Christmas in San Diego

We arrived safely back from San Diego where we visited Phuong's family for Christmas. The weather was fantastic - lower 70's most of the time. The kids really enjoyed getting their shorts and flip-flops on and playing on the beach. We also ate tons of yummy Asian food.

This year has flown by...I think time speeds up when you have children.

Happy NEW YEAR everyone - May you enjoy God's blessings in the year to come.

Olivia's First Christmas Pageant

Last night was a big night for Miss Olivia. She was Angel #5 in her preschool's Christmas Pageant. All the children did a fabulous job - no body cried or ran off the stage...Olivia's line was "you will have a baby boy" - very cute. At the end of the pageant there was a suprise visit from Santa. I have to say this was a very authentic looking Santa.

quick trip to get the tree

Our tree buying experience was done in record time this year. We stumbled upon a place that sold all their trees for $15. They were all perfectly shaped and we walked up to the first row and picked the 2nd and 3rd ones. Normally we go to place that shakes the tree in the high-powered shaker machine, wraps it in rope, and loads it on your car for you. This year was much less expensive HOWEVER - I had about 20 spiders on my ceiling - I'm not kidding! I think we got most of them, but it still creeps me out.

Mindy's Photo shoot

OK - so i know most of you check mindy's blog, but i just have to post one that she took that i really LOVE of Olivia...she really did steal the show for the photoshoot, but I don't mind b/c when I take pictures, she hides her face and I end up getting a ton of cute ones of Drew. So here's one more - and they are all really good, so they might just keep coming. We'll see :)

I'm Back!

So first I have to apologize to all you blog stalkers who have checked my blog faithfully without anything new to feast your eyes on...sorry for being such a slacker - I'll try to be better.

So, now that i'm months behind in photos - I'll start by posting a few from Thanksgiving...We went to Lincoln City with my Mom ( my Dad was in Peru), and Quoc and Chau. We had egg rolls and noodles instead of the Turkey just for a change, spent time on the beach, and checked out the aquarium. Our house was literally only steps away from the sand. The weather was absolutely phenomenal - so we all had a great time.

Working on Grunge borders

Well, this is a first effort in creating my own grunge border. You can buy this type of thing easily, but I'm really cheap so I have to try to come up with something. It's not great, but it's a good start.

Extra credit photos

Pumpkin invasion 07

A beautiful day finally arrived in Portland so we loaded up and headed to the pumpkin patch. Olivia was dressed in her pink doctor costume, and Drew was all ready to put his monkey suit on when we arrived. Unfortunately the monkey was left at home in the rush to get out the door, so Drew looks a little unloved in his too-small pajamas. Grandma and Grandpa came along, but Phuong had to go to class today. There are a few other farms that we want to visit before the harvest season is over, so we will get to as a family and hopefully we'll remember the monkey.

Saturday at Portland Farmer's Market

We spent Sat. morning downtown at the farmer's market taking in all the interesting sights and scenery. I was amazed at the variety of produce and flowers, and from all the different areas of Oregon things come from. It is quite an experience. The people who shop there *seriously* all look like the epitomy of Pacific Northwesterners - a log of Patagonia fleeces and beanies, organic cotton, leather shoes, running attire, decked with backpacks bursting with local goodness. After purchasing our week's supply of fruits and veggies, we took the streetcar down to the water front so Olivia and Drew could have a "train" ride. Here is a picture of Drew - Olivia is going through this inconvenient stage of turning her head and frowning every time I have my camera out. It's real fun...the result is a lot of pictures of Drew - who is too busy exploring to notice me taking his picture.

Happy Birthday Andrew

I'm a couple days late, but Andrew turned 2 on September 18th. I can't believe it has been two years - Time really does speed up when you have kids. We have really enjoyed having baby drew in our family - he is sweet, full of smiles and laughter, so affectionate, charming and smart. What more could you want in a two-year-old, really? He received all his favorite things for his birthday - a basketball, a bull dozer, a puzzle, crayons, thomas the train things, and a bike! What a lucky guy. here are just a couple pics

Olivia's First Day of Preschool

We started the day out with a plate of 3 warm pancakes on her favorite Pooh Bear plate.

Then we said prayers and said good-bye to Daddy

Outside Preschool on the way in

Teacher Patty and Olivia

She looks a little anxious in the picture, but she really had a wonderful day.

Flowers up close

Ocean Campout 2007

Hi everyone - Over Labor Day we went to the Ocean Camp Out with ACCF. I'm really not much of a camper anymore - I decided. I think I decided this last year, but somehow forgot again. We did have a great time hanging out with friends and enjoying the beach. Here are a few pics of the kids.

Visit to the Sterretts in New Hampshire

We had a grand time in New Hampshire visiting my brother and his family. Olivia and Drew really enjoyed Sabrina and all her toys. It was a very relaxing week of reading, eating and talking. The kids were real troopers on the way home when our flight was canceled and it ended up taking two days to get home. When we arrived in Portland after 24 hours of travel, Olivia said, "Mom, I like the airplane"...Ignorance is bliss.

Blessed are the hearts that Bend...Albert Camus

We had a great weekend living it up in Bend for Chau's B-day - We actually went canueing, but I didn't want to inflict the dangers of water on my fancy camera. the weather was perfect and we spent about 60% of the time trying out some new restaurants. it just smells so good there - i love the pine trees and the sweet smell of sage. here are a few pics.

Beach Pose

The kids a little unwillingly sat on this bench with me - This was our day at Cannon Beach a couple weeks ago. We actually left our CF card at home last weekend - oops!

South Sister Backpacking Trip

Last weekend I went backpacking with a few girls from church - We hiked to Marine Lake and on Friday and set up our base camp, summit ed on Saturday and hiked out Sunday morning. Our campsite was unbeatable with views of Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and the South Sister. I was only a little sore on Monday and Tuesday and survived with only a couple mosquito bites. (I still don't know why God created those bugs - honestly!)

Olivia had her first week of summer camp at Jake's Place...It is a warm-up for real pre-school which starts in September. I was only a little teary-eyed when she turned her head, tossed her braids and scooped up her princess lunch box without even a good-bye or a look back at Mom. She has been so looking forward to this since last year when we previewed the school. I consoled myself with a Starbucks americano and a cocoa for Drew and a nice run in the paths of West Linn.

So that's the update for this week - We are off to the beach tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get some good pics to post.

Family Camp

Last weekend we travelled to the coast for family camp with our church - Olivia and Drew were expert campers and even took their usual naps during the day. We had a relaxing time , made some new friends and ate way too much yummy food. Drew definitly made the most friends though...he was quite popular.