Memorial Day Weekend

Shane was going to be out of town the entire week before Memorial Day, so we had decided to just stay home for the weekend until his plans changed last minute.  We decided to make a trip down to Ashland when we realized that he would be around.  It was a nice relaxing weekend.  Jake and Stacey came too, so all the kids had fun playing together, jumping on the trampoline, riding scooters, and getting in the hot tub.  Shane and I each had a long run to do on Saturday, so I ran three miles with Stacey and Dad, and then another nine with Shane.  Shane then ran nine more. 

Saturday evening, we went and had our traditional hot dog roast on the “island” at Lithia Park.  Mom took us up to the trail at the top of Lithia Park before we started the hot dog roast.  I had never been up there, and the kids had fun walking along the trail and looking at Lithia Creek.

     

The kids all had fun roasting their hot dogs, and the Nutella s’mores for dessert were delicious!

           

Sunday we went on a nice walk around the pond while dinner cooked, and Ethan and James were two cute little Kindergarten scripture readers.  These cousins sure are good buddies! 

 

Monday, Landon was feeling sick, so my parents took the other kids to the park while I went to get him some Sprite.  They had fun riding scooters and playing at the park.  We then had a yummy tri tip lunch out on the back deck before heading back home..

     

Reach the Beach

Shane signed up to do the Reach the Beach ride with some Precoa people again this year, so we drove over to meet him in Pacific City.  I got up early that morning to do an 11-mile run as part of my training for the Seattle Rock ‘N Roll half marathon. I ran to Champoeg on our training run, and Shane picked me up about 7:30, and I drove him to Newberg High School where he started his ride.  With all of his marathon training, he decided to do the 75 mile ride instead of the 100 miles. 

After I got home and got everything loaded, we drove to the beach.  As we were driving along 99, we saw a bunch of bikers, so I hurried and looked up on my phone where Shane and Jake were and I saw they were just ahead of us.  The boys looked for them out the window and were pretty excited when we saw them biking on the side of the road! 

When we got there, Stacey was already there, so she had scoped out a parking spot for us near her.  We are always quite the sight with all our kids together!  In order to get from our cars to the finish line, I walked in front and Stacey in back, and we made sure all the kids stayed somewhere in between.  We got several comments about our “little ducklings” as we walked along the road.

 

We lined all the kids up by the curb while we waited for Shane and Jake to make it in.

 

Before long, we saw them both approaching on their bikes!  High fives all around!

  

They did it!

 

Stacey and I found a spot on the beach for the kids to play while Shane and Jake got some food and relaxed after their long bike ride.  Madeleine played in the sand and loved running her fingers through it. 

      

 

Madeleine–8 months

This cute girl is growing up too fast!  It was a bit of a challenge to get her to sit still on the couch.  She finally found this purple necklace and was entertained as long as she could chew on that. 

Madeleine is as cute as ever, crawling and cruising all over the place and putting everything in her mouth.  She likes to reach out and touch people’s faces to say hi, she loves her brothers and all the attention they give her, and she has just learned to clap.  She is so slow and so deliberate as she claps – it’s the cutest!  We love our Madeleine!

     

Davis’s Baptism Day

Davis’s baptism was quite an eventful day with both sets of grandparents and Camille and Bryce there too, and Kallie’s baptism on the same day.  Davis’s baptism was first at 10:30 a.m.  There were three other kids from our ward being baptized at the same time, and the people attending filled the chapel.  Davis thought the water was a little cold though, and the look of shock on his face as he came out of the water caused a few chuckles in the audience.  My mom spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost, and she reminded Davis what the Holy Ghost can sound like and feel like. 

 

Davis is such a fun, easy-going boy, and I was reminded again at his baptism of his baby blessing day, when Shane said he would be blessed with a “soft heart and a sound mind.”  That is our Davis for sure.  He said his favorite part of his baptism was the set of scriptures we gave him as a gift, and he has been reading them pretty regularly since he got them for his baptism.  Stacey’s mom gave him a pillowcase that everyone signed, and he was pretty excited about that also. 

Afterwards, we headed up to Kallie’s baptism.    After her baptism, we went over to Jake and Stacey’s for a little birthday party for her with some stroganoff for dinner and some cake and ice cream.  It was so fun to have these cute cousin buddies share this special day.