home for the holidays

They can't stop talking about this freezing rain on the news.

We need to get chains for our tires.

Except, chains do nothing in freezing rain.

So they say.

Really wish we would have left for Utah today like we had originally planned.

Would have been ahead of that dumb rain.

Pray for us. We've heard horror stories about 'the gorge".

On Sunday. Pray for us on Sunday.

Not sure how much more I'll be bloggin' this month.

Which kind of makes me sad because I want to tell you about things.

Like how Ellery keeps saying "Absolutely NO!" instead of "no".

Adorable things like that.

But we're heading out. And I'm taking a break.

And I'm not sure when I'll be back.

But Merry Christmas.

I hope none of you have to deal with freezing rain.

not very festive but still fun

e first week in December we were missing the Festival of Trees in Utah. When we found out that Portland had one we decided to try it out. We thought for sure that since Portland is a bigger area that their festival of trees would be outstanding, even compared to Utah's.

Um, we were most definitely wrong. It was tiny. Like maybe fifty trees. But, what they lacked in trees they made up for in activities for the kids. And most of all, no crowds. None at all. We had a great time, but probably won't go back next year!

Face painting.

They loved this. Ellery walked around with a crooked neck the rest of the night because she thought her present was so beautiful and wasn't quite sure if she could move her head normally and show off it's beauty at the same time. McKay's snowman scared me a little bit, but he loved it.

Teddy bear hospital.

This was so cute. One of the local hospitals sponsored this little area where the kids could pick out a bear, give it a name, and then decide what injuries it had. Oscar and Daisy were born. They then took them from table to table getting medical care for all their ailments- bandages, diapers, hats, and even real stitches. They loved it.

Spoiled?

I thought this was a funny picture. I wanted him to smile for me in front of all the toys, but I think this turned out even better. He was not in the mood for pictures.

A tree display.

This one had a really cool dog house with a dog in it that McKay loved. That's all.

I should have gotten a picture of the $20 dinner we were forced to buy- because of starvation and no other options. A burger, some soup and a hot dog between all four of us did not satisfy anybody. Well, maybe Brian because he ate the burger.

today

pink rooster and serious eagle

I just sent my preschooler off, after spending the entire morning being a mouse/chicken getting chased around by a wild African dog/snake/eagle and a cute little rooster with a fierce growl. I just love the imaginations my two little ones have and playing with them was exactly what I needed to start off my Wednesday. Wednesday is supposed to be cleaning day. I'm not cleaning though. Instead, I'm going to try to record some of the funny things my kids have done or said lately. They keep me entertained, that's for sure, and I don't want to forget these sweet moments.

• When we were driving home from the coast on Thanksgiving Ellery told us, "I have poo poo in my cozy house." We weren't sure if this was her first use of potty talk- and if it was I just absolutely love it- or if house is a code word for diaper. Either way I can't believe my two year old baby knows that talking about poop is naughty and hilarious to her.

• McKay informed Grandma that he likes boogies, even Ellery's. I have never witnessed him snatching one of hers but I screamed when I heard that he has. What to do, what to do?

• Last Saturday night as McKay was saying his personal prayers he said, "Thank you that the cougars won. . ."

• We can always tell when McKay is up to something because he'll say, "Don't look at me for awhile," or "Don't check on me, k?"

• My kids favorite Christmas song is Jingle Bells. They want to sing it all the time. Ellery also runs around singing, "thumpity, thump, thump, thumpity, thump, thump" from Frosty the Snowman.

• McKay is already showing some pretty intense OCD traits. He is OBSESSED with brushing his teeth so he doesn't end up like Grandpa Gum without any teeth. He talks about his teeth constantly. It was a three day conversation when he found out that all his baby teeth will fall out.

• Ellery is very into complimenting people. She will notice and appreciate just about anything you have on. She'll say, "I like your sweater mom." and then I'll thank her. She waits about 1.5 seconds before digging for her own compliment, "Do you like my sweater, mom?"

• I am totally loving that McKay has a boy in his class named Bridger and he calls him Fridger. Loving it!

• Ellery has now officially welcomed baby Kate into the family. She is now baby Kate Matthews and Ellery lets us know often.

• Ellery and I have started having the following conversation every day:

E: Is Santa coming today, Momma?

S: No, not today.

E: Okay.

That may not sound very adorable, but remember she's only two, and it is just very, very adorable to have your two year old wondering if Santa's coming everyday, and politely accept when he's not, over and over again. It's become part of her daily routine to ask about Santa and she says okay, knowing that I was going to say no.

• Speaking of Santa, the other day the kids were talking about Santa just as someone knocked on our door. Brian said, "It's Santa!" and both of our kids shivered with terror. Ellery ran into the kitchen screaming, and McKay was just about to cry when we told him it was just Mailee, our friend. I guess they don't want to meet him after all.

Now I must go and make myself finish putting away the laundry. Laundry day is on Monday only and this week I have somehow managed to make it last three days.

getting ready for christmas. . .

and I've got reindeer to prove it!

thoughts on a sunday

• This picture has nothing to do with anything. I hope Brian doesn't see it because eating in bed is SO not allowed, especially his bed.

• While driving I always encourage McKay and Ellery to look out the window to, you know, see what they can see. When they find something interesting or cool they will usually shout it out to share with the whole car. I then respond with, "Good eye, McKay!" or "Good eye, Ellery!" They absolutely love this. Me saying good eye is just about the best praise I could give them.

• One of the things McKay always looks for while driving is animal crossing signs- like deer crossing or ducks crossing. He'll say, "I saw a duck sign- that means ducks cross this road." He also loves to look for Oregon Duck or Beaver team signs. Well, the other day I announced that I saw an Indian sign- some kind of sports flag- and McKay said very matter of fact, "That means that Indians cross this road." We got a good laugh out of that one.

• In this same car ride- it was eventful let me tell you- Ellery started crying because I wouldn't hold her hand. McKay looked over to her and said in the sweetest, most sincere voice of concern, "Oh Ellery, did you see a pirate?" She of course responded with an exaggerated whine, "Yeeeessss."

• We are excited for Thanksgiving. Not only does Brian not have any school this week but his family is coming into town on Wednesday. We can't wait!

• I decided today that there is almost nothing worse than bad church socks on a man. I am glad that Brian's ankles are always looking sharp on Sundays.

• It gets dark here at about four-thirty p.m. Did anyone know that? I didn't until it started happening. With it being overcast so much and getting dark so early I definitely am having a desire to hibernate in my house for the winter. This is not a bad feeling.

• McKay has started to say "er" as opposed to "or". It drives Brian crazy but we also think it's kind of funny.

• I have spent several hours in the garage using a power tool. Sanding to be exact. I feel very masculine using a power tool in my garage. I'm refinishing the other bunk bed to add to McKay's room. I hate sanding.

• Did you know it is possible for a baby to do baby talk? Ellery has shown us that it is very possible. Kind of precious, kind of annoying. Not really sure which one will win out.

Oh, Happy Sunday!

my orbit

Today at school McKay learned about dream catchers. When I pick him and his friend Jaxon up from school it's always tough to get anything out of them about their day. The first thing to come up is usually what they had for snack and then if I'm lucky, what they did at recess or who was mean to who that day. Hardly ever anything about what they learned, unless I really probe.

But today McKay came right up to me and the first thing I heard about was dream catchers. "They're like a little net thing and you hang them up and they catch the bad dreams and let the good dreams through to you. Then, the bad dreams fall out in the morning."

It's not surprising to me that he would be really vocal about bad dreams being caught in a net. In fact, I imagine that his little dream catcher will be hanging in his room for a quite awhile. A few weeks ago McKay had his first nightmare. While on a trip with some friends to a really fun science museum, with tons of interactive things for kids to do, we all found ourselves in the earthquake house. A little simulated earthquake, complete with rumbling sounds, shook this little playhouse while we stood inside. It was not a dramatic or scary version of an earthquake, just supposed to be fun. Had I any idea of how not fun this would turn out to be I would have never let my boy step foot inside. And if I had let him, I definitely would have given him a thorough explanation of earthquakes and what that little house meant. But, of course, I had no idea.

The next night McKay woke up screaming. This does not happen. I knew something was especially wrong when he stayed in his bed and didn't come right into our room. I went in to check on him and he was terrified. He had been dreaming about being in the earthquake house all alone. "I was just standing in the earth shake house and the earth shake hurt my legs so bad." I pulled him into bed with us and we all fell back to sleep.

My poor boy was still very shaken the next morning. And the next. And the next. He gave me the third degree on earth quakes. Asked me every question his four year old mind could think of. At first I tried to tell him that earth quakes hardly ever happen and we shouldn't worry about them. Still terrified. Then I tried to tell him that I was in an earthquake when I was little and it was kind of fun. Not fun for him. I then switched to being prepared for an earthquake- told him where to go, what to do and that I would run to wherever he was if there were to be an earthquake. This just produced more questions. Finally, after a whole day of talking mostly about earthquakes alone, I had to resort to telling him there were no earth quakes in Oregon. Ever. But, did that do the trick. Nope.

He was terrified of loud noises. Even more terrified of being alone. No, not being alone, being more than a three foot radius away from me. Three feet! One morning I sat him and Ellery at the kitchen table with breakfast and a show on and explained that I was going to take a shower upstairs. Not even thirty seconds after I turned on the water, a hysterical McKay burst through the bathroom door. The noise of the water from downstairs sounded an awfully lot like an earthquake to him and he booked it upstairs.

Those next few nights were quite literally a nightmare for all of us. After sleeping in our bed for two nights we laid down the law. No getting out of bed. No sleeping with mom and dad. I don't want to go into all the details of those nights, because they are quite honestly some of my most shameful moments as a mother. . . as a person- and I'd like not to remember the details. But, I will say that we tried everything. We tried everything we could think of. And nothing worked. Patience, yelling, reasoning, threatening, extra night lights, sleeping on the floor in our room, even- I hate to even write it- spanking, did not keep that boy from screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night. He was terrified to fall asleep because he didn't want to have the nightmare again, and for some reason would wake up screaming throughout the night when he found himself alone in the dark.

The earth quake obsession lasted for about a week, and then earth quakes slowly faded and fires, loud noises, the dark and most especially being alone took over. It was so exhausting to talk him through all of these things and even more exhausting for me to not be able to go anywhere in the house without him. He would put off breakfast altogether to just stand by me as I got ready. I named him my little orbit because he did not leave my side. It was several more weeks before he would be alone.

Now it all seems to be over. He is going to bed like he used to and sleeping through the night. (What finally worked was promising him that we would check in him every five minutes, which we did and still do, until he falls asleep. Now though, he is usually asleep before we even check on him once, thank goodness.) He is now able to go upstairs by himself and he chooses to eat rather than watch me do my hair.

Now that I'm writing it I realize that it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was seriously life altering for all of us for a couple weeks. I was completely depressed that he was so scared and felt horrible for not being able to make his fear go away- not to mention the toll that having my little orbit took on me. It was so hard for us to know how to handle it. We really did not know what to do. We didn't want to coddle him and feed the fear, while forming habits we would just have to break, but it was heartbreaking to see our child so afraid and not just want to just hug him all night and make everything all better. I'm so glad that he's back to his old self and has learned to let go of his fear.

I too learned something through this experience. Brian and I really have no idea what we're doing- this whole parenting thing. Our poor children just have to go through this trial and error thing as we try to figure it out. Now that's a pretty terrifying thought, isn't it? I hope we all make it.

it's a boy. . .

. . . and his name is Micah.

He came to us in Jana's suitcase. A gift from Grammy.

Baby Kate spent the night in the stuffed animal bin, and now she is lost.

Surely, she's feeling abandoned and neglected.

But Micah,

Micah is getting snuggled to sleep every night.

Micah is getting sung to every morning.

And Micah spends several meals a day wedged into the highchair next to his momma.

But.

Micah, too, might be in trouble.

Meet Boom Boom Baby:

thoughts on a sunday

• We really miss Jana and Mark. They left on Tuesday and I was left with an empty feeling as they drove away. We so loved having them here. More about that later though. . . hopefully :)
• Guess what? I don't edit my photos. Occasionally I'll get rid of some red eye. I wish I did more, but blogging takes enough time as it is. I just wanted to tell everyone.
• My dad once told me you really just need one friend to be alright. I'm alright.
• Ellery is totally napping again. Kind of since we got here. She will usually nap every other day, as long as she doesn't wake up too late. I am loving this because I put her down when McKay goes to school and I get about an hour of being alone, which lately is a pretty huge deal. I'll explain that later too.
• I can do more crunches than Brian. This is quite possibly the only physical way that I dominate him. I like to talk about it.
• I'm trying not to freak out about the swine flu. I'm trying. And I'm doing pretty good, but I did go on a hand sanitizer and children's medicine spree. I bought eight bottles of medicine and four bottles of hand sanitizer. I'm kind of a hand sanitizer snob. I only like Germ-X Lavendar scented. And when Jana was here we went to Walmart specifically to purchase said hand sanitizer. Walmart is one of the only places where I've seen it.
• Walmart is 30 miles away from my house, so we haven't been since we moved here. Oh how I miss it. I felt like I was visiting an old friend.
• My hair has lightened up quite a bit. There are things I like about it and things I hate about it. One of the things I hate most is the haircut. She hacked my hair. I know it was damaged, but she was having way too much fun with my split ends- letting her delight in removing them distract her from making sure my hair was evenly cut. Mental note: Never go eight months without getting a trim. Ever. The other day McKay looked at me and said, "Mom, why do you keep talking about your hair?" So after that little update, I'm done talking about it.
• Just a little bragging about my little student. Brian continues to do extremely well in school. He's working so hard and it's paying off. Test scores to prove it! Proud of him.

Happy Sunday!

k b

*post entirely by McKay. Title, picture, content.

I made a dog house for my real dogs. I love them so much. I like our new house. I love my mommy. And my daddy, too. I love Ellery, too. I like to play in mud and I like to jump in mud puddles and throw mud balls. I think you would love that too. I think you're going to come to me for a wish. I wish you would come to my house.

I'm all done doing my blog.

one thought on a saturday night

It's a rainy Saturday night and I am lying on the bed listening to the rain fall outside. I love that I can hear the rain from inside my bedroom. I always wished that we could hear the rain in our old one, but we couldn't because of the deck above our window.

I'm lying here on my bed with mostly one thing on my mind. Today I dyed my hair. I intended to have it dyed to my natural dirty blond color. A sacrifice I decided to make.

I have brown hair now. It's not dirty blond, it's not even light brown. It's brown. I don't know how to feel. I'm just shocked by it. I don't know if I can love it. It's not what I expected. I've come to the conclusion that bringing your hair to your natural color is not as simple as it may sound. And perhaps having brown hair is part of the process. At least the process I chose.

Although, I did get a little annoyed when the stylist said, as she was washing the dye out of my already-dyed hair, "We should have done low lights and that may have been a better way to get what you wanted." Hmmm, thanks for that. She then tossed around words like ashy, follicle, absorb and split ends. I kind of stopped listening.

Here's what's bugging me. I wanted hair the same color as my kids. I think that is what my natural color is. Maybe I should have brought Ellery with me. But like I said before, perhaps it isn't that simple. My hair is now very much darker than my kids. I guess I should have been more clear in what I wanted.

I think I look older. I think my skin looks weird. I think Brian keeps looking at me like he doesn't recognize me. I think McKay said he liked it better the other way. I think Ellery keeps saying, "haircut?" while stroking my brown locks. I think I keep telling myself that my hair does not matter that much. I think that I don't feel like myself.

And. I think if I let myself, I feel liberated.

And a little bit lost.

But I'm trying to lean towards liberated.

"halloweens"

Halloween 2009

A pretty witch and a football player.

McKay got to wear his costume three days in a row. Trunk-or-treat, then preschool, then Halloween. He was not unhappy about it either. We had some mixed reactions to his costume. Brian warned me that some people are very passionate about college football. Many of the boys in our ward paid their compliments to McKay and we were asked several times where we got it. I got really annoyed at some man in our ward who in all seriousness kept calling a four year old "lame". I also got confused when a neighbor started referring to Yale. Anyway, enough about me. McKay loved Halloween this year. No matter how fast she was, Ellery was simply not fast enough to keep up with this trick-or-treater. He was pretty quick on the thank you too.

The pretty witch had been practicing saying "trick-or-treat. thank you," for days, along with 'happy Halloween!' She melted several hearts in the neighborhood and scored extra candy because of it. Every time we would come upon a house that had Halloween decorations she would say, "Look at the halloweens!" She had so much fun trick-or-treating that she had this little giggle/growl going the whole night.

The only way I could get McKay to agree to go home was to tell him that we could trick-or-treat at our house. Brian had gone home a few minutes before us to start getting rid of the candy we had bought. He was so excited about ringing our doorbell and getting a candy from dad.

How great is Halloween to a kid? Look at that! They could not believe their good fortune. McKay decided that we would all share the candy together and to dump it all into one big pile. (Although, today he tried to bribe me with candy if I played with his farm.) We were only out for an hour and just went around our little neighborhood when there bags were getting too heavy to hold. We live on a pretty quiet street and there weren't that many kids going around, so at almost every door we went to they were giving out handfuls of candy.

And now I can't stop eating 100 Grands and Butterfingers. I really can't. And although we were all feeling quite homesick without our family on such a fun holiday, we had a very nice Halloween.

thoughts on a sunday

• We had a great Halloween. The kids loved it. I always thought I loved Halloween, but I think the older my kids get, the more and more I'm not loving it. You see, we now have two huge bowls of candy. And the kids know we have two huge bowls of candy. And they know that it's their candy. And between the asking for candy, and the whining for candy, and the sugar highs from the candy, I'm thinking, why do I love Halloween again? They have actually been pretty good today and I'm sure they'll lose interest in it soon enough, but the other problem is that I probably won't loose interest until it's gone.
• McKay has been very interested in clocks and time lately. He will ask us when it's time for school, and we'll tell him when the long hand is on the twelve and he cannot focus on anything else until the long hand is on the twelve.
• We have some festive neighbors and there are a lot of skeleton decorations around our neighborhood. Whenever we walk by one Ellery will say, "Look! A pirate ship!" I haven't corrected her because I still think it's just as cute now as I did the first time she said it.
• My skin is going through an identity crisis. All the sudden it just decided to freak out. My neighbor said it's from coming from such a dry climate to a humid one. I feel like I'm fifteen.
• This week over half of McKay's preschool class was wiped out with illness. Two days this week he was one of five or six students at school, from a class of twelve. Our ward is taking hand sanitizer precautions like you wouldn't believe and almost every week they talk about having common sense when coming to church. Meaning, don't come if you're at all sick. After announcements like that I think everyone is afraid to even clear their throat. So then that makes me feel a little justified when the lady in front of me in relief society was coughing up a lung and I had really mean thoughts about her and her coughing germs.
• We are so excited to have our first visitors this week! Jana and Mark can't come soon enough!
• The other day McKay had a brilliant idea. He told us he needed three people. He was so excited to direct Brian and I into forming human letters with our bodies and I have no idea where it came from. Sesame Street maybe? But he doesn't really watch that. However he came up with it, it had Brian and I smiling.
• Brian is feeling so happy for the time change because now he won't be running in complete darkness in the mornings. I am feeling like I don't like it getting dark by 5:20 at night. Why is that so hard to get used to every year?
• I really love my parents. That's all.

Happy Sunday!

pretty pretty bones

That's what Ellery says every time she wears these jammies.

She's super excited to be a pretty-princess-witch, which is really just a witch, but that's what you say when you're girly girl wants to be a princess- and Mack has been practicing football plays with Brian all afternoon. That cougar is ready to trick-or-treat.

Happy Halloween!

this post is annoying. . .

But I just had to get it out. When we moved here in September, Brian had about three weeks before he started school. That meant lots and lots of time for us to fall in love with our new state as a family. McKay would call them journeys. We went on lots of journeys.

Multnomah Falls, etc. . .

So beautiful. Huge slugs were definitely a highlight for the kids.

The Big Journey

One day we were totally bored and decided to drive down the road near our house that leads to farm country and see what we could find. This was when McKay used the term journey. This has been one of my favorite days here so far. It was so fun just driving around waiting for the next cool thing. And there were some cool things!

Alpaca Farm

The kids loved this, especially McKay.

Apple Orchard and hidden park in the woods.

We drove by the cutest little apple farm and knew we had to stop. Plus there were signs telling us to stop. They had a big bouncy, blow-up apple that the kids could jump in. They had an empty pig pen, but McKay didn't even care that it was empty- he still was fascinated. We also enjoyed some delicious honey crisp apples and a few flavored honey sticks.

Then, as we were winding through the small streets on one of the many forest-covered hills, we came upon this fun little park. It had a great play ground, which the kids loved, and there were trails that led to a garden area where we saw bunnies, squirrels and the kids enjoyed wild blackberries.

Temple

In September we were able to take a tour of the temple grounds.

Beaverton Parade

We woke up to a rainy Saturday in September and were really bummed. We had planned on going to the Beaverton parade that morning and hadn't anticipated rain. We decided to brave the weather- bundled up in all our rain gear- and headed downtown. Let me tell you something- Oregon is used to doing anything in the rain! We felt like this broke us in!

That's all. Long. Boring. As sick of writing it as you are of reading it! ;)

thoughts on a sunday

• We've fallen into quite a wonderful Sunday routine. After a really early dinner we all snuggle up together in our comfy clothes and blankets and watch a family movie. Today it was Alvin and the Chipmunks. I love being all together in our cozy house with cold rain drizzling outside. I really love Sundays with these guys.
• Today was the primary program in our ward. We were so proud of our little sunbeam. His part was, "I like to help cook." He did a fabulous job, although he did not leave his tie alone for most of program- rolling and unrolling, covering his face and flipping it around. Loved getting little waves from our boy all throughout the hour.
• This week as McKay was squishing himself next to Elle in our single seat stroller, a lady behind us asked if they were twins. First time anyone's ever thought that.
• Ellery has started saying "Okay!" instead of "yes".
• We got pumpkins this week. A friend told us about a place that sells them for $1.50 each- any size! It was here, picking out our pumpkins, that I realized that Ellery really is two years old. She had a fit over not being able to ride on the garden cart and didn't want anything to do with the pumpkins because of it. These tantrums seem to happen only when we're at a store. So embarrassing. I just hold my head high and act like my child isn't acting like a little monster. Sometimes, if it's really bad, I'll tell her that she has to be quiet or else she'll wake up the babies that are sleeping. This usually stuns her for a few minutes as she looks around for "the babies". I'm glad that these store induced tantrums are all I have to deal with, because she really the sweetest little girl the rest of the time.
• You probably didn't know it, but this whole post was written by the new Wolf Den leader. I am totally excited to be in cub scouts! Lots of learning to do since I know nothing about scouting. And when I say scouting, Brian says, "Cub scouts is not 'scouting'."

Happy Sunday.

week four

Sorry for the bad photo, but the lighting in our bedroom is horrendous. I just thought I would tell you all a little bit about how school is going for Brian. . .through my eyes, I guess.

He's in his fourth week now and so far so good. When you're applying for anesthesia school I think they like to freak you out about it. People in the anesthesia community (online mostly) talk about how you can't have a life outside of school. They tell you to say goodbye to your family and friends until you're done and that you'll have little time to do anything but study, study, maybe eat, and then study some more. We [I] was completely freaked out by all that I heard about how grueling and demanding the programs are.

I came here knowing and expecting to be raising our kids mostly by myself for two years and a semester. Brian came prepared to see his kids only on the weekends. We were dreading that part of it, for sure, but at least we knew what to expect.

Well, I'm happy to report that "they" were wrong. Brian is really busy. Brian has long days. But Brian is still Brian. It's more like he's just a regular working man now. . .only sometimes it's even better than that. Sometimes he walks through the door at two o'clock. I like those days. Him working nights for the last few years was hard. It was SO hard to get used to at first, but then it just got to be normal. And it wasn't until we moved here and he started school that I realized just how great his night schedule was. He was around all the time, and was able to spend quality time, day and night, with me and the kids. I had no idea how good we had it.

I realize that we're only a month into the semester, and that this isn't necessarily how it's going to be the whole time, but I'm relieved that at least we didn't have to jump right into a life like that. I do, however, anticipate that it will only get harder from here. Plan for the worst? Maybe that's best in this situation.

I've been so impressed with Brian- he's doing really well with the actual schoolwork part. He's really smart. I don't know why I am so surprised by this! I've always known he was smart, but sometimes my mind goes back to the freshman-in-college Brian, which was pre mission and before he really had any direction as far as his collegiate future. But I am constantly finding myself so proud and impressed with that big old brain of his.

So far, he has been able to do all his studying at school. Several days a week classes finish in the early afternoon and he'll just stay at school and study for a few hours. It's nice because he hasn't really had to bring much home with him.

The faculty, second-year students and program directors seem so supportive of the students. I think it's been pretty interesting, yet great to have such an intimate, encouraging learning environment. He is one of fourteen (I think) students in the program, so I can already tell that they will be very close.

So there's my update. I know this might be a post that only his mother will read all the way through (Hi Adele!) but I wanted to record it just the same. And also, because I'm proud of my Bri!

oregon education

*Just went through my draft box and posted a bunch of (new) old posts, but some of them were a long time ago. . .like 2008. I wrote this a couple weeks ago and just found it again.

Maybe it's because Brian and I have had pretty limited social interactions for the last month. Maybe it's because moving to new state brings out the best and worst in you. Or maybe it's the clear Oregon air. Whatever it is, somehow I have been enlightened and learned some things about myself and my husband. I'm gonna share.

• I like to think I'm a pretty organized person, but sometimes in my efforts to be organized I put things in weird places, thinking it's a brilliant idea, and I forget where they are.

• When Brian thinks of something, or has a new idea, he likes to take immediate action. He just gets it done. I've actually known this for a long time. I, on the other hand, will get an idea and I have to think about it for a long time before I take action. Often times I run into over-thinking. Somehow, I just realized this about myself and I really don't like it.


• Brian hates excuses and he hates talking about excuses even more.


• I am really creative when it comes to excuses. I can analyze and determine just why this happened, or dig deep into my emotions to figure out why that didn't happen.


• If Brian it's not right in front of his face, Brian can't find it.


• I am a much better wife and mother when my husband has a job or school or somewhere to be besides home all the time. I missed him now that he's in school, and the days can be long, but I'm happy to be back in my routine.


• Brian can be really friendly . . . more friendly than me. Who knew?


• Living outside of Utah and away from family has made me feel different. In a good way though. I am reminded often that I know who I am. I am really feeling attached to my beliefs and happy for those things that I know. I feel like my personal, spiritual identity has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Maybe because my beliefs are more unique here. Maybe because I need them more. Maybe because other people that I interact with don't know what I do. . .


• Brian is addicted to chips and salsa.

• TV has become something that is comforting to me. I guess because it's one of the only things that is the same. I like this and hate it at the same time.

• I am really brilliant at analyzing song lyrics. Talent that I didn't even know I had. I've been amazing both Brian and myself with this hidden skill lately.

two

day one, year one, year two

I can't believe my girl is two years old today. I was looking back through all our pictures of when she was born, trying to find one to put on here. As I looked at them I thought two things.

One, it's funny how when your kids have grown up a bit and you look back at them as newborns you can see the child that you know and love now in that little baby. The baby that you certainly loved, but didn't know quite as well. I was in love with my Elle the moment I saw her, but I couldn't have imagined then what a sweet, funny, beautiful girl I had there in my arms. She continues to become more sweet and beautiful the older she gets.

And two- I don't have very many great shots of Ellery as a teeny baby. She's either become more photogenic with age, or my photos have improved. I'm betting it's the former. I was tempted to put on the picture of her where her red birthmark looks like a former German dictator's mustache, but maybe another time.

Our little family definitely wouldn't be complete without her. And, I feel so sad for taking her away from the big family. Because she really is extra adorable right now- the way she talks, the things she says, the way she jumps and how she runs around- and they're missing it all.

Happy Birthday to my Ellie girl!

we've been swinging

Everyday that it's not raining you'll find us out on the swings. They are just a few steps away from our front door and McKay and Ellery would be on them all day if they could. They would actually probably swing in the rain if I let them.

This girl looks like a little doll sitting on the big swing. She hardly moves and just sits there waiting for a push. She could sit there like that for hours, she's just so content.

McKay has gotten really creative in coming up with things that are bigger than an under dog. Except he says "hunder". Some of the biggest have been hunder dinosaur, hunder sea lion (because we saw them at the zoo) and hunder universe. Although today the biggest was a hunder walrus.

I've been trying to teach McKay how to pump himself on the swing. He gets the leg part, it's the pushing and pulling of the chains that he just can't get. I guess I'm going to be doing hunder walrus' indefinitely.

thoughts on a sunday

• On Wednesday Ellery and I joined McKay for another field trip at the preschool. Please imagine 10 preschoolers, 12 adults and three babies with three strollers all getting on a half full public bus, then transferring onto a public train. Twice. There and back. That was the field trip- riding the train. The bus was just a necessary bonus. I really kind of hated it.

• We finally rented The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I feel inclined to tell you all that my sister Jana came up with that whole idea when she wrote a short-story in elementary school titled "Younger Everyday". Why is she not making movies? That reminds me of how many wonderful inventions/ideas I've had that I never act on, but that's a whole other post entirely. I'll give you a hint though- Miami Ink- you know the tattoo show? Totally my idea.

• I don't want to jump the gun here, because we're not totally sure yet, but it looks like our furnace isn't producing hot air. Add it to the list. I really need to post some pictures of our house on here so that you all aren't imagining us living in a broken little hole. But, my feet are cold and Ellery is a little popsicle when I get her out of her crib in the morning. Gotta call the landlord. Again.

• Today after church and an early dinner, we spent the whole afternoon in our bed. All four of us. For a couple hours. I loved it. I know someday Brian and I will get to take Sunday naps in peace, but not now. We're not even trying to take Sunday naps right now. But I wouldn't have it any other way. It's much funner with our two babies right there with us, no matter how wiggly and loud they get.

• Although I've been a total roller coaster of ups and downs since we moved here- you all can feel really bad for Brian- I think I'm turning a corner. An upward corner. So that's good. I'm better at getting around, we're getting into a routine, school is going really well for Brian, and friends are being made. I can't believe we've been here for over a month!

Happy Sunday!

inspired

After looking at this picture of Brandon sent to us in an e-mail, McKay quietly disappeared into the bathroom with a pen in his hot little hand.

And came out looking just like his cousin.

He was totally proud of himself. Not only because of the mustache, but because of the cat whiskers too.

His own creative genius.

thoughts on a sunday

• It's usually a struggle to get McKay to cooperate while getting his hair done for the day. I rarely make him do it unless we're going somewhere, at which point he begins to beg to wear a hat. The problem is, he wears that hat into the car, then off it comes for the rest of the day. So I hardly ever let him talk me into that. We cracked up when one day I told him to go ahead and get his hat and he came down the stairs with that little cap on. He couldn't find his Boston hat so thought that was a good substitute.

• McKay counted tonight and he now has ten friends in Oregon. One of them is a 10 month old baby and a few of them are six year old girls, but at this point I guess he's not being too picky.

• We loved watching General Conference this weekend. So many wonderful things to hear and learn. And surprisingly, our kids were fairly good and we were able to hear most of it- a tent in the family room with popcorn and a movie on the portable helped with that. McKay "hates stake conference" though and is really glad that it's over.

• I love hearing my little Elle sing. She sings to herself a lot, which is adorable. My favorite thing she sings is Old McDonald. He always has a cow, and she always calls him uncle Donald. "Uncle Donald had a cow. . . " Precious.


• This week I was singing I am Like a Star with Ellery. Brian was cringing as I was singing it because he said I was not singing the right notes. He then spent the next thirty minutes trying to teach me how to sing it right. Now I can sing it both ways.


• Ellery's new thing is saying, "I nervous" when she's scared of something. She's actually scared of almost everything so she says it a lot. At first it was really cute. Now I'm wondering how my girl got to be so nervous.


• How come we have been sick for two months? It seems like we just keep catching these little bugs all the time. Brian now has some kind of a cold and I just started feeling a twinge of it tonight. And that's on top of the wheezing/cough that I've had since mid-August. And, Ellery threw up again. I'm starting to think it hasn't been the stomach flu all these times. What is going on with that little girl? Gotta find a doctor around here.

• Every Sunday we've been video chatting with Brian's family. I miss them. Seeing them makes me miss them. Our kids go into crazy-loud-baby talk-nonsense mode when we do it and I'm glad they still think they're cute despite that.

• The leaves are changing here and it is absolutely beautiful. Everyone says that this is one of the prettiest times of year here and so far I agree. There are so many trees everywhere and the colors are just beautiful. We've been singing It's Autumn Time every time we see leaves falling from the trees. The kids love it. McKay has also taken a special interest in the falling leaves and every time he sees a "cool one" he picks it up and takes it with him. There are cool leaves floating all around my car.

Happy Sunday!

it took four years. . .

for this boy to start coloring.

He just never had an interest in it.

When he was in nursery he'd bring us pictures that he'd "colored" and there would be a faint line of blue running once across the page. Or the teachers would color it. I never thought he would like it.

But now, we're all loving this new little hobby of his.

And he is so proud.

Finally!

thoughts on a sunday

• The other night Ellery was sent to bed with foam curlers in her hair. I worried about her all night because I had flashbacks of sleeping on foam curlers when I was a little girl. Not fun. But she didn't wake up, so in they stayed. Kind of. She woke up the next morning and half of them were strewn about her bed, with the other half holding tightly to her hair. She felt beautiful.
• On our Sunday walk today, as we passed about a dozen dogs, Brian and I decided that to fit in Oregon we have to get a dog.
• Brian thinks our house is going to kill him. Physically burn him, or crumble on top of him- kill him. Don't get me wrong, our house is wonderful, beautiful and I love it. But, since we got here it's been one thing after another. Hot water, leaky sink, shattered light fixture (scared us half to death). This week I thought we'd been robbed. . .in our closet. We had been out all day and when I walked by the closet I screamed when I saw that everything was piled in the middle in a hazardous clump. Clothes, hangers, medicine, cologne. Everywhere. Then I realized that we hadn't been robbed, but that Brian's shelf had fallen off the wall. Nice.
• Brian had orientation at OHSU this week. He was gone ALL day long and we missed him. It sounds like it's a great program with great people and it made him excited to get started.
• McKay had his first field trip on Wednesday. He went to his teacher's garden to pick vegetables and learn about gardening things. He is really liking school and feels so important when he has to go. He is still "adjusting" to the changes, but is getting better. We've seen a lot more of McKay and a lot less of time outs.
• The kids and I had our first play date this week. It was great for all of us to get out.
• We really like it here. It's so beautiful and family friendly. We can't wait to explore Oregon a little more. By the way, we live in Beaverton. It's about ten miles outside of Portland. Some of you have asked. I'm realizing that I really have no idea if it's ten miles outside of Portland, but I know it's not too far. I have already chosen to be an Oregon State fan, because I think a beaver is a better mascot than a duck. That's all.
• Three words: Tillamook ice cream. Heaven. I guess that's four.

Happy Sunday!

goodbye in august

Okay, so listen. I have to tell you a few things. Number one, there are a lot of pictures in this post. All of these goodbyes were so important to me, but unfortunately I'm lumping them all into one giant post so that they actually get recorded. Don't get too bored.



Number two. A couple weeks ago I was at my sister Krista's house. It was actually the day I had lunch with Kim and a play date at Amanda's- you'll see. Anyway, I was wearing my blue dress and I saw my niece Rylee and we had the following conversation:


Me: Hi Ry!

R: Hi Sarah!

Me: How are you?

R: Good. Do you where that dress a lot? Because every time I see you it seems like you're wearing that dress. . .Or something yellow.

Me: Oh. Yeah. . .I guess I do wear it a lot.


Ha! Oh dear. I just like my blue dress. And I guess I really like my yellow shirt. And I think I need to buy some new clothes. Yes.


My blue dress and yellow shirt have been retired with the end of summer, so lucky for Rylee, and you all, after this you won't have to see them again. Unless they happen to still be my favorites next summer, which they just might be! But nobody here in Oregon knows my blue dress and yellow shirt. Hmmmm.


On with the post!
I am so fortunate to been able to say goodbye to so many of my beautiful, sweet friends before we left for Oregon. It seems like the month of August was just one giant goodbye.


Emily and Adrienne

In July me and my sweet, wonderful neighbor Adrienne, went up to visit our former sweet, wonderful neighbor Emily. She has a fancy new house in Heber and we went to get a tour and have the kids play, like old times.

Issac, McKay, Ellery, Lilia, and Natalie

I'm really going to miss these girls. It was hard getting used to living without Emily, and now I'm getting used to living without Adrienne and her cute girls. Lilia and Ellery were just getting to be the cutest little friends. We will miss them all!

Emily, Adrienne, I don't like this picture of me.

Buffy, Becky, Shannyn

How lucky am I that Buffy and her little Peyton came to visit? I hope she still loves me because she happened to come during one of the craziest weeks of my summer. It was right after Park City with my family, right during my last lesson in young women's and right before our first trip to Portland to find a place. So glad I got to squeeze in some Buff time.

It seems like something funny always happens when Buffy and I were together. This time, we were heading out to dinner and Brian was nice enough to watch Peyton and my kids, of course. Brian had taken our kids swimming with his family at a private, posh, salt water, millionaire's pool. He called and asked if Peyton would want to swim with them, instead of him and the kids coming home. Buffy seemed to agree, so we dropped her off.

Peyton had never met Brian or my kids or anyone else who was there, and all the sudden her mom puts her in some strange swimsuit and plops her in a pool with them. I couldn't believe Buffy was okay with it, let alone Peyton. I felt so bad!

All night I kept worrying over both of them. Was Buffy dying inside? Was Peyton screaming at Brian? And then it made us laugh a little, thinking about how bizarre it was for little Peyton. And I kept saying, "plop!" while pretending to drop Peyton into the pool all night.

Anyway, we picked up Becky and met Shannyn at the Gateway for some dinner and shopping. I miss these girls so much. It was so fun when we all lived a few steps away from each other. And now we all live in different states. We felt really lucky to all be in Utah for one last girls night.


Me, Becky, Shannyn, Buffy

Do you like our skinny jeans?

McKay, Buffy, Peyton, blue dress, Ellery

Molly, Kristen, Kate

I was so surprised when Molly texted me one night to see if we could get together at her in-laws cabin in Midway the next day. Amazingly all four of us were free and we spent the afternoon letting the kids play and catching up.

I love these girls too. We all don't see each other as much as I'd like, but I love how we can still remain close despite that. We've been through elementary, highschool, college, marriage, and a bunch of babies together. We even have a special secret blog- that's mainly how we keep in touch. So grateful for that blog. So grateful for these friends.

Brady, Molly, Kristen, Me, Katie

It was fun to get these two cuties together as well. Do you think Elle and Nash still look like twins? I do.

Kim and Jana

About a week before we left for Oregon, Jana and I met Kim at Zupas for lunch. It had been forever since I had seen Kim. Kim is Jana's old roommate and I used to camp out on the floor of their apartment. I lived their part time I guess you could say. So Kim is kind of like my old part-time roommate. I kept a foam pad rolled up in Jana's closet and I would sleep right beside her bed. What a good sister I have- I didn't pay rent or anything. And Kim and Deb and Jenny were nice to allow me to stay.

Me, Jana, Kim


Right after lunch I headed over to Krista's house to pick up my kids, where I saw Rylee and she saw my blue dress. Then, I went straight to Amanda's for a play date.

Amanda and Katie

Amanda is one of my oldest friends. I remember bravely calling her on the last day of school of 3rd grade (4th for her) and asking her to play. And that is how it all began. Anyway, Amanda is wonderful because she would put together fun play dates at her house.

Ellery, Gray, Sage, McKay, Halle, Nash (Brandy not pictured)


She would even put out snacks and drinks for us. She's fancy like that. And she has the most wonderful basement where the kids can run wild and more toys than would fit in McKay's whole room. The kids enjoy it very much. And so do I. I love chatting and catching up with these girls that I've known for so long. It's very satisfying to see my children being friends with the children of my friends that have been my friends since I was a child. Did that make any sense at all? Anyway, I like it. It's so fun to hang out with these ladies and talk about being moms and raising kids and old times. I love it.

Katie, Amanda, Me

Are you still here? I'll end now by stealing a quote that Buffy used when she had to say goodbye.

"How lucky I am that I have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to."

My thoughts exactly. Goodbye friends. I miss you already.