Picture 147

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Last night we had a big thunderstorm roll over us. Lightning flashed right over our apartment twice, causing the house to shake and car alarms to go off. The second thunder boom even moved things on the shelves and caused a power surge. Today, we were heading to my mom’s house so she could watch Magnus while we went to the temple and we passed this. About two blocks down the road in a park was a pair of massive Douglas firs that were struck by the lightning. This one looks as if it had exploded. There was burn scars from the lighting and some debris was almost 100 yards away. It was amazing and lots of people were there, many taking pieces of the tree home with them.
Also, we stopped for dinner at Jack in the Box on our way home and I got a bacon milkshake (a secret menu item). It was not that bad.

Picture 146

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Delicious crawdads. A fun purchase from our local seafood market. Magnus thought the live ones were pretty fun.

Picture 145

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

I found this sweater online somewhere and decided I could make one. I finally finished. I made it 3/4 length sleeves instead of full length. I don’t know how much I’ll use it, but it’s warm.

Picture 144

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

While I was at Mutual tonight, Magnus found one of my shoes and decided to give it a try. He was even nice enough to take it back to its partner.

Picture 143

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Else’s birthday present to Magnus (and his parents) was paying for a professional sitting at JC Penny. We picked the pictures up today and they turned out really cute! Thank you, Else!

Picture 142

Monday, May 21st, 2012

My dinner tonight. Dana had to work so I didn’t have to share. Toasted goat cheese and tomato-basil baguette. Yum!

Picture 141

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

Happy Birthday, Dave! 

Dana and I played Bananagrams tonight. We had to keep Magnus in his highchair for the duration of the game, which he was only OK with if we provided a steady stream of grapes. He was very happy to help clean up, though.

Picture 140

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Daddy and Magnus hung out together for a while today. I had to go to the church to help decorate for our youth dinner and auction that night. Magnus got to have some marshmallows. He liked them so much, he wanted to share with George Michael. How nice.

Later he tried to let George Michael play Wii with him by putting a Wii-mote in his cage. Luckily Dad stopped him before he succeeded.

Picture 139

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Magnus has designated this spot in the kitchen as his strawberry eating spot. It’s recent, like since yesterday. Luckily he’s not smearing the berries on anything in his new special corner, but he did try and drop his berry into the box of spare kitchen parts.

Picture 138

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Magnus loves strawberries. I keep a tub of cut, cleaned berries on hand so I can get through dinner prep without major melt-downs. This is what Magnus did today when I gave him a strawberry. He wiped it all over the floor. Isn’t that incredible?

Needless to say, the strawberry distribution has been cut back.

Picture 137

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

We went for a hike to see Bridal Veil Falls in the Gorge today. It’s a short hike, but one we’d never been to before. The light was very good and we got some pretty pictures, like this one.

Picture 136

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

We took Magnus to the mall today to get some professional pictures taken. Of course, afterwards we had to visit the doggies at the pet store. Magnus enjoyed seeing all the animals.

Picture 135

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Magnus enjoys a Cold One after a long day of playing. Don’t worry, it’s apple beer, and Dana drank it first.

Picture 134

Sunday, May 13th, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Birthday, Cheryl!

 

We celebrated a nice Mother’s Day today with Else. Magnus’s gift was to open Farmor’s present from her children. He did a great job! We hope everyone had a pleasant day!

Picture 133

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

We went for a little hike today around Round Lake in Camas, WA. We went for the express purpose of finding Magnus some shallow water to play in. He seemed pretty pleased.

Picture 132

Friday, May 11th, 2012
Happy Birhday, Megan!

Magnus puts his action figures in his bus through the doors, not through the top, like I always do.
The Hulk has to use the handicap door, though. I guess he’s too big for the regular door.

Picture 131

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

We keep our strawberries in a plastic container, washed and cut, so they’re easy to eat. We finished off our strawberries tonight and Magnus thought the lid was neat because he could see through it.

Pretty adorable.

Picture 130

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

We went for a drive around by the waterfront today. Dana stopped and visited the oldest apple tree in the territory. They have grafted in newer bits that seem to be doing well.

Picture 129

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

There is a bank of rhododendrons down the middle of Mill Plain Blvd. So on my walk with Magnus today I took a picture of them. Now you can see how many pretty flowers there are.

Picture 128

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Magnus fell asleep for his nap before we could entirely get him dressed this afternoon. It reminds Dana of paintings with the shadows on the drape-y fabric.

Picture 127

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Elina bought us some purple potatoes when she was in Seattle recently, and I bought Dana some red asparagus (they looked more purple-y when they were raw) from the farmer’s market. We cooked them both up today for dinner. It was yummy!

Picture 126

Saturday, May, 5th, 2012

A group shot by Triple Falls in the Gorge. It was a beautiful day for a hike to see waterfalls; cool and overcast. My planning paid off and we were able to do the whole hike. I even went up to Rock of Ages. I always makes us feel good to get out and enjoy the wonderful outdoors.

Picture 125

Friday, May the Fourth be with you, 2012

After two full days of work and a late night showing of The Avengers I guess I was pretty tired. I was trying to plan an adventure for Saturday, but Ruth found me like this, with my books open and my eyes closed.

Picture 124

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, MAGNUS THOR!

Magnus Thor turned a whole year old today. It is amazing it has been that long. We had a nice family party for him. Ruth made him a Thor’s Hammer cake. We had a good dinner. And Magnus loved opening his presents and showing them to everybody. Then at the end of the night some of us went to see The Avengers at midnight. It was a very good day. Happy 1st Birthday, Magnus!

Picture 123

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Ruth was recently called as a counselor in the Young Women group in church. Part of that is going to youth activities on Wednesday nights. This week they went on a walk by Salmon Creek and I decided to come. We did a brief stop at my favorite spot on the trail to give Magnus a chance to walk around. He thought it was fun, though I don’t know what he is doing here.

Picture 122

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Magnus really loves to go outside now. We have been letting him go out on our porch by himself and he likes to pick up rocks and dirt. On today’s excursion he found a pot of dirt and got very excited. At least he didn’t eat it.

Picture 121

Monday, April 30th, 2012

Back to Woodland, but this time for lilacs at the Lilac Festival. It was a bit of a drippy day, but the lilacs looked really cool with the water droplets on them. Magnus had fun running around in the grass. We tried to show him that you can smell the flowers, and he did it a few times, but then he started licking them. We also went to visit the Cedar Creek Grist Mill. That was a really neat place.

Picture 120

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

Magnus has an uncanny ability to grip onto your head if you start to lean backwards while he is on your shoulders. His favorite hand holds are eyes, ears, and hair. He also thinks this is a fun game. Here is Anton demonstrating…

Picture 119

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Ruth and Magnus had a nice walk to the Farmer’s Market. They also went to the Library as it was opening and found a crowd excited to get in.