Baptism

 

Jenna was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a week ago. Our parents were able to come out and be with us too, what a treat! 

The weekend was so special, Jenna was so sweet and looked so beautiful.

After the baptism we got together with our framily for dinner at our home. The whole weekend was so perfect and we are so grateful for our friends and family who support and love us.

Monster Party

 I was invited to a monster party at my friend Heidi's house on Saturday.  We had the best time making our little monsters from the pro who taught us.  We each got to come up with our own creations and I think they all turned out so cute!  I made mine into a little toothpick holder, or a tiny vase.  I just wish I could have made it 10 times bigger!

 Heidi had me make a cake for the party, I wanted it to match her monster cookie jar she's had.  It turned out pretty good, although I'd change a lot of things I did for it.  I made the fondant (Thursday), baked the cakes (Friday) and put it all together Saturday morning.  I was a nervous wreck until it was on her counter.  Such a fun party!

Beach...Again.

 We got to the beach and noticed the tide was really low, we went down to explore and found these awesome starfish on the rocks.  They were so big!

 Here is the same rock in the background a few hours later.  I love the hand prints in the sand.

 We started a fire to roast marshmallows and made some smores before we left.

 One last group shot.  It was such a beautiful day at the beach we didn't want to leave!

Friends

 We watched our friends kids Saturday, I got a kick out of these two little guys.  It was actually really fun to have them over, they entertained themselves and had a good time drawing in the street.

Oregon Coast

 My friend Jillyn and I packed up the kids and headed to the beach yesterday.  The weather was going to be perfect, cloudy in the morning and a sunny afternoon. 

 We gathered driftwood to make a fire, Jacob built us a perfect fire pit.  We finally got a small fire going and enjoyed it until all the wood was almost gone.

 There was a huge log about 15 yards away and we rolled it on top of our little fire.  We were laughing so hard!  It actually started on fire and was doing really well until the fire underneath started to go out.  We needed more driftwood, but the people next to us were hogging all the wood.  ha!  Next time we will bring firewood and and s'mores.

 The kids did what they do best, play in the sand and build lots of awesome forts.

The Beach

 We planned a day to go to the beach, looked at the weather report but went anyway.  I was nervous on our way there it was pouring, but when we got there it was perfect!  No wind, no rain, awesome.  About 10 minutes after we arrived it started sprinkling.  It rained on and off for the rest of the time but it was a light mist, nobody seemed to care!

 The boys!

 I love the perfect kid formation as they're entering the freezing cold water!

 lunch time.

 Fun trips like this are the result of our early morning workouts at the gym conversations.  So much fun to be with Jill and the kids.

 Last week my friend Jillyn and I hiked up to the tippie top of Multnomah Falls with all the kiddos.  I was so impressed how well the little guys did!  They walked 98% of the time.  The hike is about 1.2 miles uphill!

Friends

We were invited to our friends pool for dinner and swimming, such a beautiful day and a gorgeous night!  This is the shot I took from my phone as we were leaving.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how lucky we've been with having such great friends.  Not just "hey, how ya doin'" friends, but friends that are like family, friends that I could call and they'd be here just like family.  We've lived away from our families for 10.5 years now...sometimes it's hard not being there for all the fun and even not so fun moments when I want to show support.  What a blessing to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, no matter where we move in the WORLD we have a built in family.  I hope that I can be that person who is like family when no family is around.  

We have also been lucky to have incredible neighbors who have been so much fun, so kind and generous...what a huge blessing!  Thank you!