Friends

It is so nice to have friends come to visit. Karin and Karen came for a few days on their way up to Seattle to catch an Alaskan cruise. It was so nice to see them. I taught with them for 5 years at Curtner. We had such a great time together. Thien dropped them off. I wish I had more time to chat with him. He taught with me for 4 years.

Karin and Parker.

Karen and Parker. Karin was jealous of how much he liked Karen. He liked her too! He was so excited to have so much attention. They kept saying what a good baby he his. He's the best!

We went to Multnomah Falls... a must when Karin comes to visit. Don and Sara met us there. They were up from the Bay area too. I took tons of photos of them for their engagement picture. Got lots of great ones. The falls are so gorgeous and it was a beautiful day.

This is up at the Vista House looking down at the Columbia River Gorge. If you haven't been to Oregon, you should really come for a vacation. It's beautiful up here.

Parker and Mama. He says it now! He also said UP this weekend. Grant doesn't believe me, but we all heard it. He said it three times in one day.

We took Karin and Karen to Seattle to catch their Alaskan cruise. Nicole (on the left) and Loralyn (right) met us for lunch. Nicole, her husband George, and five year old son Joey went on the cruise too. Parker stayed at home with Grant's mom Sam. This was our first night away from him! My mom came Sunday morning to relieve her and we came home that evening.

Grant and I went to Pikes' Place. It was so busy.

Their Norwegain cruise ship.

Loved the colors.

This was in our hotel. We stayed at the W hotel. It is very modern and beautiful. We walked to dinner at a Brazil place. It was amazing. We had all kinds of meats... buffalo, wild boar, chicken, many kinds of beef, lamb, and shrimp. My favorite was the grilled pineapple. Yum! We then walked off our dinner by going shopping and getting stuck in a parade. We did make it back and were able to relax.

This is the Fremont Troll. He is under the Aurora bridge. If you've ever seen the movie 10 things I hate about you, then you've seen this troll in a scene. He's pretty popular.

We had a great time. It was really nice to have old friends come. I really miss California for that reason.

5 Year Anniversary

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on Saturday. We went to The Melting Pot-yum! and to a movie. That day we also bought Grant his birthday present- his road bike. It has been an amazing 5 years. I didn't think it was possible for our love to grow anymore than it was on that day, but it certainly has. We are in jobs that we love, our first house, and we have a beautiful baby. We couldn't ask for more. Sometimes I think that Grant is a new man from the one I married. He has changed his eating habits and exercise routines so drastically, but he is still supportive, loving, patient, funny, and much more. I'm so proud of him. I made a special connection with Grant in 7th grade. I'm so glad we had a strong foundation of friendship, that we kept in touch even though we were far apart, and that we followed our hearts.

Fun Parker videos

Parker has learned to wave. He hasn't quite mastered it and doesn't necessarily do it to say hi or bye.

Parker's attempt to crawl today. He's my little inchworm.

Parker has never taken a pacifier. He does like to play with them though. He loves flicking them around.

This is the sweetest video. He has learned to "kiss". Love it!

My beautiful boy

I'm so excited about these pictures. I never knew how to shoot close up. I learned in my photography class that the tulip on your digital camera is the macro setting and it lets you get within an inch and be in focus. Love it. Parker likes trying to grab the lens when I'm that close though. I just think he is so perfect. We are so lucky. He is a really good baby too.

Look at those huge feet! He is 30 inches long and weighs 20 pounds 5 1/2 oucnes.

I've always loved babies' mouths... I love his the most!

Look at those big blue eyes and sweet kissable cheeks.

What a happy boy.

Tired of Mommy taking his picture.

Photography class shots

I have taken 4 technology classes this summer to move up on the pay scale. One was a digital photography class. We had an assignment to go take pictures for an hour. Here are some of what I took. I love our new camera!

This little girl was so cute. She has the best smile.

I got some amazing shots of this couple. Wish I got their email to send them the pics. Hope they didn't notice me though.

He's not a fish

We're taking baby swim classes! These pictures are of our second day. Parker is not loving it. The first day was a little stressful. He is the youngest baby there and most have been taking lessons for months now. The babies "dive" under water, which consists of the adult pushing them 3 feet under water and they going forward for about 3 seconds. The baby comes up crying usually. When Parker hears another baby crying, he cries. He was clinging to me the whole time. He did not dive that day. Grant came with us last night. Parker started out very clingy again. The other babies weren't crying much, so he was a bit better. He did do a dive. He cried. We are going back. Am I crazy!? Actually, I think it's really fun. We sing songs and play little water games. I love "motor boat". My dad did that with us. Hopefully, he becomes more comfortable in the water. We will work on it in the bathtub. I need to dump 2 quarts of water over each ear, the back of his head, and over his face every day to get him used to it. If you live in the area and want to take classes, let me know. I get a discount for everyone I refer.

My clingy boy. Very nervous.

Looking better. But, he does have a grip on my hair!

That's better.

Wright Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom has been such an amazing part of my life. She was a stay at home mom who was always there for us. She sewed our clothes, drove us to all our activities (and we had tons because my Dad was the Parks & Rec Director), cooked great meals every night, made us laugh, and laid on our beds with us after school to find out how our day was.

With my own family, she helps us tremendously. She is there when we have questions about weeds in our yard. She is there to help us paint our house. She babysat Parker one day a week when I went back to work and sends us out on a date nights often. She shows us all the time how much she loves us.

She is a great example of a strong, independent woman. I'm not sure how many countries she has traveled to now. She has been without my Dad for over 5 years and has proven that she can do many wonderful things herself. I'm proud of you mom. You are very brave.

We wanted to do some fun things with my mom for her birthday. She has always wanted to go to Kliciktat street in SE Portland to the area where Beverly Cleary grew up. I'm sure many of you read the "Ramona" books. There are some statues to honor her in "Grant Park", so we went to check it out. We also went to Cathedral Park under the St. John's bridge to take some pictures.

My mom and Ramona. She thinks they have the same haircut.

Henry Huggins

Parker's first slide and swing ride.We think Beverly Cleary went to school here. Haven't done the research yet.Cathedral Park under the St. John's bridge. I'm sure you can tell why they named it that. Gorgeous place! I've always been fascinated with bridges. I just love these arches.My favorite bridge picture.My mom loves tie dye and bought him this onesie awhile ago. He just had to wear it on her birthday. Aren't they a cute pair?! They adore each other!