Brett's Summer Visit

My brother, Brett, was in town the past several days from Florida. Oh, how I absolutely hate that he is so far away and I absolutely love spending time with him when he is here! My kids and husband think he is pretty great too. 

We kicked off his family vacation with a dinner at our place on Thursday evening. The food was amazing and the company even better. My dad even brought a couple of McMenamins Ruby Ales which is my favorite beer, so that made the evening even better!

Ella constantly asked Brett to "spin me, spin me, spin me!" and Brett happily obliged. Until he got too dizzy. Spinning is hard work for a grown-up.  

I had a couple high school class reunion events during the weekend, so we reunited with Brett and the rest of my family on Sunday afternoon at my parents' place. 

Ella loves the new My Little Pony stuffed toy Brett brought for her and Nicholas loves his Lightening McQueen car. Thanks for spoiling our kiddos, brother!

 I tried to take a quick photo of Vivien, myself, and Ella, but Ella apparently couldn't keep her eyes open for any of them, this is the best one I got. 

Dad, Brett, & Lisa chatting before dinner

After dinner we had birthday cupcakes and Elizabeth was thrilled to help her Uncle blow out his candle after his birthday song. 

She was even more thrilled to eat a cupcake...

and later extra frosting (thanks Aunt Tina)!

 After dessert we all needed to work off some calories so we played with Nicholas' special froggy ball. The big kids kicked it around the yard after the littles had a chance to play. 

 Ella is becoming quite a consistent catcher and thrower.

My youngest brother Eric, his wife, Tina, and their nearly 2 month-old baby, Vivi

 Mom and baby

 Gramme loved snuggling with her newest granddaughter.

 Brett, I miss you already! Enjoy your trip up north to Radar lake and hopefully we will see you again in September. 

Class of 1998 15 Year Reunion

 This past weekend I celebrated 15 years post graduation with my WHS class of 1998. On Friday evening we had a Meet 'n' Greet in downtown at a local business and my classmate & good friend, Adriane, was so generous in organizing a silent auction to benefit Nicholas and help with his medical expenses. 

Just me all dressed up and ready for Friday night!

I arrived early and brought a few photos of Nicholas to display next to the silent auction items. Adriane got so many donations! We are deeply humbled and so grateful!

 Adriane created this awesome photo wall with memories of our childhood. 

I was so happy my friend (and former Chinese Garden co-worker) Rachel stopped by with her husband. 

Obviously the lighting is terrible...but we stopped to take a photo on our way to a local bar for a drink and some dinner. Katie, Trisha, me, and Eva. 

 Later, Adi, her sister, Angie, and I took a bathroom photo after we applied our gorgeous lipstick. 

Katie and I have been friends since we were in Mr. Estes class in 5th grade, so our friendship has lasted 23 years! I love her immensely! 

Trisha and Thad Leifsen got married while were still in high school (back in 1996) and are still going strong. I love them. They are such wonderful people. 

Eva is my sister-in-law and fellow '98 Grad

On Saturday night we went to Lindo Mexico for our official class reunion. 

I found my high school friend and former college roommate, Sarah. 

Hyacinth, Megan, Josh, Katie, and I posed for a photo

And then Heidi went missing for the next shot.

Katie and Adriane getting silly. I love those two. 

The class took at celebratory shot of Fireball together...so much fun!

Sima made the most scrumptious mini cupcakes! I wish I would have taken a photo of them because they were as beautiful as they were delicious. I performed the role of waitress and served some sugary yumminess to my fellow classmates. 

Several of all my fellow 1998 graduates, just enjoying themselves...

It was such a fun & memorable evening! Thank you to Adriane (Tracy) Drozdek, Katie (Leifsen) Lewis, & Julianne Lajoie for organizing such a fun couple of days!

Several photos were taken by fellow classmate Julianne Lajoie with her fancy camera and her photos turned out much better than most of mine. Thanks for allowing me to share, Julianne!

Full Moon

This is a photo of the beautiful church where I am blessed to both work and worship. I was in the office on Monday evening for a couple hours and when I left I had to stop and snap a photo of the church lit up at night with the huge full moon behind it.

Last night, Jeff and I let the kids stay up past bedtime just so they could see the full moon. Nicholas is obsessed with the moon and gets really excited when he can see it during the day. He thinks its crazy when both the sun and the moon are visible at the same time. He had never witnessed such a big, bright moon and was so happy that we let him stay up late to see it. He kept telling us "thank you," over and over again and fell asleep one happy little boy. Ah, life is all about the little things, the little moments that I save in my heart and treasure forever. 

Wee Babe

Yesterday afternoon we got a visit from my sister-in-law, Tina, and sweet baby Vivien. We hadn't seen Vivi since she was a few days old and now she's seven weeks! She was much more awake and alert than the last time we saw her and both kids were just smitten with her. 

 Can you tell how much Nicholas loves ALL babies, especially his sweet cousin?!

I loved cuddling Vivi and watching her sleep peacefully in my arms

Ella was a busy bee and kept running outside to play in her pool. She really, really wanted Vivi to come play in the pool too, but I explained that Vivi is too little to splash and play with her in the water. I have a feeling that next summer those two are going to have quite a lot of fun together!

 I have a mild case of baby fever and just a few hours with my niece was the perfect cure. 

Thanks for making an ordinary day-extraordinary! We love you both!

Pulmonology Check-Up

Last week Nicholas had a pulmonology check-up appointment at Doernbechers Children's Hospital. We absolutely love his pulmonologist, Dr. Powers. He's so kind, always willing to listen, and offers good insight and advice or Nicholas's diverse needs. Dr. Powers said that Nicholas is moving air in his lungs quite well, and in fact, he said that Nicholas has never sounded better! Yippee! He is also going to help us get a portable cough assist so that when Nicholas goes to Kindergarten in the fall he will be able to take the portable one with him instead of the large, heavy, non-portable one we have now. An added bonus is that Dr. Powers does not think Nicholas needs a sleep study right now since he's not having any desats at night and is sleeping peacefully. 

The best part of this visit for Nicholas was to find the cool fire engine bed in his patient room. That made Nicholas's whole day! 

Summer Boating

Yesterday our family enjoyed our first time this summer on the Columbia River. Normally, by this time in the summer, we've been boating several times by now, but since my parents have decided to sell their boat, we hadn't been on the water at all. Luckily, Jeff's sister and her husband just got a new (to them) boat and invited our family to spend the day on the river with them. 

Ella enjoyed sitting on Jeff's lap and helping to steer the boat out of the marina. 

Nicholas and I got comfy in the cabin of the boat

Ella came down to the cabin later and found a soccer ball to hold

Jeff's sister, Eva, and her daughter, Zoie

The morning started out cloudy and cool, but by the time we arrived at Ackerman Island (a little past noon) the sun broke through the clouds and we enjoyed a beautiful day on the water. This is my shadow on the sand at high noon. 

Me and my hubby. We fell in love on the Columbia River, so whenever we get to spend time out there, I get nostalgic about that time eight years ago. 

Ella was in the water or in the sand all day! She loved every minute of it. We had to remind her to drink water and eat. If it was up to her, she would have sat like this and played all day long. 

She loves her older cousin, Zoie, and Zoie adores Ella. Zoie keeps an eye on Ella for us and helps her when she asks. She's such a loving little lady. 

Jeff and Uncle Chris chatting

Cousin Alex played in the sand most of the day too

Nicholas enjoyed the shade of his personal tent and wanted his frog ball to be near him at all times. 

The kids dug out a body shape in the sand to bury Uncle Chris. 

 Jeff got in on the fun too

You can't see it very well in this photo, but majestic Mt. Hood was part of our view the entire day...sometimes the beautiful place where we live, simply takes my breath away. 

After the kids finished burying Uncle Chris, Ella wanted in on the action, so they buried her. 

Then she broke free!

Later in the afternoon, Ella and Alex worked diligently on building a sandcastle, complete with a moat (which they sat in to keep cool) 

Nicholas enjoyed watching his cousins and even took a little dip in the water to cool off. He was so excited to go on the boat and even more excited to spend time with the family he loves. 

Thank you ,Petersen family, for such a fun summer day!