Spring Break in Sun River, OR

This year for the boys Spring Break we decided to head down to Sun River, Oregon.  We had heard from lots of people here that Sun River is a great place to go and we have wanted to check it out for a few years.  We rented a house that was big enough for our family, the Holwege family (my friend Jessie and her 4 boys) and even Oma came with us!  We had such a fun time.  Mostly we relaxed at the house but sometimes its ok to have a break and relax and not just run around doing a million things on vacation!

Jonah Holwege on the giant anchor outside our house.

Sun River is full of lots of fun trails.  Next time we will definitely bring our bikes to explore more of the trails.

The aquatic center was fun but I'm sure in the summer it would be more fun with all the pools outside open as well...we have to come back!

We found a great sledding hill!

Hayden and Milo Holwege having fun sledding

The house was perfect for our families.  There were 8 bunk beds, 2 queen beds and a king bed.  There was a little "boys room" where we set up the boys video game box and they spent lots of time hanging out in there.  The kitchen had plenty of space and there was even a hot tub!

All the boys relaxing in the hot tub!

We drove into Bend and walked around the Farewell Bend River Trail Loop.

The boys loved climbing all over these big boulders.

Then they climbed up some bridges...crazy boys!

The river in Sun River, such a peaceful place.  Hyrum, Oma and I took a walk on our last night.

Goodbye Sun River, it was so fun and we will come back!

March Madness

We had lots of adventures in March!

Julian showing off his great climbing skills, what a monkey!

We took time on a beautiful Saturday to go for a hike.  The boys were NOT happy about it and we spent most of the first part of the hike listening to them all complain loudly about going on a hike!  The weather was perfect, the hike was great...it's just the boys attitude I would have liked to change.  Notice, the twins refused to be in our photo:(

The hike ended at a little shrine in the woods to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Great day for a hike!

Hyrum and I are training for Cycle Oregon this September.  This was on one of our practice rides.  We biked into Vernonia, OR and found this cute little ruin of an old logging factory.

Julian got to participate in the flag ceremony at his Elementary School

My niece, Taylor Doxey, had her Bridal Shower.  Her and Parker are super cute together!

Took a day to go snow shoeing up at Mt. Hood.  We did a 3 mile loop and it was perfect weather.  I took my jacket off after about 1/4 mile...it was so sunny!

Me and Katrina with beautiful Mt. Hood in the back ground:)

I turned 41!  I'm getting old but thanks to good friends who make chocolate, peanut butter cheesecake for me...I think I'll enjoy this birthday:)

This same friend (Elizabeth Van Horne) organized a surprise birthday lunch for me.  All these ladies came to celebrate with me.  I feel so loved!


Hyrum and I went into Portland for a yummy dinner and dessert for my birthday.  We split this delicious cake from Papa Hyden's...yummy!


Took the boys and some friends to the "10 Grands" concert for kids.  All the performers are in high school and they play fun songs that kids like.  My boys still complained about going (they seem to do a lot of complaining lately) but I think it's good for them to experience some culture while they are young.

Spring Break in Sunriver Oregon

We have lived in Oregon for 6 years now and finally made it to Sunriver!  Everyone always talks about Sunriver and how much fun it is and how much they love it down there, so we decided to give it a try.  The smartest thing we did was invite the Holwege family to join us.  They have 2 boys about the same age as my twins and a younger son that Julian really gets along well with.  We also brought Oma along for the fun!  It was a great week and definitely a place I would love to visit again in the summer.  There were quite a few hikes that we wanted to do but they were closed for the season so we really need to go back:)

The house we rented had a hot tub.  It was a real hit with the kids.  They used it every day we were there!

There was also a pretty fun water park right in the resort we were staying in.  I think the kids would have had more fun if it was hot outside.  The outdoor pools were open but it was too cold for them to stay out there very long

Cute Jonah Holwege

The twins with their friends Grady and Hayden...I think they had a great time hanging out together.

Sunriver resort is full of great walking or biking trails.  We got the kids to go on a short little walk one day and Julian's face will show you how excited he was about that!  This little guy thinks any kind of "walk" is a hike!

Jonah and Hayden sledding on Wanoga hill

Julian loved sledding

Cute family shot

The house we rented was so perfect.  There were plenty of beds for everyone and the table could seat us all for meals.  The older boys had their own little section of the house with a tv that Hyrum hooked the xBox to so we didn't see much of the older boys:)

The whole group (minus Hyrum taking the photo) We went for a great walk along the river in Bend, Oregon.

They kids all had fun climbing on the big rocks next to the trail

My boys will climb anything they can find!

On our last night in Sunriver Hyrum, Oma and I took a walk down to the lake.  It was a gorgeous evening and such a nice relaxing walk.  I really want to come back here again!

Until next time Sunriver!

Fantastic February

February was a little bit sunny, a little bit snowy, a little bit crazy...as usual. Here are a few of the highlights:

We took the boys and a few of their friends to Mt. Hood for a few days.  It was pretty slushy and rainy, not the winter wonderland we were hoping for.  But, the boys had fun with friends and we enjoyed being together.

The hot tub and pools were, of course, the best part of the weekend!

I had to take this photo...at least they aren't fighting??

We got out best snowfall of the year.  The snow started falling in the afternoon and by the evening there was enough to build a snowman.  Hyrum took the boys over to Patterson to create this masterpiece.  It was all melted within a day but it was fun while it lasted.

My friend, Sarah Carrington, was in Oregon for a few days for work so I went down to Roseburg, Oregon to spend the weekend with her.  We had a nice dinner out and spent the next morning on a walk along the river.

Roseburg is about 4 hours away.  About 2 hours into my drive home I saw smoke coming out of the front of my car.  The radiator had a big crack right in the front...I called Hyrum and he came and rescued me but I had to hang out at a gas station McDonalds for 2 hours.  It could have been much worse, I could have been stranded at the side of a road somewhere.

Someone (I don't know who) gave this little guy permission to turn 9!  I'm not a fan of my little man growing up.

We had a little family party and I promised him a party with friends (which I still need to organize).  He is such  good sport about being the youngest.

Turning 9 also means he earned his Wolf Badge in Cub Scouts, what a cutie!

We took our boys to the Symphony for a "Night of John Williams" music.  It was a lot of fun!

We finished February off with some new stairs.  We decided to get rid of our old carpeted stairs and install some wood.  I think it looks great and really ties into our wood flooring.

January Fun!

On January 1st we took the boys and some of their friends on a bike ride along the Banks/Vernonia bike trail.  It was sunny but it was super cold.  We usually ride into Vernonia, grab a bite to eat and then bike back to the car.  It was so cold and dark after we ate that Hyrum rode back to the van and drove it into Vernonia for us...what a sweetie!  The boys (especially Julian) were super happy they didn't have to ride back to the van:)

Julian sanding down his very first pinewood derby car

Here he is on race night.  He was kind of grumpy going into the night (I think he was nervous) but once his car starting coming in 1st place each time he got really happy.

Spent a Saturday hiking around Forest Park.

Julian has been asking for swim lessons for a long time and I finally remembered to sign him up.  He loved it and got much better at back stroke and freestyle stroke.

Happy New Year!

We spend New Years Eve at the Doxey's.  We play games, eat way too much food, break open a piñata, eat more food, Steve juices some crazy fruit and we all see who is brave enough to try it (juiced cactus anyone?), face painting, more food and finally fireworks!

Julian playing a game.  

Steve and Hyrum face off

Face painting...and balloon painting?

The piñata is always a hit with the kids

We wait until midnight and then head outside to make some noise!  We had some small fireworks and tons of sparklers and snappers.  It's a great way to ring in the New Year!