Thanksgiving weekend!

The weekend of Thanksgiving was fun this year! My sister Angie was taking a road trip with her son Caden down to California and made a stop up here for Thanksgiving and fun on the coast! It was so nice for me to have some of my family for Thanksgiving! After dinner we drove to Lincoln City and stayed at this lodge right on the coast for 3 nights. Angie and I of course had to go to the outlet mall there and do some midnight-3:30 a.m. shopping, and it was great because it was not nearly as busy as it was last year when we all went up to Park City. And this year we actually found things we wanted to buy!
We hung out relaxing...well most of us did. Dave was in a lot of pain because he played in the turkey bowl and he fell into the end zone with the ball going into his chest. A week later we found out he had broken two ribs! I think he has met his quota of injuries for the rest of the year! No more biking until January. He is pretty grumpy about that. Riding the bus isn't nearly as fun!
Other than that we had great fun eating at Mo's, going to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, swimming, hanging out at the beach, and waking up to Angie pacing the floor repeating the words "block the kick, block the kick, block the kick!" (referring to the BYU Utah game). It wasn't televised in Oregon and the only way we were following it was through Angie's phone. Then Caden yells "They blocked it they blocked it!" And we all jumped around the room, well mostly Angie and Caden did! Ah, sweet victory! I think this was the real reason they won.

We found these Utah shirts RANDOMLY at the Old Navy outlet on the Oregon Coast with only their sizes left. It must have been destiny!
Angie took some great family pictures for us, which we desperately needed. She is a fabulous photographer and these are some of my favorites!







And a couple funny things from our fun weekend!

Happy Birthday!

What an exciting weekend! It is always busy because we celebrated Dave's 31st Birthday yesterday and today is our 6 year anniversary! How the time has flown by!
I was trying to find something I could make that would be a little more sentimental for his birthday/our anniversary and I found a cute paper chandelier tutorial online and thought "that's what I will do!" It took FOREVER to make, but I love how it turned out. I hung pictures of us from the last 6+ years together. Good memories. And Dave liked it so it made me happy! He had both Thursday and Friday off work so we have been able to hang out a lot, which has been nice. Yesterday for breakfast we went and got Sesame Donuts and chocolate milk! Dave love loves Round Table (for whatever reason) so since it was his birthday, we went there for lunch and had all you can eat pizza! After we went and saw the movie "Megamind" which we thought was pretty good, but we realized why we don't really go out to movies these days. One, waaaaayyyy tooo expensive! And we didn't even see it in 3D. Two, it's hard to keep a toddler in her chair during an hour and a half movie. It was still fun though. That night we had cake and ice cream and opened some much needed birthday presents. Ya know...body wash, chocolate, shaving cream, aftershave...good stuff like that.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE, WE LOVE YOU!!

And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY! I can't believe it's been 6 years, but they have been great! I am grateful everyday to have found the perfect guy who treats me so well and takes care of our whole family. Love you!

HALLOWEEN!

First of all, this little movie is something my family always watched every Halloween, because my dad grew up watching it too! It's the Donald Duck Trick or Treat video with the witch, and I love it! Sammy and I were watching it over and over the other day while making sugar cookies. That and the Bing Crosby narrated "Ichabod Crane"...another goodie.


Happy Halloween! Not much to say, just a lot of fun. This year Sam was a ladybug and Taylor was a Flower. Both very cute. Sam had a fun party at her Preschool where they danced around the gym in their costumes, went trick-or-treating to all the teachers, sang songs for all the parents, and ate candy! She loved it, and it was so much fun watching her.



Friday night we had our Ward Halloween Party which is always fun, and they did the trunk or treat, which I love, and Sam went trick-or-treating again with her friend Cara, who was dressed up as Simba!



Then on Saturday, we went down to Salem to celebrate an early birthday for Dave with his family, and we took Sam to their ward Halloween party, where they had another trunk-or-treat, and it was huge! I think it was a stake trunk-or-treat or something. So Sam has plenty of candy, and I don't feel bad about not taking her out tonight.



HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Another pumpkin patch..this time without too much incident

The last couple of weeks have been fun for Sam at Preschool. A couple of weeks ago they went to a fire station, which I could not accompany her on that trip, but she came home raving about the 'big fireman' wearing her red hat.

Then last Thursday we went to the Baggensto's Pumpkin Patch in Sherwood. We road on a big wagon pulled by one of those big Jon Deere trucks. it took us to a big pumpkin patch with TONS of pumpkins. It proved a little tricky for Sam to walk around and not trip on a pumpkin every few steps. They also showed us they grow potatoes and even gave us some to take home! Sam, Taylor and I had tons of fun, and were happy not to be rained on!




I am especially happy today, because our Primary Program is over!! I was in charge of writing and organizing it this year, and I let it stress me out just a little bit. Luckily I had a Chorister who kept me sane and is so good about not stressing about things! (wish I was like that!) Our program went over really well yesterday and I am so proud of all those little kids who worked so hard. They got to see me stand in the overflow in the gym with these big elephant ears to get them to sing louder for our very last song. I know I looked a bit silly, but they sang really well. Needless to say, I took a nice nap yesterday after church. And today is the first day I haven't had a headache in a while. So nice. I think it will be a lazy week.

The hits keep on coming

The day started and ended well. What a beautiful day it was today, and being a holiday and the fact that he works for a bank, Dave got the day off so we decided to take advantage of that and go to the Lakeview Farms in North Plains. What a fun place! We have never been there before. We got tickets to take the train to the pumpkin patch and Sam made a new friend. There was another little girl her same age named Sophia, so from the first 5 minutes we were there we made new friends that we got to hang out with the whole time. Fun for us, and for Sam. We all went and picked our pumpkins, took pictures, and then we rode the ferry back. It was when we got back that the trouble started.









Sam was playing on the gravel with her friend and like she is good at, she tripped and fell splitting her head open. I'm actually a little surprised this is the first time since she has started walking that we have had to take her to the insta care. She falls, A LOT. So we said our short goodbyes to our new friends and went to two different places in North Plains to try and get help but ended up driving back home to an emergent care place in Portland.


Luckily she didn't need stitches but will definitely have a little scar. Just a little antiseptic, and some medical glue and we were all set. Our first family trip to the insta care!
Like I said the night ended well. For family night we carved our pumpkins we picked today! Sammy and I worked on her pumpkin. She said she wanted a princess so we did Snow White! We could find Princess Belle, but Snow White was good. Dave even cooked the pumpkin seeds and they are delicious. I guess the only thing we didn't do was save the mush for pumpkin pie!

what...is...happening??

I leave the red eyes because this picture is like a representation of what has been going on around here lately. It's a crazy eyes look with "I'm about to get upset and start crying!" look


It's been a weird few weeks. Maybe I deserve this for complaining about a resident I don't know but it's almost like bad karma. The last few weeks have been more difficult. It first started with a nasty toilet Dave had to deal with in one of our apartments....fun for him! Then like the very next day he got in a bike accident when his bike got all jammed up and he went flying 10 feet from his bike, but thankfully not into traffic. He has a lot of scabs, and got a very bruised shoulder, elbow, and wrist having to wear a sling for a few days. Then me, Sam, and Taylor all got really bad colds and were sick for a week. Then Dave got it and got a really bad cough, and then gave it to me. Then I hurt my back AGAIN and can't play soccer. I've had some back pain on and off for the last few years but in the last month and a half, it has been pretty horrible where I can't even stand up straight. It took a lot of nudging from Dave for me to go and see a chiropractor, and having my legs keep giving out on me from just taking a walk. A couple of appointments later, and an xray, at least it's not surgical! I have to wear a heel lift in my right shoe because it's a little shorter for now, and am not supposed to pick up my fat baby...yeah right. I've been lying on the couch alot.
Then with my bad back, tonight I drove with the girls to pick Dave up from work and on the way home...BAM!...got rear-ended!! I have never been in a car accident before! It's true what they say about accidents, it's like they happen in slow motion! I saw her coming in my rearview mirror and she was not paying attention! And then whack. I was shaking for about an hour afterward, and was worried about the girls in the back seat. Sam was fine, but Taylor started crying. I think it startled her a bit, as it did all of us. So now we have to deal with that.

So I can't complain too much, because nobody died or got a serious illness or anything. It's just been a difficult few weeks. I hate feeling gimpy and lazy, and not being able to play soccer.
There have been highlights too though. We took the two girls to an OSU football game a couple weeks ago along with a couple of friends, and it was a lot of fun, despite the buckets of rain that fell on us. Sam made Dave the proudest dad in the world when she was cheering throughout the whole game saying "Go Beavers!"

she was very proud of her tatoo as well, and wasn't too happy when I removed it for church the next day.
I also went to a fun baby shower for my friend Sofie who just had her 2nd baby a few days ago! I felt so Portlandy....party at a Teahouse, eating delicious vegan desserts, and wearing skinny jeans. ha! It was great


Congrats Sofie on your beautiful baby boy!



And in an effort to relieve some of my back pain, and give me some sanity, I bought this little gem off Craigslist for CHEAP for Taylor to bounce and play in. So far she hasn't completely warmed up to it yet, but she is getting there! She is 6 months old now as of yesterday! The time is flying by.
Hopefully the next few days start looking up! I know. Our insurance will cover a brand new car for us after our accident tonight!! :).....wishful thinking.

Sometimes......

Sometimes I just hate being an apartment manager! So much so that I will even post something on Facebook about it...and I never post anything on facebook!
Ugh, today was the Second time one of my residents yelled at me. So this person paid his rent late today, and as per the Rental Agreement, you pay late, you get a $50 late fee...BLACK AND WHITE! I checked my box this morning around 9ish and his check wasn't there. We left and did some shopping, come home, check the box, and it's there but without the late fee. So I called him telling him that today was the 6th and he would have to pay a late fee. "What!! That is ridiculous, it's a holiday weekend, the check won't even show up today, I didn't want to wake you up by bringing it by at midnight last night (yeah that was a good one), you're just being arbitrary, I'm on a fixed income (always love that one)!" etc etc etc....I was trying to be as professional as possible stating "I understand but your rental agreement says....you are responsible"...but he kept yelling at me like I'm singling him out to pay a late fee. So I start to get upset and am like "please don't yell at me, I will talk to my manager and see if he wants to overturn your appeal, but I will not hear from him until tomorrow so I will let you know TOMORROW!" pause: ya know how you start to get upset when someone is yelling at you and you are trying not to yell back at them but your voice starts to quiver and get shaky?...yeah that was me.
So he keeps yelling at me and then says "what are you trying to put on a performance right now for your husband?" and by that time, I was DONE talking to him. "LOOK, SIR, you are NOT listening to me and I CANNOT talk to you anymore so when I hear back from my managaer I WILL LET YOU KNOW!!....and then I hung up on him...........*sigh*
what a jerk. People just pay your rent on time



Ahhhhh I feel better.






Oh yeah this is what we did this weekend. Baseball. Free. Fireworks. Friends. Transvestite. Fight. Fun!

Where's the Cheese?

Ya know how you reach the end of summer and then ask yourself "what have I done this summer?" and then get this desire to go on a trip? That was us this weekend. We haven't seen Dave's sister Kristin and her family pretty much the whole summer so we went with them and Tracee to Tillamook on Saturday. It was fun although I had problems with the drive because my back still hurts. We went first to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Did you know it takes 10 pounds of milk to make a block of cheese? It is kind of fascinating watching all the factory workers processing these HUGE blocks of cheese and breaking them down into small blocks. And of course you can't go to the cheese factory without getting some ice cream. Cookies and cream, and strawberry cheesecake...yum!
After we went to the coast and it was sunny for about half the time we were there. Then it got a bit windy and cloudy, but at least we did have some sun and it was still enjoyable! There was this big cliff and at the bottom there was this long dark tunnel you could walk through to get to the other side. It was weird how the weather was very different and a lot more windy on one side than on the other.
It was nice to get one last beach trip in before the end of summer and go with fun people.






Last week we also started some solid foods for Taylor. I think she is going through some growth spurt or something (I mean is that even possible?) because she is wanting to eat at all hours of the night. It is still so funny to see babies eat foods for the first time and how fascinated they are by the spoon! funny kid



On Friday Sammy's cousin Eric came up to play for the day while everyone helped Tracee move to her new abode. It was a fun day going to lunch with Lacey and making sugar cookies! I found some really cute alphabet cookie cutters at a garage sale that are from Williams Sonoma. I told Dave we have finally made it because we now own something from Williams Sonoma, we have moved to middle class! :)

All in all it was a fun weekend! And, my soccer team won the championship this season! woo hoo!