The Redwood Forest with the Petersens

July 25-27

The Redwoods were three hours from Crater Lake but, once again, the trip in the motorhome was wonderful. I took Teddy and we napped on the bed in the back most of the drive. It was divine.

We arrived at another RV park and headed out to see the trees. I forgot to mention that Ben's grandpa had hauled a car behind the motor home for all of us to ride in. Yes, it was a tight squeeze, but it meant we all got to travel together.

Since we were unfamiliar with the area, we looked at the map and decided to take a 1.5 mile hike to some large trees. Due to Ben's grandparent's health they decided not to join us, so the six of us ventured on our own. As we hiked the trees kept getting bigger and bigger and we were so excited we took most of the pictures before we even got to the REALLY big trees. In fact, we were kind of pictured out when we got to the GIANT ones. Isn't that silly? So in most of these pictures the trees weren't even that big. Comparatively speaking of course. They definitely weren't the size of trees at your local park.

At only 3 months Teddy was still sleeping quite a bit.

Chelsea was so helpful with Nayeli. They had a great time bonding.

Many of the trees were 200-300 feet high

Like I said, not the biggest but still large.

 

We finally got to the grove of trees that was the highlight- the trees were gigantic! And then we realized there was a parking lot right next to it! Ha ha. So Ben and Chelsea ran back the 1.5 miles to drive the car up so that his grandparents could enjoy the trees as well.

Nyla, Chelsea and Nayeli. They are standing next to a tree that fell just this spring. It was 300 feet tall and had a 15 foot circumference. I wish you tell better from the picture but it was massive.

Friday night we patched the hole in the air mattress and slept in the motor home. Overall things went much better. I was able to put Nayeli in a pack and play and Teddy slept in his car seat. Despite the patch however, at about 2am we found ourselves with our feet in the air and heads on ground. I was awakened by Ben saying something like, "We're going under Captain!" We had to contain our giggles while he reinflated the mattress a few times that night, but at least we were warm. And not sharing the bed with two kids. And laughing. Yes, it was a much better experience.

Saturday morning we went to explore the beach at Crescent City, California. We went our on a pier where many people were catching crabs. That was really fun for all of us to watch.

Watching someone bring up a crab trap

Having fun with Chelsea on the pier. I love the motion of this picture. And I love Chelsea. She is becoming such a great young woman.

 We then walked along the beach and combed for seashells and such. Nayeli played in the sand until we dragged her away kicking and screaming. Because that's pretty much the only way she'll exit any area with sand.

One of the many pictures I have of Nayeli happily playing in sand at the beach. She is very good at playing by herself.

Later in the afternoon the day turned hot so Ben found a river for us to go swimming in. And by "us" I mean him, Chelsea, Dave and Nayeli. I graciously stayed with Teddy of course :)

Wherever Ben is he creates fun. Here is Ben, Chelsa and Nayeli building things with mud.

And of course they had to jump off the rocks into the water.

Saturday night Ben's dad was kind enough to give us his bed and sleep in the tent. That meant no 2am mattress inflation duty for Ben so it was a much better night. Sunday morning we woke up and got ready for church. That meant pictures too. Of course.

Four generations of Petersen boys

All the Petersen clan, sans me because I insisted on taking the picture. But they are a good looking crew aren't they?

We went to a small ward in Crescent City, then drove back to Wilsonville. Ben's grandparents and Dad stayed a night in the RV park and then drove back to Utah.

What a great trip it was. Not only did we get to see some amazing nature, but we got time with Ben's grandparents, dad and sister. Living away from family makes you really relish in the time you get with them, and we sure relished in the time with had with the Petersens. Thank you Kent, Nyla, David and Chelsea for the wonderful trip!

Crater Lake with the Petersens

July 24 and 25, 2014

As soon as Teddy was born, Ben's dad and grandparents were anxious to meet him. After all, he is the first great-grandson. Ben suggested that they pick up Chelsea and drive up in their motor home so we could all head south on a vacation together. That's why at the end of July they drove from Utah to Oregon and arrived on a Wednesday night.

Teddy with Grammy (Great-Grandma Nyla)

Sweet little Teddy

They parked at a RV park near our home and so that night we ate dinner in the motorhome and chatted. It was great for us to catch up and they enjoyed time playing with Nayeli and getting aquainted with Teddy. We then headed out Thursday morning for Crater Lake. It was about a four and a half hour drive but, I'll tell you what, traveling in a motor home made it feel like it was nothing. We slept, ate, and talked as if we were sitting on a couch at home. It was wonderful.

Nayeli in her chair we pulled from the dumpster. This was right before it snapped her fingers and we had to throw it away :(

We arrived at Crater Lake and set up "camp". Since there wasn't enough room in the motor home for all of us to sleep comfortably, Ben and I had offered to sleep in a tent. We had even brought a brand new air mattress to make our camping experience with a newborn even more enjoyable (spoiler alert: it is practically IMPOSSIBLE to have an enjoyable camping experience with a newborn. But we'll get to that in a minute).

We then headed for the lake. We hit it just at the golden hour. It was beeeeeaaaauuuutiful! So huge and breathtaking.

Our whole group

 

Teddy

There are only a few lookouts for the lake so we drove to the two biggest and marveled. Some fun facts: Crater Lake was made when a volcano collapsed 8,000 years ago and is 286.3 sq miles large. It is the deepest lake in the US at a depth of almost 2,000 feet. The water clarity can be over 100 feet. It is beautiful and we had a great time seeing it.

It began to get late and we were all starving so we headed to a nearby mom and pop restaurant, Beckie's Cafe. It is famous for it's pie and it did not disappoint. The food was delicious. We then headed back to our camp and tried to go to sleep. I say "tried" because the night went something like this:

The plan was to have Ben and I on the mattress and the kids on the ground near us. However the night was chilly so I decided to have Teddy sleep next to me. Then we tried to put Nayeli in a sleeping bag but she was afraid of it because she had never slept in one before. Needless to say, before the flashlight had even gone out, all four of us were crammed onto the air mattress. To add to the camping "fun", Ben had a terrible cough and all through the night when he would cough, the mattress would shake. Then Nayeli would start to cry, Teddy would wake up, and I would have to nurse him to get him back to sleep. I was the perpetual pacifier. This cycle continued over and over throughout the night until about 5am when we felt the air mattress begin to sink from below us. I think that was the point that I almost jumped up and broke all the tent poles in half over my knee. Luckily, I was able to restrain myself and instead gave Ben a high five because we had just survived the worst night of sleep in our marriage. And no, that is not an exaggeration. It was awful.

Luckily, Ben's dad Dave is an early riser and had just gotten up to go hiking. Ben wanted to join him, but I decided to abandon the sinking mattress and inhabit Dave's bed with both kids. Thankfully we were able to catch a few extra hours of much needed sleep before the day started.

Dave took this picture on their hike. There are rivers that run through the volcanic rock in the area. Breathtaking isn't it?

After Ben and Dave's hike we all ate breakfast and were  ready to head onto our next adventure. Yes, it was a very short visit to Crater Lake, but our final destination was the Redwood Forest and the lake was really just a stop. Plus, we plan on going back to see more. And no, next time we will not take an air mattress. No way, no how.

Three Women and Thirteen Kids Take Portland

July 7-9

Laura and Emily brought their families to visit us in Portland when we finished celebrating the Fourth of July in Hermiston. Since our apartment is so small, just a few of the kids stayed with us and then Laura and Emily got a hotel room nearby.

On Monday we went into the city. We stopped at the Portland Rose Gardens first. They were beautiful!

All the kids (except Nayeli refused to get in the photo)

We then went to the Pittock Mansion. We toured the house, which is gorgeous, and enjoyed the view. It has a beautiful view of the city and Mt. Hood.

While in the city people kept staring at us- presumably to figure out if we were a family or a daycare. I'll admit, we were a spectacle. It's rare to see a baby in Portland, let alone 13 kids. In fact I think it would have been more normal if we had been walking around with 13 dogs. Welcome to Portland.

Then Tuesday we decided to go to the coast. We first stopped at Tillamook for the cheese factory tour and lunch...

And then we went to Oceanside Beach. The weather was the best I had seen on the coast, but of course Emily and her family (who just moved here from Florida) were in a bit of shock. This is a beach?! I now know to explain beforehand that the beach in Oregon is more of an outdoor experience, not a beach experience. Nevertheless we had a great time.

Eleanor and Laura holding Teddy

With two of my wonderful sisters. Can you see the resemblance? :)

After the beach I sped home to be with Ben since it was his 27th birthday. However I got caught in traffic and didn't get home until late. Poor Ben, his birthday consisted of working, coming home to an empty house, eating leftovers, and no cake. I made it up to him later in the week.

Wednesday was the day Laura was driving back to Emily's so we decided to see the Gorge on their way out of town. We first went to Vista House, a beautiful lookout over the Columbia River.

Vista House. Ben was working.

We then took the old Gorge highway to see the waterfalls, including Multnomah Falls. It was a zoo, like always, but it was so beautiful I'm glad we went.

Laura, Emily and me at Multnomah falls.

From Multnomah Falls I said goodbye to Emily and Laura and their kids. It was so much fun to have them come visit me. Apart from Ben, my parents and siblings are my very best friends. We always have a fun time together.

Hermiston for July 4th

The greatest thing that has happened to us since we moved to Oregon is that my sister Emily and her family moved to Hermiston, only 3.5 hours away. Why is this so great? Because I love having family nearby. And it also means that since two of us live in Oregon, so many more are bound to come and visit.

Case in point: for the Fourth of July we met my sister Laura's family at Emily's house. Laura drove her 12 passenger van with 7 kids so we could all celebrate together. Because the place to be for the Fourth of July is Hermiston, Oregon, didn't you know?

Nayeli was dressed up so cute

Teddy (2 months), Nayeli (2 yrs), Gabe (2 yrs)

With my sweeties

That morning we went to a parade in a small town nearby. I love small town parades because they throw candy and everyone gets to be in it. My kind of environment.

Emily had bought all kinds of fun accessories for the kids to wear. Nayeli wore her sunglasses upside down the whole time, even after Emily tried to correct how she was wearing them. Don't get in the way of this girl's style, I tell ya.

Can't you see what a rousing parade this was? Ha ha.

We then went to a small carnival in the park. Nayeli and Ben made this flower pot at a Home Depot booth.

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. This is my sister Emily in a booth trying to catch money. Can you see her face? She was in heaven with money swirling around her :) She later told me she could have gotten more but she felt bad for the old man running the booth. Apparently they were losing too much money and had to close it down soon after Emily finished.

Laura's family arrived later that day and we went to a different carnival. Then we went back to Emily's to relax.

Precious (and mischevious) Gabe :)

Doesn't this picture epitomize a carefree childhood? Love it.

Nayeli with Adaline and Eleanor. We lit off fireworks before we watched them be shot off.

Saturday was so fun to hang out all together. We went and picked blueberries first.

We then went to swim in the Columbia River a little bit.

Ben's river selfie

Nayeli crawled into bed with me. I have so many memories of crawling into bed with my mom that this picture makes me happy. Even though I got kicked all night :)

The rest of the day was spent enjoying time with Emily and Laura's families. It'd been so long since we had been with so much family... we loved it.

Sunday we went to church with Emily and Darren then packed up and headed home. We found our new favorite stop on the way- the Bonneville Dam. It's along the Columbia and has a fish hatchery, salmon ladders, and large Sturgeon swimming in tanks. It was awesome.

See Nayeli? All smiles. We had a great time and had Emily and Laura's families both follow us into Portland for some fun at our house for a few days.

June 2014- In like a lion, out like a lamb

June came in like a lion and went out like a lamb... sort of. Let me explain. At the beginning of the month, when Teddy was only five weeks old, Ben left on a business trip for five days. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I almost lost my mind while he was gone. Teddy was super fussy day and night and I had no one to hand him off to. He was waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours consistently during the night and it made me a zombie. A cranky, crazy, zombie.

However, a few things saved me. First, my friend Dennine let me borrow an infant swing. I was very anti-swing before, however it helped ease his crying and gave me a break when I needed it. I will no longer judge mothers who use swings. Then, Heavenly Father was watching over me. On Saturday I felt so alone and depressed so I prayed, "Heavenly Father, I can get through this weekend if someone will just invite me to their house for dinner tomorrow" (unfortunately I was too proud to ask someone for help). Anyway, the next day at church my friend Jana approached me. She knew Ben was out of town and asked how I was doing. I was such a mess- I couldn't even smile and lie. In the middle of the hallway I burst into tears. She quickly told me that I was invited to her house to dinner and that she would take Teddy third hour so I could have a break.

Jana didn't get the chance to take Teddy third hour because our dear friend Art Park saw me crying and came to take Teddy. Teddy fell right asleep and Art rocked him in the hallway the whole third hour. He was my hero that day.

Jana was also my hero- she didn't have any plans for dinner but invited me anyway. When I arrived at her house, she took the crying Teddy and rocked him to sleep while I ate. Then as he slept Nayeli played with her kids. I loved our ward before this experience but this specific Sunday I fell in love. It is so full of good people willing to serve and help others. I feel so taken care of and loved here. I will be so sad if we ever have to leave.

But then Ben arrived home Monday night and was, of course, so sorry he had been gone. And then everything got better. Teddy started crying less, I had someone to switch off with me when I couldn't take it anymore, and my best friend was once again by my side.

My growing boy. He weighed 14 pounds at his two month appointment.

My treasures

 

Nayeli found the whipped cream tupperware and the rest is history.

Ready for Sunday, complete with a bowtie

 

I am a human jungle gym

And just for a little extra enjoyment, here's a clip taken while Ben was out of town. (note: I misuse the word pontificate in here. I meant punctuate... but it was 5pm and I had just woken up from a nap. Just sayin').



As June settled down we had two visits from Ben's mom Jane. We had a great time while she and others were here and even went out to the coast at the end of the month (post to follow soon). And the best way to end any month is to go to the coast. A wonderful end to a crazy beginning.