Our Annual Photo Shoot

Well My sister and I have a goal of whenever we are together to get a picture of all the cousins. (hopefully that's more than once a year) but realistically, I don't think either one of us has the energy to try and photograph 7 kids more than that! wheww this was not real easy!
The kids really weren't in the mood and for whatever reason neither was I! But these are cute and they will do till next year! Oh the Beautiful dresses are from France!! My sister picked them up when she was there! Smart Gina too got them a couple sizes too big- so for the next three years they will be wearing these dresses in every photo shoot:)The boys you can see... well we really didn't think about them:( oops the no shirts work but the shorts got to go!hahaha!

Road Trip

One of the greatest things about Living in Oregon is the Diversity of Beauty! Here is an example from our summer trip with the cousins. We started at Wheeler Oregon where we got to crab and play on the beach. Then one day we went exploring one of the coasts rivers where the boys had a blast hunting for Salamanders(pictures to come). Then we loaded up and headed off to Central Oregon where My Brother and Sister in law own 300 something acres(Amazing).

On our way to Central Oregon we passed Mt. Hood!We stop at White River Falls State Park for a picnic! It was just beautiful and the scenery started to change from Big huge green trees to a dryer more desert like climate! (I entered this photo in a contest.. wish me luck:) )A rest stop somewhere along the way- pretty huh?
We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast on the John Day River! It was really Fun -Mollie and Meghan kept asking when they were gonna get Breakfast IN bed!:) Funny!

Boys playing Fuse(fooz)? Ball- Good thing for this Table otherwise I think we might have had some issues keeping them entertained for two nights without bothering the other guests! They LOVED this game!
Well we did have to take two cars we can no longer fit into a normal vehicle-:) So my brother drove the boys-they felt very special!Us on the John Day river! Just Awesome and so pretty- we were the only ones there too. We stayed ALL day!! Feeding Wild Sage (horse) on my Brothers land- they have five wild Horses! So you can see pretty cool how in 4-5 hours you can go from Coast to Mountains to Desert!

I just love that!

Thanks for looking

Hayden turnes 2!!

Boooohooooo! Is it so normal to be so sad about your babies growing up?? Hayden is no longer a baby he is a Toddler turning fast into a Kid! He so keeps up with the others no problem and wants to do whatever they do and eat whatever they eat and so on! Haydens birthday fell right in the middle of all the chaos of the cousins being here so we really didn't do much for him:( except a couple cupcakes and a few presents(which I don't even think he got to open)oh well.

I have never taken Hayden into a studio to get his picture taken, partly because I feel like I could just do it but now I'm just starting to realize its because I really don't LOVE those pictures anyways! I would much rather put these on my walls now! I wish I had more of these type of pictures with Mollie and Nolan! Funny usually the last children get ripped when it comes to having a lot of pictures of themselves as babies! Well not Hayden! I really don't know what I'm gonna do with them all!!

These pictures are just something I found to put on here today! I really want to take him out to do a little 2 year old photo shoot but that might be awhile with all the pictures I have to go through! So for now Here's Hayden -2 Years old!!

Cousins were Here- post 1!!

Well we are back from our Vacation w/ the cousins! It was a blast as always but, I must say, I think me and my kids are kinda tired:)!

We went to Wheeler(the beach) then to Central Oregon then Back to the Wheeler for one night and now we are back at home! The cousins went to Washington to spend some time with there Dads parents but, we will get to see them one more time before they head back to Arizona!

The first couple days we just hung out around West Linn (where we live now) and went to some parks!

Nolan had to show Kyle and Kevin the Big Slide!Playing in the fountains...Way more pics to come I will try to post in the order of activities!!!

Pure Happiness

Mollie & Meghan! Together at last!!!

Good Day!

What a fun activity today! We went to the local nursery w/Granny and helped her pick out pretty flowers for our patio! The kids Loved it and Me too-I'm starting to enjoy photographing nature more and more! I treated these flowers like they were a client, I put up my black backdrop and made sure the lighting was good and went crazy with the camera! I must say Flowers are very cooperative:)! I'm thinking they are pretty pretty and I need some for my walls to brighten things up in here!

Gentle Haydude!!!
Granny and Mollie!
Doh Hayden.... such a helper! Look he was so excited to get his hands in the dirt! Next he turned the watering can into a gun! "Of course what else would it be!":)

Waiting for Moose!!

We had a very exciting day today! We got to meet the most handsome Chocolate Lab ever! His name is Moose! ( I should have taken his picture- darn it)

We are going to adopt Moose from wonderful Family who sadly (but in the best Interest of Moose) has to give him a new home! Moose needs room to roam and lots of exercise so I think our situation will be a perfect fit for Moose!

Granny said she wanted a Big but Sweet dog- and I Believe Moose fits the criteria perfect! Moose is BIG! AAAh and you can tell he's just a big gentle Bear-(oh wait I mean Moose:)!!!

So we are waiting till after the cousins come and go, from there summer visit, to get Moose! That's a couple weeks away I don't know If my kids will be able to handle it! Although, they know Moose is Grannys and Granny will be the primary caretaker they will Love on him and have so much fun with him!

Mollie as you can see is already preparing for Moose's full time arrival! So cute!!

Keep posted for when Moose arrives......pictures Gallore!!!

What you want to Know!

I've been getting these alot lately so I thought I would just post it on my blog! For my blog readers copy this and do yours on your blog too-- PLEASE

2008 QUESTIONNAIRE
Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!
1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:30
2. Diamonds or pearls? DIAMONDS
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? ummm,The Bee Movie-nice!
4. What is your favorite TV show? Oh I have many...right now I love The new Adventures Of the Old Christine!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Coffee w/half&half
6. What is your middle name? Anne
7. What food do you dislike? ???
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
9. What kind of car do you drive? VW Eurovan
10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey
11. What characteristic do you despise? Narrow Minded
12. Favorite item of clothing? Zip up Hoodies
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Oh Jeez...Australia?
14. Are you an organized person? Kind Of
15. Where would you retire to? Where my kids and Grandkids are!
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Hopefully it will be my upcoming 35th! Wowza!
17. What are you going to do when you finish this? Go get ready to Pictures tonight at Bree and I's first Wedding!!
18. Furthest place you are sending this? Blog Land
19. Person you expect to send it back first? Doesn't really apply!
20. When is your birthday? September 3
21. Morning person or a night person? Neither right now, more night probably
22. What is your shoe size? 8 and it keeps getting bigger whats up w/that?
23. Pets? Hampster- and we adopting a Dog well my mom is anyways! hes Awesome I will introduce him in a couple weeks!!
24. Any new and exciting news You'd like to share with us? Nope
25. What did you want to be when you were little? A Mom-and Im sure many other things!
26. How are you today? Great
27. What is your favorite flower? wildflowers
28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
29. What are you listening to right now? Nothing- the humm of the computer!
30. What was the last thing you ate? Cookie
31. Do you wish on stars? No not really
32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue
33. How is the weather right now? Perfect!
34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Holly
35. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke- it really sucks Im not drinking those very much any more!
36. Favorite restaurant? Someplace Yummy with a great outdoor Patio!
37. Hair color? brown
38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Outside
39. Summer or Winter? summer
41. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate
42. Coffee or tea? Coffee
43. Do you want your friends to email you back? No Just Blog it- and I would like it if ALL my friends had a blog-especially those far away!!!!
44. When was the last time you cried? Alot lately-especially for me!
45. What is under your bed?Blankets
46. What did you do last night? Date night- whoo hoo!!
47. What are you afraid of? Something happening to my kids
48. Salty or sweet? Oh there is no way to decide both together is always good!
49. How many keys on your key ring? 1
50. How many years at your current job? Momland going on 7 years!
51. Favorite day of the week? Friday- GARAGE sale day!!!
52. Do you make friends easily? Pretty easy! Getting harder as I get older though!
53. How many people will you send this too? Who Knows?
54. How many will respond? not sure
55. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? yes

Date Night!!:)

So Bill and I seriously haven't been out to Dinner in God knows how long. So tonight we are going to Dinner at Manzana's In Lake Oswego! Its a great place- out door seating w/fireplaces and all! I wish I could take my camera but I think that might irritate Bill if I Blog our Date:)! So I won't be taking pics of the restaurant or me in my super Hot and sexy outfit( yeah right)! Just letting ya all know I'm about ready to go drink some good wine and eat some awesome food and talk about............well that I don't know:)?

To Good Friends!!

Okay I know w/all my photo shop skills you'd think I could do something to that picture of myself -but no not really -sometimes you just get what you get! haha:)(photo by Mollie) and yes I think I am really that white! :(

This is to Robbie and Mike who introduced the "beer snob" from Oregon to Amber Bock! It seriously still is one of my favorite beers and to think I discovered it in Arkansas!:)

I was having one (maybe two)tonight while Bill was in school and I was by myself on the porch watching the kiddos- but hey I thought "its okay cause I can post this on my blog and Robbie can enjoy it with me!" :)
(supposedly there is some rule where you shouldn't drink alone:))! ha

So here is to Good friends who are Like a Million miles away but seriously feel like they are still next door!! Drinking Amber bocks on the porch!!!Miss and Love you guys!

The Benifits of Living in the Woods!

Eeewwww I told you! There are so many creatures here for my kids to find- they are Loving it!!! I love that Mollie is not afraid of creatures and getting dirty that's what childhood is all about(at least from what I remember:))
The funny thing is I think they named him Sludgy and put him in a bug catcher cage(poor guy)! Anything works as a pet i suppose!:) I'm not sure what Nolan has but whatever it is it's his new sword!

4th of July!!

Happy 4th! In Wheeler with the Hughes- the weather wasn't the Best but at least we didn't have to worry about Fires:)!
Seriously, they couldn't make the sticks any longer??

Bills idea of a treat...I was just thinking like a milkshake with a straw would have been good! And yes of course he did not get napkins:)! I did not take any after pictures afraid of getting the goo all over my camera! I will leave that up to your imagination:)!
Manzanita parade-what fun!


Just Cute!