Oregon Zoo

First thing we did at the Oregon Zoo was ride the train around. We didn't see any animals on the ride, but Graham was never happier in his life.

Colin getting tickled.

A brief "birds and the bees" lesson. Quite disturbing.

Graham loved the swimming turtles.

Graham at the end of the day. The Zoo here is really nice. They are trying to build it up to "San Diego" standard. It was way better than the Hogle Zoo. And I definately recommend getting an Elephant Ear. They were mighty tasty!!! Thanks Nana!

Excursion for Water Falls

Second part of our trip...After we stopped at Horsetail Falls we kept going to find Oneonta again. We were passing by Multnomah Falls, which are a HUGE tourist attraction, and saw that it wasn't so crowded so we decided to take advantage and stop. It was breathtaking! We hiked up to that bridge and the pictures of our family and me with Mom are us on the bridge. The picture of Graham is a little fall on the trail up to the bridge. Maybe one day we'll hike to the very top. If you are ever in this area this is the place to go. It is amazing!!! We only live about 8 miles from it and love driving past it frequently. I love it!

Sorry these are backwards...below is the first part of our trip.

So we were setting out to find the Oneonta Falls and came upon the Horsetail Falls, which as you can see are gorgeous. It is right off this little scenic road and were beautiful.

Busy

We have had such a busy week, so I am catching up. Mom flew in today so we will be playing tourist all week long. I am so excited to have a familiar face here to hang out with and help with kids.

5 years

5 years ago today I married the most amazing person. I love him so much and we have done many amazing things in these past 5 years. To date we have lived in 3 states, completed 2.75 college degrees, vacationed in Hawaii, cruised to Jamaica, Haiti, Mexico, and Grand Cayman, had two of the cutest little boys ever, and many other noteable things. As I reflected on what we have done for all our anniversaries here is what we have done (more for my documentation than yours). Year one we drove to Lava Hot Springs and stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast place and even played Bingo. Year Two I was pregnant with Graham. We went down to SLC and had dinner at The Roof and stayed in the loft. Year Three we went to dinner in Bountiful at Sego Lily Cafe (yum!) and went to Secondhand Serenade in concert. Year Four Susie came and watched Graham and we went and stayed at Sherwood Hills for the night. This year, being in Oregon, we don't know anyone so had to celebrate with our kids. It wasn't so bad. We went to dinner in Hood River to the Riverside Grill that had a beautiful view of the river. The kids behaved very well and the food was great. Then Jon drove me to this spot on the Washington side that overlooked the gorge. It was beautiful. It was finished with Jon and Graham picking me some beautiful wild flowers.
I feel so blessed to be married to a man I know I can love for eternity. He is such a compassionate person who I can cry with and then be laughing in a matter of seconds. He always buries my worries with the realization of the priority of things. For me that's a huge blessing. I can't begin to describe what a wonderful father he is to our children, but if you have ever seen him with ANY kids, there are no words needed to describe it. I feel so lucky everyday and on those few days I don't--I just remember his numerous great qualities and it easily dillutes the annoyances. So many marriages and relationships we see in life at this time are filled with annoyances, grudges, and petty arguments. I'm glad to have a friend that I can share the delight in loving our husbands still and that being ok. When I talk with some friends they always are talking about what their husbands have done to make them mad lately. And then when I share something I loved that Jon did I tend to get a wierd reaction of "Well good for you". I am here to state "IT'S OK TO LOVE YOUR SPOUSE and brag about it!" Let's change that stigma of whining to our girlfriends about what our spouse did wrong and start focusing on their positive qualities for why we married them. This is my soapbox, but it's my blog so there....

I love you Jon!!! Thanks for being the most amazing husband and father.

Cuteness

Colin started solids. At first he would give you this face- disgusted and betrayed. He wouldn't move his mouth or toungue at all. 2 weeks in he;s doing better and loves to eat.
He loves playing in his bouncer but mostly with his feet. It's really funny.
CUTE!!!

More of cute. Colin's funny dopey ears. Graham's little turtle mouth.

Again...loves playing with his feet.

This was the boys after Stake Conference. Think Colin wants to go home?

Graham hiding in the bushes after church.

I tried to rotate this. This is Graham at naptime. He loves this little crevice between his bed and the wall. Those puzzles were just too tiring to do.

It doesn't look like this everyday, but Graham loves to rip the coach apart and make a

"taw-ee" (tower). Mama hates cleaning it up, but it keeps him quiet and happy.

Ok I finally cried a little...

I went to get Graham after his nap yesterday and the first thing he says is "I want Tess". "I want Yucky" (Lexie). Those are his cousins. I tell him they are at their houses in Utah. Then he says "I want Bracky" "I want Mason" "I want Josh". I explain that his friends are back in Utah too and it's really far away. He repeatedly asks for them and I expain again. Then he slumps his shoulders, drops his head and with the most pouty face and eyes says quietly " I want to go home". I started to cry--just a little. I felt so bad my little boy was so sad and missing all the little ones in his life that he loves. So you are all missed. We have been here like 3-4 weeks and that's the closest I have come to crying, so I think I am doing pretty good. Admit it...you would cry too with those big blues so sad.

Brothers in Graham's bed
Our backyard deck. We play on it often cuz it's usually raining and it's covered.

Our 1st Adventures

Our first weekend we decided to go to the Sturgeon Fish Hatchery, which is 4 miles up the road. There is a dam there too, but it started to rain past our comfort level so we just headed home after. Colin slept the ENTIRE time...score! And Graham absolutely loved it!

Graham loved feeding the fish. These are small rainbow trout.
This is a sturgeon. They are ugly! but HUGE!!!! I didn't know fish could get this big and not be sharks. They have one names "Herman" that is 83 years old, 10 feet long, and 450 lbs!!! I was shocked when I saw him. We didn't get a good picture to get the full effect, so you'll just have to come see for yourself. Graham kept calling them sharks.

Graham was a bit scared at first. He wouldn't take his eyes off them to look at the camera.

Seriously, my new favorite color is green. Know why?

Our neighbors gave us their double stroller, for which I am sooo grateful.

Part of the hatchery. There were no fish in there during this season.

So that was our first weekend. Today we went "to town" and saw Shrek 4. It was ok. Graham wasn't as impressed and I understand why the reviews were so bad, but I don't regret seeing it. We really wanted to go see "How to Train Your Dragon" but it isn't showing around here anymore. Monday Jon has off, which has never happened. His brother, Danny, wife Annarose and their little girl, Tula, live in Eugene. It is only 2 1/2 hours away so they are coming out to visit. I am very excited for familiar faces. I don't know what we'll do here to entertain them, which means we'll have more fun coming up with our own ideas. Nonetheless I know Graham will be excited. I can tell he definately misses his friends, cousins and grandparents. He talks about his friends Bracky, Mason, and Josh back home all the time. He asks for his cousins Tess and Lexie often. He wants to call Grammy all the time. Bless her heart I love her, she talked to him for about an hour the other day. He didn't want to hang up and kept bothering me to call her back for an hour, so he stole my phone, ran into his room, somehow called her and said "Hey, what are you doing?". How could I be mad? He misses his Nana too. Every older woman figure he sees he has to stop and strike up a conversation and then wants them to hold him and not leave. It's starting to be sad.

Through it all we are having a blast and loving it here. Already I have been thinking of when we return to Utah I will be sad. I know I will miss the beauty of the landscape here and just the love for the outdoors and things to do. I'll just have to be less of a homebody when we move back. We miss and love all our friends and family and welcome any who want to visit. I'll be better about blogging than I have because this is our only connection to our world back home. Love you all!