November - All about Family

As November draws to a close and the Christmas season stampedes through our door, I want to jot down just how special November was to us.  We were honored to be a part of a very special family wedding on Nate's side, 36 years in the making.  We also were honored with the presence of my whole family plus some extended family as we hosted our first Thanksgiving in our new home.  It's been several days since Thanksgiving and I can honestly still say I had a blast and would easily do it again.  I loved having family in our home.  I loved making mistakes and figuring it all out as a first timer.   I loved how much joy and comfort I saw through my kids interacting with everyone here.  I sound both cheesy and insane and I'll probably eat my words at some point in my future but this is my truth now.  I hope I get the chance to host everyone again sometime.   I'll let pictures do the rest of the talking.

Hot Tubbing at Chicago Hotel Pool

 My men

 What to do on a snow day - school is closed - kinda day?  Face painting of course

 Choo Choo

Thanks to our friend Eric, this is one of my favorite all time shots of Elise.  

 Oma and her little helpers

 Thanksgiving crafting

 Table setting

 Thanksgiving Dinner is served

The Gimp

I have been living in our home for almost a year and I still can't remember which light switch is for the fan or for the light when I go into the bathroom.  I am starting to leave the radio on the classical station instead of the usual 94.7 more often.   I played 4 games of a doubles match over the weekend and instead of hitting a running down the line winner, I keeled over stop-drop-and roll style re-tearing my plantar fascia after doing the exact same thing just 4 months ago.  I am feeling old and I'm letting it get to me today.  I hear my Dad often say how he feels like he's still a young active man but his body just doesn't cooperate and he's in his 70's.  I'm starting to understand what he means.  Yes, roll your eyes all of you reading this that are older than me but I'm having a down and self-critical day.  It happens.  

Looking at all the pictures from October helps perk me up some.  I see my almost 3 year old Paul and Elise in what I call their prime of cuteness.  Gosh, I love this age.  When they are being fun and being so good - I try so hard to make time stop.  I don't remember that when I worked.  When I had work successes, I was quick to think about the next milestone or challenge.  Not so when I'm with my kids.  I did feel that when they were babies though to some extent.   I see pictures of Lily and how proud I am of how outgoing and independent she is.  I look at her class picture and I don't see cute as much as I see young pretty (yes, I said pretty even though it doesn't seem appropriate this day in age) girl busy learning and talking at such a rapid speed.  I see pictures of my parents in their apartment downstairs having a blast with the kids - my dream fulfilled on a daily basis - seeing my kids interact so happily and comfortably with Oma and Opa regularly.  

Ok, that 2nd paragraph helped. It's all good.  I may be a gimp and feeling old these days but it really is all good.  

Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island

Frozen Party

First dinner invite in my parent's apartment

Lolo surprise visit.

Wizard of Oz Halloween Theme

Lily's Kindergarten School Picture.

September to Remember

September was a momentous month for us….actually even more so for my parents.  They put up with living with us in September while they dealt with the delays of their container arriving and all the renovations getting done to their liking in the apartment on our first floor….that kind of stuff just doesn't go smoothly.  And all this after just dealing with their biggest emotional move ever from Germany to the States.  I can hug them and help them however I can, but until I'm in my 70's trying to find both the mental and physical strength to start the whole ordeal over again of making new friends and making a new place a home after so many years of happiness and comfort in Germany, I just won't really get it. I feel very honored, blessed, and crazy to get the chance to have my parents live downstairs from me for however long they can put up with us. It's only fitting that all their stuff arrived today to mark the new month.  They are stressed and overwhelmed once again being surrounded by such a mess of boxes but they are also seasoned enough to know that this too shall pass.  

Besides all the work on the apartment, the biggest change to our life has been Lily starting Kindergarten.  Lily spoiled us with being an excited and happy little girl ready to go to school.  We've been able to enjoy the ride with her making new friends and figuring out what Kindergarten is like….gosh and already seeing her speech and manner evolve being surrounded by so many more kids and influences.

The main reason my parents decided to move to Portland are because of Lily, Paul, and Elise.  So, we've made sure to have quite a bit of fun too as one big and loud family. My parents hearing declining really is a blessing in disguise with how loud it is here.  My personal goal is to have some more chances to hang out with my parents without the kids.  I'm missing that aspect of all this so far.  

Here are some of our September adventures.

Picnic lunch at the Rhododendron Garden.

Beach day

 Lily's first day of Kindergarten

 Paul is our big helper when it comes to cleaning.  Here he is showing Oma how to do it right.

 Opa arrived a couple weeks after Oma.  Airport welcome.

 Opa surprised Lily at school pick up.

 Kids are already well trained to know that Opa is silly and teases a lot. They already know they can get away with a lot, like playing beauty salon with him.  

 Spent a fun weekend up by Mt. Hood with friends.  Soccer with Elise.

 Earning their keep.

Story time with Opa and honorary Aunt Jeanne. 

 Family brunch at Timberline lodge.

Prince Paul

An Active August

August was awesome. So is the cortisone shot in my foot.  It really ended on a high note with Oma's official arrival (not visit…arrival) and throwing a house party that we had an absolute blast at.   I just loved having so many of our favorite friends and neighbors together in our home...and with so many kids running around smiling….while their parents eat and drink at a non-shoveling food in mouth pace while socializing much of the time….awesome!  Oma is here and already working on making our now vacant first floor apartment their alternate home.  My Dad is coming in a couple weeks.  The kids and the improvements being made to the apartment before their container arrives will keep her very busy.

Here are some of the moments from August in pics.

Lily's best friend from Munich was here with her family for a week.  Introduced them to the concept of having very friendly fire fighters willing to give tours and answer questions whenever they are there. Not so in Munich.

 Lily is swimming more and more like a fish.  Lots of pool time.

 Lily designed and made her first fashion outfit with her friend….a paper dress with matching hat.  She made it one block on her walk home before it broke…back to the drawing board.

 Paul and Elise enjoying the secret garden at our neighbor's house.

 All my kids painting together and acting eerily nice and polite with each other….had to snap a photo of that moment.

 Tractor Ride with Jim at their Zig Zag retreat.

 Playdate fun at good friend Katie's house.  Lots of happy moments there.

 Lily's first joint business venture with her friends Nora and Etta selling bags of water for free.

 Lily and Liana's sleepover.

 Nate finished his anniversary gift to me.  He did this by hand.  These are the stairs that lead to the kids floor. love.

 Kids waiting at the airport like it's a race for Oma to show up so they can all give her a running hug. And yes they did.

 House Party snapshot

 Another project by Nate - building an over sized outdoor chalkboard.  This was the first picture drawn on it by Lily.

 Nate brought out his drums for the first time.  Kids LOVED it.

 Oma is here.

I had to post one video that you should watch if you are a big Paul fan and want to see a side of him he is usually too shy to show around others.  These are the lyrics he made up to the song he's singing….. Music started today…daddy wants to wear that shirt cause he wants me to sing louder…what is daddy doing with that big thingy…..i like these leaves….like the chairs…like the chairs by me….like that chair….clap….for the first time in forever…take this to guitar class…

July 2014

(written by Nate)

Summer is definitely in full swing here in Portland.  We've been enjoying the sun and doing lots of random stuff around town.  This past weekend it was a visit to the county fair with 4-H animals, a kiddy theater, and carnival rides.  We've done a bit of hiking in nearby Forest Park, lots of swimming at our club and biking to the playground.  Lily suddenly figured out she could swim without floaties and has been a little fish over the past couple of weeks.  She also got to camp out with me in a real tent and liked it, even if we were steps away from the kitchen and bathroom of our friends' cabin.  Elise has been getting more and more talkative but still enjoys playing on her own.  She also enjoys spilling her drink at every other meal, but whatever.  Paul is getting sillier, playing off of Lily with nonsense talk.  Each of them challenges us in their own way with whining, yelling or being mean, but they can all be real sweethearts too.  Holding hands with each other to cross the street or giving real hugs to each other are relatively common occurrences now.  Nicole's had the only real bummer of the summer, tearing her plantar fascia in her foot while playing tennis.  She's hobbling around now and is missing her daily early morning walks through the city and her escape to the Tennis court when she can.  But at least she didn't stick with her first doctor's recommendation to wear heavy hiking boots around for three months.  Between her injury and Lily's summer day camps (German camp, dance camp coming soon) I've been acting like a good urban commuter and taking the train to work while we persist as a one car family.  I haven't been getting as many long bike rides in as I'd like, but there's plenty of summer left, right?

Best buds on the front steps

Time for a haircut?  Not yet… 

Lily made inside-out PB&J which inspired silliness 

Paul sure knows how to pose these days 

Stuck in a walking cast/boot for about a week 

 Fun with friends

A surprise stilted cowboy during a poolside BBQ at the tennis/swim club


Lily's swimming milestone




Some interesting new dance moves

Yellowstone Family Trip June 2014

We are back from our road trip to Yellowstone to meet up with family.  We did it.  The fact that the  Dora song pops in my head  now - "We did it.  We did it.  Yeahhh. We did it.  We did it.  Hooray" - is very telling of how much time we spent in the car having to listen to Dora.  Road trips with 2 year old twins is not enjoyable.  Lily at age 5 is fine; she was only difficult when it became a 3 kid dynamic arguing about what CD to listen to, who got the biggest piece of some snack or whatever food related topic - they came up with some argument, or what show to watch.

Of all the places we saw, there were a couple places we were surprised by just how much we would enjoy it there: Jackson Wyoming and Missoula Montana.  I went to Jackson never being a country kinda gal of any kind and only knowing Jackson with the Cheney connection there left a bad taste yet left really digging the country vibe.  Missoula Montana was an ideal stop with kids.  The carousal and park downtown is a must see.  Dayton and Waitsburg Washington look like best kept secrets along the Palouse Scenic route south to Walla Walla from Spokane.  The only place that didn't work out well with kids in tow was the Crater of the Moon National Park on the way to Jackson.  Just wasn't worth the extra time with the behavior and reactions from the kids making it too hard for us to enjoy it.

Yellowstone is definitely eye candy for anyone that has appreciation for nature.  There are awe inspiring moments when you see places like the Mammoth Springs or the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for the first time.  Had no idea there are hundreds of geysers there and even though it's cool because it's different, wasn't really a highlight for us personally.  Waking up for an early morning walk and being greeted by 20 elk was more of a highlight as was taking in the expansiveness of the Lamar Valley and all the herds of bison roaming around.

Being with family is what really made the trip special and truly memorable.  I can look at pictures of bison and waterfalls but witnessing so many moments of love, especially with the kids, is what I'll look back on and truly smile about.  We sure had some fun.

I did want to jot down some other random misc. things I can think of we learned from this trip.

- Pack a towel and vomit bag.  Lily succumbed to queasiness once and threw up.

- There are no buffalo in North America.  Only bison.

- Luggage carts and hotel telephones were a huge hit.  Probably helpful that we have no land line at home

- Long time in the car with kids is still not fun.

- Kids are starting to hug and put their arms around each other now for photos

- Lily swam without her vest for the first time

- Lollipops in the glove compartment as a reward when bribery is needed for some form of good behavior in the car helps.

- Toy cameras my sister in law gave the kids were a huge hit the whole trip

- Lily entered a new phase on this trip - the sulking phase - not a fan.

Quotes from the trip
-  Lily can still be so lazy with me refusing to walk a few blocks to a store but hiked over 4 miles without a complaint with my family.  When Lily asked how she did it, she said "my hiking boots do the walking for me."

- Paul woke up one morning in our cabin and said out of the blue "my butt has two big nipples."  uhhhhh.

- Elise really came out of her shell on this trip stepping up her talking frequency.  On our wagon cookout, she blurted out so loud to everyone around on the wagon  "I EXCITED"

As for the pictures, I wanted to timeline the trip with only a couple pictures from each day of our trip.  I steered away from pics of nature and animals because this was a family trip and somehow equate this trip even more with the moments we experienced as a family.  Call me a cheese ball.  I dare you.

Yellowstone June 2014