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Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Happy 8 weeks, Magnus!

This is a fun game that Magnus likes to play. I throw a blanket over him and pull it off so it tickles him. He only likes the game if I do it. If Ruth does it, he is not amused. He also likes it when I stick my head under this particular blanket with him. This blanket is easy for him to grasp and light gets through.

And tonight we went to see Super 8. We thought it was a fun movie with some good surprises. Magnus wants to say “Thanks” to Ivan and Terry for spending some time with him.

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Monday, June 27th, 2011

Magnus is smiling more and more. He will sometimes just laugh at us, or we can tickle him on his tummy or forehead. And sometimes he makes some cute “ohh” sounds when he smiles.

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Sunday, June 26th, 2011

For dinner, we headed down to Salem. Ivan and Terry had invited us and they fed us some very good pulled pork (Thank you). After dinner we played Scattegories. Terry enjoyed holding Magnus, and he enjoyed it too.

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Saturday, June 25th, 2011

We took a short walk down Salmon Creek Trail this evening. The water was still high enough to cover parts of the trail, so it was a short walk. But it was very pretty. Also, we got to see two beavers swimming among these trees. And latter we found some of their tracks.

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Friday, June 24th, 2011

A trip to Costco yields an exceptional batch of peaches. Extra juicy and perfectly ripe.

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Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Dana and Magnus get some time together. Magnus gets bored and falls asleep.

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Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

We went over to Else’s for dinner, it was pizza, and a movie, Oscar. Before dinner we had a nice time outside in her garden. The evening was nice an cool and there were lots of pretty flowers. Magnus also had a good time, though he did not know what to think of this grass thing. He came out of this experience more confused than anything else.

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Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Happy Summer Solstice!

First Day of Summer and the Longest Day of the Year!

Dana and Magnus do the bonding. And, being manly men, they can’t cuddle too much

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Monday, June 20th, 2011

Magnus is not very good at getting his hands to his mouth; he has maybe 65% accuracy. But he still likes to put stuff in his mouth. Here he’s trying to eat my hair…

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Sunday, June 19th, 2011

Happy Father’s Day!

Here I am on my first Father’s Day. Magnus is even looking at the camera, though he seems to be less excited about the day than I am.

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Saturday, June 18th, 2011

I got to spend some time with my good friend, Brian, today. We have been friends since Kindergarten, and his birthday is the day before mine, so we have had fun with that. That evening he had dinner with us (stuffed clams…a favorite of mine). Here, Magnus is sizing Brian up, and even smiled at him a few times.

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Friday, June 17th, 2011

Happy Birthday, Dana! (10,227 Days Old!)

It was a very good birthday. During the day we had an Outdoor Adventure searching for hidden waterfalls (read more here). After getting back, my family took me out to IHOP (a break from my usual seafood request) because I wanted banana pancakes and hash browns (which always taste best at a restaurant). After dinner, thay all came over for desert. Ruth made me a delicious Frozen Lemonade Pie. We were unable to locate our regular birthday candles, so I got on that smelled nicely of cranberries. I had a fun time. Thank you for the Birthday wishes and presents.

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Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Happy Birthday, Brian!

I went down to the Fort again today to look at the flowers. There were lots of flowers in bloom, especially in the Fort’s garden. These foxgloves framed the tower quite nicely.

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Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

We got Up today from a used movie store. It’s still awesome.

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Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Magnus loves visiting with his grandpa! Grandpa Ivan babysat for us so we could go see X-Men: First Class. The movie was pretty cool, and Magnus seemed to have a good time without us; everybody wins!

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Monday, June 13th, 2011

Magnus seems to be a little more ticklish everyday. And of course, cuter.

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Sunday, June 12th, 2011

Dana blessed Magnus today at church, Thanks to Will and Anton who came to be in the circle. We were glad to have Jensens and Keelers there to celebrate the day with us, and to have Will and Courtney stay the weekend with us. We are so lucky to have families that love us!

P.S. Dana found caught a dragonfly and brought it to our primary class: a red-letter day indeed!

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Saturday, June 11th, 2011

We ventured up the gorge today and had some hamburgers and milkshakes at a very windy park. It was a fun outing that included Crown Point, Multnomah Falls, Cascade Locks, and the Bonneville Dam salmon ladders. See more about it here.

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Friday, June 10th, 2011

Cousin-Whitney requesting permission to land! (Insert rocket sound here). Magnus ordered to clear the runway!

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Thursday, June 9th, 2011

This foxglove in Else’s garden has delusions of grandeur about reaching the moon. Reach for the stars, foxglove!

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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Magnus has some great expressions. One in particular I have dubbed the “duck face". Dana got this picture of me with his fancy new camera mimicking the duck face. Magnus looks cute when he makes this face, I just look silly.

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Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Magnus is a fan of his buzzy chair. Here he is practicing his Tae Bo. Also, he appears to have misplaced one of his socks…

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Monday, June 6th, 2011

The weather finally got above 80 degrees and the humidity fell below 50%, so I decided it was time for divinity! Magnus slept through the whole preparation process (Thank you, Magnus) and we ended up with some delicious candy.

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Sunday, June 5th, 2011

On Sundays Magnus gets to go to Primary with us. He is a hit in our class. This Sunday he fell asleep in singing time and ended up in this position in his car seat by the of class. Before we unwrapped him from his blanket, he looked like a poorly positioned disembodied head. Can you find his little belly button?

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Saturday, June 4th, 2011

We decided to take Magnus for a little walk in the evening. So, we went down to the park near our apartment. It has a nice little playground in it. We like to go on the swings. Magnus seemed to think the swings were alright. Ruth also took him down the slide with her. As an added bonus there was a pretty sunset…and a kitty.

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Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Happy One Month, Magnus!

Today was one of our first good chances to eat outside. The weather was nice, we had food to grill (a lobster tail), and Magnus was cooperating. Summer is on its way.

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Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Magnus is getting better at smiling. Needless to say it is very cute.

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Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

We went out for another walk today, though it was a bit rainy at times. This time we went down Cougar Creek Trail to Salmon Creek Trail (a favorite of ours). High water has made the Salmon Creek Trail impassible to people who like dry feet. We put Magnus in the baby carrier and he fell asleep for most of the walk, even with some rain drops on his nose.

In local news, there have been several black bear sightings in the Vancouver and Portland areas. A bear near a Tualatin, OR elementary school caused school to start late because they couldn’t catch the bear. Another bear in Vancouver was seen on the east side of town and then made his way west and was found in a tree near Clark College, which is just a few blocks away from us. They think the colder spring weather has made it so there is less for the bears to eat, so they are on the search for food.

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Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Happy Four Weeks, Magnus!

Today was our first evening that we went out and left Magnus with a babysitter. We gave Magnus to Else for a few hours while we went to see the movie Thor. I had seen it already, but Ruth had not. Ruth liked it. Also, I think my mom had fun watching Magnus. We were told that he was a good boy. Maybe we can do this again sometime.

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Monday, May 30th, 2011

Happy Memorial Day!

For our Memorial Day (and weekend) we stayed in town, which we haven’t done in a long time. I worked in the morning, so in the evening we took a walk. We went down to the river again because it had risen almost 2 ft. since we saw it last. Here I am standing on a path that is on top of a jetty that stretches into the river. The problem is the path should extend for another 150 ft. or so and end at a group of benches.

Also, our friend Jessica stopped by to say hello. It was good to see her again before she headed back to Texas.