family + friends = FUN!

This has been a busier than normal week for us as we have had three groups of out-of-state visitors stop by. Both Chris and I have introvert tendencies and tend to be homebodies so this was a welcome change for us :)

I already blogged about my parents' visit. We had so much fun! And THANK YOU to those of you who have been praying for them regarding the house. They put in an offer on Monday and it was accepted! God has been making it very clear that the timing is right to transition up to Oregon. We can't wait to have them here!

Our second set of visitors were my Uncle Fred and Aunt Kathy. Fred is my dad's brother and he and Aunt Kathy live in Virginia. We don't get to see each other very often - this was their first time meeting both Chris and Lucy - so it was a real treat to spend a day with them as they make their way down the West Coast visiting friends and family. Lucy took an instant liking to Uncle Fred. She loved to look up at him and admire her reflection in his glasses :) We visited for a bit while the girls took naps then headed to Washington Park to play and admire the rose garden. Only Uncle Fred's chicken enchiladas could have made the day even sweeter (or spicier :) Yum!

Lucy, enjoying the view in Uncle Fred's glasses

Aunt Kathy and Lucy at the playground

Maryn made a friend at the rose garden amphitheater. They shared a fascination with gravel and alternated making trains and soup with it. I love watching how easily kids make friends!

These next ones are my attempts at some "creative" shots:

Thanks to Uncle Fred and Aunt Kathy for visiting! We had a great time with you guys and can't wait to see you again.

We also had the chance to visit with some friends of mine that go all the way back to high school. Pablo and Carissa have two kids the same ages as ours and they all had a great time playing together. They were staying in southeast Portland and we met up at Creston Park to go swimming. I have to say, I LOVE Portland and the abundance of cool neighborhood parks throughout the city. This one had a great play structure, a little wading area, and a neighborhood pool where the kids swam for free. It was so nice to be outdoors and Maryn and Rory had a great time playing bumper floats in the pool. This was Lucy's first time in a large pool, and I don't know if it was fear of water or the bright sun or proximity to nap-time or a combination of the three that made her cling to me like a tiny koala bear. She didn't last very long before I got out to nurse her and put her to sleep. She conked out pretty quickly and slept curled up in a towel under an umbrella. I love the portability of babies!

Julian - the most laid back baby EVER!

The many faces of Rory

Pabs and Carissa - I hope the job interviews went well and we look forward to seeing more of you when you move up here for good :)

Grandparents Drury

The goose loves her grandpa - they just crack each other up:



My parents visited us this weekend to embark on their scouting mission to look for a new home. That's right, my parents are officially moving up here! They sold their house in Southern California in 3 days. And the buyers are paying CASH. I joked with my parents that if they needed any further confirmation that they are supposed to move up here, this is it :)

The purpose of their trip was to look for houses, get acquainted with the area and research high schools for my sister. They did end up finding a house they (and we) love. It just so happens to be a 5 minute walk from where we live now. If you're the praying sort I'm sure they would appreciate prayers for everything to work out the way it's meant to. Escrow on the sale of their house ends in July, so they should be up here by August - woohoo!

Even with all of that we managed to get in quite a bit of play time. Mom and I both got our hair cut, we shopped for some cute outfits for the girls (thanks, Mom!) and got out to the farmer's market the last morning they were here. And the best part - Chris and I got to go on a date to play frisbee golf and share an ice cream at Coldstone. So fun! Even with offers from generous friends to watch the kids for an occasional date, we've averaged maybe 5 kid-free outings in the last year. Though there are MANY reasons to be excited about my parents and sister moving closer, we will greatly appreciate the opportunity for more date-nights in the future :)

Lucy modeling her new tutu

Mom's new haircut

Listening to music at the farmer's market

lemonade is so refreshing

My girls are serious about their ice cream - Lucy giving grandma "the face" because she paused in her ice cream feeding duties for a picture and Maryn with her squinty eyes daring someone to steal a spoonful. I wonder where they get that ?

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there. Especially to Grandpas Doug and D.B. who are not only great Dads but awesome grand-dads as well. Thank you both for your love and advice and for teaching us about parenting through your example.

And to my hubby - my favorite thing about being married to you is watching you with your girls. They just LOVE spending time with Daddy and can't wait for the weekends when they get two whole days to play with you. I hope you know how much we appreciate and love you!

Here are some pictures of the girls and Daddy at the park:

This last one is my favorite. I love how happy they all are to be playing together. I am blessed indeed!

Maryn

A bit pensive

I can't get enough of this curl

Lucy's army crawl

Here's a video taken a week or so ago of Lucy's army crawl. The funniest part is Maryn's commentary in the background.

mama mobile

Up until this week our family car has been a 1992 Honda Accord. This used to be Chris' family's car which was bequeathed to him by his generous parents upon his college graduation and subsequently became our shared vehicle when we got married a year and a half later. It has been a sturdy car, a (mostly) reliable mode of transportation throughout the first years of our marriage - first in sunny Santa Barbara and now in the verdant green of Oregon. The dutiful car never complained when we added first one and more recently two car seats which took up permanent residence in the back seat and added patina to the upholstery in the form of cracker crumbs and juice stains. We've had many adventures in our trusty Accord, so many, in fact, that we have driven a collective 220,000 miles on that steadfast engine. We knew our time together might be up soon and had let our minds wander to thoughts of a new car, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to give up on Old Faithful. Until this week, when the decision was made for us in a most abrupt and incontrovertible way.

I'll never quite know what prompted me to peek out the window towards our parking spot on Tuesday morning. But the sight that met my eyes was one I did not expect - our parking spot was empty. Although it is Chris' habit to walk to work in the morning, it is not unusual for him to drive instead on a drizzly day. So I called him at the office, ready to launch into a disgruntled speech about how inconvenienced I would be without the car that day. I was cut short, however, when he replied that he had not taken the car at all. With a sinking feeling I looked outside once more, just to confirm what I already knew to be true.

Yep, our beat up, barely hangin' on little Honda was stolen on Monday night. Feelings of disbelief soon gave way to frustration and anger that someone would have done something like that. And to us. It felt so personal. Why our car, out of the hundreds of others surrounding it in our apartment complex? The Sheriff answered that one: apparently early 90's Hondas are incredibly easy to break into. We found ourselves wishing we had decided to buy a new car a few weeks ago when we first started thinking about it.

Wednesday night found us at the car lot with our friend Matt while his wife Jess watched the kids. We knew what we were looking for when we arrived, and three and a half hours later drove home in our new (to us) Saturn station wagon.



I have to say, it's nice to have a newer car. We now have a remote door opener, CD player, and more trunk space - not to mention the well-groomed upholstery just waiting to be broken in by the kids in the backseat. I know all things happen for a reason. Maybe this was the nudge we needed to get a safer, more reliable vehicle. Perhaps the Honda was ready to break down and would have left us stranded on our next trip to the grocery store (is it bad that I really hope this happened as the thief drove off?).

And after all, it's just a car. We are thankful that God provided the ability to purchase a new one, but there are much greater tragedies than the loss of a possession. We're trying to keep it all in perspective ;) And a huge thanks to those of you who offered car seats and other kid-related things to replace the ones that were lost. We so appreciate it!!!