have ever seen. We definitely got our exercise. The kids loved the carousel. Derek wouldn't smile at all and then he didn't want to get off! We didn't even get to see all the animals...good thing we have a membership so we can go back.

  
  
  
  

Lee family farm

We had the opportunity to go and visit a local farm where we get our fresh produce each week. The kids loved it, I loved it and it was great to see where our food is coming from. We went for a hay ride tour of the farm. Saw the greenhouses, picked strawberries, Mason was given the opportunity to drive the tractor but was too shy. We ate homemade icecream, played with the dogs and visited with Grandpa Lee who began the whole operation. We had a great time! Thank you Lee family.