Woo hoo for sunny weather! We made full use of the awesome weather this weekend and ventured off to the coast to get some ice cream, cheese, and agates! We had a blast...like always!
We took a little detour and went up a road that leads to University Falls. We didn't actually see any falls, but it was a pretty drive. Here's Aaron precariously crossing a downed tree. It was a pretty far drop...

The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand and rocks. Arwen and Noah liked to climb the really big rocks and scream at us to look at them.
Here is how Larkin occupied her time...she dipped a small stone in a lovely puddle of salt water and then licked the salt water off. Yummy!
I love the green of the moss on the rock walls at the coast. Funny how it's pretty here, but I hate the moss that grows on my roof!

We had lots of fun, found lots of agates, ate cheese and ice cream, and really enjoyed being together!!

This is the closet thing we could get to a decent family shot. It's way too hard when you have to set the camera on the tri-pod and then use the timer and have Aaron jump in at the last minute while grabbing Larkin!!
I just love the color of Noe's eyes in this picture!
Here's the one and only kid picture that Larkin is not trying to run away in! Yea!!

Yea! Spring has finally sprung here in Portland...well for a few days anyway! We enjoyed beautiful, warm weather while watching General Conference this weekend. We went up to Jenkin's Estate and took a few pictures in Easter attire between sessions on Sunday. It was so much fun to be outside!! The kids love it...and so do I!! (Well...I don't like them running in and out ALL day and getting so dirty...but it's worth it to have happy kids!!) Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Okay. Let me just say that Larkin was a complete PILL when it came to smiling for the camera. Who am I kidding...she was a PILL when it came to staying where we put her! She wandered away in every single picture...she'll probably look at these in ten years and be convinced that we hated her because there are no pictures of her with the other kids!

I really wanted a picture with both my girls...but refer to caption under the previous picture!!

Here are my beautiful boys!

What a sweet big sister.

I love this picture of Arwen. She sure is a princess!

I have three more...but they are too big right now. When I get them resized, I will post them.

It's been too long since I last blogged! Thanks to Aaron who wiped my computer and re-installed everything, everything is working it tip top shape again!! We went to a park right by our house on the one non-rainy day this March! The kids had lots of fun. I took a couple of cute pictures of Larkin doing her her thing.
Don't you love the pig tails? They last about 2 minutes before she rips her "pretties" out of her hair!
She had fun as long as she was not made to look at the camera and smile!!
Her tantrums were beginning here! What a pouty, stubborn girl!

Chains of Love

The first 5 people to comment on this blog post get something from me-and I promise it will be good! Doesn't matter where you live, near or far-within the next few months you will get something homemade from me!!

The catch? You have to post this message on your blog and do the same thing for 5 more people! :) Can't you just feel the love?

* You're all so excited, aren't you?? :) *

It's been a long time since I have blogged about what the kids are up to these days...probably because we haven't taken too many pictures and the ones we do have are no good! Oh well...hopefully when it gets warmer outside we'll have some better photos! We did snap a few of Larkin on Sunday right before church. This is her new Easter dress...and I just L-O-V-E her in it!!

Larkin

• Is so FEISTY!!
• Can scream louder than any 1 year old I know...and it's not a cute, pretty scream!
• Has a constant rash on her face...not cause she's a dirty kid, but because she has allergies.
• Is as clumsy as her siblings. She spends more time on her face than on her little toes!
• Is tinny tiny!
  
• Is still pretty much bald...people always ask me how old my little boy is. I try to make her wear bows, but she pulls them out and throws them when I am not looking!
• Loves shoes. I got her a little pair of pink Mary Jane Crocs...but it will be a few months before they fit her.
• Will scream until she gets what she wants...she can scream for a LONG time!
• Is REALLY allergic to milk...which is proving to be tricky since EVERYTHING has milk in it.
• Gives the best hugs and kisses when she is in the mood...which is hardly ever!
• Talks up a storm. Her most used words are OW (remember she is clumsy!), Uh Oh, NO NO NO, Ba Ba (for her sippy of rice milk), I did it (she says this EVERYTIME she throws her blankey on the ground in the car...drives me crazy!!), and lots others.
• Is a very affectionate little Mama to her soft little baby dolls. It is sooo cute!
• Thinks it's so cute when she is so awfully naughty!
  

Here's a cute little Larky Lu story. She was sitting on my lap just a second ago...which is really unusual. I asked her where her nose was. She started getting all silly and looking looking left and right as I kept asking her. Then she stopped and pointed at Noah...who we often times call Nosey...or even Nose for short. Silly little confused girl! Noah is her favorite person in the whole family...seriously!!

Aaron and I had the best weekend ever!!! First off, thank you, thank you, thank you to Matthew and Bethany for watching our kids Friday and Saturday!!! You guys are amazing!!!

Aaron and I started off our weekend with a trip to Benihana's for yummy dinner!! The lobster was delicious as was the sushi...our favorites!! We got up at 6:00am on Saturday to start our kid-free adventure. We packed our bathing suits and towels and jumped in the van. We headed about an hour and a half away to the Estacada area. We went camping there this past summer and learned that there are some pretty cool hot springs up there. We weren't able to go to them because you have to hike about a mile in and didn't know if all the kids would make it and also there are only a few tubs. So, if you don't get there early, chances are you wouldn't get one. Well, things were going fine...until we turned down our road that said basically no one maintains it during the winter. There were downed trees all over the place. Then the snow/ice appeared. It looked like snow...but really it was solid ice!! The picture below shows what it looked like right at the beginning of the "course."

I say "course" because that is what it was. There was really no way to get off the course. It was like playing pin-ball. If Aaron veered too much to the right, well then the ice bumpers pushed him right back to where they wanted him. It was pretty crazy!! Then it got a little scary because the snow/ice got a lot deeper (sorry...no pics!!). We could feel the ice scrape the bottom of the van. But, as long as Aaron maintained a steady speed, the ice bumpers kept him on the road. There were some areas with lots of big rocks on the road and I about died thinking about what it was doing to the bottom of the van!! Well...we made it to the final turn off and realized that there was no way we would make it...even if we did have our chains in the van...which we realized we should always keep in the van!! So, we decided to turn around...and got stuck!! After about a half an hour and the use of some kind man's shovel in a huge 4 wheel drive truck, we got our tires back into the grooves to go back down the mountain. We made it down just fine. Too bad...we'll have to try again when it warms up some!

Check out this sweet "snow chicken" we saw on the way back to civilization. It was totally glowing on the side of the road! I almost peed my pants when Aaron was riding it because he put too much pressure on the "chickens" head and it broke off and Aaron fell down with the head!

I found a huge agate (well the biggest we have ever found) when Aaron was stacking rocks.

Here is one of the three creations he made. When we were about to go, he let me throw rocks at the them to knock them down. I hit the first one and my big rock that I threw ricocheted off and hit Aaron right between his knees. Oops!

Here's the big river...so pretty!

Then we stopped off in Oregon City to see the paper mill. It was pretty cool looking. We hiked all around the city and discovered lots of cool things before stopping for lunch and Costco. Then we picked out kidlets up. They were so not happy to see us...because as they have told me..."Aunt Bethany makes way yummier food and they have lots more fun over there than with me!

We had a fabulous Valentine's Day here...though it wasn't a traditional Valentine's Day. I had the amazing opportunity to help all of the kids at church put together a Sweetheart's Ball for all of the adults. The fun shindig consisted of fabulous decorations, dinner, and a dance. It was a ton of work, but so fun!! The only downside was that Aaron and I did not get to spend Valentine's Day together. He stayed home and tended the kids, while I tended the older kids at church. He took the kids exploring and found an awesome park just minutes from our house.
It was up at Jenkin's Estate, for those of you who are familiar with it. It's an amazing place to take family pictures!


Stinking Larkin and her pacifier! She really isn't as attached to it as the other kids were...she only gets it when she has her blankey. Looks like Daddy was a softy and let her play with it OUTSIDE!!
Here's superstar Noah and his wild choice of shoes lately. I bought the kids their Easter clothes this weekend and had them wear them to church on Sunday...they looked soooo cute! I even managed to get the boys's cowlicks tamed and looking nice. Larkin didn't look like a boy and kept her little pigtails and bows on top of her head in all day. We got to church and I looked down at Noah's shoes as he got out of the van and this is what I saw...one green croc...one yellow croc.
Thanks Aaron for being such an amazing husband and father! We love you the best!

On a day off of school, me and the kids went on a trip to the coast to hunt agates with Bethany and the cousins. Bethany showed us a great agate hunting beach called Oceanside Beach. We had so much fun and found so many agates that we brought Aaron back that same Saturday...not that he's in any pictures though...sorry Aaron!!
Sticks are a must when you are outdoors...you never know what needs a good poking...maybe even your baby sister!

We had beautiful weather...lots of sun with a little wind. The poor kids froze because they insisted on going in up to their knees in the water.
I love this picture of Joshua. What a mope out on a rock in the middle of the water with the waves rushing in. He is wearing the same winter hat that I wore when I was in kindergarten! I love it. He wore it the ENTIRE day because Aaron told him it was a train conductor hat.
You'd think they really were best friends...but really, they are just AMAZING actors!
Here's the coolest picture ever of Joshua. Watch out for the scary train conductor!!