Picture 234

Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

I’m making a wedding cake for my friend who is getting married this fall. I made my first practice cake today for Terry who is hosting a tea party for Relief Society (formerly Enrichment night).

Picture 233

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

We had a free morning today so we drove to a Catholic church in Portland called The Grotto. They have a nice Christmas light display that we have seen before, but we wanted to see the church in the summer. Here is part of the grounds. We also went to the top of Rocky Butte, an extinct volcano in Portland.

Picture 232

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

Magnus can now climb the chair in his room and get to the LEGOs on the shelf. He knows he shouldn’t, so he’s careful to do it very quietly.

Picture 231

Monday, August 19th, 2013

Watching cartoons on the computer before bedtime makes some people in this house sleepy.

Picture 230

Sunday, August 18th, 2013

Dana was getting ready to go home teaching when he got distracted by this spider spinning its web. He did make it to his appointment, though.

Picture 229

Saturday, August 17th, 2013

We were enjoying some pastries from Grandpa Ivan this morning and Magnus was doing the yummy dance. When we asked him to smile for the camera, this was the face he made. Apparently “smile,” gets translated into “smile like a pirate.”

Picture 228

Friday, August 16th, 2013

I was mending a dress today and had to take some buttons off. Magnus found this one and promptly shoved it up his nose. Luckily I got him to “sneeze” it out. He has not put anything else in his nose.

Picture 227

Thursday, August 15th, 2013

Our little photographer came and told me he had taken pictures of his video this morning. He did. Also in the series pictures from that morning were several of his legs, like this.

Picture 226

Wednesday, August 14th, 2013

I finally got a chance to fill my Riker Mounts with fossils we found in Colorado and Oregon. Thank you, Ruth, for the awesome present.

Picture 225

Tuesday, August 13th, 2013

I built one of my old LEGO sets. Magnus had a lot of fun making it fly around accompanying it with his space ship sounds.

Picture 224

Monday, August 12th, 2013

We spent some time at Farmor’s house tonight. We had lots of fun playing with LEGOs. So much so, that Magnus was sad to head home.

Picture 223

Sunday, August 11th, 2013

Magnus got to help pick out a “packpack” for himself this week. We wanted him to have a bag he could bring on trips that would be his. Here he is modeling it for us.

Picture 222

Saturday, August 10th, 2013

Magnus chose this Hulk washcloth from the dollar store the other day. This is Magnus showing off his washcloth not over his face. He was wearing a diaper at the time. He helped me wash the Duplo blocks.

Picture 221

Friday, August 9th, 2013

We have this volunteer squash plant that is slowly taking over our backyard. The fruit is no good, but it’s keeping the other weeds down, so I left it to its devices.

Picture 220

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

We had a nice visit with the Tawzers who were in town. Thanks for coming to play with us! And Magnus says thank you for the lunchbox!

Picture 219

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

Dana washed our huckleberries and they’re waiting to go in the freezer.

Picture 218

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Happy National Root Beer Float Day!

We celebrated National Root Beer Float Day in an appropriate fashion.

Picture 217

Monday, August 5th, 2013

For Family Night we drove up Lookout Mountain and picked huckleberries. The drive was much bumpier than I remembered, but Magnus thought it was fun. We cooked hotdogs on the top and watched the sunset before heading back home.

Picture 216

Sunday, August 4th, 2013

We went to Farmor’s tonight and she had tiny ice cream cones that Magnus got very excited about.

Picture 215

Saturday, August 3rd, 2013

I missed our ward’s super Saturday a few months ago, but I finally got to make my craft that I ordered. Now I just have to figure out where to put it.

Picture 214

Friday, August 2nd, 2013

I made sure to meet the busses that brought the girls back from camp. The trucks with the gear came back earlier, so Magnus and I helped organize the stuff. He felt very important.

Picture 213

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

Pasta with sautéed lobster mushrooms…yum

Picture 212

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

Magnus and I went to pick Ruth up at Girl’s Camp today, but we had all day to do it. So, we took the scenic route. While I was looking at the map the night before, Magnus got very excited and started telling me how we were going on a hike to see a “big river” and a “big waterfall, go splash.” We did go see a waterfall at Silver Falls SP. When we got out of the car, Magnus ran most of the short hike exclaiming (while wearing his Batman shirt): “Batman runnin to see a waterfall. Batman run a fast!” The other visitors smiled a lot. We also went to Cascadia SP and hiked to a cave that has petroglyphs in it. We also hiked to Soda Creek Falls. We eventually found Ruth and headed home.

Picture 211

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

At Girl’s Camp. Tonight was skit night. The girls performed a song from Lion King with their own words about standing up to the adversary. They wore animal masks and costumes. It was a fun time.

Picture 210

Monday, July 29th, 2013

Ruth headed off to Girl’s Camp today. Dana went and saw The Wolverine with Anton and Elina. And Magnus stayed the night at Farmor’s house.

Picture 209

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Swinging at Farmor’s house.

Picture 208

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

Some golden beets from the Vancouver Farmer’s Market.

Picture 207

Friday, July 26th, 2013

At the start of summer Else helped me fill some flower pots for our front porch. The petunias are very happy there. Thanks, Else!

Picture 206

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Our last day we had to hike down 4000 ft. to the car. The trail was steep and I had to do it with a spider bite on my ankle that made it very difficult to walk. I am very thankful for the blessing I received that made it a much more endurable hike; by the time we reached the bottom the bite had basically disappeared. This is a shot of our whole group. I am grateful they invited me to come along and that we all made it home safely. I had a lot of fun.

Picture 205

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

The third day of the hike lead us to the top of Chinidere Mountain. From there we could see five major peaks and much of the surrounding area. There were also some ancient Indian pits on top. We spent the night at Camp Smokey, the sight of a forest fire in recent years.

Picture 204

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

Day 2 of the hike. Camping at Wahtum Lake let us have a refreshing swim. That night we feasted on crawdads and huckleberries.

Picture 203

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

Today was the first day of Dana’s backpacking trip with the teachers. We headed up the Eagle Creek trail in the Gorge. Tunnel Falls was one of the highlights of the day. There were many other beautiful falls and views along the trail. They stopped at Seven-and-a-Half-Mile to camp the night.

Picture 202

Sunday, July21st, 2013

Dana found this video on youtube today and showed it to Magnus. Magnus loved it and wanted to watch it over and over again.

Picture 201

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

The neighbor kids occasionally make a hotel on the stairs. Here they are.