Time with Daddy

My girls love their Daddy. There is a reason little girls scream so loud, it's because they have Daddies! Nobody can make them laugh as loud, and nobody is as fun! Marin likes to be Daddy's helper with all sorts of projects (ie. fixing the computer), carving a new pumpkin (the old one is rotten already, geez!) and both of them like jumping on Dad on the couch when we are all just lounging around. Maddie likes anything that has to do with her special pink blanky.

Oh and this picture has nothing to do with Daddy, but I've wanted to post it because it's SO cute and it shows the girls with their besties... Matching shirts and all! What a treasure each one of these precious sweets are.

Fun Friday... At least part of it...

The weekend started out so good... Who knew what was to come?

Friday I took the little girls to the Portland Children's Museum, to see the new Bob the Builder exhibit. Fun! Sometimes those exhibits do not impress me, usually because they are more for older kids and my kids just yawn through it. Not this time! Bob was right up our alley, and even little scooting Madeline had a ball galloping through the halls all over the place. If you've ever seen her scoot, you know I am not lying when I say she "gallops". The outing was made especially fabulous by having free passes from the library!

Also contributing to Fun Friday, was a visit from college girlfriends Holly, Tawyna and Lindsay. We all lived together at UCU in college and have lots of estrogen-filled memories together. When we get together to hang out, it's usually involves trips down memory lane and lots of catching up. Kyle lived next door to us all during college, so he got a kick out of seeing them all too.

So, Friday was a great day. Until about 10pm when I started getting the shakes... The ladies were on their way out the door when I just started shivering like a crazy person. I was SO cold. Kyle pulled out the heating pad and piled all the blankets in the house on top of me. So began the most horrible night of the flu I have ever had. So, so bad. I didn't sleep at all until about 7am. I just tossed and made sad noises as my body rejected all good things. Thank goodness it was the weekend so Kyle could take over. Several days later and I feel much better, so thanks for all your prayers. You can tell how sick I already felt & looked when we took this picture of the 4 of us. One of these kids is not like the others!! SCARY!!

This weekend was also supposed to be a wonderful visit with my parents (they did come for the day Saturday and whisked the little girlies off to McDonald's and the pumpkin patch), but I was holed up under my covers until sometime on Monday.

Luckily with Kyle's help I was able to rest a lot and get better. I don't know who is more happy that I'm better - me or him! It's hard work running a house with two active girls. I know we are so glad to have each other, and that we don't have to go through these things alone!

Fall activities...

Our friend Erin turned the big 3-0 and her hubby Ty threw her a swanky suprise party at Grand Central in downtown Portland, complete with dinner, cake and fireside lounging. Such a fun time to celebrate with friends and leave the little ones with the grandparents! Happy B-day my friend!





Girls night out was a long overdue treat! We went to Rose's for dessert and took ridiculous pictures of ourselves with brownies in our teeth. Well, a certain best pal of mine who shall remain nameless did that. But we won't embarrass her with a picture here. Instead I am showing you what civilized ladies we all are :)

We went to this awesome new trout farm in North Plains, which is way closer the other one we visited in Sandy. What a gem to find so close to home! Kyle and Marin love to fish together, and Maddie and I... we we love to clap and take pictures... We caught "the big one", according to the owner! That guy's been escaping hooks for a long time, but he was a sucker for Kyle's super wicked awesome bait.

We had the true pleasure of having our girls dedicated at our church in the presence of many friends and family members. It was our chance to publicly declare our commitment to raise our girls to love the Lord and teach them about God's ways. We are blessed beyond measure to have this privilege. As God has touched our lives, so we pass this along to M & M. We hope and pray that they will realize the Father's love for them, and desire a relationship with Him as they see this in our lives.

After the dedication, we had a little lunch party at our house. M & M received a very cute pumpkin book as a little gift from their cousin Joshua, and Marin is... well... obsessed ~ EVERY nap and bedtime must involve ready this and ONLY this book. She loves it! She requested that we get our own pumpkin and carve the same face as the book pumpkin has. So here you go, the proud artist with her creation!

We had a fun, cold, morning outing to the zoo last week with my pals to see the new baby elephant. I wish I had an actual picture of the little squirt, but unfortunately there were a zillion people crowded in front of us and I couldn't get a shot! Trust me though, there are fewer things as cute in this world. We did also enjoy the lorakeets, Connor's bear hugs, and other zoo-ish encounters.