February: Fencing Tournament, Julian and Friends at Mt. Hood, Rachelle in Utah, Julian's Birthday

 

Julian participated in another fencing tournament. This is him with the group of boys that also participated from his gym (PDX Fencing) He came in second to last out of the 21 boys that were in his age group but he did his best in each of his bouts and I was so proud of him.

For his birthday Julian asked if he could bring a few friends to Mt. Hood for the weekend. We invited about 5 people but only 2 could make it. We had such a fun weekend with Caitlyn and Ian. 

Ian had never seen the Harry Potter movies so these two stayed up super late every night to watch movies.

They had fun tubing in the snow

The pools and hot tubs at the condo were also a huge hit with these kiddos.  

We love the Rats Keller restaurant in Government Camp

Walking around at night, the ski run on the mountain was lit up:)

These crazy kiddos pretending to drink wine from fancy glasses:) 

We drove up to Timberline Lodge. It was completely clouded in...you couldn't see any sign of the top of Mt. Hood!

Ping pong in Timberline Lodge.  I think Julian had a great weekend with his friends.  I'm glad he has a group of people he connects with and enjoys spending time with.

Katrina makes these cookies only once a year (for Valentines Day) and they are so delicious!

Hyrum always spoils me on Valentines Day. The chocolate and flowers are nice but his cards are the best. He makes me feel like I'm the best part of his life 💕

I went to Utah for a quick weekend trip. It was super fun to see Andrea and Oma.

Some friends and I went to the Jordan River Temple. These are a few of the ladies I met and came to love while I lived in Germany:)

Sarah Brown hosted us at here lovely house in Salt Lake for a ladies night. We had delicious food and such  fun time talking about our lives and remembering fun stories from Germany. I seriously love these guys:)

Oma and I drove to Salt Lake on Sunday morning for Music and the Spoken Word...only to find out the Tabernacle Choir was out of town this week! We still got to listen to a great organ concert so I was glad we drove up. Even though my trip to Salt Lake was very short (barely 48 hours) I loved seeing family and friends that are almost family:)

Oh yeah...and Cafe Rio.  Maybe my most favorite thing about a trip to Utah 😜

While I was in Utah, Hyrum and Julian drove down to Corvallis to help Emerson fix his bike pedal.

Julian and I took advantage of a sunny day off school (for Presidents Day) and walked around Rood Bridge Park. The trail was still flooded so you couldn't make the full loop but we still soaked up the sun!

Look who came home to celebrate their little brothers birthday! We sure love it when the twins can come home, even if it's for a few short days.

This little boy of mine is now 15 years old! He is studying to take the test for his driving permit and he needs to shave his face!  Where is my snuggly baby boy?