Holidays

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in McCall Idaho with Stanley's family. We managed to get everyone there for most of the week. The kids had a blast, and so did the big kids (us). Here is a link to some of the pictures.

http://animoto.com/play/v0lzjU8HO03PW90d0PXo0Q

My Mom was able to come visit us for a week and a half. We had a great time, and got to do lots of fun activities. We went to Tillamook, Seaside, Pikes Place Fish Market, made candy, dipped chocolates and just hung out. The kids love having grandma here with us....and of course so did I. It worked out perfect because Stanley had to work three or four 30hr shifts at the hospital while she was here. So I only had to have one night alone. Thanks Mom!

Christmas was less eventful this year. We stayed in Portland. It was our first Christmas away from family. I missed my family's Christmas events and family get together. However it was fun to enjoy a quite Christmas with just the kids. We did get a chance to do brunch with some of our good friends the Ronks. The kids had fun playing with the new toys and eating at Isabella's table. Kamaile and I made a yummy breakfast!

We called both of our families and was able to video chat so we could see them and so the kids got to see their cousins and grandparents. Thanks goodness for video chatting when we live so far away. This year instead of exchanging gifts with Stanley's family we exchanged service projects. Each family picked a service project to do for the season and wrote about it and sent pictures of the family working on it. Then we sent a copy to each member of the family to open on Christmas. It was such a wonderful experience to see how much good could be done by a few simple families. We have decided to make it a tradition!!

I was getting cabin fever after being at home all day so we decided to go out for dinner. I always thought it was weird that people went out for dinner on Christmas. Not having big family dinners to go to changed my mind on that subject. Went to The Kennedy School . We enjoyed the good food and a chance to get out of the house. Poor Isaac however seems to have gotten a pretty bad cold and maybe an ear infection so the rest of our night wasn't as peaceful.

Overall we have had a very busy yet wonderful Holiday Season. We are looking forward to a new year and the experiences that will bring!!

More pictures...

These are all pictures for our summer of fun. I tried to get them in order from most recent at the top and oldest on the bottom. Sorry I didn't label each one, it took long enough just to post them haha.

Pictures

Isaac playing with his birthday presents

Summer Adventures

The summer of fun continued while Kyri was here visiting. We made a hair brained trip to Yosemite National Park. It was a 15hr drive and we stayed one night. It was beautiful and we had fun visiting with Beth, George, Dan and Devery. That was the last of our major road trips for the summer. Or so we thought....however we found out about a week before Kyri was to leave that Stanley's rotations schedule was changed. He would be away from Portland for 2 months in a row. So we decided to cancel Kyri's airline ticket and all drive to Arizona to stay with my family for 2 months. I opted to stay with family and visit for 2 months rather than be at home in Portland alone. Kyri, Isaac, Isabella, and I packed up and were gone within a few days. We made the 25hr drive in 3 days and visited with friends and family along the way.

The kiddos and I had a great time in Arizona. We had fun seeing most of our friends and got to visit with lots of family!! Grandma and Grandpa loved having the kids living with them. Although it made for some sleepless nights and crazy days. I had so much fun hanging out with my sister-in-law Devery. We did something together almost everyday. Lucie and Isabella had a blast playing together.

Isaac turned 1 in Aug and Stan was able to fly down for his birthday party. Isaac walked the same weekend Stan came to visit. ( I think Isaac was just waiting for his Daddy before he would show off his skills.) It was so nice to see Stan for a few days.

Isabella started potty training 1 week before we left, so that was a "fun" challenge this summer. It is so nice to only change 1 babies diaper!

Our anniversary was in Sept and luckily Stan was able to fly to Las Vegas for pretty cheap. So the kids and I drove to Vegas and Beth and George watched the kids for 2 nights while Stanley and I stayed at Circus Circus. We had so much fun just being together and were excited that we had to opportunity to see each other for our anniversary. However after a short weekend he left again. We decided if we had a choice we would never be apart that long again. 2 months is way too much!!!

Finally Stan's rotations were over so my mom drove back to Portland with us and then flew home conference weekend. It was a fun, crazy eventful summer. The kids and I had so much fun but were are all glad to be back!

Here are some pictures from our various activities...

Picture update

These are just snap shots of what we have been up to the past month. We went to Seattle, WA-Newport, OR- Rexburg, ID- Yellowstone National park, celebrated Father's Day and visited with family. In no particular order.

• Isabella and Emmalee had fun playing together when they weren't fighting over toys
• We loved dressing them the same, thanks to Grandpa Brewer for getting several matching outfits
• We went on a hike and the kids like to play in the spring water while we ate a picnic
• We enjoyed just relaxing at Jo's house. Isaac is crawling everywhere and trying to stand up on everything.
• Isabella is getting so big she helped make daddy's father's day breakfast and she gave him his favorite cereal as a present.
• Kyri and I took the kids to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. The view of the coast was beautiful!