Summer fun

Wow..has summer flown by.  With just a few weeks left until Ethan starts kindergarten I guess it is time for an update. 

Ethan has had a fun and packed summer and he and my mom returned last weekend from 2 weeks in Utah.  Ethan was able to spend half of each week with Jeff's parents and the other half with my parents, as they live only a few blocks from each other, and had lots of cousin time, sleepovers, and adventures.

 Cuddling up with Jacob and Ellie at Grammie & Papa Berg's.

 Playing princesses with Avery and Taylee at uncle George & aunt Brittney's.

My dad also took Ethan, Jacob and Ellie up to Zion National Park to play in the river and do the Junior Ranger Program.



Jeff and I also had some adventures while they were away, mountain biking at Timothy Lake, movie dates with friends, and I ended with a 4-day girls weekend at Eagle Crest.

 Timothy Lake, Oregon

 Mushrooms anyone?

 Jeff and I haven't been mountain biking in a long time but have been road riding quite a bit in the last month.  We did a single track trail around Timothy Lake and it was beautiful. 

This summers girls weekend we went to Eagle Crest, which is near Bend, Oregon.  The weather is a lot like Hurricane, UT,  along with some of the scenery, and I took full advantage of the sun by getting an awesome sunburn while laying by the pool the first day, so the next day was spent in the shade. I have some great friends and we always have a good time together.

 Desi, Amy#2, Summer, Amy#1, Gentry, Jill and Me

 And ended the night doing girly stuff....facial.  Mine was orange juice, honey, and oatmeal and both Amy's did banana, orange juice and honey. 

And here are some other photos from the past few weeks...

 Sunset from the top of Rocky Butte

Busy but fun weekend

This past weekend was a nonstop weekend but we had fun...First was Jeff's company BBQ in Salem.  We took Ethan's bike with us so he could ride it around the park with the other kids and one of the partners, Mark, decided to give it a try...it was pretty funny.

We then went to the Highland Games at Mt. Hood CC and listened to some pipe bands and to check out all the kilts.  Neither Jeff or I had been to the MHCC campus before so we didn't see the games until we were leaving but it was a fun experience and will probably go again next year now that we know what to look for.

The next morning I was walking/running with my co-worker, Cliff, in the Terwilliger Parkway Centennial 5k, with Jeff in my cheering section, and then we met my mom and Ethan at Pioneer Square to see the Sand in the Square.

July is half over?!?

Wow how life is speeding past.  Since I have started working away from home I feel like I am always running and can never keep up. While I am thankful to have a job and that my mom is helping us with Ethan, I really miss my time with him.  In just a couple of months he will start full-day kindergarten and life will probably become even busier, if that is possible, but for now I am cherishing the moments I do get to spend with him.

I haven't had a lot of time to take his picture recently, but he has had some fun experiences the last few weeks. I have kept him and my mom busy with different activities at the community center for him and he has had a great time.  He is just finishing up swim lessons, will be going to Utah for 2 weeks, and then will be back for a week of baseball and a week of soccer before school starts.

We also celebrated his birthday and the 4th of July in here somewhere and Ethan loves a celebration.  His whole life, thus far, has had multiple birthday parties each year and then fireworks to top it off.  For his birthday we took him to Spaghetti Factory and to see Madagascar 3...afro circus... to which we are all still singing the song, and for the 4th of July we went for a day trip sightseeing around downtown and to Multnomah Falls.

My friend, Amy, told me about Safety Town that Hunter had been taking and how much fun he had had so I signed Ethan up and he had the most fun of all the activities so far.  He came home every day to tell me about the newest safety thing he had learned.  He was quite knowledgeable when it was all over and sad that he didn't get to go anymore.  I so glad he liked it so I see another session in our future for next summer. 

Ethan also had his 5 year checkup last week and he did awesome!  He is still in the 10% for weight at 34 pounds, up 3.5 pounds, and is in the 25% for height, growing to be 41.5 inches tall, up 2.5 inches, from last year's checkup.  He had perfect hearing and eyesight tests and did nearly perfect on his shapes/letters/numbers test. 

Bike riding

Yay!! Ethan has finally figured out how to start the bike by himself....We have been out practicing every day for the last week and he is doing an awesome job.

5

It is amazing how fast 5 years has gone.  He makes us smile and laugh, he never stops talking, he never wants to sleep or eat and always wants more minutes to play....where would life be without him. We celebrated #5 with just a family day to see the movie Brave and Spaghetti Factory for birthday dinner and ice cream.  Nice and simple, considering this was birthday celebration #2 and we don't forget the fireworks in just a couple of days.  We love our boy and are very thankful to have a happy, healthy, 5-year-old boy!!!  Happy Birthday Ethan. 

As you can tell from the pictures, costumes, especially spiderman, and hats are Ethan's favorites

Someone is almost 5 years old

Today we celebrated Ethan's upcoming 5th birthday with friends...angry bird style.  We had a tasty BBQ with red, white, and blue cake pops, and an angry bird bomb pinata.  Next Sunday he turns the big 5 and more fun will be had...can you really every celebrate your birthday too much?!?

Three of the cutest guys and best buddies!

 and of course the very cute Miss. Olivia.

Can't get enough of Spiderman the last couple of weeks.

Great gifts from his buddies...Angry birds, Lego's, and Spiderman...he couldn't be happier.

50% off trees...Jeff can't resist

Happy Fathers Day!!!  Yesterday we went out to Lowe's to get a couple new plants and garden starts to add to our garden...we came home with 3 trees at 50% off, 4 hydrangeas, garden starts of several veggies and I could go on and on.  We spent the remainder of the beautiful 80 degree summer day moving/replanting several plants and bushes throughout the front yard, planting the new trees, and clearing out all of the weeds, and today we are relaxing and enjoying our beautiful landscape and celebrating Dad's day.  In a former life Jeff was a landscaper and his knowledge of that has created us a beautiful yard, both front and back yards. 

 Always an entertaining trip driving home with trees in the car, but so worth it at 50% off.  I love my car!

A few weeks ago we had to buy a new mailbox so we placed it on the front port and have now moved the lilac bush that was underneath the kitchen window to the other side by the newly placed hydrangeas.  We then placed two new trees where the lilac bush and mail box were, transplanted several flowers and cleaned out, transplanted several flowers and planted another tree in front of the door.  (Click on the pictures for larger views).  I am excited for summer to now be arriving and all the flowers to begin blooming.  More pictures to come after all the colors arrive.