Back to Oregon

Chuck's Dad got married last weekend, and we were thrilled to be able to travel back to Oregon to be there for the big event. We rented a car and made the 26 hour drive west with out a single glitch! Ava was amazing! She never cried once! She slept great in the car, and half the time the only reason we knew she was awake was we would hear her little toys rattling! She did almost as well on the way home, but by the end was a little ready to be home (as were we!).

Our great friends Lee and Adrienne Evans were kind enough to let us crash at there house for our long weekend, and we loved being with them again. You can sure tell who your good friends are when years can go by without seeing each other, and then when you do finally see each other, its like no time has passed at all! We stayed up late talking, playing games, laughing and eating brownies and ice cream. We miss them and had a great time!

Their daughter Emma, who is Dallins age, was a huge help with Ava! She is gearing up for the birth of her twin brother and sister in October, and was eager to help change her, feed her, bathe her, or just entertain her on the floor! She and Adrienne kept her one afternoon for us so we could get some additional work done on our condo that we're selling.

Now the reason for our trip was not just to see friends or to work on our condo, but it was to attend the "Wedding of the Millennium" as Sandy calls it! We have known Sandy since Chuck and I were first dating almost 11 years ago! She and Reed have been best friends all that time, and we all have loved Sandy as if she were an official member of the family. Now she is! And we couldn't be more thrilled! Our kids love that they have a new grandma, and we are thrilled the Reedster is no longer a bachelor!

They were married in the Portland Temple, which is where Chuck and I were married 10 1/2 years ago. It was amazing to be there with them, and it brought back such sweet memories of our own wedding day.

We were able to spend time with lots of Chucks extended family and had a great time catching up with them all. We don't get to see his brother Ryan and sister Anne very often, so it was great to have time to be with them. Chuck and I also had just a great time being together. It was strange (but nice) not to have the three older kids with us. Maybe next time we'll leave all 4 with grandma and grandpa! (Are you up for that Mom & Dad?!)On our way back to MN we were able to stop in for an hour and see out good friends Dan and Stacey who live in Washington. As we left we were so sad we couldn't stay longer, and vowed next summer to take the whole family back west for a real vacation.

We love going back to Oregon! It will always feel like home to us. It's where we fell in love, got married, had our sons, and had so many great friends and experiences! Don't get me wrong, we love Minnesota as well, but if we could pick up and move all the family and friends we love in Minnesota (our business too:), and move them all to Oregon tomorrow, we would-no questions asked!

A little Northern Exposure!

Chuck, Dallin, and Grandpa Tom headed up north for their second annual fishing trip. They packed up Wednesday morning and made the 6 hour drive to northern Minnesota's Rainy Lake in Voyageurs National Park. A gas station they stopped at on the way up had a "pet" deer named Al in the back that liked to be fed seeds and corn out of ice cream cones! Dallin loved being able to get so close to a deer, and Chuck said it was one of his favorite parts of the trip!

They had great weather & so so fishing. Dallin caught an 18 inch walleye (too big to keep), but Chuck and Grandpa didn't believe him at the time when he said he had a fish on. They had just pulled into a part of the lake that was more weedy and they both told him he had a snag. He said no, I've got a fish, and reeled it in all by himself. Sure enough he pulled up this great big walleye! Chuck quick grabbed the net before Dallin lost the fish, and snapped a few pictures of this proud moment!

Poor Grandpa Tom caught only a tiny small mouth bass:( but snagged something even better...a fun weekend with his oldest grandson and son-in-law! Chuck finely caught a keeper on the last day of their trip, a 27" Northern Pike!

Dallin loves these trips and looks forward to them all year long. He had to wait until he turned 8 before Chuck would take him on such a long trip. Now poor Grant can hardly stand the fact that he has to wait 2 more years before he gets to go along! It was amazing how much quieter the house was with Dallin out of the mix, but I missed them both more than I thought I would. Thank goodness I had the Olympics to keep me company at night!

Chuck & I are heading off to Oregon tomorrow night to be at his Dad's Wedding. We are taking Ava with us and leaving the others back home with my mom. The kids are disappointed they aren't coming, but it's such a quick trip, and we don't want the headache:) We decided to rent a car and drive (crazy!), but I think it will be a little bit of an adventure. The drive is soooo beautiful, and it a great time of year for a road trip! Hopefully I will still have this positive attitude a week from now! Well I'm off to shop, clean, and pack!

Has anyone seen July....because it's gone!

It's so true that time flies when you're having fun! July was great for our family. The 4th was so relaxing for us. We took the kids to the local indoor/outdoor pool and swam all afternoon. By the time we came home, grilled dinner we were pooped, and decided it would be better all around to stick close to home for fire works. I ran off and spent another $25 to add to our small fire works stash, picked up stuff for strawberry shortcake, and invited my parents over for our makeshift party! The kids loved it, and we loved not sitting in traffic until midnight!

The kids lovin' being up WAY past bedtime!

My sister Marya and her family came for a nice long visit later in the month. The kids all loved being with their cousins, and we ran hard! We went to the beach, the pool, the zoo, the Childrens Museum, a Twins game, had a huge family BBQ, and just hung out! We sure wish they didn't live so far away in Utah:(

Dallin exploring pond life

Hanging out in the roof top sand box at the museum

Ava, smiling as usual!

Lydia, Callie, & Amanda doing what they do best!

Go Twins!

The boys both finished out their (never ending) baseball seasons in July, and were sad to see it come to an end. I feel guilty for not getting more pictures of them playing, but I was often home with Ava, or holding her at their games....therefore I only have a few photos of Grant. Sorry Dallin!

Go Big Red!



If August is as busy as July, then school will be here before I know it! (And maybe that's not such a bad thing:)

What a Catch!

Last night Chuck and I did something together that we havn't done in over 9 years....we went fishing! We had a blast! A CPA firm he works with rented a big pontoon boat out on lake Milacs about an hour and a half north of us. It was great to be in the car (mind you a very quiet car) just the two of us. We actually finished a conversation! The night could not have been more beautiful, about 85 and sunny. We grilled on the boat and fished and talked. The sun set was amazing-I can't remember the last time I stopped to watch the sun actually go all the down! (Notice the poor leach in the picture:) After the sun set, the bugs came out and the fish started biting! Chuck and I caught fish at the same time, he said it was fate and proves we were ment to be...I call it dumb luck! My walleye (sp?) was the little one. I look terrible in the picture wind blown to death and covered in bug spray! My mom was a trooper and watched all 4 kids for us until 1:00am, so we could have this little adventure (Thanks Mom:).

Here we go!

We are now entering the world of the blog! With lots of friend and family all over the country we thought this would be a great way to keep in touch. We seem to always have someone wanting to know what our family is up to, or what the kids look like, so now we can just send them to our blog! We hope you'll be patient as we work out the bugs and get things set up. Thanks for looking!