Marathon Birthday Party Weekend!

Birthday Party #1: Addison's 3rd Birthday on Saturday afternoon at Inflatable Kingdom in Tigard.

It was great to see friends and family that we haven't seen in a while...the Chao's, Tol's and Marteney's!

Birthday Party #2: Garrett's 5th Birthday on Satruday evening which began at Garrett's house, then moved to JJ Jump in Vancouver. Logann went with Brent while I stayed home with Grandma Gabel and Peyton. Peyton took a great nap after wearing herself out at party #1!

Birthday Party #3: Brenya's 2nd Birthday on Sunday afternoon down at Brenya's house in Portland. Grandma Gabel came along with us...Brent is now coming down with the crud so he stayed home to rest. Enjoy the side view picture of me...some of you have been requesting it, so here it is! Most of our pictures do not have me in them, because I am the one taking the pictures...this one was captured by Brenya's Dad! Thanks A LOT :)

Video of the girls going down the big fire truck slide at Inflatable Kingdom! Peyton would only go down if big sis' held her hand! Too cute!

It's That Time Of Year Again ! ! ! !

Yes...that is music to our ears!

It is back for your listening pleasure...Mighty Oregon!

So turn up the volume on your computer so you can also enjoy!

And you know what this means?

Football Season is about to begin!

Our favorite time of the year!

GO DUCKS!

GO DUCKS!

GO DUCKS!

SO EXCITED!

Here are some pictures of two little girls, very excited to see their Grandma and Papa! They get SO excited when they come up to visit that they do flips in the family room and dance around like little monkeys...it is so cute! Grandma & Papa drove up on Monday afternoon to spend a few hours with their girls! Grandma had the day off since it was the day after the family reunion (she always takes that day off to recover and relax!) so they thought "what the heck, let's drive up!" We weren't able to make it down to the family reunion this year because I was still recovering from a nasty cold I caught over two weeks ago. The girls caught it too, but it didn't hang on to them as long..they felt better by the end of the weekend. Even though their visit was short, we made the most of it by doing school clothes shopping first, bbq dinner, baths, and finally dessert and a movie that the girls picked out. They headed home around 9pm then we put the girls to bed. Oh yeah, the HUGE suckers are compliments of Uncle Jeremy...their "sweet Uncle" who always spoils them with candy...and they LOVE it!

Today's Pick!

Look under the tree...that is 1 pumpkin plant...it wraps around the trunk of the tree a few times and I even cut a branch that had made its way to the sunflowers! Uncle David and Aunt Amy (pumpkin lovers) would be proud!

Today we picked 10 ears of corn, 2 zucchini and 4 cucumbers! The other 3 cucumbers are from a few days ago.

The ears are smaller, but looked and smelled sweet. We'll see how they taste tonight at dinner! They were the yellow and white speckled kind!

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The video and pictures below are from Last Sunday. We took the girls to Felida Park to ride their bikes around the big track. Peyton has been peddling her trike for some time now, since this spring I think, but has recently learned how to go "really fast!" Her version of "really fast" is a little bit faster than her usual stroll! Along with being the dare devil on the trike, she also likes to go "really high" on the swings! I tried to upload a video of that because she really was going high...too high, I thought...Brent was fine with pushing her higher though!

Brent & Peyton at the Zoo

On Sunday, Brent took Peyton to the zoo to meet the Chao Family and the Marteney Family. They had a wonderful time, and the girls especially had a great time running around together! Brent and Melissa said that it was so cute to see Madison and Peyton walking around holding hands! Logann and I stayed home that day...Logann had a pretty bad cough (still does). It was nice for Brent to spend time with Peyton, and it was nice for me to spend time with Logann!

Cousin Sydney's First Birthday!

We went to Cousin Sydney's First Birthday Party yesterday at Murase Plaza in Wilsonville. What a beautiful park, first time for us! The girls LOVED playing in the water feature. Wouldn't that be nice to have in a backyard too! The idea crossed Brent's mind many times yesterday! I know he'd love to build something like that! Aunt Amy and Uncle David did a wonderful job planning and hosting their daughter's first birthday party. It is so hard to imagine that Sydney is already 1! Close friends and family were there to help celebrate, the food was great as well as the presentation, and the weather and location was perfect. Way to go guys! Congratulations on Sydney's first year!

Lake Merwin with the Stromberg's!

Brent got off work early yesterday and we drove up to Lake Merwin with our friends, the Stromberg's. (They have three boys...7, 4 and 2! When we need a boy fix, we'll call them and when they need a girl fix, they'll call us!) Anyways, they have a really nice boat, and invited us to go along! It was a great opportunity for us since the weather has been so hot. You wouldn't believe how warm the lake water was! It was so nice and refreshing! The lake is only 45 minutes northeast from our house! It was the first time we've ever been there...we are learning that Vancouver has a lot to offer and it would be so much fun to own a boat! There are lots of recreational opportunities up here! We started off with a boat ride out to a spot where we stopped and jumped in because we were all so hot. Then we went out to a beach that their boys call "salamander island." There was a marshy area with standing water where the boys caught salamanders, and our girls watched them! It is so amazing to see the differences between boys and girls! There were underwater stumps to snorkel around, and lots of shells to pick up. We unpacked our coolers and layed out blankets to eat a picnic dinner. After dinner, we went back out on the boat and the kids rode on the big tube, Kevin wake boarded, Darby skied and we watched Brent attempt wake boarding! I haven't talked to him yet this morning because he is at work, but I bet he is pretty sore! We got home around 9:30 and it was still about 90 degrees here at home! It was such a great evening with great friends...thank you Stromberg's!