October Album III: Halloween

One giraffe + one monkey = so incredibly cute.

Matt and I decided to go as zookeepers, which was not too much of a stretch.  The coveralls actually make the job easier.

 

Dean wanted “one happy face and one silly face”, and voila!

October Album II: Dean’s birthday

Oma and Papa came to celebrate Dean’s birthday, and we visited the farm together to pick pumpkins and climb the hay pyramid.  Dean had a party at Sound Roots the next day, which was a raucous musical event not to be missed!

 

Four candles!

     

Dean created his own trap set with three bookshelves at Sound Roots.

Daddy and Fiona play some music at the party.

 

Fire fighter costume and accessories from Aunt Ayme!

October Album I: Harvest and Matthew’s birthday

We spent a beautiful October day at a pear and apple orchard in Hood River.  Highlights included pressing apples, eating fruit straight off the tree, riding in a cart (see Fiona with the cartful of boys!), and pretending to drive a tractor.  Our harvest  this year (from visits to the farm, our CSA, and even our garden) yielded lots of yummy jars of dilly green beans, sweet pickled beets, Kosher dill pickles, pear butter, apple butter, applesauce, pie apples, three-berry jam, rhubarb ginger marmalade, strawberry rhubarb jam, and strawberry raspberry jam!  This is the most we’ve ever preserved!  We were excited to take it all out of the pantry and look at it together. 

We also celebrated Matthew’s 34th birthday this year with my first-ever cheesecake.  I made caramel and chocolate sauce to drizzle on top – it was a hit!

September Album

Here's our September album, a few months late.  Lost Lake was definitely the highlight, but here are some other images from our end of summer.  Top to bottom:  reading and singing from our Silly Songs book, falling asleep on our way back from Lost Lake while Anya looks on, swinging together with Daddy, and playing “Go Fish” (one of Dean’s favorite games) with Mommy on the couch.

     

it's November already??

Alas, I've neglected my bloggy-blog.  I knew this was possible.  There's a lot going on en la casa, in fact, but I guess my mind was on overload.  So, let's get the obvious out of the way:  I'm pregnant!

Details:  It's a boy!  Due March 15, and Matthew and I have less than 18 weeks to duke out the name.  The kids are excited.  Dean loves to kiss my belly.  Fiona likes to poke my belly button and talk about the baby, but I'm not sure if either of them knows what's coming.  I'm not sure I do, either.  Three?!  Breathe...  So, here's a recent picture, taken today.  And now I have some more blog-related catching up to do.  Stay tuned.

Lost Lake

Last weekend, we stayed in a cabin near Mt. Hood with friends – a total of six adults, five children, and one dog.  The cabin had no running water (there were spigots and pit toilets outside), but did feature a stove and fireplace, plus a loft upstairs with four beds.   It was cozy!  We had an awesome time - lots of sticks and rocks to play with or throw in the lake, plus beautiful places to hike, and great views of Mt. Hood and the Mt. Hood National Forest.  Lost Lake was a perfect find.

           

August Album

Aside from celebrating our 10th Anniversary (!), August was an incredible month that ended with a bang at Heceta Beach.  We spent four days and three nights with dear friends of ours – Kate, Andrew and Oscar - relaxing at the beach house, hiking through a forest and sand dunes, playing in the sand, and eating!  Here is a summary of our wonderful time; most of the photo credit is Andrew’s.  Thanks again for the great memories.