Oregon Tulip Festival

I have a friend, who I knew while living in Germany, who has a sister that lives only about 45 minutes from me.  It turns out she is here right now visiting her sister and I was able to kidnap her for a weekend:)  The weather was beautiful last Saturday so we headed south to Woodburn for the last weekend of the tulip festival.  We all got a little sunburned but it was so very nice to enjoy a beautiful day with my family and Sabrina.

I love this shot with these trees.  It looks like one tree at the end of the field instead of actually two trees.

One of my favorite varieties of tulip.  It was so amazing to walk around the fields and just see how many different colors and sizes of tulips there are!

Duck races!!

The boys found a tractor to climb around on

Sabrina and I with the tulips

This cute old guy had a booth set up where he was actually making wooden shoes.  It was pretty cool to stand by and watch him at work.

There were a couple of old steam tractors that were actually up and running.  I had never seen a steam engine at work, only quiet and behind ropes in a museum.  It was pretty cool to see how they got the machinery all set up to actually thresh some wheat.

Family photo with the tulips.  I loved how this field was full of all varieties mixed together, it was so beautiful.

Sabrina and I being very silly at a park in Salem.

I tried to spoil my friend while she was here so that if I ever get the chance to go back to Germany she will let me stay with her:)  We ate Papa Johns pizza, I took her to Voodoo donuts in Portland and showed her around a bit of Oregon she hadn't seen before.  It was fun having a bit of my past resurface for the weekend.

A Weekend of Visits

I have a very good friend that lives in Washington named Kari.  Her kids had Spring Break the week after us here in Oregon and I convinced her that she needed to bring her kids down for a visit.  She has 5 kids, this is no small feat for her to manage to trek them the 3 hours down here for a few days.  I was so happy she came, we had lots of fun.

Kari's two girls, Maggie and Tessa.

We ventured to the Oregon Coast...cold, cold, cold...but the kids had fun (until their little feet got so cold they couldn't feel them anymore!)

Yes, this is us at the beach with our winter coats on!  At least it wasn't raining:)

The perfect place to warm up with the kids, at the Pig'N Pancake.  Ordering lunch for 8 kids all 9 years old or younger is LOTS of fun:)  The waitress was super smart to put us in the back of the restaurant, it was like we had a whole room to ourselves:)

After our stop at Cannon beach we traveled a little further south to Tillamook.  You can't have people come to visit and NOT take them to the Tillamook cheese factory for some yummy ice cream!  All 8 kids are in this picture except you can only see the very top of Julian's head (sitting inside the van)

After Kari spent a few days with us in Oregon the idea was to drive to Washington and visit a few people up there.  First stop, the Abersold's.  Elder and Sister Abersold were the senior missionary couple that were in Germany when we moved there in 2008.  They were so great at making us, and everyone else, feel so welcome and at home in a strange country.  I love that they live only 2 hours away, they are super welcoming and fun conversationalists:)

Love these guys!

After lunch with the Abersold's we continued up to Bremerton to stay the night with my parents.  I am so happy my Mom and Dad live close by and my boys get to see them and get to know them.

Julian jumping to Daddy in the pool at my parents apartment.

I love this photo of my Mom and Townsend

Julian was being a stinker and wouldn't look at the camera, but other than that it's a pretty good shot of all of us.  

For those that know me you know my "happy place" is when I am going and doing something different and fun.  I'm so glad I have so many fun friends and family to visit to get me out of my house every once in a while:)

Hyrum's Magnificent Obsession

So a few weeks ago Hyrum got a new camera.  Whenever Hyrum gets anything new it is only after spending about a year researching and going back and forth and deliberating on what he should actually buy.  He even bought a second lens!  He is really having fun with his new toy.  Here are a few practice snapshots he has taken so far.  MAN, why didn't we buy a fancy camera when we lived in Europe.  All the pictures are so clear with this new camera!!!

Close up shot of little Jules

Experimenting with nature close ups

Action shot

Even when the boys are being crazy they aren't blurry!

I love the colors we get with this new camera

Another action shot

I had to include this one.  The name of the book Townsend is reading is, "Are you normal?"

Love this one of the boys

Hyrum keeps trying to get me to play with his new toy but I'm sort of scared I might break it...I don't have the best track record with cameras.  Plus there are all these buttons and different settings and a fancy lens that zooms...I think I'll just stick to my point and shoot camera for now and leave the photography to Hyrum:)

Frohe Ostern (Happy Easter)

I love Easter.  I love the little flowers that start sprouting out of the ground and I love the skies that are more blue than cloudy.  I love Easter egg hunts with the kids and I love their excitement on Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny brought them.  I love the colors of Easter and I love promise of new birth and renewal.

Julian helped me decorate my Easter egg tree.

The finished tree.  I had lots of people from the neighborhood compliment me on the tree.  I just had to keep this tradition from Bavaria, I loved all the Easter egg trees in all the towns back in Germany.

These are the trees right next to our house.  They were so pretty when they had all their blossoms out.

The boys went to a church sponsored Easter egg hunt.  All the eggs were pretty tricky to find because the grass was super long so unless you were about to step on an egg you couldn't see it!

Later that day we had an Easter egg hunt at Aunt Katrina's house.  These eggs were not so hard to find:)  The boys had so much fun and ended up with WAY more candy than I wanted in the house!!!

All the Easter egg hunters at Katrina's house.

On Sunday we had dinner at Katrina's.  We really are spoiled to live so close by to family that we can get together for Sunday dinner.  

I love the story of the resurrection.  I love the knowledge I have that Christ lives and that we can all live again with our families, even after death.  Happy Easter everyone!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was super spoiled this year for my birthday.  It was especially nice to have Hyrum home on a Friday to help me celebrate.

Started the day off with some birthday cards from my boys and some gifts from Hyrum.  I got a new pair of slippers and an alarm clock.

Yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast:)

Hyrum and I drove into Portland with Townsend and Emerson for a "10 Grands" piano concert.  I think the boys liked it, all the kids on stage were between the ages of 11 and 17.  They all did a great job.

A sunny afternoon and lunch on the steps of Pioneer Square in Portland.

A 17 mile bike ride with my brother in law around Hagg Lake.

And to end the day, dinner at Papa Hayden's in Portland.  

This gelato store was a few blocks away from the restaurant so we walked down there for a taste.  I don't care what people say, this stuff just does not compare to the gelato I had in Germany.  Maybe one day I'll find a place that can compare but I haven't found it yet and trust me, I've been looking!

All in all, a very wonderful day.  The sunshine helped a lot.  Having Hyrum home was a super bonus.  Yummy food is always a good thing.  Everything was as good as it could have been for this 36 year old!