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!

Before and During Pics

I thought I would post some before and during pictures. Grant has lost around 115 pounds and I have lost 70 (I did have a baby, which slowed me down!). I think Grant should be done, but he wants to keep going. I am not even close. It makes me sad that we gained that much weight together, but am happy that we encourage each other to better our lives now. I know that we are being a good example of healthy people for Parker. These before pictures really amaze me.

I just can't believe we ever looked like that!

Fall 2006

Today

Fall 2006
TodaySpring 2006?
Fall 2006

Christmas 2006 (After we each lost 25+ pounds)

Today

Time for a change

I've been debating for awhile about cutting my hair. It was the longest I've had it since I was in the fourth grade. I liked it long for the first 10 minutes after styling it, but then I felt like it looked stringy and lifeless with no style. It also took me at least 25 minutes to blow dry it. I made the change this week. What do you think? It shocks me every time I look in the mirror. My mom was sad to see my long hair go. She doesn't really like it, but she says I'll always be beautiful no matter what my hair looks like. :)

Dodge Twins

When visiting my mom, I always try to catch up with Niki (my best friend since 6th grade). She came over to my mom's and then we went to her brother and sister n' law's house to see their new babies. It was so great to see them as parents. They have two beautiful little boys, who are now 1 month old. Allie was in the hospital for 2 months on bed rest before they were born. They are now about 5 pounds. Parker looks HUGE compared to them! He loves babies. He kept trying to love on them. Scared me that he would hurt them. He loves hair and he kept trying to pull their hair.

Grant's Birthday & 4th of July

My sweetie turned 33 on the 3rd. Parker and I took him lunch downtown and ate in the park. Later, I dropped Parker off at Cam and Wendy's and took Grant out to dinner. We went to The Brazil Grill. It is a churrascaria, which means they have many servers that walk around with swords of all kinds of meats on them and there is a salad bar. Amazing! and great for people on Atkins. :) Grant is so into biking. He bikes to work and back everyday-- about 15 miles round trip. He has gone on a couple of long bike rides-- to Salem (42 miles) and to St. Helens (about 35) and goes on pretty long rides every Saturday. He wanted to go on a long ride for his birthday. On Saturday, he met me at my mom's house in Albany-- 78 miles away! This is not the same man I married! We spent the night at my mom's and helped her with some projects.

Grant is getting a new bike for his birthday. It wasn't the kind of present I could pick out for him, so he'll have to pick one out himself. He is currently riding my brother's old hand me down mountain bike, but he wants a rode bike now. I did get him some bike shorts so he had a present to open. They are the baggy version with the tight, padded butt lining.

Happy Birthday Grant! I love you so much. You are the best husband and father. I have helped you celebrate your birthday for 21 years now. I can't believe it. You have always been such an important part of my life. I am so lucky to have married my best friend.

Our lunch in the park.

4th of July events

We drove to Ridgefield, Washington to go to the parade with Aunt Sydney. We had an incredible time. We loved being in the small town of 4,000 people and join in their community events. An average of 10,000 people attend. What fun! We just bought a new camera and we thought we got some nice shots.

I just love the small town feel of this picture.

The mayor. The city council were all on bikes.

He loves grabbing my hair. Ouch!

He also loves grabbing leaves. Then he tries to eat them.
Parker is very curious and loves checking out new things.

A very little girl on a very large horse.

What a patriotic dog.

My tired boys.

After the parade, we ate lunch and helped Aunt Sydney with a house project. Then, we went home, changed, and went to Hailey's in law's farm for more 4th of July festivities. We had an amazing time.

Parker had a lot of "firsts" today. First parade, first experience with hay, watermelon, slides, trampolines, and fireworks. He did pretty well. Unfortunately, his naps were not long enough and mostly in the car, so he was glad to get home into his own bed at the end of a long day.

Love this picture. So sweet.

His friend, Sophie. They love each other.
He was babysat by her mom, Melissa, twice a week this year.

Yummy watermelon.

He was completely mesmerized by the fireworks. I was worried that he would be afraid of the noise, but he loved it OR he was just too tired to react.

I cannot believe what a show this family put on. It was like the Albany Timber Carnival's finale for a full 30 minutes. Growing up in Albany, we would go to the Timber Carnival for the firework show. One firework would shoot up and the audience would "Oooohh" then we'd shout, "Another one Ed!" And one more would go off. "Ahhhhh!" This beat out Albany for sure. No one was in front of us. No smokers. Just great people having a great time.

This was my favorite 4th of July ever.