Ben's 28th Birthday

On July 8th Ben turned 28! He's getting so old! ;) It was kind of a crazy day because my sister Laura was in town with her family, but I tried to make it as special as I could and we did some celebrating after Laura left.

I started the day by sending Ben a text. Unfortunately auto correct got a hold of it and it turned into this:

Oh how I laughed at his response! Then later, after lunch, he texted, "Lisa never showed :(". Ha ha! He keeps me laughing and I love it.

When he got home from work we had a few presents for him. Nayeli had helped me wrap them in the afternoon.

Unwrapping gifts. Teddy in motion, like always.

That night my friend Dennine had offered to watch the kids, so we went out to eat at McMenamin's, a restaurant that is famous here in the Portland area. We ate on the patio, then enjoyed music by a live band. It was an old-man band that was not so talented, but it took Ben back to the days when he used to listen to his dad play in a band and he loved it. So we stayed for a long time and chatted. Date night is good for the soul, you know?

 Birthday date. I love this man.

We celebrated as the week went on by taking Ben balloons and a Jamba Juice to his work at lunch time, then cooking his favorite dish (sweet and sour chicken) for Sunday night dinner. Our wonderful neighbors Pops and Anita also wanted to get in on the celebration, so Pops offered to make Ben a homemade ice cream cake. We went over there Sunday night to enjoy it.

 Ben and Pops. Pops loves to bake and brings us cookies every Monday. He is wonderful.

Overall it wasn't a very well celebrated birthday for Ben, but he didn't mind. It always at a crazy time of year so we just try to make it as special as possible. As it is, I love Ben and am so happy he's mine! Happy birthday to the best man I could have asked for!

Laura's Visit!

Laura called me the week of the 4th of July and said, "I want to come to Portland! Do you have plans for next week?" I told her that I didn't have plans, so she came up with her five youngest for a few days to visit. It was a quick, whirlwind trip, but we had so much fun.

Our family arrived home from Hermiston Sunday night, then Monday I quickly cleaned my house, grocery shopped, and did laundry. I got everything done just in time for Laura to arrive after dinnertime. We took the kids to a park to play while Laura and I chatted and caught up.

The next day Laura wanted to head to the coast, so we drove to our favorite Camp 18- that's right, the place with cinnamon rolls "as big as yo' face" (as Ben puts it).

Cousins at Camp 18

Cute Nayeli and Eleanor

Teddy and his three mother hens. They were all eager to be in charge of him :)

We then drove into Cannon Beach. I had read that the high was going to be 67 degrees, so we packed jackets instead of our swimsuits, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day and the kids all got into the water in their clothes. Laura let all her kids get wet even though she didn't have a change of clothes for them. It was so good for me to see how relaxed she is as a mother- I definitely need to work on that. Maybe when I have seven kids that's how I'll be ;). Anyway, it was really fun to be on the beach together and watch the kids play.

We then walked around the shops in Cannon Beach and Laura treated everyone to ice cream. As nap time approached, I headed home so my kids could nap in the car and Laura and her family drove to Seaside. They had a great time there. The Oregon coast is beautiful. That night we had dinner and just chatted. It was so fun to have a sister visiting! And the kids had a great time playing together.

The next morning we let the kids sleep in, and Bridie ended up going in to curl up next to Nayeli in bed. It was just the sweetest thing.

We took the kids to our favorite riverside park- George Rogers Park, which has the beach along the Willamette river. The kids played in the water and sand while Laura and I lounged in the shade. By lunch time Laura was on her way to Emily's, having stayed at my house for only a day and a half. It was so fun though to have more time with my family and I was glad they could visit, even if it was short lived. Thanks Laura for coming! You are welcome anytime.

4th of July in Hermiston

For the second year in a row we spent the fourth of July in Hermiston at Emily's house. We arrived Thursday night and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing- we sat around, ate delicious food, and talked. It was heaven. Oh and there was a small inflatable pool in the backyard so the kids had a great time too. When you've lived in an apartment as long as we have, having a yard for a weekend is a luxury. Mark also came up with some of his kids from Boise. They are always fun to be around too.

 All the cousins! In a backyard! With an inflatable pool! My kids were in heaven!

 Also, a piano! It's so fun to hear Ben play and Teddy was loving it as well.

Friday we lounged around and went no where and did nothing but chat and eat. I read magazines and Ben got to read a book he'd been wanting to read since we went to the Virgin Islands (we both packed books on that trip that we didn't even get to crack open because we were constantly trying to keep our kids from falling into the ocean). 

Saturday (the 4th) we celebrated in good ol' Stanfield, Oregon. It's a small, small town by Hermiston that does a Fireman's breakfast and parade. I love small town holiday celebrations. Everything is simple and you don't have to battle the crowds.

Fireman's breakfast! Mark and Darren had done a 5K run that morning.

The parade is the best. Everyone who has a tractor, truck, four-wheeler or horse can be in it and everyone throws candy. Nayeli was loving it!

Ben teaching Nayeli how to charm the people into throwing you candy.

 Wearing the hat our neighbor Anita (Nana) gave her for the parade.

 Teddy in Ben's hat

With my siblings! I love them! Emily is 28 weeks pregnant with her fifth and she hosted us amazingly.

My sweet boy striking a pose worthy of a boy band photo shoot

 Emily and family

Emily and Gabe

Nayell with Derek, Emma and Ellie

 Get the candy!

Our nice shady spot- and no, the Playboy truck is not ours :)

We love the 4th of July!

Teddy was so dirty by the end after eating a mixture of dirt and tootsie rolls 

(I couldn't tell which brown was from which).

 

After all the candy she ate, I'm pretty sure this is the face Nayeli made all day.

After the parade, we headed home and relaxed some more. Emily had let all her kids pick a treat on Pinterest that they wanted to make. She made some delicious pretzels that she asked Ben to do some product photography on.

My name is Nayeli, and I endorse these tri-colored fourth of July jellos.

In the afternoon we did more pool time, with Ben and I getting in on the action.

Such fun cousins

We stayed Sunday to go to church, then drove home after lunch. We really had the best time! Thank you Emily and Darren for hosting us and feeding us like kings! It was wonderful!

Beating the June Heat

I don't know if I mentioned before, but we don't have air conditioning in our apartment here in Oregon. In fact, most of the houses and apartments here don't have central air. When I realized that this was the case while we were still in Utah, I voiced my concern to one of the apartment employees I spoke with over the phone. She said, "Oh the weather up here is so mild anyway you really only need air conditioning for a week or so out of the year". Liar.

Both last summer and this summer have been scorchers, and we have most definitely needed an air conditioner. This year we've run three fans constantly and it has made it bearable. Luckily we don't get a lot of direct sunlight in our downstairs apartment and it helps it stay cool.

As the temperatures have soared, we have tried to stay busy. We visit the park early in the morning, or go to the town fountains (there are two within walking distance of our house), or we visit Target (or any other store with air conditioning for that matter). 

Nayeli with her other half, Audra, at the fountains.

We also took one Saturday morning and went berry picking at Ben's boss' house. We picked blueberries and raspberries and made our first batches of raspberry jam. We'll also been eating a healthy dose of blueberry pancakes.

Teddy ate a LOT of raspberries. He wasn't as keen on the blueberries.

Nayeli picked a large amount of berries on her own. She's getting so big and grown up.

She then took her stash under a tree and chowed down. 

I love Ben's smile in this picture. Those creases in his cheeks are part of the reason I fell for him. Really.

Later that same day we went to a picnic with free popsicles. It was over 100 degrees and Nayeli's face sure showed it. So did her popsicle.

We also transplanted the sunflowers that we've grown since they were seeds (Grandma Jane sent them) to the dirt in front of our apartment. We put a little fence and sign with them hoping that the landscape maintenance wouldn't chop them. So far they've avoided annihilation.

Ben took some candid shot of me while I held Teddy. I love them.

I nibble his face and he smiles. It's a good trade.

 I love how he holds my ponytail. This is my life, and I love it.

And just because I don't really have anywhere else to put it, here's a picture of Father's Day.

We made Ben a crepe breakfast in bed. I just love Nayeli's face in this picture.