Tuesday, July 13, 2010

We Heart Portland!

Saturday, we went on an adventure downtown. It was FABULOUS! The sun was shining and there was so much to see, taste, smell, etc. Portland is truly a feast for the senses! There are bumper stickers that you see around town a lot that say, "Keep Portland Weird". This sticker seemed to apply with many of the things we saw. Portland has a lot of weird people - we like weird! (O: Here's a visual tour for your enjoyment!

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Our journey began on the MAX train and how lucky were we to hop right on the train next to this girl! As soon as I saw her I was so glad I brought my big old camera rather than the point and shoot. It took me a while to work up the courage to ask her to take some pictures - I hate being annoying - but when you dress in newspaper you're asking for it, right? (O: I knew I would regret it if I didn't ask. So we did this impromptu photo shoot in literally about 1 minute because our stop was coming soon. She was so cute and so nice. I got her e-mail address and later found out she and her friend were just like to go out and do things to be "weird". She said tons of people asked for pictures with her that day. Here are mine of Rebecca the newspaper girl. (O:


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When we got off the train at our stop, Natalie said, "I love going downtown! We don't have newspaper girls at home!"

This next series of pictures is called, "How many goofy poses can you do with a great big mask statue?" Let's find out...


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My favorite....

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We LOVE this funny little pizza place on Burnside...


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You can't tell in the picture, but it is in a section of the building that is only about 5 feet wide at the end. The widest part of the restaurant is maybe 12 feet. It's such a funny little place and the food is sooo yummy. It's simply called, "Eat Pizza".


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The girls love to sit by the window and watch people and cars. It's downtown, so people watching is really entertaining sometimes!


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The owner gave the girls a couple plain pizza boxes and colored Sharpies to entertain themselves while we waited.


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These garlic knots are awesome, but plan on bad breath for about 3 days!


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We had a few slices of pizza leftover and decided to share it with a homeless man we saw across the street. The girls were so excited to do something nice for him. The look on Natalie's face was priceless when he said thank you. They were worried about him when we walked past him on the way to the pizza place.


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This sign caught my attention as we were walking back to the train. It made me laugh out loud. Look closer...


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I think this is a sticker someone stuck over what is really supposed to be there. (o:


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After lunch, we rode the MAX over to the Portland Saturday's Market. This is truly a cultural experience. It is sooo fun and there's so much to look at there. The girls were hoping to see the "gold" guy (you know, those people that paint themselves from head to toe). He wasn't there, but there were plenty of entertainers and other interesting things to see. And yes, those are my girls in Tie Dye dresses. We always joke about the plethora of tie dye shops at the market. They even have tie dye underwear! Anyway, we couldn't resist joining in the fun and the girls looked so cute. Sarah chose to get a wooden flute instead.


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Cute rainbow dresses.


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A quick snapshot of some girls walking around in snazzy outfits. Angela was very curious about them especially when they were walking by us and suddenly burst into song.


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This little booth was truly a gem. At least we thought so. There's a lot of kooky booths like the face sculpting one next door that looked super creepy and then there's those that really have something. We LOVED these handcrafted clocks. They were so creative! We decided to get one, but it took FOREVER to decide which one! Here's the one I finally picked.


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And we got it $14 off (o: Another nice thing about the market - haggling! Isn't it great? I love whimsical things and these clocks fit the bill.


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What a fun day!

Monday, July 12, 2010

When Nat Gets Mad...

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I don't remember which reason Natalie is mad at me in this picture. I get this face about 5 times a day. I don't think taking a picture of her mad helps, but I can't resist. She is going through a grumpy stage this summer. But she still gives the best hugs ever and has her softie side. I just know to be careful when this look comes on her face!

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Natalie is a pro at pouting. (o:

Gymnastics Camp!

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Scootering" to gymnastics camp! I love summer! All three girls wanted to do the Gerbers' gymnastics camp this summer and they had a fabulous time! I was so impressed with everything they learned. They did so great and got lots of good exercise for an hour and 15 minutes every day.

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Warming up. . .

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Doing the bridge - impressive eh? (o:

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Angela could live at the Gerbers house - she was sooo excited for gymnastics camp! Thanks Hannah and Rebecca!

It Don't Smell Like Fishies

We have an embarrassing recurring theme in our home lately. . .

We go through milk like crazy in this house. And usually when I get new milk it gets put in the back and the older milk rotates to the front. However, sometimes I have days when I am rushing home from the store and I only have 30 minutes to put the groceries away, pull together a salad for a dinner with friends, and then I remember that I didn't burn a DVD of pictures for a client who is coming to pick them up soon. Yeah, on those kind of nights, sometimes the milk rotation doesn't happen. And sometimes on those nights, the big pack of Gogurts I bought is left behind in the grocery bags with the non-perishables until the next morning. Sigh.

So, a week later, we get around to drinking the non-rotated milk at the back of the fridge and, funny thing, it doesn't taste quite right. As it is the last gallon of milk, we have to get creative for breakfast. We are so dependant on our milk and cereal routine.

This morning (after getting some nice, new milk yesterday) as Sarah walked into the kitchen I told her I left the Honey Bunches and milk out for her (our favorite) and Angela followed up with, "Yeah and it don't small like fishies!"

Yay for milk that don't smell like fishies.

On the same night mentioned above, we received a phone call from our friends we were meeting at Hagg Lake, asking us to bring along some ketchup for the hot dogs. No problem. I grabbed some from our food storage and put it in the van before I forgot.

As we rushed off, I noticed the expiration date on the ketchup was long past. Yikes! Looks like the rotation plan on the ketchup was overlooked at some point too. I decided to open it up and do a smell/taste test. (This is so embarrassing.) It seemed fine. I debated with Vern* what to do. In the end we decided it was fine to use, but our nine year old heard the whole conversation.

We arrived a little tardy to our dinner, but had a lovely evening and BBQ. As we sat down to eat and Sarah watched me put ketchup on my hot dog, she said aloud, "I don't want to go to the hospital, so I'm not eating that ketchup."

Silence.

I wanted to crawl under a rock and laugh out loud at the same time. Ratted out by my nine year old!

Then, a little embarrassed, I laughed as I explained what had happened. We all put ketchup on our hot dogs and we all lived to see another day. Much to Sarah's great surprise.

I promise if you come over to our house to eat, I really do practice safe food handling habits and we will strive to not send you to the hospital.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Patriotic Summer Treat

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Mmmm - homemade ice-cream with home grown berries . . . Yeah.

Girls' Camp Visit

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Just weeks after being released from my young women's calling, I was so excited to still have an excuse to go visit the girls at girls' camp! Gregory* had to go for bishopric/leaders night and the wives were invited to come too! Score! We had a stressful drive to camp Melacoma - the traffic getting to Washington was terrible. Once we got across the bridge, we had a lovely ride. It was so beautiful on that side of the Columbia gorge. I remembered driving that road with Lisa last year when she had just found out she'd be released.

Since we were running a little late, the girls were getting antsy wondering where we were. When we walked into the cafeteria, boy did we get a welcome! It made me feel so good. I almost got tackled by a few of the girls and a chorus of voices called out "Sister Preece!" That's the only time in my whole life I'll probaby ever get a taste of celebrity life. (o: It made my day.

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Nina looking cute and campy in her crafty shirt and bandanna.

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Hannah and Tylin not only survived their first girls' camp - it looks like they had way too much fun!

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Tylin looking good! And orange!

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A group photo of our ward at camp!

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Visiting with Heather and Crystal who used to be my girls, but moved to another ward last year.

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This is everyone listening to Gregory's* fireside talk...

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Kaitlyn is such an attentive listener!

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Cute! Getting ready for testimony meeting, which was such a great meeting. So many of our girls got up and it was wonderful to hear about their experiences.

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I think these are foxgloves, right? They were everywhere. I love being in the mountains. It was a HOT day - even for being up in the mountains, but the evening was beautiful.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Money to Burn

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The girls hardly spend their allowance money, so after a few months they have quite a bit saved up. One day while getting ready to head over to Costco, the girls decided they wanted to bring their allowance money.

It was fun to see what they chose. Sarah knew before we went - the Lego Harry Potter DS game. Angela chose a pretty dress. She is always oohing and ahhing when we walk by the dress rack at Costco and always feels sad when we keep on walking. It was fun to watch her circle around and around choosing just which one she wanted. I knew what Natalie was going to pick before she did. I saw it over by the books and I hoped that she might not see it and find something else. It was not something we needed . . . more art stuff. But it just looked so magical the way it was all packaged up with princesses on it, she couldn't resist. I had to resist putting my foot down. There was nothing wrong with getting it - I had to let her decide. It was her money. They were so excited and Natalie proclaimed me the best mother ever as we waited in line! The people around us in line and helping the girls check out were cute with them. (They all got to pay for their items themselves and get their own receipt.) I think that may have been the best part.

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Natalie and Angela headed upstairs to prepare her to model her new dress. Natalie even styled Angela's hair for the unveiling. (o:

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Water Park - Part III

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This is our favorite park of 2010 for sure! 53rd Park is the best! This time we invited Sarah's friend Mallory to join us for a picnic and afternoon in the sun. Well, in the partial shade of our beach tent.

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I think the girls spent 85% of the time in the sand - even though it was a hot day.

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Then they'd run and cool off/wash up every once in a while . . .

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Monday, July 5, 2010

Bonneville Dam Family Field Trip

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I remember visiting this dam many many years ago when my family came through Oregon for a road trip. (I think it was this dam.) And I remember how cool it was. When we went this time, I was a little disappointed. I figured out why and I blame terrorists. Leave it to them to ruin all the fun. When I went (about 16 years ago) - we got to go in the actual dam and see the HUGE turbines, ride on the longest escalators you've ever seen and saw all kinds of GIGANTIC things that I can't even name. I remember being in awe as we wandered around the dam - I don't think we even had a tour guide. Now the public is not allowed at all inside. Boring. Dumb terrorists.

So, we wandered around outside and looked at the salmon ladders on the sides of the dam. They were interesting.

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Then we went to a nearby salmon and sturgeon hatchery.

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Look at this huge "grandpa" sturgeon! (I think that's a sturgeon, if I remember right!) We couldn't believe how big they were. Some were longer than Natalie and maybe even Sarah.

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Pretty Sarah and some pretty grass.

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Fishy face!

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Natalie "fishing" with a stick.

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The grounds at the hatchery were so beautiful. There were even spots that I thought would be pretty enough to have a wedding there. The grounds were amazing.

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Natalie thought this looked like a big caterpillar and decided to "ride" it.

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The sign of a good field trip!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

4th of July Show

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Bobby* loves to put on a show with his Costco firework packs! This year we invited the Andersons to join us. It was so fun getting to know them a little better and having some fun company for the show!

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Angela's set up for the show. (o:

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Dominic helping hand the fireworks to Bobby*. The kids loved reading and saying the funny names of the fireworks.