Happy Halloween

This was by far the best Halloween ever. It is so much more fun with kids. And it is even more fun when the kid gets whats going on. After 2 trunk or treats, a costume party and then the actual trick or treating, Rhys was really getting the hang of it. It was so fun. My owls are the cutest little things ever!

another fabulous weekend

This time some of our best friends came in to town to spend 4 glorious days! We haven't seen them in almost a year, as they live in SLC. They came out to meet Rhys and catch up on playing like we used to when we all lived in Eugene. We pulled out all our best material on Brooke and Ryan to intice them to move back to the northwest. Friday was spent paddleboarding and eating at Cheesecake Factory. Saturday was spent back down at our Oasis, and Sunday relaxing and enjoying the 90 degree weather. Sounds like a perfect weekend to me!

Rhys was loving the super cute blanket brooke had made him

memorial day weekend

[nap time]

[justin studying hard for the bar]

what better way to spend a beautiful memorial day weekend than swimming at your own little oasis... also known as my aunts house. Rhys has had his first couple sleep-overs and does so well. not to mentions he Loves sleeping outside! he will take naps for so much longer and better if he gets to have some fresh air.

weekend recap

this boy is happiest in the water! He finaly got to try out his christmas present. He has been patiently waiting for a chance to try the paddle board, and in the 2 hours of no rain this weekend, he got his chance in the Willamette River. I'm pretty eager to try it out too, but there was no way I was getting into that water, it was soo cold!

He also joined a local Ausie Rules Football team and they had their first game this weekend. He was so excited, he could control his urge to tackle everyone who got near him. That includes taking down this kid into a huge puddle! It was hilarious!

"good on 'ya mate!"

"We've been on the run, driving in the sun, looking out for number one. California here we come..."- phantom planet

I am so ready for 10 days in So Cal.

happy february

So i know this is a short month, but is anyone else shocked to think its almost march?? As in 3 days away, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to January. Anyways, life has been rather uneventful, in a good relaxing kind of way.

We finally got all settled into our new placeand have learned all its quirks (including the leaky toilet. And by leaky I mean out from the bottom of the bowl onto the floor that they tried to tell us it was just condensation gathering. But I have lived in Oregon long enough to know that guy was full of crap!) It is a 2 bedroom house, but considering our bed is more like a small spaceship, our bed and dressers dont fit into the same room. So it turned out more like our sleeping room and our dressing room across the hall. But we love it! It sits on a half acre of protected wooded land and in a great neighborhood (in that we live in the crappiest house on the block), but even better that we get lake rights to use Lake Oswego. view from our kitchen window

Valentines day weekend was great! We have never bought into the flowers/gifts/fancy dinner-ness of the day, so we play it down big time. We trade off who plans something (really meaning "who makes dinner") But this year Justin had the best idea that I think will be the tradition. On our first date we went to a whole-in-the-wall place in Huntington that had cheap burgers and corndogs, followed by watching the olympics games in Athens, where Justin fell asleep. (He didnt want to set the bar too high for himself...) Not that this place was any good, but little did he know I LOVE corndogs! So to celebrate, we went out to Hot dog on a stick at the local mall. YUMMY! The next day we went down to my aunts house in Salem. We finally got to go play doubles tennis again which was a blast! We had an amazing feast of BBQ ribs -complete with grandmas homemade BBQ sauce-, baked brie goodness, and a desert that was oh-so-good! I like to call it creamcheesy-lemony-blueberry delight! (Did I mention my aunt is an amazing chef??) It was excellent! And the weather here has been great! I think it only rained like 10 days in the whole month, which left the rest to be beautiful sunny and warm. Well, if you call 50 degrees warm. Koda and I typically go to the park every day before or after our walk. But since we only have one car, I drop off and pick up Justin almost everyday. I dont mind at all because here, the commute is only 20 minutes, and when there is realy bad traffic around 5, it only takes 30! I heart Portland! Here is our beautiful city at sunset taken while driving on top of a bridge. Now that I think about, probably not the best idea, but I thought it was so pretty.

Also My friend Clara and her adorable little boy came into town, so we got to spend some time with them. We were able to go to Eugene for a few hours on Sunday and have church and a feast with the Callisters. It was so good to see everyone again!

the big 2-9!

This year I wanted to make Justins birthday way special because he has been the best husband ever. Daily I cant believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man to share my life with. He truely is my best friend. Life could not be any better. I can't wait to see him as a daddy and I cant believe this is the last birthday we will have as just the 2 of us. So I enlisted the help of my family to help surprise him with a big breakfast because that night after work we would be unloading our truck of crap into our new place. It went down like clock work. He didnt even notice I was missing from our bed while he was getting ready. The look of shock on his face was I'm sure from the pure shock of seeing me out of bed at 6:30 am. We decorated the nook, wrapped up some presents, and made him a big stack of pancakes and fresh blueberry delight.

He was so surprised by his new kite board.

a day for Justin

He finally got to play with a full sized kite in Gisborne. It took a few days of waiting for the right conditions, but isnt he too cute when hes so happy!

and we're off

We packed up our house, sold off the car, closed the bank account and said our goodbyes to all the wonderful people here. what a bittersweet moment. We loved our little house and the great people we were able to meet, but there is still so much left of this adventure, its hard not to get excited for that. we spent our last night with our great friends the bakers for a final dinner. considering thats where we go several times a week, it was only fitting. (Thank you so much Kent, Georgia and India! You guys are the best!) After several hours with them, it was back home to check the bed one last time for deadly, flesh eating spiders (a total of 5 made it in to our house, but none were lucky enough to make it out.)

And what a better way to spend the last hour of our time here than with the Bakers at a delicious chocolate shop and some fantastic chocolate fondue. So yummy. Not to mention their lil baby had her first taste of chocolate. She looked confused at first but was soon salivating for some great belgium chocolate (who could blame her).

its thanksgiving here too

I love this holiday and the last thing I wanted to do is skip it!! And what a better way to spend it than with all the great friends we were so thankful to have met here. So we had to introduce the true feast to our Ozzie friends. Heres to the Bakers, Grangers and Ryan and Sarah for joining us for a great evening. And no one cared that it was actually a roasted chicken and a turkey breast roll. yummy.

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

thank you so much for all the love that has poured in. we are so excited and so appreciative to all of you who sent us love and encouragement. Its a bit terrifying, but non the less super exciting. heres a few details.

how far along? 13 weeks

due date? may 8
sick? yes, and it sucks. hence the reason for no fun posts

predictions? im thinking boy, but who knows

where will we be? portland

As for life here, it is still good. we ony have about 2 more weeks left in Adelaide. from here we go to Sydney for 5 days, and then off to NZ for 6 weeks. i can not believe how fast this adventure has gone. it seems like not to long ago we were packing all our bags just to get here. and now we are packing them to go. so weird. this has been the best experience and im sure this isnt the last OZ has seen of us.

Heres some pics of our weekend trip to Victor Harbor and port elliot with our good friends the Bakers

baby india baker. soo cute

a day of footy

justin played in his first footy match this past weekend. he has been dying to try it out ever since we got here. the men of our ward arranged a ysa vs. the marrieds game he had a great time but was a bit sore the next day. heres a few pics of the game.

i was pretty scared when this match up came about.