It's official

Stratton was super excited to go skiing and has been waiting for weeks and weeks for there to be enough snow to take his skis up to the mountain. Finally the day arrived and we packed up our gear and headed up to Mt. Hood Meadows for a day on the slopes. It was Stratton's first time skiing, so we decided that a two hour lesson at ski school would be a great idea.

Jeff and I took the girls on some runs and then stopped by ski school to see how Stratton was doing. He was loving it! A natural. We left to go on a few more runs before his lesson time was over. When Jeff went back to pick up Stratton, he was told that on Stratton's last run of the lesson he fell and was taken to the medical clinic to have his wrist looked at. Oh, great!! After an x-ray it was official...a broken arm. This is the first one for any of the kids.

So, the following Monday we took a trip to the pediatrician to have a cast put on. Stratton was a trooper even though the doctor kept forgetting that it hurt every time he made Stratton's arm rotate. How do you "forget" that time after time? A little pain and 30 minutes later Stratton had on his new blue cast. Four weeks is all it will take and then we'll be back on the slopes...this time wearing wrist guards!



There's nothing like a little ice cream to make a broken arm feel a whole lot better!

Aloha!

Jeff and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a little time in Hawaii. Every year Jeff has a sales conference in Hawaii and this year the stars aligned which allowed me to join him once his work obligations were over. It was a week full of firsts (for me) and it all went by way too fast. Flying by myself was different. I've certainly done it before, but it has been a long time since I haven't had kids, extra bags, stuffed animals, snacks (well, I had some snacks but they were just for me). I got to sit quietly, read a book, listen to music and enjoy the "me time". It was great to see Jeff when I arrived since he had already been in Hawaii for a week. We started off our vacation on Kauai, which was amazing!

Following the advice of our friends, we booked a helicopter tour. This was my first "first" - I hadn't ever been in a helicopter before. We decided that we needed to go big...so we chose to take the helicopter without any doors and it was breathtaking. The only way to see most of the island of Kauai is from the air and we were not disappointed. I won't post all 135 pictures that I took (you're welcome!) but I will post a couple of the best. The pictures don't do the beauty justice. It was simply amazing!

(The yellow pouches are our life preservers...very stylish!)

Jeff and I stayed at the St. Regis resort in Princeville, but drove all over the island. We sat by the beach, drove around with the top down, ate great food, and enjoyed the warm Hawaiian weather! Two other "firsts" for me...snorkeling (thought I was going to die but finally relaxed and swam with a turtle) and eating authentic Hawaiian shave ice (Jo-Jo's on Kauai was delish and Matsumoto's on the North Shore).

This was the incredible view from our room at the St. Regis.

We left Kauai and flew over to Oahu to meet up with our friends, Matt and Alisha Hammond. It was so fun to be able to spend the rest of the week with them. There was a lot of time in the sun, a lot of reading, tons of talking and laughing. We spent some time at the North Shore and that included a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Yes, I am a little red, but I didn't care. I just wanted to come back to Portland a little darker then I left which wasn't hard to do!

One of many gorgeous sunsets in Hawaii.

We decided to spend one evening in Waikiki...another first for me.

It was fun to go there once, but once was enough. Too busy!

It was a much needed vacation. The guy in the picture below is my best friend. We got married 14 years ago not knowing how wonderful our life would be. Whenever we get the chance to spend some time as "Jeff and Cia" it is priceless.

So until next time...I'll be dreaming about this time!

Let the fun begin!

I've had every intention to get another post done sooner than I actually have. See, the problem is we got a new computer and I haven't been able to transfer everything from my old PC to my new Mac. Part of the reason being...I'm still learning how to run the Mac! My kids use them at school and are way better then I am but I'll get there. (I think I may need some lessons)

So, here are the infamous "hurry and stand there so that I can take your picture on the first day of school" pictures! Hopefully sooner than later I'll be able to post some from our trip to Yellowstone. Those pictures are "trapped" in the Mac and I can't figure out how to get them to work.

Anyway...

Stratton - 1st Grade

Presley - 4th grade

Cascia - 7th grade

Too far behind to catch up

It's been too long since I've blogged about what's going on in our lives. It's hard to play "catch up" so I guess I won't! I'll just start from here and move on. Most recently, the kids finished the school year with flying colors. This year went by really fast and we all had a pretty good year.

Presley with her teacher, Mrs. Norton.

Stratton with his teacher, Mrs. Coats.

Cas and I at her 6th grade graduation.

Done with elementary and ready to take on Middle School!

Vancouver, B.C.

Oh, Canada...Oh, Canada... (that's all I know of that song)


We planned a weekend trip to Vancouver, B.C. with my parents so that we could take a tour of the Vancouver temple. It was such a great trip full of fun memories. It was the first time to Canada for me and the kids, which was exciting.


The Vancouver temple was simply gorgeous!

After the temple we went to see the city!

Just a gentle reminder that we actually made it to Canada!

We went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and thought that it was really cool!

Yep, that's the bridge and we all made it across. It moves while you're on it and there is a river below it. Very cool. We had a great weekend and can't wait to go back and see more!

Spring Breakin' it Arizona Style

Surprise! That is how our Spring Break started. No one knew that we were headed to Arizona except my parents. We debated, we plotted, we anticipated the excitement.It was going to be fantastic to surprise everyone!

One by one, we surprised the family. First, Misty. Then Ryson and BrookeLyn. Then Ryan and Cara. Last was Cayla. We simply knocked on her door. When she opened the door she couldn't believe her eyes! It was hard for her to tell that it was actually us standing there once she started crying. It was a BIG surprise and we loved it.

When we go to Holbrook there are certain things that we must do. First on the list is to eat at El Rancho. Just typing the words makes my mouth start to water. Comfort food is what you grow up eating and that would be El Rancho for me. Now my kids love it just as much. Chips, salsa, "B, Green"...it's all very tasty! We ate there more than once while in Holbrook. We also made it to Wayside and the rock shop on the other side of the bridge. Life is simple.

We did some fun things while we were there and the things we did were all made better because we were able to do them with family.

We played with this little cutie...

And we helped this one celebrate turning three!!

We went to Grand Falls. The Little Colorado River makes this Willy Wonka-ish chocolate cascade. It wasn't easy to find but we were glad that we did. Not too many people actually get to see it flowing.

We went there with all of these people...

The girls let their Nan doll them up...hair and make-up! Ooo-la-la.

We got to hug and kiss this little chub-chub. Oh, how sweet it was.

We miss being able to see everyone more often and it was so fun to be able to spend some time with our family. There's nothing like family. It was a great vacation but there was one thing missing...Jeff.

Cas celebrates by the sea

I'm in denial. Complete denial. I refuse to accept the fact that Cascia has turned TWELVE! This year for her birthday we lucked out with a gorgeous day so we headed out to Seaside to celebrate. But, before we left Cas had to open some presents!

Not very often do we get a day like this in March!

It was unbelievably sunny and warm-ish.

All three kiddos striking a pose next to the Seaside sign...
just in case we ever forget where the picture was taken, I guess.

There is a hat shop in Seaside that is fun to go into and try on hats of all sorts.

I made Cas put on the birthday cake hat...she loved it!

One of the things that Cas really wanted to do was rent a beach bike...for five.

Four of us sat and worked to make it go while Stratton

sat in the front basket and enjoyed the view.

Birthday cupcakes with raspberry whipped cream in the middle.

Looks like this is now our birthday tradition instead of cake.

Happy Birthday, Cas. You're a joy to have in our family and a great example!

We love you and hope that you have a great year being TWELVE!

Karaoke Presley

Presley loves Rock and Roll. We'll see her as the American Idol winner in 2020!

(Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the video!)

Presley turns...Nine!

I feel like I blinked and here were are celebrating Presley's birthday. Wasn't she just born on that beautiful day back in Arizona? I can still see her smiley, chubby face and her blonde hair. She was and still is a very fun and happy kid. We are blessed to have her as part of our family. Presley started off her birthday by having to tell her Dad goodbye. (Jeff left this morning for a 10 day trip to Korea). After a wholesome breakfast consisting of several different types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Presley opened her presents. Happy day!! Presley asked to eat lunch today at Mike's Drive-In, which is always tastey. Then we went bowling. We had Bryce and Kara with us for extra fun! It was a great day...Happy Birthday, Presley. We all love you!!

The stash of presents a top Presley's new chair...yes she got a chair for a present and she liked it!

Money, money, money!

A girl can never have too many cute purses!


We ate at Mike's for lunch.

De-Lish! :)

The bowling crew

Presley and Stratton sharing some love.

Working hard for a strike.

Excellent form.

The fun of bowling is getting to wear such fantastic looking shoes!