Perfect Day on Mt. Hood

Amber

My older sister, Amber, had a major stroke this past Sunday morning. She is in ICU and we aren't sure what her recovery will look like.

Amber is 38 years old (18 months older than me) and has 7 children ranging in age from 13 to 2.

We are holding a special fast for her beginning this evening after dinner through tomorrow. Please feel free to join in if you are able to.

Unconditional

Today Justin came in to my bedroom as I was sitting on the edge of my bed. Yes, I was reading a web page on my phone. He sat next to me and had a sly grin on his face. I put my phone to the side and put my arm around him.

"What's up, Buddy?"
He laid back horizontally on the bed and said, "Mom, you know how for the past five years I have been trying to think of the word to describe how much I love you?"
"Yes, I remember." It's true, he really has been searching for just the right word.
"Well, I found it! Unconditional. I even did a happy dance when I found it!"
Tears sprang to my eyes.
"Thank you so much, Justin! That is the nicest thing to ever tell your Mom."
I gave him a hug.
"That is how I feel about you, too."
He smiled and said, "I know."
Best. Feeling. Ever.

While you were traveling...

"Say cheese! Get a picture! "(While pointing her play phone at me)

I said daddy is on a trip. "Daddy go camping!"

"Need Dad!" Crying over and over as I am trying to get her ready for bed.

Happy Birthday to our 2-year-old Allie!

Wow! I can hardly believe Allie is 2 years old already! Amazing how time has flown by. We celebrated her 2nd birthday with several firsts for the majority of our family. The biggest one is that we finished our first 5k race! Intel sponsored a family 5k/10k at the Hillsboro Stadium Complex.

The boys had swimming lessons in the morning at the Harewood Pool over at the old Jackson School House near our old neighborhood. Afterwards, we hurried over to the Intel campus for a tour bus ride to the stadium. Tyler called it an "airplane bus" because he was in awe over the nice seats, overhead storage and rear bathroom. It was fun to see the boys so amazed with their first luxury bus ride.

At the stadium, we lined up at the starting line and waited for our turn to take off. We had such a great time. We jogged a little, walked together and then Travis ran ahead with the boys as I followed behind with Allie sleeping in the stroller. My favorite part was walking hand-in-hand with my two boys in either side of me and Travis pushing Allie in front of us. That moment is frozen in my heart.

Allie and I crossed the finish line to the cheering of our biggest fans. What a wonderful birthday present for our sweet girl!

After a BBQ lunch, Allie tried her first snow cone. Of course she loved it! But to ride the bus again back to our car was the icing on her cake. She sure loves buses.

Since it was hot outside, we decided to go out for frozen yogurt instead of birthday cake at home. The kids loved their first visit to Twist. I think Allie loved the gummy bears on top best!

We swung by our new favorite Chinese restaurant, Joy Wok, on our way home.

Here are some cute things she does:

Sings "Happy Birthday to (fill-in-the-blank)" starting with family members and ending with happy birthday to the soccer ball and the backyard.

Points out the "Mommy" dog, "Allie" dog, etc., whenever she sees a mommy and a baby animal or human.

"Where Mommy go?" "Right here!". (Giggles). "Allie go?" "Right here!" (Giggles)

We love our sweet Allie!

One more month to go...I can't believe it!

A month's worth of cuteness all packaged up in one blog post. I'm sure we are barely scratching the surface, really. Allie is our spunky, happy 23-month-old girl! Here are the first things that jumped out in my memory of this past week:

Tonight I counted out loud to bore her to sleep...she only made it to 150! Ha!

Allie loves to dance to and can sing along with "Dynamite" by Tao Cruise and "The Weekend Whip" by The Fold.

Likes to request the song "Twinkle Bells" at bedtime. (Jingle Bells)

She wants Daddy to put her to bed at night and sing to her. She cried today when I tried to do it. Yes, I feel so loved.

Allie loves dresses, necklaces, purses and shoes. She's all girl!

The other day I was painting my toenails. She was so curious and kept asking, "Mommy doing?" When I said I was painting my toenails pink, she immediately sat down and scooted her toes next to mine. Adorable! I know what this girl is getting for her birthday!

Daily, she gets all decked out in my slip-on shoes and any purse, lunch box or backpack (Ideally all three!). She goes around saying "Bye! See you! Have fun!" to everyone. I ask her where she is going and she replies, "Go truck!" She's on her way! Now heaven help us when she learns to open the door to the garage. Ha!


When I sign "I love you!", she copies the sign and we tough finger tips. Melts me!

Allie 22 Months

Things we love about our Allie-Girl:

• She sings along with me as I sing "ABCs", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Goodnight, Baby". She gets most of the main words. It is my favorite thing to be holding her with her head resting on my shoulder as we sing. Usually it happens as I am walking with her at nap time.

• Sometimes she tells me "I wuv ooo" as she tries to do the sign language along with it. I spend the rest if the day as a puddle on the ground.

• She wants to do what her brothers do: Climb the tree, ride the scooter, hold the neighbor's dog's leash, talk on the phone, sit on the bar stool (but I don't let her), take a bath, play (destroy) Monopoly, ride in the truck with dad and eat a popsicle.

• She was excited to wake up yesterday at Kohl's. "Clothes!" She loved to watch me try on a dress. She said, "Mommy, dress, dance!"

• She loves Sundays so we can go to "Church, song!" Whenever we drive on the freeway, she thinks we are headed to church. Our building is about 15 minutes away by way of the highway.

• Nothing is more fun than chasing or being chased by her brothers.

• She is a great picnic hostess for her toy characters and animals.

• She refuses to sit in her high-chair or wear a bib. I love that. But, I have learned to pick my battles with my determined daughter.

• She waves "Hi!" to people when we are out in public.

• She wants to ride in Dad's truck instead of Mom's minivan. I feel so cool now!

• She always wants to wear a dress or skirt if given a choice. Her big brothers don't even care what they wear. lol!

Last Day 2

I can hardly believe the school year is over already! We have had a wild year with lots of changes. The boys have been so amazing and have adapted to our new life here in our new neighborhood. They both love their new school and adore their new teachers. I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of them with their teachers. Justin was in 4th grade with Mr. Lester. Tyler was in 1st grade with Mrs. Schroeder. Allie is just happy to be here. She is just that kind of girl. So, here are our big last-day-of-school hoopla pictures:

Welcome Summer!

The kids raced through our last day of school "finish line" this afternoon with their neighborhood friends. It is a fun, little tradition my kids won't forget any time soon.

It was fun to chat with our new neighbors and the kids had fun riding their scooters and bikes. Of course we ended up at the park! The perfect celebration!!

Allie 21 Months

Here are Allie's up-to-the-minute top 10:

1. Allie loves to yell "Run!" and run around the island in our kitchen waiting for someone to chase her or to pop out in front of her to catch her.

2. She repeats whatever she is excited about with everyone's name in our family:

"Allie shoes, Daddy shoes, Justin shoes, Tyler shoes, Gram-pa shoes, Mommy shoes!"

3. She loves to go swinging at the park and still cries and says, "Swing all done!" over and over when it is time to come inside.

4. I don't worry about her climbing on the furniture anymore for the most part.

5. Allie got her own big container of popcorn tonight while we watched "The Lion King" as a family. She stayed in a low squat on the floor the whole time happily eating her popcorn. That girl has some serious balance!

6. She loves to look at books and have us read to her. Favorites are "Katy Duck" and "Green Hat, Blue Hat".

7. Favorite foods: bread, yogurt, bananas, frozen peas, popcorn and pretzels. She loves to play with her play food, too.

8. She is learning the ABC's and I catch her singing the song sometimes. "j,k,o-o-o-o-p,q,r,s..."

9. Whenever Allie is wearing anyone's sunglasses, the boys make rap music noises and Allie dances as they chant, "I'm a cool girl!"

10. Allie likes to dance to the music on Travis' iPhone. She loves to watch Curious George ("Monkey show!") and Martha Speaks ("Doggy Show!")

We sure do love this girl!

A little bit of this and that

I can wear earrings again!!! Allie doesn't yank them out anymore. But she does still have her eye on my accessories. Last Sunday she just HAD to wear my necklace to church because I was wearing one too. I let her because it did match her dress. It hung to her knees! Ha! Ha!

Peppermint essential oil is the ticket to no more ants! Seriously! A few weeks ago Justin discovered ants all over the floor of the kids bathroom. Must have been 50 of them...10 minutes later, no more ants! I mixed 15 drops of oil in a spray bottle with a cup of water. Just sprayed it around the baseboards since they aren't calked and I assumed that was how they got in. Then I sprayed in the door threshold for good measure. So easy and smelled amazing like a candy cane.

The next week they appeared downstairs in the kitchen. I did the same thing but it took a few days and some wadded up paper towels soaked in the spray and stuffed along the edges of the dishwasher and oven. No more ants in the kitchen either! Oh, I am thrilled! Anybody want a candy cane?

We just watched Captain America the other night and I'm looking forward to seeing The Avengers.

I am a weed-pulling machine! Just in case you were wondering. I noticed we have some sort of hole-digging, tunnel-creating rodent in our yard. And I'm pretty sure that's a not good thing. Yep. Oh boy.

Speaking of church. (Was I?) I just got a calling in our new ward...1st Counselor in Primary. My boys are so excited to have me in Primary with them. I am looking forward to it, too! I will be over activity days, nursery, nursing home sacrament visits and music. I will be teaching a sharing time lesson to all the children under 12 once or twice a month, conducting the meeting when it is my turn, planning activities for the entire group of kids and making sure the separate age-group classes are running smoothly each Sunday. Piece of cake, right? I'm ready to jump in!

Popcorn and orange juice is calling my name. You, too?

Travis is has been running almost every day now. He is doing such a great job! I am amazed how he can run up and down all these hills in our neighborhood. He is my superman!

Just a little nap time blogging...

A Weekend Visit

Let's go fly a kite!

Wait till you hear this...

Meet our 20-month-old Allie Mai:

She wakes up with a smile and is really a happy-go-lucky baby. She takes one nap a day and is learning to go to sleep on her own instead of being held or rocked. I don't know what to do with all my free time now!

We have been doing some projects around the house. As our construction worker friend, Mark Stokes, left one day, Allie waved and said, "Bye, Sweetie!"

Counted to 10 today by herself for the first time. She totally picked it up on her own. I didn't even realize she knew her numbers!

Rode around on her "mom-push" tricycle on Saturday for the first time.
She cried when we went inside. It had been nearly two hours. My back cried, too.

Allie has smile contests with her brothers. As if that smile could get any bigger! She tries so hard she shakes and her face turns red.

When "sharing" a seat or couch with one of her brothers, she says, "scoose me" over and over as she pushes them off do she can have it all to herself. At least she is polite!

Whenever she hears a lawn mower she says "vacuum!"

Allie loves to pick up the boys from school and waves hello and goodbye to all five buses. If the bus drivers notice her they always smile and wave back.

Allie is so cute. She fell out of the toy bin she was balancing in and told herself to be "be careful!" lol!

She had Travis' old phone on the stairs and I asked her who she was calling. She said "second"...as in "just a second". She was busy making a call!

Has to say "Bye" to something in her room before going to bed. Usually it is the light on the ceiling.

Favorite food: sweet peppers and spelt bread.

Sweet

It is beautiful today. Drizzles of rain mixed with sweet, fresh air. Allie and I went on a walk this morning after stopping off at the school for a minute. We headed down the path at our park to watch the water spill over the rocks in the creek.

I could just drink it all in! I love springtime and all the plants and flowers poking up. It is like a treasure hunt in our yard to see what plants will bloom. I'm looking forward to getting my hands in the soil this weekend. Time to plant some flower pots!

Happy Easter!

Today the weather was amazing! The kids had fun with their Easter baskets and an egg hunt in the morning. After church, we enjoyed a yummy dinner of corned beef and cabbage. We had never eaten it before so Grandpa Davis made it for us to try. It was a hit!

We decided go celebrate this sunny Easter Sunday by walking around the new Visitors Center at the Portland Temple in Lake Oswego. It has been open to the public for about a month now. The temple gardens were in full bloom. Gorgeous!

Remember it

Tyler walked into the kitchen at midnight last night. He looked half asleep. I was loading the dishwasher. I asked him if he needed a drink of water. He said, "yes", grabbed a kids' cup out of the drawer and took a big gulp of the empty cup. Then looked at me with a confused look. It was all I could do to keep a straight face as I said, "How about we fill it up with water first?"

We were driving in the van tonight when Allie says, "Hello?" I looked back and she had pulled her sandled foot up to her ear to call someone.

I got a haircut today. Same-ish style but shorter in back. When I picked up Allie later tonight, she wrapped her arm around my neck and started giggling when she rubbed on the super short hairs. "Scratchy!"

Let's go fly a kite!

During Grandpa's visit, he kept his eyes peeled out the window to watch for a kite-flying breeze. He even brought his awesome trick kite from Utah. Luckily, the kids got to enjoy several kite-flying adventures with Grandpa Davis outside in our big "backyard".

A Weekend Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Davis came from Utah to visit this weekend. They flew in on Thursday night and my mom left Sunday afternoon. My dad is staying for two more weeks to help with projects around our house. He'll be a busy guy!

The kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa playing board games, reading stories, cuddling on the couch watching General Conference, playing at the park and going on walks.

Tyler tricked Grandma and Grandpa for April Fools by stuffing their shoes/slippers with paper towels and toilet paper. Tyler tricked Grandpa again by sticking a post-it note to the bottom of his computer mouse so it wouldn't work. Got ya!

Life is just better up here!

Allie just turned 19 months and with that earned some super climbing skills. Keeps me on my toes, she does. And she's quick, too!

I turn my back for 10 seconds and she is crawling across the kitchen table. We leave the bedroom door open and sure enough, she's cruising up the bunk bed ladder. Or she is bouncing on the couch in the family room. Lots of head-over-heels tumbles down our carpeted stairs. It makes me smile when she tries to climb the stairs of her dollhouse. Little cutie!

She needs a body guard to follow her around all day. Lucky for us, this weekend we have someone better than that to help. Who's better than Grandma and Grandpa? Allie is on cloud nine today along with her big brothers! And that, my friends, is the highest place to be.

A day at our park

New

One Science Night at the new school equals just a glance at the exhibits and an hour+ exploring the school grounds.

St. Pattys Day

Today is the day for the wearing of green! Last night, Tyler remembered right before bed that he "needed" to make a leprechaun trap. Travis and Ty whipped up a quick trap complete with gold coins and green plastic wrap.

This morning the boys woke the find a trail of green Legos leading down to the kitchen. That tricky leprechaun found green scissors and cut an exit door on the side of the trap box. Then he climbed onto the table and left a note with green and blue toothpicks. "Ha! Ha!".

Now, I'm dreaming of a birthday breakfast. I can hear my silly leprechaun crew downstairs working their magic in the kitchen. I'm waiting with a cutie who is sporting some great bed head. She is just so kissable in the morning that way! Love these big yawns....

Here are some moving in catch-up posts:

A Leap Day for Moving
Snow
Just like home

Do you like my hat?

How do I ever get any unpacking done when I have such a cute side-kick? Good question. But we sure have fun!

Cosmo

We have been on the lookout for Cosmo this week. As in BYU, but in our case, a real cougar. Not some cheerleader jumping around in an oversized costume. Yes, folks, we're not in Provo anymore!

There have been several sightings in our new neighborhood this past week or so. The nearest being just two blocks away. Boy, oh boy would we have a story to tell if we did cross paths with the big cat. Come to find out, there are also bobcats, coyotes, raccoons and a family of deer in our neighborhood as well. I know I do like sound of the raccoon and deer parts! The jury is still out on the other wild and ferocious animals. For sure.

All Stars - Day 1

Me: "So how was school?"

Justin - "It was so awesome!"

Me: "Ty, what about you?"

Tyler: "Good! So good it feels like I have already been there for 3 days!"

Allie: "Bus!!!" :)

Back to me: A wink & a grin...(I'm thinking they'll be just fine.)

Just like home

We're slooowly getting unpacked and settled in our new place. It really started feeling more like home to me yesterday when the piano was delivered from storage and I could sit down to play a song. And then last night sleeping in our own bed again was heavenly.

We're still swimming in boxes, but for the kids that is lots of fun. Moving boxes make great forts, desks, towers and exercise equipment. Here's Allie perfecting her balance beam routine.

The kids are great at improvising until everything is unloaded from the storage PODS sitting in our street.

This is our boat:

The tower:

Our pretty princess:

The playpen

The bunk beds

In other news, Justin told me today that we need to mow the carpet. What? He said it is too fluffy and that the closet doors keep getting caught on it. I told him it was happening because the carpet is new. Really? He didn't know. He said in that case, we can keep the carpet. Oh, I'm so glad!