The Lott Family

Curren the Invinsible

2012-02-13T22:15:00.001-08:00

Now that Curren is on Demo team at Taekwondo, he thinks he is Invinsible!

The Redwoods

2011-11-27T18:24:00.001-08:00

We drove to Crescent City, California over the weekend to see the Redwood Forest. The lighthouse above it Battery Point Lighthouse, you could see it from out hotel. You could also hear the Sea Lions barking all night, it was fun.
The coastline is really similar to Oregon's, and of course I took a lot of photos of it.

Elk were all over the place.

The kids loved the redwood forest as much as we did, we really talked it up, and watched a movie about them. I was so glad they appreciated that!
They say the trees are up to 300 feet tall, over 20' in diameter and around 1500 years old. Isn't that crazy?!

We were always looking up :)

There was a good photo op at Ocean World, I had to share.

The Friendly Giraffe

2011-11-27T17:55:00.000-08:00

We went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon over the weekend. The giraffe tried to eat us through the sunroof.

Halloween!

2011-11-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

The pumpkins grew pretty well this year, we are going to try for bigger ones next year.
Curren loves his TKD instructor Master Jim. He decided to be "Master Slim Jim" for Halloween, we went to the school that afternoon and had a blast watching the reaction of Master Jim, it was awesome! Master Li let Curren wear his black belt for this picture, which we thought was fun. I love that Curren will do things like this, he just laughed and laughed through it all!

Jessie my E-Vil vampire, emphasis on E-Vil :)

Curren loved our nerdy neighbor, haha!

Jessie's cute cat bat, she did a good job carving it.

Photo round up

2011-11-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Every so often I just have to share some great pictures we took, even though there is no rhyme or reason to them.

The sunflowers this year were pretty.

Mark loves buying dry ice to play with.

Curren going to town carving a pumpkin at pack meeting.

Soccer

2011-11-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Jessie was on a soccer team for the first time this fall, her team was the Blaze, and she had a blast! I loved that she was fearless and would just go for it and tried as hard as she could. She would tell us after the game she didn't understand anything the coach said, she just tried to kick the ball.

She had her last game on October 29th, I was proud of her for playing, she wants to be on the spring league now :)

Farmers we are not

2011-11-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

We totally stink at growing corn... I'm going to try again next year...

Newts

2011-11-02T21:22:00.001-07:00

We went for a drive a few weeks ago up by Brown's Camp to see the Newt Pond. Mark had found it dirt bike riding and had to show it to us. We found a lot of them and then tortured them by taking pictures of them.

We found where a busy beaver had been hard at work. Jessie was helping it out.

And then she decided to take a few pieces home with her. It was a fun day!

Curren earning his Green belt

2011-10-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Curren has been working hard in Taekwondo, he had belt testing last week for his green belt, look at him go!

He can jump so high, I am glad I was able to get a good photo of him flying through the air!

Attack of the butterfly

2011-09-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Mark and Curren caught a butterfly and brought it in the house, so we took the opportunity to let is crawl all over our faces, because what else to you do with a butterfly??

I like this picture because it looks like a hair barette, I told Mark to look really “cute” he does, don’t you think??

Random Pictures

2011-09-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

I liked these pictures and so I thought I would throw them up here, they aren’t cohesive at all though :)

We built a deck and put these awesome swings on it, Curren is testing them out.

My hydrangeas were gorgeous this summer, I love how BLUE they are.

I think these two are related.

My cute cousin Brandi was in town and stopped for a short visit, it was so good to see her again!

The long haul

2011-09-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Driving from Colorado Springs to Portland Oregon is a long haul. We left Colorado around 10:00 and took the “scenic” drive to Utah. We went through the mountains, past Vail and Breckenridge. To say it was beautiful was an understatement. WOW. If you live in Colorado you should be spending your whole summers up in those mountains!

We found a car show in one of the mountain towns, BONUS!

Green forests and alpine peaks eventually turned into desert.

We then landed on Grandma Painter’s front door.

And another 12 hours to Portland. Seeing Mt. Hood is always a welcome sight.

Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

When you all get together a family photo shoot has to happen right?

Pikes Peak

2011-09-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

Colorado Springs is down at the base of Pikes Peak, a 14,000 foot tall mountain. After Grandma, Bruce and Ron arrived we decided to go for a drive up Pikes Peak. The weather was perfect for it, and when we got up there, we were loving it, you could see forever!!

Mark, Dan and the kids went for a hike up in the mountains while Nikki and I prepared for the family reunion.

Jessie and Lilyanne

We missed seeing Pat and Darlene, Cassie and her family, Fred and Sue, and my brother Casey. Hopefully we can all meet up again soon!

Colorado Springs

2011-09-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

After visiting Utah, Mark & the kids drove out to Colorado to meet me. I flew, because I had to work (work is cramping my style!) so I didn’t get to go to Utah and Yellowstone. My family lives in Colorado Springs, and we hadn’t been to visit for quite awhile.

While waiting for my plane to arrive Mark and the kids hung out at the Garden of the Gods visitors center. There was a lightning storm that rolled in, and Mark caught this beautiful image, isn’t it awesome??

We played at Nikki and Dan’s house for awhile.

My mom had me pull out several boxes of my “stuff” that they had saved from under their stairs. While we were looking, we found her wedding bouquet! The kids had fun playing on my dad’s model railroad.

Jellystone

2011-09-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

Mark, his parents and the kids went on a drive to Utah. They stopped in Yellowstone to check it out. Here is the prettiest mountain range in America (in my opinion) the Grand Tetons.

Hello Mud Pots!

The wildlife was few and far between, but it was a fantastic time!

Wings and Waves

2011-09-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

While Mark’s parents were visiting we went to the new Wings and Waves waterpark out in McMinnville. I liked the concept of the waterpark, and it was really nice inside. The kids thought it was awesome.

I thought the Great Wolf Lodge was a lot funner. Also, the prices for the waterpark were really expensive, it was ridiculous for such a small place. There were only 4 slides, and a lot of people. If you plan on going be sure and check it out first.

I must say though, the kids loved it :)

Mark's parents came, and went.

2011-08-18T16:14:00.001-07:00

Mark's parents flew in to Portland for about 3 days before they headed to Utah, we had a nice time with them!

Mark's mom comes up the cutest things! She took a styrofoam cup, poked a straw into the side of it. Then she put a towel over the top of the cup and rubberbanded it on. You fill a shallow bowl with dish soap and a tiny bit of water, dip the towel part of the cup into the mixture then blow on the straw and look what happens! You can get the soap really long, it's funny :)

We of course went to the rose gardens.

And saw a pretty sunset.

Pioneer Day

2011-08-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our stake put on a great Pioneer Day event. We went to the beautiful Fallbrook Farms out in North Plains and had a great time, we were there all day and didn't want to leave. They had food, a band, games for the kids, candle making, rope making, and a lot of other great things. Here are some fun pictures of the kids!

Curren and I made candles.

Jessie's team won the tug of war!

Curren and Jason won the 3 legged race.

Log cutting is so much harder than it looks.

The 4th of July and stuff

2011-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July we had a BBQ with Stacy and Richard, and the Weaver family, and of course, lit off a bizillion fireworks.

Matt Weaver took the firework photos, they are awesome.

We went surfing

And boating a few days later

And climbed on some rocks

Gotta love summer.

The longest day of the year.

2011-06-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Summer time is here! What better way to celebrate then going to the beach? We invited some friends to come with us, and we were so happy to have good weather, warm, sunny and windless. We made a campfire and stayed until 10:00 at night.

We had some paper lanterns that we lit and watched float high into the night sky, it was beautiful!

Sorry the pictures are kind of out of order...

We watched the sunset and saw the colors in the sky change.

That is Tillamook Head lighthouse.

We all agree that Mark now looks like an official Oregonian don't you think LOL!

We are loving the sunshine when we can get it, it's been a horrible gray spring.

Fort Rock Oregon

2011-06-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

We took a drive on Saturday, a very long drive to Central Oregon. Mark has been itching to get out to Fort Rock. Fort Rock is about 5 HOURS from our house, but I am not complaining because it's a beautiful drive, we got to stop in Sisters and I got to go to one of my favorite quilt shops haha!

We stopped at Detroit Dam on the way to look at the spillway, it gave me Vertigo big time, looking at this picture gives me vertigo! I feel like I'm falling! Aaahhh!

I found this image on Wikipedia, it's pretty cool isn't it?? This is Fort Rock it's awesome.

These little flowers were everywhere, and so pretty to look at.

Jessie and I hiking around.

The Rock

Really pretty isn't it? It was so wide open, it used to be a lake you can totally see it can't you?? Fort Rock was in island in the middle of a huge lake.

My awesome husband and cute kids. What a fun day!

Jessie's Flowing Locks

2011-06-04T22:47:00.001-07:00

I took some pictures of Jessie's wild hair on the boat, her hair gets a blog post all it's own, because they make me laugh, I hope you like them too.

I'm going to attack her with a bottle of conditioner and a brush in the morning, she's not going to like me very much :)

Boating with the neighbors

2011-06-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors are great, we do a lot with them. Mike and Stacie invited us to go with them on their boat today because it was SUNNY and GORGEOUS outside! We saw Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker and Mt. St. Helens, because it was so clear and SUNNY outside. Plus we saw lots of bald eagles. It was a beautiful SUNNY day.

Did you notice I liked the SUNNY day?? Haha!

This smooshed marshmallow is Mt. St. Helens, look at all that snow.

The Mountain of Hood

Curren, the bump on a log.

A HUGEMONGOUS OIL TANKER, seriously, this was a huge ship, look at those big anchors on the front! It was cool. There were lots of them going up and down the river.

The cute kiddos.

Saint Johns Bridge. It hit 90 degrees today folks, we were all so happy!

Jessie's Invention

2011-06-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jessie had to come up with some sort of helpful invention at school, then she had to build it and give a speech about it. She designed a room cleaner. I'll let you watch her speech so she can tell you all about it!

Curren the Orange Belt!

2011-06-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Curren has been in Taekwondo for a year now. Every 3 months they invite their students to belt test, and you have a lot of work required in order to be invited to belt test. He tested for his Orange Belt on Wednesday. We are incredibly proud of how well Curren is doing in Taekwondo, he tries so hard at every class and really in enjoying it. Good job Curren!

Curren has been perfecting his pushups. He did 150 the other night, with a few breaks. I was really impressed. He was really sore for about 3 days afterwards!

Stretching, he doesn't look likes he's trying too hard here :)

Doing the axe kick, I just like his hair in this photo, it makes me laugh.

Here is a video of Curren doing the form required for the Orange Stripe belt.

Game Park Safari

2011-06-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

While we were in Coos Bay, we took a drive down to Bandon, Oregon. The West Coast Game Park Safari is there, and our neighbors had told us about it, so we were excited to go and check it out. We had a great time and spent awhile there looking at all of the animals.

We were so happy to learn that they have baby tigers!!! to pet, and a baby leopard. I never thought I'd be able to touch a tiger, and it was pretty cool to be able to. This was one of them we were able to pet.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Curren and this donkey both need a haircut.

This baby opossum is almost as cute as Jessie.

Mark scaring the deer, I can't take him anywhere.

Pretty pretty peacocks.

Sand Dunes

2011-06-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

We were invited by Matt and Charissa Weaver to stay with their family for Memorial Day Weekend down in Coos Bay. There is a big Sand Dune park to play in. They brought a lot of 4 wheelers for everybody to ride, and rented a house for us all to stay in. We had a very fun weekend!

We saw herds of elk, and baby elk!! Look, it has spots.. aw!

We bought some candy, which made Curren excited.

We told ghost stories and tried to take pictures in the dark, which is hard...

Thank you for inviting us to hang with you this weekend, we give it two thumbs up!!

Mandatory Road Trip

2011-05-15T18:36:00.001-07:00

When you buy a new car you have to take it on the "mandatory road trip" We went out to Seaside and then up to Astoria and back home. It was raining, OF COURSE. Oregon hasn't decided whether it wants to warm up yet or not. We bought a Ford Flex, it's awesome and can do all of the fancy schmancy things you'd want a car to do, I think I just might move into it permanently. Who needs a house??

We stopped for lunch in Astoria, this is what we ate first... :)

We wandered into the shops, we liked this surfboard at the surf shop, Mark talked to the guy for awhile about making a wood board.

We visited the Goonies museum and got our mugshots taken...

Got thrown in jail...

Found the "KEYS"

Checked out Data's outfit and gear.

Came outside and saw an amazing garden.

Drove to the docks and saw... you guessed it...

Sea Lions! They were loud and obnoxious.

And lazy.

Looked at rusty beat up boats.

And then drove home. It was a fun day, and we learned a lot about the car on the way. Maybe just a tiny bit about the car, it is going to be a fun one to have!

Mark has been fishing!

2011-05-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

Mark and his friend Brandon go fishing a few times a month. Brandon is an expert, and shows Mark the ropes, and will even filet your fish! Mark caught both of these yesterday in the Wilson River, they are Sockeye Salmon, how pretty are they? We figure they weigh at least 12 pounds each. Good job Mark!

Mexico again! :D

2011-04-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am putting more pictures up, they pretty much tell you how it was... FUN!

We went to market, there were some very talented artists there, look at the bead work this man does, it was beautiful.

What color of chick would you like?

The Jarvis's bought some of the chicks for the kids to take care of, this one is going camo!

You could fish off of a rocky point on the beach by the house. Jack and Mark spent a lot of time fishing there, they caught some puffer fish even!

We spent a lot of time applying sunscreen. We should have applied more to me and Jessie the first day, we got burned :(

Mexico!

2011-04-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

We took a vacation to Mexico a week ago with our friends Kasey and Andrea Jarvis. All of us had a great time being in the sun for the first time in 6 months, and seeing each other again since they moved to Utah, we've missed them!

The house we stayed in is a vacation home that Andrea's dad built. It's a beautiful home, and we loved just hanging out around the house and at the beach. We spent most of the days swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand.

That's Kasey boogie boarding in there, the beach was very busy because it was Holy Week everybody was on spring vacation!

Happy Birthday Kids!!

2011-04-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

Curren and Jessie are a year and a day apart. Curren turned the big 10 on Friday! He's so big now, and what a kid he is. He is a happy, caring, loving person. I am so proud of him. Jessie turned 9 on Saturday. She is sweet, silly and absolutely a doll. We love our kids and can't get enough of them.

I brought donuts to their school for a birthday treat. Curren was pretty happy.

Curren and his teacher Mrs. Coe, he loves her.

When school got out...

We had a birthday party for them Saturday having our friends and neighbors over for cake and ice cream, it was fun having them all together!

Happy Birthday Curren and Jessie!!

Music Man

2011-04-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Curren is in 4th grade, and learning to play the recorder. You all remember this right? I know I do, in fact I still have my recorder! They played Jitterbag and actually sounded pretty good. Curren was so serious, if you all know Curren you can appreciate him wanting to wear his suit and standing at attention on stage. Go Curren!

That is just how he rolls.

Just in case she forgets

2011-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Just in case Jessie forgets her name, I made her tattoo it to her forehead.

Spring Break

2011-04-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Spring Break 2011 wasn't all that exciting, we are saving our money for a vacation this month! We did get to the coast and had a great day at Indian Beach.
I was messing around with my photos... Jessie was kite flying, see the huge kite she was flying??
Mark surfing.
Mark and Jessie in Seaside, checking the surf.
Feeding the seals at the Seaside Aquarium.
And we went to the OMSI over Spring Break as well, they have a Egypt exhibit right now that was AWESOME... we even got to sit on a camel :)

Sunday drive

2011-02-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

We drove out to Sauvie Island again to soak up the sunshine and just get out of the house together. Here are some pictures.

We saw more bald eagles, they are hard to photograph because they are so high up in the trees. This bird had a brown streak on his white head, I wonder if that is because he's young?

See all of those huge nests in the trees? They belong to the big cranes pictured below, they were playing for us, aren't they funny??

Sunny the dog loves going to the beach! She is a water dog all the way.

Just a few more pictures

2011-02-06T21:50:00.001-08:00

A nest hanging in a tree out on Sauvie Island, those birds seem to like using fishing line...

Pretty horses showing off for us, and scaring the geese.

Curren catching up on some reading, he loves Calvin & Hobbes, we must be related.

Blue and Gold Banquet Cake

2011-02-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Curren and Mark had to make a cake for the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet. They came up with a twinkie and hoho bunker complete with cannon. It was AWESOME.

A Sunday Drive to Sauvie Island

2011-02-06T21:29:00.001-08:00

We took a short drive out to Sauvie Island, Mark kept insisting we get out of the house, I am glad that we did. Jessie was trying to get a nice picture with Sunny, but she wasn't cooperating.

There were bald eagles everywhere! We saw this one up in a tree by the road so we pulled over and put the zoom lens on the camera, look at how pretty he is! I love this camera :) We have been having so much fun with it.

A weathered barn with a new roof, in my favorite color.

Jessie my beautiful girl.

The Columbia River Gorge

2011-01-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the weather was spectacular! We went on a hike out in the gorge called Beacon Rock. You hike straight up the rock it's 850' high, it's fun.

After the hike we drove back into Vancouver and went to Fort Vancouver. We loved it.

Messing around

2011-01-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

Have I told you already I love my new camera?? Well, I love taking pictures of anything and everything.... lucky you!

I was messing with my hair on Saturday, it was fun... so I took pictures

I noticed we had a lot of Vans in our house, and decided to document them. We love our Vans!

Curren's new glasses

2011-01-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

Curren, our super hip stylish... old man! Look at this kid. He loves his new glasses :) They are black plastic with neon green lines on them.

Fun decorations

2011-01-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Mark and I went on a date last night, first we went to eat Thai food, the kids aren't a fan of it, but we love it! We both got a big plate of Pad Thai, and then got in the car and said to each other "now what??" We drove all over downtown just talking and looking. We ended up clear out at IKEA. We ended up getting the kids each a really cool decoration for their bedrooms. When we got home we told them "on Saturday morning you need to get up and clean your rooms, we are talking really clean! Dusting, vacuuming, organizing..."

The kids were so interested in what we got them, but we wouldn't tell them until the rooms were done. They did most of the work, but I got in there and helped, and four hours later they were ready for their new decorations.

Jessie got a new light fixture. IKEA has the cutest lights! They are all very inexpensive too, which is a bonus. Jessie was beyond happy about it, she has wanted one of these lights for a long time. The bedrooms in our house have vaulted ceilings, so it was fun that the light actually fits in the room well. I think the light is 30" across... it's BIG.

Curren got a hanging chair! It hangs from the rafter of his bedroom, and he can read or play the Nintendo DSi in it. He thought it was super cool.

It was fun cleaning and fixing up their bedrooms a little bit. We really want to paint their rooms too, but haven't been able to do it yet... maybe next time!

Fern Seeds

2011-01-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Mom did you know you can scrape the little brown seeds off of the ferns... you see them??

You can mush them up into paste...

and they cure stinging nettle... is there any stinging nettle around???

No Curren there is not.

Ecola State Park

2011-01-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

We love going to Ecola State Park. Our friends were in town for the weekend and we decided to head to the beach. The waves weren't too good, so we did a hike instead. It was really fun...

Natural Dread Locks

Tillamook Head Lighthouse 12 miles out in the ocean...

Gigantic tree stump, awesome.

Gigantic log, you can walk right under it.

Mark thought he could fly after eating this mushroom.

Pictures

2011-01-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

I . LOVE. MY . NEW . CAMERA .

THAT . IS . ALL .

The Snuggy

2010-12-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

Mark decided for Christmas gifts this year all of the siblings had to make something homemade for each other. Mat was lucky, we got his name...

Mark wanted to make him a snuggy, but not just any snuggy, a WAR snuggy. Mat collects army stuff, and this seemed to be the perfect thing... It was hilarious to make, and Mat loved it! Go figure. :)

The Jarvis's

2010-12-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

Ever since our friends Andrea and Kasey moved to Utah in October the kids have been DYING to go and see them. We finally did! They live up by Park City, so playing in the snow was really fun for us, there was a lot of it.

Cute Lucy!

Jessie the Unicorn

We miss them again already, we'll have to come out soon. Thanks for letting us stay with you!

Visiting Utah

2010-12-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

We drove out to Utah this past week to visit family. We had planned to go out there for Thanksgiving, but due to bad weather we didn't go, and rescheduled. We first visited Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dave and Uncle Mat.

Curren and Grandpa played a mean game of checkers.

Kylie came over to hang out with us, they made a gingerbread house.

We then drove to Temple Square to see the lights. It was so beautiful! Everybody loved it.

We also took a tour of the Conference Center.

Taekwondo Belt Testing: Yellow Belt

2010-12-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Curren had belt testing again for Taekwondo, it is every 3 months, if they feel you are ready they will invite you to belt test. He was testing for his Yellow Belt. He did awesome! He got another trophy for good behavior at home and at school. Good boy Curren. He had to break another board, to symbolize breaking a bad habit, this time the bad habit he wants to break is "to stop interrupting people"

We love you!

Anacortes

2010-11-28T16:50:00.001-08:00

We headed up to Anacortes on Friday to see our friends the Weaver's. We went out on their boat to San Juan Island, to the town Friday Harbor. It was a beautiful day!! I love the San Juan Islands, it's so pretty there.

We had to stop at Cabela's on the way of course...

We went bowling in Friday Harbor, it was fun!

I loved the color of this boat!! Loved it... I keep staring at it :)

Charissa, Heather and Jessie

Curren, Zak and Ben

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-11-28T16:47:00.000-08:00

Nate and Julie came through and stayed with us for a few days last week, it was so good to see them again!

We were planning on going to Utah for Thanksgiving, the weather was awful though. We ended up staying home for Thanksgiving instead.

Leaves

2010-11-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

We have had lots of leaves falling this week, my car was hiding from me this morning!

Curren has got a lot of work to do :)

Wyoming

2010-11-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

After Montana, weddings and fun, I headed to Wyoming to see my Grandma, and Aunt Karen and Uncle Wade, and more cousins :)
I love my friends and family a lot. I am so glad I got to see them.

My cousins

2010-11-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

I stayed with Uncle Hal and Aunt Laurie while I was in Billings. It was so good to see them, and get to know their kids! My cousins, check out how awesome they are (and grown up).

Montana!

2010-11-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

I headed back to Montana for the first time in 5 years in October. My friend Catherine was getting married to Kyle and I had to go! Catherine and I have been friends since high school, and I am happy to still be a close friend to her. Here are some pictures... I didn't get very many though!

Trillium Lake and the Mountain of Hood

2010-10-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today we decided we had to go somewhere, it was a sunny clear day outside and we were both home for the weekend (a rare thing as of late). We loaded up the canoe and headed to Trillium Lake, by Mt. Hood for the day. I know you are all asking, is this lake for real? It looks too good to be true. Yes my friends, it does exist, it's heaven on earth!

Even the yellow dog got to come along.

Pumpkins anyone?

2010-10-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

We went with our neighbors to get pumpkins last week, it has been a beautiful fall so far! The weather is amazing.

We miss our friends

2010-10-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Our bestest friends the Jarvis Family moved to Utah, and we are missing them. We love you guys!!!

Bubbles that are HUGE are super fun.

2010-10-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

While surfing the web this summer I came across a blog post that blew my mind! haha!

They made big gigantic bubbles, and I knew I had to make them. She gives all of the instructions for you, so if you feel the need to make them visit her blog and try it out. Trust me, you will have every neighbor big and small over for some bubble action.

It was so fun!!!

Homework

2010-10-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

The homework has begun, wish us all luck! This is where you will find us every afternoon until June.

Curren thinks that homework is super fun.

Models

2010-10-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

The kids made some models awhile ago, they turned out really cool

Curren made an airplane

And Jessie a wagon pulled by horses

Curren in Taekwondo

2010-09-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Curren started Taekwondo back in June, and you start as a white belt, then slowly move your way up through higher belts. The next belt you earn is a white belt with a yellow stripe. He had to work very hard to earn this belt, there are so many things you have to do outside of class to earn it, it's a great program! Here he is at belt testing last night. I included a video of him breaking a board too!

Mark in NYC

2010-09-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Mark was so lucky, he finally got to go to New York City for a conference at work. Here he is roaming around and checking it out.

He got to go to a Braves / Mets baseball game while he was there. I know Grandma, you are super jealous. He sat 4 rows back from the Braves dugout, it was a fun game.

Sushi for dinner

2010-09-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

We went out for sushi, and I really do try to get some good shots of Mark, but you all know how he really is, it's like he has spasms right before the camera flashes.... so here you go!

A few random pictures

2010-09-05T10:08:00.001-07:00

Jessie wanted to make something using the saw, so Mark drew out a flamingo and she cut it all out and spray painted it.

Curren is now holding it hostage.We took the canoe out to Hagg Lake again, and brought our friends Stacy and Richard, we had a really fun day. I love the blue canoe.

Comparison Shot! We finally got Curren's hair cut. He's growing up *sigh*

11 Year Anniversary

2010-09-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

We have now been married for 11 years! Wow :)

Andrea was so nice and took the kids for the evening, so we could go on a date. Guess where I wanted to go? The Oregon State Fair... that's right, I am so demanding aren't I? We had a great time. The pictures all have Mark in them, I am the official photographer in the family, I suppose I should have had some taken with both of us in them!

The Air Show

2010-09-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures Mark took at the Portland International Air Show. It was such a great show!!! We went with our friends to the night show, it was so worth it. If you scroll down further in the blog here, there is a video of the Harrier Jet, go watch!

The Park

2010-09-05T10:00:00.001-07:00

I should have posted this several weeks ago, but oh well. We've been going to the new park a lot lately. This was when Nikki and Lilyanne were here at the beginning of August. It's a really fun place.

Target Practice

2010-09-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

Since our backyard looks like a desert wasteland (at least the hole is filled in!) the boys have been doing a little target practice...

Gophers

and Flamingos???

Indian Beach with our Friends

2010-09-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Indian Beach (just north of Cannon Beach) for the evening on Friday. We left warm sunny weather in Portland to cool misty weather at the coast. Andrea and I got in the water to boogie board, the kids all got soaked and sandy... you could say it was a successful day!

John and Corring came with their kids yay!

Andrea had these cool lanterns that you light and they float up into the sky and disappear, it was really awesome.

Harrier Jet 2010 Air Show

2010-09-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I made a video of the Harrier Jet at the 2010 Portland International Air Show. I didn't know a jet could go backwards! What the heck! The video of it is the jet hovering in mid air, rotating and then flying off. It was so LOUD and really awesome.

Swimming and Caving

2010-08-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors are so nice and let us come and swim in their pool. I am glad because it has been hot here lately!

Mark took the kids up to the Ape Caves. They are lava tubes by Mount St. Helens. They had lots of fun. Me... I was working, so I didn't get to go (poor me)

Heather's Family

2010-08-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

It's about time my family gets a little recognition don't ya think? My sister Nikki came for two weeks in August with Lilyanne, who is now walking all over the place. We managed to see Casey too, who was visiting a friend in Seattle. We met up at the Seafair that is at Lake Washington. It was a neat show, they had the Blue Angels, and hydroplane boats among other things.

Hagg Lake

2010-08-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

We are big fans of our new blue canoe. It has been awesome. We all fit in perfectly and the water at the lake has been warm, and the kids love it! We tied a tube up to it and told the kids "HOLD ON! WE ARE GOING TO GO REALLY FAST!" They weren't impressed with our slow paddling skills. I love summer time.

2010-08-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Jessie and Brigham Swimming and Paddling.

Mark's family goes all out for the 4th of July, it was so fun! Mark bought glow stick hats for everyone, they were funny :)
Melissa, Tom and Casch

Good Blog Fodder

2010-07-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Owen told me I needed to get some good pictures up on this blog...
Here you all go :)

Curren wants to be like Grandpa when he grows up!

Mmmmm... BBQ!

Del Grosso's

2010-07-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Going to the theme park is always fun, it makes all of the adults sick and the kids tired haha! We went to Del Grosso's in Pennsylvania.
I didn't get one good picture of Porter, he refused to look at anyone! Oh well, at least I tried.

Standing in line for the rides...

Uncle Mat and Jessie about to get sick for the rest of the day.

Yay for racing! I like the kids faces in these pictures. Brigham has his head covered up, so funny!

Horses are a Girls Best Friend

2010-07-29T09:21:00.001-07:00

Aunt Emily brought her horses with her all of the way from Maryland. We arrived at Grandma’s house several days before Emily came, and all that Jessie wanted was for Emily to get there! She was so excited to see the horses, especially Baby Girl, the big giant draft horse. I think Baby Girl’s head was as big as Jessie. We got to ride every day, and we all enjoyed them. Curren was on poop patrol, he did a good job keeping it cleaned up… he soon realized 4 horses make a lot of poo!

Zip Lining

2010-07-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Mark tried to pack up our whole entire house full of toys and bring them with us to West Virginia. I managed to talk him out of a lot of stuff, but he did manage to sneak a big bag of climbing gear. He made a Zip Line that ran through his dad's trees and into the yard, the kids LOVED it.
Do you all notice Curren's long luscious blonde locks??? He refuses to let me cut it off, he wants to grow it out "five more inches" He's hilarious! (And I am so not letting him grow it that long) He'll look just like Jessie!

Wa Wa Washington D.C.

2010-07-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

First off, I have to ask... have any of you been to Washington D.C.? If you haven't please move it to the top of "Places I must go right now" list. Seriously folks, it's amazing.

We saw the Washington Monument, from there you can see the White House, Capitol Building, and the Lincoln Memorial, and just about everything else, it's pretty cool.

We stopped in two of the many (many, many) Smithsonian museums. The museum of Natural History and the Museum of American History.Here we are by a big dinosaur bone, it was pretty hugemongous yes?? Jessie, Brigham and Aunt Heather... or Aunt Header or Aunt Heaver, that's how we roll.

Checking out the cool butterlies, they were really pretty.

Walking back to the car... Jessie and Uncle Mat

It was a really fun day! I can't wait to go back and visit again.

Prepare yourselves

2010-07-28T22:54:00.001-07:00

You are about to be inundated in tons and tons of photos from our month long trip to West Virginia...

You have been warned...

Enjoy!

Littlest Pet Shops are Taking over my House

2010-06-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

Jessie loves Little Pet Shops, she has been getting them for the past couple of years for birthdays and Christmas... until last week.

Aunt Nikki hit the motherload. She found about 50 bizillion of them at a garage sale for $6.00! When Jessie opened the box, her eyes about fell out of her head.

She has spent the last few days setting them all up in a row, taking them down, and starting all over again. She is in awe of them, it's so cute! Thanks Aunt Nikki, we love you :D

Mark has been...

2010-06-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

in the past month:

Running a half Marathon. The Helvetia Half Marathon's course is right out here by our house, it is 13.1 miles out in the country. Mark and Kasey ran it and did great! You guys are awesome :D

Catching fish, and they are actually big fish! I know, you were all starting to doubt Mark and his fishing abilities. He can catch a big one, this is a Steelhead Salmon caught on the Washougal River in Washington.

Making a wood surfboard. He and Kasey are each making one, they are going to be really cool.

Cutting off his fingers. While cutting out wood for above surfboard on our tablesaw, he tried to cut off his middle finger and had to get 3 stitches. Ouch! I know, you love me for sharing a picture of it!

Mark: He loves to keep it interesting.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T16:54:00.001-07:00

We have had some bad weather the past few weeks. We decided to go outside anyway, we can only handle being indoors for so long, it's almost June!

On Saturday we went to Short Sands beach to surf. Mark has some friends who go out once a year on a "Fathers Day Surf Trip" even though it was overcast all day, we still had a good time.

We finally got our canoe in the lake today! The weather was perfect, it was sunny and about 70 degrees. We paddled around for about 6 hours and caught two dinky fish. We had a blast!

Mother's Day

2010-05-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

After church on Sunday we took a drive up to Mt. Hood. It was a really nice day. We stopped at the river and went fishing, Mark caught a dinky fish, but at least he caught something!

Browns Camp

2010-05-16T15:25:00.001-07:00

We need to go camping more often. I am such a LAME-O homebody now... it's just easier to stay home. Once I got out there, I had a really fun time! What is wrong with me? I do want to go more this summer, so here is hoping!

There was a nice little river running through the area. Jessie loved it. She kept wandering off to explore.

Jessie and Jenny like the hammock too, they played on it for hours.

Have a S'more!

Curren cat napping on the roof of the truck, he's like a cat, it was warm up there.

Laughing and laughing with dad.

Super fun!!

Riding Dirt Bikes

2010-05-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we went camping with the Oliver Family up to Browns Camp. You drive out Highway 6, and head up into the mountains, it's only about 40 minutes from our house, and close to Tillamook. It's really pretty up there! There are riding trails all over the mountains so the guys go there a lot. It was a bit early to go camping, still wet and chilly, but we had a fun time.

Curren has a tiny dirt bike that goes about 10 mph, and he follows Mark around. It's pretty cool to see him riding. He does a really good job. Like father like son :)

2010-05-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

I had a really nice birthday last month. I turned 30! I love that it has been a good 30 years, what a blessing. Here I am with my cute kids. Mark spoiled me rotten, he's too good to me :D

We went to the beach with the Jarvis family last weekend, it was a really nice day, but towards the end the kids were pretty cold. I am happy we can be at the beach again, I've missed going.

On Mother's Day weekend there is a Quilt Festival at Jenkins Estate in Beaverton. Mark was out riding his dirt bike, so I took the kids to it. Jenkins Estate is beautiful! Here are two pictures I took of it. If you live around here be sure to go and wander around the gardens, you won't regret it.

Jessie's baptism

2010-04-14T15:21:00.001-07:00

Jessie's baptism was on Saturday the 10th. We had Mark's mom and dad here for it. Also the Jarvis's, the Werts, the Denton's, Denise, and many more wonderful friends. Our ward here in Oregon is just like our family and we are so grateful for them, and what they do for our little family.

Here is Jessie before she was baptized. It was a wonderful day.

More fun pictures

2010-04-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

Some more fun pictures, it's a pain getting photos off of 3 cameras!! Here we are at the zoo. The new exhibits have lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and lots of other great stuff. Here is Mark getting eaten by the lion, the rest of us seem to be happy about it.
The kids were in Newport feeding seagulls their Cheetos.

Mark was hanging his corn dog out the window of the truck and this seagull came out from behind him and snatched it, almost taking Mark's finger too... haha!

Aaaahhh! The shark is eating us!

Have to get those candles blown out!

Happy Birthday to Jessie

2010-04-09T16:28:00.003-07:00

Jessie turned 8 years old today! My baby is getting so big. We took her to the zoo today and it was great. She will be getting baptized tomorrow :)

Happy Birthay Curren!

2010-04-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Curren's birthday was on Thursday the 8th. He turned 9 years old (that's right next year he is double digits!) Mark's parents are in town for the kids' birthdays and we are having so much fun.

The Pine Wood Derby

2010-04-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Pinewood Derby was a lot of fun this year. This is Curren's first one, and all of the boys loved it. I haven't been to one since my brother was in scouts like a million years ago. Can you tell who made this car, Mark or Curren??? Hmmm... It is modeled after Bullet Bill on Mario Kart, cool right?

I like how Mark was telling me, "Heather, I am trying to figure out ways that Curren can help me make this car" uh huh. Mark had so much fun with it!

Watching boys is entertaining, like this one :)

Wrapping up March

2010-04-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

Curren likes the computer, and his Nintendo DSi, and his Wii, anything with a screen, he's like a bug attracted to light... "Curren! Don't go toward the light!!!" "I can't help it, it's so pretty!"

Curren and our neighbor kids posing, they totally set this up, and came to get me for a photo shoot, they are so funny!

Camo Curren

2010-04-09T16:15:00.001-07:00

Curren loves, and I mean LOVES to dress up in his camo and go hide in the back yard. He takes his airsoft gun with him to look for bad guys, mostly Dad, they like having a "war" in the backyard, it's fun :)

I saw him doing this one afternoon, I had no idea he was out there, he's so sneaky like that.

Also, he spells camouflage like "camel flash" which I find hilarious!

2010-04-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from the beach when Nikki was here. We loved that arch, it was so awesome.

A rare family photo, rarely seen around these parts :)

Nikki is visting again!

2010-03-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

Nikki is here right now, like now... not back in February. I am actually posting this in real time haha! I know, you are all so grateful. Mark has been out of town this past week, which happened to be Spring Break. Nikki came all of the way from Colorado to help us out. Isn't she so nice?

We went to the beach, Cape Kiwanda which is by Pacific City. Look at the natural bridge, cool huh?

We went to the OMSI. And, we ran into Kenny and Cami, nice!Yesterday we tie-died shirts, look at these cute kids :)

Port Townsend, Washington

2010-03-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Port Townsend is a ferry ride from Anacortes. The boys felt the pull of the waves over there, so we had to go and check it out for the day. Luckily, the weather was really amazing too. You hear the weather there is cloudy for most of the year, and we lucked out with sun in February, love it!

The ferry at 7:00 in the morning is refreshing.

Kids always find a way to keep themselvels entertained.