Halloween!

Jessie & Woody

We had a great Halloween weekend. The kids were SO excited to wear their costumes and actually lucked out and had a few different occasions to show them off. We went to Ava's school's Harvest Party on Friday, then on Saturday took off to Portland for the Toy Story 3 show of Disney on Ice. The kids LOVED it, I honestly got choked up seeing the excitment on their faces when the show started. It was awesome. Then on Monday, we took the kids over to our annual Halloween party at the Vigelands. The kids made out like bandits trick-or-treating. I only wish I hadn't forgotten my camera!

26.2

We Did It! 26.2 miles in the BAG, baby!

We did it alright, and I've got the blisters to prove it. Guess I should have put some band aids on my feet like Galen did with his nipples.

Photos By: http://www.shawnlinehan.com/ Thanks so much Shawn!

Coasties

Ahhhh...I love the Oregon Coast. I love any coast actually but the Oregon Coast is really one of the very best. We were lucky enough to get away for a long weekend in Manzanita. Everything about this stretch of coastline is incredible. We had such a fantastic time at our crazy little Blyth-Grout-Porter family reunion. We really do have the best families ever. Thanks so much to my Mom and Dad for housing all of us in the huge Old School House. There's something about the ocean that just does something to my soul. I love it. I love that my dogs love it. I especially love that my kids and their cousins love it. I would give just about anything to live on the beach (though Bend aint too bad either)...

Painting Pumpkins

Cabo Hace Mucho Calor En Septiembre!

En Fuego. Mui En Fuego. I know, I'm not very good at Spanish, I'm actually asking Galen how to spell Spanish words as I write this. But that's how I felt in Mexico last month. It was fricken HOT. So hot that I hardly remember most of the trip. Yes, that's right, I hardly remember the trip at all because in order to cool myself down in the oppressive heat I was forced to hydrate myself with copious amounts of Dos Equis and Margaritas (what? Have you heard what's in the water there? Yeah, I knew, but that kinda backfired on me after we got back. Note to self, you can get Montezuma's Revenge from the ICE they put in your drinks. Wish I would've thought of that and avoided the accidental "cleanse" I experienced when I got home...but you don't want to hear about that do you? No, I didn't think so, back to our HOT vacation, not to be confused with anything HOT associated with my bowels). Other than the sun turning us into complete alcoholics for the week (don't worry folks, the kids were safe and sound at Babbie and Papa's house in Bend), we had a total blast. We fished for tuna in very rough seas, took in a snorkel (eh-hem, okay who am I kidding) a BOOZE cruise, hung out in the pools, even took in a wedding! Colin's new bride Kelly was beautiful, and I'm so happy to have her in the family. We're looking forward to many more vacations with this crew! But maybe if we do Mexico again, lets go in December, K?

So We Fell Off The Face Of The Earth For The Summer...

Well. Well. Well. Hey there blogosphere! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I've missed you. I'm not going to apologize for my absence though, nope. Instead, I'm going to revel in the fact that this has been our best summer yet. Yep, we took it in, Every. Single. Minute. Camping, BBQs, pool time, camping, visits from friends, picnics, cabin weekends, Bend festivals, camping, long nights in the Game Room, golfing, the County Fair, Seattle, camping, weddings... oh, and did I mention camping??? It was a pretty amazing couple of months, that's for shizzle. September was upon us before we knew it, and you know what that means? My Dad's birthday, Ava's birthday, our 8th anniversary, and... KINDERGARTEN!!!

So, my friends, I'm not going to apologize for my lack of posts the past few months, but I will give you a little peek of what we've been up to:

Cabin with the Birds clan. The next generation (minus baby Avery)


And, the past generations!










with my Dad's oldest friend in the world. Mac, and his wife Lynne.


We had a HOT day at the Deschutes County Fair.








Seattle kids reunion!


Eden's birthday party Max's new twinnies, Smith and Wyatt Miles was the Ring Bearer at Tyler and Jenaya's beautiful wedding.








We've become a wee bit obsessed with camping...In the Rooster that is. No, we didn't already step up to that amazing Airstream, but you can see the Rooster and Butterball in the reflection. Oh to dream!


Please don't call CPS. We bath our children, just not in the woods.








My little Kindergartner on her FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!