{ happy halloween } ::

 

 Happy Halloween!! 

 Love, 

Batman, Spiderman & Catwomen

{ the great northwest } ::

back in september brody and i took a trip to Portland to go home and visit my family! it has almost been 2 years since we've been back home in oregon and we had an absolute blast! 

we tried to do as many things as possible and had lots of family time and cousin time. if only we had of had more time. 

some of our days were packed with multiple activities just to get everything in i wanted us to do. 

 even though our trip was so fun, we totally missed tyson sooo much, but he had to stay back in Richmond and work. next time we will have to bring him with us! 

 we flew out of D.C. and it just so happened that our flight was Alaska airlines inaugural flight, meaning it was the first time Alaska was flying direct to Portland for the very first time ever from D.C. (shhhnazzy, huh?) at our gate in D.C. they had a huge party for us to celebrate our flight. good times. and when we got into Portland they greeted us by giving us Roses. Because Portland is the known as the City of Roses. even though it was a LONG direct flight to Portland, brody was AMAZING. he is without a doubt the best little traveler. he rocked our 6 hour flight and didn't even nap. which worked out great because when we got to Oregon, we got to my parents, ate a little food, had a bath then went to bed and he slept long enough for me to transition him onto Oregon time zone. which he did great with as well. let's be honest, he's my dream boy! 

 but without further a'do...a play by play of pictures from our trip...

leaving on our flight from D.C. ... to Hello Portland Oregon!

our first order of business was to ride MAX. I knew this would be without a doubt brody's favorite thing to do. we probably rode max daily. total blast for my bear!

we made sure to go to the zoo a couple of times. and even got in some quality cousin time too. brody loved the zoo train! we may have rode the train a couple of times! 

not the best picture but i don't care! we were able to squeeze in some aunt Amy (tyson's sister) and cousin Mackenzie time. oh so love them! we met up downtown and went to the waffle window! one of our favorite yummy things to do with them! so wish we had of had more time with them, but glad we got to see them! 

even though family time is great. one afternoon brody and i went on a little date just him and i to ride MAX downtown and go down to the waterfront for a little bit to see the boats and play in the fountain for a bit. nothing beats just being with my bear. we had a great time together. 

 a trip to oregon isn't complete without going bowling with my dad. perhaps brody will follow in Papa's foot steps and become a professional bowler, eh? just say'in! if only i had of had my own ball with me, i probably could have bowled a lot better that day! :)

a lot of our evenings before dessert and bath was playing in grandma and papa's hot tub aka "the hot pool" as brody liked to call it.

one morning we hit up the Portland Children's museum. brody loved the theater and vet office the best. Dr. Brody says X-RAYS work as great blankets in healing doggies.

 

we went downtown one afternoon for lunch to go hit up the famous food trucks. we got food from the grilled cheese bus. and boy howdy is was so good! brody ate almost all my sandwich. so yeah, it had to of been amazing! it was! 

it's probably a toss up...but brody's #1 favorite thing to do - may be a toss up between riding MAX and hanging out with grandma. oh he loves her. and he LOVED helping pick her tomatoes and helping water her flowers and plants every evening. so cute!

one afternoon after church we packed up a lunch and went up to the Pitock Mansion. it has some really pretty views of Portland and it was a perfect weather kind of day!

we also made sure to go to the Portland Oregon LDS Temple. we love the temple and brody thought it was great. he LOVES to see the Temple. the grounds were beautiful (as always) and it's always so nice to remember that we get to be a family forever!

another must do was going to the Beach. and once again it was great! cannon beach and seaside are our favorites! when we were in seaside brody, cousin hayden and my mom rode the tilt a'whirl like 6 times! crazy kids!

another fun outing was going to Multnomah Falls. so beautiful! it was a perfect day and being out in the green outdoors is always a treat! 

our last night we had family dinner and "attempted" a picture with grandma and papa. um yeah kinda wasn't happening. ha! brody and i flew back to D.C. on another direct flight but at least heading back the flight was only 5 hours long. still long, but better then 6 hours! and of course brody rocked it and did awesome flying home to Richmond. we were over joyed with excitement to see Tyson! 

 oregon was oh so good to us. the weather was perfect the entire time we were there. crazy, seeing that it's oregon and you just expect it to rain. but we must have brought the sun with us. ;)

 i'm happy we got to come and see my family that we love so much. and i'm so happy that brody got to do so many fun things that i love in Portland. it's just too bad that oregon is on one side country and we are on the other. 

 so until next time...

{ summer love'in had me a blast } ::

yes it's October, but i just can't move on before i finish off our summer. we had a great summer and i have one too many pictures showing what we were up too, but that's just how we roll around here. 

so, let's start off with this cute love of mine...

 

brody definitely keeps us smiling! seriously this kid is too cute and funny! we had many fun random adventure outings. good thing he's always up for anything!

    

we consider ourselves oh so lucky to be able to have multiple weekly lunch dates with our papa bear! it definitely helped hot summer afternoons go a little faster after being able to spend a little time with tyson.

 

we stayed cooled many times going to the movies. brody loves going to the movies and does awesome! and let's be honest...family time, a movie, treats and being indoors staying nice and cool = perfection! and brody loves taking pictures, can you tell?

    

we also stayed busy having ice cream dates too. can't go wrong there!

 

spending time with my bear! nothing beats fun summer days hanging out this guy!

 

the children's museum built a splash pad and we spent a lot of different days playing in the water. 

brody loved it!

 

evening trips to the historical farm was one of our favorite things to do! we'd check out the animals then head into the woods for a little hiking.

 

we got lucky in September to have a few cooler nights and we took full advantage and hit up the park.

 

tyson had a department summer picnic up in D.C. one day so brody and i drove up for the fun. and fun we had! we had a total blast! it was SO SO SO HOT but we still totally enjoyed ourselves and they spoiled us with lots of fun and yummy food. bonus brody even scored one of those honker huge soccer balls. :)

 

the zoo was a highlight throughout the summer too. i'm not sure why i get such a kick of taking so many pictures every time we go. i can't help it. we had a fun trip with friends Eva, Sophie, and Rex one day. such a good time with friends. and then brody and i have had many dates just he and i together to the zoo. the highlight of the zoo is feeding the giraffes.

 

it was a HOT summer...so we had lots of lazy days which is actually nice. it's fun to have days with nothing planned and we just do whatever we want. painting is by far a favorite things to do! :)

 

and along with lazy days came LOTS of days of eating ice cream. we love ice cream. and the second best thing was our POOL! Our town home neighborhood has a pool and we took full advantage of it - almost daily! we are lucky to have lots of great friends live close, so we'd all just meet up at the pool and play for hours. the pool was probably my most favorite part of the summer. lots of good times. 

 oh summer, you were good to us. oh so good. it was sad to see you go - but we are so ready for cooler weather - and it's october and still in the 80's ...summer might be over...but somewhere around the corner fallish cooler weather is hopefully upon us soon! so until then...see you next summer!

{ Gone Fishing } ::

I really really really love this boy of mine. like really!!!

{ Pregnancy Diary :: 26 weeks } ::

well week 26 has come and gone...but i still wanted to document what's been going on with me and the little babe. 

 time is starting to pick up the pace. in the first 23 weeks, time went by so slow. each day went by so slow. no matter how busy we were, it still felt like the days last forever. BUT, when you feel icky all day, i believe that tends to happen. and honestly someday's i would wonder if i could really make it through the day. but alas, i always made it through. slowly, but surely. so thank heavens time is starting to pick up. and week 26 seemed to fly on by! i have a feeling each week is going to start going by faster and faster. and really, that gets me so very excited. 

 so after the first 23 weeks of forever sickness, the past 3 weeks have been a dream! everyday i feel better and better. and here's a little bit more on what's been happening in week 26...

   

 * sleep is oh so very good! brody and i got back from a trip to Oregon, and we've been adjusting back from the 3 hour time change. so we've both been really tired. lucky for me, brody's been sleeping in till 9:30-10 every morning and still taking his 3 hour nap. it's been nice to catch up on sleep and feel so nice and rested. i think it's been nice for both of us. 

 * baby girl is kicking up a storm! and her favorite position is still to be tucked up all nice and cuddly on the right side of my ribs. sometimes i think she is stuck ;) it makes the nerves in my back go crazy and it doesn't feel good! 

 * brody thinks he can see her through my belly button. awesome! 

 * i continue to grow and grow AND GROW! but who cares how much weight i've gained, my wedding ring still fits! woohooooo! i realize i may be celebrating this a little too soon...but still so happy it still fits! because by week 21 with brody, i had to take it off. 

 * i have turned into a carnivore. i joke, but i am like 85-90% vegetarian. i'm just not a huge meat eater. don't get me wrong, we eat meat. and don't you worry, even if i don't eat meat, tyson totally gets his meat intake. i'm just a veggie lover. anywhos... all the sudden i want meat. i am slightly grossed out by this craving. ha! but i can't help myself. the other night the boys had breakfast for dinner and tyson went and bought me a half rack of ribs! ha! and to be honest that definitely helped kick the meat lover craving. i've been pretty good since the ribs. 

 * it's nice to be feeling so good! i feel like i wake up and can conquer the day and really enjoy everything we do! once all the sickness ends, i LOVE being pregnant!! i felt the same way with brody. once the sickness went away, it's like i am back to normal, i just have a baby growing inside of me. so crazy awesome!!!