The Koberleins

I have a kindergartener!!

2011-09-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have a child in kindergarten! It's crazy to think about. She LOVES her school and LOVES her teacher so I think this year will be really fun for her. I'm so excited to see all the progress she makes this year, and could she be any more adorable?

Our New Bed!!!- November 2010

2011-02-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary this year we decided to build ourselves a bed. We have a Cal. King and finding a bed frame that is A. Affordable and B. Budget friendly is next to impossible. I've been looking for ohhhh, 7 years now? Well I found out about this website Knock-off-Wood where this girl takes furniture and designs plans for them and tells you exactly how to do it. Her website is now, www.ana-white.com if you haven't checked her out, you should, it's awesome. I have so many projects in my head I want to do. We did the PB Farmhouse bed. Thanks Boorens for letting us borrow some power tools! We did all the building on Thanksgiving Day at Greg's Parent's garage. They have a bigger space and built in baby sitters. Then brought it home to sand and stain. We got the whole thing built in one day, I'm pretty impressed with us, if I don't say so myself! This is once we took it home before we sanded it.

This is the foot board after we sanded it and before we stained it. Notice the paint rubbed off the wall? This is why we needed a headboard!

The headboard sanded and the side rail stained.

Here's the footboard stained. It took longer to sand and stain then to actually build. We were done within one week though, if the weather would have been nicer it would have been a lot faster, but we had to do everything inside because it was raining.

Here's the finished product! I LOVE it, even today when I walk in my room I still love it.

Another view so I can brag more. We did a great job babe! Happy Anniversary!

Ok last picture I promise. I hope this is the beginning of many projects to come. In total we spent $200 on the bed, a LOT less than the $2500 Pottery Barn wanted.

October 2010

2011-02-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn got to go the pumpkin patch with her class and parents and siblings were able to come along. She had a blast! We took a "hay ride" out to where we could choose our pumpkins. Here's Brooklyn and Boston on the ride there. She was so very excited....

Here we are at the pumpkin patch. Boston was still a little shaky on his feet and the ground was pretty muddy so it was a messy adventure for sure. He loved it though.

They had a big hay stack to climb on, and of course Brooklyn wanted to go all the way to the top.

Here she is at the top.

She loved to take pictures in these things! She insisted I snap the photo, she thinks it's so silly.

Here she is with her teacher Ms. Filippone. She LOVES her teacher. She was originally with Mrs. Marek in the afternoon, but a morning spot opened up and we took it. I was nervous to move her because she LOVED Mrs. Marek, but I think she equally loves Ms. F now. She is a great teacher.

Brooklyn and Boston on the huge pile of pumpkins, it probably would have been easier to just pick one up from here, but I think Brooklyn and Boston enjoyed roaming through the muddy field. We had a good time.

We also had to go to the pumpkin patch with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa so this is our second trip. The weather in Oregon was awful for growing pumpkins, so there was not much of a selection to choose from and I think they may have shipped some pumpkins in and laid them out in the field as if they grew them. Nonetheless it was still fun for the kids...

Boston had to pick up every pumpkin he could get his hands on. He would yell "baaaallll" and then toss them on the ground. Luckily he wasn't too strong to do much damage and most of the pumpkins were too big to actually pick up.

Boston roaming to find more balls to throw around. He loved being able to just roam around.

Family picture at the pumpkin patch, we were looking right into the sun, so pardon the weird faces. This was the best of the bunch...

Carving our pumpkins. This is Boston's first "cheese" face.

And this is his "super cheese" face. Imagine his saying "Cheeeeeessssssseeeeeee" cause that's exactly what he is doing. He loves to smile for the camera.

Brooklyn and Greg getting a little crazy with the carving. Brooklyn did not know there was a seed stuck to her forehead, she was just making a silly face. Of course I had to zoom in and take a close-up of it...

At this point she still didn't know. We had a good laugh when I showed her the picture of herself. She's so silly.

These are our Worm Sandwiches for dinner. Brooklyn got a kick out of it. She was a little hesitant about it at first but once we all took a bite, she knew it was safe. Boston's didn't care at all, as far as he was concerned, it was food and he was going to eat it.

Here's Pebbles and Bam Bam before we went out Trick or Treating. We had the idea to make Boston Bam-Bam for Halloween a few months before Halloween because everything in his hands instantly became something to bang around. Boston and Brooklyn are SO different. Brooklyn lovingly held her baby dolls and Boston will swing them by their hair and throw them cross the room. Every toy is tool and something to bang around. Of course if we had a Pebbles and Bam-Bam, we naturally had to have a Fred and Wilma...

So here's the whole Flintstone's crew. Yaba-daba-doo!! I must say, Greg is not one to dress up for Halloween, especially when it's a family theme, but he was a trooper this year. Brooklyn loved it, but it may be a few year before I can convince him to do it again.

I love his picture.... The kids had such a great time trick or treating. Boston figure out Trick or Treating quickly and would giggle everytime he score a piece of candy. It was pretty cute. Brooklyn loved running around with all her friends from the neighborhood. My favorite moment was when we went the "Super Green Environmentalists" house and he handed out boxes of raisins (I mean SERIOUSLY???!!!) and Brooklyn said to his face, "That's not CANDY, Mom this isn't real candy is it." I just laughed and said, "No, it's not real candy". He seemed really annoyed that she wasn't thankful for the juicy delicious healthy raisins and I'm sure the guy thought I was the worst Mom ever, whatever, it's Halloween, kids don't want raisins.

September 2010

2011-02-25T09:31:00.001-08:00

September was a BIG month for Brooklyn. First she started SCHOOL!!!! She was SOOOO beyond excited to start school. We brought her teacher a basket on back to school night, so Brooklyn could introduce herself, (is it wrong that I want to bribe the teacher to love my daughter? I guess a bribe isn't necessary because who wouldn't love this girl, but it helps!)

This is Brooklyn on the official first day of school. I love the look of excitement, yet nervousness. She was super ready for school. I expected Brooklyn to be a little nervous to have me leave, but in her mind, I couldn't have left sooner. She was just so excited to be there. Brooklyn could already write her name and she already knew all her letters and most of the sounds before preschool and I'm sure she's going to learn a lot more. She technically shouldn't start school until next year, because her birthday is 18 days past the cut-off date for school, but I couldn't keep her home, she was so ready to start school. I don't know what we'll do next year, but we'll figure it out next year, but for now she loves to be in school and is doing really well.

Brooklyn also had her BIRTHDAY this year! She is 4!!! Can you believe it?? She was so excited for her birthday. One of her presents was a quilt made by my Mom for her bed. This of course inspired a redecoration of her room. It was so fun, we repainted her wall decorations, got new bedding and rearranged the room. Luckily the wall color matched and we didn't need to change it. Brooklyn spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa Koberlein's house and came home to see the surprise. She LOVED it, if only it stayed as clean as this picture all the time......

Brooklyn had her birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. She was ecstatic to have her party there, but I will NEVER do a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday EVER AGAIN. It was CRAZY!!! There were so many kids there! The kids had a BLAST though and I guess that's all I can ask for. I think I counted kids heads to make sure everyone was there over 150 times. All the kids were super good and mostly stayed together in a group, but still, never ever again on a Saturday!

Of course a highlight for Brooklyn was opening the presents. She got lots of girly things, which was heaven for her. Barbies, princesses, jewelry kits, coloring books, you name it she got it. The highlight for her was her very own Pillow Pet!!! She loves it and sleeps with it every night.

The next day we went to Grandma & Grandpa Koberlein's to open MORE presents. We only let her open her pillow pet at the party so we did the rest with G&G. Pat and Sarah, and the doggies. Aunt Carleen, Uncle Mike and Matthew came too. It was fun and definitely a LOT quieter!!!She had a GREAT birthday and is growing up so fast. I just can't believe how big she is getting and how smart she is. She surprises me everyday and just the sweetest big sister to Boston.

First Love

2010-11-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

Boston has a first love: Sarah, and yes he is proposing with a sippy cup. (I think she may say yes!) If it was still possible to betrove you kids then I'd do it in a heartbeat. Boston loves when Sarah comes over to hang out.

I took these pictures a few months ago, but that's how my life seems to be, a few months behind. I'm slowly working away at the to do list, so stay tuned for some more postings, but they will be back posted so my posterity will think I was on-time. Maybe we can use this picture at their wedding reception someday!!

Hood To Coast 2010

2010-08-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well it was Hood to Coast time again. We decided that this year would be Greg's year to run it, because when we got the team Boston had just been born and the idea of both of us getting our training in with 2 kids at home sounded impossible, and I must say, it would have been impossible. Greg ran with his best friend Peter and lots of Peter's brothers and sisters as well as his Dad, Uncle Mike and other friends. We went and saw Greg run his 2nd leg along Highway 30 and then we headed to the beach at a beach house to stay the night and wait for their arrival on the last day. Brooklyn loved to see Greg run because for so long we had been talking about "Daddy running his race". I think she was little surprised not to see more people in the "race", but they had such an early start time there weren't many runners along with them, which made the logistics nice, it wasn't too crowded at the exchange points. Here's the stud muffin running...

Here's the finish line at Seaside. While the 2nd van was finishing up their last legs, we fulfilled our Hood To Coast ritual by going to Piggin' Pancake and pigged out. It was super crowded but totally fun, I was kinda jealous I wasn't all tired and sore from running to deserve the pig out, but then When in Rome.....

These will be totally out of order, but Oh well..
This is the start line. It was really early morning when they started and it was super cold. Jimmy ran the first leg and I think he borrowed someone's pajama pants to wear over his shorts because he was so cold.

Here's Greg running with Peter. The van will usually stop part-way through a leg to water and motivate their runners.

Here's Greg again, he had his best year so far. He really worked hard at training this year to be faster and it paid off.

Here's the finish line again. They take professional pictures of the team that you can buy, but I had a good enough angle I decided to take a few pictures of our own. Of course the professional one wouldn't have the blue fence in the way, but it helps shield the view of John and Larry D's speedos. I think I'll keep the blue fence up....

Here's on the beach after they got their medal and pictures done. We stayed at the beach for a little while and then we had a big BBQ back at the beach house. It was kinda nice to be away from the crowd and be able to relax and sit and not get sand everywhere.

Boston was so proud of his Daddy!!

Brooklyn's Tap Class

2010-08-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn got to take her first tap class this summer and she loved it. She had teacher Charlotte and I could not have asked for a better teacher. Brooklyn hung on every word Charlotte said and tried so hard to copy every thing she did. I was only able to go inside the classroom the last day of class and they had a performance planned. She did such a great job. She learned so much in a weeks she had the class. It was only for the summer but she grew so much. I can't wait wait until next summer to have the time to take another class.

I think she was the cutest girl in her class but of course I always think Brooklyn in the most adorable thing.

Pee Wee Soccer

2010-08-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn had her first soccer class this summer. She was the only girl in her class, but she held her own. She didn't quite understand that it was a team game and she would get frustrated every time someone would steal the ball and she would get upset when she couldn't score a goal. There were a few tears during soccer class, but she was not the only kid who cried. Her coach did a great job of helping the kids feel confident.

She learned some good skills along the way and loved to kick any ball she sees now and tell me she loves to play soccer. I think she'll be a good soccer player because her long legs will come in handy and she can run fast. We'll see if she has interest in it next summer again, I think her Daddy wants her to try basketball next.

I tried to edit this picture lighter but I'm in a hurry and not that skilled so, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" She was so proud of her certificate from soccer.

Boston's Birthday!!

2010-08-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Boston turns ONE!!! I can't believe it went so fast!! Greg gets the kids balloons every year for their birthday and they LOVE it. This is Boston's first year of balloons but his reaction did not disappoint. He got so excited about the balloons. He wasn't quite walking by his birthday but he would stand up on his own and take a few tiny baby steps, but didn't have enough courage to get much further. The balloons really helped him get his confidence up. He loved standing and reaching for the balloons.

I love Boston's smile right now. He has 2 bottom teeth in the middle, 2 teeth on top on the sides and 2 molars in the back. No top middle teeth yet. They are ready to pop through I think but they seem like they are taking forever!! It's a good thing I think it's cute!

Boston loved opening his birthday presents because he loved to tear up paper. I think he didn't really care much for what was behind the paper, he just liked tearing the paper. I'm sure by his next birthday he'll be more interested in the actual presents and not just the paper.

Here's the birthday cake before he got his hands on it.

I expected Boston to just dive right into the cake like I thought any boy would do, but first he had to look at it...

Then touch it a little. He would touch it and then look at me like, "Is this REALLY ok??" I tried to encourage him but I think he felt like it was some kinda trick. He didn't believe that he could just go for it.

Eventually with enough encouragement and a few hand smashes into the cake he figured out that yes, he could touch it and yes, he could eat it.

I love seeing all this rolls hanging out!! He's so chubby and I love it!! Suprisingly he wouldn't eat that much cake, he was done after a few bites. I guess he's more of a meat and potatoes kinda guy like his Daddy.

This is the "Ok I'm done face"
He had a great birthday and I still can't believe he's one years old already! He's talking so much, most of it I can't understand yet, but he makes so many different sounds. He of course says mama and dada and baba and ba for ball. He loves to play catch with anything that resembles a ball. He'll throw it to you and expect you to throw it right back. At this age Brooklyn still LOVED her binky but he's not attached to it at all. Most of time he won't want it to fall asleep, which is awesome, but also he won't take it at church. He loves to shout in the chapel because he can hear his own echo that way, so needless to say we're in the foyer for most of church. He loves books, but doesn't have the patience to hear me read the entire page and he wants to turn the pages himself. He'll bring me a book, push whatever is on my lap off, plop himself into my lap and open the book, I'll try and read it but he's turning the pages too fast and then he's done and up off my lap off to get another book. He's such an active little boy too. Rarely will he sit and play with anything for very long, he is always moving form one thing to another and he loves to just follow Brooklyn around wherever she is going. He loves to get in the middle of her projects and make sure she knows he's there. For the most part she puts up with him, but she has her breaking point and will yell for help. They play pretty well together though.

Peach Picking

2010-08-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

We went peach picking this August and scored some AWESOME peaches. There is this great farm called Josie Farms pretty close to us and we decided to go get peaches one day. It was SO HOT the day we went, and it was pretty windy, but a hot wind. We came away with WAY too much peaches because we couldn't stop ourselves from picking them, they smelled sooooo good.

We also couldn't help ourselves from sampling them in the orchard as well. They were so juicy! Boston loved them so much, he would get so mad when we'd pull the peach away to share it with Brooklyn. I think we all ate dozens of peaches in just a few days.

I ended up going back a few weeks later to pick some more for Hood to Coast desserts and I canned a bunch of peaches. Every time I pull a jar of peaches off the shelf I can remember how they smelled when we picked them. I'm not a huge fan of canned fruit, but these peaches are GOOD. Hopefully they will last through the winter until the peaches are ripe again. Mmmmmm peaches, I gotta go get some.

Boston's First Haircut

2010-08-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

We took Boston for his first haircut on July 24, just a few days before his first birthday. I was getting a lot of questions if he was a boy or a girl (little do they know if he was girl he's have a gigantic bow on his head, I hate obvious questions by strangers, he obviously dresses like a little boy....) This is his before shot at Sport Clips. He had a free coupon, so why not use it right??

We learned if you give Boston a Dum Dum he'll sit pretty still, but if you take that sucker out of your mouth and it gets hair stuck all over it and Mommy has to rip it out of your sticky little hands, a meltdown quickly follows. BUT if you replace the dum dum with a fresh one, all is well. He did sit pretty still and we were able to clean up his hair, it was just so uneven. I kind miss the little curls, but now he looks 100% boy.

Don't you think so? He loves to get his hair combed, I don't know if he likes the feeling of it or looking at the stud muffin in the mirror the best. I think he's pretty darn adorable, especially with his new man-cut. I promise promise promise to get birthday pictures up this week, Boston decided to get 4 teeth all at once and he's been pretty obnoxious. He now has 2 bottom front teeth, 2 incisors, 2 upper molars and he's finally working on the 2 front top teeth. His smile looks pretty silly right now, good thing vampires are cool this year!

What I've been working on lately...

2010-08-06T14:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a few projects I've been working in lately:

Fabric covered boxes
I used the Huggies wipes boxes, they are the perfect size and are super heavy duty boxes. Thanks for the idea Rachael!

Menu Board
This actually is hanging on the wall but the lighting was off so I put it on the counter to take a picture. You write with a dry erase marker and then wipe off each week. For the ladies in Aloha 2nd Ward, you'll be doing these at Enrichment in about a week! Thanks Maren for the idea!!

Still to come.....pictures of Boston's birthday. We are having some computer problems and I was lucky enough today to have the computer at home work, but too bad all the pictures are saved on Greg's work computer. I'll get to it soon.

HEBER!!!!!

2010-07-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

I had the best time going to Heber this year! My sister Heather and her family came from Illinois to Heber because my niece Haley had EFY and they decided to make a family trip out of it. Since I hadn't seen Heather since before Boston was born, Greg and I decided it would be good for me to go, and with Southwest having a great deal on airfare I flew in! I was there for about 8 days and the weather was GREAT!!! We went to a park in Park City and met an old neighbor and her kids. The cousins had such a great time playing together! Maddie and Jenna were my fantastic photographers at the park!

Brooklyn actually smiling at the camera! I wish I knew how the girls got her to do this, she is NOT a great photo taker, she never cooperates for me.

Boston having a great time in the sun. I'm not sure he understood the concept of "sun" until we came to Heber, Oregon has had a hard time remembering it's summertime. It's been so cold and rainy, I'm afraid we're going from winter straight to fall and skip summer this year, we've already skipped spring!

Three cousins with matching jammies, what more could cousins ask for? They loved to be matching and Brooklyn loved having "princess dress jammies". Olivia and Brooklyn were perfect together. The both love princesses and dress up and pretend castles. Mckenna loved playing with the boys.

I love this picture of Payton. He has a root beer in one hand and a juice box in another. He snuck up the hill in the backyard and consumed both. I guess if you're that far away no one can tell you no, right? All the kids LOVED to play in the yard, even though it's still mostly just weeds and hills, but that's a dream land to kids.

Benjamin, Christian and Payton in the yard, playing various games. My favorite game was Indians and Americans.

Here Payton is demonstrating his wonderful Indian bow and arrow skills. My favorite moment was when they were carrying Benjamin off in pretend handcuffs (he was an american) and he was singing at the top of his lungs "I'm proud to be an American, at least I know I'm free..." I guess they do pay attention about history is school. The indians ran around yelling "Run for your life, the Americans are coming!

They played for hours and hours until it was too dark to play anymore.

I love this shot of them playing the yard, you can see Midway across the valley. It looked like the Garden of Eden, it was so green and plush looking. Heber is so pretty this time of year, it's truly breathtaking.

Olivia and Brooklyn loved picking all the weed flowers. She would keep bringing be flowers of different colors and types and was so excited with each new find.

Jenna and Maddie were always found together they were so great with the little kids too. Boston was a little nervous around most of the cousins but he loved when Maddie and Jenna would play ball with him. There were many days I would not have had a shower unless Maddie and Jenna were there. I even managed to get a few runs in!

All I can say is Thank You, Thank You Thank You guys!!! The following is a true story..... So there was a recognizable stench in the house and it kept getting worse, especially when anyone did the laundry. We figured a mouse had dies in the dryer vent and needed to be blown out the hole, but after much work on John and Heather's part, no mouse was coming out of the hole. So John dismantled the dryer and behold a ground squirrel had found it's way through the vent and into the dryer and died. We figured sometime when Tanya was at girls camp this happened and Tanya says when she got back and used the dryer for the first time she thought it sounded weird. So a few days later the smell happened. Well after John found the stinker in the dryer it was just a matter of getting him out. A pair of tongs and many suggestions later I came up with the brilliant plan of just putting gloves on and grabbing it (Duh!). Well I guess this was too gross for John and I had already opened my big mouth and after the conversation I had with my sisters and mom on the way home from the airport**, I was the one who got to do it. Honestly, it really wasn't that gross. It took about 2 seconds and double trash bag glove hands snagged it and dropped it in the trash without even looking and then I left the laundry room and John took care of the rest. Once the windows opened up for a few hours the smell was gone. So the big Thank You is to the Robison boys shooting the ground squirrels with their pellet guns. I think in all about 40 met their fate, but I'll assure you there are still at least 10 times that left.

***So I flew into Salt Lake and my mom's plane arrived a little later than mine and once we picked up my mom and headed to Heber we were talking about my Grandma Robison and my mom and what I appreciated most about what I learned from them was a get it done kind of attitude. I never remember my grandma or mom waiting around for others to get things done that they were more than capable of doing themselves. And even if they didn't know how to do it, they figured it out. With my husband being so busy and not wanting to have a gigantic list of things to do once he finally gets home from work I try and get things done myself. Also the one thing I can hear my grandma and mom say the most is don't cry over spilt milk, just clean it up and move on. They never dwelt on their hardships or complained, it was faster if you just dealt with it that whining about it. I'm so grateful for these lessons that I've learned. Sometimes I feel frustrated with others who are more inclined to cry over the milk rather than just clean and move on, it's just not the way I was raised to do it and so I have to try and have more patience with those who deal with things differently than I do. Ok Ok, sorry to make a long story even longer....

Ok but seriously even with dead ground squirrels in the dryer, I'd still live in Heber for this very reason, isn't it GORGEOUS???!!!!!

And cousin time all the time would be sooooo great!!!! They seriously slept so good all night because they just played and played all day long.

And fantastic tiny desserts every night. We seriously had the BEST desserts every night. I'm surprised I didn't gain 15 pounds just over the 8 days, but I'd have to say it's probably because they were in these tiny cups, tiny servings. Sure we ate at least 2 of every one, but even 2 tiny cups is smaller than 1 huge helping. Plus the tiny cups and tiny spoons are soooo cute!!! I'm trying to find a place to get some here in Portland. I'm sure I'll find them sooner or later....

We had a Robison cousin dinner one night. It was a lot of fun to see all the cousins I haven't seen in a long time. Here Uncle Elwin, Uncle Bruce and cousin Keith are playing horseshoes. I'm not sure who won, I was too busy playing Shanghai.

I know this picture is hard to see because you think it's mostly just about the sunset, but I thought this was cute. Maddie and Jenna were so excited about finding different rock and bringing them to Uncle Bruce to have him tell them what kind of rock it was. Here Bruce and Elwin are telling Maddie about some kind of rock they found. I was surprised that Bruce knew so much about rocks, but I guess I'm not that surprised. Bruce is one of the smartest guys I know.

Brooklyn and Jenna waiting for the Car Wash. Since there is no pool in Heber and it was such a warm day we decided we needed to have a car wash. With all the cars that drove from California, Illinois and girls camp up the road, there was plenty of dirt and bugs to scrub off. So after Maren and I got back from our run, we got all the kids in their swim suits and put them to work!!!

They loved it! The best part was playing super heroes with the wet rags and running around the driveway.

Boston even got an occasional splash from the hose. He loved to watch all the cousins run around and scream.

We also were able to be there for Benjamin's baptism. It was so fun to have so many of the cousins see Benjamin get baptised. Brooklyn had so many questions about it. I think this is the first baptism she has been to, so I think it makes much more sense when we talk about getting baptised. She used to cry and say "I don't want to get baptized and DIE". I think she was so used to hearing about Jesus being baptised, he died and then he was resurrected. I think a light bulb finally clicked on in her head and really understand what being baptised means-at least physically. We talk about these things all the time, but it's fun the see her finally understand what we are telling her. Now she asks all the time if she can get baptized, and I keep reminding her that he has to wait until she's 8 years old. Man, it might be a long 4 more years!!!!!

We had such a great time in Heber. I'm so glad that we all have a place we can come and hang out as family. The older I get the more I realize how special and lucky we are as a family. We all get along, are still talking to each other and actually WANT to spend a week together. When I thought I might not be able to come to Heber I was so upset, I wanted to be there soooo bad!! It seems like most of the world cringes at the idea of spending so much time together as a family. I feel so blessed that my parents raised us to always love each other and to get over our disagreements quickly(because he do have them, we're not super human!), because I think I will always love being part of a family that loves to spend time together, so thanks mom and dad for raising us to love each other. I'll thank you for eternity!

Camping at Silver Falls

2010-06-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

We went camping at SilverFalls June 11-12 with our good friends the Tomlinsons. It was a last minute decision because we finally had a break in the weather and it was going to be nice on a weekend. We quickly snagged the last campsite reservation and off we were! It was BEAUTIFUL that weekend and we had such great weather. We hiked the silverfalls trails with the kids. We did both falls and decided the just hike the loop. It looped a lot longer than we thought and round trip it was about 4 miles!!! The kids did great though. It was a good thing I had put some Oreo's and graham crackers in the pack just before we left! That got the kids through the hike!

I love this shot even though you can't really see the faces. I can totally tell who it is, this is under the falls. It was so cool to hike behind the water fall. It was so loud and misty. I guess it was a lot bigger this time than other years because we've had so much rain and snow in the mountains and the weather is just getting warm enough to melt some of it. You could feel the power of the waterfall from behind it. It was incredible!

This is the 1st of the 2 falls. There is a bridge that lets you look at what you just hiked through.

Boston got a little wet but I don't think it bothered him at all! He was so good in his pack the whole time! A few Ritz crackers and a few peek-a-boo games is all that boy needs to stay happy!

Haleigh, Brooklyn and "Boy Taylor" taking a break in an old tree. This is about half way through the hike. The were such good hikers!

As the hike dragged on we took more and more breaks....

and there more and more sassy faces. I can just hear her say, "Moooooommmmmm not another picture!!!!"

Here's the 2nd of the 2 falls. It was so powerful!

After our long hike we went to the Day Use area, it had a great little swimming hole and we bummed around a bit. We ate lunch and then just let the kids play. Brooklyn and Haleigh played by the water for such a long time! The water was too cold to get in all the way but they loved splashing around in it.

Brooklyn and Haleigh catching a dog?? I think they were trying to catch bugs but maybe the dog looked like and easier catch!

Boston enjoyed the fun also, from the sidelines. It was a little too cold for him to get in.

Cheers!! Nothing like ending the day with a nice cold Root Beer!

We had such a good time! At the campsite the kids just played and played. It was such a good place to camp! We'll definitely be back again next year!

Rockaway Beach

2010-06-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

We went to Rockaway Beach with Judy. It was a GORGEOUS day. Brooklyn LOVES going to the beach and this was Boston's first time being at the beach and being able to touch the sand. It was still WAY too cold to swim in but we put our toes in until they became numb, and walked up and down the beach collecting shells and rocks. Brooklyn got so dirty but loved every minute of it. She dug a hole with Grandma and then sat in it to eat her candy. She played football with Daddy and Grandpa. I wish the weather was nice enough to go every day but we were luck enough to have it nice while we were there so I guess that is all I can ask for. I love the coast, it is so beautiful.

June

2010-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Aunt Judy came for a visit the last part of May and the beginning of June. It was such a fun time! Brooklyn would ask everyday, "What are we going to do with Judy today?" Boston of course was shy at first but warmed up as soon as Judy started playing catch with him. Boston LOVES to play catch. He's really good at it too. We went to the park with Judy and Brooklyn picked flowers on the way there for Judy. The weather was great and we had such a good time. Brooklyn loved that Judy would push her on the swings.... I always tell her I'm not strong enough and only Daddy can, or else I'm stuck pushing her the entire time we're at the park. Shhhh! It our little secret, I'm totally strong enough to push her.

May

2010-05-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Oh boy! I've been a HUGE slacker!!! I'm going to try and catch up a bit here....

May was GREAT-Brooklyn graduated from pre-school on May 27, 2010. She had the best teacher, Teacher Karleigh and just loved every minute of pre-school. I loved having pre-school as a constant bribe for good behavior, because the thought of not going would prompt the best behavior from her. She learned so much at school, she knows all her letters and numbers and can write her name (mostly). She learned a BUNCH of songs and memorizes them so quickly! I'm so proud of her love for school. She just loves to learn. She is enrolled in pre-school again in the fall and then we're trying to decide to get her into kindergarten early or not. It's one of those things we'll decide as it gets closer. Above are a few shots from her pre-school program. It was ADORABLE!!! I love the last one, it looks like they are doing a break dance routine, but really it's "I'm a little tea pot" but Cash fell over.

Boston had a great month too. He is growing so fast. This month he learned that it is cute to play shy. He also has developed the "stranger danger". He's completely a mamma's boy. She loves to be held and cuddled, but the second he's done he's DONE. Whenever I go out with the kids the most frequent comments I hear and "Wow! They look so much alike" and "What a happy baby!" I always reply, "When he's happy he's HAPPY and when he's mad he's MAD" there's not much in between so far. I can always tell when something is bothering him because he makes it KNOWN. Brooklyn loves to plat with him and I always know when he's being too rough or hard because he voices his frustration loudly. If only Brooklyn would understand the screaming is not in delight but in annoyance!! He's turning into a good sleeper. He's on 100% bottle now (FREEDOM!!) and he's sleeping better because of it. Still working on all through the night and in his own bed. Small steps I guess.

I had my birthday this month. It was great! I got breakfast in bed. Brooklyn was SO EXCITED to give me breakfast in bed. She thought it was the coolest thing ever!! Greg is studying hard for the CPA exam. He's keeping busy training for Hood to Coast again this year and work and studying. I guess the theme for us is busy busy busy.

Boston's 9 month check up

2010-05-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Boston had his 9 month check-up yesterday and here are his stats:

Height: 31in. (greater than 95%)

Weight: 25lbs (95%)

Head: 47 cm (90%)

Believe it or not Boston is taller and weighs less than Brooklyn at this same age!!! I think he would have weighed more but he had a nice week long flu a week ago and didn't really enjoy eating. Also he is now 100% bottle fed (FREEDOM!!!) and it took him a few days to totally love it. He is completely crawling now. He was mostly crawling for a few weeks, but he just figured out the timing of his hands and legs and now get to where ever he wants to go, but crawling is really just a tool he uses to get to someplace to stand up on. I'd expect him to be a lot like Brooklyn, she crawled and then walked just a few weeks later. He loves to stand and loves to play with Brooklyn. He watches every move she makes with such intensity. I get a lot of comments while I'm out with him that he is such a happy baby, but I always have to clarify that he is happy when he's happy and he's MAD when he's mad. He's a good boy, we just need to work on sleeping, not eating, through the night.

Just for laughs

2010-05-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn thought it was SOOOOO FUNNY to put Boston's hoodie on. She was laughing so hard. I had to get a picture. I couldn't believe she could zip it up! She makes me laugh!

2010-03-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

2010-03-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

2010-03-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon.....

2010-03-02T20:09:00.001-08:00

Pictures from our AWESOME trip to California and Disneyland!!! I'm still trying to recover from having such a great time. Vacationing is HARD!!!! I'll try and get some things up soon so stay tuned.....

Happy Birthday Greg!!!!

2010-01-04T23:36:00.000-08:00

Greg had his 31st birthday and it was great. It fell on a Sunday and we had Greg's parents and the missionaries over for dinner that night. We had salmon with lemon butter, and cheesecake for dessert. We've started a Biggest Loser competition with our family which started Jan. 1 so this was definately a little setback in our eating healthy plan. We just worked extra hard the next day! Brooklyn of course helped Greg blow out the candles, which is her favorite part of birthdays. I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband who works so hard and loves us so much. I think 31 will be a great year, this is the first year he is not out-numbered by girls!!! Love you babe, thanks for all you do for us!

Late White Christmas

2009-12-29T23:09:00.000-08:00

We had a late White Christmas this year. Out of NOWHERE we had snow, and lots of it. It was not forecasted and nobody was prepared for it (typical Portland!!). It started at about 2pm, I didn't notice it at first but Greg called from work and asked if it was snowing at home. I looked outside and I could see some tiny flurries floating around. Soon enough it was snowing pretty hard. I got on the news website and saw that 2-4 inches was predicted and called Greg back at work to tell him. He left within 20 minutes to come home and it was a good thing he did, the highway was a MESS after he got home. By 5pm the roads were a mess; no snow plows out because it wasn't predicted, and gridlock traffic. The snowplows couldn't get through all the stuck cars and the stuck cars couldn't move because there was too much snow!!! It took some people 6 hours to get home in a normally 20 minute drive. Most people ended up abandoning their cars on the highway and walking or taking a bus home. It was CRAZY!!!! I was so glad Greg came home early Phew!! The best part of him being home and not stuck in a car was building the snowman!!! I stayed inside because I was still getting over a cold-thanks Brookyln for coughing all over me when you were sick, it was so thoughtful. Seriously, she could not cough into her own hand, or elbow, it HAD to be right on me, on my shirt or in my face. To be fair she did have croup and it was awful, but she got better quickly, but we all got what she had. I ended up with an ear infection, I don't think I've had one of those since I was a baby! Thanks to antibiotics I was better within 12 hours. Now I know why babies scream when they have ear infections, they HURT!!! Ahhh, I got off on a tangent, oops!!! Snow, that's where I was.....

Boston enjoyed his first snow. He was still getting over his share of the cold, so he went out for a few minutes to take pictures, but I think he liked it. Of course I think he'll like it more when he's older and can play in it.

Brooklyn LOVED building the snowman with Greg. She was TOTALLY into it. She would have stayed out in the snow all night long if we let her. I don't think she expected anything to be better than building a snowman with her Daddy, until she got to come inside and drink hot chocolate with her Daddy. I'm not sure if we'll get snow again this winter, which will be just fine with me, once a winter is PLENTY!!! Don't get me wrong, I like snow, but I don't like to live in snow, there's a BIG difference!!!

Christmas!!!!!!!!

2009-12-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn was SUPER excited for Christmas this year, we had Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Koberlein's house. We ate lots of good food and made and decorated sugar cookies. We decorated the gingerbread house and Brooklyn probably ate as much candy as she put on the house! Once we were stuffed full of great food and treats we came home and Brooklyn dictated a letter to Santa, set out some cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and some milk. She was so excited when she went to bed. This is the first year she has been able to get really into Christmas and it was so fun to see that twinkle in her eye about her excitement. I can't wait for Boston to be this excited too!

Christmas morning was wonderful. We had Christmas at our house for the first time in about 5 years. We'd always been traveling or at Grandma & Grandpa Koberlein's house. We woke up, got ready to open presents and then went downstairs. Here are the kids in front of the tree before the presents got torn apart.

Brooklyn was so happy that Santa listened to her wishes for a Tinkerbell. Santa did even better ad got her a Tinkerbell dress and a Tinkerbell movie and a Tinkerbell coloring book!!!!! Now she can be Tinkerbell all by herself, wings and all! Boston got some boys toys, because we have a SERIOUS lack of those in our house and Santa just couldn't let a respectable boy play with girls toys!!! Instead of candy Santa brought Boston some "real food" and he tried applesauce for the first time and LOVED it. Some highlights of the presents were: Brooklyn got "running shoes", a necklace from Daddy, clothes from Mommy, a beautiful handmade sweater from Grandma Sorensen, a Barbie princess dress from G&G Koberlein.

Boston: Books, toys, "running" shoes.-Brooklyn calls anything with laces "running shoes"

Greg: Heart rate monitor watch, running shirts(Hood To Coast here you come!), ornament from Boston, Foo Fighter's CD, See's Candy from Brookyln (of course to share)

Heidi: $ for a carpet cleaner (AND I LOVE IT!!!), books, gift cards for clothes, family history from my Mom & Dad, a promise to build shelves in the garage from Greg.

It was a wonderful Christmas and we sure feel blessed.

My Growing Boy!!

2009-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Boston is growing so much these days. Here is a quick picture of his first time having rice cereal. Despite what this picture shows, he liked it. I've actually switched to oatmeal though cause he is pretty gassy and it seemed like the rice made him even more gassy, we'll see if that works. He is getting close to sitting on his own, ever since we started him in his excersaucer he is sitting better and wants to do it more on his own. He can't do it alone yet but he is getting closer. He is also grabbing things and bringing them to his mouth a lot and he is licker, he licks EVERYTHING. I don't remember Brooklyn being so obsessed with her mouth, but maybe that's because she ALWAYS had a binky in her mouth!

So Boston had his 4 month check up last week. Here are his stats(brace yourself):

Weight: 18 lbs 15 oz. (Brooklyn was only 16 lbs. 14 oz) -Greater than 95%

Height: 27 1/4 in. (Brooklyn was 26 3/4 in.)-greater than 95%

Head: 44 cm (Brooklyn was 42.5cm)-90%

I'm afraid we have another monster on our hands! With Brooklyn I was able to put her in skirts when her pants were too short, but I'm sure Boston would require therapy later in life if I put him in a skirt. I'll just have to get creative, or maybe the man-pri's (capri's for men) will come back into fashion, or maybe not.....

Thanksgiving Fun

2009-11-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have pictures of the delicious turkey dinner but I have a few of fun times with cousins. Brooklyn LOVED having her cousins here, but especially Savanah. She loved having someone to play with that loved princesses as much as she does. Brooklyn was always Snow White & Savanah was always Ariel, and yes Brooklyn is wearing a super hero cape as a princess cloak. She makes me laugh! She has such a great imagination.

These girls spent HOURS being princesses. I don't think Brooklyn took her princess dress off the entire time we were at Grandma & Grandpa Koberlein's house. We basically lived there for a few days. We went home only to sleep and even then we took cousins home with us. Brooklyn went through some serious withdrawls when they all left. She was so bummed, and she still talks about Savanah.

Brooklyn's other most favorite thing at grandma's house is Tea Parties. She loves to play pretend tea party but she gets to do the real thing at Grandma's house. It was nice to have extra guests at the table this time! We had a great thanksgiving this year. Our anniversary fell on Thanksgiving this year. Yep, we've been married SEVEN years!!! Sometimes it feels like we've been married forever because life just seems to move along so fast and I can't imagine not being married or having kids, but then other times it seems like we've just got married. I couldn't imagine how different life would have been if my roomates didn't intentionally ditch me at the dollar movies so I was forced to get a ride home with the man of my dreams. He put his arm around me in the car and the rest is history! (and NO! I didn't ask them to leave me, they did that all on their own, despite what Greg thinks, I did NOT plan it!!) It's been a WONDERFUL seven years and am looking forward to seven thousand more! Love you babe!

Picking out the Christmas Tree

2009-11-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

We went to our traditional Sleigh Bells Christmas Tree farm. It's a beautiful farm with LOTS of trees to choose from. There is a big hill to climb to find the best trees on the back side of the mountain (cause most people just go to the front side of the mountain). Grandpa Koberlein helped Brooklyn up the hill, or I think Brooklyn dragged Grandpa Koberlein up the hill!!!! She was so excited to pick out our three this year! This was Boston's first year picking out the tree. He did really well, he loves being outside walking around.

Brooklyn had to look at every tree on the mountain and especially liked the little ones. She would have loved to take all of the trees home but we had to decide on just one. It took some "discussion" about which tree was best and we finally chose on one. I think the hunt for the tree is just as much fun as finding the right one.

Here we are with our tree before we cut it down. Notice the "butcher knife" in Greg's hands. Thanks you Christmas tree for sacrificing your life for our perfect Christmas.

Here's the whole gang picking out the tree, minus Grandma Koberlein because she was taking the picture.

Greg did the honors of cutting it down, with careful observation from Brooklyn as you can see. She wanted to know the play by play of everything he was doing. She was such a great helper too.

Greg carried the wonderful tree to the drop off place, so they could shake it, and bind it up so we could tie it to the top of the car to take home.

While we were waiting for the tree to be done they have a wonderful Christmas store with TONS of ornaments and free hot chocolate and of course a wonderful Santa to visit. Santa was such a character this year and was very jolly. Brooklyn really liked talking to him and told him she wanted a Tinkerbell for Christmas. We'll see if Santa keeps his promise. Boston cried the entire time we were in line and about 2 minutes before it was our turn he fell asleep. Great timing for a picture I guess. I was stressed that we would have the classic screaming child with Santa picture, but it all worked out.

Cousins and the ER

2009-11-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

Well we had an adventure today. Why is it that ER visits and accidents happens more often when cousins are around? I'm sure it's the same way in other families right? Well we had a scissors "incident" tonight. Brooklyn and cousin Savanah were playing with scissors and Brooklyn ended up getting cut in between her thumb and index finger, on that skin that pulls tight when you flex your hand. We ended up going to the ER cause it was pretty deep and I was concerned that she couldn't keep her hand still until it healed. I've heard horror stories of waiting in the ER for hours, but this was not one of those stories. We waited maybe 5 minutes and they brought her back. She got to choose between blue or black stitches and she chose blue. She had everyone wrapped around her finger (or hurt thumb!). She told the registration ladies, "I have to tell you something, I have red blood" (putting at lot of emphasis on the blooooood). She also had the nurse Thom and Dr. Don melted pretty good. Brooklyn certainly does not lack any personality in a crisis situation! It was not a piece of cake, but she did get a piece of cake at grandma's house after we were done. It took only about 1 hour in and out, but it was emptionally exhausting. All in all, our first ER experience was not as tragic as I had expected it to be. I'm not saying it was enjoyable or that I want to do it again, don't get me wrong. I'll try and get a picture soon. For now I'm tired and want to go to bed.

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!!!

2009-11-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

SO...I won a trip to Disneyland over the radio!!!!! Can you believe it? This never happens to me!!! I heard about it on the radio 2 days ago and had Greg look it up on the computer and you had to set up an account with the radio as a "freeloader" and Greg wouldn't do it, so amongst eye rolls from Greg, I created an account and then entered the contest. You could enter 1 time per day and I only got 2 entries in. You were supposed to listen to the radio at 7:20, 11:20 or 4:20 to hear your name called and then call in before 10 minutes, 51 seconds (105.1 the Buzz get it!) Well I TOTALLY FORGOT about it, but at about 11:40 the DJ Sheryl called me and asked if I was listening to 105.1 cause the first contestant didn't call back in time, and they would be announcing the next winner in a few minutes, so I should listen......I thought, "Ummmm, OK I'll turn the radio on right now" I said I was definitely listening and then hung up, a few minutes later they called my name and I called back. I told her I was a TOTAL DIS-NERD and she laughed and said, "What is that?-I've never heard it before" I told her that basically I love Disneyland more than anything, I know all about it cause I Google it all the time AND I know all the secret stuff about it, she just laughed and then told me someone from the radio would call me later to give me the info. I wanted to cry on the phone I was so excited. Greg and I were talking about going to Disneyland in January but were trying to figure out how to make it affordable. Well, I found a way right?? Plane tickets, 4 nights at the Disneyland Resort and 3 days at the park is all paid for! I still can't believe this happened to me. I can't wait until we find out all the details, I have to fill out some paperwork and then Disney will send me the info on how to book. Anyone want to join us for a trip to the Big-D soon???? Is this really happening?

It's Genetic

2009-11-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

So apparently spilling your milk is a genetic trait. I used to spill my milk EVERY night for like a year straight. Brooklyn is on the same path I'm afraid. I remember trying so hard to be careful and not spill my milk that I would just end up spilling it cause I was so nervous. Hopefully she grows out of it sooner than a year, and thanks Mom for cleaning up my milk every time. Love you!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

We had another great Halloween this year. I LOVE Halloween. I have such great memories of it as a kid and I LOVE to try and create great memories for my kids. I also LOVE cute Halloween costumes. Carving pumpkins is always fun, we carved ours at Grandma and Grandpa Koberlein's house so Greg could watch the Blazer's game. Between half-time and time-outs we were able to get them done! I think they turned out great!

Brooklyn ADORES the pumpkins. Every time we leave and come back to the house she has to remind me that we have pumpkins and they are hers. Brooklyn also LOVES Boston. She loves to show him off and tell EVERYONE that she has a baby brother Boston.

Brooklyn was Dorothy and Boston was the Cowardly Lion. I think he looks pretty brave. We had great weather for Oregon. It didn't rain and it was pretty warm (a Halloween miracle!!) We met up with the neighborhood friends (of course at half time of the the Oregon vs USC game-GO DUCKS!) Brooklyn had a BLAST and Boston fell asleep the first few minutes, I guess he'll learn about the trick or treating next year! I think his first year went pretty well though.

Doesn't Boston make a great Lion? He looked to cute!
Here's Brooklyn heading out for Trick or Treating. Thanks Tanya for all your help with the costume. I NEVER would have finished it in time.

I FINALLY DID IT!!!!

2009-10-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ok so creating a blog has been on my "To Do" list since January. It's almost January again so I figured I'd better get cracking!!! I'm still in the "early development" phase and learning how this works so we'll get down to the nitty gritty later, for now I'm just glad I have started!!!